Viral Faith

"The Spirit who inhabits us is not mute, restricting himself to an occasional nudge, a hot flash, a brilliant image or a case of goose bumps."           -Dallas Willard in Hearing God I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.   John 10:14-16 NLT One of the most misunderstood roles of pastoral ministry is that of leading congregational discernment.  This is Biblical practice of seeking direction and vision from God.  Even just reading this, causes some leaders discomfort because we have been taught that to seek this kind of direct communication from God is far too mystical for contemporary followers of Jesus.  It is best left to the "few" who we (the church) oft...

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.  I John 2:9 "We must pray for Gays" Pastor Heritage Munyakuri, Yesterday, at the church where I have the privilege to pastor (www.newhopefree.org), one of my assistant pastors delivered the message.  The topic of the sermon was "The Power of Prayer".  In that sermon, Pastor Munyakuri encouraged the congregation to pray for others as prayer is effective means to blessing others.  As an example, Pastor Munyakuri, who is from Congo, discussed the controversial initiative in Uganda, where it has been proposed that people found in homosexual realtionships should be put to death.  Pastor Munyakuri denounced this policy and went on the encourage the congregation to pray for all people, including gays. Interestingly, because of the highly sensitive nature of sexuality in the church, many listeners understood the message to be about homosexuality as opposed to prayer as a means ...