J.R. Lee

This series started off strong last week with 20 people “Coming Home” and experiencing life in Christ.
I believe the best is yet to come with this series!

Invite and bring as many people with you as you can this Sunday.  It will be a powerful day!

In the meantime, be praying for God to do His thing this Sunday at 9:45 and 11:15. See you then!

We all desire to be productive.  I take very seriously the calling that God has on my life and I want to carry out that calling in the most effective and efficient way possible.

That being said, it’s easy to find someone that is perceived as being very successful in your particular field and emulating them to such an extent that it causes you to lose your identity.  Learning from others is wise.  Becoming a mini-version of someone you greatly respect is not.

God didn’t create you to be someone else’s “mini-me”.  He designed you uniquely for a purpose.  Stop trying to be someone else.

Be the best you that God can enable you to be.  God didn’t make a mistake when He created you.  Let’s stop acting that He did.

• Kicked off our Come Home Series in a big way this past Sunday and celebrated as 20 people gave their life to Christ!
• The move to 9:45 and 11:15 has been a good move for us.  The earlier time slot is picking up steam quickly.  So is the 11:15.  We cleared out a bunch of seats but we are filling them up very quickly.  Great start to 2010.
• For the first time in my life I actually heard from people who were annoyed that school was cancelled again on Monday because of the “Blizzard of 2010″.  Imagine what would have happened with more than 1/16th of an inch of snow!
• Our 2 Year Anniv. is on Sunday, January 31st and it’s going to be quite a celebration!  Hard to believe we are two years into this journey!
• We hosted a group of church planters in our area (approximately 8 churches have started within a 5 mile radius of our location just since we started) yesterday.  They are great guys and I am excited about what God is doing in their churches!
• Sunday is one of those days that you MUST invite people to attend.  People far from God will experience life in Christ and God is going to use you in somebody’s life to help see that happen!
• I say this all the time but I am so grateful!  Gratitude isn’t a feeling.  It’s a way of living.
• Devin and I went to Ruth Chris Steakhouse for dinner the other night because we had a Gift Card.  Great place.
• I love Gift Cards.  Because I love them so much – we give each of our full-time staff members a $50 gift card to the restaurant of their choice each month.  It’s a small investment in their marriage dating life!
• I am so excited about the next two weeks in this series!  Praying and believing God for a miracle to happen in the hearts of people!

There is a story in the Bible contained in Mark 9:14-20 that sums up how I feel quite often.

The story is about a kid who couldn’t talk, was constantly being thrown to the ground, foaming at the mouth, gnashing his teeth and jumping into fire as well as random bodies of water (You thought your kids were bad!).

21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”  ”From childhood,” he answered.

Notice this next part :: “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

Isn’t that indicative of how we pray?  There are times when the situation at hand seems greater than God’s ability to perform.  As a result, we give God an escape clause just in case:  “Lord if you can.”  Listen to God’s Response:

23″ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Translation: God doesn’t need our escape clause.    He put an interstate highway through the middle of the sea, brought dead people back to life and somehow over the years we have convinced ourselves that he can’t do that anymore.  He Can!  Follow the example of this kids father and pray not only for a miracle but for an increased measure of faith!

Lord I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

I believe in the power of prayer more now than at any other time in my lifetime.  I heard a statement recently that most people will never become men and women of prayer until they lose the illusion of control.  I don’t want this to be true of my life!

During the month of December we instituted a new prayer initiative within our office that we will continue during 2010.

Each individual on our staff  has been praying  for 15 minutes each day through the names of every person who has ever attended Freedom Church.  We are praying for the blessing of God in 2010 as well as for repentance and life change for those who are far from God.

So if you have ever attended Freedom Church you should know that we are actively praying for you and your family.  It’s going to be an incredible year.  We aren’t just saying that.  We are praying for it as well.