I was given an unbelievable gift yesterday. I was able to meet someone I’ve looked up to, admired and emulated for many years.

John Ortberg has been an influential voice in my life and my journey with God for the past 15 years. I have read every book he has written. I have preached the majority of his sermons. I have used his style of speaking and writing to develop my own voice and style as a communicator.

I have wanted to meet him since 1998. What made meeting him yesterday so special is that my friend, and in many ways, mentor, Pete, made it happen.

We have shared an appreciation for John Ortberg and talked about his writings and teaching for YEARS. Pete was being interviewed by John about Plan B yesterday and allowed me to tag along. (Actually, I hounded him about it for at least a week.)



What I realized yesterday is how God has used both of these men in my life to form and shape me. I believe that we all need voices that speak Truth into our lives from a far. Often for me these people are writers or speakers or preachers that “mentor” from a distance. John Ortberg has been that for me.

But we also need mentors that can speak into the application of that Truth. These people know us. They love us. They have our trust. They have our best interest at heart. Pete has been that for me. I hope we have been that for each other.

He has been there when I was knocking it out of the park to remind me that it is God’s success and not mine. He has been there for me in my darkest moment begging me to allow God’s Spirit to speak to my heart. He has offered me truth and he has extended to me grace.

I don’t know where I would be without John Ortberg. I don’t know where I’d be without Pete Wilson. I’m thankful for spiritual mentors that God has placed in my life, and I am so thankful to have captured a moment with them in the same frame. I will cherish this memory forever.

Do you have a spiritual mentor?

If you live in the Nashville area, we’d love to have you join us at Cross Point Bellevue for our first Family Movie Night, Saturday, October 2nd at 6:30 PM.

There is no cost, and we will be watching Toy Story 2 under the stars!

Bring a lawn chair or blanket, wear a sweatshirt and come enjoy a night as a family.

Popcorn and drinks will be provided!

Yesterday, I wrote a post about Who YOU Are. At the end of the day yesterday, I felt like God laid it on my heart to write a post for pastors who may be struggling with their identity.

As a pastor, I lived for 10 years with an identity crisis that eventually  lead to my meltdown and moral failure. I realize this post won’t apply to everyone, but it is vital for someone. If you aren’t a pastor, maybe you should pass it along to yours.

You are not the size of your congregation

You are not as good as your last sermon

You are not as bad as your last critical email

You are not your speaking ability

You are not your insecurity

You are not your fear of failure

You are not your ability to be hip or relevant

You are not your worship style

You are not trying to compete with, out perform or out preach the pastor you work for or work with

You are not your ability to lead or inspire

You are not the value of last week’s offering

You are not as incompetent as you feel

You are not their savior

You are not competing with the church down the street

You are not measured by how many people will come this Sunday

You are not wasting your time even when you feel like you are

Here is who YOU are:

You are a follower of Christ

You are a husband or a wife

You are a dad or a mom

You are a friend

You are called

You are set apart

You are anointed

You are God’s masterpiece

You are more than your role

You are created in the image of God

You are valuable independent of your church, your ministry or your status

You are much more important than the title you hold

You are loved, forgiven and chosen.

That is who you are.

I’m so excited about the new series we are launching tomorrow at each of our Cross Point Campuses, Empty Promises.

As I have been thinking about the series, I have thought of all of the empty promises I make.

• I’ll call you right back.
• I’ll be praying for you.
• We’ll play later.
• I’ll take out the trash.

I know I am prone to make empty promises. I wonder if that is because I have so often bought into the world’s Empty Promises.

This world everyday promises us value and identity and security and status and peace and success.

So many of us give the best years of our life pursuing an Empty Promise.

Over the next 6 weeks, we are going to look at not only the Empty Promises we pursue, but the life we are offered through the promises of God.

If you live in Nashville, I hope you’ll join us at one of our 4 Campuses. If you don’t live in Nashville, we’d love to have you join us for this series online at CrossPoint.tv.

Most of you know, Trisha and I moved to Nashville to join the staff of Cross Point. It has been such a blessing. We are excited to be announcing the search for a Campus Student Pastor. I’ve list the qualifications below. Please Facebook and Tweet this post so we can get the word out to as many people as possible.

Cross Point, a multi site church, in Nashville, TN is looking for a Campus Student Pastor.  As a member of the student ministry team the Campus Student Pastor will help shape the strategy for carrying out the Cross Point vision on their campus.  Please note the qualifications below before sending your resume.

Qualifications:

• Passionate about seeing students come to Christ and can inspire students to reach their friends.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of student ministry paid staff experience.
• Visionary & Strategic Thinker with a proven track recorded of starting new ministries and developing leaders.
• Strong communication skills being able to speak to a wide variety of audiences and ages
• Team player, we are not looking for lone rangers, you have to be willing to work along side the Student Ministry team and under the direction of Campus Pastor and Family Ministries Pastor.

Any interested individuals should submit a resume, social media contact, website/blog info (if applicable) and cover letter to Cross Point Family Ministries Pastor, Pat Rowland via email, pat@crosspoint.tv

A little over a year ago, we sat our middle son Elijah down and told him that we felt like God was leading us back into full time vocational ministry. We didn’t know what that looked like, but we wanted to make the decision as a family. Elijah immediately began to cry. Neither Trisha nor I thought this was a good thing. We began to console him and ask him if he was okay. Through his sobbing he simply said “I’m so happy, this is what you were made for.” Then we began to cry! Such a sweet kid!

Since that day, Elijah has been asking me if he could speak on Sunday morning. As kindly as I can, I have explained to him that although Cross Point is an awesome church I don’t have the authority to allow this to happen. He has continued to tell me that he has a vision to speak on Sunday morning.

Two weeks ago, Trisha and Micah and Elijah spent the week at iGNITE Camp. iGNITE is the summer camp for Eagle Church in Zionsville, Indiana. This was Trisha’s fourth year leading worship for the camp. I have included a short video of the last night of camp just to give you a flavor of what they experienced throughout the week. It was a powerful week for my kids to not only be with old friends, but to reignite their passion for Christ.

The Sunday following iGNITE camp, the camp band led in worship and the youth pastor, Ian, gave a recap of the week and shared all that God did in and through the students. At the end of his talk, he said something that threw everyone for a loop. He said to the 120 students and the 400 adults in the auditorium that during worship that morning, he saw Elijah worshiping. He felt like God was prompting him to invite Elijah up to close out the service with a challenge for both the students and the parents. Elijah’s vision for speaking on Sunday morning had become a reality. I pulled out my phone and captured it on video. (The video shakes some because I may have been crying a little.)

As I was processing this whole series of events, my heart was opened to this truth: often the way God executes the vision he has placed in our heart doesn’t look like we thought it would. God had given Elijah a vision to speak on Sunday morning. None of us expected it to happen the way that it did.

Maybe you have a vision for a relationship that seems stalled. Maybe you have a vision for your career that appears further away now than it ever has. Maybe you have a vision for your marriage that consistently to take 2 steps forward and then 3 steps back. Maybe you have a vision for doing something great for God, and for whatever reason that vision hasn’t become a reality.

Can I challenge you today to not miss the things God is doing to fulfill his vision for your life, even if it isn’t playing out like you thought it would. Just because it doesn’t look like you think it should, doesn’t mean God isn’t at work. So don’t give up. Don’t stop pursing your God given vision. He often shows up in unexpected ways.

Has there been a time in your life that God fulfilled a vision you had in a way you didn’t expect?

When you grow up in church, there is really only one unpardonable sin. The Bible says that it is blasphemy, but in the church world I grew up in, it was adultery. When Trisha and I left ministry in 2005 due to my affair, I had no idea what the future held, but one thing I was sure of: God was done with me.

About a year after we left ministry, we came to Nashville to stay with our good friends, Pete and Brandi. They had journeyed with us through so much; coming to their house was a retreat in many ways. One afternoon, Pete and I sat and talked and he said something that I didn’t think was true, and had a hard time hearing. He said, “God isn’t through with you, yet.” Whatever.

Over the next three years, God began to do a work in Trisha and I and lay a burden on our heart for ministry. We began sharing our story, helping couples restore hope in their marriage. That is how RefineUs Ministries was started. But the passion we had for the local church began to burn white-hot again.

One year ago today, we had the honor of coming on staff at Cross Point. What an incredible year it has been. To see now what only God could have resurrected in our hearts, and in our ministry is unbelievable.

I’d like to share with you three things I’ve learned over the past year that may speak to your heart today.

1. It isn’t your past sins that disqualify you for ministry, it is the condition of your heart.

Here is what is wild: I was disqualified for ministry years before the affair started. The pattern of hiding and running and pretending and posturing existed in my life long before the affair manifested itself. Because things were going so well with my ministry, it was easier to hide my struggles.

Maybe some of you have given up on yourself because of mistakes you’ve made years ago. Can I share with you what Pete shared with me: “God isn’t finished with you yet.” God cares so much more about the condition of your heart than he does the mistakes of your past.

2. The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

This verse doesn’t mean that the gifts and calling of God are beyond accountability or purity. But it does mean that just because you’ve made mistakes God doesn’t just rip away your giftedness and your calling. If He called you, and He gifted you, then He has plans for you. It took me a few years to believe this. But what I have seen is that the more I have sought brokenness the more opportunity He has given me to live out my calling. I get cautious when people desire the gifts of God more than they desire brokenness.

3. When giftedness outweighs character, implosion is on the horizon.

If you are a gifted person you will be given responsibility. If you are a gifted person, people will be drawn to you. If you spend more time developing your gifts than you do deepening your character, implosion isn’t a matter of IF, it is a matter of WHEN.

Giftedness is sexy. Giftedness is visible. Giftedness gets noticed; gains opportunity; gives you reputation. Character is often compromised so that giftedness can take center stage. As I have reentered ministry and been given more responsibility and more opportunities to teach and lead, I know that my character is the most important aspect of my ministry.

Maybe today, you feel like God is done with you. You’ve sinned beyond God’s ability to use you. You’ve messed up more than can ever be redeemed. Take it from this cheating pastor…

God isn’t done with you. God has plans for you. He is the God of the second chance.

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to continue our series at Cross Point entitled Be Rich. It was one of the most challenging messages I’ve ever given. Not only did I pray about it for quite a while, but a lot of discussion went into this message with my wife, Trisha. We will be blogging next week about certain content of the message that was yet another layer of God stripping us of dysfunction that we have lived with for years.

A few statements from the message that I’d like to share with you:

We equate busyness with significance.

We equate possessions with wealth.

Which of these statements do you resonate with the most?