Let's face it. Those lines do not look straight do they? Be honest. You're eyes are being fooled.

I'm really jazzed about our new series at Willowbrook called, iLLUSION. A while back I started having some thoughts about the art of deception and how so many of us can be fooled or tricked by enticing scams in magazines or on television. It's as if our hearts has this special place in it that truly wants to believe in the unbelievable. And although this might noble, it does open us up to the power of deception.

I've been teaching from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, and the parable of the sower/soil. In my study of this particular parable I've noticed that Jesus is truly teaching about the art of deception in which we can be so easily tricked to stray off course. Although God sends out the sower and although the seeds are released from His hand, the world deceives us with competitive tricks or gimmicks to steal our hearts away from God. But to the one who remains focused and avoids being fooled or deceived by the pull of the enemy's schemes, this person will produce a crop/life that will grow and multiply with blessings.

I believe that this series has the potential to expose some of these dangerous schemes and to bring about God's clarifying principles to the truth.

Would love to see you join us for this intriguing series.

Take a Break. Why Not?

I love personal challenges. And one of the challenges that I recently committed to was to take a one month break from my blog entries. Why? Well -a relative of mine shared with me that in order to keep things fresh in his life, he discovered that each passion or obsession needed a resting point. Just as the body needs rest for the new day ahead, so our dreams and passions do as well. In doing so, we come at it with fresh eyes and with new perspectives. In ministry, they often call this a sabbatical. In fact, in the New Testament we are told that Jesus often times went to an isolated area to be with himself - to collect his thoughts and to pray. I must confess, there were many times during this past month that I thought, "Wow. This would be a great blog entry." But it tested the glue of my commitment to stay true to the goal.

What is something in your life that you may need to put to rest for a bit in order to come at it again with more energy and efficiency?