Staring death in the face
By · CommentsToday I visited one of my best mates who is dying of cancer.
We grew up together and were as close as brothers – sharing many of the crazy adventures afforded us as young men.
We both grew up in church and loved God and essentially kept each other going for God.
It is no surprise then that both of us ended up in the ministry serving God to the best of our ability.
So today when I stood by his bedside watching him lie there in a semi coma, I talked to him about heaven and the reward waiting for him just a few earthly hours from now.
Having been through this with the death of my own son Andrew, I have come to realize how non-scary death really is for a Christian. It is simply the portal into another dimension called eternal life. I told my friend today the names of all my loved ones that I wanted him to see when he got to heaven.
I told him that there will be a guard of honour for him leading to an amazing rewards ceremony.
I told him that there are streets of pure gold and an ocean with perfect waves and a moto cross track with the ultimate jumps etc.
Hey death where is your sting?
Every time a Christian dies and goes to heaven it is like the devil is being defeated all over again.
Rejoice because your name is written in heaven.
Out hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness.
Newport Church USA Ministry Report
By · CommentsTorrential rain threatened to spoil my arrival into LA and then down to the Southern Beaches area of Newport Beach. However the skies cleared and the scenery lived up to the hype. What a gorgeous part of the USA. The best was yet to come. On Saturday morning we had a Kingdom Builders launch with Jonathon & Di Wilson for their Newport Church. It was an awesome morning with incredible faith and vision being shared together.
Then came the Sunday meetings. On Sunday morning this growing church meets in the Lido Theatre and it was packed. Great response to the word with dozens of people saying Yes! to Jesus. Then they pack it all up and take everything across town to a high school theatre and do it twice more at night.
The night services really pump and are full of young people switched on to Jesus. They were great to preach to and many more received Christ into their lives during our night rallies.
I was very impressed with the enthusiasm and level of commitment felt amongst all those I connected with. This is a happening church and will continue to make news for all the right reasons. I’m looking forward to a return visit both to the Newport Beach area and to the exciting Newport Church.
Who ripped up the greens
By · CommentsPlayed golf this morning on my home Course – Pelican Waters – on the Sunshine Coast. I forgot that they were renovating the greens, which basically means they are ripped to pieces- which helps them grow back better.
It makes it impossible to putt when the greens are so rough, and so in order to enjoy the game we had to make the following adjustments. Similar to life.
A. Make up your mind to enjoy the game.
The conditions of the road you travel in life should never determine your outlook.
There is always a way to enjoy every rough road in life.
Your attitude will determine how rough the road or season really is.
B. Change the rules.
We adopted a two putt maximum rule.
It helped us actually play better as we now focussed on getting onto the green in as few shots as possible.
Sometmes it is okay to change the rules as it can help you get through really rough patches in life.
Sometimes we try to live by rules that make life impossible. Lighten up and chill if it is getting to rough.
C. Hit the ball harder.
Because the greens are so rough we found that we had to putt the ball a lot harder to get close to the hole.
When life gets rough – sometimes you have to hit the ball a bit harder. Give it a little more effort. Put the foot down on the gas peddle and smooth out the bumps on the road.
D. Don’t play in the comp.
We decided not to play in the competition as it would reflect badly on our handicap.
Don’t let the rough patches in your life set your handicap. You are better than that – so wait until the conditions improve and post a great score.
Too many people value themselves according to their down days. Never do that – always value yourself according to your premium performances.
So you see – life will always deal some rough patches. Make sure you adjust to such seasons to come through as best as you can – so you are ready to excel as the conditions improve again.
Incidently I still posted a great Stableford score of 40 points. Go figure. SJP
PITA CHIPS WITH SEA SALT
By · CommentsOn my travels recently I stayed in a Hotel as guest of the local church in which I was ministering. Usually the churches leave a basket of goodies for us to snack on over the stay. This particular basket was a health freaks delight. All kinds of unusual food I had never seen before including, “unsweetened and unsulfured pineapple rings,” the same “unsweetened and unsulphured mango slices” – to say nothing of the “antioxidant nut and berry mix.” The only thing I was game to try was the Pita Chips with Sea Salt. I may as well have eaten the mattress off the bed. I got to thinking that maybe my office had sent word ahead to the church so that they could work together to try and keep me healthy. Whoever was working on my behalf was definitely going above and beyond the call of duty.
It didn’t make any difference as room service opens a whole world of gourmet delights. All deep fried and delicious. NOW my point is this to all you do-gooders on the behalf of others. You cannot help a person until they are willing to help themselves. I have watched so many people lose sleep over wayward friends and associates, when the people in question are going full steam ahead in their own direction. Yes – we can be concerned and offer good advice, but to try to sabotage another person’s life under the guise of helping them, borders on control at best – and lunacy at worst. I want to be known as a supporter of people not a judge. A coach is a person who comes alongside someone when they are ready to begin training in ernest. To try to coach someone who will not even attend to the basics is a complete waste of time. My own golf coach in Australia gave me some warm up routines to do before I even attempt to swing a club on the practise range. I felt they were a waste of good time and energy, and unfortunately he saw me totally ignoring his professional advice. Feeling guilty I said to him that I must get another lesson – to which he replied – not until you listen and apply the last lesson. Stop trying to vicariously win in life for others. Be the best you can possibly be, and when they are ready they will ask for your assistance. That is the right time to get involved. Then they are ready to change. Until then – stop putting Pita Chips with Sea Salt in my basket and go back to real food that inspires a man to live life to the full.
Vitamin C
By · CommentsWhenever I travel I tend to pick up chills and colds from the airconditioning in planes and hotels. It is so annoying as it just makes my job so much harder to be at my best.
I have started taking doses of vitamin C whenever I feel these colds attaching themselves to me.
It has made such a difference. Now the cold disappears quickly and I am able to get on with preaching up a storm.
Isn’t it amazing how a little cold can affect our ability to change the world.
Vitamin C is a bit like the word of God in our lives. You may not notice any immediate or dramatic effect, but it is constantly working to nullify and put to flight all those little ills that come our way that stop us from being our best and changing our world.
Make sure you get a good dose of the word every day and you will find you will travel the journey of faith far better.
For me it is essential to have a dose of vitamin C every day as it helps so much to ward off those nasty invaders.
You do best when you take in a daily dose of the promises of God.
It helps so much to keep at bay all those little nasties like doubt, unbelief, inferiority, fear etc.
Make it a habit and you will stay a lot healthier spiritually and it will certainly help you change your world for good.
The La Paz Syndrome
By · CommentsDriving home from dinner last night here in Newport Beach California with Jonathon and Di Wilson.
We came to an intersection and Jonathon swerved left into the centre lane and quickly asked Di – do we turn here at La Paz. Di casually consented yes and kept on twittering on her Blackberry. Ten minutes later we had to do a U turn and go all the way back to the other freeway and then turn off a different exit.
All because someone gave casual consent to an important question.
Be very careful when asked to give your consent or approval to something.
So often people are looking for approval for actions they are very uncertain about, or they even know it is wrong, but they want someone to tell them it is okay.
Make sure you say what you mean when asked for approval, as casual consent can send people a long way down the wrong road in life.
These days the La Paz Syndrome is rampant as people easily give casual consent to anything.
Often the only sign posts in life are those people willing to stand up for what they believe.
Be prepared to stand as a beacon for what is right. Don’t give casual consent to things through lack of interest – and don’t be so engaged in your own little world that you respond to other peoples requests in a half hearted manner.
I find people are looking for directions in life. In a morally confused world people are asking questions and they deserve more than a casual consent response.
Make sure when someone casually asks you a life question – you do more than send them down the La Paz freeway. Give them your best and offer the right directions to get them to an eternal destination for which they will thank you forever.
And most of all be very careful when asking a woman for directions.
New Beginnings – VIDEO
By · CommentsOn the 3rd of January I spent the weekend ministering at Hillsong Church Sydney.
I had an awesome time – the place was electric.
I preached on the power of New Beginnings – here’s the Video from my new Vimeo Channel
(It’s also available on Audio and Video on my new iPhone App viewable via YouTube links)
Steve Penny – New Beginnings from Steve Penny on Vimeo.
New Beginnings – AUDIO
By · CommentsOn the 3rd of January I spent the weekend ministering at Hillsong Church Sydney.
I had an awesome time – the place was electric.
I preached on the power of New Beginnings – below is the Audio file to play here or download in Mp3.
(It’s also available on Audio and Video on my new iPhone App viewable via YouTube links)
Three Conversions of Christianity
By · CommentsThe New Testament clearly teaches that there are three life changing conversions that a person must experience to be a fruitful follower of Christ.
Acts 2 . 38 clearly reveals the three life changing experiences preached by the early church.
1. CONVERSION TO CHRIST
Three evidences.
Repentence
Restoration
Righteousness
The Miracle Agent is the Blood of Jesus
2. CONVERSION TO CHURCH
Three evidences
Continue in Apostles doctrine
Continue breaking bread & prayer
Continue in unity & one accord
The Miracle Agent is Water Baptism
3. CONVERSION TO CAUSE
Three evidences
Passion for Christ
Power for witness
Purpose for life
The Miracle Agent is Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
These three conversions made up Peter’s message on the Day of pentecost.
I think we need to see people experiencing these three conversions again in dramatic ways.
WHO YOU FOLLOW
By · CommentsWHO YOU FOLLOW – DETERMINES WHO YOU CAN LEAD.
The art of leadership is determined by who you follow – which then affects who you can get to follow you.
The level of our leadership is markedly changed by our associations with those ahead of us.
The people following you – often demand your attention toward them – when what they really need – is to release you to learn from those ahead of you on the journey.
By associating with bigger, larger, bolder, more visionary, and more generous people, you will be inspired to return to your community and emulate the attitudes and examples seen in those at the next level.
The next level is not found by climbing a set of stairs. The next level is attained by copying and acting like those who already have attained it.
If you give all your attention to maintaing what you now, have you will never have enough faith and stamina to launch out and have a go at something you learned from those ahead of you.
The more time you spend with next level people – the more their behaviour will become normal for you.
It is normal for us to gravitate to people with whom we are comfortable. However such people will never inspire you to do the unthinkable and the impossible.
Mixing with people at the next level will demand actions and investments of you, that at first you think are impossible.
However if you persist in such actions you will eventually find yourself at home in such company.
The kind of people I like to follow – are those who have been in their roles long enough to overcome some challenges and stay on course.
They are people who have more than a head full of books – but also have a heart full of passion.
They are people who are inclusive and not exclusive of people at all levels.
They are people who give you their time – their insights and their support when needed.
I love following big thinking people. It frightens me sometimes – but it always keeps me reaching higher.
Thank God for Godly people who like to be followed.
