www|rwlyons|org

Testing New Blog

2007-06-18T12:37:00.000-04:00

Hey all - If you are looking for my post - I am testing out a new blog platform. Come over and check me out and let me know what you think. If it goes well, this site will redirect to the new site soon. I look forward to your comments as I post there for the rest of this week. If you encounter any problems, shoot an email to contact@wordoffaithcm.org

The new blog can be found at www.wordoffaithcm.org - then click on the "blog" link on the top right...

Toxic - Part 2

2007-03-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

Well, the time change made everyone (including me), very tired, but despite all of that, we saw God do some great things today! Many people came to Christ and we had many come forward and make a public decision to "detox" their mentality. I really need to post some pictures because our creative team continues to do a great job on the platform. At one point during the message I was dealing with Jesus cleansing the temple in John 2, and before I knew it, I picked up one of the "Toxic" barrels on the stage and smashed it against an Xbox. The people got my point to say the least!
On other notes, myself and a few members of our leadership team will be traveling this week to see this guy at this event, all of us are very excited and we can not wait to get there. It is always good to get out of your box and see what others are doing in the kingdom...

Spring Forward - Change your Clocks!

2007-03-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

For all of you that may be checking the blog tonight before church tomorrow, do not forget that we are going to loose an hour of sleep. As a side note, can you believe that they actually went to congress to change the daylight savings time by three weeks? I have a few thoughts as to what that's about, but I will keep them to myself for now. At any rate, set your clocks forward, and I will see all of you who attend WOF @ 10am

Toxic

2007-03-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

We just started our new message series on yesterday called TOXIC and the response was great! This series talks about the TOXIC things in our lives that keep us back from God's best for us... I have been excited about teaching this series for a while, and our creative team did a great job on our platform ( I will have to post some pictures). During the message we said that we you are toxic you are:

Tethered - You are restricted and bound

Open - You are vulnerable

Xeroxed - When you are toxic you are no longer an original you are only a duplicate

Ignorant - Being Ignorant and stupid are two very different things - Ignorance lacks information while stupidity has no ability to gain information

Controlled - Toxicity controls you and you no longer do God's will but function under the will of that which controls you.

I just can't wait until next Sunday...we have some great stuff going on at the church, not because I am so good, but because God is so good!

Why The Division?

2007-02-28T11:33:00.000-05:00

When we look at our standard weekly church services, it is clear that these services are very racially divided. If you have a congregation with an African American pastor, then the congregation tends to be largely African American. If you have a congregation with a European American pastor, then the congregation tends to follow the same. However, I have determined that it seems so much easier for the European American pastor to attract African Americans then it is the other way around. I guess I fail to truly understand why this is. I have my thoughts, and I will expound on those in my next post, but I would like to know your thoughts, and why you think we have this racial disconnect. What can be done on both sides of this issue to bring about change. After all, we should all have the same motivation as we worship the same God. Sound off, and let me know your thoughts.

It has been too long

2007-02-27T11:48:00.000-05:00

Ok - it has been way to long since I have written anything. While I can talk about how busy we have been with ministry, and why I have not been able to write, I will not get into all of that. All I will say is that I am looking forward to a lot of fresh and new content posted to this site from this time forward.

For those of you that are wondering where I stand with my book, an update to that project will be coming soon, but just know I am still writing it.

Now, for more important matters, I am very excited about what God is doing at WOF, over the last few Sunday's we have seen someone give there life to Christ each Sunday. It is always a powerful moment when people make a decision to follow the Lord. To often times we get caught up in "having church". I am still not sure that the means, but from everything that I read in the Word, we are "The Church", and when we do our job in ministry, Christ draws men.

Word of Faith is stretching out into new territory and walking in faith and we are very excited for what is ahead of us. For anyone that thinks church planting is easy, they are on something, but I would not trade this for anything...

Finance - Where do we go wrong?

2006-11-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

We started our new series at the church about harvest entitled "Seeds". During the series, we began to speak about how for many of us, our finances our out of control. We are in a place where we either do not have enough, or we have just enough. Now, as I look at what the Lord promised us, we should realize that a life without financial freedom is not the life the God wants for his children. Those outside of the body of Christ will often times go to great lengths to make sure that they make it to the road of financial freedom, while those in the body of Christ seem to lean on the "magic" of waiting on the Lord. We need to understand that waiting on God does not mean that you do nothing!!! Faith without works is dead. Waiting on God means that you do not get ahead of the Lord's plan for you life, that you keep him first...not that you sit in your chair and wait on the job to come to you, but that you beat the pavement!
We, in the body of Christ need to make financial freedom a priority not only so that we can live in peace, but also so that we can be a good example to the non-believer of integrity and financial progress. Life after salvation should not be a poor life, it should be a more abundant life...
On this Wednesday, I am going to dig deeper into God's plan for financial freedom so you do not want to miss it... Often times, what I teach on Sunday and what I teach on Wednesday are two different things, but God has led me to do something different...So, if you miss Wednesday, you are missing parts of the series!!! We look forward to seeing you there!

First Podcast!

2006-11-01T12:37:00.000-05:00

Ok - I am looking for your feedback on this one. I have been playing around with what the best way to do this podcast is going to be. For this first one, I was actually able to record this using my cell phone (that made it really easy). I would like to keep the first few short and start to get your feedback. The topic of this first podcast is what is salvation? I will be doing some work to my RSS feed as well so that you can subscribe to the podcast better, and once I see that things are going well, I will also be putting the podcast on itunes. If you have any problems or anything at all, just put that in the comments as well. As always, I look forward to hearing from you!

Exciting News!

2006-10-28T23:21:00.000-04:00

ok - I am excited because I am about to start working on something that I have been wanting to do all my life; I am about to start work on my first book! This is something that I have put off for I do not know how long, but I really feel God telling me that it is time. I have given God every excuse for why I should wait and non of them seem to have worked very well, so I am getting started. My plan is to include all of you along the way as I write. I will be posting sections of the book as well as asking for your input. The book will also be the subject of the podcast (yes the one that should have started 28 days ago). I have the preliminary structure of the book mapped out and it looks like it will be 5 chapters long. You may be asking why it is going to be so short (this is by design). I did not want the book so long that a new convert would get lost in it if they picked it up on someone's coffee table... I also plan to publish this book in a very "web savvy" type of way. This means that at this point the book will only be available on-line and the price is going to be very inexpensive. You may have questions as to why I am doing this...well, I want to cut out all the overhead that I can and make sure that I can get the book at to a very wide audience and what better way to do that than the Internet. I also want to bring attention to the reality that often times the things that we get for free are the things that we do not appreciate (remember working all summer for a toy, if something were to happen to that toy you were devastated). The price will be low (very low) and the book will be long enough to enjoy and short enough to not take long to read! More details will continue to flow on this blog, and as always I am looking for your feedback! Just continue to pray for me as I take yet another faith step!

Great Post on my wife's Blog

2006-10-11T17:10:00.000-04:00

My wife just put up a great post on her Blog, and I think people are just down right afraid to give it any comments. I think this is a topic that we need to talk about in the body of Christ, and one that will set a lot of people free. So if you have not already been to her site, check it out and sound off on her post. After all, you can always post anonymous!

Sexual Fulfillment

Podcast Coming

2006-09-27T23:24:00.000-04:00

We are preparing to launch a podcast 10.1.06. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or topics that you would like to see us cover, please post a comment to this message. Continue to check back at the blog for more details!

Starting Our Next Series

2006-09-26T22:33:00.000-04:00

This Week at Word of Faith we start our next sermon series entitled K.O. During this 5 part series we will be dealing with the many facets of confrontation that come upon the life of the believer. I am truly excited about the move of God, and I just can not wait until this Sunday because I know that he has something great prepared for his people. The 5 Messages of this series will be:

1 - Knowledge Of Your Condition
2 - Knowledge Of Your Opponent
3 - Knowledge Of Your Preparation
4 - Knowledge Of Your Corner
5 - Knowledge Of Your Prize

We look forward to seeing you at Word of Faith!

Creating A Powerful Time of Prayer

2006-09-25T16:11:00.000-04:00

One of the first ministries that went into affect at Word of Faith was our prayer ministry. I am of the mind, that prayer is one of the most important facets of any ministry. Recently, as we have moved into our new location, we have an even deeper passion for prayer and how to incorperate that into our services. For some time we have had a Saturday morning prayer, but we are aiming to take this to even higher hieghts. What do you think the body of Christ lacks during public prayer services, and what elements do you think would make community prayer more productive and powerful?

Service Yesterday

2006-09-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

I normally do not post about service, but I have to say without a shadow of a doubt, that service yesterday was just another level. We have been talking about transition and yesterday's message was entitled "out with the old, in with the new". The creative team did the entire stage and put in some hard work to make sure that we got our point across. I am really hoping that we got some pictures (I know we have some video, but I have not seen it yet). Once I see what we have, I will make sure that I post it for everyone to check out.
When it comes to our worship services, I think often times we do not put enough time in to make sure that the entire service is an experience that brings God glory. At Word of Faith, we aim to create an experience that is from door-to-door. Innovation and growth in 2006 is about more that the message, it is about the holistic nature of our church services... I think we have a lot more work to do, and we will never be finished, but we are constantly striving!

Talking About Sex in the Church

2006-09-18T09:40:00.000-04:00

The body of Christ talks about a lot of things during our services, but one of the things that is not spoken of very much is the subject of sex. When it is no doubt a reality that sex and the improper use of sex is destroying many relationships and many churches, why is it that we talk about it so very little? while I have my thoughts on this, I want to get your input and your thoughts. The conversation of sex is not one that only impact those that are married, but it also impacts those that are single.

Customer Service

2006-09-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

At Word of Faith we are really big on customer service. Yes, I know, this is not a term that you hear a lot as it pertains to church, but I think that you should. The unfortunate reality is, many church have very poor customer service! Who is the customer? Everyone who walks in the door!
The question is, where, and how should we mend this customer services issues, or do we not even feel like that is important for the body of Christ? I can tell you right now, that customer service is often the pendulum that will cause me to stay or go at a place of business, and in my view, that is also the case with the body of Christ.
I would love to hear your thoughts...

What Can The Church Learn From Business

2006-09-05T15:59:00.000-04:00

Over this holiday weekend, my wife and I took our kids to a parade. There was nothing particularly spectacular about this parade, but there was one major thing that caught my eye. A local grocery store in our area (Dorthy Lane Market), had about 40 people in the parade, all in formation, doing a routine with umbrellas. The umbrella is almost like a Dorthy lane signature item (they are the only grocery store that will walk you to your car in the rain). As I watched them move and dance to the music, I thought about how great the exposure of this was to the hundreds, possibly thousands of people who watched the parade, and then I had to make a parallel; what can the church learn from this?

It hardly ever seems as if we are willing to make an impact where it matters most (with the people). Just because of the showing of this market, I am sure that many customers not only felt proud of their connection with this store, but potential customers now desired to come to the store. What does the body of Christ do in the marketplace that creates a desire in the sinner to come to the kingdom? What public display or showing of unity have we done that persuades the conversion from the store of the enemy to the store of the Lord?

I pray that we do not get so locked in to just "having church", that we forget to change the lives of those who are not coming to church...

Back In The Game

2006-09-05T09:21:00.000-04:00

I know that it has been a while since my last post, be we are back in the game! There are so many big things going on @ Word of Faith that I think I will spread my thoughts over a few post. I do want to thank everyone who continues to make pastoring at Word of Faith a real pleasure. It is an unfortunate reality that many pastors really do not like what they do. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I love the work that I am doing and the people that I get to work with everyday! So get ready for some new post and a fresh outlook on what is going on @ the Church...

This is when you know things are getting really crazy

2006-08-04T10:23:00.000-04:00

Just came across this article while I was doing my reading and this is just some sick information (when I say sick, I do not mean in a good way). As you read this article, please understand that this gentleman on trial believes that he is right in what he is doing, and that his actions line up with his "religion". We should also understand, that among those that do not follow Christ it become difficult to differentiate one "religion" from another. Do you think this is a problem as it pertains to evangelism?
http://www.nbc10.com/news/9621055/detail.html

Spiritual Connection - Part 2 - Where are the results?

2006-07-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

While I did not get any comments on my last post on spiritual connection (yet), I wanted to come back again with a part 2 and talk some more about being connected to the Lord. As I have been talking to various people, it seems like often times, we as Christians loose our spiritual connection (or never seek to gain a connection), based upon the fact that we can not see the benefits of this connection. Heaven, to many, seems like a far off fairy tale concept that is so "pie in the sky" that many would rather just "live in the now". Why is that (is this a product of poor preaching / teaching)? I can not count the number of people who I have spoken to who at one time have tried to have a relationship with the Lord, but just gave up after they could see no result. What is it about the Body of Christ that makes "results" seem so distant? There are many great churches who are growing and teaching a powerful word, but that is not the norm at this point. Many churches are struggling to pay bills and to keep people coming in the door. There are numerous people who "see" more benefits in living a worldly life as opposed to a spiritual life. We, in the body of Christ, must have a track record of results! The scripture says that we should be a light on a hill that can not be hid! I really wish that pastors would come together and set a plan in place to strategically take our cities for the cause of Christ, but that would mean that ego would have to die and personal gain would have to be put on hold - What a burden I feel for God's people! What are your thoughts?

Black Women Raising Boys

2006-07-24T10:44:00.000-04:00

Just came across this article while doing my morning read and I thought that I would post the link in order to get your feedback. While this article does not come from a foundation of faith, I do think it is an important question!

Spritual Connection - Part 1

2006-07-24T10:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at church we began speaking about our connection to Christ and the benefits that this connections brings to the believer. It is interesting that when you look at the things that the Lord desires to give us that many of us will not take hold of the benefits because we do not want to make any sacrifices. While I realize that it is not fair, you are "guilty by association". If you take up the cause of Christ, you may not be taken in with loving arms by the non-believer and for many of us, that is too much to deal with.

Our connection to Christ is the seat of our power and the lifeline of our promise! The words that he has spoken to us can only be obtained through a relationship with him through his son Jesus. If we truly grasp this reality, why are we not beating the doors of our churches down to gain this beneficial relationship with the savior?

Many of us do not want to be connected to Christ and we would much rather stay connected to the World. What appeal does the world have over the body of Christ, and what do you think the church should do about this in order to effectively win souls to the kingdom?

I really want your thoughts on these things...While I have my own, I think one of the powers of this communication tool is the conversation that comes with it. I will be including some of your thoughts as we continue writing about spiritual connection.

Total Commitment to Christ

2006-07-20T11:10:00.000-04:00

In our bible study, we have been dealing with the idea of making a total commitment to Christ. As we have spoken about various scriptural examples and spoken about the importance of this commitment, I can not help but see the looks on the faces of those that think this "complete" commitment is not possible. What do you think hinders our total / 100% commitment to Christ?

There is a decline in Reading - Why?

2006-07-19T10:32:00.000-04:00

There are several studies that are floating around the internet such as the one found here That paint a picture of dramatic reading decline. Why do you think people are not reading like that did in the past? I know for me, I try to read as much as I can, but younger generations do not seem to read much at all (except what is required of them at school). Trends like this, in my mind contribute to the academic decline that we see so clearly in many of our schools!

Update: For some additional insight into this topic, you should check out this blog

Hip Hop Generation

2006-07-18T16:51:00.000-04:00

All over the media are the terms "Hip Hop" Culture or "Hip Hop" generation. When it comes to our young people today, what do you think this means, and what impact do you think Hip Hop is having on culture? I know it has been a while, but Sound off!

Update: There is an interesting article in our local paper that I think lends itself to this conversation. You can find the article here