#DearPreacher

 

As a Pastor, I believe:

•Jesus died for sinners.
•Morality can’t be legislated.
•I must preach the Word & live my convictions.
•I owe love to all.
•We must stand up for the voiceless.
•The Church must spend more time reaching the world & less time judging it.

So…

• Don't preach your convictions. Preach the Word & live your convictions!
• Truth is multicultural. If you just preach the Word, it will fit everyone.
• Preach the word, in & out of season.
• Preach the word when they like you & when they don't.
• Preach the word with love & grace.
• Preach! If your commitment is to "relevance", you'll need to keep up with every trend. So just preach the Word. Set the trend!

Every Blessing!

It Didn't Just Happen

Frederick Douglass said, “Without a Struggle, there can be no Progress." So true!

Trees don’t become mature overnight. There are years of maturing, development, pruning & weathering required for said tree to stand rooted, bare fruit & extend its branches & blossoms to those who seek it’s shelter.

• Don’t take advice from people who’ve never done what you do. They may only know in theory but lack the practicum to provide wise counsel.

• Unless you want the aggravation, hardship, hurt & headache that someone went through to reach the point they’re at right now…don’t desire their anointing. It cost them a great cost to have what they have.

• Allow God to mold you into the one-of-a-kind leader you are. He will keep the clay wet with your tears & bend you with his tender touch.

• Learn to discern people who only want your gift & not you. Everyone has issues they need to work through. However, if you allow their daddy issues, family dysfunction or superstar ambition bleed into your life…you’ll spend months/years delayed & distracted from your life call. At some point, you have to let Jonah go.

You are God’s masterpiece! He has a beautiful plan for your life. Don’t let a setback keep you from your set up!

You didn’t just get here! Trust the process. 

Every Blessing!

Gossip

1. It takes COURAGE & COURTESY to walk in INTEGRITY. If you listen to garbage about someone...who is not present...you have no courage, courtesy or integrity.

2. Every act of GOSSIP is a betrayal. If you are not an eyewitness, you are a false witness. When you repeat what someone else has said, you are a garbage peddler.

3. Did you know that people who gossip are actually HIDING their own shame?

4. It is everyone’s job to PROTECT your CIRCLE from becoming a haunt for demons. Demons can’t possess Believers; but they attach to & express themselves through pride, selfish ambition, condemnation, gossip, offense, malice & hypocrisy.

5. When gossips gossip they usually gossip to gossips who spread the gossip until it gets back to those they were gossiping about.

Don't let gossip decide who your friends will be. Discern the voice of jealousy, the spirit of envy & the bile of bitterness.

Keep your lips pure on this sensational Saturday! 

Win A Soul Today!

I'm thankful for the decisions, to follow Jesus, that take place in our services & at the altar.  However, I think the greater opportunities take place in our everyday living...at school, work, neighborhoods & in the marketplace.  That's why it's imperative to continue to train Christians to share their faith publicly & have experiences of leading people to Jesus.  

No offense towards any church affiliation or even "denomination"....but personally having a strong background in the Baptist church, it is my observation that there is a great emphasis on soul-winning that I don't always see emphasized as strongly in other churches. In Pentecostal churches, "sometimes" our emphasis is dominantly being filled with the Holy Ghost & what formula was said over you when you were water baptized. 

Having the upbringing of both great churches, I believe it's imperative that we teach every disciple to be a "disciple maker" from Conversion-to-Empowerment-to-Life Call!  The cycle of becoming a disciple & then being a disciple maker should repeatedly be on loop in our life....all the way to the grave.

Questions:  

• Who are you presently discipling?  
• What is the name of the last person you led to Jesus & then discipled?  
• Isn't that what Matthew 28:19-20 is all about (The Great Commission)?

In my experience, people who are constantly leading others to Christ (conversions in the marketplace, school, work, etc.) don't have time to be offended, get sideways with the Pastor/church or remain self-serving.  Their FOCUS is on souls.  They are consumed with what consumed our Savior..."not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

It's Saturday...it's an excellent opportunity to count the number of people in your life who need a relationship with Jesus!  Send them a text & ask them to join you in church on Sunday.  It might be just the second time they read a bible...you being their first. 

Every Blessing,

Pastor Hylton