Pastor Fernie's Desk

Numbers 13:17-20

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

Numbers 13:26-33

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

• Our text gives us an entire LESSON on what Attitude can do for you or what Attitude won’t do for you.

• This text shows us two groups of people;

1. Positive People
2. Negative People

• People that are successful do not have fewer challenges than those who do not succeed. In fact, they may both be facing the same challenges.

• THE DIFFERENCE? – They RESPOND to difficulties differently. Why? Because the SEE them differently!

• Joshua and Caleb saw their challenges differently from the rest of the LEADERS that were sent out to EXPLORE the land of Canaan.

• Moses sent out LEADERS to a VISION TEST. (“Explore” the Land)

• Do you think that God doesn’t know what a situation looks like? Of course he does. He wants to see if WE KNOW what it looks like.

• Our problem is that WE SEE THINGS, NOT AS THEY ARE BUT AS WE ARE.

Quote:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies WITHIN US”.

THE FIVE “BIG” CHALLENGES THAT PEOPLE FACE

1.    DISCOURAGEMENT

There are two kinds of people in the world:

A.   Splatters – They hit rock bottom, fall apart and stick to the bottom like super glue.

B.   Bouncers – they hit rock bottom, pull themselves back together and bounce right back up again.

Question: Are you going to GIVE UP or GET UP?

2.    PROBLEMS

• Everyone has problems; Bill gates, Donald Trump and even the Apple Corporation has problems.

3.    CHANGE

• This is what was happening in our text. Moses CALLED FOR CHANGE!

• All the existing leaders that were LUKEWARM didn’t want to EMBRACE CHANGE.

• They were so out of shape that the minute they saw CHALLENGE in the EXPLORATION they immediately PROFESS defeat.

4.    FEAR

Destructive Effects of Fear

A.   Fear breeds more Fear.

B.   Fear causes Inaction.

C.    Fear causes Distraction.

Quote;

“I’ve been through some terrible things in my life, a few of which actually happened”.

5.    FAILURE

Quote;

“A man is defeated not by his opponents, but by himself”

• Out of all the leaders that MOSES sent out to a VISON TEST, only two of them passed the EYE EXAM!

• Why was that? – ATTITUDE!

• Some things in life are beyond your control, some things are within your control. In other words; “THE GREATEST DIFFERENCE MAKER IN YOUR LIFE LIES WITHIN YOU – NOT OTHERS = YOUR ATTITUDE!

• You got to start “LUVIN YOUR ATTITUDE”!

• When I say Luvin your Attitude, I don’t necessarily mean to love what you have now, but to add love to it to make it a better thing in your life. (I.E. “Luvin your garden, Luving your yard, etc.)

“WHEN YOU LOVE YOUR ATTITUDE, AMAZING THINGS HAPPEN”

1.    THERE’S A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR APPROACH TO LIFE.

2.    THERE’S A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE.

3.    THERE’S A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU FACE CHALLENGES.

Demosthenes, He was called the greatest orator of ancient Greece. He the worst speech impediment ever. He overcame it by reciting verses with pebbles in his mouth and speaking over the roar of the waves at the seashore.

Martin Luther, If you’ve studied Church History; you know him as the father of the Reformation. He made use of the time he was confined in the castle of Wartburg to translate the Bible into German.

Beethoven, He wrote his greatest symphonic masterpieces after he had become deaf.

- Chuck Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than money, education, circumstances, failures, successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company.. a church.. a home.

We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…

… WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR ATTIUDES”.

The following is an article I would like to introduce to my readers concerning what I have learned about MOMENTUM. What I am about to share with you is from personal experience over the years of my priviledge of being in leadership. Please note that this is all personal experience nothing is taken from any other material.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT MOMENTUM:

1. MOMENTUM IS NOT BY ACCIDENT; IT IS SOUGHT OUT ON PURPOSE. 

Many people can look at a growing church or ministry and say “If I had what they had I would be able to do what they do”. The truth of that comment is; that leader didn’t start with what he has. Often, he started like everyone else – “With Nothing”. Even in my case of inheriting a church. I did start with people but there was no momentum. I needed to “look” on how I could CREATE momentum in my church! I just mentioned a key word called “Create”. This is where momentum begins. We as growing leaders always need to be on the lookout for creating. This is one of the first things GOD did in the beginning. In the beginning God “created” the heavens and the earth. A growing leader is always creating movements in his ministry. When things are not moving, they are dying. A lack of movement results in lots of moss. The creator in momentum are always the lead pastor or the main leader’s responsibility. It isn’t anybody elses job to create momentum in my church other than mine! As we will learn later on in this article that MOMENTUM IS CONTAGIOUS! But, it is YOUR job to be the one that initially creates the momentum. We must always remember that “Momentum is not by accident it is sought out on purpose”. So go ahead! get going, start creating. I can’t wait till you find it!

2. MOMENTUM IS TO BE TREASURED.

Once you’ve created momentum then you have found it. The next thing I am learning is how to keep momentum. Momentum has always been my best friend in building my church! Therefore, I had to learn to treat it as a best friend. If I want my friend to always be my friend I need to treasure it. When I am not treasuring the momentum, then that is when I start to lose it! Once I’ve lost it, it is always harder to start again. Imagine with me for a moment; “Do you remember when you were a child; trying to get going on the park’s swing by yourself?” It took a while to get moving quicker and quicker, higher and higher. But once you got the momentum going it wasn’t so hard to keep it going. All it took was to “keep feeding” the swing. When you stopped feeding the swing, you slowly lost the momentum. Then, you had to start the work all over again! Sometimes, when you lose the momentum on a frequent basis a leader gets discouraged with the hard work to start it again and will never get the momentum back. Remember, treasure the momentum. Momentum grows a ministry. “Keep feeding the swing!”

3. MOMENTUM IS CONTAGIOUS.

This is one of my favorite things about momentum! It is very contagious. The people closest to me will catch it and the people closest to them catch it, and you know the rest. “The beat goes on!” People are attracted to winners. Everyone wants to win and nobody wants to lose. Momentum always makes leaders look better than they really are. And no momentum makes a leader look worse than he really is. If the main leader can keep momentum going in his personal life 90% of the time, he will have a ministry full of ministries that operate on a full tank of momentum. When momentum has died in the church, it means it has died in the leader of that church.

In closing, those of you that have read this complete article have been attracted with the desire to get momentum or have been awakened not to let it slip from your leadership hands.

Pastor Fernie 

TEXT: I CORINTHIANS 16:13 “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong”.

For those of you who have ever been in a boxing match you know it always begins with something that is called an adrenalin rush! The adrenalin usually last for a few seconds in the first round. If not careful, adrenalin can take all the stamina away from you. Often, this is the problem with a lot of BABY CHRISTIANS. – They talk real big in the beginning, then later on they are nowhere to be found!

 Often this is true for NEW LEADERS. The beginning is a honeymoon. They are just glad to be recognized in the ring, but have a difficult time lasting in the ring. Sooner than later, they are TAPPING OUT and don’t want to pay the price of getting knocked un conscious for a victory.

 This is what I know about Quitters!!! Everybody knows one, almost everyone has been hurt by one, but nobody wants to be one.

MEGA CHURCH LEADERS MUST RECOGNIZE IN THE OCTAGON OF CHURCH GROWTH

I.            Demand for vigilance. (To keep watch)

A. “Watch” – be awake, alert, constantly on guard, never sleepy or sluggish, never to let down one’s guard.

B. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:”

 In the octogan a fighters worst nightmare is to fight sluggish.

C. When an army is on a campaign, the soldiers have to “bivouac.” This is, they spend the night in the open-air, and every one remains on guard.

 This is how the LEADER’S OF THE CHURCH ought to be. The night is setting in. Let the church BIVOUAC– Let every one become a watchman.

 II. Demand for steadfastness.

A. “Stand fast in the faith” – stand your ground, stand true.

2 Thessalonians 2:15

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”

 Quote – “Men who show themselves men are men who stand when everyone else has sat down”.

 1 Corinthians 15:58

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

 Quote – “If I falter, push me on. If I stumble, pick me up. If I retreat, shoot me”.

III. Demand for manliness.

 I Corinthians 16:13b

“…Be men of courage”

 A. Be courageous as real men, quit living like immature men.

 Ezekiel 22:30

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

 B. God is searching for men who will stand up as men – men of God!

 C. Leaders with the right prioroties.

1. God is first in their lives.

a. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

b. Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear?” saith the LORD of hosts…

2. Family is next to God 

a. Your wife should be the most important thing in your life next to God.

b. Love your children

3. The Church is in third place

Hebrews 10:25

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

4. Occupation

1 Timothy 5:8

“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

 Your career is the means that God has given you to meet your needs.

 Your career should never run your lives.

(Illustration)

When Billy Crystal’s daughter turned 11, Billy was in New York filming a movie. He called her apologizing for his work schedule and said a package would be delivered soon. He then flew from NY to LA. Later that day when Lindsay opened the front door, a six-foot high carton greeted her and she began ripping it open on the spot. Dad was inside the carton. Billy said, “She hugged me for five minutes. It was unbelievable.” He went on to say, “I missed 25 birthdays with my dad. I’m not going to let that happen with my girls.”

5. Recreation

 Someone has said that one way to tell the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

 I’ve found personally that YOU NEED TO HAVE SOME SORT of recreation to balance out your life.

 Having recreation is the oxygen to living life to the fullest.

WHY DO LEADERS TAP OUT?

1.  They distant themselves from men stronger than them.

2.  They have an un-happy marriage.

3.  They give up on their dreams.

4.  They fall into temptation.

5.  They don’t realize if they lose one round it doesn’t mean they have lost the fight.