Nehemiah 12:30

30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people,

and the gates, and the wall.

This verse simply shows the progression of the work of God in a family or a church. God always begins with one person. I cannot ask someone else to change their lives until I've first let God work in me. The purifying process is an inside out work. If you want to see some movement in your home or your business or your church then allow God to work in you. The priest had to deal with themselves before they stood in front of others and told them how to live. That is the power of the gospel, it's alive and at work in me and then it flows over into others. While the wall was built for protection of the people, it was the overflow of what God was doing in the people that purified the project of the wall. An interesting question is "Do the people make the church pure?'" or "Does the church make the people pure?" The projects that God give us to accomplish are made pure by the purity of the people who are called to lead and accomplish them.

Semi-Big Announcement This Sunday

This Sunday you won't want to miss out on the big announcement that affects everyone. It's going to be good so don't let the time change of moving up an hour keep you out of church. One hour less of sleep is not going to be worth what God is doing at HOF. Also, starting a new 3 sermon series on Nehemiah and I feel like it's going to speak to hearts.

What a great SOAP morning today

Today I read Nehemiah 6 and really felt like God spoke to my heart about the direction we need to move in for the next 3 Sundays. It all has to do with the 3 battles that Nehemiah faced and how he responded to the attempts of the enemy to distract him. You are going to be the victim of a distraction attempt and we have to be prepared to know how to answer or else we could become a victim.

#1 First challenge: the challenge of purpose

Enemy says, "Meet me in the plains of Ono." Nehemiah replies, "I'm engaged in a great work and can't come. Why should I stop working and meet with you."

• Purpose defines our schedule
• Purpose determines our friends
• Purpose helps us know when to say, "NO"
• Purpose keeps me ending up at Oh no!

Preaching it this Sunday and I'm pumped.

Rebuilding the Wall

I'm currently S.O.A.P.ing in Nehemiah and really being challenged as a believer and a leader. The whole idea of "rebuilding the wall" is such a God idea for our lives. When you think about a wall and what a wall does, then you know why we need one. Walls in Nehemiah's day spoke significance about a city. It says, "There are things of value here that need to be protected". Our lives are that way also, we are valuable and need God's protection around us. Broken down walls serve no purpose, they can't keep out what doesn't belong nor keep protected what is valuable. A person's life with a broken down wall is open to anything the enemy wants to do: steal, kill, or destroy. The enemy reallizes how valuable we are and will begin to build the wrong kind of walls of resentment, unforgiveness, jealousy, insecurity, etc... if we won't allow God to build His kind of walls in our lives. Godly walls are built when we obey God's commands to : forgive, be generous, pray, fellowship, partner with others, take part in the local church, etc... There is so much protection when we allow Godly walls to be built in our lives. Let Him continue the building process in your life today.

S.O.A.P. Nehemiah 2:18

"Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me..."

I can remember when I had to do something for the 1st time or that was hard to do and my dad would just put his hand on my shoulder. It's amazing how much courage and comfort you get with Dad's hand on your shoulder. That's exactly the image that I see when I read this passage in the Bible. God wants to put His hand, that strong, steadying, stable hand on your life and it will make all the difference in the world. Nehemiah gave it the credit for his success with the king he served. He called it the "gracious hand" of God or the hand that brings the grace of God into my life. Grace can be thought of as "love in action" and so when God loves us and takes action on our behalf then He places His hand of grace on us. Instantly things begin to happen and success is realized where maybe none has been realized before. Ask today for God to place His gracious hand on your life, it will make all the difference.