(this article originally appeared in the Sherwood Church Communicator in 2006. I believe it is still applicable. Maybe more so now than ever. While I am no longer the Senior Pastor at Sherwood, I’ve chosen to repost this article for pastors to read and possibly use as we move into 2023).

I remember the first time I heard Wayne Watson’s song by that title. I sometimes find myself humming it or singing it—of course, I’m alone when I’m singing it. “When God’s people pray, there is hope restored there is sin forgiven…”

Continue reading “When God’s People Pray” →

I remember the first time I heard Wayne Watson’s song by that title. I sometimes find
myself humming it or singing it (of course, I’m alone). “When God’s people pray, there is hope restored there is sin forgiven…”

It’s not that prayer changes things, it changes me. Prayer is not the method we’ve been given for twisting the arm of God. It is not given to convince God to see things from our viewpoint. Prayer is a privilege given to learn and embrace the mind of God.

Continue reading “WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE PRAY” →

The Answer Is Not in Government, It’s in God

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we’ve got a lot of politicians and pundits giving us the “cure” for the recession we are in. Most of them want to throw money at the problem. At the same time, they deny the real issues in our nation. Money is the WRONG SOLUTION! Money cannot do for this country what an encounter with the Master can do. We don’t need political, economic, congressional or presidential solutions. These people are speaking with the foolish wisdom of man. Any solution will be temporary. Any hope will be fleeting.

I don’t care whether we are talking Democrats or Republicans—they’ve all forgotten their base and the people they represent. They are, for the most part, self-centered, greedy, arrogant, and absorbed by their own egos. They love to hear themselves talk, and they love to pontificate. Their words are empty, their motives should be questioned, and the end result will be more of the same. They divide us into camps. We no longer even know what it means to be civil and have an honest conversation.

Continue reading “Government Is Not The Cure” →

Selfies rarely impress me. Most of us don’t have arms long enough to get the right view of everyone in the picture. Yet, people of all ages have been using their phones to take selfies. Pictures are posted on all the social media platforms of people holding up their phones to take pictures of themselves. Sometimes, it is a group shot, often it’s (unfortunately) of them looking in the mirror at themselves.

Some of these pictures are funny. Many are increasingly inappropriate. A recent study has shown that this obsession with taking selfies is leading to increased narcissism. Narcissism is a personality disorder that involves a preoccupation with self and how one is perceived by others. It pursues gratification from vanity and the admiration of their own physical and intellectual attributes.

Continue reading “IT’S TIME FOR A REVIVAL SELFIE” →

On Earth Day, 2015 my friend and hero Don Miller, left this earth for his eternal home. He made a difference during his days on this earth. His booming voice could resonate through a church like a bass drum. He was the first person I ever met who, without question, was a man of prayer.

If I could speak in a thousand languages, I couldn’t express what he has meant to my life and ministry. I met him in 1985, when I joined the staff of Sagamore Hill Baptist Church. He marked me then, his life marks me now. In many ways, Don Millers influence on my life marked me as much as any man.

Don challenged me as a staff member and work to revitalize the Intercessory Prayer Ministry. He was a member there and had established the prayer ministry there, but the staff had gotten busy with “other things” and prayer wasn’t even on the back burner. Don made it Waterford Crystal clear that prayer was essential to the life of a church. I never forgot that.

When I went to Oklahoma, I had Don come in and establish an Intercessory Prayer Ministry. As far as I know, it’s still going today. When I came to Sherwood, Don came to establish an Intercessory Prayer Ministry. That prayer conference, was packed every night. It was the launching pad for everything good and of God that has happened at Sherwood.

Every building decision, Sherwood Pictures decision and ReFresh Conference was covered in prayer. Sherwood continues to mail out prayer cards to people around the community and literally the world. The prayer tower out front stands as a witness to our desire to be a praying church.

I last saw Don in 2014. I got to spend some time with him in his prayer arbor. We talked and prayed together. I will never forget that day. Even at 93, Don Miller was in the battle. He was praying for revival. He was praying for me. He and Libby covered us in prayer in ways I can’t explain and will never fully understand until I get to glory.

My friend is in glory. His prayers live on. His legacy is passed on to others that must take the mantle. Don and Libby would read the church Communicator every week when it came. They prayed for me and my family. Gary would often say, “I’m not sure I’m in the will, but you are.” It brought joy to my heart when Gary would say, “Michael, son of Don.” I miss him today. I can still hear his thundering voice praying to His Father. What a man. What a friend. What a giant.

He lived and died a humble man of God. His shadow is that of a giant.