Josh Pitka, His Best Friend God, and the Mega Church Journey

when I actually do them, make all the difference.

If you and I are really formidably honest with ourselves, we realize quickly that it’s ‘my own fault’ that we didn’t get the result we wanted. And we usually know the answer – it’s just a matter of if we really want to ‘pay the price’ to get there. 

What is God speaking to you that you are ignoring? What are you justifying and holding onto so tightly that you’ve already come up with excuses when people question you about it? 

What I’m saying is… most of the time the answer is really simple… it’s just hard. 

So be encouraged to make the difficult decisions this week! 

I’m learning that most of us really want… scratch that… NEED a miracle in our lives. But also seeing that one of the main problems is that we want the preacher or the guru or the physician or God Himself to just wave their magic wand over us and ‘make it happen’ for us without any effort on our part.

Biblical miracles happen as a result of GOD’S supernatural power and provision and OUR faith colliding and BOOM – a miracle!

How are you responding to what God has shown you now? Are you waiting for ‘magic’ OR working diligently with God and trusting in Him. He is for certain the author of all miracles!

2 Kings 5 illustrates this point vividly – check it out here!

God gave us a model in the Bible, and his name was Paul. Paul said, quoting from Acts 20:24:

²⁴ ”However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

God has a task for you today. That task does not determine your salvation – YOU RECEIVING CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR DETERMINES YOUR SALVATION – so if you’ve done that, and done it for real, then the evidence of it is DESIRE!

Desire for what? DESIRE to complete the next task!

You see, Christianity (following Jesus) is THE MOST exciting, crazy, often difficult, but always rewarding journey any man or woman can ever embark on. When you truly give God your life, receiving the forgiveness that was purchased for you and me by the shed blood and broken body of Jesus on the cross – SOMETHING SHIFTS…. no wait! Let me rephrase – EVERYTHING SHIFTS!

Your priorities shift!

Your motives change!

Your desires change!

It happens day by day by day by day by day by day by day… you get the picture… as YOU FOLLOW JESUS!

So the question you and I need to ask Jesus is this: what is the next step?

As you seek Him with all your heart he will certainly show you. It may be challenging, it may be a trill, it may cost you everything or just a bit… BUT it will be worth it! AND once you’ve completed, you’ll be onto the next amazing adventure with Jesus!

Guys and gals – being a Jesus follower is an adventure! 

Stop merely existing in your Christian life – START FOLLOWING CHRIST WITH ALL YOUR HEART – AND LIVE!!!

Is a daily endeavor of connecting your dreams with your actions.

If you’ve discovered a dream that burns in you – you must begin to connect your actions in real time with the fulfillment of that dream.

So say that one of the dreams in your heart was: I want to be in great shape! – Great!… now where do we start?

If you weigh 350 pounds and you should weigh 190… we’ve got a way to go to  being ‘In great shape’… but you’ve got to start somewhere.

So the next step after your realization of your dream – you’ve got to develop some quantifiable GOALS.

A one week goal, a one month goal, and a 3 month goal would be a great place to start. They could be:

1 week – lose 3 pounds

1 month – lose 12 pounds

3 months – lose 36 pounds

So if you want to be in great shape one day – you need to do something today to meet your one week goal – they could be:

**Walk an hour a day this week **Throw out your junk food and eat healthier **Read a health book. If you did those 3 three things this week you’d be off to a good start!

You have to GET IN BETTER SHAPE THIS WEEK if you’re going to get to your dream – otherwise you’re only dreaming.

more tomorrow about goals and how to accomplish them…

ps. half of a goal accomplished toward your dream is better than 100% of no goal (no progress) towards it! So get better and KEEP GOING!

What else can you do?

There are dreams and visions that burn inside each of us, and moreover, when we begin to draw near to God day by day these dreams become clearer.

I define a ‘dream’ as: The calling of your life – what God has put you on the planet to accomplish.

So what do you do with dreams? 

The sad reality is that many people never accomplish the dreams in there hearts, and the disconnect is in their simple day to day actions.

Because this is the truth: “If you are not accomplishing your dream today, you are not accomplishing your dream.”

You could start tomorrow… but then you’ve just wasted today not building toward it. I’ve wasted many days, and I’ve also invested many into my dreams… so I’m somewhere in the middle of the process.

Along with your dream YOU MUST develop a practicality and tangibility of your day to day action corresponding with the building of your dream if it’s going to come to pass. Otherwise you are ONLY dreaming. Dreams don’t become reality without understanding the fundamental truth that DREAMS HAVE TO BE BUILT OVER TIME.

We’ll chat more about the process tomorrow. 

Today is the 7th birthday of Dunamis Church! Yes it’s true – 7 years ago today on a Friday night I stood up in front of 10 people and preached my guts out. These were my message notes in bold below:

April 1/05 WARTIME

 * God is raising up an army!

Matt11:12

 “It’s not out abilities that truly define us, it is the choices we make.”

 WE GOTTA CHOOSE!!

• I won’t preach tolerance.  There is no room anymore for a gospel of tolerance.

What’s our strength in all this?  

LOVE— love never fails.

 THE CROSS

-          We gotta see what we’re fighting for! 

-          (What Jesus fought for!)

I haven’t changed my stance.

If you’re a believer reading this, let me tell you… it’s easy to attend church and listen to messages and read your Bible.

Not so much so to actually follow Christ and DO HIS WORD (His commands)…

But it’s the only way that is truly fulfilling.

The next season is upon us a church – time to flip a city upside down for Christ! 

Something happens in the life of a believer when they fuller surrender to Christ.

I don’t mean simply a prayer prayed to accept Christ as Savior, or even confess Him as Lord. I mean the ‘read deal’…

… a moment in time when one stands in front of the mirror and doesn’t see their life as their ‘own’ anymore, but confesses along with Paul in Galatians 2:20

“It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I live in this flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Something happens indeed. A shift happens. Every day is now different. Possibilities open up… endless possibilities of what God could do through you, a life fully surrendered to His purposes and for His glory.

I wonder what God could do through a life that was fully devoted to Him…? TIME TO FIND OUT!

Hey guys, the below is more than a simple blog… I’m sensing a heart cry from God for many people. Take a listen and I hope this stirs your boat! Send the video (boldly) to someone if you know they need this type of exhortation!

From my heart…

Now is the time for you and I to rise up with all of our heart! Into the calling of God and into His providential grace!

DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE … TODAY! Because your LIFE is TODAY!

You aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.

Just sayin’!

In my personal journey as  a leader – I’ve come with up (some I’ve heard from others and adopted) 9 leadership truths I desire to live by and teach others to live by as well. Enjoy!

# 1 Serve those wholeheartedly whom the Lord has called me to lead

#2 Finish the job

#3 Empower leaders at every turn

#4 I will not strive (meaning: worry or fret in this case). I will rest, hear, repent, and obey His voice!

#5 Execute small details with urgency – EXCELLENCE!

#6 Work with and pour into those who are willing to do what it takes to win

#7 Throw out anything that distracting me from THE VISION (God has given me)

#8 File any thing that will help probably help me in the future

#9 The Early Bird gets the worm!

Love you all and HOPE you’re having a good week!

Please chuck up on my facebook wall any one-line leadership principles or truths you strive (meaning: desire in this case to live by!