I am a blessed man.  When I was a young man I could have never written a story like the one I live.  My wife and children are amazing.  I wish I could freeze time to enjoy these days a little more.  My prayer is that I would be the man they need me to be.

My life passage, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, sums up my thoughts concerning ministry.  I am so grateful that God calls me faithful even when I wasn’t faithful.  My prayer is that I would be the man that Jesus died for me to be.

1 Timothy 1: 12-17 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. ¹³Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus ¹⁵Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

When I came to Christ I was added to the Every Nation family.  One of our values is spiritual family, meaning, that the church is a family and the call to follow Jesus is not a call to isolation, but a call to family.  One of the greatest joys of my life thus far has been my EN family.  I am constantly amazed as I travel internationally that I have family from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation!  In this family I have fathers and grandfathers (thank you), brothers and sisters (we can do it), and sons and daughters (we need you). I am so proud of my spiritual family!  My prayer is that I would be the leader in this family that God has called me and Every Nation has equipped me to be.

Finally, I realize that at this point in my life there is so much more to do.  I am convinced I need to be a more aggressive learner.  I am committed to surrender all I am to become a passionate follower of Jesus. I am compelled to fulfill the mission to honor God by planting Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, socially-responsible churches and campus ministries in every nation. My prayer is that not only will I be sinless, but selfless – here I am Lord, send me!

Happy Birthday to me and my August 4th friends!

Tweet This Post 

Last week, my two oldest girls (Gracie 10 & Mollie 6 – almost 7), and 3 staffers from Bethel Community Church traveled to Chantilly, VA a suberb of Washington, DC to our annual summer conference for Every Nation Churches and Ministries.  the church was hosted by Pastor Brett Fuller and Grace Covenant Church.

I was reminded / learned so many things from my week in DC.

From the Conference:

1. Its all about Jesus. ” I have done nothing that He hasn’t done through me.”
2. Thank God for the Cross.  “The Cross changes everything.”
3. The local church is the hope of the world. “Church must be a place where people can deal with their pain.”
4. We need to be more confident about the Gospel we preach. “Men are made for the Gospel.”
5. God has placed me in an amazing family.
   • At our core in Every Nation our mission is and will always be church-planting, campus ministry, and world missions.
   • We in Every Nation place a high value on spiritual family and discipleship.  “Undiscipled people will never change the world.”
6. Leadership is about sacrifice.  “Its about giving up so we can grow up.”
7. We have to over-communicate!  “Most of life’s problems are because we fail to communicate, miscommunicate, or are misunderstood in communication.”
8. We have to count right.  We have to guard our hearts in counting and count for Kingdom purposes.   “If we are getting our identity and sense of self-worth from numbers we are set-up for a fatal crash.”
9. There are many “I don’t know how” moments along any journey of pioneering.  You just gotta keep going and be a learner!
10. Relational moments are sometimes sacrificial, but always worth it.  It was not only good for me to connect and go deeper relationally but my girls have many new friends and were impacted by the relational component!

From Grace Covenant (the hosts):

1. Excellence gives God glory.  Just walk in to the church and there is an aroma of excellence.
2. There is no substitute for friendly.  “Hospitality sets the table for what the Holy Spirit wants to do.”  The staff was friendly and warm.
3. Team ministry is fun and effective. There was a great sense of team and the ethnic diversity was heaven-like!  Pastor Brett has a great team.  “Great teams make great coaches.”
4. Pro-bowlers make good ushers. Former Washington Redskins players like: Charles Mann, Art Monk, Darrell Green, Ken Harvey, and others… led the hosting team for the conference as they do for GraceCovs 4 Sunday morning services.  I would love to coach these guys in my church.  They modeled excellence, humility, and Christ-likeness!

Tweet This Post 

Steve Murrell is the senior pastor of Victory in Manila, Philippines; a director of the Real Life Foundation; and the co-founder and president of Every Nation a worldwide family of churches and ministries.

Here’s another simple leadership lesson from the lousy leaders in the Book of Judges…

When the evil Ammonites were armed and ready to attack, the sorry “leader” of Gilead wisely said, “Whoever will take the lead in attacking the Ammonites will he head over all who live in Gilead.” (Judges 10:18)

In other words:
- whoever leads is the leader
- whoever takes the risk gets the recognition
- whoever takes action gets the position

Why? Because leadership is action not position.

If we lead when the opportunity presents itself, eventually a title and position will be presented. But if we wait for the title and position, we deserve neither, because leadership is taking action not waiting for position.

Great post – be sure to visit stevemurrell.com.

Tweet This Post