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Daddy, What's Hell?

My six year old daughter, Emma and I were having a conversation the other night on the way home from church. The topic of discussion on this particular ride home was Hell. Emma wanted to know where Hell was, what it was like, and who went there. After we had a pretty detailed conversation about Hell she finished our conversation with these words as we pulled into the driveway: "Daddy, I gotta tell my friends about Jesus so that they don't go to Hell!"

The amazing thing was not just that my six year old daughter realized the consequences of a life without Jesus but the truly amazing thing that hit me was her genuine concern over the lostness of her friends. There was such conviction and compassion in her voice. She didn't just say this half-heartedly - there was a lot of "umpphh" behind what she said!

That night I was faced with my own lack of concern over the spiritual condition of those that live around me. I was confronted with my own lack of fervor over the lost in my community. In one single sentence from a six year old God reminded me of my responsibility as a believer - to tell others about Jesus. I have resolved to not let my daughter's enthusiasm to share Jesus surpass mine again - but to be more active in sharing Jesus with others. I am reminded of what John said in 1 John 4:10-11:

“This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11

If we love others we ought to share the gospel with them. If you would like to hear more about Jesus I would be happy to share with you all about His love, compassion, mercy and grace for you. If you want to know more about how to live a life eternally secure in the Salvation of Jesus Christ I would be honored to tell you. If you need encouragment to share the Gospel with your neighbor - I am praying for you!

March 3, 2008

What's so special about March 3, 2008? It is the day that my daughter asked Jesus into her heart. Her mom and her were driving back from the Strawberry Festival singing, Here I Am to Worship along with the iPod. Out of the blue Emma asked her mom to turn down the radio and told her she wanted to pray and ask Jesus into her heart. After a few minutes of discussion my little girl prayed to receive Christ. She said she didn't want to live without Jesus, that she wanted Jesus to be with her always and that she wanted to live her life for him.

Our cars met side by side at a traffic light on 27 and Emma, with a huge grin on her face, rolled down her window and motioned for me to do the same in my car. I rolled down my window and heard her shout, "Daddy, I asked Jesus into my heart!" It was an amazing moment. You could see the joy in her little heart as she screamed those words out of the car window. I was so proud of her. We got home and talked about her decision. She is so excited and ready to be a follower of Jesus. March 3, 2008 my little girl gave her life to Jesus and this day has now become one of the most important days of my life! This is cause for celebration in the Conner home!

Amazing Prayer

I realize I am always bragging on my daughter but she's just so darn cute and I am so proud of her. Just the other day we were driving home from school and she was telling me about how one of her classmates stopped breathing in class that day. She was really concerned about the little guy and mid sentence she stopped and said, "Daddy, we need to pray for him right now!" I gotta admit, my eyes welled up with tears. Emma was genuinely concerned about her little friend and she wanted to talk to God and ask Him to take care of her little friend. It gets better. She didnt wait for daddy to pray - she just began to pray the most amazing prayer. I am so encouraged by her mountain size faith. The challenge for a dad is to continue to model that faith for her in the years to come. I have been so blessed by my little girl and thank God for her. Emma you rock little girl. Thanks for encouraging your daddy to keep loving God with that giant sized faith.

Life Truly Is Short

Yesterday I began my new position at First Baptist by visiting a young man who has been in the hospital since August due to a brain aneurysm. As we drove back from Tampa I was reminded that life is truly short. You never really know when your card may be punched. When your time is up. When game over. I began to think about that and couldn't help but ask myself - Am I making the most of every moment? It made life seem a little more surreal. It made me think about what I am doing here. Fortunately, the young man I visited is doing well. He is definitely not out of the woods and has a long way to go but it is obvious that God is not done with him. If you get the chance pray for Derek today. I am grateful for yesterday. For the reminder in my life that each day is a precious gift from God and I should use each day to make a difference in this world. Derek I am praying for you bro.

What Happened to the Clowns?

Yesterday was a great day between a father and a daughter. Emma and I had the opportunity to go see the Ringling Brothers Circus yesterday. It was so amazing to see the circus through the eyes of a 5 year old. Emma had the opportunity to try out the trapeze and try on some genuine circus costumes. We saw some amazing things. I gotta admit that I was bummed that there was only one clown in the entire show! How can you have a circus without 12 clowns coming out of the little car? I am disappointed in the lack of my face-painted friends. Please Ringling Brothers...send out the clowns. Clowns aside, Emma and I had the most amazing day!

Planting Churches - Part 1

Planting a church is hard. There, I said it. There is so much to do, so many people to love on, and visions to share. It can become so consuming. It can consume you. Not to mention the disappointments along the way. People will let you down. They will make empty promises. They will bail on you. They will be human. Someone asked me the other day for some advice on planting a church and three things came to mind immediately:

1. Don't do it if God hasn't called you to it! If God has not welled up within you a passion, a desire and a calling to plant a church do NOT go down that road. Birthing a church is painful. It's labor intensive. It drains your spirit. If God isn't in it you will crash and burn.

2. Protect Your Marriage. The last thing that the evil one desires is for a missional church to be birthed. It's the most dangerous kind church. It's alive. It's living on mission. It's becoming a refuge for the lost. So the evil one will do whatever it takes to destroy God's leader so that the birthing never happens or dies soon after birth. We all know that the evil one hits below the belt and there is nothing more devastating to a baby church than a marriage that is crippled. Guard your marriage. Make it a mighty fortress.

3. It's not for the faint at heart. Birthing a church is not for the squeamish. It's like walking among hungry lions at feeding time. It's the most treacherous roller coaster known to man. It take "kahunas" to give birth to a church. Make sure that you've got what it takes to survive the ride.

That's my top three. My good friend Hal warned me of each of these. I thought he was crazy. two years later I can say with absolutely no hesitation he was definitely right! Thanks for the warning bro!

Jesus told his followers to consider the cost to roll with Him. If your contemplating giving birth to a new church - no matter what it looks like - you might want to consider the cost now rather than later.