The Uprising is ONE WEEK AWAY!! I’m overwhelmed at the possibilities of what Jesus wants to do in us. I believe what God has in store for us could change our lives…change our ministries…and change the world. 2,000 years ago Jesus launched something remarkable through a small, unimpressive group of ordinary men and women. They weren’t the smartest, the strongest, the most-educated…but they were people who had been with Jesus who lived with His heart beating in their chests.

How did a guy like Peter become the forcefully advancing leader Jesus created him to be? How did he go from the man who betrayed the best friend he’d ever known to the man who would just days later stand up and lead thousands to Christ that very first day? Peter messed up more often than almost anyone around him, but God used him to launch a revolution. Jesus had expansive plans for his life. And He has expansive dreams and plans for you…for me. He picks to use us to reach a dying world with His heartbeat. He sends us out with the same mission today that He sent the disciples out with thousands of years ago…a simple, singular mission that captures His heart…to seek and save the lost.

The Church is meant to be the heart-beat of Jesus, living out the Great Commission in real, practical, hands-on ways that bring lasting life change and move real people from death to life. The picture of the Church we read about in the first pages of the book of Acts is possible today. We CAN create loving cultures of redemption… It happened once. It’s happening again.

Join me, Clayton King, Derwin Gray, Pete Wilson, Gary Benedict and other presenters next Thursday, April 19th in Lexington, KY for The Uprising. Come be reminded why you went into ministry in the first place. One day. It could change everything. I’ll see you there!

UNREAL!!! If you’re like me, you’re still trying to catch your breath at what just happened over Easter Weekend!

Thank you so much to all of our phenomenal Quest volunteers and to all of you who serve, love, welcome and give with a humility of spirit that’s amazing. You really represent Christ beautifully and you truly honor people. Everyone who walks in our doors matters, and they can tell that because you’re sincere.

People matter to God; and they matter to us. It’s not just a value – it’s real. It’s not just a slogan – it’s the condition of our hearts. It is our understanding of the gospel. Thank you for living it out. I heard from so many newcomers about how that impacted them while they were here. (Well done, Questers!) And newcomers…we really mean it!! You MATTER!

We had thousands of VIPs and guests here for Easter (even in the middle of Spring Break!). And 174 PEOPLE became followers of Jesus on Easter at Quest over the weekend!!! THAT’s RIGHT…go back and read that again, SLOWLY!! 

Christ is changing the world ONE life, ONE redemption…ONE eternity at a time! These are real people with real stories. 174 real people took Jesus up on His offer to START OVER! Can you believe the difference a day makes?!

Hopefully one of those was someone you know, someone you love…someone you invited!

Do the numbers matter? Absolutely! These are REAL people…moms, dads, sons, daughters, grandfathers, grandmothers…dentists, doctors, laborers, students…unemployed people, poor people, white people, black people, Asian people, Hispanic people! People with real lives…with real eternities who just met and responded to the real Jesus. It was a thrill to see people stepping out, taking Jesus up on His offer – especially at the 11:30! (Watch it here.) WOW!

It was a remarkable weekend where we heard and responded to the reality that NOTHING is irredeemable in the hands of our great God. Could you feel it?!

A huge shout-out to Quest Frankfort…you guys were just through the roof! We turned the page this weekend to begin a brand new era of effectiveness and audacity in Christ and in His love in our state’s capital. So proud of you and your whole team of volunteers who loved and blessed that city, Pastor Ken! (Look for an upcoming blog on Frankfort, soon!)

As we look ahead to next weekend, just a few thoughts…

• Questers…bring your friends back this weekend!
• LAUNCH begins this week – for newcomers to Quest – and for new Christians! Don’t miss this great opportunity to get plugged in! We all meet together at 9:30 am Sunday morning before the 11:30 worship experience. Please come back and be my guest!
• For the 174 of you who gave your lives to Christ, I’m so thrilled for you! I’d love to invite every single one of you back to find out how to take next steps in Christ and thrive in your new relationship with Jesus. Launch is a great place to start.
• If you were our guest this weekend, you really are our VIPs! At Launch, we want to help you find out more about Quest and discover how to make this church your church home. Come be a part of the community! You are really, really valued here.

Easter is the irrefutable evidence of God’s great love for us. A love that came not just to die for us, but that PURSUES us – even to the rocky beaches of our lives…REMARKABLE! Let’s dive into that kind of a love together, okay?

p.s. The Uprising is just 9 days away…HOLY MOLY! Pray for pastors from all over the country that we get to bless! Theuprising.org

As we look forward to Easter, we look forward to the greatest miracle the world had ever known! It was a miracle on my behalf and yours… a miracle of reconciliation and redemption. We can start over! Isn’t it utterly amazing to realize that nothing is irredeemable in the hands of our loving and powerful God? Absolutely NOTHING. That is amazing!!

I’ve been begging the Lord for individuals and families to receive the new start He has for them this Easter. I know many of you have, too. Please pray…and INVITE. Pick out five friends. Give an hour of your time right now to go see them, talk to them and offer to bring them with you to Quest this weekend! (Families will love our Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday afternoon at 2pm…why not have them join you for church after?)

Let’s get the word out! Post this invitation online on Facebook and Twitter and send it to your personal invites. We want to open our doors as wide as humanly possible this weekend! We were never meant to keep this miracle to ourselves!

I can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Happy Easter!!

Do you know the feeling of being on a spiritual high? (Maybe a little bit like everyone in blue this week in Lexington?) That’s what the disciples must’ve been experiencing as they paraded into Jerusalem for Passover week. They never could’ve imagined the scene four days later as they’d just finished sharing what would be their Last supper together as they knew it.

They never anticipated their time in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus faced the great temptation of His life, saying, “My soul is crushed with grief.”

Here in this Holy Week as we move toward Easter - the watershed event of all human history – it would be easy to think that Friday was the day that made all the difference. It would make sense to think that Sunday was the day, as we look forward to celebrating the resurrection. But one Thursday night 2,000 years ago is the day that made all the difference. Thursday is the day Jesus decided to drink the cup…to walk out the Father’s will, saying “Thy Will be Done.” That Thursday in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus decided He’d rather die than live without you!

Jesus faced temptation and won. He fought the greatest temptation of His life so He could win our hearts, and so we could have the power to defeat temptation ourselves. Temptation is not a sin. It’s what we do at the crossroad of temptation that determines that! Here are three action steps to defeat the power of temptation in your life:

1. Identify the Voice – We must identify the voice that’s speaking to us. What’s the source? Temptation will always lie to you, tell you – you deserve it, you can handle it. But the Father always speaks the truth and He always wants what’s best. The tempters words will always be self-serving words about YOU – self-advancing, self-benefiting. God’s words will always be loving, selfless and full of grace.

2. Make the Choice – We must choose which voice we’re going to respond to. We will respond to one of them. Practice making the choice to obey God’s voice as Jesus did so you will be ready when your great temptation knocks on your door!

3. Walk it Out - Jesus didn’t just say He’d obey. He put it to action. What action steps do you need to take today in light of temptations you face?

Just a word to you facing temptation right now as you read this…you don’t have to give in. Jesus died to give you the power to defeat it! You don’t have to ruin your family, mess up your future, compromise your integrity. Jesus wants to help you walk this out. Lean into Him and don’t underestimate the difference a day makes at the crossroad.

And…DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF YOUR INVITATION THIS WEEKEND. Easter is almost HERE! Let’s do “one-a-days” this week inviting at least ONE PERSON to Easter every single day between now and Sunday?! Bring a friend to meet the One who drank the cup of wrath to buy our freedom and liberty, to help us become who we were always meant to be, and to reconcile us to Himself!

Go for it!

EASTER SERVICE TIMES:

Saturday at 4pm and 6pm | Sunday at 9:30 and 11:30

The Uprising is just 3 weeks from TODAY, and I’ve got to tell you…I believe the difference this day could make is off the charts! What God has in store for us could transform our lives, our ministries, and the world!

So many days of our lives go by and we barely remember them. But some days – if we will let them – have the power to transform us forever. Jesus is waiting to meet with you here at The Uprising, and He’s got important, shifting things for everyone who walks in the doors.

Not long ago I caught up with 2012 Uprising main stage speaker, Clayton King, at NewSpring’s Unleash conference. Just spending an afternoon together, I was provoked. Clayton is a teaching pastor at NewSpring, the campus pastor at Liberty University and a well-known author. He’s a great guy who you’ll want to hear from. More than that…this is a man who is crystal clear on God’s heartbeat for the gospel. I think God’s going to use him to ignite something new in many of us.

Listen to what he has to say about The Uprising coming up on April 19th:

Uprising Clayton King & Pete Hise from theUprising on Vimeo.

Don’t miss what God wants to do in you this April at The Uprising! Learn more about other main stage speakers, labs and pre-conference workshops here. Or register here, now.

Where you find your identity is such a crucial topic. I think it’s one of the biggest reasons people miss out on what they were made for. When we’re kids, we believe we might one day walk on the moon, become President, wear the Miss America crown, and change the world! Then something happens. A kid on playground makes fun of you. A teacher embarrasses you. You’re not chosen for the team. You’re not invited to the prom. There person you love leaves you for someone prettier or richer. Your boss gives the promotion to someone else.  And rather than allow hurtful comments and experiences to roll off our  backs we take them in, we digest them, assimilate them and they become our dictionary for self-assessment. They become defining voices in our lives that join together with our voice, ganging up against us. We listen to their argument against us, telling us all we cannot do and will not become. And we believe them. The good news? It is not God’s plan for you to live in the desolate places that comparison, inferiority or condemnation leave you. Real change, real growth, and lasting transformation is possible. God can help you move beyond yesterday’s voices.

You don’t have to live under the cloud of insecurity. You aren’t destined to live with a profound sense of self-doubt and a feeling of uncertainty about your worth. Insecurity is the voice inside that second guesses your choices, feelings and value. Beth Moore defines it as self-sabotage. And if you will let the One who made you define you, you don’t have to be subject to other voices, circumstances and feelings. You can stand firm no matter the weather, words, wins and losses. Your heart, life, and core don’t have to be up for grabs. You don’t have to be subject to latest opinion polls at home, at work, or in the mirror. Your security can be rooted in what God says about you. Our security in our source!

In Matthew 16, Jesus is talking with Peter and it’s as though once Peter understood the truth about Jesus, He was ready to receive the truth about himself. (I love the Message version of Matthew 16:18 “And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are.”)

You are not who others tell you you are. You are not who you have thought yourself to be. It’s in Christ that you will find out who you are and what you’re living for. (Eph 1:11) If you want to get off the roller coaster on the confidence continuum and begin to build on the rock of His truth, you’ll need to make a shift. You’ll need to follow Jesus’ wisdom in Matthew 7 and build on the rock, the solid foundation of His Words.

Here are three keys for your journey:

1. Accept that your security isn’t based in what you see, but in what He says!
2. Recognize that your security is not based on your performance. (He chose you before you were born!)
3. Dive into the battle of agreement. (Choosing to listen to HIS voice over the other voices will take work!) You’re going to have to agree and put 2 Corinthians 10:5 into practice, taking every thought captive.

Thousands came out Friday night for a fantastic Third Day show hosted at Quest. It was an incredible room, filled to capacity without an open seat in the house! (Loved it…great show, guys!)

I watched so many people entering in, having the time of their lives, and it struck me. There are so many stories of artists going to a concert like that and realizing in a moment that that’s what they want to do with their lives…from Adele and Pink, to P. Diddy and Run DMC…the experience transforms their lives. They watch someone on stage, and think…that’ll be me one day.

That’s a microcosm of the series we are in called The Difference a Day Makes. The point is simple & profound…that in no time at all (a single moment, hour, day)…we can see, hear, learn or experience something that changes us forever! Most people tend to believe this topic more for the negative than the positive! Bad, hard, painful things happen out of the blue all the time that change our lives, but in this series I’m focusing on the positives, hoping to convince you to wonder for yourself: What might God do in me if I open myself up to Him? What if?

In Luke 5, Peter opens himself up to Jesus’ direction, and the difference that day made in his life and the lives of billions to follow is incalculable. Tired after a long, unsuccessful night fishing, he gets boat-jacked, and somewhat reluctantly takes direction from a rabbi about fishing in the middle of the day. He’s on the shore, cleaning his nets…and Jesus tells him to push out to deeper water. And he DOES it! Despite his objections, he says, “If you say so, I will…” And his world is never the same again!

Some of us find ourselves on the shore, objecting, arguing our case with Jesus. Some people pray, asking God to bless this or bless that in the shallows, but He loves you too much to answer your prayers to make the shallow water more comfortable. He’s calling you to deeper territory.

Where is He calling you into to deeper water? You can be someone who says, “If you say so, I will…” every single time to Jesus. He got in Peter’s boat that day…and He’s getting in your boat now. He’s picked you for great things.

Ask Him where He wants to take you…and push off to deeper waters. You’ve been CHOSEN!

Transformation Pastor Helen Musick has learned what it means to let Jesus be her hope and her anchor even when things feel out of control. Here are her reflections from the first week in our new series, The Difference a Day Makes: (You don’t want to miss a single week of this series!)

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I wonder if your days are like mine – filled with circumstances that present themselves as challenges that stand in our path. From the hardest circumstances to the smallest ones (the ones that just seem to pile on), they are opportunities where we can choose to allow God to be our source of hope or stand alone where the enemy seizes the opportunity for attack.

Remember that when hopes is challenged, the enemy, who is an opportunist, doesn’t play fair. (Stay alert!) He wants to take advantage of your lowest moments to steal, rob and destroy your hope. But God can take your darkest day and speak light and hope into the most hopeless places.

Romans 15:13 says, that doesn’t disappoint, regardless of what we are going through or how tough the circumstance is that we face.  But hope can mean so many different things to us.  The hope we find in the Bible isn’t wishful thinking but a hope that lives in alert expectation.  It is not “if- God” but “when-God” hope.  Where do you need to live in hope like that?

Luke 8 has always been a favorite of mine because of the story of the woman with the issue of blood and her courage to do what it took to be healed.  But after spending a week with Jairus, studying his response to a circumstance that no parent wants to find themselves in, I have fallen deeper in love with Luke 8.  Jairus serves as an example worth following.  If you are looking for a road map from hopelessness to hope consider Jairus’s choices and follow him…

• Get close to Jesus and stay there.

• Don’t give up.  Delays are not denials they are often the opportunity for a greater miracle.

I shared my story this weekend of adopting my children and the painful “no’s” I experienced along the way. When I felt like I was going under, Jesus spoke to me so clearly, challenging me to let Him be enough…no matter what came. His voice that day changed everything. And today my three children are more than amazing gifts in my life, they are a tangible expression of the truth that sometimes in our life:

• The bigger the no, the greater the yes.

• The longer the wait, the greater the gift.

• The greater the suffering the greater the glory.

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Will you listen for Jesus’ voice when the way seems dark? When like Jairus, you hear other voices tell you to give up hope? Jesus will meet you and pour out hope into your life if you’ll let Him – a deeper, thicker, truer hope than you’ve ever known. Lean into Jesus and choose hope.

P.S. Need to experience hope in community? Join us tonight for Elevate, as we celebrate the hope of the world and receive The Lord’s Supper…and weekends for our new series, The Difference a Day Makes.

A single day can change everything. You know it’s true; you’ve experienced it in your own life. So have I. We recognize it when our first child is born, when we get married or sometimes when the bad news comes. Everything changes…sometimes not just in a day, but in a single moment. Can you remember a day like that in your life?

I remember the day I got married…, the day my mom called to say, “the cancer is back…”, the day Jacki told me she was pregnant…, the moments when I saw my boys on ultrasound…, the first time I held them in my arms. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. You could list a dozen days that have changed everything in your life. So could I.

I believe God has transformational days waiting for all of us. For those walking in a place of hopelessness, Jesus breathes HOPE into the darkness. For those who don’t know which way to go, He brings direction that can change the course of your entire life. When voices of defeat and failure try to conquer you, He speaks and all other voices get quieted. When you don’t know what you’re living for, He offers a plan for your life that will blow your mind! And for those who don’t know Him, He is pursuing you even now to draw you to Himself.

Days can pass unnoticed. We can let them slip away…OR we can let Jesus transform us and change everything. The difference a day makes: don’t miss what Jesus wants to do in you! You’re invited to explore the possibilities and find out what God has in store for you over the next seven weeks at Quest. What does He want to do in you today?

Need a glimpse? Watch the first week of our series, The Difference a Day Makes here.

p.s. Watch for reflections from our first weekend from our Transformation Pastor Helen Music here tomorrow.