Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is a book I read years ago, written by Jim Cymbala, pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. In the book Pastor Cymbala wrote about how the Lord had led him to build a great church there in New York City, a church constantly growing spiritually and numerically because it is empowered by the “wind” and “fire” of the Holy Spirit. The key to what that church has experienced has been their ability to hear from the Holy Spirit through prayer.

For the past month I’ve been on sabbatical, taking myself away from the day-to-day activities of our church (and even preaching on the weekends). I’ve taken this sabbatical time so that I could clearly hear from the Lord and discern His will and way for our church family in regards to various ministries and opportunities we have. Now, this sabbatical hasn’t been a vacation. I worked diligently much of the time to strive to hear the voice of the Lord. During this time I:

• Led in the training of 1000+ Pastors and Church Leaders in the Dominican Republic
• Led a Mission Team from our Church to serve people in the Dominican Republic
• Spent a couple of days on the beach in the Dominican Republic with Vicki and others
• Read a number of books and numerous articles about what God is doing in and through His church in today’s world
• Resumed journaling during my daily devotion times, so that I could better discern what the Lord was saying to me on a daily basis
• Preached in 4 churches, with amazing responses to the messages in each church
• Visited and worshiped with our 4 local congregations and our Online campus, and enjoyed hearing 4 of our Staff Pastors preach in those services
• Studied long and hard about how to strengthen our Life Groups ministry
• Planned out an upcoming Pastors & Leaders Training Missions Trip to Kenya
• Participated with our Staff Ministry Catalyst Team in a strategizing retreat
• Participated with Pastors from around our nation in a personal development retreat led by Larry Stockstill, one of the greatest pastors in our nation and world

It almost makes me tired to review what I’m been doing during this sabbatical time.

In the meantime, while I’ve been away the Lord has continued to work powerfully through our Staff Pastors and through our congregation. In the month of July our church family has continued to grow spiritually, and we’ve baptized 142 people, our greatest number of baptisms ever in a month.

The most important thing that I’ve learned (or been reminded of) during this past month, is THE NECESSITY OF HEARING FROM GOD and then HAVING THE FAITH TO DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO. I’m always amazed at the number of people, even Christians, who tell me that they never or rarely hear from the Lord, and they don’t know the Lord’s will and direction for their life. I want you to know that you can know God’s will for your life, and you can walk in it. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice . . . and they follow Me” (John 10:27). And when you know God’s will for your life, and begin to live it out, that’s when you begin to experience the Lord’s peace, power, provision, protection and purposes in your life.

Please know that you are greatly loved and appreciated, and prayed for often.