Austin Porter dot org

This is probably the “easiest” lesson to remember, but it has definitely been the hardest for me to live out.

And to be completely honest, God is still working on me with this one…

EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Doing what God has called you to is never easy (planting a church, raising your children, leading your spouse, going to school, pioneering a business, sharing your faith, etc.) but we what we have to 1st learn and then 2nd remember is…

GOD IS IN CONTROL!!

He always is, always has been, and always will be… if we let Him. Because He loves us enough to let us try it on our own. Shoot, he loves enough to even let us fail!!

But He also loves us enough to be in control when He ask Him to take control, to move ourselves out of His way; And let Him take the lead, call the shots, provide the way.

We all know the sayings, “Where there is a will, there is way.” But it must be HIS WILL or NO WAY! 

And ”If its His will then its HIS BILL.” He will give us everything we need (resources, finances, manpower, work hours, etc.) but we must be willing to step out in faith trusting Him to provide.

We can never let our fear paralyze us into submission (or even depression) because we are too afraid to take the Spirit lead risk and LET GOD BE GOD!

Want to know HOW BIG your God is today?

Ask yourself, ”How big of a step I am willing to take in order to let Him show me just how big He really is?” It is at the point that you will begin to see just HOW BIG you believe God to be!

Want to serve a BIG GOD? Then take a BIG STEP and watch what He WILL DO when we allow Him to be in control.  

What is the BIG STEP He is begging you to take TODAY in order that He can show you just HOW BIG He really is?

But HOW we spend them is WHERE it counts!!

As a person in leadership, I am always looking to learn from other leaders in order to grow in my capacity to lead on an even higher level.

The problem arises though when I look to other leaders and I see they ALL are able to accomplish… in just a 24 hr period!!

And I think to myself, how in world do they do it? Either they don’t sleep or they are Supermen and neither one of those scenarios works for me!

Seriously. They wake up to work out, pray with Jesus, prep their sermons, lead their churches, write their books, speak at conferences, date their wives, play with their kids, travel the world, meet with others, blog online, take time off, watch TV, have lots of fun, and conquere the world!!

Again I look at these leaders and I say “How in the world do you do it?”

What is the secret?  

Well what I’ve learned the hard way is that we ALL have 24 hrs. Every single one of us! Even the “Superhero” leaders so many of us look up to…

So instead of letting this INTIMIDATE us into thinking we can never do it, how about letting this simple truth MOTIVATE us into realizing we can do it too. Why?

Because YOU DO… WHAT YOU WANT… TO DO!!

Don’t miss this. It’s easy to do. I missed it for so long, but again the truth is…

WE DO… WHAT WE WANT… TO DO!!

If it ever becomes important to you, then you will do it. Scratch that. If it ever becomes VITAL to you, then you will do it!

So let’s make some progress through asking 3 simple questions…

1. What sacrifices are you willing to make in order to see that task accomplished?

2. What schedule adjustments are you willing to implement in order to see something take priority over the other?

3. What people are you surrounding yourself with in order to hold you accountable to the responsibilities you must fulfill?

Because as I learned the hard way, we will never be successful in accomplishing all God has laid out before us if aren’t willing to do these 3 things! So last 2 questions…

1. What tough changes do you need to make for yourself ESPECIALLY today?!

AND

2. What hard conversations do you need to have between you and the Lord today?!

Have fun guys and remember to go get ‘em!!

We learn it in sports. But too many times we forget it ministry. A win is A WIN is A WIN!! No matter how pretty OR how ugly it is, a win is a win. And all it takes is 1… 

1 more point than the other guy!

Obviously in ministry we love to measure success in high attendaces, big offerings, multiple salvations, and large baptisms. And in NO WAY am I advocating against this standard of measurement. 

In fact, I believe they are all COMPLETELY Biblical and we make no appologies here at Revive Church for striving to fulfill Biblical mandates. We actually celebrate these big wins and for the sake of the analogy would consider accomplishing any of these goals a “pretty win” on any given Sunday.

However, I have had to learn the hard way that not every Sunday is going to be “pretty win.” But just because we may not win ”big” or ”pretty” doesn’t mean we’ve lost either. Sometimes in ministry you have to learn to appreciate the “little wins” or even “ugly wins” because regardless of the score, a win is win.

For example, you may not have had 1000 people on Sunday morning but you may have had 1 show up who had not darkened the door of a church for the last 8 years! (We did on Sunday!!) OR you may have also had…

1. A family finally trust God with their first tithe check ever in their lives!

OR

2. A student actually invite a parent to church!

OR

3. A parent actually show up after their student invited them!

OR  

4. A new couple take the first step in joining a small group!

OR

5. A college student give of their time to volunteer in ministry!

OR

6. A new mom make the decision to raise her child in a Godly home!

OR

7. An unchurched family come back for the 2nd week in a row!

OR any other number of things where Jesus scores JUST 1 MORE over the enemy!!!

No, you may not have had the highest attendance this past Sunday (or even this past month) or fill in the ___________ where you don’t think your ministry is measuring up. But don’t be discouraged because Jesus is still winning each and every week.

Yes, here at Revive Church we are ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS and we will never make any appologies for it! We will always do everything we can to advance the Gospel and RUN UP THE SCORE for the Kingdom of Heaven. But remember to cherish the “small wins” too because any win is a BIG WIN when eternity is on the line.

And I’ve had to learn that while it IS ok to be “ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS” I must also remember ”WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE ALL ABOUT…” and that is lives being changed ONE life at a time! Sometimes all you need is 1… 1 more life you’ve scored over the enemy!!

Its been awhile! But I’m excited about finally blogging again. I want to thank so many of you for checking in on us through Twitter, Facebook, etc. but I’ve realized there are just some things that I want to express that require more than 140 characters. 

And with so much happening in our lives during the last few months, blogging has definitely had to take a back seat. But I’m finally ready to jump back into the daily discipline of opening up online. So if you’re ready to rock, I’m ready to roll.

Better buckle up because HERE WE GO…

This week on austinporter.org – 3 “Easy” Lessons I Learned the HARD Way

Should be fun!!

So I’ve been away from my blog for a while (lots of driving and serving out of town). But while I’ve been away, I have done a lot of reading in the Gospels to see what Jesus says in order to learn what he is now saying to me.

While there is obviously A LOT he does say, I started to notice some of things he NEVER says but that we unfortunately all too often hear in our churches.

So here is a Top 10 List of Things Jesus Never Said…

10. “I Can’t…”

9. “I Won’t…”

8. “I’m Too Tired…”

7. “I Don’t Get Paid To…”

6. “It Doesn’t Really Matter…”

5. ”Ask Me Next Month…”

4. “Ask Me Next Year…”

3. “I Worked All Week…”

2. “It’s Just Too Early To Get Up…”

1. “I Quit…”

Thank GOD Jesus NEVER said, “Now that’s just asking WAY TOO MUCH.” So why do we as His Church, the people He DIED for, dare say these things back to Him. Maybe it’s because we aren’t nearly as souled out Him as He is to us.

And may God have mercy on our souls when we dare offer ourselves as more important than His Church and His Kingdom. When we look at Jesus and the assignment he endured, how could we ever think our petty excuses hold any merit?

So what is it Jesus is asking you to do that perhaps you need to put the excuses aside and just obey him? Because we can always serve him EVEN MORE!!