Dave Bowman

Blog Break

Taking a blog break this week. Be back next week. Same bat-time, same bat-channel. In the meantime, catch me on Twitter at davebowmanonlin. See 'ya!

Be BIG!

Those of you who know me, know where I spent last Sunday afternoon - in front of my TV watching Duke win the ACC Championship. As usual in the ACC, it was a very good, very hard fought game. But there was a moment that caught my attention and I've been thinking about ever since.

Kyle Singler had taken an inbound pass and was trying to bring the ball upcourt. He made the mistake of trying to handle the ball like a point guard and got trapped against the sideline and turned it over. Coach K used it as a teaching moment and called out to Singler, "Be big!" In other words, don't try to play like a small guard, be BIG!

Since Sunday I've been thinking a lot about how to be BIG (OK, no short jokes here!):

• How can I be big in my faith?

• How can I be big at following Jesus?

• How can I think big?

• How can I plan big?

• How can I lead big?

• How can I pray big?

• How can I dream big?

Here's what I know about God: He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us... Ephesians 3:20

He's BIG! He does BIG things! That means he wants to do something BIG in and through your life.

So, how do you need to BE BIG to allow God to do what he wants to do in and through your life?

On another note: DON'T MISS THIS SUNDAY AT NEW HORIZON! We're wrapping up the Jump series and it's gonna be a hot one! And you don't want to miss the beginning of the service! Seriously, it's going to be fun and it's going to be one of those things you'd never expect to see in church (except at New Horizon)!

Leaders R Learners

That's a value that I've held since my days in the business world. It didn't take me long to figure out that if I wanted to lead in business I would have to be in a constant learning mode. To lead you have to be growing. You have to be moving forward intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and relationally. It's the only way to stay on the edge.

And that value holds true not just in the  business realm but in the ministry world too. Spiritual leaders, whether they be pastors or church staff members or volunteer team leaders, have to be in constant growth mode spiritually and in their ministry skills. Unfortunately, some pastors and leaders fail to learn this valuable lesson and eventually end up leaving the ministry or even the church. They often walk out the door burned out and disillusioned.

One of the ways I learn is by attending ministry conferences along with our staff and volunteer leaders. Here's what I've experienced at various conferences over the years:

• I've learned new ministry skills

One of the best ways I know to learn new skills is to find someone who is doing what you want to do and learn how they're doing it. Like the old saying goes, "Why reinvent the wheel?"

• I've been fed spiritually

Conferences are usually very intense spiritual environments. The worship is usually off the hook. The teaching is top notch and the overall atmosphere is one where God seems to move very strongly. The result for me is that I've had some of my most meaningful encounters with God in recent conferences. God has used the spiritual atmosphere of conferences to broaden my vision, to encourage me, to challenge me and to speak things into my heart.

• I've had fun

One thing we always try to include in conference trips is a little bit of fun. I love the team I work with and it's great to just hang out together and laugh and do things that create memories. 

So, tomorrow (Wednesday) we head out for the Unleash conference in Anderson, SC. I would like to ask you to pray for our team. Pray that God would refresh us, stretch us, broaden our vision, challenge us and most of all - minister to us.

Honestly, I'm a little tired right now. I've had some tough personal challenges lately, plus I've been teaching some stuff that has been particularly emotionally draining for me. I need to meet God over the next couple of days and I'm not ashamed to say it. I need to meet God in a fresh way. I'm praying for that for me and I'm praying for that for our team.

How Can We Pray For U Again

During our 21 day fast the staff is joining together for prayer on Thursday afternoons. Last week we prayed for everyone who let us know that they were unemployed. This week we'd like to pray for you guys again. This time we're going to be praying for those who have physical illnesses. So, just like last week, if you want us to pray for your physical health/healing, send me a comment. (Just like last week, I won't post any of the comments to protect your privacy!)

Want Us To Pray For U?

One part of our staff's 21-day prayer and fasting journey together is to meet each Thursday afternoon for prayer together. We pray for each other, our ministries, our church, our team members and just about anything else we can think of.

This Thursday we would like to spend our prayer time praying for something very specific - your employment/business situation. We're all aware that this is a tough economy and that some are losing jobs and/or business. So, if that's your situation we would like to pray for you specifically.

So, shoot me back a comment (I won't publish them, so don't worry about someone else seeing your comment) and we'll add you to the prayer list!

Effective Prayer

Are you joining us on our 21 day prayer and fasting journey? If you are, let me give you a few quick suggestions on how to pray effectively...

• Pray in Jesus' Name

Effective prayer is focused on and centered in Jesus. When it comes to praying, Jesus himself told us to come to the Father in his name. "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." John 16:23 God hears and responds to prayers that are lifted up in the name of Jesus.

• Pray God's Will

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14  When we pray according to God's expressed will, we can expect God to respond.

• Pray God's Word

This links to the previous point. The best place to go to understand God's will is God's word. So when we pray God's word we're on target in praying according to God's will. "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." John 15:7   The more we stay in God's word, the more his word stays in us and the more we pray in line with his word.

• Pray With Faith

Jesus said that when we pray faith is an essential element. "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22

• DON'T GIVE UP!!

In one of Jesus' most famous teachings on prayer (Luke 11:5-8) he teaches us not to give up until we get an answer. He ends the story with one of his most famous sayings: "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9  In the original language of the New Testament this would have sounded more like this: "Ask, and ask, and ask...seek and seek and seek...knock and knock and knock..." In other words, KEEP PRAYING!

Day 4

Well, we're 4 days into our 21 day journey of fasting and prayer. So far, so good! I think I've made it through the detox period intact. Everyone says the first few days of a fast are the hardest because your body is going through a cleansing process. You're literally detoxing. Fortunately for me, I had already cut out caffeine, so I didn't have to deal with that. But I still felt the effects - headaches and a little trouble sleeping. But that all seems to be over now.

What I've chosen for this fasting and prayer time is a Daniel fast. It's based on Daniel's request to eat only fresh fruits and vegetables, and to drink water instead of eating the king's food and drinking his wine in Daniel 1. Then again, Daniel does a similar fast in Daniel 10 where the Bible says he "ate no choice food" for a period of 21 days.

So, for four days now I've cut out all meat and I'm drinking TONS of water! (Which means I'm also making lots of trips to the bathroom. Somehow that just doesn't feel very spiritual!) I'm focusing more time on reading the Bible and journaling my prayer time. I'm listening to worship music during my reading and prayer time in order to keep my heart focused on worship.

And I'm focused on a pretty simple goal - I just want to draw near to God during this journey. I'm not asking God for anything big...I'm not fasting for some big breakthrough...I'm not asking for any miracles. I just want to feel God's presence in my life more strongly as we kick off a new year and a new decade.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death...  Philippians 3:10

So, how about joining us? If you need more information on fasting, check out Leah's blog. She has a list of links with more information about different types of fasts, Daniel fast recipes and pretty much everything you need to know to get started. Lets take the journey together!

21 Days

I announced yesterday that our staff is embarking on a 21 day journey of prayer and fasting. Actually, we are joining with over 700 other pastors, staffs and churches who are doing the same thing at the same time and I'm pretty pumped about that.

I'm also pumped about how many NHC'ers are joining us on this prayer journey. If you want more information about fasting, types of fasts  you can check out Leah's blog for more details. 

And if you didn't get signed up to receive the prayer devotional that the staff is using for this 21-day prayer journey, you can drop me a comment and I'll get hooked up.

In The Rear View Mirror

It's over. Another year has passed into the dust bin of history and we're on to a new year. I don't know about you, but when the holiday season is officially over, I'm glad. Oh, don't get me wrong. There's a part of me that really enjoys the holidays. I enjoy the lights, the decorations and especially the FOOD!

But honestly, for anyone who is suffering, the holiday season can be very hard. Feelings, memories and just the sense of loss all get accentuated during the holidays. So, today, as a new year dawns, I'm ready to put '09 in the rear view mirror and move into '10 and into the new things God has in store.

Even though he didn't write it at the beginning of a new year, Paul wrote a similar idea in Philippians...

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

Paul says, "I'm going to do one thing - forget what is in the past and push forward to what lies ahead." In other words, I'm going to put the mistakes, the bad memories and the difficulties in the rear view mirror. And then, I'm going to look forward out the windshield to what God has for me in the coming year.

'09 is officially in the rear view mirror, but '10 is front and center. What does God have in store for this coming year? I can't wait to see! Happy New Year!

Staying On Budget For Christmas

USA Today has an article in their Money section today about staying on budget this Christmas. Seeing as how most of us are looking for ways to cut back and avoid overspending this Christmas, it's worth a read. But for those of you who won't take the time, here's a quick synopsis:

1.    Have a plan

Retailers always have a plan - a plan to get you to spend more than you should! So the first thing you need to do is plan your spending before you get into the retail environment. Plan ahead of time what you can afford to spend without going into debt and then STICK TO YOUR PLAN!

2.    Don't fall for questionable "deals"

The so called "deals" that many stores offer at this time of the year are nothing more than come-ons. When you get into the store and see the camera or DVD player or TV that was advertised at that super low price you can tell pretty quickly that it's not such a good deal. So what do you do? You buy the model that wasn't advertised at a higher price, busting your budget. Be sure to run price comparisons online before you get into the store.

3.    Don't miss any discounts

This is one I haven't used much personally, but the writer of the article says that many times there are additional coupons and discounts available online.

4.    Buy practical gifts

Whenever the economy is tight gifts tend to trend in the practical direction. The author suggests things like clothes, tools, books and my favorite - FOOD!

5.    Use cash or debit cards

This is probably the biggest budget protector in the list. DON'T USE CREDIT CARDS!!! Even if you plan to pay them off January 1st. Why? Studies show that we tend to spend more when we use cards - about 20% more on average. Use cash or debit cards and you avoid the Christmas spending hangover in January!

So what's your budget protecting strategy for the Christmas gift-buying season?