Rick Warren recently tweeted (yes, I said tweeted) the following “NEVER follow a pastor who belittles others success, doubts others motives, or criticizes others efforts. Rom.14:4“. This really blessed me because out of the three churches I have ever attended in my life … two of them did just that. They belittled others success, doubted others motives and criticized others efforts. If it wasn’t tied to the “their” church then it wasn’t of value or it wasn’t God.

This is nothing more than the spirit of Jezebel showing its face in our churches. Those that allow the spirit of Jezebel to have access their life often discredit (or belittle) those around them. Falls right in line with what I believe is the root of all sin “Pride”. They think that they are better than everyone else although they will never say that directly.

The spirit of Jezebel isn’t just a spirit looking to belittle things it is also a very perverse spirit – sexually. I won’t go down that road today but I have been studying about Jezebel lately and it’s sad to see that it is still in the church today.

I think it’s interesting that there are two Jezebels in the Word of God. One in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. Both had the very same characteristics. I just think that’s interesting … anyways … I know I personally am always evaluating my life and I have seen even some things that I have done that I personally shouldn’t have done both in action and in word that could be tied to the spirit of Jezebel. It’s time the church does some evaluating. It’s time the church starts acting like the church and stops acting like a religious organization. Let’s kick Jezebel to the curb

Ok … I will stop now … just had to get that off my chest!

UPDATE: This post was not aimed at anyone or any church. It was not meant as an attack at any church. It’s about a spirit that is attacking our churches. A spirit that has to be knocked out.

As many of you know … I enjoy twitter as it’s a great way to stretch yourself as well as a great way to meet new people. With that being said I wanted to post some tweets that really got my attention. There are two categories, one is deep and one is odd/funny. Enjoy

The Deep Tweets
@RickWarren posted: Kingdom-minded leaders give children’s & student ministry PRIORITY “…They ARE the kingdom of God!”-Jesus. Love Next Gen!

@nfietzer posted: Eve added on to what God had said. (God said Gen 2:17) (Eve said Gen 3:3) Stick to what God says. Don’t add your own interpretation.

@tonyrobbins posted: “Somebody is in the hospital begging God for the opportunity u have right now. Step into your moment.” -TD Jakes

@NathMcLean posted: @jimwideman “the only difference between a leader and a follower is how they think” brilliant thought!!!

@Matthew_Capper posted: Innovation – The successful exploitation of ideas generated at the intersection of invention and insight…Dan Sutch (Future Lab)

@RickWarren posted: “Leader” is not a title u give yourself. It is given by others after sacrificing & putting their needs first. Mk.10:45

@stevenfurtick posted: Remember: all motion is not movement. Make sure every step you take today takes you somewhere worth going.

@stevenfurtick posted: Give God your best today. Don’t use His sovereignty as an excuse for apathy. Trust God-AND work with excellence.

The Odd/Funny Tweets
@JLAlbanese posted: I thought this was funny http://twitpic.com/cmtt5

@danielafariaf posted: I didn’t slap you, I simply high fived your face.

@tonygk posted: I think Favre just bought Madden 2010 and realized he wasn’t in the game.

@TwitLoL posted: A day without sunshine is like night.

@TwitLoL posted: As I said before, I never repeat myself.

@robhuebel posted: Just got slammed by a 5 yr old. For Halloween, he said I “should go as poo”. That hurt, little man. That hurt a lot.

@nerdfeliz posted: When I grow up I want to be a dentist, I mean, rich…

I know … I know … I haven’t been very faithful in posting lately. Been really busy actually (mainly with moving). Anyways … just wanted to post about some recent changes in my life.

1. Got my Blackberry!!! Yes, I have crossed over to the dark side and have purchased a Blackberry (or as some of you call it a “crackberry”). I always thought my Motorola Q was a smart phone but let me tell you … the Blackberry goes three steps forward. You actually have to BE SMART to use a Blackberry. I still don’t know how to use everything LOL.

2. Weekend Guests - I had the awesome opportunity to have the found of Blue Ark Ministries stay at my place this weekend. It was an awesome time of encouragement. Blue Ark Ministries is a ministry located in Milwaukee that provides blankets, hats, coats, mittens and scarves to homeless children and those less fortunate during the winter months. Last year they blessed so many people in Milwaukee. Looking forward to hearing the numbers of people blessed this year.

3. Weight Loss Plan In Progress - I have officially started my program to lose 95 pounds in six months. Actually, according to a friend who is a personal trainer … I should be able to reach that goal by the end of February. I am really excited. I have high expectations. Watch out ladies … this guy is going to be rockin come valentines day!! LOL BTW … the “Losing It” update on the right will only be updated weekly as I will only be weighing in weekly. Just a FYI.

4. Schooling - I am making steps to get back to school. Thinking about going back to school for family counseling. Many people have said that Liberty University as a great degree program in Family Counseling. Looking into it … Will keep you posted.

5. FULLY MOVED!! As you may or may not know. I moved recently I think I am finally getting settled in and finding everything. I still need to find an interior decorator as I have literally a 25 foot wall that has nothing on it yet. LOL and I haven’t found that “perfect” arrangement in my living room yet but anyways … it’s a great place. It’s nice to have the place to myself. I can come home and sit in perfect silence … oh .. and I can sing at the top of my lungs in the shower!!

Anyways … just wanted to give you an update. I will be posting some “deep” stuff soon.

I orginally wasn’t going to blog about this as at first I thought it was rather personal and wasn’t really “ministry related” but after thinking about it more …. I have determined that your health is very important to the ministry. Especially those involved in children’s ministry.

Over the last 6 years I have really allowed myself to get unhealthy. Often you will hear me blame it on a depression I went through about 6 years ago … although I believe that’s when a lot of my unhealthy decisions were first made … I don’t blame the depression. I blame myself for not having the will power to keep healthy.

Now, I am at a point that I can’t allow this to continue any longer. I have to change some things to get back in shape. When working children’s ministry you have to be able to jump around and get a little crazy and believe it or not … that’s not easy when you are in the 200′s.

With all that in mind I have been doing some research and have found out some really interesting stuff.

For instance, do you know you are suppose to drink a minunum of one gallon of water a day? (for you Ausies that’s 3785.41178 ml) That’s a lot of water. Normally when I drink a lot of water I feel bloated. I found out why …. If your body isn’t getting enough water, it does everything it can to hold on to the water it does have. The problem with this, is the way it holds onto the water. You see, over 70% of your muscle is made up of water. It helps to give your muscles that full, pumped look (along with glycogen).

However, if your body is not taking in enough water, that water is used for other things, leaving you bloated (uggg). And the way to get rid of that excess water, believe it or not, is to take in enough water.

This will rid you of that excess water weigh that bloats you, and begin to help your body run more efficiently and priming it to begin dropping body fat.

Once you begin taking in enough water, your body starts dropping weight, possibly 4 or 5 pounds in the first week. Now, this is mostly water weight. However, doing so does optimizes your bodily functions, allowing it to run more efficiently and start burning stored body fat for energy.

Wanna help burn even more fat …. Instead of just drinking water, begin drinking ice cold water. There is a metabolic cost to eating. In other words, the digestion of food takes calories. So does drinking ice cold water. The body needs to heat up this water in order to be able to use it properly and doing so takes energy, i.e., calories. You can burn another 50 to 100 calories a day by drinking one half gallon to a gallon of ice cold water per day. It doesn’t seem like much. However, in addition to all the other benefits of taking in enough water, by drinking ice cold water, you can drop almost a full pound of fat each month, or 12 pounds per year. That rocks my face off!!

Also, I have never understood why they tell you to eat six meals a day. I do now though. Sometimes I work 11pm to 7am without eating anything … then I come home … eat some cereal or something … go to bed … and then get up and eat a large meal. This is a no no!! Eating one large meal like that throws your body into starvation mode because it thinks you are eating a lot because you aren’t getting any food for a while. This is a bad thing … second of all … going hours upon hours between meals also puts our bodies into starvation mode. STARVATION MODE IS BAD!!! When your body is in starvation mode it stores as much as it can. THIS IS SOMETHING I REALLY HAVE TO WORK ON.

Anyways .. I am going to make some changes here … drinking a bunch more Ice Cold Water and eating six meals a day now vs two.

Over in the right had column I am going to place a weight loss counter. My goal is to lose 95 pounds over the course of the next six months. That’s only 15 pounds a month. I know that’s steep but I believe I can do it and will do it.

Going from being a person who looked “anorexic” to someone that looks like “Porkies Brother” has had it’s experiences. Now it’s time to find a middle ground and enjoy it.

Are you happy with your weight? Does your weight hinder you in ministry? Do you wish you could lose or gain weight?