In the week that Third Day featured on the front cover of Billboard magazine I've been at the national conference of the Elim church in the UK. That's the denomination I'm ordained with, and the program this week for pastors has been excellent. Along with Chris Cartwright, my friend and senior pastor at City Temple Cardiff, I went each morning to sessions by Sy Rogers, [1] an American speaker dealing with Leaders and Morality. He truly is an outstanding communicator, and handles the tricky issue of sexuality with biblical perspective, scientific expertise, and counseling sensitivity. Also from the USA came Pastor Tommy Barnett [2] from Phoenix. His son Matthew runs the Dream Center in LA. [3]. Amongst the resources I came home with was a memory stick with 109 favorite sermons from Tommy Barnett in word files. I won't be preaching them but I will be reading and learning from them!
Bottom Line is this- if you are continually giving out in ministry you've got to put yourself in situations where you can get fed and grow yourself. You can't offer live-giving water from an empty well.
I'm taking the opportunity of being off the road with the guys for a while to complete two more modules of study for my Master's degree, go to a few conferences to speak and participate, and to visit India next week with a team of students from IPFW university in Fort Wayne, IN. We'll be running a kids club at the Come Together Compound [4], in anticipation of the Gateway School opening in the Fall.