Fire On Your Head

"According to the grace of God, given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — each man’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”  1 Corinthians 3:10-15 We continue today with some thoughts on building the temple of God and His kingdom in the earth. If you’re new to the podcast, we started talking about this a number of episodes ago in one titled “Come Up Out of Babylon”, where I laid out a challenge and exhortation based on

I've noticed oftentimes there's two camps of people in the church, at least when it comes to the goal of "getting back to New Testament Christianity". There's the one that focuses on the supernatural aspect of how the early church flowed in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, healed the sick, performed miracles, signs and wonders and like in the book of Acts, thousands of people were added to the Kingdom of God.  But often times those who focus on the early part of Acts 2, neglect the end of the chapter, which says,  And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and g

This week we finally have James-Michael Smith on the podcast. James is the author of the blog Disciple Dojo and the book, You WANT To Be Left Behind: Essays On The Bible and Popular End Times Teachings, which is the specific reason I invited him on the show.  We had fun, and we covered: Matthew 24 and whether a third temple needs to be built or not in order to fulfill Bible prophecy. What are the strengthes and weaknesses of the different end times views And most importantly, why you WANT to be left behind and how those "taken" in the Bible were never raptured or spared terror. I thoroughly enjoyed today's discussion and it's my prayer you will too. Visit James-Michael's blog at http://jmsmith.org/.

This week I continue with my flow of thoughts from last week concerning making disciples. We hold discipleship as one of our main core values in our ministry Oikos, and seek to reproduce reproducers. Which is why we have a balance of informal and formal discipling. We spend time hanging out and goofing around with our disciples and those we’re mentoring through things like movies, games, and eating meals together.  Likewise there’s also formal stuff like teaching and Bible study, one on one times of mentoring, and so forth. To properly disciple, I don’t believe you have one without the other. For example, pastoring a large mega church can result in you having 5000 tithing members who attend your event every Sunday morning but that does not mean they’re your disciples. They’re attendees. So let's unpack the image inside the seed of the Word of God and how discipleship goes from just passing on information, to imitation and innovation.  Related Articles: Broken Views on Discipleship The original Information, I

There’s really ONE specific thing Jesus commanded us to do: MAKE DISCIPLES of the Nations. Yet, depending on who you talk to, this is viewed as optional, or something only special people like pastors or missionaries do.  Today I share from my heart a personal 'kairos' moment that changed everything for me: my ministry focus, how I use my time on a weekly basis, who and what I focus my energy towards. I personally don't want to wait until I've gone a few decades in life and say "you know, I wish I did this instead". I feel like I'm on the cusp of being able to make that my focus and learning from those who've gone before me, and take heed as to what they say is the most important thing to be doing with the short life we have to make an impact for the Kingdom of God. Whether that's on the mission field in Peru, closed places in Asia, or as a millennial in the workforce in North America.  Take the initiative and make disciples of those whom God has put in your path right now in your life. Not much else will last

This week we finally release an interview I've been sitting on for a couple of months with Brian Guerin, itinerant minister with Bridal Glory International, and author of the new book God of Wonders: Experiencing God's Voice Through Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.  This episode flows nicely with what we've been talking about concerning the collective Bride of Christ and we get back to "the upper room" again.  We started off today with learning a little bit about Brian and his testimony, and specifically his experiences cultivating an intimacy with God and experiencing signs and wonders on a regular basis and we discuss God's supernatural provision.  Make sure you stick around for the prophetic word Brian has for his nation toward the end of the show. 

When we look at family on mission, we see we are meant to function as an extended family on a mission together, to seek and save that which is lost. When the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost, the believers were in one accord praying daily and apparently sharing meals together. They were in the upper room...in someone's home. Not in the religious temple! What if the emphasis is not and was not that God showed up in power that day to inaugurate his ekklesia (church, extended family) because they were praying, but because they were living and functioning together as an extended family, together in purpose and singleness of vision, and prayer was a natural fruit of that? After looking at the Day of Pentecost through a different lens than you might have viewed it through before, we then segue into discipleship through something found in Song of Solomon 1:16-17: "Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green; the beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine." When we

This week we finally have Dave Edwards back on the podcast and talk about some of the latest going on in theological internet land.  We recorded this episode a few weeks ago and the Left Behind reboot had just tanked at the box office, so naturally we get talking about it a bit and how much our eschatology shapes our worldview. Are our assumptions of end times correct? Then we segue into first century church life and Dave's thoughts on organic church and recent revelations on revival.  Recommended Reading: The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence (Kindle, Audible) Supernatural: The Life of William Branham (Paperback) From Eternity To Here by Frank Viola (Kindle, Audible) 

This week I share directly from my heart something I feel the Lord had me put into this podcast. It's a challenge and hopefully an encouragement, asking you if you're obeying God's call on your life, or avoiding the conviction of the Holy Spirit in order to do your own thing. But not until after I share an exciting testimony that has happened in the last few weeks in Peru.  Blessings and fire on your head!

Today we chatted with a long-time fan of the show, and well-researched pastor and author Dr. Shane Wall. We start off sharing a bit about how today's discussion came to be and the interesting details that led to us being introduced to one another.  Dr Wall shares his heart for discipleship and seeing believers empowered to do the work of the Gospel themselves and not just follow a man. Then we segue into discussing is the newly-released book, Understanding: All Success Is Attained By It.  If you'd like to get a copy of the audio version, head over to audibletrial.com/fireonyourhead and get a copy free with your 30-day free trial.

Today I was privileged to have an interview with a friend and former teacher of mine in my days at FIRE School of Ministry named Bert Farias. He and his son Daniel recently co-wrote a book called My Son, My Son: Fathering and Training a Holy Generation.  Did you know over 95% of prison inmates never had any meaningful relationship with their fathers? If you've been in Christian circles for very long, you've probably already heard that this generation is a fatherless generation. Talking to Brother Bert and hearing his insights further underscored the importance of godly parenting, starting at a young age.  As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and Brother Bert shares a lot of powerful insights, especially geared at new parents such as myself. When you listen to today's show, you'll be listening to an older wiser experienced father share personally with a newbie and publicly with today's audience.  We also get Bert's thoughts on the controversial and divisive topic of spanking

Recently I was approached by Bryan Entzminger about being a guest on his podcast, Engaging Missions. As we talked, he let me share some exciting things about how mine and Lili’s ministry has shifted over time on the mission field, and some of the amazing things God has been doing in the past few months. I think you’ll be encouraged and inspired as you listen. Apparently Bryan first found me through the Fire On Your Head podcast and really enjoyed it. He says he loved hearing how God was using our ministry to bring people to know Christ and to advance the Kingdom. His words also reinforce for me why, besides just interviewing other authors, it’s a good idea to share testimonies and stuff that’s going on in our life and ministry here in Peru. Challenge, Revelation, and Current Ministry Like everybody, I’ve had a number false starts and failures. These are the things that missionaries don’t often share when they’re visiting churches and seeking support. They don’t always want to talk about the disciple who walke

This week we were privileged to have Jeremy Mangerchine on the podcast to discuss his recent book The Longest Brigde Across Water: An Ordinary Man's Encounters with an Unordinary God.  We discussed: Does He still speak to ordinary people like you and me? Do you have to get up at 4 am to pray for hours in order to hear His voice? Does God speak the same way to everybody? Sit back and relax as you listen to this episode and when you're done, you'll feel like getting in God's presence! Get Jeremy's book here: Link: http://amzn.to/VIwO34

This week I was privileged to finally have Michael Dow on the show. He has spent his entire saved life in a few different types of ministires, one of which was a missional community called King's People in Charlotte, N.C. He now is apprenticing with Daniel Kolenda, of Christ For All Nations, doing massive crusade evangelism. We discuss Michael's thoughts regarding both ends of the spectrum when it comes to small tight knit community and seeing hundreds of thousands of people accept Christ in single meetings.  Make sure to get a copy of Michael's book, Free Indeed: Free To Live a Life of Obedience on Amazon or iTunes. Also, here's the link to the sermons I mentioned in the discussion about Family on Mission together.  

First, I share some updates about new editions in the Kingdom of God since having recorded today's show, and developments since last week's episode. Then we get down to business and I continue some of my thoughts from last week about making disciples and seeing the Kingdom of God multiply in our local context here in Peru. On top of the testimonies, I provide a framework for how we could see revival take place if each one of us were leading one person to Christ each year and discipling them, teaching them to do the same.  Links: What Do I Mean By "Organic Church"? Organic vs Organized Discipleship = Slow burn Revival 5 Things The House Church Movement is Getting Right 5 Things The House Church Movement is Getting Wrong.

This week I share about some of the awesome ways God is bringing His Kingdom to Los Cedros, Peru, and exciting new opportunities we're making an impact on our neighbors.  Then in the last segment I share about the impact of the late Steve Hill on my life. Enjoy! Blog posts to check out that referenced in today's show: Steve Hill's impact on my life (written shortly after hearing news of his passing) Oikos Cedros: Praying with and For Our Neighbors Praying For Revival in Los Cedros and Seeing God Move  

This week we have Dr. Stephen Crosby joining us again as we discuss the hot button topic of grace. Is there a balance that people on both sides of this debate can agree on? Is a balance necessary? We discuss fruit vs roots when it comes to personal holiness and whether grace preachers and their counterparts are really hearing each other fairly.  As usual, you don't want to miss this discussion! Don't forget to enter our contest to win a $30 gift certificate from Amazon along with a free copy of Dr. Crosby's book, Praise, Worship, and the Presence of God: A Better Way to Worship.  Enter here: http://bit.ly/1k0lRB7.

This week we are privileged to have on the podcast Zack Hunt, author of the popular blog, The American Jesus. We discuss the origins and inspiration of The American Jesus, and how a blogger can walk the fine line of being poignant and being humorous. We also discuss the polarization that faith-based movies are causing in the Christian subculture and what should our reaction be to it. Then in the final half of the show we discuss the mess surrounding what has happened with World Vision and its stance on same-sex marriage and reversing course after having 10,000 child sponsorships dropped when Christians cancelled their sponsorships after hearing of this news. It's a sticky situation, with no clear winners but Zack shares his insights after having participated in a conference call with the president of World Vision. We encourage you to listen to this discussion today which hopefully can be a bridge and not pour more gasoline on the fire. Visit Zack's blog at http://theamericanjesus.net/.

This week we have Dr. Stephen Crosby back on the podcast to discuss loving our neighbors on a practical level. We've touched on this in past discussions, but spend a whole hour talking about a few benefits and challenges to meeting in house churches as opposed to 'institutional' church. We discuss what the house church movement gets wrong and what they get right.  We get talking about why some people who are not in cultures where their faith is persecuted would resort to house churches instead of meeting in "large buildings.  We also talk about the all-important role that love has in our impact we can have on our neighbors and culture around us. Links: 5 Things The House Church Movement is Getting Right 5 Things The House Church Movement is Getting Wrong (both by Steve Bremner) Check out BadChurchExperience.com    

This weekend I got to be on Moody Radio’s Up For Debate program with Judy Roys. Up For Debate describes itself as “a show that seeks to equip believers to discern these debatable matters by engaging biblically with people holding diverse opinions. Each week, host Julie Roys invites two guests onto the one-hour program to defend opposing views. She also encourages listeners to call in and add their comments and questions.” I had been contacted by the show’s producer a few weeks ago regarding sharing the cons of house churches, after she read my blog post 5 Things The House Church Movement is Getting Wrong (which itself was a companion piece to the 5 Things The House Church Movement is Getting Right). The written summary for this week's episode states: "Ten years ago, fewer than two-thousand house churches existed in the United States. But now, according to Barna Research Group, there are about 30-thousand house churches in America! This Saturday on Up for Debate, Julie Roys explores the pros and cons of this b