Trick Question

What makes the church the church?

Is it the worship? Is it the senior pastor? Is it God? Is it a particular set of beliefs? Is it meeting on Sunday?

Here's what I felt the Lord say to me just now...

God: Preston what makes the church the church?
Me: You do God.
God: No. I am everywhere. What makes the church the church?
Me: great worship and great preaching.
God: No. Thomas sings at home and that's not church. Robert preaches at home and that's not church. The difference is this...what makes the church is the people. Preaching doesn't make the church the church. People do. Worship doesn't make the church. People do.

So what makes a church great? No, not great worship and great preaching.

People make church great.

How do you make your church great?

Disagreement

It's been a long week since last Tuesday night. Let's just say there has been a whole lot of processing going on. There have been several people who have expressed concern/fear/ignorance about my message on praying in the Spirit. I have had an ongoing conversation with the Lord about not just the message but what in the world is going on.

Why would people freak out over me reading the Bible?

I understand people not agreeing with me, not agreeing with Pastor Robert, not agreeing with Gateway Church but I can't understand people disagreeing with Scripture and even bigger I can't fathom people disagreeing with Jesus. Listen, I am not saying that my position is right, that it's the "only way"...but here is what the detractors are missing....I don't feel like it's my position. I am just reading Scripture.

I will never devalue a person or my relationship with them where when we come to a place where we do not agree that I bail on them. Listen to me. You will never agree with every single person on every single matter. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. Not your mentor. Not your best friend. Not your pastor. Not your boss. Not your employees. Not even your spouse.

You have to learn how to handle disagreements. Truthfully, I think it can be boiled down to this question: What is more important to you; being right or having relationship?

I don't need to be right.

I am who I am. Maybe at 29 I am still figuring out who that is but I know this...I have determined to be who God called and created me to be.

If you're not cool with that don't worry...I am.

Stop focusing on "who's right?" and start focusing on what is right and who is in your life. Don't marry the two priorities and get off track.

Slow Down

It's easy for me to move so quickly through life. I can fly. But I hate it. When you move so quickly you run the risk of missing something. I hate missing things. So the logical question is what do I hate more? I hate missing things more than I hate moving slowly. I need to slow down. Not just with my pace...with my vision. What's the big hurry? Family matters more than anything and nothing is worth missing even the smallest details in their lives. Slow down before you kill something valuable.

Wednesday Flush

Lots of thoughts swirling around my head after last night. Here are a few...

-exciting service last night...but if it doesn't turn into momentum for God's kingdom it's just hype and emotion.

-I love golf but hate putting.

-I may be too hard on Rylie at the pool.

-I have the greatest job ever...hearing from God and sharing it with a captive and excited audience.

-I love my wife.

-I hate seeing Holly's mom hurting.

-I hate seeing Holly hurting.

-God is so gracious with me.

-I want to give more.

-I don't want anyone to leave Seven because we believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit but we have to be who God called us to be. It's who we are not what we do.

-Seven is not a flavor of the month.

-Thank God for Scripture...without it there'd be nothing to preach with.

-I 3-putted 18 today for par...ridiculous!

Romans 8

I am studying right now for the message tomorrow night and I just read Romans 8. This has to be one of the best chapters in the entire bible. Paul was en fuego when he wrote this. Not that he wasn't when he wrote the rest of his books, but he hit a homer with this one.

If you haven't read it in a while let me give you some highlights...

1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
Imagine what life would be like if we all walked through life reminding ourselves of that.

3 So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
Sin no longer has control over me. I forget that sometimes. This might come in handy next time I find myself being tempted.

15 Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.[h] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”[i] 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.
What a father. This one has so much more life now that I have my own children.

23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[j] including the new bodies he has promised us.
I can't help but think about Holly's mom when I read this. He promises a new body that we can look forward to. One day I will finally be released from sin and suffering never to experience them again. WOW!

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[l] in harmony with God’s own will.
This has to be one of the best verses in favor of a prayer language in the entire bible. How can anyone know exactly what to pray for, at all times, in every situation? They can't. Do you want to just pray your prayer or would you rather pray his will?

If you don't think it's been good to this point...get ready...Paul starts rounding third and bringin' it home.

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
How much confidence does that instill? Who can ever be against us to the point at which we could ever lose? WOW!

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Great verse for those of us who can't stand losing.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[o] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Come on Jesus. That's what I'm talkin' about. NOTHING. NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. What a father. What a provider. What a friend.

No matter what is going on in your life right now as you read this...I gaurantee that Romans 8 can brighten your day, your situation, your outlook, your everything.

Goal Line Stand

Something interesting has come up during my study time this weekend for the message on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It comes in the form of a question...

What is your goal in your relationship with God?

Seem small? It's not. The answer to this question influences much more than you might think.

My mind reels at all of the possible answers to this question. Growth. Gifts. God's will. Health. Obedience. Sacrifice. Evangelism. Intimacy. Power. Wisdom.

What is the right answer? I'm not sure. But I do know that the Lord has been challenging me with this question. I thought I knew what my answer would have been but when He asked, the real answer was the wrong answer. What's the wrong answer? Probably the one you gave.

Far too many times my walk with the Lord is hampered by me thinking about what I need or want to happen. This is an absolute contradiction to the life God intended me to live. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Those are Paul's words in galatians 2:20.

When I entered into the covenant that Christ set before me I gave up the right to my way. I chose to forego the typically selfish goal setting process.

So what will my new answer be to the question "What is your goal in your relationship with me (God)?" I'll answer with a question of my own...God, what is your goal for this relationship?

His answer...access to all of you.

Will you sacrifice the safety that comes with not giving God total access in an attempt to experience ALL that God has for you?

Better question...will I?

The Great Debate

I realized something today on the golf course. I know, you're shocked that anyone could learn
anything of value on the golf course...but you can. At least I do. If you have read this post for any
amount of time you know that I have been working on my golf game. Well today I was playing my first round
since I started lessons. There was a twist though...I was playing with the assistant pro from one of the
local country clubs in my area. I started the round totally commited to staying faithful to my new swing.

I started out okay...par, par, bogey, par. We were tied through 4 holes. Then I went birdie, birdie, par, par.

I'm two up through 8. Then comes dumb #9. Hit a tree left of the tee. Ball comes to rest on a root at the
base of a tree. Punch out into 4 inch rough. Punch out, hit tree. Anyways, I took a triple-bogey seven.

So at the turn I was 2-over.

But then it happened. After embarassing myslef with a triple, I gave up...on my new swing. I totally and completely
lost confidence in my new swing. So I went back to the old way. Made one birdie and four bogies on the back for
a whopping 39.

It got me thinking about something...something I will call the great debate.

There are two options in life. You can go the easy way, the way you've
always gone. You can't get lost this way. The risk is minimal. The
return is minimal. This place is where you pretty much do what you do
without trying too hard, losing too much, facing much opposition, or
running the risk of being hurt.

Option two is much riskier. It involves having to work much harder and put in many more hours. It requires
a lot more faith (if option #1 requires any faith at all). You will go through much harder times choosing the hard way.
BUT...there is one distinct advatage to option #2...the payoff is HUGE!!! You just have to commit to it and forget that there
is even an option #1.

What is easier for you? Going the easy way risking nothing or going the hard way and reaping the reward?

Me? I can't stand knowing I'm going the easy way when I know it's the wrong way for me.

rylie swim progress

I am watching my daughter learn how to swim right now as I blog from my phone (break out the bubbly for my first iPhone post).
this is incredible to watch. She is so close. It's amazing to see how far she has come in 4 weeks. I'm sitting here thinking that there
is nothing I wouldn't do to help my children advance and succeed in life.

Funny how God feels the same way. And it's for that reason God gave
us his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the ultimate advantage.

Leverage it.

It's Not Mine

Last night in my message I used 1 Corinthians 12:7 and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind for the last week. "The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." WOW!! I have spent my entire life under the impression that my gifts were my gifts...that they were given to me for my benefit.

NOT EVEN CLOSE.

My gifts were given to me so that everyone around me would profit from them.

Here's the million $ question...Do the people around me feel that they are profiting from my gifts from the Holy Spirit?

Unfortunately the answer is probably not.

New perspective, new effort.

Seven Tonight

Great service tonight. Best crowd yet...but I feel like I am saying that every week. I have such a great job. We have so many great people who are getting plugged in at Seven. It is amazing every week to see what God is doing and who is drawing to Seven to take it to the next level.

Message was okay. This series on the Holy Spirit is intimidating. I have never done a series on the Holy Spirit and now I know why...it's tough. People love it but it's so much more difficult to prepare for for me. I have heard so many perspectives on your relationship with the Holy Spirit but my goal is always to come from an angle most have not heard of or thought of before. It's a challenge in this series...but a good one. I love challenges like this. It's been a great series so far and I look forward to the next few weeks.

Worship seems to be getting better and better every week. It's fun to watch it gradually happen.

Thank you Lord for picking me to lead Seven. I love having a front row seat to what you are doing.

Big Day

It was a big day today in the land of the Morrisons. My brother and I took Rylie and Tyler to swim lessons tonight and Both did a great job. Rylie touched the bottom of the pool for the first time ever...HUGE for my 4 year old. She had really been afraid prior to today...but she made it happen and actually picked up the ring at the bottom of the pool. It was a life moment for her. She was so proud of herself. Tyler, well, he's a typical boy...he jumped in without checking to see if I was ready to catch him. He is a beast...no fear at all. He was going under and trying to swim without any hesitation at all. We had a great time.

I'm grateful I get to be there for my kids and their life moments. I hope to never miss one.

Swing Progress

Just had my 3rd golf lesson in 5 weeks. Let's just say I am defanitely not quitting the game just yet. I have been working my tail off to get ready for this lesson and it has paid off. It was the best lesson yet. I was hitting 7-irons into a 20 foot bucket from 165 yards. Nearly all 20 shots were the exact same trajectory. It was as repeatable as my swing has ever felt.

I have not played a round yet since really getting my swing in better shape so we'll see how it goes if I play this weekend.

I love this game.

New Series

I just started a new series this last week titled "Hello My Name is Holy Spirit". Without a doubt your relationship with the Holy Spirit is the most underrated in your life. We don't get it.

This is a very intimidating series though. This is one of those topics that everyone has an opinion on. So many people have stopped me and made comments on what they believe about the Holy Spirit. I have never taught on my relationship with the Holy Spirit before. I have sat under some really great teaching on it but have never personally taught on it before. Why? It intimidates me. It such a charged "issue". It's not even an issue though...it's a relationship. But in all of the confusion of who the Holy Spirit is we have minimized him to an "issue" that everyone is supposed to have an opinion on.

Truthfully, because the relationship with the Holy Spirit has been so poorly modeled by so many throughout so many lifetimes, I have been cautious about taking my "stance". I don't want people to think that I am crazy, a cook, a quack, a freak. But I can't not talk about it. When I read just how much Jesus stressed my relationship with the Holy Spirit in Scripture I am faced with the reality of my desperate need for the Holy Spirit. I can't hide it. It's just life. I am so grateful for the intimacy I experience with the Lord, but who is dwelling in me? I have no reason to not be intimate with the Holy Spirit other than other people have scared me away from him. That's crazy...and sad to say...about me.

The one thing I hate about how people have turned this from a relationship into an issue is that the person of the Holy Spirit has been minimized to the gift of speaking in tongues. How silly! That's like minimizing Preston Morrison down to just a pastor. There are so many more important facets to my life than what I do for a living. I am much more than a pastor just as the Holy Spirit is much more than the tongue speaker.

For so much of my life I have been surrounded by a conversation that asks the question "Do you speak in tongues?" I hate that question. Basing whether or not someone is saved or how spiritual they are solely on if they speak in tongues is as crazy as assuming someone is saved simply because they go to church. The better question is "Are you walking more intimately with God's Holy Spirit today than you were yesterday?" Now that is an important question.

So, are you?

8 Days and Back to Normal

It's been 8 days since we celebrated our Independence Day. The fireworks were great, the food even better, but how many people spent time that day thinking and praying for our soldiers? Probably a lot. An even better question is 8 days later how many are praying and being grateful for our soldiers protecting our freedom? Would it change anything if you had a son or daughter in Iraq right now? Of course it would. Maybe it would help us pray more for our troops and constantly be grateful for their sacrifice if we thought about having one of our loved ones serving in the heat of battle right now.

To all of our troops both serving here and abroad: Thank you for your faithful service to our country. Thank you for protecting not just my freedom but for protecting me. Thank you for providing a safe life for my children free from evil. Thank you for putting your life on the line. May God bless you and protect you. May He be with you and watch over you. And may all of us back here reaping the benefits of your daily sacrifice never take a moment of freedom for granted.

God bless our troops. God bless our President. And may God bless America.

Golf Swing Progress

A quick update on my progress.

Today I am considering quiting the game of golf and selling my clubs.

How about that for progress?

You Never Know

I love when people think they know something. I love the fact that they have convinced themselves that they are overqualified to tell you what it is that they know. If you find yourself in a position where it seems you know it all...shut up. Take the low road. Walk in humility. You really don't know as much as you think. Nobody does.

Favor

Favor is fought over. Favor is envied. Favor is obvious. Favor is inarguable. Favor is wasted. Favor is misunderstood. Favor is granted. Favor is found. Favor needs to be leveraged.

It's how Moses got an audience with Pharaoh. It's how Joseph got out of prison and into the palace. It's how Noah and his family were spared. It's how I am were I am.

You can say you are where you are because you are lucky. You can say that you got there because of hard work. Me? I can't say any of those things, rather I guess what I really mean is that I won't.

I am so blessed. My family is blessed. It seems like we just stumble into supernatural blessings. We don't deserve it, we just have it. It extends to every area of my life. Not one area. Not several areas. It extends to every area of my life.

Here's the catch. I don't want to receive God's favor. Huh?

I want to leverage it. I want to take it out for a spin.

It's just like the money that God gives us. I don't want to have it...I want to use it.

I think there are today and have been many people who have God's favor and stay content to just keep it. I don't want to be one of them.

We named my second son Samuel. The bible says of Samuel that he grew in favor with God and with man. Samuel is not meant to just have God's favor. He is meant to steward it...to grow in it.

And so are we.

40

I have now been a proud iPhone owner for 40 hours. There hasn't been much of a learning curve since I was already used to the Mac operating system. I love it though. It is truly a game changer. The only people who have complaints are the ones who had very high and unrealistic expectations. Me, I'm a realist. This unit is an absolute game changer. It enables me to do almost everything that I can do from my computer. Now, I will probably use the iPhone more than I use my laptop.

The iPhone is all I can think about. If you are looking for a phone/computer/picture album/ipod/email machine/dvd player...than this is the phone for you. There is not another phone like it. Not even close.

So for all you pc lovers out there...enjoy your blackberry cause it it'll never by an iPhone.