I never thought I would be in ministry in a million years.

In my early twenties, I was newly married, successful in the business world and full of venom and anger towards God. Consequently, I was about as far from God as you can possibly get. Why? Let me just give you the “Blogger’s Digest version”. I had some really BAD experiences with people that were God experts that left me disillusioned with the whole “God thing.”

The trajectory of my life changed when I met Tim Chambers.  Tim was a Youth Pastor in Ft Worth Texas who reached out to me for some reason and loved me unconditionally. Tim was a likable guy but he had one annoying problem, he kept encouraging me to come to church! I told him, “Tim,  I don’t want to have anything to do with God or the church.”  And you know what he did? Shockingly, he decided to still be my friend.

I remember Tim inviting me to come to camp with the high School Students. He said, “Buddy, you will love it…its not like church…we have fun.” Since Tim was a fun guy, I figured that I would give it a try and the rest is history.

God recaptured my heart at camp. I remember Gods voice clearly speaking to me at camp. “Buddy, lose the crutch.  Stop letting people mess you up about God, and let ME straighten you out about people. It’s just you and ME buddy now what are you going to do?”

I decided to surrender my life to God at camp.

Fast forward 18 years and I would have never imagined God would call me into ministry, let alone start a church six years ago in Upstate New York. .

Everything that God has done in my life over the past 18 years can be traced back to Tim. If Tim didn’t build a bridge of unconditional friendship to me, then God could have never walked across that bridge into my heart.

Where is Tim today? I’ll share that tomorrow.

I’m excited to be re-airing Cremeans Couch starting next Monday. I am also going to be interviewing some great leaders this summer!

Why am I doing Cremeans Couch? Because ONE thing we have in common, no matter the size or scope of our leadership or ministry, is we ALL need encouragement. I can’t tell you how many times I have felt like a Pre-Barnabas Paul. I’m praying that God uses Cremeans Couch to encourage you that you are not alone in your challenges. To encourage you by offering solutions to your challenges, and to provide an online vehicle of conversation and a community of people that believe in you!

God has blessed incredibly in this already as I have had some amazing guests, Ed Young, Lisa Young, Craig Groeschel, Bil Cornelius, Mac Richard, Mark Batterson, Steve Furtick, and Perry Noble…just to name a few familiar people in the church world.

Make sure you check back on Monday’s to see some of the great leaders in our country answer some tough questions about life and ministry.

New Cremeans Couch Intro from Devin Cremeans on Vimeo.

The proverbs of Solomon:  A wise son brings joy to his father. – Proverbs 10:1

Devin is flying out this morning to Dallas to live his dream summer.  Devin will be serving as a intern for Fellowship Church at Allaso Ranch. I think you could call Allasso more of a resort than a camp…

After 3 weeks at Allaso, Devin will fly out to Fellowship Church – Miami to serve in whatever compacity necessary. To be immersed in this leadership culture and be cross trained in ministry is priceless! I know many think I hooked Devin up with this gig, but the reality is that I had nothing to do with it.

It’s simply Gods favor on His life.

Following a blitz of ministry internships Devin will then transition to the business world. He will finish out the summer strong with two short term internships along side two of the most successful Christian business men in the market place today.

Proverbs says, “he who walks with the wise will become wise.” I am so grateful to God for these unbelievable opportunities and for His super natural favor on Devin’s life.

The proverbs of Solomon:   A wise son brings joy to his father. – Proverbs 10:1

Debbie and I still don’t know how he pulled it off, but today our 17 year old son is graduating high school a year early! If you have never met Devin, there is something special about this young man. Yeah, I know every parent thinks that, but seriously there is something really remarkable about him.

What is it?

Devin is full of wisdom and joy. While many young people today bring so much grief to their parents… Devin has brought his mother and me nothing but JOY.

It’s the payoff of wisdom.

Today, I want to thank him for that.

Devin, thank you for choosing wisdom. Your mom and I realize you have plenty of other options and temptations, but you have chosen wisdom. We understand the origin of your wisdom is not you, but rather Jesus in you. Thank you son, for loving Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It’s the greatest thing you will ever do in your life.

Thank you for not just hearing Jesus’ voice, but listening to His voice.

When you feel lost, His voice will guide you. When you feel alone, His voice will comfort you. When you feel scared, His voice will give you peace. When you are unsure, His voice will give your clarity. When you need forgiveness, His voice will speak grace. When you need your butt kicked?  His voice will speak truth. His voice will never lie to you.

God has unbelievable plans for your life, Devin. Stay humble… Stay pure… Stay joyful. Don’t look to the left or the right but stay focused straight ahead on what God has for you.

We are soooooooooooo proud of you!

We love you,

- Dad and Mom.

Thanks for watching tonight’s broadcast on the Capital Region’s CW! Dad’s, I hope that you have had an incredible day of doing what YOU want to do!

Tonight’s program has been about the dark side of a warrior. Depression. This is something that has especially affected men. It is wisdom to be able to do whatever it takes to become mentally strong.

Below is the survey that I mentioned at the end of the program. I want to encourage you to take the survey and be honest with yourself. Underneath the survey are some instructions, as well as information about how to figure out how well you score. Ladies, feel free to take this to see how you feel the man in your life is doing at handling the dark side.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am honored to be a part of One Prayer! As our One Prayer message is being shown across the world, we will have the honor to hear from some of the best leaders in the country right here at Northway!

Here is an intro video that my friend, Craig Groeschel, shot for us.

Craig One Prayer Intro from Northway Church on Vimeo.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty competitive person.

I hate to lose.

That quality and drive has helped me succeed in life. It’s a no-brainer that God desires for us to become the best that we can possibly be. However, being competitive has hindered my life when it comes to Gods church. Too often my attitude and approach has been wrong when it comes to other churches. I compete instead of complete.

It’s subtle but you can pick it up through criticism, comparing, or whatever. The reality is that my attitude is sin. God has helped free me from this a lot over the past year, but yesterday sealed the deal.

One of God’s elite has modeled for me to complete and not compete. Craig Groeschel. Yesterday, I was invited to share my One Prayer message, “God is More”, on their online church.  I watched as God used their technology and His Word as it touched 18 countries and transformed 17 people that gave their life to Christ! I could sense God’s presence through church online, and it was jaw dropping for me. To be honest, I’m having a hard time processing it all.

I just wanted to say thank you, Craig, for being a voice for unity. Thank you, Craig, for showing the rest of us how we should be. Thanks for answering Jesus’ prayer.

I want to thank Josh Brower from LC Albany for the kind intro. I’m proud of you, Josh, and what God is doing through you! Also, I want to thank Brandon their Online Pastor for a incredible job of facilitating the experience and inviting people to Jesus.

What do you see as opportunities for the church to partner together?

A while ago my bride and I visited Disney World, and the first sign that I saw before I ever entered the park was…

CELEBRATE TODAY!

Countless times that day, I was bombarded with layers of banners and signs. Pre-park, in the park, post-park, every where I turned there it was… Up in my face…

CELEBRATE TODAY!

Guess what I did? I celebrated that day. That constant reminder encouraged me to reset, reboot, and restart. While I was waiting in long lines… I celebrated! When I was hungry and paying for the worst overpriced lame cheeseburger… I celebrated! When I was nauseous and baking in the hot Florida sun… I celebrated! When I couldn’t get the that stupid puppet song, “its a small world after all”, out of my head…

I celebrated.

“Celebrate today” may be a brilliant strategy for Disney World, but that theme didn’t originate with Disney. Those are the words of Jesus. His words were… “Quit worrying about tomorrow, it wont help you at all! It will just drain you and rob you of today… besides God your Father has your back.”

CELEBRATE TODAY!

I don’t know about you but I can turn into the “Grumpy Dwarf” when left to myself, so I need to be bombarded with layers of banners and signs of the positive words of Jesus. Celebrate today. I need Gods Word and Spirit to remind me that life is a gift, life is short, and the enemy’s number one goal is to steal my joy. I need to be constantly reminded that I have a choice. It’s my call. Nobody can make me have a bad day. Its up to me how I choose to respond to challenging circumstances and difficult people.

I shared this thought with my team today, and started our meeting with a cheer. Yes, a cheer! Then I challenged my bride to a cheer off. Enjoy. Let me know who you think is better and let me encourage you to… CELEBRATE TODAY!

These past two weeks have been incredible at Northway Church! So many lives have been changed through ONLY JESUS!

As we continue our series, Dangerous Church, there is no greater time to invite your friends to church! One of the questions that I asked this past weekend was, “Who have you invited to Northway Church this week?”

What would happen if every person that attends Northway brought a friend to church with them? Can you imagine how God could work through that?

So, let me ask you again… Who have you invited to Northway Church this week? It’s not too late!

I’ve been plowing through the book of Acts and God has been pressing me on many things. One thing in particular is…

Prayer.

To be frank with you… It doesn’t come easy for me as it does for some people.  I wish it did, but it doesn’t. Years ago, I started journaling and that discipline has helped me immensely and has transformed my prayer life. However, it’s still not enough.

I think God is calling me into a season of prayer. I’m not quite sure, but I do know this… God is leading me to pray more for boldness… God is leading me to pray more for the lost… God is leading me to pray more for revival in my own life and in His church.

Just curious…

How much time do you spend in prayer? Do you have any prayer tips for me?