Christ Connection | Kevin Senapatiratne

25 Places I would love to speak

kevin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:11:44 +0000

Below is 25 places that I would like to speak, but haven’t already. This is just for fun. You may or may not agree with some of these churches, but I still think it would be fun to do. Some of them are obvious and some I add some notes.

Brookyln Tabernacle-Got to love a church with that kind of prayer meeting.
International House of Prayer
Angelus Temple-Matthew Barnett
Phoenix First-Tommy Barnett
Times Square Church
Full Gospel Church-Seoul Korea- World’s Largest Church
North Point Community Church-Andy Stanley
Willow Creek Community Church
Leadership Summit –WCA-Talk about multiplying effect
Catalyst Conference-Love young leaders
Saddleback-Rick Warren
The Potter’s House-T.D. Jakes
New Hope Christian Fellowship- Wayne Cordeiro-Hawaii oh yeah!
Good News – Kandy Sri Lanka- Out of the way church I went to as a kid.
Calvary Church-Colombo Sri Lanka-One of the few churches I attended as a kid that I haven’t spoke as of yet.
Underground church in China-I just want to attend one-These are heroes I just want to be around.
A church where Charles Finney spoke. He is one of the more interesting people in church history.
Church in Bristol England- George Mueller is from there. He is one of my heroes.
Church in either Iraq, Iran, Pakistan or Afghanistan
Hillsong, Australia
Eaglebrook Church-Minneapolis, MN-This is my parents church.
The Oaks with Scott Wilson
First Assembly – North Little Rock
National Community Church-Washington DC-Mark Batterson and the capital.
Las Lajas Catherdral-Colombia, South America-Google a picture of this building. Interesting place.

Do you want to go to the next level?

kevin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:05:54 +0000

I often hear people talking or writing about going to the next level. In the past couple weeks I have been thinking about a couple pictures that really help me with this concept. The first picture that came to mind is Ms. Pac Man. For those who are too young to remember, that was a video game where ghosts would chase around a circle with a bow as she gobbled stuff up for more and more points. An important thought from this game was, if you want to go the next level you have to clear the one that you are already on first. The same seems to be true of life as well. Maybe there are certain areas of this level that we don’t want to deal with, but we can’t level up till we are ready to deal with every area.

The other picture that was helpful was from a message I heard from Scott Wilson (www.scottwilsonleadership.com). He used the idea that if you want to go to the next grade in school you first need to pass the test. Now I am reading Job in my personal time with God, so I realize that certain tests are just beyond human wisdom. But I also see Scott Wilson’s point that testing often comes before promotion. I can easily come to the same test over and over, but stay stuck until I pass that test. So my question for myself today: do I really want to go to the next level? Am I ready for the test?

Self Employment vs God Employment

kevin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:41:09 +0000

One of the recurring themes of the personal development world is that if you change your thinking you will change your life. I am comfortable with that because that seems pretty Biblical. One of the contentions that I have read on more than one occasion is that you need to change your thinking from employee to self employed even if you work for a company. The idea is that by change my thinking to I work for myself it will make a huge productivity jump for the average person. But I think they miss a step that shoots us even higher. Even more than working for our self, the Bible reminds us that no matter our employment situation, including unemployment, we work for the Lord. We work hard because we work for the King, but we also continue to listen to Him while we work for ongoing direction. I believe this can be a small change that helps me stay on track. It also helps me take time off, because the Boss tells me to do that too. Change your thinking and change your life!

Emotion and Prayer?

kevin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:38:43 +0000

Here is a less than 3 minute video I made on emotion and your prayer life. Are you emotional when you pray?

I may not give the answer that you are expecting on this one.

Please check it out and then let me know your thoughts.

Are you ready to jump out of the boat?

kevin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:36:17 +0000

You know some times I think that the Apostle Peter gets a bum rap. How often do pastors (me included) preach messages on how Peter sank when he was walking on water? And yeah, there is a valid message in that, but how many times have I even walked on water? Last time I checked I never have (unless you include when I just started dating Jennie, but even she realized that wasn’t true once we got married.) But I was thinking of the story and realized an exciting truth about prayer in this passage. Peter didn’t jump out of the boat the moment that he saw Jesus. First he said, “Lord, if it is you tell me to come to you on the water.” (From Matthew 14:28) He waited for Jesus’ command. Maybe first, I need to listen to God more before I start jumping out of boats. And secondly, maybe in my prayer times I need to take more time to ask him to speak to me.

Why I am celebrating New Years at the beginning of December?

kevin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:28:46 +0000

I have a tradition of putting together my personal goals for a year somewhere in the range of Thanksgiving and the first week of December. Then I start working on them right away. Here is why:

It allows me to try out my new habits for about a month.

Most goals should have a daily or weekly change connected with them. Starting my goals in December allows me to try these changes out before I get to the official New Year. Sometimes there are minor changes to the goal that I realize I need to make and I can do that without getting behind. My birthday also happens to be near the end of February, and so it allows me to have another good re-evaluation point 3 months into the process.

It allows me to build momentum.

Any new habit takes some adjustment. Even if I struggle those first few weeks I still feel like I am making progress when the New Year comes. I can hit the ground on the New Year already worked through a habit in a major holiday (This is especially good for health goals.)

It lets me catch the momentum of the rest of the world at the official New Years.

Speaking of momentum, even if I have struggled all of December on some goal when New Years comes everyone else is excited about their goals and I can use the energy they have to get me going again.

So I may be strange, but who wants to celebrate with me?

What motivates you?

kevin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:42:51 +0000

This is an old 1 minute commercial, but I have watch it a few times this weekend and it every time it lights a fire in me to work hard. Pastor Wayne Cordeiro talks about the importance of finding the things that motivate and encourage you. What motivates you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0d2Ep_y_tY&feature=feedrec_grec_index

Books that impacted my life

kevin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:05:44 +0000

For those who are interested in learning books become like friends. They teach me, give me perspective, challenge and clarify my thinking and open doors to worlds I have not experienced. I always enjoy reading and hearing about from others what books have impacted them, so I thought I would pass along some of mine. I may return this topic from time to time because 5 books are hardly enough. By the way, this is not a top 5 list just 5 that I have found helpful (wouldn’t that kind of be like naming a favorite child).

Never Eat Alone- Keith Ferrazzi – This book was a great challenge and reminder to me on the importance of relationship. Although not a “Christian” book it is a great practical teaching on the hows of life with loving community that can be lived out in our world today.
Lectures on Revival- Charles Finney- Although I read this over 15 years ago this teaching on the need for revival shapes the way that I think. I know that some will argue with Finney’s theology, but the spiritual practices birthed out of that book have impacted my life.
Mind Mapping- Tony Buzan- Buzan outlines a way of capturing your ideas that includes pictures shapes and ideas. Although I have not got the system down, I go back to it again and again to clarify my thinking.
Getting Things Done- David Allen- Best book that I have read on time/life management and I have read a lot. A close second to that one is Julie Morgenstern’s Time Management from the Inside Out. Julie’s video Organizing from the Inside Out, has changed completely how Jennie and I organize our entire house.
Quantum Memory Power- Dominic O’Brien- (Audio Book) – Memory and memorization is a hobby of mine and this is one of the best resources on the topic I have found. BTW- Audio books have been a great help to me over the years. I may need to do a blog just on the audio books that have helped me.

So there is a start. Hope you find one book that helps you. I will bring out some more some other time in the future. If you have some that have helped you please let me know.

5 hurdles of pastoral ministry.

kevin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:14:53 +0000

I was reflecting on pastoral ministry last night at 2am so I hope this makes sense. From 9 years as a senior pastor and many, many conversations with pastors I realized that there are 5 hurdles I hear over and over. There is no set order these come into the life of the pastor, and they may even come all at once. But every pastor who has lasted in ministry has navigated around or over these hurdles.

Staff transition and building

Whether it is an inherited staff member or bringing on someone new pastors must lead and grow their team. This could even include a key volunteer position. Whether they need to confront or encourage this is the challenge of people development.

Elder or board direction

Of all the challenges I hear the most about in talking to pastors this is the greatest one expressed. Almost every pastor I talk to has experienced a stretching moment with their board in the first five years when dealing with an inherited board. The process of getting everyone of the same page is often what sinks or lifts a church to the next level. This is the challenge of directional leadership.

Congregational transition

This is a hurdle that easily causes a pastor to lose perspective. Every church I have encountered has people move on whether due to leaving town or because of differing visions of church. How the pastor handles this and also brings in new people is a true test of the leader’s staying power. This is the challenge of leading group dynamics.

Personal rhythm

A leader may have things go well in the church and trip up in their own world. This is where the pastor may lose focus due to short falls in personal growth areas like: time management, health management, relationship with friends and family, and growing mentally. This is the challenge of self leadership.

Vision implementation

This is not necessarily about getting the vision that God has for the church, but the skill needed to see it become a reality. For a pastor who inherits a church this is the time when he or she begins to see things God put in their heart become a reality.

As I said these come in all shapes and sizes. They may have underlying spiritual issues or personal development needs. So pastor friend is you are going through one of these you are in good company. Continue to grow and go after Jesus and the church will be thankful for it.

Challenged by an awful movie

kevin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:06:45 +0000

I watched a movie last night that was awful. Not because it was sinful, but because it was so disappointing. I had high hopes for this movie because I had seen the remake of the story and it was one of my favorites of all time. But this story just fell flat. One of the worst things about the movie was the ending. It was one of the worst endings I think that I have ever seen. There is nothing like a story that ends poorly. What about the story of our lives? It is so easy to start off well in our walk with God and then get side tracked. We cultivate this great friendship with God through prayer and then lose focus, sit down, and miss out on the great things that God has for us. The opportunities of the now set the stage for us to finish well. I have been stuck by the people who had encounters with Jesus that changed their lives because when He came by they pushed through the crowd to get to him. Will I press through everything to get to Jesus so that I don’t miss those moments that will make the end of my story a good one? Keep pressing in to Him. You are writing the story of your life in these moments.