This is such an exciting time for our church. Not only did Code Orange Revival kick off last night, but we have also launched a brand new initiative that will open up unlimited opportunity to reach people all over the world with the power of the gospel. As a church we have always sought to leverage technology to increase our platform for ministry, so we have launched The Elevation Network: a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week Gospel preaching ministry.

The Elevation Network is our gift to you, and is a free online network that will stream round the clock gospel preaching. When you tune into the network, you will see our current sermon of the week airing every four hours, past sermons from our archives, creative elements from our sermon series and worship songs that were birthed right here in our own church. It’s your channel for all things Elevation with the sole purpose of reaching people far from God all over the world.

The Elevation Network also gives us the ability to stream live events, so it is only fitting that we are launching it with Code Orange Revival. The network will be the only place you can watch the revival as it’s happening, and we hope that you take advantage of it and join us in the incredible things we are going to see God do over the next twelve days. It is built so that you can easily share with others, so we would love your help in getting the word out.

The network is broadcasting right now and goes live again tonight at 6:12 PM EST with our revival pre-show, and then Code Orange Revival begins at 7 PM EST. Join us at www.elevationnetwork.com.

Click on the banner to visit the Elevation Network now. Watch the video from the Network below to learn a little more about the vision behind the Elevation Network.

This past weekend I started a 2 week teaching on God’s Favor at Elevation Church. We’re calling it Found Favor.
You can watch the first sermon here.

I told the church, and I meant it, that only setting aside 2 weeks for this study was a miscalculation on my part. I had no idea how much God would show me in His Word about favor as I began to study. Honestly, I don’t think I had a clue how central the concept of Favor is in the Scriptures.

Since I walked to the pulpit with 10 pages of notes, and only got through about 3 of them this weekend, I wanted to take a moment to elaborate on one of the facts about favor I briefly mentioned.

The more favor you receive, the more faith it will require.

God’s favor brings abundant blessing into our lives. God’s blessing is usually associated with serenity, tranquility, and other Thomas Kinkade type good sensations. So it’s easy to see why we can begin to incorrectly assume that when we have God’s favor, life will be more comfortable.

But if you come to God seeking favor in order to establish your comfort, you’ll be disappointed more often than not.
Because what you begin to discover as you walk in God’s favor is that, as much as anything, favor is a disruptive force.

Remember, for mother Mary, being blessed and highly favored meant giving birth in a barn. And bearing public shame and ridicule.

I’m not saying this to depress you. Just to prepare you.

Favor isn’t always synonymous with a series of fortunate events. It doesn’t usually lead to sitting back and relaxing.
Walking in more favor will require you to exert more faith. Because it’s going to take you places you’ve never been, and require you to do things you’ve never done. Things you can’t do, apart from Jesus.

When you ask God for favor, He answers with opportunity.
As you seize the opportunity, He empowers you with His presence, and equips you with His power.

It’s just the way favor flows.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
Mark 5:15-17

Do we really want Jesus to show up?

Because when He showed up in this community, they lost a huge part of their economy. Yes, He had done a great thing for a crazy man living by himself in a cave. But He was messing up their lives and freaking them out. So they asked Him to leave. As soon as He touched their money, His presence wasn’t welcome.

I think most people want Jesus to show up and have their lives improve. Fair enough. Jesus told us He came to bring us abundant life, full life, and that’s what His presence brings.

The problem is that in addition to wanting an abundant life, we usually want everything else to remain the same. Business as usual. Status quo intact. On both national and personal levels.

We want Jesus plus economic prosperity. Jesus plus national security. Jesus plus safety.

Jesus doesn’t always work like that. It’s not that safety, security, and prosperity cannot coexist with Jesus and His movement among us. It’s just that our desire for safety, security, and prosperity at the expense of Jesus cannot coexist with Jesus and His movement among us.

One of the greatest things standing between you and the uninhibited, powerful presence of Jesus in your life is probably the thing you believe must coexist alongside Him. Big things like the economy. Or smaller things like your boyfriend.

But in order to bring us what we really want – abundant life – sometimes God has to take away what we think we need. It’s often the things that we hold onto most tightly that we need to let go of most desperately.

Do we really want Jesus to show up?
What if Jesus comes and messes everything up?
What if we ask Him to show up in our nation and the economy goes down?
What if we ask Him to show up in our family and our kids decide our preferred career path for them isn’t God’s vision for them?

Some of us probably wouldn’t want Jesus to show up then. But that would be our loss.

Jesus’ presence may mess everything up. But by messing everything up, He is actually putting everything exactly where it belongs and positioning us for exactly what we need. And that’s Himself.

I’m going on a mini-blogging break this week to recharge and celebrate the holidays. But I didn’t want to leave you with nothing, so I’m giving you the top 10 most popular blog entries of 2010.

If you haven’t had a chance to read them, I hope they speak life into you and challenge you to become all that Christ has dreamed and created you to be. If you have read them, it could maybe even read them again. You’ll be surprised what fresh angles God can speak to you from. Or how He can reinforce what He has already taught you.

It’s always an honor to share my thoughts with you. Have a great end to 2010. The best is yet to come.

1. Cheering for failure
2. Staying out of trouble vs. Walking in your calling
3. The ultimate poster child for what could have been
4. Perfect for you
5. Some thoughts on Halloween
6. Grapes and giants
7. But people
8. 3 Things this generation demands
9. Living within the funk
10. One of the worst verses in the Bible