There is some great conversation going on @ 31woman.com that speaks to the concerns that many wives and mothers face. As I read through the first comment, I could not help but ask myself, "are men selfish"? My wife and I have 3 very active kids that she deals with while I am away at work and with our young ones, it is very hard to keep our house clean. She also works overtime to keep track of and pay all of our bills, and while I work very hard during the day, I think I would be dead wrong to say that she is not just as tired as I am most of the time. With that being said, I do understand the need and desire for intimacy, but I think we as men need to practice some balance and understanding in this area.
One of the first things that I had to realize, is that my wife stays in a much better mood when she feels like we are working as a team. In other words, it is not a bad idea to bump shoulders in the kitchen or next to the washer from time to time. We must also learn to take interest in the things that our wives like to do. On top of all of the things that our wives are trying to do in order to keep the household running, they also have hobbies and interest. I did not know a thing about flowers, but my wife likes them and I learned. My wife did not know much about computers, but I am a technology fanatic and she learned. When our wives feel like we are team players, the attitude of the household is very different.
Men, our wives need us to help them, encourage them, and lead them. When we do that intimacy will not be an issue. I challenge you to think about what you have said to your wife to encourage her today - have you made her feel like your queen or your servant? We are to love our wives as Christ loves the church and gave his life for it, and when we do that the blessings of marriage will begin to flow!

As I was reading today I came across an interesting article that talks about some stars that are putting up big money to promote a cosmetics company. That, in and of itself, does not seem like a big thing, but one of the comments made in the article really stood out to me,
"I had seen the product and I thought it was a new category that could be introduced," Stoute told the paper. "Our voice should be able to control and manage it for the marketplace."
I found it interesting that there is a realization that all that needs to happen is that a product be endorsed by someone with the right "Voice" and people will buy it.
In the body of Christ, I think we need to ask ourselves what "Voice" we are sending. Are we trying to sell our "Voice" or are we pushing the "Voice" of God. The scripture says, "If I be lifted up...", unfortunately I think we lift up more of ourselves than we do God.
If you want to check out the article, you can find it here

Part two of "The Truth Behind Hip-Hop", was a great balance to the first DVD. There were a lot of questions that were asked after the first session. We had ministry workers that were at the church for a long time after the first DVD, but the second DVD seemed to bring some more clarity and focus to the message. We did have questions, but they were more along the lines of how to get others to understand what God is doing in their life. With both of these videos, it is easy to think that ministers such as G. Craig Lewis are trying to ban anyone in the body of Christ from hearing any music at all, but after watching the video a few times, that is not the message that I take away. The real take away for me was, "do your research", and be aware of the real message behind what you are wearing or listening to. As we walk with Christ, there are things that need to be cut off. That does not mean that we need to all lock ourselves into the church for prayer meeting, but that does mean that when there are things that you are promoting in any way that do not give God glory, you must ask yourself the question, "Why"? These videos have had a great impact at our church, but for any Pastors or ministry leaders that may be reading this, you should make sure that you have watched the entire thing on your own first because it opens up a world of questions that you need to be prepared to answer. As always, we look forward to hearing from you! By Faith | Pastor Lyons, Jr

This past Sunday was a mighty move of God where we challenged the people to make proper spiritual transfers. Titus 2 gives us a great example of how we are to teach others. It says that the older men are to teach the younger men, and that the older women are to teach the younger women. While we continue to talk about the problems that we are having with our young people, how many times do we really look at the problems of their parents or elders?
I can almost guarantee that we can see some of the same issues in some of the parents that we see in the children, (remember the saying, "the apple does not fall far from the tree") and if we want to make a change in the downstream, we must make a change in the source! While it is true that the work to reach the parents will be extremely labor intensive and often times it is easy to get discouraged, we must still get this done!
This added leadership role does not come without responsibility. James 3:1 shows us that as teachers we are held to a higher standard, and I think that scares some people away. We must also realize that it is impossible to teach what we do not know ourselves. This means that in order to fulfill our mandate we must be students of the word. Many of us go into the world with a lack of preparation, and then when the enemy beats us down we blame the church. We must be willing to "prepare for the press" and take our lumps when we do not have proper training. You may be saying that your lack of training is not your fault, but you have to make the choice to get all that you can, when you can!
We are responsible to make a proper transfer of our spiritual insight and experiences to those that come into the body of Christ, however I think some of the transfers that we make are not "God transfers". We need to ask ourselves a question of weather or not we are passing down healing or sickness, hope or despair, joy or pain. We also need to be real with ourselves and determine where our issues are before we try to jump in a help others.
When you come in contact with someone, you are poised to make a transfer, What type of transfer are you making?

My Church had the pleasure of watching Part I of "The Truth Behind Hip-Hop" video. Our young people were not only encouraged to come, but they were also encouraged to bring their friends. The outpouring of questions about the message was great, and the change of mind for many came swiftly. I think that it is very important that the body of Christ continue to motivate our young people, but we do not need to motivate them, by being like the world in our churches. Now, one may think that this means that church is going to be boring and void of life, but the scripture says that Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. At Word of Faith Christian Ministries we always strive for holiness. Compromise in any area of our lives should never be the status quo.
We hope that other churches in the body of Christ began to at least explore the message of these tapes and allow your youth to be innovators instead of duplicators.
We will be watching Part II of the video soon, and I will post back with more information about how God is moving through these videos. If you would like more information about G. Craig Lewis check out his website at www.exministries.com By Faith | Pastor Lyons, Jr.

So I just move in, I hope you like the place. You should take some time to look around and tell me what you think!
Many Pastors do a lot to stay away from the people, but I think that more transparency in the body of Christ may allow the lost to feel more welcome in our congregations. We hope to use this site to create an atmosphere where you can feel comfortable in speaking and asking those questions that you may not want to ask in public. I realize that just the thought of this is a big step, but Word of Faith Christian Ministries is mandated to be innovative in every area, and this is no exception.
I look forward to speaking with you. By Faith | Pastor Lyons, Jr