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Pastorcarl
Carl Willis is the founder and lead strategist for Simplicity Church Network. Prior to launching Simplicity, Carl served as a pastor for churches in Kansas, Pennsylvania and Texas. In his ministry role, the Lord called Carl to work with churches that were immersed in conflict or dying. Carl watched God do many amazing things in these churches as they sought to return to health and obedience to the call of God. In his final pastorate, Carl became broken over the dysfunction of church ministry in America. Carl watched as incredible amounts of money were spent to simply maintain structures and staffing models, while the work of God’s kingdom was largely neglected. The laity had lost their sense of responsibility for their work in the fields of harvest, instead depending upon the paid professionals to make it happen. Many in the pews claim Jesus as Savior, but do not allow Him to be Lord of all. This blog is the writings of encouragement that come from Carl's own transparent journey of faith.Awards
The Endorsement of Your Life
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
Over the weekend, the most famous pitchman in America passed away.
Billy Mays was the king of infomercials, having made a name for himself
by passionately extolling the virtues of numerous household products.
Before any of us knew Billy’s name we knew him by the products he
represented. We would often refer to him as the Oxi-Clean guy or the
Mighty Putty guy. We knew Billy, not for who he was, but instead what
he represented. Billy knew not only how to talk about, but demonstrate
before our eyes ...<< MORE >>
Trick Questions
Get Your Praise On
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
This morning as my wife and I were out for our morning walk, we
found ourselves talking about praise. Praise is such a critical
component in our relationship to God, because it acknowledges who He
is. For example:
Revelation 4:8 (NAS
And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are
full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to
say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO
IS AND WHO IS TO COME.” ...<< MORE >>
The Value of Understanding
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
A few weeks back I had the opportunity to visit the Kitale Museum in
Kitale, Kenya. The Kitale Museum has exhibits that teach about the
cultural heritage and natural eco-system of this region of Kenya. The
true blessing of this visit to the museum came from the instruction of
my tour guide, Andrew. Andrew allowed me not just to see the exhibits
and learn, but he provided me with understanding as well.
For example as we toured the mud tribal huts, he explained why I had
to stoop down ...<< MORE >>
In Hot Pursuit
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
In our home we have 2 cats, “Max and Smokey” and a German Shepherd
named “Seth.” One of the daily happenings in our house revolves around
these 3 animals. At least once every day we will observe Seth chasing
one of the two cats around the house. Seth pursues them from room to
room until he finally gets them cornered. Once he has them cornered he
sniffs, licks and playfully nips at them, but truly he isn’t sure why
he chased them in the first place and he eventually walks away.
Unfortunately for Seth, there is no ...<< MORE >>
Get Out of the Penalty Box
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
The past two evenings I watched the first two games of the Stanley
Cup finals. One of the unique features of ice hockey is the power play.
A power play occurs when the member of one team commits a penalty. When
a penalty is committed, the officials levy a 2 minute or 5 minute
penalty against the offending team. During this time, the penalized
team is required to play with fewer players on the ice than their
opponent.
During the power play, the penalized team finds itself playing at a
disadvantage, unable to play at a maximum level ...<< MORE >>
Learning to Swim
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
This weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time in the pool
with my daughter. She is still in the process of learning how to swim
and has become pretty proficient with a life jacket on. This weekend I
determined that I needed to work with her on floating without a life
jacket. I began by holding on to her hands and instructing her on how
to lay out in the water, how to hold her breath and how to lift her
head when she needed to breathe. After a while she had mastered these
foundational ...<< MORE >>
Making Preparation
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
This morning I find myself in the final hours of preparation before
I leave on a mission trip to Africa. Even though there is a flurry of
preparatory activity, my preparations have actually been ongoing for a
few months now. It is the preparations for the journey that make the
journey possible.
Joshua 1:11 (NAS
“Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘
Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to
cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God
is giving you, to possess ...<< MORE >>
When Expectancy becomes Expectation
Good morning! This edition of the Monday
Morning Encouragement is coming to you a few days late, but I’m sure
you might find this just as encouraging on a Wednesday morning.
Over the past few days I have been finishing out a series of prayer
retreats that I started last year. The purpose of this retreat was to
spend an extended amount of time in silence and solitude in the
presence of God.
As I entered into this time, my mind was preoccupied with the many
things that are on the horizon. There are things that I have been
praying through and listening for God’s responses on ...<< MORE >>
