Bobby Lepinay

Losing Heart

This year, 2017, marks exactly 30 years since my ordination in 1987 at Liberty Church. It's easy to gloss over that number without realizing everything that has been packed into that 30 year period. 

A few years back I was at a conference where Robert Morris of Gateway church was asked the question, "What one thing as a pastor did you most underestimate?" His response was immediate: The  intensity of the spiritual warfare."

Without question that is true. Sometimes when I look back over the past 30 years and all of the battles, many wins but likewise many catastrophic losses that were devastating personally,I have to stop my brain as it goes on tilt and I actually become nauseous physically. As the apostle Paul said in Ephesians chapter 6, we are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against evil spirits, principalities and powers that have no regard  to who or what they attack, praying on any weakness whatsoever, whether a lack of prayer cover, weaknesses in a marriage, miscommunication among workers… The list is endless.  The number of times over the 30 years that I wanted to just quit and throw in the towel have been thousands upon thousands of times, but one passage has help me to persevere and continue forward serving the Lord. It's found in 2 Corinthians 4, the apostle Paul speaking:

"We are hard pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair......We get knocked down, but are not destroyed.....But we continue to minister because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 

That is why we never lose heart..... For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

 The only way to move forward and persevere in the will of God is to  see the bigger picture, that eternity awaits and that suffering is producing an inward glory that will far outweigh our deepest and darkest trials.  We are becoming more and more like our Savior, who for the joy set before him endured the agony of the cross.  We can't quit. We must take the next step forward and trust God's grace to strengthen us and renew us continually until we finally one day cross the finish line and hear, "Well done My good and faithful servant."

May your heart be encouraged, 

Bobby

 

 

 

Bringing The Tithe

Last night my wife Robin came to me and said, "God just convicted me about something: we never tithed off of my book royalties last month that were auto deposited into our bank account.  We need to bring the tithe that belongs to Him so He can continue to bless our finances without hindrance."

i immediately texted in our tithe, needless to say!

Since very early in my Christian life  I was taught that the tithe of all we earn belongs to the Lord. It isn't our money to do with as we please. And we can't give it because it isnt ours to give. We BRING it back to him by tithing to the local church we are a part of, the best part, the  FIRST 10% of our gross income.  In turn, God blesses the  remaining 90%. As my first pastor asked me when I was struggling with tithing, "Do you want a blessed 90% or a cursed 100%?" (Malachi 3:10)

 Here are a few facts about tithing: 

1.The principle of bringing the tithe goes all the way back to Abraham bringing the tithe to the priest Melchizedek long before the Law was ever established. The law defined it more clearly. Jesus affirmed it as well in Matthew 24 and it has been a practice in the body of Christ ever since, the historical baseline for real generosity.  

2. The way I see it is that if Jesus said that our righteousness must be greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees who practiced giving exactly 10%, then 10% is where I start as a Christ follower, seeking to give as time goes greater and greater portions of my income to the work of the Gospel.  Giving less than 10% as a supposed devoted follower of Christ is beneath even Old Testament standards and a slap in the face to the grace of God in my life. 

3. Tithing really is a matter of it being a "token" of my recognition that everything I have comes from God. It is a sign of my dependency not on myself and my own resources but that I truly am dependent upon God. It is a matter of honor to God as my supreme Lord and ruler and Provider. 

4. For those who have never tithed before, I challenge you to read the 3rd chapter of the book of Malachi. It is the only place in the entire word of God where God urges us to TEST him in this matter of tithing. At The Bridge we do a 90 day challenge: put God to the test for 90 days of bringing the tithe and see if He does or doesn't do what He said He would do, open up the windows of heaven with blessing upon your financial life. 

5. Finally, I see tithing as a practical way to store up my treasures in heaven,  into my heavenly investment account.  Each year for the last 30+ years that I have been a tither, when I get my giving statement at the end of the year, it makes me deliriously happy to see how much I have invested into the kingdom of God.  For me personally, it is my REAL retirement account! 

 Just a few thoughts that occurred to me earlier. Hope it helps some of you out there! 

Pastor Bobby

 

Here Comes The Judge!

I have an axe to grind.

 

Unfortunately, that axe is more about me than about others.

 

Last night I posted something I had been thinking about.  It had to do with judging our own motives as well as the motives of others.  I decided to blog about it so I can keep it for myself as a reminder, as my blog really is an online journal.  Here is what I wrote, with a few additional thoughts that I have had since then:

 

For whatever reason, this verse was in my mind tonight:

"When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."

What is interesting is that one chapter before, God says this: "People see only the outward appearance. The LORD alone knows the heart."  David's brother saw his younger brother David with what I call a "jaded eye", suspecting pretty much anything David did as being from a conceited, self-serving heart.

 

But it wasn't true.  God ALONE knew the truth about what was in David's heart.

 

The Apostle Paul faced this as well from the Corinthian Church, a church he himself had birthed.  They had begun to suspect his motives, calling into question his character.  Paul wrote to them this:

"I care very little if I am judged by you....; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord alone who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God."

The fact is we always see our motives as being pure but suspect the motives of others.

 

It saddens me personally how many times over the years I made myself a judge, THINKING I knew whether or not someone was sincere in their repentance, sincere in their heart toward God. Lord, please help me to take this deeply to heart and leave judgement to You alone concerning my heart as well as the heart of others.

PB

 

Slander

It's come to my attention that some things are being spread about Robin and I that I want to address. But before I do, I want to address something that I think Christians take way too lightly.

 

Slander. 

 

 

Allow me to start out with what the Bible says about slander. These are just 5 verses given in chronological order out of 44 total in the Bible:

 

 

1.Slander is serious enough to be included as 1 of the 10 Commandments...

 

Exodus 20:16- “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

 

 

 

2. Speaking of what slander is at its source...it is DEMONIC

 

Zechariah 3:1- "Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel's right hand, making slanderous accusations against Jeshua, the servant of the LORD."

 

 

 

3. I think God takes this REALLY seriously....

 

 Psalm 101:5 - "Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy" 

 

 

4. Attention all Jesus-followers! These are the words of Jesus Himself....

 

Mark 7:21-23 - "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, SLANDER, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

 

 

5. Finally, James by the Holy Spirit chimes in......

 

James 4:11 - "Do not speak against or slander one another. He who slanders a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it."

 

No doubt, slander is something deeply serious. If we are serious about living for God, we must be vigilant about putting up a gaurd in order to not ourselves be guilty of becoming a slanderer. 

 

So what exactly is slander? 

 

Websters defines slander in the following way: " to make or pass on a  statement that is potentially false that causes another person or persons to have a bad opinion of someone." In Latin, the word is translated "to blacken". 

 

Is that not EXACTLY what the work of Satan is? He takes a paint brush and slathers black paint over the saint of God who was set apart for the Lord, who may or may not have done something wrong, who is created in the image of God, and completely darkens their person. It is the opposite of how Jesus treats people, which is redemptively. With slander, the person and all that they are, including their motivations which no one but God Himself knows, .... ALL are held in suspect with a big question mark written over their person. Instead of loving them as a brother or sister in Christ, suspicion has filled the heart of the one who has received the slander from another. Rather than creating unity and love, it creates division and discord. 

 

Slander was actually the source of the first original sin that caused the fall of all mankind. The serpent slandered God Himself and portrayed Him to be uncaring, unloving and only out for Himself. He twisted God's words and motivations and created a big QUESTION MARK of doubt in Adam and Eve's hearts about the God that they thought they knew and formerly trusted. 

 

Could he really be trusted? They weren't sure anymore. 

 

The devil succeeded in painting the Father's character with his big black brush of slander. We know the end of the story from there. 

 

I urge you, all of you who are reading this, to sincerely pray and ask the Holy Spirit to deliver you from any slander you have received about a brother or sister in Christ, and likewise to forgive you for any slander you have passed on about any of God's children or anyone else for that matter.  This is something deadly serious that God does not take lightly. 

 

Jesus was slandered and maligned, His character darkened, with lies spoken continually about Him. It was Satan's chief work against the Son of God. We likewise see this tactic of Satan used against almost all of God's servants, going all the way back to Moses. David, the Prophets, and many others, suffered under the Slanderers black brush.   It is Satan's MAIN tool in opposing God's servants as well as all of God's people who sincerely love Him. 

 

So the question now becomes 1st, how do we handle a potentially slanderous accusation against a fellow believer when it is passed on to us from someone else, and then 2nd, how do we handle slander when it is spoken against us personally? 

 

First, when the slander is spoken about someone else, Jesus in Matthew 18 gives us the proper way to handle it. Rather than just receiving the words someone speaks to us about another that diminishes or darkens our opinion of them, we should tell them that IF what they are saying is true, they should go to the person they are passing potential judgment on and directly ask them what is the truth. Let the person know that if they don't go, you WILL go, as you do not allow any person who is a part of your Christian family to be potentially slandered. If there is sin involved, it still should not darken the whole person and we as their brother or sister are to be agents toward them having a chance to repent and turn away from the sin and be forgiven by the blood of Christ. God will bless us if we promote unity and restoration in the body of Christ rather than suspicion, judgment and division. 

 

I am convinced after almost 35 years of being a believer that if the majority of Christians actually practiced Matthew 18, the world would truly see our love for one another and how we protect each other and actually WANT to be a part of our tribe!

 

So what about when the slander is spoken about us personally? 

 

I love what the Scriptures says about Jesus when he had been accused of all kinds of crazy things and was brought before Pontius Pilot. He was not defensive, nor did he revile back. Rather he simply stated the truth concerning who He was and what He had come to do. He stated the facts, without any anger, any defensiveness. He then entrusted himself to God who is ultimate judge. 

 

Most of you have known me for a long time. There are no words to describe how much over the past 30+ years of ministry I wish I had acted like Jesus in both situations, especially the second. How I wish I could go back and just insert a Jesus-like response into all the times I was accused of various things, some true, others false. I believe it would've made a huge difference in the outcomes of many of the situations. 

 

So going back to the beginning of this blog post, it has come to my attention concerning a number of different things that have swirled around the city we are coming back to  about what happened almost 2 years ago concerning my relationship with Robin. She took it hard, as no one has really met her yet to really know her character. But let me just say without going into defensive mode that she is without question one of the most godly, Jesus-loving people I've ever met. Anyone who gets to know her will love her as she is one of those people that it's impossible not to like or love. I will not speak any further on the matter and if at some point she wants to, she will herself. 

The only thing I want to address at this point, and only because it is relevant to our moving back, is WHY we are moving back and starting a new church. Is it to compete with my former church that I started, Harvest, now Generation?

Again, I am trying to practice what Jesus did as best I can from now on so will simply state the truth and the facts. Back in late January 2015 I was given, and had the hope, of returning after six months to the church I founded, at that point Harvest, now Generation Church. At the six-month point in August I sent an email to all of the leaders asking if that was still a possibility, as I would love to rejoin them in doing the Great Commission in the city God called me too so long ago, Pensacola. I stated that I loved them and did believe they loved me and that I would love nothing more than to be rejoined with them, but that if they deemed not to go that direction, because I still feel called to Pensacola as my home and city of calling, I would begin a new work, though it was a second option as I knew how much work it takes to start a church. I would have much preferred to be rejoined with them as a fellow co-laborer in Christ. After a few days I received the response which was that they felt to decline the offer at this time. It made me deeply sad but I knew that I had to move on to what God was making clear would be my future, that of planting a new church in Pensacola. I laid it before the Lord and for six months waited for confirmation, which I received in late February 2016. I began to reach out to those who had expressed interest since I had left in being a part of something new if I was to restart again. We now have about 60 who are ready to engage in this new work called The Bridge Church. I refuse to work in darkness or secrecy and have sought to do everything in the light and to be upfront, out in the open. Though the work of starting all over can be overwhelming at times, I truly can say that God's grace is empowering me in a way I've never known before. I am excited beyond measure about being able to birth my second church in the second half of my life!

 

So, again,let me be crystal clear:  Pensacola is my HOME.  Building God's Church is my CALLING.  I would have preferred to do that with my former comrades, but they declined, preferring to keep things as they are now.  I am moving on and starting afresh with what I believe God has called me to do, totally in the light, transparently, with nothing behind the scenes or hidden.  I fully expect God to bless The Bridge in its work, along with all the other churches in Pensacola, as we seek to reach those lost and far from God.

 

So that's it. I again am doing my best to speak simple truth without defensiveness and hope to make this my practice for the rest of my life and ministry. I likewise urge you to do the same when you feel you have been lied about and maligned, as well as when someone passes on something that darkens the character of a fellow brother or sister in Christ. Maybe, just maybe, this will spread and we will see TRUE revival in our lifetimes! 

 

Much love, 

Pastor Bobby Lepinay

Bridge Updates 7/18/16!!

 

 

Hello everybody!! Hope your Monday has started the week off well! Robin and I are starting to pack and with each day are more and more excited to come back HOME.  Our God has been "preparing the way" for us to come back in ways that blow our minds.  We have been praying in His provision and have seen His faithfulness in mighty ways.     So far we have about 100 who have expressed commitment or interest in being a part of The Bridge, which is what we were believing God for way back in April when we felt His confirmation.  Many of you have been tithing to The Bridge and words cant express our appreciation, as we are believing for $50,000 by the end of the year.   Again, THANK YOU!!!!! Beyond that, here are a few things I want to communicate with you about: 1.  OUR NEED FOR HELP IN THE ACTUAL MOVE.   We have changed our move date to be in Pensacola to late Tuesday evening of August 2nd.  We could use about 8 to 10 helpful hands to meet me at our storage unit at NOON on August 3rd.  If we get this many it should take no longer than an hour.  Due to the fact that storage units can only be reserved a week or so ahead I am still not sure where it will be.  We found a furnished apartment that we will temporarily be living in so wont have to set up furniture.  It is located in Pace, as we are believing God for a door to open for Robin at UWF.  Let me know if you can help on the 3rd! 2.  CONCERNING ROBIN'S JOB.     She has applied for 2 Post Doctoral Fellowships at UWF.  Hard to believe as it is, they are still deciding.  Please pray for JOB FAVOR for her!! 3.  OUR 1ST BRIDGE GATHERING!!   As you guys know, our 1st gathering of those committed as well as interested in being a part of The Bridge will be SUNDAY AUGUST 14th AT 5:00 PM.  We are calling this an "Interest Meeting" and will be going over the vision of The Bridge as well as enjoying a FREE dinner catered by Mike and Ginny Brown and their team.  Please pray for the right location as we need room for 100 plus. I have some out scouting but we have not zeroed in on what we feel is the right place yet, that doesnt cost an arm and a leg!  PLEASE PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDERS!!! 3.  TEXT IN CHURCH.   On the matter of staying connected more easily, I have signed up with Text In Church, a group texting platform.  It is much easier than doing an infrequent  newsletter, as I can do it on the fly from my phone. Please take a minute to opt in by texting to 1-850-250-1494 and entering the word LOOP. Finally, If you read this and are interested in hearing the vision of what God has put in my heart for The Bridge, please let me know so that we will know how much food to prepare for the Interest Meeting on Sunday Aug 14th.  We welcome your children as well! This will be a great opportunity for those of you who just want to explore the possibility, KICK THE TIRES, and sense if this may be something God has for you without any need to commit! That's it for this now! God is going to do something AMAZING through us and the Name of Jesus is going to be glorified in Pensacola and beyond!! All for Him, Pastor Bobby Lepinay

"Sheep-stealing"

Several years ago I was talking to a new church planter who was starting a church in AL.  As we talked and I answered his questions, this question came up:  "I am having some people coming to our launch meetings who are from other churches.  I had one pastor email me and actually accuse me of stealing his sheep.  What should I do?

Here is what I said:  "First of all, NONE of God's people are OUR sheep.  They are the Lord's sheep.  We are just undershepherds called to be "faithful to our Great Shepherd for however long He has them stay with us.  We are responsible to help them in their journey to be deeper connected to the true Shepherd of their souls, as well as His mission, for however long He leads them to stay with us.  Some may be with us for a few weeks. Others? A few months.  Still others a year, 2, 3, 5 years.  A few even longer than that, 10 years.  Its very rare to see 20 years.  That's my experience.  So we as undershepherds must hold loosely and love largely, as that is what we are called to do.  Our goal is to hear those words at the end:  "WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!"

"Let me just say that I believe "sheep-stealing" is over-rated.  I definitely DON'T believe it is OK to directly recruit people and try to poison them about the church they attend and the pastor they are under.  That is plain wrong and immoral and a clear violation of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  We are in this together and as pastors we should support each other as best we can.

 

But on the other hand, God truly DOES often lead His sheep to other "pastures"/churches for their further development and use in His Great Commission work.  How do you know when He is leading you elsewhere?  It is not because you are offended.  Its not because you cant get along with some of the people.  Its because this thing in you is CALLING you, stirring you, not a man coercing and manipulating or guilting you.  I call it "Divine Discontentment".  The HOLY SPIRIT is drawing you elsewhere to connect with another work and vision in the grand landscape of the Body of Christ because you are needed by Him to help build.

 

It is based on a POSITIVE, not a NEGATIVE.

 

I hope this makes at least a little sense.  Some people stay in churches because they have grown comfortable.  They no longer are vital, no longer are being of use to the Great Shepherd in His Kingdom.  Others feel Divine Discontentment but are afraid that if they left the Pastor would get upset.  I truly believe they are often frustrating the Holy Spirit as He wants them to be productive and useful in the Great Commission.  

 

To make this clearer, let me give a true story that actually has happened many times over in my 30 years as a pastor:  A couple attended a service and asked afterward to have coffee with me.  After we had sat down and chatted, they began to complain about the church they were leaving, telling me how the pastor had said something to one of their children that did not sit right with them.  They questioned his integrity then asked if they could become members of my church.

 

My response?  "Im sorry, but not right now.  At our church we practice as best we can Matthew 18 where Jesus says, "If your brother (including your pastor) offends you, go to that person DIRECTLY."  Let them know what they did. My experience is that most of the time, that person didnt even realize what they did and it can be cleared up.  So before I would allow you to be a part of what we are doing here, you will need to first go back and talk to your pastor and seek to clear up any offense.  We want to keep the atmosphere clear and clean here, free from "YICK".

 

They made an appointment with their pastor and cleared the matter.  They told him that they felt the Lord was calling them to be a part of our church and they asked for his blessing.  He gave it to them and they hugged and left on good terms and became some of our most valuable people for many years, totally sold out to the mission of our church.  There was never another word of grumbling and they actually helped in keeping the atmosphere of our church POSITIVE and "Yick free".  

 

We must never forget that we are all the LORD'S sheep.  We belong to HIM, not man.  He alone should be the one directing our steps and we must encourage one another to truly listen and follow His voice, period, whatever that means.

 

Love you guys!

PB

 

 

 

 

Coming Sooner Than We Thought!!!

 

News From The Bridge 7/5/16                                 Hey guys!! Hope you all had a GREAT 4th of July! Time truly is flying by.  With that, Robin and I have some exciting news to share with you! 1.  First, we are moving back SOONER than we thought!!   Initially, we were planning on moving back around Aug 10, due to Robin having to defend her dissertation on the 8th. Due to some of her committee being out at that time, she will have to defend in September.  We both felt peace about moving our move date up to the end of this month. So our new MOVE DATE is Sunday, July 31st!  We will pack up here Saturday morning, drive to Memphis, then down to you guys on Sunday.  We hope to arrive around 5 pm and can DEFINITELY use some help!   We are not yet sure where we will live but are sure the  Lord will open the right door by then.  One way or another,.....WE ARE GOING TO BE IN PCOLA BY AUG 1!!!! :) 2.  MORE GREAT NEWS!!!!   Our 501-3c has been filed and by the time we meet (more on that in a minute), we will all be able to tithe and give offerings to THE BRIDGE CHURCH PENSACOLA!!  Until then, just keep sending them to us here to my personal ministry, RML Ministries so that you can deduct all from your taxes.  BTW, a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have been sending in your tithes.  Robin and I have as well and have seen God's 'Super' operating in our finances beyond just our 'natural' pay each month.  There is nothing like seeing the Living God work in our finances as we honor Him FIRST!!! 3.  Finally, our 1st gathering of those committed as well as interested in being a part of The Bridge will be SUNDAY AUGUST 14th AT 5:00 PM!!!   We have not yet settled on where we are going to meet and I have a few of you guys working on that right now.  Mike and Ginny Brown and their food team will be preparing Barbequed pulled pork sandwiches and we will all bring sides and dessert.  At this point, it looks like we will have around 75 and quite likely more.  It blows my mind what God is ALREADY doing!!   If you read this and are interested in hearing the vision of what God has put in my heart for The Bridge, please let me know so that we will know how much food to prepare.  We welcome your children as well! This will be a great opportunity for those of you who just want to explore the possibility and sense if this may be something God has for you without any need to commit! That's it for this week!  Robin and I are literally counting down the days to be with you guys.  God is going to do something AMAZING through us and the Name of Jesus is going to be glorified in Pensacola and beyond!! All for Him, Pastor Bobby Lepinay