Christmas Party Outreach in Antipolo - Would You Help Us?

The Church which I pastor in Metro Manila, Philippines, Gateway Mission Assembly www.gatewaymissionassembly.org , has been reaching out to one specific community, a few miles away in Antipolo for a few years now.  This December 2, 2017, we will hold our second Christmas Party Outreach.  It is primarily our Youth who are leading this effort.  They go to this community regularly and we even provide transportation every week to our main Sunday Church service by renting a vehicle called a Jeepney.  Here is a picture of a typical Jeepney:

Every Sunday, around 25 precious people from this community attend Gateway Mission Assembly.  This is the result of continued interaction, but by far, the most impactful thing we did was last years Christmas Outreach Party.  We believe that this years Outreach Party will be another big success!

It is my dream and goal that what we are doing will become a Church.  Our first Church Plant!

Our Church is running at a less than break even level.  Every week, we receive miracles from God in order to continue operating and so we do not have funds from our general account for this outreach.  Even the weekly transportation is covered by private donation.  What we are doing is collecting coins all year long after every Sunday service in order to get the money together to conduct this Party.  In addition to that, our Youth do other fund raising activities such as selling baked goods, t-shirts and contacting anyone that they know who might help.

It's going to be great!  There will be singing, performances, food, gifts and most importantly, the presentation of the gospel!

As of right now, we are in need of about $1,200 more in order to do it the way we really want to.

Would you be willing to help us out?  If so, please contact me at pastorstevemckinney@gmail.com and I'll let you know the best way to get funds to us depending on your location.

Thanks so much for your kind consideration!  God bless you!

The following video was produced by our youth after last years Christmas Outreach.

Populate the Best Neighborhoods in Heaven

Today I turned 49 years old.  I am impressed with two thoughts as I celebrate life so far and anticipate the rest of my days.  The first is based on Psalm 90:12 which encourages us to plan our lives and to spend our lives well.  Here it is in two versions to give more depth to the message.

Psalm 90:12 (NLT)
12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
    so that we may grow in wisdom.

Psalm 90:12 (ESV)
12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

The second thought coming to me is to not a scripture but a popular saying which I find to be good advice.  "Live each day like it may be my last."  James 4:13-15 reminds us not to boast about "tomorrow" because we don't know if we will even have a tomorrow.

And so on the one side of the coin, God tells me to plan out my life.  In order to do this, I stay aware of my calling and of the things I believe God has directed me to accomplish.  I use a calendar, I use task lists, I focus on vision, destiny & on dreaming God's dreams.  I try to not be distracted, knocked off course, spin my wheels or waste time.

On the other side of that same coin, God prompts me to not get so caught up in planning that I don't accomplish my mission for Him for this very day.

This is a great balance to maintain.  To plan on having productive years well into my 90's but to also make sure that if I die tomorrow, that I have lived a productive life!

In this week leading up to my birthday, I have found myself evaluating life insurance, calculating how much I have spent in my lifetime so far on ministry versus on myself (including family) and more.  Why?  Because it is important to me that I spend more on God's Kingdom in my lifetime than what I spend on myself.  However, at the same time, it is also important that in my lifetime, I do care well for my family and leave a good inheritance for my wife and kids.  Is it possible to do both?  Is it possible to give at least 51% of a lifetime of cash-flow away into God's Kingdom and still to provide well for my family?  Yes!  But it's not easy.  It requires God's guidance and empowerment.  And it also requires that the Lord makes good on His promise that if we will sow into His Kingdom, that He will multiply and provide. And by the way, He definitely does that!

My Dad is even further along into this process, being older and having fought against a severe case of lymphoma recently.  God healed him but he did conduct a deep diagnosis of his life.  He shared with me that part of the reason that he wants to leave a good inheritance to his kids is that he trusts that those assets will be used to continue and multiply into the Kingdom of God.  Think about it.  If you left a chunk of cash, some life insurance and maybe some properties to your child instead of giving it to missions, the risk is that they will squander it and not multiply it and sow it and you have now missed your heavenly reward for what you could have received by sowing it into ministry.  But if you instead, sow it into your ministry hearted child and that money ends up becoming 5 times or 25 times or 500 times more sown into God's Kingdom, then you will have even more heavenly rewards than you would have otherwise received.  Multiplication of heavenly rewards is possible and is awesome!

I am trusting my family that once I am gone, if I ever die (I might be one of the raptured), should they receive life insurance and assets from me, that they remain focused on God's mission and that they continue in the legacy of giving more to God than what we spend on ourselves  :-)  I hope you kids read this!  If I did not love and if I didn't believe in my kids, if I didn't believe that they would be Kingdom people, I would not leave them an inheritance.  I would give it all into missions.  I'm really not kidding.  I'm not interested in leaving assets to anyone that will be selfish with them.

Why am I sharing my heart like this in a way that may be uncomfortable for some to read?  It is because of a dream I had this morning.  The Lord showed me a neighborhood in heaven.  It was a neighborhood that was very close to the center of heaven.  Very close to God's throne.  I was aware that the people in this neighborhood were those who had given more to God than what they had spent on themselves in time, energy and resources.  This was a neighborhood in glory that was full of those who planned for eternity and spent their lives wisely.  This was a neighborhood in heaven filled with people who were very productive for Jesus... they lived each day like it would be their last.  They worked and gave to a sacrificial point.  The widow Jesus spoke of who gave her little which was her all, lived in this neighborhood.  The rich people who gave much but in reality it was little compared to what they had, did not live here.  (see Luke 24).

After seeing this dream, of course I was even more motivated to make sure I get to that neighborhood!  But more importantly than this, God spoke to me at the end of the dream.  He said, "Steve, populate this neighborhood.  Teach people to sacrifice.  Teach people to live for me and not for themselves."  Then the dream ended.

Populate this neighborhood.  How many people can I encourage to make it to the best neighborhoods of heaven?  How many people can I guide into a lifestyle here on earth that will yield them the most crowns and rewards in heaven?  I don't know...  But I am committed to do my best to get as many people not only to heaven, but into the best neighborhoods in heaven.

The challenge is to balance the spending of our lives so that we will plan and number our days while at the same time, living each day aggressively as if it is going to be our last.

Let us rise up to God's call!  His call to trust Him, to sacrifice, to live unselfishly and generously, to work in His harvest field!

I hope to see you in the best neighborhoods of heaven!

God Said, "Don't Yield to Me!"

I was in our church mid-week service last Wednesday night with just a few of our normal attendees since we are smack in-between Christmas and New Years and many are out of town and such.  Not even any of our other Pastors who often attend were able to come and so I was the only senior leader there though some of our youth leaders were.

There was a singer, a guy on a guitar and another guy on a beat box and just 3 of us in the chairs.  The same number on the altar as in the congregation!  Earlier, we could have decided to cancel the service knowing that few would attend, but we didn't.  We decided to be consistent even with small numbers.  I am sure glad that we did, because I had a life impacting encounter with God!

Half way into the 3rd worship song, I stopped singing and was instead, speaking phrases of my own to God.  I was telling Him several things including "I Yield to You!"   Suddenly, the voice of God rang in my ears as if it was audible, though I knew nobody else could hear it.  He said, "Don't Yield to Me!  I don't want You to Yield to Me.  I want you to Fully Surrender to Me!"  At that instant, I envisioned a Yield Road Sign being replaced with a Stop Road Sign.

I don't know when it was that the word Yield became part of my prayer jargon.  It has been for countless years.  I probably heard other Christians say it and I picked up on it and started saying it myself.  I have probably said that to God several thousand times and I still do think that in many cases, that would continue be good terminology.  But for me, right now, facing the decisions and issues that I'm facing, God has been clear:  I am not to view my decision making processes as times to yield.  I am to stop fully and fully surrender.

There is a difference, though it on the subtle side and I never thought it very important until now.  It’s interesting how God speaks to us using illustrations that are comparable to other things we are experiencing at the time.  I have been teaching my wife Amy to drive and I just got word from her that she passed her driving tests and received her first Drivers License just this week!  One of the big lessons I have been teaching her is how to Yield, especially in the area where she is practice driving, where she has to enter traffic circles with possible cars coming around and there is only one lane.  The point is that when no other cars are coming, you can proceed driving without stopping.  The Yield in that case means you don’t have to Stop.  You keep going unless there is a reason to Stop.  But if another car is coming, they have the right of way and you must Stop and Yield to them.

Additionally in places where there are Stop signs, Amy had to learn that it isn't a stop until the wheels have fully stopped turning.  As with most people, this was hard for her to put into practice.  She was doing what we call "rolling stops."  That is when you sort of almost stop but the car is still rolling slightly and then when no cars are coming, you accelerate.  She was actually Yielding, rather than fully Stopping.  That is actually an offense that will land you a ticket with the Police in many countries.  What she had to do to overcome that compulsion was to fully stop, count 2 seconds and then go.  Now, she always fully stops.  But she had to initiate a discipline to do it.

One of the hardest things about doing a full stop is that we notice around us that hardly anybody else is doing it.  Even the Police cars, at least that I have seen, rarely do a full stop.  They are often rolling right through them.  It's hard to do something that many others disregard and don’t think is important!  But that is just the point!  Sometimes God asks us to do something that He doesn't seem to be insisting that other people do!  But for us, it is a personal command whether for a life-time or for a season.

Most of the time, Christians yield rather than stop.  The main reason is because in many decisions of life, you aren't necessarily going to hear from God directly.  As long as we follow His Word, we are free to just keep going and simply be ready to Yield if He shows up to change our course.  

The problem is that we get so used to that, that when we come upon a Stop sign decision; one that we really need to fully Stop for and wait on the Lord for, we often roll through them and make terrible choices.  Sometimes the root causes can be busyness or laziness.

What is even worse, is that our own ideas and desires can start to enter the mix.  We want what we want, when we want it and rather than Stopping which is a full surrender to the perfect will of God, so we just roll on through, telling ourselves that it’s ok and we pursue our own desire while making good spiritual sounding excuses for just Yielding.

So for me in this season, I will not be Yielding to God.  I will be making full Stops.  Making sure that I fully surrender to His perfect plan.  Making sure that I have inquired of Him on every important decision and have received His direction before proceeding.  Maybe He is speaking the same thing to you?

Now am I going to be seeking the Lord’s Will at the restaurant as I check the menu regarding what to eat?  That’s not what I’m talking about!  However, it is true that there are times that I’m about to order something that isn’t healthy for my blood sugar and I do hear the prompting of the Lord telling me not to order the starchy item.  My point is, there is a balance in all of this.

This is a time that God moves on many hearts in the Church to go into the New Year with fasting and prayer.  I will be asking members of the Church I pastor to join me in fasting at whatever level of fasting they are individually willing to do.  This is a good way to make a Full Stop.  I would recommend at a minimum, a three day, a one week, a ten day or even a full month.  And instead of just fasting food, I recommend fasting from other things as well including things like TV, Movies, Multi-media and more.  One lady I know fasted from wearing make-up for 40 days and it changed her life!  For some people, giving up Diet Coke for a month would be a great part of their fast!

Why is the Issue of Abortion Such a Big Deal?

To many of you, you may not ever ask that question.  You may have grown up with Pro-Life thoughts drilled in to your thinking and you may have never struggled, wondering why Evangelicals and Catholics make it such an incredibly big issue.  But to others, it may be a big question mark as to why this topic is so often brought up, especially during election time.

This is such a big issue that it can literally be the deciding factor as to whether or not a person would vote for a candidate for political office or not.  Indeed in the current US election, for me, it was the largest reason, though I had several other reasons, that I voted for Donald Trump and not Hillary Clinton even though there are many things that I don’t like about Donald.

There are so many other issues to be concerned about varying in scope from immigration to poverty to the environment to discrimination all the way to police brutality.  Why is abortion so important… even more important than those to me and to millions of others?  Right up front, here is the most obvious answer.  More than 3,000 unborn children are murdered in the United States every day.  If you add up all of the other issues, even all together, the devastation from them doesn’t even come close to the loss that is happening just from abortion.  More babies are murdered in our country every day than the number of people who were murdered by Jihad in the Twin Towers.

I’ll back up now and be candid about my previous mind-set on this.  Even though I grew up in a Pentecostal home with missionary parents, I personally did not feel that abortion was a big issue.  I can only attribute this to one thing since it was not from my upbringing.  It has to be that my heart simply was not very sensitive to God since I had not yet better developed my relationship with Him. Even when I had friends in High School who used abortion to erase the evidence of their wild behavior, I thought that should I have been in their shoes, I might have done the same thing.  I felt for them and thought they did the right thing.  Though it made me sad that an unborn baby would be murdered and though I did always view abortion as literal murder,  in the back of my heart, I didn't really care about it deeply.  The reasons I had were that after all, the babies all go straight to heaven, had they lived, they might have had a bad life and they might not have become saved believers.  I thought that maybe they were better off.  So when a preacher or evangelist or a band like Delirious would start preaching or singing about it, I would sort of mentally check out and wonder why we were spending so much time talking about something that doesn't matter that much.  I can barely even write these words now…  I can’t believe how blind I used to be!  Maybe I'm not alone in this.  Maybe, just maybe, there are other Christians, millions of them who also minimize or dismiss this issue in their thinking.

I’m not going to insert the scriptures about taking the life of an unborn child in this blog since this one is more about my personal metamorphosis.  If you want scriptures, feel free to google them or contact me directly and I will be happy to provide you with many of them.  There are literally hundreds of pro-life web-sites out there that do a good job presenting the biblical truth about abortion.

Here is how my thinking changed.  Slowly but surely as I began to become a more sincere and devout follower of Christ, my view about the unborn began to change.  I wondered why there were scriptures in the Bible that spoke to the issue of premature deaths of the unborn.  I realized that God inspired the writing of all of those scriptures dealing with these kinds of deaths not only for then, but for now.  As I surrendered other parts of my life, selfish and prideful areas, I noticed that now when I heard someone addressing the murder of unborn children, my eyes would water and I began to care.  Not just feel bad, but really care that the destiny of each child was cut short and God’s heart was hurt by it.  I also began to care about the devastating after-affect for each mother who in desperation chose to go through with it.

It happened slowly but surely and I can attest that as my heart became more devoted to God, I became more sensitive to this and to other things that are dear to God's heart.  Caring about what God cares about changed me.  It made me more sensitive in other areas as well and it made me a better man and a better Christian.

So what is at the root of not caring about or even condoning abortion that would cause it to sear a conscience and make a heart less pliable towards God?  It is that abortion is a sin that is a selfish quick fix of another sin or of an inconvenience (in the case of married women who get one).  So selfish, that murder becomes preferable to facing humiliation or having to take care of a child.  It’s the epitome of selfishness and not taking responsibility for ones’ actions.

When I was a young Pastor in my first role as an Associate, I discovered in the youth group that one of our teen-agers was pregnant and was scheduled for an abortion the next day.  I immediately went to her and discovered that her mother knew nothing about it and that it was two wives of Elders in our Church who had made the appointment for her and were funding the murderous procedure.  Even worse, I found out that they had successfully accomplished abortions with two of our girls previously.  Murder was happening right in our Church and those participating didn't even blink.  It was all for the sake of convenience and getting a better start in life, etc.  The happiness, respectability and financial well being of those families was more important than a life.  Tragically, I was not able to stop the process because as it turned out, the mother, once informed also decided to go through with it.

These wives of our elders and their husbands ended up having many other problems in their lives and causing many other problems in the Church.  The willingness to enable abortions was just the tip of the iceberg.

Selfishness is the key word to what I'm saying in this piece.  The only reason that a Christian would vote for a pro-abortion candidate is if they feel they will somehow benefit in a way that justifies voting for abortion.  There is something important to them that they feel the other candidate who is anti-abortion will not achieve for them.  And so these folks have fallen into selfishness to the point that they are willing to condone the murder of literally millions of babies so that their pet agenda can be advanced.

My prayer is that I, along with all of my fellow believers will get closer to God to the point that He can use this one important measurement to change us into the unselfish and trusting people of His that He desires us be.  If we will put God first in this area of our thinking, many other great results will follow.

If you have discovered that your heart is calloused in this area as mine previously was, I encourage you to understand that it is not the way your heart is supposed to be and that God can help you to change it.  Seek Him, pray, worship, get close to Him, value His Word and read it daily… not just at random, but research this issue and others that you need to in order to grasp the heart of God and His nature.  If you will seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him!

Small Becomes Big sermon from Aug 21, 2016

In this sermon video from last Sunday, I explain how before God used Philip to be a great Evangelist, He first used him in a smaller role, feeding the widows.  I also lay out a new tag line that we have integrated into our ministry: "Purity ~ Power ~ Purpose"  I also explain a new method of deep discipleship that we are starting based on the DNA model.

Don't Make Ministry Harder than it Should Be

Ministry is hard!  It's one of the hardest things there is.  But the most rewarding things are often the hardest and ministry is extremely rewarding.

I was talking to the Lord the other day, asking Him about all of the pain... the rejection, the helplessness, the failures, more...  The biggest painful thing on my mind were the people who I had invested so much time and energy into who in the end, not only left me, but did vicious things to me as they left or after they left.

He said to me, "You are making ministry harder than it should be."  In other words, the fact that it is so hard is greatly your own fault!  Just what I wanted to hear!

As I contemplated what the Lord had said, the following scripture came to me.

Matthew 7:6 (NLT)
6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.

Here it is again in another version:

Matthew 7:6 (NKJV)
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Wow!  Since I had thrown my pearls to pigs and dogs, wasted what is holy on unholy people, I had reaped a reward of having them turn on me and tear me up!

So I inquired of the Lord further...  "Aren't most people spiritual pigs and dogs?"  "Yes."  "Is it 50%?" "More."  "Is it 75%?"  "More."  "Is it 90%?"  "More."  I stopped asking that and asked something else.

"Lord, if most people are pigs and I can't give them pearls, am I even supposed to minister to them?"  He answered, "Yes!"

So pigs and dogs need ministry, but they need a different kind of ministry.  They simply need the ministry of getting cleaned up.  Of someone speaking the truth to them in love over and over again. Leading them to repentance and the processes which renew their minds.  I saw a vision of spraying a "flock of pigs" with a fire hose.

So when does someone come to a place that I can give them pearls?  Train them for leadership, teach them the deeper things, bring them into a greater place of trust, raise them up in the gifts and more? The answer is, once they stop behaving like pigs and dogs!

What is it that pigs and dogs do that the people of God are not supposed to do?  The answer is found in the following scripture!

2 Peter 2:22 (NLT)

22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

Dogs eat what they vomited out and pigs go back and jump into the mud!  People go back to their sinful and empty ways!  You will know who is serious by their fruit!

So from now on, until I see that someone has stopped rolling in the mud and going back to what they purged to partake again, I will take them as seriously for discipleship as they take themselves.  If they aren't serious, then I can't be very serious about them.  But if they are serious about walking according to God's Word, then I can seriously walk with them and invest my pearls into their life!

My Dad has Lymphoma but Is Not Retiring or Giving Up!

We are finally, after a couple of weeks of gathering data and first properly informing key leaders, are able to speak publicly about what is going on with my Dad, Everett McKinney.  Simply put, he has been diagnosed to have two kinds of lymphoma.  I'm not going to get into great details about the disease, but for those who don't know, this is a form of cancer.  He and my Mom, Evelyn, left Asia and rushed to Portland, Oregon to work with the incredible OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and went under the care of Dr Andy Chen, really, one of the best in the world.  This is the Oregon Health and Science University's work that is funded in great part by Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike.  In medical terms, given my Dad's age, physical strength and the condition, he has been given an estimated rate of 65% chance of survival.

More importantly, we started receiving messages from the Lord about Dad well before he found out about this lymphoma.  All of the messages which came prophetically or in times of worship and prayer had one thing in common.  They included the phrase, "God's not done with you yet!"  The Lord also sent Dad a message a few days ago, saying, "Fight!  Never give up!"  We believe in healing, we believe that God uses Dr's, we believe that God allows testings and we believe the report of the Lord!  In other words, healing is coming!

Dad and Mom are NOT retiring.  They have secured a 6 month medical leave with Assemblies of God World Missions and we literally expect them to be back in full time service within those 6 months or less.  They are in the midst of the most strategic and effective ministry times of their lives! The enemy never gives up and that is why we cannot either.

If you are a supporter of theirs either in prayer or in funding or in both, then please, walk with them and even consider doubling down in your partnership with them at this time.  Insurance and medicare are covering the costs of the treatment but there are other extra costs that are not covered.  We cannot fully decipher those yet, but they are substantial and personal expenses for them are hard to generate.

As the USA in the last few years has radically changed in regards to funding full time "sent" missionaries, moving towards supporting indigenous works, spending on in-house projects and sending teams to the field on short term trips, many full time missionaries have given up and gone back to America as trying to raise funds now is more like trying to get blood out of a rock than it ever has been before.  Others have learned how to self-fund by opening businesses (tent makers) while others have simply lowered their operating costs and are willing to do the work of God with less funding than what most would expect.  It is amazing how many missionaries I know here in Asia who have budgets of less than $1k per month and they are happily doing the work of the Lord.  These are focused, committed and amazing people who give their all for Christ!

In the case of Dad and Mom McKinney, they have chosen to stay on God's Mission for them even though every month, they must dip into their retirement funds at a rate literally of thousands of dollars per month.  Their particular ministry involves much travel which is more expensive than what most missionaries have to pay for.   My brother Doug and I don't care that they are spending what would have been our inheritance on something much more important!  Souls! There is no better investment than that!

Please pray!  And if you are led to help them in their hour of need or to give extra, please contact my Mom directly at everett.mckinney@agmd.org as to how to best speed resources to them.

Thanks so much!  May the Lord richly bless you as you spend your life for Him!

Above: Setting up the first bag of chemo.  My wife Amy and I were in the room.  This was a few days ago.  I'm back in Manila now...

Above: Dad relaxing just before the first chemo treatment...

Above: My wife Amy enjoying a moment with my Dad who is enjoying his Dutch Brothers "sugar free white annihilator."  If you haven't had one and you live anywhere near a Dutch Brothers Coffee, you simply must try!  You will never desire a Starbucks ever again  :-)

Above: This is a 3 minute video of Dad and Mom, greeting Gateway Mission Assembly which was shot on Amy's I-phone just a few hours ago which we showed the Church at service this morning.