Happy Sunday!

Last night, we went to the amazing memorial service for little Tyson Woody. It was moving! The theme for the entire night was: sometimes bad things happen to good people… and when we all face situations beyond our understanding, we have to trust God and worship him no matter what!

To the Woody and McClure families and especially to Tyson’s parents, Jeremy & Summer Woody: Thank you for demonstrating GRACE! Thank you for inspiring this entire community with your words and actions, your trust and love, and with your beautiful obvious FAITH in Jesus Christ. God was honored, oh how He was honored! You praised Him in this storm… and none of us that watched you will ever be the same!

Maybe one of our readers is facing a terrible situation right now… maybe real tears are beginning to gather at the rim of your bloodshot eyes… maybe life at this moment is far more than you can bear alone.

I don’t believe God sends the storm… I do believe He can calm the storm! This earth is filled with pain… the result of our fall in Genesis 3. Sometimes, bad things do happen to the very best people.

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12 plus thoughts about moving mountains

That being said. I do believe healing is a biblical promise obtained at the cross just like salvation. I think it is a great thing to teach people the following:

1. We can live longer and healthier with FAITH than without faith.
2. As believers, we should learn all there is to learn about all the benefits of our salvation: including the promise of physical and emotional healing.
3. Jesus said that nothing is impossible for them that believe… therefore, we should never limit God in his ability.
4. John 10:10 explains how the devil came to steal, kill, and destroy… and Jesus came to give life-abundant life. This verse and many other verses well contrast the difference between the devil’s mission and the mission of Jesus.
5. Acts 10:38 says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about DOING GOOD and healing all who were oppressed with the devil.” This doesn’t mean that every person who is sick has some kind of demon… but that it’s the devil who brings bad and Jesus does GOOD.
6. 1 John 3:8 says, “For this purpose was the son of God manifested, that he might DESTROY the WORKS of the devil.” Therefore, Jesus came to save us and heal us from all the devils works: spirit, soul, and body.
7. So we have to believe that God loves us and WANTS US WELL… that he wants us healthy… that he is the force of GOOD in this earth working through faith and doctors and medicine to make the sick BETTER.
8. FAITH is very different from HOPE. When it comes to obtaining any biblical promise by faith, we have to do more than wish for things to get better. Hebrews 11:1 says this, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for… the evidence of things not yet seen.” In other words… FAITH gives SUBSTANCE to our HOPES. The hope is the DREAM… we need HOPE to get better-it’s the dream that keeps us holding on. But HOPE alone cannot change a circumstance.
9. There is a difference between Thomas faith and Abraham faith. Thomas only believed AFTER he got to see and touch the nail scarred hands of Jesus. Abraham, the guy who is eternally labeled as the FATHER OF FAITH… Romans 4:17 says that Abraham, “Believed God who makes the dead alive and calls things that are NOT as IF THEY ARE.” In other words… Abraham had hope of Gods promises and with FAITH he stood on Gods promise until his circumstance matched his faith… and his FAITH created the substance of his hopes.
10. Faith then, is the vehicle that drives us to a biblical promise.
11. None of this negates the blessing of doctors and medicine. And until a person is confirmed healthy by a doctor, he or she should continue to take prescribed medicines and suggested treatments.
12. Do I believe a person can get cured from illness by putting their faith in Jesus? Yes! Most definitely! As I mentioned in point number 1… there is no down side to BELIEVING.

There is so much more to this subject. In summary: Sickness came into the earth when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Sickness is in the earth today as a result of original sin NOT individual sin. Sickness is no respecter of persons. It attacks bad people, good people, and even the greatest people of all.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Because there is a devil-and he is always looking for another victim. And in this fallen civilization… Jesus came to give us LIFE. He came to make us better! He came to restore us spiritually, and heal us emotionally and physically. Faith can and faith does make a difference. Even secular statistics have shown that people of FAITH live longer and healthier than people without faith.

Faith can move mountains! Faith can heal the sick! Faith can bring a broken marriage back together! Faith can prolong life and enhance the quality of life! Faith CAN cure anything… even diabetes, heart conditions, cancer, arthritis, and the such!

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when the mountain does not move

And in those times, when we have done everything we know to do… and still end up with what seems to be an unanswered prayer… there is GRACE to carry us. This is when we trust God even when we cannot trace him. This is when we open our Bibles to Romans 8:28 and we read: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

This is when we look back and see only ONE SET OF FOOTPRINTS in the sand… and we know that God is holding us tightly in his loving arms. When the hugs don’t help, and the cards don’t help, and the flowers and meals and encouraging words from other humans are still not enough to lift us from the floor… GOD bends down to LIFT US UP! His GRACE is always enough!

This is when we know that even in our seeming defeat, we are ALWAYS victorious! That God’s ways are much higher than our ways… that HE IS ABLE to make good result from the painful things we endure.

In the story of Tyson Woody… I cannot fathom the pain of losing my two year old son. Yet, I am CONVINCED of life after death for those who believe in Jesus Christ… that even 90 years on this earth is but a vapor of time. We are all here today and gone tomorrow… and then the glories of heaven!

God has taken a very painful situation… and he has turned it around! Because of the UNSWERVING FAITH of these families, many are putting their trust in Jesus! I thank God for his AMAZING GRACE as seen so clearly in the Tyson Woody story! God bless them and God bless you all today!

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Happy Friday!

Woke up this morning at 2:30am. Emily had to be at work early for the black friday shopping frenzy. So, instead of going back to sleep, I decided to stay up so I will be ready to nap with her this afternoon. I’m bringing a surprise breakfast for her 8am lunch. (good boy chucky!)

Yesterday was so beautiful… I ate my first fried turkey at Emily’s brother Wayne’s house. All the food was amazing! Everyone had so much fun… I cherished the time with Merle and Millie and Dave, and Wayne and Robin, and Elizabeth and Timothy… and of course, Coree and Heaven and Emily!

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Run Like The Wind!

I woke up this morning thinking about Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

I’m just laying here with my macbook pro, writing from my bed… thinking about the heavenly calling on each of our lives. I think about the great calling on my own life… and how so many things slow me down and trip me up. How so many things SO EASILY slow me down and trip me up.

I don’t want to waste years and decades of my race running SLOW. I want to RUN AS FAST AS I CAN… racing to the finish with eternal purpose in every single step. I want to stay focused on the prize… never distracted for more than a few minutes.

When I look back over my past twenty years, even as SWIFT as I have been… only GOD knows how much of my heavenly calling I have squandered. Just like you, I’ve run weighted down with THINGS that slow my pace… I’ve been TRIPPED UP SO EASILY with my own sins. Yes, you heard me right… I’m not any more perfect than the next guy. And even with my HIGH standards and GREAT hunger for spiritual things, I still fall into unbiblical distractions from time to time.

Think about your own life. Let not any of us deceive ourselves into thinking we’re already running as fast as we can. I’m positive, we CAN run SO MUCH faster!

This message is not about heaping on the condemnation… it’s not about saying, “you’re never good enough.” It’s about being honest with God about all the issues of our heart. It’s about STRIPPING OFF EVERY WEIGHT… especially the sin that SO EASILY TRIPS US UP.

What is it for you? What’s SO EASILY tripping you up? It’s different for everyone…

• Unforgiveness
• Anger
• Laziness
• Lack of spiritual regimentation
• A fruitless circle of friends
• Lying
• Cheating
• Self-Centeredness
• Materialism
• Perversion
• Poor Character
• Pride
• Racism
• Rebellion
• Gossip

Really take a little time to think about this today. The topic really inspires me this morning. I’m asking God to help me STRIP off EVERYTHING that slows my pace… and HELP me to RUN LIKE THE WIND for all the remaining days of my life! I hope this blog inspires you too! Have an amazing Friday everyone!

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Happy Wednesday!

Last night, Bill O’Reilly reported on a very interesting topic: Has Religious America Finally Awakened? Here’s the talk…

By Bill O’Reilly
As we reported Monday, some high-profile religious leaders have issued a manifesto urging people of faith to fight back against liberal social policy and rampant secularism.

The document is entitled “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience,” and it basically says that American Christians are under fire, that their belief system is being demeaned.

The declaration opens with these words: “Christians are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.”

Then the document goes on to say that pro-abortion ideology is prevailing in our government and that all human life is being diminished as a result.

The statement also says that marriage is under siege: “We must stop glamorizing promiscuity and infidelity and restore among our people a sense of the profound beauty, mystery and holiness of faithful marital love.”

The manifesto then goes on to say that same sex and multiple partner marriage is causing the erosion of the marriage culture in America: “Marriage is made possible by the sexual complementarity of man and woman. No one has a civil right to have a non-marital relationship treated as a marriage.”

So obviously these religious leaders are throwing down the gauntlet on LIFE and MARRIAGE.

But then they up the ante, urging Americans of faith to actively oppose anti-Christian laws: “Unjust laws degrade human beings. They lack any power to bind in conscience. [Martin Luther] King’s willingness to go to jail, rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.”

That’s a strong statement because it encourages civil disobedience.

The clerics who wrote the manifesto end by saying: “We will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships [and] treat them as marriages.”

So the question becomes: Will Americans of faith rally to this provocative point of view? If they do, the culture war will become very intense.

And that’s “The Memo.”

My initial thoughts on this great topic

I applaud the bold initiative of these Christian leaders. I do believe our nations survival is absolutely dependent upon the greatest spiritual and moral awakening of all time. We have drifted from our roots. We have broken marriage with the God that established us. We have thrown away our values. We’ve lost our ability to distinguish right from wrong.

Todays modern Christian population has been dangerously domesticated. As I have written in the final chapter of my coming book: I hear a howling in the distant hills! There is a calling-a voice-a sound, cracking across this dark and frigid valley where death has cast its shadow! So many of us are having frequent dreams of tomorrows better world! Instinctively, we know the time is close at hand! Very soon, we will break the chains of our domestication… and RETURN TO THE WILD!

For our boldness to be effective, it must be powered with the purest love of Jesus any nation has encountered since the passing of the early church. It must be powered with the greatest prayer movement of all time. Our resistance must be respectful. Our firm arguments need to be heralded now and without compromise-and only from the lips of a humble orator!

Some would suggest the church become perfect before acting. I’m not suggesting this at all. Yet, I do feel like reform should be a macro initiative of any such manifesto.

Even with all our failures, the Christian church is still the great light of the world… we are the salt of the earth… a city on a hill. We can be better than we have been in recent years… we can so quickly become the finest version of Jesus’ church the world has ever seen.

I’m hopeful that no matter how bad things may appear concerning the spiritual state of this society, buried deep beneath the dark cold ashes of yesterday’s awakenings, there remains a glowing ember of hope! For several years now, I’ve participated first hand in a very determined grassroots supplication movement. Thanks to a growing company of bizarre forerunners such as Lou Engle and Mike Bickel, oppressed citizens all over America and across the earth are starting to fast and pray like there is no tomorrow!

Who knows if we can gain enough momentum to turn things around fast enough? Who knows if we can stop the plague already underway? Without a doubt, our cumulative cries for help must be rising to God. And in his mercy, God will answer us! Suddenly, out of nowhere it will seem, a legendary band of deliverers will rise… legends of the likes we have not seen since the days of the prophets. And then perhaps, one legend at a time, we will lead our civilization back to safety.

-make me a legend (chapter 3-the great hope of tomorrow)

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Happy Monday!

Church was super yesterday. I did however, find myself saying several very controversial things… and no matter how much I tried to normalize my verbiage, everything just kept flowing out raw. I was more nervous about offending people yesterday than I normally am. Bizarre. Everyone said the service was epic and I hope it was for every person. Sometimes, things just don’t come out the way I prefer for them to come out. Does anyone else have this problem?

I was spending some quality time with my dear friend Kent Henry a few years ago. As mentioned in a recent blog: Kent Henry has been known as an apostle of worship music for a few decades. He’s transcended a few generations… still making a tremendous impact worldwide, especially through the school he founded a few years back: Revolution School in St. Louis, Missouri.

Out of nowhere, Kent leans over, turns down the radio, looks over at me, and says, “Do you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?” I was like, “YES, how did you know that!”

Kent continued by explaining how this is a gigantic hindering factor for so many people with great potential. Because we have to live with ourselves all day, every day… we often get tired of hearing our own voices. We get burnt out being us!

And since we know our personal flaws so well, we often become our own worse critics! Don’t get me wrong… it’s good to desire and ASPIRE after personal IMPROVEMENT. What I’m alluding to here-is, that self destructive kind of self-loathing we sometimes fall into!

Kent explained how vital it was (and still is today) for me to overcome this… because there is a message in my heart this world needs to hear! He explained how desperate the world is to hear my voice… how much they NEED ME to LIKE ME so that I will KEEP ON SPEAKING!

Are you bored with yourself… too hard on yourself… always condemning yourself, over critiquing yourself… no longer able to applaud your greatness?

I believe this is what happened to me yesterday morning! While I was giving my message, my subconscious mind was saying some very mean things to me, about myself! lol Here’s a short clip of what I HEARD while I TALKED: “Come on Chuck, nobody really wants to hear this… some of these people have been listening to you for upwards of 7 years… look at them, they are so bored with your voice… and besides, listen to how unprofessional you’re sounding right now… everything you’re saying this morning could be said so much more eloquently… you really should find something different to do with your life!”

Come on, be honest with me today friends… does this ever happen to you guys?

If so… today is the day to SHUT IT DOWN! No more NEGATIVE self-talk for any of us! Stop it RIGHT NOW! We need to PRAY over our subconscious minds… and invest whatever time is necessary for reprograming the way we THINK about ourselves! This blog will help in a pretty big way. Just recognizing this devious little CULPRIT takes away its ability to keep on sneak attacking us!

The Bible says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for PULLING DOWN strongholds, CASTING DOWN arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing EVERY THOUGHT INTO CAPTIVITY to the obedience of Christ.”

In other words, we should not allow ROGUE THOUGHTS to run around in our minds-sabotaging our emotional and spiritual state of being! We have to POLICE our minds! We have to ARREST all our stinking thinking… and force ALL ROGUE THOUGHTS into obedience to Christ!

Psalm 139:14-18
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

Read these verses TEN times before you go to bed tonight… read them OUT LOUD and with ENTHUSIASM… knock out all that negative self talk… overcome the overwhelming temptation to TURN DOWN THE VOLUME OF YOUR GREATNESS.

We need YOU to LIKE YOU… we need YOU to RAISE THAT BEAUTIFUL VOICE and GIVE US WHATEVER YOU HAVE to make our world a better place!

We’re not demanding your perfection. You don’t need to be perfect. We are CHEERING FOR YOU… so take a deep breath and give us your BEST! And when Gods GRACE connects with your BEST… your best will ALWAYS be absolutely PERFECT… and you will always be EVERYTHING you ought to be!

I hope todays blog adds tremendous value to your AMAZING LIFE! I’m praying for you and thanking God for you! Please leave your comments and have a most triumphant day!

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Happy Saturday!

We were out of town a few days this week… returned home to a remolded office! Joyce, Deborah, Jason, Tammy, Dave, Kristin, Bo, and Greg… thank you for this over the top expression of love! I feel so much more creative this morning! Even though organization is not my greatest skill, I function best in a clean and ordered environment. I’m always praying to be surrounded with organizers! What you guys did this week adds great peace to my life! I pray that God will bless you for it!

“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” -Flaubert (french writer 1821-1880)

It’s true that some people work better in chaos… but as a rule, we are all far more productive when life is clean and organized.

“No one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed. I have known mothers who remake the bed after their children do it because there is wrinkle in the spread or the blanket is on crooked. This is sick.” -Erma Bombeck (american humorist 1927-1996)

I disagree with Erma. Every person sleeps better on clean sheets and a made up bed… even if, we are going to mess them all up each and every night. Making the bed, washing the dishes, taking out the trash, throwing away last weeks left overs, putting our clothes into closets and dressers, vacuuming and dusting and washing the windows… these kinds of actions unclutter the imagery of ones abode… and this always creates an unconscious calm.

Clean cars drive better and last longer than dirty ones. Is this true? I’m not sure. But I am positive: that all may cars FEEL better LOOK better and DRIVE better when they are well cared for! I mean think about it… even though I can’t speak for everyone here… I just know: that I am personally far more enthusiastic about taking road trips in a detailed vehicle! Does anybody else feel the same?

Maybe todays blog is calling for a little FALL CLEANING! Come on, admit it… things have gotten a little sloppy lately haven’t they? I know this is a Saturday and none of us FEEL like cleaning and organizing! But think about how much BETTER we can all feel just a few short hours from right now!

Take a deep breath and start somewhere! Clean up the house…the yard… the office… and whatever other environments you have to live in throughout the week… take a trash bag out to the car and SHOVEL out the empty cans and little debbie cake wrappers stacked a foot high in your passenger floor board!

Do this and trust me… you’ll be thinking bigger, achieving bigger, and resting better! Your efficiency will go through the ROOF… you’ll be doing far more with far less… and you will know the PEACE and CALM of living in an ordered universe!

1 Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

I hope todays blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! Don’t forget church @ Destiny Family Center tomorrow @ 10am… if of course, you don’t already have great church. Come in person or catch the live broadcast… make this a great weekend!

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