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.

.

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!

.

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!

Happy Saturday!

Wow you guys… I believe to be having some kind of Spiritual awakening this week. From my recollection, here’s a time progression for whatever this is…

1. Last Saturday morning… when I walked into my newly renovated office… something about that renovation brought about a tremendous degree of peace in my heart… it unleashed a great new wave of creativity. I described this variable in that Saturday mornings blog: Regular, Orderly, Violent, and Original
2. Last Saturday night… while preparing for the Sunday message: Have You Been Defeated Long Enough, Yet? Out of nowhere, I noticed a tidal wave of joy rising in my heart almost like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It was so overwhelming, I felt as if I needed to go outside and run up and down Old White Hill Road shouting for joy all over this peaceful neighborhood!
3. Sunday morning… the service was so-so. We were lacking an electric guitarist and that was a real downer… still, the worship encounter seemed to be fair. I preached one of my sloppiest messages in a very long time. The entire service felt to be sloppy from beginning to end. But something seemed to be happening in our sanctuary despite the glitches. God was felt in a very big way… and since thats the goal, we counted that service as a great victory-everyone left DFC with some of what I had been experiencing over the previous 24 hours!
4. Monday morning… while I was writing the blog: It’s Ok to Believe-You Are Beautiful… its like something broke off of my life in the wee hours of that morning, like a cage door kicked wide open… and I flew out from the confines of a tiny prison cell. With reckless abandonment, I spread wide my rambunctious wings… and I have been high flying all week long!
5. Thursday morning… I was overwhelmed with the joy of all my blessings. And I wrote about that in my blog: 10,000 Blessings Staring Back @ Me!
6. Yesterday morning… while writing the blog: Run Like The Wind… it happened again. Another wave rushed over me… and another one… several times throughout the day.
7. And here I sit… listening to the you tube video I’m including for you guys below… anticipating tomorrows 10am gathering at Destiny Family Center!

If you have the time today… re-read the four short messages I’ve linked to this blog. Play the video over and over… dedicate yourself to God in a new kind of way. The video may flip some of your guys out… it was recorded in the Lakeland revival sometime last year… and it’s VERY intense. Sometimes “very intense” is exactly what we need, isn’t it?

Please pray for my very dear friend Betty Dorondo: she lost her mom on Thanksgiving Day. Also for Jeremy and Summer Woody as they bid “farewell for now” to their son Tyson this evening @ Ridgeview Baptist Church. Tyson was only two years old. These are the times when God PICKS US up… he carries us when we cannot walk another step without him. I pray for Gods grace… for his peace… and for the HOPE of ETERNITY to be in the air today!

Have a most triumphant day everyone! See some of you tomorrow morning in person or on the LIVE webcast! God bless you all!

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!

.

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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night… we drove to Richmond, spent the evening @ the residence of Jeff & Ann Wall (Emily’s punk brother-lol). They are gracious hosts-always… the food was delicious… the laughs were painfully enjoyable (many times at my expense)… loved the quality time with Emily’s great family!

This morning… Emily dragged me into the Richmond University 10K turkey trot! (photo: the first mile) The course was ALL HILLS… our finishing times were good… we had a BLAST!

Right now @ 10:38am… we’re at Starbucks sending this blog, then back to the in-laws house for showers, and over to Wayne and Robin Wall’s house for the Thanksgiving meal! Wayne is another one of Emily’s punk brother’s. lol

.

Here’s the blog I wrote at 5am this morning: 10,000 Blessings Staring Back @ Me!

I’m more thankful today than ever in my life. This is because thanksgiving is my spiritual position… not an emotional response to the more obvious good things in my life. I’m not waiting for a blessing… I am a blessing! I’m not waiting to be blessed… I’ve already been blessed… over and over and over again!

I am overwhelmed this Thanksgiving morning, more overwhelmed than any other Thanksgiving in my life… overtaken with Gods love. I can feel him right here in Merle and Millie’s living room… surrounding me, filling me, warming my humbled heart… until now a few real tears have gathered at the rims of my bloodshot eyes.

Even though these past twelve months have been the most painful months of my entire life, riding on the heels of losing my mom, grandfather, and uncle. Even though I have cried more these past 7 months than the cumulative crying of my 38 years… despite the loneliness of abandonment and betrayal… I am more thankful today than EVER IN MY LIFE! This is because for me, Thanksgiving 09 is all about my spiritual POSITION!

Instead of being blessed and therefore thankful… we should try being thankful and therefore blessed! Gratitude is a lens through which we SEE our lives. Without this lens, we will most certainly exaggerate our weaknesses… and we will possess so much, yet, enjoy it so little.

Depression is a form of blindness. So sad I am, for all the people in our world who are so abundantly RICH with blessings and yet, unable to SEE a single positive thing about their situation.

When I LOOK for my blessings, I want to SEE them! I want to SEE every single one of them! Because this is a true saying, “for every one thing going wrong, there are one hundred things going right!”

God always makes everything work out for my good and yours, even though it doesn’t always seem this way at first. I am surrounded with beauty… I love and I am loved… this is all free; it’s a gift from God, not dependant upon wealth or fame or any other thing.

So today, I LOOK and what do I see? Ten thousand blessings staring back at me! I have the greatest family… the greatest friends… the greatest life calling… the greatest church… in the whole wide word!

This year, when I say THANK YOU… I mean it so much more than I’ve ever meant it before! Dear God, I am a BLESSED MAN! I love you all so very much! Who, you ask? Who do I love so very much? All of YOU! I never go a single day without having one of you good people FILL MY CUP with your APPRECIATION!

When I LOOK over this past year… I SEE myself wrapped in blessings! I see God loving me and reaching into my life in too many ways to list! I see LOVE! I see GRACE! I see MERCY! I see HOPE! I see a better husband, a better wife, better parents, and better kids! I see BIGGER and CLEARER DREAMS! I see a FAR BETTER CHUCK… a FAR BETTER Destiny Family Center… a FAR BETTER DAILY BLOG SITE… a FAR BETTER VERSION of MY FIRST BOOK and the MANY BOOKS to come… a FAR BETTER REAL CHANCE at bringing a MILLION lost people to Jesus Christ! Everything in my life is FAR BETTER than it was one year ago! Life is good for us all!

Maybe you’re still having a hard time feeling this message. Maybe your life seems to suck so bad right now that you just cant see a single thing to be thankful for. Here are a few verses to lift your soul!

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, YET I will REJOICE in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is MY STRENGTH! He will make me as SUREFOOTED as a deer and bring me safely OVER THE MOUNTAINS!

Happy thanksgiving everyone… make it the best one ever!