Happy Wednesday!

Sorry for the long delay in writing today. This is the latest I’ve blogged in many months. My dad’s hospitalization has me a bit behind schedule. He’s still in ICU, suffering from a severe ulcer in the top of his small intestine. The doctors said they were going attempt a surgical fix… and then changed their minds this morning. My prayer is that he will heal without surgery. Looks like that’s underway!

I wish all of my Jewish friends a happy Passover Festival! Last night, we participated in our first Passover Seder service/meal… AMAZING! The reality of Christ encountered during that observance is way beyond words! Next year, I want to host one @ Destiny Family Center! Every Christian should deepen his or her faith by celebrating the Jewish Festivals! Each festival points to Jesus in a million dimensions! What a time that was!!

It so happens that this year: Easter and Passover overlap! How nifty is that? (smile)

The Passover Festival started @ sundown yesterday (Tuesday) and continues for seven days… while the Easter Holidays began last Sunday (Palm Sunday), then this Friday is Good Friday (the day we celebrate Jesus’ crucifixion), ending this Sunday with Easter (a celebration of the resurrection of Christ from the dead).

We believe that Jesus fulfills all of the ritual contained in the Jewish Passover Festival. Passover is all about how God delivered the nation of Israel from a time of horrific slavery in Egypt.

God sent plagues on Egypt in order to break Pharaohs resolve. Moses prophesied that in the final plague, a death angel was going to descend on the land of Egypt and kill all the first born children and animals. God had Moses command his people to sacrifice a spotless lamb, and smear its blood on the door posts of their houses… and that if they did this, the death angel would PASSOVER, sparring their firstborn. The people did as Moses commanded and every firstborn child and animal in Egypt was killed… and the death angel did passover every house where there was BLOOD on the door post. Pharaoh finally released the slaves, and Israel went across the red sea to a new life of FREEDOM!

The significance of Passover to the Christian is this: We believe that every human born into the earth is born as a slave to sin. We believe that our sins carry the certain penalty of death (eternal separation from God). We believe that Jesus Christ fulfilled every type and shadow in the PASSOVER ritual when he came into the earth as Gods spotless lamb… he lived a sinless life and was sacrificed as a ransom payment for all who will put their faith in him!

Just like the death angel passed over the houses of those Israelites, death will passover every person who puts their faith in the blood of Christ! When we trust in Jesus to save us from our sins, we are freed FROM the slavery of sin, and INTO a life of freedom with our loving heavenly Father!

There is so much more to say about this… and it’s a bit difficult writing about deep stuff while sitting in this hospital room, when trying to concentrate on caring for my dad. Maybe this blog will help to trigger a joyfulness and appreciation concerning this MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

I prayed for you early this morning… have a most triumphant day! Please leave your amazing thoughts… love you all!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

The Donate Link, Facebook, Twitter, Make me a Legend, Destiny Family Center, You Tube

Happy Tuesday!

Last night I had another seemingly significant dream… thats two nights in a row. This dream was petrifying!

I was standing in the parking lot of our church with a group of men. I walked up on a conversation, to find that a second military was being formed in our nation! I heard the man declaring a strategy… they were going to overthrow our government. One really tall guy (something like 7’7), he was a single father holding a baby… and he was trying to find someone to care for his child because he was joining, and leaving on the spot. I grabbed him by the elbows and said, “What are you doing? I’m not sure if we should be doing this!”

I never saw any person with a gun, but in dream I remember thinking, “This is impossible… there is no way we have enough weaponry… and there is no way were going to stand up against the mightiest military on the face of the earth.” I remember thinking, “Dear God, I don’t want to fight against our military because all of the greatest people in our country are serving in our military! And I don’t want to fight against my fellow Americans… even the ones who are on the farthest end, beyond the fiery divide.”

Then I saw a warehouse stacked 5 feet deep, wall to wall with weapons beyond my wildest dreams… and the army that possessed those weapons could not be defeated!

In the beginning of the dream, I was looking at this gathering like the beginning of the biggest civil war in the history of the world. I thought that Americans were getting ready to fight Americans to the death… and my heart was beating so fast and loud in my chest. I was thinking, “Oh no, this is not the outcome I was hoping for! This is not the answer!”

Then, after I woke up and thought about the warehouse, I realized this was a spiritual military formation! Think about it… we were gathered in the parking lot of a church. And it was like the Christian men of our nation finally realized that this is a now or never moment. The man who was looking for someone to watch his baby… he looked at me with a determination like I have never seen in a man before! His eyes said to me, “If I don’t go fight now, there will not be an America for my baby.”

Ezekiel 22:23-31 “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ ²⁵ The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ²⁶ Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. ²⁷ Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. ²⁸ Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD had not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. ³⁰ So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. ³¹ Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.”

I think that God is telling me two things in this dream:

1. Violence and hate is not the answer for our nation. The real war for Americas future is a spiritual war.
2. God is recruiting spiritual warriors… men (and women) who will stand on the wall and stand in the GAPS before GOD on behalf of THIS LAND.

That’s about all I’m going to be able to write at the moment… this dream could be something BIG… I need some more time to pray about it!

Just got a call that my dad went into a diabetic shock and he’s been taken to the emergency room. Say a prayer for him if you get a chance. I appreciate it!

Love you all… just finished praying for you! Now go forth and have a most triumphant day!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

The Donate Link, Facebook, Twitter, Make me a Legend, Destiny Family Center, You Tube

Happy Monday!

I had another amazing weekend! Belonging to a great church (Destiny Family Center for me) is better than belonging to a great camping club! Yes, I did say a ‘camping club’.

You see, once spring arrives, many Americans clean up their travel trailers and motor homes, and they clean the cobwebs out of their tents and camping supplies, and they gather at campgrounds all over the nation, every weekend for a time of fun and relaxation.

I grew up camping. Started out on the beaches of Fire Island when I was only 6 weeks old. Then, a few years later, until I was 12 years old, we camped most weekends (when I wasn’t go kart racing) up and down the East Coast. When I was 12, my parents purchased Walnut Hills Campground, and we moved from Long Island, New York to Mint Spring, Virginia. Camping really is a great family activity… and a super illustration for this mornings message.

I honestly feel like the people @ Destiny Family Center are far more excited about going church on Sundays, than the camping community gets about a 5-star campground and a warm and sunny weekend!

It’s very possible, to fall so much in love with God, that going to church becomes far more desired than a 5-star vacation! Ask anyone at DFC, and they will tell you… there is nothing better to do with a weekend!

• Psalm 84:10 “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.”
• Psalm 27:4-6 “The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.”

Last Nights Happy Dream

Last night, I had a beautiful dream. I was in the DFC sanctuary talking with God about the future. He told me to create a strategy for growing our church to 1500 members! I kind of remember writing a list of the top reasons why we keep peaking out at 300… like God was helping me to locate the gaps.

In the dream, I wrote a rough draft list of a 20 reason description for the 300 barrier… and started thinking about the things we needed to change in order to reach more people, without compromising our values!

A bunch of regular DFC’ers and leaders were in that dream. Everyone was high with purpose! I remember chatting with Aaron Huffer about doubling the size of our sanctuary and going to two services on Sunday mornings. It was such a happy dream!

I woke up feeling like the spiritual climate of our community had been greatly impacted by our ministry… and we were growing faster than anyone had ever imagined!

So much is possible… whenever you gather enough people to the same place for a common dream!

I’m betting that last nights dream was triggered by a conversation I had with Robert Widener yesterday morning after the 10am service. He was talking to me about the power of synergy when people walk long enough in the same direction, without letting anything DIVIDE them. It was a powerful conversation!

The opposite of DIVISION is MULTIPLICATION!

I want you to think about that last statement all day long… the opposite of division is multiplication! Wow! Think about all of the antagonistic things in your life… the things that keep on dividing you down to a FRACTION of the person you’re supposed to be!

Never underestimate the power of forward and backward momentum. Both forces have the power to take you where you never imagined before!

That’s my blog for today! Please leave a few great comments and have a most triumphant day!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

The Donate Link, Facebook, Twitter, Make me a Legend, Destiny Family Center, You Tube