Happy Wednesday!

I’m spending alot of time praying today. Leave your three biggest requests, and I promise I’ll pray for you today. Love you all…

“Wishing will never be a substitute for prayer.” Ed Cole

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” Sidlow Baxter

“Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.” E.M. Bounds

“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees.” William Cowper

“Seven days without prayer makes one weak.”  Allen E. Vartlett

“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” Brother Lawrence

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”  Charles Spurgeon

“Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God’s saints have been held.”  E. M. Bounds

“No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack.” E.M. Bounds

“The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray.” S.D. Gordon

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

Happy Tuesday!

Had a terrific lead team meeting on my patio last night. I’m thanking God this morning for all of the QUALITY men and women I’m privileged to lead with! The law of magnetism says: what you are is who you attract! If the people I’m attracting these days are any indication of WHAT I AM, then I am becoming a BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING!

I know were making so many steps in the right direction… and our current momentum is a force to be reckoned with. Still, there are moments when I wonder if I personally have what it takes to finish the race.

I’ve been walking through a very dark emotional valley these past few weeks. I hate it when this happens. For me, there are 6 prime elements of burn out.

1. Dissonance: lack of agreement, consistency, or harmony; conflict. (Between my dreams and my realities!)
2. Chaos: a condition or place of great disorder or confusion. A disorderly mass; a jumble. (The lack of proper systems in place to handle the epic level of responsibility I’ve taken on.)
3. Pressure: the act of pressing, the condition of being pressed. An urgent claim or demand. An oppressive condition of physical, mental, social, or economic distress. (I’m double and triple booked without the realistic hope of relief.)
4. Condemnation: the act of condemning–the expression of strong disapproval, judged or declared to be unfit. (I wake up every day under the condemnations of unsatisfied “costumers.” No matter how dedicated I am. No matter how much of my life is sacrificed. There is always a line of people expressing strong disapproval, judging and declaring me unfit.)
5. Exhaustion: the state of being exhausted; extreme fatigue. (I’m never able to rest. Dissonance, chaos, pressure, and condemnation… they are always with me… even when I am praying, or running, or eating, or hanging out with my family… even when I am sleeping.)
6. Miserable Physicians: people who insult their suffering friends by lecturing instead of praying and encouraging. (I have found that sometimes, life gets so complex that there is not another person in all the world who is able to improve the situation with councel. Job was in such a situation… and his friends came to help with their spiritual lectures, and they told Job everything that Job had already been telling himself… and they acted like they could handle Jobs pressure so much better if they were in his shoes. Job called them his miserable physicians.)

In today’s world, I bet there are so many people walking through dark emotional valleys like I’ve mentioned. This is why we need to pray for each other and encourage each other, more often than we do. Most of the time, when people are suffering… they already have a very good idea about the steps they need to take to get back up on the mountain. We can REALLY HELP BEST by lending a smile, a prayer, and a heartfelt message of encouragement.

I hope today’s blog creates a huge awareness to the sufferings of your family and friends. I hope you’re all inspired to make the difference when you can! For those who are in the valley today… I’m praying for you with all my heart, confident that YOU WILL CLIMB OUT OF IT SOON… that God will reach down and PLACE YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP AGAIN! Thanks for reading… I love you all!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

Happy Monday!

Something I read in the book of Proverbs jumped off the page this morning, so I’m sharing it now with you! I’ll list each verse and then explain it… hope this adds tremendous value to your amazing life!

Proverbs 3:1-4

Verse 1: My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart.

These Proverbs are written from King Solomon to his “sons.” They are also written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit as wise messages FROM FATHER GOD to each of his SONS and DAUGHTERS. This first verse of chapter 3 opens with a huge key to success… NEVER FORGET the written words of God, make a huge effort to STORE GODS COMMANDS in your HEART. Therefore, to live a life that matters in eternity… a truly successful life, an influential one, a prosperous one, a fruitful one… to achieve the highest levels of personal effectiveness, we have to be fanatical about reading, meditating, and memorizing the Bible every single day. This is a KEY!

Verse 2: If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.

Isn’t this a great promise from GOD to you and me? IF we do what verse one tells us to do, then we will LIVE MANY YEARS… and our many years lived will be SATISFYING! I want to live a LONG and SATISFYING LIFE. I don’t want to die before my time. Neither do I wish to live a long and miserable life! This is a PROMISE!

Verse 3: Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.

For me, this talks of godly CHARACTER… the kind that comes from storing Gods commands in my heart! I love the two he chose to mention: LOYALTY and KINDNESS… two beautiful qualities quickly evaporating from this modern world. I feel like Solomon was saying, “As you’re storing biblical principles in your heart, especially tie around your neck and write them DEEP into your heart! Don’t just speed through the things I’m teaching you, but take the time to REALLY STORE THEM in your heart!” This requires COMMITMENT!

Verse 4: Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.

This is the path of FAVOR with both GOD and PEOPLE… and if you do this, you will EARN A GOOD REPUTATION! And anyone who tells you, “Reputation doesn’t matter”, that person is ignorant about how life really works. Some people actually believe they can live RIGHT in their OWN EYES and everyone else can TAKE THEM or LEAVE THEM. I believe CHARACTER is WHO we are and REPUTATION is HOW OTHERS PERCEIVE US. Solomon is adding to his promise… that God will cause people to RECOGNIZE our good character… that we will be able to connect with God and people in such a way that the beauty of our inner character is CLEARLY SEEN and APPRECIATED. This is a NECESSARY BLESSING!

Tomorrow, maybe I’ll finish teaching through verse 10… and give you the rest of the story! There is a wealth of wisdom waiting to be mined from Proverbs! One of my earliest Christian disciplines and one that’s elevated me to a place of tremendous personal effectiveness… it’s the discipline of reading ONE book of Proverbs each day for almost 20 years! Since there are 31 Proverbs… it’s the perfect book for a monthly routine. Try this for a few months and watch yourself grow wiser by the HOUR!

Thats it for now! I just finished praying for you all… hoping you feel it all day long! I look forward to reading your AMAZING comments! Love you all…

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

Happy Sunday!

Had a very nice day with my family yesterday! Walked 6 miles through and around downtown Staunton, VA… the funnest walk of my life!

We started at the farmers market @ the Depot Parking lot… walked up to the Cranberry Market where we bought two oranges and ate them at the outside table. Walked through East Beverly Street dreaming over the million dollar houses, made a left on some main road, up to another main road, to another main road that took us to Gypsy Hill Park, we continued our adventure to Thornrose Cemetery, went through the cemetery, back out to West Beverly, back to the downtown area where there was a live concert happening… and we met up with Coree and Heaven Balsamo (our kids), had lunch at a really cool downtown sandwich cafe: the Pampered Palate Cafe!

We also shopped at Kristin Condra’s very amazing shop: Retro & Me! Everyone should check that place out! Kristin has a beautiful CREATIVE GIFT… and her prices are PERFECT! I bought a few colorful ties, and Heaven bought a 1970′s orange mushroom clock and a very cool metal flower necklace and a few other FUN things!

Happy Birthday Christian Churches!

Today, Christians all over the world celebrate the BIRTHDAY of the CHURCH. Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day when Gods Holy Spirit descended with mighty power into the lives of our earliest disciples. It FIRST happened 50 days after the resurrection of Christ, when the Jewish people were celebrating the Festival of Shavuot, or the Festival of “Pentecost” which simply means “FIFTY.”

The significance of FIFTY is this: this festival was celebrated FIFTY days after the festival of Passover… which was fifty days after the Jewish people were delivered from Egyptian slavery.

This festival of Shavuot has two major themes. First, it is a celebration of the exact day when Moses received the 1o commandments from God. Second, it is a celebration of the final gathering of the spring harvest, and an anticipation of the coming fall harvest. (if God could be counted faithful to bless the spring harvest, he could be trusted to bless the coming fall harvest)

The Bible says there were 120 disciples gathered in an upper room, in the city of Jerusalem. They were likely in the very same room where Jesus had shared his last supper with his 12 disciples… just 50 days before that festival of Shavuot. Jesus had told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were “endued with power from on high.” In other words, they were not to go out and try to save the world until they were absolutely filled through and through… until they were “baptized” with His Holy Spirit.

I feel like it’s important to recognize how God chose the Festival of Shavuot to be the day He baptized those 120 disciples with His Holy Spirit. God chose the Festival of Shavuot as the BIRTHDAY OF HIS CHURCH!

The significance of Shavuot (or Pentectost) for the Christian church is this: Since Jesus was sacrificed for the sins of the world during the Jewish festival of Passover, and God sent His Holy Spirit FIFTY days later during the festival of Pentecost… AND as a result of that HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERMENT, the early church celebrated the EARLY HARVEST… then we also have the prediction of a latter harvest following a long summer season!

I believe God still desires for the modern Christian Church HIGHLY DEDICATED to the themes of Pentecost.

• The Word of God!
• Harvest!
• The Holy Spirit!

I pray that this Pentecost Sunday brings an awareness of Gods word (the Bible), a new dedication to the Great Commission (Harvest), and a new baptism of Gods Holy Spirit… on every church in America and throughout the whole world!

God bless you all!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

Happy Saturday!

Became slightly discouraged yesterday when it took me 3 hours to finalize the editing for 8 pages of my 413 page manuscript! I’m getting better and moving faster, but not fast enough. My goal is to finish the editing by the second week of June. God… help? (smile)

Who’s Having More Fun?

Please take a look at the todays photo. Now, tell me what immediately comes to your mind. Who’s having the most fun? At a fast glance, it may seem like the girl in the front (with the GREAT BIG SMILE) is have far more fun than the girl thats laying her life down for the benefit of a friend! Yet, I have found that sometimes, OFTENTIMES…

It’s more fun to push than ride!

I went on the funnest UVA hospital visitation trip of my life, yesterday afternoon! Kristin Via, Dawn Valentine, Cindi Fortin, and myself went to visit 3 suffering church friends… hoping to make a big difference, and walked away with a bigger difference made in our lives! We were so encouraged with the OPTIMISM of those patients! We laughed and inspired each other 30 minutes to the hospital and back, we had so much fun creating smiles for our friends!

Really, the greatest way to shake stress is to PUSH EVERYTHING ASIDE, and GO BEAUTIFY SOMEONE’S DAY! Every single time I’ve ever done this, I’ve always walked away with a BRIGHTER OUTLOOK!

The amazing warmth one receives when he our she blesses another… sacrifice: it’s only comprehended with experience!

Luke 6:38 “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Proverbs 11:24-25 “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”

And that’s my blog for today… hope it inspires a few hundred selfless weekend activities! I’m so thankful for this beautiful blog tribe! You are very good people! Love you all… and still praying for you everyday!

Don’t forget church at Destiny Family Center tomorrow 10am, if you’re nearby! It’s gonna be AMAZING!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck