ChuckBalsamo.com - Inspiring World Changers

Tag Archive for 'dream'

Jul

Synergizing 4 Tomorrows Better World

By chuck 5 Comments

Categories: Journal & Message

Happy Tuesday!

Had a nice vacation… and then a nice day off from blogging yesterday. Back to WORK today for little Chucky! We’ll not really… I’m driving to Richmond right after posting this blog to visit my Father in law in the hospital… he’s such a super guy, having a bad few days. Merle has tremendous FAITH and I’m certain he will come through this all right! Thanks for the prayers.

Gonna return calls on the road and multitask as much as possible. Thank God for the AMAZING leadership team we have in our ministry… that so much takes place even while I am out of the office. Being out these past two weeks has shown me the POWER and POTENTIAL of a dream team! One person can only do a few things alone… but when one person is a tiny part of a larger whole, he can create tomorrows better world!

Tomorrows world needs to be CREATED ON PURPOSE. We should not leave her to time and chance. Evil prevails ONLY when GOOD people do nothing. Therefore, we should DO SOMETHING… lots and lots of SOMETHINGS to shape tomorrow!

To best create change… measurable change, we need to work well together in one common purpose. This means that we POOL our time, talents, and resources into ONE PLACE for LARGE SCALE PURPOSES. We assemble around a daring dream… and we aim in a common direction.

This is true of businesses, ministries, families, and even nations. United we stand, divided we fall. The limitless power of ONE COMMON PURPOSE is epic beyond comprehension!

My role in this whole picture is three fold.

Be the very best player for my team… to contribute my personal BEST to something MUCH BIGGER THAN MYSELF.
To COACH well, lead my team in BOLD AND DARING directions, and carry out mandates that matter in the face of eternity.
Be an encourager of other teams and other coaches… to support everyone else aiming to create tomorrows better world.

In ministry, we know that all the little ministry teams belong to Christ, who is the head of his worldwide church. Even though we have so many varying ideas about how we should go about creating change… we are working for a common eternal purpose and that unites us.

This is why I want to be encourager to other coaches and other teams… as much as possible. Sometimes, this is not easy… and so I pray for the GRACE to see beyond the things that divide us, so that I can fully appreciate the things that UNITE us.

I appreciate everyone who appreciates my coaching and my playing. I thank God for my encouragers… for the synergy I draw from other coaches and other players. I thank God for people like Pastor Chris & Sara Whetzel of Believers Victory Center in Moorefield West Virginia… what a coach and what a team! For my dear friend Pastor Bruce Hankee of Greenmont Fellowship, right here in my home county. I am privileged to exchange encouragement with these and so many other GREAT coaches and GREAT teams scattered throughout the earth! We are better together than we could ever be alone!

My team is an AMAZING team! I’m talking about the tribe I’m leading, the team I’m personally coaching! It’s GROWING every day… even every HOUR these days… and thanks to the internet, there are no bounds… there are no limits to HOW EFFECTIVE this team can become! I thank God for the BEAUTIFUL people at Destiny Family Center… and for all the other beautiful people connected to this team through the blog, twitter, and facebook. Let’s keep GROWING… and together we will achieve MEASURABLE levels of change!

If you have a specific talent you would like to dedicate to this tribe… please let us know! Right now, we’re looking for help in graphic design, web development, web broadcasting, social networking expansion, and… oh, finances of course!

I pray that today’s blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! Spend some time meditating on YOUR CONTRIBUTION to the team of teams you’re connected with. How can you become a more significant player in the dream of creating a better tomorrow?

Have a super day everyone!

Share/Save

Jun

I Still Have a Dream Today

By chuck 5 Comments

Categories: Journal with Video and Message with Video

Happy Sunday!

Got up early, wish it was earlier… having a phenomenal time with God today… would love to extend it for a few more hours! Yesterday was the biggest Saturday for the blog site ever… thanks for the interest you guys… hope your Saturday was beautiful in every way!

All night long, every time I awoke… the word HOPE was calling out to me!

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I STILL HAVE A DREAM! (The Trumpet of Conscience 1967)

After all you’ve been through, dare to say, “I STILL HAVE A DREAM!”

I hope to see a pile of you guys at Destiny Family Center this morning… 10am. Guess what I’m talking about?

Ohh… my birthday party celebration is tonight at 5pm… details and directions in the Destiny Times… HOPE you can make it! Have a super day everyone!

Share/Save

Jun

Learning How To Dream

By chuck 6 Comments

Categories: All Journal and Announcement

Happy Wednesday!

FYI: I’m preaching at Trinity Harvest Church in Pikeville, Kentucky Friday night at 7pm… if your close to Pikeville, see you there?

Hows life for you guys today? Things going well? I really care and I’m really praying for God to help you into the victories you desire! Everyone has dreams… you have dreams of being and doing so many things! Hold on to those dreams… and never let them out of your sight! Anything is POSSIBLE… and your DREAMS, no matter how BIG they may look from where you are standing today… they are POSSIBLE!

Most of the time, dreams take a very long time growing up into living realities. A dream is a PICTURE of what is POSSIBLE.

Hebrews 11:1 Now FAITH is the substance of THINGS HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.

Dreams are the THINGS HOPED FOR in this faith formula! Without THINGS HOPED FOR, our FAITH has nothing to go after!

So, in order to live a miraculous kind of existence… in order to live by FAITH and not by SIGHT… in order to fully experience the super amazing destinies God has for you and me… we MUST GET BETTER AT DREAMING!

For most people, their tiny dreams are not much more than an impression in their heart. For others… a mental photograph. There are some people who carry around mental PHOTO ALBUM of their various dreams. And then there is that very small elite group of DREAMERS out there who DREAM SO WELL they have actually GONE INTO THE FUTURE AND LIVED THEIR DREAMS ALREADY!

AGAIN… Hebrews 11:1 Now FAITH is the substance of THINGS HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.

FAITH is the VEHICLE that transports a person from the LAND OF HOPES into the LAND OF DESTINY. Faith CREATES SUBSTANCE out of the things WE HOPE FOR… or DREAM ABOUT!

HOPE has its very necessary purpose… hope cannot do what ONLY faith can do. Hope says, maybe someday. Hope says, that sure would be nice. Hope says, here are my dreams… my possibilities… this is my potential.

Then, once we have HOPE… once we have a CLEAR DREAM, faith steps up and says LET US GO UP NOW, AGAINST ALL ODDS IF NECESSARY, AND LET US TURN THIS DREAM INTO A LIVING REALITY… FOR THIS DREAM IS AS GOOD AS DONE!

If I can SEE IT, I CAN HAVE IT! Therefore, I must become an expert at DREAMING the DREAMS of God for my life! I have to stop reducing the size of my dreams down to the size of my human capabilities. I must not filter my dreams through the vastness of my obstacles… instead, I have to BELIEVE that with GOD all things are possible… to them that BELIEVE!

Are you good at DREAMING the DREAMS OF GOD? Maybe you should consider starting a DREAM JOURNAL… a place where you can doodle pages and pages of DREAMS… a place where you can DREAM WITHOUT LIMITS… DREAM as if your FATHER IS THE ONE WHO CREATED EVERYTHING AND CAN DO ANYTHING! Sounds like a good plan to me!

Have fun you guys: DREAM ON… DREAM ON… DREAM UNTIL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUUUUUUUUUUUE! I pray this blog adds tremendous future value to your amazing lives! Please leave your comments… I love to read them all! Come to church tonight at Destiny Family Center… see you there!

Share/Save

Jun

One of the Realest Dreams of my Life

By chuck 7 Comments

Categories: Journal & Message

Good Thursday!

Last night I had another significant dream… two nights in a row! This one was so REAL… I drifted back and forth between sleep and wake, wondering if it was really happening.

The dream took place in the EXACT setting of my bedroom… I was wearing the exact boxer briefs I was actually sleeping in. Emily was laying beside me exactly the way she actually was… same sheets… same EVERYTHING!

Since we slept with the window open, I could hear the waterfall from our pond… again, there was NO DIFFERENCE difference between the dream and the real waterfall. In the dream, I woke up and looked through the window. The patio light was on, partially lighting the section behind my bedroom… and as I looked, I saw a hand raised in the air. I could make out who this was… just that a hand was raised… I saw the fingers pointing upward.

As you can imagine… this sent shivers all over my body and I jumped up! I think I really did jump up… because in the dream I heard the laser light Ryan gave me fall out of the bed and hit the floor… and when I got up this morning it was on the FLOOR!

As the dream went on… I got out of bed and went out side through my kitchen door. I saw Shannon Isaksen on the patio… she was standing outside our window PRAYING for us as we slept! As she was praying, she gazed over to the neighbors house… and I saw a light on in their carport, so I walked toward the light.

At the neighbors carport, facing the direction of our house… the entire intersessory prayer team was sitting in a circle of chairs WIDE AWAKE, and they were PRAYING FOR US WHILE WE SLEPT! I asked Kristin why they were all still awake… and she said, “go back to sleep, we have you COVERED!”

I didnt even talk to anyone else… because they were so focused and so PEACEFUL… almost like a group of campers sitting around a campfire in the wee hours of the morning. I just looked over the team with a smile of appreciation and left for my house. It looked and FELT like the roundtable of the JEDI KNIGHTS!

As I got back into my bedroom, I noticed that it was 3:17 AM… and when I WOKE UP and looked at the clock with my eyes… it was 3:17 AM!

John 3:17 For God sent NOT his Son into the world to CONDEMN the world; BUT that the world THROUGH HIM might be SAVED.

As I meditated on John 3:17… I was impressed with two other verses:

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but AFTER THE SPIRIT.

Isaiah 54:17 But in that coming day NO WEAPON turned against you will succeed. You will silence EVERY VOICE raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their VINDICATION WILL COME FROM ME. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Two prophetic dreams in two nights! Is this a sign of AGING?

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS.

Have a super day everyone! I just prayed some amazing things over each of you… so anticipate victory and HAVE IT, all day long! Please leave your comments… chat with you later.

Share/Save

Mar

Guard yourself and your leaders in prayer and action

By admin 4 Comments

Categories: Guest Blogger

Written by Jonathan Woodard, guest blogger for Pastor Chuck during temporary break.

Rarely do I have dreams. Don’t know why; guess I’m too busy sleeping. But this morning, I had a preposterous dream. In it, my wife asked about a sorceress standing in the distance, wanting to know if she could use the sorceress’ services. So I, being a helpful and guarding person, went up to the sorceress and first prefaced our conversation with a greeting, and then cautiously asked about what would be involved in my wife using her services.

“On a scale of 1-10, I’m an 11 in this not applying to me,” I told her, “but I was just wanting to know times, what occurs, etc.” She was offended at that statement, but still gave me a short pitch of her services, then leaving me with the phrase, “let this be a seed in your mind.” Well, I didn’t want anything in my mind from her, but somehow, she convinced me to demonstrate.

I let her lay her hand on my shoulder as she closed her eyes. Suddenly, my spirit reacted to the Holy Spirit battle inside me, and shot my hand in the air, and violently praised the Lord, swaying and thrashing back and forth, with her hand still on me. “Praise the Lord, glory to God in the highest, Holy is the Lord” I yelled.That went on for at least 20-30 seconds, but I don’t know because the dream ended.

Waking with the obvious thought that I’d never let someone working for the enemy like that lay their hands on me, I thought of the verse in Timothy about “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourselves pure.” I felt guilty even after the dream for letting myself allow the ends (simply getting information) to justify the means (allowing myself to closely interact with demons in a vulnerable position).

Several Wednesday nights ago, Pastor Chuck individually and briefly prayed for each of us, then asked us to gather around him to pray for him, his family, his ministry, etc. During that, I had the distinct feeling that in the days ahead, there were going to arise a few mighty male body guards around Pastor Chuck, guarding him from the press of the enemy, kind of like David’s mighty men. This would be like intercessors, a band of brothers, holding him up in prayer. (I don’t mean to be sexist, and woman are more than welcome to do that too; I’m just reporting)

I’m feeling impressed that we need to very careful to guard ourselves and our leaders in prayer and action. Pastor Chuck may not be your pastor, but right now please apply this to your own situation personally and with your leaders. Not only guard who lays hands on them and you, but also guard what we see and hear. “Lord, deliver us from evil. Help us to not be foolish in what we allow to get close to them. Help us to be wise and skillful armorbearers…”

Share/Save

Feb

Personal Environment: Building A Retreat!!

By chuck 5 Comments

Categories: Journal & Message

retreat Good Friday Morning Everyone!

So I left the house early yesterday morning and got home at 8:30pm… Emily had painted the walls and ceiling in the family room and everything was put back as if nothing had been touched. Very cool experience I must say… just like I walked out the door and came back in with a different color behind the pictures. She got rid of the BRIGHT yellow and went with a lighter, softer yellow. I love the colors she’s chosen for our house over the past year. It’s so HAPPY in here!

This reminds me of something I was taught at a business conference about 12 years ago. If you want to change your life, start by changing your environment! Eliminate the clutter… get some happy paint… hang inspirational art… play inspirational music… invite inspirational people.

In a world filled with negativity, mediocrity, and dreamlessness… we have to take BOLD steps at securing our personal space. Our personal environment includes: our home, our bedroom, our office, our cars, our yard, and anywhere else we spend OUR TIME. Even though we can’t control what others do with their personal space, we CAN and SHOULD exercise authority over what we do with ours. We should make our space happy and inspirational. We should make it clean and uncluttered. We should create an environment that causes us to DREAM BIG and ACHIEVE BIG! One that gives us PEACE on stormy days!

Renovating your environment is not expensive! It does take a determined effort and an up front investment of TIME. It may require you coaching some of your friends and family about how to act in your PERSONAL ENVIRONMENT. You may have to post a few NO SMOKING SIGNS… or NO GOSSIPING, NO COMPLAINING, NO MOCKING, NO DESTRUCTIVE CONVERSATION… and whatever else you deem to be an environmental contaminant. This process will most definitely have you taking a few trips to the land fill. You might even have to start inviting a different crowd of guests. But in the end… you will have a space that CAUSES YOU TO LIVE LIKE YOU SHOULD!

In Psalms 101, the writer describes his commitment to carefully police his own personal environment. It’s a very aggressive 8 verses with such sayings as:

“I will lead a life of integrity in MY OWN HOME.”

“I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar.”

“I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.”

“I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.”

“I will not endure conceit and pride.”

“I will not allow deceivers to serve me and liars will not be allowed to ENTER MY PRESENCE.”

Please don’t get confused my dear bloggers… I’m not calling on my readers to develop some kind of holier than thou disposition. Please don’t go about making the world feel like they are not clean enough merit your company. This blog is not meant to nullify love’s mandate to walk in humility and stoop down to serve the perishing. It is a call to build your very own PLACE of RETREAT… a place where you can REST and be REFRESHED every day of your life… an inner circle of prayerfully selected dear friends with similar standards and ambitions… so that you can go further, faster… and live and thrive to the utmost!

What a super blog this is today! Maybe you should consider reading it 3 or 4 times… until specific ideas come that bring about a glorious plan for your environmental renovation!

It’s my pleasure writing and interacting with each of you… I’m praying every morning that God will make this your season of blessings! Thanks for reading…

Share/Save

Dec

Love A Lonely Person Before Christmas

By chuck 13 Comments

Categories: All Message

Emily teaching orphans to color with their first set of crayons... on our trip to India a few years ago.

Happy Friday Friends… TGIF Again!

Jeremiah 31:1 “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

Last night I had a very sad dream about a close friend. I woke up in such pain, my eyes were misting over as I contemplated its meaning. It was so real… so sad.

Oh how God cares about us! While reading in Jeremiah, this verse about Gods love came to life… I felt it swelling inside my heart. My eyes glazed over as I began to think about all the people I know who are suffering right now. The dream came back to me, now awake… it became like a vision… an outer body experience. I left my family room and started flying back over all my travels of the past few weeks. I could see myself talking to people at parties, running into people at the mall, interacting with people at church, chatting on the phone. I noticed all the pain coming from peoples hearts. I saw some of them holding back the tears. They were under so much pressure… feeling like nobody in all the world understood what they were enduring!

Throughout the course of the dream and the vision that followed, and the prayers I made to God afterwards… I came up with this message for you guys. I suppose that God is allowing me to experience HIS HEART this morning. He’s lending me his FEELINGS. For a brief moment, I’m seeing this world through his mind… and its overwhelming me! I can feel the pains of so many people right now… I’m hearing some of their prayers. And even though they each rise in the mornings to beautify their faces and cover over their feelings… I can see into their souls.

God says that he loves us with an everlasting love… and he draw us to himself with unfailing love. How does he do this? How does God reach out to people? How does he wrap his loving arms around hurting humans? He uses us as his representatives. He gives us his heart so that we can express his love! As long as we are self absorbed, we cant see the pains of others. And when our self obsessions are interrupted, we are freed to live a God kind of life! We are privileged to become Gods representatives to the people who need him right now!

This Christmas… break the trance of self obsession. Look around… look very carefully. See into the souls of your friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors, enemies, and everyone you bump into. Think about the lonely elders in your local nursing homes. Think about all the struggling people in your personal circle. Pray for them until a tear squeezes through the surface of your eyes and gently rolls down your compassionate cheeks. And then from this overwhelming sensation… ACT extravagantly! Make a very big difference for someone or a bunch of someones between now and the new year! Lend your ear, your time, your money, your baking skills, and anything else you can muster up to hand deliver a beautiful expression of Gods unfailing love. They are waiting for it… hoping for it… yearning for it! And you are the one to bring it to them right now, today or tomorrow… you will bring them new hope and a second wind!

Love you guys… have fun with this and please post your comments! See you here tomorrow! And hey… dont forget about church this Sunday at Destiny Family Center! Hope you can make it!

Share/Save