We’re back home and real happy about church at Destiny Family Center this morning! Wow, I have really missed everyone! (photo: Mr. Peelz says goodbye to the beach) 

Todays message is sure to ENCOURAGE and INSPIRE… gonna continue the message I started a few weeks ago: I Still Have a Dream Today!   

More than the message, is the LOVE and FAITH I feel in my heart this morning… it’s so large! I just want to HUG everyone, and let them know how much I appreciate journeying with them!

Romans 1:10-12 One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to SEE YOU. For I long to VISIT YOU so I can BRING YOU some spiritual gift that will HELP YOU grow strong in the Lord. WHEN WE GET TOGETHER, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

This is how I feel today… like having a MUTUAL EXCHANGE of ENCOURAGEMENT! 

I LOVE the people I lead at church and over the internet. My family SINCERELY LOVES the people we do life with. We thank God for all the beautiful people here in our hometown and scattered throughout the world who value our leadership… for the people who admire and share our BIG DREAMS… for all the Joshua’s and Caleb’s who without hesitation, they run to the promises with FAITH in every step!

Numbers 13:30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”  

Yes we can! Yes we are! Yes we will! 

I hope todays blog rouses up some FAITH in you guys today! Maybe you’re down at the moment… but this is only TEMPORARY… because you and I were BORN TO TAST THE GRAPES OF PROMISE! We’re doing something historical with our lives… yes we are! 

Please click on to the 10am broadcast… leave your comments… and have a super duper Sunday!

It’s my BIRTHDAY everyone… fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaaaa! As you can imagine… the birthday wishes are coming in on Facebook… and I have a goal of saying thank you for EACH birthday wish! It’s been pretty fun so far… all this BIRTHDAY energy… it’s CHANGING MY LIFE FOREVER! Thanks or being so enthusiastic about the day of my birth everyone!

I was born on Long Island, NY at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital on 7-1-71, weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces. Pretty cool numbers, don’t you think? My amazing mother, who birthed me into this beautiful world… she joined the great cloud of witnesses a few years ago… mom always made such a big deal about my birthday! She always made such a BIG DEAL about ME! 

Today, my BEAUTIFUL, SMILEY, SMART, KIND, LOVING, PLAYFUL, HAPPY, INDUSTRIOUS, SUPER-WIFE Emily Balsamo… she makes a BIG DEAL about my birthday! Emily makes a BIG deal about me too! And what a difference she makes! 

Everyone should have a few people RAVING about them all the time! Life is so much more FUN WITH FANS! Big challenges are no big deal… when there are fans in our stadium! This reminds me of something I wrote about in my book… chapter 9: Frenzied Fans and Home Field Advantages

frenzied fans and home field advantages…
Everyone loves to watch a mob of maniac fans as they elevate their team into a never before seen phenomenon of strength and skill! Most of us have “been right there” when sports history was made at least a time or two, knowing that our hyper raving pushed our beloved teams over the edge during their defining moments! More than likely, everyone has experienced the sheer pleasure of cheering like there was no tomorrow, and we just knew that if us fans held anything back in the stands, our dear players would be mutilated on the field right in front of our eyes. What a rush of adrenaline! We could not hold back… they needed us like they needed their lungs and legs… and when it counted the most, we came through for them!

So many professional athletes commit to their profession primarily because of the very enticing “multimillion dollar contract.” But really, how many of these guys and gals would want to compete in professional sports without STADIUMS and FANS? Imagine you are Tony Romo, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and you’re playing that rival game of the season against your arch enemy, the Washington Redskins… in an empty stadium, without television coverage… not one moment of applause, no mascot or cheerleaders, not even a small delegation of family and friends! There you are all alone, with nothing but the sound of colliding pads and the heavy breathing of your teammates and opponents. Even with all the money in the world, who could get energized about this? Sure, there would be a few fanatics who would keep on playing for the “love of the game” and a few more who would stay dedicated for the luxury it affords. However, we must wonder how much time would pass before many of these under applauded superstars would start looking for something else to do.

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

This morning as I was reading all my BIRTHDAY WISHES, I wrote the following twitter update: Relishing in ALL my BIRTHDAY wishes! Imagining what life would be like if 100′s of friends said HAPPY THINGS to me EVERY SINGLE DAY!

I want to be your FRENZIED FAN… everyday… a voice that CHEERS you to UNTOLD VICTORIES! Go… Go… Go… Go… GOOOOOOOOO… GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (catching my breath) LOL!

May todays birthday blog add tremendous value to your amazing lives! May it cause each of us to LOOK AROUND… and find someone playing their game with all they’ve got… and let us CHEER like crazy people all day long!

Please leave your comments… and help EXPAND our influence! Have a super duper day!

We’ve been out of town at an amazing conference… coming home today. I’m planning to describe our beautiful encounter with Reinhart Bonnke tonight at DFC, seven pm! Hey, if you cant make it in person, catch the LIVE webcast. 

It was so nice meeting hundreds of Pastors who are facing obstacles similar to my own… and to see that I am not alone. It was nice realizing how badly this world NEEDS Emily and I to KEEP INSPIRING others no matter how challenging this can be at times.

It was sad to see how many Pastors are so bruised up inside due to the unprecedented attacks they’re undergoing these days. I was smitten with their pain… it overwhelmed me at times. So every time the opportunity arose, Emily and I gave away some hefty encouragement, while receiving a whole lot of the same back from these great people!  

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth…”

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world…”

We are beautiful people, even at our worse. Jesus said that we are the SALT OF THE EARTH… we are the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. And far too often, we fall into the habit of BEATING OURSELVES and EACH OTHER UP, when we should be appreciating the SALT AND LIGHT we are bringing to a dark, sick world.

When I was a kid… my parents grounded me for drinking alcohol, vandalizing the community, or getting kicked out of school for fighting in the halls or cussing out a teacher. I was a mess and I needed help… I needed correction… lots and lots of correction! 

Now that Emily and I have an 18 year old and a 16 year old, we find ourselves grounding them for far lesser things. Sometimes, when we are talking to them about their behavior, I feel like we scold them aggressively just because that’s what parents are supposed to do. Since we cant find anything BIG to ground them over, we look until we find SOMETHING… ANYTHING… and we keep the same pressure on them our parents had to keep on us! They are FAR BETTER kids than Emily and I were at their age and yet, they are disciplined just as frequently. 

I think this is what we do to ourselves as well! We forget where we came from and how amazing we have become in Christ… and we keep on grounding ourselves for the littlest things. If we can’t find anything BIG, we just keep on looking until we find something to BEAT OURSELVES UP OVER.

Im not downplaying the humility that drives us to continual repentance and a desire to be more Christlike EVERY SINGLE DAY! I’m just wondering when we are going to APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THE LORD ALREADY BEAMING FROM OUR BORN AGAIN LIVES! 

What if started to celebrate our progress a HUNDRED TIMES MORE than we have been? Would we backslide if we stopped whaling on ourselves five times a day? I don’t think so! In fact, I believe that spending more of our lives in RIGHTEOUSNESS CONSCIOUSNESS rather than SIN CONSCIOUSNESS… we will find ourselves FAR MORE CHRISTLIKE!  

Face it you guys… you needed this encouragement! Face it you guys… you are way too hard on yourselves… and way to non-celebratory over the beautiful work God has already done in your lives! So, think about this today… appreciate your progress… because you are the SALT OF THIS EARTH! 

Leave your comments… see you tonight!

I wanted to sleep in today… but as always – I’m wide awake with a vast array of stampeding thoughts racing through my mind. So I whispered to see if Emily was awake… she was… and I started crying on her shoulder. Her early morning councel was short, sweet, and straight to the point. She said, “Charlie, stop thinking… go into the family room and PRAY… get up real close to God, and tell the devil to get out of your thoughts!”

There can be no sleep where there is no peace. Yeah I know this, but every once in a while I still get overwhelmed with the very real issues of life… and I find myself concerning about things that God has already promised to handle for me. Instead of sleeping while God does his job, I lie awake trying to figure out how I am going to do Gods job for him – just in case for some odd reason God forgets about me.

The Bible tells us over and over, that God will never forget us… that he will never leave us alone… he will never forsake us… that he loves us because we are his very own children… and he is not only our GOD… he is also our FATHER. And as long as this is true, we can face anything life throws our way. 

Psalm 23:4 

“Even when I walk
      through the darkest valley,
   I will not be afraid,
      for you (God) are close beside me.
   Your rod and your staff 
      protect and comfort me.” 

It’s so hard to keep our eyes on Jesus while walking across stormy waters. During these times, we must pray a whole lot more than usual. Instead of contemplating all potential scenarios and projecting certain actions based on each of these scenarios… we should “stop thinking… go into the family room and PRAY… get up real close to God, and tell the devil to get out of our thoughts.”

Life will hand each one of us a perfect storm or two… and maybe one or two more than that. If you haven’t faced one yet, be thankful… and learn from those of us who have lived to tell their perfect storm stories. Please don’t misunderstand me here… I am not yet a perfect storm survivor. I’m only a few weeks into mine… and so far, the only advice I have is this: Whatever it takes… get yourself into a mode of unbroken communion with Father God… and STAY THERE until the waters are calm again.

Yesterday, my Uncle Tuff (Adam Paul Dobzeniecki) died at the age of 41. Now you all know I am POLISH… so be nice! He’s been needing a heart transplant for several years now and hasn’t been able to get onto the eligibility list. My Uncle Tuff was like the best big brother there EVER was! He loved me so much… his encouragement was like spring rains… making me GROW and THRIVE. (He’s the guy in right of this photo with me on my wedding day)

When I was a 12 and he was 17, he always let me tag along… made me feel so cool riding around Belport High School in his sweet new red Camaro. I spent every Friday night at his house, eating a bowl of ice cream, watching the Dukes of Hazard, and doing all kinds of silly things! Throughout the years we disconnected over faith… and it was so painful for us both. And over the past few years, we reconnected in a VERY BIG WAY! My Mom died 3 years ago… then her dad died a year and a half later… and now her baby brother.

I had the honor of leading all three of them to the Lord… and all three of them are in heaven today! That’s good news! Yet, it does not ease all my pain… and the loss comes at a very bad time. So… I’m going to log off now and do what Emily told me to do… “stop thinking, go into the family room (I’m already here) and PRAY… get up REAL CLOSE to God… and tell the devil to get out of my thoughts!”

Thank God for the gift of being able to DRAW NEAR TO GOD IN PRAYER! Thank God for the secret place… that awesome pavilion where God hides us in times of trouble! Thank God that EVERY time we draw near to Him, HE ALWAYS DRAWS NEAR TO US! 

Maybe todays blog will help you today or sometime in the future. I pray as always that this message adds tremendous value to your amazing life! Love you guys!

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all the beautiful comments you guys leave every single day. Thanks for taking precious time out of your busy lives to bless me and my family! I’m sure that many times when you say kind things, you feel like you’re just sending a GENERAL message of love… when in fact, so often, your words come to me as LIFE in life’s darkest moments.

 When I wrote yesterdays blog… I have to admit that I was not feeling on my game. Even when I finished and hit the publish button… I was like, “blah… but I don’t have any more time to fix it, so I have to hurry up and publish what I’ve written.”

Then I read your comments last night and realized: A message that was ”general” and weak in my eyes seemed to be “specific” and transformational in your eyes.

This is why we should wake up every day and love people! This is why we should reach out with whatever we have… whether it feels to be amazing or not!

Instead of writing a wordy blog today… I want to ask you guys to re-read yesterdays and read the comments. Barbrah Kelley is a recording artist from New Jersey that just became my friend on facebook… and yesterday, she left a comment that came to me at 11pm last night… when I needed a message like that more than air! Joshua’s message was just as BIG! And to see Lucas growing into a man of God with his revelatory thoughts… it was so nice… all the comments were far more SPECIFIC than any of you could have known! 

Then, after reading the comments on the blogsite I logged in to my facebook and was blessed with something like 15 messages from all over the world from people who claim that I have been a significant blessing to them! I cant help but think that they each sat at their computers and just wrote something they thought as general… not knowing that God was using them to do something very very specific! I’m entering a NEW season in my life and needed to know that what I am doing still has VALUE… and through a bunch of general expressions, God spoke a few things to me LOUD AND CLEAR.  

So go do a bunch of general things today… some of them will be more specific than you’ll know until you enter eternity. I love you guys! Chat with you later on…