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First The Playground Ark, Now Our Church Parsonage House…

Thursday, January 10th, 2013 by 32 Comments

DFC Parsonage - Smoldering

DFC Parsonage - Burnt

My Facebook status (edited), 3:16AM:

First someone burned down our playground ark, then someone vandalized our church bus, now tonight, someone burned down our church parsonage building.

Once a landmark estate property in Stuarts Draft, a 3500+ square foot brick two-story and slate roof house charred to the ground, and nothing remains except a few brick walls and the beautiful chimney. (a frown and a tear)

Dear God, please give a change of heart to people who do these things… and please protect our church from further attack. Please protect the beautiful, loving, and compassionate people of our congregation… and give us courage to continue with our mission… to make this community and world a better place. I still thank You for making me the pastor of Destiny Family Center. Our vision is clear and our future is bright. I thank You for our fire department and those who risked their lives for us again tonight. Bless them, and their families as they’ve willingly placed themselves in harm’s way for us.

I feel humbled. I don’t know what to think. So, I pray… with hope in my heart to a God who cares more than anyone can ever imagine. Amen.

This morning, 8:28AM:

Thank you all for your many prayers and kind comments to us. What a blessing it is to feel the love of God, through friends, in times like this. Please continue to respond with God’s love.

Things can be replaced.

Our mission and our focus has nothing to do with things… it is about making a forever difference in the hearts and souls of people… our families, friends, and even our enemies.

This fire is further evidence of the need for churches, and good-hearted Christian people.

This fire inspires me to care for people more, not less. It makes me more so thankful to God for saving me from the person I could have become. It compels me to reach out to corrupted people when they are young… before they end up hurting others and themselves.

To the people of Destiny Family Center, and to all who feel hurt with us…

Please respond with us by deciding to make a greater difference with your lives this year, than any other year of your life.

Our church has always been known for reaching out to people who are at the lowest rock bottom… to the drug dealers and addicts and people who are fresh out of jail, and those who are fresh out of divorce, and every kind of destruction imaginable. May we continue to do this, no matter what happens to us in the process.

Love is greater than hate.

Mercy is greater than judgment.

Today is another beautiful day to be alive and shining for Christ. God bless you all!

Keep The Dream Alive,

Chuck Balsamo

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The Newtown Massacre: Where Is God When We Need Him?

Saturday, December 15th, 2012 by 11 Comments

Newtown Masacre

(AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

5:12am, morning after the Connecticut Elementary School Massacre…

Compassion…

…a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. (M&W)

That is what I feel in my heart this morning for the devastated people of Newtown, Connecticut.

I actually cried as I prayed when the news broke, I trembled in my bones and I lost my breath…

20 children and 6 adults massacred, terror and bloodshed… in an elementary school. I can think of nothing more chilling, more evil, or heartbreaking.

I saw a photo on FoxNews.com (above) of a lady who held her cell phone to her ear, as she was wailing out with grief. I wondered if one of the 20 was her little man, or her little princess.

I wondered what these families had done the night before. I imagined kisses on the cheeks and bedtime conversation, “I love you sweetie,” and, “I love you too Mommy!”

I had flashbacks to the days when my Coree and Heaven were little ones, so happy and innocent, so trusting and carefree.

Then, I thought of kids in my church who are now that age… and how they run to hug me every Sunday, and they share their excitements with me, and they tell me they love me.

I went to Facebook and Twitter, and I watched with further heartache as the world reacted.

So, I posted 3 tweets and joined the global discussion:

26 dead @ a Connecticut Elementary School. I’m crying, & praying, filled with grief for the people of this community. #Newtown

Responses to violence: “gun control? there is no God?” But ppl have free will & these things will happen as godlessness increases. #Newtown

Let us pray for grace and peace.. reach out with compassion to the victims we know. May Newtown FEEL this nation’s empathy today. #Newtown

Here are some thoughts from my book about what is happening to our country…

Make Me A Legend, Chapter 6

Where Is God When We Need Him?

You may be wondering, if God is so great, then why doesn’t He do something about the devil and all the evil in this earth? That’s the age-old question, isn’t it?

I believe in God. I also believe that He is a good and loving God. I believe in His explanations of the past. I follow His instructions for a blessed life. I believe in His promise of an eternal future. I believe, that what God does in our world and in our personal lives is always done for our best—in the light of eternity.

Because there is a devil who influences the desires and actions of so many humans, we’re all making too many bad life choices that lead to awful consequences. Sometimes, we suffer the awful consequences of our own bad actions. Sometimes, our bad actions create awful consequences for other people. Other times, we suffer the awful consequences of other people’s bad actions. And yes, because of this, sometimes bad things do happen to good people.

[But, life doesn't have to be this way. God should not be blamed for evil. He should be sought for healing, and for a better future world. His influence on people and communities can build a better tomorrow.] -added to this blog

This will come as new news to some people. God has already dealt with the true source of evil. He has made a way for us to become better people. All by Himself, God through His Son Jesus Christ made it possible for everyone to have a restored relationship with Him. We were wasting away in our sins, absolutely incapable of satisfying God’s righteous laws, and Jesus Christ lovingly and willingly lowered Himself down to this fallen world. As one of us, He did what we couldn’t do for ourselves. He lived sinlessly and died sacrificially for all who trust Him as Lord. Because of Jesus, we can become the children of God; and as such, the devil no longer has a legal right to destroy us, or use us to destroy others.

…

One of the amazing things about Father God is that He gives us our inheritance (a free will) so we can go do whatever we want with our lives. Yet, great freedom always comes with great responsibility. And with our freedom, we can choose to go our own way and do our own thing, and we can shut God out of our lives—as long as we can endure the pain.

[Today, more than any other time in American history, we are pushing God out of our nation. We want to live our own lives, our own way, without His interference. But when the nation goes crazy, we are so quick to throw our fists to the sky. Or we claim there is no God, because a loving God would never let anything like this happen to good people.] -added to this blog

Where is God when we need Him? He’s right where He’s always been! God is the gentle whisper in our cluttered hearts during those fleeting moments of silence. Faintly, we can feel Him nudging us to open our unused Bibles. He’s the nagging co-worker who invites us to church every Sunday. In the middle of every disaster, He is that warm and peaceful voice, telling us there has to be a better way.

The natural next question: “Then why isn’t He helping us?” Because we asked Him to keep His nose out of our lives, and out of our nation? Remember? I know, people don’t usually say it like this, and I’m sure you never intended to say it like this either, but somewhere along the way people want to live their own lives, their own way. And this is a dangerous way of existing.

In my humble opinion…

America has become a prodigal nation. We’ve pushed God out of our Schools, and we’ve thrown out morality in this new era of tolerance. We’ve produced a society that mocks God and His followers, but then grinds its teeth at Him for not preventing the godless actions of its own.

Today, let us shine a light in this dark world!

With the deepest compassion we’ve ever known, let us find a way to LOVE everyone around us. Hug your children and make sure they know you care. Reach out to the people of your community and beyond it. Be creative. Find a way to help alleviate the suffering in Newtown. Pray like you’ve never prayed for America, that God will somehow find a way back into our hearts.

Your thoughts?

With Much Love,

Chuck Balsamo

Note: You can purchase a signed copy of Make Me A Legend here, or order from Amazon, or pick up a copy at your local bookstores.

Filed Under: Inspiration, World Issues Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Let Nothing Move You

Thursday, June 18th, 2009 by 6 Comments

Good Thursday!

I love Jesus so much. I am a decent and LOVING person. I live ONLY for the purpose of bringing others into relationship with God, and helping them into the PROFOUNDNESS of knowing Him. I pray and worship God SEVERAL times each and EVERY day… His living Word is my DAILY bread. This is WHO I am… this is who I have been for 18 years and thankfully, this is STILL who I am today.

I feel like the Apostle Paul… like I am out of my mind for having to talk like this. (2 Corinthians 11:22-24)

Father God loves me like crazy… he tells me this all the time! He is the lover of my soul… and there is no other passion for anything in all this world even close to comparing with my passion for Him. I’m not perfect, or even close to being perfect. I make huge mistakes and I do very stupid things every once in a while… but my HEART is PERFECTLY turned toward him… I love Jesus Christ as much as anyone possibly can at this phase of life. My whole spirit, soul, and body reaches for him as a young thriving plant REACHES for the spring sunlight! 

I pity the spirits and persons who attack my family over and over without an ounce of restraint… I sincerely pray for these persons, knowing that God will not tolerate their aggressive slanderous actions much longer. All my tears have been collected into a bottle… and just this morning in prayer I heard the Lord say to me, “I am your salvation… I am your personal bodyguard… and very SOON everyone will see my FAVOR all over your life!” This reminded me of Psalm 35:3 and I read the entire Psalm again, knowing that God is SPEAKING this to me right now.

So, while the battle rages and the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) does his thing… I will keep to my mission and pray for Gods MERCY where it is needed. 

Are you finding yourself in similar situations from time to time? Do you set out with beautiful ambitions, only to be met with fierce and relentless opposition from the most unlikely places? Does it seem like the more good you do, the more you are misunderstood, misrepresented, and mistreated? I know this doesn’t make sense, and it can be very distracting… but we must NEVER let any of these things move us off course!

Know who you are… stick to your convictions… pray for your enemies… and KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Acts 20:23-24 Except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that CHAINS and TRIBULATIONS await me. But NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may FINISH MY RACE WITH JOY, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.  

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Welcome 2 Your Next Great Adventure!

Monday, April 13th, 2009 by 3 Comments

Good Monday Everyone,

I wonder if diversions should be welcomed as great adventures? We work so hard to establish nice little patterns for our lives. We try to make so many perfect moves. We try so hard to automate as much as possible. We flip out when circumstances arise to shock us with unwelcomed CHANGE. 

I wonder if we should count adversity as an act of evil or an act of grace? Has all this pressure and all this agony come into your life to bring you down OR has it come to LIFT YOU UP? Is the universe rallied against you OR is the universe NUDGING you into the NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE?

Instead of weeping in a spirit of hopelessness, should we fall down and worship at the feet of our FATHER with a renewed sense of FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE!

God is BIGGER than people… and God is BIGGER than our imperfections! Therefore, we should never feel like ANYTHING from our past has any real shot at canceling our future in Christ!

Think about this: If reaching your divine destiny depended upon YOUR PERFECTION, it would never happen! If you had to make the correct turn at all ten thousand intersections this decade, you would end up in the wrong place way out in the wastelands!

Is your life really as messed up as it may seem right now? Should you accept your current set of circumstances as a sure sign of defeat… and should you just throw in the towel… stop dreaming… stop aiming for all those beautiful dreams?

Be careful not to assess your progress through human reasonings. For GODS WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS and GODS THOUGHTS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR THOUGHTS! If he is GOD than he has a trillion ways of getting each of us safely to our destinations! 

So when life seems to throw us a great big curve ball… and life seems to punch us out cold… and life seems to smack us WAY OFF THE BEATEN PATH… we should NOT despair my friends! Instead, we should raise our faces and lift hands to the deep BLUE SKIES and BLESS THIS BRAND NEW GREAT ADVENTURE! 

Proverbs 3:1-6 

 1 ”My son, do not forget my teaching, 
       but keep my commands in your heart,

 2 for they will prolong your life many years 
       and bring you prosperity.

 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; 
       bind them around your neck, 
       write them on the tablet of your heart.

 4 Then you will win favor and a good name 
       in the sight of God and man.

 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
       and lean not on your own understanding;

 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, 
       and he will make your paths straight.”

Ok… so there you have it… another paradigm for the same set of circumstances! Selah! Think about this… meditate on all the opportunities this inconvenience could be bringing about. TRUST my friends! TRUST that God is still CRAZY ABOUT YOU… he is STILL WORKING ALL THINGS OUT FOR YOUR GOOD! 

I pray that todays blog adds TREMENDOUS value to your amazing lives! God bless you all… have a most ADVENTUROUS DAY!

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Thank God For Gods Love!

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 by 6 Comments

Happy Wednesday Friends!

Guess what?? This is your long lost pal Chuck… remember me? I’m so sorry for bailing out on you good people like that… just under quite a bit of pressure this past week and didn’t want to bring the pressure into your lives. So Jonathan Woodard blogged for me and did an amazing job in my absence! Thank you Jonathan… I sincerely ask the Lord to bless you for this help!

Ok so I’m feeling a little rusty this morning… hmmm, let’s see… what shall I write about?

Romans 8:35-39

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Have you ever felt all alone before? Ever gone through times when you just couldn’t seem to figure out why all the tribulation? Ever felt as if even God had walked out and left you to the uncertain tides of chance and fate? So often life can get confusing… and no matter how hard we try to come up with adequate explanations, we are left scratching our heads.

In times like these, the devil comes like a little red bird on our shoulders… he whispers lies in our ears… he taunts us and tells us that God doesn’t like us anymore.

According to Isaiah 59:2, the only thing that drives a wedge between God and humans is SIN. And we have ALL sinned… so Jesus came into the earth, lived a perfect, sinless life… was crucified to satisfy the full penalty for our sins… and through his blood sacrifice we who were FAR AWAY have been BROUGHT NEAR to God! (Ephesians 2:13)

Live a LIFE of daily consecration to the Lord. Spend quality time with Him in prayer every morning. Like the prophet Daniel, make this part of your DAILY routine! Start out each day bowing before him: ask God to deal with you about your own sins, ask for his forgiveness and mercy, ask for the grace you need to live victoriously… and have the FAITH to believe that he LOVES YOU no matter how perfect or imperfect you are at this very moment.

And then, in times of LONLINESS Romans 8:35-39 sets us FREE! It is here in these verses that we learn just how much GOD LOVES US! We are his CHILDREN… and he is the BEST FATHER EVER! No matter what the voices are telling us… God is not like people. He is kind and patient, and forgiving and merciful, and willing to pay ANY PRICE to be NEAR TO US! He loves us more than we can ever love him! So let’s rest in this!

Thoughts about Romans 8:35-39

  • Can ANYTHING separate us from Christ’s love?
  • Does it mean that he no longer loves us if we have trouble… and all those other things?
  • NO! In fact, DESPITE all these things…OVERWHELMING VICTORY is ours through Christ, who LOVES US!
  • I am convinced that NOTHING can ever separate us from God’s love!
  • Not even all the powers of hell!
  • Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord!

So there it is friends… you are NOT ALONE today… God is with you and he has promised that he will never leave you or forsake you. Cling to this revelation today… and everyday, no matter what you face in this life. I pray todays blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! God bless you all!!

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