"Press On"

Psalm 91:4 reads, "...his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

This is a verse that has provided me with much encouragement and hope. It is one that seems to always come to mind just when I need it. It reminds me that God's faithfulness will always guard and protect me.

I especially value the image of God's faithfulness being my shield. A shield is not something you use to protect your rear end as you run away from the enemy. Rather you hold a shield in front of you as you move forward in the face of the enemies attack. No matter what circumstances of life or the enemy of my soul throws at me, I am reminded that as God's child, I am to never retreat. With His faithfulness as my shield, I am to press forward until I see God's faithfulness overcome in my enemy.

I was just thinking that may be today someone feels like they are in a battle. Your enemy is hammering away at you. You are feeling tired and beaten down. You are tempted to retreat or even worst just give up and let the enemy win. Please receive Psalm 91:4 not as empty words on a page, but as the living word of God that it is..."His faithfulness is your shield." Don't run! Don't stop! With his faithfulness before you press ahead. Don't give up until you see God come through. He will. It is coming. Press on!

"1 = 120"

I admit I am not very good at math. Actually, I stink at math. I am very thankful that I am married to an accountant for whom numbers come naturally. However, the good thing about not being good at math is that I have no problem understanding God's math, even when it does not make sense to those who are good at math.

For example, in God's math 1= 120. Let me explain...about 5 years ago a woman and her son came to worship with us. She is a woman with a big heart, but very unassuming. She will do anything for anyone, but prefers to do it behind the scenes. She is gentle and quiet, but she is God's. And because she is God's, she lets God work through her in the way that seems to come most naturally for her. Through her relationships with family, friends and c0-workers, she exhibits the love of Christ and then, when God opens the door, she simply invites them to come visit her church family with her on Sunday. And because they love her and they know she loves them, they come. One by one...people she has invited have come. One person she invited sent me an email this week and shared that at her last count 120 people have visited Living Hope because of this one person. Many of them have not only become a part of the church but have for the first time discovered for themselves what it is like to live in a daily and personal relationship with Christ. Person after person numbered in that 120 now have their own stories of how God is radically transforming their lives.

To us 1 is small...1 can't do much...1 won't amount too much...but in God's mathematical system 1 can equal 120. For that I praise God and I say thank you to the one who let God use her to equal 120. God is using her one life and one simple invitation at a time to change the world one person at a time. Praise God and thank you, Amber Sweeney!

"I Believe in Miracles"

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe God steps into our realm of space and time and does the impossible? I do. Without any hesitation, I believe. I guess, I have seen too much evidence not to believe. Let me share with you four recent miracles in the life of our church family:

1) I believe in miracles of life transformation. So far, in 2008, eighty-eight people have made personal decisions to follow Christ. Praise God! That alone is a miracle! But I am more interested in what happens after the initial commitment...here is one example...he and his wife came to Living Hope for the first time in September. He has some church background and she none. After the service he said to me, "I need God to make a lot of changes in my life." We talked, he prayed, God came into his life. He said, "as we prayed it was like a weight was lifted off of me." His wife then prayed and Jesus showed up in her life as well. It is now December and they are here very Sunday, but more than that God is doing the miracle of life-transformation in them. Not only they, but those who know them best can see the difference. There is no greater miracle than one person finding God's love and hope personally. I believe in miracles!

2) I believe in miracles of physical healing. Regularly, people come to the Gathering or write the Prayer Chain for us to pray for them for specific needs...often those needs are physical and often we have seen specific answer to prayer. For instance, last Wednesday at the Gathering a women asked us to pray for her. She was having surgery the next day. One of the big concerns were pre-cancer cells on 9 different cysts. The surgery happened the next day and the doctor saw her after to share that he could not explain it but all 9 cysts and their pre-cancer cells were gone. They were there and then they were not. I believe in miracles!

The same kind of thing happened this week. One of our members asked the Prayer Chain to pray because tests revealed an aneurysm on her sister's aorta. Today the doctor called to say what was there, is now gone. How did that happen? My answer is...I believe in miracles!

3) I believe in miracles of peace and calm. Every bit as powerful as a change of circumstances, such as a physical healing, is a change of one's spirit, when the circumstances do not change. For instance, someone called this week and said, "Chad, its been three weeks now of peace and joy. When we did the service about accepting what was in our control and putting into God's hands, what we cannot control, I did just that. I fully gave the situation to God. The situation is still going on, but I am not worried and upset. I have peace and joy." The person can even begin to see how God could change the situation. I believe in miracles!

Luke 1:37 comes from the Bible's Christmas story. It says, "For nothing is impossible with God!" The Christmas story is all about the greatest miracle in the history of the world: Our God came down to us to do for us what we could not do for ourselves...he came to give us relationship with himself so that we can truly live now and even live after we die. The only questions is...do you believe?

"My Strength or His Spirit?"

I heard this story many years ago. It is one that sticks with me because I think I relate to it pretty well.

A father asked his son to move a large rock in their yard. The boy was determined to do it. He ran to the rock and pushed and shoved with all his might. The rock did not budge so he pushed all harder...his muscles straining and sweat forming on his forehead. His father was watching and said, "Your not using all your strength." The boy said nothing. He just pushed all the harder. Again, the father said, "You're not using all your strength." The boy pushed even harder but still did not budge the rock an inch. Again the father said, "Your not using all your strength." Finally, the exasperated boy shouted back, "I am too. I am using all my strength but I cannot move it." To which the father replied, "No. You're not using all your strength because you have not asked me to help."

This morning, God put Zechariah 4:6 in my face, "Not by might nor by power, but by my
Spirit, " says the Lord Almighty.

I don't know about you but I am guilty of pushing and straining and sweating to try to make rocks move and getting no where. Over and over again, I have to relearn the old lesson that I am not using all my strength until I stop depending solely on mine and ask God to add in his. In my might and power I can see what I can do, but I am increasingly hungry to see what God's spirit could do if I would depend less on myself and more on him.

God, forgive me and God help me.

"Letting Go"

Seth, our nine month old, loves being mobile. He crawls around as fast as lightning. He pulls himself up on whatever he can find...a chair, my pant leg, his sisters hair...and he stands. More and more he let's go of what he used to help stand himself up. And each time he let's go, he stands a little longer before he falls. As a parent this is exciting and a little sad all at the same time. On the one hand, you want the boy to be able to stand on his own two feet, but on the other hand you want to make these moments last as long as possible and with each stand he makes you know your baby will not be a baby forever. But being a parent means learning to let go, doesn't it?

It seems that spiritual growth is also about a life-long process of letting go so that you can increasingly experience God for all he is. See if you can relate to any of these letting go spiritual growth steps:

Letting go of my way to stand for God's way.

Letting go of hurt to experience God's healing.

Letting go of fear to find God's courage.

Letting go of doubt to accept God's power.

Letting go of selfishness to be used by God to touch others.

Letting go of money to let God be my financial planner.

Letting go of lies to live in the truth.

Letting go of hate to be free to truly love.

Letting go of my comfort zone to not miss out on his adventure.

Letting go of isolation to embrace others and let others embrace me.

Letting go of thinking I am in control so that God can be in control.

The list could go on and on, couldn't it? Letting go is a beneficial part of life. For each time we dare to let go, we get to find out for ourselves what it is like to stand with Christ in a whole new way! Hey...Don't be a baby...let go! :-)

Check out Hebrews 5:11-6:3

"It's True"

I just left "The Gathering" (it is our Wednesday evening time of communion, worship and prayer). Every week I rediscover that what Jesus said is true: "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:20). It's true! I just had a fresh encounter with Christ. Jesus shows up where his Body gathers to seek him.

If there is one truth that is hard for we individualistic, private American Christians to hear it is that Jesus' is where two or three gather. We want to experience him all by ourselves. Perhaps we lack God's presence not because God is withholding himself from us but because we do not believe him. O, we say, we do, but our actions say otherwise. We say we want God to be close and real. We say we pray for God to give us his peace and his strength, but then we neglect the path he has given us for experiencing his presence. What is that path? Community; Connecting with other Followers of Christ in a way that goes beyond "Hi and How are You". We cannot grow spiritually in isolation. He has given us the Church not as a place to go on Sunday, but as a Body to grow in and with for good or bad, pretty or ugly.

To those of you who know what I am talking about, I encourage you....press on! "Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing" as Hebrews says. Rather keep on connecting. Keep on being real. You will find Jesus presence and because of you others will find the same.

To those of you who do not know yet what I am talking about, I encourage you...Go find out for yourself that it's (Matthew 18:20) true!

"72 degrees in November"

With election day behind us, we can answer the phone without hearing a political call and we can open the mail box without receiving a hundred political mailers. So, take the signs out of the yard, turn off the news and just may be you and I will not miss that it is November and it is 72 degrees and sunny outside!

Did you hear me? It's 72 outside. Need I remind you we live in Ohio?! There cannot be very many sunny, 72 degree days left. Before long, the cold will come to stay for winter and gray will color the sky. But today, friends, it is sunny and 72!

I wonder how many people will miss this rare November day? Some will be so busy celebrating or mourning the election results that they will miss it. Some will be so busy working till it is dark to notice it. Some will be so focused on today's crisis that this nice day is not worth enjoying.

It is easy to miss the little, but truly special gifts God gives us every day, isn't it? I am convinced that the greatest things in life are the smallest things. Things like...the colors of a sun rise splashing across the sky, the giggle of a child, the time to eat your favorite ice cream nice and slow, a little prayer to God that brings him up close and personal...you know...things like a 72 degree day in November.

The Bible says, "This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it." How do we do that? By not missing the "72 degree days of November" in our lives.

Can I be really honest? In the last two week I have been gone working too much. Too many nights away and not enough time at home...I have more than put in my hours . I looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow. It is suppose to get colder. So, I have made a decision. I am leaving and I will be back in time for the Gathering.

If you call, you won't reach me. If you email, I will not reply. If you stop by the church, I will not be here. Ask me where I'll be and I will tell you...I went home to make up on time that I will never get back with my 2 favorite kids and my beautiful wife. After all, 72 degrees in November is something that is here one day and gone the next, so you better enjoy it while you can.