"Blown Away"

Last week, went went to Kings Island and just rode all of the water rides.  Seth giggled so hard on "White Water Canyon" ...there is nothing better than hearing a 4 year old just loose it in laughter.  Then, we rode "Congo Falls," which is a large, basically, log ride.  We rode the ride, got soaked and had fun.  But then I told Anna and Seth that it was now time for them to experience the bridge.  If you stand at the right spot on the bridge, the wave that the "Congo Falls" ride creates not only drenches you from head to toe, but it comes with such a force that, if not prepared, it will knock a person back a step or two.

"Anna, Seth, " I said, "Stand right here with me and hold on to the railing with all your strength."

"Why, Daddy?," They asked inncocently.

"You'll see," I said, "Just hang on tight."

I then stood behind them, down came the ride and up came the wave...WHOOSH!

I felt Anna and Seth both fall back in my arms.  Then the water cleared and both of them were standing with their mouths wide opened, stunned.

"Did you like that?"  I asked.

They both began to laugh and then Seth said, "Daddy, I tried to hold on, but the wave was too strong." 

I said, "That's OK, Buddy.  I had you.  Did you like it?"

His reply?  "Let's do it again!"

Look at Ephesians 3:14-21.  Go ahead...open your Bible or read it on an on-line version...this is a good one...you will want to read it yourself.

Can't you just see the heavely Father taking you up on the bridge where you can get a good view of how wide and high and long and deep is the love of Christ Jesus.  You are taking it all in, when suddenly, WHOOSH!

"Whoa...what was that...it just about knocked me over," you exclaim.

The Father says,"That is my love.  It is so powerful that it surpasses all knowledge, which is Bible lingo for, 'It blows you away!'  Becuase it can do in your life immeasurably more than you ever ask or can even imagine." 

Friends, you are an awesome church! God has been blowing me away with his love that I see at work in you.  This month several people have made personal commitements to Christ!  The Kids Summer Camp has illustrated how you have grabbed hold of the relaity that if the next generation is going to catch the fire of Christ that means we parents and we the church family must be directly involved in passing on the flame of faith to them!  Our teen ministry has not been surviving, but thriving this summer! The Men of Action Group is directly involved in helping get started the first safe house in Dayton for Human Trafficking victims and was featured in the Dayton Daily News!  On July 4, we will have the opportunity to share an act of kindness in Jesus name for 1000's of families at our booth at the Americana Festival!  And then, Sunday, July 8, in one combined service at 11 AM we will welcome the Ukraine Orphans we have been sponsoring the last four years!

WHOOSH!  "What was that?"

That was the love of Jesus Christ once again blowing me away as he expresses himself through you and once again does immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Have you read the Scripture I referenced yet?  Come on...check it out...it will blow you away!

"Longest Day of the Year"

Well, you did it!  Great job!  I knew you could! Pat yourself on the back...you deserve it! That's right...yesterday was the longest day of the year and you made it!  The sun's position in the sky yesterday gave us our annual longest day of sunlight, which constituted the start of summer.

If you know me any at all, you will not be surprised to hear that yesterday was my favorite day of the year.  I have a deep gratitude for sunlight. I enjoy soaking up its warmth as I take my daily walk.  I love that dusk isn't until after 9 PM.  I just love the light!

The truth is, the older I get the more I appreciate the opportunity Jesus, the Light of the world, gives us to live in the light every day of the year.

Here are a few lessons on Light I am learning to love to live in:

•  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105.  I am learning to trust God with the light he gives me.  I may want to have the next 1000 steps lit up like a run way, but he does not promise that because he knows what I really need. What I really need is to learn to trust him one step at a time.  People often ask me, "What is the 5 or 10 year plan for LH?"  To be honest, if I am to answer that question, all I would be doing is giving my projections because I do not know what God has planned for the next 5 or 10 years. All I know is the light he has given us for the next step he has for us. Friends, it is freeing to continue to learn that you do not have to have everything figured out.  Just follow God with each next step and you will have all the light you need.
• "Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord." Isaiah 2:5.  I am learning that having God's light for the next step is of no value, if I do not walk in it.  I get very concerned for those, who have been around the church for very long, that we will know about the light at the expense of actually walking in the light we have.  We must hear Isaiah's plea to Israel as a warning to us today, lest we become a people who know a lot about God, but do not respond in loving obedience to God.
• "You are the light of the world...in the same way, let your light shine before men and women, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  Matthew 5:14-16.  Jesus, the Light of the world, says you are the light!  The only way the darkness of this world (violence, poverty, disease, hunger, abuse, human trafficking...) will ever be chased away is if we who bear the light of Christ in us let it shine!  I thank God that you are a church that shines your good deeds so that others can see the Father.  Food 2 Go, Kids Against Hunger, Men of Action Movement, Pine Ridge Reservation, Encouraging our Military Group, our teens preparing for their summer mission trip, the poured out fund pledges, shopping with GL scrip cards and designating your Kroger rewards cards to donate to our Poured Out Fund, investing in our children and teens and even bringing orphans from Ukraine here next month are just some of the examples!  Keep shining LH!
• "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness instead of light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3:19-21.  Jesus is constantly challenging me and changing me by these words of his.  The older I get in Christ, the more I value the light of truth.  Truth may not always be comfortable or easy, but it is always good.  More and more God is freeing me to speak and to hear the truth.  I do not want to ever be among those who "love the darkness."  Christ came to set us free from the games the world plays.  The world justifies manipulation, political power plays, half-truths, gossip and lies as the way one must operate in business and relationships.  That is a lie of hell that we the church need not accept.  The truth always set us free...embrace it, receive it, give it as the powerful light it is!

These are a just a few lessons on light I am learning to live.  What lessons are you learning?  I would love to hear from you.

In the meantime, the SON is shining and I can't wait to see what Light Jesus has for us as our Summer of Love continues for the adults and the Beach Bash Summer camp surfs on for the kids!  Invite a friend!

Less is More

Perhaps one of the keys to living well is climbing the mountain that allows one to see that less is more. 

I remember when I was a child how I dreamed of being extremely wealthy. I can still recall a drawing I did in art class.  We were asked to draw a picture of our future home.  You should have seen my picture...The house was huge.  It had a swimming pool that you entered through the back of the house and took a lazy river type ride acres away to the main pool. Yes, this was my dream.  I equated success with one word, "More!"

Funny how God works...a few years later, when I was 14 years old, on a Saturday morning, I knew that I knew that I knew God had called me into ministry.  What?  Wait a minute?  This is not my dream.  What about my dream house, what about my plans, what about my shyness, what about "More"?  God who made me knew me better than I knew myself.  He knew I was made for the kind of less that was so much more!

Twenty four years later, I see more and more the truth that Jesus made clear over and over again is less is more.  For instance, Jesus said, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36.  And later he said, "Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all.  For even the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:43-45.

I am not just learning this personally, but we have been learning this as a church family. 

About six years ago or so, we started to take very seriously the biblical value of being connected in authentic Christian community.  We would put even more time, energy, prayer and focus on our small group ministry.  This past year we have seen almost 70% of those who attend on Sunday morning get involved in a small group.  I know this is why we are seeing and hearing more stories of transformation than we ever have as a church family.  i know this is why we are seeing even more money and service given in being poured out to others.  (Did you know that this past church--year that ended last week--we gave over $155,000 away to serve others in our community, country and world?!) It is because less is more.

Four years ago, we began transitioning our ministry to teens from a big-program-one-youth-pastor model, to a cell group model with multiple adult mentors.  Last year, we went all the way with this model.  The result has been a foundation has been laid to change change the statistic that haunts the modern American church of 75% or more of our church kids graduating their faith when they graduate high school.  Furthermore, we went form about five people investing in our teens each week to around 14, plus we now have three small groups that have caught the vision and are developing simple ways to powerfully invest in teh next generation.  What a powerful and hopeful picture of this we saw as eight Transitions (6th graders) students were honored, challenged and prayed for as they leave behind child hood and enter into the life of our church family in the adult and teen ministry! We may have less teens involved in this style ministry, but the parents who choose to get their teens involved consistently are putting their kids in a position to genuinely be able to own and choose faith in Christ for their future.  Less, once again, is more!

This is even why we have changed our Vacation Bible School format.  Do you remember, a few years ago?  We had over 250 kids participate in our VBS.  "Wow!," we said, "How great?"  But then our director, Robin Wientge, and her team had the courage to ask some hard questions.  What we found was that the majority of those kids were kids from other churches.  For many of the church kids, our VBS was their 5 or 6th for the summer.  In addition, this influx of church kids from other churches robbed us of intentional, personal connection with our own kids.  Therefore, we have now moved to a summer camp model that starts this Sunday at 9:30 AM.  Why? Less kids here that don't need one more VBS allow us to give even more focus on nurturing the faith of our kids and the unchurched friends they invite.  Will we have big numbers to report?  No.  But, if there is anything Jesus is teaching us it is that less is so much more. 

"Turning the Lights on in Gym Class"

I never thought I would say this...I am sad that gym class is over.  I hated gym class when I was in school and I admit I was very intimidated when my daughter's Kindergarten teacher asked if I would be the "gym teacher" for both AM Kindergarten classes.  However, now that the school is over, I can say how very glad I am that I said, "Yes."  It was so fun to watch the children watch the children who were athletically inclined to excel in our classes each week.  Of course, being one of those nonathletic kids growing up, I also enjoyed letting the kids like mke know that what mattered was them trying and learning. Each Friday I received hugs, high-fives and lots of screaming little voices saying, "Hi, Mr. Current!"  It was fun to have one place in my life where for an hour each week I simply got to be the fun guy!  But, I was also in awe of how God used a gym class to open so many doors for me to demonstrate his love both in words and deeds with children, teachers and staff in the school.

Today, I stopped by to tell all the kids goodbye.  It was their last day of kindergarten.  As I watched them walk away, I prayed for them.  As I prayed for them and their teachers, I thanked God.  You know, I am the first to admit that I screw a lot of things up.  Like anyone else, sometimes my best intentions never make it into action, but not this time.  Praise be to God, by his grace, he helped Kimberly live out the call he placed on us to be a light in the public school system!  Private schools and home schooling may be how God leads others but, without apology, God has called us to be a light in our public school and this year he showed us that if we are willing to take his light where he calls us he will let us see first hand how his light chases away the darkness!  Praise God!  I can hardly wait to see what God will have Kimberly and I do in first grade!

Thank you,Jesus, for not letting any of us who follow you figure out a way to ignore what you make so plain in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

By the way, if you have any trouble understanding why child dedication and baptism are such important faith steps, that verse is full of enlightenment!

"O, Yeah...That's Why We are Here"

Within 24 hours I have had two of those, "O, yeah, that's why we are here," moments.  I invite you to praise God with me as I share these two stories which you have been a part of as you have let God lead us in increasingly becoming a church that is real, transformed, connected and poured out.

The first, "O, yeah...that's why we are here," came at about 5 PM yesterday.  My cell phone rang.  It was a seventh grade student.  "Pastor Chad, do you know how you told me to tell you when it happened?"

"Yes," I said.  "Did you?"

"Yes," he said.

I met with him a few times.   As far as I know they have not ever gone to any church as a family.  But this seventh grader has gone through some hard times.  The Dad, who I am friends with, said his son asked to speak to a pastor and his parents encouraged him to speak with me.  He is a great young man.  Very honest and sincere.  He is more mature than what I would expect of the average Jr. High student.

He said to me that he wanted to know about what it means to have God in your life.  We talked.  I shared. He asked questions. I shared some more.  I then said, "When God makes himself real to you, you will then have a choice to make.  Will you let him be God of your life? Will you ask him to forgive you of living your life as your own god?  Will you believe he loves you, died for you and rose again to give you new life now and forever?  Will you follow Him? If so, then when the time comes tell Jesus that you want to commit your life to him. Then will you promise to tell me when you do, so I can celebrate with you?"  He agreed.

Yesterday at 5 PM, he called to tell me that God had made himself real to him and he had prayed to commit his life to Christ!  Hallelujah!!!!  Please pray for him!

The next, "O, yeah...that's why we are here" moment came at 10:30 AM this morning.  The Centerville School buses pulled up to LH.  Out of the buses came 27 CHS students.  These Elk Enterprise Students are often called "Special needs Students" because of what they lack.  However, as those students came into our teen room for a pizza party, all I could see were 27 very special students.  The success of Food 2 Go (our ministry  to hungry children in our community) hinges on these behind the scene heroes.  Each week , as part of their hands-on work experience program, they inventory and bag the food.

The food 2 Go team gives me the great honor each year of coming to the end of the year pizza party we host for these students.  I'll be honest, I have to fight back tears as I read there names, everyone cheers and they come forward to receive a certificate which is placed in their portfolio.  They would all wait in eager expectation for me to say their name out loud.  With each name called they all cheered in excitement shouting out to one another, "Good job!  Good job!"

Each year one or two especially stand out to me.  One student came up to me and said, "I am going to show my mom and sister this (her certificate).  They will be so proud of me.  Aren't you proud of me?" "Yes," I said, "We are all very proud of you. You helped us feed about 160 hungry children every week. You are amazing!"

Another young woman heard her name and did not wait for the aides to push her wheelchair, she rolled her self right to me. I said her name and thanked her as I handed her the certificate.  She said, "I am so happy.  Thank you.  I am so proud.  Can I hug you?"  I leaned down and she hugged me having no idea that she was giving me...you know...one of those, "O, Yeah...that's why we are here moments."

Father, I just want to say it publicly...THANK YOU!  Thank you for moments like these when we get to see your hand at work so obviously.  Thank you for moments like these when hell most bow to your love so we can see clearly why we are here.  Thank you for the people of LH who partner with you in making moments like these happen as they dare to be real, transformed, connected and poured out!

"Witness of a Miracle"

I remember the first time I met him.  I fist notice his height. He is a tall man. With the first words out of his mouth, I realized he would fit right in at Living Hope.  He was real.  He held nothing back. He shared his doubts, his hurt and his problems. He could believe that God was real for others, but could not believe he would ever experience God as real.  He wanted to believe, but could not. 

Now, fast forward several months later to today.  He sat down in my office and said, "I am ready to commit my life to Christ and to be baptized." 

I had to ask..."What changed? A few months ago you could not even believe god would ever be real to you and now you want to give your life over to him?  What changed?"

He shared that he had met with a man of our church for the Prayer Ministry for Inner Healing.  He shared the story of how God uncovered a lie he was believing and, therefore, living.  Then he shared how Jesus showed up and revealed truth.  That was weeks ago.  The truth that Jesus gave and the change it wrought was still making an impact on him.  Now he knew God could be real in his life.  He wanted this Jesus who had brought healing to years worth of lies.

He prayed.  Christ answered.  He is now a child of God, a co-heir with Christ! The old is gone! The new has come!  He is now living the first day of his eternal 8th day gift from Christ.  On June 3, his faith will be made public and Christ will give him the gift of assurance as he seals his faith in the death and resurrection of baptism.

Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!  

“What’s the Point?”

 

I suppose we all have days where we what to throw our hands in the air and scream, “What’s the point?”  “Everything that can go wrong goes wrong.”  “When it rains it pours.”  “Its one thing after another.”  You know all the sayings; they all drive people to the same question, “What’s the point?”

I wonder if anyone is brave enough to admit that you have wondered, if not asked,  “What’s the point of prayer?” 

Jesus (the perfect revelation of God) urges us…no commands us…”Ask, seek, knock.”

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door is opened,” Luke 11:9-10.  

If we think the point of prayer is getting what we want then we will most likely become frustrated and scream, “What’s the point?”  Because the point of prayer is not about getting what you want.  The point of prayer is about getting what you need and not what we think we need, but what God knows we need.  Therefore, Jesus says ask, seek and knock, in other words, pray so that you can receive, find and have the door opened.  God always answers prayer.  The question is are we willing to receive, find and have the door opened that he gives in response to our side of prayer?  

Furthermore, the only prayer God does not answer is the prayer that is not prayed.  If you do not ask, you will not be given an answer.  If you do not seek, you will not find.  If you do not knock, you will not have the door opened.  Why? Doesn’t God know our prayer before we pray it?  Why do we need to pray?  Because the point of prayer is not the prayer, but the relationship.  Asking, seeking, knocking and then listening and watching for God’s response is what allows this love-relationship to grow.  When I engage in conversation (which, by the way, is always to be a two-way conversation) I learned to recognize his voice and to see his hand at work. 

Tonight, 7-8 PM, I am inviting you to join me in the main worship room (Child care provided) to ask, seek and knock.  We will be praying specifically for healing.  Do you or someone you know need healing of any kind?  Come and let us pray.  Do you simply want to see first hand how God speaks and responds to the prayers of his people?  It is a beautiful and powerful to witness.  Join us tonight and watch God give, find and open doors that would never have been opened, found or given had we not come together for prayer.