ON LOAN

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Psalm 136:1 (ESV)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good...

"To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good…” ― Thomas Merton

GOD is so GOOD.  In fact He A MOST gracious loan officer.

For did you do realize that EVERYTHING we experience is on LOAN from GOD, right?  We don’t OWN anything.  We think we do. But we don’t.

James 1:17 (NCV)

EVERY good action and EVERY perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator…

Therefore we need to treat all these perfect gifts of GOD with respect, care and gratitude.

How differently would you approach the “things” you had if you embraced the truth that they were on loan from GOD?

Would you discard them quite so quickly?

Would you complain about them so frequently?

Would you take them for granted as often?  Discount their relevance?

They are GOOD and PERFECT gifts on loan from GOD after all.

GOD’s provision and oversight in our life needs to constantly be recognized and appreciated.  The minute we start thinking we have anything to do with anything we are on a slippery slope.

“There's a direct connection between delusions of personal sovereignty and the crushing disappointments that grip us in life. We forget who we are and begin to believe that our hands are really the hands on the joystick.” – Tripp

Don’t do that.

It leads to pride and we know where that leads…(Proverbs 16:18)

Instead embrace GOD’s loans with gratefulness.

You have experienced the goodness of GOD with the first breath drawn when your eyes opened.

You have experienced the goodness of GOD when you lifted the handle on the faucet and the water emerged.

You have experienced the goodness of GOD even in the midst of difficult and confusing times because He has loaned you His constant and personally breathed Word as a way out or through.

These are precious gifts; precious loans. 

And GOD loans them to us because He loves us, He wants to watch us fulfill the plans He has for us so He equips us to do just that.

That should stir a little awe and wonder today.

So treat your gifts graciously as you embark on today.  Experience them. Respect them. 

Use them to HIS glory!

Remember they are on loan for just that.

Have a blessed day…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

PRESENCE 6.26

Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

There’s been lots of discussion lately whether on Sundays at my local church AHOP or around the tables of small groups and our staff regarding GOD’s presence.

Whether we “sense” it or not, GOD presence is “ever-present”; He is the “EVER-PRESENT help” in times of trouble right? So why is it that we sometimes KNOW we are in the presence of GOD and sometimes we aren’t quite so sure?

Well the truth is that since we are SPIRITUAL beings having a human and or fleshly experience, we sometimes MISS the presence of GOD in our lives due to that "fleshiness. "

So knowing that should call us to be continuously preparing ourselves for encountering GOD’s “ever-presence.”

How?

Make the relationship with GOD the TOP priority and the PARAMOUNT investment for EACH and EVERY day. By making our relationship with GOD our top priority in life and investing it in regularly (through prayer, Bible reading, and service), we’ll grow closer to GOD and allow Him to impact and influence us more.
This is the Christian "walk" we often talked about.
Matthew 11:28 (MSG)
Walk with me … Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

Cultivating GOD’s presence is about responding to GOD’s initiatives of love and GRACE so we’ll be in the right place at the right time, and in the right soul condition, when GOD makes Himself known to us in the moment. When we are walking with Him, GOD is ALWAYS GOOD about “showing up” when the timing is RIGHT!

So the bottom line is we SHOULD expect to encounter GOD's presence in our days. Really! We should!

God manifests his presence through the Holy Spirit in tangible ways every day. So expect to encounter GOD through his Spirit in a way that is personal to you. Don't be shocked.

So lets get today's WALK off to a good start. Let's open our spirit's door to His presence.
Draw near to GOD.
James 4:8 (ERV)
Come near to God and he will come near to you.

For GOD invites us to come close to him and welcomes us with great love. Don’t take that for granted! Instead WELCOME it with aplomb!

And before they get the best of us let's remove distractions.

Confess and repent of any sin.
Sin interferes with our ability to perceive GOD's presence and grow closer to him and hinders the presence from its transformational possibilities.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom," says Paul. And we are most in line with the Spirit, most faithfully obedient, when we simply live in that freedom and let the Spirit do the work of transformation.” ― Mark Galli

So open up and embrace the presence. Open your heart and mind to it. Be obedient to it's prodding and direction. It will be a changing and growing day for us if we do!

“May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing that you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and everyone of you.”
― Teresa of Ávila

Have a blessed weekend.
I love you all!
Freedom Church

"WIFE"

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I know many of you know that our dear friend Dawn Farley passed away yesterday at around 5 in the morning. What many of you don’t know is that my wife Beth always called Dawn “her wife”.

Now I know when I mentioned that at AHOP one time from the pulpit I unintentionally raised an eyebrow or two.  And with the current political climate it could be “misinterpreted”.  Believe me, it is nothing weird or scandalous.

But if you refer to the way that the Bible tells husbands to love their wives, as CHRIST loved the church, then you now have the perfect picture of how much Beth and Dawn loved one another; enough to die for one another just like Jesus did for us, His church.

That is the truth.

So when Dawn found out she had cancer it only made sense that GOD made her “wife”, her BFF for you millennials, a cancer nurse specialist.  That way they could journey together through the trial.

And as Dawn’s journey with the illness came to a rather abrupt end, the beauty of GOD’s providence and the "divine-ness" of their friendship were supremely evident in those last few hours.

Never forget friends, GOD built us for deep relationships.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (MSG)

It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there's no one to help, tough! ... By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.

Right Tammy C.?

So the hole that Dawn leaves in my wife's heart will be large.

She was a faithful mother, daughter and sister.  She was a dedicated and committed wife to Chris her HUSBAND.  And she was a friend to many. 

A special friend.

A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh) penned this when contemplating a friend…

 “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.”

I know Beth senses and believes that from Dawn today.  

She should. Hebrews eludes to that.

But the message is for you to look around you today.

Got a “wife” or “real BFF” you haven’t told how special they are in a while?

Is there someone who has moved down the street or out of your sphere that means too much to let drift with the distance?

You were built for meaningful relationships.

Time is NOT ours for the controlling. (James 4:14 (LB) …the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog)

Don’t hesitate.  Reach out.  Text, inbox, Tweet, Facetime, Snapchat or may even give them an old fashioned call.

For:

“With a friend we don't have to say or do something special. With a friend we can be still and know that God is there with both of us.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

Just as He is today for Dawn…

And OUR "WIFE" as well…

Have a blessed day…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

CLASSROOM AND CAULDRON

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“God speaks to you and me through every situation, but hearing Him is dependent upon our anticipating and paying attention to His instruction. Regardless of the circumstances we experience, we know God is teaching us something, and we will intentionally and eagerly learn and apply whatever it is.” - Stanley

Yesterday I was with a good friend.  He is in the classroom.  

He would say that he is in the "cauldron".

What cauldron?

1 Peter 1:6

Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.

That cauldron.

Relationships, change and interactions are “testing” him.

He is being pressed to PAY attention.  He is most DEFINITELY in GOD’s classroom at the moment. (As we all are, but I think he is in “intense studies” right now).

God is doing some TEACHING!

He is being refined.

And I will be honest as he was honest. He hates it.

But he needs it. We all need it.

He has paused from his addiction long enough for GOD to grab hold of him.  He has put down the needle long enough and his mind has cleared enough that he can finally hear what GOD has been trying to say.

And what is GOD saying?

That HE loves Him and that is why he is in the cauldron and in the classroom.

Hebrews 12 (MSG)

…It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

That verse likely speaks to many of us today.

  

Maybe you are like my friend and in the cauldron or in the classroom. 

Perhaps GOD is doing a little educating or disciplining.

Don’t SHRUG it off!  Don’t be CRUSHED by it.

Instead embrace it as an ACT of amazing LOVE by a FATHER who deeply cherishes you. He is a FATHER so in love with you that He is taking RESPONSIBILITY for you with correction and opportunity to learn.

HE is!

After I shared this with my friend he committed to looking at the trials and challenging intersections differently.

Will you?  Will I?

For:

“God will never disappoint us… If deep in our hearts we suspect that God does not love us and cannot manage our affairs as well as we can, we certainly will not submit to His discipline. …To the unbeliever the fact of suffering only convinces him that God is not to be trusted, does not love us. To the believer, the opposite is true.” ― Elisabeth Elliot

I love you all!

Freedom Church

DEEP WIDE WORD

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” ― Charles H. Spurgeon

That is a powerful quote isn’t it?

That little Bible, those 66 books are not a stagnant text.  

No.  It is alive vibrant and ever expanding.

John Hagee often makes the statement that “We don’t read the Bible, it reads us.”

What is it reading about you right now?

For me it is pressing me to purify my life, to cut away the chaff, the poor choices, the indecision, the fear and the strongholds.

1 Corinthians 10:5

...tear down every proud idea that raises itself…

...capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ…

For me it is saying “get real” with GOD. Stop “dilly-dallying”

James 4:8 (MSG)

Quit dabbling…Purify your inner life.  Get serious…

I will be transparent (even though I TIRE of that overused word these days).

My thoughts need taken captive.

My pride needs to checked and balanced.

My pride and my thoughts are often “not representative” of anything remotely CHRIST-LIKE.  Not remotely.

Thank GOD for His powerful TRUTH that has the capability and promise of showing me the way to tear those strongholds down, experience His grace and freedom and push my bad habits to surface for “pruning” and correcting.

1 Timothy 3:15-17 (MSG)

There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way…Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up…

Lord knows I need shaping up.

Lord knows I need truth.

Lord knows I need correction.

That is why the WORD is so useful.  

Not just for me.  It is useful for you.  But you knew that right?

Feeling fearful? There is a Word for that. Go find it!

Feeling anxious? There is a Word for that. Go find it!

Misplaced anger? There is a Word for that. Go find it!

Lust got the best of you? There is a Word for that. Go find it!

Confused? There is a Word for that…Go find it!

Remember the WORD is DEEP and the WORD is WIDE!  Remember the WORD is alive and ever-applicable!  Remember the WORD is an invaluable resource!

Therefore…

Ephesians 3:17-19 (PHILIPPS)

…pray that out of the glorious richness of his resources (HIS WORD IS ONE!) he will enable you to know the strength of the spirit’s inner re-enforcement—that Christ may actually live in your hearts by your faith. And I pray that you, firmly fixed in love yourselves, may be able to grasp (with all Christians) how wide and deep and long and high is the love of Christ—and to know for yourselves that love so far beyond our comprehension. May you be filled though all your being with God himself!

I opened with Spurgeon today, might as well close with him as well to drive the point home…

… see to it that the Word of God is in you, in your very soul, permeating your thoughts, and so operating upon your outward life ― Charles H. Spurgeon

Have a blessed day…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

GROW IN GRATITUDE - 6.21 (Missed Post)

Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Took a day away from the DISPATCH Friday. Not intentionally.

Awoke to a wonderful view of Lake Erie and a cottage full of family. Also awoke to no Wi-Fi and an exhausted data plan.
Amazing how we become a little “dependent” on things huh?

But as the weekend with my ever extending family (2 potential son-in-laws) unfolded I was just taken aback by blessing.

Thursday afternoon at Cedarville University Beth and I shared our story to her class of Master’s students. We call the talk “SpongeBob and the Professor”. If you know our story you know that title makes sense. If you find it odd, we will have to give you the abridged version some day in the future.

But whenever we share the story, and this time it was to help these students in dealing with the addicted in their practices, I am always so grateful that she and I are able to use the story to educate, but also inspire.
Sharing the story also reminds me to be grateful. And that talk opened a weekend with those 2 potential son-in-laws, my awesome kids, an amazing wife and dear friends from the east coast.
Something most certainly to be grateful for.

I talk about gratitude quite a bit in this forum and for good reason. More recoveries and good walks with Christ are derailed by ungratefulness. I think it is why GOD pushed us to GIVE THANKS in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18), because He knew we can be a “forgetful” lot when it comes to gratitude.

GOD knows that we are prone to complacency and complaint.
GOD knows that we are quick to grumble when things don’t go our way.
GOD knows our memories of His goodness, His grace, His providence, and His provision can sometimes be short.
That is why He says never stop being thankful.

That is why I thank GOD daily for those opportunities to walk through the painful story of our loss and challenge. Why? Because it makes me greater appreciate the possibilities of today. It makes me greater appreciate the moments of blessing like 48 hours off the grid with those most close to me.

So what is the message today?
It is pretty clear.
Pause. Remind yourself to THANK GOD for all He has done. Don’t get overly focused on that half-empty glass today. He has brought you through some things. I am sure of that. He has us all. Look around today. What do you have to be grateful for?

I am grateful for GOD letting me be a dad to enjoy my 23rd Father’s Day.
I am grateful for my eyes opening up this morning even though Monday's are often "hectic".
I am grateful that I have three kids who in spite of me are followers of Christ.
I am grateful that my oldest PASSED her boards Friday and is now officially a nurse and is prepped and ready to serve others at the James Cancer Center in Columbus.
I could go on. But I will spare you.
I only share to inspire you to do the same.
Psalm 107:1(ESV)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

“Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings JOY and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.” ― Eileen Caddy

Have a blessed and grateful day…