Last night I tossed and turned unable to find any real rest. Finally at 2am I admitted to myself that I was not going to get any sleep. As always when I experience a night like this I know that the Lord is trying to get my attention. I quietly got out of bed so that I would not disturb Camille and I went down stairs to spend some time with the Lord. Usually I can spend some time in prayer and eventually drift off into a sound sleep but this night was different. I prayed and then spent time reading and praying as I read. While doing this little dance between the pages of a book and communication with the Creator of all creation an overwhelming since of the love of God fell upon me. His love is so limitless and so great that I was instantly energized as I turned each page reading each with a hunger to know more about God. Then a realization hit me like a ton of bricks! God has called me! I mean I knew that I had a calling of God on my life but it is all together different when you realize that God has CALLED you!! He called me so that I would leave a life of sin and enter a glorious life of His presence. He called me so that I would begin to strive with a passion for the holiness that is found only in Him. I admit that I have been feeling a little overwhelmed and a little down lately but suddenly I realized that the overwhelming feeling came as a result of my own failure to live holy every minute of every day. We are to be holy just as God is holy. If I want the more abundant life that God has in store then I must battle sin not accept it….I must defeat this enemy every day, every hour, every second! I cannot live a life of pursuing excellence but I MUST live a life of perfection when it comes to fleeing from evil. To often we say that all of us fall short and we accept a certain amount of sin in our lives because we are human yet God has set a standard that we can achieve if we will get sick and tired of the sin around us and make a commitment to defeat every thought of sin! So to sum all of this out check out this scripture.

This was an incredible weekend of fellowship and fun! It all began on Wednesday and continued until today:

Wednesday
We went to George Patton School and let the kids all pick a valentine gift for them to take to their mother or grandmother. We really had a great time hanging out at the school and talking with the kids. Several people from CSX Transportation came with us to help with this event. I am really surprised by the dedication that the people from CSX are showing when we work with the kids.

Thursday
Of course Thursday was a tragic day as news came in about the NIU shooting. There is a young lady from our church that attends the school so we had a lot of people checking to see how she was and we were all blessed to find out that she was ok. Then I picked up my wife from work and we headed down town to catch an early dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory.

Friday
Our Married Couples Valentine’s Dinner was a huge success. We had four churches all gathered together to enjoy great food and fellowship! The attendance was incredible and the food was simply great!

Saturday
A large group gathered at the church early in the morning to head off to Mount Wilmot in Wisconsin for our first church Ski Trip. I was surprised to see everyone that came out but the fun and excitement was more than we could ever expect.

Sunday
Service to day was a joyous time of worship and celebration. Pastors John and Minnie Hardy brought a great message about communication especially communication in a marriage relationship. Everyone in attendance was incredibly blessed!

In just a few hours I will be in the busy lunch room of General George Patton School. Children will be running around getting their lunch and fortunately we will be there offering some gifts for the kids to bless their mother’s and grandmothers for Valentines Day. Thank God for Children’s Hunger Fund and the resources they provide as we endeavor to share the love of Christ in a tangible and real way! I am so thankful that we can go out and spend time with these kids letting them know that they are loved.

As we quickly approach the end time setting I believe we will begin to experience the antichrist more and more. I don’t know if the actual end time antichrist is alive and well now or still sometime in the future yet what I do know is that we are quickly approaching a time on the prophetic calendar when we will see end time prophecies being fulfilled and set into motion. Knowing that we are living in such a crucial time I believe that the attributes of the antichrist will begin to be heard and felt and experienced as the stage is being set. We have the media talking about a person as a messiah and we have the need for a world wide effort to push for peace in the Middle East. These events mixed with everything else that we know about the end times points us towards the inevitable. Daniel 7:25 tells us that the antichrist will seek to wear out the saints. Now if you are like me it seems that each and every week I am being worn out past the point of exhaustion. I am being worn out by politics and the on-going primaries. I am worn out about the news of the war on terror. I am worn out about news of violence and killing in our community. I am worn out by all the church drama in our area. I am worn out because all I hear is negative! So I am changing all this today! When we recognize that the devil is trying to wear us out then we need to stand up and become the encouragers that God wants us to be! So today…find someone to encourage…someone to lift up…someone to support! Let us rise up and efeat the enemy by following the owrd of God that we find here!

Several years ago I read a book by Tommy Tenney called God Chasers that changed my life and put me in pursuit of a great revival movement from God. Well, after preparing this weekend’s message I once again committed myself to chasing the very presence of God. When we gather in worship we develop an atmosphere that the bible tells us that God inhabits. We know that God inhabits the praises of His people…so I am determined more than ever to reaffirm my commitment to worship in every situation and to return to my first love in seeking after His great and awesome presence!

Last week we were all startled by news of a horrible shooting in a clothing store in Tinley Park. Everyday new details are emerging about this case as police continue to look for the person or people involved. Fortunately there was one survivor that has begun to give police some details about the person that committed this crime. Violence cannot be tolerated by us as the representatives of Christ and we need to stand with other churches as we seek God in the necessary healing and restoration process. This Saturday, Christian Life Center will be holding a prayer vigil in front to the store at 10am. I would like to encourage everyone to try and make plans to attend this time of prayer as we show our support and concern for the victims and families affected by this tragedy. For more information about the vigil you can click HERE

We are following a reading plan this year so that we can all read thru the bible in 2008. Now I love spending time in the word of God and I know there is great wisdom and knowledge within the pages…yet I have to admit that I am not a fan of Leviticus. Currently we are reading through this book and like I said I know there is incredible knowledge and great wisdom but it really is not a very exciting book to read. So…I am pushing my way through and I am really trying to find some hidden treasure within this book of the Bible.

I feel better now that I have let that out!

I am sure the bloggersphere is full of people talking about the most incredible Superbowl in years! Now I do not like jumping on the bandwagon but this is too not to get in on it.
I saw something last night that has really had a profound impact on my thinking. You see the Patriots had an unbelievable year with a perfect regular season record yet they will not be known as the champions because the Giants won the only game that really counts for anything in the history books.

So the entire season of perfection is all lost because they did not complete it with a win in the Superbowl. Our life is like this. The bible says that we are running a race and that this race is a race of endurance. We may loose a few games along the way but in the end as long as we have Christ with us and in us then we will be victorious all the way! The Giants were hardly perfect through the year yet they will be remembered as the champions of the 2007/2008 NFL season.

The worship last night was off the hook! I really think that God was pleased with the worship and praise that went to Him as we gathered together. Those of you that missed this really missed a treat. I feel less stressed and ready to face any new challenges as we just came together on one accord and removed the yoke of the world so that we could simply worship our God. The worship team that came are all great musicians and you can really sense their desire to simply serve God.

After we concluded everything at the church several of us headed to IHOP for food! What a great time just hanging out and having fun. We really have some great people at ROCC. Hours of eating and laughing helped release any burdens that we might have tried to take out of the time of worship.

Now this morning I have been called about the young girl that had problems earlier in the week. We need to continue to pray for her as she is having serious problems again this morning.

I am filled with excitement and expectation as we put everything aside and take time to just worship the Lord! I really feel that we are walking in a season of great favor and I think nights like tonight will be great times of refreshing while we strive to do the work that the Lord has called us to do. Make sure you call everyone you know as they are not going to want to miss this awesome night!!

Now off to get some rest from a busy day of pushing snow!! You gotta love Chicago!