Thankfulness
In my devotional reading today I read Habakkuk 3:17-19. In verse 17 we see that Habakkuk is describing a time of extreme poverty like many of our friends and family are facing in our challenging economic times. Even in the face of this challenge we find encouragement in verse 18 when he says “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Do we find joy in the Lord even when we face the hardships of life? Thankfulness depends on what is in your heart, not what is in your hand.
Thank you Jesus for giving me the gift of salvation! That is more than enough to bring joy in my heart!!!
Great Service!
This past Sunday was definitely one to remember. All the awesome testimonies and expressions of thanks towards God! After hearing all that God is doing it was really awesome to see everybody leaving with frozen turkeys. Thank you Lord for all of your blessings!!!
Between the fences
I had to go into Division 1 of the Cook County jail to visit someone that was recently incarcerated the other day. After going through intense screening and security I was allowed to walk through this sprawling detention center campus on my way to the division 1 building. Not knowing my way around I had to find a Correctional Officer that could help direct me to the correct building. He pointed at a narrow sidewalk that had a fence on each side and barbed wire over head. He told that I had to walk between the fences to the building that was ahead. As I was walking on this sidewalk I couldn’t help but realize that I was walking a narrow pathway between bondage and freedom. On one side was the detention center with all the guards and thick iron doors. On the other side was a parking lot with people getting in their cars and heading in all sorts of directions. On side was imprisoned the other was free!
It hit me at that point that point that in life we all walk between the fences of eternity. In this life we will choose which side of the fence we will spend eternity on.
Joshua 24:14-15: 14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
Which side of the fence are we on today? As for me and my family we will serve the Lord and choose the side of eternal freedom!
900 Job Seekers!
What an incredible day! We had just under 900 registered job seekers come through today for the Job Fair that we hosted along with the Village of South Holland. I was really amazed and very humbled by what I saw today. I was amazed at how many cars we really could squeeze into the parking lot, while at the same time I was humbled by the great need that is all around us. My heart goes out to all who are unemployed as you try to stand out in this crowded job market. Today I am making a FIRM commitment to pray for jobs to open up all over the South Suburbs!
Good Weekend
This was definately a ver busy weekend, yet it was totally incredible!
Friday, we were blessed by the start of another year of Night of Worship with Atmosphere of Heaven! The group came ready to worship the Lord and they truly ushered the atmosphere of heaven, which the bible clearly says is an atmosphere of praise and worship, to earth! I have already heard testimonies about how the Lord really helped put things in perspective during that time of complete abandonment and total dedication to Lord. I simply cannot wait until the next one!
Saturday…Well, what can I say other than THANK YOU! Our leaders and volunteers came out for a time of fellowship and encouragement from our Assistant Superintendent. The evening was great as we share lots of laughter and some really great food and heard an inspiring message from Rev. Gary Blanchard. I have said it before and I will say it again, we really have the best group of volunteers here making things happen on a weekly basis all so that the glory of the Lord can shine in this place! Thank you for serving the in this ministry as you serve the Lord!
Sunday…Two words: BABY DEDICATION! My girls were dedicated along with 5 other babies! What an incredible charge we have been given by God. We are charged with the Christian training and education of our children so that when they are of age to make decisions they will be able to know and accept Christ in their lives for themselves. All of the babies are just so adorable and we are blessed to continually have so many new ones being added to the family here at the ROCC!
Great Team here at the ROCC
I am simply overwhelmed at the quality of teachers and leaders that we have here at the ROCC. For the last couple of months I have had the privilage of simply walking around and observing the various groups on Wednesday nights. First off there is so many groups and activities on Wednesday nights that it blows my mind to think back to the days when we only had 15 people in the building on those week night meetings. Now we have at least 9 different groups of people meeting in various areasof the building! So just the unbelievable growth on Wednesday nights is enough to send my mind spinning at what God is doing in this place. Aside from all the groups and people that we have coming together to celebrate the Lord we have some really awesome teaching happening. The thing that gets me the most is that in each room and each group there is so much energy that this building is just flowing with the great power of God. I am blown away at the intensity of every area whether I am in one of the various children rooms or in the youth gathering an even in the adults there is a tremendous excitement that comes from those leading the various groups.
Well, that’s it I have just had all that on my heart and had to get it out! Leaders here at the ROCC are the best that I have ever seen! Tell someone you know that this is the place to be on Wednesday nights!
Spring Break 2010
What a WEEK! It is such a huge privilege and blessing to be able to serve the community that God has placed us in. This past week we worked with the Village of South Holland to provide a safe and fun filled week of activities for Spring Break. I can safely say that this week proved to be all that and then some. We had over 115 students each day and even had to turn parents and students away because we had intended to cap the participation at 100 students. Each day we had over 100 junior high and high school students enjoying activities here at our church! Can you imagine a church where we literally had that many young people pressing to get in the doors early each day! I can admit that the week was not geared to be a time to proselytize, yet it is good knowing that these young people are now familiar with the building and our hopes and prayer is that they will come visit and bring their families to a worship service here.
The week ended with our church hosting the Youth Hip Hop night from Spirit of God Fellowship. This combination allowed us to have a youth event that could speak into these young hearts. I did see a few of the youth that had been here through the week in attendance. My hope and prayer now is that after the week of fun and games and the night of spoken word, rap and a heart wrenching message from Dexter, that these young hearts might be impacted with the love of Jesus. While I am physically exhausted from all that has taken place I can yet sit back and enjoy the incredible opportunities that God continues to provide for us to do His work here on earth.
All in all I have to say…This was a good day!
I Have The Best Family EVER!
It is so hard to get any work done these days. It seems all I want to do is sit and look at the pictures of the wonderful little angles that my wife has carried the last nine months. I realize that as I stare at the two amazing gifts God has given us that I am even more blessed because God has also allowed me to be married to the greatest wife ever! Yea, I may be bragging but this is my blog so I guess I can brag if I want to. Anyway, I am not sure if it is bragging if I am simply stating the obvious truth! I can honestly say that I am truly blown away by the whole birth and pregnancy experience and am simply amazed at how awesome our God is. God prepared the womans body for this miracle and then the body just begin the process of readjusting to a new normal. AMAZING!
So let me end by sharing this picture and thanking God for His tremendous BLESSINGS! Have a blessed day and remember to thank God for all He is doing!
Week of Prayer — Day 5
Week of Prayer — Day 4