Blessing or No Blessing

That was name of the game we played at the Assemblies of God Church in Willmar, MN on Sunday night. Blessed is what we were. We had no idea what we were getting into when John accepted an invitation to lead worship on a Sunday night and share about IHOP. So that's what we did. Our friends Shelley and Tracy Paulson joined us and we lead a night of worship. After we shared Pastor Keith Kerstetter came up and said normally they would take an offering but not tonight, instead they were going to play...Blessing or No Blessing! Suddenly the stage was filled with furniture for all of our family to sit on and wrapped gifts were put into our hands. There were also many more gifts lined up on stage. Each of us first received individual gifts then one by one we could open another box or one of the 4 envelopes he was holding. It was very fun and very much a surprise. We were thoroughly blessed and shocked. It was more than we could have ever imagined or asked for. Isn't that just the way God is. We have needs, he knows our needs, and then he not only provides for us but goes beyond just to say "Trust me, I love you. I've got everything covered." among the gifts were these lovely T-shirts were all wearing, many electronic gizmos, clothes, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, hair things, journals, snacks, large gift cards to stores and restaurants and so much more. I think my favorite part of the night was watching the reaction of my kids. It was like the best Christmas ever, and then in front of 600 people. The envelopes contained a handsome amount of money that will enable us to continue serving here. God is so faithful. I was so impressed with the entire night. The outpouring of love and support from the people at the Assemblies church was overwhelming and heartfelt. We pray they will receive a 100 fold return for their generosity. Do we feel blessed............that's a big YES!

On the Road Again

We will be heading for Minnesota for Thanksgiving. We have been invited to the Assemblies of God Church in Willmar to lead worship and share on Sunday night. We are looking forward to seeing our friends and worshipping together once again with Tracy and Shelley. Our old FreshFire family. They just can't get rid of us. See you all there!
If anyone is available to help us paint or take care of our kids on Fri or Sat please call us or email us. Blessings!

Are You Normal or Radical?

Great question isn't it? What does it mean to be normal? The dictionary says normal is conforming to the standard or common type. Radical is extreme or drastic. What does the Bible say about normal? In the book of Acts after the 120 people gathered there for a prayer meeting they were filled with the Holy Spirit and things started to happen. (I've always thought it was interesting that only 120 gathered to pray and Jesus had healed thousands during his 3 year ministry. ) Anyways, the Church was born. The Bride of Christ. (Just a quick thought, why do we celebrate his birth and not the birth of His Bride) Up until this time the disciples were kind of ignorant and powerless. Now suddenly they are filled with the 3rd man of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. Suddenly Peter, who was a coward, is addressing a crowd with Kingdom authority and 3,000 were added to their number that very first day. Then they start healing people and building the church. And even greater things were done. Miracles, deliverance, visions, dreams, healings. There was even that episode with Philip and the Ethiopian. (When I get to heaven I want to ask Philip what the ride to Azotus was like.) The Holy Spirit is directing them and guiding to strategic places and gaining more followers into the way of truth. This was all common stuff for the disciples. It was normal for them to do what the Holy Spirit lead them to do. Do we realize the Kingdom authority we have because of what's inside of us? Do we realize we have been promised the very inheritance of our Father. Wouldn't He want us to us it? Do we give our children gifts so they can just talk about them and not play with them? It's time to stop doing business as usual and get on to the Father's business.
It's not enough to be radical, I want to be normal.

Meekness Training

We made a decision as a family last Sunday that we were going to pursue Meekness in our home. Sounds easy enough, it's been the toughest week of our journey. More fighting amongst siblings, chaos, sickness, frustrations, you name it. If you pray for it, He will provide you with plenty of opportunities to grow into it. It's going to take awhile to break old habits. What were learning is meekness is not weakness, it's not letting people walk on you. It's the ability to not defend yourself, let God do that. It's the ability to overlook each other's flaws, afterall we are all flawed by nature. If we are constantly striving within ourselves over conflicts the Holy Spirit has no place to dwell in us. Don't we all want to be more like Jesus. Pray for meekness.