Feb. 19, 2009
I absolutely LOVE this quote by Rick Warren:
"I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you got to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on."
I totally agree. There are always two rails that are continually running through our lives. It's the duality of life in this world. There are always problems to solve, parts of our lives that are making us sad, and challenges that never seem to end.
But the Good News is; there are always good things in our lives to be thankful for as well. The good and the bad are always side by side in our lives. We can choose daily what we will focus on....will we focus on our problems, or will we focus on the good? That's a question we answer every day in one way or another.
Reminds me of the serenity prayer. Will we focus on the things we can't change, or will we focus on changing the things we can? It has everything to do with knowing & living our purpose in life.
God has taught me that the purpose of my life is not to be happy, or comfortable, or problem-free. The purpose of my life is to become more and more like Christ.
Right now, the rail in my life that makes me sad is my brother. He is in the hospital again. They are trying to figure out why he is having seizures and blacking out. I am sad for my brother and also my mother who is drained from taking care of him. The last few years have been really rough for both of them.
The rail that is good in my life has everything to do with God. God has answered so many prayers for my mother and brother and seeing His hand at work in all these problems is something I am so grateful for and comforts me again at how good is our God.
My good rail overflows. I am so excited and so amazed at all God is doing at Blessed Hope Community Church. Someone recently said about our church: "I didn't know church could be like this! Now I understand how it's supposed to be."
Someone else recently said: "I've been going to church my whole life and this is the first church I've ever been a part of where I felt God's love radiate from the whole church!"
Others quotes I've recently heard from all of you:
"At every worship service, I feel God's love and power just radiating from all the people."
"God loves this church! You can feel it!"
"I feel like God is speaking directly to me in every message."
"The second I walked in this church, I could feel the presence of God."
"It's not just the pastors or the music, you can feel the energy coming from all the people!"
There is so much GOOD and so many great things to be thankful to God for at BHCC!
Here's just some of the things I am thanking God for RECENTLY:
The unity in our church.
Our new prayer leaders and ministry! I love seeing so many people praying at the end of our services.
The two new ministries for youth that are starting!!!
All the new people and new growth at BHCC recently! Welcome home family, welcome home!
All the faithful long-time members who have stuck it out through thick and thin and made this church what it is today! What an awesome foundation God has built at this church. Thank you to those who persevered with us together and now see the fruit of their love & faithfulness!
All the many wonderful young adults that we now have at BHCC! Seeing the tight friendships & bonds that continue to grow in this awesome group of people!
The fact that we now have 3 mid-week groups meeting in Jesus' name!
The music, the music, the music! We are incredibly blessed to have such a gifted worship team! Everyone gets along so well on this team and all of them have a humble, servant's heart! We've waited a long time for a worship team like this!!!
The set-up people, sound engineers, hospitality team, media team, connect team and the amazing way EVERYONE just pitches in on Sunday mornings without having to even be asked. This blesses me every Sunday to see such hard workers with great attitude working together in unity for our Lord!
Seeing new people each week coming to Christ for the first time and others taking deeper steps in their commitment to Christ!
I've never seen a church like BHCC that has SO MANY people with servant's hearts.
There is so much spiritual momentum at BHCC! So many wonderful friendships and loving attitudes.
All of these things are truly a manifestation of the presence of God at BHCC! I truly feel sorry for people who do not how wonderful it is to have a family of God like this. What we have is so special and so hard to find in this world.
Let's all continue to work hard to protect what God has given us here. Protect the unity. Protect the LOVE! Protect each other in Jesus' name! Protect God's church and continue to grow the love, peace and joy!
The good overflows and it has everything to do with God!