Tim Tebow's 10 Most Motivational Bible Verse Recommendations...

...and when to use them
By Michael Roberts | December 2, 2011

It's the latest addition to Tim Tebow's legend: Before overtime versus San Diego, he reportedly told teammates, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (aka Proverbs 27:17) and then led Denver to victory. What Bible verse might spark the squad against the Vikings on Sunday? Here are our picks for the ten top inspirational references he's shared on Twitter and when they might come in handy.

10. Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

​Game situation: When coaches from the sideline call in a play no one thinks will work.

9. Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Game situation: Fourth and one on the Vikings 46.

8. 1 Samuel 12:24

But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Game situation: Third and 22 from the Denver twelve, after a holding penalty.

​7. Philippians 2:3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
Game situation: When running the option and the trailing back has room on the outside.

​6. Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
​Game situation: After a Willis McGahee fumble.

5. Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Game situation: After a Vikings TD that puts them up by ten.

4. Jeremiah 26:14

As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right.

Game situation: Fourth and goal, with seven seconds left.

3.  Psalm 37:4-5

Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Game situation: The winning touchdown!

​2. Jeremiah 9:23-24

This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
Game situation: The final whistle.

​1. Colossians 4:6

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Game situation: In the press conference after the victory, when the commentators ask why your passing isn't better.

Cleaning Out the Clutter: How Long Do You Keep Records

If you don't know me, then this post may seem strange. But, for those who know me, you may understand. One of my mantras is to "get the junk out of your life ... clean our the clutter."  When you start cleaning out the clutter, what should you keep and what should you throw away. 

I ran across this article from the New York Times. It's worth a read.

FiNancial Tuneup

Retain Your Records No Longer Than You Must

By JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ

Published: March 24, 2010

I’VE long been a pack rat when it comes to saving financial documents. I have a file cabinet full of old cellphone and credit card bills, brokerage firm and bank account statements and health insurance benefit forms.

When my husband accused me of saving too much, I realized that there wasn’t much reasoning behind my recordkeeping. So I decided to find out what financial documents people needed to keep and in what form — as we fully enter the age of electronic statements — and what can be purged now.

According to Catherine M. Williams, vice president for financial literacy at the credit counseling firm Money Management International, there are two main reasons to keep financial records. “It’s either for backup to a tax issue or for proof that you did something like make a payment,” Ms. Williams said.

The Internal Revenue Service requires that individuals be able to produce records proving any income, deductions or credit claimed for at least three years from the date of a return, the statute of limitations for how long the I.R.S. has to assess additional tax if all income was reported correctly. In addition, the I.R.S. requires that individuals be able to produce such records for six years if they fail to report income that is more than 25 percent of their gross income. There is no statute of limitation for failure to file or tax fraud.

Therefore, experts generally recommend keeping anything that verifies the information in your tax return for at least six to seven years. “My recommendation would be never throw away copies of your tax returns and checks made out to the government — anything else, I would say keep for at least six years,” said Jude Coard, a tax partner at accounting firm Berdon L.L.P.

Records that fall into this category include W-2 forms, 1099 forms, other tax reporting statements and end-of-year bank statements that show interest earned. As for brokerage statements, John W. Roth, a senior federal tax analyst with the tax information and software provider CCH, recommended keeping end-of-year statements as well as monthly statements and investment confirmation statements showing how much you paid for an investment and how much you earned for selling it. “The only time when you need to save the monthly ones is if that is where the confirmation is for a purchase,” he said.

In fact, for any asset or investment for which you one day could claim a gain or loss (a home or stock, for example), you need to keep records of how much you paid for the item, the costs of any improvements you made to it and how much you sold it for. Such information needs to be kept for at least six to seven years after the gain or loss is included in a tax return.
You also need to keep proof of payment (like a credit card or bank account statement, canceled check or receipt) for any deduction or credit claimed, including for family gifts, tuition and charitable contributions. (See I.R.S. Publication 552 for a detailed rundown of the types of proof needed to verify various tax information.)

The other reason to keep financial records is for proof of a payment or other transactions. Unless you are self-employed and need copies of your bills to prove certain deductions on your tax form, you need to save bills for things like utilities and cellphone costs only until you’re sure your payment has been processed correctly. Throw such bills away once “you’ve got the bill the next month and it shows a zero balance or payment received,” Ms. Williams said.

And unless you are self-employed and need years of monthly bank statements to prove your income, experts recommend keeping monthly bank statements for only a year, or for however long your bank allows you to challenge incorrect information like a double count for a debit purchase. The same guidance applies to credit card statements. If everything is correct, keep them for a couple of months or as long as the window for challenging charges is open. If there is a problem, keep the statements until it is resolved. (The time frame for notifying banks and credit card issuers of errors related to payments and transfers is generally 60 days after the error appears).

Documentation for insurance and loans would also fall into this second category. Ms. Williams recommended keeping any documentation related to loans, including the original loan document and statements, until you have paid off the loan. Once the loan is paid off, just keep documentation proving that you paid in full.

As for insurance, keep your paperwork for as long as you have the policy and keep documentation for any unresolved claims of coverage. For health insurance, keep any records (explanation-of-benefit forms, receipts and invoices) covering treatments that are in progress or that are not completely paid for or resolved. Such records should be kept until the treatment is completed, payment is complete and all coverage and payment issues “are resolved to your satisfaction,” said Susan Pisano, spokeswoman for Americas Health Insurance Plans, who added that people might want to keep copies of such records even longer if they wanted a record of their own health treatment. If you have medical expenses that are tax-deductible, you would need to hold onto records related to them for six to seven years after the tax filing period.

There are documents one needs to keep indefinitely, including paperwork related to legal filings, wills, inheritance, bankruptcy and paperwork documenting contributions to and withdrawals from retirement accounts like Roth I.R.A.’s.

Many documents, including bank and brokerage firm statements, are now available in electronic form and are often accessible on bank and brokerage firm Web sites for years. Still, most experts recommend not relying on banks or brokerage firms to keep this documentation for you.

First, there is the chance your bank or brokerage firm could fail and you could find yourself scrambling to locate copies of your records. Second, banks and brokerage firms have different policies for how long they keep documents on their Web sites and how much they will charge you to retrieve a copy of an older document.

Customers of Chase, for instance, can see electronic copies of checking and saving account statements for the previous seven years free, while Fifth Third Bank provides access to 16 months of statements and HSBC provides only 12 months of statements in electronic format. The latter two banks charge $5 for copies of older statements. Credit card statements are also generally saved for a shorter length of time, and there can be fees for getting older bills.
Brokerage policies vary. Fidelity provides at least nine years of statement history, three months of trade confirmations and a year of tax records on its Web site, and will supply older records upon request without charge. Schwab provides 10 years of certain records, and Merrill Lynch provides six. Most will hold on to cost-basis information while the account is in existence. And if the customer switches banks, the information will often be transferred to the receiving institution.

The I.R.S. generally requires records in paper form, however. So tax experts recommend that you have your own system for storing such material.

As for what form you should keep these records in, Paul Stephens, an identity theft expert and director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, advised against storing records on online storage sites or in e-mail messages because of the risk that sites could shut down or get hacked into. He also advised against storing records on just a computer hard drive since that too could fail or be broken into.

He recommends keeping paper records in a locked filing cabinet or safety deposit box, and electronic data on an encrypted U.S.B. flash drive or an encrypted external hard drive.
If you want to keep documents in electronic form, most banks or brokerages let you retrieve printable PDF or HTML forms of statements and other records that you can save to your storage drive. You can also scan other documents to electronic form.

But if you choose the electronic path, make sure you keep your technology up-to-date.
“Check every year that you are still able to access what you are storing,” said Robert M. Sattler, an audit partner at Berdon L.L.P. For instance, if you had only stored your tax records on a floppy disk, you would probably be out of luck today.

As for me, I’m sticking with my file cabinet, but will have to do a spring purge of some unnecessary paper.

Are you considering a Daniel Fast?

Here's some ideas from Jentezen Franklin:


Step 1: Be Specific
Daniel was not vague in his objection to the Babylonian diet. He defined the problem immediately.
The king's food was against dietary laws.
Daniel and his friends had vowed against wine.
The king's food had been offered up to idols/demons.


Step 2: Fast as a Spiritual Commitment
The Daniel Fast involves a spiritual commitment to God. "Daniel proposed in his heart that he would not defile himself" (Daniel 1:8).


Step 3: Reflect Inner Desire by Outer Discipline
Many people have an inner desire for better health, but they can't discipline themselves to avoid junk food, and other foods that are not good for their health. The physical health you seek from God may be more than an answer to prayer. Your physical health can be linked to any of the following factors:
Your food choices.
The level of your spiritual commitment as reflected in constant prayer during the fast.
Your time commitment. If you determine to fast for a certain time, keep it. For example, if you determine to fast 10 days, don't stop on Day 9.
Your testimony commitment. Your fast is a statement of faith to God that you want Him to heal your body, and faith is foundational to the Daniel Fast.


Step 4: Pray to Perceive Sin's Role in Poor Health
Notice James 5:13-16:
Sin is something related to the cause of sickness.
Lack of health/healing may be the result of spiritual rebellion.
Lack of health/healing may be due to sin of wrong intake, i.e. drugs, pornography.
Repentance is linked to health according to James.
Elders have a role in healing both spiritual and physical health.
Sick people must desire to be well
The anointing oil could mean 
Medicine for healing,
Symbolic of the Holy Spirit, or
It could be baptism
Prayer alone may not gain healing, faith is the major factor.
In Greek there are several words for "sick". James uses "Kanino", which not only includes disease, but also means weak or weary.
Attitude is important. James said, "are there any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms."


Step 5: Fast as a Statement of Faith to Others
Daniel was making a statement of faith when he asked for only vegetables to eat and water to drink, then dared the overseer to compare the appearance of the four sons of Israel with the young men who ate the king's food.


Step 6: Learn the Effects of the Food You Eat
Why are some foods good for us, and other foods not? What does certain food do to your body? If we really knew, there would likely be some things we would never eat again.


Step 7: Yield All Results to God
Daniel said, "as you see fit, deal with your servants" (Dan. 1:13).

Michele Bachmann shares her faith....

Charisma Magazine recently interviewed Michele Bachmann. I was surprised to learn that she and her husband have a Spirit-filled, Charismatic background.I am posting this, not as an endorsement for her candidacy for President, but as an appreciation for her boldness. As a fellow Charismatic, I am thrilled to see her take a public stand. May God bless you ... Michele Bachmann

EXCLUSIVE: Michele Bachmann Discusses Her Charismatic Roots
11/7/2011
Marcus Yoars

In part one of this exclusive interview with Charisma Editor Marcus Yoars, presidential candidate and longtime Charisma reader Michele Bachmann opens up about her faith and charismatic roots. Click here for part two of the interview, where the congresswoman discusses how she hears from God, the state of the church in America and more.

Charisma: We’ve been told you’re a Charisma reader—we’re honored. How did you first hear about the magazine?

Bachmann: Maybe from church. My husband, Marcus, and I had gone to a very small, little, Spirit-filled church—maybe 50 to 60 members. We were about 19. In ’75, things were really heating up, I think, spiritually across the country. What we appreciated about Charisma more than anything else is they had a synopsis of current events from a biblical point of view. We all had Charisma subscriptions. It was just a basic for all of us.

Charisma: How did you first come to know the Lord?

Bachmann: I was born into a family of Lutherans and our parents took us to church every week. They were faithful. I’m sure the gospel was preached from our pulpit, but I didn’t get it. The only thing that I really saw was the tradition. I didn’t understand that whole part about faith. In high school I joined a prayer meeting. And my friends there knew I didn’t know the Lord, personally. I was a good girl, but it didn’t matter. I still didn’t know the Lord. I still had a wicked heart and I needed Him. So on Nov. 1, 1972, I bowed my knee with three friends. The Holy Spirit led us and we confessed our sins before the Lord and turned and went a new direction. That was it. I went home that night and I said to the Lord, ‘I don’t know what happened but I’m a completely different person. Whatever I become, I will radically abandon myself and my life to You and it’s Your plan now.”

Charisma: You’re the first presidential candidate who went to law school at Oral Roberts University. How did a Lutheran girl from Minnesota end up at one of the landmarks of the charismatic movement?

Bachmann: My husband and I were Spirit-filled and we went to a Spirit-filled church. We agreed it’d be important to have a Christian background in my law school education. But there really wasn’t anything. In college we had seen a film series by Dr. Frances Schaeffer that challenged us to have a biblical worldview to see that God is the God of creation and every discipline, and that includes law. Oral Roberts University Law School was going to be established as a law school that would be teaching biblical worldviews, so I went to the school. It had zero accreditation. So it was an act of faith to go, but I was really more interested in getting a biblical worldview of the law and a good education. And it was a phenomenal education. Our professors also wanted to pour themselves out for the Lord and so I’m thrilled that I made that decision to go to the school. That law school ultimately was shut down, but became Regent School of Law. I think I’m the first member of Congress to have graduated from Regent Law School.

Charisma: Last electoral season, we saw Sarah Palin completely mocked for her faith, in particular, her charismatic, Pentecostal connections. You seem to have gotten some of the same kind of flack from the secular media because—not only just your pro-life stance—but any kind of roots to that. Do you think there’s a coincidence there that’s tied to the charismatic market?

Bachmann: I think that it’s really for anyone who is not ashamed to talk about his or her faith or to be known and identified for his or her faith. I think it really has to do more with the fact that someone believes that the Bible is what it says it is. That’s what I believe. I have a high respect and a high view for the Scriptures. And I’m not perfect. That’s why I came to the Lord, because I knew I was a sinner and I have obvious failings. But my goal is to continually yield myself to the Lord and daily to die, so to speak, to what my desires are and to live for the Lord. To die is to gain. It’s to live for Christ. And that’s what I hope to do, is to walk more deeply with the Lord everyday.

To Those Who May be Grieving ...

This past January a friend of mine, Rick Campbell, passed away. Rick was 46. Back in the day, he attended Lee University and left college became a youth pastor, then a church planter. We both started churches and named them Church of the Harvest.  Through the years, our lives went in different directions, but we both remained passionate for the Lord.

I followed Rick's sickness through CaringBridge.org. His wife, Deborah, has written several times since Rick's passing.  She and the girls are working through their grief and no doubt some days are better than others.  Deborah gave us a little insight in her pain with her latest post. I want to share her words just in case some of you may be going through the pain of loss.

Again, these words are from Deborah Campbell.

I hardly know where to begin as I have known for the last 6 days that I would be making an updated entry into caring bridge at some point today. Before, I get to what I really want to share, it is important to have some background information as to the state of my soul for the past number of weeks. I briefly shared about it in my last post when I shared about this being a time of testing of faith unlike any I’ve experienced to this point in life.

What I did not share at that time was that it has also been a time in which I have in many ways in my grief and suffering felt abandoned by God and separated from him. Now, I know that is a bold thing to say and is likely something that may upset the apple cart. So, for the record, let me say that it was terribly upsetting for me too as I know God’s word promises that “he will never leave us or forsake us”. Yet, to be gut level honest, this is what I have felt and at the same time not what I was expecting from God during such a difficult season of life.

Now, I’m about to say something that may rock your world as it has mine. As awful and unbearable as the pain of separation from my husband has been, it has seemed to me of late that adding separation from the Lord has just been an unfair heaping of misery upon misery.  With the lack of sensing God’s presence, I am aware that it has fueled my disappointment with God to an even greater degree. Not only did God choose not to heal Rick physically and keep him from dying, but when I need his comfort and presence most for some reason it has felt like he is not here. This has caused me to cry out in even more desperation in asking him to come and show up somehow, someway, so that I will know he has not turned away from me. The only option has been to cling to the promises of God and the truths of scripture even though not feeling the comfort that I have once known them to provide.

But, to cling to such words when you don’t feel the realness and closeness from the giver of these words creates an unsettling reality that is at times completely overwhelming. Questions of faith follow and are disconcerting when God has been the bedrock that you staked yourself too. This is really the part of which I’ve dreaded writing about because I know that I can not capture in words the degree of misery that such feelings of abandonment or separation bring. A double whammy of a two fold kind with the separation from Rick and the added separation from Christ has been frightening and in fact terrifying. The best comparison I can think of is to compare it to being capsized into the deepest depths of the sea in unchartered waters without any diving equipment. In such a case it would be abnormal to not have fear about what is lurking in the unknown below and abnormal not to wonder if and when rescue will come. Thus, this is where the details of separation get gory and more unpleasant and even do not neatly package into our pre-conceived notions of God.

When you lose someone so close, everywhere you go is a constant reminder of your loss and causes so much pain that you just wish you could avoid it all somehow. It’s not that you don’t want to remember the person; you just do not want to feel the pain of the reality of the loss. So, any brief moment of relief is welcomed even if only for a few seconds, yet it is not long at all before the familiar haunting returns.

One event that illustrates what I’m speaking about happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I went to Kroger one evening to get a few grocery items. There I was just walking down the aisle, pushing my cart, minding my own business and enjoying a few moments of mindless thinking when all of a sudden the loud speaker comes on with a Kroger commercial. Now, I will start by saying that I shop at Kroger a lot, and I don’t think that most days I’ve noticed them doing advertising over the intercom.

Anyway, as the advertisement began it did not take me long to begin thinking facetiously to myself, “well, thank you very much Kroger….I really needed that.” L The jolt of pain was immediately intense as the intercom blasted about Milo tea. So, what is so painful about Milo tea? You see, Rick bought that tea all of the time, and in fact he loved that brand of tea so much he would have been happy to have done the commercial himself!

This was one of those moments that would be added to the thousands already experienced since Rick’s passing in which it felt like everything started to swirl around me as all kinds of memories quickly invaded my mind and as the tears started to make their well known path of descent down my cheeks I was left reeling and wondering if I would be able to re-gain my composure. My brief moment of reprieve had once again been interrupted by the most unimaginable pain. This latest blindside of unexpectedness was for at least a few moments crippling and disabling.

I suspect that the paradox in all of my talk of feeling abandoned or separated from the Lord will seem strange to those reading with what I am about to say. That is because even in this separation, I have felt that God has been teaching me some things. Now, I know that may seem on an intellectual level like a bit of a contradiction. You might argue, “Deborah, if you believe that the Lord has been teaching you things, then how could you possibly say that you have felt abandoned?” But, the kinds of things that I have been learning about are a result of the separation from the Lord not the result of a close communion with the Lord like I’ve known in times past.

Instead, my thoughts have transitioned to ponderings about Christ as he wrestled in prayer with God in Gethsemane the night before facing the cross as he cried out to his friends (the disciples) and to his father (God), “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death…. My Father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from me…” (Matthew 26:36-42) I’ve thought also about Jesus crying out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

I know my suffering has not been that of what Jesus endured, but I do know now about an emotion that I’ve not ever experienced before which is “sorrow”. I find it to be a better word picture to describe the despair of separation and forsakenness that the word “grief” can not begin to encapsulate. In this pondering, I’ve thought about the age old questions. So why would Jesus, God’s son leave his place in heaven to come to this earth to suffer as he did, endure the cross and be separated for a time from his Father?  The only reason that makes sense is there was no other way and because of his love for us. He willingly did so in order to make a way that we would not have to be separated from him forever.

Only, God really knows how awful such an eternal separation from him will be, but in my weeks of feeling separation from the Lord as well as the 6 months without Rick the thought of eternal separation is a horrifying one. I have become more aware than ever of my soul. That is the part of me that is a spiritual eternal being, which was created with a longing for God that only he can fill and satisfy. In the past, it is in that unexplainable place of me, of my soul where I have experienced communion with God where the Holy Spirit came to reside after asking Jesus to come into my life. In that deep center of my chest, where I feel my strongest emotions of joy and sorrow, it is there that faith takes hold and is where the link to my spiritual soul and true self has been. So, to have Christ’s communion seemingly ripped from my soul for this period of time during the loss of Rick has truly been excruciating.

I have been blessed to have others in my life that have been willing to listen, pray and walk with me through this dark abyss of separation from Rick while also being willing to allow me to honestly voice my feelings of despair regarding the Lord. I have shared with these others while also continuing to pour my heart and soul out to the Lord praying various Psalms while being aware deep within that it seemed it was going to take something major to help me re-gain my hope and trust in the Lord.

In fact, I know that I have had brief moments of inward lament before the Lord of, “oh, Lord if you could just write it in the sky then I would know.” I only allowed myself those longings for a brief moment as I would quickly try to dismiss what I thought to be a foolish and impossible, childish wish. So here is where things get interesting and why I wrote such an important and lengthy prologue.

On Thursday, June 30th the girls and I left for a trip to Orlando to Disney World. Family vacations have always been very important to us and was one of Rick’s favorite things. I felt that it was important to continue the tradition and wanted it to be somewhere fun given the kind of year that we have all had. Therefore, we flew out on Thursday evening  planning for a nice trip through the 5th. We went to Epcot Friday morning, the MagicKingdom on Saturday and on Monday, the 4th of July we went to Hollywood Studios. 

One of the attractions at Hollywood Studios is the Tower of Terror which is located in a199 foot tall structure in which the ride drops at least 170 feet. This is definitely one of the rides that did not have my name on it and was created for Ashley and Sarah only. Anyway, the girls were anxious to get to this ride, and it was one of the early morning attractions that they wanted to head straight to. While making our way there, the girls and I noticed a group of people kind of gazing upward, so we naturally looked up and saw the word “GO” in the sky. We remarked to each other “well that’s interesting” and briefly wondered what reason someone would have a pilot create the word “GO” from his airplane exhaust.

After our look upward, we proceeded on with our mission to get the girls to the ride as quickly as possible to avoid waiting in line. After they went into the building, I wondered around for a while outside. Eventually, I decided that I should go over to the gift shop area located in the Tower of Terror to sit in the shade as that is where the girls would be exiting off of the ride, and it seemed like the most logical place to meet them.

As I began walking that way, something caught my attention from the corner of my eye, and I glanced up. To my astonishment and amazement I could hardly believe what I was seeing. As though in perfect banner form over me, my eyes focused on the upward sky as I read the words “GOD 4 U”, then “GOD 4 US”. To say that I was dumbfounded given my secret longings for God to write it in the sky would be an understatement, but I did manage to gather my senses enough to take a couple of pictures.

I continued to look upward and walked forward until some trees that were to my left were not blocking any of my view while also gazing back and forth to the right as the airplane finished adding the last letter, which was an A to his message. When I got past the trees, I saw the dissipating remnants of the word “Thank” in the sky just to the left of the message that I had already read. At that point, I realized the pilot was writing the message “Thank God 4 USA”, I suppose because it was the 4th of July holiday.

After snapping my pictures, I went to sit down to ponder through the thoughts that were now spinning through my mind. I must say that my knees felt very shaky and even weak beneath me. Was this all just a coincidence? Was it possible that God had used a pilot writing a message for the 4th of July to share with me his own message? Was it just a coincidence that I looked up at the exact right moment and that I was standing at the exact location needed for my eyes to only be able to see the message “GOD 4 U” and then the “GOD 4 US”? Could this be God answering the deepest longing and hope that he knew that I would not even allow myself to believe possible of that he could write it in the sky? Was this not just some strange, irony that had nothing to do with God that I would be standing there at that moment while at the tower of terror in a theme park when in real life I was facing the biggest terror of my life with the loss of my husband and the terror of feeling that God had left me? Was this God answering the prayer of that song that I have been singing, “I lift my hands to believe again, let faith arise”? Was this astonishing event going to be the major thing that would finally help me re-gain my faith and let hope arise again?

While I know all of this was only a few minutes long, it seemed like time froze and stood still for a while. Soon, however, the girls were joining me, and I got out the camera and told them I wanted to show them something. While I was able to view this astonishing sight in the immense size of the sky, they were only able to view it from the tiny size of a digital camera screen, but still it gave them comfort and wonderment.

I tucked the camera away knowing that this was something to share with others but at the same time not really wanting to expose the longings of my heart. After all, what if my faith was not renewed? What if the hope that was instilled into me in that moment ends up not being sustained? Should I really tell anyone else about this? So, I have waited until I could not keep it in any longer. Two of my closest friends came over for a visit with me on Thursday evening and then another two on last night. I had to share the story and picture with them, and now I have decided to bravely share this on caring bridge as well as a copy of the photograph that I took.  

With each declaration, it seems that faith and hope are rising within me, and I pray that perhaps others may feel the same. When I shared the photo with my first friends a couple of days ago, I saw something that I had not noticed before. If you look at the bottom left corner you will catch a glimpse of the tower of terror with one of its tips pointing directly at the letter G. I didn’t even realize that I had captured part of the tower in the photo, but it gives such a good glimpse into understanding how perfectly located the message was. Rick gave his life to help others know about the Lord so that they would not know the terror and horrible pain of soul separation from the Lord, and I pray that I become more courageous to tell others about the Lord and his goodness as well. I will close by sharing a passage from Romans 8:35-39:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

 “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

With a full heart of thanksgiving,

Deborah

If you are suffering, let me join with Deborah and pray that the Lord will give you peace.

Sincerely,

Marty

The Practical Side of Fellowship One ... a pastor's perspective

Leading a larger church can be challenging from a pastor's perspective. Most ministers enter church work with a passion to care for people. As the congregation grows, you quickly have to delegate the ministry to your staff and volunteer leaders. As you delegate, there is still a desire to make sure that people are taken care of even though you are not the one doing the actual work.


Earlier this past week, I heard that a 26 year old mom with two babies under three years old died of a gun shot wound. I was called to do the funeral. During these times, I want to speak peace and healing to the family members walking through these painful events. What should I say? How should I say it?

I did not know the person that passed away, but I had heard that she attended Stevens Creek Church. The first step I took this week was to log-in to my Fellowship One account. What I saw in F1 gave me comfort. It was noted that this young mom visited the church last year, then she turned in a card stating that she had received Christ. I saw where one of our Pastoral Care team members contacted her about baptism, then I saw where our small groups director contacted her about joining a small group.

As I sat with her parents yesterday, the information from Fellowship One helped bring peace and start the healing process.

I would imagine that there are times that programmers at Fellowship One only see the code they write, but if the programmers can see beyond the code, they would understand that they are a vital part of sharing the love of Christ in practical ways.


May God bless you in your work today!

Sincerely,
Marty


Marty Baker, D.Min.
Lead Pastor
Stevens Creek Church
Augusta, Georgia

www.stevenscreekchurch.com

Do you want to help your marriage last? Follow Christ...It really works.

FIRST-PERSON: The Christian divorce rate myth (what you've heard is wrong)

Posted on Feb 15, 2011
by Glenn T. Stanton
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)--"Christians divorce at roughly the same rate as the world!" It's one of the most quoted stats by Christian leaders today. And it's perhaps one of the most inaccurate.

Based on the best data available, the divorce rate among Christians is significantly lower than the general population.

Here's the truth....
Many people who seriously practice a traditional religious faith -- be it Christian or other -- have a divorce rate markedly lower than the general population.
The factor making the most difference is religious commitment and practice. Couples who regularly practice any combination of serious religious behaviors and attitudes -- attend church nearly every week, read their Bibles and spiritual materials regularly; pray privately and together; generally take their faith seriously, living not as perfect disciples, but serious disciples -- enjoy significantly lower divorce rates than mere church members, the general public and unbelievers.

Professor Bradley Wright, a sociologist at the University of Connecticut, explains from his analysis of people who identify as Christians but rarely attend church, that 60 percent of these have been divorced. Of those who attend church regularly, 38 percent have been divorced [1].

Other data from additional sociologists of family and religion suggest a significant marital stability divide between those who take their faith seriously and those who do not.

W. Bradford Wilcox, a leading sociologist at the University of Virginia and director of the National Marriage Project, finds from his own analysis that "active conservative Protestants" who regularly attend church are 35 percent less likely to divorce compared to those who have no affiliation. Nominally attending conservative Protestants are 20 percent more likely to divorce, compared to secular Americans [2].

Professor Scott Stanley from the University of Denver, working with an absolute all-star team of leading sociologists on the Oklahoma Marriage Study, explains that couples with a vibrant religious faith had more and higher levels of the qualities couples need to avoid divorce:
"Whether young or old, male or female, low-income or not, those who said that they were more religious reported higher average levels of commitment to their partners, higher levels of marital satisfaction, less thinking and talking about divorce and lower levels of negative interaction. These patterns held true when controlling for such important variables as income, education, and age at first marriage."

These positive factors translated into actual lowered risk of divorce among active believers. "Those who say they are more religious are less likely, not more, to have already experienced divorce. Likewise, those who report more frequent attendance at religious services were significantly less likely to have been divorced [3]."

THE TAKE-AWAY
The divorce rates of Christian believers are not identical to the general population -- not even close. Being a committed, faithful believer makes a measurable difference in marriage.


Saying you believe something or merely belonging to a church, unsurprisingly, does little for marriage. But the more you are involved in the actual practice of your faith in real ways -- through submitting yourself to a serious body of believers, learning regularly from Scripture, being in communion with God though prayer individually and with your spouse and children, and having friends and family around you who challenge you to take you marriage's seriously -- the greater difference this makes in strengthening both the quality and longevity of our marriages. Faith does matter and the leading sociologists of family and religion tell us so.

Glenn T. Stanton is the director for family formation studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is the author of the new book, "Secure Daughters Confident Sons: How Parents Guide Their Children into Authentic Masculinity and Femininity" (Multnomah, 2011).


1 Bradley R.E. Wright, "Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites …and Other Lies You've Been Told," (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2010), p. 133.

2 W. Bradford Wilcox and Elizabeth Williamson, "The Cultural Contradictions of Mainline Family Ideology and Practice," in American Religions and the Family, edited by Don S. Browning and David A. Clairmont (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007) p. 50.
3. C.A. Johnson, S. M. Stanley, N.D. Glenn, P.A. Amato, S.L. Nock, H.J. Markman and M .R. Dion "Marriage in Oklahoma: 2001 Baseline Statewide Survey on Marriage and Divorce" (Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Human Services 2002) p. 25, 26.

Life is Short ...

Here's a quick reality check. Stevens Creek is known as being a very young congregation and as a result of that we do not have the number of funerals as many traditional churches our size.  Recently, however, things have changed.  In the last six weeks, since December 1, 2010 we have had five deaths connected to the Stevens Creek Road campus.  


Here's the shocker. Look at the ages of the people who have passed away in the last six weeks: 47, 52, 57, 56 and a newborn.


The Bible teaches us to number our days.  Please make it a point to be present, to live in the moment, to connect with your loved ones. Life is precious. Life is short.

The Creek .... A Volunteer-Intensive Ministry

Several years ago I attended a conference at Willow Creek Church in Chicago.  When I walked onto the campus I was overwhelmed by the number of volunteers that served the Lord at that local church.  They were everywhere. I talked to a person in the tech department. He said that he traveled during the week and worked for a major telephone company, but he lived for the weekend so that he could use his natural talents for the Lord.  He was pulling cable and doing what some would consider grunt work, but he saw the spiritual importance of that task.  He knew that without adequate audio that the message of hope could not be given to seekers who walked through the door.  He was not the only volunteer investing their energies in the services that weekend.  The property was filled with passionate people using their gifts.


Stevens Creek Church is no different. We are a volunteer-intensive ministry. We rely on the faithful service of hundreds of people to pull-off a weekend. Some of you would say, "Marty, that's an overstatement."  No, it really is not.  Do you realize that it takes 85 volunteers serving in the children's ministry every Sunday? Then add to that the needs of the middle school ministry, the parking attendants, greeters, ushers, the tech team, the musicians, the vocalists, the drama members and then add to that the needs of our Grovetown campus.


We are a volunteer-intensive organization and we need your help. The Bible teaches us to "pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send workers into the field." Join with me and pray that God would speak to people in our congregation and encourage them to serve.  Right now, we need 20 new coaches / groups leaders in our children's ministry. If you want joy, if you want to impact a person's entire life, then serve in the children's ministry. If Sunday does not work in your schedule, we have opportunities in our Wednesday program.


Take a moment today, as we continue our 21 Days of Prayer, and ask the Lord where you can serve.

Admiring versus Owning

In the late 1990s, Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian came to our church and spoke on the power of community. Many of you may not know "Dr. B." but he was the college professor that the Lord used to inspire Bill Hybels to start Willow Creek Community Church. God used Dr. B to inspire a movement that changed the world. 

Dr. B taught at Wheaton College and while teaching there, he used to walk from his house to work. One day while he was on his way to Wheaton, he noticed a neighbor had put a sign out in front of his door. It's a beautiful, very artistic, very creative sign that had the street name and address and so marked on it. And Dr. B loves beauty. He is from France, and he is a keen lover of beauty. And he said just walking past that sign gave him great pleasure. He just found himself thinking about it.

And the next day when he left his house, he thought to himself, I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing that sign. And there was this sign out in front. Dr. B had that same surge of admiration. "This is beautiful work of art!" This happened every day. He just would find himself looking forward to seeing that little sign, until one day the strangest thing happened. He was walking past that house, saw that little piece of art, only this time his mind didn't say, Boy, that's cool! This time, his mind said, Why should your neighbor have one of those and not you? Think of how much joy it would give you to possess something of such beauty and have the whole neighborhood see it and know it belongs to you. You ought to have that. You must have that.

And it was the strangest thing, now walking past his neighbor's house did not bring him joy anymore. Now it just troubled him. Now every time he saw that sign it was a reminder of what he did not have, and he knew it would be expensive. He was working as a teacher, did not make very much money. He and his wife were putting their children through school. He knew his wife would not want to go for spending that much money on a sign.

And then eventually one day he was walking past the sign again, and a little voice whispered to him, "Dr. B…" because even God calls him "Dr. B." "Dr. B, couldn't you enjoy that sign without owning it? Couldn't you be happy for the guy who has it? Couldn't you be happy that people get to see it? Couldn't you admire it yourself without torturing yourself over how to possess it? You can admire without having to acquire." And that is what he did. He just agreed with that thought, and he would walk past the sign, and say to himself, I'll just admire without the need to acquire.

This is a lesson that I need to learn. Lord, help me to appreciate the beauty of things without having to possess them.  Hmmm. This lesson would keep most of us out of debt, wouldn't it? So, this week make it a point to appreciate the beauty of that LED Wide Screen Television without having to go buy one. Ooops...now I am meddling.