by Pastor James Bell

Proverbs says they are faithful (the wounds, not necessarily the friends). That means there is a caring purpose in the wounds of a friend. Friends don’t hide truth, they share it. Their friendship grows as truth shapes and develops them.

If you are like most of us, you have both assumed friends and trusted friends. The difference in assumption and trust defines, sometimes sadly, the quality of a friendship. For example, there are friends about whom we assume good things. We feel a certain level of confidence in these friends. We assume they like us and have our backs. We assume whatever we hope for but don’t have reason to actually know. The somewhat crude dissection of that word, assume, is to some people enlightening. It doesn’t,  however, prevent us from the sadness of the realization that we assumed incorrectly that someone was more of a friend than they actually were. But the bitter taste of false assumption does help us to grow a little bit emotionally and spiritually. We might end up blindsided and disappointed, but we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on down the road. Lesson learned.

But when a friendship is based on trust, things happen differently. There is the unique and enjoyable privilege of being oneself, faults and all, without fear of being judged or misunderstood. Acceptance is based on our mutual knowledge of our core values and our struggle to let God mold us into something better as we grow. A trusted friend appreciates your struggle as much as the benchmarks that indicate the progress you have made. Freedom of expression in an atmosphere of acceptance is the hallmark of friendships based on trust instead of assumption. Through the years, I have learned to greatly value those friendships.

Unfortunately, when we love and trust, we risk the loss of the very relationship we value. A broken trust is much more devastating than a false assumption. You don’t kick yourself for assuming; you focus on trying to survive the tidal wave of hurt. Initial disbelief is followed by a sucker punch of lethal, joy-killing truth about what happened or what was said. For the first few minutes you feel like you want to die, but instead you just throw up. Your trust is screaming in your mind that this cannot be true. Days pass with a kind of emotional numbness. After a time, the open wound becomes a tender sore spot, then it becomes a scar. It doesn’t hurt like it did, but the memory of what happened stays with you. Sentences and phrases keep repeating in your thoughts, neatly categorized and tucked away in the complicated filing system of the mind.

To feel the stabbing pain in the small of your back, and then pull out a knife with the fingerprints of a trusted friend is not the same as the wounds Proverbs describes. These wounds are not for growth, insight, and course correction. They can destroy your capacity to love and trust others. They cause fear of intimacy and cynicism about all things relational. They stifle the child in your spirit. They steal your joy. You have to make yourself go on.

If you are reading this and you can relate to some or all of the feelings on this page, I want you to know something. I have been there, my friend. Unexpectedly, I have often met Jesus in these dark places and have experienced his love in a deeper way than at any other time in my life. In these deep valleys of hurt he rushes to us, with a hard embrace and a strong word of encouragement. And he leads us out again, into the light.

Yesterday I lost a trusted friend. Today I will allow Jesus to treat these wounds. Tomorrow I will love people, even trust people, knowing that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I also realize, through tears of understanding, that he will stick close, just as close, to the friend I lost.

Your wounded heart will heal. In fact, grace heals us and heals through us. Often at the same time.

Pastor James

by Pastor James Bell

It was 5:30, way too early in the morning for me to come strolling into our living room. Suz, an early riser, asked me what I was doing up at this time, and the dogs on her lap twisted their heads as they seemed to question why I had invaded their daily quiet time.

I told my wife and dogs that I was up because I was mad. Mad at the devil. I had encountered his schemes all week long, losing sleep and being distracted from things that were more important than his nonsense. I wondered out loud why we pastors never mention some things that most of us know all too well. We think it’s not becoming for someone in our position to speak up about it. We think it’s not spiritual to mention it. But it eats on us, tearing us apart from the inside out.

I decided to tell you about it. It’s all about the strategies of the spiritual enemy we face, and how often we are set up for embarrassment, criticism and even failure. It is about the feeling that we are dealing with a no-win situation, and therefore we must internalize things that should be on the prayerful lips of our intercessors. Most of all, it is about a basic situation that will happen over and over in vibrant, growing congregations and in the hearts of well-intentioned, hard-working pastors until the wheels start coming off of everything and nobody really knows why. I am going to tell you why.

Three entities, when they are in sync, can destroy even the strongest church unless they are identified and stopped. Those three entities consist of two flawed personality types and one devil. Now, this destructive combination is not Satan’s only weapon against the church, but I am convinced it is by far the most often used in his arsenal.

First, it is the devil, the father of lies. Then it is a flawed personality trait in people I have dubbed “bomb-throwers”. Thirdly, it is milder, even pseudo-spiritual, version of the same flaw in folks we’ll call “poop-stirrers”. The devil plants the idea, the bomb-thrower chooses to almost innocently drop a false statement or half truth about a sensitive subject, and the poop-stirrers keep the comment alive by passing it along, often with some disclaimer about not being sure that it’s right and certainly not to, shall we say, keep the poop stirred. But by passing it along, they do precisely that very thing.

Satan chooses an event. It can be almost any event involving change. He then plants seeds of untruth or half-truths in the hearts of potential bomb-throwers who might be concerned, disappointed or fearful of the changes. All they have to do is find the right opportunity to speak those twisted comments. Note that the motivation is (1) selfish pride in one’s opinion and (2) a desire to thwart the change that is happening.

Example Scenario – Singles out for a meal after church. One of the guys wants to impress some of the ladies at the table. He says that he recently hung out with someone who had left with his family to attend another church. The guy told him the real reason he left. Didn’t like some changes the pastor was making (interestingly enough, the very changes this guy, or someone close to him, doesn’t like).

Okay, time out for facts. The alleged conversation with the person who left never happened. The guys did hang out, but didn’t discuss anything about the changes. In fact, the person leaving didn’t know about the changes and had left the right way, with the pastor’s understanding and support. The bomb-thrower “created” this comment to be interesting and appear knowledgeable to his peers. After that meal, he thought, nothing more would happen. But now the poop-stirrers see an opportunity to enliven next week’s conversations with their friends.

Other scenarios follow. A situation happened in a small group (that didn’t actually happen that way at all), the pastor preached a sermon aimed at one person in the congregation he disagreed with (not effective, I know better than to try that), the pastor’s wife (or his friend, or an elder) has a hidden agenda, and on and on we go. Bombers bomb with suspicions and twisted statements. Poop-stirrers keep the stuff moving. Pastors hear about it with disbelief and shock, thinking these were their friends and the ones they have given their lives for. Satan lifts a toast. People say to rise above it. I don’t sleep.

It’s almost impossible to restore truth when church members are, often unknowingly, spreading lies. See, even now that word seems a little strong to you when talking about Christians. But the number one sin among Christians, far more common (and damnable) than other sins, is lying. If a pastor confronts this activity, he will be accused of being judgmental, defensive or argumentative. Even poop-stirrers will step back in horror that their pastor would not just rise above the fray and stay positive.

The battle, over something which (and this is so important for you to realize) never, ever, actually happened in the first place, now spreads to a conflict between the defensive pastor and the frantically backpedaling bomb-thrower. The poop-stirrers deny any involvement and begin to act like victims, even at times leaving the church.Visitors and new members think the whole thing is childish and immature, and begin to question the pastor’s leadership and maturity. Meanwhile, demons dance in the darkness and Satan gloats over his victory against that local church, chipping away at the higher purposes of the kingdom of God.

The bottom line unless we act is this:

• A pastor will feel that confronting the wrong will cause the conflict to spread.
• Bomb-throwers will toss more bombs to cover their, often unintentional, damaging remarks.
• Poop-stirrers will stir, self-righteously stating that these are not necessarily their opinions.
• Congregants will be confused by the division among believers.
• Satan, bomb-throwers and poop-stirrers never even make it into the conversation, as the Evil One scans the church’s agenda for the next opportunity to attack.

How do we stop this cycle? Here are some suggestions:

• Bomb-throwers, quit tossing those bombs. We need you.  Talk to us, work with us.
• Poop-stirrers, just quit stirring. Help us communicate the good news!
• Pastor, pastor people better than they’ve ever been pastored!
• Leaders, lead on!

Then, let all of us humbly serve the interests of others, as Jesus teaches us to do. Dialogue, listen, get involved. When we walk in unity, following Jesus, all hell trembles. This is not my church or your church, or even our church. It’s His.

This is going to be a year of breakthroughs and victories on several levels. God is whispering to us of exciting things He has in store. Even if you have been affected by these situations, don’t ever feel like you have to walk away. Every pastor knows these experiences well. They happen everywhere unless confronted. Resolve these things right here and our bonds of love will grow even stronger.

Pastor James

by Pastor James Bell

A little girl said it well. Riding home from the crowded mall, sharing the backseat with her revved up siblings, she pressed her nose against the cold, foggy window. She saw the brightly lit plywood manger scene in someone’s front yard. Over the noisy voices of her excited brothers and her frantic, tired mom, she blurted out, “Merry Christmas, Jesus!”

Did Jesus have a Merry Christmas? His best friend John said it simply, “He came to his own and his own people didn’t receive him.” That rejection ultimately led to the cross, but it started in Bethlehem. Those people didn’t even know he was born, let alone who he was. Jesus’ birthday was the stuff of shepherd’s chatter and angelic myths. In fact, it wasn’t until the Magi showed up almost two years later that people started getting a clue.

By the time Jesus was thirty-three, it was pretty obvious that he was not going to have a mega-church in Jerusalem. He did draw some big crowds, and he could have pulled it off by cutting some corners here and there and not always being so bluntly truthful. But on the other hand, after being God and creating the world, the promise of a really large congregation was not enough to cause him to swerve from his prophetic destiny.

Here’s the tough part: He expected no less of his disciples. Jesus valued truth as essential for spiritual freedom. He saw success in terms that were more qualitative than quantitative. Would some of today’s leaders accuse him of negativism if he said to their constituents, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Larry King and Piers Morgan would question his exclusivity. Diane Sawyer might try to coax him into a more acceptable position on social issues. Millions would just switch back to ESPN or Dancing With The Stars. Funny that most people on Earth have never really cared about the things that are so riveting to the inhabitants of both heaven and hell. Not yet.

But this truth remains through the years: Jesus’ birth is made sacred by the life it produced. Every time you remember the manger, whenever you follow your faith to the cross,  and as often as you truly worship the Son of God, something happens that will someday shake the world!

These days, along with many other pastors I’m sure, I receive as many heartbreaking stories as Christmas cards. I see, up close and personal, crumbling values, deteriorating relationships and broken hearts. Then I hear the voices of many high-profile Christian leaders giving slick, motivational messages rooted more in pop psychology than the Bible. I feel backed against the wall, seeing Satan’s perverted grin as he communicates in myriad ways a message that says, “If you don’t play along with us, we will paint you as an insensitive, judgmental, grace-bashing, relic of the religious past.”

But spiritual leaders who are spiritual leaders hold to biblical values, presenting love, grace, surrender, service and fulfillment as the Christian way.  Smiling imposters offer grace, grace, grace and more grace as an alternative and tell people to choose their own way. Tragically, it seems to be working pretty well for them, at least on this side of eternity. But anyone with even a little bit of spiritual sensitivity has to ask, “What is the birth of Christ without the cross? What is the message of hope without the empty tomb? What is Christmas without a Savior?”

So I find myself joining that little girl, with my face pressed against the window. In the mix of devotion and dysfunction, friendly faces and frustrating disappointment, the smiles of children and the fears of old men, amidst the carols and chaos….I still believe. With my nose against the glass, I see the hope that lies in a manger. I say with a choked up voice and tears of realization, “Merry Christmas, Jesus!”

by Pastor James Bell

by Pastor James Bell

That’s what I said to myself many years ago. “Give a tenth of my income to God? Yeah, right.” Just the thought of tithing was enough to make me think twice about joining a church. I mean, I didn’t even like to pay retail. Not that I was stingy or that I didn’t give to needy causes. I even let my company remove 3% from my paychecks every two weeks for the United Way. Tithing was an uncomfortable proposition to me. I’d say, “Can’t we just talk about Jesus?”

To be honest, God doesn’t need my money. Or yours. Or Donald Trump’s. Speaking the worlds into existence, the all powerful One has plenty of resources without soliciting our support. Of course, the church does need your support, even though God will provide for what He establishes. It is the biblical plan for God’s work to be supported by God’s people. Through the years, Hosanna’s members have been very faithful in their giving and there are many testimonies of God’s blessing poured out on people who have developed a generous spirit of giving.

In my life, as I became a part of a church family, I finally discovered that giving was more related to blessing than sacrifice. The loosening or tightening of my purse strings was an indication of the issues of my heart. A generous spirit really does bring happiness to the inner man and those who bless are blessed. The “blessed” 90% has a way of going further and doing more than the “unblessed” 100%. It’s like something positive and creative is released in those who honor God with the tithe.

In the Bible there were beautiful examples of giving that were passed along throughout the generations of God-honoring people. The gift wasn’t only the tenth (tithe) but it was the first tenth. In other words, the first tenth was considered God’s and the rest was considered blessed. The first tenth, freely given, activated the blessing of the remaining ninety.

The principle of giving tithes and offerings was always about more than just supporting the work of ministry, even though it did accomplish that. There is a release of the restraints that hold us back from really trusting God when we give according to His plan. A generous spirit releases you in many other areas of your life. You begin to see things with different eyes. Values change. Eventually, Matthew 6:33 becomes a reality in your life.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Your giving prioritizes your values. It opens an avenue of trust between you and God. Then one day you will look around and realize, “I am really blessed!”

As we have seen our congregation grow, I have begun to realize that we don’t talk enough about giving. Lots of our newer members haven’t been taught about the “blessed life”. If you aren’t tithing, take some time to consider how your life could be richly blessed by relearning God’s principles about giving.

It might be just what you need to make that boat float.

by Pastor James Bell

Ever sample that tasty breakfast? I did years ago without knowing what I was eating. It tasted like sausage to me. And I didn’t become, as the purveyor of this culinary disaster insisted I would, any smarter. In fact, the years have proven to me that brains, as well as eggs, can sometimes get scrambled. Evidence of that will be presented in what follows on this page.

As I looked forward to our new series on Sunday mornings and our new series on Tuesday evenings, I realized that the two new series needed to be switched. “Uniquely Christian” is more suited to Sunday Mornings and “Romans for Real People in Real Time” is better on Tuesdays. Here’s why:

• Tuesdays will feature several of our gifted ministers teaching, an interesting variety of speakers.
• I have lived a lot of the “Uniquely Christian” series and, while it’s very scriptural, the illustrations and concepts are developed from my years of pastoring. Wouldn’t really be fair to expect our other teachers to feel what I felt as I developed this series.
• Tuesdays have a growing audience that seems to feel a hunger for some deeper teaching to go along with the worship and ministry time, especially since they know we respect the 7:00 – 8:00 weeknight time frame. Also, our speakers will make every session interesting and anointed.
• We want Sunday Mornings to include a “hook” to reach the hearts of your friends and neighbors who might attend with you, and the “Uniquely Christian” series fits this scenario perfectly.

So we’re going to do the right thing and simply change the sign, the webpage and the announcements in the bulletin. There are a couple of ways I expect people will respond;

1. Appreciate the fact that we really want to do this right.
2. Make cynical comments about indecisiveness and a lack of bold leadership.

I kind of hoped most people would fall into the #1 category. My wife, however, had her own take on this.

“Hey, you’re assuming way too much here. Lot’s of folks don’t even remember that you’re doing a series. Just do it as well as you can and don’t get stressed over such trivial things. Want some scrambled eggs for breakfast?”

I did want the scrambled eggs. And I guess we can forget about the brains.

Love you guys,

Pastor James

p.s. We have a new series starting Sunday, September 11! It’s called “Uniquely Christian” and I think you’ll be blessed by it.  Also, a new series starts Tuesday, September 13. “Romans for Real People in Real Time” is a paraphrased view of Paul’s outpouring of his faith and emotion concerning what God revealed to him.  Good stuff!  (Did that work for you?)

by Pastor James Bell

It’s a strong word, isn’t it? It might be kids breaking something they shouldn’t have been playing with, or the devastation of a tornado hitting a small town. It might be the mission of a platoon of soldiers, who “search and destroy”, or someone grieving a broken relationship tearfully saying, “I was just destroyed!”

But all destruction is not bad. Some things need to be torn down. The Apostle John wrote in his first letter to the churches, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”. Before you lead the cheers for God’s demolition crew, you might consider if one of those destruction projects is planned for you!

The chosen people who crossed the Jordan saw immediately, right there in front of them, a city with huge walls. It was not that different from the doubts and fears that sometimes crowd into your consciousness. But when walls come down, the inhabitants hit the exits as fast as they can.

God had a strategy and He only needed obedient people to carry out the plan.  Just like God chose those people, He calls you to take charge of your life. Tear down what the enemy has built in your mind. Don’t accept the intimidation of difficult circumstances. You might say the destruction of Jericho was both impossible and inevitable. Or you could just say, “Miracles happen!”

The Bible says our weapons are not based on our human response to the crises in our lives. Instead, our weapons are powerful in a supernatural way. The Spirit of Christ in us destroys strongholds. Where is the Jericho in your life? Is it blocking your entrance to what God has promised you? Is there a temptation that you can’t seem to conquer? Are there circumstances that are holding you at bay? What is your personal Jericho? Let’s destroy it!

There was a reason why Jericho’s walls were so thick. The inhabitants didn’t want to be destroyed. If the Israelites would have used their own logic and stormed the walls, even with faith and vigor, they would have failed. But in the midst of victorious praise, in the strength of glorifying God…..the walls fell flat!

The powers of darkness fear the moments when God’s children hear Him and obey His voice. When that happens the enemy has to vacate the premises and you are victorious. No more Jericho. The path is now cleared.

Let’s destroy something!

by Pastor James Bell

A survey of college students asked for the most often quoted verse in the Bible. After John 3:16, the survey showed this very popular verse:

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Of course, that’s not in the Bible. Ben Franklin came up with that. It was, however, based on a biblical principle. Obedience attracts blessing. That doesn’t mean we ever earn God’s favor, but it shows us that alignment with His purposes opens spiritual doors for us. For me, this means that when I have aligned my heart with the word of God and I still come up short, I am lined up for a miracle. And so often that has actually been the way things happened.

How responsible are we for doing the right thing? Can a person actually take over a part his/her life that is out of control and get it back in order? How much can we change our habits if we really want to? Behavioral studies are inconclusive, but I’d still love to know. How important is it for us to make an effort before Jesus makes up the difference? Pssst! Now I’m going to slip in a loaded question:

Can you be on time for church?

“Well, how rude!” you might respond when reading a question so bluntly put, “Just be glad we come, you spoiled, unsympathetic pastor-type person!” In my haste to not be offensive, let me quickly list the reasons I am asking:

1. We are scheduling some things to at the beginning of the service, and we don’t want you to miss any of them.
2. The flow of worship begins at the beginning of the worship set, and it is hindered by people dragging in on the third or fourth song.
3. While we would never say anything negative about people coming in late, habitual lateness does say something unflattering about you –and we don’t want anything bad said about you because we love you!
4. Visitors usually come on time. They take your lateness as an indication that you don’t especially want to be here (so why should they?)

This Sunday’s second service will feature a baby dedication. It will be the first thing at 11:00. The parents would sure like for you to be here and to see this special event for their child.

In the future there will be testimonies at the beginning of our services. People will be sharing their hearts before we start the first song on the day they are speaking. If you miss it, well, that’s kinda sad.

On Sunday, August 21, we will hear from the principal at Tipps Elementary concerning our ministry there. You can hear it at the beginning of each service.

People blame everything from their cultural roots to the stress in their lives for lateness. Usually people who are habitually late have a difficult time organizing their lives. Reading something like this makes them even more stressed out!

So, if you are feeling a bit flushed or lightheaded as you read this, don’t hyperventilate! Stay calm. Come on to church even if you have to be late. We’ll love you anyway. But I have to wonder if it’s a coincidence that, on the Beachboys’ “Essentials” album, “Good Timing” is followed by “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”.

Probably not the kind of thing pastors should spend too much time thinking about.

by Pastor James Bell

When Suzanne was single and living in an apartment, she would see a little girl named Shawna on her bike, flying down the street with her hair blowing in the wind. When Shawna became a part of Suz’s class at church, God began whispering some things to Suzanne. When I first met Shawna she was at the awkward pre-teen stage, not above giving me a few “whatever” stares. When she became a part of our family she was also celebrating her thirteenth birthday. That’s when all this started.

I doubt if any of us knew how much we needed each other. There were two crooked roads, with many a twist and turn, that merged when we got married. Then came this third person, who had her own twisted road to contend with. How this merger ever ended up in ministry is a miracle in itself.

We lived from day to day, crisis to crisis, and often made the best of difficult situations. The church was small, money was tight, and at times we literally laughed to keep from crying. On many occasions, when things were looking bleak, Shawna would say or do something as a result of her “unique perspective” on life. Suz and I would look at each other, then crack up laughing. Shawna never fully understood how she was the sunshine in many of those dark days.

The church grew, many wonderful folks like you became a part of Hosanna, and we got a little older and wiser. Shawna became our youth pastor and touched the lives of teenagers, some of whom have their own kids now. She met Scott, the only boyfriend she ever had that I liked, and they got married. They gave us grandkids! How good can things get?

Then came the call to ministry in Minnesota. For the last six years we have stretched out our emotions over the long route from H-town to St. Paul. Long trips for the Borens, and tearful departures when they left. But God grew them both. Scott has an outstanding reputation as a writer and consultant. Shawna became part of the preaching/teaching team at mega-church. Good stuff. For them. Okay, for them and lots of others to whom they ministered.

Now the best news. The Borens are headed back to Houston! Scott will be working for Hosanna part-time and pursuing his writing career as well. Shawna will be our Dream Team Pastor and will oversee our small group ministry. I probably need to wait until they are all settled in before I share what the Grandkids and I have planned. Don’t wanna blow this thing. Suz can be “Grammy” to Deklan, Gavin, Jensen and Afton as only Suz can be. After all, they are going to live right down the street!

When Shawna was at ORU, we had this father/daughter conversation. She asked, “When a kid gets adopted, and she goes off to school and her parents move (we had), is that new place still her home? Do kids get to come home again, even when they’re grown?” I replied, “When school’s out you’re still our daughter. When school’s out you come home to our home. Your home.”

Thinking I might not have communicated our love for her enough, I added, “When you get married, you’re still our little girl. When you have kids, they will be our grandkids. No matter what happens, now or later, you are still ours, you and yours…and you can always come home.”

They are coming home. I couldn’t be happier.

Wanted you all to know,

Pastor James

by Pastor James Bell

This Sunday I will stand in front of our church with a mission. I’ll try to articulate the vision God has placed in my heart for Hosanna. Will you catch the vision? Probably neither of us knows the answer to that question right now.

Why are so many visions better spoken or written than caught? It might be that we are drowning in rhetoric about the latest gimmicks to stimulate numeric growth in churches. Everyone seems to want to be cutting edge, relevant, trendy, and above all, attractive to potential members. But those things relate more to a church structure than a vision.

The Bible speaks about dreams being dreamed and visions being seen as the Holy Spirit prepares the people of God for what He wants to do through them. Joel prophesied about it in his Old Testament writings, and Peter claimed that prophesy for the church. I have seen visions and dreamed dreams about what God will do in this church.

One of those visions was about people walking to the church from all directions. I could see many people walking through the orchard to the doors on the south side of the sanctuary. They were coming from all over the community. They looked hungry and some of them had on tattered clothes. Their faces were expectant and hopeful. I felt it represented spiritual needs more than physical ones. There was so much light coming from the church building that it could be seen for miles. People seemed to be drawn to it. Since I had that vision, a handful of people have shared with me that they have had that same vision. What could this mean?

A more specific vision is one I have seen repeatedly where multiple groups of Hosanna members are joyfully serving and ministering to an ever increasing large group of people in our church and community. Along with that vision, the Holy Spirit keeps leading me to Ephesians, particularly Chapter Four. Ephesians Four is a manifesto for ministry. It is God’s way of doing church. Simply stated, it teaches that God places key equippers/leaders in a church and they develop and mature the members to do the work of ministry.

These two visions, along with several others that relate to them, are really one vision. It is for Hosanna to see what Jesus is doing and let Him do those things in and through us. Then the world around us will be drawn to Christ as they see and feel His love for them.

Multiplicity of ministry is disarming in it’s simplicity. It is threatening to high-rolling church leaders who are trying to make a mark for themselves in ministry. It is powerful because it has always been the Jesus way of doing things, and it brings with it a strong anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is frightening to the kingdom of darkness because it destroys the work of the devil. Finally, it is exhilarating to believers because it frees then from the bondage of self-centered idolatry and releases them to become victorious in every aspect of their lives.

We are about to introduce a structure that will accommodate this vision. It’s important to remember that the structure is not the vision. It is the vehicle to get us there. The vision is you and me, out of our old ruts, charged with the power of God, fulfilling God’s glorious purpose for our lives.

I’m ready to walk right  into the vision. Would you like to join me?