2015: Promises Fulfilled and Glory Revealed!!!

   Here we are again, crossing over into a new year and a new territory. In my short 25 years here on this Earth I have seen and experienced many great and tragic things in my life, but 2014 was by far one of my hardest, and most blessed years yet. 2014 was a season of shift, reliance, faith building, pain, pruning, and total abandonment for my family and myself.
   We started the new year off last year with the loss of a child, and (for me) the tone was set for 2014: I was absolutely convinced that this was as good as it gets for me. A little bit of gain, with all the more loss. But oh boy, was I wrong! 2014 held some of the toughest obstacles I have had to cross yet, but was more than filled with the voice of the Lord showing me his love.
   After our second miscarriage in late May/early June, I was all but defeated. The fight in me had nearly died, and become nothing more than complete and total abandonment to the Lord. I didn't care what I gained or lost, I didn't care where I would come or go, I just wasn't willing to say "No." When the Lord told us that it was time to leave the ministry we were with, the answer was all too easy to say "Yes, Lord! I am DONE!" but at that point, I wasn't sure where he was leading us. All we knew, was that He was NOT done with us! And he poured into us in ways we so deeply needed over the next season.

   The Lord lead me in my blindness for around 2 months as a stay-at-home-dad. He was very quiet during this season, and asked very little of me. He simply asked me to stay at peace, rest in him, and continue to say "Yes!" I didn't even know what I was saying yes to, but after the hurt of loss, and the excitement of growth, the one thing that I knew was constant, the only thing that I knew I could put my trust in, was Jesus.
   Now as we are rounding the corner of the new year, I am floored at what the Lord has done in our lives in just the last couple of months (and in the last few years). He has asked to us move to a strange place, where we know very little, and have even less resources. He has asked my family to uproot from all that was comfortable, and dive head first into his great graces. He has asked us to put our faith so greatly in him, that if he hadn't provided for us, we would be in serious trouble.
But the beauty of this is that He has shown up and shown off time and time again! He has made a way when there was no other way. He has provided when funnels seemed to have run dry, or completely evaporated. He has brought us through trial, after trial, after trial and he has  never failed us. Even as I type this, we face some great obstacles. Our vehicle is on the fritz with no way for us to fix it, or replace it other than God providing a miracle. I thank Jesus for the ability to see this as a set up for him to show us his love, rather than a set back. I am still human, and have my days of doubt, and concern, and worry (and I certainly stress about not being able to get to appointments, etc. in a place where we no very little!) But God is so merciful to love me in my weakness, and embrace me in my doubt.
   My prayer for my family and myself in 2015 is that we would not compare it to 2014 or past years, but that we would hold our past years as a testimony to what we can look forward to Jesus doing in our lives in this new year. My prayer for my family and myself in 2015 is that we would remember the ways that God has provided for us, the miracles he has performed, and hold this light against the darkness. That our doubts would be extinguished with the guarantee of his promises, and how we have seen them fulfilled in our lives. My prayer is that our focus would not be on the obstacles hidden behind opportunities, but on the opportunities hidden behind seeming obstacles.
   My prayer for my family and myself in 2015, is that we would fall so deeply in love with Jesus, that anything outside of his will and his word would fall away from us like the dust on our feet.
   I declare that 2015 will be a year of fulfilled promises and restoration over my family. That the Lord will give back what was stolen from us, and this will be a year of great victory and great faith for my family. We are going into this year with the repayment of what we once lost. A beautiful, healthy baby boy; a promise we thought we had lost; a promise we thought we watched die. A promise we have seen literally revived from death.
My prayer for my family in 2015 is that we would become so totally consumed and overwhelmed by Jesus.
Oh, Lord. How great thou art!

We are now located in Martinsville, IN
where the Lord has called us to build in
family and in ministry. It is beautiful to
watch the promises of the Lord come to
pass in our lives, and we look forward to
the impact we can make on generations
for the glory of Jesus.

In times of trial....

(12)Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; (13)but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (14)If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."
                                                    --1 Peter 4:12-14


This past week (by far) has been one of the toughest weeks in my life, my marriage, and above all, in my walk with Christ.

I have been praying for a long while that the Lord would show me his Humility in truth, love, and how I too can impart love to my family and loved ones in True humility.

This passage in 1 Peter spoke so dearly to my heart this week.

As Christians the Word tells us repeatedly that we WILL look foolish! That we WILL be tried! That we WILL be persecuted! So why then, is it, that we are utterly flabbergasted when these truths come to pass? If we accept the Word as truth, and WHOLE truth, then we also have to accept the challenges that it lays before us.

We tend to have an idea that "trial" or "tribulation" means the struggle we go through (due to sin), and we place emphasis on our problems and sin areas. But we are missing the mark! The Lord is NOT asking us to become "flaw" minded, always focusing on our sin; but to become "KINGDOM" minded (such as Jesus taught) so we can keep focused on HIM!!!

The Lord does not see us as the broken, sin-filled, flawed men and women that we see ourselves as. No! When he looks at us he sees JESUS! He sees us in perfection! As the true and beautiful creation that he made us to be! He sees our destinies fulfilled and our lives full of Love built on his ROCK(petra).

For those of you that don't already know, my wife and I experienced the loss of an early pregnancy recently. This totally rocked us; devastated us. From the moment we found out that we were going to be expecting another child; THAT is the moment that life began to become a part of our own! Simply knowing was enough. It was enough to begin to dream how this baby would be raised, how his or her life path would go, the way we would love them. Names, dates, and even outfits were all pre-planned in hopes in dreams.

And just as suddenly as we found out we were adding, those hopes and dreams were taken away again.

Now please, understand this... This was NOT the work of God!! Tragedies such as this are NEVER the work of the Lord. Now, that's not to say that God is not ALL-powerful (because he Truly is!) but you have to understand, that God has not come to destroy. God NEVER recants his promises.

Jenifer and I had been seeking diligently that the Lord would make it clear to us when it was time to add to our little family, and he did. The Lord gives us the desires of his heart so that we in turn will pray his heart back to him, and that is just what we did. After much seeking, prayer, and more confirmation than was even comfortable at times, we made the decision to partner with the Lord in agreement, and to place our lives in his hands (once again) and let him make the decision for us. Within less than a month of having made our decision, we found out we were expecting.

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Our losing our child was just this: the enemy stealing from us what was rightfully ours. A gift from our Heavenly Father. The enemy would love to pit us against one another. It shows us all over the Word how the devil would love to cause strife and division.

He may slander God to you in order to cast doubt on God’s goodness and shipwreck your faith (Gen 3:4-5)

He may smite you with physical disease (Luke 13:16; Job 2:7)

He may murder you (Ps 106:37; Jn 8:44)

He may persecute you for your godliness (Rev 2:10)

He may ask God for permission to sift you out for concentrated attack and temptation (Luke 22:31)

and the list goes on and on...


All throughout the Word we see examples of how the devil tempts, seeks to kill, destroy, and overthrow the Kingdom in us all. But the enemy is a deceiver! And he CANNOT win!

Job particularly comes to mind when thinking of trial by fire. The enemy sought to tempt Job. To kill his family, to steal his wealth, his health, and above all, his Faith.

But Job was not shaken! Now Job may not have had the ideal reaction throughout all of his trials, even going as far as to curse his own birth (Job chapter 3). But his faith was not shaken! He stood FIRMLY on the promises God set before him! By the end of this story, we also know that God honored Job and his Faith! Even after a little Fatherly chastising-in Love, as a Good Father always does (Job chapters 38,39,40, and 41)- he then rewards his Faith.



In the final chapter of Job's story it reads as this:
(10)And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (11)Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. (Job chapter 42:10,11)
So what is the point I'm making? My point here, is that there are an abundance of reasons for trial, loss, destruction, pain, and anguish that we deal with. But none of it is to be our focus. The Enemy comes to destroy us and those we love. His end-all goal is to prevent our salvation, and keep us as far away from the promises of God as he can.

So we end this note back where we started. In 1 Peter chapter 4.

(12)Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; (13)but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (14)If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."

We rejoice in our trials. We celebrate in times of mourning. This, to me is the greatest Honor of all. That If we have caught the enemies eye to such a degree that he is constantly seeking to bring us down, then he too knows just how valuable we are to our Heavenly Father. So how is your day looking? Have you caught the enemies eye? If so, rejoice!!! You must be doing something right in the eyes of our Lord!