Is “The American Family” In Crisis?
If you are a parent, know someone who is a parent, had a parent, then you would agree that parenting can be very difficult. As a parent your priority is to gradually transfer a child’s dependence away from you until their dependence rests solely on God. Join us @ Shore Fellowship starting November 9th, as we explore that journey and how to navigate your way through all the obstacles placed before “The American Family”.
I would love to hear some of the things that you are dealing with as a family. What are your struggles? Where have you had wins? What do you see as some of the major obstacles to todays family? If you’re just starting a family or will in the future, what are some questions that you have? If you have raised a family what advice can you pass on? Let’s get some comments flowing and see how much we can help one another.
Make Me Smile
As you know I am a recent convert to The Phillies Nation. I just watched them win game 1 and that was awesome. What would be even more awesome is if I could take my Pastor friend “Buddy Cremeans” to a world series game. He is from Philly and a die hard fan. I would love to bless him with a night at the park. If you have 2 tickets floating around and God moves your heart to be a blessing, let me know. ( this is all tongue in cheek in case you didn’t pick up on it) GO PHILLIES!!!
Make The Leap
I’ve always given people a hard time when they cheer for a sports team only if they are winning. I know I am going to be accused of “jumping on the bandwagon”, but I have decided to become a Phillies fan. After 9 years in Jersey I see no harm in adding a second team to those I root for. The DETROIT TIGERS will always be my team, but I was in need of a National League team. So I officially announce my leap to the bandwagon. It was a long hard jump, but I finally made it.
If you didn’t know, there is another team out there that has put on a pretty impressive win streak. I like to call it, Team Jesus. Over the last 2000 years after an incredible victory, people by the thousands have joined his team everyday. If you don’t know about His winning streak let me share the story.
Jesus came to this earth, with one purpose in mind, to go to the cross and pay the price for my sins and yours. His opponents were sin, death, and yes satan himself. In this Ultimate Fighting Championship He pinned sin to the cross, knocked death out of the ring, and body slammed satan and pummeled his agenda into the ground. When He rose from the grave 3 days after His death, He secured the greatest comeback in the history of the world. Thde great news is that you can “jump on the bandwagon” and give your life to Christ and His victory will be applied to your life. I hope you’ll consider being a part of Team Jesus.
The Verdict Is In
Anyone who has ever done wrong knows the feeling that comes over you when your about to get caught. I remember when I was in High School there was a brief period of my life that I’m sure God was not pleased with. One night I was out with my friends and we were doing things in secret we would never have wanted to be in the open. I was a leader in my Youth Group and at this particular time I was in acting mode playing the role of the guy who covers up what was really happening. To be honest, I was more concerned with what my parents and friends would think, than I was what God would think.
One night as we were “doing our thing” I remember this intense burden of guilt that was weighing heavy on my heart. I determined in my heart that It was over, I needed to be right with God. Just as I was about to tell my friend to drop me off a cop started following us. Turn by turn for 2 miles. That guilt turned to fear as I argued with God that it wasn’t fair, cause I had just told Him that I was sorry. In the middle of my fear, the officer finally turned and stopped following us. I didn’t waste a moment and got out of the car.
What God taught me that night has continued to impact me. I’m not saying that I haven’t ever sinned again, but I will promise you that there isn’t ever a time when I do sin that I am not totally aware that there is a battle for my character. This past week I was at Catalyst ( a conference for leaders), and I heard Aaron Keyes sing a song called, “You’re Not Guilty Anymore”. I am so thankful that when we give our lives to Christ as it says in Romans 8:1 the bible says that if we are in Christ we are no longer condemned. He, the ultimate judge that you will stand before one day will say, “the verdict is in, NOT GUILTY ANYMORE”!!!!!!! So, stop carrying that weight and give your life to Christ and He will stand before God in your place. On You Tube Aaron Keyes tells the story behind the song, check it out.
C3 Conference In New York
Dear Pastor and Church Leader,
On Oct. 13th we are taking our staff to a one day conference called The C3 Regional Conference. It will be held just outside of Albany, NY at Northway Church. Northway is pastored by a great friend of mine, Buddy Cremeans. We both have a strong desire to not only see God work in our churches, but also in the entire northeast region of the nation. I believe there is a huge move of God happening in the northeast.
You may be asking “Why are you telling me this?” The reason is I would like to personally invite you to attend this one day conference on Monday, Oct. 13th. I know you will be challenged. We also are looking to see more pastors catch a vision for the northeast. Please check out the enclosed materials and consider joining us for the day. If you need more info you can certainly call me or you can sign up here.
Thanks for all you do in ministry.
Pastor Tim Chambers.
