Archive for October, 2008
A while back God laid it on my heart to do a series on the “End Times.” What did I do? I tabled it. Why? Well, I received some negative feedback on the idea and I had my own insecurities on the subject as well. I know, not a good call, right? Well, the short of it is I’m no expert on the whole, “prophecy thing”.….and you may not know this, but there are unwritten rules in the modern church that you’re not supposed to do series like this.
Here’s my take. There are 2 extremes when it comes to this subject. On one hand you have some Churches and Christians who are obsessed with prophecy to the point that they miss the whole point and they just come off as crazy. On the other hand, you have churches like ours who never talk about it all, consequently; we completely miss the point as well. That’s crazy when you think about it as well. In fact, I was shocked to discover, while researching this topic, I couldn’t find much out there from large churches.
Here is the rub. Both extremes are wrong.
Jesus talked about the future A LOT with his disciples. As followers of Jesus obviously we should know what he said and more importantly …….
WHY he said it.
Unprecedented Times starts this weekend.
Twenty years ago two young twenty something’s said ….
I Do.
Spending today in the hospital with the Clem’s and their incredible family I was reminded again how fragile life is. I had a front row seat to view what this life is all about….
Relationships.
As I was driving home, I was trying to process the goodness of God. I pulled up to our house and my yellow lab “Abby- Love” ran out to great me. I thanked God again and then I walked through the door and there she was……….
My Bride.
Debbie astonished me and welcomed me home with her wedding gown on! I couldn’t believe it! Let’s just say my first thought was…. my tux from 20 years ago wouldn’t fit this frame anymore! I was transported back in time and remembered meeting Debbie when I was a senior in high school and she was a sophomore. Her braided red hair and braces set her apart. Call it chemistry….I don’t know? We just clicked! We laughed hard back in the day…and that same smile and laugh still captures my heart.
Debbie is truly more beautiful to me today. We have been thru A LOT together over 20 years….highs and lows…. twist and turns…..thrills and chills! Thru it all, Debbie is one of a kind. Debbie is Unique. The truth is being married to me isn’t the easiest thing let alone being a pastors wife. She has put up with a lot of junk through the years….and when most would get bitter…. Debbie grows in beauty. 20 years later, Debbie’s love for Jesus, for me, our two teenagers and Gods church is more passionate than ever!
Debbie is a woman of class, grace and beauty.
I love you Sweetheart! Happy Anniversary!
The doctor’s just came out…it’s a prayer of celebration. The surgery was challenging, but a success.
Thank you all for your prayers…keep them coming. I see Chad and Leah reading their blog…www.chadclem.com
Ok, over the past 20 years of ministry I have seen a lot of babies…but this little girl is gorgeous! Tonight, Debbie and I had the privilege of seeing Eliana in the neo-natal intensive care. You would never know she needs surgery. She looked at us and cried a little bit…I think Debbie scared her.
Debbie and I touched her little leg and prayed over her with Chad.
Tomorrow morning at 7:30 Eliana goes in for 8 hours of surgery.
Please join us in praying and fasting on behalf of Eliana.
Just talked to Chad and Leah. They are both emotionally fatigued. I can’t even begin to process all that they have been through the last 48 hours let alone the last 9 months.
Tomorrow at 7:30am Eliana will have life saving surgery.
Please pray and fast.
I asked Chad what we can do to help…Chad shared that it’s been a huge encouragement receiving all the comments all of you have been leaving on his blog. Keep them coming Northway and everybody out there in the blogoshpere…chadclem.com
If you were wondering about visiting the family…right now is not proper time. Chad and Leah have tremendous support with their family in the hospital and they will ALL need their space and rest.
Yes this includes Northway staff as well. The biggest way we can ALL help is to pray for Gods grace and peace and emotional endurance.
I’ll keep you posted.
Both sides of the couch.
Ed and Lisa Young, Craig Groeschel, Steven Furtick, Mark Batterson, Bil Cornelius, and Mac Richard…are all probable names you have heard in the church world today. All Movers and shakers that have been on CC. But here is what I know…there are many movers and shakers in the Kingdom of God that you have never heard of. One of my goals with Cremeans Couch is to locate them and push their stories out to you.
Many times the undiscovered stories are the most inspiring!
Brandon Thomas is a breath of fresh air! Brandon has started Keystone Church in the belt buckle of the Bible belt…Dallas Texas!…and its thriving! Enjoy getting to know Brandon in part 1 of CC. By the way…if you know of someone’s story that is untold and would like them to be on the couch…let me know.
Cremeans Couch airs every Monday on my blog.
CREMEANS COUCH: Brandon Thomas – Part 1 from Cremeans Couch on Vimeo.
She is gorgeous!
Check out www.chadclem.com to see the pics…be sure to leave a TON of encouraging comments on his blog.
Please continue to pray with me for this precious little girl.
Thank you God!
If you look around Northway Church you will notice babies everywhere! In fact, two of my team members, Brian Howe and Chad Clem have been counting down the days for the last 9 months of who will be first to break thru the ticker tape and be a Dad.
It was just a week and half ago Debbie and I had the privilege of going out to dinner with these guys and their very beautiful, very pregnant wives. You could sense both of these ladies, Libby Howe and Leah Clem, were ready to get on with it. Let me just say I’m so grateful that God chose women to do the whole “birth thing”…men are just too wimpy to pull that one off!
Well, if you attend Northway you probably have heard by now Libby gave birth last Saturday to a beautiful baby girl…Avery Howe. Congrats Howe’s! I’m confident that Brian and Libby will be exceptional parents!
Chad and Leah are already the exceptional parents of Emily and Drew Clem. Now they are anxiously awaiting their third, Eliana. It was months ago that the doctors discovered that Eliana will need major heart surgery as soon as she’s born. After surgery, Eliana will be in the hospital for a month until she can come home. I have had a front row seat to watch Chad and Leah display incredible faith and grace navigating thru these uncharted waters. Tears, prayers, tears, and prayers have been offered up to heaven on behalf of the Clems and Eliana.
Chad just called and informed me that tomorrow Eliana will be born. Please join me in praying for the Clems and heaven’s daughter Eliana. By the way, Eliana’s name is Hebrew which means…
God Has Answered.
Economic crisis, mortgage meltdown, global instability. We are bombarded on a daily basis by a host of problems that, if we let them, have the ability to demoralize and debilitate us. In such an uncertain world, where do you go for answers? What does Scripture have to say about this? In this brand new series, Unprecedented Times, I will take us to the certain source of hope and truth to discover why uncertain times mean unprecedented opportunity.
