1. I am believing God for new and fresh ways to present the Gospel to people in my city. Over 65% of our population don’t attend church on a regular or have a personal relationship with God.

2. I am believing God for a sold-out crew to come alongside me to launch 72:12 Church next spring. We are looking for all races, ages, experiences, etc. to make an impact for God in Joliet.

3. I am believing God for wisdom and strength to handle whatever comes our way in our journey. He has never failed us and I look forward to Him showing off in the future!

I refuse to walk in negativity
I refuse to let the spirit of “I can’t” dominate my life
I refuse to believe anything contrary to the word of God
I refuse to speak words that go against the word of God
I refuse to receive lies
I refuse to submit to the pressures of the world and my flesh
I refuse to back down from my anointing
I refuse to be broke
I refuse to be sick
I refuse to be depressed
I refuse to be on the losing side
I refuse to cancel the Blessing on my life
I refuse to cripple my future generations
I refuse to drown in debt
I refuse to be silent in the midst of injustice

I refuse

Nevertheless, God has put His imprint on my heart for the people of Joliet.
This area has grown tremendously in the last 10-15 years.
It has also gotten to be incredibly diverse.
Just in my subdivision alone there must be 10 different nationalities represented.

There are also over 15,000 college students within a short drive from my house.

All of these different people have one thing in common:

The need to experience Life in Christ.

With this in mind

72:12 Church is a new church that will be launching in Joliet, Ill in the spring of 2011.

One of the craziest things about this whole process is that I am not scared to jump into this with both feet.
God has called me to do His work and connect people to life in Christ.
This is not my idea but His.
His plan. His purpose.
I am fully committed to seeing the vision come to pass.

I pray that you would consider partnering with us in either prayer, financial contribution, hands-on, or a combination of the 3

God is up to something amazing in our city.

All of this is about to change.

Starting on July 5th, my friend Tina Portis and her husband are leading the 52-week Challenge.
This challenge is where people start by saving $1 the first week, $2 the second and so on until the 52 weeks is complete.
Just by doing this simple effort a single person can save over $1300 and a couple can save over $2700.
So far over 50 people have signed up.

I believe that this is a great way to practice discipline and good stewardship.

I also believe that Christians are here on earth to be a blessing.

God never intended for you to get enough just for your family. He wants you to bless the least around the world.

Feed the hungry.
Clothe the naked.
Take care of the widows and the orphans.
Teach people the Word of God.

We can’t do that if we spend every dime that comes through our hands.

At the end of the 52-week Challenge the group will donate part of their savings to a charity.
It will be awesome to bless someone else.

Please join my wife and I as we embark on this challenge.
It will bring fullness to your life to not only save but to also be a blessing.

Click the link to join us.

Just living day by day can be stressful.

Instead of stress, we need to create rest in our lives.

Here’s 3 ways:

REJECT THE NEGATIVE (words, people, thinking)

We need to control what enters our minds.

You can see if what you’re thinking is wrong just by comparing it to the word of God.

If you don’t control your thoughts, the enemy can use them to have you SPEAK negative words in the atmosphere.

We should also stay away from negative words and people.
They will just poison you in every way.

Amos 3:3 says that how can 2 walk together unless they agree.

Who are you agreeing with?

HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE PROTECTION OF GOD

You really have no reason to fear or be stressed out as long as you trust in Gods promises to shield you from danger.

Take a look at these scriptures.

Proverbs 3:25-26
Psalm 56:11
Psalm 91:5-7

We have a right to divine protection and safety when we are firmly established in our righteousness (our right standing with God)

USE PRAISE TO ALTER THE ATMOSPHERE

Praise will change your surroundings.

It’s almost impossible to doubt and praise God at the same time.

Praise puts things in perspective.

It forces you to recognize who God is.

Praise puts you in Gods presence.

In His presence there is fullness of joy.
and peace.
and security.
and answers.

Thats how you create rest instead of being stressed.

peace

1. If there is no more National Day of Prayer would we stop praying? Ask Daniel.
I am believing God that Christians would stand UP!!

2. The race is not given to the swift or to the strong.
I am believing God for endurance to finish strong!

3. Summertime is approaching quickly and violence is already on the rise.
I am believing God for new strategies other than tent revivals and chicken dinners.

Then God said “Be Quiet”.

You see, I had moaned and cried so much that I couldn’t “hear” what God what saying to me.
He told me that I didn’t have to keep asking Him to rescue me from my cycle of porn.
He told me that the Kingdom of God is inside of me.
With this Kingdom comes all the power and authority that Jesus has.

He told me that I have authority over every work of the enemy.
Including porn.

So from that moment I used my authority and spoke to the demons in charge of pornography and told them that they could no longer hold me hostage.
Whom the Son has set free is free in deed.

I thank God that I have been porn-free ever since (about 8 years now)!

Week after week, month after month, year after year, I watched porn.
I bought magazines and I rented movies. Tons of them for God knows how much money.

Later on I met a wonderful woman and got married.
I hid my problem for as long as I could until I got busted.
I did my best to convince her that it wasn’t an issue and that it wouldn’t come between us.

I knew that she wasn’t very sure about what I was saying.

A couple of years after we were married I was called into the ministry.
This was one of the best moments of my life. I finally found a place in life where I knew I belonged.

The only problem was that I still couldn’t shake my need for porn.

I was caught in the devils spin cycle.
You know where you sin, feel guilty, feel so guilty that you don’t think God would forgive you, the guilt weighs you down to the point where you think the only way to feel better is to do the sin again.

The burden of watching porn combined with the position I had in the church became almost too much for me to bear.

Every time I would fall, I would ask God to rescue me and somehow He pulled me out of the pit.
The only problem was that I would soon find myself in that position again.

This rollercoaster ride was sapping all of my strength and I was finding myself more and more depressed and withdrawn.

My wife tried her best to help but nothing worked.
I didn’t know what to do.

From the 7th until the 8th grade I was sexually abused by someone I looked up to and trusted.
Ironically all of this happened after I accepted Christ and was baptized when I was in the 6th grade.
Nevertheless, this 2 year period of my life felt like and eternity. I felt like I was trapped in some underworld. It felt like I was singled out to be a part of something wrong and dirty.

How could this happen?
Why me?

I couldn’t tell anyone. How could I? What would I say to my friends, my family?
Slowly my self-esteem got even lower. I couldn’t tell anyone what was going on.
My schoolwork and even athletics weren’t interesting to me anymore.
My family and I went to church every Sunday but I didn’t understand how God could allow this to happen to me.

Eventually, as I entered high school, this abusive relationship ended.
However, what should have been a new beginning for me was a continuation of pain and confusion.
You see, my abuser exposed me to pornography. He had hundreds and hundreds of magazines available to me at any time.
At first, I was curious like most young boys would be. Then, after a while, it turned into something like a craving for me.
As I got to be an older teen, I would find various ways to get access to porn. I would try to get a glimpse of an unwrapped Playboy magazine at the bookstore or attempt to look at the late-night soft-core versions on a fuzzy television channel.

The more time that went by the more I would want to watch. It became something like a temporary medicine for me to cover the pain of my younger years.
The thing about me was that I didn’t watch porn for the sex.
Sure, it was exciting for my flesh to see what it was seeing but it was more than just that for me.
Watching porn was like entering into some perfect type of world. Everything in it was just right.
The people were beautiful, the scenes were perfect, and they were doing what people who love each other do, have sex.
No one was made to feel bad or upset. People seemed to appreciate each other.

That’s exactly what I was missing in my life, someone to appreciate me and tell me that I was loved. I wished that I could have told my parents about my issues.
Looking back on it now, I realize that I just didn’t love myself.

God has given me a special gift.
Through all the struggles and pains of life, He has placed me on this earth for such a time as this.
For many years I never thought that I had anything to offer anyone. I suffered from low self-esteem and almost no self-confidence.
I felt like it was my destiny to just blend into the woodwork of life, sort of alive but just content with being in the crowd.

Through the grace and mercy of God, I have been able to withstand the darkness of my past and come into the marvelous light of the love of God.
I am not special in and of myself but I am made righteous through my relationship with Christ.

I have been born (again) to let people know that you don’t have to be burdened with guilt and shame.
I want them to know that the chains of porn, addictions, and crap like that don’t have the power to hold them when they give their lives to the Lord.
Too often people struggle because when they look at Christians they see perfect people who seem to have it all together.
I don’t give glory to the devil with my testimony but I give all the glory to God for bringing me out.

For the next few days I will share what God has done for me.