Standing On What I Know

BY GREG LAURIE Billy Graham wrote me shortly after and described it as “Christopher’s sudden departure to heaven.”Christopher David Laurie had been walking with the Lord when he departed for heaven so unexpectedly. He had a wife, Brittany; a toddler, our precious granddaughter, Stella; and another daughter to be born that November, Lucy Christopher Laurie. He was art director at our church, Harvest Christian Fellowship, and was growing in his walk with Christ and studying the Bible more than at any other time in his life. In fact, he had recently opened his home for a small-group Bible study that he helped to teach. We were so proud of Christopher and Brittany’s progress in the Lord and how He was blessing them. But our son, so full of promise, was suddenly gone.In our lives here on earth, we will experience pain, grief, sickness and the death of loved ones. It’s depressing, but true. When we’re younger, we don’t necessarily understand this. As we get older, however, we typically experience the death of our grandparents. Time passes, and our parents die. As we continue to age, we know that day will eventually come for us, too, and our children will bury us.As hard as those realities might be, the unexpected deaths are even more difficult.None of us ever wants to bury our children. When this happens, our world seems to crash down around us, and we cry aloud to God.How does God feel about that? When we read the Psalms, we see that the psalmists really “let down their hair” with God. They cried out to Him and emptied the contents of their hearts. In Psalm 42:9-10, the writer says, “O God my Rock … why have you forsaken me? Why must I suffer these attacks from my enemies? Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound; again and again they scoff, ‘Where is that God of yours?’” (TLB). The psalmist is saying, “Lord, from where I sit, it seems like You’ve forsaken me, like You’re not even paying attention to me.” Then he corrects himself in verse 11, “But O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise Him for all that He will do. He is my help! He is my God!” (TLB). I have done this many times in my pain. Sometimes, like a sword, the reality that my son is gone pierces my heart. In despair, I begin to sob, “O, God. I can’t believe this. I can’t handle this pain!” But then I remind myself, My son is alive—more alive than he has ever been before. He’s in the presence of the Lord, and I am going to see him again, before I know it. I remind myself of God’s promises. My prayers are wide-open and honest, but I also remind myself of God’s truth. This is what prayer is. God wants us to cry out to Him. He invites us to do this. There is nothing wrong with bringing our pain, questions and broken hearts to God. David said, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8, NIV). Sometimes we allow trouble, trauma and hardship to cause us to be angry with God. We withdraw from Him and don’t want to talk to Him. My friend, that’s when you need Him more than ever! Cry out to Him with your doubts. Cry out to Him with your pain. He will patiently, lovingly, hear you. He might set your crooked thinking straight as you seek Him, but He wants you to pour out your pain. He loves you! Think of the way Job responded to devastating circumstances. Job not only lost a son, he lost seven sons and three daughters in one unimaginable day. And that was in addition to losing all his possessions and his health! But what did Job do? He cried out to the Lord, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21, NKJV). Job did go on to question God in the days that followed, saying, “Lord, why?” There’s nothing wrong with asking God why, as long as you don’t get the idea that He somehow owes you an answer. Frankly, God doesn’t owe you or me an explanation. Concerning our tragedy, I, too, have asked “Why? Why did this happen? Why couldn’t it have been me instead of him? I’m 56. I’ve lived enough life. Christopher was only 33. He was a loving husband, father, brother, son, friend. He was walking with God and serving Him. Why did God take him?” I was talking with Pastor Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa) recently, and he said to me, “Never trade what you don’t know for what you do know.” Those words stopped me in my tracks. I asked myself, “Well, what doI know?” I know that God loves me. I know that God loved and loves my son. I know that God loves Brittany, Stella and Lucy. I know that Christopher is well and alive in the best place he could ever be. I know that God can make good things come out of bad. I know that we’ll all be together again—on the Other Side.I know those things. I’m as sure as I can be. So I’m making the choice to stand on what I know instead of what I don’t know. If you asked me, “Greg, why did this happen?” I would answer, “I don’t know, and I don’t know that I ever will. I just know that I need God more than I have ever needed Him in my life.”In times of deep sorrow I sometimes call out my son’s name: “Christopher!” Then I call out: “Jesus!” I have never been so conscious of my utter dependence upon the Lord just to make it through my days. That fact is both heartbreaking and wonderful. I want you to understand something: You can take the hardest things that happen to you in life—the unexpected death of a loved one or the realization that you are going to die soon—and you can know this: God will be with you. Corrie Ten Boom, who survived imprisonment in a concentration camp during World War II, wrote, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.”For a Christian, death is not the end; it is merely moving from one place to another. It is the transition from earth to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26, NKJV). I believe it. I hope you do, too.
Greg LaurieGreg Laurie is senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship (independent/nondenominational), in Riverside, Calif., as well as an evangelist with Harvest crusades. He has written more than 10 books, including "The Upside Down Church." He and his wife, Catherine, are parents of two children and live in southern California.

I believe in you

As I sit here on my couch typing this post I am Blown Away! Having a relationship with the King of Kings is so AWESOME! I pray everyday to be filled with the PASSION that Jesus was filled with. I pray to see as he See's and for my heart to be broken for the lost like his is. Folks I am so undeserving of his mercy and grace. It's been 5 years ago that I first met Jesus and I have been in AWE every since that day. I get the privilege to serve at the best church in the nation "in my opinion" and I am surrounded by the best leaders in the world. Just to think 6 years ago I was abusing drugs and alcohol. Heck I was abusing pornography as well. I was a pathetic husband and father but still my wife loved me and she never give up on me. My Saviour never give up on me either. He reached down when I could not reach up. He picked me up out of the mud and made me as white as snow. Over the past five years I have learned so much but still I am dying to learn more! The truth is I have no clue what I am doing, I just do as the lord directs me! My heart breaks for the soul out their feeling depressed and oppressed! You don't have to go through life regretting it! You have people that believe in you and Love you! Most of all God Loves you! You may have been told he is out to get you and that is a lie from the pit of hell. He created you in his image, he created you to glorify him. Listen to me and if you don't read anything else I ever write PLEASE read this Satan HATES you, he wants to destroy you and cause you more and more pain. But you don't have to listen to his lies! He is a liar! OK now that I got that out! I encourage you to read Colossians 1 15-20 and meditate on it for a while. Folks I could go on and on but I want I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE LOVED! To the Critics out there I LOVE YOU TO! I pray for all of you who don't know Christ that your eyes will be opened! I pray for the believer out there who needs encouragement and needs to know what you do does matter. Finally I will close this post with a prayer. "Father Thank You so much Amen" When is the last time you said Thank You to God? Love you guys Jason

Blind

Good evening everyone! Unleash was off the chain I am so Humbled that I get to be a servant to anyone and everyone! I Love my Church and my peeps. Now let's dive right in to this post. I am going to be talking about being spiritually blind. In John chapter 9 verses 10-11, and also 35-38,39. Jesus has healed a blind man in these verses. I find it funny how the religious leaders demanded the man tell them who done this for him! Anyway that's another story for another time! Jesus said something in this scripture that blows me away. ' I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind!" The last part rocks my world. He is saying we should become blind to our plan and follow his! That's awesome that the creator of the universe would choose us. In this text the miracle is great. Jesus encounters one who has never seen or known light-a blind man from birth- and he gives this man sight and light. After Jesus spit on the ground and made mud, he covered the mans eyes with the mud. What happens next is a sign of how strong the mans faith was. Jesus told him go to the pool of Siloam and wash this off and you will see. So the man had to step up and go! After he washed his eyes he could see i can only imagine the excitement that came over him! He never had to go back to his begging post again! You see in verses 35-38 was the conversion. Jesus gave him a spiritual light also he could now see with his heart. The way to see in this world is a willingness to admit we are blind. The blind man did not argue with Jesus. He acknowledged his condition and his need. He submitted himself to Christ and was OBEDIENT! My question for you is we all have certain things we try to keep in the Dark! What are you trying to keep hid in your life? You see Jesus sees it all you can't hide it from him. Instead of hiding it ask Jesus to take it away and watch him do another awesome and great work! Love you Guys! Jason

Issues!

Hello! First i would like to say i hope you are having a great day. Im going to talk about the Church and comfort. The 2 should not be in the same sentence. I f you are trying to reach people for Christ you should never be comfortable while doing it! We have to step out of our comfort zone and reach people! For 2 long the people inside the church have been focused on there wants and needs and not the needs of the lost. The church should be were anybody can come, regardless of there clothes, car, hair, where they live or what they have done in there past. Who has the right to criticize a nonbeleiver and talk bad about them when they dont know any different. If there is anyone who should feel comfort in the church its the lost. The Church was not created for people to have permanent seats or parking , how dare people act like its theirs. The Church was created for Jesus Christ to be exalted not for congregations to have a Holy huddle! Im just sharing some very personal views and pet peeves of mine! Its my opinion and im not backing down. As far as youth goes heres one thing that burns me up is seeing a graveyard at a church well maintained and always shining, but the kids have to wash cars or sell donuts to go on youth camps. See the big picture is the people in the graveyard are dead and there decisions have been set. The Youth still need to be reached so why spend money on the non-important things that cemetary will not change the world. However our youth can make a huge impact. As far as the people that dont know Jesus what are we doing to change that.All throughout scripture the teachers of christ went out into the dangerous parts of town and reached out to them. So why are we not doing that today. You know what bothers me in the time it took to write this blog 100's of people have died without Jesus thus going to hell!!! That should be enough motivation for the Church! Faith does not require your details when God says do it just do it! This has challenged me WOW! man! I hope you get uncomfortable as well! One Love, One God, One Way! Later Jason!

Random Mind Racing!

I am in Awe that's all I can focus on! Street Ministry this week was so Awesome! We reached out to lots of people! It's because of people dedicating their time and money that we were able to feed the hungry, put brand new shoes on people that need them desperately, share the LOVE of JESUS with them and point them in the right direction to get cleaned up! These people are hungry folks! Hungry for HOPE...Hungry for LOVE..and Hungry for the TRUTH! JESUS has been rocking my world through Romans 10 lately as well as the book of Acts! Read Romans 10 and notice the ANYONE and EVERYONE. The believers in Acts met every need that needed to be met in their community, now that's how the current Church should be! We have more technology and more resources but still the Church is not reaching out in their communities like they need to be! I don't understand sometimes but we are not supposed to understand everything! I just know that THE LOT PROJECT through the POWER and LOVE of JESUS is going to pour into our communities until every sheep that's lost is found! We must leave the 99 to find the 1! JESUS did, so should we. This past week another name was added to the lambs book of life and that's what we are all about(LIFE CHANGE). I want to thank all of you who pour into THE LOT PROJECT. There are to many of you to list but you know who you are! This past Wednesday we were able to provide 31 high risk youth transportation to Church and today we were able to bring 17 Street Peeps to Church and that blows us away! I don't deserve any of this I deserve HELL and so do you but JESUS CHRIST died as a ransom for many"Mark 10:45" So to JESUS CHRIST be the glory! Thank You for blessing us so we can bless others. I pray this post encouraged you but challenged you. It was kind of scatter brained but my brain is still running wide open and I am still soaking all of this in! Love You and God Bless You! Love Jason Check out our new site @thelotproject.com.

Broken!

Scroll down this blog page and click on the top video on my you tube bar! Watch that and let God show you how big and Powerful he is! And that's enough said for today! I'm in AWE...... Street Ministry was Awesome yesterday still thinking and soaking it all in! Love You guys!

WOW

Wow! Yeah that's how I will start this post! I have been in AWE over the past 3 weeks at what Jesus has did in my life and the life of others! As most of you know I helped start an Outreach for Prostitutes, Drug Attics, and Homeless over 15 months ago! It has been a hard road and a very emotional road! There have been people come to Jesus over and over again! Oh! and that never gets old, we are all about Jesus and Life Change! About 8 months ago I took over as the leader of this ministry and it has been a challenge but a blessing! I am constantly humbled that Jesus Christ would choose me and a small group of others to do this type of Outreach! It went from handing out water in the summer months to feeding the homeless and reaching the types of people our world views as unreachable! So Thank You Jesus for that! So what am I getting at? About 1 month ago I met a Man Of God who had a vision like ours, his PASSION was incredible and from the start I knew God had planned for us to come together! Matt has a heart for high risk teens and homeless as well! I had been praying to Jesus for another leader and some other things like a bus to take people to and from Church on Sundays! Prayer answered Thank You Jesus! Me and Matt began to spend time praying and seeking God's plan for us coming together as one ministry! So we did, we are now "THE LOT PROJECT" Check us out anytime www.thelotproject.com! Last Sunday our first week of rolling the bus out was AWESOME we brought 10 people to church some that had never been before! Then last night we had 23 kids on the bus and 8 kids in the van it was fantastic! We pick these people up all over the place and 99% of them would never even have the transportation to get to church. So why do we do this? because as Christians we are called to serve and we just love serving! I Love bragging on Jesus! He is AWESOME! So streets here we come Greenville, Anderson, Iva, Belton, Honea Path and wherever he sends us we will go! I encourage you to read Romans 10 and pay attention to the EVERYONE and ANYONE! I could go on and on but I have tons of stuff to get finished before Street Ministry in the morning! I want you all to know WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS this would not be possible if we didn't have the support of all of you! I cant name everyone but you know who you are and we are so very THANKFUL for you! God Bless and I encourage you to tell someone about Jesus today! Look in front of you, look behind you and ask yourself, DO THEY KNOW WHO JESUS IS? If you have to think about it then you don't know so ask them! Lead them to Christ for we all know its only through him that we have TRUE LIFE "John 14:6".