American Idol Gives God Great Glory!

Last Saturday night Pam & I took our daughter Leslee and her friend Kennedy to Decatur Illinois to see Matthew West and Mandisa. I was really excited about seeing Matthew West and the girls were excited to see Mandisa. Mandisa was on American Idol two years ago. I went to the concert with a heavy mind thinking about things other than going to a great concert. Mandisa was on stage first. She came out and was so much fun! She did a medley of soul hits from yesteryear. I think she was better or as good as some of the original singers! We were just singing away having fun. Then after a few more songs she told about what had happened at the American Idol auditions. She auditioned and was invited to go to Hollywood. After she left the audition room Simon made a terrible comments about her being oversized. Mandisa said she was so down after that. During that time she had people praying for her and for Simon. They prayed that she would forgive him. Right before Mandisa was to go into the room to sing the next time the TV people told her that she could say anything she wanted to say. So she walked in and sat down. She said "Simon I forgive you, because Jesus has forgiven me for all I've done wrong so I'm extending that forgiveness to you". Simon got up and hugged her. It was really cool to see that kind of witness on america's #1 TV show. At the concert Mandisa went into a time of worship that was so inspiring and it brought me to the place where I kind forgot everything else for a while and I enjoyed God's presence in a special way that night.

It's refreshing when someone is doing their best to live for the Lord and they bless other people.

Mandisa is a blessing! Afterwards I took a few pics as Leslee and Kennedy got their picture taken with her after getting her autograph. Oh and by the way Matthew West was really great too!

Time with God

Lately I've been on a 30 day quest to spend time with the Lord alone. I read the Bible and pray for myself and others each day for about 10-20 minutes. I know it's kind of legalistic the way I'm doing it, but it really has helped me a lot. I'm on day 19 and now I don't want to miss a day where I quiet my world down and spend some time with just me and the Lord! I looked forward to that time and I've been getting stuff out of it even when I started to do it just, because I made a commitment to do so for 30 days. The other day something bothered very deeply at around 8:00. Instead of tackling many things that I needed to do that day I took a few minutes to read my Bible & pray. A verse popped into my mind that I memorized a long time ago. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with thanksgiving make your requests to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." I prayed that as a prayer and it was amazing how much better I felt afterwards. My typical response would have been to get busy with the day and let that worrisome situation get the best of me for the rest of that day. I want to encourage other followers of Christ to start on a 30 day quest of Quiet Time with God too! Go ahead start today.

It keeps going and going and going

This last Sunday our Honduras youth missions team got the privilage of sharing what God did on our missions trip last July and what God has done in our lives! I was very nervous about it, because a lot of time had passed since we returned and I was afraid that the passion and fire would have gone out already. During the services I stood there amazed not only at what God did on our trip and in the lives of our youth, but also in the response of our congregation. People loved hearing from the youth. They nearly cried as Diana (youth leader) shared about Carlos who always smiles, because he feels that he is alive only by Jesus! The drama was also very moving. There are so many people that have told me that they were touched deeply. One man said that he was so moved that when he tried to speak to Eric (who played the role of Jesus very well) he was unable. Some others had tears in their eyes and the children were glued to what was happening.

At the end we had a prayer time that lasted through a couple of songs. I had our pastoral staff plus Pam pray for people and they all had people coming up to them. It was so cool to see God working in people as they responded to God! I feel like the Lord not only used our youth team down in Honduras, but they are also touching people lives here through this trip and effort!

One other awesome thing is that the children's home in Honduras that we have been helping with is now launching a church. They've had over 100 women & children coming on Sunday mornings! Now the people who we have been reaching out to are reaching out to others in a great way! So our efforts and any effort that makes a difference in someone's life can make a difference in many other lives that are affected by the person whomm you or I reached out to in the first place. The people who were reached by the people you reached can reach others.... it keeps going, and going.....and going.........

Getting Into Shape

About 3 weeks ago I decided that I needed to start getting into better shape. So I did what I've done a bunch of times before and went for a jog. Usually the first jog after being in poor shape isn't too bad, because I'm motivated. The next day I wasn't very motivated, but I went out anyways and jogged a mile and a half very slowly. I kept doing that and I realized that I was starting to get into shape. The course that I ran slowly was becoming easier. Once in a while I even ran fast (for me). Then I saw an ad for a 5k race at the Cheese Fest in Arthur on Labor Day. I thought that I'd love to run it, but I better make sure that I can run that far first. So I ran that distance twice and I determined that I was going to run it. I still was a little chicken so I wanted my daughter Alyssa to run it with me. She runs that kind of race all of the time in Cross Country. I just wanted someone to run with me (slowly) so I'd be encouraged to finish it. So we got there and we were at the starting line and I got a little nervous. Not because I thought I'd go too slow, but because I thought I might run too fast and get tired out. As the gun went off EVERYONE seemed to be passing me. I ran the first half or so with Alyssa until I knew she was like a caged animal ready to be let out to run. In just over a mile she passed 22 people. As for me on the other hand, I think I only passed two people. One young boy who was out of shape and a man about 20 years older than me who basically did some kind of super power walk. I learned some things on that race day! 1. It helped having an experienced runner like Alyssa with me giving running advice. 2. I really needed this other runner whom I didn’t know to encourage me after Alyssa took off to run fast. 3. Don’t freak out at the starting line! 4. It’s always easier to be a spectator than a runner. 5. Some people will cheer you on even if they don’t know you. 6. I thought that I’d run really fast when I saw the finish line, but I could only run a little faster. 7. It helped that people were cheering me on! I also thought about how we all need to have these things in our lives spiritually. It was a cool experience and I accomplished one of my life goals. I ran and finished a 5k without walking. Next up a few more 5k's, then hopefully 10K & mini marathon. I'm way ahead of myself but I'm just hoping & dreaming of doing those things right now!

See How It Grows

A few years ago, Pam was given this tiny willow tree by a coworker at her school that loves growing trees, bushes etc. We let the tree sit in its small pot outside throughout the winter. We thought it was dead. Then spring came and I saw a little life in it so I watered it. The little thing grew a little bit at a time. Then I repotted it in a larger pot, because it's growth had plateaued. Then two falls ago I planted it in the ground. As I returned from work one day I saw one of the branches had been broken off. I thought it would be ok, because it still had three decent branches. Then the next day two more were broken off. I looked at it closely and realized that bunnies were eating the little willow tree. I was determined to give this little willow a chance to live so I put a little fence around it. This whole time Pam had poked fun at my little tree obsession. I watered that thing most days and it grew again. After a full spring & summer of growing it was much larger than before 3 of the 4 branches were gnawed off by those ferocious bunnies. It's a new spring and I can't wait to see how high & wide our little willow will grow. I made a preciction that our willow would grow taller than our neighbors tree on the other side of the fence are by fall of 2008. My little Leslee shares my love and optimism for "willow". I'll show you this summer how it's doing. If we take this little lesson we can look at things in our lives and see how we can help people, jobs or ministries to grow if we don't give up and water them consistantly!

Representing Well!

This last weekend one of my college roommates Jim Boscaljon was inducted into the Judson College (soon to be University) Athletics Hall of Fame. Jim is still the second all time leading scorer in Men's Basketball at Judson. I was privilaged to get to play basketball with him for 1 1/2 years. We both played in the Alumni game last weekend and finished the game successfully (these days "successfully" means not getting hurt). It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of friends. In Jim's last basketball game the coach from Olivet Nazarene who had coached for years against Jim said that Jim represented Judson well over his four years of playing. I thought that was a great compliment that the coach gave to him that day. I thought about a deeper concept though in regards to all of us as followers of Christ. Pastor Wisehart who was the senior pastor at First Baptist in Marshalltown once gave a sermon on making God look good. He said that's our job. If we make God look good people will more likely believe & follow Jesus. So how am I representing Him right now? How are Christians all over doing in this regard? Each of us followers needs to do our best to represent Him well. This last Sunday we also visited Christ Community Church in St. Charles Illinois. The Pastor preached on living for the Lord in our workplace. He said it well when he proclaimed that we are God's ambassadors in whatever workplace He has in right now! That can give us real meaning to whatever we do. Hopefully one day we'll hear the Lord say "Well done my good & faithful servant!"

Connecting With Friends

It's been a while since I've submitted a new post, but I've been thinking about this one for a while. I don't really like to make New Year's Resolutions, but I sort of have one this year. My resolution is to try to connect better with people in my life now and from the past. We had the high school group called SALT (Student Action Leadership Team) over to our house for the annual Christmas Spaghetti dinner. Kurt brought over the incredible Italian bread that I'm sure had about 8 million calories per bite, but it was awesome! You'll see a green and red picture (green & red shirts) and a picture of all the youth and Kristen (youth leader). We sat around and told stories and laughed for most of the time. I hadn't laughed so hard in such a long time!

The day after Christmas our family went out to California to see Pam's family and to participate in a wedding of (Gina) one of the girls that was in our first youth group while we were in seminary. It was a great time to reconnect and be a small part of their very special day! We talked a lot with the all grown up youth (mostly in their 30's by now) and caught up on what's happening as well as laughed at old stories of yesteryear! What a fun time!

On New Year's Day the four of us Chambers went to the beach and put our feet into the COLD water. We also found this huge starfish that you'll see in the picture. We literally soaked up those moments in the California sun since we would be back in the midwest the next day! So all in all I guess you'd say that my wish is that for all of our friends and family out there to know that we truly love you and are glad that you have been in our lives!