The Last blog of the Year

What to say in the last entry of the year...

Should it be funny? My daughter's latest blog shared that her most fond memories of this holiday season was seeing yours truly fall down two times. (And not just stumble--I mean one was all the way on my face and the other was completely on my backside with feet high in the air. Dumb dog and ice in the driveway. At least Bekah enjoyed it...)

Should I write a year in review? Do I write on the coming year? Decisions, decisions.

I can affirm this: God is faithful and he has proven it again this past year. That makes me trust Him for the coming year and actually anticipate what is in store. CE National plans (Momentum, Operation Barnabas, OBI, National Institute, Urban Hope, etc) are always a step of faith --and this coming year will be no different. What will happen in our family? Church? Our ministry? Even though I have no idea how it will look, I am sure it will be good!

So to all who may read this, I trust that at this point next year we will be able to look back on 2009 and say that God used our decisions, actions, and reponses to make us more like His Son Jesus.

Happy New Year!

Gift Giving

There has been a great deal more emphasis in Christendom upon helping the poor and the needy. Years ago, I think we would have been afraid to go down this road because someone may have thought we were "liberal". But thankfully, that is not the case anymore.

The last two years of Momentum youth conference has had a huge emphasis on helping those in need. Going to Mississippi, doing major work in Dayton Ohio, taking offerings that totaled over $94,000 for orphanages and feeding hungry children. Awesome stuff. And this year the partnership to do something major thorgh Momentum in Pittsburgh is incredible. We need to really pray for this as it could make a huge impact.

Our churches are doing more than ever before to help those who are hungry need help. I hope some have gotten a "nudge" from youth conferecne that that is what they should be doing all year long...

As I have been reading the newspaper late, I have notice a lot of groups helping the poor. Toys for Tots, United Way, companies giving donations, etc. And that is awesome. But there has been one thing that keeps coming to my mind: So how is what I do as a Christian any different than any of these secular groups?

In mulling it over I have two thoughts. One is this: Motive. It's not just what I do, but why I do what I do. A gift like this--when given with the motivation that God is going to use this, has an eternal consequence. All too many times I hear "it made me feel good" to give. That may be true--but if that is the motivation, how is a Christian's response any different than someone who does not know Christ helping out. Motive has a great deal to do with it. Scripture talks about the concept of motive.

The other thought is this: The only difference is Jesus. Doing these nice things without tying them to Jesus--the real hope--will only be short lived. There is no difference between the United Way and what a church does to help out--except that one can help for so much longer than the other. Eternity works that way.

So Merry Christmas. And as for me, I trust that any of the good will that I show to my fellow man at this time of years is a means for Christ to shine all the more. I don't think it is selfish, but I want any impact to be for the here-and-now as well as for eternity. Now that is a gift worth giving.

An Encouraging Word

I received an e-mail the other week that was a real encouragement. But rather than tell you about how it blessed me, I'll just share it in this format so you can enjoy it too!
TK

Thank you for including Feed My Starving Children in our week at Cedarville this past summer! My youth group had the chance to work with them, and after our experience, I shared with the rest of the Momentum students that I was curious to see if we could bring them to our hometown. Well, that curiosity is becoming a reality! I attend a private school called Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy and only a couple other students from my youth group attend there as well. After speaking with administration and faculty, we had the go-ahead to bring them to our school in March of 09! This has begun to define my senior year, and there is no better way I can think of using this time. We presented this to our school on November 6th and used a similar format as Jim Brown (CE National Board Member and Momentum speaker) when he talked to us on Wednesday night. Je'Rod Cherry, (three-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots who is a Momentum youth sponsor and who auctioned off one of his Super Bowl rings for charity on Thanksgiving Day) who also attends my church spoke as well. Many students were impacted by the facts and verses that we shared and challenged them with, and we have raised over six thousand dollars so far! It has been amazing to let God use us in such a surreal way and to witness His power so closely. It has all been Him- all the barriers that could have hindered us, He destroyed! And I know for certain that He is behind all of it. Besides, being a servant of the One has blessed ME! I am hungry and thirsty for more of Him and His power and I am learning more and more about loving Him and His commandments and pursuing a life that imitates Him with passion!

I wanted to thank all those who are involved with Momentum and also with Operation Barnabas- I had the opportunity to be a part of the domestic trip in 07 and the international trip in 08. CE National and all those who partner with them will always hold a special place in my heart for the way they have allowed God to do mighty things through them. My Savior has revealed Himself to me in so many ways through these programs. I just wanted to thank you and ask you to please pray for my school and how God is moving here in Northeast Ohio.

God Bless,
Cassie

Family Update

On this blog, I usually write about events,ideas, or random thoughts. This entry is going to be about the people that matter most to me: my family. So here goes!

Bekah is making every plan to obtain her Indiana drivers license before I can write to you again. She is a good driver and ready to be 16 and driving on her own. Little does she know that her mom and dad are excited that she can run errands for us—like picking up milk from the store, dropping her brother off at school, and …. ;-) She is still active at church, with the youth group and overseeing nursery activities. She continues to babysit and be discipled by a mom of five little ones. School comes way too easily for her so she has lots of time for Facebook.

Nick is now playing on the basketball team at school. We told him that if he looks at his genetics, he better enjoy this one year of b-ball! He is just doing it to be with his friends, so it has worked out just fine. School is a breeze for Nick. We are still waiting for the first “B” of his life (or “A-” for that matter). Looks like we might be waiting for a while…

Dana has been getting quite a few calls for substitute teaching as there is a great deal of sickness in our schools right now. We even got hit pretty hard as a family about a month ago—but all are well now. She has been very faithful to working out numerous days each week and has been enjoying that.

As far as our schedules, we will stay close to home through the holidays.

Thanks to all who pray for us, who financially support us, and love us.

Merry Christmas!

2008 A Year in Review

I don’t know if I can remember a time in my life where the year has flown by this quickly. I have had a hard time remembering to write “2008” on my checks rather than “2007”—and here in just a few weeks I’m going to have to remember to use a different year altogether! And while it has sped by-- it has also been an incredibly busy, meaningful, and significant year. I look back on 2008 and reflect on God’s goodness:

We developed a crazy idea to have our Operation Barnabas tours start with orientation in California and the teams attend two Momentum youth conferences. The interesting part is that the two conferences were separated by over 2400 miles! So our three ob teams did ministry all across the US. This was a first and it was incredible. People got saved, churches were challenged, and lives were changed. The only “fixing” of one of the three buses that traveled from CA to Ohio with over 100 people was a $5.00 radiator cap. What a blessing—of safety in travel, and one of the best summers of ministry in the 35 year history of Operation Barnabas.

As part of the Momentum West youth conference, we got to participate in a Wowjam outreach festival to the homeless on Skidrow in LA. There were thousands who attended and it was life changing for all who participated.

The Momentum East conference saw an offering that benefited orphans and starving children around the world to the tune of $96,000. I have never been a part of something like this before.

The second annual ob ministry reunion took place just last month in Philadelphia at the Urban Hope Training Center. Two-thirds of the 2008 OBers participated. What a blessing. Sure, there are struggles team members have and are dealing with. But what a great opportunity to minister together again. This weekend is quickly turning into one of my favorite Friday through Sundays of the entire year…

And speaking of Urban Hope Training Center, one of the campaigns with which I assist is a drive to help provide Thanksgiving meals to needy families. This continues to provide open doors for sharing the good news of Jesus. We are praising the Lord because there have been at least 8 people who have prayed to receive Christ at UHTC in the last two months AND we received more gifts than ever before for the Thanksgiving meal give-away. Even in a tough economy, God and His people came through AGAIN.

Every time we turn around, God is blessing. What a year. But 2008 has also had its challenges. So that requires us to continue to trust and pray! 2009, here we come!