Hey Friends,

“Good Friday.” How can we call what happened so long ago “good?” I wonder who named this event in the past? Today, so long ago, our Lord had not slept. He had been up all night in trials and abuse. As soon as Pilot was up, the religious leaders had Him there to be crucified. The momentum and the mob were on their side. Little did anyone know that this was the plan all along. Everybody thought they were in control that day. Guess we still have the illusion of control?

You know the rest of the story. He was scourged, which means skinned alive. He was marched up the Via Dolorosa and nailed to a cross for the last few hours of horror. Strangely enough, the devil thought he had won. Death laughed as did the religious leaders who were pawns for all that was happening.

Then almost as quickly as it had started, it was over. He cried out, “It is finished” or “paid in full!!!”  At that moment in time your sin debt was paid. No one realized what had just happened. God did, and now we do – at least I hope we do.

Now it is the weekend – my favorite weekend of the year. Easter. Thank you, Jesus! This weekend we get to celebrate all He did. I pray this weekend that the sacrifice paid for you means more to you than it ever has.  I pray you see the love God has for you and you feel the embrace of your heavenly Father.

The miracle of the resurrection was God’s AMEN that it is all true. His power abides in His followers and there is nothing we can’t overcome, for our Lord is an Overcomer!

Happy Resurrection,

Pastor

Hey Friends,

As many of you know, I grew up on the wrong side of the law. The word BUSTED had very ugly connotations for me and my friends. It meant you were arrested. That is exactly what will happen to Jesus tonight, so long ago. On His last night as a free man he planned a very special dinner with the disciples. It was the Passover and He turned it into the Lord’s Supper. The Passover was about remembering the lamb’s blood on the door and the Lord’s Supper would commemorate His blood on the cross.

For over two thousand years His followers have studied this night – His teaching, love, compassion, and service in the washing of the disciples’ feet. He washed the feet of Judas knowing he was about to betray Him. He washed Peter’s feet knowing he would deny Him that very night. Jesus showed love unconditionally! He is our example.

After the festivities were over, He and His followers left for the Garden to pray. They failed Him as they slept through His harshest moment in forever. He loved them anyway. Then came the kiss from Judas, arrest, healing of the ear, and the mock trials. The jealous leaders all got their turn to abuse and mock the Master. He loved them anyway.

For Jesus it was a night of horrors. It was for you and me, and yet worse was on the way. Friday was coming and its cross. Meditate on that as we celebrate our salvation.

Love ya,

Pastor

Hey Friends,

If today were the last free day you would spend on planet earth, how would you spend it? Who would you spend it with – the people you love most? A pretty important question, don’t you think? Who would you spend it with? This really does speak to our priorities and the people we love the most!

Wednesday was the last full day Jesus would ever have on this side of heaven with His followers. As you read the Gospels, He is teaching them, preparing them, warning them, and yet they don’t get it. He is talking straight to them and they miss it completely. I wonder if He is communicating specific things to us and we are also deaf to it? A possibility, you must admit. For me it means I must strain to hear and keep the spiritual antenna in tune with the Spirit of God.

This past Sunday was Palm Sunday and tomorrow will be the Passover – Last Supper – and it will begin in earnest tomorrow night. I would encourage you to spend some time in reflection and meditating on the suffering and the cost of your salvation. One thing is for sure, if you give a very expensive gift it means you love the recipient. God must surely love us; look at the cost of the gift for us. “For God so loved the world He gave…”

We serve a God that is all about giving, and He asks so little in return. It seems to me that He always gets the short end of the stick! I got Christ and He got Chris – yep, He got the short end.

Today, so many years ago, was His last day and He spent it with His disciples because He loved them. Today we are His disciples and He loves us just as much. Let your heart contemplate that thought.

Happy Resurrection!

Pastor

Hey Friends,

This is a great week to seek the Lord. In all recent surveys in America, more people than ever before do not see Easter as a “religious” holiday. You and I are watching the secularization of our society! Scary? The America we grew up in is rapidly being replaced with a secular state. Some, to be sure, celebrate in this news and yet the bulk of Christ-followers are broken and want to make a difference.

My challenge to you is to seek the Lord while He may be found. I love Easter. It is a great time to seek the Lord and celebrate the historical fact of the resurrection from the dead by Jesus. This was God’s AMEN to His truth. Romans 1:4 says, “Who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead…”

If you are a Christ-follower it is time to celebrate! As we worship and God transforms us we become more of what the world needs. That is when the Lord can open their eyes to the joy and peace that is found in the heart of the redeemed. Let us reflect the glory and goodness of God in the way we live. Remember that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you. You have the power to walk in freedom.

Easter is a great time to invite people to church with you. In this season they are just a little more open. Now is the time to ask again. Go ahead and step out in faith and ask. What can it hurt? This could be the time God has been working toward in them.

Let’s prepare our hearts to celebrate that our Lord rose from the dead, no matter what the world does. We get to go to heaven because of His sacrifice and resurrection. Praise His Name!

He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Love,

Pastor

Hey Friends,

Tomorrow night Sacred Storm begins and the Easter season will officially be launched! We are coming to the conclusion of the 21 and 7 day fasts and we are expecting the Lord to show up in Pentecostal Power! Remember the blog from Monday - we have chosen to step out in faith and believe God to do a mighty work that only He can do! This, again, is placing yourself in a position where you can be disappointed.

To walk in faith is believing that God will do it. Whether you are a part of FPC or in the leadership or Kaleo community that read this blog, I encourage you to pray for us in this endeavor and the spiritual warfare we will encounter as we try to share Jesus with thousands who do not know Him.

What are you trusting God for that if He does not come through you will feel let down? As Christ-followers and leaders we must remain in a position of requiring His power. For if we do all we do in our own power, then we are not walking and ministering in His. He still has the power to save, heal, change a life, and transform a heart. We need to trust that He is, and He will do it. That is ministering in faith.

“Those that walk in the flesh can not please God.” That is pretty hard to misinterpret. Our God is able. I can’t wait until I can report the life change that is about to happen!

It is my prayer that you experience Jesus in a fresh new way this Easter season.

I covet your prayers.

Pastor Chris

Hey Friends,

As spiritual leaders we read the Bible often, or at least I hope we do. I find myself wondering and wanting more of what I read, don’t you? I read Acts and long for the power of Pentecost and the miracles of the apostles. But do I want to do what they did to get what they got?

Do I want the power of Pentecost, but what about the prayer of Pentecost? Ten days in the upper room before the Spirit of God fell… I haven’t been in many prayer meetings like that, have you? We want God to move like in days of old, but to do the things of old, are we too busy? Will our activity accomplish more today without the prayer and fasting? We know the answer, don’t we?

Easter season is almost on us. At Faith Promise it is a huge outreach season for us. We will have Sacred Storm on Thursday through Sunday, March 25-28, then celebrate Easter on Friday through Sunday, April 2-4. We will have about 12,000 people for those two weekends. But what will happen that will last forever? What miracles can we expect?

Do we pray for the dramas and messages and music to be ready? Is it for the people to equal out at 1,000 in each service? Or do we pray for a harvest of souls that only God can accomplish?

The worship team is seeking God like never before. They have called for a 21-day fast. I have called the entire church for a 7-day fast leading up to Sacred Storm. You can choose when to start, but let’s seek the Lord for a powerful move of the Holy Spirit.

Pray that God will save over a thousand between the two weekends! How’s that for Pentecostal power? Together we can see the Lord move.

What are you expecting the Lord to do?

Just a question…

Pastor Chris