The winds have shifted, they are now blowing Easterly.  The tides have quickened, their assault against the shores of Grace have been hurried.  The rhythm of life has been hastened, for time sees its Omega.  The gilded horsemen are being hurried from their eternal stable to finally ride their apocalyptic stampede.

Friends, the earth is witness NOW to the Church’s greatest hour!  The Red Heifer is found.  The Temple appointments are set.  Nations are increasingly becoming anti-Semitic.  Nuclear power is now in the hands of a radicalized despot who is committed to the destruction of Israel.  Need I mention the horrific earthquakes that have shaken Indonesia and California as well as the tsunami that has devastated America Samoa?  Drought, famine, conflict, war, unrest, insecurity, economic collapses are but a few of the disasters that checker the landscape of this week’s news.

This past weekend was a landmark weekend in the history of our church.

We launched into a new orbit of church life.  We demonstrated that we really can “do” church so that unbelievers could “see” the church.  What excitement!  What fulfillment!

 Well, today was another win for the Church of Champions.  Today a big yellow Caterpillar bulldozer arrived to begin moving our earth and shaping our future!  Champions, God is up to some BIG things on our behalf and each of us have been granted front row seats!

Dear friends,

The times in which we live demand the best we have to give.  In our Kingdom mandate, Jesus commissioned us to go into “all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Today, pastors and ministry leaders must preach and teach with a renewed passion and boldness – for “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Pastor, preach with clarity.  Teachers, speak with purpose.  For it is the declaration of the Jesus message that will change lives, heal hurts, and position people in their God-ordained destiny.  To make the message of Jesus plain is to make it a living reality.  It is a living gospel.  It produces authentic transformation.  The gospel touches and transforms the spiritual, relational, and social strata of life and brings genuine transformation to all of these areas. It is complete in its scope and effect!

Survey says 54 percent of nonprofits said they are raising less money than a year ago.

In an article written by Andrea Ball, staff writer for Austin’s American Stateman, it is reported that 54% of all nonprofit organizations (that is your local charities) in Texas said they lost donations in the past year. And yet, 66 of 100 area nonprofits reported an increase in demand for services.  Nearly 20 percent said they had laid off staff, and another 10 percent said they planned to do so within the next year. Another 18 percent said they were worried they would have to shut their doors.

The snapshot of local philanthropy echoes what nonprofits across the country are saying: A recent report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University said 86 percent of fundraisers surveyed by that group reported that the economy is having a negative effect.  Meanwhile, a study by Guidestar — a national group that studies nonprofit trends — showed that 52 percent of those it surveyed raised less money than the year before.

I don’t know about you, but all of this negative news makes me want to do something totally off the charts – it makes me want to become ridiculously generous.  I want to give until what God is doing through me is a total God-thing. It's off the chain. I want to give with no strings attached. I want to give until it makes a huge impact in the lives of the people I serve.

“Everything seemed to be going great, and then all of a sudden, WHAM!  From out of nowhere I was blindsided!  I never saw it coming.”  We’ve all heard comments like this from those who have encountered disappointments, heartaches, and outright tragedies.  Their “whams” run the gamut from unexpected problems with a spouse, a child, a friend, or a relative to difficulties with a coworker, a boss, or a company.    Many times adversity comes in the form of an unexpected illness or a life-altering disease or the death of a loved one.  But what surprises me is not that people encounter adversity in life but the fact that they are so surprised that it happens to them. They seem to act as if adversity were a rare event in human history, as if it were somehow a unique and abnormal event.  In reality, adversity is as much a part of life as eating, sleeping, and breathing.

While none of us desire to experience difficult challenges in life, no one ever makes it though life without their share of adversity.