Gerry Stoltzfoos

I remember when I was about 10 years old and I job shadowed Gerry for a day. It wasn't until after Shawna and I were engaged when I remembered Gerry telling me "someday I hope you marry one of my daughters" that same day when I was 10.

Gerry has been an amazing figure in my life. He has mentored me and spoken into my life many times since I was a child. I remember when I gave my life to the Lord 4 years ago, Gerry was one of the first people I went to get direction. I remember when I told him that the Lord got a hold of me, he put his arms around me and he cried tears of joy and I couldn't help but cry too. I knew that this man cared so much for me and he was serious when he said that he has been praying for me for years.

Its been a crazy adventure between then and now. But as of recent, Gerry and I went on a trip to Three Springs and then to the far west of PA. First to raise a church to life again and later to motivate people to plant churches. I don't know quite what it was about the trip but I do know that the enemy was putting last minute doubts in my mind about going (I could have stayed and gotten more work done and a thousand other things) but when doubt comes in you know you are on the right track. That trip and being with Gerry encouraged me and gave me more vision for spreading the gospel and encouraging people to do the same than almost any time before. I am so proud and glad to have Gerry as a father-in-law. Happy Birthday Gerry!!

Draw me closer to You, Lord.

John 15:5 (NIV)

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

How can we accomplish anything on our own? I believe the greatest mistake I make is when I start to function without the life support of the vine. Just like the vine is the life giver to the branches and is responsible for the fruit, so is God in our lives. How much more fruitful we would be if we would stay connected to the vine.

"All you need is love"? The Beatles were wrong!

Love and Respect go hand in hand in a healthy marriage relationship. Men need to love their wives and women need to respect their husbands. This is such a heavy topic and for anyone who is interested in understanding, I am planning to read this book

Love & Respect by: Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs and would invite anyone to join the reading with me. I heard recently that 51% of Christian marriages fail. I believe a huge part of it is due to the confusion and misunderstanding of communication between opposite sex. Luckily God had a reason and beautiful plan when he decided to not just make the male sex but male and female, we are "not wrong, just different". and we are different for a purpose. It is a pretty thing!

I am so impressed with our team of young leaders at the Freedom House. These guys are willing to sacrifice and go face-to-face with the hard challenges that most people would rather ignore. I have been so encouraged in our talks, even this morning. We sat down at Panera and while we were discussing ways to better portray Christ to the men in the home, the Holy Spirit showed up and encouraged us so much. We are not going to tolerate spiritual laziness and soft conviction. I am tired of hearing and seeing people cut corners on sin. We need to hunt sin down in our lives and destroy it with whatever it takes. I am so thankful for these men in my life, they challenge me on a daily basis.

I cracked Barry's back!

"..whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." We all know and have heard this scripture spoken by Jesus, written in the book of Mathew 25:40. I wonder sometimes if and when we serve the poor, we do it to make ourselves feel good, as if we are doing what Jesus wanted or if we are doing it because we love them. Because I am more afraid of what he says next "..whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Could it be that if we do not love the least we are not loving God?

I met Barry today, a homeless guy with a bad case of turret's. He was looking for a place to stay for the night, he asked if we could pay for a hotel. Instead of praying a pray for him and sending him on our way, since it is not procedure to give out money without attending a service, we offered a place for him to stay. After spending about an hour with him, listening, encouraging and cracking his back, I felt the Holy Spirit making a change in me. Jesus said that we will always have the poor, and many times through out scripture tells us to care for them, give to them, invite them into your home and share meals.

I guess, what I am getting at, is that an amazing thing happens inside or our hearts when we don't just read this stuff, but we take it seriously. I want to do this more often!

The difference is easy to see, hear and feel when you encounter truth from God. Our selfishness trys to blur truth and most the time suceeds at it. We need to seek out His truth with our whole hearts and not just skip over the stuff that is painful, if we want to experience a life more fulfilling.

The coolest thing about God is that He love us all the time. I realize that I spend a lot of time trying to realign myself with His way. Today I realize that He is not tired of me, He is eager for me to come to Him again.