A Building For Blazing Fire Church?!

Blazing Fire is 8 1/2 years along in our journey into the depth of the Father's heart and what a joy-filled ride it has been! In that time we have been in at least 8 different locations--none of them belonging to us. And while we have not needed our own place to host God's presence on Saturday nights and see people set free to walk out more of their God- appointed destinies, we have also been limited in what we know to be the huge vision God has given us to bring Kingdom transformation across the Bay Area and impacting the world!

So, we have been searching for a place to host the Presence of God where people can come to experience him throughout the week and where we can have a home base to send forth world-changers! This Saturday, May 29th, from 3:30-5:00 pm, we are having a meeting before our worship service (3200 Hopyard Road in Pleasanton) to share about our plans to proceed with an offer to lease the anchor spot of Vintage Hills shopping center in Pleasanton. It is a meeting for our Vision Builders (those who have let us know they see themselves as part of helping Blazing Fire fulfill our vision together), but the meeting is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the next steps we are taking. I will be sharing some of the 12 year history of how God has spoken to me specifically about this property, the process that we are moving through to attempt to lease it, and the ways we need to agree together in declarations for God to do what only He can do.

All of us have to chose between two options as we walk through life with the Lord--we can either step out and take risks when we truly believe we have received his direction and see where that takes us, or we can ignore those directions, not take any risks and wonder what might have been. Long ago, Suzanne and I made our choice that we have to push all of our chips into the middle of the table and bet on God. What else is there, really? And do you know what we've found out? The outcome isn't always what we thought would happen, but God has proved himself to be exceedingly good to us and the journey has been far better than we thought possible!

I share King David's sentiments, who said, "Who am I, Lord God, and what is my lineage, for you to have led me as far as this? Yet, to you, Lord God, this seemed too little, and now you extend your promises for your servant's family into the distant future...Because of your promise and since you were so inclined, you have had the generosity to reveal this to your servant. That is why you are great, Lord God! There is no one like you, no God but you alone, as everything that we have heard confirms." (2 Samuel 7:18-22)

Faith pleases God to no end. It tickles him to see that we trust him when we do not know what is coming. He invites us to live in the certainty that even though we don't know what the future holds, we firmly know who holds our future and we know that it will be a good one!

"'I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future!'" (Jeremiah 29:11)

So, is stepping out a little freaky at times? Maybe so, but it's also tremendously exciting to see what God will do when we follow his voice to higher ground. Let's keep going, all of us, in whatever God puts before us. And let's see how faithful God really is!

Hope is Stirring!

Hope, the way God defines it, is not wishing for something to happen, but it's a giddy anticipation of knowing that what God promised is absolutely going to happen! It's a feeling of almost not being able to contain yourself because you can't wait to see how God is going to come through for you! Huge deposits of hope that have been stored up within you--hope that may have been so hidden you didn't even know it was there, are beginning to burst forth as newfound excitement is overtaking old circumstances!! RISE UP and AGREE with the increased hope that is present! Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." God knows that you cannot go too long without that fire of hope rekindled in your soul, so he continually fulfills your longings from the inheritance that has been marked out for you through Christ, our perpetual Tree of Life!

The enemy's job is to get you to focus on what has not happened yet, rather than on celebrating the goodness of God and what He has done for you. You are blessed beyond measure and you are God's success story!! Don't fall into the trap of discouragement, thinking that difficult circumstances will never change or that you won't find your way out of a more challenging season of your life. God has chapters of your life prepared for you that would make you do flips in the air and squeal in delight, it's so good! Allow yourself to believe what I just said and you will start experiencing the hope that is already within you.

Yes, God is far better than you can imagine and he has mind-boggling plans for you that are unfolding at this very instant. Why? Because he is a Papa who ADORES you and who loves to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Sometimes, we are afraid to hope because we don't want to be disappointed, but if you do not give yourself full permission to hope, you have already lost the battle.

So, the Lord says to you: "Let the hope I have placed inside of you find its expression in the child-like joy of being mine and the certainty of knowing I am working all things out for your very best. Get excited about what I have in store for you because it's much better than you think!"

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart!" (Psalm 37:4)

Hope is Stirring!

Hope, the way God defines it, is not wishing for something to happen, but it's a giddy anticipation of knowing that what God promised is absolutely going to happen! It's a feeling of almost not being able to contain yourself because you can't wait to see how God is going to come through for you! Huge deposits of hope that have been stored up within you--hope that may have been so hidden you didn't even know it was there, are beginning to burst forth as newfound excitement is overtaking old circumstances!! RISE UP and AGREE with the increased hope that is present! Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." God knows that you cannot go too long without that fire of hope rekindled in your soul, so he continually fulfills your longings from the inheritance that has been marked out for you through Christ, our perpetual Tree of Life!

The enemy's job is to get you to focus on what has not happened yet, rather than on celebrating the goodness of God and what He has done for you. You are blessed beyond measure and you are God's success story!! Don't fall into the trap of discouragement, thinking that difficult circumstances will never change or that you won't find your way out of a more challenging season of your life. God has chapters of your life prepared for you that would make you do flips in the air and squeal in delight, it's so good! Allow yourself to believe what I just said and you will start experiencing the hope that is already within you.

Yes, God is far better than you can imagine and he has mind-boggling plans for you that are unfolding at this very instant. Why? Because he is a Papa who ADORES you and who loves to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Sometimes, we are afraid to hope because we don't want to be disappointed, but if you do not give yourself full permission to hope, you have already lost the battle.

So, the Lord says to you: "Let the hope I have placed inside of you find its expression in the child-like joy of being mine and the certainty of knowing I am working all things out for your very best. Get excited about what I have in store for you because it's much better than you think!"

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart!" (Psalm 37:4)

One-Liners from Bethel Church in Redding

This past week, Suzanne and I, along with our Elders, went to the Leadership Advance at Bethel Church in Redding. Blazing Fire Church is in submission to Bill Johnson and the Senior Leadership of Bethel Church and we travel up there twice a year to remember our identity as world-changers and bringers of the Kingdom of God. Take in these one-liners and remember how big your God is and how much your life is changing because of Christ in you!

"If I can explain everything that’s going on in my life, I have an inferior God. You don’t want a God that looks just like you!"

"When you’re acting like God, you’re being yourself!"

"Religion is exalting wineskins over the wine--The treasure has always been the wine!"

"Revelation is the product of a friendship with God."

"Passion always looks like sacrifice to people who are not in love."

"The Lord only leads us into a conflict we are ready to win. The only chance the enemy has is to get us to be fearful, to get us disengaged from what the Lord has already done for us!!!"

"The honor I give determines the honor I will receive."

"In a culture of honor, you learn to celebrate who a person is without stumbling over who they are not."

"You would have to be completely intoxicated in the presence of God to believe all that God says will happen and all that he has promised :)"

"Slowing down helps you to go faster--We can only go in Christian activity where we have already gone in rest!"

"Vision gives pain a purpose."

"The people who never make a mistake are people who never do anything."