ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

WHAT TIME IS IT?  The minutes are ticking away, and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, there is so much to be done!  And never enough time to do it in!  Or so it seems.  With all that has been a part of our lives these past weeks and months, God is ever reminding me that He will always provide the exact amount of time to accomplish ALL that HE wants us to do!  Most likely not everything on MY list – but HIS list!  There are times when He strengthens me as I “burn the midnight oil” – and there are times when He pushes me down the hall and into my bed!  Lesson learned:  schedules and lists are changeable … and my rested body is a much better vessel for God to use the next day.  God can more easily show His glory through a “rested me” than a “frazzled, frustrated me!”

What time is it?  It’s time to listen to God’s idea to thumb through hundreds of penned manuscripts from years ago and share something that resonates in my heart that He gave me back then.  Sometimes the intensity of recent days can leave my mind reeling.  So God, I give in.  You show me how to condense this writing from another time in my life and make it relevant for where we are in this place! 

What time is it?  It’s almost time to enjoy a bounteous Thanksgiving feast with family and friends … but first, it’s time to drink in.  It’s time to drink that precious spiritual water that flows from God’s Word.  And with God’s idea, I am going back in time to share what one of God’s chosen vessels challenged us with nearly twenty years ago at a conference in Grand Rapids. Michigan.  With God’s anointing on his lips, our evening speaker said. “It is time for God’s glory to be shown!”  Rev. John DeVries, President of Mission 21 in India, shared some challenging thoughts that I want to share with you!  He stated that if we look around us, we’re quickly reminded that every decade since the 1950’s, the natural disasters in our world have doubled.  That, in itself, brings heartache and discouragement and fear.  Challenge:  we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus – not on the devil!  Talking about circumstance and worship, DeVries said, “We don’t worship – or put God to the test – because things are so bad … but because the Father is so great!  God is standing there waiting for us to come to Him and say, ‘Daddy, we need You to fix things on our street.  We told everyone You could, because You’re so great!’”  What if … just what if … we would pray like that – because after all, we do believe it, right?  Or do we really?  If we do, then we need to act on it!  Our speaker continued to share that God’s instructions always come with a touch of irrationality.  After all, who else would have thought of spitting on the ground, making mud with the saliva, and then using it to heal the blind man’s eyes?  (John 9:1-7)  God doesn’t fit human logic!  God also doesn’t need spiritual marketing!  He wants His church to move by His Spirit, so the world will see that it is God’s church!  DeVries made the bold, but true statement that we in America don’t pray like we should.  We don’t pray like the Christians in persecuted nations around the world.  They pray in a deeper dimension of faithfulness, commitment, fervency, and expectancy.  And what we need to know is that when we pray – God works – and things change, people change, we change!  We don’t need big plans and strategies – we need to pray! 

What time is it?  It’s time to pray in our community, to realize that we are living stones for one purpose – to be cemented together in spiritual houses,  God’s glory will shine through us into our community!  Suddenly we will see lives changed and transformed.  We will see His wonders.  We can pray like those in persecuted countries, if we just will!  What time is it?  It’s time to start saying, “My Dad can fix it!  Let’s go tell Him.  Let’s let everybody on the street know how great He is!”

What time is it?  It’s time to go to the people!  Do we think just inviting someone to come to church or to come to God will fix it?  Dr. DeVries reminded us that Jesus didn’t invite us to Heaven, He came to earth to us!  He wore our flesh, our clothes.  He expects us to do the same; not to invite the people, but to go to them.  We must flip open the door, and let the gospel flow.  God will do the work if we focus and not flounder!  Lesson, re-stamped upon my heart:  “One of the greatest temptations of the devil is to tell us we are called to do the good God hasn’t called us to do, so we will be so busy – that we won’t have the time to do what God has called us to do”  God’s blueprint!  We need it before we can begin – our day, our work, our plans!  I challenge you as I was challenged:  “Go with power.  Go with dignity.  Make your spiritual walk continuous, not an event.  Continuous ministry in prayer!  Become a living stone – build a new house of prayer!”

What time is it?  It’s time!  Time to be a vessel built into a spiritual house – that shines forth the glory of God!

REMEMBER . . .

“As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him –

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,

offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’”

~ I Peter 2:4-6

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

FROM SURVIVAL TO REVIVAL!  Good catch-phrase, huh?  Oh, but wrong!  It is SO much more than that! It is a way of life that we all seek, because many times in our lives, we are definitely in survival mode!  People are just hanging on for dear life, trying to make it from one day to the next.  But dear ones, God has SO much more for us than that kind of bare-bones living.  God comes to pour some water on us and soak our roots down and revive us back to life.  He comes to carefully put us back together with some of His supernatural brand of God-glue.  He breathes life back into our dry and brittle and fragile emotions.  And He didn’t just come to give us life – but a revived life to help us live and flourish in joy and blessings and victory!  Every October, I consider it a spiritual highlight in my life when I am able to attend the Women of Faith Conference in St. Paul.  It’s difficult to describe – you have to experience it to understand the amazing blessings that come from God while there!  So picture this:  an arena packed with thousands and thousands of women who have been eagerly awaiting this time in the presence of Almighty God!  What I so love, is that God and God alone is exalted.  No one seeks glory of their own, and so God is glorified!  Speakers and musicians shared God-anointed messages and music, and worship is central to all that takes place!  Our hearts are lifted in praise and adoration to our God, and He is honored above all else!  Come curl up in a comfy chair and not an arena seat – and listen to some of what we heard and received into our spirits!  Pete Wilson, pastor from Cross Point Church in Nashville, posed a question to us in light of Genesis 37.  He asked, “What would you do if you were absolutely confident that God was with you?”  He reminded us that we have this illusion of control in our lives.  But … we cannot control our lives.  God can.  And does.  Take a look at the life of Joseph in that chapter:  it was a roller coaster of good news and bad news.  Most people relate this to God either being with them – or not being there.  But I love this poignant statement:  “God is MOST powerfully present even when it FEELS like He is apparently absent.”  You see, the Lord was WITH Joseph – and He is WITH us!  Even in the struggles!  Just because God is with us, doesn’t mean that our lives will turn out the way we think they will.  How do we respond when things turn out differently?  Do we feel like it’s more difficult to remain faithful to God – even when it seems like He’s not faithful to us and we feel abandoned by Him? We cry out to God so often not because we really want more of Him, but because of what we think He will give us.  What we should be saying is, “God, if You don’t give me one more thing – I still owe You everything!”  We think we see God’s pattern when something good happens.  Like in Genesis 40:14, when Joseph interpreted the dream for the chief butler while they were in prison together, and he begged him to remember him when he was released – to get him out!  But some verses later, here is the hurtling out-of-control part of the roller-coaster ride:  it says that the butler did not remember Joseph … he forgot him.  For some reason.  God could have done something.  But he didn’t.  In those moments, it’s the WHO in the WHY that counts.  In that moment when you are forgotten … in that moment when the pattern you saw and thought God was bringing to you crumbles into ashes … in that moment, can you still choose faith?  Can you still choose hope?  Is what you’re going through God’s will for your life?  Does our response to the situation make any difference?  MORE than you think!  And you know what?  We are not alone.  There are thousands like us!  You are not alone.  Your God is WITH you!  We must never forget that inside each of us – is belief and unbelief.  Inside each of us – is faith and doubt.  It’s up to us.  Which will we choose?  Your choice will simply and profoundly bring one of two results.  You choose unbelief and doubt – you will always be floundering just to survive.  You choose belief and faith – and you will always know that God is with you and He is working all things out for your good, for your revival and HIS glory!  More than anything at this moment, I challenge you to ask God to help you make the right choice!  A life of defeat – or a life positioned by God awaits!     

(notes taken from message at 2014 Women of Faith Conference)

REMEMBER . . .

“We are assured and know that (God being a partner in their labor) all things work together and are (fitting into a plan)

for good to and for those who love God and are called according to (His) design and purpose.”

~ Romans 8:28  

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

GOD OF WONDERS … BEYOND OUR GALAXY!  Just a few nights ago as I stood outside looking up at the dark sky and the brilliant blood moon of October 8th, I was in complete awe at our Creator!  Seeing “God’s billboard in the sky” (as author, Pastor John Hagee has described the blood moons) just held me in pure amazement as I attempted to capture such a phenomenon in digital frames.  Having set my alarm at different times throughout the night, I would awaken and with camera in hand, step quietly through our house in the darkness so as not to disturb my sleeping husband!  The night was just warm enough so as not to be shivery, and my eyes would search the sky to see where the moon was hanging out.  Not having taken time to borrow a tripod for my camera, I would zero in on the most beautiful moon in all its different colors and stages of the lunar eclipse and hold my camera as still as I possibly could. The best images of the blood moon came into full clarity at 5:25 a.m. our time.  On one of my frequent visits out to the deck while it was still dark except for the light of the moon, I had scanned the sky and then set my eyes in focus – just transfixed on such a magnificent wonder planned by the God of the universe.  I stood there in the wondrous beauty of the night.  I stood there in the quietness of the hour.  And as I stood there amazed at this stunning sign in the sky … it was almost as if without thinking, I turned my body ever so slowly in a complete circle.  My head was tipped way back and my eyes suddenly drank in this panoramic view of heaven coming down to earth!  The backdrop of sky was velvety black with a translucence of moonbeams lighting up the view just enough to see the outlines of trees and rooftops.  But high up in the sky there was a heavenly dance going on that nearly took my breath away.  Every star that shone was larger than I’ve ever seen … they were hanging freestyle with a dazzling brilliance such as I’ve never seen … they looked as if they could just about pop out of the sky leaving just the darkness behind.  As I slowly circled around, my heart leaped within me at the intimate closeness of the presence of the living God!  His hand had already set this show in motion – this supernatural sign, and He did it up in a way that put any other counterfeit displays to shame!  As I moved around drinking in the sights, my camera hung on my shoulder unused.  My heart was burning with worship, and all I could speak were words of worship to my Creator.  I heard myself saying aloud in this most amazing sanctuary that I have ever been in:  “God of wonders – beyond our galaxy;  You are holy, holy.  The universe declares Your majesty and You are holy, holy.  Lord of heaven and earth; Lord of heaven and earth.”  These lyrics by Third Day begin with the verse that I have sung many times before:  “Lord of all creation, of water, earth and sky – The heavens are Your tabernacle. Glory to the Lord on high.”  And as I stood there in the silence of the night, there was an incredible sense that all of creation that night was worshiping right alongside me, declaring in total amazement:  “God of wonders – beyond our galaxy; You are holy, holy!”  I worshiped.  My heart sang.  My lips praised.  My eyes beheld.  I was enraptured.  I did not want to come back in the house.  I wanted to miss not a moment of this heavenly display.  And while the stars and moon and galaxies seemed to be in concert to the God of creation, I knew this was much more than a show.  And I am still studying and learning “why” this series of four blood moons that will appear in the space of a year and a half – from the first one we saw in April, 2014 to the final of the four that will appear in October of 2015 – has such astounding scriptural and prophetic meaning.  That, more than the beauty, is what compelled me to continue to make my way outdoors time and time again throughout the night.  I did not want to miss God’s billboard in the sky!  I knew He was trying to get our attention on this earth – that He was trying to tell us something.  Will we take notice and will we take time to study about what this means?  Of course, we can never begin to comprehend God’s infinite, mighty ways.  But we can watch for His signs.  We can search His Words and His ways.  And we can be listening for the sound of that trumpet when He comes to take us Home! 

REMEMBER . . .

“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth (there will be) distress

(trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity (without resources, left wanting, 

embarrassed, in doubt,

not knowing which way to turn) at the roaring (the echo) of the tossing of the sea,

men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming

on the world; for the (very) powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power

and (all His kingly) glory (majesty and splendor).

Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads,

because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.”

~ Luke 21:25-28   

Serving Christ Joyfully .  . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

WHILE WE CANNOT FORETELL THE FUTURE – we definitely can proclaim the past!  While growing up as a little girl in North Dakota, I remember my mom stitching pretty designs on dishtowels.  A variety of colored threads joined together would bring the printed pattern on the cloth to life.  One chosen color of thread, though, would connect and define each separate part of the overall design until it became complete.  She would stitch the outline of a leaf or a flower or perhaps around a pretty cup and saucer – and when it was finished, the threads that ran through the fabric transformed a rather dull, white towel into a thing of beauty!  I know, I am r-e-a-l-l-y dating myself now, but that’s alright!  This story will help me make a point!  Today, decades later, God has shown me the beauty of another design imprinted not on fabric, but on many hearts over these past six years.  Then, it was my mom stamping the pattern on with heat.  Now, it has been God imprinting His divine design on Elevation North and our people.  Yes, sometimes with heat!  I cannot help but reminisce and remember the variety of colored threads He has stitched our past with when I think of the places He has taken us to.  Each place has been a different design and each time He has chosen just the right color of threads to stitch new people into His Kingdom pattern.  Looking back, as we’ve been moved through the wilderness from location to location, I can see the thread that God’s hand stitched with to hold us together.  We could so easily have unraveled at any point, especially when the changing of patterns became more costly.  We could so easily have given up when occasionally we had to allow God to rip out some of “our” stitches – so HIS design could remain intact.  We could so easily have decided that with the smaller numbers of our church family – we just couldn’t go on.  We could so easily have given in to the long, hard struggle to overcome circumstances that appeared to be insurmountable.  But there was that thread holding us together for the greater design that God saw when He took the very first stitch that created Elevation North out of nothing.  Our nothing!  God already saw the complete pattern and finished design.  For these past six years, we have been experiencing a multitude of stitches, and they are bringing to pass something so very beautiful!  I love the concept of seeing our God stitch – because no one can do it better than He can!  You see, He stitches with great love, and I fully believe that the color of the thread that has held us together is RED!  That’s the color of the blood of His precious Son, given for each one of us!  He has used that color abundantly, more than all the rest.  He has used the needle with the never-ending red thread to stitch up broken hearts and damaged lives.  He has washed our black threads of sin and rebellion and self-centeredness … and then when pulled through the eye of His needle, they stitched the word - “transformed!”  He used that red thread to stitch into the fallen and lost – redemption.  He used the red to stitch into the down and out – restoration.  He stitched red to remind the unloved – that He is the Lover of their souls.  He pulled His needle of red thread through those who were weak – to make them strong.  To the sick, the red thread gave stitches of healing.  To those chained in addictions, the red thread of His blood – brought total deliverance.  To those in despair - the stitches of red became their gift of hope.  Are you seeing the beautiful picture of the thread that runs through the very existence of Elevation North?  Are you getting a glimpse that each of us is stitched into this plan and design?  But, dear ones, it is not finished yet!  God still wants us to bring to Him as many as possible so that He can continue to stitch them into the fabric of His Kingdom for eternity!  There is power in the blood of the Lamb – and there is power in the thread of that blood that has kept Elevation North focused on Christ and His work on this earth!  Friends, WE get to be part of this exciting end-time revival that will bring in a harvest of souls!  After our long summer journey going from place to place, God’s thread of faithfulness is bringing us to this destination at 2002 Austin Road in the next few weeks.  Even as it is being prepared for worship, we sense the Spirit of God filling this place!  He has more for us to do!  May His love, His presence, and His power ever flow from our hearts – as He uses us and this place for His glory until He comes!

REMEMBER . . .

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,

in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

that He lavished on us

with all wisdom and understanding.”

~ Ephesians 1:7-8 

Joyfully Serving Christ . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

GOD’S PLAN TO REACH THE WORLD!  Simple … or complicated?  Well, it’s much simpler for us when He uses us – than it was for Him when He sent His Son to die for a world lost in sin.  There is no comparison at all – not even one tiny iota of similarity.  God did His part, as did Jesus – a very long time ago.  They gave their all!  Now we get to be a part of His plan to reach the world.  And what do we do?  What part of us do we give?  In most scenarios, whatever we do, we tend to make His outreach plan way too difficult!  It should be as natural as breathing.  It should be as enjoyable as eating.  And it should be as comfortable as sharing the most exciting news ever … with whoever will listen!  God has always had a plan to reach the world.  That has never changed.  It’s just that the world has changed.  Immensely!  Our world is not the world our parents knew.  And our children’s world is definitely not the world we knew.  And their children now know a world that is literally spinning out of control with an overdose of violence, hatred, and warped values.  More children than we can imagine have never experienced real love in any of their relationships – be it from parents or peers.  Living on bare essentials and survival of the fittest – has become the name of the game.  Pretty dark picture of this old world that I’m painting, right?  But it doesn’t have to be that way … for that’s where Jesus comes in!  Remember where you were at the exact moments the Twin Towers were collapsing thirteen years ago on the 11^th of this month?  It was a dark, dark day in our nation and around the world.  But out of the ashes emerged the light of God’s love.  Rescuers acted with heroic love in action.  Many in the rubble found themselves spared – some by divine, supernatural miracles from the hand of God.  There was no other explanation.  Remember the cross of shattered metal beams that stood out tall above every other piece of mangled iron in the debris and the dust?  It was a beautiful symbol of Light piercing through the sad haze of terrorism, destruction and death.  At times like this, all that gives mankind the ability to continue on is the hope that Christ brings.  And that day, hope took shape in the form of a cross unlike any other we’d ever seen.  No, it wasn’t wooden.  And no, it wasn’t beautiful and new.  But it gave hope that day as it emerged out of hopelessness and despair and grief.  We had never seen broken, twisted metal look so beautiful and strong.  But that day – it did.  What the enemy of our souls and the enemies of our land intended for harm, God used for good!  Our nation and people united with one heart and engaged in survival and rescue mode.  Our nation and people turned their hearts to God and filled the churches – many that had been nearly empty before 9/11.  America wept and prayed.  Americans drew from deep within and forgot about political correctness.  We became a team united to rescue the perishing and help those in need.  Nothing else mattered.  We had a mission and we were one in spirit.  How said that it takes such tragedy for us to “see” the hurting and the dying.  Elevation North has such a mission today – because there are 9/11’s happening all around us.  Next door.  Overseas.  Down the street.  At our jobs.  In our churches.  Satan is ramping up the level of his terrorism – attacking the believers and lulling the sinners into a false sense of security.  Where, oh where are those who will put on the armor of God and plunge into the darkness and danger … and rescue the perishing?  Oh we see some of you!  We see your willingness to sacrifice of your time and possessions to bring hope to those without hope.  We see you using your gifts to reach out to those who still have an open heart.  We see you stepping out into the darkness and shining your light – the Light of the world that lives in you.  We see – and we are inspired and blessed.  Because we know that it is going to take each of us – ALL of us - uniting in the mission to make each day a rescue operation – right where we live.  And beyond … if that’s what God calls us to.  It’s time to quit peeking carefully and safely through our windows at the mass of lost humanity.  It is time, dear people of God, to dress up in our God-given armor and run towards the crumbled, burning rubble of lost souls searching for something real.  It’s time to bring the Light to those who are trapped beneath the crushing load of sin and heading to the smoking inferno of Hell.  Don’t YOU want to be a part of God’s rescue team?  You are needed today more than ever before in the history of our world.  Please get prepared and ready to head out wherever God calls you to go!  And whatever you do … do it all in love … Christ’s love.  Anything less will leave you trapped in the rubble with the lost.  God has more for us – and for them … if we will just set aside our reserved ways and allow God’s ways to be unleashed in us – and through us!  Watch out, world!  Rescuers are on the way!!!

REMEMBER . . .

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosover believes in Him shall not perish,

but have everlasting life!”

John 3:16  

Joyfully Serving  Christ . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

WHERE DOES OUR STRENGTH LIE?  Sometimes our strength comes not only from adding more mass to our muscle; it emerges when we have purged the excess body fat and the unnecessary intake that is making us weak.  How do we do this?  Bookstore shelves are spilling over with an overflow of manuals on body-building so we can look as if we are bulging with strength!  They are equally crowded with an array of the perfect diet books and how-to-books on detoxing and cleansing.  The exercise books designed to strategically shape and slim and firm are all updated to fast-paced dvd’s that coach us through sweat, blood, and tears to that perfect body status.  Knowing that so many unhealthy food products are entering our bodies even when we attempt to eat as healthy as possible, I recently made a homemade detox beverage. The water, sliced lemons, sliced cucumbers, and fresh mint leaves were fused overnight and it tasted refreshingly healthy and pleasant.  It definitely had detox properties and lived up to its cleansing claims.  After getting past the first day of a few hunger pangs, I began to feel really wonderful and even energized!  Why?  Because I was putting good things in – and purging the bad out.  I began to think about all the physical sacrifices and commitments we make for the sake of healthy, strong bodies.  And I couldn’t help but ask myself what would happen if we would get serious about doing the same for the sake of healthy, strong souls.  Why can we not make spiritual sacrifices and commitments to empower our Christian muscle with added strength and stamina?  With the news in the headlines showing ever more despair and hatred and killings, we had better be putting in some extra work-out time in the gymnasium where God is Coach.  Where the sought-after book is the Bible.  Where the exercise program shows us how to get on our knees – and stay there until we have sweated off the ways of the world and ever-so-prevalent nonchalance of our everyday lives.  Where we get off our knees and choose real-life encounters with real flesh and blood people over being addicted to all the social media sites that steal our time away from what is really important.  Oops – don’t misinterpret what I am saying.  I believe that a small, set amount of time on social media sites can be an additional way to keep connected to loved ones – especially those who are far away.  I know these sites can be used to share scripture and inspiration and encouragement.  They can put out pleas for almost instant prayer response in times of need.  But like everything else in our lives, we must control our amount of time spent engaged in those activities – or that time spent will control us in not-so-healthy ways.  Now as the days of summer ebb away to make way for the school season and fall schedules at churches, it is a good time to be reminded about renewed commitments to the things that God tells us really matter.  The other day I came across a few quotes in a newsletter we had received a few months ago, and as I took time to re-read it, I knew I needed to clip this page and save it for present and future reference.  No, for more than that:  for ACTION!  How do we prepare for our day?  How we do exercise our hearts and minds and souls before we walk into a new day?  See if these quotes make as much sense to you as they did to me!  “I ought to pray before meeting anyone.  Often when I sleep long or meet with others early, it is 11 or 12 o’clock before I begin secret prayer.  This is a wretched system.  It is unscriptural.  Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place to pray.  David says, ‘Early will I seek Thee … my voice shalt Thou hear in the morning.’  The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed.  I feel it is far better to begin with God – to see Him first, to get my soul near to Him before it is near another.”  (Robert Murray McCheyne)  Then, these words shared by E.M Bounds:  “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees.  He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, without seeking God will make poor headway in seeking Him the rest of the day . . . Our laziness after God is our crying sin.  The children of the world are far wiser.  They are at it early and late.  No soul follows hard after God who is not after Him in early morn.”  Alright, so just interpret the “Thee’s and Thou’s” into your own words, and soak in the meaning.  Powerful, isn’t it?  It’s true, isn’t it?  So what will we do with this coaching to strengthen our souls in preparation for what God is lining up for us to do in these days and weeks to come?  The days are going to pass by either way.  We can waste them by being spiritually flabby – or we can commit to a time of spiritual detox, cleansing, and exercise before the Lord God Almighty, inviting Him to coach us early every morning as we sacrifice a bit of extra sleep to follow hard after Him.  With God, we get results!  Do nothing, and we get nothing.  Neither does anyone else who God wants to use us to touch, if we are not prepared and fit!  God is asking me to sign up for His “Follow Hard After God” class … do you want to join me?  Grab your pen right now!   

REMEMBER . . .

“Run in such a way as to get the prize.

 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.

They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

~ I Corinthians 9:24b-25  

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

LIFE-CHANGES.  How do they start?  And how does a life-change transform from a hyphenated word and become an actual, honest-to-goodness change in how we live our lives?  In these past few weeks that have now stretched into a month and a half since God gave us that unforgettable “push” into this new season of our lives, I have been doing lots of thinking and heart-searching.  And yes, more praying – but even more than that, I’ve been trying to “listen” more.  Yes, to God.  I want to hear His voice more clearly than I’ve ever heard it before.  You see, I find it hard to believe that God would go to the great lengths He did to push us into the pain we experienced – for nothing.  Surely, if the level of the struggle is any indication at all. God must have been preparing us for something quite unique and close to His heart.  So what is behind this seasonal change for us, spiritually speaking?  Will God reveal it to us all at once?  Or will He show us in bits and pieces … as we step into action?  Leaps here – and baby steps there?  In searching my heart and seeking God’s, I think He is telling me that knowing it all and seeing the complete picture from the beginning, is much less important than just doing something.  Some thing.  Something for Him.  Doing some thing that will make an eternal difference for someone else.  I think living in this great nation of ours with its ever-evolving belief system has caused our spiritual understanding to become hazed and clouded. And what we see of life, does not register accurately or compare with what God sees.  We find ourselves in denial.  We’re just a little (or a lot) frightened to open up our eyes and see what God sees.  We know we might not like it.  We know it might cost us something that perhaps we hold “too dear” to our hearts.  We fear the unknown and the uncomfortable.  We convince ourselves that the overall problems are too big for us to fix, anyhow.  So we fix nothing.  We do nothing.  And another day passes by.  More broken lives hurtle into downward spirals.  We just shake our heads in helplessness.  What could we have done anyhow?  Well, what if each of God’s kids acted on what we knew He wanted us to do?  What if each of us just did one thing each day that held eternal value?  Not tons of overwhelming things – but just one thing.  Even if it was a little thing.  Each day.  Multiply that times the hundred of thousands of people who call themselves by Christ’s Name.  Genuine, for-real Christians.  How different would our world be if tomorrow morning hundreds of thousands of us greeted the day with a simple, but solid commitment to act on just one God-appointment that day?  Well, mathematically, hundreds of thousands of broken lives would stop spiraling into deeper despair.  And spiritually, hundreds of thousands of broken lives would be fixed with the Gospel of Christ – for eternity.  People, that’s just one day.  People, that’s just one person: me.  And that’s just one person: you.  But multiplied, look what God’s Spirit in us can accomplish along with the other hundreds of thousands of people that opt to do at least one thing on one day.  What if all of us allowed God to set up appointments for us for an entire week – or month – or year?  How different would our world be?  With the sense that Christ’s coming is nearing, we have no time to waste.  We dare not procrastinate.  We cannot afford to keep our mouths shut and hold the message of Christ to ourselves.  Don’t we want to take as many people to Heaven with us as we can?  Then … what are we waiting for?  Each day we do nothing, we are passing up opportunities with eternal results.  Come on, take my hand and let me show you something.  On Sunday, our church family gathered together to praise and worship the Lord God Almighty.  We were blessed, challenged, and hopefully changed.  But were we?  Monday came – and went.  What did we do for Christ on Monday?  Well, Sunday’s message was still burning in our hearts on Monday.  We were focused on planning and preparing for next Sunday – but then a knock came at our door.  We don’t get too many of those.  We are usually the ones knocking at someone else’s door, you see.  My husband answered and a back-and-forth conversation ensued with a young salesman with a TV satellite company.  Within minutes they had left the front door and made their way into the kitchen area.  When the conversation led to my husband stating that he is a pastor, the young man stopped all sales talk and asked if we would pray for his wife.  Two months pregnant with their first child, she is having complications, he told us – and tears filled his eyes.  More sales talk … then we stepped close to him and prayed for his wife and for this new baby to come.  As this young man wrapped things up, he was about to leave.  Suddenly, God’s Spirit put an urgency in my heart to not let him leave until we had asked if he knew Jesus personally.  Sure, he had asked us to pray.  But even lost people recognize the power of prayer and can want God’s gifts without having Him in their lives.  So without delay, I said simply, “You seem like an awesome young man, and you’ve even asked us to pray for your family.  But before you leave us tonight, we just have to ask if you’ve ever asked Jesus to become your personal Savior.  There’s no other decision you can make that will ever be more important than that one!”  And his response came naturally as he shared that he had been raised in a religion full of rituals, but as a teenager had indeed, accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior.  He went on to share some of his testimony and then made a profound statement.  He said that he understands that any of us can pray for someone else; but he said he also recognizes that the Holy Spirit uses those who God has called to His work, so he wanted to ask us to pray for his wife and unborn child.  Talk about a God-moment!  While it turned out that this young man knew Christ, his answer could have been totally the opposite and we could have led a soul to Christ – for eternity!  I believe God gave us the opportunity – to simply ask. To do some thing … on one day:  a Monday.  For if we are faithful in changing how we live our lives every day, God will entrust us with at least that one thing, and just maybe in the days to come, He will trust us with more of His work!  Remember, one multiplied by hundreds of thousands – equals hundreds of thousands that continue to multiply and share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!  The more souls that are rescued … the more God’s heart is touched!  Will you join us in this season for souls?  Just saying one thing each day – just doing one thing each day … that will last for Eternity! 

REMEMBER . . .

“We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that He has already thrown open His door to us.

We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand –

out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.”

~ Romans 5:2

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

LEAPS OF FAITH.  They do not always feel good, nor do they always look pretty.  But there are rewards for making the decision to jump, for without that action nothing would ever happen.  Even the slightest movement takes a decision to change something about our posture.  And when God aligns us with something more significant than slight – sometimes our leaps of faith take a push from God Himself!  Looking back one wonders if we would have jumped, had there been no push!  In these past three weeks we have been blessed with vision to view life from an entirely different vantage point than usual.  Since our lives were turned upside down nearly seven years ago now, we’ve written a new definition for the word “normal”.  Wasn’t it normal to work from dark in the morning until dark at night?  Wasn’t it normal to come home and engage in ministry work and preparation and then your own responsibilities and family time as the night wore on – until knowing that you must fall into bed for at least a few hours – before beginning all over again?  Wasn’t it normal to claim God’s promises in His Word and fully expect that He would redeem your three hours of sleep and multiply them into six or nine?  It just seemed normal that while it was kind of tough to jump out of bed when awakened by the rude sound of the alarm on our cell phone, the moment our feet touched the floor, God showed up and literally poured supernatural strength into our bodies, minds, and souls!  It seemed wondrous to begin the new day all filled up, and somehow there was that sense that we were running on heavenly fuel.  Our world was one we had not known before.  There was no steady routine, just topsy-turvy schedules that brought delight in God-adventures and opportunities that graced our every day.  In the first several months of our journey when we had no church to pastor, God gave us the marketplace as our pulpit.  We never dreamed that a pulpit could look the ways that ours did in the years to come!  These are just some of the places God gave us pulpits:  behind a retail counter ringing up purchases; unloading merchandise off the truck in the freezing cold until our fingers cracked and bled; mowing lawn and trimming shrubs and trees and kneeling on rocks pulling weeds from flower gardens in sweltering heat; repairing everything imaginable that can break; cleaning toilet stools until we lost count; mopping floors and vacuuming; painting walls with everlasting gallons of paint; pushing the carpet cleaner back and forth until the job was done; filling icy-cold coolers with food products and beverages; shoveling and snow-blowing sidewalks and entrances in sub-zero temps until you thought your fingers were no longer attached to your hands; and yes … there were even more pulpits!  What made every one of these unusual pulpits so precious is that we were able to preach the message of Christ through the love we felt for the people we served – through the words that flowed naturally from our heart and mouth as we chatted with them – through godly choices – through all the reasons we had to smile – and through what others described as our endless energy!  You see, when circumstances thrust you into a long, dark, dry wilderness … the sign of life and light within your soul shines ever so brightly against the contrast.  God IN you in ANY surrounding – makes all the difference and preaches a powerful message with no church in sight!  And the amazing thing is that God gave us the pulpit at Elevation North right alongside all of the other ones in the marketplace.  That is, until we sensed there was a changing of seasons coming into our lives.  For several months now, we knew that God was saying it was time to return to more ministry and less marketplace – but how?  We searched for jobs with less hours – and each time God slammed the doors shut very abruptly!  Finally, with much pain and deep struggles, God made His plan clear:  not less hours.  No hours!  When we heard Him saying to give up the main job and trust Him for provision, all turmoil and conflict ebbed away.  God’s peace flooded o’er us, settled in, and came to stay!  To date, God has provided “some” of what we need – but not “all”.  Still, we are at peace.  We know He will complete what He has started.  He pushed.  We leaped.  And we know we can trust the One who is faithful beyond all comprehension.  He will do it!  And we will tell the story, so He gets the glory!  (I think there’s a book in here - somewhere!)  I am thrilled beyond words for my pastor-husband who now gets to pursue more fully the precious calling he received from God as a teenager.  I am honestly excited that we are gifted with a bit more time to stop and smell the roses - and share that fragrance with our loving, supportive family who has sacrificed so much and stood in the gap for us all this time.  And with this change in our season of life, comes a long-awaited for season in the life of our church.  God is providing open doors for us to soon be able to worship in a place we can call “home” ~ after our extended interim journey this summer.  Friends, we are almost there.  We can “see” it by faith!  It’s been a long time coming, but God’s timing is implicit in its perfection.  He knows the end from the beginning – and every step in between!  Has He ever left us?  A thousand times “NO”!  He has been closer than we could have imagined, and now after the push, we can still smile because we know it was for our best – and for His glory!  It doesn’t get any better than that, dear ones!  Don’t miss out – leap forward with us in these exciting end-time days!  You’ll be glad you did!!!

REMEMBER . . .

“God takes care of all who stay close to Him.”

Psalm 31:23  

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

RE-EVALUATE AND REFLECT.  Yes, it’s that time … this “new year” is almost half-lived!  With what seems like a few blinks of the eye, the calendar pages have propelled us with jet-expulsion speed to the threshold of the second half of 2014.  While most of the time it is healthier to keep our eyes on the day at hand – there is a right time to take a few good hard looks at where we’ve been recently.  Doing this helps us assess if these places are on God’s map to where He is wanting to take us – or not!  Often just recalling the major life events that have marked specific milestones in our lives is a great reminder of God’s faithfulness to us.  No matter how curvy and bumpy our road has been, there is a definite straight line that runs through it all.  That is God’s life-line thrown out to us when we doubt we can see the path ahead.  I’d like to invite you to join us on our appraisal and contemplation of the “days of our lives” thus far this year.  I am realizing more and more (perhaps we DO gain more wisdom with age!) that it is not always “what” happens in our lives that matters the most – it is “what” we do in response to those events and circumstances.  So … here we go! 

With just a few steps into the year, our Mom Jones was hospitalized and lived out her remaining few days on this earth with family surrounding her.  God’s time for her came suddenly and unexpectedly, and yet those hours at her bedside offered us a close-up look at what was most important to her with eternity in view.  And in the weeks and months that have followed her Home-going, we’ve learned more than ever before just how important family really is.

And then it was time to honor another mom ~ for her 90^th birthday, no less!  What a testimony to a life lived for her God as we listened to my mom reminisce and make us laugh!  The party stuff was fun and her family had come from near and far, but the best and lasting treasures of the celebration is knowing that without fail, she is up at the crack of dawn praying for each of us by name.  As little children she introduced us to Jesus and that’s priceless and eternal!

We’ve answered the phone calls and heard the anguish in the voices of those we love so much as they have battled the attacks of Satan in their own lives, and on their children as he attempted to kidnap them and hold them hostage.  But God’s voice immediately came back with a powerful promise that what He once did in their lives – long ago … He will do again!!  And all of us have claimed those victories to come!  There is something so-o-o reassuring and calming about hearing from God.  And His peace?  Well, there is absolutely nothing like it! 

And then one day you find out what it’s like to grieve over the attack by a dog on your little great-granddaughter’s face.  Baby fresh face … she’s not even two years old yet!  The dog’s teeth ripped deep and close to her eye and lip.  You cry out to God to be with her and for divine healing of wounds laid wide open.  And in those first moments of stark realities of possible scarring, your heart does a flip-flop and soon you can thank God in the midst of the terrifying attack that she is still with us!  And you know without a shadow of a doubt that He is, too!

Fast forward to a most lovely, serene setting in the woods near the water, and beneath the blue skies on a perfect summer afternoon, you witness the breathtaking beauty and love of your granddaughter speaking her vows to the young man God has brought to her!  Whitney and Matt stand hand in hand before God and commit themselves to each other as Grampa Doug performs the wedding ceremony.  Surrounded by family and friends, God’s blessings and wedding bliss shine in their lives, and their faces glow with the love that only God can give!  The celebration is the reason almost all of our family is able to come together for an extended weekend and create new memories as we pack lots of everything into those days together beneath the gorgeous Michigan sun!  And for the first time in a long time, we are blessed to be together to worship in God’s House on that Sunday morning!

God already knew what challenges and changes we would be facing immediately upon our arrival back home.  His strength was foundational for the onslaught of attacks and change thrust upon us without warning.  For nearly a week, we paddled through murky waters – deeply conflicted in our spirits until God gave breakthrough and clarity of His plan for us and the ministry He has called us to.  The storm was intense, but the calm after the storm has not been shaken.  How we love it when the enemy’s plans are obliterated by our Lord God and He makes a way where there is no way!  Will it be easy?  No.  But that’s what faith and trust are for!  Will it be joyful?  Yes!  That’s our promise from God when we are obedient!  God’s Word encourages us to take heart, for the best is yet to come!  And all of us get to be a part of it!  We stand on solid ground as we enter the second half of this year, excited at what God will do!  We can trust Him with everything, even our very lives, you know!  And that includes trusting Him with the ministry and future of Elevation North … for after all, it is HIS church and it is by HIS Spirit that it will flourish and grow into ALL He has designed it to be!  How far reaching is God’s faithfulness?  Deuteronomy 7:9 gives us the answer:  “Know, recognize, and understand therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps covenant and steadfast love and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations.”  Lord, we will stand on that!

REMEMBER . . .

“I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all;

but whatever I placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”

~ Martin Luther  

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug & Debbie

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

JUST WHO ARE WE?  And just what are we doing?  Have you ever thought about how closely these two questions relate to each other?  Everything we do in our lives comes out of our heart belief of who WE think we are!  Today I got to thinking about how so often as children of God we act like we are nothing more than beggars.  That must make God really sad.  He’s our Father, you know.  And most parents love to provide for their children – all of their needs, and at least some of their wants (so as not to spoil them too much, right?).  I’ve thought of how often we go about our day doing nothing more than begging God for what He has already given to us!  If we listened to ourselves, we would be shocked to hear how we sounded!  We beg and we plead and we sound so desperate you would wonder if we even knew God!  Don’t get me wrong … God loves to hear us ask.  But it’s all in how we ask.  Are we just asking?  Or are we asking AND believing?  There’s a huge difference!  A life-changing difference.  Then there are those who act as if we should not even ask God for anything – ever.  Period.  Even I just made the statement that so many of us sometimes spend most of our energies begging God for what He has already given us.  So how do we make sense of what could feel very conflicted?  Well, some time ago I heard someone explain it this way, and it sure made sense!  As earthly parents, we provide meals for our children and make sure that they have all they need.  We plan to eat three times a day (more or less – depending on your family’s schedule and habits).  But how many times, even though our children KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that their mom or dad is making them breakfast or lunch or dinner … will run into the house yelling, “Can I have some lunch now?  I’m hungry!”  We hear that all the time!  Do they really think we are going to say, “no”?  We may tell them they need to wait just a bit, but we would never withhold from them what we have already promised them (spoken or unspoken):  that their parents will always provide their meals for them!  And yet they ask … expecting … believing, that they are going to receive the food they need.  The hungry child is not wondering if the parent is going to withhold the meal and so they have to beg.  They are asking, because they are making a request to receive.  The child fully believes he or she will soon be enjoying what has been promised.  They are not worried because there is no reason to worry.  (For children in countries with famine and lack of food – that’s a whole different story for another time.)  So let’s take a closer look at us, and who we perceive ourselves to be.  Because the answer to that tells all when it comes to how we ask of our Father in heaven!  God wants for us to know who we are.  In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul uses these words and phrases in chapter 8:  “… those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God.”  “Abba, Father.”  “… we are God’s children.”  And now listen to verse 17:  “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”  Did you catch that?  Can you grasp that you are heirs of God?  That makes you royalty!  That means you have an inheritance in everything that is your Father’s.  That makes us sons and daughters of the King of kings and Lord of lords!  Wow … that’s a far stretch from being beggars!  Go ahead … and open your Bible to Galatians 3:26 – 4:1-7 – that portion will explain more about us being heirs and about receiving the full rights of sons.  So, dear people, can you see who you are and what is yours because of who you are in God?  Now flip the pages back to the 103^rd Psalm which is really a praise hymn instructing our soul to praise the Lord with everything that is within us.  It instructs us to not forget – but to celebrate receiving His many personal benefits to us.  Yes, ALL His benefits:  “He forgives ALL our sins”, (so do we have to scream and beg – or just ask and believe?).   “He heals ALL our diseases”, (so do we have to accept them in fear and doubt – or just trust and receive?).  “He redeems OUR life from the pit”, (so do we have to torture ourselves by thinking that we’ll always remain there, or do we take the first step and take His hand and believe that He will lead us out?).  “He crowns us with love and compassion”, (so why do we say no one loves us or cares?  What are we believing?).  “He satisfies OUR desires with good things” so that our youth is renewed – and He even compares our vigor and strength to the majestic, soaring eagle, (so why do we say that God never brings anything good into our lives?).  You see, dear ones, often it is not Satan defeating us – we are speaking defeat into our very own lives by NOT believing that we are God’s children and by NOT receiving every “good and perfect gift that is from Above” (James 1:17).  In these days that we are living in, it is imperative that as God’s children we understand whose we are and live freely and fully in every gift that He has already given us!  All we have to do is reach out our hands and accept what He is handing to us in His nail-scarred, outstretched hands!  Be blessed, children of God!  Let’s honor this loving Father of ours by embracing the fact that we are HIS!

REMEMBER . . .

“Instead of worrying, pray.

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good,

will come and settle you down.”

Philippians 4:6-7  

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie