"I was Blind but now I can See"

Well I am sitting here in my office in Ybor sipping some coffee while listening to the rosters in Ybor crow. Boy I love Ybor!! Where else can you look out of your window and see skyscrapers and listen to rosters at the same time. LOL. But seriously this has been an amazing week. Sunday was incredible with so many of you joining us for the Hope Epidemic and Easter. My prayer is that you have been able to share that hope with someone else this week.

I have heard some incredible stories about the hope epidemic this week and also have heard that some of you are struggling a bit. So I wanted to give you a few pointers.

• Be natural. (Just walk up to someone and say "hey I just wanted to give you a little hope today")
• Don't tell them it is from a church (many people think it is just religious propaganda then)
• You may have to instruct them to look inside cause most people won't think that there is $5 inside. LOL
• Be creative

Here is a story that I heard this week. I thought you might enjoy it:

Someone from Relevant gave their Hope Envelope to a cashier at a grocery store and then about an hour later someone from Relevant went into the same store and saw the envelope sitting on the cash register so the person enquired about it. The cashier said oh some lady gave it to me about an hour ago, it is just some church thing I think, I haven't even opened it yet. The person from relevant said "I kind of know about that Hope Epidemic and I think it is worth opening. So the Cashier opened the envelope and saw the $5 then he started running around the front of the store telling everyone the he got $5. The person from relevant said it was priceless. That is what the Hope Epidemic is all about. If you have a story of how you shared Hope this week go to HopeEpidemic.com and submit your story. Let's make this viral.

I was reading John 9 in my Bible this morning and there is a story in this chapter about a man who was blind since birth who Jesus healed. After he was healed the religious leaders began to question him about his miraculous healing and here is what he said.
John 9:24-25 (NLT)
24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God by telling the truth, because we know Jesus is a sinner.” 25“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

This statement rocked my world this morning "I was blind and now I can see" SIMPLE AND TOO THE POINT He was basically saying until this Jesus guy came along he was helpless, hopeless, and in despair, but when Jesus entered his world He opened his eyes to see thing completely different. That is why Relevant exists and that is what the HopeEpidemic is all about. To impact the emerging culture with the reality of Christ. To clear the vision. You see when you are blind like the guy in the story and someone helps you to see for the first time you cannot help but tell someone about it. My prayer is that we would begin sharing our stories of how we were blind in certain areas and then we meet this guy Jesus and he opened our eyes to the truth.

Good Golly its Good Friday

Can you believe that it is already Good Friday and that this Sunday is going to be Easter? It seems like just yesterday that I was putting away my Christmas decorations and now I am prepping for summer vacation. Every year that I grow older I am amazed at how fast time seems to fly. One day I was 10 years old and the next day I have a 10 year old of my own and I wonder, "where did the time go?

This week Susie and I have been hanging out with my parents and our kids over here in Orlando at Universal Studios. I am now sitting here this morning on our last day reflecting a bit on our time here and to be honest I am sad and excited at the same time. I am sad because today we must pack up and head home. No more thrill rides that make me scream at the top of my lungs, no more all you can eat buffets where I don't care how much I eat cause I'm on vacation, no more staying up as late as possible just to catch a glimpse of the fireworks in the distance, no more completely uninterrupted time with the people that I love the most, my family. Not that all of those things cannot happen at home; but a lot of times they don't. Why? because time won't allow it.

This week I found myself excited while listening to my dad tell my son some of the same stories that I heard as a kid. He told them with the same excitement and passion that he shared them with me over 30 years ago when I was Anthony’s age. I watched my dad and mom ride the amusement park rides with my kids like they did with me when I was a kid still laughing like they were 30 years old again. But they are not and all I could do was keep hoping that this time would never end. It was that good. And as my parents drove away last night and I watched my son look out the window of his room and say, “we sure had a great time with Nana and Papa didn’t we dad” I was a bit overwhelmed. I kept saying to myself I HOPE we can do this again real soon, I HOPE that my mom and dad stay healthy. I HOPE, I HOPE, I HOPE.

All this hoping led me to the passage that I read last night in John 17 and all of the other accounts of the prayer of Jesus in the Garden just before he went to the cross. I kept reading over and over again all that Jesus was praying and this theme kept coming up. HOPE. Jesus was the giver of HOPE yet during this time He was asking for HOPE from His father. HOPE that this was the right choice, HOPE that His followers would be ok, HOPE that his followers would share His message with the world. Then I thought about Jesus human side and wondered if during His prayer to His father was He hoping for more time with those He loved so much like I was last night. Was He hoping for more laughs together, more meals together, more, memories? Probably. But he knew for them to have any eternal Hope that He would have to become their HOPE.

And so here I am at the close of another Holy week, so what do I do? I HOPE. HOPE for more time, more vacation, more food, and more fun. The problem is, all my hopes seem like dreams to me and I am tired of dreaming aren’t you. I want my HOPE to be a reality and I know that the only way for that to happen is for me to first find my HOPE in Jesus and then become His Agent of HOPE. I believe that Jesus wants His message of HOPE to become an epidemic that sweeps across our lives and transforms our world. I believe He wants it to become an epidemic -a HOPE EPIDEMIC. And this Sunday at Relevant Church we are going to launch that epidemic.

I want to encourage you to be here this week and to bring someone with you. We are about to launch into something BIG.

See you all Sunday,

Paul

Fast Tuesdy week 4

Well it is week four of Fast Tuesday and God is doing some cool stuff. Join us today for Fast Tuesday. The instructions are below.

Here are the basic instruction again for the fast:

1. We are only fasting during breakfast and lunch on Tuesdays, (Drink water only).

2. We are praying for three areas and reading scripture that goes along with each prayer section.
Personal Direction (Spiritual Renewal)
Corporate Direction (Direction for Relevant Church and its leadership)
Global Direction (Direction for our Nation, our leaders and world leaders)
3. When you get hungry use that as a time to remind you to pray for an area.

4. To help with understanding the scripture each week stop after each section and ask yourself these questions and write out your answers:
What is God speaking to me/us through this passage?
What do I/we need to do?

FAST TUESDAY WEEK THREE SCRIPTURE (click on the verses to view them)
Personal Direction (Spiritual Renewal) Psalms 32:8-9(NLT)
Corporate Direction (Direction for Relevant Church and its leadership) Luke 11:1-11 (NLT)
Global Direction (Direction for our Nation, our leaders and world leaders) Proverbs 2

This will be a weekend to remember

Well Susie and I have enjoyed another Friday date day and it looks like we are going to end it at the Cheesecake Factory tonight. Yum!! This morning over coffee Susie and I were reading in the book of Numbers. Not a book that I normally read, but that is the awesome thing about You Version. It forces you to read from all over the Bible. Well today we were reading Numbers chapter 8 and it was where Moses was giving instruction for the Levites. I have never noticed Gods retirement plan for the people that worked in the temple. check out theses verses:

Numbers 8:23-26 (NLT)
²³ The Lord also instructed Moses, ²⁴ “This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five, ²⁵ and they must retire at the age of fifty. ²⁶ After retirement they may assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the Tabernacle, but they may not officiate in the service. This is how you must assign duties to the Levites.”

The only bad about this whole thing is the fact that I turned 40 this year. Wonder if this means that I only have 1o good years left to work in the church. So this got me thinking. What would I do if I only had 10 years left to make a difference for the kingdom? Then I thought I hope I am doing what I will be doing this weekend. Serving our community through March Madness (yard clean up) with over 70 people from Relevant on Saturday. Then having a BEACH BAPTISM service at the beach on Sunday where I get the privilege of baptizing over 15 people who have become Christ Followers at Relevant and are now taking their next step by getting baptized.

I think I could be part of this for the next 10 years and beyond if God allows me. Life Change is the most amazing thing to be part of. It never gets old.

If you would like to join us Sunday at the beach but find yourself too far away. We will be streaming the service live on Sunday at 11am. CLICK HERE to watch the service Sunday. Or to view last weeks service at Relevant.