Ben Bravard Blog

"You Look Very Familiar"

2011-04-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

I had a young lady at one of the Pizza Huts in Ames say that I looked very familiar. She asked if I had a brother. I told her yes and that his name is Joe. She told me that she went to elementary school with him and Grant and that she also attended his funeral. We had a great talk and I told her I was glad that she talked to me about him, since most people shy away from the subject. So, I gave her a card with our church website to check out what we have been up to since Joe’s passing. It was also really nice to hear someone say I look just like Joe. Joe and I used to get that all the time, even with the six years between us. I haven’t heard the comparisons that much in the last five years due to obvious reasons. But, I believe God knew what I needed to hear and I wonder if this young lady needed to be reminded of Joe.

If you want to see what my family and I have devoted ourselves to since Joe's passing, check out www.hofames.com.

p.s. The adoption blog will be back soon!

NOW WHAT?

2011-01-17T23:12:00.000-06:00

Throughout our stay in the hospital, the birth father was making life miserable for the birth mother and causing much concern for all parties involved. He was making threats, lurking around outside of the hospital, and making harassing phone calls. He even sent a relative to try and see the baby, but she was turned away. The birth mother truly feared for Julia’s safety if the birth father would be allowed access. This turmoil only solidified our determination to protect this baby and provide a safe and loving environment.

The hospital staff arranged for us to use a back entrance when we left the hospital. There had been reports of him hanging out in the parking lot during our stay at the hospital. When it was time to leave, there was a torrential downfall in Cedar Rapids. While that was a blessing to discourage any potential confrontations, it was also my first time driving with the most precious cargo in the world. I still remember how small she looked in her car seat that day. I also remember thinking; “I now have to take her out into this crazy world!” And I wasn’t even aware that the heartaches and legal battles were just beginning.

We made our way to Pella through the downpour. We had to stay in Pella for the night, so we could sign papers the next day with a social worker from the adoption agency. So, we stayed in a hotel and were completely on our own for the first time with Julia. Kristin’s parents came and made a brief visit at the hotel. Neither of our parents came to the hospital due to the circumstances of the adoption. We signed the papers the next morning after the 72-hour waiting period had passed and the agency had received the birth mother’s release. We headed home thinking we were half way to adoption. All we had to do was get the birth father’s rights terminated. That wasn’t going to be a big deal…the adoption agency had already stated that this was going to be no problem. Yeah, right.

READY OR NOT, HERE COMES A BABY!

2010-12-14T20:57:00.000-06:00

Before all this chaos unraveled, we were in the middle of selling our house and attempting to buy a house in a quiet neighborhood with a big backyard. We were able to swing both transactions and we moved in at the beginning of April 2006. While this was going on, we were also on call for the arrival of a baby girl who was due in April. We were getting quite stressed with moving, trying to prepare the house for a baby, and also preparing ourselves for a baby. But, the excitement far outweighed the stress.

When it came to deciding her name, we had no problem agreeing on the first name, Julia. It’s a unique name, but not a weird, made up name. We wanted to be different without being pretentious. But, the middle name has a deep meaning to both the birth family and us. Jo is in honor of my brother Joe. Lee is in honor of the birth family. They have a tradition in their family that some form of Lee was in either a first or middle name. This was a way to include them in Julia’s life from a distance. The name means a great deal to both families and allows a certain part of each family to live on through her name.

Early in the morning, on April 27, 2006, we received a call from the birth mother. She had given birth to a healthy baby girl. The adrenaline shot through our bodies and we went into “crazy mode.” Even though we were prepared for the moment, it’s weird how all that preparation sinks to the back of your mind and that rush of adrenaline overwhelms you. Nevertheless, we packed up the car and took off for Cedar Rapids.

Upon arriving there, we were informed by the maternal birth family that the birth father had been trying to get in to see the baby. But, the hospital staff turned him away. The only way he was going to be able to see her is if the baby was in the nursery. So, we decided as an extended family unit, to always have her in our room or the birth mother’s room. He had abandoned them in their time of greatest need, and was now looking to cause trouble. This was causing a lot of stress and anxiety on the birth family and ourselves. We were not anticipating this battle with the birth father. Little did we know, that this was only the beginning.

After talking to the maternal birth grandparents, we were able to go into the birth mother’s room and meet our daughter. As I write this entry, it seems like a very weird arrangement, but in reality, there was nothing weird about it. This was how God orchestrated this to happen, and we were all confident in His plan. There was obviously a great joy in meeting our daughter for the first time, but there also was a divine connection from Joe’s death to Julia’s birth. To Kristin and I, this was a sign of a sovereign God showing his compassion toward us.

Kristin and I had our own hospital room down the hallway from the birth mother. The arrangement was for us to stay in the hospital and take care of Julia from the beginning. She stayed in our room during the night, the hospital staff administered tests on her in our room…we were her parents! The birth mother took Julia for periods of time to have her time with Julia before we left the hospital and started the new chapter in all our lives. The maturity and generosity of this young woman was quite remarkable given the situation. She never wavered from her intelligent decision to give Julia the life she deserved.

APWAP

2010-12-02T10:40:00.000-06:00

During the summer of 2005, Kristin and I felt God leading us towards leading a college age group at the Boone Open Bible Church. This is something that had been tried at many Boone churches, including the Open Bible, but for some reason, no group had ever stuck. We began to prepare for a Fall of 2005 launch to coincide with the beginning of the college year. We named it New Day and began to spread the word. We put together a little worship band, my mom made her world famous scotcheroos, and I put together an introductory message. It was going to be awesome!

The opening Thursday night arrived. We had a worship practice, the treats were out, and we were ready to go! The only problem was that nobody joined us. Not one person even peaked their head in to see what we were up to. We were okay with that. It was a time to regroup and reassess our marketing strategy.

We came back next week. Nobody. We came back the next week. Nothing. We did this for six weeks. God had to be thinking, “I appreciate your persistency, but get a clue. It’s not time!” We decided to take a break and come back in the spring. Little did we know that God had something else in mind.

During the week following my brother’s death, God spoke clearly to my father, “A Party With A Purpose.” At the same time, God was speaking to Kristin and renewing her passion to reach the college age and young adults. She was feeling that this was the time to start up the ministry again. We didn’t know what this was supposed to look like, we just knew that we had to be available to the young people in the community, especially those struggling with the tragic situation. So, my dad made an announcement at the funeral that we were going to be available the following Saturday night. I’m not sure the exact number, but about 30 young people showed up on that Saturday. In short, we talked about God and had some fun. More importantly, we were there for each other to discuss what questions we had after this tragedy.

APWAP lasted three years, and then transitioned to being its own church, House of Freedom. In those three years, we were able to plant many seeds in the college age and help foster a culture of Christ. It makes my day to see somebody sporting an APWAP t-shirt! It was also where we spent every Saturday night during the most painful parts of our adoption process. But I am thankful we were able to keep working for the kingdom in the midst of trials.

LIFE CHANGES QUICKLY

2010-11-21T21:57:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks before my brother’s death, we received a call from our adoption agency. A woman from eastern Iowa was very interested in having us adopt her unborn child. She was seven months pregnant and interested in us talking to her and answering some questions over the phone. So, we had that conversation and we got a very positive response from her. The last thing was for us to meet her in person and get acquainted. So we set the date for late February to meet her and her parents.

We did not know at the time, but this date would be just a few days after my brother’s passing. Kristin and I had to decide whether to go ahead and meet with the birth family or try to postpone the meeting. I had just lost Joe a few days earlier, and was starting to feel guilt over leaving my family to go meet about the POSSIBILITY of adopting a child. It seems like that would be a great diversion, but I was at the lowest of lows and trying to figure out what was going on. We weren’t sure what to do, but God has a way of speaking through extraordinary circumstances. In this case, my crazy Aunt Penny.

Up to this point in my life, I had never received any advice from my crazy Aunt Penny, much less accepted it. I mean, her name is CRAZY Aunt Penny! (I use “crazy” in an affectionate manner ) But through the storm, came the soothing advice, “You need to go and meet this woman. God may be giving you guys new life, new hope, in the midst of tragedy.” It made perfect sense. So, Kristin and I decided to go to Cedar Rapids to meet this woman.

Our good friends, David and Michelle Wanat, agreed to go with us to Cedar Rapids. We arrived at the agency office, nervous as all get out. This was our first impression on the potential birth mother of our child. Kristin and I went into the office, while the Wanats stayed in the van. We did not want to overwhelm this young woman.

I am not going to go into details about that meeting, but it is safe to say that both sides were confident in each other. We all realized that God was doing an awesome thing by bringing us together. After one more phone call the following week, the birth mother decided that we were the ones and that she wanted us at the hospital when she gave birth. She explained to us that she felt God chose her to carry OUR baby! There is no other explanation for this miracle than a sovereign God being in control.

The only detail left to work out was the birth father. The agency assured us he was not going to be a problem. He was married to another woman, had eight children by five different women (two in state’s custody), woefully behind on child support, no full-time job, and had abandoned the birth mother while three months pregnant and went back to his wife. The agency said, “We have taken a lot better people to court and won. This will not be a problem.” These words haunted us for five years.

FEBRUARY 26, 2006

2010-11-16T12:35:00.000-06:00

The doorbell rang. It was Sunday morning, approximately 6:00. Who on earth would be at our door? As soon as I gathered myself, I began to panic. I quickly realized that nobody rings your doorbell at that time, unless there is an emergency. Kristin and I went to the door and Pastor Phil Waldo informed us that my 21-year old brother, Joe, had been killed in a car accident, along with two of his friends. The driver, was still alive, but in critical condition. I am not going to share what happened from there, as it is of private nature and I will never forget that morning. I’m sure you can imagine receiving similar news.

Over 1,000 people attended his funeral. He was one popular dude that affected numerous lives just with his personality and kindness. A community was rocked by this tragedy, especially the young people. Joe, Grant, and Trent were known by just about everyone. Of course, the question that arises is, “Why?” God revealed himself and his sovereignty that week and is still speaking to our family to this day about why this happened. Will I ever fully understand? Probably not…at least not until heaven. But, over time God is revealing his plan to us in how this tragedy is leading towards victory in the kingdom of God. And the first step was to start APWAP.

Please visit my brother's memorial site.
http://joe-bravard.memory-of.com/About.aspx

(Note: My father, Ken, is in the process of writing a book that will detail what God has revealed to him through this tragedy. To see God’s plan in this tragedy from a father’s perspective will blow your mind. I am hoping this book is finished soon! I am going to keep the focus of my blog more on the adoption process, but obviously this tragedy and other circumstances are forever intertwined.)

WHAT? YES! WHAT?

2010-11-11T23:27:00.001-06:00

We did not have any response until a few days before Christmas of 2005. To us, three months seemed like a long wait, but the standard is more like a year of wait time. So, we were feeling pretty lucky. Kristin and I were eating lunch at home when we received a call from the agency.

“A young woman from eastern Iowa has chosen the two of you to be the adoptive parents! BUT, she just gave birth this morning and you have one hour to decide. OH, and there’s two of them…twin boys! They have an African-American father and a white mother. I will call you back in an hour for your decision.”

What? Years of prayer, research, and waiting comes down to one hour to decide our future? Long story (one hour) made short…we decided to say, “YES!” I jumped in the car and went to the library to get some name books for us to read on the way to eastern Iowa. By time I got home, the agency had called back and informed us that the birth mother decided to go with people who were having fertility problems. (At that time we were not aware of any fertility problems. Five years later, that might be a different story.) Surprisingly, we were not devastated. We were disappointed, but we entered this process trusting God and He had other plans in mind. It is weird, though, to think there are twin boys running around out there whom we parented for 45 minutes ;) If you’re curious, it would have been Elijah and Isaiah if I had my way.

THE PROCESS – EXCITING TO EXCRUCIATING

2010-11-07T21:28:00.000-06:00

We were beyond excited to get going on the adoption process, even though it would be daunting. After deciding on using the agency I mentioned in my last post, we got to work. You are warned that it will take a while to complete the process; paperwork, home study, and create a pictorial profile for parents to look through to get to know the adopting family. The majority of the process was completed in the summer of 2005 and we were placed into the pool of adoptive parents in the fall of 2005. During this time we decided we were going to adopt domestically, and that we had no restrictions on gender, race, or how many children. We were going to let God lead us to whomever he had chosen for us.

We began filling out the mountains of paperwork and running down all the information we needed for this process. We also began to create a pictorial profile that would share our lives through pictures and short descriptive paragraphs. Think of a ‘Bravard Scrapbook’ that shares who we are with complete strangers. This profile would be the first impression we leave on the potential birth parents of our adopted child. I thank God for my wife, Kristin, all the time. For her beauty, inside and out, but most of all for her ability to stay on top of paperwork and create a beautiful scrapbook that depicts the Bravards. All joking aside, she has been given a gift of organization and creativity that I appreciate very much.

The next step was to have two home studies, administered by a social worker that worked for our adoption agency. This person came to our home to observe us as a married couple and inspect our home. But, in reality, the majority of time was spent answering a gazillion questions. In the middle of the questioning, an agenda began to develop from the social worker. She was starting to become very stern on some issues that had nothing to do with us, but she began to project her agenda on to us. We were already nervous as heck, but then became even more nervous when this agenda started to be shared with us. We completed the home study process, but due to this social worker's odd behavior, I asked the agency to remove her from our case. We feared her erratic behavior was going to cause us to miss out on an adoption opportunity. Luckily, our request was honored. I don’t think she worked there very long.

After the home studies were completed, our family profile was made available to each of the agency's offices in Iowa. Birth parents who had completed an adoption plan would look through these profiles and select which family they would like to consider. It was time for us to wait for the call.

WHEN GOD CALLS, HE WILL PROVIDE

2010-11-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

God decided it was time and stepped in and began the process for us. Kristin’s great aunt passed away and left us a very nice inheritance. Really nice when you consider that it was a great aunt. But, she never married and had no children or grandchildren. So, Kristin was like a grandchild to her. What makes this inheritance even crazier is the fact that this great aunt was not a Christian, a hardcore Democrat, avid smoker, and devoted her life to pets. Basically, she lived a life the opposite of us. God was going to use this woman to help fulfill the calling on our lives! And more importantly, save a soul.

Now that we had received a considerable amount of money, Kristin, age 23, and I, age 25, began to research the adoption process. Foster care or adoption? International or domestic? Boy or girl? One child or multiple? These were all questions that we had to address at one time or another. As we began to discuss these questions, it became apparent to us that we were confident in our answers, even though others thought they had us pegged. After much research, we were led to an adoption agency that came highly recommended, and we knew people that worked for the agency and had used the agency. We were feeling good about the choice. And the reason you pay an agency a lot of money, is to feel good about the process…to let the experts take care of everything. In the end, I have never felt more let down by an entity. But, I will return to that at a later date.

CALLED TO ADOPTION

2010-10-26T12:56:00.000-05:00

My lovely wife, Kristin, and I have been married for almost 11 years. Even before our wedding day, we had occasional discussions about children, and the topic of adoption would come up. At the time, we were still teenagers, approaching our twenties, but for some reason we both felt God had spoken to us to be open to the idea of adoption. Even though we were young and had plenty of time to conceive children, we both felt strongly about adopting. So much that we began to prepare for it from day one of our marriage.

Conventional wisdom told us that we would have to wait a while to adopt. There are certain age restrictions, the process is grueling, and of course there is that one thing needed...money! So we enjoyed the first five years of our marriage, and received the occasional, "So, when are you guys going to have a baby?" It was a fair question to a married couple in our position. As we approached our mid-twenties, we knew the time was coming. But, we really felt like we needed to adopt sooner, than later. Ever since giving my life completely to God, I have felt a sense of urgency in everything that relates to souls. Adoption was going to be no different. I feel that adoption is the potential saving of a soul, just like God adopting us into his family is the saving of a soul.

Galatians 4:4-7
4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive adoption as sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Adoption is a beautiful thing that is exemplified by our Father adopting us into his family. Not only does He have unconditional love for us to bring us into his family, He then makes us an heir to rule with Him. He has called us to show this same love. Kristin and I felt called to show this unconditional love to a child in need of a home and parents who could provide for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, just as Jesus did when he came to earth to fulfill the mission of adopting us into his family.

Please check back for the next installment in our road to adoption.

IT IS FINISHED

2010-10-17T09:46:00.000-05:00

After five years our adoption is finalized! The whole day was a surreal experience for Kristin and I. We have been fighting for so long and constantly looking over our shoulder for the next battle. To have those five years of anguish come to an end, just didn't seem real. But God has stayed faithful in his calling on us to adopt and save a soul! It is only through Him that we had the strength to finish this process. I can't imagine where we would be without the Holy Spirit interceding and walking with us step by step. To God be the glory for great things he has done!

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to share on my blog what has transpired these last five years to encourage, but also to show the glory of God through his divine design. I started writing about these last five years and realized it is going to be way too long for a single blog post. So, later this week, I am going to start posting a section at a time.

I leave you with a picture from the finalization.

ADOPTION FINAL THIS FRIDAY!

2010-10-12T15:16:00.000-05:00

This Friday, October 15, Kristin, Julia, and I will for the first time in 4.5 years be a legal family according to the state of Iowa! I never would have imagined the journey it would take to get to this point. Since the beginning of this process, I lost my brother to a car accident, almost lost my sister to celiac disease, almost lost my daughter due to adoption agency errors and an upside down judicial system, and then God told us it was time to start a church. But, due to the incredible perseverance and steadfast faith of my wife and family, a soul has been saved! Julia will have opportunities to affect this world for Christ, that she would have never known. I thank God over and over that he chose us to go to battle for this little girl. And I pray that she is not the last.

After the finalization this Friday, I am going to share a blog about our adoption process. I hope somebody in a similar situation will stumble upon my blog and be encouraged. But for now be encouraged by the picture :)

Check Out This Article (I'M IN IT!)

2009-12-07T23:59:00.000-06:00

I was interviewed by the Ames Tribune, to give my view on connecting young people to faith. I think it turned out well, especially since I thought I was just going to be talking about our church plant. Check it out!

http://www.amestrib.com/articles/2009/12/07/ames_tribune/news/doc4b1b236d24f72091647357.txt

2009-10-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

I have often wondered about the Old Testament...and the "boringness" attributed to parts of it. Why are all the genealogy lists and long descriptions included. I came across this blog and it gave me some fresh perspective. I told people at HoF I would pass this along and so here it is.

Three Ways to Benefit from "Boring" Passages
September 14, 2009 | By: Tyler Kenney

If you've ever tried reading through the Old Testament, chances are at some point you've found yourself bored, stuck in the middle of a genealogy or list of laws and wishing you were back in Mark. And if you didn't fall asleep, skip the chapter, or quit entirely, you at least came away wondering why these sections are in Scripture and what they mean for us today.

The New Testament affirms that every word of the Old Testament is God-breathed and for our good (Matthew 5:17-18; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; etc.). But how do we experience this, especially when some passages seem to be nothing more than antiquated lists of numbers, names, or laws? How do we benefit from the parts of the Bible that seem so boring?

Here are three possibilities:

1) "Boring" passages are the evidence of God's faithfulness.

Taken individually, many details in Scripture can seem useless, like scattered stones at the bottom of the Jordan. But when we read them in context and observe how they have been drawn out and arranged on the other side of the river, we start to see them as concrete reminders of how God has been faithful to his people and promises.

What significance is it, for instance, that in the census at Sinai the tribe of Judah had a noticably larger number of men than the other tribes (Numbers 1:26-27)? For one, it shows us that God was making good on his promise to exalt Judah above his brothers (Genesis 49:8).

2) "Boring" passages equip us to understand greater spiritual realities.

By enumerating details from the past, "boring" passages introduce us to concepts by which we can understand later revelation.

Consider this: Why does the Pentateuch contain so much material that describes the old covenant and its laws? One reason is that Moses wanted to increase our anticipation and appreciation of a new covenant.

By chronicling the old covenant—one in which God's law is external to his people, written on stone and unattainable in all its requirements—Moses sets up a contrast by which his readers can better apprehend the nature and glory of the coming covenant. In the new covenant there is still law and obedience, but the law is written on our hearts and obedience comes from within as "faith working through love" (Deuteronomy 30:6; Galatians 5:6).

3) "Boring" passages help us experience what they talk about.

At times the biblical authors illustrate or elaborate on certain details in the past in order to give their readers a felt sense of what they are describing.

For example, when listing out the instructions for how to build the tabernacle, Moses goes into great detail about all the materials and measurements. Did he intend for the reader of Exodus to actually build a tabernacle? No! That was Bezalel and Oholiab's job (Exodus 31:1-11).

Rather, it appears that Moses included the full set of blueprints in order to convey to us, as we literally labor to read them, a greater sense of the weight and worth of God. The effect is that we feel more hopeless about attaining our own righteousness, and we marvel more at God's mercy in still coming to dwell among feeble and failing people.

Every passage of Scripture plays its part perfectly. Sure, not all are dramatic or suspenseful or flowering with sweet promises. But God has his wise—and needed—purposes for every inspired line.

GOD BLEW UP OUR SERVICE...AND IT WAS AWESOME

2009-09-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday night at House of Freedom, God decided to blow things up…in an awesome way! I am thankful that everyone was obedient to the Holy Spirit and agreed to put aside the “church service” for the night and “to be the church.”

We began worship, and “made it” through three songs. I say “made it’ because things were just not right. There was a spirit of heaviness in the room that was not allowing for these songs to be songs of praise. At least from my lips, they seemed to be empty words. I got up from the drums and expressed how I felt, and that I felt God wanted us to “blow things up” for the night. As I described the burden on my heart for non-believers, those that used to lived for Christ and now live for themselves, and just an overall apathetic view of God in our culture, it felt that everybody was starting to discover that they too were sharing this burden.

So, we decided to have the guys go to one end of the worship center and pray and the ladies did the same thing at the opposite end of the worship center. This is where we started “to be the church.” Powerful things began to happen when we agreed in prayer for each other, lifted up those that used to live for God, and just prayed! After our time of prayer, we gathered back together and shared what God was doing in our lives and what we felt God speaking to us through our prayer time. The overall feeling by the end of the night was FAMILY! God has blessed us with a church that doesn’t just feel like, but IS a family! A family cares for one another, prays together, is hurt when other family members hurt, rejoices when family members rejoice. That is the heart of House of Freedom. A family that is sold out for Jesus, and living life together.

We also had Ashlei and Jotham share their personal testimonies and it was great to hear how God has and is working in their lives. We ended with another time of worship, but this was much different from the first set!

With this said, we are still going to encounter problems and heavy hearts. The lesson I learned…again, is church isn’t about the service. It is about the people being the church: praying for one another, sharing in the hurt and the joyous times, learning together, and serving God together. This is a hard thing to do for a church plant. Most people want a nice little church service, wrapped in the same package each week. I am sorry, but that's not us. I know if we conformed to that, our attendance would be much higher which is what you are always asked about as a church plant. But God has not called HoF to conform, but to follow the calling he has given us. The calling to offer something real and genuine and to meet people where they are at, not offer the same packaged deal each week.

That is what happened at HoF this week and that starts to explain our heart. We don’t have everything figured out. We are all imperfect people running after the Perfect One. But it sure is nice having others to run along side of you.

The Bible Is Rad! You've Got To Check It Out...

2009-09-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

We have been traveling through the book of 1 Peter the past four Saturday nights at House of Freedom...and it has been awesome! We are not rushing through the book. We are focusing on 1-2 verses a week and exploring God's incredible truth packed into each verse. I feel we are in a season of "pruning" at House of Freedom. God is leading us to cut off that which hinders our walk with God. There must be pruning to make room for the fruitful branches to grow. We are seeing some incredible growth in our core at HoF.

I encourage you to read through 1 Peter. It was written as an incredible encouragement to the suffering saints, and I don't know about other saints, but I can use encouragement. I hope you can come out this Saturday night and join us in this journey through 1 Peter.

p.s. - Grand Opening is Saturday, October 3 - Hope you can join us!

PEOPLE MOVING AWAY SUCKS!

2009-08-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

When Kristin and I jumped head first into this ministry, with mainly college students and young adults, we had to come to grips with a few things...that just suck. Mainly, that some young people might not be with us forever. I know, not a big shocker that college students graduate and might not live in the Ames area forever. Some young people go into the military and have to move away. There are many reasons young people move, and Kristin and I decided long ago that if this is what God wanted us to do, we are going to do it. Doesn't mean that it is fun or any easier when this happens. But, at the same time, we pray for these individuals and wish them the best with the new chapter in their lives.

With that said, we lost a couple of young men from our flock the past couple of weeks, and it hurts. I have known Dan O'Tool for what I believe to be all 20 years he has been alive. (He is wearing glasses in the picture) He began to attend our APWAP ministry near the beginning, some 3.5 years ago. He was one of our APWAP rocks! He moved out to Colorado to be closer to his family and we know God is preparing him for big things! We miss you Dan!

James McDonald began attending House of Freedom in March of this year after being invited by the one and only Tiffany Imel. He drove to Ames from Des Moines every Saturday night and became a part of the HoF family. He moved back to Pennsylvania to attend Penn State. I haven't known James long, but I am glad he was able to be with us for the last five months. Praying for God to do big things in Pennsylvania through James!

HoF misses you guys!

I'M BACK...

2009-06-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

Haven't felt like blogging lately. I could say I've been too busy, but I just haven't felt like it. I'm going to make this brief and leave you with a video.

House of Freedom, Ames edition, has been going great! We have had 14 services in our new facility and are meeting a lot of new people. The building itself is a continuous project, but we are making progress and our goal is to have our main meeting area complete by the beginning of the fall semester. Please stop by on a Saturday night and see what is going on. We would love to have you join us!

This video is from our Gamin' & Hangin' night. I took a bunch of still photos, but only took 3.5 minutes of video of our "video game" area...yet I enjoy making videos much more than putting together slide shows. Enjoy!

Worship, Fruit, and J.J.

2009-04-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

We just concluded our series on "Worship" here at House of Freedom with a bang! We ended with Philippians 1:21 and focused on the phrase, "to live is Christ." I pray that you take those four words and meditate on what it is that you truly live for. Do you live to glorify Christ in all that you do?

We will begin a series this week on the fruit of the Spirit. Hope you can all make it out to our service on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. Go to http://www.hofames.com/contact.html for a map and parking information.

Also, today marks the 3rd birthday of our precious little girl, Julia JoLee. Jesus called us to adopt a child, and Julia was the little girl He entrusted to us. The adoption process has taken many terrible turns, that I pray nobody has to go through. Sadly, it probably happens more often than we know. If you can continue to lift our situation up in prayer, we would appreciate it. We are not completely through yet. Also, there are children all over the world who need good homes. Many find a good home and many are blocked for one reason or another. Jesus commands us to watch over orphans, so let's do it! God bless and see you Saturday!

Community of Grace

2009-03-31T16:31:00.000-05:00

This is from the blog of Tim Chester, who wrote the book "Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community." As 'House of Freedom - Ames' grows and continues to shape its identity, these are the types of things we need to think about. I agree with most things stated here, and the things I am not sure about, I think are not discussed here or they may be implied by Mr. Chester. The one thought I would add, is don't let this idea of grace become a crutch. Grace is a wonderful gift from God and is what allows our wretched nature to be forgiven, but at the same time, we need to strive to become more like Christ everyday. Of course, we will have our failures, but the state of mind should be to "sin no more." Take a second and read this and let me know if you have any thoughts on what is stated by Mr. Chester. - Pastor Ben

I was recently asked to speak on communities of grace. So I got to thinking: What is the opposite of a community of grace? And I came to the conclusion that it's a community of performance. Communities of performance may talk a lot about grace, but they value performance—Christians who have it all figured out, churches that run smoothly, meetings that are accomplished. And so they communicate that what matters is that you perform well.

So is your community a community of performance or a community of grace? Try these diagnostic tests:

Communities of Performance

The leaders appear to have it all figured out
The community appears respectable
Meetings must be a polished performance
Failure is devastating, because identity is found in ministry
Actions are driven by duty
Conflict is suppressed or ignored
The focus is on orthodox behavior (letting people think they have it all figured out)

Communities of Grace

The leaders are vulnerable
The community is messy
Meetings are just one part of community life
Failure is disappointing but not devastating, because identity is found in Christ
Actions are driven by joy
Conflict is addressed in the open
The focus is on the affections of the heart (with a strong view of sin and grace)

In performance-oriented churches, people pretend to be okay because their standing within the church depends on it. But this is the opposite of grace. Grace acknowledges that we're all sinners, all messed up, all struggling. And grace also affirms that in Christ we all belong, all make the grade, all are welcome.

What Does a Community of Grace Look Like?

Imagine such a church for a moment. Here's Andrew: he sometimes uses porn because he struggles to find refuge in God. Here's Pauline: she sometimes has panic attacks because she struggles to believe in the care of her heavenly Father. Here's Abdul: he sometimes loses his temper because he struggles to believe that God is in control. Here's Georgina: she sometimes has bouts of depression because she struggles to believe God's grace. When they come together, they accept one another and celebrate God's grace towards each other. They rejoice that they are all children of God through the work of Christ. And they remind one another of the truths each of them needs to keep going and to change. It's a community of grace, a community of hope, a community of change.

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

2009-03-23T12:48:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to give all you cyber-junkies an update on the progress at
House of Freedom.

We held our third service this past Saturday at our new facility and
it was AWESOME! Now why was it awesome, you ask? The pat answer you
hear from people is, “God was there.” Duh, of course He was there! He
is always there. The thing that has made these past few weeks
awesome, is that I sense people are making a concentrated effort to
meet with God. We have been discussing Isaiah 55 and the chapter
starts with an INVITATION from God in the first three verses. He is
inviting all of us (believers and non-believers) to be with Him. He
is inviting us to Come, Eat, Drink, and Live! Then this week we
discussed verses 6-9. These verses stress the importance of accepting
this invitation and to SEEK HIM. In order to truly seek Him, we need
to forsake our sinful ways and thoughts. When we seek God, His spirit
will direct us towards the sin in our lives that we need to get rid
of. It is up to us to do something about it. When we forsake the
sin, the communication line becomes much clearer and we will feel
close to God due to no obstacles in our way.

As far as the building goes, the café is near completion. The carpet
was installed this past week, which really makes the room pop. There
are other projects we want to complete before proceeding on our main
meeting area. The good news is that if we keep packing the café for
service like we did this past Saturday, then the need will push us to
get going on the main room. So let’s keep packing the place!

Also want to remind you that we will have a late-night concert on
Saturday, April 4, featuring solo artist John Cheatem. John is an
extremely talented young singer who won the Iowa Idol contest a couple
years ago. We have had John in concert a couple times before and he
always brings down the house. That’s it for now…PEACE!

HOF + NEW BUILDING + JESUS + BEEFBURGERS = LEGENDARY!

2009-03-10T09:22:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, March 7, a God-given vision came to pass. If you didn’t know, that is something to be excited about. Think about it…there are God-given visions birthed everyday around the world. There are not official statistics, but I’m guessing not every vision comes to pass. Why you ask? IT’S HARD!

Let me stop all you “over saved” Christians before you rebuttal with, “Everything is easy with God on your side.” I have come to find out that the closer you walk with God, the more He is going to entrust you with and thus challenge you. But, as the great apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” So what vision passed Saturday night?

House of Freedom – Ames had its first service in their new facility! And it was LEGENDARY! The café was HOPPIN’, the worship was BANGIN’, and the music was PUMPIN’! The parking lot was full…and muddy. Most importantly, the Word of God was FLOWIN’.

We are excited about what God has allowed us to do through His mercy. There is much potential in the Ames/Boone area to foster a change in culture, especially among the next generation. Our prayer is that ‘House of Freedom’ is used to its full capacity to be an agent of this change. Please come check us out this Saturday at 7:30 pm. Go to http://www.hofames.com/contact.html to check out directions on how to get to HOF.

p.s. - The term "over saved" is from comedian Michael Jr. Check him out!

SATURDAY PREMIERE! ARE YOU READY?

2009-03-06T07:22:00.000-06:00

THIS IS IT! Saturday, March 7 will be our first service in our new facility. We hope you can join us Saturday night. It will be "awesomeilicious."

Go to http://www.hofames.com/contact.html to see a map of how to get to House of Freedom.

I am not going to say much more because I am out of time and I want it to be a surprise...then I will say more. Peace.

A SWEET TREAT FOR YOU THIS VALENTINE'S DAY

2009-02-13T12:25:00.001-06:00

This Saturday is Valentine's Day...perhaps the weirdest holiday, besides Arbor Day. We devote a day to love or what our idea of love is or is not. That got me thinking about love, relationships, marriage, and sex. So I decided Valentine's Day is the perfect time to talk about what the Bible has to say on these subjects and then make some personal applications that we can use right away. So, this Saturday I will be talking about these topics and SURPRISE, God is down with all of them. In fact, he created them! I hope you can join us Saturday at 7:30 pm to discuss what the Bible says about relationships. Plus, there will be chocolate!!!

LET US NOT BECOME WEARY IN DOING GOOD!

2009-02-06T09:22:00.000-06:00

Many exciting things are on the horizon with House of Freedom. We are scheduled to move into our new facility on Saturday, March 7. We have many cool events and concerts in the planning for our new facility. We are meeting some really cool people who are curious about God. GOOD THINGS ARE HAPPENING!

So why do I have this overwhelming sense in my Spirit, that people in general, are WUSSING out. Why is it not enough for people to treasure Christ? He is only the Creator of the world, Giver of eternal life, perfect Sacrifice, Lover of my soul, and my sole reason for living. Instead, believers and unbelievers are busy chasing the “treasures” of this world. If only I could just get through to people, that what happens on “Gossip Girls” this week has no bearing on anything in comparison to what God wants to do through you this week.

I use to be one of these wusses and have to fight my flesh to not fall back into the wuss pattern. In my teen years and into my early twenties, I attended church and participated in church. I had my fire insurance, as the phrase goes. Most people would have considered me a strong Christian. But, I wasn’t anywhere near where God wanted me to be.

So, I started reading the Bible more and seeking out people who knew more than I did. Shockingly, as I pressed in more, God started to speak to me more. I then received a unique perspective from God that I understand most people will not receive. The death of my brother brought me to a new level of commitment to Christ. He revealed things to me that messed up my entire way of thinking and living. I feel that I can truly say that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Now God has given me a mission to encourage people to RISE UP! Rise up and take this city for God! Turn off the tvs, put down your cell phone, and join this revolution to win souls for Christ! You have a relatively short time on earth to make a difference, SO START TODAY!

Please join us at House of Freedom this Saturday night to learn more. Go to www.hofames.com for the info. God bless.

MARCH 7...PUT THE DATE IN YOUR CELL PHONE

2009-01-28T17:25:00.000-06:00

March 7! That is the date of our first service in our new facility! The building will not be completely finished; shoot, it might not even be close. But, I can promise you it will be awesome because God will be there and you will be too. We have been working on remodeling the bathrooms, kitchen, nursery, and cafe. It is a process, but coming together quite nicely. We will have pics posted on www.hofames.com soon.

If you are wondering about our church, please hit us up with your questions. In short, we are imperfect people running after the PERFECT ONE. We believe in interacting with our Savior, which means we don't just talk about God, but we worship Him with all our hearts and communicate with Him like the omnipresent Father He is. And we believe in this generation! We believe in building up young leaders to win this world for Christ. If that sounds of interest to you and you want to be part of a church that accepts you, yet is challenging, check us out on Saturday nights. We will continue to meet in the Boone Open Bible throughout the month of February every Saturday night...then onto the next stage of House of Freedom!

WE HAVE A BUILDING - THUS WEEK OF PRAYER

2009-01-12T14:42:00.000-06:00

House of Freedom - Ames purchased their building on December 31, 2008 at 2:30 pm. After 2.5 years of seeking God's will and researching everything there is to know about church planting, real estate, county buildings codes, etc. we have purchased our future gathering place. After 6 months of negotiations, God proved his faithfulness by supplying the building at the price he spoke to us months ago. Through many faithful givers, prayer warriors, and church family, we were able to come up with a financial plan that allowed a fairly new church to buy a building. GOD IS RAD!!! Now the real fun begins! We are going to do some remodeling and hope to begin meeting there this spring. An official date will be announced later.

Since we are starting this church plant, WE NEED PRAYER! At our service Saturday night, I urged HOF members to join with me in a WEEK OF PRAYER for this church plant. We will have a different prayer emphasis each day. I ask that you consider setting time aside each day this week to pray for this church plant. Here is the prayer plan...

Monday - God's Will Be Done
Tuesday - Finances
Wednesday - The Harvest
Thursday - Ministry - Pray that the ministry of HOF would not be distracted by the preparation of the building.
Friday - Strength - This is going to be a process and we will need strength to work through this transition.

In the meantime, we are still meeting at Boone Open Bible Church every Saturday night. Check out www.hofames.com to see what is going on at House of Freedom.

EXCITING STUFF

2008-12-22T20:04:00.000-06:00

I am back to blogging this week! Sorry about the one week absence. Last week was insane, with semester tests, preparing for our Christmas Communion service, and many other things. Of course this week is Christmas, so I thought I would blog before things get out of control.

There were two big happenings this past week with House of Freedom. The first happening was our Christmas Communion service this past Saturday night. The service was packed with awesomeness. Our time of worship was exciting and precious. Truly a time of praise and adoration for our Savior. We also had a baptism! Ashlei not only was baptized, but gave an awesome testimony! There was also a human video to the song, 'Mary Did You Know.' It was sang by my lovely wife, Kristin, and the video was performed by members of HOF. Perhaps, one of the greatest songs ever. Jotham, did a special performance during "The Bucket." (If you don't know what "The Bucket" is, you have to come to find out.) And we closed the service with communion. A perfect way to remember the true meaning of Christmas. We were also going to have an acoustic concert, but the weather put a stop to that. The artist could not make it due to the blizzard conditions.

It was an awesome night! Thanks everybody in helping with the service and thanks to everyone for joining us! Hope you can all come back this week!

Second happening is that we will have a building by the end of 2008! Many different details have come together to make this happen by December 31. I won't go into great details, but THE TIME HAS COME! It will take a high level of fiscal responsibility to make this work and to have this church operate month to month. But if we stay faithful, God will protect us! Please keep praying and give to this church plant as God leads. This building is going to allow us to not only have church, but continue with our concert ministry. It is going to be LEGENDARY! (My words, not God's) Much more to come with this development.

Exciting things are happening at HOF-Ames. Come check us out!

Psalm 2 - WHATCHA THINKING?

2008-12-08T17:59:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday, I discussed Psalm 1 with my HOF peeps. Verse 2 I believe is the main idea of this chapter. It states...

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Upon reading that, I am guessing most people assume that this Psalm is talking about law, as in legal requirements of the Old Testament. But, upon studying, you will learn that the word "law" here is the same as the word "torah" which means "instruction." So let's replace the word law with instruction and see how that speaks to you.

2 But his delight is in the INSTRUCTION of the LORD,
and on his INSTRUCTION he meditates day and night.

To me instruction is referring to the Word of God, the Bible. Thus the blessed man delights in the Word of God and meditates on it day and night! Thus the challenge, are we meditating on the Word day and night? I know I am guilty of neglect as of late. I have been "busy" being "busy."

Saturday night I "assigned" the reading of Psalm 2 and encouraged everyone to comment to this blog and share what God was speaking to them. So this is your chance to enter into an online conversation about Psalm 2. If we are committing scripture to our hearts and meditating on it, then we must have an impression from God. I encourage you to be courageous and enter into this conversation.

THANKSGIVING IN JULY!

2008-11-28T22:14:00.000-06:00

As I was pondering what to blog about this week, I'll be honest with you...I HAD NOTHING! I thought about stepping away from pastoral advice and discussing my pet peeves, like the excessive use of the term "lol" online. Don't even get me started! Or how everybody uses the "Status Update" feature on Facebook to literally update the world on their status. I imagine the intention of this feature was to clue people in on changes in status THAT MATTER. Not "I am eating grapes" or "I am an adult and laying down to take a nap during a weekday." And my all time favorite..."I am miserable!" or any other form of that phrase. Then a friend asks, "What is wrong?" Status updatee responds, "Oh, nothing." WHAT?

So what I really wanted to blog about was Thanksgiving. Then I thought how cliche of me to blog about giving thanks on Thanksgiving. I am weird like that. So, check back in July when I blog about giving thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

p.s. - because we should give thanks all year long. (in case you weren't smellin' what I was cookin')

NEVER GIVE UP!

2008-11-20T23:42:00.000-06:00

NEVER GIVE UP
Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Bottom line...NEVER GIVE UP! There is too much at stake, to just throw in the towel. Too many people depend on YOU. Do not take the easy way out. NEVER GIVE UP!

Here are three quick reasons why we can NEVER GIVE UP.

1. YOU need to finish STRONG
Hebrews 6:4-6
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

This is an extremely sobering passage. Some people are of the belief, that once you accept Christ, there is nothing you can do to lose your salvation. This passage paints a different picture. Jesus is a forgiving God and will forgive us of our sins upon confession to Him. But this passage warns that a person may fall away so far that it is impossible to be brought back to repentance. In other words, Jesus would have to be sacrificed again and He is not going to be doing that. So, we need to finish strong to avoid falling so far away that we denouce our Savior and do not get to spend eternity in heaven. This is so serious and cannot be dismissed. NEVER GIVE UP!

2. People are dying to sin everyday
Jesus' heart is for the lost. His desire is that all people spend eternity in heaven. He has commanded us to reach these people and make disciples. There is no greater time than today. NEVER GIVE UP!

3. Injustice is happening all over the world
There is so much despair in our world. If we cannot be counted on as Christians, to help out the destitute, who can these people count on? In a world full of poverty, disease, perverts, violent religions, tyrannical governments, persecution, racism, etc...who will stand up and be the shining light? Jesus has called His followers to step up and take care of His people. If we give up, what will happen to these people? That is not an option! We must stand up to these evil forces and FIGHT!

If you have any questions on anything from this week's blogs, please contact me. Many people don't like to hear that we are fighting in a spiritual war. They think if we ignore our enemy, he will go away. He is not going away until Jesus returns. By discussing the enemy's schemes, we become educated on how to combat his tactics and are able to fight the good fight. God bless you and please join us this Saturday night at House of Freedom.

NEVER GIVE UP - I'm Tired of Fighting

2008-11-18T21:04:00.000-06:00

There will be many moments in this spiritual war where you become exhausted from fighting. You will cry out to God, "I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE!" But you can! You must keep fighting...NEVER GIVE UP! The enemy will not stop attacking, but our God never stops working!

In the last three years, my family has had bomb after bomb dropped on our lives. It started with my sister, Lis, being diagnosed with Celiac disease. That after being sick for almost a year, with nobody able to diagnosis her pain. Then three years ago, I was diagnosed with ortho-arthritis in my knees and at the same time discovering I had a hyper-thyroid. Then my 21 year-old brother passed away in a car accident with two of his friends. We then received great news when we were chosen to adopt a baby girl. Little did we know, that we would be in a legal battle for almost three years and counting. In the middle of all this, God lead us to pastor a college age ministry and now has lead us to plant a church.

I share with you this abbreviated history, to share with you a passage that gave me hope when it seemed all was lost. Kristin and I were at the end of our ropes. It came to a day where I cried out to God, "I cannot lose my little girl. You delivered her to us to raise in Your ways. I can't take anymore." I was about to give up. I came upon a passage on the Internet that day, and later that day, saw it again featured in a publication. Here is the passage, that gave me a promise I hold dear.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

There are no words for the promises in this passage. Read it again and again. This passage confirms that Christians will grow weary and fall. But if you hope in the Lord, He will renew your strength! In other words, God NEVER GIVES UP on us! For that blessed hope, I choose to fight!

NEVER GIVE UP - God Provides Us Armor/Weapons for Battle

2008-11-17T20:22:00.000-06:00

Here is my second thought from this past Saturday's sermon, "Never Give Up." God provides us with armor to withstand attacks and he also provides weapons for us to attack the enemy. Let's look at Ephesians 6:14-18.

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

I am not going to elaborate on each of these pieces individually. I do want to focus on the two weapons mentioned towards the end of the passage. God gives us the most powerful weapon in the world. A sword that has the power to breathe life into dead vessels. A weapon that provides wisdom beyond anything this world has to offer. An eloquent book that describes how lovely, righteous, wonderful, and mighty our Savior is. We need to be toting our sword at all times! If we are in a spiritual battle from cradle to the grave, we need to have our sword on hand at all times; either physically in hand or in our hearts. I issued a challenge Saturday night, to make it a habit to bring our Bibles to service Saturday nights...paper or electronic. If we are not bringing our Bibles to church, where are we taking them? Bring your sword to battle!

The other weapon mentioned is praying in the Spirit. The key part of that phrase is "Spirit." It goes on to say, "on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." Paul is implying that we are to pray like there is no tomorrow. If you were sent off to war, would your prayer frequency increase? Yes. Even those that don't believe, begin to pray when tragedy is looming. Guess what? There is a great tragedy going on right now! People are going to hell everyday. We need to pray in the Spirit on all occasions!!! I was reminded this past weekend of a common phrase that drives me nuts. I heard it from a preacher who is not fond of the expression either. Are you ready? Here it is..."just pray about it." It is such a passive phrase! Next time someone comes to you with a problem, try this...Pray in the Spirit right now without ceasing. Don't wait until you get home. Seek God through his mighty Word. Then do it again tomorrow, and the day after and the day after, etc. Have you considered fasting? That is the aggressive approach Paul is urging of the Ephesians.

I urge you tonight to pull out your sword and study your weapon of mass destruction. Pray to the Almighty God in Spirit for all the Saints and those that are "pre-Saints." Have a great Tuesday and check back here tomorrow.

NEVER GIVE UP - What Are We Fighting Against?

2008-11-16T09:55:00.000-06:00

Most weeks I use my blog to follow up a sermon with some thoughts that I did not share on Saturday night or I share some things God has been laying on my heart. This week I feel impressed to post my sermon from this past Saturday. We had some regulars that weren't able to be with us and I feel this is important for them. Keep in mind, the sermon was much better live! I am going to post one main point a day, so check back daily.

WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING AGAINST?

Ephesians 6:11-13
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Four main ideas I gleamed from this passage. These ideas paint us a picture of what we are at war with. The Bible does not shy away from identifying the enemy as some are in the habit of doing these days. We need to understand the enemy, in order to wage a successful battle.

1. Life is War

Cradle to the grave - We are in a spiritual war our entire life
Your soul, mind, body, family, job are a battleground - Nothing is safe in this war
Until Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, we are at constant war
Why does Satan come after Christians so hard? - They are the ones he has to worry about the most. Satan will give us no peace if we are at peace with God.

2. Devil's Schemes

John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. The word only stuck out to me as I read this verse. Satan comes for only one reason...to destroy us. He has no other intention than to destroy our souls and have us spend eternity in a fiery anguish. I believe the world as a whole doesn't get this. Otherwise, we as Christians would be doing more and more and more to reach out to those living in the dark. We need to understand the mindset of the devil in order to fight him and be victorious!

3. The War is Against Supernatural Evil

Verse 12 says our battle is not against flesh and blood. People are naturally evil, but our battle is not against them. Even the most vile person you know is not your enemy, it is the evil spirit within them. As humans, it is difficult for us to seperate the two. That is why we depend on the supernatural power of God to fight the supernatural evil.

An interesting point here is that the apostle Paul wrote this passage. If anyone knew about this battle, it was Paul. He was whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, etc. by PEOPLE. Yet he was able to write this passage! Know your true enemy...so we can throttle him!

4. There is a Danger of Falling in Battle

There is a danger of not making it out of this battle. Unfortunately, it happens everyday to Christians and non-Christians. People do not finish the battle strong. Paul mentions three times TO STAND, the opposite of falling. We must rise up and fight, and fight some more, and keep on fighting. This war does not end until Satan is thrown into the lake of fire. We do not know when Jesus is returning, so we must fight everyday of our life! WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP!

Press On - Never Give Up!

2008-11-13T22:15:00.000-06:00

Philippians 3:12-14

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We will be taking a week off from our trek through the gospel of John to focus on the fruit of perseverance. Jesus called us to a life of perseverance; to endure persecution and the schemes of the evil one. The passage above was written by the apostle Paul as encouragement to the Philippians and a warning to us that this life is not easy. If anyone knew about suffering for the gospel, it was Paul. If he could persevere through the trials he faced, we should be able to overcome as well. This Saturday's message should be both an encouragement and challenge to you. Please join us as we continue to discover the radical lifestyle that Jesus has called us to.

House of Freedom
currently meeting at Boone Open Bible Church
1224 Hancock Drive
Cafe open at 7:00 pm - Service at 7:45 pm

Random Thoughts...Coherent, Just Not In A Particular Order

2008-11-05T20:25:00.000-06:00

Here is what is on my mind this week.

1. The presidential election has come to a close. I am not composing this blog to discuss the campaign and/or the results of the election. Whether your guy won or not, take joy in the fact that as followers of Christ, we are first and foremost citizens of heaven! I pledged my allegiance years ago to the one leader who comes through with all His promises. The one leader who promises that we will have life, and have it more abundantly. I choose to follow that leader!

2. We took a break from the Gospel of John this week to discuss GIVING! I was more than willing to preach on giving, since I was in good company. Fifteen percent of Jesus' words in the Bible relate to giving and money. That is more than His words on heaven and hell combined. I want to encourage you to practice a "radical lifestyle" of giving. Jesus taught time and time again to be generous givers.

Matthew 6:19-21 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

God will take care of your needs if you are a faithful giver. In Matthew 6:25-32 Jesus tells us to not worry about money and possessions, and not to be anxious about such matters. Give, give, give to advance the kingdom of God!

3. We are getting closer and closer to acquiring our own building. Please be in prayer for this transition. It will be different for a while. In the meantime, we are going to continue to hold services at the Boone Open Bible and witness the kingdom expand.

4. That is it for now. You have three days to invite somebody to House of Freedom this week. Take every opportunity that presents itself. (plus you can make other opportunities happen)

What's On Tap This Week?

2008-10-30T20:49:00.000-05:00

Here is what to expect at House of Freedom-Ames this week...

7:00 - Cafe Open
7:45 - The HOF band will lead us in a passionate time of worship. We will also have communion this week after our time of worship and I will deliver God's Word. Please check out http://www.hfichurches.com/ and click on Ames Campus for location.

Everyone is welcome to hang out after service! We have a great time just hanging out in the cafe or lounge and unwinding from the long week with friends. We usually have first timers each week, so you won't be the only one! Please join us this Saturday night as we desperately pursue a life of passion, purpose, and freedom!

Spirit and Truth - Can't Have One Without the Other

2008-10-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday night, I urged my church family to check out my blog. I warned them that it would be neither “earth changing” nor “life shattering.” With eloquence like that coming from my mouth, I proved my point. Since this might be many people’s first time checking out my blog, I want to offer practical words of encouragement.

This past week at House of Freedom, we continued our trek through the Gospel of John…chapter four to be exact. Here, we find the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. It is an amazing story of forgiveness, hope, and a command to worship. I won’t recap the whole sermon, but I want to focus on the main point that “God is looking for people who worship in spirit and truth.” Then Jesus says, “you MUST worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus never mixed words about what is expected of believers. He uses words such as, always, never, only, and in this case, MUST. This is a command. There is no way to escape this command. If we are children of Christ and treasure Him as our Savior, we “MUST” worship in spirit and truth.

We discussed the term, “spirit and truth.” I spoke at length on the meaning of these terms, so I will briefly summarize this section. To worship in spirit, is to worship God with your emotions and the spirit that lives within you. It should well up in you like a fountain, a fountain of life. To worship in truth, is to worship the one true God, based on your knowledge of Christ and the Bible. The Bible is your source of truth. If you are not studying the Bible, you are lacking truth. If you do not get emotional about your Savior, you are not worshiping in spirit. We must have both, not one or the other.

Music and singing are not the only way to worship. I would argue your most loving form of worship is with your life. Here are some practical suggestions to worship God in spirit and truth.

1. Serve – The word ‘latreuo’ is used over 90 times in the Old Testament for worship. It is usually translated to the word ‘serve.’ Jesus came to serve, not be served. We can reflect his example by serving others.

2. Give – You have heard the expression, “put your money where your mouth is.” If you place worth on God and His kingdom, then give money to help it grow. Missions, church plants, outreach, etc. does not happen without money. God is looking for people to sow into the kingdom by putting their money where their heart is.

3. Praise and Thanksgiving – Our God is worthy of all our praise! Give him the glory instead of the new Will Ferrell movie. Spend time with Him instead of Paris Hilton and her new BFF. Let’s be a people that get on their knees in adoration for our Savior!

Check back later this week. I will have a blog highlighting what to expect at HOF this weekend.

What Happened at HOF - Ames this Weekend?

2008-10-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

We had an action-packed weekend at House of Freedom-Ames this past weekend. We have been working through the Gospel of John for the past month and a half…and are just about done with chapter 3. The book of John is so fundamental in understanding why Jesus had to come and die so we could have eternal life, yet so complex and supernatural at the same time. This past Saturday was the second message on John 3:16, “Eternal Life.” Our service was a time for celebration and thanksgiving for the gift of eternal life with our Savior. And celebrate we did!

Then on Sunday night, we hosted a concert featuring A Life Echoed, Hyland, and special guest, Torrie James. We had a great turnout for a Sunday night and the crowd was hyped up! The energy was unreal! Torrie, a solo artist from Minneapolis, started the show off and displayed her tremendous vocals. Hyland then took the stage and put on a high-energy show, even though they drove nine hours to play for us. A group of us saw them at Bash on the Farm and were excited to see them again. They did not disappoint! Lastly, A Life Echoed closed the show in true rock style. The place was crazy! Lead singer, Barry, gave a great message half way through their set that actually touched on topics I have been preaching lately. The night was legendary!

We are excited about the future of HOF – Ames! We are in a transitional phase right now, but are enjoying every moment of bringing something real and raw to the young people in the Ames/Boone area. Please check us out this Saturday night. Go to www.hfichurches.com and click on Ames campus to find out details. See ya Saturday.

YOU READY TO ROCK?

2008-10-15T07:21:00.000-05:00

APWAP Entertainment is hosting a concert this Sunday, October 19, at the Open Bible Church in Boone. This concert will feature rockers, A Life Echoed, and Hyland. Doors open at 5:30 and concert is at 6:00. Only cost $5 to rock with us.

Why do we put on these rock concerts? I have not been asked this question directly, but I know people out there are wondering why we go through the effort to do this. (If you don't know it is hard work to put on a concert, ask Pastor T.J. how much fun they are.) Here is why I believe they are an important part of our ministry.

1. Awesome entertainment at an awesome price
It is remarkable the amount of musical talent in the world. There are bands and individuals in central Iowa that I think are pretty amazing. Then we have bands come in from around the U.S. and they are amazing. We are able to have great concerts in Boone, IA and soon to be Ames for a reasonable price. That is one of our goals is to provide national quality entertainment at a local price.

2. Relationship building
Concerts are FUN! It is a time to hang out with friends and meet new people who share your love for ROCK! Many times when our concerts are over, people will just hang around and talk afterwards for an extended period of time. I met some of our current church goers hanging out after a concert. It is this generation's form of “fellowship.”

3. Another form of worship
Some of the bands we have had play were truly leading worship for the night. Ever Stays Red knows how to rock, but their lyrics are deep and exalting towards God. Other bands may incorporate “screaming” into their music. At first, I was not a big fan. But, as I have learned the lyrics to songs and met these musicians, I realize it's PASSION. Not a Chris Tomlin passion, but an unbridled and raw passion. I have come to appreciate passion, regardless of the form.
Please consider joining us this Sunday night. I promise you will have a great time and will probably end up buying a t-shirt!

p.s. - Don't forget our House of Freedom service on Saturday night. Then come rock with us on Sunday.

YOU CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH, AND IT IS AWESOME!

2008-10-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

If you attended Sunday school or a VBS as a kid, you were probably exposed to John 3:16. I know I memorized it in Sunday school to receive a prize; probably a Snickers. Due to the emphasis of memorizing this verse, without complementary teaching as to what the verse means, I grew numb to the truth revealed. Now, memorization induced by candy rewards is better than not knowing it. I believe in children memorizing verses, but I believe if children are brought up with an emphasis on the meaning, then their heart will begin to memorize these verses.

Maybe your experience is different from mine. Perhaps you had a deep appreciation for this truth as a child, or maybe you have never heard this verse before. Whatever your background is with this passage, we are going to explore its truth Saturday night at House of Freedom. We have been working our way through the Gospel of John. It is an amazing book that displays Jesus' incomprehensible love for His people. I have been blessed by this series. I hope you have also been blessed, and pray that you will continue to listen to what God is communicating through His Word. Check out www.hfichurches.com and click on ‘Ames Campus’ to check out when and where we are meeting. See you Saturday night.

John 3:16-21

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

How Did The First Service Go?

2008-10-06T11:04:00.000-05:00

We held our first official service as House of Freedom - Ames this past Saturday night at the Boone Open Bible. We had 57 people attend, 8 decisions for Christ, and 2 baptisms! If you are wondering how we can have baptisms our first night, remember that we have been a college ministry for 2.5 years and already had this baptism service planned. It just worked out that we were able to have baptisms on our first offical night as HOF.

Now, with that said, God reminded me that this vision, mission, church plant is not a sprint. It is going to be in transition for a while...maybe even awkward, as we transition from meeting in the Boone Open Bible to our own building in Ames. But thank you Lord, that the church is not about a building or service...it's about the people! A building of our own will be awesome, but I am more excited about what God is going to do in the lives of Brian, Ashlei, Monica, Lis, Becky, Jotham, Lucas, Jacque, Jake, etc., etc. and those people who we have not even met yet.

We are excited about the vision set before us for this ministry! If you are in the Ames/Boone area and are interested in being a part of something that is more than just going to church, but being the church, check us out.

THIS WEEKEND AT HOUSE OF FREEDOM...

2008-10-02T19:58:00.001-05:00

This Saturday, October 4, will mark our first official service as House of Freedom. We are in the process of acquiring a building in Ames. In the meantime we will be meeting at the Boone Open Bible (1224 Hancock Dr.) on Saturday nights. Our cafe will be open at 7:00 and our service begins at 7:45. We have a nursery available, but no kids program at this time. (But hope to in the future) Please check us out!

We are a church for everyone, but we have a distinct vision and mindset geared towards the young and young at heart. We enjoy our services loud and lead by the Spirit. In a church culture of casual and comfort, we are a group of people striving to emulate Christ in every aspect; holy lifestyles, missions, discipleship, taking care of the poor, passionate worship and prayer, sharing the gospel...in short - complete laying down of one's life for the sake of Christ. Come join the party and find out for yourself the heart of this church!

We are also having baptisms this Saturday, which is always an exciting time. See you Saturday!

DO YOU MATCH UP TO JESUS' DEFINITION OF "BORN AGAIN"?

2008-09-29T12:05:00.000-05:00

These are exciting times! Our service this past Saturday was awesome. At least that is what people told me. Now, that was not sarcasm, I agree with them. But I am of the belief that every time we gather together in the name of the Lord it is an awesome time. Unfortunately, not all “Christians” subscribe to that belief. It is my goal to impress upon my church body that Jesus is worthy of praise and adoration CONTINUALLY. Let me summarize the message from this past Saturday and explain what I am talking about.

We continued with our trek through the gospel of John. This week we found ourselves in John 3:1-3. The main theme is being “born again.” As I prayed about this concept, I asked God for a fresh view on this topic. So, I started to research different studies on the behaviors/ morals of “born again” Christians. The statistics are dreadful, embarrassing, and most of all displeasing to our Savior. Now, while I believe the research is valid, I do not agree with their use of the term, “born again”. The participants just answered two questions. They could not rate the transforming power of being “born again.” They could only judge the words said.

The transforming power of Jesus is the element the church is missing today! If Christians had this transforming power, more than 9% of evangelicals would be tithing, divorce rates would not be comparable with non-Christians, multi-million dollar churches would not be built while millions of people starve around the world. (I should have warned you to remove your figurative toes before I stepped on them)

In conclusion, do not have your salvation and relationship with Jesus be an add-on to your life. Do not look at it as an accessory. When you are “born again”, you receive a new life through Christ. The will of your flesh is gone, and His will is at the top of your agenda. You can only overcome your flesh through the transforming power of being truly BORN AGAIN!

(Check my blog in a couple of days for details about this weekend’s service)

House of Freedom - Ames - Update

2008-09-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

House of Freedom - Ames is closer and closer to becoming a reality! Here is a quick update...

- House of Freedom - Ames is now incorporated with the State of Iowa. We are officially a corporation!

- We are starting to receive monthly support and one time donations in support of this church plant. We can always use more!

- And the most pressing news is (drumroll please) we are placing a bid on a building today! Please be praying for this process. We are praying that God's will be done with the building acquisition. We have done all the research and planning, and then some, in preparing to acquire a building. We have settled on one and have formulated a financial plan to make it happen. Now we are praying for God's guidance in the purchasing process.

- Lastly, on Saturday, Oct. 4, Kristin and I are officially switching from being the pastors of APWAP Ministries to the pastors of House of Freedom - Ames. We are going to continue to meet at the Boone Open Bible until a building has been secured. Check out www.hfichurches.com for service information.

Well, it is happening! It has been a long process to get here and will continue to be a long process. But a process that brings us pure joy! Only a joy that is through Christ. And I can prove it is through Christ, because this process to the flesh has been ridiculously time-consuming. But we find it pure joy when we think of the kingdom expansion possible by this new church! That's it for now. If you are in the Ames/Boone area, check us out on Saturday nights.

30 AND STILL ROCKIN' HARDCORE!

2008-09-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was packed full of excitement and bodily injury due to my 30th birthday and an APWAP concert featuring Wisconsin rockers, Rex Lex. Here is the rundown.

All week I had been planning on going out on Friday night with my wife, Kristin, to celebrate my birthday. We were going to eat at a restaurant of my choice and then go to a movie at Jordan Creek mall. I was excited for this alone time and to try out the theater since I had not been there before. I don’t ask for much, right?

On Friday, I was researching movies and decided there was nothing that interested me. I even joked with my wife that I was leaning towards staying home and playing video games with her. Well, I should say joke to her, very real to me. In the end, I decided to go eat in Ames and perhaps go to the discount theater at the mall.

We went to drop Julia off at my parents and there were thirty people waiting for me…SURPRISE! Kristin had orchestrated a surprise party without me knowing. If you know Kristin, that shouldn’t have happened. Anyways, we had pizza and cake, played Guitar Hero, messed around, watched Julia and her Tyler (friend) go nuts. It was a good time.

After spending Saturday teaching Jotham to play Halo and watching the Iowa State/Iowa game, I had to prepare the church for a major rock concert. We had three bands play, headlined by Rex Lex. A group of APWAPers had seen them this past summer at Bash on the Farm and they were awesome. So, we brought them to APWAP and they were even MORE AWESOME! They put on an insane show! For their last song (actually, what they thought was their last song) the stage was packed with young people dancing, playing their instruments, and just having a great time…and we have a huge stage. The coolest thing, though, is the heart of Rex Lex. They are there to facilitate a party, but a party with a purpose. (what an awesome concept) They were the nicest guys who are interested in advancing the Kingdom of God. If only the world knew how much fun you can have and still serve God. That is part of our mission. To show the world serving God is FUN and majestic at the same time. God is so magnificent for his creation and sacrifice on the cross and it is pure joy to serve Him! I am about to go into a sermon, so I will stop and just give a shout out to everyone who made this weekend a great one.

Video Blog

2008-09-10T21:08:00.001-05:00

Here is a short video that sums up the transition from APWAP to House of Freedom - Ames. Thanks to Bryan White for this creation!

New Chapter: APWAP + House of Freedom

2008-09-06T00:02:00.000-05:00

Kristin and I are the pastors of a college/young adult ministry, APWAP. This ministry has been in effect since March of 2006. We have grown as a ministry and as individuals. God has been preparing us for the next step in ministry. For two years now, we have felt the next step is coming soon. So, we have been preparing our spirits and researching different avenues as to what is the next step for APWAP.

This past March, I had the opportunity to speak to the Open Bible Central Region pastors at Spring Conference about our ministry. More specifically, how APWAP was turning into a church within a church. (Boone Open Bible) After the service was completed that night, many people talked to me about our ministry and plans. One of those individuals was Pastor Brett Black of House of Freedom International. He explained how he was "stoked" about our ministry and wanted to help us in any way possible. Little did he know, that I was already thinking we should get together, and discuss the blending of our ministries.

Long story, short, we got together and realized we shared many of the same values and ideas. That got the ball rollin' and we began to discuss the idea of planting a House of Freedom in Ames. We were already feeling like our next step in ministry was going to reach out to the Ames/Boone area. So that is what we are doing!

For almost six months we have been thoughtfully planning this church plant and preparing for the launch. We are not ready to announce an official launch date, but it is getting close. We have found a building we are high on and are now figuring out all the legal and financial "stuff". Please pray that if it is God's will for us to have this building, he will protect it until everything is in line. The Lord knows that we are trying like crazy to make this work!

In the meantime, please check us out on Saturday nights at the Boone Open Bible Church. APWAP is still going strong until we are ready to transition to House of Freedom - Ames. Our hope is that APWAP will flow right into House of Freedom when the time comes. The core values will be the same...but we are joining with a network of like-minded people who are passionately seeking Christ! If you have any questions about this or want to get involved, please email me at ben@hfichurches.com or call me at 515-230-9471.

APWAP - Saturday Nights
Cafe open 7:00
Service 7:45
Boone Open Bible
1224 Hancock Drive
Boone, IA 50036

HERE WE GO...

2008-08-26T10:41:00.000-05:00

This is my first post on this blog! Sorry, I will not be changing anybody's life with my first post. You can expect that in the future, though. ;)

I will use this blog to share my thoughts and also what God has been speaking to me. That's right folks...I am a pastor. But, I am also a father, husband, teacher, gamer, athlete, musician, tough guy, geek, and much more. I will share more about that in the future.

Please check back here in the future. I would like to say I will blog everyday, but I am aiming more for once a week. We will see what happens. Peace out!