Lord of Life and Lutheran Church Charities Earthquake Relief effort was in the news again today in several different places. The first was an article on the front page of the Elburn Herald about Lord of Life’s effort. This is the second week a Lord of Life story was featured on the cover of the paper. Incredible considering this was an election week.

The second article was featuring Lutheran Church Charities in the Daily Herald. Lord of Life is listed among the churches that participated in the collection.

The third was a story done on ABC 7 News in Chicago. You can watch the link on YouTube.

Wow! It’s hard to believe we are only a week away from the service of healing at Lord of Life. I am so excited for this event. We’ve got a great band coming to lead us for worship on this night and Pastor Paul Teske from Conneticut will be our special guest. Pastor Teske himself suffered a stroke, but was miraculously healed from the effects of that stroke. Even more, not only was he healed but God gave him the spiritual gift of healing. Today, Pastor Teske serves as pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Westport, CT and travels around the world administering the gift of healing. We are honored to have him as our guest for this evening.

I want to write this email to encourage you to invite the people you know to come to this special worship. It is a night we will receive grace and hope while we pray for miracles to happen. Many of us have already witnessed the power of God at work and know that he is the great physician. The healing that will be administered this night will be a healing not found in modern medicine. Instead it is a healing of the soul that will no doubt manifest itself in physical ways. We will be praying for healing in marriages, healing for depression, healing for illnesses and diseases, healing for grief, and healing for bitterness.

In many ways, there is not a person around who doesn’t need this. There is not a person who does not need healing. We all have our hurts and our sorrows. We all need the touch of God in our lives. So just as much as I want to encourage you to invite others to come, I want to invite you to come and let the grace of God shower you like rain.

In James 5:13-15 we are told: Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

On February 12th at 7pm we will do all the above! God will show up in a might way as he has promised. The invitation is there – “COME!”

It has been a little over a week now since Barbara and I found out that we would be having twins. We have since moved passed the panic stage. Reality is setting in and we are beginning to process many of the ramifications this brings.

We entered this pregnancy with a great sense of confidence. We already had one child. We had been there, done that. We had placed many of our “baby” items in the attic. We had most everything we needed. We believed most of our preparation would be limited to carrying these items down from the attic and doing a bit of reassembly. The refrain we were singing was, “we can do this!”

Ha! Things change quickly. Plans have changed. After picking up my jaw off the ground, I realized we are venturing into new territory. Our refrain went from “we can do this” to “I don’t know.” Our confidence plummeted when we realized we had more questions than answers.

It often seems that the moment you begin to get comfortable, God has a way of upsetting that comfort zone to remind you to rely upon him. But in so many ways there is no better place to be. We can be confident in ourselves or we can be confident in God.

Jesus says, “It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” Why is that? When we live in a land of contentment and self-sufficiency, it becomes very easy to turn away from putting our confidence in God. We simply fool ourselves into thinking we can do it on our own. Sometimes we need our world shaken to bring us back to him.

I think about the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt. God was radically changing their world. They knew what they were doing in the land of Egypt. No doubt they had become very good at making bricks. But when they left the land of Egypt their brick making skills did them no good in desert. It was of no use to them any longer. They no longer lived in the land of self-sufficiency, they would need to rely on the Lord in a much greater way. It wasn’t long before they were wanting to go back to Egypt, but the Lord had something much greater in store for them.

So maybe today you are entering the desert. You are leaving the land of your contentment and self-sufficiency. It is a difficult journey you are embarking upon, but one that will cause you to rely on the Lord in a greater way. One that will cause you to see him and know him in a greater way. And at the end of that journey is a great reward.

On another note, just a reminder that there are just a few short days left for the relief supply drive at Lord of Life. For more info on items needed and other details, visit www.lolchurch.net.

So everything was going great. We were anticipating our second child with a great sense of confidence. We had done this before. We could do it again. On top of that we had almost everything we needed. We had a crib, a high chair, plenty of toys, a car seat, and many more things packed away in our attic.

The pregnancy had been a little more difficult for Barbara, but everyone kept saying that every pregnancy is different. I will say so! Big difference here.

We go to the first ultrasound. Our daughter was excited to be there to see a picture of the baby. About five seconds into the ultrasound the technician says, “there’s two.”

My response is “two what?”

Wow! I have to say I don’t remember too much after that. I think they were having to pick me up off the ground. Barbara said my face turned white as a ghost and I looked like I was going to pass out.

Talk about a surreal experience. It doesn’t get much more surreal than that. But there they were on the monitor screen! Baby A and Baby B. I’ve got the picture to prove it.

I think God has a funny sense of humor. The moment you start feeling self-confident in yourself, he throws a curve ball and puts you back in a place of fully relying upon him.

This will likely be the greatest challenge of my life, but I am glad I have got a loving God and a loving wife, and that together this will likely be the most rewarding challenge.

One great blessing is that we know many other parents of twins. There must be something in the water at Lord of Life. At least 8 different sets of parents we have counted. I figure if they all can do it, then so can we. We’ve have a bunch of great support. Thank you all for the kind words today and I will thank you in advance for all the help you will give along the way.

Lord of Life Church, LaFox in partnership with Lutheran Church Charities will be accepting donations of supplies for Haiti Earthquake Relief from Wednesday, January 20 until Sunday, January 31 at noon. Donations can be dropped off from 8am – 9pm at the main entrance from the lower level parking lot.

Below is a list of items that will be accepted for donations. Items not on this list will not be accepted at this time. All items must be new. Click here to download this list as a pdf.

Bottled Water
Canned Food With Pop Tops
Peanut Butter
Dry Rice
Dry Beans
Dishwashing Liquid
Bedding (sheets, pillows, etc)
Shovels and Tools for Rebuilding
Band Aids
Washcloths
Soap
Deodorant
Individual Packets of Disinfectant Wipes
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
First Aid Ointment
Antibiotic
Ointment
Buckets

Volunteers are also needed for this effort. To volunteer or for more information, please fill out our volunteer request form or call our church office at 630-513-5325. All donations will be used by non-governmental organiztions (NGO) that were working on the ground in Haiti before the earthquake.

Lord of Life is partnering with Lutheran Church Charities and will serve as a drop off site for earthquake relief supplies. You will be able to bring the supplies by the church anytime between 8am-4pm during the weekdays and also during worship on Sunday. We are looking at arranging the possibility of an after hours drop but will have more details soon to follow. For a list of the supplies that are needed click here. Please share this list with others at your place of work, your school, with your friends, and with your neighbors.

Also, those of you who are members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Thrivent will provide a 50% match to any donations you make to Lutheran World Relief or to LCMS World Relief. For more information visit www.thrivent.com/helpinghaiti

We still have not heard from Pastor Mesidor Ernst, our mission partner in Haiti. The following is some clips from a video he sent us a few months back. It gives you an idea about the work he does.

Keep checking back on our website as we will be providing updates how you can help and how we can shine the light of Jesus.

Many of you have no doubt heard about the earthquake in Haiti. Lord of Life works with Pastor Mesidor Ernst who runs an orphanage there. Please keep him and the orphanage in your prayers as we have not heard from him yet and do not expect to for some time.

If you are interested in contributing to relief efforts, here are a few place you might consider contributing.

1. Lutheran Church Charities
2. Compassion Child International
3. LCMS World Relief
4. Keep an eye out for opportunities to help out Pastor Ernst through Lord of Life in the coming days and weeks.

Also, Barry Voss (former Lord of Life Member) now with Faith Life Ministries had scheduled a mission trip to Haiti this week that has now been cancelled as a result of the earthquake. Please pray for their efforts as well.