BIB Update – Exciting News!
Because I Believe is pleased to announce that during this short time of hiatus, we are retooling our broadcast product and plan to launch a brand new weekend show along with a daily broadcast devotional. (Stations still TBD at this time.) Launch date is May 1st.
The BIB board meeting in late March determined this was the direction to go. Many lives have been reached with the good news of the Gospel through this work. We need you to stand with us in prayer and financial support now more than ever.
For questions or more detailed information, drop a note to info@becauseibelieve.net and we will contact you with more specifics.
BIB events are growing and on their way as well. Help us reach this generation with the Truth. Check back here often and we are extremely excited for what God is going to do!
Digging Deeper
For the next several days we are reading the ENTIRE book of Philemon. Once a day, everyday, for 5 days. Relax, the entire book is only one chapter. But if you want bang for your buck, it’s the book to read. A true story where the Gospel is actually lived out in the lives of men.
What Did You Learn This Past Sunday?
We have visited a good number of churches since coming to West MI and each has had some great teachings. Yesterday was not only another great one, it was one of those messages that really stood out for several different reasons. Can’t recap the entire thing, but one point really made me think. Christ came to not only save us free from sin, but to set us free from fear. I began to see fear is a form of not believing. Anyway, the point: We live in one of the richest, most powerful countries in all of human history. Yet for all of our money and security and so on, we are some of the most fearful people on the planet.
Think about what makes the headlines, the economy, H1N1, terrorism, unemployment, the uninsured. It’s on the minds of adults and children alike. But why? God has said, if I am for you, who can be against you? YOU. the individual. God is on your side. So much so, He sent His Son to save us.
When the world gets overwhelming, we need to remember just that – God is for us. Even in the worst case scenario or the pinnacle of confusion, we have a hope that is undeniable. That hope gives us so much to be thankful for.
Lord, Save Us From Your Followers
We had a chance to preview this movie last fall, and while there is a great start to get people starting to think things deeper, there was one thing missing. One can’t help but see it was a big glaring omission.
While I don’t think you would find many who would disagree that we need to love, respect, and treat others with kindness, the question becomes what love and respect looks like. When you really love and respect someone, you will tell them the truth. For instance if Chris is wearing an ugly shirt, I will tell him it doesn’t look flattering. If I cook a dish that Chris really doesn’t like, Chris will tell me. Respectfully, and honestly, but never avoiding the truth. If you omit the truth, you open yourself up to more problems. Chris realizes the shirt isn’t flattering some other way, and now realizes I was lying and He looks foolish. Or I make the dish again thinking Chris likes it…and you can fill in the rest
“Jesus Save Us from Your Followers” takes us up to the edge of the pool, but we never really jump in. You can’t dangle your toes in the pool and call it swimming. While it can be uncomfortable to share the truth, it is always best in order to avoid further problems. What people trapped in the homosexual lifestyle do not need to “like us”. They need to know that their problem is not being gay. There problem is that they have not learned to trust and believe God. Their sin is ultimately unbelief. But there is hope. We too at one time lived in unbelief.
Today’s JQ verse is so perfect: John 3:17. “God sent His son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”. He came to “Testify to the Truth”, John 18:37.
God does not ever just turn a blind eye to sin. But He does offer salvation from the sin that separates us from Him. How can someone receive that salvation if they see no need of it? At the end of the day, the evangelical Christian and the homosexual both walk away feeling better about themselves. But there was no “transformation by the renewing of the mind” talked about in Romans.
Our goal, as Christians, is not to get people to like us. Jesus said, “They will hate you, but remember they hated me first”. Jesus did not want us to concern ourselves with being liked by others. Our goal must always be to point others to the salvation from the sin that holds them captive. This is how we love our enemies. Dan Merchant never leaves his comfort zone of -if they like me, maybe they’ll like Jesus too. The people he spoke to all walked away still dead in their sin, with no desire to escape the bondage that separates them from God.
Holland/Zeeland, MI
Holland, MI falls in the number 2 slot for “Happiest Place to Live” and ABC hits the streets of Holland to find out how this can be. The harsh winter, the high unemployment – how can people still be happy? ABC correspondent, Diane Sawyer, almost seemed dumbfounded. But, locals by and large know the answer.
It gets back to– Not Letting Your Circumstances Dictate Your Attitude. If we all did that, Columbus never would have sailed the seas, we would have no anesthesia during operations, and we would not be swimming in Bibles, able to read God’s word at a whim. Those who accomplished these great things did so in some of the most adverse oppressive conditions.
So what really gives you happiness? Well the word Happiness actually comes from an old Scandinavian term “hap” or happenstance. Happiness is the feeling you get from the situation around you. But “Joy” is something altogether different. The Bible talks about that “joy unspeakable”. In other words, you are joyful, but you can’t really explain it since your circumstances may be less than desirable. Joy unspeakable does not come from being in ideal circumstances. Rather it comes from God, as a gift. That joy, or happiness as some call it, comes in spite of unemployment or harsh winters. The world does not understand it. But from that joy come things like kindness, generosity, and putting others first. An attitude of looking after others instead of self is what puts places like Holland at #2 in the nation.
Holding on to that Biblical World View, believing in God rather than man, and knowing that He is our provision. Not government, not our employer. God has been known to provide in miraculous ways. It may be through the church, a neighbor, or a friend, or even by sending bread directly from heaven. No matter how he chooses to provide, we know He loves us as a perfect loving father loves his children. In love there is no fear. No fear for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
Digging Deeper
Every so often, we are picking a chapter in the Bible and reading it in a little different way. Instead of reading through the Bible in a year or doing a topical study, we are picking one chapter. This week it’s Hebrews 6.
Now read this chapter over and over and over and over again. At least once a day for a minimum of five days in a row. Like staring at the sky in the middle of the night, if you stare in one place for a long time, other stars come into view. Stars that you never would have seen if you wouldn’t have stopped and stared for a time. More and more stars from further and further away will pop out. (Try that too sometime)
Anyway, stare deep into Hebrews Chapter 6. Read it over and over and see what starts to come into view the longer you look. Things you maybe didn’t initially see. God promises that if you look to him, He will show you great and wonderful things that you did not know!
Our first trip to AZ since moving to MI
Monday morning was the most tired we have been in a long time. We had a performance in Tucson over the weekend. To save money, we booked a flight with a layover in Dallas on our trip back to Michigan. We don’t understand! It’s like one of those math word problems that is really more of a riddle. You know…
A plane leaves Grand Rapids at 12:15 p.m. est.
It stops for a connecting flight in Chicago and
arrives in Phoenix at 6:30 p.m. mountain time.
If the travelers stop at DFW International airport on the return trip,
what is the probability they will never see Michigan again?
Bonus Question: Taking two flights totaling 5 1/2 hours in the air is LESS expensive than one 2:45 minute flight. How is this possible?
Nonetheless, we enjoyed Arizona immensely, but we are back in the snow and lovin’ every minute of it. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.
What’s New?
Emilee and I just accepted a position to be the new morning show in Grand Rapids Michigan area for WJQK 99.3 FM. (A smokin’ hot commercial Christian AC music station with an AM talk sister station.)
This is a huge blessing!
Here’s what’s happening: In August we began the syndicated broadcast of the “Chris and Emilee Show” in 8 cities and the sports show “More 2 Winning w/Chris and Big Jake” in 7 cities and on Sirius Sat Radio. We expected revenues to be much higher over the first 90 days, but we feel SOLID about that calling. We are seeing good things and real ministry developing. Growth of BIB is happening day by day and week by week, slowly and steadily.
At the 90 day mark, we decided to execute our contingency plan of continuing the work of BIB in a bi-vocational manner and asking God to help us find a media partner that would work with us. God provided beyond our expectations with WJQK in Western Michigan! An awesome group of people who want to see BIB succeed WHILE we help them make their station the best it can be.
While this requires us to relocate, we won’t be leaving Arizona behind. BIB is simply expanding. Our goal is to continue to bring the talk show and BIB events to AZ, NC, UT, VA, FL to stay connected with our current listeners, and continue to see it grow, now into MI.
What this means: As of November 30th, The Chris & Emilee show will be called Because I Believe, hosted by Chris & Emilee, and go to a 1/2 hour daily carried in Phoenix and Tucson and hopefully on the Truth Radio Network as well. Of course ALWAYS on the website. More 2 Winning, with Chris & Big Jake will also continue in its current format and listings. The all new morning show with Chris and Emilee will premier on Jan 4th at 6AM Eastern! You can listen live from anywhere on your computer at www.jq99.com
Thanks for your prayers and for standing with us! We need your support now more than ever!
Celebrate the New Launch
Celebrate the New Launch of Because I Believe
Thursday Night, November 5th at 6:00
at Christ Community Church
in the Oasis Room
7801 E Kenyon Dr
in Tucson
As you have probably heard us say, one of our favorite things to do is to get together with people and share in the Joy of the Lord. This Thursday at Christ Community Church in Tucson, AZ will be another opportunity for us to get together with you. It’s a Kick-off Rally for the Because I Believe ministry and everyone is invited. It’s a free event, starting at 6p.m.
We would love to see you. It will be an evening of comedy, music, and we’ll share with you the vision of Because I Believe and how you can be a part of it.
No need to RSVP, Come as you are!
There will be Music, Laughter and Fun with Chris & Emilee
Frozen Oasis
The only possible way for this Scandinavian duo to appreciate cold and ice even more, is to get out on a sheet of it in the middle of the desert. Arcadia Ice Arena (in Arcadia area of Phx of all places) is a frozen oasis in the midst of the heat. Emilee does her lame Dorothy Hamill while Chris pretends he’s Wayne Gretzke. It’s a great way to work off the stress of the day. Oh, and if you ever get the chance to go, check out the really cool dasher boards promoting Because I Believe. If everyone spent a couple hours at the ice rink, it would be the ultimate global cooling trend!
December will be time for a fabulous Christmas party on the ice. You’re invited, details coming soon!
Arena owners, Jim & Lori Rogers with Chris & Emilee
