Eric Metaxas Visits the Samaritan’s Purse Field Hospital in Central Park

Using the expertise they’ve developed fighting diseases like ebola overseas, Samaritan’s Purse has opened a field hospital in Central Park! Eric Metaxas recently got a firsthand look…

Virtual Passover with Marty Goetz

Marty Goetz is a talented Messianic Jewish musician and composer who opened his home virtually to share a Passover Seder with friends and family. Take a look!

“Growing up in a Jewish family in Cleveland, Ohio, I always celebrated two nights of Passover. We joined others throughout the world in recounting the ancient story of our deliverance from slavery in Egypt. That miraculous event happened to a people instructed to stay in their dwellings until the ‘angel of death’ had passed over their homes, marked with the blood of the Passover lamb. As we all find ourselves in a similar situation, shut in, due to our ‘current crisis,’ we hope for our own miracle as we celebrate this second night of Pesach (Passover). From our family to yours, we invite you to join us for a mini-Seder and our observance of this timeless festival of freedom. Chag Sameach!”

An Invitation to Intimacy

This unprecedented time in our history continues to shape and form us in ways that are hard to sift through, including Easter weekend. We will not be gathering in houses of worship to share communion, lift our voices collectively in adoration, or lean in as the story of old is shared from the Bible. 

While I miss the traditional observations of this sacred week, there is a holy churning in my heart that I cannot ignore. When the traditions of man have been stripped away, I am forced to dig deeper into the meaning behind the traditions. 

Like why is Good Friday called good? It seems to me that it was the darkest hour for Jesus and anything but good. He was beaten beyond facial recognition, whipped so brutally that His rib cage was exposed, a mocking crown of thorns pounded into His skull, stripped of His clothing and forced to carry a rugged cross until He collapsed beneath the weight. 

He was ridiculed, spat upon, nailed to a torturous cross, forced to pull himself up by the nails that held him, hostage, just to take in a small labored breath. All is quiet as His sacred head now wounded, drops with His final heartbeat.

His darkest hour became mankind’s finest hour. He poured out His life so that we could be redeemed, restored, and renewed. 

This is why Friday is good. 

I sit here alone, reflecting, no distractions, no productions, just me and Jesus. Due to the “stay at home” order, there is no need to rush. 

And in this unhurried space, I hear His invitation. An invitation to look at His gift of love one more time with fresh eyes. To come out from behind the familiar and find comfort in His embrace alone.

His invitation is one of intimacy. 

The way of life we have known has been forced out of its normal rhythms. But times of great stress are opportunities to reboot our faith. All that is non-essential is divested, and we see what we can live with and what we cannot live without. 

During these past few weeks, God has done a lot of sifting in this heart of mine. I am learning what I need and what I want are two different things. But there is one essential thing, and this I must have… Jesus. 

Here’s the one thing I crave from God,
the one thing I seek above all else:
 I want the privilege of living with Him every moment in His house,
finding the sweet loveliness of His face,
filled with awe, delighting in His glory and grace.
 I want to live my life so close to Him
that He takes pleasure in my every prayer.

Psalm 27:4, TPT

His invitation stands. How will you RSVP?

Finding Hope in the Journey,
Evelyn

P.S. Stay tuned in the coming weeks. I have a new set of printable Scripture cards coming to you: Post-it promises for times of crisis. Also, I am excited to announce I will be sharing words of wisdom from a surprise guest author. So hang in there, friends; we will get through this. And in the words of my sweet momma, “The sun will come up tomorrow.”


Hi There! My name is Evelyn. I am a lover of all things family, faith and Fall. So grateful that you found your way here. The chaos of life can leave us feeling a bit worn around the edges. Sometimes a little ray of hope is all we need to provide courage for the next step in our journey. So come on in, take a deep breath. My prayer is that in this space, you will be able to grab hold of hope. For more of my blogs, visit my website Hope for the Journey.

How to Focus on What Really Matters During Coronavirus | A Message of Hope

April 3, 2020 | 8PM (EST) | YouTube

With everything going on right now, it’s really easy to feel completely out of control. You’re hearing conversations about layoffs and recessions. You’re worried about your jobs, your finances and your families. Let’s talk about what you can actually control during this time of crisis:   

  • Your thoughts
  • Your actions
  • Your feelings  

You will get through this. Just remember: hope is greater than fear.

Get your FREE Trial of Financial Peace University today: https://bit.ly/2WWELnT

Get The Proximity Principle audiobook for only $2: https://bit.ly/2wQmrCh

Get the plan and tools you need for your money and your career: https://bit.ly/3dKBRss

Ramsey Solutions Presents: A Message of Hope Series: https://bit.ly/39yHSFk

Refuel and Recharge with Ken Coleman

Wednesday, April 8 | 8PM (EST) | Online

Introducing Refuel + Recharge, an EDGE Mentoring virtual event series on mental wellness. We’ll be featuring a lineup of notable speakers who will spark honest conversations about mental health, isolation and the loneliness epidemic, and how we can best take care of our hearts and minds.

If you’ve been feeling the weight of the world, this is your invitation to a new kind of R+R–one that will refuel your emotional tank and recharge your mental energy to foster the resilience and strength we need to keep moving forward–together.

Ken Coleman is a #1 national best-selling author, career expert and nationally syndicated radio host of The Ken Coleman Show. He was also a keynote speaker at EDGE|X 2019. Join us at 8PM on April 8 to Refuel + Recharge with Ken!

Registration for this event is free, but the generosity of your donations will help us keep them going.

Read more or Reserve your spot today!

How Are You Doing?

“So, How are You Doing?”

The scene is too numerous to count.  My daughter Stephanie and I enjoying a girls’ day out shopping, we pull up to the register with our cart, and she asks the cashier “So, how are you doing?” Then she would wait.  Was it the tender way she asked the question?  Maybe they could see kindness in her eyes.  Whatever the reason,  time and again I would watch tears fill their eyes as a story of pain would escape from the heart.

Then I would observe as weeping turned to joy.  And for a moment, they were free.

I have experienced the power of this simple question many times. 

Last year my husband was hospitalized with double pneumonia brought on by mold exposure.  Stephanie knew I had been pushing through taking care of Steve as well as my dad while fighting a severe upper respiratory infection myself. To say I was bone tired is an understatement. 

One day I get a phone call from Steph. She informed me she was on her way to help. No arguing. She arrived just in time.

The hospital was getting ready to release Steve. Steph and I went to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine when she dropped the question. Up to this point I had held it together. Then she looked at me with one eyebrow slightly raised, her deep blue eyes penetrating straight to my soul and asked, “How are you doing really?” I lost it. I could not stop the flood of tears that I had been choking back.

In these times of uncertainty, when the world we have known is turned upside down, can I be so bold as to ask, “How are you doing?”

If you are like me, on any given day you find yourself on a roller coaster ride of emotions. The day starts with your feet firmly planted in faith. Then the twists and turns brought on by the latest round of information and new restrictions leave you feeling like your faith is free-falling into fear.

When this happens, it is the perfect time to pause and ask yourself, “How am I doing?” Better yet, let’s take a cue from David in Psalms 139. Let’s ask God to reveal how we are doing.
 

God, I invite Your searching gaze into my heart.
 Examine me through and through;
 find out everything that may be hidden within me.
 Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.
 See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,
 and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways—
 the path that brings me back to
You.

Psalm 139:23-24, TPT

Dear friends, it is time for us to rise and be found faithful to the Faithful One. The only way for us to do that is to lean into the word and ways of our Father. To allow His gaze to search us, to sift through all our fears and anxieties. Why?

Soul searching is always about freedom from the chains that hold us back.  With freedom comes the ability to walk through our temporary trial with eternal hope. A hope that understands these momentary trials are working in us an everlasting glory that will outlast the current crisis. 

Isn’t that what God wants for us, that we would live in the light of His eternal hope?

In her book Be Still, Cleere Cherry says, “Living in our hope is the most powerful sermon we could ever give. It is the decision to believe God, to trust Him with our future, and to walk forward, fully confident that He is at work. A steel-like hope… that is what He wants for us.”

So, I ask again, “how are you doing?” Perhaps it is time to pause, push away from the news of the day and sit with the giver of the Good News. Invite Him to gaze into your eyes and search your heart. Let Him set you free from whatever it is that holds you back from walking in His eternal hope. 

A hope that cannot be taken away. A hope that will not be shaken. A hope planted in the heart of the One who holds our tomorrows. 

Until next week, let’s keep finding hope in the journey.
Evelyn

P.S. If you know someone who is struggling right now, please share Hope for the Journey with them. If you are struggling, let me know how I can pray for you. This is a long journey, and we were never meant to travel alone. So, let’s be intentional and creative with staying connected so that we may encourage one another. 

Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love.”

Hebrews 10:24, TPT

Hi There! My name is Evelyn. I am a lover of all things family, faith and Fall. So grateful that you found your way here. The chaos of life can leave us feeling a bit worn around the edges. Sometimes a little ray of hope is all we need to provide courage for the next step in our journey. So come on in, take a deep breath. My prayer is that in this space, you will be able to grab hold of hope. For more of my blogs, visit my website Hope for the Journey.

Warrior-Fest 2020

You’re invited to Warrior-Fest! 

What: Worship, teaching, and revival!
Where: Online at perrystone.org/warrior-fest
When: Tonight (Friday, March 20th)—LIVE now!
            Tomorrow (Saturday, March 21st)—at 6 PM

We are so excited and can’t wait for our Warrior-Fest family to join us via livestream! Joining us live from the Omega Center International stage will be Eddie James, Catherine Mullins, First Hearts, Remnant, and Perry Stone! This year, as we prayed about what Warrior-Fest would look like, it was clear that we were taking EVERY limit OFF of God! There are NO LIMITS! God will deliver you in your bedroom just like He would in our altars! WE are filled with such expectations. Revival is coming through the LENS OF A CAMERA! We are so excited to yield to the Holy Spirit in a new way, and we cannot wait to read EVERY testimony! We are asking for everyone watching to email us and tell us what you are expecting God to do for you! Email us at info@ociministries.org. Warrior-Fest will also be held next weekend, Friday, March 27th at 7PM and Saturday, March 28th at 6PM. You can start streaming 30 minutes before each service starts!

Watch live tonight at perrystone.org/warrior-fest

Coronavirus: Unshakable Faith in a World That is Being Shaken

The following is a World Challenge podcast. It was originally published here.

We are living in shaky times. As a global pandemic of coronavirus makes its way around the globe, taking lives, crashing stock markets and threatening the livelihood of millions, people are afraid. How are you doing handling the fear. Or maybe put another way, how’s your faith holding up? In this special edition of the Gary Wilkerson podcast, Gary is joined by Keith Holloway, the Senior Director of Missions Development at World Challenge to talk about faith in a time of fear. We hope this podcast gives you hope and encouragement that even in desperate times like these, God is in control.

Notable Quotes from the Podcast

“…in the midst of all the shaking that’s going on in the world today, there is an unshakable foundation. There is an internal foundation of an unshakable faith, of an unshakable hope, of an unshakable resolve that I know my Redeemer lives and I know there’s joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Gary Wilkerson

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Martin Luther

“We are born again believers. We’re walking in the natural, but we’re also being led and guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit. So, it’s an awesome time for us to not feel diminished, but to actually feel prepared for this hour where we have an answer of the hope that lies within us…”

Keith Holloway

Bible Verses Mentioned in the Podcast

“When God spoke from Mount Sinai His voice shook the earth, but now He makes another promise: ‘Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.’ This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe.”

Hebrews 12:26-28, NLT

“The Lord reigns; Let the earth rejoice;”

Psalm 91:1a, NIV

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast 

About Keith Holloway

Keith Holloway is the Senior Director of Missions Development at World Challenge. Keith is a CHE trainer, facilitator, and a member of the Global CHE Network’s Representative Council. He and his wife Maureen live in Colorado Springs; they have six grown children and seven grandchildren. 

About Gary Wilkerson

Gary Wilkerson is the President of World Challenge, an international mission organization that was founded by his father, David Wilkerson. He is also the Founding Pastor of The Springs Church, which he launched in 2009 with a handful of people. He has traveled nationally and internationally at conferences and conducted mission ventures such as church planting, starting orphanages, clinics, feeding programs among the poorest of the poor and the most unreached people of the earth. Gary and his wife Kelly have four children and live in Colorado Springs, CO.

Fear Not

“‘[N]o weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me’…” — The Lord, Isaiah 54:17, NIV

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
— Jesus, John 14:27, NIV

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” — Paul, 2 Timothy 1:7, KJV