Hurry up!  Have these words ever driven your life?   Many parents say it quite often every morning at home for getting their children ready for school.  I often find myself hurrying from one place to the next - always with my eye on the clock – sometimes only to end up behind an old couple leisurely driving 20 miles an hour on a single lane street, and find myself murmuring loudly “Come on, hurry up!”, but more than once I thanked them for saving me from getting ticketed by the police who was waiting at the very next corner of that street.
We’re living in a fast paced world.  The world desires instant response; fast food restaurant, speedy oil change, instant coffee, and etc.  Nowadays with ever growing internet access such as instant messaging, texting, Facebook, and others the world is ever so close to each other.  Information is flowing at lightning speed.
But on the contrary, there are also drawbacks that come with this fast paced lifestyle, and one that really stands out is a lack of patience.  People are definitely becoming less patient these days.  Most of us don’t have much trouble getting ready to meet the urgent needs of life.  But, how many of us are good at waiting?
We often try to look for a short cut in order to get things done quicker.  We, even as believers, get frustrated unless we are constantly moving ahead, and sometimes we try to compromise the way we do God’s ministry for the sake of getting things done.  We just don’t want to wait.
Speaking of being in a hurry, the Israelites felt the same way after they came out of Egypt.  There was no doubt the Israelites wanted to march right into Canaan as quickly as possible. They just experienced incredible power and the wonders of God that devastated the Egyptians, and they walked right through the Red Sea as God parted the sea.  They wanted to go all the way.  Their confidence level was at its highest!  But God wanted them to go slowly. Why? God wanted to teach them that there were other more important things that they needed to learn than just quickly conquering the Promised Land.
You have probably had experiences when God was being silent on your prayer for a lengthy time. You wonder whether God has heard your prayer, and didn’t understand what was going on.  Where are you God?  Well…  God may have wanted you to learn to wait on the Lord and be patient.  Why?  God may have wanted to teach you there were more important things that you needed to know.
James 5:7-8 says, “Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.  See how farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm.”  God wants you to know who is in control.  God is the one who makes the rain come. God wants to get rid of your self-reliance. You can’t make rain come.  Also, God wants to increase your confidence and faith through more discipline and training, and it takes time.  Your confidence and faith cannot grow overnight.  Also, God doesn’t want anyone to be left behind.  If you go to too fast, not everyone can keep up with you.
God often remains silent because He wants to usher you into a new experience with Him which you have never previously experienced in your life.  Do you really want to experience God’s presence in your life?  Then, learning to wait on the Lord and being patient is a must.  God knows you the best, and He knows exactly what, when and how things need to be done for your life.

From Pastor Neil’s Heart
July 13, 2014

"Solio Deo Gloria,” which means “Glory to God Alone” in Latin, was the theme of the 2014 Grace Retreat held at Virginia State University in Petersburg, VA from June 25 – 28.  There were 60 plus Timothy students, counselors, parents, and pastors attending the Grace Retreat from NCFC this year.  My first Grace Retreat was two years ago with a handful of VA Timothy students, and I was tremendously blessed.  So though I was physically tired from having attended the Promiseland Retreat just a few days prior, I was looking forward to the Grace Retreat.   Additionally, with Pastor Brian unable to attend due to the short-term missions to Ecuador, I felt I needed to be there to take care of the Virginia students and witness whatever the Lord may be doing in their midst. 
There were over 450 people in attendance, representing 38 different churches, from as far as  North Carolina.  That’s an average of about 12 people per church.  If you take NCFC and other large attendance churches into consideration, this means many of the churches sent fewer than ten students. The Grace Retreat indeed is a big blessing and spiritually eye-opening event for the students from these small churches.  They are not likely to be able to afford nationally renowned speakers and experience worship provided by the “Hillsong quality” worship team. 
As expected, the retreat was packed with awesome keynote speakers and seminar leaders, many of whom NCFC has already heard from through the past revivals and retreats.  These speakers included Pastor Q, the Senior Pastor of HOPE Church, the organizer of the Great Retreat since 2001, Pastor Carlos Reyes, Pastor Bob Hartley, and Pastor Stephen Chandler.   In addition, there were other pastors and missionaries from YWAM in Hawaii, Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and other local churches.  One surprise guest speaker was Pastor Esther Chang, who used to attend NCFC in the mid-90’s.  She gave the best ‘sex talk’ I have ever heard.  She was direct, transparent, and engaging with a great sense of humor, keeping the audience’s attention the entire time.  I’d love to invite her to NCFC during our next ‘True Love Waits’ campaign.   Thanks to Pastor Esther, I will never be able to eat IKEA Swedish meatballs.   Ask a Grace Retreat attendee to find out what I mean. 
I am thankful for the many powerful testimonies of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing that many of the retreat attendees experienced. I also hear that many of our own Timothy students have encountered God in a new, more intimate way.  Indeed God alone deserves all the glory!  I too experienced spiritual renewal through the times of powerful corporate worship and challenging messages from the anointed servants of the Lord.  However, the greatest message that I walked away with from the retreat was not presented in any of the main sessions or seminars. It was not preached or taught, but demonstrated, and its impact will remain with me for a long time.
It turns out that the Retreat registration fee barely covers the cost of room and board the hosting university charges.  So HOPE Church members raise over $20,000 throughout the year to cover the airfare, honorarium, and room and board of the retreat speakers.  Though they can reduce the expense by inviting only local speakers and having a fewer number of speakers, they believe in investing in the youth and go all out. 
What really blew my mind was the fact that HOPE Church has fewer than ten youth members who attend and benefit from the Grace Retreat.  In another words, they are not organizing the Grace Retreat for their selfish gain, to bless their Youth Ministry members. If they were concerned about their youth only, they could take an easier and more cost effective approach to accomplish the goal.  The Grace Retreat was born out of and continues to operate in love, love for God and love for God’s people.  No wonder God’s favor and powerful anointing are upon the Grace Retreat, and many next generation Kingdom workers are being raised through it!  Do you also want to become a history maker?  Here is the first step: Practice selfless love where God has placed you.

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
July 6, 2014