Oct 11
27
Always
Kristian Stanfill – http://www.kristianstanfill.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb4VvNq8WEM
My foes are many, they rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way
Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always
Troubles surround me, chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way
Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
From You Lord, from You Lord
Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always
Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always, always
Jan 11
4
Sunday Sermons
First off, Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year holidays. I know I did; I had a great time with my family and friends. I’m looking forward to the many blessings of the new year and hope you are, too!
I mentioned before that I’ve started preaching again in church and every-so-often, I thought it would be good to post some of my messages on my blog – maybe not the whole thing, but at least a summary. So check back once-in-a-while and not only will I post updates on my health and how I’m doing, but thoughts and words that God has placed in my heart to share with you.
This past Sunday was the first Sunday of the year and I wanted to share a message that dealt with how we enter into 2011.
Title: Fan Into Flame
Theme Verse: ”For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:6-7
Do you realize that when you accept Christ as your Saviour, you have God, the creator of the entire universe, living inside of you? It’s what we refer to as the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we tend to take that fact for granted and forget at what cost it took to have the Holy Spirit reside within us; we forget what an amazing honor and privilege it is. And because of such a high honor, our relationship with the Holy Spirit should be more intimate and special that any other relationship we have here on Earth.
Paul, the writer of this book, tells Timothy the Holy Spirit is a gift from God that he must not hide or throw away. Instead, he must build a relationship and “fan into flame” this gift. Just as we develop and mature in our relationships with our spouse or friend, so too, must we develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
It’s easy to get caught up in the world – caught up with work, friends, school, problems, worries, etc. It’s easy to forget about developing a friendship with the Holy Spirit and that’s why Paul is encouraging Timothy, and us, to not overlook that relationship. It’s a gift! What do you do with gifts? Do you never open them? Do you leave them under the tree? Do you shove them in the back of your closet?
When you realize you have a gift, you open it, you discover the many different ways that it’s useful to you. When you have a gift, you call and tell people about the amazing gift you’ve received. But sometimes when it comes to Christianity, we tend to shy away from telling others about the gift we’ve received. Paul tells Timothy, God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of Power, Love and Self-Discipline.
Not timidity, but Boldness – Make a resolution this year that you will no longer be timid when it comes to sharing your faith because the Spirit that resides in you is NOT. Be humble, but never shy as to who you are and what you believe in.
Power – Know that when you pray, it is the Holy Spirit that is working in that situation, not you. Pray for supernatural results. Don’t let your situation or people around you cause you to doubt the power of prayer or the power of the Holy Spirit.
Love - Operate in love to anyone and everyone you meet. This includes our enemies. Don’t sit and gossip or criticize. Don’t let your heart be full of anger and hate. God has given us a spirit that wants to operate in love. Let it. Find solutions for building up relationships, not tearing them down.
Self-Discipline – Let us be known as men and women of God who are self-disciplined. In other words, let others see that we are not controlled by temptations or our own desires, but that we leave and trust ourselves to God’s will. When others see us and see how we live, let our behavior reflect Christ.
If all of this sounds to hard for you, then follow Paul’s advice of fanning into flame your relationship with the Holy Spirit. The stronger your relationship is with Him, the more control and influence you allow the Holy Spirit to have in your life and the more victory you will see over your situations.
If you have any questions or have a prayer request feel free to send me an e-mail. I love hearing from you!
Dec 10
9
Preach It!
Hello!
It’s been a while since I had a chance to say hi, but trust me, that’s a very good thing. I actually have good reason for not updating my blog – I’m busy…with WORK!
I love preaching and honestly, I missed it. Prior to being admitted in the hospital, I was in such pain and discomfort that it was tough trying to prepare my sermons, let alone, deliver them, so it’s been quite some time since I’ve stood at the pulpit. And again, I missed it, A LOT! While spending so much time in the hospital bed and in my own bed, there wasn’t much I could do, but think. And there were many times were my mind was flooded with thoughts about being able to go back to church and speak in front of the congregation. Every Sunday, I would lie in bed and wonder what was going in church at that very moment: Who was there? What songs were they singing? What was the sermon about? Thankfully, many of my friends began to videotape the services for me and post it on the Internet so that I could watch at home, but even with that wonderful gesture, my heart still ached to be there myself.
I praise God for the amazing opportunity to be able to serve Him by preaching on Sundays. My wife and I had started going to church a few Sundays ago, but since I was still building my stamina, I wasn’t ready to give a sermon. I hadn’t begun to get myself back into my routine just yet and I wanted to slowly incorporate myself back to the daily happenings of the church, which meant having to wait a few more weeks before I actually stepped up to preach. And then the time came…
I remember the first Sunday that I was going to start preaching again, November 14, 2010 – 5 months since I was first admitted to Fox Chase Cancer Center. And, man, I was nervous! It was as if that Sunday would be my first time ever preaching in front of a crowd. I had butterflies in my stomach the entire week; the night before, I barely slept. I kept tossing and turning; my thoughts, my excitement kept me awake. I finally had fallen asleep, but because I was so nervous and excited, I opened my eyes as soon as the sun shone through the curtains; today was the day.
I took a shower and afterwards, for the first time in 5 months, I stood in my closet with an incredible dilemma, “What am I going to wear?” I wanted to look my best and of course, I wanted to pick a great tie that would proclaim: “I’m back!” Then my wife told me what to wear and that was that. 
During the entire Sunday service, I was nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, but at the same time, God had given me peace; He was with me and would be there no matter what happened. Finally, it was time for me to speak.
I stood behind the pulpit and felt amazing. Actually, the feeling was more than amazing, it’s indescribable. It had been such a long and difficult journey that to be back behind the pulpit was incredible. Before beginning my sermon, I asked everyone to bow their heads with me as I prayed. And as I was praying, I had to fight back the tears as I began to think about all God had brought me through and to where I was at that moment. What as amazing God we serve.
My first few minutes of preaching were a little off and I could feel the rust in my voice, but as I continued I could feel the Holy Spirit taking over and I allowed myself to just follow in His lead. Afterwards, when it was all said and done, I had a big smile on my face and in my heart.
Things are better and I’m slowly getting back to what life was like before I was sick. I feel great; my stamina and strength have been steadily increasing. I’m back at the gym and feeling like my normal self again. I’m not a 100% yet, but I’m getting stronger everyday. By God’s grace, I’m continuingly making great progress. I continue to have tests and scans completed, and all of the results are extremely positive. I continue to meet with my doctors who are always amazed at the improvements I’m making everyday.
It’s an incredible miracle and a great blessing to wake up every morning and have another chance to use the talents and gifts God has equipped me with for His glory, especially considering what a crazy journey this year has been.
Thank you God.
Nov 10
12
Hair I Go Again
A recent conversation I had with my 4 y/o niece:
Her: Bryanchachen, can I ask you a secret?
Me: Sure, what is it?
Her: Who balded you?
Me: My wife.
Her: Ohhh, can she do it again?
**(I didn’t want to expose my niece to all the details, so to make things easy, I told her my wife cut all my hair off, or in other words…”balded me.” Guess she really likes the new look.)
This is probably the fourth or fifth time that I’ve referenced my hair in a post, but funny enough, it seems like hair is a good marker as to where I am in my journey. I haven’t had the need to use shampoo for several months now, so the fact that I was able to use it yesterday is a pretty good indicator that I’m headed down a path where I know everything will be ok. My head went from being completely shiny to peach fuzz to stubble to actual strands of hair, that now, thanks to my wife’s shampoo, holds the smell of coconuts and orchids. As I was using the shampoo, I smiled, thanked God and just reflected upon Him and the miracle of restoration.
Nov 10
1
What an Awesome God We Serve
I. AM. EXHAUSTED.
It’s been a long and exciting week, but through it all, I’m elated to know that God is my Healer; my Friend; my Saviour.
Last Wednesday, I took another trip to NYC to visit my doctors there. During this visit, I would get an update on how I was doing and also find out if any surgery was necessary. I spent my morning undergoing CT scans, ultrasounds and bloodwork and eventually met with the doctor. Thankfully, the doctor said the preliminary results of my scans and bloodwork are clear and normal. My body has responded well to the treatments and at this time, there is no need for more chemo and there is no need for surgery. Praise God! Of course, I’ll have to continue to have scans and bloodwork done as the doctors will continue to monitor my progress. What an awesome God we serve!
During this chapter in my life, one of my biggest goals was to be healthy enough to attend my younger brother’s engagement ceremony. (By the way, Congratulations to my brother and future sister-n-law!!)
All the arrangements for the engagement had been made prior to me becoming sick, so I knew I wanted to be 100% by October 30th. I knew how long the treatments would take and I knew how long recovery would be, so I prayed and asked God to speed up my recovery time so that I could attend his engagement. Can you guess where I was this weekend? What an awesome God we serve!
God listens and He answers prayers. I was able to go to the engagement, spend time with my brother and his fiancee and also get to see all of my family and friends. Time and time again, people would come up to me to tell me how they were always keeping me in their prayers. There aren’t enough words to express my gratitude to all of you for your endless prayers for me. Thank you.
I thought I would be so tired throughout the day, but God gave me the strength to last from morning till evening and I am thankful that He heard and answered my prayer.
The day after the engagement would have been the perfect day to sleep in and relax, but my other big goal was to be able to go back to church by at least October. And after four and a half long months, I was finally able to go back to church on the last Sunday of the month, October 31st. Even though I wasn’t able to stay for very long, I was able to go and testify as to how amazing my God is. Not only is He someone who takes the time to hear my prayers and heal me, but He’s the one who sent His only Son to die on the cross for my sins. What an awesome God we serve!
It’s great to be back!