Easter on the Hill

Christ is risen!

He is risen INDEED!

What an awesome day it's been! While waking up to an alarm at 5:00 AM is not normally my idea of how a great day starts, I was more than willing to do so today! Hubby and I arrived at Celebration Church, Georgetown, Texas in the dark, with a big moon lightly shrouded in clouds hanging overhead, wearing our bright red Volunteer T-shirts. There were already dozens and dozens of red-shirted volunteers there with more on the way. (A total of 1,200 volunteers!) After checking in and receiving our badges, we grabbed our lawn chairs and cooler with water and Gatorade (which seemed appropriate considering the guest speaker!) and made our way to the top of the hill.

(Pictured: the stage and seating area on the "hill" behind our current facility. It is the highest point in Williamson County, with a 360 degree view including Austin to the south and Georgetown to the north. One day in the not-too-distant-future our new sanctuary and other buildings will be here!)

There was more seating behind the camera with 2 huge jumbo screens

By 7:30 AM buses began rolling in bringing folks from the off-site parking locations even though the service wouldn't actually start until 10:00 AM. Families, couples, young people, old(er) people. Black, white, brown. Rich, poor, middle class. The exact kind of crowd we'll find in heaven. All with different backgrounds, heritages, lifestyles, yet all with the same need of a Savior.

A birds-eye view!

Bus after bus after bus. By the start of the service there were 19,000+ people ready to praise God with awesome music, a great message from Pastor Joe Champion, and hear an inspiring message from NFL quarterback Tim Tebow! It was awesome to hear this young man share how much he loves Jesus Christ! Although he was raised in a Christian home, like each of us Tim had to come to a point in his life where he asked Jesus to be Lord of his heart and soul. Now God has given him an amazing world-wide platform to share the Gospel and the Truth about Jesus Christ! When speaking to those in the crowd who didn't know Jesus as their Savior, he reminded us all that Jesus said if we were ashamed of him, then he would be ashamed of us when he returns in his glory. (Mark 8:38) Powerful words!

Now that the day is winding down, reports are filling up Twitter and Facebook of people turning their lives over to the Lord. Over 1,000 people stood at the end of the service to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Hubby and I were part of the team handing out cards so these new Christians could be contacted to help them with the "Next Step" in their walk with Jesus. Hundreds came forward to pray with prayer partners and elders. A mother and her two teenage daughters drove all the way from Indianapolis -- a 17-hour drive. The reward for this faithful mother: both daughters accepted Christ as their Savior! Another person told how their parents drove in from out-of-town and ended up giving their lives to Jesus! And those are just a few of the many, many stories of lives being changed forever at Easter on the Hill!

All in all, it was an amazing day! It was such a privilege to be part of it. It is such a privilege to be counted among those who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord! It is because of Him we have life everlasting!

Praise His Holy Name!!

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Click on this news link for a great slideshow of the day!

With You Always!

Tomorrow is Easter! Our church, Celebration Church of Georgetown, Texas is preparing for an amazing day celebrating our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ!! We're expecting thousands and thousands of people to join us. Our special guest speaker is NFL Quarterback Tim Tebow who will share his testimony, his faith and his hope in Jesus Christ. It's going to be a powerful time on the Hill tomorrow!! I can't wait to be part of it!

Today, however, I can't help but think about the reality of Easter and what took place on a hill called Golgotha. Two-thousand-plus-years ago Jesus hung on a cross on my behalf. He took my sins upon himself and was willingly brutalized and finally murdered. Why? Because of his great, amazing love for me! For the world! It is a love that I honestly can't fully understand but am so very, very grateful for! It was all part of a great plan. A plan that allows you and me and anyone who will believe access to God! Eternity with God! Truly, truly amazing grace!

We have a couple of really large nails sitting on our mantle. One is mine and one is hubby's. They were given to us at a one-day seminar our church offers several times a year called "Encounter." It's a day filled with learning, prayer and going deeper in our walk with Jesus. During one of the prayer sessions, each person is encouraged to write out something they've been carrying around with them -- whether it's a sin or a shame or whatever -- and then place the paper in water where it dissolves away to nothing. Afterward you're given a nail to remind you that you nailed that issue to the cross and, like the paper, it's gone.

Thinking of how Jesus was nailed to the cross for my sins, I took one of those nails the other day and  pressed the point firmly into my hand. It hurt! Tears flooded my eyes thinking of the pain Jesus bore that day for me. For you. He'd told his disciples it would happen, yet they didn't understand. I have the benefit of having been raised to know the Easter story from the time I was a child, so I do understand it. And the older I get, the more the truth of it touches my very soul.

Tomorrow is not about bunnies or eggs or even Tim Tebow. It's about Jesus Christ! He lived. He died. And He lives again! He did not stay dead in the grave nor was his dead body stolen away to make it look like he'd been resurrected. Jesus is alive! And he made us a promise I will leave with you. A promise filled with love and hope!

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." ~JESUS in Matthew 28:20

God bless each of you. He is Risen! He is risen INDEED!

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This week's Prayer Shout Out countries are:
USA, United Kingdom, Sweden, China, Poland, Russia, Philippines, South Africa, India

Tim Tebow is coming to Georgetown!

I think my jaw hit the floor last Sunday morning when our pastor announced that Tim Tebow will be our guest speaker Easter Sunday! Our pastor, Joe Champion of Celebration Church, Georgetown, Texas is quite the jokester, so it took me a few seconds of "Is he kidding? Surely he's kidding! NO! He isn't kidding!" before I practically squealed right there in church!

TIM TEBOW IS COMING TO MY CHURCH ON EASTER SUNDAY!!! WHOOP!!!

Now that I've had a few days to process the excitement, I thought I'd share some thoughts about it all. Already I've read negative comments about Tim, Celebration Church, and Tim's coming on Easter. "I've had enough of this show-boat," one man wrote on a local news station's Facebook page. A woman wrote, "I'd rather attend a church where the focus is the risen Lord and not a quarterback." Some question Celebration Church's motives, hinting that money and numbers are the goal. On and on. People choosing to be Negative Nanny's, as I like to say.

But let's get a few things straight!

Celebration Church is NOT bringing in Tim Tebow to replace Jesus!! Tim, like the rest of us, will be celebrating and worshipping the Risen Lord, not trying to outdo or outshine the amazing reason for Easter, which is JESUS!! Jesus rose from the dead all those many Easter Sunday's ago. Nothing and no one---I don't care how famous!---could ever be bigger than Jesus on Easter! Not even the Easter Bunny, although some merchandisers are trying their best to make him as big as Santa Claus at Christmas.

But there is simply no denying the fact that Tim Tebow has been given a huge, world-wide platform through football. I would venture to say that Tim is probably the most talked about Christian in the world at this particular moment in time. After the Denver Broncos won against the Steelers in a spectacularly dramatic overtime (says the Denver Broncos fan with a grin!) people all around the world were talking about Tim Tebow. Millions across the globe did Internet searches for John 3:16 and Tim Tebow.

So who better to come to our church on Easter Sunday morning to help us spread the Good News about Jesus Christ?! We are expecting between 20,000 and 50,000 people!! Which is totally mind-boggling yet incredibly thrilling all at the same time! How many of those people might never go to church, even on Easter, but will come anyway just to hear Tim Tebow? A lot, I imagine. How many will hear this godly young man share about Faith and come into a relationship with Jesus Christ for the first time? A lot, I pray!

One negative commenter said Tim Tebow should stick to playing football and leave the preaching to the preachers. Wow! Do you really want to put people in a small, confining box like that?! Think about it. What would have happened if these people had never stepped out of the neat little box the world put them in?

• Jesus was a carpenter.
• Peter and John were fishermen.
• Matthew was a tax collector.
• Paul was a Pharisee. 
• David was a shepherd.

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus told all of us to "go and make disciples of all nations." That command isn't just for preachers. Football is the catalyst that propelled Tim Tebow into the international spotlight, but football doesn't have to be the only thing Tim is allowed to care about. The only thing he's allowed to talk about. Like the rest of us, Tim has been given more than one gift, more than one passion, more than one interest. He is running a race just like you and me. A race that was planned in advance for him to run!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

If you are interested in coming to celebrate Easter with us and Tim Tebow, go to www.EasterontheHill.com for all the details (parking, time, what to bring, what not to bring, etc). It's going to be an amazing, Jesus-blessed day!!

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:

USA, United Kingdom, India, Ecuador, Venezuela, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Russia

Musings of a Denver Broncos Fan

I've been a Denver Broncos fan a long time. Since they are the only Rocky Mountain NFL team, it left me little choice. For a brief time in college I liked the Oakland Raiders, but it was really more about their black uniforms than anything else. (Hey, I was a college girl. What'd'ya expect?!) But once I discovered the Orange Crush, I never looked back.

Every Super Bowl Sunday, no matter who is playing, I faithfully put on my John Elway jersey and my Broncos baseball cap. I also have a couple old, ratty T-shirts declaring the Broncos Super Bowl champs in 1997 and 1998. Thanks to my wonderful hubby I keep warm all winter in my Broncos Snuggie. Thanks to my sweet friend and fellow Broncos fan, Terri, I drive around town with my Texas license plate framed by a Denver Broncos plate holder and hang Broncos 'candy canes' on my Christmas tree each year. We have a Broncos beanie baby bear and a small Elway jersey my youngest son wore when he was five years old. (Gotta recruit 'em young!)

Yep. I'm a Denver Broncos fan, even when they're losing. The past few seasons I've lost a few bets with our friend Eddie who is, like my hubby, a Dallas Cowboy's fan. (It's the price you pay for marrying a Texan.) One year I had to buy Eddie and his lovely wife a steak dinner because my beloved Broncos did not perform to my expectations. I've done the Mile High salute when we're winning and I've moaned and groaned as I mourned our losses.

But in all the years I've been a Broncos fan, I have never been prouder to say that than I am this year. No, they haven't had a great year. In fact it seemed like they were out of it pretty early in the season. I didn't even make a bet with Eddie this year 'cuz I knew they didn't have a chance.

But then...something happened!

Or I suppose I should say someone happened.

Tim Tebow came on the scene. The Broncos powers-that-be finally decided to give the kid a chance. Did he wow them? Nope. Did he wow the fans? Nope. Even I have to admit his passes are rather, um, imperfect. But one thing about Tim Tebow is that he will not give up! He doesn't let the negativity of the fans or the critics keep him from going out on the field and giving 100%! One of his greatest attributes is that he truly believes he can lead his team to victory, no matter the odds.

And you know what happened? They started winning! This past Sunday night they beat the Steelers in a playoff game with one of the most exciting finishes ever! You can bet I'll be rooting them all the way to the Super Bowl this year!

But as you might guess, my pride isn't all focused on the football field. It's on the quarterback himself. Tim Tebow is a young man who lives his faith in Jesus Christ out loud. Since I'm old enough to be Timmy's mother, I feel an almost motherly pride in that kid. As he himself said, he's been given this amazing platform to proclaim the Gospel message and he won't be silent. He is not an in-your-face evangelical zealot. He shares his faith quietly yet so loudly the entire world is taking notice. As a college quarterback for Florida he wore scripture verses on his eye black. As an NFL quarterback, he is faithful to give God all the glory for any successes that come his way. "Tebowing" is now a common word for anyone taking a knee to offer a prayer of thanks and John 3:16 was one of the most Googled phrases this past weekend after Tim's stats in the game against Pittsburg revealed he'd passed for an awe-inspiring 316 yards.

Yep. I'm a Denver Broncos fan, but I'm also a Tim Tebow fan. I don't know if he'll go down in history as one of the great quarterbacks---he could, given time and practice!--- but I am firmly on his team. I pray he'll continue to handle the fame and fortune with as much grace and integrity as he's shown over the past five or six years of being in the limelight. I pray he'll be an example for young men who want to wait for marriage before they have sex. I pray he'll continue to use his position to do great things in the world, like he's already doing through his foundation. Tim, I believe, fully understands that he is a servant of the Most High God. And like the servant in the story Jesus told in Matthew 25, I am confident when I say Tim Tebow will one day hear the words we all long to hear:

"Well done, good and faithful servant!" (v. 21, 23)

I think I'll order a new Broncos jersey. Tebow's #15!!

(P.S. Here is a link to a great blog by author Randy Alcorn who is friends with Tim Tebow and his parents. It's about how Timmy spoiled Randy's upcoming weekend by winning against the Steelers.)

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This week's Prayer Shout Out countries are:
USA, Russia, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia