The peace that passes all understanding

I have peace that passes all worldly understand and I praise God for that peace.
Being bible believing spirit filled Christians, but not attending a fellowship, I thought we had a handle on everything that Satan threw our way.
Praise God I was wrong, so wrong in believing that lie.
November 19th, 2008 our youngest son Michael, age 25, was murdered in our home.
My world as I knew it fell into a zillion and one pieces. The pain was unbelievable even for me. This is not supposed to happen to us, but it did.
I for some reason could not turn to God for help. I was consumed with finding out why my son was gone. Over the next 3 months, I was frozen with fear. My life has been threatened and I suffer from panic anxiety. I can not to this day go into the room where I found my son and I don't stay to long in the living room where the paramedics tried too work on Michael, because that is where his heart stopped.
But today I have a inner peace. On 2/13/09 while driving home from Wal-mart I had a panic attack and I was really missing my son. I had to pull over. I did not know what I was going to do, but the Lord had not left me. I heard him tell me to call Crossfire. I did and I talked with Kristy, and was able to drive home. Pastor John called and we talked and he told me what I already knew, but I needed to hear. So I promised to go to church in 2 weeks, but the Lord had other plans. I had to go to church on Sunday and I did not want to go at all, but the Lord kept pushing me, and pushing me so Ted & I went to Church on Sunday morning and I knew then I was really angry with God for taking my son away from me. My thoughts, as I listened in worship, were how dare these people praise God. They still have their sons. Wait until God takes their child. After worship, the Lord said “you need prayer”. So being the "good" person that I am, I went. I really didn't want to make the Lord any madder since he took my son. I thought, “I am being punished for being a bad mom”.
I heard someone say God loved me. That went over and over in my mind. Then I said “Then why did God take my son”. That is the last thing I heard. I felt as though I was being shot with a rapid nail gun. It started in the pit of my tummy and spread down and up my body. 
When I woke, I was on the floor with a peace in my heart and soul that I have never felt before. The Lord needed me to be still, and for 3 months I played detective. I thought about just ending my life to be with my son. I thought about killing the girl who killed my son. That’s all I thought about for 3 months. I was scared, but did not realize in my pain that God was watching out for me. He knew what was going to happen on the 15th of February. The Lord knew as hard as I tried to handle this horrific act that no one should ever have to go through, I needed Him. I was not going to be all who the Lord has intended for me without him. Can I say that if I were walking with the Lord, being studious as he wants from me, that my son would still be here with me, absolutely not. But I do know that instead of trying to handle my son's death on my own and letting Satan take a foot-hold, letting the Lord handle all the pain and living under his grace has given me a inner peace I never thought could happen. It is truly only by the grace of God that I write this testimony and have peace in knowing "all things, work together for those who truly trust & love the Lord”, not just the little things that we take for granted. But ALL!
Everything under heaven.  
In Jesus mighty name I pray...
Amen and Amen! 
Debi Ranck

Our Lord Heals!

Last Friday I felt a sharp and agonizing pain in my left lower back as I walked out of my home on the way to work, not doing anything unusual just walking. It was very painful to walk and to move at all but I managed to get through the day at work and taking lots of over-the-counter pain medication was able to sleep fitfully. I woke to a feeling a little better but still very painful all across my back on Saturday morning. I was unable to attend the wedding of two very dear young people from our church and it broke my heart to miss it but I really was not able to get around well. I went ahead and came to church on Sunday knowing I NEEDED to be there! Spent the worship time sitting and not being able to fully enter in. When the prayer team was assembled up front I made my way to ask for prayer. I never feel truly "worthy" to ask for something for myself and felt very uncomfortable doing this. Dan and Rod were awesome in their prayer over me for healing and anointing me, and Rod even addressed my feelings of unworthiness (how could he know?). I walked back to my seat and felt GREAT, the pain was gone and has not returned!! This is a true testimony of healing from our great provider and faithful Lord above!! I am so thankful to our prayer warriors and to all who pray faithfully, and feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful outreaching church!!
Marianne

Miracle - Saving my job

From March 16th to April 16th I was doing the Daniel Fast. For those of you who don't know what that is it is a fast of eating only vegetables, grains, fruits, eggs and plain air popped popcorn, And only drinking water, fruit and vegetable juices.

When I first started it I knew I would be tested spiritually, but didn't know to what extent until the Wednesday the week before I was to end my fast. At that time I was told I couldn't come to work for a few days, because of a situation that was made bigger than it needed to be. I knew that God was going to help me get through this, and that I would be keeping my job. He had me read Psalms over and over again, and watch Pastor Aaron's message on "Every Miracle deserves a testimony". Because I obeyed Him God gave me the strength and inner peace to speak up to my bosses, and he provided me a great union representative. On the 15th of April I was told that I could go back to work the next day.

God has shown me through this situation and many others that He works miracles in the lives of those who will trust in Him and follow the Word on a daily basis. It's amazing to see God's time line at work. I thought at the beginning of my fast I would just be thankful at the end of it how much he blessed me spending time in His word and becoming closer to him in prayer and worship. Unknown to me at the beginning God knew that I would be celebrating with Him helping me keep my job. And that celebration date would be April 16th the last day of my fast.

Let God work in your life like he worked in mine. Whether it is healing you are needing, or a work situation, family issues it doesn't matter nothing is too big for God to handle. God is telling me right now to tell those of you dealing with a death to let God comfort you and give you peace.

Deborah Foster

Miracle - God used my Grandpa (Melanie)

I was 29-years-old, a wife, the mother of a two-year old daughter and six months pregnant with my second. My marriage of 11 years was having some problems, but nothing that I believed we wouldn't be able to work through. My grandpa, who I was very close to, had been ill, but I had great hope he would recover just as he had so many times in the past. I had a nice home, a newer car, money in the bank, and the privilege of being a full-time stay-at-home mom. I was, for the most part, content.
One night I had a vivid dream. I was standing at the base of some mountains that resembled the Sierra Nevadas where I had lived as a child. My Grandpa was there, wearing his cowboy hat and holding the reigns of a horse. Ahead of me was a path that curved into one of the mountains. The path and the mountains seemed to go on forever. In my dream, I was terrified and said to my grandpa, "No, please, I can't do this alone." My grandpa sadly shook his head, but then sternly said, "You have to.” I asked him, “can't you go with me?" Again, my grandpa shook his head no, yet said, "I'll always be with you." I started to cry. Grandpa said, "I've already given you everything you need; remember what I've taught you." I turned to the trail ahead of me and knew that I had to travel down the path before me. The next day, my family and I found out that my grandpa had terminal lung cancer. Three months later, exactly one week after my baby girl was born, my grandpa died. In the course of the following year, my marriage disintegrated and my husband became obsessively controlling and abusive. My health deteriorated to the point of nearly crippling me. Shortly after my youngest daughter's first birthday, my husband filed for divorce. I felt alone and abandoned.
Though I believed in God and had accepted Christ as a child, I hadn't been to church in nearly 20 years and knew little about Jesus. However, at this rock bottom point in my life I found myself praying daily. I started attending a church, though not regularly. The next several years were some of the most difficult of my life. My ex continued to terrorize and harass me, often using our children to accomplish this (and hurting them in the process). I struggled to work, pay the bills, and eventually go to school, all while fighting legal battle after battle, dealing with the police, etc. Yet God worked miracle after miracle in my life. At first, I didn't recognize them for what they were, because I didn't know God, but as I learned more about Him, and started living by His Word, the more I loved and trusted in Him ... and the more He was able to work good in my life.
Not too long ago, I remembered the dream of my grandpa. I realized, finally, that the one who had spoken to me in my dream was not my beloved grandpa, but instead, it was God. God knew at that time in my life, I wouldn't have recognized Him - so He used the image of my grandpa -- an image that meant love, protection and wisdom to me. Even though I wasn't following Him at the time, God was watching over me! He led me down the path that led me to Him.

Miracle - Inspiring Message (Marlene)

I was channel surfacing tonight and landed at Crossfire. There stood Aaron preaching the Word. How we tend to feel important in our fancy vehicles, fine clothes and worldly stuff all while covering up the fine shine that God gives us when we accept Him. As I sat there basking in my Lord's plan for me, I want to live a life where God is the skipper of this boat. Aaron, I thank you for your message tonight (March 01, 2008). I feel you ask God to direct you with your sermon and I got it loud and, clear. I am so glad Oregon has been blessed with you and your beautiful wife. Keep on doing what the Lord has Gifted you to do and needs you to fulfill. May God Bless you all, Sincerely Marlene

Miracle - Reaching Out (Michael)

I had an amazing night last night and I wanted to share part of it with everybody so they can know that God still moves. Last night I was watching the movie, Facing the Giants. I strongly recommend that movie to everyone. At the end of the movie, I was just swamped with the presence of God. I started praying and thanking him for everything. That went on for a while and I put on some music to do a little worship. I started thinking and at first i thought it was just me getting distracted but, wait to hear the rest of the story before you decide what was really going on. I started thinking about how some of my brothers and sisters in Christ over here have taken issue with some of the people that I hang out with. I Then started thinking about Jesus and the people he surrounded himself with, for instance: tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. After I finished my little worship service I got out my bible and started reading where I left off in Luke chapter six.
When I finished that, I started reading the other book I'm studying right now called: “One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven” by Mark Cahill. As I was reading I noticed a scripture that he quoted and it looked so familiar. I had just read it. The scripture was: Luke 6:22-23. It states, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy:for, behold your reward is great in heaven: for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets." Now it was pretty obvious that Jesus was trying to get something through but I still didn’t have the whole message. I read on in the book and he started talking about some of the times he has reached out and saw fruit. He started talking about ministering to prostitutes and how that always ruffles feathers. He then goes on talking to a woman whose feathers he had ruffled. He asks her if she shares the good word with prostitutes. Her answer is “no.” He then asks about her family. She answered “no.” Then he asked about her church and she responded ”no.” Then who is giving them the message? He then states something that rings so familiar to me. He says, "It was ok for Jesus to be a friend to tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners, but it is apparently not ok for us.” As if that wasn't enough to get my attention, there's more. After I finished my chapter of that book, I picked up my bible study booklet that we're going over today. I hadn't looked at the booklet until that moment. I opened my bible to the passage specified and what do you know, it's the scripture at Levi's house right after his calling where Jesus is eating with the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. The passage is Mark 2:13-17, I suggest you read it. So was all this just a coincidence? That's highly doubtful. What are the chances of all that happening in order? Not very high. What can we take from this? I think Mark Cahill said it best, “there are only three things that can happen when you share your faith the person can accept Christ, you can plant a seed, or they can reject you and God.” On the surface it may look like only two of those are winning situations, but after looking at Luke 6:22-23, we see that even that has a winning outcome. So what excuse do we have not to share our faith? The other thing that we learn is everybody deserves to hear the Word of God, regardless of who they are. The healthy do not need a physician, the people who know where they are don’t need a map. Regardless of what others may say, we as Christians need to spread the Word to the lost. That is the great commission given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Salvation for Elizabeth

Last night we were able to minister to at the Fresh Fire Youth ministry in Paramount, CA. I was able to make so many great relationships, but there was one in particular that I know will stick with me. I met Elizabeth before service, and she was amazing. So, of course, I found her after service as well to tell her that I would love to see her in our Masters Commission this next year.

As I was talking to her about Masters, she changed her expression from a look of curiosity to the -I don't want to hear about this- look. She then told me that she just started coming to church and wasn't saved or anything. She wasn't really even sure if she was going to stick around. I changed the direction of our conversation and asked her what she thought about God from what she had seen that night. She told me that she wasn't sure.

About a year before she came to Fresh Fire Youth, Elizabeth went to a Mormon Church. Her experience there destroyed her and her relationship with God. To put it in layman's terms -Stupid people did stupid things and stamped God's name on it. I apologized to her for what had happened, from the bottom of my heart, and I told her that that was not the God I serve.

I went on to explain to her who my God, and the God of the church we were at, truly was. Afterward I asked her if she wanted to know Him...really know Him. Her eyes began to water and a look of relief came about her face as she said, "Yes."

Then and there I was able to lead Elizabeth to salvation. I am still ecstatic.

Brittany Kirkendoll
Crossfire Masters Commission