On Saturday the 11^th of February I went to the home of Matt and Cherie Sandrof.  The health challenges that this family is experiencing is nothing short of staggering.  Cherie’s brain surgeries and one of their 5 year old triplets battling with autism seem to be insurmountable obstacles much of the time.  Only by the grace of God.  Their struggle however has given the Body of Christ  here at MBC Loudoun and opportunity to care in a way that is certainly unusual.  As I arrived at the Sandrof’s that morning there were roughly 3 dozen people prepping to paint nearly every square inch of the interior walls of their  home.  When you are under life’s load painting your home becomes entirely secondary, as you might understand.  The air was filled with excitement as muffins and fruit were being consumed, paint was being stirred and new friendships were being formed.  Two passages of scripture popped into my mind.  First was John 13:34-35 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  I thought, people who follow Jesus do stuff like this.  It is the right thing to do.  Maybe their neighbors will notice the flurry of activity and ask about it.  The second verse was Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  And as the pastor of this crew I was blessed to see our body helping to carry the load of this dear family.  It pleases the Lord and it reveals to others that we are the real deal.  Thanks to all for being Jesus with Skin on.

On Saturday, February 11, I had the honor and privilege of leading 34 volunteers associated with the His Hands Home Repair Ministry and the MBC Loudoun campus, as we painted Matt and Cherie Sandrof’s home from top to bottom.  17 gallons of paint, 13 separate rooms/areas and 8-1/2 hours of hard work, team-building and Christian fellowship.  It was amazing to see the Body of Christ in action! The pictures below speak a thousand words.

After a long week of going back and forth to Fairfax for shunt adjustments because of the pain. Cherie’s doctor informed her that he did not know what more to do but to operate again. Cherie spent last Saturday and Sunday immobilized in bed from the pain in her head. Yesterday morning, Matt drove Cherie to John’s Hopkins. After countless hours with Matt’s persistence and Cherie being less than 10 days out of surgery with shunt failure again, they started paying attention. They got her information in the hands of the Director of pseudo tumor clinic, Dr. Rigamomti. He has agreed to take her case. PRAISE JESUS!!!! GOD IS AWESOME!! This will mean many trips to John’s Hopkins over the next several weeks and even months because there is still no know cure.

For the last couple of months I’ve been hearing from fellow staff members that I need to see the movie “Courageous.”  To be honest my initial thought was that I don’t want to pay to see some cheesy movie, especially since the acting in Christian films isn’t always the best. Well, after months of hearing people singing the praises of Courageous, I broke down to peer pressure and sent my wife to Redbox for a rental.

To be honest, I was blown away with the life lessons based on Scripture that were taught during this film.  There were some incredibly sad moments and some incredibly joyful moments.  Yes, men, the film even had some action scenes. But what I really appreciated was the authenticity depicted in the families and friendships — nothing in the film was unrealistic—and what happened in the film could easily happen to you or me.

Yes, you may think the acting is cheesy, but let me tell you that if you give this film a chance you will not walk away unchallenged in how you are walking with God. If you are a father be prepared for the gauntlet that is thrown down to us men in the film.

What I am trying to say is that, yes, I was apprehensive about this movie at first but now that I’ve seen it I think it’s a must see for all men, especially those of us who are serious about our walk with the Lord.  This movie will encourage men who are struggling with spiritual leadership, it may help those father’s who think they know it all and think they do all the right things when they really don’t, and it may just be the kick in the butt that some of us men need to be the men God calls us to be.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So what did you think about the film if you have seen it?

I received this email and wanted to share this with you. Cherie Sandrof sent an email expressing gratitude for the outpouring of support they have received. It is amazing to see the Lord work through you when His people step out in faith to bless others.

From Cherie:

I’ve had multiple brain surgeries over the past year and each and every time kind people from our church family step up to help us out. I have not been able to track names and/or contact information, etc. of who has brought a meal. However, I’d really like to sincerely thank every single one of them. Do you have a list serve of some sort that you could send this email out to?
As you know, in addition to my complicated health issues, we also have 5 year old triplet boys, one of whom has special needs. We also have no family in the area. Needless to say, when I end up having emergency surgery, life gets tough.
I cannot explain in words just how much it has meant to me that the church body so willingly and lovingly takes care of us when we are in need. I simply cannot imagine what our family life would be like if they hadn’t. From childcare help, to washing our laundry, and most importantly: bringing a hot meal. To some, bringing a meal might seem like a simple task. But for us, it is so much more than that. It is so obvious that these meals are lovingly prepared and delivered with such a giving spirit. It’s comforting and makes us feel so loved.
In the past we have not always felt welcomed at other churches, partly because of our son with special needs. The ministries at McLean Bible Church have helped to keep our family together. Through all of the trials we’ve had, the response we’ve received from McLean Bible Church has restored our faith in the body of Christ.
I really just wanted to thank each and every one of you personally and let you know how much this has meant to our family.
Best,
Cherie

Unfortunately, between the time I received this email to the time this appears on the blog page, Cherie has had to go back in for more brain surgery. Please keep Cherie and Matt in your prayers.

After I prayed with my wife the other day, we began to wonder why so many people tend to pray with their hands folded, eyes closed, and heads bowed down. Does God command us to have a certain posture when we pray? So I went to God’s Word to see if it gave any instruction (2 Tim. 3:16) on how our posture should be when we pray.

I discovered that people prayed to God with many different postures in the Bible, all of which were acceptable. For instance, Jesus put his face to the ground (Matt. 26:39) in Gethsemane, he lifted his eyes to heaven (John 17:1), King Solomon prayed on his knees with his hands held high (1 Kings 8:54), Daniel prayed on his knees (Daniel 6:10), people prayed standing up (Psalm 106:30; Neh. 9:2; Mark 11:25), others threw themselves to the ground (Ezra 10:1), and King David prayed seated (2 Sam. 7:18).  So if anyone ever tells you God won’t hear you pray because you are not in the right posture, know what the person is saying is unbiblical.

The take-away here is any physical posture for prayer is acceptable, the Lord does not require us to position our bodies in a certain way in order to be heard by him. So whether, you are driving your car, on the treadmill at the gym, lying in bed or even in the shower; all these postures are acceptable, but what is ultimately and truly important in prayer is not our physical posture, but the posture of our hearts. Sometimes it is easier for us to bow our knees then it is our hearts to God. Also, our outward posture is not always symbolic of our inward spiritual attitude as we can see from the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).

So the next time you are in prayer and your heart is troubled or it is not in the right place, be honest with God and tell Him how you are feeling – remember, it’s no secret to Him. :) Ask Him to break your heart for what breaks His.  Ask Him to put your heart in the right place as you come before Him.  Whatever you do, just keep praying.  The Bible says we should “pray without ceasing,” so that means anytime and anywhere, the important thing is not where we pray but that we do pray!

I would like to thank the volunteers who gave a special gift which can’t be returned. For those who may not know what this gift was….it was 4 hours of their free time on Friday December 16th at Break Out. Here is an email from one of the parents that were blessed that night:

Thank you so much for last night. As usual, the break was much needed and the timing was perfect—My husband and I really needed that time together.
Also—we REALLY love the family photo. It never seems to be a priority to take a family photo—and ours turned out perfect. J
The boys were literally jumping up and down when they realized that Access had also given them their own ornaments for the Christmas tree. Your thoughtfulness for last night’s program meant a lot to me.

A special thank you to Ryan, who attends the Rock at Loudoun, for lending us her talents of photography and time.

Thank you again to all of the other Access volunteers for putting your love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, into action!

I just love our MBC Loudoun family! It seems the Lord has really blessed us with a great community. Here are a few highlights from the last couple weeks:

• An attendee e-mailed me recently, “I would never feel so well connected if the Lord hadn’t opened the Loudoun Campus.”
• A couple of weeks ago, we had a sort of focus group with our Saturday night attendees asking them what makes the Saturday night service so special. Their overwhelming response? The community!
• A volunteer feels well-connected: “Thank you for helping me be a part of the MBC family!”
• One family was with their relatives on Christmas Eve so attended another campus. They were excited MBC Loudoun had a Christmas Day service… because they wanted to be sure to celebrate Christ’s birth with their church family!
• A couple hundred people attended our Christmas Day service and stayed almost an hour fellowshipping afterwards as we enjoyed birthday cakes for Jesus!

It is God’s people – His body – that makes MBC Loudoun such a special place. Thank you for being such a great community!

Read 1 Timothy 4:1-3 below.

“Now the (Holy) Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful (or leading astray) spirits and teachings of demons (disseminating errors among men and seeking to seduce believers), through the insincerity (pretending to be what one is not) of liars whose consciences are seared (withered or become insensitive), who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

When I heard these verses the past week it really drove home in me the importance of being in God’s Word.  Paul was saying that as Christ’s return grows nearer, less people will read the Bible and even more people will begin to listen to others to get their teaching.  People will mostly choose who they listen to based upon the speaker’s message meshing with what they want to hear. So how can we discern who is teaching God’s Word correctly?  The answer is simple, we must read the Bible ourselves, otherwise we cannot know if what the person is saying is true.

Friends I implore you that reading God’s Word daily is of the utmost importance to keep you away from false teaching.  Don’t put your faith or trust only in a person or individual when it comes to the Word of God.  Put your faith and trust in God alone by reading His Word and seeing if what you have heard is true according to God. Don’t trust one person alone to learn about God, even if you know the teachers are godly. You must dig into God’s Word yourself and see if what they are saying is true and trustworthy.  Become an avid student of the Bible. Matt 7:15 says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Some teachers may be the nicest people in the world, or perhaps the greatest story tellers, or perhaps the greatest communicators, but that doesn’t mean they are staying true to the Word of God. Additionally, the words of man will never compare to the words of God.  God’s Word has supernatural power and authority, man’s words do not (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12).

So Dive In to the Word of God and observe it, interpret it and put it to application in your own life. And remember: the greatest interpreter of Scripture is Scripture itself.

Our December 2nd Saturday was a great time of building community. Five teams enjoyed the Christmas season – and some sugar – as they decorated gingerbread houses together.

(click the picture to see a larger version)

Our very own Campus Pastor, Jim Supp, Worship Leader, Jason Grate, and Elementary Coordinator, Jerry Hite, were our judges.

Which one would you have picked to win?

Thank you to all who participated! Congratulations to our winners!

Also, special thanks go to Jerry and Susan Hite for helping clean up afterward!