It’s official!

I hope to have pix up next week, but you heard it here first: at about 6:30PM last night in the largest city in the world, Miss Susana Soledad Pacheco Ramos officially became Mrs. Brent McQuay!

See you Sunday!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

In the meantime, you can get more info here.

off to Mexico City

Well, I need to get to bed since we’re up at 4:30am tomorrow for the trip to Mexico City for Brent & Sol’s ‘first’ wedding. (They’re being married by her pastor in Mexico City on Friday, for the benefit of all her family & friends who won’t be able to travel to Chicago for the ‘official’ wedding on May 19.)

Since the whole ceremony will be in Spanish, and my understanding is limited to, well….., hola and maybe a couple of other words, this should be interesting. Actually, the thought of seeing our youngest son married is interesting in itself. There’s already been a few tears in the McQuay household this week. Any parents reading this who can sympathize?

But this is part of life: watching them grow up and begin a life of their own. And I’m thrilled beyond measure at his choices – to love a dedicated young woman who also loves the Lord and wants to minister the Word alongside him (what do they say about the apple not falling far from the tree?), not to mention how neat it is to have my son working on our staff. So, all in all, I’m a very blessed man, and Chris and I don’t feel we’re loosing a son; we’re just gaining another daughter!

Can’t wait for a very special ‘Family Sunday’ this weekend and my next look at Pleroma with “How to Enjoy God’s Fulness” - CLCers, don’t dare miss it!

Monday morning reflections

I sometimes try to post this on Sunday evenings, but didn’t get a chance last night. I thought this weekend at CLC was just incredible. Not only was the weather outside glorious, but so was the atmosphere inside at all 3 worship celebrations.

What happened during our worship time in the 11:15 service can only be described as a visitation of the Holy Spirit. As I said afterwards, we all know we didn’t cause that; it is all of grace. However, I do think there’s a few things we can do to “ride this wave”:

1. Make time to just be with the Lord. All of us are busy, but during this ‘season’ of favor, let’s find a few minutes daily to read the Word, pray to Him, or just sit quietly in His presence.

2. Be conscious of/sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. These may be gentle impressions throughout your day of something you should do or someone you should speak to – don’t argue or resist; just cooperate with His leading.

3. Walk ‘softly’ before the Lord. Be aware of ways that we all oftentimes displease Him, and avoid any hint of sexual immorality or holding onto anger or remaining estranged from others. Our holiness doesn’t earn God’s favor, but it’s a proper response to His favor!

4. Share with someone else. I’m convinced that true visitations of the Spirit are never for our own consumption; God blesses us to be a blessing.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s enough for now. Whatever you do, don’t miss May 5/6 when we’ll explore the “Full Blessing of Abraham”. I love this church, and I’m so excited about what God is doing here!

Wish I’d said this…

Ever wish you’d said something first?

A few months ago I had the chance to meet a young pastor from Anderson, South Carolina who’s doing incredible things for God at NewSpring Church. At any rate, Perry’s post about the Virginia Tech shootings says it exactly the way I’d like to say it for all of us at CLC.

Read his post for yourself here and then invite your friends and family to our weekend services in Tinley or Shorewood this weekend!

the big question about Virginia Tech massacre

I know that our nation will be asking questions about the Virginia Tech shootings for a long time, and no doubt some of them are valid questions that a civilized society needs to address. But the one question that I’m already hearing is “Why would God allow this?”

It seems like that’s the enemy’s tactic anytime something tragic happens to anyone – to somehow get us to blame God or even question His existence or His goodness. (I guess that’s no surprise when you read this huh? He’s a smart devil.)

But I must say, it’s NOT God who allows this kind of evil; it’s a result of free-will. In reality, I don’t think any of us would want to live in a world where we were just puppets on a string, being forced to do what God wanted for us, instead of having the freedom of choice that He created us with. No doubt, that freedom to choose is what introduced sin to the human race and still causes the misery and heartache that each of us has experienced today, but truly we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Bad things happen, like the Virginia Tech shootings, because we live in a flawed world and we are a flawed people. The real question is, what will it take to turn us to Jesus for help? He’s the Answer to our every question!

prayers for the Virginia Tech people

Unbelievable….I was transfixed by the images and reports again last night of another senseless tragedy in our country. I cannot even imagine how the parents, families, faculty and fellow students are handling this today. What an awful reminder of how much our nation needs Jesus and of the reality of brokenness and depravity within all of us.

“Father, I lift up every one of those affected by the shootings yesterday. Be with every single individual who was touched by this horrible event, and be a Comfort to them in ways beyond their imagination. May your Light shine during this dark hour of their lives, and may some turn to You and find relief from their pain. In Jesus’ name, I ask it”

Feel free to add your thoughts and prayers today-

En Espanol

Wow, am I pumped today! Not only did we have our 3rd-best attendance of the year this weekend (behind Easter and our 17th Anniversary celebration only – but you have to understand that the Sunday after Easter is traditionally the lowest-attended Sunday of the year) with at least 1,550 folks worshipping with us at one of our campuses this weekend!

Besides that, I’m excited that 44 Hispanics gathered for the first Spanish worship experience at our Shorewood campus, including some from as far away as Berwyn and Cicero – two suburbs that ‘just happened’ to have been mentioned by name in one of the prophetic words we received earlier this year! I’m so excited with Pastors Jaime & Jeanette Flores for what God is doing in Centro Christiana de Vida, and I hope you’re inviting your Hispanic friends to be a part of their big Friend Day event this Friday, April 20!

And you know what’s the neatest thing of all? We had that great day in attendance (and a tremendous offering, by the way) with me and Chris in Shorewood. That’s because CLC is not about a one-man show; it’s about a team ministry. And so while we were team-teaching the newest part of CLC in Shorewood, our Tinley campus was crowded with people and the presence of God and a great message from Pastor Dan Johnson!

I love you guys, and I love serving this church!

just not a Harley guy…

I’m not talking about me, although I haven’t been on a motorcyle since 1983, I think. Not sure how many of you reading this are familiar with Pedro, our miniature Dachshound who actually belongs to my oldest son, Chad (well, that’s a long story in itself).

At any rate, with the slight rise in temps yesterday, Chris and I resumed one of our favorite activities, “walking the boys” (Pedro & Jasper, our 110-pound Chocolate Lab) around the neighborhood. All went well until we got near one of the model homes in our subdivision, where someone had parked a Harley-Davidson bike, and Pedro went ballistic! I’m sure my retelling isn’t doing it justice (you had to be there), but he was not happy and barked like a dog much bigger than he is on the outside.

Our guess is that he thought the Harley was a big dog, or at least some strange animal occupying his territory (Pedro has laid claim to the entire subdivision and even 80th Avenue alongside our subdivision). Or maybe he’s just a Honda or Suzuki guy…who knows?

Acceleration!

One of the prophetic words we received in January of this year was ‘acceleration’ – that God was going to do things with us at a much faster pace than we were accustomed to. Well, less than 90 days later, I’m trying my best to keep up with it!

I’ll have more to say in the days ahead as things become clearer, but I can tell you that right now we are considering not one, not two, but three different opportunities for future ministry that, if any single one come to pass would be absolutely AWESOME!

I truly believe that the words God has spoken to us corporately also apply to us individually, so be on the lookout for an acceleration in what He’s doing for you – and expect the full blessing of Abraham to manifest in your life!

Pastor Dan’s message last night only added more fuel to my fire: our best days are just ahead!

CLC: don’t miss the next series we begin on April 21/22 – “PLEROMA!”

another Tithe challenge testimony

Hey folks – the Word works! Had another hallway conversation this week with the same CLCer who had the incredible report of accepting the “90 day tithe challenge” and then seeing her income drop drastically, yet discover that she always had enough and was able to pay cash for stuff she usually went into debt for. Turns out last week she was given more hours, more pay and an upcoming promotion that will substantially increase her income!

How ’bout it: any more tithe testimonies out there? I wanna hear from you!

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