Jaw Dropping Surprises

By Jim Penner, Director of Business Operations, Crystal Cathedral Ministries

I went for my daily run a few days ago around sunset. At the crest of a small hill, I rounded a stand of trees to reveal that perfect elevated angle where the valley is below, the sky above, and it seems that you can see for miles. What lay before my eyes was a sky seemingly hand painted by God from light to dark blue with orange and varying shades of purple clouds. This sunset was no ordinary sunset. This was something completely unexpected-a surprise-a surprise for my eyes. The scene was so breathtaking that I began to think about the surprises in our lives. Good surprises and bad surprises. Life is filled with all kinds of surprises, but the ones we really remember are what I call "jaw dropping surprises," those times when what you just saw, or heard, or was done to you came completely out of left field-for good or bad. They are the times when something or someone literally rocks your world.

Maybe it's a doctors report-for good or bad. The cancer has come or the cancer has gone. Maybe you just found out that a baby grandchild is on the way when you daughter had previously been told she could never have children. Or it's tragic news that your grandchild was just killed in a car accident.

Maybe it's family news. Your son or your daughter announces their engagement and your mouth literally opens in a jaw dropping surprise. Excitedly you say, "Did you see who my son is marrying?" Or filled with anxiety you say, "Did you see the head case my daughter is about to marry?"

Maybe your latest jaw dropping surprise was financial. You opened that envelope in the past year and found that your retirement account lost 30 or 40 or 50 percent. Or you found that your health insurance costs were going up or your benefits were dropping.

Take a moment and think back to the last time you had a jaw dropping surprise. If you've lived life on this earth you don't have to be here very long to receive one. They are a part of life – they are inevitable. They can be painful. Tear invoking. Faith challenging. Withdraw from society inducing. They push us toward relief such as alcohol or painkillers. They push us toward cynicism and skepticism. Jaw dropping surprises can literally tear us apart- or-they can make us stronger because of one simple fact. No matter what happens to you in life, no matter how far you are pushed to the breaking point-as sure as I'm sitting here there is one fact I am convinced of- Jesus Christ is still on the throne. Receive that great gift of contentment Paul talks about in Philippians 4 by giving your cares to Jesus!

Ask Sheila: Hiding My Light Under a Bushel

Dear Sheila,

I was not a Christian when I married my husband of 23 years. Ten years ago, I gave my life to Jesus. My life has changed somewhat, but frankly I am afraid to grow too deep in my spiritual walk for fear that it will drive a wedge between my husband and me. Whenever I talk about spiritual matters with him he sneers. So, I pray and read my Bible but keep my spiritual life private. Should I keep going this direction or be more forthright about my relationship with Christ?

- Hiding My Light under a Bushel

Dear Light under a Bushel,

Your signature pretty much says it all! You've answered your own question.

I would suggest that you grow and grow and grow in the Lord. You do that by reading God's word, spending time with fellow Christians, and by praying. As you do this, your light will grow bright and brighter. You don't have to talk to your husband about your deepening relationship with Jesus-you just have to walk it. And pray for him.

Jesus didn't just come to save us for heaven in eternity. He came to save us so we can experience a bit of heaven on earth. He said, "I have come that you might have life, and...have it more abundantly " (John 10:10). As your husband sees you living a truly abundant life, he will become hungry and thirsty for the same. That's good news! In Christ,

Sheila Schuller Coleman

Crystal Cathedral People: Bill Weller "Mr. Hospitality"

By Dr. Jim Kok, Pastor of Care Ministries

Before most of our ushers and greeters arrive for duty on Sunday mornings, Bill Weller is taking care of the early arriving guests from distant places. These are the folks whose eyes fill with tears as they enter the Crystal Cathedral. They have included a 95-year-old long-time Hour of Power viewer, a wheelchair-confined "Make-a-Wish" recipient, and those who have traveled long distances to spend a memorable birthday at this special place. Bill Weller’s aim is to make sure their blessing continues. A serious-looking, welldressed man with an official demeanor, he is there to lead them to the best seats possible every Sunday morning.

His journey to this place began as a child attending Sunday School at a Christian Science church. He says he never met Jesus there. God yes. Jesus no. And after the early death of his young wife Kathryn at age 45, little spiritual activity focused his life as he continued to raise his daughter and two sons.

Bill had an engineering B.S. from UCLA, and an MBA also, but his minimal church experience led him to conclude that churches were unfriendly places. So, that part of his life never developed. He invested his life in a variety of jobs, including many years with North American Aviation and the Apollo Space Program.

Bill started to change when he met a young Crystal Cathedral pastor- in-training, Dunston Sampson, at an event at the Nixon Library. That conversation resulted in Bill stopping in at the early morning Sunday worship service in the Chapel-inthe- Sky. There he started to learn about Jesus. A few weeks later, he slipped into the 9:30 service where Robert H. Schuller was preaching. Growth was deepening, and this new place was becoming his spiritual home.

It was his Amway sideline that led to the next profound spiritual step in his life, which came sometime after he started growing at the Crystal Cathedral. Seeds had been planted and were germinating, and then one day he attended another of many Amway luncheons. They always included devotions, followed by an altar call. Bill said, "Something happened to me and I floated to the front." Bill was spiritually changed from that day forward. Today he is the committed man we see helping on Sundays - mornings and evenings.

Maybe it is that early experience, where he concluded that churches were not welcoming places, added to his deep appreciation for what he has found in Christ that made him the "Mr. Hospitality" that he is today. Whatever it is, Bill deserves that title for the way he connects with and embraces newcomers on Sundays. He is the kind of person who gives a church a positive reputation, attracting people first to the welcoming place and
then to the loving spirit of Jesus Christ.

Social Networks: Connecting You with Your Crystal Cathedral

We continue to expand our communities and social networks to connect with you where you are. Just as Dr. Schuller first reached out to the early Crystal Cathedral congregation in a drive-in theater, today we are where you are - on Facebook,Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube.

Join us on Facebook, one of the most popular social networks today with millions of users and is still growing. In line with our mission to reach the unchurched, we urge you to connect through Facebook to help grow our ministry to reach out to new friends around the world. Leave messages and invite your friends to join in! Become a friend of Sheila Schuller Coleman. Join a group. Choose Hour of Power, Crystal Cathedral, and Mommy Grace with Sheila Schuller Coleman. Leave a message, add a photo, post a link, and invite your friends to join you! Become a “fan” of Hour of Power and Crystal Cathedral. Learn about important events and ministry announcements. Watch videos, read notes, and get widgets you can post on your profile to help spread the word about our ministry.

Follow us on Twitter. On this microblogging platform, we post ministry updates, daily prayers, devotions, and what's happening in our ministries. Sign up to receive tweets from Hour of Power, Crystal Cathedral, Dr. Robert H. Schuller, and Sheila Schuller Coleman. Watch video clips on YouTube. Clips include Hour of Power promo clips, unforgettable messages from great pastors, guest interviews, and incredible music.

Become a MySpace Friend. Read and comment on our blog. Find out about the upcoming Hour of Power, and read articles about the Hour of Power and Crystal Cathedral Ministries.

Let Your Daily Living Become Joyful Giving

By Robert H. Schuller

I want to share something with you that can absolutely transform your life. It will turn it upside down, inside out, and will put a bloom where there was gloom. It’s the simple secret of joy-filled living that I first learned many years ago from my mother who had a very tough life. She was married to a good man who raised crops on an Iowa farm through some terribly difficult years. I saw my mother have some low days and I discovered what she did to change a gloomy mood into a blooming mood.

When apples were in season she would pick them, peel them, slice them, and then roll out a piecrust to bake an apple pie. Everybody was happy in the household as she started whistling and singing hymns while making her apple pies. She made each pie heaping with apples and sprinkled in lots of cinnamon.

My mother never made just one pie; most of the time she made two. She’d always say, “One is for my family. The other one is for someone who needs it.” Then she would send me down the road to deliver that second pie to someone who was sick or had a very meager income. My mother had discovered that the way to put joy into life was to “forget about yourself and do something beautiful in a wonderful way for somebody else.” She understood well the joy that comes through giving.

If you want to be a truly miserable person, just be as selfish as you can. I have never seen a twinkling, happy, enthusiastic person who is also stingy. It just doesn’t work.

Next time you’re having a “down” day, recall an experience where you were really up. I can tell you when it was. It was the time you listened to somebody who needed to be heard or comforted. Or it was the time you prayed a prayer or gave a word of encouragement and positively lifted someone’s spirit. It was the time you packaged a very treasured and gorgeous gift and gave it to someone you deeply love.

Jesus said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it” (Matthew 10:39, NLT). Let your daily living become daily giving and you will have a life filled with JOY!

Nick & Lucy: On the Road Again!

By Nick & Lucy Della Valle

We often think of the Crystal Cathedral as a hospital; a place where people with breaks in their life came to be mended. At least that was the case for us, when we arrived on campus in 1988.

Jesus brought us here to be cared for, educated, loved, and gently put back together. Seeds like "Life is not fair but God is good." "Tough times never last, tough people do." "God's delays are never God's denials" and "If it's going to be, it's up to me" took root deep in our hearts. We drank in Christ at Sunday services, through Bible classes like the Becomers and Homebuilders and in Wednesday morning fellowship. We were blessed to have served on the Hour of Power staff for a number of years but then at the beginning of the new millennium, we heard a whisper.

At first, we fought it. What could Almighty God want with us? No matter how we tried to ignore it or reason against it, the whisper grew persistently stronger. What do You want of us, Lord? How can we be of any use to You? This went on for months and piece by piece, conversation by conversation, God outlined His plan for us. In 2001, we left our positions and the Crystal Cathedral to become missionaries to America; storytellers for Christ as we began our first 3300- mile walk across America for Christ.

Eight years have flown by. We have shared our biblical presentations in over 400 churches; we have walked through 18 states. A second 3300-mile walk, from Philadelphia to Albuquerque, took place in 2005. God has allowed us to use our gifts to bless thousands of people and He has used tens of thousands of Americans to bless us!

Soon we will start our third 3300-mile walk. The life we now lead was birthed at the Crystal Cathedral. As we wander the back roads of America, we seek your prayers for continued protection, provision and good health. God bless you always and if you see Dr. or Mrs. Schuller... give them a hug for us.

Follow Us! You are a part of us and so we invite you to follow us along the journey through our web site: www.christwalk.us

Twins Julie & Janet: Filling Their Lives by Helping Others

By Dr. Jim Kok, Pastor of Care Ministries

Two of our most faithful volunteer helpers for the New Hope phone and online hotline have led a difficult life of which few can identify. They are twins, but that is not the hard part. Few are more happily involved in Crystal Cathedral programs and activities than these two native Southern Californians, born in 1952. Here are two beautiful women, Julie and Janet Abels, with their unique story…

Over the years, Julie held a variety of positions, mostly in the electronics business, doing assembly and related duties. Janet spent many years working for the Bank of America, invested wisely, and lives comfortably with Julie in Orange. Both are unmarried and retired.

Early in life, as young children, they both began exhibiting nervous tics. They were born with an unusual genetic syndrome that became increasingly more exaggerated as they matured. As young teens, their tics and twitches had become so conspicuous they ended up taking a lot of ridicule from their classmates, and rarely fought back. They just took it. They clung to each other through it all, pretty much by themselves outside the close-knit cliques, so common in their school in San Marino.

"We were awfully nervous and scared of everything," Janet said. "We felt very left out," Julie added. It was so bad that their loving parents took them out of the public school for one year, and they were tutored instead. "School was very difficult for us," Janet confides, "We were not very good students." Julie quickly added, "but Janet is an expert speller, anyway."

Treatment of their tics and twitches was futile, and they eventually were diagnosed as having Tourette Syndrome. Because of these difficulties, Janet and Julie's parents held their daughters very close, and even more so after their 19-year-old son, the twins' big brother, drowned in Yellowstone Lake and was never found. They were 15 at the time.

After high school, where they participated in the Pep Club, the Glee Club, and other singing groups, with much less teasing and ridicule, they attended Pasadena City College. The highlight there was singing with the college concert choir. They beamed as they recalled singing the "Missa Solemnis" by Beethoven at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. They also joined the Adelphia Service Club, which involved them in helping their teachers with all kinds of tasks that would lighten their loads.

They came to the Crystal Cathedral from the Santa Anita Church in Arcadia. Membership there was an early, rare, act of rebellion on their part. They had been born and raised in the Christian Science Church, but said they were always bored there. Nevertheless, they were followers of Jesus, so they found their own church. However, it was their mother's love for Dr. Schuller and the Hour of Power that nudged them in our direction, and into their happy helpfulness here.

Julie and Janet are two happy young women who, though they've experienced how tough life can be, harbor no anger or resentment, and cheerfully fill their lives helping others.

"I thank God for these two beautiful people"
By Barbara Barrientos, Hotline Supervisor at New Hope

In the winter of 2002, I met Janet Abels when she started her New Hope volunteer service. Two years later, after her sister Julie had a devastating accident, they moved in together. Soon Janet encouraged Julie to come and volunteer at New Hope. When I first met Julie, she just looked down at the ground, avoided all eye contact, and walked with assistance.

Gradually Julie began looking up and speaking to me, her self-esteem slowly climbing inch by inch. With a great deal of determination and a "yes I can" attitude, she started walking straight up instead of crunched over.

I also watched Janet blossom and grow. She realized that she could not change her sister but could support her in positive directions. Learning how to live together again was a growing part for both. As time passed, they began to share many stories with me. I felt privileged that they were willing to tell me the personal hurting experiences they'd endured in their childhood, teen years, and even today in their adult years.

The hours of service these two have given at New Hope and throughout the church is an enormous gift. They give from the heart. They know that they are different, and that not all people accept them for who they are. Tourette Syndrome is not an easy dysfunction to live with. Janet and Julie are good examples of learning to overcome the labels and stigma of being different.

They have taught me patience, and understanding as they have included me on their journey of healing and spiritual growth. I thank God for these two beautiful people.