Brutally Honest Love

One of the greatest joys of being a husband is boasting about my wife.  My favorite preacher on the planet is my bride.  Keeli boldly goes where few dare.  This isn’t just when she ministers to hundreds at a time, but she also demonstrates valiant boldness when speaking to individuals.  Most of the time, I’m thinking, “I wouldn’t say that to someone.” She can be brutally honest and simultaneously loving.  She has made I Corinthians 13 a reality… Especially the passage that states, “Love rejoices in the truth.” In the moments Keeli speaks the truth of God’s love to people, I begin to see how selfless love is.  Knowing the truth and holding it from others is an instrument of control and manipulation.  Unfortunately, we see this in the church at an uncomfortable level.  Imagine being invited to speak at a church and being told, right before you begin, not to mention the Holy Spirit because some might see Him as controversial or divisive (even though He is the key to unity).

How selfish it is for someone to have experienced the healing power of God and not offer it to those in pain?  How selfish is it to know the benefits of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and not teach it?  How selfish is it to build a ministry based on a preacher’s closeness with God rather than helping bring others to the realization that Jesus has already closed in on us?  How selfish is it to know Jesus' limitless love and not shout it from the rooftops?  Each time Keeli teaches people how to hear the voice of God, leads them to Jesus or in the baptism of the Spirit, or releases the healing power of God into their bodies, I see how unselfish she is.  When I hear others say, “Why haven’t I heard about this before?” I realize just how fearless my wife is because of the boldness she has received from the Holy Spirit.

Since the moment I fell in love with Keeli, I felt it was my duty to make sure she was able to fulfill her call to preach the Gospel each time the door opened.  We were married and opportunities followed.  She was invited on multiple occasions to address crowds with the Gospel.  To my shock and awe, she declined.  I asked her why she didn’t go and this was her response:

“I married you so we could go together.”

The opportunities didn’t end there.  We still get invited to speak but we never fly solo.  We believe there is something that has been missing from the message being preached.  Crowds of hundreds or thousands of people cannot compare to the best ministry life has to offer: family.  In the words of Keeli, “We always go together.” As my wife forfeited opportunities to travel abroad to do what she loves to do, she remained with her family, waiting for the opportunities to do the very thing we love to do more than anything – together as a family.

-Jonathan Fawcett

Prison and Persecution

In the United States, persecution is something we know very little about.  The option to shy away from being overtly overtaken by Mr. Love Himself (aka Jesus) seems more prominent in an effort to “relate” and “be relevant” to the world around us.  Love is how you relate.  Compassion is the key to being relevant.  In other words, being relevant is not skin deep.  The Holy Spirit is known for being a show off.  He wants to make a scene at the expense of the expectations the world puts on your shoulders. I remember my first date with Keeli.  We went to a movie and then strolled through the Asheville Mall.  I saw some teenagers passing by.  One was in a wheelchair.  I stopped to speak to them and asked what had happened.  The boy had hurt his leg in a skateboarding accident.  I asked if we could pray for him.  He agreed so I took a knee beside him and prayed for total and complete healing to manifest in his leg.  When I was finished, I asked him if he felt anything different.  Immediately, his friends began laughing at my question.  I stood to my feet and told them that this isn’t a joke.  I began telling them what we had seen healed by the power of God.  I haven’t been stoned, I haven’t been beaten, and I haven’t been shot at.  I’ve taken on the simplest form of “persecution”… the lightweight, powder puff kind that many believers in America think is true hardship.  Those kids weren’t laughing in insult when I was through.  The world wants to know that you’re serious about what you believe.  Of course, even in your firmness, you can still overflow with the joy of God.

So let’s face it… If we consider this as persecution, we truly need a new perspective.  Each morning at my office, we have devotions.  Pastor Saeed Abedini was sentenced to prison for 8 years in Iran because of his faith in Jesus Christ.  He has been beaten, tortured, and is in the hands of radicals who want him dead.  The only thing keeping him alive is the fact that he is in the media spotlight.  His wife, Naghmeh, shared their testimony.  They have been arrested multiple times, threatened, and promised death in prison by the authorities in Iran.  I could retell their amazing testimony, but I encourage you to hear it from the lips of Naghmeh.   She is a woman who has asked for the nations and shares how she was given an open door to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.  Join us as we pray for the release of Pastor Saeed and for his wife as she takes care of their family.

-Jonathan Fawcett

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Anniversary

July 31, 2010 was the day Keeli and I were married.  It was a good day.  It was a great day.  But not the best day.  Everything ran smoothly, the ceremony was powerful, the music was perfect, and the bride was beautiful.  Yes, it will be a day that we celebrate.  But a wedding doesn't make a marriage.  The best is not behind us.  The best is today.  And it will be surpassed by tomorrow.  The sacrament of marriage is a necessary glory to step into in order to step up to the next glory.  One of our favorite pastimes is remembering how Jesus rescued us by closing certain doors, promoting us by opening new ones, and directing our steps to see our family equipped to prosper.  When our family advances, the kingdom advances.  Our wedding was one day we will always cherish.  But it will never measure to the lifetime we will spend together, continually falling in love with one another. A celebration of matrimony is like heaven: all the people you love is in one room together, sharing in the joyous occasion.  But we have made many great friends since our wedding day.  We wish there was a way they could have been there to celebrate our union with us.  So I created this... Enjoy.

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Jonathan Fawcett

Miracle of Marriage

One of the greatest joys, honors, and blessings in my life is family.  Keeli and I were married on July 31, 2010.  I can’t give you a formula for falling in love, but I can give you some insight from my own experience.  First, I didn’t just fall in love and stay down.  I fall in love every day I wake up.  Marriage is a miracle – a cycle of bliss that gets better and better. How many weddings have you been to where you heard, “In sickness and in health,” or, “For better or for worse,” and maybe even, “For richer or poorer,” in the vows?  You may have even said these in your own wedding vows.  But are these Biblical to speak over your marriage?  If the power of life and death are in the tongue, why would you speak sickness, poverty, or worse over your future?  Why would you declare an expectation of those things over the future of the person you love the most?

If you are married and guilty of speaking vows like this, it doesn’t necessarily mean your marriage is doomed.  Repentance is simply changing your mind.  We have the mind of Christ and His mind is not on sickness or poverty for His bride.  Many are offended at the Gospel (aka the “too good to be true news”).  Health and wealth are in heaven.  Jesus wanted to bring heaven to earth.  But those things are obtained when we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Vows often reflect what a bride and groom expect for their future.  Sickness is not in the kingdom of God.  Poverty is not in the kingdom of God.  Worse is not in the kingdom of God.  Jesus would never speak an expectation of sickness over His bride.  Money fights end most marriages.  Sickness steals joy from marriages.  We wanted our marriage to be one where we are seeking the kingdom of God in agreement together.

Keeli and I wrote our own vows.  We stood at the altar and continue to stand on the promise that Jesus is taking us from glory to glory.  Renewed minds begin to think in these terms: Health and healthier, wealth and wealthier, better and better-er.  Not because of our works but because of His finished work on the cross.  He is the Solution who brings solutions.  He is the Creator who brings creative ideas.  He is the answer, the source, and the grace to accomplish anything.

Since we said “I do”, many may believe that we dropped off the face of the earth and don’t pay much attention to the outside world.  I, personally, thrive in an atmosphere of people, conversation, and diversity.  But at the end of the day, I can’t get home fast enough.  I just can’t wait to see the most beautiful face I ever laid eyes on.  It’s hard to leave her in the mornings but it’s a joy when I get home.  Even the most mundane and painstaking tasks are enjoyable because of the company of my best friend.

One of my favorite things to do with Keeli is dream with her.  It keeps the best in front of us.  We keep a book of dreams, visions, and plans for the future.  We have already checked a few items from that list.  We take the steps to see those dreams become reality.  How many realists do you know who see miracles, healing, signs, and wonders on a regular basis?  I am not in denial that bad things happen.  We are believers in Love Himself.  True Love will take you from glory to glory.

Jonathan Fawcett

Jesus the Matchmaker

Springtime means one thing for many couples… It's time to plan a wedding.  What happens if all the details don't fall into place?  What if the pieces don't fall into place where you want them to?  Maybe Plan B was God's original intention.  I want to share with you how God works all things together for good. One of my best friends (also named Jonathan) was getting married to his fiancée, Nikki. Jonathan was a roommate in college.  I wish I kept a book of quotes because every word out of his mouth has the power to drive away boredom and the blues.  I've never laughed so hard as I did with Jonathan.  We continually discover that Nikki is a great catch for Jonathan.  She is well rounded, very talented, and can do almost anything.  It's wonderful when you can celebrate the spouse your friend marries.

Jonathan had asked me to be a groomsman in his wedding.  I was honored but, unfortunately, I had to decline.  Our friends had been planning a conference for many months that we had committed to.  It was scheduled right in the middle of the wedding.  I was conflicted and didn't want to hurt my friend.

Months passed and the conference was cancelled.  Thankfully, we were able to attend the wedding but I was not going to be a groomsman.  Jonathan had found a replacement but I was happy to be able to celebrate with them as they were wed.

Over a year after Jonathan and Nikki had been married, we met up with them.  They were telling us about their two friends who were getting married.  One was a bridesmaid in their wedding.  The other was a groomsman…The same groomsman who filled my space!  They met at the wedding, fell in love, and tied the knot a few months later!

Had I been a groomsman, they may have never met.  For months, I had felt bad for declining the invitation to be in the wedding party.  That is, until I found how Jesus turned it around for the benefit of a man who met his wife.  Sometimes, Plan B was actually Plan A all along.

If you're planning a wedding, my encouragement to you: Don't sweat the details. Don't lose sleep. Press in and pray.  God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). That means you!

Jonathan Fawcett

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