Will You Stand In The Gap With YWAP?

IS TODAY YOUR LAST DAY ON DRUGS?

Courage isn't drunk from a bottle.
Confidence isn't inhaled from weed.
Peace isn't a found in a powder.
Hope isn't hidden in a hallucinogen.
Love isn't snorted through a straw.
Sex isn't a plug to fill a hole in your heart.
Emptiness isn't filled by anything outside you.
Wholeness comes from within.
Go deeper.
Ask for help.
You don't see them, but people right now have your back in prayer.
You may not know God, but He knew you before you were formed in the womb.
He knows your emptiness and your struggles.
He believes in you and so do the many people praying for you.
We pray for your plans for in the future.
We pray against anything that will harm you.
We pray for you to prosper and be in good health.
You were made in the image and likeness of God.
You are worthy of love and affection.
Let your emptiness be the soil where a seed of love is beginning to grow.
God is love and He loves you.

Your life journey has a purpose.
You are climbing the mountains of life.
When you reach the next mountain peak, look behind you and shout:

“I'VE MADE IT AND SO CAN YOU!”

You will lead others as a Guide on the Mountains of Life.
Today is your day of decision.
Decide to love yourself in a more excellent way.
Jesus loves you and so do we. #JLYASDW

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“Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly.
You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize
the fullness of Christ,
and the emptiness of the universe without him.
When you come to him,
that fullness comes together for you, too.
His power extends over everything.”
Colossians 2:9-10 The Message

 Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.
#brightspotreport #ywap4God #JLYASDW

How To Get Close To God - Mike Lafferty & Bob Kuebler

Managing the Mentoring Process

All relationships will bear some kind of fruit. Mentoring relationships have fruit producing principles.
This is the first in a series of Mentor Force teaching videos sponsored by Youth With A Purpose Inc. The star of our first mentoring video is Jimmy Darby from Buffalo Peacemakers and Open Buffalo. Thanks Jimmy for your valuable insight and sharing your heart. Jesus loves you and so do we.
#ywap716 #mentorforce #ywapbuffalo #openbuffalo #JLYASDW

Mike Pelechaty Was A Knight Who Let His Wife Wear The Shining Armor

          Most of the story you're about to read was written on September 8, 2013. It sat partially finished in a draft folder until God brought it to my mind about a month ago. I decided to finish it today October 9, 2017. Both Mike and Cathy are now in heaven. I wrote the original story when Mike was still with us. The original story is in purple while today's continuation is in blue.

YWAP Thanksgiving at Holy Cross November 19, 2017. (Mike is on the left.)

          Many women think they're looking for a knight in shining armor. A guy without kinks in his armor really doesn't exist this side of heaven. Most guys are more like fruitcakes in tin foil! A woman would be better off with a guy who's transparent with his weaknesses. The kind of transparency that fuels a fire that burns away the chaff of his character. A guy should be willing to sacrifice himself and lift his wife into the glory for which God created her. Mike Pelechaty is one of those guys. He let his wife Cathy wear the shining armor.

          Together with their daughters Erica and Olivia, Mike and Cathy have lived lives of sacrifice for the past few years. Living in the shadow of cancer is like growing a broken heart. The brokenness spreads as the disease advances. My interaction with the family has been mostly as a friend of Mike.

          I was a regular reader of Cathy's posts on The Father's Breadbox - Devotions & Teachings by Cathy Pelechaty. God reached through her and touched those of us who read her words. I was nourished spiritually by reading about her time with God. Here is a quote from her page:

"Never Forget That ~
Walking With God Changes Everything ~
Talking With God Changes You..."

          Mike was a good friend of mine for several years. He's a Doctor and a Pastor. Those titles don't begin to describe who Mike is. He's a Dad who loves his daughters in a more excellent way. He talks about his family constantly. He loved his wife in a more excellent way. He was in enormous pain for the last 3 years. He carried the pain of his wife and his daughters. He carried his own pain. Cathy left her world of physical pain and was welcomed into heaven on September 8, 2013.

          Many married men would gladly take away the pain of their families and carry it themselves. That's also true of a great majority of married women. Mike and I met for breakfast one morning at the Gardenview Restaurant in West Seneca, NY. He told me how hard it was being a husband, a father and a doctor. A husband wants to take the pain away and a doctor is supposed to know how to heal. Mike could do neither of those things for Cathy. At least that's what he believed.

          I think Cathy must have known how much she was loved. There is a kind of healing that happens when you know you are loved. Her relationship with God was revealed through her writings. She was an excellent wife to her husband. Her children called her blessed. Cathy Pelechaty was a friend of God.

Her children bless her.
    Her husband also praises her.
 He says,

“There are many excellent wives,
    but you are better than all of them.”

- Proverbs 31:28-29 IBC

          His love was raw and genuine. As a man, I deeply admired him. Yeah, I wanted to be like Mike! He desperately wanted what was best for his family. He was also a man who followed hard after God. He served as a Board Member for our ministry called Youth With A Purpose. He asked the tough questions that nobody else would ask. He helped plan the future of the ministry which is still growing today. His words are still alive in my heart.

          Mike left this world and was welcomed into heaven on December 18, 2016. I can only imagine Jesus smiling with one arm around Mike and one arm around Cathy. I think God allows us to see physical representations of heaven like this because we couldn't handle what heaven is really like. The immenseness of God's glory would simply blow us away. No pain, all mercy, full of grace, unending oneness with God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mike and Cathy are alive in the greatest story ever told! They get to live everyday from Alpha to Omega for eternity.   

          I miss Mike. I miss Cathy's writings and Holy Spirit delivered wisdom. They're both Bright Spots in a world that sorely needs them. Because of who they were in relationship to each other and in relationship to God, they still live on as Bright Spots today. My wife and I have prayed for their daughters Erica and Olivia and will continue to cover them in love. Will you please do the same?

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.
#JLYASDW 

HARD TIMES CREATE BRIGHT SPOTS

Ice & snow eventually melts into spring & summer.

LIFE IS HARD SOMETIMES

The older you get,

the more likely you're going to go through a lot of hell 

on your way to heaven.

YOU'RE NOT ALONE.

The waves keep crashing even under the blue skies.
Sinking in sadness and pain, the sun is still rising - again; and so will you - again!

Close your eyes.

Imagine your feet moving on the waves of your life.
Imagine your hands lifting the sun as it rises.
Imagine your breath moving the clouds.
Imagine your eyes seeing wisdom in the deep skies.
Imagine your ears listening to stillness.
Imagine being still and knowing that this too shall pass - as everyday does.
Imagine your heart knowing the peace of all suffering reaching its end.
Imagine Jesus walking with you on many waters.

He will never leave you. 

The greater your suffering, 

the greater the potential for your life 

to display God's love to other folks.

LIFE IS HARD SOMETIMES.

The cross has been taken down.
The tomb is empty.
Love has brought a new day.
Your pain will leave,
Jesus wants your burden.

He wants to hold your heart and walk you through.
Imagine Jesus kneeling in front of you,
He's holding your heart in His hands and says:

"I got you, you won't sink any deeper. 

I am the voice of many waters. 

I speak to them now and say, 

'Be still."

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"God says, “Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10 ICB

"God’s voice was like the roar of rushing water.
His greatness made the earth shine. "
Ezekiel 43:2 ICB

"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters."
Psalm 29:3

"his voice as the sound of many waters."
Revelation 1:15

"Then I heard again what sounded like the shouting of a huge crowd,
or like the waves of a hundred oceans crashing on the shore,
or like the mighty rolling of great thunder,
“Praise the Lord.
For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
Revelation 19:6

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Please share this with someone who might need a lift from hard times.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we. #JLYASDW

Monday May 8, 2017
8:40 AM
Buffalo, NY, USA

THESE PASTORS MAKE ME CRY AND I KEEP GOING BACK!

       

     Life Church is a place that seems to have me in tears on a regular basis. There have been several times in my life when a preacher's sermon has given me watering eyes. This morning, the transparency and vulnerability of Pastor Pete Jankowski left me wiping my wet face.
          It's not the first time he's done that. Pete is a guy who takes sincerity and honesty to a deeper place every week. His sermons are enough to touch the tear ducts in your soul.
          Friends who die early cause lots of tears. Pastor Pete made me cry for a reason other than a deep sermon. He was the bearer of sad news delivered from the pulpit. A good friend of almost everyone in the church died suddenly. Dr. Mike Pelechaty was my friend and a former Board member of our ministry, Youth With A Purpose. The news was a sudden shock and I was overwhelmed.
          Eventually the Service ended and I was stuck to my seat as the grief overpowered my ability to move. I managed to lift my head and saw Pete was standing in front of me. He saw my tears and offered a comfort that God knew I needed. He hugged me and felt my pain at the loss of a friend. This time he was catching my tears instead of causing them.
          Pastor Pete's partner in the creation of watering eyes is Pastor Craig McLeod. He's the reason (through God's guidance) that my wife Linda and I began hanging out at Life Church. When Dr. Mike's wife Cathy died, Pastor Craig immediately dropped what he was doing and went to comfort a grieving family. That was a leadership lesson for me that I've duplicated in the YWAP Ministry. We sometimes have to comfort the families of young men who die from gang violence. Don't wait when someone is grieving, go immediately.
          Pastor Craig's sermons have also left me wiping my face several times. But there's something even bigger that he did. It was another leadership lesson. Pastor Craig is taking on some new opportunities that will have a huge impact on the kingdom of God internationally. That means a greater role at Life Church for Pastor Pete. The way in which Pastor Craig passed the mantle of leadership to Pastor Pete is one of the greatest leadership lessons that I've ever witnessed.
          On a Sunday morning after service, I told Pastor Craig what I saw him do. I was in tears describing it to him and a tear welled up in his eyes as well. It's hard to put into words what actually took place over a period of time. These are my words of what I saw Pastor Craig do through his actions;

"Pete, Jesus loves you and so do we. I'm passing on the mantle of leadership in this church to you. It's yours completely and I let it go. All the wisdom that I've gleaned as a Pastor, I freely give to you whenever you need it. I will serve you as the Pastor of this church. My desire is to lift you up and propel you into the purpose and glory for which God has created for you."  

 "Here, this is yours.

How may I serve you?"

          May we all go and do likewise. Thank you Pastor Pete and Pastor Craig for repeatedly making me cry.
Jesus loves you and so do we.
Bob & Linda Kuebler 

I APOLOGIZED TO A BLACK MAN The Bright Spot Report 3-15-17

DR. PAMALA DENISE SMITH - HEART FARMER FOR GOD

     Once upon a minute there lived a Heart farmer for God. She yielded her heart as broken ground for the seed of the Holy Spirit. Fertilized through fervent prayer, her heart began to grow in its brokenness - giving her a greater capacity to grow in Love. 

     Dr. Pamala Denise Smith is a Heart Farmer, a Preparer, and a Cook for the Holy Spirit. Her heart is a landing place where folks can witness the beauty of a gentle spirit that gives evidence of how precious she is in the sight of God.

     As a Heart Farmer, Pam sows seeds that help other hearts grow. Out of the depths of her own brokenness, a wellspring of God's compassion is now overflowing with grace. Pam has become a foundational root that soaks up the pain of other folks and then pours the wellspring of compassion back upon their hearts as a healing wisdom.

     Preparers are people who plow the heart-soils of this world and prepare them for sowing, growing and harvesting. They help other folks understand how much God loves them and has a plan for their lives.
     Cooks prepare meals of Godly wisdom for people to chew on. Pamala deposits heart-nuggets for folks to nibble on as they learn to chew, digest and internalize Truth.
     Sometimes grace is almost invisible unless you recognize the foreshadowing nature of the Holy Spirit. Carolyn Smith is Pam's Mom. She is a temple of the Holy Spirit who creates a sanctuary in her heart where all are welcome. Carolyn is a heart-holder who gives the comfort of an all-loving God through the work of her hands.


Thank you Pamala and Carolyn for being Heart Farmers for God.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

Authors Note:
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
JLYASDW - Jesus Loves You And So Do We.

 
                                                

FRANK PAYNE - A COACH, AUTHOR & FINISHER

     Several weeks ago I had a dream about a guy who coached my son almost 20 years ago as a JV Football Coach - Frank Payne. In the dream, Frank was standing on the sideline of a football field. The dream changed as Frank Payne became Frank Reich, the former Buffalo Bills Quarterback known for his faith in Christ and leading historic comebacks. It took a few weeks for the "Dream about Frank's" to make sense.
     My son Joe Kuebler was a wide receiver for the Frank Payne coached Iroquois High School Junior Varsity Team. One game for Joe stands out in my mind. I believe that game, and Coach Payne's actions have helped shaped Joe's character. Joe knows how to run the race of life with perseverance.
     During the course of the game, Coach Payne called for three passing plays with Joe as the primary receiver. Joe dropped all three passes. Most Coaches and most people in the world would have written Joe off and sent him to the bench. Coach Payne called for another pass to be thrown Joe's way,

THE COACH DIDN'T GIVE UP! 

Joe bobbled the ball before it nestled safely in his arms for a completion. Joe was able to go home with a comeback attitude, knowing he was valued by his Coach. He has developed a never-quit attitude.
     Today, Joe is a Doctor. He's a Pediatric Cardiologist - a guy who helps heal children's hearts. I'm proud of the man that my son has become. Frank Payne has a healing hand on those baby hearts.
     If you're familiar with Football history, you probably have already made the connection. Frank Reich is known as the Author and Finisher of the Greatest Comeback in NFL History. Frank Payne has taught my son Joe and thousands of other young athletes, boys and girls, young men and young women, how to be overcomers, come-backers and never-give-uppers.
     We speak of Coach Payne several times a year in the Kuebler Family. He's a hero and role model for us. Frank Reich has the same level of respect and admiration. Both of these guys have a relationship with Christ - who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
     Thank you Coach Frank Payne for being a Life Coach for the young people. You are a Bright Spot who helps others shine. We pray that God gives you good health, prosperity and an enlarged territory in the work of your hands as He enlarges His place in your heart.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

Bob Kuebler is the Director of Youth With A Purpose - YWAP. He has spent the last 15 yrs. learning about pain and perseverance from inner city young people and their families. Healing starts with love, compassion and empathy. 

           Our mission at YWAP is to inspire inner city young people to develop as Christ-centered role models who mentor the younger generation. 

           Bob is the Author of five books and several blogs including The Bright Spot Report, Bob shares how God is redeeming our cities through young people. You can reach him at 716-830-8240, ywapbuffalo@yahoo.com. www.youthwithapurpose.org