Does God Really Love Me?

"I heart love because its the one thing that the Bible says God is...I think we forget that sometimes...He loves already and there's nothing we can do to take that away...If we can only understand who God is and what He is, we can comprehend love... He is everything that we are not...He's not a passive love, but a love that passes all understanding and is eternal.

Todd McVicker is a guest speaker at Fusion in the "I Heart" series to talk about his love for love. "I love turkey!" This Thanksgiving, Todd and his family had Cajun Fried Turkey. Yum. Every year, Todd and his wife go to Columbia, SC, to his wife's parents' house to do absolutely nothing. They just rest and relax. This year, there were some extra people who joined them and Todd was talking about the conversation and the fun. There was this one guy, about 30 years old, at the table and Todd asked him what he did for a living. The guy worked at Lowe's as a stock person. Well, in the conversation, Todd's wife asked the guy what he was passionate about and his answer was, "my passion was taken away a long, long time ago." It was almost painful to here those words coming from a young and capable guy.

"I'm passionate about music, my wife about Fusion. I think I'm passionate about a lot of things. But as I thought about what I really "Hearted", I realized that what I really love is "Love"." There are so many horrible headlines out there. There is war and grief and depression. There is such depression that love can be so refreshing. The world needs love. "I'm the guy that cries at the Disney movies. It's me...I'm the guy that listens to the one song that repeats for an hour because something's going on..." Todd then starts talking about a video he saw that caused him to "bawl like a little girl". When he first saw it, it was fun, but by the third time he watched it, he physically broke down wondering what it was that touched him so much about a random viral video. God seemed to whisper to him that, at that moment in the video, war didn't matter, divorce didn't matter and depression didn't matter because someone thought to put together a stupid dance and get as many people together to do it. It was people celebrating life through dance. Somebody cared enough to give these people and anyone watching a wonderful experience. Here is that video:



"There's a story in the Bible that absolutely fascinates me" says Todd. It's the story of Hosea, a prophet of God. This guy would tell his people anything God would instruct him to, whether good or bad news. Unfortunately, back then there was a lot of bad news. Hosea was minding his own business one day and God gives him a unique message, but its not a message that God wanted him to tell the people, rather it was a message God wanted Hosea to live out. It was a story about how Hosea is instructed to marry a prostitute named Gomer and how God wants him to unconditionally love this woman. It seemed like, for a while Gomer was going to turn her life around. They married and had children, but then she got bored. She decided to go back to her old ways. Time and time again, though, God told Hosea to pursue her and love her despite her betrayals. God wanted to demonstrate through Hosea how he loves his people despite their constant betrayal of Him as the one true God. God could through his hands up in the air and abandon us, but God isn't that way. He is the true meaning of love.

Hosea 2:13-16 - "I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the LORD.
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. 'In that day,' declares the LORD, 'you will call me 'my husband. You will no longer call me 'my master.'

"I don't know about being a master, but I do know about being a husband. I remember watching my wife come down the aisle and thinking I would do anything for her." A master will tell you what to do but a husband is an image of love for his bride. God being a "husband" to us was a strange concept to Todd when he first became a Christian because he, like many Christians, saw God as the boss and as the master. But a master is someone who can be disappointed and someone who can fire you.

The relationship God seems to be describing is a relationship like what Adam and Eve experienced with God. They walked in the cool of the day in the garden and they got to speak with God face to face. It was Paradise. Yet, even in Paradise, mankind betrayed God.

We saw the same thing with the Israelites. God showed up with Moses, miracles and might to pull His people out of Egypt. But not even months later, some of the Israelites were already building idols in defiance of God. All throughout the Bible, in fact, we watch people get pulled towards God, but then they push him away.

Today, we hear John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..." Blah, blah, blah. We think to ourselves, "Yeah, yeah, I know... He loves me. We got that. These days, we've been so desensitized to even the word "love". We hear "All you need is love", "Love lifts us up where we belong", "Love is a battle field". Love has become a catch phrase; a slogan. We take this huge concept of love and then say we love McDonald's and use the same word when we say we love our spouse!

But the truth of love can be found in the Bible, which is written in 3 languages. Hebrew, Aramaic and then in the New Testament, the primary language is Greek. What Greek does is it takes this huge concept of love and assigns three words to it. Each word is unique. "Eros" is the root word where we get "erotic". It is a deeply intense sexual love and a passionate love. "Phileo" is where we get the name "Philadelphia". It means brotherly love and deep friendship love. Then there is another love. But this kind of love not in the same league as the others. This love is "Agape". God is "agape". It's a selective, unconditional love with no strings attached. God so "agaped" us, He gave his son. This is the kind of love we don't understand so much. The only kind of love like this that we can relate to might be our parents, but what happens when they are mad or when they act harshly? We associate their reactions with what we think is what God would do and He often responds very differently.

We see the love of our parents and that is what we come to understand love to be. But then we experience new love in school and we quickly learn that this love is not the same as our parents. The "love" in the real world can be very painful and it can drive people away. No wonder, when we experience God's "love", we think we better be on our best behavior. We are afraid that He will hurt us like the world has. Because we know very well what conditional love is, it's then hard to relate to God's unconditional love.

Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

It's hard to figure this thing out. Let's look at this. Think of what a healthy heart looks like. It absorbs everything; the good, the bad and the ugly. It's like a sponge. But, then there's an unhealthy heart. God takes His awesome agape love and pours it into this heart, but years of rejection and hurt and pain lined this person's heart and it cannot easily receive God's love. It can be extremely difficult. But God continues to pour out His unconditional love, even to the heart that can't receive.

If we have a healthy heart, it is able to receive the abundant love of Christ. Unfortunately, most of us do not have healthy hearts. Our hearts are wounded, broken and in need of love. God takes His love and pours it in, but there is nothing to keep it there. It is a broken heart. So, tonight we have to focus on how we see God. How do we fill our hearts when they are broken?

I) We need to understand what God thinks about us.

The only way we can do this is we have to read His Word. Ephesians 3:17-19 says, "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

1 John 4:16-18, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Somehow, we need to get His meaning of love down in here; down in our hearts.

II). Let God love you.

There isn't anything that can take the place of God. One of Todd s favorite stories is the story about Samuel. His mother had begged God for a son and when God finally blessed her, she literally gave her son back to God and gave him to the faith. One night, years later, when Samuel drifted off to sleep, he heard a whisper. Samuel got up to ask one of the priests what they wanted, but the priest said he had not called. Samuel goes back to bed, but then hears another whisper, so he goes back to the priest and asks what he wants again. It strikes the priest that this might be God whispering to Samuel. So, the next time there is a whisper, Samuel stays still and says, "Yes, Lord. I am here." God then pours his heart out to Samuel and Samuel goes on to spend more and more time with God and ends up living an incredible life.

We need to let go of many of the things that distract us from God and we need to focus on Him so that He can give us His amazing love and we can receive it and live amazing lives in it.

III) Respond to God.

Todd gets to get up on stage at Fusion every Wednesday. He has led worship 10 years. There is nothing like it to be able to worship openly with God. But sometimes, even in worship, there is a struggle with people, sound, mikes and the stage. Without all that, worship is a response to God. There is nothing more encouraging than seeing people who are truly in a response to God in worship. We worship because it gives us a glimpse of Him and a faint idea of how much He loves us.

A few years ago at Fusion, they did a series that was called "How Far We've Come". It looked at the church as a whole and each ministry. It was about where they had been, where they were and where they were going. One of the coolest things about the series was they got to do a lot of special video projects. They drove around the country capturing memorials and memories of the country.

One day, they drove to Charlotte NC and they were looking at a library built by or for Billy Graham which was amazing. It was mind blowing. In his tour Todd was drawn to a tiny TV showing Billy preaching at this stadium. Billy Graham's signature was how he would boldly speak the Word of God. What he "hearted" was Evangelism. Now, as Todd was watching, Billy was a little more subdued and he was about to give his altar call. As he was speaking, he stops and looks up and says "He loves you". Todd's first thought, which surprised him, was "no He doesn't, not really. Why did he say that to himself? It was like he was betraying his beliefs and his career. Here he was on staff and still not believing that God could love him. It was like time stood still. His heart was waging this war inside. Did he really believe God loved him?



He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. These were the words of Billy as people in the stadium begin to HEAR it, believe it and come forward to receive it. Almost in response to his own doubt, Todd was broken inside.

The message is the same to us here. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you.

What Does It Mean to Be a Godly Friend?

Todd McVicker opens his message, "Doormat" by mentioning an event that was held at Victory World Church called, "Your Final Destination". It is a full fledged production about the way people in the world struggle with problems, both as Christians and nonchristians. In the play, some of the characters die and you see interpretations of their after-life based on the life they lived here.

This play got Todd thinking about how we all live.  Generally, we feel pretty good about our lives and we think that we can pretty much handle things, but God wants so much more for us.  He offers an abundance in heaven and our current world. He invites us to live and walk with Him in joy.  But often times, after we've become Christians and some time passes, the "Honeymoon" with Christ is over.  We then start to think that we are living a flat-line faith walk.

In the "Song of Solomon", which is a collection of about eight chapters, it talks about a love story with King Solomon and a poor servant girl. In this story, a relationship develops between the two and you begin to see the intricacies and struggles of this simple relationship. Yet this story is a metaphor of God and our relationship with Him.  Studying the story in these passages, we get a glimpse of God's heart.

In the first chapter, the girl says, "I know that I am dark, but I am lovely", meaning that she knows that, compared to a king, she is not much to look at. Yet she knows that she is beautiful in Solomon's eyes. Then she asks where he plans to lead his flock (his people). Knowing the potential that he sees in her, she asks him why she cannot be in his flock. The king responds by telling her that she can.  She just needs to "follow the path of (his) people." This may well be symbolic of the church today in that, if we want to pursue a relationship with God, He tells us to follow His people (sometimes that's the church).

Each night, when Todd and his wife are putting their daughter to bed, they read a bible story to her.  Recently, they were reading about how Jesus was going into a town and ten lepers came up to Him. They asked to be healed and Jesus tells them to go and be seen by a priest, which they do. The lepers are then healed. A while later, one of the lepers comes back to thank Jesus. Christ responds to the him by saying he will be blessed because he was the only leper to thank Him for changing their lives!  Showing gratefulness and humility is only one part of any relationship, but they are particularly applicable in how we see our role the local church.


In another instance, Todd's family was talking about for what they were thankful to God. Various things were brought up about life, such as trials, relatives and children.  But the conclusion Todd drew while mulling over this question was that the thing he was most thankful for was the church. Todd was saved in church. He met his wife in church.  He was married in church.  He was given a platform to minister in the church and his heart has been molded to pursue God in the church.

The servant girl in the story of Solomon was invited into the king's palace.  It was a place of promise and a place of security.  In the chapter that follows, love abounds. There is talk about flowers, fields, apple trees, doves and gazelles. It's the familiar communication we experience when we fall in love.

But, like in most relationships, a chapter three of this story comes.  It starts with the servant girl, who has wondered back out of the palace and has lost a sense of where she is.  She then begins yearning for her "missing" lover, roaming the streets in vain. So, what happened here?  This woman suddenly realizes she's not connected to her lover. Sometimes we wake up and realize we aren't really connected anymore to our Lord. We start heading right back to where we came from, usually out of fear or frustration. But, it's not long before we realize we're not going to find Him in our old way of living. The watchmen stop the woman in the street and she asks if they have seen her lover. The watchmen, symbolic of the church, are the protectors in the streets and they guide her back to the palace.  A little while later, in chapter four, the woman finds the king and won't let him go.

A few years ago, Todd had a friend that came from drugs, DUIs, fights and partying. He was a "real firecracker". Somewhere along the line, he bumped into a pastor and accepted Christ. Immediately, he was immersed in the church. He was constantly at the services and opportunities to serve. But there came a time when he decided to go back to his life. Somehow, he couldn't free himself from his past. His Christian friends rallied around him and tried to encourage him to stay connected. But one day, he left his christian roommates and went to live in his mom's house, which really wasn't a good situation. So, Todd and his friends decided to go after their friend. Finally, they found him (drunk). They surrounded him and told him that he was their friend and they reminded him that he wasn't going to find what he was looking for in the old life. After a while, he sobered, straightened up and he returned with them.



Back to Song of Solomon, the king responds to the girl returning and starts talking about her beauty. He loves her and gladly accepts her back. Reaffirming her, he tells her that she has ravished his heart and he refers to her as his "treasure" and his "bride". Echoed later in the bible, we read, "Neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation can separate you from the love of God." So, this is the happy ending, right?

Wrong. In chapter 5, the girl awakens to the knocking at the door by her king, who asks her to open up the door and her heart to him.  He has come and is now pursuing her. She lives in the palace, but she is not mentally available to him and he senses this. God has come so far and gone through so much, in the way of Jesus, to be with us. In hearing the knocking at the door, her heart leaps and she makes her way. But when she finally unlocks the door and opens it, he's not there. So again, she goes out and, as before, is searching to find him. This time, though, instead of guiding her back to the palace, the frustrated watchmen strike her and wound her!  She doesn't have the same protective experience with them as before.

Sometimes the church can be this way; a wounding influence. A few years ago, there was a service at Victory Church and the paster gave an invitation for people to come down front and accept Christ. Todd went down to the front to help with counseling. He ran into a guy who was shaken up by his experience because he was once a Christian who had a great relationship with Christ in a church. But he fell into a sexual relationship with a girl and got her pregnant. Wanting to be back with God, he went back to the church to let them know that he felt terrible, but wanted just to be back where he had been before. "I felt like they beat me." It devastated him and drove him away from the church and God. Todd grabbed him and hugged him saying how sorry he was that this had happened. Hearing the pain that the church caused was painful to hear.

Instead of being the voice of love and the voice of Jesus, sometimes we run into people who say, "Why can't you just stop living like that?", "Why can't you just clean up your mouth?" or "Why can't you just read your Bible?" For someone who doesn't realize our faith in Christ is about the heart, these are valid questions. But for someone who is on the receiving end, these questions can be like daggers.

Todd has lived on both sides of the aisle spiritually. He remembers how many times he let his friends down and how many times he lied to people, even working in the church. He himself had an inappropriate relationship with a woman there. It broke him and the truth about him eventually came into the light. While he was sitting in a Walmart parking lot, his roommate calls him and tells him to "just come home". Todd walks in, his roommate greets him and they turn in for the night. Its during a 4 hour conversation the next day that, right in the middle of his mess, his roommate says, "a lot of people keep asking me why I keep putting up with this and with your lies and with the hopelessness that you will never change." But then he tells Todd he is willing to give Todd his all. He wasn't going to give up on his friend, not matter how long it took. This has forever impacted Todd and it drives him now to put himself in the same path of others who are as tough on him as he was on his roommate.


"I am the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by me." Jesus says that He is going to prepare a place for us. If Jesus is the way, in essence the door to heaven, then maybe we are called to be the doormats. Maybe its not such a bad thing to be a bridge to the new life. Maybe it's not so bad to "be walked on" for the greater good. The whole reason we are called to be a church is to help provide for others a way. We are called to connect others with Christ. Are we willing to be doormats?

When we walk away from God, He isn't angry. He just wants us back. In chapter 6, the woman finally reconnects with her lover and everything goes back to flowers, doves and apple trees. "I am his beloved and He is mine."  I belong to God and He loves me. For those who are searching again, are you ready to come home?  God says that when we draw close to Him, He draws close to us.

Why is Prayer So Boring?

In the second part of Fusion's series, "The Furnace", Todd McVicker opens by saying that if someone told him he'd be giving a message about prayer a few years ago, he would have said, "You have lost your mind." Todd is most active in the music ministry and in praise/worship through music, but he said the truth is he doesn't consider himself a "prayer guy". But God and Todd have been on a journey over the last few years learning about prayer.

"About 10 years ago, I got saved...but didn't know anything about prayer...about a year into my relationship with God, Victory (Church) was doing a 40 day fast and prayer....this was really and opportunity for me to grow...and maybe even be a prayer guy." He went to Home Depot and bought some durable letters to label his "Prayer Closet". That was going to be his place during the fast where he would pray for an hour a day. There was a big HooHa about starting the 40 days at the church and Todd was psyched. He fasted on day 1, came home and sat in the silence of a small closet to pray for an hour. "I prayed for everything." He was crying out and praying for friends, work, specific requests and anything that came to his mind. He worshipped a little and wore himself out filling the space of prayer. But when he came out of the closet, he looked at the clock and it said he'd only been praying for 15 minutes. "15 minutes!! Are you stinking kidding me?", remembers Todd, "That's all I had! I didn't have anything else..." So he went back into the closet determined to honor his commitment to pray for an hour a day. He went back into the closet, went back over many of the prayers he had offered up "and I think I even prayed about China". But when he came back out of the closet, it had only been anther 15 minutes. "That was my cycle, 15 minutes". So he went back in and forced himself to endure the last 30 minutes. This was very discouraging for Todd because when you hear people talk about prayer, "they don't say it's boring" or that it's not that fun.

Todd was determined to continue praying for days afterwards. Predictably though, as the days went by, he found himself praying less and less and then making excuses not to prayer at all. But during the 40 day fast, he said the "eating thing was going good". As a matter of fact, towards the end of his fast, he would literally lick Doritos and throw them into the trash can. "Hey, it counts....it turns into Dorito juice or something." So, from that experience, Todd decided he was just going to leave the prayer element up to the prayer people. There were other times when he would recommit, but he would have the same results which only left him feeling guilty.

"Why is it that this is so boring? Why is it such a bore and why do I have to psyche myself out, like a football player to pray? Then why doesn't it last so long? If this is our communication line with God...why is it set up this way?" Thinking about this, he mused that maybe WE have lost it somewhere. There is literally a devil in our world and maybe he has twisted the truth to convince us that God may not be all for us. Maybe somehow, Satan has perverted our prayer time.

"Let me say it this way, all the single ladies (singing to the song)...Let's say you have a friend who you trust...she tells you she has this guy you need to meet...he has money...he's nice to people...he's not shalllow...he treats people with respect...he's the man. Once she talks about him everyone else nods their heads and say 'yes'. So, you say 'When can I meet him?'...But your friend says, 'Oh, no, no, no....here's the catch; You don't actually get to meet him first. You have to sign up for the relationship and then you get to meet him at some point...But you trust your girlfriend...so you enter into the relationship...Like any new thing...it's fun...it's new.. you get the goosebumps...you get to read about him a little bit...you get a letter from him every now and then... then you get his number and call to leave a message... 'Good to talk to you...I've heard a lot about you...my rent's a little short this month. Could you hook me up?' But you never get to talk to him, see him, share with him or meet his parents!" Todd steps back from his story and asks the single ladies how long this would last. Obviously, it wouldn't last long at all!

But isn't this what we do with God? The "tinglies" are cool. The reading about Him is nice. We send messages up to Him. Other people have met Him, but we never have and we say, "I don't know Him!" Todd reflects on this by reading from Psalms. "Psalms is like this raw, uncensored expression." Psalms 16:11 says, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand." That, to Todd, is what prayer is. In His presence, we feel joy. Right next to Him are eternal pleasures. That is not forcing ourselves to pray.

In the movie "City of Angels", the plot is summed up by saying there is this angel and this girl. In Los Angeles, it describes how angels relate to people. There is one scene where a store is being robbed and these invisible angels come in and put their hands of comfort on everyone involved. "It's a cool scene." The main character (an angel) sort of doesn't get it. He's sent to this operating room where he is supposed to take the patient. But the surgeon, a woman, looks seemingly directly at the angel while pleading for the man's life. Although he does takes the patient to Heaven, he is moved by the woman who looked at him and asks his superior about it, but he is assured she can't see him "unless he wants her to". So, the angel later goes back to observe the doctor and watches as she is weeping on the stairs over the loss. Trying to comfort her, he shows himself to her and a relationship develops. Anther great scene is when this woman is describing how a pear tastes to t0 the angel, who himself cannot taste. At that moment though, the angel realizes that he will never truly understand this woman he is falling in love with unless he experiences what she is experiencing. So, although he is closer to heaven and hears the music of high places, he decides to give up his life as an angel to become human. Part of this process is he must fall from a high place, which turns out to be the top of a skyscraper. Standing at the top of the building, he stops and ponders, reflecting on his life as an angel. He thinks about watching the sunset and hearing the music in his head every morning. Slowly, he leans and falls. It takes a long time for him to land as all these memories of life as an angel race through his mind. Finally he hits and is knocked out. When he comes to, one of the first things he experiences is blood on his lips which causes him to be extremely excited. Todd enthusiastically says, "Guys, that was Jesus!!"


Jesus had access and the eperiences of heaven and of being in the Highest place, but He chose to put on skin to come here to earth to experience with us and to die for us. So, if he knows what we feel and knows our hurts, why is it still so hard to talk with someone who was with us and knows us?

Todd draws from the wisdom of the Bible by studying how these people prayed. First, there was Adam and Eve who "walked in the garden with God". Then, there was Enoch, who walked so much God took finally took him. Noah communicated with God by building a boat. Jacob wrestled with God. Joseph talked to God in his dreams. Moses saw God through a burning bush and then saw God in the miracles of Egypt. Moses also experienced God through "mountain climbing". Deborah experienced God through judging. Sampson experienced God through "kicking butt with jawbones". Samuel felt God through listening. David played music and wrote poetry. Regarding poetry, Todd asks, "how many times do you have to make yourself sit down to poetry if you are a poet? It comes naturally doesn't it?" Solomon studied and Job as well as Hosea suffered. Jonah was "fish food". The disciples actually got to hang around Jesus. These are our examples of relationships with God. So, if these characters of the Bible could experience these things with God, why can't we? Why can't we worship Him by interacting with His creation? Does it make any sense that he would give us sight, sound and touch only to have us worship Him in our own way by our mouths in a dark closet?

In ancient times, the Temple WAS the only place the people could go to experience God. Deep inside the Temple was the Ark of the Covenant and it was known that God was present here in what was called the "Holy of Holies". Separating the "Holy of Holies" from the other areas of the temple was a curtain that we know was 18 inches thick. Once a year, only one man was permitted to go into this part of the temple to make an offering before God. Can you imagine being that one guy? All the other people could only watch from a distance and wish that they too could have the experience.

Now, the good news is that Jesus came. In Matthew 27:50, in the agonizing moments before He was to become the Resurrected King, the curtain to the temple was torn in two. That curtain represented a distance from God, but Jesus came so that we could go into the presence before God. So, what if this new and priveleged experience could become exciting? What if there was something that could draw us in? What if there was a cross we could go to and feel? What if we could touch the wood and feel the nails? Then, what if there was piece of paper and a pen that would allow us write and then nail it to the cross? What if there was an easel that we could paint on the picture in our minds when we think of Him? Could that be a form of prayer? What if there was a table with incense that you could go to (like it tells us there is in Revelation) and it is a fragrance to God? What if we could light that incense and offer it to God before Him while smelling what he considers fragrant? What if there was music that we could really focus on and pray to Him. What if God could speak to us through the chords and the melodies? What if there was a wall with markers and we could write out on the wall right from our hearts our prayers and thoughts for him? What if there was a map where we could see the people we are praying for and what they are experiencing? Could that be prayer? What if there was a wailing wall where we could take the pictures of others who need Christ and post it for them? What if we could touch, feel, see, hear, give or write in prayer?

A couple of years ago, Todd's group started a place called the "Furnace" at Victory World Church. They did it so that they could just make our access to heaven just a little thinner. A few years ago, Todd and his wife went to Orlando to visit the church a friend of theirs started. One of the big things this church wanted was a place like the Furnace; a place just to go and dedicate time to God. Todd says his wife signed them up for 2 hours! His thoughts, at the time, were, "What the heck are going to do for 2 hours?!??" Mentally, Todd went right back to his dark, boring closet. He headed there with anticipated dread. But within minutes, Todd was weeping uncontrollably. "It felt like home." He felt amazing. In what seemed like 15 minutes, 2 hours had passed!! He spent the time painting, lighting incense, writing, listening to music and it changed Todd's life. The moment he and his wife got home, he began setting up a place in his home where he and his wife could go and truly experience God. Thank you, Todd, this was a very moving message....