Barry's Bloghttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/en-US2010-08-01T07:55:56ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.5 (http://www.squarespace.com/)The Glorious Freedom Of The Children Of Godhttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/7/30/the-glorious-freedom-of-the-children-of-god.htmlBarry2010-07-30T12:58:31Z

In this 7 minute blog, Barry shares his experience when he encountered wild animals at a zoo and how God spoke to him about His desire to see His kids free. Below is the photo of the lion that triggered the download of revelation that he received.

Photos by Barry Adams ©2010
If you would like to order a print of these photos, click here.

]]>My Dad Is The Best Dad In The Universe!http://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/7/26/my-dad-is-the-best-dad-in-the-universe.htmlBarry2010-07-26T19:52:47ZYesterday I was pleased to release our newest inspirational video entitled "My Dad Is The Best Dad In The Universe!". When children are little, they are happy to boast about their dads... how big they are... how strong they are... I remember my kids boasted about me that way when they were small. I absolutely loved their enthusiasm and confidence in their father. This is my best attempt to boast in the same way about my heavenly Dad.

Here's the story behind this video...

A couple of years ago, I sketched out a cartoon called "Who Is The Best Dad Ever?" that told the story of 5 kids having a conversation in front of their school on 'Bring Your Dad To School Day'. All of the other kids were walking into the front door with their dads while these children were talking about how they missed their fathers. Some didn't see their dads because of divorce, one because the father had passed away.

The star of this comic story is a little boy named Billy. He keeps on going on and on about how his dad is with him all the time. The rest of the kids get frustrated with Billy because they know that he lives in a foster home down the street and never knew his birth father. Billy goes on to share how he is talking about his heavenly Dad not his birth father.

(If you want to read the entire finished comic strip illustrated by my friend Ron Wheeler, you can find it at www.fathersloveletter.com/kids.)

On Father's Day this year, I felt inspired to write up my own "My Dad Is The Best Dad In The Universe" presentation and share it with my home church family. This 4 page disortation on the greatness of my heavenly Father was inspired by over 150 Bible passages that have been very special to me over the years.

The next week I shared this same presentation at a leaders' school that I was teaching. When the students all requests a recorded version of my presentation, I thought that it might be a good idea to accompany it with video so people could actually see the Bible passage references in real time during the narration.

So I recorded the narration, added some really cool nature video footage and one of my favorite audio soundtracks and produced a 12 minute video that describes my own personal description about my heavenly Dad. While it is a summation of many of my own feelings, hopefully it might paint a picture for you of the greatness of our heavenly Dad!

If you want to watch the video, click here.

]]>Announcing Live Video Webcastinghttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/5/4/announcing-live-video-webcasting.htmlBarry2010-05-04T16:50:46Z

]]>Website Improvements On Fatherheart.tvhttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/4/16/website-improvements-on-fatherhearttv.htmlBarry2010-04-16T21:17:08Z

]]>Introducing A New Video Playerhttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/4/12/introducing-a-new-video-player.htmlBarry2010-04-12T20:38:29ZOver the past few months, we have heard feedback that some of our visitors have had some difficulty watching videos in their entirety using our own in-house Flash video player. Because of their file size (some of them are over 200 meg!) sometimes they have frozen in the middle of playing.

Since it is our intention that you are able to watch these videos can actually be watched without interruption, these technical difficulties have proved a little frustrating to us. So we went on a little journey to find a new video player that will hopefully do the job!

We are pleased to report that we think we have found the right solution! Starting this week, we are beginning the process of converting most of our video files over to the hosting service created by Vimeo.com We have already converted all of the videos in our "Inspirational Videos" category and we will start the conversion in our "Teaching Videos" category starting next week.

For all of those who have experience some technical difficulties in the past few months... a big thank you for your patience and understanding while we get some of these bugs worked out! Within a couple of weeks, we should have all of the necessary videos converted to make your viewing experience the best it can be!

Sincerely,
Barry Adams

]]>Living With A Big Visionhttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/3/29/living-with-a-big-vision.htmlBarry2010-03-29T17:43:21ZAlmost 7 years ago, I was struggling with the enormity of the vision that I believed God had given me to see the Father's Love Letter delivered in many languages to people all around the world. After all, it was just me and my wife working from the basement of our home trying to manage the open doors that were coming like one wave after another crashing on a beach.

I can remember one particular morning when I was feeling absolutely overwhelmed with the bigness of the vision. I had asked Papa God to help me to simply run the race He marked out for me (Hebrews 12:1-2). The huge scope of things had exhausted me so much that I didn't feel like I had the energy to carry on. I had asked Papa, "Could you help me to just run my race today?". At that moment, I couldn't even fathom looking a month or a year down the road, but I had the faith to ask God for strength to manage the vision for that particular day.

I was attending a 'Father Loves You' conference at the time, so afterwards, I joined the meeting in progress, all the while trying to keep a very low profile so that I could get through the conference under the radar. It was then that I was spotted in the crowd by the MC of the meeting, who asked me to come forward and give an update on our ministry.

I don't even remember what I shared, but afterwards, a ministry friend of mine was asked to pray for me. He didn't know what I was struggling with before I came into the meeting. He didn't know that I was questioning God on the bigness of my vision or the fact that I had doubts in my heart if I could even manage what I was seeing.

He simply said these words to me... "Barry, God says that He is in your dreams, but He wants you to dream BIGGER!" Needless to say, his words of encouragement served only to further short circuit my own understanding of the vision that I had felt God entrusted to me. Dream bigger? I can't even manage the dream that I have right now!

In the past 7 years, Papa has lovingly taught me that His ways are not my ways and He is a whole lot bigger than I am. I have heard it said before, if you have a vision that is way too big for you to accomplish, it is probably God! One of my favorite verses these days comes from Proverbs 3:5-6...

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. NIV

When I get into trouble, it is usually because I am trying to lean to my own understanding rather than simply trusting God and obeying what He says. I am usually trying to accomplish things in my own strength these times too. Jesus told us in Matthew 11 that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I am learning more and more how to live a life yoked to Jesus so that I might find rest unto my soul even in times of busyness.

One thing that I am also learning is that Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19-20). Nothing more, nothing less. He told His disciples that He could do nothing apart from His Father. Jesus modelled a childlike dependence that we are called to live as well. In John 15:5, Jesus tells us that apart from Him, we can do nothing either.

I am learning that childlike dependence on the Triune God is the only way for me to be able to dream impossible dreams and to fulfill a destiny that is way bigger than what my own puny understanding can comprehend. If we just keep our eyes focused on Jesus and only do what we see Him doing, we may be really surprised at what He does through us!

I am still living with a 'God-sized' vision in my heart these days and it is not one that I can accomplish in my own strength. Hopefully I have learned some lessons along the way, though I am sure that there are many more lessons that I will need to learn in this great adventure called life. In the meantime, it is my prayer that I will be faithful to walk in obedience one step at a time, just a little boy with a really, BIG Dad!

You may ask me what I am seeing with the eyes of my heart these days? Well, it seems like it is pretty big stuff to me. I envision a day when myself (and many others) will be able to speak in multiple countries or even multiple continents on the same day using the Internet. I see being able to reach small groups of only a handful of people in remote areas of the world with face to face weekly Bible studies. I see the presence of the Lord travelling through the Internet highways through live Skype video meetings in a way that will tangibly impact people with a greater revelation of His love. I see much more, but for time sake, I will leave the rest of what I see for a later time.

You may ask me how with all this be accomplished and I would have to answer, I don't know. All I know is that I believe that God wants to use every resource possible to ambush people with His amazing love. I have already seen Him do it once using a simple sermon illustration called Father's Love Letter and I believe He is going to do it again. I am not sure what my role will be in a greater outpouring of His love through the Internet, but it is my prayer that both you and I will be obedient to simply do what we see our Daddy doing in the coming days!

In Father's love,
Barry Adams

]]>Love Will Find Youhttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/2/24/love-will-find-you.htmlBarry2010-02-24T14:59:22ZOver the years that I have been sharing the revelation of Father's love, I have heard from many people who desperately wanted to know God's love but felt frustrated at their attempts.

No matter how hard they seem to try, the love they are looking for only seems to elude them. I can really understand their frustrations as I believe many of us have struggled in this area at one time or another.

I know from my own personal experience that i typically don't find love, but love finds me. The Bible says in 1 John 4, that 'we love, because he first loved us'. Love is not something that we initiate, but is something that we receive. Not because we earned it or deserved it, but just because the One Who is love, has chosen the human race to be objects of His affection.

Love usually finds me at my weakest, darkest place. Love picks me up and dusts me off when I have tripped and fallen for the thousandth time. It is in these times that my understanding of what love is, is short-circuited.

While we were sinners, Jesus laid down His life for us. It wasn't like we were looking for Him or anything. He was looking for us. David said in Psalm 139 that there was no place he could go to hide from God's presence.

There is no place that we can go either! No matter how distant you feel from the love of God, love will always find you!

]]>Father Loves Norwayhttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/2/13/father-loves-norway.htmlBarry2010-02-13T08:47:24ZI write this blog as we are winding down the Fatherheart School in Tonsberg, Norway. I am always amazed to see how our God and Father transforms people lives in such a short period of time! He is a good Father and He loves to reveal His amazing love to His kids.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled! (Matthew 5:6) It is always with a grateful heart for me to be part of schools and conferences that help people find their way home to love.

To see people come to a deeper revelation of our Father's love and see many of the things that hinders consumed by the fire of His love is truly remarkable.

It is with a full heart that I begin to turn my heart towards home. But before I leave, I want to declare one more time... Father loves Norway!

]]>To Norway With Lovehttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/2/5/to-norway-with-love.htmlBarry2010-02-05T20:16:35ZI am sitting at the gate at the Toronto Airport as I am waiting to board the plane that will take me on my first international trip in 3.5 years.

I am very excited to see some old friends in Norway and the many new friends that I will meet over the next 11 days as I help to teach a Catch The Fire/Fatherheart School.

I used to travel quite a bit until I felt the Lord's prompting to slow down and stop traveling internationally almost 4 years ago. While I never really understod the big picture, I did know that I had "bit off a bit more than I could chew" (a Canadian expression), trying to manage the many demands of the Father's Love Letter ministry as well as itinerant travel.

During this time of learning "to be still and know that He is God" (psalm 46:10), I have realized something quite amazing on a deeper level about my Heavenly Father... He doesn't love me for what I DO for Him, He loves me just because He loves me!

While i have known that for many years, it seems that the 'knowing' of this has found a deeper place in my heart than ever before. For someone who has equated love and acceptance to performance all my life, this absolutely blows my mind!

It seems like it has taken a major 're-boot' of my own internal system so that i could slow down long enough for me to come to this very simple, yet profound place in life. I am loved beyond imagination ...just because He loves me! And He not only loves me, He is loving me right now!

While sons will model servanthood like no servant ever could, I am becoming more convinced that Jesus didn't die for me to make me a good worker in His Kingdom. He exchanged His life for my life so that He could be the first born among many brothers and sisters! (Romans 8:29)

So i am off to Norway to share what I have been learning these past 3.5 years... I am loved beyond imagination by a Father who gave the most precious gift He could ever give, just to see me live in His house as a son... Not as a servant. ...just because He loves me!

I will hopefully update this blog (directly from my iPhone) to share some of the things that I experience on this adventure. Please pray for the dear folks in Norway, that God would give them the power to grasp the vastness of His immeasurable love ...not because they do anything to deserve it! (Ephesians 3:14-21)

In Father's love,
Barry Adams

]]>Follow The Way Of Lovehttp://www.fatherheart.tv/blog/2010/1/27/follow-the-way-of-love.htmlBarry2010-01-27T13:28:37ZIn 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul starts the chapter by saying "Follow the way of love..." (NIV). The NLT translation says it this way... "Let love be your highest goal".

While this exhortation from Paul seems to be something we would all agree with at face value, I don't think love is always our primary focus in life. There seems to be so many things that compete for our attention in this world that we live in. Thousands of media messages infiltrate our senses daily, pressures of work, family, bills, etc., etc. Even in the context of the life of Christian service, many things can get in the way of living a life of love. Respected author, Henri Nouwen once said "Nothing conflicts with the love of Christ like service to Christ".

I can remember one time I was getting ready to speak at a church and the well-meaning pastor asked me a question that jarred me... "I heard all of the 'Fatherheart' speakers before, what else do you have to share?" I was a little taken aback by his question, though I am sure he was sincere. I am not completely certain of how I responded, but in my heart I was screaming... there is nothing else!!!!

The love of God is the very foundation of life itself. 1 John 4:16 says that God is love, whoever lives in love, lives in God and God in him. When Jesus responded to the question of what was the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:34-40 that God required, He simply said Love God and love others as you love yourself  and everything else will sort itself out in life (my paraphrase).

The very nature of love is humble, kind and not self-seeking (1 Cor. 13:4-8), so it doesn't shout in the streets to get attention or forcefully impose itself on anyone or anything. Love is often overlooked as we are 'wowed' by more external, exciting things. Yet love continues to wait, until we have exhausted every other option in life.

When we come to our senses and realize that love is the only thing that really matters, then we can point our heart towards home and run into the welcoming embrace of love. A father's love, a mother's love, a brother's love, a bridegroom's love, a friend's love... Every love that we need is found in one source. The Triune God - Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. (1 Cor. 14:1 The Message)

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