I am sitting here drinking coffee in the Bahney House Café. My son and I meet here every Monday morning at 6:00 AM for coffee. (Pic Attached) When I walked into this building for the first time in the summer of 2010, it was a hotel that had been closed down by the town officials due to its condition. It housed 30 rooms, a few working bathrooms, and two bars, one of which was still functioning up until the day the officials closed the building. In fact the contractor who built my own house had the unfortunate tragedy of losing his wife due to a head on collision with a drunk driver who had left this establishment. She was on her way to work. The current café was a dingy, sparsely lite bar room with some of the windows boarded over. The police said usually half of their calls came from this building.
Enter Charlie Kline and the Fireplace! For a number of years the church had been praying that the Lord would clean up this place in town. It is one thing to pray, it is another thing to get involved in being an answer to the very prayers you are praying. Long story short, the church purchased the property that fall and began the ardent process of transformation. Through years of hard work, financial challenges, and personal sacrifices by Charlie and many others , this building has been truly transformed into a beautiful hotel, laundromat, and café. It has recently received the Community Service Award by the Lebanon County Builders Association.
This all took place because Charlie and The Fireplace Christian Fellowship took personal responsibility to bring about change. They were not just content to pray about something, they got involved personally and opened themselves up to be used by the Lord. So when the Lord said act, they were willing to respond. What are you praying would change? Maybe the Lord wants you to do more than just pray. Sometimes we are part of the answer to the very thing we have been praying for. Don’t be afraid to get involved personally. While prayer is certainly a spiritual thing, many times it requires a natural response to bring it into reality. So by all means pray and pray for transformation, but don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and get some skin in the game. The reward is life changing.
D.O.V.E.