June 16th, 2025
The Countdown is on.
One Month from TODAY!
Join us for a special Open House as we celebrate 25 years of transformed lives through The Ultimate Journey!
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2025
Time: 2:00–5:00 p.m.
Special Appreciation Ceremony at 3:00 p.m.
Location: Christ-Life Center
1900 NW 86th St., Clive, IA 50325
Mark your calendar and make plans to join us—we can’t wait to see you there!
PS. In honor of the lives God has transformed over the past 25 years through The Ultimate Journey and to help transform even more lives over the next 25 years, consider setting up a monthly donation for the next year.
May 8th, 2025
 July 1, 2025, will be the 25th anniversary of the official birthing of Christ-Life Ministries. Since then, God has used The Ultimate Journey to bring emotional healing and life transformation to thousands of people.
Wow! Where did the time go? Look at all God has done! We sit in amazement at what God has made possible IN and THROUGH us… all of us… including YOU! We are excited to celebrate with you the life-change that has taken place through The Ultimate Journey over these past 25 years.
“IT’S A GOOD START…”
Pierre was 92 when he came to live with us. Soon after, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We will never forget the look on his face when he said, “Ten years, it’s a good start!” He and Alice had been married for 67 years. While he was excited to share this monumental milestone with us, he knew there were a lot more challenges, joy, and blessings yet to come. Now married for over 43 years, we have a better idea of what he meant by “It’s a good start.”
As we look back on 25 years of God transforming lives through The Ultimate Journey – “It’s a good start!”
Please join us at our open house on July 13, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Christ-Life Center, 1900 NW 86th St. Clive, IA 50325.
Hope to see you there! Mark your calendars now!
Living the Journey with Christ!
Jim & Kathie Hobson
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December 11th, 2024
Last year, we were praying God would send some “big bucks” our way when the big buck in this picture showed up at our building. It wasn’t quite what we had in mind, but it encouraged our faith and brought us a lot of joy; I also think God got a good laugh out of it.
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Unfortunately, Mr. Big Buck hasn’t shown up at our building yet this year (still hoping), but maybe you could send a few of your bucks our way. It would sure encourage our faith and put another smile on our faces.
Financially, this is one of the most important times of our year. Over 80 percent of our funding comes from donors like you with almost half of that typically coming during the month of December. That means we could really use your help. In all sincerity, it is God working THROUGH the generosity of people like you that allows us to help people at their point of need experience emotional healing and life transformation so they can live out their God-given purpose.
Gratefully on this journey WITH you as, together, WE serve Him,
Jim Hobson
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December 3rd, 2024
We just got this amazing testimonial and we had to share how God is using The Ultimate Journey to change lives like Diana’s. It’s awesome! Read her own words below:
“I love that this program is not “easy”, and it doesn’t let denial or fear slide. You rip the mask off distractions, platitudes, religion, the hiss of the serpent. You fight for us until we can fight for ourselves. I can barely wrap my brain around it. A LOT of what I lived through was abuse and I didn’t even realize it! When the facilitators pointed it out, I was flabbergasted. I thought that was a stretch. Painful, yes, but I SO didn’t want to be a whiney victim, I thought everyone dealt with this crap.
After writing my goodbye/cut the cord letters,…
…it finally hit, and I FELT the outrage of so many betrayals. How could I think any of that treatment was normal, healthy, OK?!? I guess it was so nonstop and repeated so often by different faces, it was too painful to examine as a whole. My doctor diagnosed me with PTSD just today!
The Ultimate Journey required me to stop looking at my life through a million isolated incidents one at a time and made me sit down and relive (10 year) chunks in a 24-hour period. It was BRUTAL but helped me connect the dots and see the whole picture.
You have challenged me to open my Pandora’s Box and remove every single curse, abuse, trauma, evil lie and motive; examine it, call it for what it is, remember what it felt like, allow myself to revisit that pain on a deeper level, bury it in the dirt beneath the cross and strip it of its power to scream in my tortured soul ONE MORE DAY!
God has stripped the onion down to the core this time and there is PEACE knowing that He is making me into a masterpiece. There’s peace in knowing that I’m still who He created me to be…JOY. I’ve stopped asking Him to make me who He created me to be because at week three, He showed me I already was; not finished or arrived but right where He wants me TODAY.
I said, coming into this class, that I was sick and tired of circling the drain of shame and regret. I flat out didn’t get it. I’ve been a Christian since I was seven, and I have submitted and surrendered and learned to trust Christ, love Him as my first love, dug deep and hit the ground running for most of my 72 years. Scripture was my life preserver that kept my head above water and my faith in its unchanging, eternal truth and changed me from a victim to a warrior. I forgave everyone through blood, sweat and tears many times over and continued to take every thought captive every time I thought of any of my abusers. But it wasn’t enough! I thought I did all that was required, but I realized, finally, that I never forgave myself. I was swallowing lies fed to me since conception and had only replaced SOME of what my father taught me with what my Heavenly Father says.
But the same scriptures that gave me hope at age 10 have circled back as the truths He wanted me to remember. Suddenly, they take on a whole new meaning. I DO KNOW the Truth (not just with my head, but in my heart like when I was 10), and the Truth HAS set me FREE!
I spent a lifetime apologizing to the wrong people, feeling sorry for the wrong people, striving to earn the love and approval of the wrong people. I compromised who My Father created me to BE by surrounding myself with the wrong people and keeping busy with Kingdom Business. Fortunately, God knows our hearts and although nothing in Heaven or Hell nor Past or Present could separate me from the joy of knowing that I’m HIS and He promised to never leave me. Though I have tested Him often and He has proved FAITHFUL and TRUE, I could never apologize to, feel sorry for, or forgive myself! I’m DONE wasting my potential by trying to make up for the past. It cannot be changed.
How is it that the SIMPLEST concepts are often the most PROFOUND? Not easy, but life changing, transformational and profound! I am so in love with this program that “I shared the results with a friend of mine and she signed up that very minute.”
Wow, Diana’s story speaks for itself. We want everyone to be able to find the same freedom that Diana experienced. Make a donation today, so we can continue to grow and help more people find healing and life transformation. You can donate by clicking HERE.
We are so grateful for you!
Jim Hobson
December 2nd, 2024
God tells us to be thankful, to practice gratitude, and to remember all He has done for us. We are thankful God has had your “life journey” join us on The Ultimate Journey.
This Giving Tuesday, we are particularly grateful that many of you have not only journeyed with us through The Ultimate Journey phases, you have stayed connected with us helping to make The Ultimate Journey available for others. Thank you! It is God working THROUGH the generosity of friends and partners like you that allows us to help people at their point of need experience emotional healing and life transformation so they can live out their God-given purpose.
We are currently running our year-end fundraising campaign and we could really use your help. This is one of the most important times of the year for you to give because we are closing out 2024 and preparing for the exciting ministry God has in store for 2025.
Please, will you make a generous, much-needed donation right now?
When you do, you’ll play a part in transforming lives like Jessica’s. Listen to what God has done in her life through The Ultimate Journey and through people like you:
“I have never felt such freedom! I learned so much about where my ways of being came from, why I’m wired the way I am, and how to detect the lies of the enemy. It has opened up so much communication and understanding between myself and my husband. We are able to be better spouses for each other. We are able to be better parents.”
Jessica’s story is an example of not only how The Ultimate Journey is setting people free, it is impacting their relationships with others with rippling affects for generations.
Please make a generous donation today. Your tax-deductible gift will help others at their point of need experience emotional healing and life transformation so they, too, can live out their God-given purpose.
Gratefully on this journey WITH you as, together, WE serve Him,
Jim Hobson
November 25th, 2024
This Thanksgiving, we want you to know we are thankful for you! By allowing God to work IN you and THROUGH you, you help to make this ministry possible . We wouldn’t be able to do this without your prayers, financial support, or volunteering.
Praying you have an amazing Thanksgiving!
Jim, Kathie, John, Thea, Roberta, Devin, and Sherri
November 21st, 2024
Would you please consider joining us on “The Journey” to help make a way for others to receive emotional healing and life transformation so they can live out their God-given purpose?
We want to see more people experience the same emotional healing and life transformation you did, but that takes resources. Our goal is to raise an additional $125,000 by the end of the year and recruit an additional 25 monthly donors. We realize these are big goals but with your help we are confident we can get there.
Your partnership will pave the way for others. No amount is too small, whether it is a $5 or $500 monthly gift, or a one-time gift of any amount, it all makes a difference. You can donate by simply clicking the DONATE button below, by going to www.theultimatejourney.org and clicking on the DONATE tab or by mailing a check to Christ-Life Ministires at P.O. Box 3841, Des Moines, IA 50323.
If you prefer to donate stock or other assets, or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly, jim@theultimatejourney.org. Thank you for partnering with us.
We are so grateful for you!
November 21st, 2024
The idea of getting together with family for the holidays can bring joy and excitement or, in some cases, lots of anxiety and stress. Whatever you are feeling, here are a few suggestions that might help you navigate some of those feelings that pop up or some of those family members that pop in. While we have sent out these helpful suggestions in the past, we learned in Phase 3 that in order to implement new patterns in our lives, we all need repetition, repetition, repetition. So here are a few tools to help you navigate the upcoming holidays.
1. This Year, Take Your Adult Ally With You!
Are you making plans to reconnect with family over the upcoming holidays? If you are, remember, the hardest place to not fall back into old childhood patterns is with your family. Whether it is shame, pain, rejection, unforgiveness, anger, having to be the responsible one, or just plain not feeling good enough, those old mental patterns you worked so hard to replace can come flooding back. But you don’t have to face it alone! This year, make plans to take your Adult Ally with you. Of course, now that you are an adult, your brain only listens to you. That means, Your Adult Ally Is You! We are once again making our Allying Yourself Handbook available to you for FREE.
Just because you are getting together with family, it doesn’t mean you have to revert back to your old childhood patterns and conform back into the old family system. Instead, when you feel yourself being pulled back into that old pattern, you can choose to respond with TACT.
1) Identify what is Triggering you.
2) Acknowledge and accept any feelings you are having.
3) Comfort yourself by paying attention to what you need to hear from yourself as the ally.
4) Talk Truth to yourself by identifying the messages/lies you are believing regarding the situation and then replacing them with the truth.
Want more details on how to do this? Click here for a free download of our Allying Yourself Handbook.
2. Having trouble forgiving someone? Maybe these articles will help.
Do You Need to Change Your Glasses?
Forgiveness Comes in One Big Package
Forgiveness: No Longer a Slave to the Past
Forgiveness Isn’t Going Back to the Way Things Were
Does Someone Have to Ask for Forgiveness Before I Forgive Them?
3. For healthy suggestions on how you can respond to The Advice Giver, The Critic, The Rager, The Braggart, The Black Sheep, The Alcoholic, The Downer, and The Controller, click here.
August 15th, 2024
FALL CLASS SCHEDULE
Classes start the week of September 8th!
Fall classes have arrived. For more information, visit us at www.clcenter.org and register TODAY!
Classes include:
Registration: www.clcenter.org
Questions, call the Christ-Life Center at 515.251.6838.
Learn more at www.clcenter.org.
June 13th, 2024
A silversmith places the silver into the fire to purify it. He refines it over and over until all the dross is removed and he can look into it and clearly see his reflection. Similarly, God continues refining us so we can clearly reflect His image and likeness.
Going through The Ultimate Journey/Christ-Life may have felt like you were going through God’s refining fire. No doubt, a number of your corrupted childhood mindsets were brought to the surface, and like dross, were burned away by exchanging them for God’s truth. One of the tools used to stoke that refining fire was the allegories; for example, do you remember The Beach Ball of Truth?
Perhaps on this leg of your journey, you see yourself needing more refining. Just like the silversmith is not focused on the impurities but on the end result, God refines us for our good and for His glory to be seen through us.
We are excited to make available a free, four-week demo of Refine Your Mind – A weekly audio allegory series designed to bring your mind into alignment with God’s truth about you.
Each week you will receive an email with a link to listen to an allegory from the TUJ curriculum and a few reflection questions for you to ponder.
To take advantage of this free, four-week demo simply click HERE. The full Refine Your Mind weekly audio allegory series includes 50 different allegories and can be purchased in our store or by clicking HERE. We hope you will find this four-week demo beneficial and will choose to purchase the full 50-week series for only $20.
by Flying Hippo