ideas in my head

if an idea comes into my head about something adventurous then i usually want to check it out. i don't really know how this idea came into my head but i definitely want to try it. i want to sleep outside for the entire month of july. i probably won't follow through with it but i really want to give it a go. why not?

what does peace look like?

i woke up with the question, "what does peace look like?" on my mind. The Scriptures say that we are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts (Col. 3:15). so if we let His peace rule our hearts, i can only imagine what that would look like.

i love the fact that we serve a God that is so passionate about His creation and at the same time He is so peaceful in His revolution.

i think peace looks like love. and when we show people love we show them Christ in us.

my prayer is that the Holy Spirit would mold me into a man that is directed by the peace and passion of God because out of those two actions come His love.

trust. move. love.

i spent the majority of the day yesterday at the hospital visiting my grandfather (better known as Papa and that's PAA-PAA not PAW-PA). he's doing much better. thanks for the prayers and support. he got the tube taken out and he is breathing basically on his own with a little help from an oxygen mask when he needs it. the main difficulty was getting the CO2 out of system. he is still struggling a bit to do that so please continue to pray.

it seems like for the past 2 months or so God has really been placing this idea of the burden on my life and purpose of my life both on my heart. i know i have a burden to bring the youth of america to know christ and change their generation but God is birthing something huge inside of me. i feel he is placing this burden for the poor and the oppressed in my heart but i feel as though i don't put myself in enough situations to encounter those people. there are so many opportunities to invest in the lives of those who are less fortunate that us but i feel like we overlook so many of those opportunities. i don't want to let those opportunities pass by anymore.

Mother Teresa once said, "It is very fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them." the burden is there in my heart. opportunities are all around. The Spirit of the Lord is here to guide me along the way. all i have to do is trust, move and love.

dreamer, yet realist

alright, the idea about sleeping outside for a month doesn't really make sense but i just cling on to ideas sometimes. one thing i do know is that God is calling me to live a radical life for Him. i do not want to get stuck in a 9-5 for the rest of my life and just live paycheck to paycheck. that is so scary to me. sure if you live a radical life for God you may not know where your next bit of money will come from but at least you know in whom you have believed. and isn't that more important?

i cannot waste my life. i just can't. God has given us all this amazing gift of life and i think He really wants us to see the importance in the life we are given. somehow society has brainwashed us to think a "career", a piece of property, some acquired materials and money is all that life is about. what do most people worry about? those things i just listed. that is not what life is about.

there's more to it. my prayer is that God will guide me along this journey called life and that i will not waste this precious gift by conforming to the world, rather that God can use me to change people's hearts and draw them close to Him.

peace.

clear your calendars for june 6, 2009!

we set a date for the wedding! june 6, 2009 at old santee canal park in moncks corner, sc. i am so excited to marry allison. allison and i have this connection that is so remarkable. we have been dating for about 2 years now and it feels like i've known her forever but at the same time when i see her i have the same excitement i had when i saw her when i picked her up for our first date. i thank God so much for her because it is so amazing how He places people in our lives at times only He can understand. God's fingerprint has been on our relationship from the beginning and my prayer is that our marriage can be a reflection of the love of Christ.

i am committing to blogging at least 3 times a week! please help me out by revisiting my blog and leaving comments and encouraging me to continue blogging.

also, please continue to prayer for my grandfather (lungs) and my family. thanks.

He knows who He is

When I pray, not only do I feel as though I learn about God's character but I also get to know who I really am. In Exodus 3 & 4 Moses encounters God and gets just a glimpse into how majestic and beautiful the Lord is. Moses also realizes that he is not worthy of this calling that God wants him to live out. Moses was filled with fear and doubt but God gives him a miraculous sign. God turns the rod into the snake and then back into rod and that is an awesome experience within itself but the part that floored me was when God tells Moses to reach into his cloak. He reaches in, pulls it back out and it is leprous. God tells him to put his hand back in his cloak, then to pull it back out and it is restored.

That moment when Moses looked down at his leprous hand is a powerful illustration of how Moses felt about himself. He already knew of his own inadequacies and it is as though at that moment he realizes God finds out that he is inadequate. But we know God knows us, even though sometimes we don't like to get real with Him. Then, when he reaches back into the cloak and this hand is restored it is as if God is telling Moses that His grace is enough, which we later see with Paul's thorn in the flesh.

God calls us. He called Moses. God knows who we really are. He knew Moses, even when Moses wasn't so sure. But what we have to realize is that God knows God. He knows who He is.

Just let your faith in Jesus Christ lead you to answer the call God places before you. Don't let doubt get in the way. Over the next two weeks, my prayer is that He continues to change us and that we can align our lives with the lives He is calling us to live.

God is the Solution

What a beautiful morning! Whenever I wake early to pray, those seem like some of the best times I have in communication with God. The spirit of expectancy that came over me this morning when I was praying about these next 21 days is indescribable. Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. Rather, He told His disciples, "Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." It is so awesome that God answers prayer in the best way EVERYTIME and when we are praying in according to His will, we get to see it answered in the same light that He sees it. When I am on my knees in prayer, those are the times where God shows me who He is.

I am very excited about the fasting part of this 21 days of prayer. When I fast, I love being able to carve out that extra time with God during that time in which I would usually be doing the other practice. Fasting really stretches me; it helps me grow closer to Him and increases how dependent I am on Him.

I was reading Rodney's blog from last night before I posted this morning and it reminded me of something Filipe and I were talking about. In the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, when the Brooklyn Tabernacle congregation was so dependent on God that prayer was the only answer when someone would ask how they are doing what they are doing, God seemed to have an overflow of blessings for them. I pray that whenever someone hears or asks about how God is advancing His Kingdom at Northwood Assembly, we can give Him the glory and say, "It's because we pray to Our Father."

John 3:8 says, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit, just like wind, is difficult to understand. But proof of the work of the Spirit is evident and undeniable when He begins to move. Let Him move in your life.