Pretense.

• Pretense - a false show of something

Today I was riding around town just thinking. I though about my friends and their lives that they live; I thought about God, and this calling I have; I thought that maybe its not just a "calling" of some sort. Everybody's called for the Lord. Its the Great Commission people.

Why is it that a kid that's retarded gets made fun? Or if you're not "cool enough" you don't get invited to a party that you probably shouldn't be going to anyway? Why do people live such fake lives - acting like their living for something amazing, when all they're really doing is getting by each day as if it were a given.


The only reason I'm telling you this is that I believe that I deserve a life worth living. One where I can see the smile on people's faces when they hear the good news of the gospel. Or see a whole family get saved and baptized for the first time. Yea, it may take a while, and it may take my life, but these are the things worth living for.


Just imagine the first time in your life God spoke to you. The first time you were saved or filled with the Spirit. How was that feeling? Well of course it had to be life-changing! These were the most important dates of my life, and I'll never forget them. You see, when God comes over you and you enter into His presence, this overwhelming joy hits you like a hammer on a nail: it feels natural, it feels right.


Now imagine this: you had just witnessed to somebody about Jesus Christ and they just passed you off as some weirdo with no life. Or maybe they made fun of you and mocked you. But listen, what if you went back and told them again? What if they didn't mock you but God spoke to them through you and they actually listened? Imagine seeing this joy and peace pass over that person and them accepting the Lord as their savior. <- THESE are the things we need to strive for. These are the things that make me happy to see. They're the moments in life that seem so small at first, but end up saving a soul!


Okay, so I'm gonna leave off with more lyrics to a great song.
Dance With Me-Jesus Culture


Behold You have come over the hills upon the mountain
To me, You will run. My Beloved, You've captured my heart

Won't You dance with me, Oh
Lover of my soul,
to the song of all songs?

With You, I will go You are my Love You are my Fair One
The winter has passed and the springtime has come

Won't You dance with me, Oh
Lover of my soul,
to the song of all songs?

Romance me, Oh
Lover of my soul
to the song of all songs.


Thanks,

God's Gotta Good Thing Goin

Hey yall! Maybe its just me, but I really feel like God's doing amazing things in the world today. I came across a quote the other day that went a little like this: If life is only a story, then there must be a narrator. God is that narrator. He tells the "story" of our lives. I've also noticed that the stronger you become in your walk with Him, the harder that the devil tries to snatch that love away from you.

Example: The night before Thanksgiving, I prayed that the next day would be set apart for me and Him to just enjoy each other's presence; that I could give thanks humbly and love Him with a newfound joy. Just a regular prayer, right? The next morning I got up did my daily devotional time. Afterwards I went to watch the Macy's parade. And did anybody else notice the backdrop? Well, it just happened to be a victoria's secret ad behind the parade the whole entire 3 hours we watched it. I mean, that's just low. My day had to be ruined because of that. BUT, thank God that He came in and let me have an awesome day still! I mean praise God!

This Sunday, my FBC pastor came back from his sabbatical to Jerusalem and gave a sermon on serving God. One of the things I've noticed is that God's gonna finish His plan no matter what. It's all coming to an end; done, His work is soon going to be finished. I don't want God to wait on me either, but I also don't want to miss the chance to do something amazing for Him. I want to be a part of this spectacular plan before it ends. Too many people in this world are trading their lives to the American dream rather than God's plan. The world is gonna be gone soon, why waste your life on stupid, selfish missions.

After the sermon from  FBC, I left for Cornerstone (where my heart really lies) instead of going to Sunday school, which is basically just a social gathering for the youth. The pastor there didn't speak, but let the associate pastor speak. He spoke out of James 5:8 & Proverbs 4:23. He told us that if we truly desire to follow God's plan but can't seem to get out of that rut we're in; if we have this burst of love for God for a little while but still go back to our old life, then there's something wrong with our hearts. We need to train our hearts-or better yet, join our lives with God's plan. It's not gonna be easy and its gonna take more than just that 3 minute prayer at night & that 10 minute daily devotion when you wake up. Yet, at the same time it could be easy if you only believed God's word and meditated on His plan for you that day.

All these things have come to me in probably the most perfect time. His guidance is really looking out for me. As I'm ending the 1st semester of my junior year, all these colleges are sending me letters. I just can't decide. All I want is to follow His plan for me, and in my life I know that plan is doing missions. Through His Word and the Spirit, I know He's always gonna be there for me. He's telling me straight up, you know, I'll never leave you.

What's His plan for you?
It's never too late.

So, I've come to a conclusion.

The happiest and saddest moment in one's life is when they find what truly lies underneath.

Its the happiest because when that person does find their true self - not one that changes like the seasons, but is consistent throughout their life - they feel an overwhelming sense of completion.

Its the saddest because the realization of finding yourself only leads to the question, "What's next?" Finding the answer to that takes the entirety of a person's life. They must find what truly satisfies them; and to me, this possesses two challenges - one of life and death.

The first, to me, is this: you need to put away the person that you recently found, the one you spent years looking for, and take up Him. You must die to that person and become one that follows Him.

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it." Luke 9:24

If you don't, your pride will take over and the devil could win you over. We must all put our trust in Him before we can "die" daily and "become the least of these."

The second challenge Christians face is this: we must decide what to do when we meet God face-to-face. In heaven.

For me, this is my favorite challenge. Why? Because I know that the only probable solution is to fall on my knees and worship. To me, worship is fun. It gets me going. Restores me. And when I have the chance to worship for an eternity, it gets me excited knowing that I won't have to worry about the next "arrow" the devil will try to shoot at me.

These are the challenges that I've seen. So how are you gonna tackle them?

Three books that will change your life.

Hey, this bog post I decided to step back from acting like I knew it all. I decided to pass on some advice to those who are looking for advice. So, I'm listing 3 life-changing books that I've read this past month that will give you an amazing look at giving your all for Him.

Forgotten God - Francis Chan

This book. What can I really say? Its Francis Chan speaking about how the church has "successfully" recreated church without the power of the Holy Spirit. If anyone has followed previous blogs, they would understand why I read this: I had just been filled, and now have knowledge of how He can really touch people's lives. Reading "Forgotten God" has kept my knowledge and faith in Him alive and also proved that what I had done was true. Please read =]




















Radical - David Platt

Living for God and giving everything you have to Him can sometimes be called Radical. I guess if we look back on the Bible we know that all the famous Christians were. Pretty much this book takes amazing stories of present-day Christians giving their lives for Him along with the repeating phrases of how much better your life can be if we would only respond to what He's telling us: Take up our cross and deny ourselves daily for the sake of others. Platt uses great stories to stir emotions, but as the book goes on, he gets more serious and tells us of people that get decapitated or killed and cannibalized in foreign nations for the sake of the Gospel. Yea, who would do that we ask. Well, it turns out that the people that did these things didn't reach them, yet the people that came after them ended up turning the whole national religion around! At the end David challenges us to live out our lives for Him and spreading His glory. Definitely a great book. Changed my life! Read it.




Crazy Love

I began reading this book about the middle of October with the FBC youth group. We're doing a Bible study on it each week Sunday nights. This book does define what it truly means to be in love with God and not just in love with the things He provides for us. I found new meanings to great verses through this book and also didn't feel alone when I read it, seeing as about 20 other folks were reading it too. Along with the previous book I mentioned, the world is going to call people that are in love with God "radical." I say that this radical life that we're living should be the normal Christian life. There are now shades of grey in His kingdom. A lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron, there is no such thing, but people who live an obsessed life in love with Him show the world that our love for Him is worth our lives and this "religion"  we're a part of is the real deal. Like I said, ya'll need to read this book!








I'm not some critic of books, I'm just telling you that when I read these books they changed my life. Of course, none of these are gonna change your life if you don't expect them to. If you're gonna read them, take them seriously and don't ever substitute it for your daily devotion with God. These books just help us along the way =]


Thanks,

The Call & The Walk

Do you every feel like you have an amazing transcendent life just waiting for you around the corner?

That's the theme that a spectacular book called "Wild at Heart" uses. And that's what I've been trying to base my thoughts on this week.

As a Christian, I believe its outrageously important to read God's word every day; I believe God has an amazing plan for my life as well as everyone around me. Why else would He have spoke through the prophet in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope!

As I'm getting older, the life I wanted to live (Architect, Doctor, Lawyer) no longer interests me. When I say 'getting older' I don't mean age; I mean in my walk with God. I know that there's a strong pull for me to become an evangelist. I would love to lead the multitudes toward the Father's love and I keep praying that He would show me the way from His Spirit. All I need an amazing relationship with Him.

By the way, Brooke has a life-changing opportunity to go to El Salvador. I need to pray for her because I know there's a strong missionary calling in her life. (She's more of a missionary/worship leader & I'm more of the evangelist/missionary.) Ha, we always were different. I'm leaving this with a quote from the amazing book that inspired me to go on an adventure with God. To find my real name - the name He calls & loves me with. =]

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. - Gil Bailie

His Illuminating Love

Everyone sins; I sin, you sin. A problem I've had is being convicted. I don't feel like I did anything wrong after I talk about someone or just be rude that day. A couple weeks ago, I would talk bad about someone or give them a dirty look and God would convict me as quick as I did it. Most of the time I would go up to them & tell them the truth about how I felt and that I was sorry and I would feel God's love again. These past couple of days I've realized this: God's always going to be with you, but we need to seek his face. I've always heard this, but now I really understand. You see, God's presence is going to be there wherever you go. You can't escape Him. Sin can't be in His presence; so you know what that means? That means that when we sin, we turn our backs on Him, therefore not seeing His face and feeling his love. Its like when we're out on a hot day - and we stand under the shade - we can't feel the heat of the sun or see all around us. When we enter sin's presence we exit God's illuminating love.

God's always going to love us. Just like a father love his son, He will love us.

Now, think about this: Father's love their sons always. But, don't they also discipline them? Discipline doesn't just mean to punish, it means rewarding when you do right and punishing when you do wrong.

God's reward for us following His Word and keeping His commandments ISN'T: a new car, a girlfriend, or even paying the bills on time. His reward is allowing us to see His face and feel His love. AND THAT'S ALL WE NEED! That's all I ever really hope for! And of course, His punishment for us is not allowing us to see His face - the Face of love.

The things I've realized this past week is that the more I'm away from God, the less I'm going to feel His convictions. Like the song says "The more I seek You, the more I find You. The more I find You, the more I love You."

I pray that I would see God face-to-face and in doing that, I would feel His love and reflect it towards other people. This really hits home for me. =]

Love,

"Our God Is Love"

My prayer is that people would see God's amazing love through my life.

"I pray that the "supernatural" in my life would become natural. Most songs get old, I pray that my love for Jesus Christ would never get old. God, I pray that I would be open to receive your plan for my life. 'I lay my life before you, and I'm not getting up.' Allow me to listen to Your Word. Place people in my life that will protect me and keep me on the right track."

If you're reading this, that's my prayer for you as well. God loves everyone, don't let that slip away. I'm only 16, but I pray that God will change my life in a radical way that when people see my life they say "Wow, Praise the Lord! Surely God is Love" and not just "He's an awesome dude!" Please pray for me that I would stay in His presence. So many things are happening in my life now and I don't want to stray away. That's all I really have for today.

EXCEPT that this morning I woke up at the normal time and still had time to spend with God. I opened my little "daily bread" thing that I use for quick studies and the story had to do with a girl kayaking (fav. sport if you can't tell) and she flipped but was suddenly saved JUST before her death. God likes to come in at the best times to prove that He is there, but that we just need to have faith :]

Love,

Westgate Day With Brooke

So Saturday I went to westgate to walk their 5k trail they have, which I think I'm gonna do every Sat. from now on, with Brooke at 7 IN THE MORNING. We were walking and apparently they were hosting a 5k run with the runner's club. Haha, we were embarrased. But when we got done at about 9 that morning we went to BK to get a croissant. =]Then we went to Solomon park to do a Bible Study. When we got there Brooke started reading from Luke, but I told her to go to James, and basically what we got from the message was that when we accept Jesus into our hearts to become a Christian, that is symbolic of His blood covering our lives. So that gave me this idea: Since the Old Testament has a bunch of examples that reflect the New Testament, maybe Jesus' blood that covers our lives when we become Christians reflects the Passover! I've never thought about this, but maybe you have. In the Old Testament, God came down to destroy all those who didn't have Lamb's blood on their doorway. That's why the Jews celebrated the passover. Because they were the people that originally followed what God told them and were saved. When we become Christians, God saves us from the horrible death that awaits us sinners. We die and then when God finally judges us, he'll see that our lives have been covered by the ultimate sacrifice, the Lamb of God, and we'll be saved from Hell. I've never thought of the Passover this way, but it all comes into perspective for me.

WHICH makes me so much more excited for communion; And I know that we can have communion anytime we wish, but it makes it really intimate when we save it for a special time with others.

That leads me to a new topic. Wednesday at 1st priority, Thomas talked about how when we perform communion, we need to respect and glorify Jesus because He died for us; And to tell God that we're waiting for Him to come back and that we'll live for Him till He does. =] hope this made your day

Headland High School: '10-'11 Year

SO! Today is Thursday, August 12th!! School starts tomorrow and I'm ready for an exciting Junior year at Headland High School =] I can't wait to see what God has in store for HHS this year so that's why I'm posting this. Today is the day before school as you probably know already because I've told you 5 Gajillion times haha and I decided to dedicate the time I have to God, praying and studying His Word. I've been praying for Him to anoint my life to where others can see Him through me. And I've been praying for the leaders in school as well as the students that their eyes would be open to receive what He wants them to know. I pray that God would use me in school and allow me to gain friends in Christ so they can lift my spirits when I need it most. I know that I can make it without friends and with Christ by my side, but I also know that godly fellowship helps. So if you're reading this, this is my mission for you!! =D

1. Pray that God would show people at HHS that He's with us and that the devil will not win over our students.

2. Pray that I would be a servant to others when they need it most and that I would live in His presence so others come to me for help.

3. Pray that staff and leaders would show others His love for them in their lives and that they won't be hard on students.

4. Pray that this school will give me the most opportunities to share Christ with others and that HHS would come together as a family in Him.


P.S. - Headland High is not labeled as a Christian school because they are public, but I'm putting my foot down and saying that there are people in this school that need to know the plans God has for them. I won't let what we're labeled as get in the way of God's plans.

Your Brother In Christ,

This is the post you've been waiting for.... PART TWO!!

WIRED
okay! So, I've already told you about Forward, but you haven't heard anything about Wired!! Wired... The Dothan, AL mission camp-with Judson Baptist Association-is an AMAZING way to serve God. I had went to Forward, had the revival, and was ready to "move forward" as the conference song talked about! And Wired was just that. Moving forward and serving God through ministry work.
As you all may know, I was on the Construction 8 team. I had signed up for Social, which would be inside all week (haha) but I guess God put me there for a reason!!
At my track, I was painting a house and doing a BUNCH of yardwork, cause this lady's yard was... mmm... ENTYWAY, I had missed half of the first day and didn't get to meet everybody that was in my track! So, that evening I got all settled in with FBC Headland in the Highschool Boy's room!! Whoop Whoop, but yea, I brought one of my favorite books that I'm almost done reading, and just relaxed the rest of the day!

So, Monday!!! I get to meet everybody in my track group, who happens to be the best group of people ever. haha, So just to name some people: Josh Bugg was my leader, Austin, Audrey, Sam, Sarah Grace, Taylor, Caleb, Kendall, Ashley, Tony, Kaley, and two other people I can't remember their names haha. Okay, the REAL part of Monday was when I actually introduced myself to them. But when we all got together for Bible study, I brought up the topic of being filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues and we started this whole debate on Calvinism vs. Arminianism. It happened to be the most awesomest day of the week!! Because we all understood the Word of God and became closer just in the first day. Haha but the cool thing was that on Tuesday Josh came back and said that he talked with everyone about what we discussed during our 2 freakin hour discussion haha and they were all jealous because everyone else talked about becoming a leader or something. But basically TUESDAY was an awesome day at worship because before I went in I had quiet time during my free time (which was NOT inforced) and I prayed to God that He would show me something that night and He did! =]

During the worship service, we all sang AMAZING songs and I don't know about everybody else, but I was all eyes on God that night. God definitely gave me the chills while I was singing and I just broke down in front of everybody! So what did I do? I left the building after what I thought was the last song because I didn't want to distract anybody. It wasn't. I went out of the chapel into the waiting area or whatever and who happened to be there but my youth pastor watchin the TV service of worship. I told him I would talk about it when I got all cleaned up... haha. So I came out and we prayed and I told Him about what had been happening at mission site.

WHICH I forgot to tell you, okay, long story short: This 46 yr old man told me that I had touched His life with my energy for God and that he would never forget me. He had to leave that day. I told him to pray for me because God's really been putting it on my heart what I'm gonna do in the future. He said he would and I told him I would.

Okay, back to the story, I was talking with my youth pastor and basically told him what I just told ya'll. But I also asked him if we could pray together for my calling. And I told him that I read a scripture after I prayed that talked about the children of God following His calling even if we don't know it yet! So we prayed and I went back in there and what song are they singing?? AMAZING-FREAKIN-GRACE!!!! It really touched my life. So I prayed that God would show me what I need to do. And God showed me that I needed to accept His calling for me no matter what. The sermon that night was thrown in the trash according to Mr. Dave Edwards (haha) and he told everybody that he just felt the need to get what he was about to say out of the way. He told us that some people in the room needed to accept God's calling. So we had invitation that night for the ministry! HOLD UP!! God does listen and He does answer. If you didn't know that, you know that now. I knew I had to get down there as fast as I could. I was praying the whole time he was finishing talking about "in about 5 minutes I'm gonna call anyone up here" Shooot!! I couldn't wait 5 minutes for God. When he said come to the alter, I RAN AS FAST AS I COULD. I was the 1st one up there =] haha, but instead of putting the eyes on me I put them on God, I was worshiping the whole time I was up there and I prayed the whole time as well. So that's BASICALLY all I have to say about Wired. It was an awesome experience to move Forward, like the conference talked about the week before wired, by serving God and living a life ALL OUT FOR HIM!

I gained great friends that week and saying good-bye was hard. I'll never forget them and I pray for them when I can. I pray for my calling as well. If you're reading this please pray that my eyes would be open to see what God is trying to tell me. I'm going to live my life for Him and what He wants, NO MATTER WHAT.

Your Brother In Christ,

This is the post you've been waiting for!!

So! To begin with my SECOND blog post, I'll say that this has GOD written all over it =] So if you don't want to read this then press ALT+F4..

Haha! so, To begin w/, I'll talk about FORWARD CONFERENCE 2010!

FORWARD!!
So, this wasn't your average church trip son.. I was going with the Cornerstone youth, called Now Ministries, from Dothan, AL. I had never met anybody from there and was pretty excited =] Anyway, we left the church on Thursday afternoon to go see huge Christian bands!!
SO!! I went with a non-denominational church which is WAY different than a Baptist church BY FAR! So, just to tell you, every night I went to the concerts I knew I was worshiping God. I just felt God in that place!
The MAIN thing I REALLY want to talk about was the time I spent with the people from church. Everybody that went was full of the love of God and it just showed. I love Now Ministry and the people there. That whole week just really prepared me for what you're about to hear about. =]]

Okay, so this part is VERY personal to me and my relationship with God. If you're going to judge me for this, don't read.
On June 27 at 12:50 in the morning, I was filled with the Holy Spirit. If you don't know what that means, you need to speak with somebody wiser because I'm not here to give you the Spirit, nobody can, only God can. I was in Atlanta at the Homewood Suites in a hotel room with the leaders of Now Ministry and some of my closest friends that I've met on that trip. I had a hard time believing what they were trying to tell me because I was raised Baptist and I've never heard of being filled. I've never believed in speaking in tongues or prophesying or any other gift of the Spirit truly. But, when I was in that room, The people that helped me could back EVERYTHING up with scripture! That really spoke to me that this was true and that I could and should do it! I took a step of faith. One of the hardest things in my life at that moment, but once I acted on it, God took care of the rest for me =D
I'm going to tell you the truth now. I know how to speak to God through the Spirit in prayer and I've seen God's love for me more than I ever have. The experience was spectacular the first time I spoke in the Spirit. I was in the room with about 7 other people and we were just talking about what was going on in our lives. The wife of the youth pastor called me out and said she just knew I had something to say, so she told me to share. I told her that the whole atmosphere of this place was full of God's love and I would probly never be the same (which I haven't) and that I haven't felt love from friends like this in a long time. But after I shared, one of the coolest dudes I've probably ever met asked her what being filled was like and how to speak in tongues. He opened the floor to discussion of something REALLY amazing. Anyway, the wife told us all about the Spirit and being filled. She told us about a book she was reading that helped her to understand Him better, and how to be filled and what happens when you are filled. You see, I thought you would become like possessed and crap, haha-but no-You're in your right mind and you have God in you through His Spirit!!!
YOU BECOME CLOSER TO HIM. :]

I was skeptic of it at first, I was crying in hysteria of what I didn't know. I asked if I could watch everybody else that wasn't filled yet and wanted to be act upon it. I was REALLY scared and confused. I went to the bathroom and started crying horribly!! God was acting upon me, He was showing me His love, and He told me to do this. I gathered myself together and went out there and watched everybody get filled first. They all started to pray to God, worshiping Him and praying to Him. Praying in the Spirit. It was an AMAZING experience to watch and was so intimate between all of us. I finally accepted what I was called to do. I went to the bathroom one more time and tried to pull myself together. That awesome friend I talked about that brought up the topic came in there and kind of gave me a "pep-talk". He was so nice to me, I felt like I had a real friend for the first time since I moved down here. Nobody's ever spoke to me like that, I knew God was speaking through him. God was telling me that everything was going to be okay and that this is something He wants me to do! I've had experiences where God has talked to me through other people, but this was from a peer!! It was amazing :] God was telling me that He loved me through it all. I was truly loved that night. I went out into the room, after I cleaned my face of course, and I asked that everybody would pray for me before being filled. They did, and we went over how to do things. Of course none of this made sense still. But God is called the Comforter and The Source of Understanding. In fact, He gave me the understanding! I prayed the prayer for the Spirit, and then we all started to praise God in prayer. People were speaking in tongues and lifting His name! I started to mumble words. I admit, I was weak at this... Then I felt God the Spirit take over. He was directing what words to say and how to say them. I was speaking in tongues!!! I was still in my right mind like everybody said, but I was having a conversation with God!!! I had truly taken an act of faith, besides my salvation through my savior Jesus Christ. God had somehow calmed my soul and I felt complete and that God was going to be with me always. I can't run away anymore =]

Just a follow up!!
From that night on, and its been a couple weeks, I've prayed in the Spirit EVERY night since (NO LIE). People notice something different in my life, and learning about God comes easily! I pray in the Spirit and its not just mumbling anymore, He has given me language to praise Him. You see, being filled isn't just about speaking in tongues! Its being closer to Him. I'm understanding what I'm praying for and I totally trust in Him MUCH more than I did before. I've studied His word and I've been given so much insight on what He tells me. I understand more about His Spirit. I've got much more to learn still but I know He's always going to be there. =]

This is basically all I have to say about what happened at Forward. I feel complete and that I don't have to work to be close to God anymore, it all comes naturally now! I love Now Ministries, and I love all the loving people that go there. It feels right. Thank-you to whoever reads this. Don't allow me to sway your faith though, when the moment comes to act on faith, God will make everything clear.

Your Brother In Christ,