"Cum Grano Salis"

So, on the way home, sometimes I hear this man preach on the radio and one time he said, "The only way salt can lose it's magnitude and be corrupted is if it's combined with other substances." He then went on to preach about the following verse.

Matthew 5:13 - "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless."

If I had to put together some sort of explanation as to why I'm blogging about this then I would have to say it applies greatly to my life as well as pretty much everyone else's life. I don't want to be thrown out one day, and I don't want to be "used up." Everybody fails, but when I keep following the process of failure, I don't get anything accomplished and I'm sure if I related that to my relationship with God it might help. Christians aren't held back by sin - we are "more than conquerers" over sin when we have God living within us (Romans 8:37). Therefore, because we have no chains holding us back, we have no reason to keep sinning. But, for some reason, we all keep doing it! Well, doesn't that just sound stupid? To me it does, and to be honest, I don't know why.

But I do know that I've figured this out - God's not gonna play both roles in the relationship. This means you have to hold your end of the covenant up as well. If you start to see your world collapsing, maybe its because you left God. In essence, you have become salt that has lost its flavor. Make the commitment - each day - to choose who we're going to live for. We all fall down, but that shouldn't keep us from trying. And we know we can't do it alone so what do we do?

We ask God to help us commit; we ask Him to give us the strength ("our daily bread") to start fresh.

On top of that we ask Him to keep us from the temptation of sin, and to help us see the way out that He's already provided. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Before you know it, we begin to head through our day feeling refreshed and renewed - and somewhat salty.

I Wanna Be Heaven Minded

I've done a bunch of stuff over the summer: Work, band camp, carrying crosses, concerts, church, friends visiting from Germany, lake and river trips, and a bunch of just hanging out. Pack all of that into one summer and what do you get? No, not gray hairs; you come out with experiences.

This post is starting to sound annoying already so I'll get to the important part, how God interferes with my life and teaches me important ways.

I've done some stupid things in my life already - Do I regret them? No, but I do wish that I would've learned from those mistakes better than I did. You see, it's funny how one minute I can be worshiping God and feeling loved but the next minute hanging out with the wrong crowd and completely denying Christ. I'm not saying that I personally said "I deny Christ." It's a lot more complicated than that. (Not really, but from my human perspective it is.) It's the fact that not living for Him every minute I'm breathing is in it's entity denying Christ in my perspective.

I always say to myself how all I want to do is just be with God and live in His Presence. And by no means is it wrong to tell yourself that, as long as you don't get distracted from the fact that you can have that intimacy. I found myself riding in the car the other day singing along with some worship music and thinking, "Why am I doing this, why do I memorize the words but not understand them completely? It's not another song I can tap my foot to, its an experience I get to be with God."

Another thought that always runs through the back of my mind is that I am going to die one day. People always tell me to live the life I am "meant" to live. Well, maybe who I am isn't determined by what I've done or what my name is. Maybe it's not even about what I am - for I am "fearfully and wonderfully made." and by that I am unique. I'm able to live my own life; do you know what that means? I have NO boundaries! I can do "all things through Christ who strengthens me" literally. There's not a life already mapped out for me that I'm supposed to follow. I have to find out for myself what I want to do - then do it. A "Modern Day Explorer" is what I want to call myself because I have to find my own path - my own walk with Christ; I have to explore the great unknown which is my life.

All this said and I come out with what - 2 quoted scripture?  Are you getting what I'm saying? If I only need those 2 verses to get my life started, how much more fulfilled will my life be if I actually live in the Bible. Jesus even said "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." And therefore reading the Bible is essential and completely necessary for us to live! Well, I just thought of this and I really think I should say it but Rene Descartes once said, "I think therefore I am." Well, I want to rephrase that and say, "Christ died, therefore I am!" Haha

I'm gonna leave off with the lyrics to another song. This one is called "Forever and a Day" by Bethel Live:




I was afraid; Your love set me free
I was in debt; You paid the price for me
I was hurt; You took away my pain

I was alone until You called my name
I was broken and You mended me
Before I was You love me

You healed my body and You made me whole
No matter what I do you don't let go

I will sing to the King: I am the ransomed one
How I love Your holy name
Holy to the Lamb who was slain
When I laugh and when I cry
You are the reason why
How I long to be with You
Forever and a day

When I go to bed You are near
When I wake up You are there
When I call Your name You are here
When I walk in faith You're everywhere

You catch and save every tear I cry
You journal everyday all about my life
Your love for me reaches to the sky
I am Yours -- You are mine

I was ashamed
You called me beautiful
Now I'm Yours
You called me beautiful 

Let's agree to call it an answer - somebody please read?

One of the things I've noticed about living God's plan for your life is that when it comes down to achieving it, you gotta work, haha. I mean look at the book of Job-the dude had it rough but He still praised God through all his hardships! That's some dedication.

You see, everytime I wonder what I would like to accomplish in life traveling comes up - I wanna see the world. But with all these great ideas comes a price; like how am I supposed to afford this travel, how can I incorporate God into my future lifestyle, how am I to stay connected with hometown family/friends, ect..ect..ect..

Yea, and along with that my senior year is coming up which can only mean college after that and MORE time waiting before I can "practically" move on with my life. I feel like I'm stuck and don't get out there and make an impact now, I'll never break free of this small town and share the most amazing story ever! I don't want to hide from doing what God has planned for me anymore. I want to move on throughout my life without any regrets.

                                                        

• So I decided to combine 2 blogs I had recently drafted because they sort of correlated with the same message. The few paragraphs above me are the 1st blog about random stuff I think about while the passages below me are from a draft I was making about my experiences at a youth conference.

                                                         

I don't post Bible verses on Facebook and Twitter, pray for a hurting friend, invite people to church, or even raise my hands when I sing worship songs because I think people are looking. I do it because I know in my heart that if I'm not spreading the gospel and glorifying God with every breath He gives me - I'm not living.

This past week I had the chance to go to a youth conference in Atlanta. The name of it's Forward (because we're "not going back - we're moving ahead.") There were many famous Christian bands that played - such as TobyMac, Matt Redman, Planetshakers, Israel Houghton, and The Free Chapel Band. Also there were wonderful speakers including Christine Cain, Judah Smith, Reggie Dabbs, Jentezen Franklin, and Carl Lentz.

To be frank, it was pretty much amazing.

Even though I was worshipping alongside 30,000 people I felt that God was moving in my "small" life as well as the "small" youth group I attend. The best times I had with God on this trip wasn't worshipping with the masses though; the best worship was in the quiet, small group worship. It was when me and close friends stayed up until 5 A.M. talking about nothing but what God has done in our lives.

Anyway, God has been moving in not only my life but all my friends and family's lives. He's gettin ready for something big and I think we all know what that is.

My youth pastor's wife told me on the way home from the trip that my sister I have an anointing on our lives (which everybody does, really) that even though ministry work doesn't "run" in our family, we can be the ones to start a line of ministry workers. And to be honest, I know that's what God is after - people to start ministering and spreading the gospel in ways that nobody around them has seen before.

So there you go, call it the answer to my problems? I like to travel, worship, and apparently I have an anointing for ministry-I say mission work :]

• "Jesus came and told his disciples, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:18-20.

That Was Worship.

Worship has a significant meaning to many people. I'm one of these people and, personally, I love slow Spirit-filled worship. It doesn't matter how fast you can play, how loud your speakers sound, or what brand of instrument you play on-as long as you're lifting up your all to God and giving Him the glory, you're worshiping.

Recently I joined the youth praise band at my church. What do I play you ask? Well, in about August of 2010 I started teaching myself how to play piano. In time my parents caught on and provided me with lessons. So as you can see I decided to play the piano in the band. (Unless I played the trumpet, but seeing as that would be a tad bit awkward, I don't.)

For the first couple of weeks it was tough, I didn't know any of the chords on the piano-I only knew how to read sheet music. BUT!! I learned pretty quick how to tell a C#m chord from an Am! haha :]

Anywho, getting back on track before I bore you to death, the band had been practicing a plethora of new songs to play at a "gig," which happened to be a Disciple-Now that was being put on by 2 of the area churches. Let me tell you though, we had been praying for these kids that were going to this D-Now. About how the Spirit would open up their hearts and minds to let go of any distractions and just worship the Lord.
After about 3 months of practicing and praying, the time for us to go down to the D-Now had arrived. :]

We were all excited when we set up our equipment, practiced once, then played our first songs for the night. But let me tell you, I was in the wrong mindset that night-I was playing for my glory and fame, not His. I had looked at the situation like I was performing and not worshiping. The consequence for my actions, I guess, was that I jacked up what I was supposed to have practically memorized! To be honest, I sucked. Although I played bad, I noticed why I was playing bad pretty quick.
The message that was supposed to be spoken that night was totally thrown out the window, and instead what was preached was how we need to deny ourselves. I was convinced-and convicted-that I need worship in my life like never before. I really need worship in order to quench my spirit.

On the second morning, worship was way more meaningful to me. It was really only just a couple of fast songs to wake up the campers but it still helped prepare my heart for that night...

FINALLY!!
I can let y'all know what happened that night. :] so, after we had all spent the day together as a band and prepared our hearts, the songs we were going to play included, "Let It Rain, How He Loves, Mighty Breath Of God, and With Everything." Now, if you don't know these songs they are slow moving worship-filled songs.. (just like I like 'em) As we started to play we let the campers know that they just need to let go of all their holding on to and grab hold of God and just worship. Right then and there people started raising their hands and focusing on God; It was very intense. I saw some people didn't know the songs but they were singing anyway! After we finished, the message was told about how all we need is God-To take up our cross and follow Him. When the preacher stopped he asked the band to come up and play again afterward. (Now, the band had come up with the idea that, since this was the last night, we should worship until people felt like they had gotten right with God.) So we started praying and playing-all off the hand, no script or anything. 


God led worship.


When we started playing "Let it Rain" again-it started thundering! People were crouched down praying, holding on to their life-sized wooden crosses their youth pastors gave them as a lesson.

I've never felt a feeling like that until that night - a feeling that says, "I would love to see people changed by God EVERY time I play!" :]

Well, take what you want of that story. However, just know that I was changed and others were changed by just worshipping. And that, my friends, was worship.

It's Been A While

So, apparently ya'll can see from the name of this post that its been a while since I've blogged. I've needed to.

SO many great and wonderful things have been going on in my life and I feel the need to share them because it has to do with God and if anything is worth hearing its God's messages. I guess I'll just start haha

1. So, a while back on Wednesday night at church, there was a missionary who came from India to talk to the adults. Our youth pastor told us that we would be going downstairs to "hear" him. Well, we "heard" him, but understanding him was a little hard haha. But, what I DID get out of his message was that our youth is precious in the Lord's eyes. He shared a story saying, "Imagine you just made fresh bread. That bread can fill you up and please your hunger. Just its smell can change your mood. But if the bread waits too long on the counter, it becomes hard and moldy. Then it can't do anything." Now, compare that to today's youth. He was saying that we have the power to change people's lives-quick. But if we waste our lives, worrying about tomorrow or what people think about us, we become useless. That's why we have to get out in the world and share the story of the one who died for us!

2. Not everything's happy and joy. There's times in my life where I don't feel good enough and just down. But that doesn't happen when I'm with God. Whenever I pray and talk to Him, I can feel that I'm worthy and loved for who I am, not having to change anything about me. One thing I've been worrying about way to much is being perfect. Nobody can be perfect and if you think that, I'm sorry but you'll just be "rotten bread" by trying. God's shown me that I don't have to worry and my life has been a gagillion times better.

But proof of this was when Danie Eric Groves band came to Cornerstone one night. He was a wonderful worship leader and the presence of God was there that night. He spent time to tell us a story of a woman who had been healed of blindness then he gave prophesied and some of our youth were radically changed. I thought to myself, maybe my heart could be changed so I wouldn't worry. Then he called up the youth and wanted to pray over us. When he got to the person beside me, his prayer was really long and powerful which was great for that person, but what was even better was when he got to me and said "You're a lion." This whole time I've been praying for God to tell me I was worth it and here I am being called a lion like I'm courageous, when the whole time I've thought that I wasn't! Those were the only words I needed-and they've changed me.

3. This past Wednesday at church was a God-filled, God-controlling, coming-together time for out youth! We  worshiped like never before and when what we thought was the message came, our youth pastor said we would be sharing what's been going on in our lives. "sweet!" I thought. I was sitting there wanting to be the first but too afraid - which was stupid now. But I was shaking and I felt I was gonna blow up if I didn't say anything. (fact is: I didn't know what to say) I got up there and just poured my heart out and afterwards what happened, how I felt, was like the calm after the storm. I felt peace again and I felt I could trust my friends. What the great thing is is that the rest of the youth went up and poured THEIR hearts out! It was amazing. That night we stayed 1 hour and like 15 minutes after the time we were supposed to leave. Then when we left, I told some guys that we should go somewhere and talk more. Well it was only three of us, but we shared amazing things and I felt trust, godly trust! And let me tell you, that's 1 thing you don't ever want to lose.

Let God change you in greater ways than ever. It can only get better, and you'll only move forward.
Thanks,

I Love..

Think of the things you love. Think of everything you've just stared at and wondered, "This, this right here is what makes me happy." I'll tell you a few of mine. I love when I'm riding in the car in the summer on my way home from swimming and I stick my head out the window to dry my hair. I love to go running in the winter and when I'm all tuckered out I feel that freezing air hit my tired lungs (it may hurt, but I like it). I love to go kayaking, and I love that feeling you get when you almost get sunburnt. When I go swimming at Blue Springs I love to feel that mud between my toes, haha, and especially that cold water. I like to see the leaves fall. I love my family. I love my friends, and even some of my teachers. But mostly I love that feeling I get when I'm worshiping God. When nothing around me is bothering me - that one that sends chills down my spine because I absolutely know in my heart that I'm in the very presence of God Himself.

These things that you love and the things that keep you from living a mundane life are the very things that God has put on this earth for you to admire. He's saying to you, "Hey, listen, when you admire all the wonders I've given you, I'm admiring you - My creation." God speaks to so many people, but they don't take the time to figure Him out. If only they would open up their hearts to Him.

He's gonna take you on a journey like no other. Just hop on board and don't let you get in the way.

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,