Belize!

In the morning I am heading to the nation of Belize to work with some of my good friends ministry (www.lolministry.com)and am soo excited!

They have been down in Belize for about 4 years building an orphanage and it is almost done! I have been twice to help in the construction of the orphanage and we are going to get to have a dedication ceremony on July 9th of this summer. For the summer I will be living in Belize doing whatever it takes to get the orphanage done as well as working with the established ministry in whatever their ministry entails of to the surrounding villages and nation of Belize.

I will be gone until July 11th (67 days) and am confident that this is exactly where I am supposed to be for the duration of the summer. I am so expectant of what God is going to do in Belize and am praying that in the process of serving to the people of Belize that he will make my heart more like His. The Lord is in the process of transforming my life and making me more like Him and I know that this summer is going to be huge!!

Stay posted and I will do my best to somewhat consistently update my blog on what is going on in Belize and what God is doing!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Pure Men are Rising

Here is a prayer that I found that the Lord gave me a few months ago for the men of this generation.

“Lord, we pray that you would encounter the men of this generation. That for your Name, men would be pure in Jesus Christ. That the men of your church would arise to stand up against lust, pride, pornography and masturbation, and fight.

That the men of this generation would realize that we are not merely called to resist sin, but come to an understanding that you have fully equipped us to battle against sin. Lord, let us not be satisfied with a “good” life. Let us strive for the “best” you have for us. Let us not just be satisfied with the grace of God covering the sin in our lives but let us live lives that are daily empowered by the grace of God to live the pure, bold and righteous lives that you have called us to.

Lord, let sexual sin no longer be the skeleton in the closet of the church. Let us not just put the skeloten in a coffin, give us the boldness to bring the skeleton of impurity, lust and secrecy out of the closet and let us smash it to pieces on your alter. We are sick of feeling called to something higher in life but feeling disabled because of sin in our life.

We declare You. We declare and confess that we desire to know You more than we want to be a victim of our sin. We desire to know Christ more than we desire to be a victim of the injustice that has been inflicted on us.

You are more beautiful than this world, You are more beautiful than our sin and WE CHOOSE YOU!”

A Battle is Raging

The fact is that there is a battle raging not just outside the doors of the church, but all over the world. We, as his church, do not want to be the people that upon the day of His return are found sleeping. We do not want to be found sleeping when a battle is raging. The fact is that the Son of Man is returning, and when he returns, will we know Him and will he recognize not just our hands and names, but our hearts? Will the Lord be able to look through the work of our ministry, the profits of our businesses and the pleasures of our lives to see hearts that truly desire to know Him personally?

Christ is looking for a bride that desires to make herself ready as stated in Revelation 19. Prayer is the place where that happens.

Prayer is the place where purification happens. Prayer is the place where restoration happens. Prayer is where healing takes place. Prayer is the place where we, a broken and hurting people, can go to meet and love a perfect and faithful God and be made new. Prayer is the place where we see God, and in seeing God, we see ourselves and those around us as we were created to. It is where our vision is cleansed. Where our hearts are healed. Where our feet and hands are repaired. Prayer is the place where the people of God will meet Him intimately. The place of prayer is the place that when his people come together, things change.

In the place of prayer chains are broken. Dreams are restored. Callings are given. Vision is cast. In the place of prayer history is changed.

Why we crash.

Image via Wikipedia

Today we discovered that classes are cancelled at the university I attend because of a snow storm that is coming in tonight and tomorrow. It is supposed to snow about 8-12 inches with a inch or so of ice underneath the snow, which is very intense for Tulsa weather. I am from Colorado, which means the ice is new to me; however, the snow is no big deal and 12 inches or less does not seem like to much.

All of the excitement about the “snow day” or “days” has caused me to think of memories that I have had in the snow in my past. I remember waking up once to 36 inches of snow in my back yard and having school off for four whole days. I remember attempting to snowshoe down my street in middle school and failing in front of my neighbors as they shoveled their sidewalks. I also remember many fun times of sledding and many close to serious injuries where my friends and I luckily escaped.

I also remember multiple times seeing and hearing about horrible car accidents that were caused by people driving in the snow. I myself feel comfortable driving in the snow and have seen multiple cars on the sides of roads and crashed into each other in winter storms.

I have made one interesting observation about people who crash while driving in the snow. You would think that the majority of the cars that crash are the small geo metro, mini coop light weight cars  because of their lack of 4WD. However, the truth is quite the opposite, the majority of the cars that crash in the snow and ice are the big jeeps, explorers and 4WD cars.

Why? Overconfidence.

The drivers with 4WD think that because they have the ability to control their vehicle better, they can drive faster in the dangerous environment. The truth is, you will see less small cars in the ditch because the driver of the vehicle is aware of its limitations and drives precautiously because of them.

I believe that too often we are the ones in the ditch in the snow storm when it comes to our spiritual life. We come across a storm and we look at our 4WD capabilities and so we assume that we do not have to use as much caution while driving.

We think that we can maybe “drive faster” through the storm than others, because we have convinced ourselves that we are “better equipped” than those around us. The truth is, we may be more equipped for the storm, but if we handle the storm recklessly and irresponsibly than we will end up disqualifying our abilities and ending up in the ditch.

No matter how strong we are, we still have to handle storms with precaution and wisdom. The purpose of 4WD is to enable cars containing it to go where others cannot go, but if it is abused because the drivers go faster than they should, it puts them in the ditch and they did ended up going less far than those without it.

Let us realize our capabilities that the God of the Ages has given us to drive through the storm; but let us as children of God, operate with wisdom and not desire to rush the process that he has equipped us for.

A Look In The Mirror

Here is a poem that I came across by Edgar Guest called “Am I true to myself”. This poem adds a fresh perspective of the weight and impact of integrity on our lives.

I have to live with myself, and so,
I want to be fit for myself to know;
I want to be able as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don’t want to stand with the setting sun
And hate myself for the things I’ve done.
I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself as I come and go
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of man I really am;
I don’t want to dress myself up in sham.
I want to deserve all men’s respect;
But here in this struggle for fame and pelf,
I want to be able to like myself.
I don’t want to think as I come and go
That I’m for bluster and bluff and empty show.
I never can hide myself from me,
I see what others may never see,
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself — and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.

- Edgar Guest

“Lord, make us a generation of integrity. Expose our hearts before you and touch the deepest darkest wounds in our hearts. Let us look in the mirror and see the shadow of your cross in every area of our life. Teach us to be like You. Let our integrity not be a list but a relationship with You.”

Depraved Indifference

This video presents the heart of God in such a way that it is almost difficult to accept, yet at the same time, overwhelming to know how passionate God is about his children. Let us seek after the heart of God with even a hint of the passion that he pursues us, and we will find him. Let us reach out to others, to the unfit and underprivelaged of society, with the same love that God has reached out to us.

We are his hands. We are the Jesus that this world needs. You may be the only Jesus they come across.

I pray that we will no longer just pray that people in the world will come to know Christ and be healed, provided for and loved but that we will be willing to be the answer to our own prayers. That we would be willing to not just pray, but act and speak, heal, provide for and love the people of this world.

Christ has children all over the world.

YouTube – Becky Kelley – Where’s the Line to See Jesus – OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

YouTube – Becky Kelley – Where’s the Line to See Jesus – OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO.

 

I heard this song today and I really enjoyed it. This is not typically my preffered style of music but I thought this song was great if you focus on the lyrics and what it is saying. Hope you enjoy!

Pain That Propels

It may be one of the worst and most difficult feelings in the world when you care deeply for someone and they communicate to you that they feel you do not care for them. When you truly care for the person and invest time into their friendship and than at the end of the day your words do not seem to be enough and your actions have fallen short of what is necessary in communicating to someone simply that you care.

It is never fun to be told by someone that what you are trying to show them, they are not receiving. That what you are trying to communicate, they either are not hearing it or are not wanting to receive it.

I wonder how God feels.

As I was struggling last night with realizing that someone that I care about does not believe that I truly care about them, I began to wonder if this situation can apply to my relationship with the  Lord.

I quickly realized that this situation applies perfectly to how the Lord feels and cares towards humanity. He cares and loves humanity more than we could ever ask or imagine and our response is often to not believe it. We may not communicate it with our mouths, but our lives may be showing the Lord that we do not believe that he cares for us.

We have the God of the Ages, Creator of the Universe, who knows our hearts, believes in us, and loves us more than anyone else, and we seem to live in a false reality that does not acknowledge this truth. Some simply do not believe God cares for them. Some say they believe but their actions do not communicate their belief in the care and love of God. And others believe and accept this with all their heart and being and let this simple truth, that God cares for us, transform every single aspect of their lives.

Let us turn to the Lord because he loves us. Let us not only communicate with our mouth but with our lives that we believe he loves us. Let us love him back because he first loved us. Let us continue to care and love people unconditionally even when they do not believe it or accept it, because that is what Christ has done for us.

The same pain that we feel when we are told by someone that we care about that they do not believe we care for them, Christ feels that pain for us. Yet, often we let that pain discourage us and cause us to no longer care for someone, that pain propels Christ to love us more faithfully and more passionately. Let us not stop caring for others because they do not see our care. Let us be like Christ, faithful.

Its all worth it.

I was meeting with a good friend and youth pastor yesterday talking about various things surrounding what God has been doing over the last few years through a specific ministry. The youth pastor went on to tell me a story of two young girls that I encouraged me mightily and I pray it will bring encouragement to you also.

He was telling me that there were two girls close to where he was worshipping at a conference that the ministry put on in September of 2009. He noticed that one of them was on her phone texting during most of the night and her friend seemed equally disinterested. As the night went on however, my friend could see that the interest level of the two girls was changing and he began praying for them.

At one point, towards the end of the night, there was an opportunity to pray with the people that were around you. My friend knew that this was a great chance to begin dialogue and so he asked the girls what was going on and what he could pray for them about. The girl went on to share that being at the conference and watching the hundreds of young people that were gathered at the front worshipping the Lord with passion, energy and fervor inspired them greatly.

These girls were from the church that was hosting the event and may not have been the students that were classified by others as “passionate”, but rather the ones that others may look at as “lukewarm” or “apathetic” (terms used by young people commonly today).

This night was amazing because these girls who were not your typical passionate young believers, were inspired by others to passionately serve God. They saw that young people just like them were worshipping a big God in big ways with no timidity.

By being in an environment in which young people were running after the Lord with no limits and passion, zeal and fervor; other young people who simply were attending the event, were inspired to evaluate and realign their own life.

A simple story like this that creates a very simple moment that two girls will never forget makes working in the ministry for years worth it. All the hours, dollars, tears, efforts…everything is worth it when a simple moment such as this takes place.

Be encouraged, our faithful Lord is moving in simple ways that will turn this word upside down.

Prayer

Here are some quotes from the chapter I just read in “The Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds. I am simply going to run all of the quotes I underlined into paragraphs.

“He must believe, where he cannot prove. In the ultimate issue, prayer is simply fiath, claiming its natural yet marvelous prerogatives-faith taking possession of tis illimitable inheritance. When faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live.

Only god can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God. We pray not in order to kill but to make alive, not to blast but to bless.

The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful person. Faith in Christ’s ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly.

Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; it takes God at his Word, and lets him take what time he chooses in fulfilling his purposes, and in carrying on his work. Faith accepts the conditions-knows there will be delays in answering prayer, and regards such delays as times of testing, in the which, it is privileged to show its mettle, and the stern stuff of which it is made.

Faith gathers strength by waiting and praying. Patience has its perfect work in the school of delay.

All wonderful works depend on wonderful praying, and all praying is done in the name of Jesus Christ.

If Jesus dwells at the fountain of my life’ if the currents of his life have displaced and superseded all self-currents’ if implicit obedience to him is the inspiration and force of every movement of my life, then he can safely commit the praying to my will, and pledge himself, by an obligation as profound as his own nature, that whatsoever is asked shall be granted.

Faith dispels all undue anxiety and needless care about what shall be eaten, what shall be drunk, what shall be worn. Faith lives in the present, and regards the day as being sufficient unto the evel thereof. It lives day by day, and dispels all fears for the morrow. Faith brings great ease of mind and perfect peace of heart. When we pray “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are, in a measure, shutting tomorrow out of our prayer. We do not live in tomorrow but in today. We do not seek tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s bread. They thrive best, and get most out of life, who live in the living present. they pray best who pray for today’s needs, not for tomorrows, which may render our prayers unnecessary and redundant by not existing at all. True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with him. The present is ours’ the future belongs to God.

As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow’s praying. We cannot have tomorrow’s grace, we amount eat tomorrow’s bread, we cannot do tomorrow’s praying.”

 

-Lord, burn in our hearts.