Entirely

Well, it's been a little while since I've made my last post. Actually, it has been about three months. But I've been thinking about this lately. What makes great leaders great leaders? Is it the vast amount of knowledge collected over the years stored in their massive brains? Is it because of the way they present themselves or how much money they make? Or is it simply because they were willing to make the self-sacrifice on a daily basis, constantly giving up the simple pleasures life has to offer in order to accomplish something meaningful? The more that I look at other leaders and pastors, people of integrity, the more I see that these people didn't get to where they are today by doing what they wanted all the time. They had the discipline to know what needed to be done and, guess what, they actually did it. Many of us, myself included, continue to pray that God would use us to do all these amazing things for the Kingdom, but we're willing to settle for "less than our best," just so we can say we tried. But Jesus didn't ask for only half of everything that we are and have. He wants the whole thing. He wants our very best. How can I expect God's best for me if I'm not willing to do the same for Him? Just another one of my many thoughts.

New Post Coming Soon

Just letting you know that I haven't forgotten about this. Just haven't had much time at the computer lately.

Wednesday Night

In response to Pastor Rick's question, "Why do you think it is so hard for us to pray?" (well, it was something along those lines): I think that most of us feel that God doesn't want to be bothered with the "petty" prayer requests. Or we feel that we have enough faith that we don't need to pray about something. For example, we might have faith that God is going to provide us the money that we need to pay the bills this month, so we don't bother praying about it. We simply say "God always provides," which is absolutely true. God does provide. And when the fincances come in and we barely squeak by with five dollars left over, we thank God for what He's done and go spend the rest on Taco Bell. Ok, maybe that's just me. But what if we were to really ask God to provide us with the finances that we need? What if we really prayed about it and put some time into it? I think that's what God wants to hear. I believe that if we were to ask, He will not only meet our needs, but He will surpass our expectations. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matthew 21:22 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," Ephesians 3:20 My question is this; Which takes more faith, just believing God to do what He has always done, or asking Him to do the unimaginable and impossible? Just another thought.

That's Nuts!

I was out in the Wagner's back yard yesterday while the pool was being put away for the year. Every few seconds you can hear a faint "plop" as another acorn hits the ground. i began to think about how hard the squirrels had to work to get ready for the winter. I also thought about how timing has such a crucial role in their lives. If they were to get too eager and start collecting food too soon, the acorns would not be ready and the squirrels would end up starving over the winter. Also, if they waited too long to collect, the acorns would be rotten or dead, and the squirrels again would die. So they have to know the exact time that they are supposed to do what they were made to do.

It seems to be no different than in our very own lives. God gives us a specific task to perform and we are to carry it out according to the perfect timing that He has ordained. If we get too eager or wait too long, it could result in tragedy. To give a personal example of this, I will use my trip to Tennessee.

I believe that God has called me into full-time ministry. So after finishing two years of EMC, I felt that it was time for me to move on to bigger and better things. The opportunity was presented to me and after talking it out and praying about it, I decided that this is where I wanted to go. But something happened in Tennessee. I quickly realized that I was still not adequetly prepared to go into ministry. I jumped the gun and went down there because I wanted to start ministry. But it wasn't in God's timing, and I hadn't realized that. The result was nearly devastating to me. I began to have second thoughts about whether or not I was fit for ministry, or whether I was supposed to be in ministry at all. Satan used it as a foothold to plant all these thoughts about how terrible I would be as a pastor, about how I couldn't cut it, and I was stupid for ever thinking that I could. After being back for a few weeks, I was reminded about the day I was called. Ironically, I read Hebrews 11 during prayer that morning, also. That's when I realized that it was because of God's timing that everything went the way that it did. So was I supposed to go down to Tennessee? I don't know, but if I hadn't, then all these issues that God is dealing with in me right now may never have been addressed. God is doing even greater things in me than I've ever thought.

The point is this; Stepping outside of God's timing can have drastic effects. It creates an open door for Satan to attack. But the difference between humans and animals is that Humans get a second chance. We can either continue to get torn down, even to the point of death, or we can accept that second chance God offers us and allow Him to take us to a new level of obedience.

Just a thought.

Walking Mosquito Bite

I'm still not exactly sure what happened, but between three and five o'clock on Tuesday, I noticed that I was itching a lot all over my body. As far as I knew, I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary like walking through the woods or eaten something that I had never had before. So I went and checked it out and there were what looked like mosquito bites all over my body. Well I didn't sit in a pile of fire ants like I had when I was a kid visiting my grandma in Lousiana. I could't remember getting biten or stung by anything recently. A fly had landed on me but I highly doubt that is what caused it. So I went home, bathed in some anti-itch ointment, hung out with Aaron for a bit, and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, it had moved to my feet! Talk about agony! AND I had to work at Taco Bell that day. After work, I went home as fast as I could and lathered up in some more stuff, relaxed a little to let it soak in, went to church and then went back to Aaron's. But by the time I got home, it was twice as worse as the day before. Huge welts all over my back and arms, and it even started spreading to my FACE. So, once again, I did what I do best, and laid down in bed. But this time before trying to fall asleep, I remembered to say my prayers; "Oh dear Jesus, MAKE IT STOP!" Well, I must say, God is faithful because I went the whole next day without a single itch.

What's Going On?

It’s interesting to see all the things God is doing in the lives of His people, especially in the last month or so. There has been so much going on that we can only believe that God is taking us to the next level as His church. It is very hard to explain the feeling that comes with it, because it is a feeling that neither I nor other people have felt before. I don’t know what He is preparing us for, but I do know this; I will not allow myself to miss out on this opportunity to grow closer to Him. I will do everything I can to get as close as I can to Him and, in doing so, be prepared for what is to come. Maybe that’s all He wants, is for us to get closer to Him. I’m good with that. But we cant just sit on our hands. Let's run with it.

Here Goes Nothing

Something that someone told me a couple of weeks ago got me thinking a little bit. After a short conversation with this woman, she told me God wanted her to tell me something. She told me that “the generational curse has been broken,” and that I don’t have to live in it anymore. I never doubted that God really wanted her to say that, but honestly I had NO idea what she was talking about. But it got me thinking, and I love to think. So I thought about it, and prayed about it, (well, more thought about it during prayer). Until one day, I had a talk with Pastor Fred about whether I will be doing a third year of EMC or not. One thing that we talked about was my inability to communicate with other people. But what I knew was that if I were to do a third year, it would help me develop my communication skills. So I decided that I would go ahead and do it. It wasn’t until after I walked away that I realized my problem talking was exactly the generational curse that was to be broken. You see, while I was growing up, I didn’t have very many people who were interested in talking to me or getting to know me. So I never had anybody to talk to, to express my feelings to. This is why it is so hard for me to open up with other people, tell people what my strengths and weaknesses are, or what I like to do in my spare time. These are things that I never had to think about until I started doing EMC. It really is the perfect explanation to why I am the way that I am. But all that will be changing. As I continue on with EMC, God is going to be transforming my whole way of thinking. He is going to make me into somebody I have only dreamed of becoming. I truly believe that this is going to be one the most influential years of my entire life.