Empowering Lives International

I just had lunch with a man by the name of Dan Perrine, the Public Relations Director for an organization known as Empowering Lives international. Now I don't claim to have to gift of service by any means, but i have come to realize that regardless of what I am good or bad at, we are called as followers of Jesus to serve those that are not as fortunate as us.

I have felt a tugging at my heart recently to raise funds for people in Africa who are not getting the necessary funding or education to set them up to succeed in life. My first thought was to raise money for drilling wells, and I did what any excited 5 year old would do, I thought lets do it now. We will plan it and implement it next month and have the goal of 10-15 thousand dollars by the end of the school year and everyone wins. What I need to realize is that if I want to make a difference on this earth then I need to set myself up for success by taking the baby steps necessary to promote lifelong change in other parts of the world.

This post has turned into me rambling but if you want information about how to help a great organization visit their website at www.empoweringlives.org

Dogs and Babies

This is for Brinda. Because she loves dogs, babies, and because she gave me a hard time for not updating my blog in awhile.

Judges 7

Judges 7

So God thought Gideon had too many people, so he told Gideon to first get rid of the ones who were afraid, so his army went from 32,000 down to 10,000. God decided again that this number was too big so he told Gideon he was to take his men down to the river to drink, anyone who brought their hand to their mouths to drink was going to be sent home, but if you lapped up water like a dog then you would stay and fight. Only 300 lapped like a dog and with that, Gideon found his army. So I like Gideon because he uses his brain especially when he goes in to defeat the Midianites by surrounding their camp with the three hundred men, blowing their horns the raising their torches and chanting. The Midianites fled in fear of what was happening, Gideon and his men pursued and captured and killed the two leaders, Oreb and Zeeb.

This is a classic case of God wanting people to know that it isn’t Gideon who gets the glory but should be God. God made sure of this by shrinking his army down to 1 percent of its original size, and if I am Gideon I wouldn’t be too happy about this because I would get any person that could throw a rock to be on my team, but this isn’t the case. Gideon delivers Israel due to God’s grace and sovereignty for his people. This is as much of an issue of pride as anything in the bible, we need to realize that it isn’t us who is doing ministry, but God in us. I am not responsible for my ministry, but God working through me can do amazing things, I am merely a broken vessel that God has chosen to use just like he chooses all of us for a specific purpose.

The Word

Judges 6
So again we have Israel beginning to do evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Midianites took them over. And this was a low time for the Israelites because they pretty much destroyed all their crop and were like locusts amongst their farms and labors. Then we fast forward to the angel of the Lord who goes and sits under Joash’s oak tree. Gideon is working and then comes over and talks to the Angel of the Lord. It is funny because throughout this whole passage Gideon is constantly questioning and testing God, making sure this is God’s will for his life, rather than just assuming what he is doing is right. He goes to get an offering for the Lord to test him and it is instantly consumed by fire, he puts fleece on the ground tells God to make the fleece wet but not the floor and he does then he tests him again telling God to make the floor wet but not the fleece and he does that too. And it is only then that Gideon realizes the God is going to deliver Israel through him.

I like how Gideon is constantly testing and questioning and confirming, making sure that this is the will of God for his life. There would be nothing worse than Gideon trying to defeat the Midianites without the hand of the Lord guiding him. I think we need to be more like Gideon and make sure that before we tackle big things whether it be in ministry or in life, that we are confirming God’s will for our lives and that his will would be the most important thing. Because if we put God’s will before our own then pride gets out of the way, then we don’t have to worry about beating ourselves into submission.

Shaving Cream Night

Just wanted to show you all our shaving cream night for the Jr. High. There were 35 of us total and it was a blast. We got the opportunity to hang out, do some worship and then get ready to smear each other with shaving cream for the rest of the night. It was awesome!

Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of
Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,
back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present
makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,
chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by
presence, lean by faith, love by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace
is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my
road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,
compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,
diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until
Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes. And when He comes to get
His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My colors will be clear.

Dog Vomit

I feel like a lot of times Israel is like a two year old who is constantly testing his limits, then when he gets hurt he runs crying back to daddy. Like hey I want to go jump this fence with rabid dogs on the other side, even though dad told me not to, then they get bit and torn to shreds and come crying back to dad saying save me save me. Granted this is the story of us and our sin as well. We know we shouldn’t, we do, we cry, we repent, we sin again, and so on and so forth. We are funny and it reminds of the verse that says a man will return to his folly as a dog returns to his vomit. Two days ago my dog puked and the licked it up, we are my dog, Israel is my dog.

The Word... Yo

Judges 1

It amazes me a lot of times when I read through the Old Testament how willing God is to hand over people groups to other people groups. When Israelites continually go in and beat up on the Canaanites, and God seems to smile and nod approvingly. What can we take from this chapter in our bibles then if all it is is a bunch of people going around killing one another and taking their lands? In the midst of all of this destruction and killing we do see a brief glimpse of grace when a man shows the Israelites how to break into the city called Luz and because of this spares the man and his family from death. But the more I read the more I don’t know if this is a case of God being happy that people are dying or Israelites and the 12 Tribes not fully doing there job, because as we get to the end of Chapter one there is a list of things and peoples that were left unconquered.

I don’t really know where I am going with this but I do know that the Israelites were called to do a job, after Joshua had died the Tribe of Judah with the help of the Tribe of Simeon, and annihilate the Cannanites. Regardless of what job it is that we are called to do, we are called to do it to the best of our abilities. We are called to live fully in Christ, and that means that in whatever it is, work or play, we are to be doing it for the Lord. It all comes back to worshipping God, that worship is more than singing on Sunday or to your local radio station on the way to work, it is about loving God with all your heart mind and soul and knowing that praising him with your actions is crucial to building a strong relationship with the God of our universe.

Community

It is pretty clear that we are called to live in community, i recently got an email from a friend who had this to say about Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 paraphrased -- "If we do life together... "we can help each other succeed," "we'll be picked up at the point of falling," "we can stay warm when the winter comes," "we can stand back to back and conquer"..."

Stand back to back and conquer, the wording is something out of a man movie, it seems William Wallace or Maximus should be uttering these words to their men in battle. I think a lot of time we forget that we are at war, a war that is unseen a war that is way more important than money, or political gain, or the economy, or whatever esle war conquers. We are called as Christians to live above ourselves as a part of this crazy thing called the world and too often we would rather shutter under the safety of the pew with our nose in a hymnal.

We are called to be the body of Christ, so it is time we step out and start acting like it, through service, in love, For Christ. We can stay warm when the winter comes folks.

Romans 1

It always amazes me how dedicated Paul is to the work of the Lord, and not only dedicated but excited. I think it is impossible to read through Romans and not be excited about sharing the word of the Lord. When I look at verses 16 and 17 I read about how unashamed Paul is of the gospel, how regardless of what is going on in the world, regardless of who it is, Paul is stoked to share the good news of Christ. He says for it is by the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… That is a reassuring thing for me to read considering my profession. That it isn’t my job to save students, it isn’t about me or how cool a program that I could put together but it is about the power of God. My job is to simply make that bridge to good available for my students and let God take it from there, besides, He is a lot better at it than I would ever be.

I guess that might be why in the second half of chapter 1 Paul begins talking about the difference between a foolish and a wise man as well as unbelief and the consequences that it holds for those who don’t love Jesus. We all need to take a step back and realize that it is all about God, not us, so whatever it may be that you are doing, do it for God… after all I think that is the very definition of worship.