Piles of Books on My Night Stand

VULNERABLE
"To be vulnerable in the true sense does not mean that someone must become a doormat, a weakling, devoid of all pride, going out of his way to let others know all his faults and weaknesses. Nor is vulnerability to be confused with the idea of ‘letting-it-all-hang-out’, to be vulnerable is to be strong enough to be able to present ourselves without false props, without an artificial display of our credentials. In brief, to be vulnerable is to be strong enough to be honest and tender. Like Jesus, the person who is vulnerable is a person who cares enough to let himself be weak, precisely because he does care…"
-Ronald Rolheiser

ON PRAYER
"Asking of God and receiving from the Lord--direct application to God, immediate connection with God--that is prayer"
-E.M. Bounds
"The possibilities of prayer are guaged by faith in God's ability to do. Faith is the one prime condition by which God works. Faith is one prime condition by which man prays. Faith draws on God for it full extent. Faith gives charecter to prayer. A feeble faith has always brought forth feeble praying. A vigorous faith creates vigorous praying."
-E.M. Bounds
"Prayer is not something we do when we have stopped thinking; prayer is a way of thinking. It is not something we do to avoid the hard choices we have to make, but a way of discovering the wisest choice and finding the strength to make it."
-Mauice Boyd

“The pastor who succeeds in changing his people from a prayerless to a prayerful people, has done a greater work than did Augustus in changing a city from wood to marble. And after all, this is the prime work of the preacher. Primarily, he is dealing with prayerless people—with people of whim I is said, “God is not in all their thoughts.” Such people he meets everywhere, and all the time. His main business is to turn to them from being forgetful of God, from being devoid of faith, from being prayerless, so that they become people who habitually pray, who believe in God, remember him, and so his will. The preacher is not sent to merely induce men to join the church, now merely to get them to do better. It is to get them to pray, to trust God, and to keep God ever before their eyes, that they may not sin against him.”

-E.M. Bounds
“True believers obey the Lord’s commands, submitting to His Word (John 14:21,23). Because of their commitment to God’s Word, they are devoted to His will, thus their prayers are fruitful (John 14:13, 14), which puts God’s glory on display as He answers."

-Johnny Mac

GCI Sr. High Summer Camp 2009

This summer has been filled with more blessings from the Lord than I saw coming. It is such a privilege to serve our God and this August I got to serve with the High School youth group that the Lord saved me in. How wonderful it was to be there with high school girls ministering to their hearts and souls. It was not too long ago that I was there in their shoes with the battle of trying to fit in, yet seeing that God had a greater calling for my life. Being there with the girls was a good reminder of how on fire I was for the Lord as a teenager, and this reminder made me all the more thankful for the suffering and trial I went through during that time that caused me to want to live my whole life for Jesus and no one else. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to increase our perseverance!

The theme of camp was being a doer of His Word, not just a hearer. Kill apathy, it is such a waste to hear and have it go in one ear and out the other. My prayer for the kids was that what would go in their ears this weekend would penetrate their hearts and turn their faith into action.

Session 1: Where am I building my house? On a rock? Or on sand? If it is on a rock the foundation is strong and the house shall stand, but if it is on the sand, then it will crumble to the ground. Trust in God and I am building my house on the rock, but if I trust in man, I am building my house on the sand.

Session 2: Don’t just audit! We are saved by grace through faith, but works is a demonstration of that faith. Performing works does not save, but it glorifies our Father in Heaven.

Session 3: Do not be ashamed of the Gospel, stand firm, and be a light in the world!

Girls Devotion Time: Spending time with the Lord is like filling up the cup and our service to God is an outpour of that time spent with the Lord in His Word. Without that time in God’s word and with the strength in our flesh, it will be difficult to serve the Lord, or if we do, it can be in vain, in our own strength, or to impress man and appear to be spiritual. The perquisite to being a doer: making sure that you are nurturing your personal relationship with the Lord and that can be done by: reading His Word, praying, meditating on His Word, and Memorizing His Word. Write God’s Word on your heart, because it is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path.

Overall, the weekend went well. We had much time at the beach to play on the sand, in the water, and under the sun. We got to go bowling, we got to play music, sing songs, throw footballs, eat together, sleep in tents, and encourage each other!

Personal Lesson: One of the nights in our tent, we were talking about versus in the New Testament commanding us to love others as Christ loves us. I got to thinking about the fact that Christ died for us, and I should be willing to die for others. We were informed that the camper next to our site housed a pedophile. We were encouraged to move our site, since we had many teenagers, but we did not want to frighten the kids, so we spent some time praying for God’s protection and we decided to stay on our site. At night after our discussion when all of us girls laid our heads down to sleep I started to think about the situation. If our tent had a threat from an intruder, would I be willing to put myself before all the girls in harms way out of love? Do I love these girls in a way that I would be willing to die for them? Throughout the night when I would hear foot steps or noises, versus that command us to love others more than ourselves came to mind. It turned out that God protected us over the weekend. The foot steps that I would hear outside our tent turned out to be the boys playing a practical joke; Zip Tying our tents so we couldn’t get out. I laugh at the reality that was really happening! I am glad that it was just the boys, but I do not want to forget about the questions that came to mind that night. Do I love others so much, that I would be willing to die for them?

I hope to make being a part of this camp a tradition!

Surrounded By the Indian Ocean on the Island of Sri Lanka

I have never seen such a thing.

Hindu procession: fish like hooks pierce the skin of men in many places [knee caps, thighs, calves, back, elbows, and arms] to hold them from the trunk of a tree as they are swung; self inflicted pain. Why? Because they believe it will bring them blessing.

I can say again that I have never seen such a thing.

God has saved me from so much. I am free and I have victory over sin because of Jesus who took the price for the sins that I have committed or ever will commit. Lately, I have been so amazed at the Lord’s steadfast love. He loves me even though I wrong Him day after day. He loves. He is Lovely. He is the love of my life. He knows my heart so deeply and loves me still. Lord, there is no One like you. Change me, I want to be more like you.

Through my human eyes, those who are hard to love are just that, hard to love; my sin. But, God who is rich in mercy and loving kindness, is willing to love all the more to capture those hard hearts and make them into hearts that are surrendered to Him. Lord, give me the desire of your heart.

Having surrendered my heart to Him, because of His great work in my heart; I am free. No need for me to pierce my skin with fish hooks, or roll on the ground; Jesus took the nails and I am free. I am no longer in bondage.

Seeing such darkness made real how deceived people are by human philosophies. Sad to see that those men that day, inflicting so much physical pain, think that they will receive blessing from such an act. Humbled that my ears hear, my eyes see, and I am compelled to live a life that is not wasted.

Despite the darkness, great glory of our creator was seen in the island: cinnamon colored beaches, tea fields, waterfalls, pretty skies, fellowship with friends, tropical rain, Coral reefs, fish, unique fruits, and precious people who do love Jesus, and are committed to furthering the good news there.

This “tail end” of my summer trip was used by God to make my heart more broken for the things that break God’s heart.