Student Blog

This page will have a weekly post to challenge you and move you into thought provoking conversation with one another.

#12: Student Published Blog-5.27.09

Well guys it has been a long while since I published a blog for you to read… sorry about that! Things have  been crazy! From planning our one day mission trip, BRINC starting, and all of the changes in my home life like doctors appointments and utter exhaustion, it has left little time for me to focus on writing. I look forward to getting back in the groove of posting blogs a bit more promptly…. but for now I have a special treat for you…. Published this week is a blog written by a fellow brother in Christ and good friend to many of you. Josh Bennett who is one of our student worship leaders, now ending his freshmen year of high school (I think… sorry if I am a year off Josh)… has asked to publish a blog post on our site. With the help of his parents as editors he has pulled it off. Thanks Josh for your interest in publishing your school report on our site. May God use it to grow us all! Great insight! If there are others who are interested in publishing a blog, please see me. I would love for others to benefit from what the Lord has been teaching you!  

 

We Need Our Friends By: Josh Bennett

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”  I have heard quotes like that many times, but what do they really mean?  Do our friends actually impact us that much?  How much impact do we have on our friends?  Our friends have an incredible influence in our lives.  Often we surround ourselves with our friends, we worry about what they think of us, we want to be with them, and when we are life feels great!  But where are we going?  Are our friendships encouraging us to pursue Christ more, or just distracting us?  Fellow believers are not supposed to be a diversion, and Christians were not made to walk through life alone.  We need other believers to encourage us, to hold us accountable, and to challenge us to run passionately for Christ.

 Some may think that once they have accepted Christ life magically becomes easier, however, this is far from the truth.  Yes, being a Christian means that we have salvation from sin, but while we live in this world sin surrounds us.  Life is full of difficult decisions, temptations, questions, and pain.  Scripture tells us to“…encourage one another and build each other up…” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  Sin, tries to drag us down with lies, and that is why we must constantly preach biblical truths to one another.  If we are not constantly spurring one another on with the truth it becomes very easy to lose focus, especially for young believers.  Before we know it, that light we held so dear seems so far.

            Hebrews 3:13 says, “Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  Due to the deceit of sin we as believers must take our friendships to a deeper level of accountability.  During the Mystery Missions Trip, God taught me a valuable lesson.  The world believes that evil, or sin, is dark, scary, and easily identified, however, scriptures tell us, “…Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15a).  Like it states in Hebrews sin is deceitful!  It is for this very reason that we need other believers to hold us accountable.  We need to set biblical standards with our friends, and hold one another to them.  Without accountability it is easy to wander aimlessly away from our Savior, blinded by the deceitfulness of sin. 

While we must hold one another accountable so that we do not fall into sin, we need to be challenging one another to grow in our relationships with Christ.  We have to be constantly driving one another into an eager pursuit of God.  This means spurring our brothers and sisters to be in the Word daily, praying constantly, and living out Christ’s love not only to fellow believers but to the world around us.  It says in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  Accountability can not just be holding people away from sin, but it needs to be believers challenging one another to grow and be stretched by God.

Imagine a boy in a canoe, rowing as hard as he can to try to reach his goal.  However, the tide pulls the boat backwards and away from where he needs to go.  Are our friends like the tide, drawing us away from Christ, or are they in the boat rowing along side us?  School is almost over, which means summer!  But during the summer it is easy to drift away from church, from our Christian friends, from spending time with God, and from prayer.  This can not be!  Find a group of friends that love you and want the best for you, and hold one another accountable.  Be honest with one another, share your struggles, talk about what things in your life need to change, and pray for one another all the time!  This kind of love is hard, it causes us to be humble and vulnerable, but without it no one is there to warn us when we begin drifting into darkness.  So, let’s not be distractions to one another; let’s climb into the boat and row.

 

#11: Bride-Zilla-4.17.09

This past week, as I was studying to teach one of the college INSIGHT classes, I was reading a book called “Discovering an Evangelical Heritage” by Donald W. Dayton. Often I think about how we as the Bride of Christ have not always looked so beautiful. We have made mistakes, sinned, and inevitably continue to fall short of the glory of God. Our dress is wrinkled, we have make-up all over our faces in the wrong place, our hair is a mess… we look like “Bride-zilla.” Thank our Lord that Jesus makes us clean, white, and pure in the sight of our Father!

Anyways, while reading this book, I about fell out of my seat when I read that many denominations in the 1850’s would charge rental fees for pews in the churches! REALLY?! Wow. And we wonder why throughout the years people have not felt welcomed in our buildings? If it’s not rental for the pew, its what you are/where expected to wear, or how you look… what race you are.

I actually was in a meeting with a group of pastors here in the Lake County area and heard a story from one of them about a church that had allowed an after school Christian program to use their building, but when they noticed that all the after school participants were “black” the “white” congregation posted a picture of its members and drove a steak into the ground declaring that they were a “white church;” The goal was to drive out the afterschool program. Man does that make me sick!!! What is wrong with us? Sin. That’s all it is. There are NO EXCUSSES for actions like this… only explanations. Sin.

So, in your life… where are there areas that you may have given way to the world. To your sin. To dismissing God’s love and justice for “driving a steak in the ground…claiming to obey Satan and his cowardly ways?” Dear brothers and sisters, may we correct one another in love and reach upward for forgiveness and inward for repentance. For ourselves, our community, and our ancestors. Check out how Nehemiah prayed for His people in chapter 1. May God cultivate in our hearts the soil of humble repentance. Love you all.

#10: “for in the day that…”-3.27.09

Well, by now, most of you know that Steve and I are expecting a baby in November…maybe December of this year! Needless to say I am excited to be a mom!

One verse that really has been sticking out to me is the one about how we were knit together in our mother’s womb. We hear that verse a lot and may even dismiss the real meaning of it. We often relate it to how “unique and individual” we are and often neglect the biological wonders that are happening during such a time.

Have we ever truly praised God for His AMAZING work in our bodies? It does not even have to be the creation of a human life that we are praising Him for. Think about it… how has God done amazing things within your own body? Not only did He MAKE YOU, but think about how He heals and sustains. Even getting over the common cold is magnificent… It would kill you otherwise. Seriously… if you had a cold and God did not heal your body through the way He has created it to heal… you would die. Elderly people die each year from the flue!

With the reality of being a first time mom at hand, I have been reading this book called “What to Expect When You are Expecting.” It has lots of great stuff in it. Any question you could possibly have about being pregnant is answered. It has upset me a few times though…

It is obvious that the book is not written by a believer. Statements such as, “Isn’t mother nature amazing?” and “if you are not of the traditional heterosexual marriage please insert your own relationship title into this section…” make me SICK. Oh that God would come and fix this mess! He is longsuffering and patient, that is why He has not come yet. He desires none to perish. After catching a few blows from the book like that, I figured it would be good to go back and read through Genesis. I need to be aware of just how magnificent creation is at this time! Maybe more so now then ever before.

As I was reading in the second chapter of Genesis, I was struck what Chapter 2 verse 16-17 said: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”’  

I have always before read that verse as a warning. Never before had I read “for in the day that you eat of it” as prophetic. Christ was not plan B. God knew all that was going to happen… For Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. Therefore, since He knows all and is sovereign it should not surprise us that Scripture would unravel treasures such as this that lead us to bask in the radiance of the knowledge of God! Praise you Lord!

#9: Big Dreams!-3.17.09

I have big dreams. I don’t know that I like to call them dreams though… “dreams” sound so distant and unrealistic… maybe I should call them “resolves?” That sounds so permanent and defined though… reality is, that I have these “resolves” but just can’t fill in the middle… the whos, whats, whens, and wheres. It’s like knowing A and Z but not all the letters in-between. Have you ever had that experience… walking by faith?

So… I have been looking at the empty shops in Painesville… called a few realtors… “resolving” to open up a coffee shop/youth center in the heart of Painesville. Would you pray with me about how it is that this will all come about? Donna and I have our hearts set on this! There is a little shop that was owned by “parlor quilts” that is empty. The back half is this cute hardwood floored area with a carpeted loft. It would be perfect for a little café and a few couches and bookshelves… THEN… there is a large area in the front of the building that would be a perfect neutral location for area church youth to meet. How amazing would it be to be able to draw the community in through the café, share the love of Jesus with them, and then have a natural transition for them?!

I keep thinking of the name “The HUB.” Students being dispersed from the youth center and into Painesville! Would you pray with me that this happens? How amazing would it be if it happens before this youth rally in the Painesville Square on June 5^th? I would love to have a place to point these kids to!!! Please pray for the Rally to. Donna and I are just at the very beginning of the planning stage. May God strengthen us… may it be done His way… May HE BE GLORIFIED!!!!

#8: Coming in the Clouds-3.6.09

I have been reading in Revelation lately. It is a powerful book that is first of all about our God who is faithful, beautiful, and just, and secondly a book about the end times. I trust that this book is in the Bible for us to read and comprehend… “for all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” -2 Timothy 3:16.

I fear that too often we neglect the book of revelation and write it off as “too hard to understand” or “not for us to worry about”… but in that thinking, we have just placed our own understanding and authority above what 2 Timothy 3:16 states. I have done this myself in the past. Recently it has become a conviction in my heart to be attentive to the study of eschatology and “end-times” Scripture. If we are in the “end times” (thought to have started after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and Pentecost… shouldn’t we be concerned about what Scripture has to say about these times?

Now you and I both know that we know not the time or day when Jesus will return in all His glory… for even the Son himself does not know…only the Father knows… but… we do know the signs of the times and we do need to be prepared. When He returns will He find faith here on earth? Will He find faith in our hearts and lives? Are we waiting in anticipation and expectation for our King of Kings or are we so consumed with our day to today lives that we neglect the more real reality? Have even the “good things” such as ministry eaten away our appetite for a deeper knowledge of Him and His coming Kingdom? Are we as the Bride making ourselves ready? (Rev. 19:7).

Anytime you read of an angelic encounter or a Chistophony (manifestation of Christ in the Old Testament), humans who encounter such a word from God, a presence, fall prostrate… pass out… and are OVERWHELMED to say the least. DO we realize how holy He is? May we all fall prostrate in worship and be diligent in the study of His coming reign!

Behold He is coming with the clouds,

And every eye will see him,

Even those who pierced him,

And all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him

-Revelation 1:7

#7: “Arise…Shine”-2.20.09

What a week! Can I just praise God with you over what He has been doing this past week??? Ahhh! He is sooo good….words cannot express how AMAZING HE IS! Since our last blog entry the Lord has opened many doors…which seem to be the foundation for revival, He has saved souls, and is pursuing people right before my eyes… what a beautiful sight.

Many of you know that I go to a little restaurant called The Sidewalk Café and work from there often. It has become my office away from my office. I love it there. I love the fact that it is right in the heart of downtown Painesville. I get to watch the city bustling from one of the two window seats on a regular basis, the food is good…it’s cheep… and refills on coffee are free, BUT most of all I LOVE the people there. It’s so much fun to go into a place where everyone who works there knows your name, and as you look around you in turn, not only know their names but also the names of about ½ the regulars that have picked that little restaurant as their “nook” as well. I had a similar nook in Kent at one time. Susan’s….hmmmm…I miss that place every so often. I try to make an effort to get down there a few times a year still. The Lord certainly used Susan’s Coffee and Tea as a place to prepare me for Painesville and the people that the Lord would have me to minister to.

Since I have written last, one of the waitresses has become a believer! We are now studying and reading God’s Word together once a week. She is so excited and in turn my heart swells with joy and tears flood my eyes each time I think about how she is now my sister in the Lord! If that is not exciting…. there is a young lady that I went to high school with who is coming to church this week as well as a dad of one of my best guy friends in high school! Pray Pray Pray!!! Totally unrelated but still all too amazing for me to comprehend!

Since I have written last, I also have a new friendship with a deaf man. The first time I met him was when I was reading the Word in one of the front windows of that coffee shop. He stopped to ask me what I was reading. Imagine that. In just our first conversation…(mind you I know not a stitch of sign language and have never talked with a deaf person)… the doors were opened to share the Gospel…and I did. I don’t know how I understood him and he me, but God had to be in the mix of it all. Pastor Mark jokingly laughed at me when I told him about this experience and said…. “Bre….you were talking in hands!” haha. Whatever it was, he understood and I am still witnessing to him as I see him.

My homeless friend Kevin and I had a great conversation about God yesterday as well. He is a very intelligent and well read man. He knows quite a lot. He just does not know our Lord. We have been friends for about a year now. He continues to come to my INSIGHT class and Bible study as he can. May he be drawn to Truth and Light!

I had the opportunity to take Pastor Mike from Uganda around the area. His testimony is AMAZING! I will not ruin for those of you who have not heard it yet. He will be with us this Sunday at 90@9. The stories that he told me about Africa will BLOW YOU AWAY. To give you a taste…revival is full force over there….the AIDS rate has dropped from I think he said 64% to 7%. People are being healed and literally hundreds and even thousands are coming to Christ EVERY DAY! As I expressed my heart for revival… he assured me that the things happening here in Painesville are similar to the seeds that were planted in Africa that started revival there.

On Thursday morning I was able to go to a prayer meeting with Pastor Jeff. This meeting…get this…was with pastors from Painesville area churches that are praying for REVIVAL! They meet twice a month. These pastors were from Baptist churches, Lutheran, Non-Denominational….you name it! And get this….there is a group of pastors meeting in Madison doing the SAME THING! I now have the privilege of meeting with two groups and praying for God to unleash His Glory and to renew this land!!!

All I have to say is that we all had better be on our knees…faces to the ground… repenting and praying for God to move because when He does its gonna shake this area like we have never seen before! Praise you Lord Jesus!

Arise, Shine, for your light has come,

And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

And thick darkness the peoples;

But the Lord will arise upon you.

And nations shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see;

They all gather together, they come to you;

Your sons shall come from afar,

And your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

Then you shall see and be radiant;

Your heart shall thrill and exult.

-Isaiah 60:1-5

 

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

-2 Chronicles 7:14

#6: God of this City-2.9.09

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this past week’s post up, but as many of you know I was in Bowling Green and then in Chicago for the weekend.

You know, there is just something about the city. Over and over again I would look out and see PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE! Those of you who know me well know that I am a people person…so I was right at home in the city. Actually, I enjoyed the city, but I really missed you guys, my INSIGHT students and the little quaint city of Painesville. Over and over my heart and mind kept prompting me back to where God has called me. It is good to be where God has you.

While on the bus ride out to Chicago from Toledo, I met a young Hindu man from India by the name of Bhaumik Patel. He has been in the states for about a year now studying pharmaceutics. It was so cool to talk with him, learn about what he believes and be able to share Jesus with him. At one point on the bus I asked him if he would like to listen to a song on my ipod about India. It was a song by Jars of Clay from their “Share the Well” album. He LOVED IT! Needless to say, he spent a long time listening to my ipod on the trip…all songs on there were of Christian nature. Praise God! Bhaumik Patel and I have spent some time over facebook recently. I am praying that God uses this tool to reach this young man.

This next Sunday we are going to be talking about how it is that we can be using technology such as social networking (facebook, texting, myspace), to glorify God in all we do. What limitations should there be and what safe guards should be installed.

Back to Chicago though… have you ever heard the song “God of this City” by Chris Tomlin? As I stood on the 95^th floor of the Hancock building, my mind was flooded with just how big our God is. The lyrics from that song played over and over in my mind as I prayed them to the King of Kings. “You’re the God of this city, You’re the king of these people, You’re the Lord of this nation, You are, You’re the light in this darkness, You’re the hope to the hopeless, Your the peace to the restless, You are, There is NO ONE LIKE OUR GOD, There is NO ONE LIKE YOU GOD, for greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city.”

That song certainly is something that I have been praying over Painesville, but it took my breath away when I looked down over the city and thought of all the people…how God has each and every one of their hairs numbered on their heads. Wow.

Not only was I astounded by the reality of how big the city was as it bustled with people, but I was also amazed at how much waste there is…how greedy human kind is. The area I visited was very affluent to say the least. I walked past the building Oprah lives in, was in the building Jerry Springer lives in, went into a car dealership (Lamborghini) and saw a ½ million dollar car! ½ a million dollars! WHAT A WASTE! I even saw…get this…a store dedicated to the “American Girl Doll” where ….I am not kidding…there was an escalator for people and a separate one for the dolls, as well as an individual chair for the plastic toys to sit in as the kids and their families ate dinner! WHAT IS WRONG WITH US!!! I just about got sick… my stomach turned and I literally almost lost my lunch! With all the prosperity, I also saw so much pain, hurt, and loneliness. As the women carried their goochy and coach purses and the guys drove their ½ million dollar cars around, they too carried a saddened face, a longing heart, unsatisfied by anything this world has offered them.

I was just reading a devotional by Joseph M. Stowell that really mirrored some of my thoughts and experiences with the affluent culture of Chicago… “Even the most casual observer notices that the more sophisticated and technically advanced our society becomes, the more decadence and despair are evident. Increasingly, I meet followers of Christ who live on the edge of depression about the degenerate forces of society in politics, music, pop culture, and even the church.” He goes on to say elsewhere, “What the world needs is something to hope in. Not the hope that simply wishes something could be true, but a hope based confidently on the reality of a God who is certain and true regardless of the turmoil in our won souls and the world around us. As the fabric of the world continues to unravel, our stability must be anchored in the One who does not move: Jesus Christ, the solid rock”….and my I add…. “THE GOD OF THIS CITY.” 

“For I see violence and strife in the city.

Day and night they go around it on its walls,

And iniquity and trouble are within it;

Its ruin in its midst;

oppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace”

-Psalm 55:9

#5: Let God be God-1.25.09

How often have we let our circumstances and situations drive us NUTS? How many times have we asked God to take that “thorn” out of our side? Oh…let me tell you…I HAVE BEEN THERE! I am one of those who time after time have asked God to change some of my situations over and over… only to get the response… “LET ME BE GOD BREANNA. I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING.” Uggg.

I do trust that. I do. I trust that because my God is sovereign. I trust that because I trust His promises. He has given me promises though His Word. Promises that I have already partly seen come true, and sooooo many promises still have yet to come!

How many of you journal? I was never much of a reader, writer, let alone a journal-er until about 3 years ago. In 2007, I started to see a need for my journaling. I was seeing so many connections that I could not deny were God’s workings. It was crazy… I would be thinking about something throughout the day in class…(praying to God through conversation in my head) and then all of a sudden it would correspond with something that happened that day, a Bible verse, or something someone would say. Sometimes even ALL those at once! It was clear to me that as I was conversing with God, that He was answering me… I just needed to be expectant and listen. Once I started writing all these things down it became apparent to me that He was laying before me His revelation for specific things in my life. He was speaking to me. He has compassion for us. He genuinely can take our sorrows, burdens, and fears and blend them into a beautiful passion for Him and His perfect love.

We say we trust God’s Word… but do we? Even when He has given us promises that are LOUD AND CLEAR… do we trust Him? I am preaching to myself right now. I know what He has said, but oh the clouds look soooooo gray sometimes.

One thing that I have realized is that if I am not 100% focused on the Gospel, on His perfect plan, on His Glory, then I am apt to look to my emotions and dive deep into places in my mind that steal the true joy that God offers. The peace that comes so full and comforting. Emotions themselves are not the problem…it’s how we respond to the emotions. The emotions are real, made for us so that we could “feel,” but do we let them rule our lives? Do we let our emotions guide us to places that are not healthy, not Godly? Do we try and tame them in our own power? Or, do we experience the emotion and in turn run to Jesus and ask Him to resolve what we know is not in our power to conquer? Will we let our God be our God or will we let our emotions?

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

My cause is disregarded by God”?

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

The Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tiered or weary

And his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

And increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

And young men stumble and fall;

But those who hope in the Lord

Will renew their strength

They will soar on wings like eagles;

They will run and not grow weary,

They will walk and not be faint.

-Isaiah 40:27-31

#4: You Have Not Passed This Way-1.17.09 

I have been reading though the book of Joshua in my time with the Lord. There is something about the book of Joshua that I can’t seem to get enough of. I never tire of reading or seeing these Scriptures. I guess if I had to pick a book in the Bible to label “favorite,” I would choose Joshua. I think one of the reasons that I like it so much is because it offers an amazing picture of God’s perfect and complete plan in action. Promises that God has given are fulfilled. What He has said is done, and there is nothing that can change that. Even in the most earnest attempt by the enemy to hinder God’s plan for His people, sovereignty still reigns and at the end of the day God comes out on top. I think of a line in a song that says “All Your promises are true, I will lift up my life to You.” This is just what Joshua did, he lifted up his life unto God. In Joshua, a river is crossed, a land in taken, it is then divided, and later service unto the Lord is established. How many of the events that occur in the book of Joshua can be applied to our own hearts and lives? Think about it… what river do we have to cross? What land is there to conquer? What inheritance is there to divide and share? What privilege of service is there to do for our God?

So often I think we get stuck in a “story.” We forget that the Bible is full of real people, in real situations, where God is REALLY ALIVE AND ACTIVE! Do we think the same of our own lives? Are our lives just a “story” or are God’s purposes alive and active? Are we attentive to His work in our lives? I am captivated by the verses in Joshua 3:2-6…

“At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, ‘As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from you place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.’ Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’ And Joshua said to the priests, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.’ So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.”

The Ark of the Covenant represents Gods presence with His people. He leads and guides us not from a piece of furniture called an ark but now even more so from within, from a dwelling made not of wood and overlaid with gold, but from within the innermost place of our beings. Do we trust that He will lead us, do we trust that He has gone before us, that we may know which way to go…since we have not passed this way before?

 

“Stand by the roads, and look,

And ask for the ancient paths,

Where the good way is; and walk in it,

And find rest for your souls.”

–Jeremiah 6:16

 

But I trust in you, O LORD;

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hand.

–Psalm 31:14

#3: A Prayer of Submission-1.8.09

The more I read about the reformation, the means and people by which, and whom which God used to bring about His purpose for change, the more my heart aches to see such a thing happen in my day. For the outpouring of God’s Spirit to be so prevalent in my life and yours, that all will know and see that Jesus is Lord and that He is coming back one day. To see Him glorified, to see souls rescued from the depths of hell. To see people living for more than their own comfort, to see the Gospel proclaimed in such clarity with the lives and salvation that we have been given, that people KNOW that we are His. Let us not “ignore such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3).

We celebrate His first advent faithfully every year at Christmas, but do we celebrate the promise of, and anticipate His second coming with just as much sincerity of heart and reality of mind? Not only did people such as Wesley and Edwards, Luther and Calvin, understand that He is coming back one day, they understood that the days are short. They understood that much work was to be done for the Kingdom in their days. They understood what Mordecai meant when He sent a letter to Esther in chapter 4 saying, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” They understood that with God all things are possible. They understood that He is alive and active and willing to use those who desire to be used in whatever capacity He chooses to use them.

This next Sunday I have the privilege of setting before you a call that is on my heart and that I too hope is rooted deep within yours. God is on the move here at LCC and in Painesville. I will leave you in anticipation as to what the details of this thing is until then (some of you already know what I am talking about). Be sure of one thing…He will be glorified!

With any movement of God, if we are to be useful, we are to be humble and prayerful. If we desire to see great and mighty things of God, we are to be aware that it is not us who is ultimately responsible for His work but the Creator Himself. We are called to be obedient. To that end I ask you this, Have you ever prayed such a prayer as this? Below is an expert out of Wesley’s journal. It is a prayer of totally submission to God, a prayer of reckless abandon. It is a prayer of trust and anticipation. As you read, ask God to make this a reality in your life. Ask Him to make this a reality in the lives of your family and friends. My heart cries for revival. Does yours?

“To you, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, my Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, I give up myself entirely. May I no longer serve myself, but you, all the days of my life.

I give you my understanding.May it be my only care to know you, your perfections, your works, and your will. Let all things else e as dross unto me, for the excellence of this knowledge, and let me silence all reasonings against whatsoever you teach me, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

I give you my will. May I have not will of my own. Whatsoever you will, may that be my will, and that only. May I will your glory in all things, as you do, and make that my end in everything. May I ever say with the Psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you,” May I delight to do your will, O God, and rejoice to accept it. Whatever threatens me, let me say, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.” And whatever befalls me, let me give thanks, since it is your will concerning me.

I give you my affections. Dispose of them all. Be my love, me fear, my joy; and my nothing have any share in the, but in respect to you and for your sake. What you love, may I love; what you hate, may I hate, and that in such measures as you are pleased to prescribe for me.

I give you my body. May I glorify you with it, and preserve it holy, fit for you, O God, to dwell in. May I neither indulge it, nor use to much rigor towards it; but keep it, as far as in me lies, healthy, vigorous, and active, and fit to do you all manner of service that you shall call for.

I give you all my worldly goods. May I prize them and use them only for you. May I faithfully restore to you, in the poor, all you have entrusted to me with, above the necessaries of life; and be content to part with them too, whenever you, my Lord, shall require them at my hands.

I give you my credit and reputation. May I never value it, but only in respect of you; nor endeavor to maintain it, but as it may do the service and advance your honor in the world.

I give you myself and my all. Let me look upon myself to be nothing, apart from you. Be the sole disposer and governor of myself and all; be my portion and my all.

O my God and my all, when hereafter I shall be tempted to break this solemn engagement, when I shall be pressed to conform to the world and to the company and customs that surround me, may my answer be: “I am not my own. I am not for myself, not for the world, but for my God. I will give unto God the things that are God’s. God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

#2: The Unquenchable Worshipper-12.31.08

“In a potentially hypnotizing world, the challenge for undivided worshippers is to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus– simple to define perhaps but in practice not quite so easy. Our hearts are tugged in so many different directions. Around every corner are new distractions fighting for our attention. — So many things that could deflect our time and energy away from loving God.”

The above quote comes from the little book “The Unquenchable Worshipper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman. I find that I often tug this book off the shelf when I know I need a good reminding. A good reminding of what a true worshipper of our God looks like. As the New Year is on its way…in literally a few hours on my end of the screen, lets take some time to evaluate and reflect.

As I look over the year of 2008 and what God has done in my own personal life, it takes quite a bit to hold back the tears of gratitude for His more than apparent, active and refining work in my life. How about yours? I am sure He is just as much at work in your life as He has been in mine! What’s that you say? You are not sure that He really has been? Could it be that you have missed His work because you are distracted by all the things that fight for our attention in this world?

I notice that the more in tune I am with God, the times when I am really hearing from Him, and am immersed in His Word, are the times when His work in my life is beyond apparent. In the times when I am seeking His will He answers, and in the times when I cry out to Him He Comforts. In the times when I feel like He is so distant I KNOW He is not and even if I cannot see Him at work…I KNOW He is working on His behalf yet at the same time working all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Take some time right now to reflect on what He has done in your life this past year. The good and the bad times. Praise Him for the perfect and complete work that He does! My New Year’s resolution if I may is: A Greater Commitment to Christ in 2009!

Teach me your way, O LORD,

        and I will walk in your truth;        

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

-Psalm 86:11

#1: Too Easily Pleased-12.15.08

The past few days I have been reading “Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist” a book written by John Piper. I am a little over 100 pages in and LOVE IT! I have read two other books by him, “God’s Passion for His Glory” being my favorite so far, and listened to countless sermons, and have yet to be untouched by his overarching desire to communicate man’s chief end, which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever! His passion for the Gospel, the Glory of God, and our lives in focus of God’s Kingdom plan, is much to be desired. God, will you open the doors of my heart and life to be as effective for your kingdom as this man has been?

In “Desiring God,” Piper includes an excerpt from one of C.S. Lewis’ sermons in 1941. He quotes: “If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that the Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. WE ARE FAR TOO EASILY PLEASED!” -end quote.

That’s it! We are far too easily pleased! What do you think that means? What is it that you are far too easily pleased with right now in your life that is hindering unhindered worship of our Savior? What pitiful pleasures are you settling for?

But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the LORD.  ”My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

-Jeremiah 2:11-13