Jesus

Cheap Imitation or Authentic Reproduction?

Cheap Imitation or Authentic Reproduction?

I encourage you to delve into scripture and to analyze the way you are living your life. I beg you to ask yourself if your life is a true embodiment of the image of Christ or are you simply a cheap carnival Imitation? The message below was preached on 3/24/2018 and I encourage you all, not only watch it but to take to heart the matters of which I discuss. Take Christianity and take being a follower of Christ into true and mindful thought, ask yourself what that truly means, ask yourself the tough questions, ask yourself where you truly are, do you really know who Christ is or are you simply talking a talk you will never walk? God Bless!

Different Languages, Same Prayers!

This was a short worship I shared via video in my absence at church in preparation for my upcoming presentation about what amazing things had occurred while our group was in Brazil on a mission trip!

Mission Trip... I need your Help!

On July 9th I will be flying out of Washington DC to Cuiaba Brasil, from there we will go to a small village about 5 hours outside of the city limits. In this village we will be leading out in an Evangelistic series, Vacation Bible School, building a Hut Church, along assisting in various other capacities. Here is where I need your help. My church has so graciously donated the money for the plane tickets for this mission trip but alas there are still things that need to be covered; Food, lodging, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses that go into the projects we will be completing. Therefore I am humbly requesting that you assist in not only my journey to Brasil but in spreading the gospel message by going to the page titled "Missions" and clicking on the donate button. For this particular project I have roughly $550.00 left to raise and every single cent and prayer would be greatly appreciated. If I am unable to keep things updated while I am away on the mission trip you can count on a full album of pictures and a detailed post on how God blessed through your generous prayers and contributions at the end of this journey. Below is a video that gives a bit of detail about the trip and people we will be ministering to! 

Labor Day

I know it has been I while and Im sorry, I'm hoping to upload some of my sermons soon in my podcast section so keep a heads up for those and the following is what I will be sharing tomorrow for sharing time at my church. I hope you enjoy :) 

“Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Luke 10:2

    Labor Day weekend is my weekend, I claim it!  Not only has it assured me an extra day off from work or school but it has always guaranteed that there would be a day off to celebrate my Birthday! It wasn't until recently though that I actually looked into the history of Labor Day and where it comes from. “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”1

    When I first read this, there were three key words that stuck out to me; Contributions, strength and prosperity. I began to associate these words with another type of “Labor Day”.  By exchanging the use of the word country for church or Body of Christ we can draw a directive from this September holiday. 

    For this brief interlude of time for which I have your attention I want not to give you answers, but to make you think. As you go throughout the rest of your day or week and you go into your own mission field, be that your work, home, or your own neighborhood, I want you to muddle through and contemplate the following. Are you doing all you can to Contribute, as one of the laborers for the bountiful harvest of God? Are you lending your Strength when others may stumble and fall or giving encouragement to the downtrodden God has placed in your path? And lastly are you listening closely to the Holy Spirit so that in whatever you may do you may be Profitable in your witness that the day of the Lord may come soon and his Laborers may go home?

1:https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history

Crossroad

    Have you ever been there, at the cross roads of life? Looking both ways but not knowing which is right. Staring into the distance trying to see  just a glimmer of light? As if at a stop light that never turns green, your stuck at the intersection of me and He. But the roads aren’t labeled for as far as you can see. 

    As you cry out for guidance with this burden on your heart it seems that your still standing in the dark. You fear that this time He has left you alone to weigh for your self the things that you do and do not know. Although in your heart you acknowledge that its not him, in this moment that negative idea is the strongest of all of them. 

    Where do I go? Which way to I turn? Tears fill your eyes as you seek to learn. Learn of your path and learn where it leads, surrendering to something that you can’t even see.If the faith of a mustard seed can move the earth how little is yours? Is it even the size of a grain of dirt? Stepping into the dark when you can’t know what’s next is the hardest test man has been handed yet. I what something solid, tangible,and real, at least to the standards that world sets for my feels. Why can’t I know, why can’t I see, why does trusting have to be so hard for me? Are there people out there that God still speaks to and if there is why can’t it be me or you? What have I done wrong which way did I turn. to prevent me from hearing the voice that I especially yearn?

    Is God actually talking yet his voice is so still that I can’t seem to slow my life enough to hear his will? I think I am asking and I think I am really there , putting all of me in front  of Him, down on my knees in constant prayer. “God please lead me, show me my path because I am terrified of incurring  your wrath”. Wait there it is there is, the crux of my spiritual life, the fear in my heart in the realization that my sense of God has fallen apart. When I look at the past I know what He has done each time and I realize my prayers were not filled with words rather silence was all that was there as I simply set down tuning my ear.

    So I now re-close my eyes and bow my throbbing head as the prayer I now pray changes exponentially. “God I don't want to see where my path leads because I know where I go is where you will lead. You've shown me time and time again the road I should take and though rugged terrain has gotten in the way, the scars I have gathered the muscles that have grown, the person I am is one who now knows. Knows of your love and knows of you plan and is willing to follow you even if it is to foreign land. I have this trouble because somewhere along the way there was a seed planted that should have been thrown instantly away. Satan has bombarded me with the things of this world, he has made me too busy to see the things of my past, of where I once was to where I now am. So give me your eyes to see people as you do to look on the world with a heart of flesh gifted from you. So here it is as the core of my plea at this point I hand over my life for I am truly tired of this inward strife. Wipe away my concerns and the voices in my head competing with the words you have already said. Make clear in my mind the path of which you would have me go. Allow me to see only the footsteps your Son has made for me to follow. Make me the Christian I long to become and add to my faith when I seem to have none. Forgive me for my doubt and not listening to your will. Open my heart so that I may be wholly thine, never questioning what has been made clearly divine. Please open and shut the doors that I need and to trust that you will never mislead. The Devil is the father of lies his deceptive devices are not thine. You lead with clear insight showing the way so send Satan out so that I may not be lead astray. I die to myself so that you might live and that the resurrected life I now lead is yours to give. Give to your people, give to the world, take everything I have and use in anyway you see fit, for by giving my all and surrendering my will I know that you have the ability to heal. So touch my lips with the coals from heavens door and anoint my spirit that I may listen forever more.

Long Time No See!

I know it has been a grievously long time since I last was able to post. A lot of things have been going on in my life. First there was finals week, graduation, moving, working on my RV and plus we don't have internet at home but I thought I would take a moment to update y'all a bit. 

I actually just yesterday got the news that I have been officially accepted to Loma Linda's Chaplaincy program! Which is super duper exciting!!! What I am praying about now is simply to stay a year back here with my parents getting a job, taking some of Loma Linda's classes online, and trying to get some CPEs' (Clinical Pastoral Education) in. 

In about a week I will be headed down to Texas to see all my wonderful family which will surely bring some  adventures! I am finally able to slow things down a bit right before they pick back up. Meanwhile I will be here typing some more application essay's for my CPE's. It is rather interesting being here in PA because its like living a semi-normal less nomadic life.... on the other hand if I were given a ticket to fly to anywhere I would jump right on that plane. I am still quite filled with wanderlust and I know my traveling days are far from over. In fact were are currently in the process of renovation my RV which will be my actual house. Many people think that I have settled for living in an RV because it is the cheapest, but actually it has always been my dream and I hope to actually upgrade to just a van some day soon. I want to get down to whatever I need for survival and to live can fit in a simple backpack. To be able to jump on a plane and go is my dream. 

Well I have so much more to share but simply not enough time so for now I will bid you all farewell but hopefully I will be back very soon! 

P.S. I have a secret I would love to share with y'all but it will have to wait till another day :D