Have you ever thought about what prayer really is? I mean, I think a lot of us realize that it is a means of talking to God. But why was it given to us? And why did Jesus pray? If Jesus was God, why did he have to pray? What is so special that Jesus spent hours upon hours in prayer (Matthew 26:39, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, John 17, Luke 22:44)?
This whole idea of prayer is something that has been working on me a lot over the past year. All throughout the Bible, we see such a heavy emphasis on prayer, but why is it so absent from the Christian body today? Why is it that we have resorted to repetitive, thoughtless prayers before dinner? Why is it that we struggle to stay awake when praying before bedtime? Why is it that we simply just throw up one or two sentences when someone asks us to pray for them? Jacob wrestled with God and said, "I will not let go until you bless me" (Genesis 32:26). When is the last time you said that to God? When is the last time that you wrestled in prayer?
When doing research on prayer, I have discovered a lot of why's, when's, and how to's. But I will leave out all of that research right now and challenge you to do that on your own. But I do want to bring up one reason for praying that I see as extremely important and often overlooked:
I have been studying Systematic Theology and have recently reached the point of studying the attributes of God. One attribute of God is that He is unchanging. If you need evidence of this, check out Psalm 102:25-27, Malachi 3:6, and James 1:17.
However, there are instances where it appears that God changes His mind. In Exodus 32:9-14, He withdraws His threatening judgment to the Israelites after Moses successfully intervenes through prayer. In Isaiah 38:1-6, God states that Hezekiah will die, but then He adds fifteen years to his life after Hezekiah pleads with Him in prayer. In Jonah 3, God states His plan to destroy Nineveh (vs. 4), but He relents after they repent and plead in prayer (vs. 10).
So what is my point here? My point is that God's attribute of being unchanging is an attribute of character, not an attribute of intention. In these times where He relented, His character did not change, only His intentions did. God stated that He would send judgment, and that was a true statement, provided that the situation remained the same. But with the intercession of prayer (Moses and Hezekiah) and the repentance (Nineveh), the situation changed, and therefore God's intentions also changed.
Hopefully I haven't lost you in my train of thought. But if I have, come back in for my conclusion:
God obviously responds to prayer. This was just evidenced in the passages above and is referenced all throughout scripture (ex. 2 Chronicles 7:14). And though it is not possible to change the character of God, nor is it possible to change the overall intentions of God, it is possible to change the present intentions of God through prayer. In fact, that is why prayer has been given to us. Prayer has been ordained to cause things to happen that would not normally happen if it wasn't for prayer. Why else would Jesus pray? Why else would He teach so much about it?
Some may wrestle over this fact because they may think it calls into question the sovereignty of God. Easy solution to that objection: maybe God has appointed the blessings to occur only if and when you pray for them.
So what generated this blog post? As you all know, recently, a major earthquake struck Chile. As a result, large tsunami waves were generated throughout the Pacific Ocean and were on route to destroy many other nations. I received a text message Saturday afternoon, asking me to pray for Hawaii, as they were supposed to be the first ones to get hit. According to news reports, waves up to 15 feet were supposed to destroy the shores of Hawaii, and it was past "Tsunami Watch" and was already declared "Tsunami Warning". What were we to do? It was at that time that myself and many others joined corporately in prayer. My specific request was that the Tsunami would miss Hawaii, if that even be possible. Several hours later, the headline read, "Hawaii Tsunami Warning Cancelled". What an incredible answer to prayer!
However, the storm was not done. It was headed to Japan and the same sort of damage was expected. Again, I called a few of my friends and asked them to join me in prayer for Japan. We specifically prayed that the storm would die out before reaching shore, recognizing that it would be impossible for it to just simply miss Japan without hitting another area. Sunday morning I woke up to read the headline,
"Japan Breathes Sigh of Relief as Tsunami Passes". I read more of the article and the expected 10 foot waves came in at only 4 inches! This was another incredible answer to prayer!
I am sure that many of you are reading this post and are pretty skeptical about the result of our prayers for the tsunami. In fact, I am sure that you are skeptical about prayers in general. A lot of people have resorted to the idea of "whatever happens, happens" or "whether I pray or not, it is still going to happen." My response to you: I will pray for you.
However, if you are skeptical, go back and watch some of the newscasts on CNN and other networks (they still exist on Youtube). They were declaring definite states of emergency in each of the areas that were supposed to be hit. People were evacuating, buildings were closing, the storm was getting bigger...yet it never hit. When studying the storm itself, it seems to deny all scientific reason that the storm never hit Hawaii, or Japan, or New Zealand, or Russia. It goes against all probabilities. It is a miracle!...literally.
Again, Prayer causes things to happen that would not happen if it wasn't for prayer. This revelation about the power of prayer has radically changed my life. I can't wait to get to Heaven and see the results of all of our prayers. Prayer is powerful and effective if used for the intent of which it was given to you. In faith, prayer moves the Arm that moves the world. Just think what this world would be like if all Christians would pray in this way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krzwmhDMvv8
Don't take my word for it. Study the Scriptures to see the power of prayer in Bible times. Apply it to your life to see the power of prayer today. Determine for yourself what the purpose of prayer really is. But in all these things, just pray!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
A Message of Love
There is a homeless man who I have become very acquainted with. In fact, he makes up a lot of the stories in my life and even some of the ones on this site. To many, he is known as the guy who jumps in dumpsters looking for cans. To me, he is a more than that. To me, he is Colonel, he is Warren, he is a friend.
He used to walk around with two other guys, but both of them have recently left them leaving him all alone. About a week ago, I spent about an hour with him just talking, and in his words and even his actions, you could sense a bit of that loneliness. This led me to ask about his family and he told me a little bit about his mother and father. He said that he hadn't talked to them in over a year and hadn't seen them in nearly 30 years. This is something that I could not even begin to imagine.
When I made it back to my bed that night, I couldn't get this guy off my mind. I felt so burdened for Colonel and I didn't really know how to respond to that burden. It was past midnight, but I threw some clothes back on and went out to look for him, but came back a half-hour later with no success.
Several days of hard snowfall followed and I didn't see Colonel around. I wasn't sure where he was staying or if he was even still alive. But a lot of my prayers were wrapped up in him, as I still had a heavy burden on my heart for him.
Sunday after church, I was passing by one of the dumpsters and there he was, sitting on an abandoned couch enjoying a drink he had found. I stood there and visited with him for a little bit and got to talk to him more about his family. He brought up again the fact that he hadn't talked with his parents in a long time and so I offered to try to find his parents for him. He gave me their names and the city they live in and I told him I would do my best but couldn't make any promises.
A few hours later, I sat down at a computer and typed in the names of his parents (both very common names) and only one entry was found that matched the description. That was easy enough! I preceded in calling the phone number listed and here is how the conversation followed:
Linda: Hello?
Me: Hi is this Linda?
Linda: Yes it is. Can I help you?
Me: Yes my name is Todd McClure and I am a student at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. I believe I have met your son, Warren.
Linda: Are you sure you have the right number? I haven't seen my son in years.
Me: Is your middle name Joyce?
Linda: Yes it is. Do you really know my son? How did you get my number?
Me: Well I asked him if he wanted me to get him in touch with you all and so I just looked up your names on the internet and found your number.
(Jump ahead)
Linda: Well how is he doing? Does he have a job? Does he have a place to live?
Me: Well I don't think he has a place to live most nights, but he seems to be doing fine. He has plenty of warm clothes and has made it through the harsh part of the winter. And I think he is doing fine on food as well. He makes a little bit of money here and there to pay for meals.
Linda: How do you know him? Where did you meet him?
Me: Well I help out with a river ministry and I first met him there, but now I just see him all over town and have become pretty good friends with him. He has told me a lot about you.
(Jump ahead)
Linda: I cannot tell you how much of a blessing it is to hear your voice. I pray for him every day, and I really do worry about him every day. I never know how he is doing or if he is even still alive. So you are a definite answer to prayer right now. Warren got in a lot of trouble down here with ____ and some other things and left on a bad note. He was the middle child and felt like we loved the other two more than him. In that sense he was always lonely. He got married, but his wife and two kids left him and so he turned to _____ as a way of dealing with his loneliness. Then he took off for the Navy and has just never been the same. I think what he really needs in his life is a friend. He was baptized when he was a little boy and I know prayer works and he will one day come back around. I just worry about him every day.
Me: Well like you just said, prayer really does work, so I don't think there is any need for you to worry. I may be your answer to prayer. I don't know. He has just been a huge burden on my heart and I have enjoyed getting to know him. You just keep praying and we'll see what God does.
Linda: Can I ask you a question? Are you an angel?
Me: Well I am far from an angel but I will do my best to show him Christ.
Linda: Well I haven't been able to tell him this in a long time, but can you tell him that we love him?
Me: I would be happy to.
There is a lot more to that conversation, but that is enough for my point. That conversation really tore me up, and I am sure that it really affected a lot of you as well. As one other person pointed out to me, I have a message of love to share with Colonel from his mom. He is loved and he doesn't even know it. I have been appointed the messenger of this great message.
While these sort of stories break our hearts, why don't stories of the Gospel do the same? There are so many people in the world who are loved and they don't even know it! You have been given the message and told to take it to the ends of the earth. This message is even greater than the message of love from Colonel's mom! How can we keep that in?
In closing, I want to remind you of the message of love that we have been given:
"For God so loved the world, that He sent His one and only Son, the whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
He used to walk around with two other guys, but both of them have recently left them leaving him all alone. About a week ago, I spent about an hour with him just talking, and in his words and even his actions, you could sense a bit of that loneliness. This led me to ask about his family and he told me a little bit about his mother and father. He said that he hadn't talked to them in over a year and hadn't seen them in nearly 30 years. This is something that I could not even begin to imagine.
When I made it back to my bed that night, I couldn't get this guy off my mind. I felt so burdened for Colonel and I didn't really know how to respond to that burden. It was past midnight, but I threw some clothes back on and went out to look for him, but came back a half-hour later with no success.
Several days of hard snowfall followed and I didn't see Colonel around. I wasn't sure where he was staying or if he was even still alive. But a lot of my prayers were wrapped up in him, as I still had a heavy burden on my heart for him.
Sunday after church, I was passing by one of the dumpsters and there he was, sitting on an abandoned couch enjoying a drink he had found. I stood there and visited with him for a little bit and got to talk to him more about his family. He brought up again the fact that he hadn't talked with his parents in a long time and so I offered to try to find his parents for him. He gave me their names and the city they live in and I told him I would do my best but couldn't make any promises.
A few hours later, I sat down at a computer and typed in the names of his parents (both very common names) and only one entry was found that matched the description. That was easy enough! I preceded in calling the phone number listed and here is how the conversation followed:
Linda: Hello?
Me: Hi is this Linda?
Linda: Yes it is. Can I help you?
Me: Yes my name is Todd McClure and I am a student at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. I believe I have met your son, Warren.
Linda: Are you sure you have the right number? I haven't seen my son in years.
Me: Is your middle name Joyce?
Linda: Yes it is. Do you really know my son? How did you get my number?
Me: Well I asked him if he wanted me to get him in touch with you all and so I just looked up your names on the internet and found your number.
(Jump ahead)
Linda: Well how is he doing? Does he have a job? Does he have a place to live?
Me: Well I don't think he has a place to live most nights, but he seems to be doing fine. He has plenty of warm clothes and has made it through the harsh part of the winter. And I think he is doing fine on food as well. He makes a little bit of money here and there to pay for meals.
Linda: How do you know him? Where did you meet him?
Me: Well I help out with a river ministry and I first met him there, but now I just see him all over town and have become pretty good friends with him. He has told me a lot about you.
(Jump ahead)
Linda: I cannot tell you how much of a blessing it is to hear your voice. I pray for him every day, and I really do worry about him every day. I never know how he is doing or if he is even still alive. So you are a definite answer to prayer right now. Warren got in a lot of trouble down here with ____ and some other things and left on a bad note. He was the middle child and felt like we loved the other two more than him. In that sense he was always lonely. He got married, but his wife and two kids left him and so he turned to _____ as a way of dealing with his loneliness. Then he took off for the Navy and has just never been the same. I think what he really needs in his life is a friend. He was baptized when he was a little boy and I know prayer works and he will one day come back around. I just worry about him every day.
Me: Well like you just said, prayer really does work, so I don't think there is any need for you to worry. I may be your answer to prayer. I don't know. He has just been a huge burden on my heart and I have enjoyed getting to know him. You just keep praying and we'll see what God does.
Linda: Can I ask you a question? Are you an angel?
Me: Well I am far from an angel but I will do my best to show him Christ.
Linda: Well I haven't been able to tell him this in a long time, but can you tell him that we love him?
Me: I would be happy to.
There is a lot more to that conversation, but that is enough for my point. That conversation really tore me up, and I am sure that it really affected a lot of you as well. As one other person pointed out to me, I have a message of love to share with Colonel from his mom. He is loved and he doesn't even know it. I have been appointed the messenger of this great message.
While these sort of stories break our hearts, why don't stories of the Gospel do the same? There are so many people in the world who are loved and they don't even know it! You have been given the message and told to take it to the ends of the earth. This message is even greater than the message of love from Colonel's mom! How can we keep that in?
In closing, I want to remind you of the message of love that we have been given:
"For God so loved the world, that He sent His one and only Son, the whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The Word of God
Recently, I have had the privilege of ministering to several international students. In just a matter of weeks, I have learned a lot about culture and even learned a few foreign words. It is cool to think about what sort of impact you can have on the rest of the world while you are in college. I have become good friends with individuals from Saudi Arabia, China, and Vietnam (all of which are countries where the spread of the Gospel is restricted). There are also students here from Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, and many other restricted nations. What an opportunity exists on the campuses here in America!
While I could write a whole post about the global impact college students could have, I am going to go a different route. In two of my recent conversations, I was able to provide the individual with a Bible, to which they both excitedly accepted. One has even carried it around with her, including into WalMart, where she held it close to her chest the whole time. What a beautiful sight it was to see someone to excited to have a copy of the Bible!
There was one question that that girl asked me that weekend that stood out above everything else. She asked, "How come so many Christians have never read the whole Bible? If I believed it were the word of God, I would read it over and over." Wow! Are you one of those Christians? How much value do you place on the Word of God? She continued by telling me that she thought every Christian should learn Hebrew and Greek so that they could properly understand the context and meaning of everything the original authors were trying to say. If you didn't fall into the previous category, you probably fall into this one. How much do you cherish the Word of God?
I have also recently been studying systematic theology. By what I believe to be divine providence, I just finished up the section on the sufficiency of scripture. Wayne Grudem defines that like this: "The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that IT NOW CONTAINS EVERYTHING WE NEED GOD TO TELL US for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly."
Have you ever thought about what an incredible thing we have at our fingertips? We have the words of our almighty Creator! We have words that are "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16)! We have words that are the "power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16)! We have a Book that allows us to personally know our Savior!
What is your excuse? So many people get on these "Read the Bible in 365 Days" kind of plans and never make it past February. Others simply just rely on others to share God's word with them. They think Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights are enough to sustain them. What if I asked you to charge your cell phone only one day a week and see how long it lasted? Why would you starve yourself of life-giving truth? What else in this world really matters?
What if one day you got to Heaven and ran into Obadiah and he said, "Hey, what did you think of my book?" What would you respond? Do you even know that much about Obadiah? How much of God's word do you really even know?
There are days when I beat myself up over the fact that I neglect Scripture. What a powerful thing it truly is! How Christians neglect it on a regular basis, I do not know. This world is so dark and evil, walking through it without a Sword seems ridiculous. It seems like suicide!
I want to challenge you to dive into His word this week. Meditate on His law day and night. Start with Psalm 1 and decide which person you want to be. Embrace the fact that you can freely read the Bible without worrying about martyrdom. Don't be the person who gets to Heaven and is surprised by what you see or Who you meet. Know your Creator before you get there and start falling in love with your Savior today!
I want to close with one final statistic that I found in CJ Mahaney's book, "Humility: True Greatness":
"The average American commutes 25 minutes two and from work. This adds up to 50 minutes a day. If we listened to an audio Bible during this time, we would finish the Bible in only 3 months."
Again, what is your excuse?
While I could write a whole post about the global impact college students could have, I am going to go a different route. In two of my recent conversations, I was able to provide the individual with a Bible, to which they both excitedly accepted. One has even carried it around with her, including into WalMart, where she held it close to her chest the whole time. What a beautiful sight it was to see someone to excited to have a copy of the Bible!
There was one question that that girl asked me that weekend that stood out above everything else. She asked, "How come so many Christians have never read the whole Bible? If I believed it were the word of God, I would read it over and over." Wow! Are you one of those Christians? How much value do you place on the Word of God? She continued by telling me that she thought every Christian should learn Hebrew and Greek so that they could properly understand the context and meaning of everything the original authors were trying to say. If you didn't fall into the previous category, you probably fall into this one. How much do you cherish the Word of God?
I have also recently been studying systematic theology. By what I believe to be divine providence, I just finished up the section on the sufficiency of scripture. Wayne Grudem defines that like this: "The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that IT NOW CONTAINS EVERYTHING WE NEED GOD TO TELL US for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly."
Have you ever thought about what an incredible thing we have at our fingertips? We have the words of our almighty Creator! We have words that are "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16)! We have words that are the "power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16)! We have a Book that allows us to personally know our Savior!
What is your excuse? So many people get on these "Read the Bible in 365 Days" kind of plans and never make it past February. Others simply just rely on others to share God's word with them. They think Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights are enough to sustain them. What if I asked you to charge your cell phone only one day a week and see how long it lasted? Why would you starve yourself of life-giving truth? What else in this world really matters?
What if one day you got to Heaven and ran into Obadiah and he said, "Hey, what did you think of my book?" What would you respond? Do you even know that much about Obadiah? How much of God's word do you really even know?
There are days when I beat myself up over the fact that I neglect Scripture. What a powerful thing it truly is! How Christians neglect it on a regular basis, I do not know. This world is so dark and evil, walking through it without a Sword seems ridiculous. It seems like suicide!
I want to challenge you to dive into His word this week. Meditate on His law day and night. Start with Psalm 1 and decide which person you want to be. Embrace the fact that you can freely read the Bible without worrying about martyrdom. Don't be the person who gets to Heaven and is surprised by what you see or Who you meet. Know your Creator before you get there and start falling in love with your Savior today!
I want to close with one final statistic that I found in CJ Mahaney's book, "Humility: True Greatness":
"The average American commutes 25 minutes two and from work. This adds up to 50 minutes a day. If we listened to an audio Bible during this time, we would finish the Bible in only 3 months."
Again, what is your excuse?
Friday, February 19, 2010
Where is the Good Samaritan?
At the beginning of the semester, I was called to inform me that I was getting a new roommate. His name is Ahmad and he is from Saudi Arabia. I was extremely excited to meet him, and my expectations didn't let me down when I finally did meet him. I have been helping him with his English, while he helps me with my Arabic. His English skills are coming along a lot quicker than my Arabic, however.
When he moved here, he was not able to bring all of his luggage, so his family shipped that separately. The most important thing to Ahmad in that luggage was his Playstation 3, which he talked about every day. He would sit on the couch in front of the television all afternoon dreaming that he had a controller in his hands. My roommates and I would sometimes sit there with him and listen to him talk about how much he wanted his luggage.
Finally, he made a phone call to the Columbus Airport, who forwarded him to US Customs to check on his luggage. He was told that if he didn't pick up his luggage in 2 days, then they would claim it and he would never be able to get it. They are supposed to give a 20 day notice before doing something like this, which they claimed they did, but I am witness to the fact that Ahmad got no word. But with 2 days left, who was going to take him to Columbus? One of the biggest snow storms on the season was expected over that 2 day period, but if he didn't get his stuff by that deadline, he never would.
I called well over a dozen people asking for help. I also got about a dozen excuses as to why they could not. I fall into that list of people offering excuses, as I felt as if I couldn't miss FCA that night. I could take him early Wednesday morning, but that would be in the midst of all the snow and that would be pushing our deadline (which ended Wednesday at 5 pm). But I want to list a few other excuses I received:
Person A: "I cannot because I have to plan for Bible study."
Person B: "I cannot because I have discipleship."
Person C: "I cannot because I am working on advertisement stuff for (insert campus ministry here)."
The list goes on, but can you see the pattern so far? Look at those responses, along with my response. How pathetic are they? Here is a guy needing help, and all the Christians are too busy doing their religious activities!! Where is the Good Samaritan? Where is the person who is not too busy doing their religious stuff to just help the guy out!? That day, it was a man in the International Office, who may or may not be a follower of Christ. But what a wonderful opportunity it would have been for the believers to demonstrate Christ to Ahmad, who does not yet know Him?
Earlier in the week, I was able to share the Gospel for the first time with Ahmad, but at that moment, I missed my opportunity to SHOW the Gospel to Ahmad. Thankfully, God's grace covers that and I will have many more opportunities to show him Christ. In fact, I already have had many more opportunities. But what a great illustration of the story of the Good Samaritan and what a poor response by all of those who know that story!
Once I realized what I had done, this message really began to work on my heart. Maybe you have had a similar experience, where you have missed the opportunity to be that Good Samaritan. First I want to state that God's grace covers you and thankfully, we are unable to thwart God's plan. So despite our actions, God still accomplishes what He sets out to do. But secondly, I want to encourage you to carry on and look for opportunities where you can serve and you can be that Good Samaritan. The world is hurting. The world is in need. The world desperately needs people to rise up and bring them hope. Guys, this is a call for Christians. We are the only ones who can truly bring them hope. Don't miss your opportunity!
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
- Isaiah 61:1-3
When he moved here, he was not able to bring all of his luggage, so his family shipped that separately. The most important thing to Ahmad in that luggage was his Playstation 3, which he talked about every day. He would sit on the couch in front of the television all afternoon dreaming that he had a controller in his hands. My roommates and I would sometimes sit there with him and listen to him talk about how much he wanted his luggage.
Finally, he made a phone call to the Columbus Airport, who forwarded him to US Customs to check on his luggage. He was told that if he didn't pick up his luggage in 2 days, then they would claim it and he would never be able to get it. They are supposed to give a 20 day notice before doing something like this, which they claimed they did, but I am witness to the fact that Ahmad got no word. But with 2 days left, who was going to take him to Columbus? One of the biggest snow storms on the season was expected over that 2 day period, but if he didn't get his stuff by that deadline, he never would.
I called well over a dozen people asking for help. I also got about a dozen excuses as to why they could not. I fall into that list of people offering excuses, as I felt as if I couldn't miss FCA that night. I could take him early Wednesday morning, but that would be in the midst of all the snow and that would be pushing our deadline (which ended Wednesday at 5 pm). But I want to list a few other excuses I received:
Person A: "I cannot because I have to plan for Bible study."
Person B: "I cannot because I have discipleship."
Person C: "I cannot because I am working on advertisement stuff for (insert campus ministry here)."
The list goes on, but can you see the pattern so far? Look at those responses, along with my response. How pathetic are they? Here is a guy needing help, and all the Christians are too busy doing their religious activities!! Where is the Good Samaritan? Where is the person who is not too busy doing their religious stuff to just help the guy out!? That day, it was a man in the International Office, who may or may not be a follower of Christ. But what a wonderful opportunity it would have been for the believers to demonstrate Christ to Ahmad, who does not yet know Him?
Earlier in the week, I was able to share the Gospel for the first time with Ahmad, but at that moment, I missed my opportunity to SHOW the Gospel to Ahmad. Thankfully, God's grace covers that and I will have many more opportunities to show him Christ. In fact, I already have had many more opportunities. But what a great illustration of the story of the Good Samaritan and what a poor response by all of those who know that story!
Once I realized what I had done, this message really began to work on my heart. Maybe you have had a similar experience, where you have missed the opportunity to be that Good Samaritan. First I want to state that God's grace covers you and thankfully, we are unable to thwart God's plan. So despite our actions, God still accomplishes what He sets out to do. But secondly, I want to encourage you to carry on and look for opportunities where you can serve and you can be that Good Samaritan. The world is hurting. The world is in need. The world desperately needs people to rise up and bring them hope. Guys, this is a call for Christians. We are the only ones who can truly bring them hope. Don't miss your opportunity!
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
- Isaiah 61:1-3
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Faith
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
- Hebrews 11:1
This was the theme of our Bible study a couple weeks ago. Actually, our overall theme for the semester is 1 John 2:6 which says, "If anyone claims to live in Him, he must walk as Jesus walked." But one of the characteristics that Jesus displayed was faith. So we studied Hebrews 11 and here were the two themes that we found in the lives of those people, as well as in the life of Christ:
1) They put themselves in a situation where if God didn't show up, they were in trouble. Think of some of the men of the Old Testament. Noah built an ark. If God didn't show up and provide the rain, he would have looked like a fool. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. What would have happened if God didn't part the Red Sea for him? Abraham took his son up on top of the mountain to sacrifice him. What if God hadn't provided a ram? Jesus took upon all the sins of man and died on a cross, with the full wrath of God being poured out on Him. What if God hadn't raised Him back to life? Sure, Jesus was also God, but everyone of them put themselves in a situation where if God didn't show up, they were in trouble.
2) However, they didn't test God in this. They based their actions of faith off of the promises of God. God promised rain. He promised to deliver the Israelites out of captivity, He promised Abraham thousands of descendants, and He promised that Jesus would return to the right hand of God. So as these men performed extraordinary feats of faith, it was based off the promises of God. I have often heard the phrase, "It is not the amount of faith that matters, but rather the object of your faith." Think about that.
So in response to that challenge, we put ourselves in a situation where if God didn't show up, we were in trouble:
Two weekends ago was the Athletes in Action conference in Xenia, OH. Two years ago, there were 4 of us that traveled to the conference. Last year there were 21 of us. This year, there were 37! A lot of people were asking me what the secret to our ministry was and I responded by telling them it wasn't a secret at all. We prayed...a lot. But with this came a lot of need for money. Many of the athletes needed some sort of financial help, whether it was us paying for a little bit or all of the $100 fee. I refuse to let money be the reason for not going to a conference, and so I kept promising scholarship money that we really didn't have. This may be seen as financially irresponsible, but I just had this feeling that God would provide. After all, He does promise that multiple times throughout scripture (Phil. 4:19, Mt. 6:33-34, Mt. 21:22, 1 John 5:14-15).
Tuesday night after FCA, Luke, Chris and I sat down to total up the numbers. Here is what we found: We had about 48 hours to raise $1005. In addition to that, I expected a few more to sign up within those 48 hours. I had already heard from one campus ministry that they were going to provide us with $300, and I had heard from one other contact that they were going to help us out a little bit, but I wasn't sure what that meant. Well we prayed over it and simply reminded God about His promises and then we asked Him to supply. When I woke up at 8 am the next day, I had a couple text messages telling me that we had $1100 in hand, without even making a phone call!
As expected, a few more did sign up, increasing our cost, but the scholarships followed. I met with a local pastor, asking the church to help support, and he told me he would call me later in the evening to let me know the exact amount they could give us. 7:45 that evening, I had a voicemail telling me they could support two athletes. Now I just needed to find two more to go. Less than five minutes went by before I received another phone call from Lauren DeHays of the track team asking me if we had money to help two of her teammates to go. My response, "Yes, as a matter of fact we do!"
All in all, we were able to raise $1400 in about a 24 hour time period. Talk about God showing up!! And what a start this was to an incredible weekend. At the conference itself, we had dozens of great Gospel-centered conversations with different individuals and nearly a dozen indicated that they made some sort of decision in their relationship with Christ! Not only did God show up in the support raising, but God also showed up at the conference itself. His ways truly are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Is. 55:9).
Here is the first verse I thought of after that:
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." - Malachi 3:10
In closing, I want to challenge you to live a life of faith. Put yourself in a situation, where if God doesn't show up, you're in trouble. I mean, really, think about your life right now and evaluate the areas of your life that you are living by faith. I guarantee that each of you will struggle to find a single area of your life that you life by faith on a consistent basis (apart from your trust in Christ). But pray and ask God to reveal areas of your life that you could trust Him more and that you could live more by faith. Also, take a look at this video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ
- Hebrews 11:1
This was the theme of our Bible study a couple weeks ago. Actually, our overall theme for the semester is 1 John 2:6 which says, "If anyone claims to live in Him, he must walk as Jesus walked." But one of the characteristics that Jesus displayed was faith. So we studied Hebrews 11 and here were the two themes that we found in the lives of those people, as well as in the life of Christ:
1) They put themselves in a situation where if God didn't show up, they were in trouble. Think of some of the men of the Old Testament. Noah built an ark. If God didn't show up and provide the rain, he would have looked like a fool. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. What would have happened if God didn't part the Red Sea for him? Abraham took his son up on top of the mountain to sacrifice him. What if God hadn't provided a ram? Jesus took upon all the sins of man and died on a cross, with the full wrath of God being poured out on Him. What if God hadn't raised Him back to life? Sure, Jesus was also God, but everyone of them put themselves in a situation where if God didn't show up, they were in trouble.
2) However, they didn't test God in this. They based their actions of faith off of the promises of God. God promised rain. He promised to deliver the Israelites out of captivity, He promised Abraham thousands of descendants, and He promised that Jesus would return to the right hand of God. So as these men performed extraordinary feats of faith, it was based off the promises of God. I have often heard the phrase, "It is not the amount of faith that matters, but rather the object of your faith." Think about that.
So in response to that challenge, we put ourselves in a situation where if God didn't show up, we were in trouble:
Two weekends ago was the Athletes in Action conference in Xenia, OH. Two years ago, there were 4 of us that traveled to the conference. Last year there were 21 of us. This year, there were 37! A lot of people were asking me what the secret to our ministry was and I responded by telling them it wasn't a secret at all. We prayed...a lot. But with this came a lot of need for money. Many of the athletes needed some sort of financial help, whether it was us paying for a little bit or all of the $100 fee. I refuse to let money be the reason for not going to a conference, and so I kept promising scholarship money that we really didn't have. This may be seen as financially irresponsible, but I just had this feeling that God would provide. After all, He does promise that multiple times throughout scripture (Phil. 4:19, Mt. 6:33-34, Mt. 21:22, 1 John 5:14-15).
Tuesday night after FCA, Luke, Chris and I sat down to total up the numbers. Here is what we found: We had about 48 hours to raise $1005. In addition to that, I expected a few more to sign up within those 48 hours. I had already heard from one campus ministry that they were going to provide us with $300, and I had heard from one other contact that they were going to help us out a little bit, but I wasn't sure what that meant. Well we prayed over it and simply reminded God about His promises and then we asked Him to supply. When I woke up at 8 am the next day, I had a couple text messages telling me that we had $1100 in hand, without even making a phone call!
As expected, a few more did sign up, increasing our cost, but the scholarships followed. I met with a local pastor, asking the church to help support, and he told me he would call me later in the evening to let me know the exact amount they could give us. 7:45 that evening, I had a voicemail telling me they could support two athletes. Now I just needed to find two more to go. Less than five minutes went by before I received another phone call from Lauren DeHays of the track team asking me if we had money to help two of her teammates to go. My response, "Yes, as a matter of fact we do!"
All in all, we were able to raise $1400 in about a 24 hour time period. Talk about God showing up!! And what a start this was to an incredible weekend. At the conference itself, we had dozens of great Gospel-centered conversations with different individuals and nearly a dozen indicated that they made some sort of decision in their relationship with Christ! Not only did God show up in the support raising, but God also showed up at the conference itself. His ways truly are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Is. 55:9).
Here is the first verse I thought of after that:
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." - Malachi 3:10
In closing, I want to challenge you to live a life of faith. Put yourself in a situation, where if God doesn't show up, you're in trouble. I mean, really, think about your life right now and evaluate the areas of your life that you are living by faith. I guarantee that each of you will struggle to find a single area of your life that you life by faith on a consistent basis (apart from your trust in Christ). But pray and ask God to reveal areas of your life that you could trust Him more and that you could live more by faith. Also, take a look at this video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ
Saturday, February 6, 2010
New Berlinia
It was a late Monday night, almost three weeks ago. I had stayed after Bible study to talk a bit with one of my teammates about some different things that he was going through. As I was walking back to my apartment, I saw a few homeless guys pushing a buggy down one of the streets. I recognized them, but I decided to cross the street and avoid them. After all, I had tried talking with them several times down at the river ministry that I help out with. But each time they had grumpily told me to leave them alone. I had also heard rumors that they had been in several fights recently, and so I wanted no part of that.
After reaching the door of my apartment, conviction came over me. How could I simply just avoid those guys? Who knows what sort of needs they had. I grabbed Chris and Luke, as they were both still up, and we made a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to take to them. As we approached them, I offered it to them and they happily accepted them. I introduced myself, as well as Luke and Chris, and they did the same. They told us their names were: Bobby the Badger, the Colonel, and Soldier. We asked how they got those nicknames and they told us they simply just made them up! We also found out from them that we were no longer in Huntington, but in "New Berlinia". We were part of a real-life video game.
I asked about the game and Bobby asked if I had seen Grand Theft Auto. After replying yes, he explained, "Well this is Grand Theft Buggy! Check out our rocket launchers (as he pointed to the front of his buggy)." For those of you who are worrying right now, he didn't really have rocket launchers.
We talked to these three guys for about half an hour before they had to take off. They were on their way to Flapjacks to get some coffee. Soldier offered for me to jump on top of him and ride down with them, as he was laying in the buggy that Bobby was pushing. I politely passed up the invite.
At the same time they were leaving, another man approached us. He was a middle-aged black man. We began talking to him as well, and we found out his name was T-Bone. He had recently left the club and was telling us all about the women he had been with. Trying to change the subject, I asked what he did for a living. He told me he had enrolled back in school and was hoping to open his own business some day. He also began telling us of his dreams of success. I asked him to define success for me, and he spoke a lot of money, women, and fame. Shortly after, he began sharing more of his life with us, including a story of how he once saved a young boy's life. I asked him if I could share a story about a man who saved my life and he agreed to listen. It was then that I was able to talk to him about Jesus.
Like with most people, as soon as you start talking about Jesus, he became extremely spiritual. T-Bone told us of the days he was in the church and wrote Christian songs. He sang a few for us, and it was fairly obvious he was making them up on the spot, but they really did have good lyrics. After listening to a few, I offered to share one of my favorites, rapping the third verse of "Don't Waste Your Life" by Lecrae. He enjoyed that and said he never knew white people liked good music too. That led him to teach us one of his personal favorites. The lyrics follow:
I'm just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
About Somebody
Who can save anybody
We stood around and sang that song with T-Bone until a little past one in the morning. While it was a simple song, it had a catchy tune that stuck with you. As we parted ways that night, each of us continued to sing that song aloud, filling the streets. I even woke up the next morning hearing Luke singing it in the shower. While it is a simple song, it has great truth to it. In fact, it is probably the story of my life. I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody.
After reaching the door of my apartment, conviction came over me. How could I simply just avoid those guys? Who knows what sort of needs they had. I grabbed Chris and Luke, as they were both still up, and we made a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to take to them. As we approached them, I offered it to them and they happily accepted them. I introduced myself, as well as Luke and Chris, and they did the same. They told us their names were: Bobby the Badger, the Colonel, and Soldier. We asked how they got those nicknames and they told us they simply just made them up! We also found out from them that we were no longer in Huntington, but in "New Berlinia". We were part of a real-life video game.
I asked about the game and Bobby asked if I had seen Grand Theft Auto. After replying yes, he explained, "Well this is Grand Theft Buggy! Check out our rocket launchers (as he pointed to the front of his buggy)." For those of you who are worrying right now, he didn't really have rocket launchers.
We talked to these three guys for about half an hour before they had to take off. They were on their way to Flapjacks to get some coffee. Soldier offered for me to jump on top of him and ride down with them, as he was laying in the buggy that Bobby was pushing. I politely passed up the invite.
At the same time they were leaving, another man approached us. He was a middle-aged black man. We began talking to him as well, and we found out his name was T-Bone. He had recently left the club and was telling us all about the women he had been with. Trying to change the subject, I asked what he did for a living. He told me he had enrolled back in school and was hoping to open his own business some day. He also began telling us of his dreams of success. I asked him to define success for me, and he spoke a lot of money, women, and fame. Shortly after, he began sharing more of his life with us, including a story of how he once saved a young boy's life. I asked him if I could share a story about a man who saved my life and he agreed to listen. It was then that I was able to talk to him about Jesus.
Like with most people, as soon as you start talking about Jesus, he became extremely spiritual. T-Bone told us of the days he was in the church and wrote Christian songs. He sang a few for us, and it was fairly obvious he was making them up on the spot, but they really did have good lyrics. After listening to a few, I offered to share one of my favorites, rapping the third verse of "Don't Waste Your Life" by Lecrae. He enjoyed that and said he never knew white people liked good music too. That led him to teach us one of his personal favorites. The lyrics follow:
I'm just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
About Somebody
Who can save anybody
We stood around and sang that song with T-Bone until a little past one in the morning. While it was a simple song, it had a catchy tune that stuck with you. As we parted ways that night, each of us continued to sing that song aloud, filling the streets. I even woke up the next morning hearing Luke singing it in the shower. While it is a simple song, it has great truth to it. In fact, it is probably the story of my life. I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Brown Lee
January 2-5, I went to Atlanta, GA for the Passion Conference. At the conference, 22,000 people joined together for worship over this four day period. While this was a great opportunity to meet many of those people, I felt so broken as I walked down the streets and observed one of the largest homeless communities in the world. Amos 5 was on my mind, where it talks of how we walk past the poor, the broken, and all other injustices to come to "worship." But God responds in verses 21-24, "I hate, I reject your festivals...Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." I could write an entire blog about how this passage has effected my life, but for now, I just want to share one story with you.
One of the easiest responses to this passage is to simply not walk past the poor and broken. I had the privilege of taking a couple homeless people to breakfast or dinner, including my friend Louis, who I was able to take to breakfast each morning. One evening, however, I was looking for a place to eat and stumbled upon a Burger King/Popeye's Chicken. To be honest, I am not a fan of either but they had the shortest lines in the area. So I went in and got in line to order from Popeye's. As I was ordering, a tall, black man stumbled in and was trying to order. It was quite obvious that he was both homeless and a bit drunk. The employees kept trying to get him to leave because he had no money, but I ended up telling them that he was with me and so I let him order with me.
The room was divided: black homeless men on the right and white college students on the left. But since I let this man order with me, he agreed to let me sit with him and his other homeless friends. Many times, I see events like this as a divine appointment from God, and a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with them. So I kept trying to explain to him that the reason I did this for him was because Jesus did a similar thing for me. It really wasn't much of a conversation, as all of his words were slurred due to the alcohol and the fact that he only had one tooth. But I just kept nodding my head as if I understood.
When I was finished, I got up to throw my trash away and returned to the table to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. Once I checked everything, I said goodbye to my new friend and I started walking about a half mile back to the arena for the conference. As I walked through the doors of the arena, I reached for my bag and realized that I didn't have it. I thought I had checked everything before I left Popeye's. My bag had my Bible and notebook, my wallet, my camera, and several other items. I quickly prayed to God about it as I ran back to Popeye's to see if it was still there. As I walked in, my bag was missing, as was the man I had just eaten with.
Another homeless man, Andre, stood up and said he saw Brown Lee take my bag. I asked who Brown Lee was, and Andre told me that he was the guy I was eating with. Apparently, when I stood up to throw away my trash, Brown Lee took my bag right off my chair. I asked Andre where I could find Brown Lee and he simply just told me to follow him.
For the next 20 minutes, or so, Andre and I walked the streets of Atlanta. We walked down alleys, we walked through ghettos, and we walked through many areas that I would not really recommend you doing. We walked around corners and large, black men would stand up and just stare me down, but each time Andre would respond to them, "He's with me." Occasionally I would follow that up with, "Yes, I am with Andre."
Eventually we came to Brown Lee, who was sitting at a bus stop hoping to get out of town with my bag. Luckily we caught him in time and Andre demanded that he give me my stuff back. Brown Lee replied that the bag was his, to which I pleaded with him, reminding him that I had just bought him dinner. Andre eventually made a deal with him to where he gave Brown Lee his toboggan in exchange for my bag. What an incredible thing! I ended up giving Andre the rest of the money in my wallet (which really wasn't much), as a thank you and so that he could get himself a new toboggan. Andre really helped me out.
This story was a great illustration for me of the Gospel. First off, Andre had no obligation to me, yet he gave up all he had (truly, that was all he had) to buy back my bag. Isn't that exactly what God did? He has zero obligation to us, sinners we are. But for some reason, He showed us grace. "He gave up His one and only son" (John 3:16) to redeem our lives.
The second illustration that Andre showed me comes from 2 Timothy 2:5. It says that there is one mediator between man and God, and that is Christ Jesus. There is absolutely no way that we will get to heaven based off our good works. Our works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). There is no way that we are going to just sneak into heaven, either. We need a mediator. We need someone who can speak on our behalf: Christ. There is no way I could walk around those dark alleys by myself (I forgot to mention this was later in the evening). Many rose to challenge me and question why I was there. But each time, Andre replied, "He is with me." To you who have a relationship with Jesus: He will do the same thing when we get to heaven. We will pass through those entrance gates, completely full of sin, but His righteousness will cover us as He says, "He/She is with me."
One of the easiest responses to this passage is to simply not walk past the poor and broken. I had the privilege of taking a couple homeless people to breakfast or dinner, including my friend Louis, who I was able to take to breakfast each morning. One evening, however, I was looking for a place to eat and stumbled upon a Burger King/Popeye's Chicken. To be honest, I am not a fan of either but they had the shortest lines in the area. So I went in and got in line to order from Popeye's. As I was ordering, a tall, black man stumbled in and was trying to order. It was quite obvious that he was both homeless and a bit drunk. The employees kept trying to get him to leave because he had no money, but I ended up telling them that he was with me and so I let him order with me.
The room was divided: black homeless men on the right and white college students on the left. But since I let this man order with me, he agreed to let me sit with him and his other homeless friends. Many times, I see events like this as a divine appointment from God, and a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with them. So I kept trying to explain to him that the reason I did this for him was because Jesus did a similar thing for me. It really wasn't much of a conversation, as all of his words were slurred due to the alcohol and the fact that he only had one tooth. But I just kept nodding my head as if I understood.
When I was finished, I got up to throw my trash away and returned to the table to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. Once I checked everything, I said goodbye to my new friend and I started walking about a half mile back to the arena for the conference. As I walked through the doors of the arena, I reached for my bag and realized that I didn't have it. I thought I had checked everything before I left Popeye's. My bag had my Bible and notebook, my wallet, my camera, and several other items. I quickly prayed to God about it as I ran back to Popeye's to see if it was still there. As I walked in, my bag was missing, as was the man I had just eaten with.
Another homeless man, Andre, stood up and said he saw Brown Lee take my bag. I asked who Brown Lee was, and Andre told me that he was the guy I was eating with. Apparently, when I stood up to throw away my trash, Brown Lee took my bag right off my chair. I asked Andre where I could find Brown Lee and he simply just told me to follow him.
For the next 20 minutes, or so, Andre and I walked the streets of Atlanta. We walked down alleys, we walked through ghettos, and we walked through many areas that I would not really recommend you doing. We walked around corners and large, black men would stand up and just stare me down, but each time Andre would respond to them, "He's with me." Occasionally I would follow that up with, "Yes, I am with Andre."
Eventually we came to Brown Lee, who was sitting at a bus stop hoping to get out of town with my bag. Luckily we caught him in time and Andre demanded that he give me my stuff back. Brown Lee replied that the bag was his, to which I pleaded with him, reminding him that I had just bought him dinner. Andre eventually made a deal with him to where he gave Brown Lee his toboggan in exchange for my bag. What an incredible thing! I ended up giving Andre the rest of the money in my wallet (which really wasn't much), as a thank you and so that he could get himself a new toboggan. Andre really helped me out.
This story was a great illustration for me of the Gospel. First off, Andre had no obligation to me, yet he gave up all he had (truly, that was all he had) to buy back my bag. Isn't that exactly what God did? He has zero obligation to us, sinners we are. But for some reason, He showed us grace. "He gave up His one and only son" (John 3:16) to redeem our lives.
The second illustration that Andre showed me comes from 2 Timothy 2:5. It says that there is one mediator between man and God, and that is Christ Jesus. There is absolutely no way that we will get to heaven based off our good works. Our works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). There is no way that we are going to just sneak into heaven, either. We need a mediator. We need someone who can speak on our behalf: Christ. There is no way I could walk around those dark alleys by myself (I forgot to mention this was later in the evening). Many rose to challenge me and question why I was there. But each time, Andre replied, "He is with me." To you who have a relationship with Jesus: He will do the same thing when we get to heaven. We will pass through those entrance gates, completely full of sin, but His righteousness will cover us as He says, "He/She is with me."
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sharing My Life
To start off, let me first mention that I am horrible at sharing stories. I am horrible at sharing them verbally, as well as sharing them through a blog. By this, I don't mean that I am a bad story teller (though some could probably argue that). What I mean is that I usually don't find much need to share what all is going on in my life. I feel like God has given me my story and He has given you your story, and occasionally our stories connect and we move on. But recently, I have begun to share some of the cool things that God has done in my life, and I see the effect that it has on others. I find it especially incredible when the story travels beyond those that I told and it affects the lives of people I don't even know. That has nothing to do with me, or with my story-telling capability (which I have already described as poor). But it has everything to do with God. I have begun to realize that God often uses our lives to effect people that we never even meet.
Last night as I was thinking about this, I was reminded of a video that I saw. It relates perfectly to this idea and I want to encourage everyone to view it. It can be found at the following link:
http://www.vimeo.com/groups/motionographer/videos/7886964
With all that said, I am going to attempt to start sharing some more of my stories. I have created this blog for that purpose. I will do my best to stay up to date with it, sharing current stories, as well as stories of my past. After all, these stories are what have shaped me into the person that I am today.
I would also love to encourage you to share your stories as well. Sure, sometimes they may seem boring to you, but you never know what sort of impact your life can have on someone. So prayerfully, my stories will have an impact on those who read this blog. Correction: these aren't my stories; these are God's stories, and I just happen to be one of the characters.
Last night as I was thinking about this, I was reminded of a video that I saw. It relates perfectly to this idea and I want to encourage everyone to view it. It can be found at the following link:
http://www.vimeo.com/groups/motionographer/videos/7886964
With all that said, I am going to attempt to start sharing some more of my stories. I have created this blog for that purpose. I will do my best to stay up to date with it, sharing current stories, as well as stories of my past. After all, these stories are what have shaped me into the person that I am today.
I would also love to encourage you to share your stories as well. Sure, sometimes they may seem boring to you, but you never know what sort of impact your life can have on someone. So prayerfully, my stories will have an impact on those who read this blog. Correction: these aren't my stories; these are God's stories, and I just happen to be one of the characters.
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