The Holy Spirit, a New Hat, and Three Screaming Saudi Arabians

So.

Sharing on Saturday night.

Epic.

Let me explain. So it all starts with a call to be creative. This week's scheduled sharing time was on the verge of a rain out, so we all decided to be creative - go to the mall, inside places, Walmart, just whatever.

Be creative.

Yup.

So Johnny Packs (in a Boston accent - and short for Parkinson) and I went to Coastal Edge, a surf shop. I needed to buy a hat, so we figured why not be creative there.

So we start talking to a guy who works there about hats. We are getting to know him, trying to think about transitioning into spiritual stuff, but then the ultimate distraction hits him...

Pretty girl co-worker.

So there he goes. We get over it and start to talk to another guy who doesn't seem interested in us at all, but he finds me a solid hat and we start over toward the cash register. I ask him a little bit about his life and he opens up right away, talking about his parent's divorce and such. I sympathized and told him that hard times had befallen my family at one point too.

Then I said, "And I know this sounds kind of weird, but the only reason my family is still a family is because of Jesus."

He then proceeds to show us a tattoo of a fist on his leg that has trees coming up out of the knuckles and a waterfall from the thumb. It was sweet.

So we got his number and are gonna hang out and meet his brother and stuff like that.

Next we ran in to Jeff (distracted guy) on the way out. He was on his way to Wendy's, so we naturally got ourselves an invite and go to know him a little more. Short story is, we got his number too, gave him a Knowing God Personally and I think we really made some kind of an impact.

Then we headed to the boardwalk. We talked to some dude, and it was good. His name was out of the game Zelda - no joke - and it was short and sweet.

Then it happened. As we were walking back, we realized that a four-person family bike screamed past us at breakneck speeds and was screaming for us to get on the bike with them.

If that is not a divine appointment, I have no idea what is...

So of course we ran after it, jumped on while it was moving, started pedaling, and met our three new Saudi Arabian friends.

The short version (because the library is closing in 6 minutes) is that we spent the next hour with them, chatting, biking, and hanging out, took a bunch of pictures, exchanged phone numbers, and made some really good new friends.

We are SUPER pumped about getting to know them better and keeping this relationship up.

Anyway, the Holy Spirit is wonderful. So outstandingly beyond our explanation. Listen to Him. He knows what He is doing.

Let's Jam yo.

John and I, since the day we found out that I play guitar and he plays drums, have been trying to plan a night of playing music on the boardwalk.

Last night it finally happened. Almost a month later than we had hoped, we went out last night at about 11 o’clock to play worship and “see what happens”.

We got out there and sat down about 20 feet away from a street preacher. We figured it would be a good place to try out. So we sat down, pulled out the guitar and djembe, and started to jam.

About 17 seconds later, a guy walked up and sat down on the next bench down. He said something to the effect of, “I don’t support that guy’s religion, but I support music. Keep playin’.”

Brandon didn’t know what kind of music we play…

So we played. Our goal was worship, so we did just that. We drew a small crowd, they tried to give us money, we said no, we played more, and we chatted it up for a while. After a while of chatting and playing, Brandon started talking more and he told us he played too and such. I handed it over to him for a bit, and we all had a fine time.

Then Brandon asked us if we wanted to go to Wendy’s with him and some friends. We figured that would fall under the “see what happens” category, so we joined.

When we got to Wendy’s, we were tired. It was around midnight, which is bedtime, but we were determined what God had in store for this night.

For a while we kept chatting. We played the explorer role and just asked a lot of questions, trying to figure out more about him.

Then came time for a transition.

“So, Brandon, what did you think about that guy earlier?”

Simple, leading, a good topic, and apparently exactly what God wanted to use to begin the most amazing night on project yet.

Brandon told us how he was an intellectual guy. He loved to argue, and he hated when people forced things on other people. So we met him where he was at, and started down the intellectual, logical path. We talked about how the guy on the street was just doing something he was hugely passionate about, and how if the message was love, that meant he was being passionate about extreme love. What was so bad about that?

He didn’t like the method, which was understandable. He said it was radical.

Names like Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi, Jesus, Stalin, John Lennon, and a bunch of others came to mind. We told him that the only people that made an impact on the world (good or bad) were radical.

For a long time we talked. In fact, we talked for the next two hours. But slowly but surely his heart came through.

He said he was intellectual, logical, and argumentative. But when we saturated our conversation with the gospel, and when we passionately described how God has saved and transformed us personally, we saw that he wasn’t those things. He was hurting, ashamed, and scared to come back to Jesus.

Brandon had been a Christian for the first part of his life. But when everything around him started to go downhill, he abandoned his faith. He got into things that hurt him, and he began to put distance between himself and the grace that awaited him in the cross. Brandon knew that he had denied and rejected Christ and said that if he could not be a good enough Christian, he shouldn’t be a Christian at all.

This is where the gospel of grace attacked and disarmed all of the shame, guilt, and failure that Brandon had begun to identify himself with. We told him about Paul, the chief of sinners, who killed Christians before becoming the coolest of them all. We told him about Peter, who stared Jesus in the face and shouted curses while denying ever knowing him. We told him about ourselves, who deny Christ consistently because of our lust after the things of this world. We told him that not one of us is good enough Christian.

The we preached Grace, Love, and Forgiveness.

“You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

“For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2: 8-9

God’s love does not depend on anything but His faithfulness. He chooses to love us according to His greatness and His majesty, not our ability or readiness.

We told Brandon that God wanted him to come back home. That he was choosing to love him in the face of all of his sin and worthlessness. That he did the same for John and I. That all he had to do was unwrap the gift of grace and experience love and forgiveness.

Trust Christ, and He will make you whole.

Brandon ended up re-dedicating himself to Christ last night around 2:30.

Praise God.

One of the coolest things was the moon. While walking to his car after he had made this decision, he looked at the moon. For some reason, it was blood red. He was amazed when he saw it, and he had us look. I said, simply, “The precious blood of Christ. That moon is for you tonight.”

He was ecstatic. He then said the one thing that would freak him out (in an amazed kind of way) was if the moon turned back white later that night, by the time he got home.

So we parted ways and exchanged numbers and are going to make sure to keep in touch plenty.

John and I walked home and praise God, wondering how we could be used for such a work of glory.

As we walked back we looked at the moon. It was already white.

White as snow.

What we do...

I just realized that I have never have posted a schedule and description of the stuff we do here...

So.

First, cool news. In 6 days, the staff leaves. The project is run by students. Holy Crap.

A couple of days ago we got our new staff positions. I will be the ministry teams director along with a girl named Megan Adams. We are a part of the 6 person Executive Team, and we are in charge of all the teams that run the more specific events.

Gonna be sweet.

So anyway, this is what a week looks like.

Sunday

Church

Free Time

Servant Team Meetings (in which Megan and I meet with the leaders of the ministry teams like the prayer and vision team, weekly meeting team, community team, outreach team, and so on to cast vision for what we will do, the themes of everything, and making sure they are doing ok in general)

Exec Team meeting/Ministry Team meetings

Monday

Work

Equipping time (training in evangelism) and Men's/Women's Times (vulnerable times in which we encourage each other in the safety of split genders...

Tuesday

Work

Action Groups (Bible Studies)

Wednesday

Work

Date Night with Jesus (scheduled extended quiet time), heading straight into...

Prayer and Praise night (a project people only night in which we pray a lot together and have times of sharing and worship that is INCREDIBLY recharging and refreshing)

Thursday

Work

Pac. Ave. (weekly meeting that is open to the public - more outreach centered, fun, upbeat, challenging - very cool)

Friday

Work

FREE NIGHT! praise God...

Saturday

Work

Scheduled outreach time at night on the boardwalk/beach

During the week, we don't work Sunday and then one other day. We also share a lot in our free time, and meet with some specific people for "peer discipleship". And sometimes relax and just hang out...

It's crazy awesome. And sometimes just crazy.

Killing the Giants

This last week was called Killing the Giants week.

It was meant to stretch our faith by shooting for ridiculous goals of faith and action in the area of evangelism.

For example, by the grace and power of God...

In 7 days and 2 hours, we initiated spiritual conversations with 2,296 people.

In 7 days and 2 hours, we shared to Gospel of Christ with 868 people.

In 7 days and 2 hours, 67 people decided to trust Jesus for their lives.

In 7 days and 2 hours, brothers, friends, parents, co-workers, and other personal giants in our lives were faced and walls of fear and timidity were torn down.

God is good.

The definition of evangelism, as defined by Campus Crusade for Christ is...

Taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.

So that is what we do. We initiate broadly, talk with a little less, share with a little less, and see a little less trust in Him. But it all starts with sewing broadly.

Say 1% of the people you talk to come to know Christ. That is 100 conversations and 1 name written in Heaven. Better get talkin, huh?

The cool part is, too, that any conversation about Christ is useful because God is there, and He is the one working in people's hearts.

If someone accepts Christ, it is a success.

If someone hates Jesus and you talk to them about why, and are persecuted heavily, it is a success.

If someone is uninterested and you talk to them, it is a success.

Taking the initiative is all we are called to do, so let's do it. God handles the rest.

Simple Truth Re-learned.

It has been a LONG TIME.

A true testament to how busy life has been...

anyway.

Let me begin with the most important truth EVER that I had somehow forgotten along the way…

It all started last Monday, almost two weeks ago (actually it started before the creation of time, but that’s another story - I came in last Monday). We had a men’s time on a private beach and did a bunch of different physical things and team building things. They were really intense and awesome. But that was just the beginning.

We then moved into a time of walking. We all were adorned with our own personal hindrance. One of us was tied to his feet. Others were taped to 2x4’s. Several were tied to cinderblocks. I was blindfolded.

At first I was very confused as to why I was blindfolded. I wasn't sure if it would be ultra hard or maybe less burdensome than all the others. I mean, it wasn't a cinderblock...

I learned a couple things from this.

First, it was ultra hard. The whole point was that these hindrances were meant to represent the unchecked and un-dealt with sin in our lives. And let me tell you, it worked.

For one thing, unchecked sin proved to be completely incapacitating. I was unable to function, unable to help others, unable to be of any use at all in any way.

Although God can use us whenever He wants, and He is in control, we miss out on nearly everything when we choose to WALK in sin. We will always sin, but walking in sin brings death.

"Then, after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to DEATH." James 1: 15

Number one - Sin is the absolute worst thing in the world and is poison in every sense of the world.

Another thing was that I could NOTHING by myself. Walking on a beach blindfolded and alone would have either run me into a tree, the ground, or the water, none of which are good options. I absolutely depended on my brothers to guide me.

Number two - without community, the Christian life is next to impossible.

God designed us to be relational, as He is. We need our brothers and sisters to urge us in the right direction, because in times of trial, the Christ in our brother's heart is stronger than the Christ in our own heart (Dietrich Boenhoeffer quote, not me...).

Next, I learned that God WANTS us out of sin. Not because He is yelling at us to follow His rules better, or that He is cranky and wants us all to live His way or the Highway, but because He knows that His way is the BEST WAY POSSIBLE.

He created us to live a certain way. We messed that up. Therefore, we know it is wrong. We are not ok with all the hurt in the world. So living well means living the way God intended us to - to fit into the original design and plan.

Number 3 - He desires goodness for us because it is best for us.

So all of this was wonderful. There are a few more things that have played into this lately, and it is all going to be in this one post. Split it up if you have to... it may get lengthy.

Psalm 18: 1-19

David says this psalm after being delivered from his powerful enemy, King Saul.

You should read it so I don't have to post it...

Let's follow the general direction of this psalm.

1. David Loves God because God saved him.

2. David was at the point of death, and desperately cried to the Lord for deliverance.

3. GOD IS ANGRY. He proceeds to shake the earth, expose the valleys of the sea and foundations of the earth, blow fire from his mouth, soar on the wings of the wind, route the enemy with hailstones and lightning, and thunder from Heaven. That is terrifying.

He was angry because His servant, His child, was in trouble.

4. "He rescued me because He delighted in me."

God is willing, and will, do anything to save us. HE DELIGHTS IN US!!!

Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten this. Sometimes I feel like a hammer. Something in the toolbox that you did really want to buy, but now just use when you want other stuff. I felt as if all that mattered to God in regard to me was my effectiveness in bringing others into His kingdom. What I forgot was that I am not a hammer. I am a child, an adopted son, FOREVERMORE. God loves me just as much as anyone else, and continues to save me on a daily basis, because for some reason that is beyond my understanding, my God delights in me.

The funny thing is, after I finished writing this all down, making a mark in the ground to remember this beautiful truth… I sneezed. And it wasn’t a dry one either – not at all.

I was immediately brought to Guatemala. I started to think about the little kids Lauren is caring for and loving right now. They are funny, cute, snotty, and not the most lovable sometimes. Sometimes, they are just gross little kids.

But, it is amazing how we can see through all of that when we truly love someone. I don’t know this feeling yet, but I believe it is like the love of a parent. Absolutely no matter what a child does, however snotty and gross he is, you just have a love that wipes that all away in an instant.

What I never want to forget is that God has this love for me. He is Father. Through all the stuff, good and bad, God is my good Father who delights in me.

Along with this, a quick note on God's will. What do you think of when that term is thrown out there?

An almighty plan?

A mysterious schedule for us to keep on track with?

Something hidden and secret that God throws at us whenever He decides to?

1 Thessalonians 4: 3a

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified."

You ever look for twenty minutes for the keys that you are actually hanging on your belt loop?

Or the hat that is on your head?

Or God' will that you believe to be hidden in the depths of prayer and meditation and Godliness?

...Have you checked on your belt loop yet?

God's almighty will, His desire for our lives, is that we should be sanctified. Made pure. Made more like Him. Made good in every way.

God's plan, yes is a little more specific, and deserves meditation and understanding and all of that. But we know His goal! It is to make us good, as he intended originally. To allow us to live beautifully in a hurting, misshapen world.

Not so hard to find, all you have to do is stop thinking so hard.

And, how encouraging is that? We are not hammers and screwdrivers, just a part of the goal of writing more names in Heaven. We are meant for intimate relationships with God because he loves us and wants us to be whole and to delight in Him,

as He does in us.

Amen to that.

Go Tell it on the Mountain Yo

We share a lot here.

Not only do we have several schedule times of outreach, we just go for fun a lot of the time.

We do surveys, short films, solarium (a picture survey thing), and a couple of other cool tools that help transition into a presentation of the Gospel/conversation about spiritual things.

Or, there is another method.

I went with one of my roommates, John, a couple days ago and we tried a new method. It goes a bit like this.

"Hey, how you doin' today?"

"I'm alright, how are you?

"I'm great, thanks! Hey, so random question - what do you think about Jesus Christ?"

Can you say awkward?

I can.

Can you say awesome?

I can say that too.

Not only is it simple (yet terrifying a little bit), but it really tells you how a person feels because it kind of freaks them out. No better way to find out that watching their reaction.

Religion and politics. Not supposed to talk about either.

That's a dumb rule.

:)

We talked to a lot of interesting people that day. One guy is going to come to our weekly meeting on Thursday. His name is Feola.

Another group of kids was a little different. Most of them weren't really bothered by us, we had a decent conversation. But one of them...

...absolutely hated us.

He called us f***in' Jesus lovers. Said he would like to stab us (that was kind of a funny moment), told us to go away several times, and tried to make fun of us by saying that Satan saved his life.

I love that guy.

Really though. Absolutely love him.

And we told him that.

He didn't like that at all...

There is something about persecution that is simply beautiful. It makes you seriously question what you are doing. The good thing about questioning that is there is no way out at the moment. So you seek to draw strength from the unlimited power that lives inside of you and WOW does He deliver.

Now I am starting to see why the church EXPLODED when they were being killed and hated , and why the strongest movements are in countries where the Gospel is illegal. I see why in the face of torture and death, humble men and women REFUSE to deny their Savior. It is because of the undeniable worth of the Gospel.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Romans 1:16

I am not ashamed of Christ. By His Grace alone, I stand firm in the love of God, the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit, and the salvation of My Lord Jesus Christ.

My challenge to you. Talk to someone about Jesus today. Be blunt, be awkward, be graceful.

He always delivers.

God does more than answer prayers - He blows them out of the water.

That title may be a little confusing. What I want to say is that when we pray, we often do so in the realm of our limited minds. We don't give him nearly enough credit.

God gives us greater gifts that we can ever imagine, and I have really been coming to learn that lately.

There are three things that I specifically prayed for concerning my job this summer.

1. for it to make me somewhat financially stable. I know I need money so that I can tithe, bless others, and prepare for the future. I want to be responsible.

2. for it to be a good ministry opportunity.

3. For it to teach me the value of work ethic and help me to see that even in the workplace, I serve my King with EVERYTHING I have.

Let me tell you, he didn't answer those. He blew them out of the water.

First of all, and I won't go into too much detail, my job is WAY more than I could have asked for in the way of finances. Honestly, I am going to make more money than I will really know what to do with. PLUS, after talking extensively with one of the staff guys, I am going to create an action plan for how to be a good steward of this blessing. Saving plenty, tithing responsibly and joyfully, and using it to bless others as much as I can.

Second, it is perfect for ministry. Not only do I get to be a witness in the way I work, don't complain, treat customers and bosses, and how I treat the money I get. And, when it isn't busy, all we do is sit there and talk. AWESOME.

Third, the work ethic. I have always treated work as something I had to do to get some money. I complained about it, I did just as much as I needed to do to get by, and I didn't like it. I'll admit it. Already, I am seeing that work is just another way to joyfully do everything to the glory of God. Every car we valet includes running a block in the Virginia heat to or from the valet lot. Most of the day, we never really stop moving. Bell-hopping, doing errands, running for cars, everything. And it is amazing, because I not only know that I have to bust my butt, but I realize that I am WANTING to bust my butt because I do not serve my boss, or the guest at the hotel, I serve an Almighty King that deserves every bit of effort in my body.

I consistently forget that God does not want to answer our prayers - He wants to take them, improve them exponentially, and show us how much MORE He can, and will, do for us than we can ever imagine.

There is no better father than our Father in Heaven, who truly knows how to give His children good gifts.

Thoughts from a friend

My friend John posted this on a facebook note a few days ago, and I love it so much that I will share all of it with you.

"For those of you who do not know me, you would have no way of knowing that i totally love thunderstorms. There is something majestic and powerful and infinite and just generally awesome about a gentle display of nature's fury.

I love them almost as much as i love swimming. Not the competitive time, I am way too laid back for that, but much more of the jump in the water and enjoy the feeling of floating effortlessness beneath the surface kind of swimming.

Both things involve water

Bear with me

I promise to get to the point

So when you swim, you get wet all over, no part of you is dry, and if it is i would put out there that you are not doing it right

If you go out in the rain, you also get wet all over, but most people will just sit inside and watch the storm go down. I cannot really blame them, thunderstorms aredangerous you could possibly get wet, and cold, or struck by lighting. (Which is actually neither of those before mentioned things but is most likely worse then the two of them combined) So instead people are more then content to sit back and watch the awesome power of the storm from a safe distance

a safe distance, from something powerful

not getting wet

not diving in

Oh wait a second, that sounds.... almost spiritual

See here is the thing. About a week ago it was pouring outside and I wanted to jump into the pool while it was pouring outside but when i asked people if they wanted to go, they said no. The most common reason why not was because it was raining

wait what?

See the Christian today seems totally into the whole "religious dive" when it comes to swimming in our neat and content pools of our comfort zones. I will totally raise my hand in church, the same church i go to week in and week out, and i will evangelize within my sphere of influence, i will give myself over to the complete faith experienceas long as doing so means that i am diving into a well maintained hotel pool with a lifeguard

does this seem quite right?

Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with diving into our convenient pools It is actually a good thing, and a lot of people will not even go that far. But this summer we are learning a lot about the difference between good things and GREAT things If you can dive in then you are well on your way. You have cast aside the floaties, no longer are dipping your toes in, no longer keeping your hair dry, you areso close to fully surrendering

but not quite there

Because God is not a swimming pool, God is a thunderstorm. God is not predictableis not something that gets cleaned once a week, he is powerful, and destructive and awe inspiring. C.S lewis portrayed Jesus as a Lion in his book "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" and there is a really powerful moment where the beavers have this to say about him.

" He is not a tame lion, but he is good"

The thing to remember is that Even a thunderstorm brings life giving water, and be incredibly gentle, but it also has the power to drasticly and violently change lives

so does our God

My God

So can we get out of the pool?

And into the thunderstorm

Lets go beyond safe

and watch what the Lord will do

Earlier i told you no one wanted to go into the pool, which was true. But the third night of project there was a huge thunderstorm, and as it was drifting away I took two guys and two girls and we went down at midnight to the beach, in the pitch black, under the lightning crackling sky, and plunged into the water so dark we could not even see the waves until they hit us. We were at the mercy of the storm, and the mercy of the water

It was completely beyond safe

It was amazing"

Hocus Pocus

Last night, one of my roommates and I (Big Pete) went out sharing.

It was about 11 o'clock, and we went to the boardwalk. As I was walking, I thought of something my friend Justin told me. He called it treasure hunting - you pray for a random word, then the first word you think of you use as a sort of map to find someone to talk to. Random, yes. Very.

So as I was walking, my internal monologue went a little like this...

"Well, Justin talked about treasure hunting... God, would You want to use someth-APPLE."

Apple?

Apple.

So I went with it. About twenty minutes later, I realized I was standing next to something interesting. a "Real Fruit Smoothie" stand. I stopped and thought - apples are a real fruit.

I looked left and saw Rick and Thaddeus.

We went over and talked to them, and stayed for over an hour. We found out that Thaddeus was a firm believer, had been in jail in the past, and was homeless.

Rick was also homeless, divorced, had a few kids, and wiccan.

So for the next hour or so Rick and I talked about how his life had left him to witchcraft and I told him about the story of Christ. He wasn't hearing a lot of it, but I got to know him very well. And I think he started to open up near the end.

There was one interesting story in particular.

Once he wandered into the woods and started a seance type thing. He made a circle and knelt down and closed his eyes. When he opened them later, he saw entities. He saw seven bodies of light that he referred to as entities. Seven altogether, and three of them grouped together specifically.

Alarms went off in my head immediately.

I began to explain something to him. The earth was created in seven days. Mary Magdalene had seven demons in her. There are seven seals in Revelation, seven churches written to, seven bowls of wrath poured on the earth in the end. Seven, Biblically, signifies completion and fullness.

Three is God's number. Father, Spirit, Son. Three days in the grave. "Do you love me?", three times asked of Peter. Three is God's number of Divine Perfection. Holy, Holy, Holy.

So I told him all of that. God was screaming that He is the only true God, living and active. I told him about the apple that got me there talking to him. I told him that God desperately wanted to bring him home.

So we ended up leaving at some point. His mind wasn't changed. He didn't drop to his knees and accept Christ. But truth was spoken, and I'm extremely grateful that we got to share with him. I hope I see him again, because I will continue to pray for him.

Also, as a side note, on Saturday night we went out sharing on the boardwalk in pairs. That night, 12 people accepted Christ! A work done only by the mighty and true God, the only one that can soften a hard heart and bring home the lost. Praise God!

Workin'!

I had my second day of work today!

I work as a valet for the Cavalier Hotel, "The Hotel that made VA Beach Famous!" It is an awesome place and I love it so far. It's a huge blessing in the financial department, because on top of minimum wage I make tips. A very undeserved blessing that I will be thanking God for plenty this summer...

It's cool, because when we're not working, we just sit and talk. I am going to get to know my fellow valet-ers VERY well this summer, which is a perfect ministry opportunity.

With only two days under my belt, there isn't much to tell yet. But be praying for opportunities to proclaim Christ in the workplace with how I work, how I act, how I talk, and my boldness to talk about Him regularly.

It's gonna be awesome!

Not every day is perfect...

Yesterday I got stung by a bee, kneed in the face on the beach, sunburned a little bit, hit twice in the face with a soccer ball, and then ran into a ladder with my face on the way up from a handstand walk across the pool.

I learned that not every day is perfect.

Not that it all took away from the trip, it was comical mostly. And my head still kind of hurts... As I was talking to Lauren last night she ran over the symptoms of concussions, and I'm good on almost all of them! So no worries:)

Mom, you must love this.

It all just reminds me that every day has one thing in common. Walking with Christ remains constant, even though "good" and "bad" days come and go.

"Be joyful always; pray continually."

Jesus plays the guitar

Last night was Prayer and Praise night. The schedule for Wednesdays goes like this -

5:45 to 7:45 Date night with Jesus (extended, intimate time with the Lord)

8:00 to 9:30 Prayer and Praise night

I can't tell you how cool this schedule is. After everyone spends a wonderful two hours with Jesus, we get to all come together, praying and praising him corporately. It rocks.

But here is my story. I am semi-in-charge of Prayer and Praise night. I lead worship and head up a lot of what goes on. My band is made up me singing, my friends John on guitar, Steve on piano (but not this week), Josh on djembe, and Sarah on chick vocals. We had roughly two days to throw together four songs, get slides going, make copies of the chord sheets, and... well... practice.

Unfortunately, we didn't click right away musically. A couple things made it really hard, and the moral of the story is, my perfectionist self got really stressed really fast. So, three hours before, I realized that I had to play guitar with John later that night. Thing is, I've been playing for two months. And I had to sing.

...

stressed.

So, we pick up the story a half hour into my date night with Jesus - the one thing I had been looking forward to in the day. Time to spend quiet before God. And it was being taken by chores for this night.

So at 6:20 I made for the boardwalk. I opened my Bible while walking and prayed for a good page. I opened to 2 Corinthians, and made it about ten feet before I heard, "Hey, whatcha readin'?"

"My Bible."

"No, what book?"

Gerald and I proceeded to talk for for next hour. He told me a couple of key things.

First off, I needed to drop the perfectionism - God is the only one who is perfect.

That's one of those things you know, but you have to be reminded of constantly. My spirit of pride wanted so much to play perfectly, I forgot that what I needed was a spirit of praise. That was my job in leading: to lead my brothers and sisters to the throne room of God. That is an attitude issue, not a musical one.

Also, he taught me how to pray.

He taught me to pray in faith. Because of his sacrifice, we have a strong and perfect plea before Him. Because He has justified us, we stand before him confident. He rebuked my stress and worry in the name of Christ, and I felt it leave. It simply left my heart, and I was ready to praise my God.

So, last night, I played guitar and sang and led my friends to the throne of God effectively. But the difference was, I did it for Him and not me. And I did it because of Him, not me. There is nothing more important than focusing on Him, and that is what it takes. He will do all things to the glory of His name, all we have to do is ask in faith.

Turns out, Jesus knows how to play guitar.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

The ocean is quite large

Monday night I went for a run. We had come back from men's time and dodgeball (awesome.), and my friends Steve and Connor came with me for a run. It was about ten o'clock and feeling wonderful outside. We ran up and down the boardwalk for about twenty minutes or so, and got back to where we would turn inland and head back to the hotel. But...

After running, naturally, you get very warm. You know, all the exertion, you just want to cool off. That was when we decided to jump in the ocean.

Now let me tell you something about the ocean at night (mom, I know you already hate this... but bear with me) - it is just less than terrifying. The waves don't stop at night, like you might think. Instead, they just become next to invisible. The water is vastly unknown, even ten feet in front of you.

We waded about ten feet in, only up to our waists, and it felt great. It was just Steve and I, and we started to chat. We shared our stories about life, life before Christ, the hardships, the struggles, all of that. The waves were pushing us around a bit, and we started to talk about the ocean.

Let me say it again, the ocean is quite large. Sometimes you just have to look at it and think as hard as you can - and then you still can't imagine just how great and untouchable it really is. It is pure power.

That was when it hit me. Earlier that day, we had a time called "experiencing Jesus". There were a lot of different stations to go to to experience Christ, whether it was through art, music, writing, what have you. One station was a garbage can. We got the chance to write down anything that was holding us back - sin, despair, hurts, walls, whatever it was - on a notecard and rip it up and throw it in the garbage can. One of the verses that accompanied this station was from Micah 7:19,

"You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl ALL our iniquities into the Depths of the Sea."

That was when it all clicked. I was standing in the sea that God promised to throw my junk into. That same sea was so big, I couldn't even dream of grasping its depths. How could I continue to let these things hold me back when God threw them there, where I could never get them - where they could never harm me again?

So that is our God. He is bigger than the sea, bigger than the earth, bigger than the heavens. Who is like our God?

No one.

Believe it or not, Virginia isn't magical.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great place. 90 degrees, sunny, beach, laid back everything, it's not bad at all... but no place is magic. Up to this point, I have met roughly 70 people, had deep conversations with half of them, shared a room with 5 of them, and remembered... most of their names. I have been to two full group meetings, an "action group" (bible study) meeting, planned a meeting we will have on Wednesday, and done a plethora of other things. It has been great.

In our meeting today, though, we had to hear the hard truth: Virginia isn't magical.

The most important thing we will ever do is walk with God. That is what I heard today. It isn't about the things we do, or the books we read, or the stuff we know, but about constantly choosing God's path. And no place or thing or person can ever do that for us.

"If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

But let me tell you, while VA Beach is not magical, it is awesome. Already I am seeing how this project is a perfect opportunity to grow. It is an opportunity to take advantage of wise staff members and awesome friends and learn A LOT. Not magical, but awesome still.

So that is how it begins. With a beautiful reminder that no matter what we do, it is nothing apart from God.