This week was the first week of life in seminary, and I must say...Wow! I cannot begin to explain how amazing it is to have the opportunity to study the Bible with some of best Bible teachers in the world today. It is truly a privilege.
This week, Chuck Swindoll gave the message during Wednesday's chapel service, and he warned us that we are entering into one of the most dangerous periods of time in our lives and that we are in the most dangerous place, spiritually speaking. Every day we are open to spiritual attack, but the enemy seems to pay extra attention to seminary students. On Friday, Dr. Pentecost, yes that is his name, delivered the chapel message on Friday. At 93 years old, Dr. Pentecost still teaches and yesterday he taught us that we are to cast our nets where Christ tells us to cast our nets. Our task is not to bring the nets in or bring the "fish." We are to cast the net, God will bring the fish.
It was amazing! Simply amazing!
Thank you to everyone for your prayers!!!! Thank you everyone!
8.30.2008
8.27.2008
Check Out the Harvest Recap Video
Hey everyone,
So I had a quick break today and watched the Harvest Crusade recap video on Greg Laurie's blog. I suggest checking it out. It's a pretty good video with a great message. You can check it out at this link to Pastor Greg's blog
Just scroll down to the Southern California Harvest Recap video.
Let me know what you think.
So I had a quick break today and watched the Harvest Crusade recap video on Greg Laurie's blog. I suggest checking it out. It's a pretty good video with a great message. You can check it out at this link to Pastor Greg's blog
Just scroll down to the Southern California Harvest Recap video.
Let me know what you think.
8.21.2008
Integrity
Today was orientation day at DTS. We had the opportunity to hear from different departments and the various offices on campus. It was your typical school orientation, so to speak. The only difference is that at seminary, whenever you meet, someone has a Word for you. Today, the Word came from Chaplain Bill Bryan.
Chaplain Bill is a man that you cannot really describe. He is 72 years old and more full of life and love for the Lord than most twenty-somethings. Today, Chaplain Bill spoke to us regarding integrity and blamelessness. Integrity is what you do when no one is look and blamelessness is not doing anything that can bring a charge against you. In other words, blamelessness means to talk the talk but you walk the walk.
The brief message came from Psalm 101:1-4,6. Picking up in the middle of verse 2 David writes, "I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me" (NASB). What Chaplain Bill showed us though is that integrity and blamelessness is a choice. Notice that David says "I will..." This notes him making a choice. He is choosing to be a man of integrity. He is choosing to do what's right and to be who he should be. But as Chaplain Bill also pointed out, that comes from deep within the soul. These choices are made and directed by the Holy Spirit and it is only by His strength that we are able to be victorious and live a life of integrity and blamelessness.
That was the really cool insight of the day, and this was only orientation day! But please pray for me and for everyone you know, that we would all live lives of integrity and blamelessness.
Chaplain Bill is a man that you cannot really describe. He is 72 years old and more full of life and love for the Lord than most twenty-somethings. Today, Chaplain Bill spoke to us regarding integrity and blamelessness. Integrity is what you do when no one is look and blamelessness is not doing anything that can bring a charge against you. In other words, blamelessness means to talk the talk but you walk the walk.
The brief message came from Psalm 101:1-4,6. Picking up in the middle of verse 2 David writes, "I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me" (NASB). What Chaplain Bill showed us though is that integrity and blamelessness is a choice. Notice that David says "I will..." This notes him making a choice. He is choosing to be a man of integrity. He is choosing to do what's right and to be who he should be. But as Chaplain Bill also pointed out, that comes from deep within the soul. These choices are made and directed by the Holy Spirit and it is only by His strength that we are able to be victorious and live a life of integrity and blamelessness.
That was the really cool insight of the day, and this was only orientation day! But please pray for me and for everyone you know, that we would all live lives of integrity and blamelessness.
8.20.2008
It Starts Soon...
I apologize for being slow on the updates. I have finally begun to get settled in to my new apartment. It's pretty nice, I must admit. My brother did a good job in picking out the place, seeing as how he saw it and told me to move there.
Today we got a lot of rain. It has rained quite a bit the past few days and when I say rain, I do not mean the typical Yuma shower that lasts for 15 minutes or so and then goes away. This past week, when it rains, it flat rains! Last night we got 3 inches of rain and today I bet we got another inch to two inches. It's been nuts.
The family and Kenny all loaded up and left today. It's definitely weird, having them here for a week and then they're gone. I told my mom that I felt bad that I was not all sad and upset over them leaving. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that my brother and Kayla are coming back on Sunday. I'm sure that I will feel differently after they move in November.
Tomorrow is the beginning of school, meaning orientation day. Yay! I'm excited to get started, but I am very nervous/scared as well. I will be honest that looking over the syllabus for some classes is flat terrifying. As weird as that may sound. Please pray for me that God will give me peace of mind and the ability to discern and understand what I am learning.
Lastly, before I sign off for the night, thank you again to everyone who is praying for me. I cannot tell you enough, how much you mean to me. Thank you for all of your support!
Today we got a lot of rain. It has rained quite a bit the past few days and when I say rain, I do not mean the typical Yuma shower that lasts for 15 minutes or so and then goes away. This past week, when it rains, it flat rains! Last night we got 3 inches of rain and today I bet we got another inch to two inches. It's been nuts.
The family and Kenny all loaded up and left today. It's definitely weird, having them here for a week and then they're gone. I told my mom that I felt bad that I was not all sad and upset over them leaving. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that my brother and Kayla are coming back on Sunday. I'm sure that I will feel differently after they move in November.
Tomorrow is the beginning of school, meaning orientation day. Yay! I'm excited to get started, but I am very nervous/scared as well. I will be honest that looking over the syllabus for some classes is flat terrifying. As weird as that may sound. Please pray for me that God will give me peace of mind and the ability to discern and understand what I am learning.
Lastly, before I sign off for the night, thank you again to everyone who is praying for me. I cannot tell you enough, how much you mean to me. Thank you for all of your support!
8.15.2008
Quick Update
So I don't have the internet at my apartment yet, so I'm stealing my brothers. But I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone for your prayers and support. We have made it to Dallas and I am getting settled in. Dallas is pretty sweet. But I gotta run. I do want to put a plug in for the Harvest Crusade though that Greg Laurie does every year. If you get a chance, check it out online!!
8.13.2008
Moving...Sooooo Much Fun!
So it has been a bit since my last post. I do apologize. Today I have been frantically, well, not frantically packing. More so excitedly, ready to leave town but I do not want to leave behind friends and family packing. If you would like to simplify this even more, I still have some packing to do and it is 11:12 pm as I currently type, and I am leaving tomorrow. Oh well.
Anyway, I do want to share with you a couple of photos from the going away party for Trent and Dana, and myself. It's so unsettling to know that, without trying, I look like I am going bald, even though I am not! I cannot help it that my hair parts weird. It is either that or my head is shaped funny. I would believe either.
I do want to wish Trent and Dana and their family all the best as they take this next step in following God where He leads. Thank you for all that you guys have done for me, all of the support and encouragement over the years, and for giving me the opportunity to preach. I cannot say thank you enough.
I told you I look like I'm losing my hair!!!
Good Friends to Have!!! (L to R Dana, Bev, Fred, Myself, Trent, My Mom)
Anyway, I do want to share with you a couple of photos from the going away party for Trent and Dana, and myself. It's so unsettling to know that, without trying, I look like I am going bald, even though I am not! I cannot help it that my hair parts weird. It is either that or my head is shaped funny. I would believe either.
I do want to wish Trent and Dana and their family all the best as they take this next step in following God where He leads. Thank you for all that you guys have done for me, all of the support and encouragement over the years, and for giving me the opportunity to preach. I cannot say thank you enough.
I told you I look like I'm losing my hair!!!
Good Friends to Have!!! (L to R Dana, Bev, Fred, Myself, Trent, My Mom)8.07.2008
One More Time...
So I'm sitting at the church right now, helping with worship practice for this Sunday. It's kind of weird. I feel myself becoming all sentimental, thinking about how we may practice one more night before I take off for Texas. I really felt as though this was several weeks away, but the time is drawing short.
In less than six days I will be heading south to Texas, moving away from home for the next four years. It's hard to imagine and I admit that I am nervous, although I am excited to begin the Masters program at DTS.
More to come later...I'm sure...
In less than six days I will be heading south to Texas, moving away from home for the next four years. It's hard to imagine and I admit that I am nervous, although I am excited to begin the Masters program at DTS.
More to come later...I'm sure...
8.05.2008
Just As I Am
"Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd'st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!"
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd'st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!"
Words, Charlotte Elliott, 1834. Tune WOODWORTH, William B. Bradbury, 1849.
8.03.2008
You Gotta Go Deeper
So I have been trying to figure out how to put the Beth Moore simulcast into a blog post. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I am still processing a lot of what she said and taught. Usually I can come up with something to write or say fairly quickly. But this is different.
What God has shown me is that in order to live as a victorious Christian, we must be willing to go deeper in our relationship with Christ. We must move past salvation and press forward in growing our relationship with God. This weekend, Beth made the statement that you must dig down and have deep roots below if you want to produced good fruit above. By that she means that our roots must be planted in the soil of the God's Word and growing deeper in God's Word if we want to see a hundredfold harvest above.
Saturday evening, after the simulcast, I was going over my Sunday school lesson for today and the Holy Spirit really made John 6:53-58 stand out to me. Here Jesus is explaining to the Jews that He is the Bread of Life and that you must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood if you want to have life. As I was reading these verses, the Holy Spirit really hammered home the point that we must feed on Christ. By that I mean we must be in His Word daily. In John 6:57, Jesus said,"As the living Father sent ME, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me." If we want to have any life spiritually, we must feed on Christ. If we want out spiritual life to continue to grow, we must feed on Christ daily. We must seek Him and dig our roots deeper into the soil of Christ. The deeper our roots, the stronger our relationship with Christ. The more we feed on Christ, the stronger we become and more we grow spiritually.
I'm sure there is more that I will write later on, but for today, this is what has really stood out to me. I know that I can speak from personal experience that when we neglect daily Bible study, our spiritual life suffers and we give the devil an open door of attack.
What are your thoughts? Did you see the simulcast this weekend? What did God say to you? Let me know.
What God has shown me is that in order to live as a victorious Christian, we must be willing to go deeper in our relationship with Christ. We must move past salvation and press forward in growing our relationship with God. This weekend, Beth made the statement that you must dig down and have deep roots below if you want to produced good fruit above. By that she means that our roots must be planted in the soil of the God's Word and growing deeper in God's Word if we want to see a hundredfold harvest above.
Saturday evening, after the simulcast, I was going over my Sunday school lesson for today and the Holy Spirit really made John 6:53-58 stand out to me. Here Jesus is explaining to the Jews that He is the Bread of Life and that you must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood if you want to have life. As I was reading these verses, the Holy Spirit really hammered home the point that we must feed on Christ. By that I mean we must be in His Word daily. In John 6:57, Jesus said,"As the living Father sent ME, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me." If we want to have any life spiritually, we must feed on Christ. If we want out spiritual life to continue to grow, we must feed on Christ daily. We must seek Him and dig our roots deeper into the soil of Christ. The deeper our roots, the stronger our relationship with Christ. The more we feed on Christ, the stronger we become and more we grow spiritually.
I'm sure there is more that I will write later on, but for today, this is what has really stood out to me. I know that I can speak from personal experience that when we neglect daily Bible study, our spiritual life suffers and we give the devil an open door of attack.
What are your thoughts? Did you see the simulcast this weekend? What did God say to you? Let me know.
8.02.2008
Beth Moore Simulcast!
Last night and today is the Beth Moore simulcast. She's an amazing teacher and I am looking forward to posting what God reveals through her. Until then, take a look at Luke 8:1-15.
8.01.2008
Cool Song
So when we were down in New Orleans in July, the Youthworks leader taught us a worship song entitled "Wrap Me in Your Arms." I believe the song is by Michael Gungor. Anyway, below is a video that lacidar321 made on YouTube, using the song.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)