We have a choice...

Okay, so I think I have something to say. I'm going to give it a shot here...
I know I got a little, politically fired up that last one, which is a rarity for me I know. Some were there with me...others definitely were not (sorry I haven't responded to them all yet...I haven't forgot). I'm hoping we're all learning a lot through these times we're in...I feel that I definitely am.

I don't want to get too much into politics now, but one thing I see that saddens me is the way some people, especially 'Christians' respond at times. I see hateful comments, racial slurs, words of condemnation and the like. And that really hurts my heart to see. I admit, I've been there before myself for sure. Sometimes it's just to be 'funny' but sarcasm does mean 'to tear one to pieces', right? The media definitely doesn't help. Think about the past year or so...two people are torn down over and over and over again. One of which will end up being our President. What a difference it would make if we were to honor them both throughout the whole thing.

We are called to be a people of honor. I'm not saying you have to agree with them or stand for what they stand for, but we don't honor people because they deserve it...we honor them because we are honorable. In Proverbs 18:21 we learn that our words have the power to give life...or death. In Genesis, God 'spoke' the world into existence. I think the verse in Deuteronomy I used last time still applies to us..."see I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses...now choose life, so that you and your children may live. We have a choice. No matter what side we supported, we can now either choose to say that America's doomed and oh no...fill in the blank with the latest reason why. Or say, 'okay God, You are in control, You are good, You work everything out for the good of those who love You and Your ways are much better than our ways.'

How can we tear down our leaders and expect God to touch their lives? We were all made in the image and likeness of God. And whether you believe in God or not...He believes in you. And we ought to treat everyone accordingly, no matter who they are. In 1 Peter 2, Peter writes, "Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. I believe the king at time he wrote this was Nero...who later hung Peter upside down on a cross...and here Peter is choosing to honor the king.

So it's late now and I'm hurting to get a good conclusion here. This is one of the many things I'm learning lately. And just seems very relevant for our time right now. I have so much I want to share with you all, but am hesitant to do so until it is not just knowledge to me...but truth that I live from. Let me just leave you with this last thought...

"Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." (colossians 3) I can promise the world to my country, I can give them the world, I can heal the sick, I can pray for my president, I can look after the poor, counsel the wealthy, make the best videos, surf the best waves, be there for kids, preach, teach, wash my enemies feet...but if I don't have love, I'm nothing. If I don't have love...nothing I do matters. How many of you know...you can't love others until you can love yourself? You can only give away what you have. And how many of you know that God's thoughts for you are more than the sands of the seashore? And those thoughts are all good. They always have been and always will be. Jesus has had your picture on the fridge (so to speak) before you were even born. He loves you...because He is love. So just accept it...and then give it away to the next person you meet.

I love you all and really appreciate you taking the time to listen here.

...now choose life.

Now choose life...

Well it's been quite a while since I got on here. Definitely not because I didn't have anything to say, but maybe I just had so much that I did know where to start yet, but I want to save that for later. Right now I think there are matters that need our attention. Dueteronomy 30:19... "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live..." I'm sure you're all aware of the elections coming up here very soon. And I just believe that there is more at stake here than many may realize.

You have Prop. 4 that will require a teenage girl to get permission from her parents before getting an abortion. You can't give a child an aspirin in school without obataining permission but they can get an abortion? Come on. And you know all the heartbreaking facts...abortion is a $90 billion industry that drives a huge part of the economy, 89 babies killed per minute worldwide due to abortion, since Roe vs. Wade more children have died at the hands of abortion doctors than have died in all the wars put together in American History! Are you kidding me?! Abortion is the greatest holocaust in human history! The same enemy that was behind that mass murder of children in the days of Moses and the days of Jesus (because the enemy knew how dangerous those guys were to his plans) is up to his same tricks. People are in bondage and are crying out to be freed from slavery to corruption, addiction and depression and God is sending us heros in the form of children.

Prop. 8...protecting the sanctity of marriage and of life as God created us to have. This is very hard to write and not get fired up about. And our next president...for me I haven't been too sold either way, but in light of what I just shared above...I gotta vote more in favor of my morals than my money. There may be 500 amazing things I like about a candidate, but 1 thing that I just cannot budge on. Check out this amazing video the Catholic church put out... www.catholicvote.com and more than words or quote or opinions...just listen to your spirit that God gave and vote your conscience.

I've never been too passionate about voting or elections, but I feel like God is stiring this in my heart. Love and miss you guys.

Now choose life so that you and your children may live...

WOW...

I gotta share this while it's fresh, because it's blowing my mind! Okay so maybe you already thought about this but I was reading this book on the Holy Spirit and it was talking about how Jesus was actually capable of sinning. Think about that. Okay, Hebrews 9:14 says, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God..." It was the Holy Spirit that was the power that kept Him pure. And think about it...if Jesus wasn't able to sin would Satan have wasted his time trying tempt Jesus to sin?
Anyway, I always thought about it like, "Well Jesus is God...He can't sin." But He came down and limited Himself as a man. He lived His whole life knowing He was the our one shot. And if He sinned once it was over. So He gave Himself completely to the Holy Spirit (God) day in and day out every day. EVERY DAY...not once did He wake and say ''i'm just not feeling it today." Come on! Suddenly, it's not the cross that really impresses me as much as it is the way Jesus lived. Man, He must really love us!
Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit...how much more should we? "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in you. (Rom 8:11) Not only did the Spirit raise Christ, He is also the One who will raise you!

One Week Down...

So, I gotta admit...first thing I did, first class, first worship song...I cried. I couldn't help it. It was such a long road to get here and I'm finally here and knew I was supposed to be here and I don't know...I cried okay. And now where to even start. Typical day of class is worship for an hour, one of the pastors will teach, then a break, then someone else will teach. But I gotta tell you, I've never heard anyone really teach like this. I mean there is a lot of talk about miracles and signs and wonders and stuff like that...but when they speak I can tell they don't just speak from principles and ideas...they speak of things they have experienced, they speak with power. Let me share at least one message that really stood out to me so far. It may just be a glimpse of the whole message but hopefully, it will at least spark your curiosity as it has mine.

Ephesians 3:17-21 "...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...may have power to grasp how deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge (experience God)...filled with all the FULLNESS OF GOD..." Jesus showed us what it was like for a man to be filled with all the fullness of God. There's a difference between knowing about God and knowing Him. I want to know Him. It's said that we become what we think the most important person in our lives think we should become. So I should become what I think God thinks I am. God is the painter. Jesus is the model. We are the painting. You get that? Why is it so hard to think of ourselves as being 'like God'? We need to be transformed...by the way we think. When we were reborn we were made new...body and spirit. But we still had a deformity...our mind. That needs transformed.
There is power in a name...Jacob (meaning 'deceiver') which is what he did a lot of his life wrestled with the angel until his hip was broken. Finally, his name was changed to Israel (meaning 'prince of God'). So many people are living under a name God didn't give them. People say, "I'm mormon or I'm agnostic or I'm no good" God says, "I didn't give you that name." In Genesis God created man in His image. We were made to be like God. Satan came and tempted Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit saying, "you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." I hadn't really noticed this before but he was offering them something that THEY ALREADY HAD! He did the same when he tempted Jesus. He offered Him something that He already had! We were made to be like God. The war of the worlds is over "Who are you?" and the devil wants to get you to perform to become...that's religion! You see God doesn't just love you...He likes you! He doesn't just tolerate you...He celebrates you! We need to begin to believe who we are and treat ourselves accordingly. You tell people how to treat you by the way you treat you. If we've given our life to the Lord, then saying, "I'm a sinner saved by grace" is a lie. Think about that. I was a sinner, I was saved by grace, but now I am a 'saint'. We no longer have a sinful nature, we are a new creation(2 Cor 5:17). New- never before created. We have been made new and we have received a divine nature. He didn't just forgive our sins, He changed our nature. If we believe we're sinners, we believe more in the devil's ability to defeat us than in God's ability to lead us! Some call it humility: Say giving a sermon, singing a song, running a race, etc... "Oh that wasn't me, I'm nothing. It was all Jesus"...that's making fun of God and what He created. Does demeaning the painting glorify the artist? God painted you! Humility isn't thinking less of yourself...it's thinking of yourself less. Humility is realizing the source of your greatness...it lies within Him, who lies within you.
You are God's most impressive creation!
And you were born to be amazing!

There are all kinds of things I am being taught and I'm just trying to sort through and process it all. That they would not just be principles or ideas but it would be who I am and how I live. It's only been a week and already I can't remember everything being taught, but I definitely remember that as it was being taught, my spirit inside me was stiring up telling me, "Hey listen, this is all abouth the God who made you and He's trying to change your life." He's trying to get you to see 'who you are' so that you can live like it!

It was definitley hard coming here...leaving all you guys in san diego...you're like my family. Know that I miss you and love you tons. Since there are over 700 students we get split up into groups...mine went camping at Lake Siskyou this last weekend. It was a blast and I met some really cool people. It was just what I needed...to just connect with people here and start to allow myself to fully be here, if you know what I mean. Well, I think that's enough for now. Definitely let me know what you think about what I share...I'm still figuring out what I think so.


"Take it all, take everything I have...just give me Jesus"

Just for starters...

So I'm just going to try and get this going for now...
I know I'm going to get pretty busy here soon and know many of you are as well. But I would love to share with as many of you as I can what I am learning and experiencing up here at the Bethel school of supernatural ministry. And I know I won't be able to keep in touch personally with everyone I would like to as much as I would like to. My hope is to be able to keep these brief...to say a lot without saying too much. It was extremely difficult to leave San Diego. Especially, the youth group kids and my friends there. Borderline depressed on the drive up. And it took me about a day after I got up here to actually "arrive" here. But I still know that I am supposed to be here and if I didn't do this I would always be left wondering...
I still remember looking into that man's eyes on that train in Sri Lanka. He had no legs, had to scoot around using his hands and seemed blind as well. I felt so helpless to do anything. Even if I had money what would it really do? I remember thinking that if Jesus was there that man would be walking off that train, rejoicing. I started to think of Peter's words to the crippled man outside the temple, "Silver and gold I do not have but what I have I give you(what did he have? how did he get it?)...in the name of Jesus, get up and walk!" The same Peter that denied Jesus 3 times as He was going to the cross. He was one of the first "followers of Jesus." If I claim to be a Christian as well, should my life look more like Peter's did? More like Jesus' for that matter. "If you believe in me and the things I do, you will do even greater things than these!" -John 14:12. There just seems to be more to following Jesus than I know. In this book I'm supposed to read before classes start, "When Heaven Invades Earth," Pastor Bill Johnson states that salvation was not the ultimate goal of Christ's coming...it was to fill each newborn believer with the Holy Spirit...that we might be "filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 2:19. Maybe that's what Jesus was talking about when He said He came to "give life and life to the fullest." Maybe not...but it's my hope to find out.
Anyway, there's a lot more details that go into why I am here, but I think that's the basics of it. I've just become too curious to not find out if Jesus really meant that we really would do even greater things than He did and how is that really possible. I've heard story after story of such things being done up here at Bethel, my sister went to this school and if there's anyone who's opinion and advice I can trust...it's definitely her. I'm nervous and know I will be put in uncomfortable situations but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and look forward to what God wants to show me here...and would love to share it with you guys. I'm sending this to you because you have in some way been a great influence and encouragement on my life. Some I've known for a long time, others just recently. Some I know are close to the Lord and are all for what I'm doing, others may just be checking Him out still. Some I've hung out with recently, others not for years... well, you get the point. But if you don't mind listening, I don't mind sharing. Love you all; you all have a huge place in my heart and I feel very fortunate to have you in my life. Oh yeah and uhhh...Go Broncos!