Friday, April 23, 2004

Upstream "rocked my face off" tonight. I got to hear a lot of really awesome testimonies and total jam out with the amazing praise band.. guys this upstream praise band is like no other.. they know how to rock out. Our section of 2 Corinthians we covered tonight was soooooooooo awesome and applicable to just me in general :)

I am so blessed. I deserve nothing that has been given to me.. my truck.. my knowledge of this world.. my family.. anything man. I deserve to be starving in Ethiopia.. facing true physical suffering.. my troubles are nothing proportionally to most of those in third world countries.. They say its hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven... guys.. if you are American.. going to college... have a house.. A CAR.. in proportion to the world's population.. man you are loaded... The entire earth is God's kingdom.

so anyhooo.. Paul is tellin the church of Corinth about a vision he had in third person starting in 2Cor12:1. He goes and meets God in the "third heaven" --

( scholar speculate that this third heaven is where God resides...
"It was certainly a very extraordinary honor done him: in some sense he was caught up into the third heaven, the heaven of the blessed, above the aerial heaven, in which the fowls fly, above the starry heaven, which is adorned with those glorious orbs: it was into the third heaven, where God most eminently manifests his glory. We are not capable of knowing all, nor is it fit we should know very much, of the particulars of that glorious place and state; it is our duty and interest to give diligence to make sure to ourselves a mansion there; and, if that be cleared up to us, then we should long to be removed thither, to abide there for ever. This third heaven is called paradise (v. 4), in allusion to the earthly paradise out of which Adam was driven for his transgression; it is called the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7), signifying to us that by Christ we are restored to all the joys and honours we lost by sin, yea, to much better. The apostle does not mention what he saw in the third heaven or paradise, but tells us that he heard unspeakable words, such as it is not possible for a man to utter-such are the sublimity of the matter and our unacquaintedness with the language of the upper world: nor was it lawful to utter those words, because, while we are here in this world, we have a more sure word of prophecy than such visions and revelations ")


after explainin his vision 14 years ago hes like.. its cool to boast about Christ within yourself as long its Him you are boasting or if you are boasting of your own weaknesses... (wow that takes boldness). He talks about how after these great revelations God has given him.. a thorn was given to him under his flesh to keep him from be conceited with the God given revelations.. He asked God to remove the thrown [3] times.. (there is that number imagery) and God said naa

"My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

wow... God wants us to lay down our wretchedness before him as one guy said tonight during his testimony... God wants you to re-fall in love with him every day you wake up. Every second you live, He wants you to worship his Goodness. His Goodness is the fact that no matter how wretchedly evil you are, He loves you. He wants you. He is in hot pursuit of your heart. He is your ultimate romancer. His Goodness is found in greater magnitudes the more wretched you lay yourself at His feet. He wants you to lie down broken at his feet so He can use His healing powers and rejuvenate your life into the most it has ever been.
"For when I am weak, then I am strong". True power is God's power.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" - God

~Forever Forward~


Wednesday, April 21, 2004

alriiiighty.. how bout that 208 test??? (here is where i am going to be arrogantly self-centered) BOOOOYAA. Mission accomplished. anyhooo I've really been contemplating life.. mmm.. good stuff yeah?

where am I now, where will I be next semester.. should I do this engineering stuff??.. should i just quit school and live in Mongolia for 30 years? What is God sayin!!

The more and more that i experience His amazing grace, light is defiantly shed on who He is and how He works.
I'm at a point of crossroads. -- I am searching the correct path to take.
"In God's kingdom, you have a place, a purpose, a role, and a function to fulfill. This gives your life great significance and value" - R. Warren

I know there is the perfect place in God's kingdom in which i intricately fit, but finding the place is where God intervenes.. as of .. the past few weeks I've really questioned whether the gifts God has given me will really be used to their upmost potential in engineering.. its still in the air!! i pray about it and am totally ready to submit and follow if God is ready to reveal a new path of choice.. I am called to serve somewhere! I defiantly don't despise my current standing in engineering, its fun believe it or not. I enjoy the challenge. But I have to define why I am enjoying.. am i pursuing false happiness?? am i only chasing a self-gratifying degree and career? Has God called me to serve in the Aerospace industry?

"Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life" - Jesus

check this passage out in Warren's book...

"The bible says, 'Each of us will have to give a personal account to God.'...At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: 'I was too busy" or 'I had my own goals' or 'I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement.' To all excuses God will respond, 'Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?' The Bible warns unbelievers, 'He will pour out his anger and wrath on those whom live for themselves,' but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards." -R.W.

Then it goes on making another great point that if you aren't serving you aren't living, you aren't existing.. because you were created to serve! That is powerful man.
How intense is your servanthood?

~ Forever Forward ~




Monday, April 19, 2004

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk abou them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deut 6:1-9

tonight i did something a little different.. took a little leap of faith, checked out the 6:35 service at Alder's Gate. Man if i said the service didn't change a thing in my life, i truely believe God would strike me dead. That would be a lie beyond all lies. God has used Alder's Gate to inspire me to never lose facination in the Lord tonight. It totally has set my heart on fire for Him. The ministry has so much passion for Him that I cannot help but to shed tears each time I go to worship there. The congregation wants to know you.. man tonight at McAlisters I felt as if I truely intimatly got to know a couple of the guys through only a few hours of talking.. they were such awesome Christian role models that I cannot do anything but praise God for putting them into my life. I know I have found my church home, God has made that very clear to me. Now it is my job to use this guidance and offer myself to thier ministry. Tiffany has a cute little say'in in her profile:
God won't ask how many friends you had, He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend
I pray that God would give me the boldness to share my faith with everyone, no matter how unintimate our relationship has been in the past. There are some fokes i've known for years that don't know me. What is my problem????? I can go to a church and totally share my heart to a complete stranger.. but talk to someone that I have known and be over-reluctant. uhhhhhg..

"Talk abou them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates"

Praise God.

~Forever Forward~