Friday, February 22, 2008

Recommended to All


Paul Wright's latest CD, Kingdom Come, is incredible. Maybe it's just because I am a fan, but I cannot get enough of this CD. I definitely recommend checking it out. Here's one song that has been on repeat:

Lost

I am lost without You
Simply wrong and not true
I am lost without You
Without Your love

I've been building castles in the sand
Working hard on all my plans
One day they washed away
Leaving me with dirty hands

So come with Your love
Come with Your Son
Who died for us all
Lost in the fall

And I am nothing without You
I can't do anything
Apart from the cross I am lost
That's where I found my life
When I lost it to You

I am lost within You
It's not wrong but so true
To get lost within You
Within Your love

You show me You've got better plans
So I'll rest in Your loving hands
Your words are forever to stay
So I'll walk in the way of Your commands

And it is to love
It is Your son
Who died for us all
Lost in the fall

And I am nothing without You
I can't do anything
Apart from the cross I am lost
That's where I found my life
When I lost it to You

Are the way the truth and the life
No one can come to Father except through the Son
You are the way the truth and the life
No one can come to the Father except through the Son

I am lost without You
Simply wrong and not true
I am lost without You
Without Your love

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Redirected Passion

Lately, God's really been speaking to me about how it does not matter how much of a passion for ministry I have, if my passion for Him is not there. Now, at first, this may seem like a "duh" statement. You might be thinking a passion for ministry comes from a passion for Christ. And I think it can, it does, and it should, but it doesn't always happen that way. There's no doubt that my initial call into ministry and my passion that originally developed for ministering to teens came from a deep passion and growing relationship with Christ. However, since I have been at school, I feel as though that passion has diminished. Don't get me wrong, I love the Lord with all my heart. And being at school, I am continually growing in my knowledge of Him. But too often I find myself getting caught up in this knowledge of Him, and how to preach homiletically, and my philosophies regarding ministry to the extent that I begin neglecting my walk with Him. But God's really been working with me on this. My ministry will be nothing if I do not have an intimate relationship with Him. It does not matter how much I love teens, how well I can preach, how creative I am in programming, or anything else if I am not first of all dedicated to my relationship with Him. This is something that is becoming even more real to me the closer we get to being done here at school. In just over a year we will be on our internship, and after that we will be looking for a church to work at. That's just crazy. Just thought I'd share these few thoughts that God has been working with me on. Have a great day everyone. much love

Thursday, February 14, 2008

More On Nevis

It's getting close to that time...only two more weeks. We've been learning a lot more about what sort of ministry we will be doing there. In fact, we are planning all the programming for everything. During the late afternoon/early evening on Sunday-Wednesday, we will be leading a VBS for kids. It's only about 1 hour and 30 minutes each evening. One of those nights I will be leading the Bible story. That should be fun. Challenging, but fun. Also, on Wednesday night after VBS we will be leading a Youth Rally on the island. I'm really looking forward to this. It should be a good time as we bring in our ideas, and they show us some of their culture through this event. All the schools in Nevis have devotions every morning. We have the privilege of leading these on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It is pretty much a 10-15 minute sermon in front of all the students. This should also be a very good experience.It has been a bit stressful as we have been trying to learn what we can about their culture while planning all of these events. Not to mention still having the rest of our coarse loads to deal with. As stressful as it has been at times, out team is really looking froward to this experience. Not only will we have the opportunity for a lot of ministry experience, but we also have plenty of time in out schedule for exploring the island and getting to know the people and the culture. Continue to pray that God does amazing things on this trip. Hvae a great day everyone. much love