GOD is GOD wherever you are

     It's been a while since I've sat in front of my computer trying to put my thoughts together. Honestly I don't know where to start. I spent the summer at a ministry camp knowing it would be a time of growth- but not like this. "This". How can I explain it? How do I tell you what "this" is? Marannook (the LORD's resting place)  is like a snow globe. Your trapped in this little world that is so special and intimate where time doesn't exist. I know it sounds like a dream, but that's because it felt like one. Part of you doesn't ever want to leave it, but the other part of you knows there is a big world out there. This world. Where cars are buzzing, people are in a hurry... and broken. In one hand it feels like your waking up from the most wonderful dream to a nightmare. The thing is GOD is the same GOD no matter where you are- no matter where I am. The things of this world are constantly changing, but GOD is always the same. Whether we're in a season on top of a mountain or in a valley- GOD is the same. That is what sustains me. That is why I am not concerned that I had to wake up from that beautiful dream. Marannook will always be a special place to me, but it is GOD who made it so. GOD is the one worthy of such credit for the growth in me. GOD is the one worthy of credit for the change of my brothers and sisters in CHRIST. 

     I suppose one may want to know these changes,and I have no desire to with hold such a thing from you. Yet it goes back to "where do I begin?". Before going into camp I knew one thing I struggled with the most was self righteousness. Upon studying Romans I saw and felt in some measure the weight of my sin. At this point all I wanted to do was condemn myself! Like Paul at the end of Romans 7 shout out "Wretched man that I am!". My point is this- both outlooks are completely wrong. We are not good enough. I am NOT good enough. We don't deserve salvation. I DO NOT deserve salvation. Yet this- I DO NOT have to earn it. The problem was once I saw how wretched I was I suddenly felt the desire to earn my salvation. What a fool! SALVATION is a GIFT. A GIFT that is FREELY given. Dear friend. Do not take lightly the cross- Jesus suffered in full for our sins. HE endured the wrath of GOD, the weight of our sin, the physical pain of the cross, and the pain of abandonment in our place. It should have been me on that cross. It should have been us. GOD is a JUST GOD! Yet dear friend take a breath- it does not end there. Though we do not deserve such a salvation GOD blesses HIS children beyond the cross. GOD is a just GOD, but HE is also a loving GOD. GOD created this world knowing we would sin, and yet HE made us anyways. HE knew HE HIMSELF would have to come to suffer on our behalf, and HE made us anyways. HE as CHRIST hung on that cross through the agonizing pain, because HE loved us. As Romans 8:37-39 tells us "nothing can separate us from the love of GOD" because HE loved us. Not even our sin could separate us from HIS love. You see GOD is just AND loving. GOD is loving AND just. You can't have one without the other. 

     Honestly I could go on and on about how GOD transformed my heart this summer- the growth was drastic. No matter what I could say it would all point back to the cross. There a many things that I have learned- they often came in bits and pieces (like a puzzle) pointing to the bigger picture. Least I not forget GOD is still working, because GOD is the same GOD no matter where I am. No matter where you are. This world is changing. This world is falling more and more apart. It is broken. GOD however is the same always. HE is the one who sustains. As I have stated my uncertainty of where to begin even more so I cannot say where I shall end. Why? Because GOD is still working.... 

     

"JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday and today and forever" -Hebrews 13:8

Special dedication to my dearest Tifteen (Training Staff):

Thank you for allowing the LORD to work through you to minister to children, and to me. Tifteen would not be the same without any of you. (To: Anna Seay, Austin Fell, Caitlyn Sells, Cary Kendrick-Holmes, Devin Williamson, Evelyn Chang, James Carmichael, Katherine Killingsworth, Laura Braden, Elizabeth Williams, Mitch Wunderlich, and Nathan Fell)

To my program Staff:

Thank you for leading so well. Thank you for the sacrifices you made to better serve us and the precious children that came through Marannook. (To: Taylor Coleman, Monan Lu, Kat Spain and Cameron Hernandez)

Thank you to all the wonderful support staff for all your work and service!

Thank you to my dear teacher and friend for leading, listening, and loving us all so well! (Mr. Keith Ray)

Thank you also to his lovely wife and daughters! 

Thank you to Mr. Charles and Mrs. Barbara Kendrick-Holmes for making camp so fun, and educational. It is truly a special place. 

Most of all: Thank you JESUS for changing my heart. For working through and in my brothers and sisters in YOU. Thank YOU that YOU are always the same no matter where YOU take us. 

The Power of Words

Have you ever been impacted so greatly by something someone said? Positive or negative. Think about it. Now ask yourself this question: Why- if they are just mere words? My friend that is because words are not a "mere" thing. Spoken words are powerful and capable of many things. 

Of course I must take the word of God into consideration in this. After all they are the mightiest of words. There are multiple accounts in the bible of just how powerful words can be. Spoken words can bring a world into existence as in Genesis 1:3,6,9, 11,14,20,24, 26. "God said ___" and it came to be. Just like that! "For he spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm." (Psalm 33:9). Words can bring life as in the case of the valley of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:4-13 (take note and be reminded this passage is symbolism of a believer being brought to life). Words can take life as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:5,9-10. Words can cause the paralyzed/lame to walk as in the case of Acts 9:34. 

My friends, brothers, and sisters- let us allow this to encourage our hearts! If God can speak a world into existence, or bring or take life with words how much more can he provide for the things we ask with pure hearts. Yet also let it hold us accountable in choosing wisely what words we speak- for words are mightier than we realize and known in detail by a sovereign and holy God. Words have a mighty power capable to do many of things. So let us be eager to encourage, and quick to choose to ponder a thought before speaking it. Words are a mighty and wonderful thing. 



SUPPORTING TEXT

GENESIS 1

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth,[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[f] and for days and years,15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g]fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Ezekiel 37:4-13

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[b] to enter you, and you shall live.6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am theLord.”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[c] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

Acts 5:5,9-10

5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Acts 9:34

34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose.

The Good Thing

There are a handful of people in this world who have been to some of it's darkest corners- I am one of these. Yet it is not something I ask for pity over, but rather rejoice in. Many may ask why? Well surely I must say, because through such things God has granted me strength and wisdom. I have become (through his sufficient grace) a conquering warrior for his message of redemption. My point is not to publicize these such scenarios, but to address gratitude for the good things. In a weary, broken, and fleshy world these said good things can come far and few between. It is not that we are victims of such circumstance- for we due to sin do not deserve good things. Yet God is a God of grace, and desires to (in his timing) gift us such things.

In the past year of 2014 there were a multitude of unwelcomed circumstances in my own life. This is oddly now becoming a major praise- for they compelled me to spend these days on worn knees in prayer. I am a slab of clay in which God is shaping, and surely (Lord willing) last year there was much progress in his handy work. I prayed that God would provide me with a job in the next year. Often we gaze over that sometimes the answer is no- yet this is not one of these. God did provide me with a job- better yet one that blesses me (though I do not deserve it). He provided such a job in his timing and not mine, and for such I am ever greatful! Due to his sovereign timing I have a job, that meets my field and encourages my weary spirit. Unfortunantly in the most delightful way I cannot end this on a final note- for the chapter continues. Simply I must praise my heavenly father.

"For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face." Psalm 11:7