http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

First of all, if you want to understand his blog, you might want to watch that video.

See, I always said to myself, "Oh, I'm going to Spain. I have to worry about Catholics, same sex marriage, and people who just don't believe in God; there aren't that many Muslims there.

I was wrong.

This is something of which every God fearing Christian should be aware. This is a serious thing, and is a very real, and alarming danger, even if you think it doesn;t apply to you. I made the same mistake.

And since I've posted this video on facebook, I've already been, within an hour lauged at, mocked, and called all kinds of names. But we know what the Gospel of Matthew says about that. Glory to God.

Life is like a box of rocks.

So, over the last couple of days, I've been thinking about myself, and thosue around me. Everyone, it seems, and their parents, went to some Bible college, or comes froma missionary family, or is this super amazing person, who totally puts me to shame in everything I do.

I went to a year of "normal" college, and totally wasted a year. I was a party animal, far away from God, depressed, and just a Christan who Satan had put in chains. Well, I let him put me there. Anyway, I kinda felt like I was this total oddball, low down, fledgling Christian surrounded by some mighty warriors who had all this experience and haven't gone as far from God as I was a few months ago.

I kinda felt like a piece of coal in a box with a bunch of gems and precious things.

I was beating myself up for no reason though. God's showed me a few, very engouraging things. Amos is a great book of the Bible. Unlike a lot of other books, Amos just gets straight to the point in his book. He makes no introduction, and simply goes about preaching God's word. In chapter seven, verse 14, he makes a shocking revelation (at least it was to me)

14: Then answered Amos, and said..."I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit."

Amos, on of the most power packed preachers wasn't anyone special either. His dad wasn;t a might man of God. Amos never went to a well known Bible college. He was just a regular guy, just like I am. I dunno. Maybe this only makes sense to me.

Anyway. It doesn't matter that I come from a broken (ish) home, or that I've got no real Bible schooling, or that I wasn't born into a misisonary family.

God can still use me, in spite of all my flaws and imperfections, to be a powerful, potent man. Of course, it's got to be Him, not me. My own strenght will fail me. His will not.

I promise you...

I promise I'll update soon. I'm being an idiot and wrestling with God right now. Once He breaks my hip, I'll be better.

You aren't important.

Lately, I've been studying in the book of Amos. I studied this book a while ago, and I feel it's a book that many people forget about. To me, this is a sad thing. In just 6 chapters of Amos, the Lord has revealed many things to me, and I've really learned quite a lot from it.

Overall, I feel, the most prominent thing would be that God is an equal opportunity employer. Regardless of whom you are, if you step out of line, the hammer is coming. Don't think you can stay in sin and get away with it.

I'm not trying to say that God is up above, just waiting for us to fail so He can bring His fist down on top of us and make us suffer. He isn't. But, if His children are stepping out of line, they need to be disciplined.

I want to be sure that I'm not coming across with the message that God just loves to sit up there and smite us every chance He gets, because I'd be lying. God won't bring the hammer don on you right away. He'll give you a chance to be blessed by His mercy and turn back from your sin and filth (I'm not talking about salvation) and come back to Him.

I feel that my blog posts have been very cheerful and "fluffy" until now, and I don't want to give the impression that it's all fluff to follow God. There are some tough times, and some storms as well.

I'm just saying that no matter what you've done, how strong you are, fast you are, good looking, smart, musically talented, good of a speaker or rich you are, you're still nothing next to God, and He can take you out in an instant.

Of course, isn't it amazing that, even though we're so puny next to God, that He would become a Man and die for us?

The dry bones

When God does things, He does them all the way. When He blesses you, He bless you beyond ability. God revealed something to me today, and it was such a blessing to me, that even when I tried to say something about it, I couldn't. I just kept stammering about it like a gibbering monkey.
I'll do my best to explain it. I was reading this passage in my devotions lately, and it really stuck out to me.
Ezekiel 37 1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Ezekiel is taken to a pit of bones, very dry bones that have been dead for a long time. He's standing at a graveyard, basically. (Graveyard is an important word here)



The other day, I was reading up on the history of missionary work and such in Spain. I directly read that, "Spain has been seen as a graveyard for foreign missionaries"

I'll admit that I was slightly nervous at first, and kind of discouraged. How can I, a simple man, go to a graveyard for missionaries, and have any kind of success? What makes me different than anyone else?

This morning, God revealed something to me. If Ezekiel can be used to bring a literal graveyard to life, why can't God use me to bring the spiritual graveyard to life? Why am I any different than Ezekiel? He was a man, and so am I. God used him, why can't he use me? Why can't I be a part of Spain's first spiritual awakening to God's word and true power? There's nothing stopping me! The same God who used a man to bring bones to life can use me to spread His word overseas to the Spanish people. But not just overseas! In Atlanta, or Maryland, China, Peru, Africa, Australia, Mexico or anywhere, God can use me. I feel blessed that God would even want to use me, but to use me in such a way is even more amazing than my tongue can tell.

It's just very encouraging when God reveals things like this, or at least it is to me. Maybe it only makes sense in my brain, but even if that's the only place, then I'm grateful for that.

God is amazing.

13

I suppose I could try to come up with some amazingly dramatic post tonight, but that wouldn't feel right. Georgia cops don't like Maryland. I worked 13 hours today. 5 for 5 is amazing. I have a budget (kinda) Yay.

But on a serious note, God is really providing for me. I mean, He's not sending down bags of money (though that would be nice) but He is giving me opportunities to show how much I really want to be here, and how much I'm willing to work for it. He's basically testing my dedication, or at least I feel that way.

Someone called in sick today at work, and I was offered to work her shift for her. Seeing as how I had nothing else on my schedule, I decided it would be a good idea to take the opportunity, and put some extra cash in the bank (and then towards rent).

See, I wasn't thinking about working a 13 hour shift. I was thinking that God was providing the money I need to pay my bills. I guess it goes back to that other blog I wrote. (The one about what you see depends on your point of view)

I dunno. I don't have much to say, really. God is amazing, and He's blessing me out of my skull. (And in way bigger ways than money, but I don't feel it would be a good time to talk about them)

Nothing.

Sometimes, God doesn't send you a check in the mail, or move a huge mountain out of your life. Sometimes, God just watches. Sometimes, nothing "big" happens in your life.

But this isn't a bad thing always. There is very, very little in the Bible, if any at all, about Jesus, God incarnate, between the ages of 12 and about 30. He was training. Becoming a man. Doing what was needed in order to do what would be needed. Sometimes, you just have those basic days where you do your devotions, God shows you something, and you go put into the world. Satan shows up here and there, but not too much. No major struggles, nothing. Sometimes, it's just a basic day.

See, I'm kind of a simple guy. I like sports. I like to run track, and I love to win. But the thing is this: I don't wait till the day of a race to get ready. Race day was the day when I would show what I'd been doing in the training sessions, the boring days. I show that I've been quietly making myself stronger, and becoming ready. If I wait till the day of the race to start working out, I'll fail.

Sometimes we think, "oh, there's nothing for me to do." In truth, those are the moments when we should be doing the most. Those are the moments when we should be working our hardest to draw nigh unto God, and to give ourselves over to Him totally.

I'm trying too hard.