pointing to the Father...

This is an entry I've been wanting to write for a long while but haven't been able to because I either haven't been keeping up with the blog or I've been catching up on stuff I'd wanted to talk about during the frequent down times when I didn't write... but finally I get to write it.

Maybe this is something that's already common knowledge to everyone else that just never really hit me before, but that it did. It hit me in a big way. Ok, so one thing I've been taught a lot lately both through my personal devos and through Bible studies and sermons, is that the whole Bible, everything in it is pointing to the Gospel, pointing to the Savior, Jesus Christ. It's amazing that when you read the Bible with that mindset you begin to realize how true it is. Everything, the whole Old Testiment, The Gospels (obviously), Paul's letters, Revelation... they're all about Jesus and His sacrifice. So there's the first half... Then, one night in my devotions I read through three very common verses, verses that we've all heard hundreds of times.

"Therefore God has highly exalted him (Jesus) and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

It hit me like a ton of bricks, such a basic concept, one I'd heard a million times, but here it was. IT'S ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!! How amazing is that. Let me explain. I'd finally begun to grasp the concept that the whole Bible points to Christ. But there's more! "...to the glory of God the Father." Christ points to the Father. Thus, everything, the whole Bible, all the stories all the chapters, all the books are pointing to Christ and His sacrifice, who in-turn points to the Father bringing Him ultimate glory and honor and praise. All glory to Him!

My website!

Hello all,
Just wanted to take a minute to let you all know that my freelance website is up. Yep, you heard right. I'm jumping headfirst into the world of freelance videography. Head over to the website and check it out. I've got all kinds of info and 3 samples of my work already up, and there will be more to come in the near future. Calvary class of '08... the Senior Trip Video is over there so check it out!

Summer...

I didn't lie... It's tuesday... just Tuesday almost a month later. I'm really not very good at this blogging thing. Have I mentioned that before? Anyway... sorry once again.
Let's jump right in shall we? God has been doing a lot in my life this summer! It's been absolutely amazing. No doubt the best summer of my life! It started on June 5th... Brasil tirp (I like spelling Brasil with an "s" now cause that's how they do it there.) A group of 19 (16 students and 3 leaders) went to Brasil on a missions trip. God taught me some amazing things and did some amazing things in me on the trip. It all started on... I believe it was a Tuesday morning. Jon and Jenn Trott, the missionaries we were working with, shared their testimony. God broke me as they spoke. I don't think it was any one specific thing they said... just the way they shared their passion for God. After that Pastor Jeff gave us time to do a devotion that he had prepared for us. For some reason I could not focus at all on the devotion that he had prepared for that day. I just kept thinking, "God, what are you trying to tell me? I know You're speaking to me, I'm just not sure what You're saying." One thing I couldn't get out of my head was myself going into foreign missions. As the day went on, I kept thinking on God and praying and that night, God did another amazing thing in me. One thing we did on our trip, was each night a few of us would go to an english school down the street. Our reason for being there (from their standpoint) was simply to talk about American culture with these Brazilians who were learning English and answer their questions... but God had different plans for us that night. The 6 or 7 teens and adults that we were talking to just kept asking question after question. One thing led to another, and myself along with 4 others got to share the Gospel straight forward... from point A to point B... beginning to end. And it didn't even end there. They just kept asking questions about our beliefs until the teacher had to stop the class because we went past the time just answering questions they had. It was truly awesome! This experience encouraged me and impacted me and caused me to keep thinking on God and what he was doing in my life. You see, regrettably this was the first time I had ever shared the Gospel that straight forward in my life. It didn't stop there. The next day, we were supposed to go sightseeing in the morning. We were going to go into downtown Porto Alegre and walk the streets. We were disappointed to find out that there was a big protest in the city so we weren't going to be able to do that, but in hindsight I can see that God had a different plan. Instead of walking the streets, we went to a lookout on the side of a mountain that overlooked the entire city. We all jumped out of the bus and began taking pictures and admiring the sights. Then Jon called us over and began to share some stuff about the city with us. It brought tears to my eyes as he told us that in this city of about 1.5 million people, he knew of only 3 churches that represented about 1,000 people that truly taught the Bible. And since it would be foolish to believe that everyone in those churches are truly believers, we are led to believe that there are less than 1,000 Christians in the entire city. On top of that, many of the missionaries who are on there way to Porto Alegre first have to go to Sao Paulo for language school. When they get there, the find a bigger city that's easier to live in and nicer people, and many times end up staying there. The missionaries in Porto Alegre have almost no help. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."-Luke 10:2 By the end of the week, I knew God was telling me to go... I don't know when, or how. But one day...

Throughout the next weeks God continued to grow me closer to him. He continued to bless and teach me in ways beyond description.

This past week, myself, Emily, Chelsi, Kayla, Chaz, and Jason got to minister at a camp run by ABWE for missionary kids. Pastor Jeff has spoken at this camp for several years, and this year they asked him to bring his praise band... that's us! It was an awesome experience meeting all these kids and hearing their stories. Our electric guitarist wasn't able to go, but we were blessed to have one of the counselors, Mykal, play with us. We had a lot of fun playing and worshiping together. Trust me though, we were ministered to a ton this past week to. God just used this week to confirm in me what He has been teaching me all summer.

Well, 23 days till I leave for college. Jason and I will be living right in the middle of a huge mission field with plenty of distractions. Pray for us to stay focused on the goal, to fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith.

This has gotten really long, and there's still so much more I could write. Hopefully you'll read this, COMMENT, and I'll be back in a couple days with another post... but we'll see what happens... For more info about our Brazil trip visit our blog. We updated it almost everday. Check out the videos too. Love y'all. Peace.