This weekend I was challenged to go and be by myself, a mini retreat if you will… and was given 3 things to do… First, I was to read Isaiah 61… answer a packet of questions that my mentor group was given about my calling, then I was to find out what type of leader I am and finally, write my story… to tell others… What God’s power can do?
What a day… I found that my story is proof for me and fruit of what God can do in your life if you let him… He took such a messed up dude and redefined him, made him new and blessed him… even though he had done so much wrong as a non-believer, he still blesses me in the new spiritual body… He celebrated four years ago when I accepted him, then the work began… of humbling, shaping and teaching began… and it’s still going on… I hope he never stops humbling, teaching and showering me with love through friends, family and the of Holy Spirit…
You have the same kind of stuff that I do… you are no different… my faith is the same as yours and yours is the same as David’s… We all have it… We were born in to this life, with no choice… He had great faith in you when he made you… The catch is, that YOU and I are a descendants of Adam, which means you and I both were born in to this sinful world… with sinful hearts and flesh… and the truth is that our flesh is only capable of one thing… Sin…
I asked one of my student-venture kids, “What does it mean to you to be a Christian?” He said with a chuckle, “We suck sometimes… well, ALL the time!!!” ha… I laughed and said”, Yep! Pretty much!” Point is, we are never going to be right or perfect… so act now and believe that we kind of suck all the time… and we need Christ’s perfect spirit to come in us, humble us and love us… Hope you enjoy this… Pictures can’t describe how beautiful this place is…
I spent 5 hours in front of this… Listening to God… Amazing…
Our Calling…
God has called me, as well as you, to share the good news… to encourage those who are lost and afraid… the world is full of the enemy… I am his warrior… (Like Maximus in the Gladiator! ) We, as a body of Christ, will conquer the enemy with the Strength of the Lord… as David did by pulling back his slingshot and firing a deadly blow to Goliath… We can all have this… Glory!
I was given a horrible affliction… with addiction… but the good news is that HE, our God, is being glorified by my transgressions… and in yours, because we have turned from the sin that we once lived in through Christ… we have become new, reconciled and forgiven … as he has called us to be shepherd’s, fisher of men among the flocks that most in “this world” would run from… he has surrounded me with wise counsel and pray that for you… he loves me and delights in me with my works… I hope and pray that he has this for you…
No, matter what I say or do… God knows all of the things that I did and will do before it is done… He has forgiven me for the wrongs that I have committed and has praised me and blessed me… it’s a heart thing… you will know when you know…Pain is Growth and my generation doesn’t like to feel… we medicate and soak our wounds in substance…
The promise is that we will be victorious in the day of his return… when every knee shall bow…
He has sought me…and you out and has called us to this commission… To warn, encourage and shower gifts to those who are hurting… or people that think they don’t deserve the one “true” love that you and I experience daily… Given by our Lord God… he promises a hope and a future for me and for you…
Isaiah 61:10: “I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. “.
I cherish that kind of gift… like a king of admiring his crown, like a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest and the bride who adores herself with her jewels… I am one with him… I am called to move… One Body, one army, ONE shield, and the STRENGTH of Christ…
What are you called to do?
Read Isaiah 61 and see what God says to you… How many promises from God are in the entire verse?
May 9, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Foundations…
What is your foundation, what are your guiding principles, what are you equipped with in order to move through this life?”
The answers to such questions vary. And today, the following Word resonated within………..hope you enjoy.
Equipping ones, self with the Word, understanding the Word, brings everlasting joy and strength to the full, at all times.
Nehemiah 8:8 so they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.
There is something about understanding that will equip you with power. The Bible says, in all of thy getting, get understanding.
Nehemiah 8:9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The joy of the Lord is your strength. Joy equals strength. Joy comes from what you know, what you understand.
Strength will come when you understand the Word of the Lord.
As Nehemiah was tasked with reviving and reforming the people of God in Jerusalem, he did so under the word of God.
When God’s people read the Word, they got the sense of the Word, they understood the Word, they began to weep, and then the joy showed up.
Joy comes from knowing, abiding, and equipping ones self in the Word.
John 15:7-11 if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be given to you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in His love. These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
What did He speak? He spoke words…
Why has He spoken these things?
So that His joy will become your joy… When you get the words of Jesus, you get Jesus’ joy!
What words do you know?
John 10:10 the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full, overflowing, with abundance.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Psalm 91 I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress, my word, my God, in Him I will trust
Know that Jesus’ joy comes from the Word… it cannot be taken by the world.
James 1:2 my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.
When should we count it all joy?
At all times, including times of being tempted, tested, or tried.
How…?
How do you count it all joy in difficult times?
You go back to what you KNOW…
…You go back to your strength…
, which is from the Word!
At some point, our faith will be tested, we will be tempted, and the pressure of the world will come upon us…
Such pressure will try to change us. To make us doubt our faith… but being rooted and grounded in the Word will provide us with a KNOWING…
If we are not prepared, if we are not rooted… we will not be able to overcome the temptations… we will not know God’s joy.
However, when we are prepared, when we are rooted in the Word, we will be overcomers, we will be granted the life in which He has promised.
James 1:12 blessed are the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Thank you guys! I love you all! JL
May 2, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Inspire! | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Why go?
Why Go To Church?
A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.
“I’ve gone for 30 years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. However, for the life, we sometimes can’t remember even one of them.
So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”
This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column, much to the delight of the editor.
It went on for weeks until someone wrote this decisive factor:
“I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time, my future wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. However, for the life, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.
However, I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”
When you are DOWN to nothing………….God is UP to something!
Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible!
Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, “Jesus, could you get that for me?”
April 26, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Inspire!!! | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Thankful…
Thankful
Loving
Caring
Smile
Happy
Scared
Alone
God
Home
Jesus
Blessed
Right
Solitude
Ministry
Mom
Humble
Mortal
World
Fair
Right
Upright
Laugh
Cry
Relief
Settle
Warning
God
Unlocked
Depressed
Repressed
Anterior
Posterior
Front
Back
Side to side
Kiss
Love
Pour
Legit
Make
Up
Stay
Go
Hot
Warm
Luke
Believe
In
Him
Justin
Kyle
You
Are not… A
Failure…
I
Love
This
Happened
No quotas
No beating
just me and God
His would
not mine
Future
Hope
Faith
Love live love
Enjoy
Joy
Full
Ok…
Thank you god!
April 22, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Waves of life… Waves of emotion…
Read this slow and let the words flow through your heart like waves in the Ocean…
Ocean waves
Crashing along the crest of my Soul…
Bringing in strength from the deep
Deep calls to deep…
Moving out of the shallow
Cleansing that which binds me
Enlightenment is for certain
Yet still not clear…
And through it all, standing…
Standing to hear the call
Seeing the face of faith…
Asking for deliverance
Still seeing “self”…
Desiring to be at one
Energized by the possibilities…
Forevermore.,,
Ever lasting….
Always changing…
Always the same…
Free and flowing
The crest of the wave rises…
Tides roll in…
Heart wide open…
Soothing to the core
Just an observer…
The tides traverse back out
Carrying all that is called to the deep
Deep calls to deep
Standing in strength
Enlightenment is
May each breath be filled with light, laughter, and LOVE!
April 21, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Inspire!!! | | 1 Comment | Edit
April 12, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
27 Today!
Therefore, it’s been a couple of days since you have heard from me… My bad… A lot has been going on…. I met this awesome girl through a friend… She loves the lord with all her heart, soul, and mind… She is his and she embodies him his love and grace… Rather has too with me;) She is turning in to one of my best friends in a very short time… She challenges me and looks right through me… She is awesome. That’s all I will say about that but know that this relationship will be blessed by God 100% because I am following him and doing something like I have never done before… I promise I will talk more about what is going on and what I am learning…. Let me learn it first….;) Then I will share what God has revealed… I ask for your prayers.
So I am reading a book called, “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.” by John Ortberg. In the third chapter, I was asked to think about these questions:
What is my deepest dream?
How much Passion do I experience in my daily life?
What do I want my epitaph to say?
How much am I growing these days?
How often do I take risks that require a power greater than mine?
If I had “one true thing” I was called to here on earth, what would it be?
How clear is it to me?
Wow… Kinda loaded there, but I love how the author makes you think about your life… where you are now and where you want to go…
My deepest dream is to be a good and faithful servant to my God… to Sheppard people like me… who have the same battles I have…to be a counselor…
I have so much passion in my life… I love that god has me here on earth and he has blessed me with this life… I am so humbled…
I feel like I am growing everyday… In the beggining of my walk I was lazy and was content that “being” a Christian was enough… Now, I am in the word every morning… On fire! My prayer time is awesome… I am preparing for something bigger then I can see… Now for later… Living with purpose…. God’s purpose…
I feel like I take risks in his name all the time… No trying to boast here… I usually wouldn’t share this, but it’s cool.
Thursday I was pumping gas and I noticed a big African-American lady trucking a suitcase down the street. I yelled, “hey! You need a ride?” everyone looked at me as if I was crazy…:) (Ha-ha, I love shocking people!) However, she lit up so bright and said, “YES!” … I saw and felt so much joy in that moment… She was blessed, because I am blessed… with four seats in a car… and I am sure that only one gets used everyday…ha I talked to her and she had some great things to say to me… I was so humbled in that moment… God was in that car and believe he was winking at me though her… Challenge: Be bold and shock the world with kindness…
I believe that I am called to be a co-star in Gods HUGE story… A communicator of his word… how it has effected and how it has been demonstrated in my life… He has called on mercy and me to help my fellow addicts in this world that think they are inadequate for God’s love…
It is soooo real in my life… It is clear to me, because I believe I have the ability to connect with people… wherever they are in life… Because of my life experiences and chains that have been broken with the strength of God… People connect with people that have gone through the storms and wilderness that they are going through… Only through God and wisdom does that change…
I love all of you… Today is my 27th Birthday and I am somewhat shocked I made it this far… You know how? One answer! My Savior! Thank you all for you prayers and I will continue to write… To share what he is teaching me… To encourage you and remind you that you are loved… There is no other love greater then that of the one who are All Mighty, sovereign… creator, ruler, and King of ALL our hearts… Love God Love people! J
April 6, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Inspire! | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Love… What does it look like?
I wanted to write about a subject that has been hard for me in the past… and maybe for you too. It’s apart of all us… No matter who you are, where you are from or what you have done…
Everyone has had this feeling… Love… But what is Love? What does it look like? How do we love?
For me, I have never loved anyone… I thought I did, but looking back, I never really cared or loved anyone… All I wanted out of a relationship was what she could give me… Dead end road for you guys out there… I have learned in the past three or four years that my fantasies and desires are not how love works… God has shown me that love… I am thankful I haven’t loved, because my wife is going to receive all of me with no strings or a memory of a first love, because she will be my best friend and love… We have to remember Patience… So tough… but over time broke me, challenged me and made me new and I have to believe that if he did that for me, he will move for you… Through him and only him this happens…
This verse describes the characteristics of true love. These qualities can certainly be found in the person of Jesus Christ, and they can be found in all truly loving relationships. The problem with trying to “find” love in our dating lives is that too often we don’t look for these characteristics. Rather we look at physical appearance, popularity, or wealth. These are not the qualities of God
I am guilty of it… In the past, I looked at what a woman was on the outside or what she could give me physically… Why? ME! And because of my sinful desires… because of my own selfishness… Those are none of God’s characteristics…
In my life I have been on countless dates… but the best date by far, was one of honesty and truth… a reflection of God. We talked for hours on in about God and what he is actively doing in our lives. We encouraged and challenged each other… There was no real awkwardness (until I would say something stupid of course), but God was the centerpiece and not I or her…he blesses those kinds of nights, because they are a reflection of him (MEN!) … He is always working on a bigger picture that YOU can’t see…
Burning kind of love…
Have you ever seen a magic show? At some point, the magician will use a diversion to get your mind off what he is really showing you… He might use flash paper… Flash paper is a special effects tissue that can produce flames on a person’s fingertips. The special paper ignites quickly into a bright flame using a lighter or match. And then nothing… The show is over…
This is not what God sees as love… That flame went out as soon as the match finished the stroke… God’s idea of love is of slow burning coal… over time it gets warm, then hot, then hotter and so on… Sometimes, later on you might have to shake the coals to get a stronger fire, but you still have that slow burning fire… love… the coal, which is your foundation of the fire…
The point is… we need to let God move… let God shape our hearts in to the people he wants us to be… NOT US and OUR desires…
If you are 30 something and single, God is with you… shaping you in to an awesome husband or wife… not for you, but for him… So Wait! Dance with him for a while and see what he can do for you…
I leave you with this…
However, the LORD said to Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”. I Samuel 16:7
I truly love all of you. I don’t write for me… I write for him…. to bring him Glory… I write not to boast, but to be a reflection of what he has put on my heart… its so awesome to think that he can take a man so far from God… reforming, reshaping and molding THIS man to be a man of Christ… with love. J
March 30, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Forgiveness… Love… Easter… He is raised!
Forgiveness-
C.S. Lewis said, “We all agree that forgiveness is beautiful until we have to practice it!”
For me forgiveness was one of the hardest things for me to learn… Growing up I didn’t really know my father… I lived so far away and for a young boy you just don’t get it… You think you did something wrong and resentment sets in over time. Therefore, for me the word “father” was identified with pain and because of my own selfishness and hurt I didn’t want anything to do with my eternal father… He knew why and would later break me of that…
Sad to say, but it took 20 something years to learn forgiveness… Not because I didn’t know how too, it was because I didn’t want too… I thought I was hurting him (dad) by holding him in my chains…
Come to find out, I wasn’t holding him in chains… I was holding myself captive… Secluding myself from loved and ultimately became 100% unlovable… Miserable to live like that…
Over time, God broke me… I was prideful and cocky… I thought I had the world figured out and respected no one… Including myself….
There is a process of forgiveness I want to share with you… if you have someone your life that you just can’t let go of, this might help… It’s tough but you have to make the first step… So important, because you can’t finish healing without that first step…
Step 1- Repentance
Both parties of the broken relationship have to be willing to forgive one another… HUGE! Active choice…
Step 2- Reconciliation
The reconciliation “event” is a mutual repentance… Confession… In addition, through this forgiveness results in a reconciled relationship.
Step 3- Restoration
This is a mutual effort to rebuild trust… Respect and Intimacy results in a restored relationship…
Step 4- Reinstatement- THE PLAN
Implementation of an action plan to reinstate the individual to the position they held prior to the broken relationship… Results in a reinstated relationship…
Maybe you have someone that doesn’t want that forgiveness… Or doesn’t want to participate… Its okay. You can forgive and move on… God will give you that strength without having to have the other person in your life… He is jealous for you…
Why we don’t like to forgive…
It’s too hard.
He/she isn’t sorry for what they did.
I don’t “feel” forgiving.
Why they did was so awful.
What God says about forgiveness?
Forgiven people must forgive.
God commands us to forgive. Matt 18:21
Forgiveness is the only God-honoring way to settle a debt.
***Forgiveness frees us to serve God.
Usually I would define a topic for you at the beginning of my thoughts, but I wanted you to be thinking about what forgiveness is to you…
To me forgiveness is:
Choice
Act of faith
Act of love
Act of obedience
I can proudly say that through God grace he freed me from my own chains… I have forgiven the two people in my life that hurt me the most with his strength…
After he broke the chains keeping me captive, my life has changed drastically… I am a happier person… I can love… I am lovable… I cherish people… Friendships… Family… There is a verse in the Bible that says, “He who is forgiven much loves much”. If you have tasted that sweet forgiveness then you will be moved to love more…
Our father in heaven loves me unconditionally… He is me obsession and desire… He holds my affection… I can feel his presence everyday and I love him for what he did for me…
He came to teach us, show us how to love one another… humbled himself and died on a cross to prove that he was the Lamb of God they talked about in the old testament as a sacrifice… this week we remember him for the ultimate sacrifice and resurrection on Easter.
My hope is that you can forgive… Move on… grow with God, having nothing hold you back… I love you all and know God is with you wherever you go… Love God Love People… JL
March 29, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Never Settle…
Therefore, last night my friend went out with a girl he met through a friend… Awesome girl! He picked her up around 7, had a rose in the car waiting on her and was NERVOUS as a lab rat…;) He called me and said, “Dude! I have never been out with someone like this… She might love Jesus more then I do and it scared him… lol”. I laughed at him, because he was acting like a fifth grader at Valentines… See my friend just became a Christian a couple of years ago and he had a hard time figuring out which girls really loved Jesus… In the past, he would go on meaningless dates and ultimately they would end with him looking like the ALL HIGH and MIGHTY jerk that takes his religion too serious…
I think he just didn’t want to settle… He called me this morning and told me that it was an awesome night and he now knows what I meant when I told him that he DESERVES someone that will love God more then she will ever love him… That’s the kind of woman you want boys! One that wants to talk about what God is doing through her and one that will stand by you in your walk with Christ, hold you accountable and in the end, love you unconditionally… You will know when you know, so don’t rush it… Sit back, let God work… Find your strength in Christ… Find your identity in him>… Put it on the alter and know that it is his will… No matter what! Jeremiah 29:11
The lesson for me here is that we all settle in some ways… or many ways, depending on who you are… and we have tendencies not to trust that God has our lives and has a hand in it… I read Psalm 139 last night and it really hit me… He knew everything I would do, before I did it. He knew everything I would say, before I said it… He shaped me in the womb, gave me life, made me in his image and I had no choice but to trust that he would get it right…AND STILL HUNG ON A CROSS!!! WOW!
Now… do you trust that he will get it right again? Do you trust that when you look at your life, you will see the reflection of Christ in it? Some of that is up to you, but he gave you the tools to love, just to love carries so much weight… My challenge is that you read Psalm 139… Not too long, but very cool if you take in what David is trying get across to God… Thanks guys… Love God, Love People… JL
Christ-like…
Are you a person that adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, belief that he is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God?
The term “Christian” is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity or in a proverbial sense “all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like.
Therefore, I just defined it for you… Why do we make this so hard on ourselves?
I think I can understand where you come from… I sometimes love to do the things that aren’t good for Justin and that is a battle within me… I know you go through it too. We are human… and its balance that keeps you around… HOWEVER, that doesn’t give us an excuse to do or be someone that we are not. I do it and its through grace and forgiveness that I learn from those times… We have to keep Christ on the forefront of our minds and hearts…
Something I learned this weekend…when I share my story with people… I tell the truth, but maybe talk to much, looking for that connection… That ah moment, that if I say enough words then she/he will get it and in my mind if I say enough or the right words, they will go “wow” he does get it… ha-ha … Not the case… It takes time… for anything in life to learn about that person on the other end… TIME and Patience is the hardest thing for us to learn… Its not that I am in “need” or pressing a situation… I like the connection… the spark, the excitement of new people… The point is that the person on the other end will never get it, because they haven’t gone through what you and have gone through… They will grow to get it and maybe learn from you and your story… Be a light!
Lesson: For me, I hate missing out “stuff” my friends/family do… No matter what it is… I think I just like to be in the moment so I don’t miss anything… We all like to be “IN” the up and up, because you and I both want the whole story… not just the minor details “they”, being your friends, choose to share with you… we want the scoop… The worst feeling is feeling “outside” the group, like when you miss out on a trip cause maybe your parents didn’t let you go or you just didn’t have the money… it makes you feel disconnected from the group of friends that went without you… I know you can’t stand that… Cause I can’t!
What if that happened to you after you die?
What if you were standing there in line at the gates… of heaven… looking at your mom, your dad, your brother, your friends… all smiling and but deeply saddened at the same time… without you… going to be with the God and his son that never knew you? What would your status on your Facebook be then?
Take that feeling in…
For me, that would be the worst feeling of “missing” out or missing the boat… With tears in my eyes I would be saying to myself… I should have listened more. I should have paid more attention when my Christian friends were trying to guide me into a relationship with Christ… I messed up… and there is nothing that can get me out of this one… I am not trying to scare you in to my religion, but if you call yourself a Christ-follower, then act like it… Be strong and courageous against the enemy… Stand together… Pray!
What would do you do then? What will you do NOW so this doesn’t happen to you?
I’m about to throw it out there… but we all call ourselves “Christians”. For example, as I scroll through Facebook, I see all these people I know and their beliefs on their profile says, “Christian”. … Now, in my head, I know we are all broken and sinners… and you should know that no matter what, we are all gods’ kids… He loves each and everyone of us equally… we have the choice to follow him or not… It falls on us… what hurts my heart the most is when I see people “out” and their actions don’t match up with the faith they say they have… I am blown away that they could be the only example for someone new to faith… Think about who is watching you and temper action with wisdom… I will continue to pray for you… JL
March 22, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Taking the I out of SIN…
Today is one of those days… when you look at yourself in the mirror and you really don’t like what you see…
What have I become? Have I surrendered my life to God in every way? Have I given him every part of me?
Have I compartmentalized God?
Am I a good servant?
These are the questions I am asking myself this week…
Maybe… Its seems that I trust God with certain parts of my life… and sometimes can’t understand his plan… It kind of sucks when you come to that realization that you are NOT in control… I try so hard at the worldly things in my life and sometimes put God on the back burner… Like, it’s not going to catch up with me eventually…;) I guess I have mastered the art of work and become prideful in what I feel I am owed… Am I owed anything? While I feel I am owed something, have I paid attention to the most important thing in this life? My relationship and being humble?
I think we all do that…we all pull on the reigns that God has for us and we want to do it “our way”. Funny thing is that no matter where you run or take a turn, he will always find you… bringing you back… through brokenness…
Trust and Judgment… I know for me in the past, I would jump in to things without praying or even thinking about it… It was hard for me to come to that realization… I had to fail many times doing it “Justin’s way”, but boy don’t we always like it our way… and when it doesn’t go our way, we get pissed at God like its his fault… ha-ha like he got in our way…;)
I was forced to see that from Andy on Sunday… Am I judgmental? Do I decide who God should give grace too? Do I love and have compassion for everyone I meet? Do you?
Sometimes, I don’t… Not because I am a bad person, but what is inside me that isn’t always good… which is sin… I want what is good for Justin and maybe not the rest of the world… I know you can probably put yourself in that same category as well. We all can be a little selfish and greedy at times…
You want to know a secret. I struggle with giving… I give, but I don’t trust in giving as well as I should…god gave me the job and career that I have… He gave me a house, car, nice clothes, and a second chance… and I still hesitate when I give…
Money is the hardest thing for us and our flesh to give up… Think about it… What do you do with your money? Do you give enough? Giving is what feeds our sole… The man who came here to die on a cross gave up his life for you… the ultimate gift… Grace, Forgiveness, and Mercy when we fail him…
Try this…If you had 100 bucks left in your bank account, what would you do with it? Would you give 10%? and trust that God would provide for you? Hmmm… Tough one… I know that’s tough for me, but I want to be open and honest with you, so my prayer for you guys is to become more aware of your gifts and to be thankful, rather than prideful… if you want to pray for me, pray for God to soften that worldly heart of mine…
March 17, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Good Sex… Bad Sex….
I was researching last night and found some information for you guys that I think will help… Now, if you have sex in your relationship and you feel bad about it, that’s a good thing… That means, the Holy Spirit is at work convicting you and good wants to come out of the situation… most people don’t want to follow Christ closely because of the no sex policy… We, as a culture are so controlled by sex and what makes our physical bodies “feel” good… I think many people get misguided by other religions and their promises that they get lost in those false pleasures promised… My God promises an amazing place after this life… Eternal Life… He came here and died for that gift… Here’s what I got from it…
What the Bible Says About… Sex
Let’s talk about sex…yes, the “S” word. The Bible actually has a lot to say about the subject. You may think, with all the warnings about not having sex before marriage, that sex is bad, the Bible says something quite contrary to that. Sex is biblical, if looked at from a Godly perspective. So, what does the Bible have to say about sex?
Answer:
Sex is a Good Thing
What? Sex is a good thing. Well, God created sex. He created man and woman to create babies. The Bible says that sex is a way for a husband and wife to express their love for one another. Yes, “husband and wife”. God did create sex to be a beautiful and enjoyable expression of love, but only between a man and wife.
Genesis 1: 27-28 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number”;
Genesis 2:24 – “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Proverbs 5:18-19 – “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.”
Song of Songs 7:Six – “How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!”
One Corinthians 6:13 – “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”
So, Sex is Good, but Premarital Sex is not?
Right. There is a lot of talk going on around you about sex. Sex is in just about every magazine, newspaper, television show, and movie. It is the point of a lot of music. Our world has gotten lax about sex, making it seem like premarital sex is okay because it feels good, but the Bible does not agree. God calls us all to control our passions and wait for marriage.
1 Corinthians 7:2-3 – “But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.”
Hebrews 13:4 – “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral”.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 – “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable”
What if I’ve Already Had Sex?
Everyone falls to sin in some area or another. If your area happens to be sex, there is still hope. While you cannot become a virgin again, you can obtain God’s forgiveness. You just have to ask for it and try not to sin that way again. What truly angers God is willful sin, when you know you are sinning and keep on participating in that sin. While giving up sex may be difficult, God calls us to remain sexually pure until marriage.
Acts 13:38-39 – “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the Law of Moses.”
Romans 1:24 – “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.”
However, It’s So Tempting!
As a Christian, you fight off temptation every day. Being tempted is not the sin, but giving into the temptation is. So how do you fight off the temptation? The desire to have sex can be very strong, especially if you have already had sex. It is only by relying on God for strength that you can truly fight off the temptation to have sex.
1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. In addition, God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
March 10, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
A weekend to remember… I’m in Miami…;)
I am going to warn you now… this is a lot… I’m sorry if it’s too much, but I have a lot to share today…
First, I have to say that this weekend was awesome… I learned a lot about my friends, I laughed so hard I cried… met some awesome people and witnessed to some true brokenness…
Night one- I became a professional salsa dancer:)… We met this Spanish girl named Christiane on the dance floor where she attempted to show me how to Salsa… Honestly, I think by the end of it her toes were sore if not broken and she felt bad for me… She was a sweet girl with an awesome, fun-loving heart… I think one of my friends has a serious crush on her…we parted ways about 1-130 and went home. I love the beach and I love the weather in South Beach…
The next day we went to the pool, had some good laughs and got fried… That night we went to a club… I hate clubby type places… But, if I go to a place like that; I like it to be a lounge where its open to have conversation and you can hear yourself talk… This was def. not that type of place… I was the only white dude when I went down stairs to the other part of the building… So I stood there and watched… I love to people watch… After 30 minutes of standing there like the kid at the playground that always gets picked last, this big black dude came up and said, “man, you have some balls and I like it.” Shaking his hand, I laughed and kept watching… Come to find out, that guy was Miami’s finest drug dealer… I watched him make under the table deals for about an hour… I was amazed about how open it was…Cocaine was everywhere.
See… most normal people like my friends are so naive and couldn’t see the things that I could, but I can point a junky or addict out in 5 minutes talking to him or her… you rather get that way when you used to be one..
We left there at 2 in the morning, went to the casino where I did pretty well… I won 500, then slowly lost it… Ha-ha… Have to know when to fold me’. I know what your thinking…DUMB!!! I woke up that morning with the same thought…
Anyways, Saturday was low-key at the pool… We walked down the boardwalk where I saw a pool party going on… It was about 2000 dudes… OMG!!!! I didn’t know if I should scream or pray… I could see the enemy working and smiling at me the whole tine I watched… It was the saddest thing to see fellow humans, giving in to their sexual addiction and temptations… (That might be touchy for people to read, but that’s what was going on…)
I have never seen anything like that… It’s so excepted to our culture now… It’s the norm…
After lunch, we went back to the pool and sat in the hot tub. Marks friend Craig lives there and he is currently reading Married for Life… He has a heart for God… I love this guy… We were going over his devotion for the day and all the sudden over his shoulder I see four Guys walking in to join us…
Immediately, one of them says, “okay boys, what’s our Bible verse of the day?” I laughed, jumped up and shook his hand… Smiling and hoping that he didn’t think we were judging them, I asked if they had a good time and he said OF COURSE!!! HAHA. They were fun guys… A little bizarre, but fun people.
The guy Craig was talking too had been married with kids, the whole nine yards… Craig asked him what changed and why… He said to him quietly, “No man has ever loved me”… Growing up he didn’t play sports or do anything his dad liked… No man really took the time to love that little boy as a child… He was broken. Craig told him that he was sorry for all the Christians in the world that had persecuted him, judged him, and belittled him in then past… With tears in eyes, you could tell he was thankful… these 4 guys in the hot tub with us were controlled by sex and drugs on THIS weekend.
The guy that I was talking to admitted that they live responsible lives but 2-3 times a year they get out and “let loose”. He meant they go to these parties and do a bunch of drugs every so often… I told him it would come to an end one day if not soon… I connected with him. I hope and pray that he saw Christ through me…
I walked away from the hot tub confused about what I had learned from them… The good thing is that I did learn from them… I learned that I am no better than they are in their worst behavior… I probably sin more than they do… We as a culture have just blown this completely gay thing out of the water…
We all have stories…BUT
when that guy I was talking about earlier looked at me, pointing at his boyfriend; telling us the he WAS the only man who has ever loved him UNCONDITIONALLY… I knew in my heart that wasn’t the case… I knew that HIS father in Heaven, regardless if he knew him or not, loves him solo much… so much that he knew the behaviors he would do for a lifetime and still hung on a cross… It goes for me… I do so much good, but boy does that enemy know how to knock me out… He wants to take me out…
see, so many people think that they are so far gone that God doesn’t love them and it’s not true… He is waiting… Patiently… For you… To answer his call. Jeremiah 29:11… I love all you, Lowry.
March 9, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Life passes… and things change… We need to deal and NOT push away!
So, today is one of those times that you will see me be 100% completely honest about my life… I think its only fair… its been a couple of weeks since I have written anything… I think there are a few good explanations for that… I don’t want to say that I was mad at God, but I was mad at my life circumstances… Seeing one of your old friends buried is tough and I think it was the toughest thing I have dealt with since becoming a Christian… I mean, I felt like David in the Psalms yelling at God. “How could you let this happen?” was ringing in my head for days… I saw how much hurt there was and I found out that I don’t like to hurt…
With that said, I had a rough couple of weekends… I didn’t do what I preach to you guys about doing… I jumped right in to a bottle… Yes, I got drunk and tried to cover my problems up with alcohol…. Which never works? Only temporary… It proved to me that I am going to fail and the only way through that failure is my savior… I should have let someone know I was hurting, rather than going out on the town and acting as if nothing was wrong… btw, I hated myself the next day… That’s a good thing, because the Holy Spirit in me was telling me, “Justin, I am here… Trust in me and I will take your pain…”
I don’t think Brennan caused all of this pain to come out, but something happened inside me when he died… I started thinking about my life and what I want out of it… It was a lesson to me that life is short and I need to play like a Champion everyday!;) No Excuses… I shouldn’t throw everything that I know is GOOD away when something happens that I can’t control… You guys know that my main goal in life is to plant seeds and bring people closer to Christ…
I wanted to share with you guys an email through a friend of mine on our world and its brokenness. This was the explanation…
In thinking about our conversation the other night, I was challenged to look a little deeper then just telling you to trust in him with no proof or explanation… I found that there aren’t many answers to this, but I think I might be able to at least get you started in trusting more… Why do bad things happen? Why are there rape, murder, and suicide? Why is there disease? Why can’t I play God and save a person from his/her horrible circumstances? What is sin ad how does it relate to this world being broken? Well, It’s more of a theological compilation of passages that we rely on… More the whole picture of sin leading to death. Not just-’if you sin you die’ but Sin leads to everything in this world being broken and dying. God created the capacity to love. Well you can’t know what love is unless you know its opposite. Hatred. You can’t know what Good even is without the possibility of evil or bad. God created that world. Therefore, this broken sinful world contains hurtful things. Romans 8:28 are a promise that God will work ALL things 4 good in the end. Romans 8:37-39 tells us we can never be separated from his love.
Hope this helps of you the way it has helped so many… Love you guys! Keep Praying and Thinking Eternal everyday…
March 3, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
One tough week…
This week was painful… I was reminded how much someone else’s decision can hurt us… I was in Nashville this week for one of my childhood friends funeral… I spoke about Brennan last week, so most of you know what happened. Tuesday night I went to the visitation and saw some people I haven’t seen in a very long time… being there brought back some memories of the good old’ days and at times was very sad…I had some interesting conversations that I will continue to pray for… There is some real “brokenness” in Bellevue… I don’t what it is, but drugs are very prevalent there…
I went to the funeral Wednesday with my mom and this was one of the hardest things I have ever been through emotionally as an adult… Even though I haven’t been close to Brennan in a few years, there was still a connection in my heart… I saw some pictures of us as kids and that broke me… I was a mess. Crying is not my favorite things to do… The echo’s of his mom’s screams, “I want him back!” “Not Brennan…” are still very much alive in my ears…
I was a Paul Bearer and that in it was an honor… If you looked at the row of Bearers, we were all spaced out in Brennan’s life and it was very cool to see that he had such close friends that loved him dearly… I think I can speak for the rest of us when I say that placing my rose from my lapel on the coffin and walking away was the hardest thing I had to do… It was my farewell to him… After the 6 of us placed our roses on the coffin, the crowd of about 200 watched as the lowered the cover to the vault and covered it with dirt… It was as if people had to see him buried to really believe it… I still can’t believe he’s gone…
The stories that I heard throughout the week from his friends weren’t good and had a sense of shock about them… He was making some bad decisions and ultimately was taken by his own deep sadness. He felt like there was no way out of the addiction and loss…
The whole week I was mad and kind of upset with God, but after last night, I realized AGAIN that he is always in control… I drank too much last night and I don’t even really drink a lot… I know that’s the wrong way to deal or cope, but that was my choice and my flesh failed… Bottom line is we just have to make the most out of the times with our family and friends. I believe that once you are in Christ, you can never lose him… no matter what you do… I mess up all the time… I know that he still loves me with all my mess no matter what… Love you guys and continue to pray for Lola and Steph…
*** My prayer… Father, help me see the truth… your amazing love and grace… strengthen me when I am weak and make me know that you are the only way. I want to always be seeking your face. I want to represent you well. Please soften my heart and break my heart for what breaks yours. Thank you Father… For your Grace, Mercy and Love…
PS. I didn’t proofread, I just wrote so please excuse my grammatical errors…
February 20, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Brennan…RIP Buddy…
I am up at 4 am thinking about the news I got the other day about my boy Brennan’s death… I don’t know what to write, but I know that I need too so I can process…. Brennan and I met in the 8th grade when I moved to Nashville. He was my first friend there… I slept at his house all most every weekend, we played basketball together, and we talked about girls we could never get;)… we had an awesome time no matter what we did… We always wanted the best for each other… We were inseparable for a couple of years through grade school and high school and then something happened… We grew apart… Friends tend to do that sometimes when they are on different paths…
I spoke to Brennan a couple of months ago… he valet my car and I got to spend a couple of minutes with him to see how life was…I told him how I was and by the end other conversation I told him that I was sorry for the way things ended back in the day… he brushed me off like it was nothing, but I know deep down he wanted to hear me say that and we hugged it out…
We rather stopped hanging out and through that I feel like I turned my back on him… I don’t know why I thought he wasn’t good enough for my friendship or me after I started making other friends at school… other than that I was too worried about status or the “cool” crowd… I left him with no one and that was wrong of me… My regret… I was immature and a jackass… He would have never done that to me…
I sit here, think about the loss his family is going through, and there is nothing in a world that compares to that. How is a mother to feel when her kid makes this type of decision? What pieces are there for the family to pick back up and move on? How are we supposed to respond when something happens as if this to our friends loved ones?
(We do what we can to help this mourning process begin… We love each other and make sure the people that mean something to you know that you love them…)
I know that my readers here this all the time from me, but God will restore our hearts… (Romans 8:28) Our hearts won’t be the same, but we will go on and we will heal. He intervenes and takes on that hurt. We never have to do it alone ya know… I take time for us to trust in him that he can take the burden, but in the end, he does and always intervenes with brokenness. In all of our history as human beings and Christians, has he ever just sat on the sidelines and done nothing?…
My hearts hurts so bad right now… just like yours… all of those thoughts come to mind when you think you could have done something or said something to him to make him know that we have an amazing God that loves us no matter what we are, what we do, who we hang out with or what our life looks like…
I know that Jesus is weeping… with all of you… and I know he hears our cries… knowing that our God is weeping with us is one of the most comforting and amazing things to feel and know… We are not alone in this… We have to LEAN in and not pull away from him, especially in times like this…
I just now cried… after about 24 hours from hearing the news… I was in shock and in question… I thought about all the times he looked at me and there was a sense of mystery in his eyes that I just couldn’t figure out… Maybe I’m crazy… he told me that he had some deep hurts and scars on his heart from childhood, but never really explained… It blows my mind… I can’t believe he is gone….
He loved his mother Lola dearly, she was his biggest fan… and he looked up to his older sister Stephanie…Dude loved people and could make you smile with just one goofy look he would give you… He was a great guy and friend… He had a way to make you smile… laugh… have a great time and was always himself… Never put a front up… He made you feel special… to know him was a blessing in my life… I will never forget that dude…
Finishing up… I know that a lot of you are thinking, “Wow, how could this amazing God let this happen?” Folks, God didn’t let this happen. Unfortunately, Brennan made that choice for God… HOWEVER, I have to believe that our Faithful God is a forgiving God and a just God. He knows our hearts and knows our troubles before they happen… I believe that Brennan is in heaven right now… He knew God and to me there is no way to lose your salvation once you have received it…I want to believe that God has Grace for that defining decision… My hope is that my friend is in heaven right now, smiling that bright smile… away from all of this “worldly” stuff” dancing a jig and praising our Mighty God… I love you guys. Pray for Lola, Steph, and the Frey family…
*** Remember… We are not God… We try, but we can’t control what happens and we can’t judge like God. We have to know that God works for the good of those who love him… He loved Brennan just as if he loves you and me… Have faith that he is in a better place. Define Faith…
February 14, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 2 Comments | Edit
Lesson for me while driving…
I was driving to the airport the other day to pick up a co-worker and looked at my GPS to find an arrow, but no voice giving me direction… I am so used to punching in an address and the voice telling me where to go… I noticed about half way there that I had gone to the airport with no directions and the thing that shocked me the most was that I was going the right way and was going to make it there with or without the voice telling me where to go… For me no matter where I go, it is such a habit to turn the GPS on and get my ETA to wherever I am going, so that I can let people know when I will arrive…
How do we know what our ETA is? What if your ETA is 10 minutes from now? Are you ready?
Have you ever thought of GOD being our personal GPS? Have you ever thought about God whispering in your ear to tell you, “HEY! I wouldn’t do that…” or “I’m here for you my child…”
He does that everyday with us… Through the Holy Spirit that you and I received, he has put a GPS in our hearts… He guides us and gives us wings to be just like Jesus and to get to him eternally…
He gave us a Bible as a road map to discover new things about others and ourselves… He gave us the voice, the map and him…it is our choice not to turn down the volume and pull away… It is our choice not to take the exit too soon or make a wrong right or left turn…
So often, we can be going along and not paying any attention to the signs or people that he brings in to our lives, because we had our blinders on… Start looking for those people and start asking questions… He is so good to us and he is so AWESOME…
February 12, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Learning and Processing…
2-8-10
Today is a great day… I am a child of God and I know that I am worthy of his love…
Last night I had an interesting conversation with my friend’s dad about Mormonism… Now, I know what you are thinking, let’s not judge, but instead love… Before I go on, I have to tell you the background of my beliefs… I believe in having an open and growing relationship with Christ. I have no denomination and I believe in my heart that if I judge someone else’s faith, then I am going against everything that is good in my heart and good to our Father… as well as challenges the main principles that God sent me here to do… Love people… I am in no way a Mormon or Catholic. Just example here…
I have known my friend I have to see this weekend for about 20 years and last night I had an interesting conversation with his dad… I learned a lot… Throughout the talk, it seemed if there was a sense of defense when he was talking to me. It seemed as if he was trying to prove something to me… He had given me the entire history of Constantine and the Catholic Church splitting, he said that he grew up in the Catholic Church and became a Mormon after much research and proof, key word “proof”.
It seemed that there was biblical data of what he was saying, but I can’t get my mind around the story of Joseph… it is said in the Mormon Bible that Joseph, (the founder of Mormonism) never prayed in the beginning of his life and was fed up with the separation of churches. He went to the “forest” where he prayed for the God to reveal the “true” church and Joseph claimed that God came to him through revelation… Just as John had been revealed revelation…
On April 6, 1830, the Mormon Church was established. Mormons claim that the church founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 was a literal restoration of the original church of Jesus and his twelve Apostles. Thus, Mormonism classifies itself within Christianity. Mormons believe that after a time the Church as established by the Lord fell into spiritual decay. His teachings were altered; His ordinances were changed; and the Great Apostasy came as had been foretold by Paul, who knew that the Lord would not come again “except there come a falling away first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
According to Bruce McConkie, a respected Mormon authority, “Mormonism is indistinguishable from Christianity.” One-way Mormon fundamentalism distinguishes itself from mainstream Mormonism is through the practice of plural marriage. Fundamentalists initially broke from the LDS Church after that doctrine was abandoned around the beginning of the 20th century. Mormon fundamentalism teaches that plural marriage is a requirement for Exaltation (the highest degree of salvation), which will allow them to live alongside God in the afterlife. Mainstream Mormons, by contrast, believe that a single Celestial marriage is necessary for Exaltation. In distinctions with the LDS Church, Mormon fundamentalists also often believe in a number of other doctrines taught and practiced by Brigham Young in the 19th century, which the LDS Church has abandoned, repudiated, or put in abeyance. These include: the law of consecration also known as the United Order (put in abeyance by the LDS Church in the 19th century); the Adam–God teachings taught by Brigham Young and other early leaders of the LDS Church (repudiated by the LDS Church in the mid-20th century)* the principle of blood atonement (repudiated by the LDS Church in the mid-20th century); and the exclusion of black men from the priesthood (abandoned by the LDS Church in 1978). Mormon fundamentalists believe that these principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church, in large part due to the desire of its leadership and members to assimilate into mainstream American society and avoid the persecutions and conflict that had characterized the church throughout its early years. Others believe that it was a necessity at some point for “a restoration of all things” to be a truly restored Church.
My point in sharing this history lesson with you is to get you thinking a little bit… I know that God sent me here to be a “light”, whatever that light should be… in my short time as a Christian I have learned that we as Americans let our “religion” get in the way of progress… We claim to be certain religions, but most of you don’t know anything about the religion you claim…
I was talking to my 14-year-old cousin and she said that she was Catholic. I was like, Okay. What do you know about that religion…? I asked her a few questions about Catholicism at the end of our talk she really didn’t know what she believed… she didn’t like the idea of confession, purgatory, praying to Mary, having to tell a priest your sins;), (when God chose you in the first place and knows your heart and everything you do before you do it) or women not really having a true voice in the church… However, there are some great aspects to it too. Very formal, if you like that sort of thing with a lot of structure… Beautiful music and cathedrals… A lot of ancient history… most of the bibles heroes in it… Catholics are the foundation of our religion… We all derived from the Catholic Church in some way…
Thing is, we get convinced at an early age by our culture or family to be a certain way, because it “sounds” good and I don’t agree with that principle. Everyone is affected by this… I know I was…
Now being a Catholic is great, but most Catholics don’t have the same kind of relationship with Jesus that I have and that’s what bothers me… They rarely read the Bible for themselves and go to church because they have too… the example of confession to me is like having a sin bucket and every Friday I would go to dump it out on the priest, leave with my empty bucket feeling justified… and have it filled back up by that next Wednesday… That’s what and me I would do if I was Catholic and follow that Law. I just know me… I am weak in that sense… ha-ha that is my experience with my friends that were Catholic that is what I am going by…
I think that the more we argue about prophets and what people “did” here on this earth means that we are missing the big picture… We were sent here to love one another and help one another through this life to get to the eternal goal… not forgetting that ONE man came here to die for our sins and justified us with his blood on the cross…
I will get in to sanctification with my next post, but I think that if you put your faith in “men” and not of God, you live an empty life… You chase a happiness that will never be attained or fulfilled, but by you no who… I am in no way picking on Catholics or Mormons… I am giving you guys a front row seat in to my life and how my brain processes the information I come across in my fleeting days…
February 8, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
4 Year Mark…
2-1-10
Today is a day of reflection… Reflection on the past four years of my life…
Four years ago, I stood at a mirror in a night club; I had taken 5 pills of ecstasy, drank all night had a few rails of coke and I was broken and on the door step of death; was 30-40 pounds lighter than I am today…
Brokenness is something I knew nothing about, but I said to myself, “If I don’t stop now I know I will die,” I know that God was with me, because I was scared and alone… He took my pain and stood right there with me through all the detox and horrible aftermath of doing what I did to my body… If I didn’t stop then, I would have died eventually and just been another sad story of a kid that abused and took drugs to fill the voids in his life with absolutely no chance of redemption…. I turned away from my sin… Hosea 5-15…
In the past 4 years, I have become a Christian and better person because of his Grace and Love. I re-evaluated my life, moved to Atlanta to get away, made some great friends and God has been so faithful to me through this time… I couldn’t have done it without most of you and his everlasting love…
Some of my old friends from high school and college look at me and say that I have changed for the better, but some think it’s some kind of “phase” I’m going through… they say that I am a radical and that’s okay, I love that. I am somewhat radical, but the purpose of all of this writing is to get you thinking about eternal living and radical living and radical change… Thinking Eternal, doing NOW for Later, and live with your purpose… I think God is achieving this if you are reading what I write and thinking a little outside the box about a relationship with God.
This week at church, I heard Andy Stanley say that, “If we sit and look at our behavior and others behavior to justify what we are doing in the present, there is NO possible way to make progress…” In addition, with that Justification, we make excuses for ourselves when we do the things we are trying to fix or work through. Ben Franklin said, “He that is good at making excuses is never good at anything… thanks Andy.
God has given all of us talents and blessings. I mean, with me I feel like he gave me many talents, because I sometimes feel like I do excessively much. I am still trying balance those talents and learn to say “NO” sometimes… I want to be everywhere for everyone, but that is me trying to be like God and its impossible… I struggle with not being God… ha-ha
I use the talents that he gave me to be an on-call medical device rep, part-time youth minister who meets with kids twice a week for small group (bible study), Fusion Leader, personal men’s small group on Wednesday ‘s; I am a Celebrate Recovery member (been slacking on that) and a loving Christian… Here’s the thing, I am not telling you this to be boastful, but asking you if you are using the talents, that God gave you… I want to challenge you to make a step forward to doing your purpose and using the talents, he gave you….
Great story here of God’s Faithfulness through purpose: I have a really good friend, that went to Hollywood for a girl’s trip and came home with a vision that she was going to become and actor and minister to people in that industry… within 5 months, she was in acting school and doing what she loved and what she is called to in her purpose… Still working her day job, she is in two movies an was selected for a sitcom this summer…. If that isn’t God moving in her life I don’t know what is… I am not saying to be irresponsible, quit your job, and go broke. What I am challenging you with is to find that balance and make the sacrifices, make the time and take that step towards your dream. Your dreams are a reflection of you and your life… If you stop dreaming, you will never get to where you want to go… John Piper…
My prayer today: Worthy God, you are MIGHTY! I know that you have been faithful to me in the past four years… I hope and pray for another 50 years of sobriety… You are the only reason I am here, because of your love and Grace I have a voice to speak to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray for my mom now that you will show your Faithfulness and she stays faithful to you… Amen…
Relationships… Love you Brother…
I ended up coming back to Atlanta after our surgery was canceled and made small group… I love the guys I share life with…our talks are so enriched with his presence… I am so lucky to have a group of men that I meet with every Wednesday night that are after God’s own heart. I came home after and I had a great talk with Clint, my roommate… He had been upset for the past two weeks with the way I had treated him. I have to admit, I have acted strange with everything that has gone on in the past month… New things and change is not something I deal with very well, but I am working on that… I have been so selfish about feelings and the way I talk to people…
I am so prideful sometimes and he called me out on it… I needed that. I am very lucky to have friends like him… to call me out when I am off my rocker or not being happy-go-lucky, “Lowry”… I am not a fun guy when I am stressing or when I let life get me down. I am trying to find that balance again… When someone tells me to hold him or her, accountable with a behavior they are trying change; I sometimes ask for perfection…
My God doesn’t even ask for perfection and I have the nerve to do exactly to Clint what is not expected of me… All the things I try to encourage you with, the truth is that I fail at them too… Human… yes I am one… I make him feel uncomfortable around me, because I am not used to having to consider someone else’s feelings in a house… I have lived by myself for a year now and its tough to adjust… Thanks economy;)… I am blessed to have he and Will in my life…
I am going to take some time out of every day and pray our relationship to grow, for me to be more considerate and loving of him or anyone else that comes my way, and I don’t get my way. I need to love him as if my God loves me… Unconditionally. He is my friend and that is what we are called to do.. I wanted to share this with you, because you might be in a situation like this and the best thing to do is get it out of the dark and talk about it.
Work out your problems and love on some people…Mine and Clint’s friendship will grow closer because of tonight’s eye-opening conversation and I can’t wait see what God does through mine and your prayers… Please, if you can pray for us… ask God for our strength in all of these transitions in life… that we remember who we are deep down inside when life doesn’t go the way we want… TO Lean on him with your doubts and fears… In Jesus name… Amen… JL
*** I am so tired so I will check the grammar tomorrow. Good night and God bless you…
January 28, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
A great night…a great week…
Tonight is Friday night and I had an awesome time with some awesome people… We had Alice, Keri, Clint, Will, and Val also known as the “basics” and many other people randomly show up. ha. See, I thought I had to go out and have a good time, but I am learning that you can have just as much fun with your friends in a house on a Friday night, just playing games and hanging out… It was good, clean fun… Something I have wanted for a long time. It seems like when the guys want to go out it’s always at a bar and being out just to be out and seen isn’t that fun anymore…Its the same old’ thing… We stay out late. People get drunk and regret tomorrow. Just not my thing anymore…
I had an awesome week at work with some major changes going on… Learning new things and being open to that change is helping me grow… I need and want growth in my life… I have that happiness now that only God can give a man… that happiness comes from the knowing that his grace is enough for me and that I am following his plan for me.
I went to a night of worship on Thursday and I had such a great time… Just me, God, and he felt so tangible… Worshiping is how I feel connected to him. Some feel him through prayer, but his love for me is poured out and shown to my heart by music…somewhat funny, because I have no rhythm and have no musical talent… I feel that tingle all over me and with that, I know that he is real… There is nothing like it for me in this world. At one point in my life I thought drugs could give me that feeling and now its church, music, worship and prayer that give me that feeling times 1000 times over… I still struggle with my “stuff”, but he is there and he knows that I am doing my best and everything in my power to prepare for his kingdom…
Lesson of the week from Thursday…Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
That means he is praying for you and me… He is fighting for you and me up there… with prayer… Read it again if you don’t think so… This stuff is so real. Please read your Bible and at least check this kind of stuff out… It’s very cool gift passed down to us and is so beneficial to me and you if we use it for the duration of our lives … I pray for you…
January 23, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Prayer can change you…
This morning I was thinking about you guys and wanted to give you an update on me… God has blessed me and he is faithful to me in so many ways… I stayed faithful to him and his plan and his “will” just so happened to be what I wanted… Somewhat funny how that works, when I finally stayed Faithful to him and didn’t blow over when things didn’t go my way…
This month is January and people for some reason like to change everything they do because well, Its January… People go on crazy diets, go 40 days without doing something, go to church, fast, go to the gym, buy a $50 gallon jug of protein and try not to text while driving… you know… the basics… ha-ha.
I, myself am going through many changes this year… I can feel change is going on within my heart and my soul… I sometimes try to be a fixer, “fix” things, not pray, and believe in the power of prayer… I have learned in the past year that there is some wonderful power in scripture and if you leverage it; you can see a difference in your work life, spiritual life, and family life… It’s a heart thing…
The truth is that I hold on to something other than God’s love and Grace… That something is and of the world… Just like you, I worry about my job, finances, and family way too much. As I said, I try to fix and control my situation even though I know that I am not fit to do so… There is a good reason the Bible says, “Do not be afraid!!!” 365 times…
Jesus left this earth and gave us the Holy Spirit for a purpose. He left a part of himself for us to carry around, trust, and KNOW that our Father is faithful to those who love him… I am not blinded by this fact and I understand there is sin in all of us, but through the Holy Spirit you and I can change,… this can be done through prayer and eternal thinking… doing NOW for LATER…
Just going to church isn’t enough for me anymore… I need to feed our Holy Spirit… Prayer and worship feeds my soul’s belly…
Do we believe that prayer works? Can we change people’s lives through all the chaos with prayer??? I was listening to Francis Chan and he is talking about 2 Peter 3:11-12 and the return of Christ…Sounds kind of “out there” as my boss tells me when I tell him I think we are going to see the end of the world… The scientists tell us that we are one catastrophe away from the end of the world… Are you ready? Are you doing everything in your power to be ready? Are you anxiously awaiting like the bible uses the analogies of the Bridegroom… are you waiting hastily? (which means to be done or made too quickly to be exact or wise)? Like a test that you studied for hours you get there and all the answers are in your head,… you try so hard to go as fast as you can to get it all out without forgetting anything. I have felt that in school, but not in life yet…
Lesson for the week: I was in church last weekend and Andy said something that really hit home for me… He said, Galatians 9- Let us not become weary in doing good. At the proper time, we reap a harvest if we don’t give up… Never give up… Paul wrote that to us… How awesome is that? Think eternal this week and never give up on him, because he is faithful and does love us…
Prayer: I pray for my wife today… wherever she is… whatever she is doing in this world, make it all for your Glory… God I pray for her if she feels scared and alone, God just be with her… God, I pray for the day I get to meet her…
January 21, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
A lesson at Student Venture… Thanks for this lesson Darren.
What do you expect of God when you pray?
• That He will hear
• That He will respond
We expect that God will hear our prayer and answer. That is, we expect Him to be faithful. Faithfulness is an extremely important part of our relationship with God. In the Bible you will find
a number of pictures of God that show how faithful He are to us. Some of these will be more challenging than others because God puts it in terms of human relationships. If you have not had a good relationship with your earthly father, thinking of God as “Father” may be a challenge for you. While people have let us down, God never will.
God as Faithful “Father”
Deuteronomy 1:29-31 Moses reminds the Israelites how God was faithful to them in the wilderness. What three things did God do for the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness?
• He went before them
• He fought for them
• He carried them as a father carries his son.
Moses says God carried them as a father carries his son. How is this type of carrying different than someone might carry a grocery bag or a suitcase?
• when you carry your child, you carry them carefully and with love.
• Protection—No harm will come to a child who is in his father’s arms.
The people saw all that God had done. How does seeing God act on our behalf build our faith in Him?
• we see how much He loves that and us He is willing to be there for us.
• we know that if He did it in the past He can still do it today.
What have you seen God do in your life that helped build your faith in Him?
How could someone’s background make it difficult to accept God as his or her “Father”?
• if you didn’t have a relationship with your father or if that relationship was a difficult one.
“Father”
How does seeing God as the faithful father give us a healthy view of God (see esp. Psalm 68:5)?
• God is better than any earthly father is.
• Fathers here mess up but God doesn’t.
• God loves us more than any person ever could because He made us and even died for us.
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus starts by calling God “our Father”. How can our prayers better appreciate God as our Father?
• we thank him for the privilege of being his children.
• we pray that we will be more fully submissive to His will.
• we ask for His guidance.
God as Faithful “Shepherd”
In Psalm 23 God is our shepherd. When we read Psalm 23:1-4 we take on the perspective of a sheep that is being guided through dangerous places by a seasoned and powerful shepherd.
What are some things from this psalm that show how well the shepherd provides for the sheep?
• lacking nothing
• Green pastures
• Quiet waters
• Guides me
• He is present and able to protect the sheep from danger
That is how God is. God is willing to nurture us, provide for us, and even protect us in difficult and dangerous times.
How can our prayers reflect on our relationship with God as our Shepherd?
• we declare our confidence in Him
• we thank Him for His provision.
• we appreciate his presence and leadership
God as Faithful “Spouse”
This picture is painted most vividly in Hosea. Hosea was told by God to marry an unfaithful woman to show him how much anguish God has over His unfaithful people. This metaphor shouldn’t be taken too far but God uses it to show us that He has always remained faithful to us. On the other hand, sin is considered spiritual adultery—cheating on God and being unfaithful. We need
to be just as serious about our faithfulness to God as we are about our faithfulness to our spouse.
Hosea 2:16-23
“Spouse”
In what 6 ways does God say he will betroth himself to his people?
• Forever, in Righteousness, in Justice, Love, Compassion, Faithfulness.
What does it mean to betroth yourself to someone?
• it means you marry them/enter a covenant relationship with them.
• Promise to be faithful to them—there can be no one besides them.
God has committed himself to us. When we are baptized, we make that promise back to God. We spend the rest of our lives living faithfully to God.
How hard would it be to go one month without talking to your spouse?
• hopefully—VERY hard!
How can recognizing our covenant relationship in spiritual betrothal to God improve the regularity of our prayer lives?
• you can’t help but talk to God. We should want to talk to God.
How can our prayers reflect our steadfast decision to be faithfully committed to God no matter what?
• we renounce all other options
• we praise and adore Him for His commitment to us
• we declare our allegiance to Him as our Lord
• We pray on a regular basis because that is what you do with someone you love.
Why does faithfulness require confession?
• Close relationships require honesty. Confession is being honest with God.
• Confession and repentance are an attempt to repair our relationship with God.
Which of these pictures of God is the most challenging for you? Why?
What barriers to being faithful have you faced in your prayer life?
How should our prayer life reflect the faithfulness of God?
Faithfulness starts with God and we respond. Our prayers should reflect thanks for God’s faithfulness and a declaration that we will respond to him with faithfulness.
January 11, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Its a New Year…
Today, I sat and thought about what I learned over the past year and most of it came from the past month…By the way, I had an awesome time with the family over the holidays and especially with my mom…
I had a great conversation with my Pawpaw Lowry a couple of days ago… he was telling me how proud of me he was and that God is going to do some great things with my life… He said something that really hit home though… He told me to look past all the brokenness you and I share and move forward…Moving forward is something that I am just now learning how to do… I struggle with the sin of my past… Therefore, a couple of questions came to me:
How do we get better and move forward? I move forward by putting it all on the altar for God to show his will in my life… What’s on your altar?
What do we do to better ourselves? I pray that I am becoming a better person everyday… How much do you pray?
Do we make unreasonable lifestyle changes? I know I do… I try to flip my whole world upside down when I am doing just one thing wrong or out-of-bounds… What lifestyle are you leading?
Do we educate ourselves on how to become better? I read great books… I let Christian authors poor in to me the Holy Spirit that they have received. How many books do read?
Why do we only want to get better at the 1st of the year or why do we want to get better when something is so bad, we can’t fix it on our own? I will leave that up to you…
What is progress? I think progress is something that will not and cannot be done in a day, a month or even a year… It’s an ongoing change, an evolution of oneself and a movement to the betterment of “us”…
Guys, I can’t give you the meaning of life or some secret to success, but I can say that whatever you are dealing with in this day of 2010 can be taken care of by your Heavenly Father… I’m serious when I say to pray to him with all you have, he can do things so wild, and mind-blowing that even those who think that he is all about fear will turn their heads and thank him He isn’t that kind of God. He wants so much for us, but we choose differently…
I wake up most mornings and thank God for waking me up, but what about the mornings I don’t talk to him. Does he listen and know what I am thinking? I think so, no, I know so… He knows everything before we do it… Kind of wild if you think about it… He knows the shape that your hearts in. He knows your wrongdoings and he KNOWS all of you… If you are reading this and you think I have it together, you have it all wrong… I don’t. I struggle and he knows… He allows me grace, which I don’t deserve…
I heard this the other day… A man was in the hospital and his friend came to see him. The friend asked the man, “How are you feeling?” The man said, “I am great. I am so glad I am in here, because I got to meet this awesome doctor.” The friend said, you’re Crazy, Why would you want to be in here with all of these sick people.” The friend said, “Because I’m healed and kind of made new again…”
Don’t take this wrong way and I’m not saying that God makes you sick, but it is kind of like being sick without God. He is the Doctor of Love, Redemption, Grace, and Healing… He is the best Doctor I have in my life…
Romans 8:28- and we know! That in ALL things, God works for the GOOD of those who live him… who have been called according to his purpose…
January 4, 2010 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Luke 2 1-20… What I learned…
// // 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quires’-us was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. 7 And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
I want you to read this again and picture what it would be like if it were you… or your child… There was no room in the inn…WOW! There was no room in this world for our GOD… He came and no one would give him a bed, something to eat or warmth… It’s funny, cause he does this for us everyday…
It broke me when I read that part of Luke and I cried over the fact that my savior had suffered on not only the cross, but also his whole life… for me…so humbling… that happens constantly in the bible and he still loved and gave so much… He loves us so much that he bought and paid for all of our sin by the cross. What a gift…that’s the only Christmas present I want or need;)…
I celebrate this time of year with you my brothers and sisters of Christ… I celebrate the fact that he was born 2000 years ago to give us eternal life and that we can share the warmth that he gives and shares with us… Peace…
8 And in that region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; 11 for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us”. 16 And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; 18 and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
December 21, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
I am…
I am a liar, cheat, manipulator, hater, judge, cruel, mean, sad, lonely, tired, depressed, anxious, actor, imposter, impatient, fool, hated, dumb-ass, smart-ass, punk, gelled-up, smoker, drunk, addict, jock, lover, fornicator, nice, smart, sophisticated, medicated, buff, mastered, made, saved, successful, sweet, charming, forgiving, compassionate, friendly, caring, happy, overachiever, proud, intelligent, good-looking, loved, and I am a big, fat, hairy sinner… did I say good-looking and prideful? lol
Day to day, I am all of these things at one time or another (good or bad), but above all else I know that I am loved and forgiven for my shortcomings… I am loved, because he bought my sins when he sent his son here 2000 years ago to hang on a cross for all of those things I have listed above. Maybe I missed some of yours and that doesn’t really matter, but what matters is you knowing that your debt is paid in full and it’s not too late to ask him to come in to your life… shhhh… he might be knocking on the door on your door more importantly… and maybe… just maybe your life is far too busy to hear him… Think about the time you submerge yourself in to sports, shows, Twitter or Facebook and even our culture… maybe he is sitting… waiting patiently… on you… to speak… to listen… to love you in ways you can’t imagine.
I, just like you have an imposter that comes out and sometimes “he” says and does some things that we can’t explain… I guess that is the enemy working in our lives… The enemy tells us big lies and tells us we aren’t good enough or adequate for this life… He brings temptation and tells us we don’t deserve the things God promises if we follow him… and more importantly, he (the enemy) is building an army and we see this increasingly in the world and in our culture…
There such a thing called “spiritual warfare” and we, meaning you and I are in the battle field everyday… I am not asking you for perfection nor am I trying for perfection in my own life… I am consumed and embraced in the fact that I am a sinner (everything mentioned above) and that will never change as long as my flesh is here on this earth…. It’s not about what I do or will do in this life; it’s about what he has done for me… and you. I want you to understand that he takes us with all that “junk” and loves me and you before we found all that junk… We loved that junk before him and he still loves us… What an awesome God we have…
I was asked the other day by my good friend Mark what I was afraid of in life… and the first thing that came to my mind was death… I don’t know why, but as I thought about it… I’m not scared of dying… that was the lie the enemy was telling me at the time and wanted me to believe… he said, “You’re scared, because you don’t know if you are good enough for him i.e. the Lord, but you do know you are bad enough for me”… he continued telling me, “you are done after this life and there is no more”… What a punk!!! You might be thinking that’s stupid, but that’s what happened and he knowingly throws darts and attacks me with some of the same BS he attacks you with… Am I wrong here? you can think of some things he throws at you…
My answer: We are undeserving of God’s love… I know I am… I mean, for him to love such a wretch like me is so amazing when I think about the person I was without him for so many years and the person he forgave… So my answer to Mark tonight would be that even with all the struggles that I have in my life right now… I know where I am going and that I am not afraid to die, but before that day comes I can’t wait to spend my life spreading the good news and living in his will… JL
December 13, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
A letter to my Mom…
I love my mom. She has been there with me through the good, bad and very ugly… She still loves me the way God intended parents to love, unconditionally the way he loves you. I have tested that my whole life.
Mom,
I am reading a book called Wild at Heart… and the writer is trying give men a better understanding of why they do what they do in life. I have learned the men are all about performance and pride when it comes down to it. If you look in Gen 2, Adam sinned and then hid in the garden from his father cause he was naked and prideful. Even Adam was prideful. But, before that Adam was created outside the Garden of Eden and that is why men like the outdoors and adventure, but on the other hand Eve was created inside the Garden to nurture and take care of the Garden i.e. family and kids…
The point being that Adam was created to explore and be the “man” and he brought pride in the mix with his sin. I struggle with this too… I have learned by reading this that a little boy needs assurance that he is good enough or adequate… I don’t think I ever got that from a man, but from you… I know that’s not your fault and I love you for trying to fill that void. Most parents don’t care as much as you… As the author explains, single moms have a special place in heaven with their drive for a better life for their kids…
I know you tried your best and I love you and will always love you… Our relational problems stem from Adam and his pride as well as the pride he passed down to me… It’s a “me” problem. I am the one at fault when I get mad or upset at you… It’s in us men to want to “separate” from mom, because we as men want to feel adequate or “man enough” for this world… I will strive hard not to let the sins of my father and his father and his father’s father (i.e. Adam) affect our relationship… I love you mom. JL
December 9, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
True Brokenness…
Want to see how quick life can change? I met with a kid the other day that told me an amazing story about his life… Now, before you read this, you have to know that this is from his mouth and his life… I want you to know that it probably isn’t the story that you want to hear from me today because there are no heroes… but there is a great lesson here.
So, we will call this kid Mercy… I got a phone call last week from Mercy and he wanted to meet up for lunch so I canceled what I had going on and went to see him… He was sitting outside the McDonald’s we were meeting and as I walked up, I could see that he had tears in his eyes and seemed to have been baling for some time… Mercy is 21 and his parents are divorcing… Now, we all know how this works… I know I do…
He told me that his step-dad had been cheating on his mom with another woman and that he “chose” the other woman over mom… He looked at me and said, ” Justin, I want to kill him”. I think he was serious when he said it, but I think that was out of anger and fear of the unknown… So, mom and dad had been married since he was 5 and they had two other children together… they have lived in a suburb of Atlanta for 20 years. He said everything seemed like it was great until dad started drinking… in the past his dad has a scotch/water every night before he went to bed and then one day he noticed dad drinking increasingly and becoming angry all the time… He knew something was up when dad couldn’t make it to bed most nights… Passed out on the couch, drunk…
Mercy and his dad had a close relationship until the drinking started… I think in a way Mercy felt responsible for his dad’s actions, so I shared my story with him about my parents and how much he and I have in common. I told him that we can’t control substances and we are NOT at fault for someone else’s addictions and sins… that we have to know that God is telling us truth in Jeremiah 29:11.
I think I had some of the same feelings when my mom and step-dad divorced… I felt like I could control the situation and make things better by acting out with fear and threats… I told mercy that over time his heart would heel and he would move on from this… It’s tough, but we all have to move on from something like this… We can’t let others lives affect us so much that we are consumed with it. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone is forgiven, if they truly mean it when they ask God for forgiveness…
So, we have to forgive, because we are forgiven… I told him that throughout life people would disappoint him… I told him that I have learned that the only “one” that hasn’t disappointed me or let me down is my God and his love is more than any earthly father can give me… He is so big and powerful and we can do all things with him and through him…
The lesson to Mercy would be “forgiveness”… and what not to do when he gets married… I think that if you have a Christ centered life and relationship then he will bless you with happiness… Happiness with the partner you choose for your life here on earth and eternity…
Parents, remember that your actions do impact your children and the way they see the world when they get older and even now. Remember how you felt when mom and dad split up? I did…remember how lonely you felt. I did… Remember asking God, WHY? I did…
I see through the bible what Christ centered relationships look like and I am going to overcome the label of being a “product of divorce”. I have embraced the fact that we are all broken and need a God that can save us from ourselves… The flesh always wants the things it doesn’t need. Let the spirit lead your life and see what happens… Love you all. JL
December 7, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
The HS moves and tells us to Love…
Last night I was thinking about how much God has blessed me this year… with success with business and in my personal life with giving me some great friends. I don’t know where or what I would be like if I didn’t have friends like the ones I do now pouring wisdom in to my life. I was at small group last night talking with the boys and it struck me that I am blessed not only with that group, but with all my friends outside of group… I have surrounded myself with Christ-like people and people that want to impact others with their amazing faith. I keep a balance of church friends and non-seekers… I think it is healthy to have both parts so that you don’t seclude yourself with just churchgoers…
I was also thinking about how much time I have on my hands this month and I was praying about what to do with what God has given me… I decided to start studying for my GRE, which is like the ACT, but for graduate students. I hate standardized tests… I am going to TRY to start school in the fall. I am praying that God will open that door soon and I am staying faithful to him in that calling… I have prayed for a couple of years now for God to show me what to do… I think if I kept that mentality, I would probably be waiting a long time and “talking” more than acting… I need to move… No, I don’t mean to move out-of-state, quit my job, or do something irresponsible; I need to make a move and see where they Holy Spirit take me… I am reading a Francis Chan book called, The Forgotten God and it talks about the Holy Spirit and how we forget to have a relationship with him. He is in us and we ignore that part of him when we pray. We pray to God and Jesus all the time, but we neglect the one that lives inside of us. The father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are like a three leaf clover… All equal parts, coming from the same stalk… The Holy Spirit can move you and make you do things others would think, “Man, that dude is crazy”… I have had that happen to me a couple of times where people were shocked in my actions… .
The Holy Spirit has changed me over the years and convicts me when I do something wrong… he is hurt through those sins just like our father in heaven is… They are the same… Sin is what separates us from his love… Don’t you feel out of touch when you knowingly sin against his love? Don’t you feel out of touch when you sin period? The good news is that when we sin and we will sin, there is a God that gives us Grace and forgives. Grace is defined as unearned favors received from God… We don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it, but he gives it to us… He knows we are broken and we will fail all the time; that’s ok… no one is asking for perfection; Lord knows I’m not, but I TRY to live in his boundaries and not mine…
Thought of the day: Christians are like Manure… Keep them in one area or spot and they start to stink… but spread them out and they start fertilizing and growing… I know that some of you are laughing, but seriously think about how you can impact or grow someone’s faith… Let the Holy Spirit move you and shock someone. Make someone’s day today… Unexpectedly, buy someone coffee or lunch. Give that homeless man you see everyday a dollar and tell him you love him… Hug someone and laugh till you cry… if you can manage to do all these things in one day, boy that’s a real joy to our Father. Love always, JL
You don’t want to miss this… Great lesson!
We started out Thanksgiving by feeding the homeless last week… well we didn’t feed anyone, but we carved 30 turkeys and blessed the cooks of the mission work… It was awesome to see the faces of the people that ran the Atlanta Union Mission as we worked diligently. They weren’t expecting us and our hard work and were very appreciative at the end. We had a group of 6 or 7 and I think the girls we had with us learned more about the insides of Turkeys then they wanted too… lol I left there feeling great about what we had done that day and accomplished for them. If we hadn’t shown up, they would have had to carve the turkey’s one at a time as the people came and that is no fun…
I had a great dinner with some friends that stayed behind for the holiday… We watched football, had some wine, and finished the night off with some fireworks from Dina’s Buck Head view porch. It was great, but it wasn’t home… I missed my family for the holidays and I drank a little too much wine that night. I guess I was trying to fill the void of not being home… I’m human and that’s what happens when we get down about something and we try to fix our problems by substance… I know what you are thinking…
On Saturday, Brandon and I started our 6-hour trek to Lexington, KY. It was my first time going to KY to watch football. UT was in town and I think I was the only UT fan in my section at the game. On the way, there we had a lot to talk about… Brandon is one of the best friends I have ever had. He and I have a lot going on in life and we hold each other accountable for our actions. He knows everything about me and I know everything about him. He is my true brother in Christ. We talked about girls, family, faith, and football. Awesome time!
The football game was awesome too, because UT pulled out the win in Over Time . At one point Brandon looked at me and said, “I’m never bring another friend that isn’t a KY fan.” Ha, He was so pissed! I wasn’t even being loud and obnoxious like normal… I think I was respectful to them since I love UT football… Although, I have to tell you it did get on my last nerve when KY got a first down… Everyone would point in the direction of the goal line they were going for and scream, “That’s a KENTUCKYYYYYY FIRST DOWN”. I think that was the worst part of my trip…J
On the way home we were listening to Francis Chan, (who is an amazing communicator) and he was talking about being quick to respond and defend… Boy did I get a lesson in THAT when we stopped at DQ for lunch… Let me set it up for yak… Brandon and I were trying to make it back for Church and he had a special lady friend waiting on him… We had about 200 miles left when we stopped for gas. He, being the low maintenance person he is, got a protein bar and water for lunch. I, being the high maintenance friend had to have a proper lunch… burger and fries ha-ha so… We go to DQ right next to the gas station and I ran in with the intention of only being 5 min or so… I make my order, I look at where she puts the ticket, and there were many tickets before me. I said, “How long you thinking’?” She said a few min… Well, she was lying… lol after 20 minutes and 3 text messages from Brandon, I was mad as hell… I mean the things that were going through my mind were just awful… How dare she? They are messing up OUR plans… We wanted to get back, do a little laundry, maybe take a little cat nap and then go to church… ha-ha I failed this test awfully… I think I might have said some choice words under my breathe and I know I made them feel very uncomfortable… They knew I was steaming and rushed to get me my food… I almost wanted to throw it back at her and give her a lesson on how to run a restaurant… I was horrible in this and in the back of my mind I was dreading getting back in that car with Brandon who was steaming and probably cussing’ me for 20 minutes or so…
I get back in the car and yes Brandon was pissed … about 30 minutes later I thought about how tough I acted and how mean I was…I had no Grace…I didn’t even want to eat, I felt so bad… Have you ever done that? I mean, what if she was having a horrible day already and I made it worse? What if I made her cry when she got home? What does she think of me? How did I show her the love Jesus shows me? I didn’t…Ultimately, what does my God think of me and the way I handled that situation. I cared about me, me, and me… I had no consideration for what she was going through… I didn’t have any patience or compassion for her that God has for me…
Point is…I am human and I have expectations wherever I go… I expect the best service every time I go in to a restaurant, because that is what our culture is driven by…Service. When we don’t get what we want, we don’t know what to do… We freak out! I certainly did… I thought more about myself in that time then I did for others… That night, I got on my knees and begged for God’s mercy and forgiveness… It broke my heart when I thought about the way I was to her and it still bothers me… God convicted me and taught me a lesson through this… Don’t be too quick to respond… You don’t know what other people are going through… try to make their day and be a blessing to someone… So, have patience and grace for others in time like this. You don’t want to feel the way I do right now… I am forgiven, but I left a scar on her heart as well as mine…
December 1, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
What a week…
This week has been awesome and real blessing… Monday night we had guy’s night at Darren’s house with about 75 kids and we had no clue what God had planned to happen that night… I mean, just to see God working in these young adult lives is so awesome to me, because I was no where near where they are “spiritually” at this age (high-school)… I know it’s against the rules to talk about what happens in the “circle of trust” and guy’s time, so I won’t give specifics… We started out with burgers, hot dogs, caffeine and more candy than you would know what to do with… We also had a bonfire and shared stories about our lives… That part was so powerful… Pain, Regret, Forgiveness, Grace and Love were all shared and the transparency was divine .
I got to see the many different roads less traveled and willingly shared my insight with examples from my story…I shared with them how I deal with the hurt in my life, the pain of my actions or even the pain from someone else’s actions that I can’t control…… I helped them feel better about their situation… whatever it may be, because they felt alone… like no one knew how they felt or had ever been in that moment or made that type of decision that “changed” their story… There were tears, laughs, and truth. You couldn’t pay me to be anywhere else, but in that moment… God was tangible and present in that basement.
I think guys and girls should find some time, get away from the opposite sex for a while, and just am what God made you to be. I mean, the boys will definitely be boys… but the girls need that time too… I don’t have a clue what they in girl’s time, but I hear that’s pretty powerful stuff too…
Thinking about the time that we shared around the campfire I wondered to myself, what would they be doing if not here? or What would they be like if God wasn’t in their lives… and How do we guide and impact them to keep these thoughts of and about our creator through the rest of their lives…Nothing we do is greater than he and nothing we do is enough for him… we try to plant seeds and wait to see the Fruit…
That night brought confirmation to me that God had Darren, Student Venture and even me in these kids lives for a reason and had planned this night a long time ago, which we are so great-full for him… and that we can be a co-star in his story. We all speak truth in to their lives and we give them the our story on how we dealt with things at their age and wisdom on how “not” to do things and what the bible tell us is truth…;) God has ever given that coolest and most humbling gift me…
We learn as we go on in a life that we can’t go back and make better decisions for ourselves and that is one part about life that sucks… I know there are parts of your story that you don’t like to talk about, because we all have that… There is only one person that knows you like a book, inside and out… On the other hand, there is also another “person or being” that knows how to attack you… He knows your weaknesses, hurts, and fears… He lies to you constantly and tells you that nothing can make you “feel” like he can… It may be the bottle, the drugs, the sex, the lies, and the overall darkness that you live in now… But know.. that there is freedom!!! You have to want it and you have to work at it… Nothing I say here will make you change, but at least I have you thinking… That is what I think I am here for… To give some kind of HOPE… and make you feel okay with your situation, because I have probably been where you are at in your story… In some way have felt the same way you have…
I understand and pray for all that read this… I believe that no matter what it is you are feeling or going through, there is hope for you through FAITH in him…
November 22, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Never good enough…
I love all of you and I love him with all my heart, soul, and strength…
I know its been a couple of days since I have written about what God is doing in my life and there is a reason for that… I am challenging myself just to simply shut up. lol now for me, that is a hard thing to do… But, In order to hear God speak to me and help me get through this life, sometimes we just need to shut up… With this time, I have found that no matter what I do, say or act out I am not worthy of his love… I am nowhere near perfect or a master of the bible and its teachings. Nothing is surer… I am learning everyday that what was written long ago happens in our everyday lives repeatedly and if we open that thing called the bible, we might just learn how to do things “his” way rather than ours.
I asked myself these questions everyday: Am I giving enough? Do I walk the walk? Do I lead people in the right direction? Am I living life the “right” way? All of these questions are pretty deep and heavy… I don’t know if I can answer these with a yes, but I do know that I no matter how well I answer these questions it will never be enough… I am a sinner no matter what I do. I know this through my relationship with Christ. Every morning I wake up there is sin in my heart. I want to go find the neighborhood crack dealer and get high all day… I can’t help it, because I was born in to this world of sin. I brought that addiction into my life and I have to face that consequence everyday. It’s easy to get high and not deal with this world. It’s hard to say no… Through the bloodshed I do though… Amen?
I just like you get side tract with our culture, popularity, how much money I make and how successful I am. I do this because that is how we are all wired. Perform, perform, and perfect our talents… He has given us so much and we give so little back. The lesson for me is that no matter how much time, money, or God-given ability to do whatever he wants me to do will NEVER be enough. Side note- the average Christian spends 10 minutes with God everyday and 4 hours with the TV and our culture (Francis Chan)… Hmmmmm…
God gave us all talents and traits that he is very fond of, but with that, we need to understand the giving back part. For me, giving back would be giving to my church 10% of what I make a year… I mean, he did entrust me with it in the first place. Honestly, the hardest thing is to continue to give 10% when I don’t get that check that says to me, “Comfort”. We all love the feeling of comfort, but when we are vulnerable to not having as much or being able to do the things that we enjoy so often; little by little we start taking back what he has given to us as an offering… Do you lower that percentage? I know that I have… Do you take for granted what God has blessed you with? I do… Or do you stay the course, pray through those times, and stay faithful like God has stayed faithful to you? I try to get better everyday.
All of this was put on my heart this week and I think its very important for us to notice the small things and trust that no mater what is happening here on earth, there is a bigger plan and we are just a dot in a big universe. I challenge you in this holiday season to give more than usual and love people. Imagine your son or daughter out there homeless, sick, and hungry… How much would you give then? Bless people with what you have been blessed with a thousand fold and it is promised that it will be returned to you in the house of the Lord…
The most eye-opening and sad thing that I learned this week is that, those who call themselves “Christians” and ignore what the Bible tells us is truth, won’t be in heaven… My heart weeps with that realization and it scares me to know that there are so many people out there like that… I want so badly to be there with my loved ones and I want him to pat me on the back and say, “Job well done, my servant”. He and I both want that for you…JL
November 12, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
go and make disciples of all nations…
Have you ever been sitting in church feeling disconnected, like you really didn’t want to be there? Well, I felt like that this past Sunday… I mean, I feel him all day… but there is something about singing worship songs with 3000 brothers and sisters in Christ. I was jealous of all the people around me with their hands held high and voices screaming loudly for him… Feeling his presence… (The enemy was keeping that closeness from me with my thoughts… I don’t know how or why…) the feeling I am talking about with God starts with him breathing on me… You might not get this, but I get this numb tingle feeling like no one else is around and it’s just me and him… Then… I dance with my Jesus, whether it’s with my hands held high or swaying back and forth to the sweet melodies he has provided through some very talented people…
That disconnect I felt was caused by the things in my world…I think its easy to get caught up in the worldly “stuff”. I want to share this with you today… In my day job, I sell Medical Devices to hospitals and the other day I was at Duke University in the ICU… We were working on a 350 lb. man the was involved in a drunk-driving accident (head on collision) and as I was looking down at him watching his pain of all of his bones broken, he was helpless… He depended fully on those doctors to save his life… regardless of the bonehead decision he made, the doctors still worked on him. They didn’t stop working on him when they found out he killed two other people in the accident; it was their job to keep going… They made a promise to try to save the lives of every broken person that came in to that hospital… They didn’t take a piece of chalk out to keep score, they kept going… Making decisions for him without any of his say so…
Kind of funny… But doesn’t God do that with all of us? I mean, we all at one point or another come to him broken… with baggage and life experiences that we are not proud of and he shows his faithfulness… He loves us and forgives us… He doesn’t give up on you when you screw up or have to change your life story because of a bad decision… What story do you want to tell? What brought you to God in the first place? What if you died tomorrow? How many people would go to heaven because you introduced them to a relationship with Christ? How many have felt God’s unconditional love because of your impact in their life?
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20
November 5, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Keeping Focus….
Hey guys, I know its been a couple of days, but I had to be in New Orleans and Charlotte for work this week. I had excessively much fun the other night in the Casino and of course had to check out the French Quarter. When I was on the French Quarter I found where the homeless hangout and a numerous amount of strip clubs… I had no idea there were so much “trouble” for me out there, kind of shocked… I was “people watching” intensely and I was saddened about what I saw. I witnessed some serious brokenness in their lives and they were all masking something; it seemed they were filling voids in their life with money, sex, and drugs. These women didn’t care what they had to do to be paid… Now, I am not saying that in my past life, I never went to one of those places, but I was blind with no intention of following Christ and had no idea what the repercussions in my soul and in my mind were. Like many of you, I have images I can’t ever get out of my head that I don’t want anymore and the enemy feeds off that. He wants us to remember those “fun” times so that when we are back in the “lion’s den” we will pounce on whatever will leave scars on our hearts even after forgiveness… The enemy was breathing down the back of my neck the entire time I was there…
I was talking to a homeless man outside a bar, named Cecil, he wore a long coat, road a bicycle and had one leg… (He claimed police brutality is why he lost his leg)… Cecil kept telling me repeatedly he had to get his license renewed to get his check cashed… “100 Dallas’ man, that’s all I needed”. Now, I don’t know what check or where the check came from or if there really was one, but he stuck to his story. I watched three people put money is his cup and he looked at me and said, “Come on Preacher man, you got something?” Unfortunately, I didn’t, but I wanted to grab him up and let him live at my house until he got straight… Whatever straight is… I know you probably think I am crazy, but I also know that if you would have engaged in a conversation with him you would have wanted to help in someway as well… because we all naturally want to help someone out when they are in a bind. We trust that they need help and don’t ask questions when they ask for money… You either give it to them or walk by like they don’t exist. When we do give it to them; we never ask, “What are you going to do with my 5 dollars?”. We, as Christians or even non-Christians give when there is a need, because God put compassion in us and we feel we have a responsibility to help. I’m not saying we are going to cure homelessness, but we would if we could because of the level of compassion we have for one another. I understand that choices got them there, but have more compassion than usual next time… Have that awkward conversation and ask them how they are doing and if they know they are loved, because they are people too and God loves them just like you…
Before I left Cecil, I told him that I was going to be his prayer warrior for the next 7 days and I told him that something amazing was going to happen in that 7 days… I came back the next night and he was sitting in the same place with the same cup, but nothing had changed… He asked me again if I had anything for him and while I was sitting with him, a man dropped a 100-dollar bill in his cup. He looked down in his cup with big eyes like he didn’t believe it, then he looked over at me and said, “You got anything for me preach man?” With a smile, I gave him a hug and said good night. I am still praying for Cecil, so if you want to join me that would be greatly appreciated.
The lesson here is no matter what amount of money we think we need to get by or how much is in “our” cup, we always want more… because there is nothing but emptiness at the end of the day in that… Money and other things “of and in this world” are empty and temporary… Like Cecil, we all want more than what God has blessed us with… Even if we find ourselves on a street corner homeless and missing a leg… God has you, so trust in that and be filled with that promise…
October 29, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Blessed be…and wait…
Today I woke up and I thought to myself, “Lord? What are we going to today?” and “How can I make a difference in someone’s life?” … I didn’t accomplish very much, but in a way I did… I woke up with this burning desire to write and share a story with you, then I went to work like every normal day… Tonight is when things really seemed to change for me. I had this ringing in my mouth from where the oral surgeon ripped out my wisdom teeth, but dinner was great and conversation was awesome with Barry. Anyways, I will get on with it…
I learned first hand that I need to lean in to him i.e. Jesus when I am not sure of an outcome or result of our human mistakes… We live with consequences in life and we all have to face the music at some point… It’s like when you were a kid and you were bad in school; you didn’t want to go home and tell your mom and dad what you did… seemed like 8-3:30 flew by and soon you were standing in the living room getting what was coming your way…lol I know, I had many of those…
I take what happened today as a lesson of not taking what God puts in your life for granted. Not to say I took it for grated, but I will definitely appreciate it a lot more the next time around.. You are probably wondering what I am talking about, well that’s where you have to use your imagination… That’s where I got in trouble the first time… Talking too much.>>>
You ever have those friends that talk all the time. (My friend s are thinking right now, “Yeah, you!”. lol I know I do, but I am talking about those friends that talk just to hear themselves talk, like silence is the last thing they want to feel; because to them its awkward. Truth is, we are probably like that at some point with God in our prayers… we talk so much we can’t hear anything coming back… I know I have that problem and so do some of you.
Isn’t it true that when something happens to you in your life that stops you in your tracks or knocks you off your path, you all the sudden you want to hear an answer? It’s like we have to know the end, before we can begin to make sure its safe for our hearts to move ahead; so that we don’t get hurt… That’s where faith comes in… So, what I am going to do is wait and have faith… I am going to wait for him to show his will… He always shows his face no matter what you or I say to retract or go back from a situation, whatever it may be…
I choose him over anyone or anything that is going on here, because he is so much bigger then me and my problems. I challenge you to do that… Tonight’s one of those nights that I will never forget the way I feel… Was it because of fear? I don’t know… but I know the Bible tells us not to fear 365 times… One for every day, AMAZING. So, that is what I will do. I will stand still and humble, waiting on his breathe to breathe on me to show me his way, his light, and his truth…
Lastly, when I am at a point of hurt and confusion in my life, I love the closeness I feel with God… Don’t you? It is so tangible and present, because we are depending on him so much for one thing or whatever is happening at that pivotal moment in our lives… its like when I pray I feel like I crawling up in my dad’s lap weeping for his will to show through and its the safest place in the world… That is the intimate relationship I have with my Heavenly Father… Thanks for listening. I just needed to write to feel better. Have a great night.
October 22, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
A “tough” subject for Christians… and non-Christians…
One thing is promised… No matter where we go on our path and our journeys we will always come home. We all have left our hometown for college to seek out a “better life” or move to the “big city” to make those dreams we so desire to come true… and one thing always happens… We come back to visit the ones we love;)… and after this life we will do the same thing by going back to be in the arms of our Lord.
I left Nashville to go to college and then left again after college to move to Atlanta not knowing that God had put me on a spiritual journey. Through all of that time of confusion and questions, I know that I have found him. He was knocking on the door to take care of my loneliness and hurts… I left Nashville to get away from the pressures, “crowd” that led me down a path of destruction, and I know that he has protected me in this time. I have never had this much “joy” in my life…
I want to talk about a tough subject… I was with a friend of mine yesterday and he is moving away for the first time just like I did… He is one the most loving, understanding, and compassionate people I have ever met. He deals with spiritual battles just like you and I. He is asking himself on this journey, “What if the way I am is okay in the eyes of God? “ I mean he did make us right?” or “How do we know our interpretation of the bible is “right” ?” See, his heart is split into two. His heart loves the Lord, but he is attracted to men… He has been battling this his whole life… He came from a Christian family with a great up bringing. He seems to have a good relationship with his mom, but dad not so much… He is very successful and is very smart… He is in search of the “happiness” that we all are and he is no different from you or I. We all are split in one way or another just like him. We all sin and our hearts are split in two just like him… between what we want which is sometimes out of our sinful nature and what God wants for us…Read Romans 7 if you don’t believe me…
Homosexuality is a tough thing for Christians to talk about… I am in no way arguing for it, but I don’t wan to throw it our of conversations either… I know first hand from working with the “gay” society that it is a selfish, demanding and ultimately lead to “death”, but they love each other and take care of each other like no other society I have seen before… That is a fact. If they want kids, they make it happen. Man goes to room “A” and woman goes to room “B”. Boom there ya go… If they own a business, they make sure to give back to the community. Working in that environment I learned a lot about that lifestyle and the one thing they all shared for each other is “love”. What is God? LOVE! He loves them the same way he loves you… They were born with their own sinful nature just like you were…
Here is some good news… Looking around from my seat on Sundays; I see some of the guys I worked with waiting eagerly to hear Andy Stanley. See, I go to a church that is a “seekers” church and the guys from work bring their partners and other friends to be in a “safe” environment. That is so awesome!!!! Something powerful is churning in their soles to hear the truth, the way, and the word… They are torn just like you and I, with sin… If we can accept them for who they are and know that they are loved just like you and I, then we can maybe win back those hearts that have been scorned by the church in the past… Think about it, it’s hard to ask someone to stop doing something wrong in the eyes of God, if they don’t know why or even if it is wrong… Let them come and learn… figure it out in their own time of their own Journey… but be that light Jesus tells us and Peter to be (Mathew 15)… Help them understand our ways, but most importantly take the time to understand the differences people bring and where they come from with love in your heart… Today and until he finds that peace he is looking for with God; I pray for my friends journey… Thanks JL
October 21, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Letter to my family… Thought I would share with you all too…
Family,
I wanted to write to you guys to tell you how much you guys mean to me and how much I love each one of you. As most of you know, I started a blog, which is a journal on-line. Scary thought… With this blog, I want to reach people that are just like you and I. People are out there that deal with the same “stuff” we do in our lives. In no way is this expression to put out dirty laundry or make a false witness. I am honest about everything in my life with everyone I come in to contact with. I have to be. I work with high school kids and through that experience of transparency I have learned that there are real problems and brokenness out there that need to hear us say,” Hey, I have been there; I know how you feel and look how we made it out of this” Whatever “this” is…
I think the coolest thing about our family is that we are BIG, with a lot of stories and a bunch life lessons. The Lowry’s, Minors, Brogdon’s, Thornbury’s, Moore’s or whoever is a part of my story has taught me a lot about life. That is so awesome and encouraging to me. We have all been through a lot together and I understand that a lot of our experiences are fresh and sometimes hard to talk about. I love to write and that’s how I get through things in my life. I see a counselor every week, but I have found that expressing myself through words and how I see life is so much more of a benefit. When I pray to God it is always in letters and that’s how I express myself. I am sorry for offending any of you with my efforts. I love all of you and each one of you brings something special to the altar.
The “old school” is out and now in these times, there is Internet and virtual networking. I am leveraging all of “that” for God’s glory and I think it is bringing a lot of good… The feedback has been very encouraging due to the number of emails and comments being left… If it touches one person then I know its worth doing… We don’t agree on everything and I know I can’t please everyone, but I will continue writing and sharing with the world. People that are reading it probably aren’t changing anything in their lives now, but little by little, chip by chip, maybe the voice can speak clearly and be heard…
I know I am not perfect and perfection isn’t the goal here, but I changed my life and I am focusing more than ever on God; because he is my way and the only way for me… Maybe not you, but it works for me. Thing is, I know that he is so fond of each you and wants to know each of you intimately. I hope it doesn’t take any of you guys a life time to figure that out if you haven’t already. You are all loved and I want to see each one of you in Glory one day. My passion is people that are like me and how I was before accepting Christ in to my life. I feel like I can connect with almost every occupation , because of the life we have gone through… I understand that all people are in different places in their walk then I am and I respect that… Your story is a part of my story and I will try my hardest to in the future take the negative things we have learned together and give them a positive spin or more encouraging outcome… I have no motives in this… but to reach people that are doing life just like I am trying to find meaning… and that meaning for me is the truth and word of our Heavenly Father who wants that for you. Thanks for your time and again I love each of you.
October 18, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Dating? How do we do it???
What a question? I wish I knew the answer… I do have some insight on what not to do though… I think that when we meet someone for the first time or we are in a group setting and you notice a guy or girl that is solo hot; There is a part of us that jumps right in to growing old together, sitting out back on the patio watching the waves roll by… Am I wrong? I mean, you wonder what the kids would look like, what your bank statement would say, or what country club you would be a VIP member at… I myself have definitely jumped the gun a few times and learned many life lessons through dating.
The first date is always euphoric and exciting. We have all felt that funny feeling you get in your gut that reminds you to floss 100 times, to change clothes 10 -20 times (depending on your sex) or to call all of friends for a pep talk… I have friends that do that… Not me;) I think its great! Dating can be one of the most exciting things we do in life and it can be one of the biggest headaches out there. Some first dates end with a kiss and others end the next morning, depending on your belief system…
I myself have learned to wait to bring the “physical” into a relationship. It just confuses things and eventually robs the other person spiritually when you are having sex in your relationship. I think you should be friends first and make sure you can spend eternity with your “friend” before jumping in the sack. All that really matters in life is the “friendship” you have with your spouse. Hate to break it to you, but we will all grow old, be wrinkly… and bald. Lol I have excepted that outcome in my life;) Beauty on the outside is fleeing all of us everyday. We need to look deep inside someone, before we move closer to marriage. Setting boundaries is one of the hardest things we do as Christians, much less humans…We are all sexual beings and it is the most beautiful gift God gave all of us, but only in confines of marriage…
I guess the only answer I have for you on dating is that when you are hanging out or maybe even at dinner, just imagine Jesus sitting at the table listening to your conversations and knowing your thoughts about the person opposite of you… and guys look at the girl sitting across the table as if she is God’s most precious daughter… You can’t really argue with that now can you?;)
Not asking for perfection or anything, but always try to get better at whatever you are doing in life…
October 17, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Dependence
Dependence is one of the hardest things we as humans go through. For the first 10-13 years, we are all dependent on mom and dad to get things done for us and for others 20-25 . Then something happens to our hearts… We are conformed and shaped to this world. We are told by our culture how to dress, what type of people to hang out and what image we should cling on too… I was just like that. I wanted to impress my friends, get the girl, and be the coolest guy on campus, high school, and college… You name it, I was or had it…
I was conformed to this world. I was independent away from my parents and didn’t care what anyone else had to say… That’s where I went wrong… My independence started in with drinking in high school and then later in college the drugs came. I had no clue what I was getting myself into at the time. Other then my uncles that lived 6 states away, I had no “real” leadership at home. (My mom was great, but I hid everything from her. What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.) My step-dad and I were cool later on in life, because we shared an addiction. I never really trusted him… You could tell there was always something he was hiding… He is the addict I was telling you I was raised by… I started smoking pot with him when I was 16 and he we like many parents and let us drink in the basement in high school… as long as we were at home doing it, well it was okay… again, Great leadership!
During college, I would sometimes come home for the weekends and one night I somehow fell down the hardwood stairs in our basement. He helped me up, looked at my swollen ankle and said, “meet me in the garage, I have something that will help that”. Curiously I did, and with a pipe (the tube of a hollow pen) in my mouth, him holding a piece of aluminum foil asking me, “do you trust me?” with a lighter and a deep breathe I smoked what was the beginning of my oxy-cotton addiction. Man, I wish I could go back… So much hurt and loss after that… I was dependent on drugs in which the world told me to be… I let the enemy in and he won.
The good news is that overtime I have conquered my addictions. but everyday is a battlefield of temptation… Not one morning goes by that I don’t wake up and the first thing I want to do is find the neighborhood drug dealer and get high… I don’t because I know the consequences of that lifestyle… I depend on God for that void being filled with his love… He gives me that love and affection that I desire so much.
I know there are those of you that are dependent on something of and in this world… I challenge you to give it up to God and see what his will is for you… Let him fill your cup. I had to learn some lessons the hard way and I don’t want that for you. Don’t go along with the crowd or be conformed to this culture. Be a man or woman of God; See where that takes you…
Lastly, I was talking to some friends the other night at small group and we were talking about how people will say, “God never gives you more than you can handle”. I think its false. I think he gives us more then we can handle to help us understand that we need him, before anything else, you need him… If our cup gets so full that it is overflowing with our problems and desires of and in this world, that is when he i.e. God is waiting on us to drop it or pour out all of OUR desires and wants and make it his and his alone… The is true dependency on him… God Bless…
Honesty…
The best lesson of honesty that I got today is from Steve Miller… He said, “I’m a joker, I’m a smoker, I’m a midnight taker, I sure don’t want to hurt no one…” I listened to that song today and he was completely “real” with all of us when he wrote that… I think I can relate with him in that I used to be just like him. I thought what ever I was doing to myself didn’t hurt anyone else, so why not do it… What a lie the enemy tells us… Today, sadly I sat and “people watched” from the bar I was watching the UT game and I came to the conclusion that we as a society of 20 something’s watching football at noon pounding jaeger-bombs and seeing how much we can drink are in trouble…
I mean, I’m not saying I don’t like to enjoy a beverage every now and then or catch a buzz on some good whiskey, but damn people… We are taking it to an extreme aren’t we? You know that guy that sits at the bar with his beer belly and favorite sports team on his shirt. I know I do… Truth is that he is hiding from something in his life…
People like him or even her (ladies are not excluded) that get lost in sports, TV, video games or anything other than reality are dealing with some major issues… We call them “Flee-errs” in the Christian world. To flee the scene of life or turn your attention to something that is meaningless in the grand scheme… There are three types of people: Rationalizers, Flee-errs and Fixers… You can decide which one you are later. I am talking about the guy that looks forward to that one “BIG” game all week and nothing else matters, but that and a 12 pack to see how housed they can get…You have been there and so have I… I love college football, but it turns from a game to an addiction… We all chase that dragon at some point in our lives and pretty soon the effects are felt less and less and the consequences become worse and worse…In no time, we are 50, overweight, malnutrition , lost and afraid of what sober feels like… But hey! One hell of a fan of some team you have been cheering for since college. Where does that get you? Am I stupid for asking the question? Not American for loving football on the weekends? No! I am saying that balance and moderation are important… We are going to have many “broken” people and maybe even families because of alcohol. It’s the sleeper!!! You never know when its got you and choking the life out of you…
Let me share something with you… Whatever you are doing now, doesn’t change in 10, 15, or 20 years from now. Look at the past 10. Have you changed any? We get stuck in these patterns and we can’t change what/who we are, because of the path with have put ourselves on… there are a number family members all over that drink 20 beers a day at 50 and are no longer with us;). We all have them in our family… Alcoholism is a hard thing to see, but if you are being “housed” every time you drink then you might be fleeing from some realities in your life…
I am transparent with you in saying that I am a flee-err! I flee from the fact that I build a facade for people so they don’t see the real me, but always getting better. I flee from the fact that I am not perfect, but in my mind, I think I am… Sick huh? I may say things to people that deep down I don’t mean, because I am running from that emotion someone or something makes me feel… I am guilty of it, but I see what I am doing… I am always trying to get better. I want you to look at yourself and ask yourself if you are hiding from anything in your life that hurts. Know that its okay to hurt… The bible never said we wouldn’t hurt… He fills that hurt or pain that you have with his love; if you let him…
Maybe its drugs, sex or rock-n-roll?;) I don’t know… Whatever it is will catch up with you in the end… Whatever you think you are hiding so well, will show up one day… I want you to know that I love all of you and don’t want to see you in a position of regrets or pain that you don’t really have to go through… If you catch the “bad” and the “ugly” in your life now and do something about it like talking to a counselor, minister or a good friend that excepts you for you and nothing more or less.. I know it can really help you in the end.
I thank God for those friends I have in my life! I love God and I love People! JL
October 11, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment | Edit
Great Night with a WARNING…
So tonight, I had a great night with my small group… We talked about life; where we’ve been and where we think God wants us to go… The whole time I was sitting there thinking that if I would have gone to Vegas this weekend I would have been missing this awesome conversation and thick cigar.
About a month ago I went to my friends and told them that I didn’t want/need to go to Vegas for a bachelor party, because it wasn’t a place I needed to be. There is a lot of trouble there and that is the last thing I need to do is be in the “Lions Den”… I went last year and made some poor decisions that I regret, but through the bloodshed, I was forgiven. I learned a lesson about the enemy. We are not perfect and no one is asking us to be… but YOU know how it goes in Vegas…
Well, tonight I was reminded of Roman 7. When Peter is talking about why he keeps doing the same things, he hates about himself… I love this… Romans 7:14-20
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am un-spiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
Did you get that? Just to get you thinking… Who/what is he talking about. We are all slaves of the flesh…
After we left, I was praying in the car and I felt disconnected, because for me after a spiritual filled night the enemy starts working on me… He is real and he is FULL of lies. He will strangle you in your thoughts and attack you in your dreams. “In the name of Jesus” is a powerful sentence… Always be on guard. He always tells me I’m not good enough or that people are going to think your nuts, but then I always think of Paul who slayed Christians as Sal and then weeks later went in to the same towns proclaiming Jesus. Wow.. they must have thought he was off his rocker… but no; he had been touched by the ultimate love and creator…:)
Speaking of that, I was having dinner the other night with a friend from high-school/college and he said something that struck me… He said, “I’m 28 and I’m still trying to figure out what I want in life and my purpose here”. He said,” I’ve got the girl, the boat, the house and the money”. “People would kill to have my life”. I thought to myself, “maybe its right there and maybe it’s a relationship with your heavenly father…” I didn’t want to scare him off with that, so I started asking questions and I told him through that how I had changed my life and began growing my relationship with Christ… He rather looked at me like I was crazy, but a part of him took me seriously because he is one of my old’ friends. I mean, I have known the guy since we were 14 and he has seen a change in me, but most of all I hope I can be an example of Christ for him… You never know who is watching you, so be a great example… Thought I would share some randomness with you early this morning.. Have a great Friday!
October 9, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 2 Comments | Edit
Sexual Immorality…
In some way, shape, we all are in relationships… Weather it be a dating relationship or just friends, we all have one question. What is sexual immorality? I mean, what are boundaries in a Christian Relationship or even a non-Christian relationship? Let’s be honest… I think for a lot of us, we quickly jump in to a relationship and try to find all the great things out about that person and then ultimately justify having sex with them… Well, he is a good guy, so I think I can take him to that intimate place… Or she is a good girl and she loves me, so I think I might take our relationship to the next level. What is the next level? hmmm… Could it be a spiritual thing rather than a physical thing? Is there a reason why God didn’t want us to sleep with everyone we were in a relationship with? I think so… What about unwed pregnancies or diseases? What about kids that see your example of relationship and follow down the same path of brokenness you do? God’s law does and will protect us from that hurt and lie…
For me, it was a game. I wanted to sleep with as many girls as possible in high school, college, and even post college, because that’s how I was trained and no one besides my mom told me it was wrong. My culture told me while I was growing up that sex was awesome, so do it a lot and enjoy yourself with as many women as possible, but use protection. (like that made it okay) I never knew what is was to have a “real” relationship. “Real”, meaning two people pouring in to each other honestly… I used girls! I think after I experienced loosing that “one” girl in high school and then in college, it all started… I always had a motive or wanted to get something from her (whoever that was that night or season in my life). I never wanted to know her; I just wanted to please her physically, because that was how I was taught and shaped to have relationships… Just another notch in the belt. Sad huh? My mom didn’t teach me that, but the men and friends I had in my life. (I don’t blame you guys, but you feel me!)
There is poor leadership in this world for our young people and a mentality I speak of is going on all over the world right now. My own dad, the “great” leader he is told me I wasn’t doing “right” by not sleeping around getting what I can… That’s probably why he is 48 and the dad of a 5 year old???
People are conformed to this world and learn that sex is one of our worst addictions… How many of you go out every weekend and try to be laid or hook up? I know you are out there, because I did it too. Why not learn from “Hollywood’s” way of love and try God’s formula. ( Great book on relationships is Chip Ingram’s Love, Sex, and lasting relationships…) Chip tells us to “become” the right person, set our hopes and dreams around God and Walk in Love (which is a choice)… Rather than finding the right person, falling in love and then setting your hopes and dreams around that ONE person. I think we all need to take a step back and look at our story. I think if you are anything like me or you are having a tough time with relationship, this book can help you… Have a great week! Check this out !!! Click on the Oct. 5th segment. I’m the last story in an interview I did for Chip…
http://www.livingontheedge.org/home/broadcasts/online_daily.php.
October 5, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
I get my nails done…
Yes, Ladies it is true. I get my nails done just like you. Many guys would call me gay or metro, but I look at it as taking care of me i.e. Landscaping….It is okay guys! Drop your insecurities and fears, because there is nothing like sea salt on your legs while someone is massaging you… I was in their yesterday and I almost fell asleep! Here are my top 5 reasons for getting them:
1)Let’s face it, when we as men drop our pride and take the time in one’s appearance it says we care just enough! We aren’t being cocky or prideful, but confident in who we are…
2) It feels good! They come with a mini-massage and man it can be awesome…
3) Stress-reducer-Taking an hour or so to get a manicure and pedicure can give guys some down time to relax and take their mind off some of the pressing issues we have to deal with during the week. This is good for a healthy heart…
4) It looks and feels good!- If her man is at the construction site all day, then the hands can get beat up and that isn’t cool to go or wife when you try to touch her softly…
5) Healthy Feet and Hands- During pedicures dead skin is exfoliated away, helping to diminish calluses and potential dead skin build-up that can lead to bigger problems down the line. During both manicures and pedicures, the cuticles are cleaned up, which eliminates painful and unsightly hangnails.
Guys! Take the advise and oh yeah, this is for the ladies too; DO NOT CUT YOUR NAILS IN FRONT OF YOUR GF OR BF. That is so gross! Spend the $20 and let the professionals do it!
October 4, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
Private: A little Encouragement…
Wow.. Today is Monday and man, the past 2 days have been awful. I woke up yesterday sweating with a fever and the shakes. I thought I was going through detox or something ha-ha… Anyways, I am feeling much better today and wanted to share with you a cool story my meme (Betty i.e. Grandmother) AKA Hollywood told me the other day.
See… most of my family, just like most families in this country don’t really talk about religion. It can start arguments and sometimes make people feel uncomfortable that maybe don’t have a strong belief system. I’ll admit, it is so hard for me to talk about religion with my family and that bothers me… I can go up to a complete stranger and find a way to ask him/her where they are in their walk, but I can’t ask my own family members if they love the Lord… btw- I do that a lot. I love to go to Waffle House at 3 am and buy a meal for a homeless man or even some random man/woman sitting at the bar with me. That’s where the realness of people comes out… Sad, but true… You can put me in any scene and I think I can find a way to talk about Jesus…
So my grandmother was telling me that my aunt (who will stay anonymous) had a glimpse at just how BIG God is… I think my aunt believes in something, but I’m not sure where she stands on the whole Jesus thing. (I pray to have that conversation with her one day.) She doesn’t go to church, but recently she has been going to these prayer meetings every morning at work. Which is awesome…?
I know that God is really working on her, because the other night she was going to a concert in Mississippi and the weather was horrible with flash flooding and lightning. They barley made it there… This was an outside concert venue, which had been canceled once before due to weather… More than half way there; from the passenger seat, she was looking around and said to herself, “There is no way this show is going to happen”. Then with big eyes and an open heart, she looked up to those dark and gloomy clouds and said a soft little prayer, “God if you’re there, please let this show happen; I really want to see this tonight if its in your will.” About an hour later, sitting there in her seat, she looked up and she saw the most beautiful clear skies… I think God was winking at her:)… WOW!!! Little by little, he chips our doubts and our fears away. If that isn’t some shed of proof that he is real and does listen, then I don’t know what is…
A lot of us are the seeing and then believing types, that’s okay… He can answer all of our prayers, big or small. If its in his will, it will be done…. We have to have faith in him that he can and will show up when we least expect it… He is so faithful to us… Have a great week.- JL
September 28, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | 2 Comments | Edit
Paid in Full…
Today is Friday and a beautiful day here in Atlanta… I hope everyone is having a blessed day, because our God is nothing but good. I will get right to it; I was at coffee with a friend of mine today and we were talking about how God changes us over time. I told him a cool little story I got from my dad, who is raising my 5-year-old brother that just started school this fall. I know what you are thinking… 5 years old.
Brooks’ had a rough start with this whole school thing… He didn’t want to go at all and everyday the first and second week he cried and cried when mommy dropped him off at school. I think we can all relate to Brooks with this one… There isn’t one of out there that wasn’t a little afraid on the first day of school. New people, new surroundings, and new things to learn. It is easy for us to feel like we are just a number in any of these types of situations in life. I think this is where most or all of our insecurities come from; because of the way we may look , who we hang out with or how we act. Kids can be very mean and leave scars for life… Ask my classmates! I was an a**!
I was rough on people and I had no reason to be other than I was insecure with who I was… Yes, I was a bully at one time. I wanted to paint this facade for people that I was a bade**! If they didn’t see that rough and tough side of me, then they would see right through me.. They would see that I was a softy who they wouldn’t fear… but the truth is that I was one that would cried to the movie,” The Land before Time” and “Old Yeller”. I mean, I slept with Little Foot until I was 12… ha-ha I know a few of you out there had a stuffed animal you slept with every night.
Well, lets get back to Brooks and this story… The first thing Brooks’ had to do during this time was to let go and admit to himself that he had no control in this matter. He had to deal with going to school and he had to except that mommy could stay with him all day. So, he does what any 5 year old would do and asks the teacher every 10 minutes, “When’s mommy coming to get me?” So after the 3rd day of that, the teacher put a clock next to his desk and told him that mommy would be back to get him when the clock says three… Wow, can we say HIGH MAINTENANCE already! Brooks has never been away from his mom and this was rough for him to go through, because they have spoiled him rotten.:)
I think I was just like Brooks… except after the 3rd grade I acted embarrassed when mom would drop me off at school… Like every other kid there didn’t have a mom!!!! lol we all want independence and during those times we show hatred towards the people that love us the most… I wish I could go back and give my mom more hugs on those mornings she dropped me off crying, because of the things I said to her… I was rotten and mean to her to make her think that I didn’t need her… Well, I’m 26 and still need my mama…
There is a lot of symbolism with this and the way we view God in our everyday lives. Brooks felt alone and betrayed, because he was left in a loud and scary place that he couldn’t rap his mind around the fact that this is normal for him to go to school for 8 hours a day… We all feel alone in a dark place in this world at one point or another and during those times of loneliness our Father is knocking and waiting… Waiting on you to open the door and let him in… he has an offering that nothing in this world can match. I know, I had nothing… What I did have was a cocaine and methamphetamine addiction… No one in this world knew it, but me and him… I hid it from everyone and acted like my life was normal for a very long time… Shocking? Some of you knew me during that time and you knew the mess I was in. The disease started early and I am proud to say that I have been clean for 3 years and 2 months… Praise God, because he took me with all of that… I don’t want you to think I a m dwelling on the past, but you have to know my story before you can really listen to what I am saying… For me, in the beginning of my walk in faith it was easier to connect with someone that has been where I have been and lived what I had lived…
We want to do things on our own and on our time… We don’t want anyone to tell us what to do… We build up this fortress and wall, so that no one can see who we really are… That is most of our greatest fears…the truth is that no matter where you go, no matter where you move, no matter who you are at this very moment; there is good news… He loves you with all the “stuff” you have going on in your world. Thanks for listening today. You can suggest things for me to shine a light on… Don’t be shy or a stranger…
My prayer: Father God, thank you for everything that you are doing here on earth! Thank you for my friends, family, and thank you for the person that you are shaping in me… I pray for all of those that are in the wilderness of their lives or feel alone in this world. It is easy for us to pull away when times are tough, but you never pull away… I pray to lean in to you when times are tough. Your faithfulness and promise is enough for me and I ask that you make me a blessing, because you have blessed me with so much… In your son’s name I pray, Amen.
September 25, 2009 Posted by voice4jesus | Uncategorized | | No Comments Yet | Edit
He Reigns!!!
My name is Justin Lowry and I am an addict with family full of addicts. I do love my family, friends, people, and God. That pretty much takes care of everyone… I love to talk and express new ideas and opinions, so I decided to make a blog… I wanted to talk about what God is doing in my life and let people out there that are like me, hear a voice for, and from Jesus hints the name of the site…
I think that we all have a story and every story is so very important to hear. Mine is a little complex… Long story short, I am the brother of a 5 year old and a son of 2 addicts ha. I admire my mom and my Paw-paw ( Amazing dude!). You will learn more as you get to know me, so lets start with the purpose of this… I embrace that I am affected by drugs and alcohol everyday of my life, so I want to help others that struggle in that aspect. I have a passion for High School students and addicts. We all got lost somewhere and that place usually starts in high school or for some of us when we were brought in this world.
God is present and tangible and does amazing things for us, but we are far too busy to see it sometimes. Another goal for this blog is to encourage you and let you see that there is no more bondage in my life and that the chains are broken by the blood on the cross and through my Savior Jesus Christ… I want that for you… I want to touch my friends, family, and others who haven’t felt his love. He wants that so badly for you and so do I. I am pretty outspoken about a lot of things in the Christian world and I know that there are some of you that won’t agree with what I have to say… But so what!
Lastly, I was a non-believer for 23 years of my life. Through brokenness and the Holy Spirit jumping in me changing me forever I have found a passion for people that feel they are not worthy of his everlasting love like I was… I lived a fast life before excepting Christ and for that I feel like I can connect with almost any occupation… I can act like my shoes size sometimes, but others I am real and will tell you like I see it. No matter where you are or what your story is, you are loved…
My prayer today: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and thank you for this amazing technology to reach 1000′s that have never heard your voice. God, I pray that you bless all that read this blog and open their eyes and hearts to you Lord. I pray for those that don’t know you or believe that your son came in to this world 2000 years ago and hung on a cross, died and walked 3 days later. What an amazing thought!!! I pray all of this in Christ’s name… Amen
