Back 2 School

Today was my first day of class for the Spring semester. I've been surprisingly excited about coming back to school and learning again. Today we went over Jude and Obadiah and I have to admit, I knew very little about either of them. We spent six hours in these two books and it was refreshing to receive the truth of God's Word. I'm excited about starting off this new semester. I believe that over break God has matured me more in the faith and I am starting to appreciate Him and His Word more and more each day. The one thing that does disappoint me about this place is that it's very hard to find a place to spend quiet time with the Lord. It's so crucial that each day I spend time in His presence so that He can transform me to be more like Him. I'm going to have to be more creative and find an escape so I can spend time with the Maker. God bless you, and I ask God that these posts will be a blessing and encouragement to you.

Memorizing Scripture

Break is coming to a close very soon because school starts back up this Tuesday(13th). God knew that this break was just what I needed. It's hard living with 11 other students in very close quarters and it wore on me quite a bit. I needed this break to have a fresh touch from the Holy Spirit in my life. God's been teaching me so much over the past month that it's been somewhat overwhelming. The newest lesson/ prompting He has put within me is to memorize more Scripture. I'm starting in Proverbs and am just going to start from chapter 1 memorizing as much as I can. I'm going to write 7 verses at a time on a half sheet of paper and carry it with me throughout the day for maximum memorization. It's important to hide His Word within our hearts and there are three huge benefits from it (There are more, I'm only listing three). If we memorize His Word we will have more Scripture on hand for encouraging, exhorting, reproving, correcting and rebuking others (2 Timothy 3:16 and 4:2). Also we will be more grounded in truth and not as susceptible to believing false doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). Lastly and most importantly we can fight the enemy with the Word (Ephesians 6:17). Keep in mind that it's our only spiritual Weapon. If we take a deeper look at Matthew 4:1-11 we'll see that Jesus fought satan with the Word. He didn't argue or reason with the devil. All He did was simply correct the lies with truth and the enemy fled Him.

I hope you take the time to seek God in prayer concerning this matter. God is trying to raise up a generation of warriors for His sake. I don't want to miss out because of a lack of discipline.

Back 2 Florida

Well...Christmas break is almost over and no longer am I in Ohio. I left at 3 in the morning on the 3rd of this month for Venice, Florida. My family is staying here for a month but I'll only be able to stay for a week because college starts back up on the 13th. I'm actually excited to go back and continue growing in my relationship with the Lord.

Concerning my post on the voice of God. I have been spending more time in quiet solitude, trying to hear His voice. Although I feel like I haven't broke any ground, I do believe He's telling me to be disciplined in it and then it will bear fruit. If you are reading this post I encourage you to seek the Lord in this manner. It is absolutely crucial to be able to decipher the voice of God over the loud voice of the world. He wants us to hear Him, but great things rarely come easy.

His Voice

Over the period of about two weeks I believe that God has been telling me to quiet down and listen for His voice. I believe very strongly that God is actively speaking to His people but we aren't taking the time to listen to what He has to say. The interesting thing is that two days ago I met with my discipleship partner and God has been teaching him the same thing. Not only was it neat that he had been hearing the same thing but it was also a confirmation that it was God telling me that I needed to do this thing. Then just yesterday I was at my friends house and I just happened to see a picture that said: "Take the time to hear God's quiet voice in a world that speaks so loudly."

All this said, I know that God wants to commune with His children in deeper ways. Yet the question is, are we willing to be quiet and take the time to hear Him speak? From now on during my time with Him I'm going to make it a priority to quiet down and listen.

Pray

Christmas break is coming up soon and my time left here in Sebring, Florida is short. Even though I'm ready to leave, I'm still plugging away at my studies and ministries that I'm involved in. Lately, I've been helping out with youth group at the Way Church with Chris Ogden. Most of the kids in attendance there are unsaved, and God has laid a burden on my heart for them. There's a group of 5 that I've been investing a decent deal of time in. I've been trying to build strong relationships with them so that they can see what it means to be a Christian. They're obviously spiritually lost, but I know that I serve a God who works miracles. I'm a walking testimony of how He can change a heart of stone into one that is full of love for Him. I'm trusting and praying that God will move in their hearts and draw them to Him. Whether He decides to use me or someone else is no matter, I just want to see them experience the fullness of knowing Christ.

So if you're reading this blog please shout out a prayer to our Heavenly Father who is in control of all things. Pray that Roberto, Jesse, Joel, Josh, and Adrian will come to truly know the Lord. Yet, remember that it's His will and not our own. Thanks!

Been A While

It's been quite a while since I've sat down and wrote something on this page. I'm kind of tired of blogging. There's been a lot that has happened in between now and the last post. One of the biggest events was the Men's Retreat in Daytona Beach, Florida. We stayed at an ocean-side resort for two days and had discussions about male maturity. As far as class goes I've been learning a lot of cool stuff. The past couple weeks we have been going through the books of Acts, Romans, and Ephesians. I wish it was possible for me to post some of things I've learned but I don't have enough time in the day to type it. Today we have class at 1:30-4:30 and we are starting 1 Corinthians.

Fall Ministry Tour

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted something. I feel like I've been so busy. This month is crammed for me. On the 25th, I'm running a manual labor ministry. This involves organizing kids from other churches to come help work for other families. Also on the 26th, we have the fall festival at Grace Church. I'm running the scooter race and I have to decorate my table for that event.

I write to you from a strangers home in Virginia Beach. For those of you that don't know, I've been on GCBI's fall ministry tour since the 10th of this month. In short, it's time spent travelling from state to state, getting involved in different ministries. This tour has been very interesting so far. We started our tour in Atlanta, Georgia and spent three days there. On our first night we went out on the town. We went to the underground mall and ate at Johnny Rockets. The next day we went to Explorations in Antiquity, a museum which teaches and explains biblical history and customs. It was very interesting to see live models of the tents and buildings that the Israelites used to live in. On Sunday, we went to Northpoint Community Church, after which we went to the International House of Prayer (IHOP). On Monday morning we departed for Maryland. We went to the River Valley Ranch, a summer camp for younger kids. It was definitely one of the most beautiful places I've seen in a while. We spent our whole three days there doing manual labor. We weedwacked, bailed hail, organized, and cleaned. It was fun to get outside and do something with all the energy I had built up. Next was Philly, Pennsylvania. We were at Urban Hope for only a day and a half (Urban Hope is an inner city ministry designed to reach out to the downtown community). The only thing we really did in Philly was help out at a youth event called Rock. Today was spent driving to Virginia Beach and tomorrow we're going to a Korean Church. The tour ends on the 22nd and I'm not sure what we have planned for the rest of the trip. Overall this has been a good experience for me, not only to get away from Sebring but also for bonding with the other team members.