My God How Great Thou Art!

June 19, 2005hmm.... so today was good. . . I awoke this morning a little drowsy i\'ll admit, i was at BJ\'s till late watching \"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory\". I knew good and well i had to be up kinda early for church, but i couldn\'t resist watching a classic like that. You don\'t just get that opportunity every day. . .

After Charles\' class, which is always awesome, we had a guest speaker in Big Church that blessed my heart! He spoke a topic i often need to hear: The affects of an audacious christian. If we fully understand what we are now that we have been paid for by the blood of our savior, how could we not live audaciously in this life? To live a christian life as anything other than audacious is possibly this biggest understatement and injustice in the history of man! The creator of the universe sent his SON to die on a cross... for me (justin vance) He put this stars in the sky and knows each of them by name. He\'s seen the depths of my heart and loves me the same!!!
I don\'t think I\'ll ever get over it! It never ceases to blow me away! For what other purpose could i live my life for? If there were ever a reason to live life audaciously, this is it! It has been discovered!

soo. . . after lunch and some time with dad, i headed back to church for a hardcore game of unltimate friz... after running to the point of a good sweat and an accomplished feeling of excercise i boarded the little ford focus headed for home. Not knowing to listen or expecting to hear from God, my only focus was getting home to a home-cooked meal, compliments of my mama.

Now tonight i strike the keys with a heart filled with humbleness. Driving down the \"4-lane\" one foot hanging out the window (i cut a toe in ultimate), i looked in my rearview mirror. Over the last few minutes God had chosen to paint an amazing sunset then decided to show it to me! I almost ran off the road staring at it. Strong pinks laced with streaks of white and orange accented perfectly the deep blue spread across the sky. Then it hit me, where i was and what i was doing. I didn\'t deserve to be in my car, i didn\'t deserve to be coming home to a family, much less a meal. I didn\'t deserve to be able to enjoy a sunset like i was. I didn\'t deserve to have the breath in my body that, for some reason, God chose to put there this morning.

What i deserve is death and nothing less! But through His unrelenting grace and faithful, mind-blowing love, He made me a new creation, now identified, not in my sin, but it the cross of Jesus! This concept is truly motivation to live an audacious life for Christ!

The sunset event was a good capoff to something that had been dwelling in my heart. Like an answer from the Father to a quite voice i had been hearing all day. Something i could never completely understand, but live my life for!

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

And when I think, that God,
His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And then proclaim: \"My God, how great Thou art!\"

MINE

June 18, 2005MINE !!!

WOW

June 17, 2005Your actions define who you are - Batman

Everything\'s Right

June 16, 2005Windows down as the night blows in
Tap the beat on the wheel as the tires spin
Until we\'re there crank the radio
We\'ll join in with the songs we know

Hey, everything\'s right, said everything\'s right tonight

Smiles light up as we walk in
Old conversations begin again
Nostalgia\'s thick as the August air
It takes us back to a time when we didn\'t care, we didn\'t care

Hey, everything\'s right, said everything\'s right tonight

Oh, everything\'s right, said everything\'s right tonight



** yes, one of my many favorite Matt Wertz songs! Oh, . . . and in a few hours ill be seeing Him. . yeah... and some dude, Gavin Degraw. . . but yeah, if you wanna go, msg me and you can come jump in the car! 8 bucks... and money for waffle house afterwards! **

Big Stuf, Big Impact!

June 16, 2005How did it go down?

Intro intro intro . . how do i intro this?. . . umm.... i got no ideas. . .

For a while I\'ve been talkin/prayin about getting involved with some youth. . .

On thursday morning I got a call from CM asking if I could go to Big Stuf camp on Sat. mornin. I replied that I would have to see if I could get off work, and I would let him know. Soon after I\'m in my boss\'s office asking permission, and next thing i know, im on a bus with 50 people. . . out of which i called 2 friends. Feeling a little worried I took my seat, only knowing my two people. Didn\'t know what to expect, what to think, or anything. But, I knew God wanted me there!

I grew up going to camp, so i kinda had an idea of what was going to happen. 5 years ago, I had fully submitted my life to Jesus on the exact same beach less than a mile away! So, coming back always hits a soft spot in my heart.

Soon after we arrived I was able to start getting to know the men in my room and everyone else! I have to pause here for a moment and give props to my brothers and sisters I was priviledged to be with this week. You guys were simply amazing! You have impacted my life in a positive way, and I want you to know that i appreciate it! By allowing God to work in your life, he worked in mine! I can not wait to continue being around, and doing anything I\'m given the chance to do with you guys. I can\'t wait to watch God continue to work in your lives like i watched Him this last week! I want the ones who went on Big Stuf to feel loved when they read this Blog because YOU are loved! YOU GUYS ROCK!

So to sum up the rest of Big Stuf, I was able to worship like crazy! Never before have i been able to dance in worship of my God like i did. I was able to learn. I was able to marvel at God creation (the ocean). I was able to have fun and make new friends. When i boarded the bus to come home, i had a few more than 2 friends! (Praise God) But most importantly I was able to be a part of something amazing. God working in the lives of the awesome youth of BABC!

I write this Blog with a thankful heart. Jesus really showed Himself this week! I\'ve only been back for a few hours so i haven\'t had time to process it all yet! But God is doing something major, and im pumped to be a part of it!

So that was Big Stuf, and the big impact it had on me! The blue bracelet on my left arm now serves as a reminder of the way God showed Himself to us!

So whats next? Ill tell you. Take Matthew 28:19 to heart, and GO INVITE EVERYONE GOD PUTS IN YOUR PATH TO THE PARTY! Cause it\'s gonna be awesome and nothing else is worth living your life for! Don\'t believe the illusions of this world, seek after your father in heaven as number one in your life and let Him use you!