Parable of the Pencil
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting it into the box. There are five things you need to know, he told the pencil, before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.
[1] You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand.
[2] You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.
[3] You will be able to correct mistakes you will make.
[4] The most important part of you will always be what's inside.
[5] On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you; always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.
[1] You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
[2] You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.
[3] You will be able to correct mistakes you might make or grow through them.
[4] The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.
[5] On every surface you walk, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to serve God in everything.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Go Light Your World!!
I found a great song that has inspired me. I want to share the lyric's with you. The notion that we have the ability to change the world around us has been around forever. Generation to generation have made the claim that one person can make a difference. Coke did it with their song " Id like to teach the world to live in perfect harmony, I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company". Each of us individually can be the light in the world we live in. You have the power to reach out to someone who is hurting with love, help, caring, and assistance. One person can make the difference in life or death to another. The words we share, the smile we give, the hand we have to offer really can make a diffierence. We are the light of the world the Bible says. That means we have a responsibility to SHINE. Shine like you have never shined before!! Be a light, Share Jesus, Share His love with those around you! Don't hoard what information you know that can change people all around you!! Look over the lyrics of this song and be inspired as I was:
Go Light Your World
Chris Rice
There is a candle in every soul Some brightly burning, some dark and cold There is a Spirit who brings a fire Ignites a candle and makes His home
So carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the helpless, confused and torn Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world,Take your candle, and go light your world
Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to Light his own candle some other way See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to Still holds a candle without a flame
So Carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world Take your candle, and go light your world Cause
We are a family whose hearts are blazing So let's raise our candles and light up the sky Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus Make us a beacon in darkest times
So Carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world
Carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the helpless, confused and torn Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world Take your candle, and go light your world Take your candle, and go light your world
Go Light Your World
Chris Rice
There is a candle in every soul Some brightly burning, some dark and cold There is a Spirit who brings a fire Ignites a candle and makes His home
So carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the helpless, confused and torn Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world,Take your candle, and go light your world
Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to Light his own candle some other way See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to Still holds a candle without a flame
So Carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world Take your candle, and go light your world Cause
We are a family whose hearts are blazing So let's raise our candles and light up the sky Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus Make us a beacon in darkest times
So Carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world
Carry your candle, run to the darkness Seek out the helpless, confused and torn Hold out your candle for all to see it Take your candle, and go light your world Take your candle, and go light your world Take your candle, and go light your world
Good Friends.....
I havent written in awhile so I thought today is a good day to write something. So here goes........ I was thinking today how great it is to have good friends. Good friends are the ones that take you as you are. Their not trying to change you, but rather enjoy you for what you are and aren't. For every silly thing you say, and every goofy moment as they come. I just wanted to shout out to all of you in my life that appreciate me for who I am. Good friends are hard to come by so I just wanna say thanks for all of you out there that allow me to be me, and seem to enjoy it that way!!
Monday, January 16, 2006
The amazing Week - A long overdue Entry
As most of you know December 3-10th 2005 I embarked on a journey with 4 other people from different parts of the country to The Dominican Republic. We 5 missionaries went with one purpose - To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The five people being Marc David our fearless leader, Melissa David -me (we are brother and sister), Craig, Beverly,(Both from a church in Arizona called "The Life at Scottsdale") and Cory (From Texas). We went with a ministry called "Chapter 29" (http://www.chaptertwentynine.org/) based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Where do I begin.........During this trip we saw over 150 salvation’s and over 100 notable miracles. During the mornings each day we went to a school to minister to children from grade school ages to high school ages, in the afternoons we spent time going door to door ministering to people in their homes, and in the evenings we went to different churches and ministered. We had the opportunity to minister on the street with a PA system to the street crowd and to minister on the radio. We worked with local churches and interpreters ministering, laying hands on the sick, and working miracles. God was truly given all the glory. The greatest worship we can produce is bringing someone to the place of salvation. Our #1 purpose is the reach the lost at any cost. This is what we did!
I spoke of miracles so I want to testify as to some of the ones I personally had an opportunity to whiteness and work. As I mentioned we went door to door each afternoon. Wednesday afternoon my Brother and I went together. This day a young man was sitting by his home. We approached him and began telling him about Jesus (Preached the Gospel). We went through the story of how Jesus came to die for his sins. He decided to accept Jesus - Miracle #1. We then began to talk to him about healing, you see he had a brace on his knee. We explained the same Jesus that saved him from a future of hell can save him from pain in his knee. His knee was about 3 times the six of the other knee. I laid hands on him and prayed a simple prayer " In the name of Jesus knee be healed, pain go right now!" then we began to walk. He walked up and down his street, the third time up the street he ran up the street and those 2 knees side by side were the same - Miracle #2! All the swelling and pain was gone! That same day another young man heard of the miracle and came to us for prayer, he also had a swollen and pained knee. He first asked Jesus into his heart, then we prayed and then he ran down the road with no pain! That same afternoon we prayed for several people whom were healed because they heard what was happening. This happened every day, and with each team.
When we ministered at the churches the results were the same. Preach the Gospel and expect results. Its that simple! We saw tremendous miracles no matter where we went. Back pain, neck pain, one woman hard of hearing was instantly healed, woman who had throat pain and a weak voice instantly healed, one woman had pain in her body from an accident 15 years before instantly healed.
We had results wherever we went. God was glorified; people were delivered, healed, and saved from sin and destruction. The point here is the Gospel produces results! This work here in the states, in other countries, in your neighborhood, or where ever you are! God is simply looking for someone to step out and believe that He will back them up. I walked away from this stronger, and realizing that the only thing holding back me seeing the works of Christ is me! Jesus said we will do greater works than Him because He had to go away and were still here! All He is waiting for is some people like you and me to step out and go for it!
So now I have told you what happened. You can read this and think wow that’s great it must be so great to go to another country and do that, OR you can be inspired to trust God and go for it right here and now. Prove the reality of what you believe. If we serve a True and Living God that is the same yesterday, today and forever, then why are you not qualified to work a miracle like Paul, Silas, Jesus or Melissa?
Where do I begin.........During this trip we saw over 150 salvation’s and over 100 notable miracles. During the mornings each day we went to a school to minister to children from grade school ages to high school ages, in the afternoons we spent time going door to door ministering to people in their homes, and in the evenings we went to different churches and ministered. We had the opportunity to minister on the street with a PA system to the street crowd and to minister on the radio. We worked with local churches and interpreters ministering, laying hands on the sick, and working miracles. God was truly given all the glory. The greatest worship we can produce is bringing someone to the place of salvation. Our #1 purpose is the reach the lost at any cost. This is what we did!
I spoke of miracles so I want to testify as to some of the ones I personally had an opportunity to whiteness and work. As I mentioned we went door to door each afternoon. Wednesday afternoon my Brother and I went together. This day a young man was sitting by his home. We approached him and began telling him about Jesus (Preached the Gospel). We went through the story of how Jesus came to die for his sins. He decided to accept Jesus - Miracle #1. We then began to talk to him about healing, you see he had a brace on his knee. We explained the same Jesus that saved him from a future of hell can save him from pain in his knee. His knee was about 3 times the six of the other knee. I laid hands on him and prayed a simple prayer " In the name of Jesus knee be healed, pain go right now!" then we began to walk. He walked up and down his street, the third time up the street he ran up the street and those 2 knees side by side were the same - Miracle #2! All the swelling and pain was gone! That same day another young man heard of the miracle and came to us for prayer, he also had a swollen and pained knee. He first asked Jesus into his heart, then we prayed and then he ran down the road with no pain! That same afternoon we prayed for several people whom were healed because they heard what was happening. This happened every day, and with each team.
When we ministered at the churches the results were the same. Preach the Gospel and expect results. Its that simple! We saw tremendous miracles no matter where we went. Back pain, neck pain, one woman hard of hearing was instantly healed, woman who had throat pain and a weak voice instantly healed, one woman had pain in her body from an accident 15 years before instantly healed.
We had results wherever we went. God was glorified; people were delivered, healed, and saved from sin and destruction. The point here is the Gospel produces results! This work here in the states, in other countries, in your neighborhood, or where ever you are! God is simply looking for someone to step out and believe that He will back them up. I walked away from this stronger, and realizing that the only thing holding back me seeing the works of Christ is me! Jesus said we will do greater works than Him because He had to go away and were still here! All He is waiting for is some people like you and me to step out and go for it!
So now I have told you what happened. You can read this and think wow that’s great it must be so great to go to another country and do that, OR you can be inspired to trust God and go for it right here and now. Prove the reality of what you believe. If we serve a True and Living God that is the same yesterday, today and forever, then why are you not qualified to work a miracle like Paul, Silas, Jesus or Melissa?
Sunday, November 13, 2005
God is Good.......
In my church we are very familiar wit the phrase God is good. When someone says "God is good" - we respond "All the time". When someone says "All the Time" we respond with " God is good". It seems so mechanical, so ordinary. My pastor this Sunday talked about a minister that went to another country to speak to a church. He said " God is good" and the people went crazy, just so excited that they whooped and hollered for several minutes. He never really got to minister because the people were so excited to hear " God is good". We are so spoiled to know the fact that God is good. We hear it like a commercial jingle that gets stuck in you head- 800-588-2300 empireeeeee- just the one that came to mind :O). Sometimes we get so focused on the latest revelation or teaching that we forget the basics - God is good. God created the family unit to show how He loves us- the loving father is how He presents Himself to us. What kind of father would go to his child's baseball game and boo him if he fell. A good father would encourage his children to keep going. That's how God is. When we fall He is right there encouraging us to get up and try again. The Bible says " There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". God is a good God. He loves us - in fact He died for us while we were yet sinners the Bible says. The Bible says - "Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father" - our loving Father. I just wanted to remind you today that God truly is a good God.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
My Soap box.....
Well its been a few days since I have blogged so I have had some time to think about my subject matter. I'd like to begin by thanking you all for reading my blog - Special shout out to Mariah and Ilissa :) and Ang- you know I love ya girl. So I had an interesting conversation this week that has caused me to pull out my old soap box and dust if off. So be prepared for me to harp on my subject a little today :).
I guess to start off I'd like to say that I have been raised in church my entire life. The concept of church and God is one that I'm very familiar with. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and I thank God every day that He saved me from hell. I am a Christian and I am a minister. I believe in the local church as a means for people to associate with other people who believe like them and to encourage each other in their faith. That being said I think there is a huge misconception among Christians about church and being a Christian in general.
The issue as I see it is a word we call "Religion". Now what is religion exactly? Religion is the rules we have created to please the faith we choose. Religion is the reason people don't want to be a Christian because they find themselves failing the rules and assume they can never be good enough for God. Religion places God in a box. This is why we have so many types of Christian churches, because each denomination has decided what their interpretation of God's rules are and have decided that their rules are the best rules. I heard it preached recently that if you try to decide what God is like instead of accepting God as multifaceted then you are basically idolizing God and are serving a false god anyway. Scary thought huh.
There are many churches/Christians out there that would rather hide from the world with their rules. Who does this help? Being a Christian isn't about hiding from people but rather reaching out to people. God is not looking for religious people - He is simply looking for relationship people! The Bible says even while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. He died for us in our imperfections. It was never the expectation that we come to God perfect, just that we come to Him. God works in and through us. The Bible says - He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it! It doesn’t say be perfect then come to church. We as Gods people are presenting a Gospel that shutting people out. People are searching for reality and we are failing them as a whole. When we as Gods people start realizing that "sin" is not the issue with God! People are the issue- PEOPLE. God loves people - He hates sin, He hates satan, but people He loves! Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. What in the world do you think we are supposed to be doing? Do you really think we are supposed to be creating rules to make people perfect and then hide in our perfection? I don't know anyone who has it all together! Just because a person has an outward issue we can all see doesn’t make them unworthy or less of a person. We are all dealing with our issues- some of us hide them better than others.
In conclusion: We cannot hide out from the world- Jesus commanded us to be ambassadors to reach out the those who are hurting. All the rules in the world will not make people want to serve God. Only a relationship with the creator will make people want to serve Him. Its the love of God the brings people to repentance. We need to remember that we are not called to hide from the world but rather reach out to it!
I guess to start off I'd like to say that I have been raised in church my entire life. The concept of church and God is one that I'm very familiar with. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and I thank God every day that He saved me from hell. I am a Christian and I am a minister. I believe in the local church as a means for people to associate with other people who believe like them and to encourage each other in their faith. That being said I think there is a huge misconception among Christians about church and being a Christian in general.
The issue as I see it is a word we call "Religion". Now what is religion exactly? Religion is the rules we have created to please the faith we choose. Religion is the reason people don't want to be a Christian because they find themselves failing the rules and assume they can never be good enough for God. Religion places God in a box. This is why we have so many types of Christian churches, because each denomination has decided what their interpretation of God's rules are and have decided that their rules are the best rules. I heard it preached recently that if you try to decide what God is like instead of accepting God as multifaceted then you are basically idolizing God and are serving a false god anyway. Scary thought huh.
There are many churches/Christians out there that would rather hide from the world with their rules. Who does this help? Being a Christian isn't about hiding from people but rather reaching out to people. God is not looking for religious people - He is simply looking for relationship people! The Bible says even while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. He died for us in our imperfections. It was never the expectation that we come to God perfect, just that we come to Him. God works in and through us. The Bible says - He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it! It doesn’t say be perfect then come to church. We as Gods people are presenting a Gospel that shutting people out. People are searching for reality and we are failing them as a whole. When we as Gods people start realizing that "sin" is not the issue with God! People are the issue- PEOPLE. God loves people - He hates sin, He hates satan, but people He loves! Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. What in the world do you think we are supposed to be doing? Do you really think we are supposed to be creating rules to make people perfect and then hide in our perfection? I don't know anyone who has it all together! Just because a person has an outward issue we can all see doesn’t make them unworthy or less of a person. We are all dealing with our issues- some of us hide them better than others.
In conclusion: We cannot hide out from the world- Jesus commanded us to be ambassadors to reach out the those who are hurting. All the rules in the world will not make people want to serve God. Only a relationship with the creator will make people want to serve Him. Its the love of God the brings people to repentance. We need to remember that we are not called to hide from the world but rather reach out to it!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Remember when .....
So today I was thinking about stuff I thought was great when I was younger. Now I know I am only 28, so I'd like to think I'm not that old, but I know that things have changed a lot. Like for instance, when I was a kid high rise pleated jeans in a stone wash were cool, and no one even considered the type of undies that you were wearing. Now the lower the rise of the pants the cooler you seem to be, its preferred that the jeans look used, and that your undies - be it a thong for the ladies or boxers for the gentlemen - are showing for all to critique. Things have definitely changed.
Now as I write this I find myself thinking that this is precisely the thing we as a child never imagine ourselves thinking. However it seems I have come to a place in my life that being an adult has taken over …..a little.
Okay so back on track when I was a kid it was really cool to do the tight roll on your pants. Okay now let me explain for those of you who don't know. You start with a regular pair of jeans with a straight leg style, you then pinch the jeans tightly around your ankle and fold the remainder of the material over, now that it is tightly folded over, you roll the bottom of the pant leg up. This is the tight roll. Now this is usually followed with a brightly colored scrunch sock, and if your really into style a brightly colored bow or scrunchy in your hair. Welcome to the late 80's and early 90's. Now some people would argue this was never a style, I would argue to those people – maybe they were not in style then.
So how about television.....the ones I remember that I watched : The greatest american hero, smurfs, different strokes, growing pains, punky brewster - she knew the tight roll!, webster, night rider, and quantum leap to name a few.
Its always fun to think about when you were a kid and things seemed so much simpler. I always like to keep the kid inside me alive. So tonight I just wanted to take you on short tour of the past and I'll leave you with a famous song- " I don't wanna grow up I'm a Toys R US kid, theirs a million things at TOYS R US that I can play with - from bikes to train's to video games...I don't wanna grow up cause if I did, I couldn't be a TOYS R US kid". I guess that’s how I feel
Now as I write this I find myself thinking that this is precisely the thing we as a child never imagine ourselves thinking. However it seems I have come to a place in my life that being an adult has taken over …..a little.
Okay so back on track when I was a kid it was really cool to do the tight roll on your pants. Okay now let me explain for those of you who don't know. You start with a regular pair of jeans with a straight leg style, you then pinch the jeans tightly around your ankle and fold the remainder of the material over, now that it is tightly folded over, you roll the bottom of the pant leg up. This is the tight roll. Now this is usually followed with a brightly colored scrunch sock, and if your really into style a brightly colored bow or scrunchy in your hair. Welcome to the late 80's and early 90's. Now some people would argue this was never a style, I would argue to those people – maybe they were not in style then.
So how about television.....the ones I remember that I watched : The greatest american hero, smurfs, different strokes, growing pains, punky brewster - she knew the tight roll!, webster, night rider, and quantum leap to name a few.
Its always fun to think about when you were a kid and things seemed so much simpler. I always like to keep the kid inside me alive. So tonight I just wanted to take you on short tour of the past and I'll leave you with a famous song- " I don't wanna grow up I'm a Toys R US kid, theirs a million things at TOYS R US that I can play with - from bikes to train's to video games...I don't wanna grow up cause if I did, I couldn't be a TOYS R US kid". I guess that’s how I feel
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