Confession & Repentence

I dont know about you all but I am loving this book, the more and more I read the more and more the Lord reveals to me His heart for campuses and His Love throughout them but also, for my life, and what He wants for it.  This week the chapter is on Confession & Repentence.  The author goes into awesome detail of what America looked like in the 1790s and how, with not much chance, that we are the same, other then cell phones, cars and computers.  Sin is sin and it is serperating us from what God has, the author describes it as putting an elephant on our hose from God.  The middle paragraph on page 80 goes into great detail of the sin that Christians deal with today.... read all of them and highlight or underline which ones you find in your own life are giving you problems.

Confession is simply agreeing with God, I think that is so true, recognizing our sin, and saying.... "God I know that I have sinned." I really like how the author tied in humility of the last chapter and this chapter of confession.... because when we confess.... that is humbling ourselves.  Say you did something wrong, you stole something and the next day you go in to tell the principal or whoever, your parents, that takes a lot of humbling on your part, admitting your wrong, confessing and agreeing that what you did is wrong.  Sin is just like that in our own lives, but we will never know all of our sins if we dont ask The Holy Spirit to reveal them to us, trust me, you dont want an elephant to be chillin up on your hose from God. 

 Continue to read and tell me what you are thinking of this book, no one is commenting, come on I want to know what you guys are thinking, what you don't like, don't be scared, on the other hand, who is reading? ha!  Well.....

God Bless guys&gals

Humility and It's Role In Revival

I have found this chapter to be extremely helpful for my personal life.  I really enjoyed how the author stated in the first few pages what humility is NOT.  On page 57 the author says some very important things that he states.....

1. I am deeply flawed and sinful, yet I am loved and valued by God
2. I cannot earn God's favor but have received it as a gift.
3. I have been cleansed and forgiven for all of my sins and am a child of God.
4. God has given me certain gifts and abilities that I willingly surrender to His service.
5. I desperately need God's resources
6. I am part of the body of Christ and must depend on and value the gifts and abilities of others.

In terms of revival we need to recognize these things, we also need to recognize that God is close to the humble and low in heart.  We see this example of humility first hand with David Brainerd starting on page 60.  I would suggest re-reading his journal entries, if you have time.
Coming from experience and still learning I want to encourage you reading this that humility is vital to our Christian walks, the fact is Jesus, our Lord, humbled himself to the point of death.  If you have a chance and your bible is near read Isaiah 6 and you will get a clear picture of Jesus, and then you realized that He gave up EVERYTHING for us.
Continue to read this guys and find "Nuggets" as i like to call them, use a highlighter and pen and mark up this book, so you can come back and remember what jumps out at you.

G0d Bless guys&gals

5 Prerequisites To Revival

If you guys have been keeping up with the reading, we are in chapter 3.  Here, the author focuses on having a need in your personal life for spiritual awakening and the need for recognizing it if we truly want a spiritual awakening.  I think this chapter is very practical, at least for me in my life... on page 45 he says, "The first step, the initial prerequisite to revival.  If a person really sees the need for revival, then he or she will be motivated to do something about it, beginning to pray and taking the first steps of faith." Revival starts with us, are we praying?  Does God truly see our hearts for a longing to see lives turned from death to life?  Not just in a few small numbers, but in numbers that you read in this book.  On page 46 the question that really hit me was, "What makes you weep and pound the table?" I know that for me, it is to see students wasting their lives with things that are meaningless.  I remember hearing a story about a retired couple in Florida, they lived to golf and find new recipes they could make together, also they would collect shells on the beach as the sun was setting.  Now lets fast forward as they approach the Lord in the heaven, and the Lord asks them, what have you done with what I have given you?  And they reply, "Look at the shells I collected!" That's all she/he had to show for.  Where are our hearts in crying out to God in our personal lives for revival, for lives changed on our campus?  What are WE doing with what the Lord has given us?  I want you to re-read the last 2 paragraphs of the chapter, and really reflect on them.  Once again, let me know what you're thinking, thoughts, comments, etc!  Keep on reading and praying for the Lord to open your eyes up to see things in the book and to show you Him and what HE wants for your life.

-God Bless!

Fireseeds Chapter 2

This chapter really got me pumped for my own life, especially up at the Chico campus and also for you guys and girls this upcoming school year.  The author really painted a picture of how just a boy can turn a nation around, and the greatest thing is, it was straight from the Bible.  I really enjoyed this quote on page 32 "We notice in the life of Josiah that he was willing to proclaim the truth of God's Word.  Holding up the Scripture, he preached, proclaimed and pleaded with the nation to return to the Lord."  I know in my life, that it would not be the same if I didn't have people(no matter the age) showing me how to do it, leading by example as 1 Tim 4:12 states.  If you noticed in all the stories throughout the chapter, most of the time these people were young, and were following the Lord's will, and just showing up.  Almost always God just asks us to show up and He will take care of the rest, as you read the story about Evan Roberts.  This chapter really got me thinking about where my heart is and if I am showing up where He wants me to show up.  Just as Jesus came to do the will of the Father, Jesus is our example, and we need to follow the will of the Father.  I would encourage you guys to pray about it, take a minute and just ask what He wants from you, where He wants you to show up and proclaim the Truth, it doesn't have to be infront of 100 people, it can be to one friend, and all you say is a verse.  Don't take today lightly, be on guard of how you can show Christ in your words, actions or even just your presence.  Let me know your thoughts on this chapter, or questions you might have.  And also if you are just skimming the pages, don't bother to put forth a half "butt" attitude, find a quiet place and sit down and read it, it takes no more then 15 minutes and maybe that's how the Lord is calling you to show up and stand up.