Wove....twue wuv. Marriage is what brings us together today....Yes it is.
Have you ever stopped what it means to be the the bride of Christ? For men, it is not always a subject we are willing to refer to, but that doesn't make it any less true. When you become a Christian, you become a part of the entire body known as the church. Christ calls the church his "bride" in a sense when John talks about it in Revelation 19;7. in Ephesians 5:25, it talks about the sacrifice that Jesus made for His bride, the church. This is such an awesome illustration, and one that I have really had laid on my heart lately. Let me explain.
THE PROPOSAL- God made the proposal with the death of His son, Jesus Christ on the cross. The question is, will you accept this free gift of eternal life and enter into an everlasting covenant with me? The answer depends on us. For the ladies out there, there is no more romantic proposal than this one...John 3:16.
THE WEDDING DAY-Everything in a marriage relationship that we have here on earth is meant to be a reflection of the relationship we have with Christ. On the day of a Jewish wedding in biblical times, the groom would make his journey to the bride's home, and carry her back to his home with people rejoicing the entire way. This is exactly what it will look like when Christ comes back for His bride. He will carry us home! There will be rejoicing! We will know we are safe in the arms of our Saviour.
FAITHFULNESS- What is one thing that is a requirement for a strong marriage? Faithfulness. We all know the consequences that arise when someone in a marriage is unfaithful. Lives are torn, hearts are broken, and everything is in disarray. We are married to Christ, and He is faithful beyond belief. Think about everything that a wife expects from her husband. Unconditional love, unconditional safety. God gives those every day we are alive. As the bride of Christ you can be sure of this, nothing is bigger than God, and nothing can overthrow Him that will ever overthrow us. God is faithful! When he makes a promise, He keeps it. Now the question arises, how faithful are we? How often do we commit adultery on God? This may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Whenever we reject Christ and return to our old partner, the world, we are choosing to commit adultery. Puts it in a new perspective doesn't it? Yet God still loves us, and keeps us, which is much more we deserve. You see God only says He hates very few things in scripture, and one of those things is divorce (Malachi 2:16). God doesn't do what He hates. He will never divorce you, even when you forsake Him to pursue a fling with the world. Once again, I could write a long blog on what the Christian life looks like and we can't stay away from God for too long before we are drawn back to Him, and once again if you would like to know more just ask me :). God is faithful. Kind of makes you think huh?
SEX- oh gross. There is no way that you can make a comparison between physical sex here on earth and God. That is just awkward. But is it really? Let's look at what sex is supposed to be, not the world says it is. Sex is not meant to be a physical reproductive process only. Scripture talks about it being the union of two into "one flesh" (Mark 10:8). Men are made to fit with women, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that out right? It is part of our design. When we have sex with our spouse, you become one flesh, where all things fit together perfectly, and there is more than a physical connection. It is a deep emotional, and mental connection. One that cannot be expressed in words. Sex is a way of unifying a man and woman and forming stronger bonds between them, as well as confirming the covenant that they have made with each other before people. And it is the same way with God. When we accept Christ, we are ingrafted into Him. We are no longer seen as apart from Him, but partakers of His divine nature and part of His body (Ephesians 5). The Holy Spirit comes into us and confirms the covenant that we have made with Christ. The Holy Spirit comes into us, and it is a perfect fit. The repentance of mankind and acceptance of Christ as Saviour goes hand in hand with the grace and love of God, also not rocket science. Sex is meant to be pure and done in the right context, as is our relationship with God. God gave us sex to glorify Him! It is a physical picture of what has happened spiritually in our lives. Too often people don't understand the meaning and purpose behind sex, and it has distorted our view of the beautiful thing that God has given us not only for us to enjoy, but to help understand what has been done on our behalf.
I hope this made sense, but is such an awesome illustration that God has given us so that we can know Him better! I understand it can be awkward (especially for guys like myself) to think about, but it is scriptural. And it is awesome if you really ponder it. As we grow in our knowledge of our spouse, and how good He is to us, then it becomes more and more natural to want to show our love to Him! If you truly love your wife or husband, you will do anything to please them and serve them in love.
So maybe that is why we talk about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. I heard on Christian radio that one of the best ways to grow in your relationship with God is to start treating it like you would an earthly relationship. Talk to Him, learn more about Him, serve Him! And for those who don't know Him, accept the proposal that has been laid out before you and receive eternal life.
I hope this was helpful in the way you perceive Christ in a new way.
In Christ,
Phillip
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The night is darkest before the dawn.
It has been such a great week! God is good. Did you know that? He is good when things are going great, and He is good when things are going terribly. How often do we feel that when things are going badly for us, God is somehow not good anymore? It is all based on our perspective my friends, God is unchanging. God says that He loves us and values us, that too is unchanging. I just wanted people to read that and I pray that it encouraged some of you!
So once again, this has been a great week. I began taking classes at the BSC (Biblical Studies Center, or Center for short), and I love them. It is so awesome learn in a classroom setting about how the Bible was put together, how to defend your faith, the context of stories in the Bible, and how truly awesome our God is. I have got to meet several awesome people who I have began building great relationships with and I am so thankful for that. Several of these people have already invested in the ministry that I am trying to build here and have a true fire for the Lord.
As some may know, I am now an old man. I turned 22 on Monday and it was a great birthday, albeit a little different than I am used to. I have never been away from my friends and family this long, and never around the time of my birthday. Honestly, it didn't bother me the way I thought it would. I missed everyone of course, but that knowledge that God has me for His purposes is comforting beyond all belief and has really helped me with any homesickness that I have been feeling. I am so blessed. Tangent time. Do we really realize how blessed we are to know Christ and live in this wonderful country? I was laying in bed, and all I could think about for a while was how lucky I am to have a bed. To have central heating and air. To have food. To have water that flows continuously and is clean. To have a bible. To have freedom. Christianity is not growing like it did in America years ago because we have everything we could ever want. We have made ourselves dependent apart from Christ, and we forget that Christ is the one who provided the means for us to have all these things. My question to myself and you is, if everything was taken from you, would you still follow God? That is a tough question to face, but every second of every day people in less developed countries make the choice to follow Christ no matter the circumstances.
Tangent over. So anyway, God has truly blessed me with friends back in Lubbock, and He is now blessing me with awesome friends here in Boise who love Jesus. People who barely know me decided to throw me in impromptu surprise party for my birthday and we got to bond and share our vision for our respective ministries together. God has already provided people who are more than willing to help with the ministry we have here and it is such an answered prayer! I am telling you folks, prayer matters. I can't stress that enough, prayer matters. We had our first free lunch for all the student body at BSU today, and we had about 30-40 people show up. Most who did so were people that I knew and who knew Christ, but God brought others who I had never met before and it is my eager prayer that they will continue to come and we can form stronger relationships and grow in Christ together, or introduce them to Christ.
I had a great conversation with my friend Elisa who is helping me out with our ministry. We were talking about witnessing to people and I told her how I had been feeling really down and out because I could not work up the courage to simply go talk to someone about Jesus just out of the blue and share my faith. She encouraged me and really prompted me to listen to what God says and look for the opportunity. Just because I am a missionary does not mean I have some super awesome Jesus skills that I did not possess at home. The same fear and trepidation that I experienced back home are still here, they don't disappear. But the key to overcoming these feelings is to trust Christ and listen to what He is telling you! This does not go just for me my friends, Jesus calls out all of us! We talked about relational evangelism and how that is usually the way that people respond the most positively in this area, as well as around the world. I can do that. But if God calls me to go witness to someone I don't even know, I pray that I will be strong enough to trust Him. Micah Roddy told me something about youth ministry several months back that will remain in my life forever. We were talking about investing in youth and really sharing Christ with them and he said, "You have to remember, this is not life or death we are talking about. This is heaven and hell."
Hell is not exactly a place that we like to talk about is it? But it is real. And here is the thing. God doesn't send anybody to hell, we are already going there (thanks to David Wilson for that awesome lesson). In fact, God doesn't want anyone to perish, that is why He is so gracious to wait before He comes back in final judgement (2 Peter 3:9). God has placed so many obstacles in our way on the path to hell because HE WANTS US. When we don't choose heaven and the free gift of salvation, we choose that we don't want to spend eternity with the one who desires to have fellowship with us, and God is just and good and honors our desire to not know Him and allows us to spend eternity away from Him. The price has been paid for sin, but until we repent and turn to Him, we never receive the free grace that has been given. Sin and God don't mix. But God took care of it, all you have to do is accept Him and his free gift. Isn't it so awesome to know that you don't have to be good enough to go to heaven? I could go for hours on this, and if you are interested in salvation and what it looks like, contact me! This is real my friends. This is truth. This is awesome.
I love you all, and once again contact me if you need prayer for anything. I also ask that you pray for Luke Anderson. His father passed away yesterday from liver failure and we need to lift him up with our thoughts, prayers, and actions. But don't worry, God is in control and Luke told me that his dad was a believer.
God bless,
Phillip
So once again, this has been a great week. I began taking classes at the BSC (Biblical Studies Center, or Center for short), and I love them. It is so awesome learn in a classroom setting about how the Bible was put together, how to defend your faith, the context of stories in the Bible, and how truly awesome our God is. I have got to meet several awesome people who I have began building great relationships with and I am so thankful for that. Several of these people have already invested in the ministry that I am trying to build here and have a true fire for the Lord.
As some may know, I am now an old man. I turned 22 on Monday and it was a great birthday, albeit a little different than I am used to. I have never been away from my friends and family this long, and never around the time of my birthday. Honestly, it didn't bother me the way I thought it would. I missed everyone of course, but that knowledge that God has me for His purposes is comforting beyond all belief and has really helped me with any homesickness that I have been feeling. I am so blessed. Tangent time. Do we really realize how blessed we are to know Christ and live in this wonderful country? I was laying in bed, and all I could think about for a while was how lucky I am to have a bed. To have central heating and air. To have food. To have water that flows continuously and is clean. To have a bible. To have freedom. Christianity is not growing like it did in America years ago because we have everything we could ever want. We have made ourselves dependent apart from Christ, and we forget that Christ is the one who provided the means for us to have all these things. My question to myself and you is, if everything was taken from you, would you still follow God? That is a tough question to face, but every second of every day people in less developed countries make the choice to follow Christ no matter the circumstances.
Tangent over. So anyway, God has truly blessed me with friends back in Lubbock, and He is now blessing me with awesome friends here in Boise who love Jesus. People who barely know me decided to throw me in impromptu surprise party for my birthday and we got to bond and share our vision for our respective ministries together. God has already provided people who are more than willing to help with the ministry we have here and it is such an answered prayer! I am telling you folks, prayer matters. I can't stress that enough, prayer matters. We had our first free lunch for all the student body at BSU today, and we had about 30-40 people show up. Most who did so were people that I knew and who knew Christ, but God brought others who I had never met before and it is my eager prayer that they will continue to come and we can form stronger relationships and grow in Christ together, or introduce them to Christ.
I had a great conversation with my friend Elisa who is helping me out with our ministry. We were talking about witnessing to people and I told her how I had been feeling really down and out because I could not work up the courage to simply go talk to someone about Jesus just out of the blue and share my faith. She encouraged me and really prompted me to listen to what God says and look for the opportunity. Just because I am a missionary does not mean I have some super awesome Jesus skills that I did not possess at home. The same fear and trepidation that I experienced back home are still here, they don't disappear. But the key to overcoming these feelings is to trust Christ and listen to what He is telling you! This does not go just for me my friends, Jesus calls out all of us! We talked about relational evangelism and how that is usually the way that people respond the most positively in this area, as well as around the world. I can do that. But if God calls me to go witness to someone I don't even know, I pray that I will be strong enough to trust Him. Micah Roddy told me something about youth ministry several months back that will remain in my life forever. We were talking about investing in youth and really sharing Christ with them and he said, "You have to remember, this is not life or death we are talking about. This is heaven and hell."
Hell is not exactly a place that we like to talk about is it? But it is real. And here is the thing. God doesn't send anybody to hell, we are already going there (thanks to David Wilson for that awesome lesson). In fact, God doesn't want anyone to perish, that is why He is so gracious to wait before He comes back in final judgement (2 Peter 3:9). God has placed so many obstacles in our way on the path to hell because HE WANTS US. When we don't choose heaven and the free gift of salvation, we choose that we don't want to spend eternity with the one who desires to have fellowship with us, and God is just and good and honors our desire to not know Him and allows us to spend eternity away from Him. The price has been paid for sin, but until we repent and turn to Him, we never receive the free grace that has been given. Sin and God don't mix. But God took care of it, all you have to do is accept Him and his free gift. Isn't it so awesome to know that you don't have to be good enough to go to heaven? I could go for hours on this, and if you are interested in salvation and what it looks like, contact me! This is real my friends. This is truth. This is awesome.
I love you all, and once again contact me if you need prayer for anything. I also ask that you pray for Luke Anderson. His father passed away yesterday from liver failure and we need to lift him up with our thoughts, prayers, and actions. But don't worry, God is in control and Luke told me that his dad was a believer.
God bless,
Phillip
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Do work Jesus!
Hello! I have missed you! But don't worry, we can catch up...right now.
It has been an interesting week so far to say the least! Nothing big has happened, tens of thousands have not fallen to their knees before God and entered the freeing relationship with Jesus that we all share...at least not yet! But God has been doing some cool things.
God is showing me that when He calls you to do something, you do it, otherwise you might just miss your chance. Earlier last week I was sitting at a pastor's meeting in a local coffee shop and noticed a couple of girls walk in carrying a bible. Instantly a small voice said that I should go talk to them, and after much deliberation I did. We had a great conversation and exchanged information which will come in play later in this blog. And then there is the other example. Yesterday as I went into the SUB (yes I did go to Boise State a day before classes started...and yes it was because I forgot it was MLK day), I walked past a girl sitting by herself. That same voice, in the same way, urged me to go talk to her. "Well let me put my bags down and then I will" was my reply. I walked over and put my bags down and got out my computer to check some emails, facebook, etc. Once again I had that notion to go talk to her. This time my response was "Yes I will do it in just a second let me prepare what I am going to say." I sat for a bit longer and continued to fiddle around on my computer while trying to think of the eloquent words to say to this girl and I felt that urgency that I needed to talk to her right then. I took a deep breath, wrote out my email address on a sheet of paper in case she needed it to contact me, planned on what I had to say, and got out of my chair.
Now let me make something very clear. Delayed obedience to God is still disobedience. I do plan on using that saying with my kids one day btw. So the second I got out of my chair to go approach this girl, she got out of her chair to leave. I awkwardly walked towards her and wondered if I should just tap her on the shoulder to talk to her as she threw trash away, but I figured my chance was blown. You see, if had been obedient the way God calls us to be, there is not telling what might have happened. Is it scary? Absolutely. Is it awkward? Sometimes. But God calls us to step out of our comfort zone and serve Him, sometimes we obey...sometimes we wait until we are comfortable. God taught me such an awesome lesson at that moment, trust Him...and let the outcome happen as it will.
That girl I had exchanged information with earlier last week emailed me and told me about a college event called Engage Truth in town. It is basically the paradigm of Lubbock. At least 300 college students were there (I couldn't judge that well). It was an awesome experience and very encouraging to me, I even met a couple of people who attended and started building a relationship with one of them.
Oh and guess what! I am taking classes this spring...but not as BSU. On campus there is a facility known as the Biblical Studies Center that offers free bible classes to Boise State Students that actually count as college credits! I am not a BSU student, but we may be able to work something out because I am a student and a campus minister. It is so awesome! I have already met several strong Christian believers there who share a desire for God's Kingdom to grow. I will post pictures up of it soon but it has already given me a platform to invite people to bible studies, free lunches, etc. As of right now, I am taking introduction to the New Testament, and Philosophy and Christianity (which is a apologetics course). God is really taking care of me, and there is absolutely nothing I can boast in except of how awesome and powerful my God is. Like I said, big things haven't happened per say, but God deserves the glory for the little things just as much as the big ones. Can I get an amen?
As far as the ministry goes, it is starting slow but it is still going to be awesome! I have a bible study starting this Thursday over 1 John, a free lunch scheduled every week for all the college students who want to come every Wednesday, and am working on some international ministry but haven't made any progress on that yet. I went to a campus ministry meeting today with CRU, InterVarsity, and some other organizations and we are looking at more and more ways to partner with one another and serve Christ together. That is one of the coolest things in itself!
Thank you so much for your prayers, I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am for them, and please email me any prayer requests you might have for me to pray for! Like I said on facebook, I have plenty of time and would love to fill that time praying for you! Just send me an email at phillip.grant89@gmail.com , call, or text me and I will be sure to pray for ya!
I love everyone and miss you very much,
Phillip
It has been an interesting week so far to say the least! Nothing big has happened, tens of thousands have not fallen to their knees before God and entered the freeing relationship with Jesus that we all share...at least not yet! But God has been doing some cool things.
God is showing me that when He calls you to do something, you do it, otherwise you might just miss your chance. Earlier last week I was sitting at a pastor's meeting in a local coffee shop and noticed a couple of girls walk in carrying a bible. Instantly a small voice said that I should go talk to them, and after much deliberation I did. We had a great conversation and exchanged information which will come in play later in this blog. And then there is the other example. Yesterday as I went into the SUB (yes I did go to Boise State a day before classes started...and yes it was because I forgot it was MLK day), I walked past a girl sitting by herself. That same voice, in the same way, urged me to go talk to her. "Well let me put my bags down and then I will" was my reply. I walked over and put my bags down and got out my computer to check some emails, facebook, etc. Once again I had that notion to go talk to her. This time my response was "Yes I will do it in just a second let me prepare what I am going to say." I sat for a bit longer and continued to fiddle around on my computer while trying to think of the eloquent words to say to this girl and I felt that urgency that I needed to talk to her right then. I took a deep breath, wrote out my email address on a sheet of paper in case she needed it to contact me, planned on what I had to say, and got out of my chair.
Now let me make something very clear. Delayed obedience to God is still disobedience. I do plan on using that saying with my kids one day btw. So the second I got out of my chair to go approach this girl, she got out of her chair to leave. I awkwardly walked towards her and wondered if I should just tap her on the shoulder to talk to her as she threw trash away, but I figured my chance was blown. You see, if had been obedient the way God calls us to be, there is not telling what might have happened. Is it scary? Absolutely. Is it awkward? Sometimes. But God calls us to step out of our comfort zone and serve Him, sometimes we obey...sometimes we wait until we are comfortable. God taught me such an awesome lesson at that moment, trust Him...and let the outcome happen as it will.
That girl I had exchanged information with earlier last week emailed me and told me about a college event called Engage Truth in town. It is basically the paradigm of Lubbock. At least 300 college students were there (I couldn't judge that well). It was an awesome experience and very encouraging to me, I even met a couple of people who attended and started building a relationship with one of them.
Oh and guess what! I am taking classes this spring...but not as BSU. On campus there is a facility known as the Biblical Studies Center that offers free bible classes to Boise State Students that actually count as college credits! I am not a BSU student, but we may be able to work something out because I am a student and a campus minister. It is so awesome! I have already met several strong Christian believers there who share a desire for God's Kingdom to grow. I will post pictures up of it soon but it has already given me a platform to invite people to bible studies, free lunches, etc. As of right now, I am taking introduction to the New Testament, and Philosophy and Christianity (which is a apologetics course). God is really taking care of me, and there is absolutely nothing I can boast in except of how awesome and powerful my God is. Like I said, big things haven't happened per say, but God deserves the glory for the little things just as much as the big ones. Can I get an amen?
As far as the ministry goes, it is starting slow but it is still going to be awesome! I have a bible study starting this Thursday over 1 John, a free lunch scheduled every week for all the college students who want to come every Wednesday, and am working on some international ministry but haven't made any progress on that yet. I went to a campus ministry meeting today with CRU, InterVarsity, and some other organizations and we are looking at more and more ways to partner with one another and serve Christ together. That is one of the coolest things in itself!
Thank you so much for your prayers, I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am for them, and please email me any prayer requests you might have for me to pray for! Like I said on facebook, I have plenty of time and would love to fill that time praying for you! Just send me an email at phillip.grant89@gmail.com , call, or text me and I will be sure to pray for ya!
I love everyone and miss you very much,
Phillip
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The power of prayer.
What is prayer? Why do we pray for others? Does God listen or change his mind based on our prayers? Are my prayers too weak to do anything? If God knows everything, why do we need to pray in the first place?
These are questions that every person must face in their spiritual journey, particularly those who are Christians. These are questions that I face. God is showing me little by little what the power of prayer is and why He wants us to do it. This is not going to be an exhaustive, theological study on prayer which I would love to sit down and work out (which I am sure many would appreciate me not going into a 10 page blog), but a quick insight of what has gone on in my mind and life the past week.
First and foremost, I want to say thank you for any person that has prayed for me at any time during this missional time or beforehand. Even if you just thought of me in passing and offered a quick breath of prayer for me, I cannot thank you enough. You see, God hears prayer, and he uses is it in amazing ways every day. Sometimes prayer can heal those who are sick, open doors for the gospel to be shared, mend broken hearts, or even uplift the downcast spirit. Prayer is the two-line communication we have with God. We talk (often too much), and He listens (at all times), and He often answers (but we rarely hear because we are still talking).
It is my honest belief that honest, humble prayer help us conform our minds more and more to the likeness of Jesus Christ and His thoughts and attitudes towards things. As we ask for wisdom, for example, God bestows upon us Godly wisdom so that we can be a reflection of Him in this world. Prayer for others inspires us to move and help those we are praying for! A call, a text, an encouraging word from the person who is doing the praying is often the result of prayer! St Augustine says it this way, "pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you." I believe that some of the coolest answered prayers are those that spurn us on towards action.
God wants us to pray so that we can do a number of things. 1. Acknowledge His sovereignty in every situation. 2. To seek His face 3. To conform our minds more and more to His kingdom and his work 4. To see supernatural things happen where He will get the glory from it so that it is without question that He is God of all!
C. S. Lewis says this "prayer doesn't change God, it changes me!"
I have prayed often this week, more than I have in a long time. All my prayers have not been answered the way I would expect but of one thing I am sure. All this time I have spent with my head bowed before the King of Kings has programmed my mind to think more like Christ wants me to think. To live like Christ wants me to live. To serve as Christ calls me to serve. God has definitely answered several prayers this week, like bringing people to me who love Christ, but it is through the prayers that were offered that helped me to recognize that opportunity as my mind is continually being conformed to the likeness of His son (and trust me there is a long way to go). This is but one of the small aspects of prayer, and it is what He has revealed to me over this past week. But prayer is not limited to just our transformation of our minds, but an open door to see God do mighty and great things that we could never dream possible because we simply asked Him to do His will in our lives (and that is where the 10 extra pages could come in)
And now I ask once again, pray for me! Since my last update and blog post, I have been overwhelmed with people's prayer and support of this ministry. It is an honor to have Christian brothers and sisters who are dedicated to serving God and lifting me up in prayer. Through prayer I know that God laid it on many people's hearts to just text or call me and encourage me, and the wisdom to do that comes directly from Christ!
I mean don't you know that your Heavenly Father wants to talk?
Take some time right now and spend time conversing with the best listener in the world, and take even more time listening to him speak to you. Start inviting Christ into your life and let him transform you!
And please let me know if there is anything I can pray for you for!
Phillip
These are questions that every person must face in their spiritual journey, particularly those who are Christians. These are questions that I face. God is showing me little by little what the power of prayer is and why He wants us to do it. This is not going to be an exhaustive, theological study on prayer which I would love to sit down and work out (which I am sure many would appreciate me not going into a 10 page blog), but a quick insight of what has gone on in my mind and life the past week.
First and foremost, I want to say thank you for any person that has prayed for me at any time during this missional time or beforehand. Even if you just thought of me in passing and offered a quick breath of prayer for me, I cannot thank you enough. You see, God hears prayer, and he uses is it in amazing ways every day. Sometimes prayer can heal those who are sick, open doors for the gospel to be shared, mend broken hearts, or even uplift the downcast spirit. Prayer is the two-line communication we have with God. We talk (often too much), and He listens (at all times), and He often answers (but we rarely hear because we are still talking).
It is my honest belief that honest, humble prayer help us conform our minds more and more to the likeness of Jesus Christ and His thoughts and attitudes towards things. As we ask for wisdom, for example, God bestows upon us Godly wisdom so that we can be a reflection of Him in this world. Prayer for others inspires us to move and help those we are praying for! A call, a text, an encouraging word from the person who is doing the praying is often the result of prayer! St Augustine says it this way, "pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you." I believe that some of the coolest answered prayers are those that spurn us on towards action.
God wants us to pray so that we can do a number of things. 1. Acknowledge His sovereignty in every situation. 2. To seek His face 3. To conform our minds more and more to His kingdom and his work 4. To see supernatural things happen where He will get the glory from it so that it is without question that He is God of all!
C. S. Lewis says this "prayer doesn't change God, it changes me!"
I have prayed often this week, more than I have in a long time. All my prayers have not been answered the way I would expect but of one thing I am sure. All this time I have spent with my head bowed before the King of Kings has programmed my mind to think more like Christ wants me to think. To live like Christ wants me to live. To serve as Christ calls me to serve. God has definitely answered several prayers this week, like bringing people to me who love Christ, but it is through the prayers that were offered that helped me to recognize that opportunity as my mind is continually being conformed to the likeness of His son (and trust me there is a long way to go). This is but one of the small aspects of prayer, and it is what He has revealed to me over this past week. But prayer is not limited to just our transformation of our minds, but an open door to see God do mighty and great things that we could never dream possible because we simply asked Him to do His will in our lives (and that is where the 10 extra pages could come in)
And now I ask once again, pray for me! Since my last update and blog post, I have been overwhelmed with people's prayer and support of this ministry. It is an honor to have Christian brothers and sisters who are dedicated to serving God and lifting me up in prayer. Through prayer I know that God laid it on many people's hearts to just text or call me and encourage me, and the wisdom to do that comes directly from Christ!
I mean don't you know that your Heavenly Father wants to talk?
Take some time right now and spend time conversing with the best listener in the world, and take even more time listening to him speak to you. Start inviting Christ into your life and let him transform you!
And please let me know if there is anything I can pray for you for!
Phillip
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Until The Whole World Hears.
I love Casting Crowns. If you know me very well at all that should not surprise you. One of the things that I love is the simple fact that they are honest in who they are and live out a life that reflects Christ. So naturally they have had a huge impact in my Christian life. I promise this relates to my ministry in Boise :)
One of the greatest things that I love about this band is my ability to relate to them and the songs that they put out. Songs about hope, songs about loss, songs about following Christ in the midst of a storm. Every Christian relates to these songs at some point in their life, but time and time again the truth that they represent will infiltrate my life and boost me when I need it. And boy did I need it this week.
In this video listed below, Mark Hall is talking about his call to ministry and how it began when he first got to the Christian college to pursue what he felt God wanted for his life. Mark talks a bit about how he felt that because He was in God's will, everything would just work out and feel perfect. Let me tell you it is not always that way! I hope you get time to watch this!
Mark Hall Testimony
So how does this relate to me? Well first off I suppose I should tell you that I made it safe and sound to Boise! The roads were absolutely perfect on the way up, which I can assure you is very rare for this time of year and I cannot thank everyone enough who prayed for my Dad and I. It was a beautiful and scenic trip and I know that anyone coming up from the LBK this summer is going to really enjoy it! We arrived in Boise and got to spend some time just hanging out and meeting all the partnership church pastors and forming relationships. These pastors are so awesome. The faith that they have that God is really moving in the treasure valley is simply amazing. You see, these pastors aren't over 2000 people like back home, but of churches from 30-200. It is so awesome and humbling to see the desire for the treasure valley to know Christ come from them. Their stories are pretty legit too...one of them happened to be an ex-secret service man who helped protect some of our past presidents. Pretty legit huh?
So anywho, my Dad flew out the next morning and here I was...alone. I went to church with the Graves' (whom I am staying with) and was in for a real shock. 20 people in a church is not something I am accustomed to. I sat in with the youth and did a bible study with them for Sunday school. There was only two, Toby-age 13, and Shelby-age 11. It was pretty fun but I would covet your prayer requests for Shelby. Shelby's parents are divorced and her mom wants absolutely nothing to do with church, while her father's side of the family is heavily involved in the LDS (Latter Day Saints) church. Shelby will come to our church when she is staying with her mom because Joyce (the woman I am staying with and pastor's wife) will pick her up, but when she is around her Dad she is taken to the LDS church. Pray that God will put the truth on her heart and she will make the decision to follow Christ in spirit and in truth. After Sunday School, we all gathered and had the sermon. Starting this past Sunday, we started doing a simulcast from Southcrest back home! It is not live, but it is pretty awesome to see my friends on the screen when I am across the USA. This is definitely a bitter-sweet thing. I miss everyone so much! After church I got to go eat with Gail's son Keegan and his family. They have one 7 year old girl named Amber, and TRIPLETS! (Molly, Tara, and Jack).
It sounds like a pretty good day to everyone who is reading, but to me it was extremely hard. I didn't feel God. I wasn't comfortable. I missed my friends. I was not used to worshiping in this different church atmosphere. I felt lonely. I doubted God's sovereignty. I doubted whether God was there at all. I was frustrated. I considered packing up and going home. I was ashamed of considering packing and going home. I had no idea what I was going to do the next day, or the next, or the next. So you know what I did? I prayed. Did I feel better? Nope. So I napped. After I woke up I felt better and I got to spend some time with a friend from Summit that night.
Here is the thing, as Christians we tend to put a lot of stock in "feelings". I did not feel like God was there. I felt lonely. I felt abandoned. I felt, I felt, I felt. But feelings do not determine who God is. God is good. God is truth. And God was with me during that day even when I felt like he wasn't. I wish I could tell you that after praying I felt an amazing peace come over me and God said "Don't worry my child I am here." but that wasn't the case, sometimes...but not that day. The peace came gradually when I decided to continue with baby steps and asked God to help me. If you look all throughout the book of Psalms, you will see the psalmist struggling with his own incapacity to understand what God is doing at the time, but you always see praise following the questioning...even when there is no answer. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate all the prayers that have been said for me, because I know without a doubt that is what helped sustain me. I woke up the next day and got to spend some quality time praying over the campus and seeking God's direction and guidance, and it was AWESOME. All those fears and worries disappeared yesterday when I just started doing what God has called us all to do, pray. It was so cool walking around Boise State and praying for God to use that campus to bring people to a relationship with his son Jesus Christ. The highlight of my day is when I got to hike the small mountain trail that leads up to a cross that overlooks the entire city of Boise and all the way to the border of Oregon. I plan on doing this as often as possible to take time to be in nature and silence so I can pray for the ministry here and for whatever else needs prayed for. Here are some pics of the hike. :)
My goal in this blog is to present what God is doing in my life as I try my best to walk in His will. Like I said in the first blog, I hope to be honest, because I believe too many Christians just pretend like everything is ok and never share their hurts or their struggles so that others can pray for them. Satan does not like Christians. He will do anything in his power that will corrupt or destroy a Christian's ability to produce fruit so I ask once again that you will continue to pray for strength and protection over me and this ministry this semester, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. Until the whole world hears, we are to preach Christ crucified my friends. I pray for the boldness for us to do it and the eyes to see the opportunities.
God bless all of you!
Phillip
One of the greatest things that I love about this band is my ability to relate to them and the songs that they put out. Songs about hope, songs about loss, songs about following Christ in the midst of a storm. Every Christian relates to these songs at some point in their life, but time and time again the truth that they represent will infiltrate my life and boost me when I need it. And boy did I need it this week.
In this video listed below, Mark Hall is talking about his call to ministry and how it began when he first got to the Christian college to pursue what he felt God wanted for his life. Mark talks a bit about how he felt that because He was in God's will, everything would just work out and feel perfect. Let me tell you it is not always that way! I hope you get time to watch this!
Mark Hall Testimony
So how does this relate to me? Well first off I suppose I should tell you that I made it safe and sound to Boise! The roads were absolutely perfect on the way up, which I can assure you is very rare for this time of year and I cannot thank everyone enough who prayed for my Dad and I. It was a beautiful and scenic trip and I know that anyone coming up from the LBK this summer is going to really enjoy it! We arrived in Boise and got to spend some time just hanging out and meeting all the partnership church pastors and forming relationships. These pastors are so awesome. The faith that they have that God is really moving in the treasure valley is simply amazing. You see, these pastors aren't over 2000 people like back home, but of churches from 30-200. It is so awesome and humbling to see the desire for the treasure valley to know Christ come from them. Their stories are pretty legit too...one of them happened to be an ex-secret service man who helped protect some of our past presidents. Pretty legit huh?
So anywho, my Dad flew out the next morning and here I was...alone. I went to church with the Graves' (whom I am staying with) and was in for a real shock. 20 people in a church is not something I am accustomed to. I sat in with the youth and did a bible study with them for Sunday school. There was only two, Toby-age 13, and Shelby-age 11. It was pretty fun but I would covet your prayer requests for Shelby. Shelby's parents are divorced and her mom wants absolutely nothing to do with church, while her father's side of the family is heavily involved in the LDS (Latter Day Saints) church. Shelby will come to our church when she is staying with her mom because Joyce (the woman I am staying with and pastor's wife) will pick her up, but when she is around her Dad she is taken to the LDS church. Pray that God will put the truth on her heart and she will make the decision to follow Christ in spirit and in truth. After Sunday School, we all gathered and had the sermon. Starting this past Sunday, we started doing a simulcast from Southcrest back home! It is not live, but it is pretty awesome to see my friends on the screen when I am across the USA. This is definitely a bitter-sweet thing. I miss everyone so much! After church I got to go eat with Gail's son Keegan and his family. They have one 7 year old girl named Amber, and TRIPLETS! (Molly, Tara, and Jack).
It sounds like a pretty good day to everyone who is reading, but to me it was extremely hard. I didn't feel God. I wasn't comfortable. I missed my friends. I was not used to worshiping in this different church atmosphere. I felt lonely. I doubted God's sovereignty. I doubted whether God was there at all. I was frustrated. I considered packing up and going home. I was ashamed of considering packing and going home. I had no idea what I was going to do the next day, or the next, or the next. So you know what I did? I prayed. Did I feel better? Nope. So I napped. After I woke up I felt better and I got to spend some time with a friend from Summit that night.
Here is the thing, as Christians we tend to put a lot of stock in "feelings". I did not feel like God was there. I felt lonely. I felt abandoned. I felt, I felt, I felt. But feelings do not determine who God is. God is good. God is truth. And God was with me during that day even when I felt like he wasn't. I wish I could tell you that after praying I felt an amazing peace come over me and God said "Don't worry my child I am here." but that wasn't the case, sometimes...but not that day. The peace came gradually when I decided to continue with baby steps and asked God to help me. If you look all throughout the book of Psalms, you will see the psalmist struggling with his own incapacity to understand what God is doing at the time, but you always see praise following the questioning...even when there is no answer. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate all the prayers that have been said for me, because I know without a doubt that is what helped sustain me. I woke up the next day and got to spend some quality time praying over the campus and seeking God's direction and guidance, and it was AWESOME. All those fears and worries disappeared yesterday when I just started doing what God has called us all to do, pray. It was so cool walking around Boise State and praying for God to use that campus to bring people to a relationship with his son Jesus Christ. The highlight of my day is when I got to hike the small mountain trail that leads up to a cross that overlooks the entire city of Boise and all the way to the border of Oregon. I plan on doing this as often as possible to take time to be in nature and silence so I can pray for the ministry here and for whatever else needs prayed for. Here are some pics of the hike. :)
My goal in this blog is to present what God is doing in my life as I try my best to walk in His will. Like I said in the first blog, I hope to be honest, because I believe too many Christians just pretend like everything is ok and never share their hurts or their struggles so that others can pray for them. Satan does not like Christians. He will do anything in his power that will corrupt or destroy a Christian's ability to produce fruit so I ask once again that you will continue to pray for strength and protection over me and this ministry this semester, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. Until the whole world hears, we are to preach Christ crucified my friends. I pray for the boldness for us to do it and the eyes to see the opportunities.
God bless all of you!
Phillip
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Beginnings part 2.
"Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:6
Sound familiar? This is my mission verse, and hopefully this blog will help you better understand why!
If there is one thing God is teaching me through the beginning process of this mission trip is that He is in control, and He is willing to let me see His hand in anything if I choose to have faith and open my eyes! God made it pretty clear that He wanted me to go to Idaho, but it is a completely different ballpark trying to figure out what He wants me to do while I am there! Keith and I flew up to Boise a couple of months back to start scouting out the area and get a feel of what God wants our purpose to be. Now I must say, but throughout this entire ordeal, I had not been nervous...until I got to Boise. As we pulled in the city and were driving to Gail's house, the seemingly overwhelming task that lay before me started to shatter the confidence I had in what I was doing. I had no doubt that I am led to be here, but once again figuring out what to do is another task entirely. Keith helped me fight threw those feelings several times through the course of the trip, but they were still so evident and frightening as we spent more time in the city and on campus.
(Tangent). It never really occurred to me how amazingly privileged I was to live in Lubbock, Texas. I was surrounded by strong Christian friends and opportunities to find a bible believing church and college ministry basically everywhere I turned my head. It came as a real shock to me that not everybody shares these blessings. There are Christians in Boise, no doubt. But from what I have heard and what I have seen, it is nothing like what we have in the bible belt. But don't worry! Jesus wants people to know Him, and He will use people who are willing and responsive to His call to fulfill His desires, already He has started doing things :)
As Keith and I spent time with the pastors of the very small baptist churches in Boise over those next few days, I could feel there desire for this treasure valley area (Boise, Meridian, etc) to know Christ and have a relationship with Him. It is so awesome to see that kind of faith. But as we ate lunch, those fears began to return. I mean come on, this is a daunting task! Starting a Baptist Collegiate Ministry in an area where I know hardly anyone, or anything about the city! I am going to have to walk up to complete strangers and share my faith every day. I am going to have to start conversations and find leaders in a campus of 20,000 students. How can I do this? I am good at talking to people but this is crazy! I have been thrown into the deep end of the pool, with a shallow faith. What if I fail? What if everyone thinks I am crazy? What if I lose my faith because I become so disheartened?
Satan sure knows how to distract you from the truth doesn't he?
But my God is truth, and He doesn't stand to the side for long when His children need some truth to push on.
These questions and concerns would come up over and over again, but God loved me enough to reveal Himself to me as He usually does, through His Word. I woke up at about 5 in the morning the third day we were there and reflected on the task before me. I couldn't go back to sleep so I pulled out my iPhone and started reading the Bible on it. When you need wisdom, it always is nice to go to the book of wisdom, Proverbs. As I love to say, "A proverb a day keeps the devil at bay." As I am reading through I find this verse. "Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight."- Proverbs 3:6. It is like those words jumped off the page and formed a barrier around my heart that Satan cannot penetrate. God revealed that as long as He is in the center of everything I do, I cannot fail. Does that mean that everything is going to turn out like I plan? No. Does that mean life is going to be a breeze? No. I think alot of people fall into that trap of thinking when you trust God everything is going to turn out fine and dandy, and that is rarely the case. The Christian life is hard, but if you trust God and look to Him, He will take care of you and shape you through it.
Before going on campus the next day, we went up to a mountain overlooking all of Boise and the treasure valley. There is a giant cross up there and Christians will often come to pray over the city. Keith, Gail, and I spent about 30 minutes doing exactly what that verse teaches, praying and acknowledging God's sovereignty over that day. We prayed that God would put someone in our path who we could tell about what we were doing and try to get them involved, we prayed for the student athletes to use their pedestal to share Christ and to build relationships with them, we prayed for too many more to name, and then we went to work. Now I must say, prayer is not always answered immediately or the way you expect, but when it does so happen it is an awesome thing to witness.
As we walked down into campus we saw a huge, green, monster truck that so happened to have a Texas license plate on it parked in the student parking. We chuckled amongst ourselves and discussed how appropriate it was that it was from Texas. As Keith was walking through the SUB, he noticed a guy with a huge Texas belt buckle and started a conversation with him. I stopped by later and got a chance to share what I was there for and asked if he would be interested in checking out our new ministry. He said sure, we exchanged information, and went on our way. Pretty cool huh?
Later that day we went to a basketball game with some of Gail's friends and I got to meet there son who goes to Boise State University,and works with the football team, and he also expressed some interest in checking out the ministry. So another prayer was answered because Jake has already helped establish some connections with the athletic program at Boise State since then and helped us get involved with a coaches' bible study every Wednesday. It is so awesome to see how God is working already! Does this mean that these people are going to become involved in the ministry and God is going to shower blessings from them, who knows? God is so good. He reveals what He needs to reveal in His perfect time and it is up to us to acknowledge Him and go along for the ride.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and it is my prayer that more awesome things will happen so that I may share them with you and encourage you in your own walk with Christ! Keep praying please!
SpreadtheWord
Phillip
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Beginnings.
"Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:6
Pretty cool huh? Well, here I am, another college student trying to survive another day and beginning a path that God is laying out for me step by step. Over the next 6 months it is my hope that people will get to read this blog and see the amazing things God is doing in my life. But I suppose that means you should understand how I got to this point! Storytime? Yes. Storytime. As with most stories, this one has a beginning, but as with most audiences, we want to dive right in to where the action starts. So let's go that route and if you want to learn more about how I got to this point just ask me, I don't mind sharing.
About 5 months ago I had enough of school. I had enough of not knowing what my future was. I had enough of Lubbock. We've all been there before right? So I decided I wanted something different. This isn't one of those stories where someone has a grand vision that radically changes their life, but one where God gave me the desire of my heart in amazing way through prayer and people. My college pastor Keith Garner, whom I shall mention often, would always say that there is absolutely no better time then when you are in college to take some time off and serve Jesus. Keith served as a summer missionary in Thailand when he was in college at Texas Tech University and it had a tremendous impact in the direction of his life. Every time that Keith would say this, my ears would perk up and I would think that sounded like an awesome idea! Yet time and time again I fell off that emotionally charged high of wanting to stop school right then and there and would resume my studies until the next time he would say it. This time was not the case.
I decided that it was time for me to go serve Jesus in a place other than Lubbock, Texas. I would be lying to you if I told you that the idea of taking a couple of semesters off, working, and just having fun without the stress of school sounded awfully good to me. But here is the thing, as a Christian, I am called to glorify God in all that I do (and granted I fail at that more often than naught), and I knew inside that merely "taking it easy" in my case would be limiting what God would want me to do. So I decided that I would do missions! Oh the excitement was bubbling! I met with Keith the next morning for breakfast and told him my desire and we began looking for places to serve for a semester. We looked at China, Thailand, Central Asia, as well as a myriad of other places, and I was pumped! I had been to Thailand before with our college ministry and was excited at the chance of going back, but isn't it amazing that if you choose to follow God, He will direct you where He wants you to go? Let me explain.
I went home to tell my parents all that had transpired and my plans for where I wanted to go. As
I told them my plan to go overseas and serve Jesus, I was not given the reaction that I expected. In my mind, I pictured happiness, pride, and total support from my parents as I told them my plans. What I received was quite the opposite. Being parents, they were worried about my journey into another country and neglecting my studies. To say the least, it was very difficult to deal with. I went home that night with all sorts of questions and worries on my mind about whether not I was doing the right thing. As I prayed, I decided to try something different. For the past few hours I had been asking for what I wanted, for where I wanted to go, ME ME ME. This time, I gave the control to God. My prayer was simple, which is usually the most powerful ones to pray. "God, send me wherever you want me to go and I will do it."
He answered.
Quick tangent. Southcrest Baptist, the church I attend, funds missions all over the world, including the United States. One of our church's main focuses is on four small baptist churches in Boise, Idaho. One of the pastors, Gail Graves happens to originally be from Idalou, just outside of Lubbock. This pastor's mom had recently passed away back in Idalou and he was in town for the funeral and paid a visit to Southcrest while he was here. Gail had recently been put in charge of reestablishing a Baptist Collegiate Ministry on the Boise State campus. The funding had been cut and the ministry was basically non-existent when they handed it over to Gail.
Now Keith had been a BCM director in several places so Gail was brought to him to help discuss what needed to be done and gain some direction and wisdom in his path of reestablishing the BCM. As they talked, they discussed how awesome it would be to get a consistent semester missionary in the college ministry to come up and help grow the new ministry. Both Keith and Gail thought that this would be years in the future and it wasn't until after the meeting that Keith realized that he had met with a student interested in doing semester mission work....me! I stopped by to say hi to Keith the next day after praying that simple prayer and his first words to me were, "Hey Phillip, how would you like to go to Boise, Idaho?" which I responded very promptly, "I don't want to go to Boise!". Isn't that usually the case? We pray for something and are sincere, but when the door is opened we fall quickly back into what WE want, not what God wants. Well luckily Keith explained to me all that happened the day before, and God reminded me of the prayer I had offered the night before and we decided to take some time to pray and see if it was God's will for me to go, and would know more details once I got back from Summit ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado in a couple of weeks.
Another quick tangent ( I promise most of my tangents build back in to the story). Summit Ministries is a two week apologetic camp where more than 60 hours of class time are devoted to learning why we believe what we believe and how it stands up to skeptics. People from all across the nation, and even the world come to this camp. The camp has about 8 sessions during each summer with about 100-200 students per session, in my case there were about 200 students. I sat down in our assigned seating based on birth date, and begin having conversations with the two people seated next to me. The girl on my left was from Oregon and the girl on my right just so happened to be from Idaho. Boise, Idaho. And a student at Boise State University. I asked the person who sat in front of me where he was from later on that day. Boise, Idaho. And a student at Boise State University. He also happened to be in my small group, as well as someone else who was from north Idaho. I was playing ultimate frisbee with a new friend during one of sports days and found out that he was going to be on the track team....for Boise State University. I found out that the girl whom I sat beside had a brother who lives in Boise who also came to Summit. You see, God had a plan. He began laying the path for me long before I knew any of these people.
God wants me to serve in Boise. My next blog will be devoted to some of the other cool things that God has done to help bring me to that realization. My hope in this blog is not to point to myself and anything that I have done, but all to God who is good beyond measure. I want you, yes you dear reader, to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ through reading what He is doing in my life. But I want to tell you, it is not always going to be good blog updates. There is going to be times I am certain where I am being stretched thin and am desperate for relief, but it is my prayer that even in the hard times I will follow Christ and pronounce His good name to the world. I am not perfect by any means, but God has cleansed me and made me righteous through the blood of His son Jesus Christ and he can use even the most broken of vessels to accomplish his purpose. My blogs will not always be this long, I know it can be hard to read somebody's ramblings for too long, but it is my prayer that they will always be meaningful.
One last thing, pray for me. Remember, behind every great work of God, there is often a kneeling figure. I am going into a world outside of my comfort zone, and I need prayer from you. Let me know if there is anything that I can pray for you about as well! This is a two way street my friends. The things that I would ask you to pray every day for is that people in the Boise, Idaho region and college campus would come to know Christ and have a strong relationship with Him, and that God will open doors that we will not walk past to lead them that way. Pray that God will move big in Idaho, He wants so badly for us to come to know Him and receive the free gift.
Well I hope you enjoyed the beginnings of the path God has laid before me and I look forward to seeing where it will go from here! Stay tuned for the next blog!
Pretty cool huh? Well, here I am, another college student trying to survive another day and beginning a path that God is laying out for me step by step. Over the next 6 months it is my hope that people will get to read this blog and see the amazing things God is doing in my life. But I suppose that means you should understand how I got to this point! Storytime? Yes. Storytime. As with most stories, this one has a beginning, but as with most audiences, we want to dive right in to where the action starts. So let's go that route and if you want to learn more about how I got to this point just ask me, I don't mind sharing.
About 5 months ago I had enough of school. I had enough of not knowing what my future was. I had enough of Lubbock. We've all been there before right? So I decided I wanted something different. This isn't one of those stories where someone has a grand vision that radically changes their life, but one where God gave me the desire of my heart in amazing way through prayer and people. My college pastor Keith Garner, whom I shall mention often, would always say that there is absolutely no better time then when you are in college to take some time off and serve Jesus. Keith served as a summer missionary in Thailand when he was in college at Texas Tech University and it had a tremendous impact in the direction of his life. Every time that Keith would say this, my ears would perk up and I would think that sounded like an awesome idea! Yet time and time again I fell off that emotionally charged high of wanting to stop school right then and there and would resume my studies until the next time he would say it. This time was not the case.
I decided that it was time for me to go serve Jesus in a place other than Lubbock, Texas. I would be lying to you if I told you that the idea of taking a couple of semesters off, working, and just having fun without the stress of school sounded awfully good to me. But here is the thing, as a Christian, I am called to glorify God in all that I do (and granted I fail at that more often than naught), and I knew inside that merely "taking it easy" in my case would be limiting what God would want me to do. So I decided that I would do missions! Oh the excitement was bubbling! I met with Keith the next morning for breakfast and told him my desire and we began looking for places to serve for a semester. We looked at China, Thailand, Central Asia, as well as a myriad of other places, and I was pumped! I had been to Thailand before with our college ministry and was excited at the chance of going back, but isn't it amazing that if you choose to follow God, He will direct you where He wants you to go? Let me explain.
I went home to tell my parents all that had transpired and my plans for where I wanted to go. As
I told them my plan to go overseas and serve Jesus, I was not given the reaction that I expected. In my mind, I pictured happiness, pride, and total support from my parents as I told them my plans. What I received was quite the opposite. Being parents, they were worried about my journey into another country and neglecting my studies. To say the least, it was very difficult to deal with. I went home that night with all sorts of questions and worries on my mind about whether not I was doing the right thing. As I prayed, I decided to try something different. For the past few hours I had been asking for what I wanted, for where I wanted to go, ME ME ME. This time, I gave the control to God. My prayer was simple, which is usually the most powerful ones to pray. "God, send me wherever you want me to go and I will do it."
He answered.
Quick tangent. Southcrest Baptist, the church I attend, funds missions all over the world, including the United States. One of our church's main focuses is on four small baptist churches in Boise, Idaho. One of the pastors, Gail Graves happens to originally be from Idalou, just outside of Lubbock. This pastor's mom had recently passed away back in Idalou and he was in town for the funeral and paid a visit to Southcrest while he was here. Gail had recently been put in charge of reestablishing a Baptist Collegiate Ministry on the Boise State campus. The funding had been cut and the ministry was basically non-existent when they handed it over to Gail.
Now Keith had been a BCM director in several places so Gail was brought to him to help discuss what needed to be done and gain some direction and wisdom in his path of reestablishing the BCM. As they talked, they discussed how awesome it would be to get a consistent semester missionary in the college ministry to come up and help grow the new ministry. Both Keith and Gail thought that this would be years in the future and it wasn't until after the meeting that Keith realized that he had met with a student interested in doing semester mission work....me! I stopped by to say hi to Keith the next day after praying that simple prayer and his first words to me were, "Hey Phillip, how would you like to go to Boise, Idaho?" which I responded very promptly, "I don't want to go to Boise!". Isn't that usually the case? We pray for something and are sincere, but when the door is opened we fall quickly back into what WE want, not what God wants. Well luckily Keith explained to me all that happened the day before, and God reminded me of the prayer I had offered the night before and we decided to take some time to pray and see if it was God's will for me to go, and would know more details once I got back from Summit ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado in a couple of weeks.
Another quick tangent ( I promise most of my tangents build back in to the story). Summit Ministries is a two week apologetic camp where more than 60 hours of class time are devoted to learning why we believe what we believe and how it stands up to skeptics. People from all across the nation, and even the world come to this camp. The camp has about 8 sessions during each summer with about 100-200 students per session, in my case there were about 200 students. I sat down in our assigned seating based on birth date, and begin having conversations with the two people seated next to me. The girl on my left was from Oregon and the girl on my right just so happened to be from Idaho. Boise, Idaho. And a student at Boise State University. I asked the person who sat in front of me where he was from later on that day. Boise, Idaho. And a student at Boise State University. He also happened to be in my small group, as well as someone else who was from north Idaho. I was playing ultimate frisbee with a new friend during one of sports days and found out that he was going to be on the track team....for Boise State University. I found out that the girl whom I sat beside had a brother who lives in Boise who also came to Summit. You see, God had a plan. He began laying the path for me long before I knew any of these people.
God wants me to serve in Boise. My next blog will be devoted to some of the other cool things that God has done to help bring me to that realization. My hope in this blog is not to point to myself and anything that I have done, but all to God who is good beyond measure. I want you, yes you dear reader, to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ through reading what He is doing in my life. But I want to tell you, it is not always going to be good blog updates. There is going to be times I am certain where I am being stretched thin and am desperate for relief, but it is my prayer that even in the hard times I will follow Christ and pronounce His good name to the world. I am not perfect by any means, but God has cleansed me and made me righteous through the blood of His son Jesus Christ and he can use even the most broken of vessels to accomplish his purpose. My blogs will not always be this long, I know it can be hard to read somebody's ramblings for too long, but it is my prayer that they will always be meaningful.
One last thing, pray for me. Remember, behind every great work of God, there is often a kneeling figure. I am going into a world outside of my comfort zone, and I need prayer from you. Let me know if there is anything that I can pray for you about as well! This is a two way street my friends. The things that I would ask you to pray every day for is that people in the Boise, Idaho region and college campus would come to know Christ and have a strong relationship with Him, and that God will open doors that we will not walk past to lead them that way. Pray that God will move big in Idaho, He wants so badly for us to come to know Him and receive the free gift.
Well I hope you enjoyed the beginnings of the path God has laid before me and I look forward to seeing where it will go from here! Stay tuned for the next blog!
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