Its that time of year again!

Yup you guessed it Awakening Conference is back! This is the 4th annual youth conference and it honestly keeps getting better. In April of 2007, I was asked by an old friend the morning of if I wanted to attend this random conference she was going to, I had nothing better to do and out of curiosity I went. Looking back, I don’t know why I went; I usually avoided church at all costs. Church had always seemed so hypocritical and judgmental, but there was something about this conference…the people I met and the speakers I heard seemed genuinely in love with God. There was an energy and excitement about God I honestly had never seen or felt before. I only planned on spending one day at the conference, but I ended up attending all 3 days. I cannot tell you how much that one single decision changed my life. At that conference, God turned my world around and offered me His grace and love, not a set of religious rules and standards I had to live by to receive a Get out of Hell Free Card. Awakening continues to change my life every year, and 2010 will be no exception. This year is gonna be unbelievable. Don’t miss it! www.Awakeningconference.net

Don't tarnish their name for your own sake

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." --Proverbs 18:21
Gossip reminds me of smoking. Its always the "cool" thing to do, it always feels good to take someone and verbally stick them in the trash for a bit. If you're really cool, you know how to make the crap you say about people funny so everyone listening laughs. I'm sad to say that just like smoking, gossip slowly destroys you and everyone around you. It not only tarnishes the person you're talking about's name, it also tarnishes your own. Although you'd like to think you are cool for rudely mocking that person, you just make yourself look pathetic and self conscious. A confident person doesn't need to prove to everyone that they are better than them. They are happy with who God has/is making them. Also as much as we'd like to think the words we're spreading wont get to that person, they always do."For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." --Luke 8:17
Gossip doesn't only ruin friendships, it also ruins your character and that person emotionally. I don't care who you are, no one enjoys being blatantly mocked. I have too often watched and participated in tearing someone in the church apart, simply because it was "funny". Have we as a church missed what God is all about? God is about loving others (Including our enemies) and love is about lifting one another up, not ripping each other down to make ourselves feel better. How amazing would it be if we instead of hurting one another, started to encourage and love! Can we please start a chain reaction of encouragement and love? I continually pray that God will convict me about these things, so that I may leave a trail and legacy of love where ever I go.

Don't miss the point

In the beginning of the year I did some seriously needed reflections of 2009 and how so much has changed, how so much about me has changed. It really is so easy to lose your mind when life is flying by if you don't slow down sometimes and you don't have the friends to keep reminding you of your end goal. It really is a constant battle for your destiny. I don't know when it started or how it happened, but I simply stopped caring. I found myself defining who God was and day by day I kept cramming him and my destiny into smaller and smaller boxes. My destiny became about making me happy, and nothing else. My God became what I wanted him to be. Until a friend let me borrow this book called Crazy Love. (I recommend it to everyone) While I was just reading it for no particular reason these words hit me, "You're missing the point". I know these words don't seem too profound, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. Although I never wanted to waste my life, the point of my life wasn't to have as much fun as I possibly could and then die. God created me for so much more than that and while in prayer he made it so clear to me that he had so much more for my life if I would just stop cramming him into this itty bitty sized box and just trusted in him. I was forgetting that right now he wants to prepare me for the destiny he has created and called me for."For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11 Every time I wander off from God's plan, I am giving up a part of my destiny. I am not saying God's grace isn't sufficient, because it is. But there is that time you wasted chasing after other things that you're not going to get back and the mistakes that you have made do have consequences. I don't want to waste any more time, I don't want to lose anymore of what God has for me. Its time that we stop missing the point and realize that God has way too much in store for us to be messing around with distractions.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" 1 Cor. 10:31

Life

Life never seems to turn out the way we plan, I think thats what makes it worth living.

To Save A Life

Hey everyone!
So friday I was online, about to get off when an advertisement for a movie caught my attention. It was for the movie To Save A Life, I've only seen the trailer, but it looks life changing good. It was produced by a church run production company in California called New Song Productions, but unlike most christian movies (at least the ones I've seen) this one looks to be big screen quality. I am hoping to take the entire groundZero greeting ministry to see it, this friday. If you are interested, the closest showing is in worcester, MA. Here is the movie website.
www.tosavealife.com.
Hope to see a few of you out there on friday!

Why does it matter?

So lately, I've been noticing that a lot of people attack others and reject others for the stupidest reasons. Why do we so easily attack what we believe to be different? Who has the right to determine what is normal and what is strange? Why is it so hard for us to accept others if they aren't like us? Why should it be any easier talking to a person that wears business clothes than talking to someone who looks like he walked out of a rock concert? Does it really matter what genre of music they listen to, or what they wear, or what sports they play? Its like so many people categorize ourselves into groups. Jocks go left, and computer nerds go right, and rock music lovers go to the back corner...etc. Yeah its nice to have friends that share the same interests, but there is so much more to people than how they dress or what they like.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”--Matthew 22:37-40

God isn't saying love those who share the same common interests as you, hes saying love people. And chances are as you walk along this journey you're going to come by people that may not share the same opinion as you.
I wonder how much we could learn if we stopped talking to only the people that have the same point of view as us. I am so sick of people trying to squeeze me in to one single group, why does it matter if I jump from group to group? Why does there even need to be groups? What would happen if we befriended one another rather than lashed out on whichever group was "below" us. We so often raise "our groups" up at the expense of lowering and hurting others. Thats not love.
The other day I noticed some people mocking a few close friends of mine for what they chose to wear. How uncool is that? None of them took one second to get to know my friends, but they were completely comfortable lashing out and assuming they knew them enough to make blatantly rude accusations.
I wonder what would happen if we all stepped out of our groups to befriend someone we wouldn't normally hang out with, how much insight would we learn? Maybe the things that were so easy to mock, would make a little more sense to us. I wonder what would happen if we all took time to love rather than gossip and mock.
"Hate is easy, love takes courage."--Unknown

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit among yourselves as you follow Jesus Christ, so with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another just as Christ has accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.--Romans 15:5-7

Organic Love

One Sunday at church, we had jut finished a great service. After service the anointing of God fell upon worship. Looking back on it I can truly say it was beautiful, but at the time I didn't think so. I wasn't in the "mood". I was exhausted and hungry, although the message was great, I was ready to go home. After a few minutes of complaining in my head, I noticed a girl slightly older than me walk up to the alter. She barely made it there when she broke down, tears streaming down her face and her hands lifted high. At that moment I felt so ashamed that I had been so self centered that I wanted church to end because I was tired, that I didn't even think about the people around me. It didn't even cross my mind that someone is broken and needing a touch from God. I almost broke down, repenting of my own self conceit. Instantly my attitude changed. Instead of being about me, it became about people. I began to pray for everyone in the building, that God would speak to them and touch their lives. Once I stopped focusing on me, I felt God's presence. It is so sad how often we do this and don't even realize it. It kills me to think of how many lives God could have touched with a simple gesture, conversation, or prayer if I was willing to get the mirror out of my face long enough to notice and do something. I pray for an organic love; a love for others like Christ's love for us.

"This is how we know what love is; Jesus christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." --1John 3:16