Sweetly Broken, Wholly Surrendered

Overcome with Christ's Love- My TCX Experience

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:02:33 -0500

One of my favorite times of the year happened last weekend. I spent last weekend at TCX, the Upper Midwest regional conference of Cru. Even though it was my fourth time going, I feel that I still learned things that I might not have learned had I not went. I may be a leader on my campus, but God still allowed me to learn a lot.

The first full day, one speaker talked about us being Ambassadors for Christ, because since we have been given much, much is required. Since we are Ambassadors, we need to rely on the Gospel to change not only ourselves, but others as well. Before the next meeting, I went to a program on operations, something that I think God is giving me a heart for. I love maintaining this blog, but I love planning events, and social media as well. Since my words do not do justice, I love letting my actions speak. I’m not good with my words, but I want to show the Gospel through my actions. Another speaker talked about the character of God and how He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful who is everywhere, using Psalm 139. It’s amazing that God’s attention to detail is so immense, even we cannot be as deep as Him.

The next day was the day of outreach, a day that I used to dread, but now welcome it as a friend. As a introvert, it’s hard for me to talk to people about the Gospel, but I don’t need words and just be a positive light to the people I meet. I like talking to people about Jesus, but it’s hard for me to talk to strangers. The morning session’s talk was pretty appropriate. He talked about how instead of focusing on the Gospel and the lost, we tend to focus on ourselves and our things. Ten days removed, I want to elaborate on this because it is very appropriate to hear, especially when other things get in the way. My day of outreach experience was being around the elderly. Even though most of the people I met were already believers, it was neat listening to their stories and just being there for them.

New Years Eve morning we talked about holiness and (to a greater extent, humility) and how we are already holy before God and he loves us into it and not into being scared or guilty. I wanted to post something on this but did not because I did not feel qualified to talk about it. My only seminar I attended talked about the Great Commission and social justice. Because of my upbringing, I have always been interested in social justice. Now that I am making my faith my own, I wanted to see whether social justice was Biblical (dumb question I know…), while I still had questions about it, I wanted to see what it was about.

The last session walked about Jesus calling Simon and Andrew out of their boats and how they dropped everything to follow Him. It was thought provoking because since God calls us to leave our dreams and desires to follow Him, I needed to hear it after a rough year in school. I do not know what I am doing after graduation because it is up to God because He knows what to do. My life is just a vapor so I just want to follow Him.

I loved the main sessions of TCX this year and if you want to see the sessions the link is here: http://www.livestream.com/ccc_uppermidwest . Even though I am going through victory laps at school, I do plan on going to TCX this December. I loved going the last four times and I cannot wait to go back!

Advent

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 11:19:30 -0500

I’ve always liked this time of year sans snow. From the lights to the food, it gives me something to think about, even if finals are coming up, but those don’t make up what Christmas means to me.

Even before I became a Believer, my family has taken part in Advent. Looking back, I see it as a good way of introducing me to the Gospel. Since I began college I’ve wanted to participate in Advent, but haven’t because of the stresses of the end of the semester. However, this year I am planning to take part. Last year, I felt like December came and went, and by participating in Advent, I can slow down and remember once again the reason of Christmas.

Thursday at Cru, we talked about the “Waiting Room” and how we use it to train ourselves spiritually. I fully intend to use Advent as a time of waiting, reading the Bible, Checking out resources, and reading a devotional. I am using John Piper’s devotional “Good News of Great Joy” (found at http://bit.ly/VbhjZa), but there are many other devotionals out on the internet. While I like lights, cookies, and wrapping presents (poorly), I want to focus on Jesus this Advent. I will be joyful in His waiting, and be joyful in His birth.

bgospelm: No shave Movember? Truth

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:31:11 -0400

bgospelm:

No shave Movember?

Truth

What am I Living For?

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 19:53:46 -0400

I love going to Cru, as a believer, it gives me a sense of community and a positive outlet of avoiding the world. But tonight at Cru hit home for me in many ways.

It’s no secret that I want to get involved with ministry in some way. And tonight (10/18/12 for those wondering what tonight referred to) I had a bit of a revelation. Tonight one of the songs was “I Will Go” by Starfield. I have heard that song many times before, but tonight really hit it through my head. The bridge goes like this: “I want to live for You, go where You need me, I want to follow You”.

It hit me, to be a Christ Follower, we need to obey God’s word, we need to be obedient to God, even if it means doing something totally different from what you had in mind. I remember going to school I had a perfect plan to go to school for four years, be a Social Work major, join the Storm Chase club, and try to meet new people. Now, I think one of those things actually happened. I feel that I have spent too much of my summer trying to please myself, and try to ascend the ladder of self-actualization. My feelings as I type this is that I have tried too hard to be a college student with being a Christian on the side.

God didn’t send Jesus for us to completely follow your own plan, He sent Jesus because He wanted everything from you. God wants your crappy future and refine it so you can live for His glory. I feel naked because the plan that I thought I have just crumbled in God’s hands. However, I feel that God can take the half way finished me and change how I live my life. I do not want to rely on my own being and rely on the Holy Spirit to help influence others for Christ.

Almost ten months ago, I made a pledge that I would give a minimum of one year to serve the Lord. I realize that God gave my talents of using technology for a reason, that I should not hoard my talents, but yet link people to the Gospel through social media, blogging websites, and sites like Youtube. I don’t want to think that I am a great blogger, because I am not a great blogger. However, stuff like this takes time and I need to work on it and not spend months on end with writers block.

From a missions standpoint, I don’t think I’m called to minister overseas, but I want to minister through my prayers, my presence, my gifts, my service, and my witness. And I want to minister through technology because I am using God’s gifts as well as I can. I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but God provides in amazing ways.

Venti Ventuccino

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 00:55:03 -0400

I think that it is a good time for me to vent. It’s been a while since I cranked out a quality blog and this is what I’m doing right meow. I’m not going to confine what I blog about and I really hope I make sense. With The Lumineers playing in my ears, let’s do this thing!

First of all, I am craving tea. I never thought I would say it, but over my time in college, I would never have thought that I would be a tea drinker. I have cut back on drinking pop so much that I crave caffeine, and tea usually does the trick. I hope that by TCX, I will be armed with a loose leaf tea infuser as well as some loose leaf tea. Plus, when I’m tired, I’ll brew some tea and it will be enough to pay attention for awhile.

School has been alright, I guess. I’m a little burnt out so obviously I need a break. Heck, Fall Break seemed like a blur. I had to drop a class because the time that they met was not the best time. Also, I have a project in my Anthro. class and I have to film myself in my Helping Skills class (Basically where you start to do one on one counselling sessions). Also, I can’t believe I have three semesters after this one. It seemed like yesterday that I moved into Hill-Case Hall back in 2009.

This semester, I’ve been thinking more and more about how I want to go about my life (jobs, living, etc). I know that I won’t be living in St. Cloud for the rest of my life. My major basically guarantees that I need to go to grad school, something that I don’t want to do when I graduate, if at all. Since I changed my major, the possibility of doing full time ministry became more of a possibility. I want to use the talents God gave me and use it to the best of my ability. I love doing operations and using technology to glorify God. So if God is calling me to ministry, I feel that He wants me to use my technological abilities for His glory.

Also, the home hockey opener is Friday, I’m totally excited to root the Huskies to victory.

This was fun and I want to do this again! So nice to do Free Association to crank out a blog post!

Is writers block Biblical? I really hope not...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 23:01:53 -0400

Pardon my lack of posts, I have been busy with school and Cru that I have not sat down and just written something out. I wanted to “relaunch” this page, but school got in my way. I am not being lazy, but my attention has been placed on other things and blogging is low on that list (but y’all are still awesome, all ten of y’all haha). As I spend my last 4-5 semesters I really need to figure out what I want to do in the long term, because I don’t want to hit grad school that early, or at all for that matter. My major almost guarantees that I need to go to grad school to get jobs that I want, and that is something that I don’t want to do right after I graduate college. But I digress…

School has been tough on me and while I can start to see the end, I know that I’m not done yet. I need to make sure that whatever I do, I need to be happy about it for the next 30-40 years. Can I be happy with merely having a bachelor’s degree, or is there something bigger in the grand scheme of things that God has planned for me? In other words, is God telling me that I don’t need to use my future degree in order to create something bigger? I need to chew on this because it is important for not only now, but for the rest of my life…

Politics and me as a Believer

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 03:06:19 -0400

Politics are one of the things that really boggle me, not only on a human level, but with me as a Christ Follower. Politics can not only be confusing, but it can be downright discouraging. So I hope that this post can clear things up on how I personally view politics and how that relates to me being a Believer.

I want to be completely frank about this: I personally don’t care about politics. Over the last few years, I have been everywhere on the political continuum, from liberalish views to being perfectly moderate. I feel that whenever I try to get into political type thought (i.e. picking a candidate when I vote), I feel like I am lied to and/or “mud” is slinged onto my face. I can’t trust politicians because of the fact that they may not be trustable to vote for.

Just because I am apathetic towards politics, doesn’t mean I have views of my own. In that case, I lean towards Libertarian views. I believe that everyone has rights they need to fight for, but the views that I believe in are mainly Biblical. I am pro-life, but not militant. There are better ways to get rid of an unborn child instead of simply killing the child. Adoption and Safe Haven are way better ways to help children live in possibly less toxic surroundings. I am against the death penalty, especially since Jesus said “Whoever is without sin, let them cast the first stone”-John 8:7. The death penalty is simply barbaric, especially since there is a chance that some people may be serving time, even though they are innocent. I have other views, but that is an inkling of what I believe in.

I will not vote for Barack “I made this situation worse” Obama nor Mitt “Mayor of Whoville” Romney. They are not worth four years in charge. However, I think that Gary Johnson is more than capable to take the situation at hand and make it better. He lines best with my views, and while he hasn’t been given much screentime, it is best to give him a shot, and not give the Presidency to a couple of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

askapsychmajor: i thought this was pretty funny, lol. maslow’s...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:52:45 -0400

askapsychmajor:

i thought this was pretty funny, lol.

maslow’s hierarchy of needs, plus internet. even more funny they used such a random psychology thing.

North Myrtle Beach-One Year Later

Sat, 19 May 2012 22:55:00 -0400

I can’t believe that on Monday, it’s been a year since I left for North Myrtle Beach Summer Project. Honestly, this year seemed like a blur. I can’t believe that I left everything that was familiar, and went with three other people who I’ve never really met before. A plethora of emotions were going through my head during then, ranging from jubilation, to total udder nervousness.

For those who know me, I am one of the biggest introverts ever. I crave being by myself and the thought of riding and sleeping with people who I have never have known is somewhat terrifying to me. However, I had a blast driving down to the destination with Geoff, Josh, and Katie. There were so many things that we talked about from calories in a McDonalds meal to playing a game to point out cars that are colored orange or yellow. There were some funny moments, from using my camera to take pictures of funny poses to stopping at some pretty sketchy places, including an Illinois Oasis at 3 AM.

While the car ride down was a journey to a destination, the destination was a journey in of itself. I learned a lot of growing in Leadership and in my personal faith-walk. Coming back to campus, I was ready to help, and even though I didn’t lead a Life Group on my campus, I could still use my skills to create events that were not only fun, but could also be a link to the Gospel. However, I felt a need to share my faith more. This is something that I would like to improve on next year, especially moving off campus. Another thing that I would like to improve on is to help send people to Summer Projects, not just for North Myrtle Beach, but to any Project. I am open to go on another Summer Project next year, whether it may be stateside or international. I want to go, and I want to bring others with me.

Taking a Step Back

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:28:31 -0400

It’s been a while since I posted something on Tumblr and finding time (and thinking of a suitable topic to post) has been an issue for me. Needless to say this semester has been crazy and in some ways crazy isn’t a great feeling. Taking 15 credits and trying to get into the Social Work (SW) program has burnt me out over the last ten weeks. It also made me think whether Social Work would be a suitable career choice for me. I realized that some of the things I am doing right now would show up had I continued (I will address the “had” later). I did not think I would be a bad social worker, just an inexperienced one. I have no outside experience to add to my life story. Also, if I am already burnt out with the classes, imagine me in the field. I would be a wreck!

Over a month or so (give or take a week), I have seriously considered changing my major from SW to Community Psychology (CPSY). The reasons behind them really backed it up for me. First of all, I have done better academically with my CPSY classes than my SW classes; also, I tend to enjoy my CPSY classes more. Also, it is already my minor, so if I changed my major, I would just need to take a Statistics class and two other CPSY classes to get caught up. Finally, Psychology is really interesting to me, especially picking someone’s brain to learn what is potentially wrong with them.

So I did what I have usually do when I make a decision of this magnitude, I prayed about it, and I decided that unless St. Cloud State Career Services said otherwise, I would change my major. I talked to Career Services about whether the decision would be wise or not, and they said that would work, so next semester will be my first semester as a CPSY major. I am excited to see where this takes me and I hope I can continue to do well in my major classes as I start heading towards graduation.

I should not be anxious on what I want to do with my future, it is God’s, not mine. He knows me better than I know myself. I may even do something completely different to what my diploma will say when I leave here. I have no idea what I am going to do once I graduate, but I know that with my future in God’s hands, I should be good.

TCX: What happened, and What did I learn.

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:15:33 -0500

This was my third time at TCX and it was awesome! I learned a lot about God’s character, as well as many ways to change my ways. This is what I learned over the last four days.

I arrived at the Hilton on Wednesday and once I settled in, I immediately went finding people from Project, and I went on an adventure to Target with some of them. Getting food for this week. That night, we had a chance to hear from Tom Henderson, someone who, to be totally honest, I didn’t know about. But he talked about our brokenness and what it’s like to be Fused (The theme for this year’s TCX). After some campus time, I played a TCX mainstay: Ninja. While I didn’t win any games, I had fun anyways.

Thursday, Crawford Lorrits spoke for both sessions. Crawford was one of the main reasons I came back. He speaks so well and is passionate on what he speaks on. In the morning session he talked about abiding in Christ, as mentioned in John 15. It was an interesting talk. Basically the main thing that I took away was that I let Christ abide in me when I came to know Christ almost 8 years ago, but I need to abide in Christ, and live fully and become a light in the spiritual darkness of the world. In the night session, Crawford talked about the character of Jesus. He said that Jesus not only had a impact with his three year ministry on Earth, but made an impact even before He was born. Seminars were also offered today. I decided to go to the seminar “Our Father in Heaven”. It was about prayer and how we should be fervent and enthusiastic in how we pray, not something that we feel we have to do.

Friday was our day of outreach so we went out to the inner city delivering food boxes to people as well as to share the Gospel of Christ. Also getting equipped at the Morning session. We got the chance to hear from Candice Siewert. She does a lot for the international partnerships for the Upper Midwest region (East Asia, Australia, 4th Journey, France, Ghana and Uruguay). She talked about the Parable of the Sower, something I learned about on Project. She talked about the different types of people, related it to our day of outreach, and talked about her hilarious experience on the farm. It was what I needed to go out this afternoon. It was my first day of outreach since Project and while I was nervous, I was excited as well. That night, Crawford talked about keeping the sense of mission, especially after today. The talk also made sense because the session highlighted the international partnerships we had. Crawford talked about the nature of our calling (Matt. 16:13-19), our commission (Matt. 9:35-38), and our command (Matt. 28:18:20). Since the day was so long, I went to sleep afterwards. Yeah I’m getting old.

Yesterday, we heard from Tom, talking about what keeps us from growing in our faith, and becoming fused. The three ways that he ways that kept us from growing in our faith had to do with three things, Our Plan, our pride, and our past. It was interesting on what Tom was getting at. Especially how our past seems to haunt us, and I can see why. We tend to revert to the sins that we had before we knew Christ. After his talk, the emcee, Ben, talked about having secret sins, and gave some time for people to pray and discuss those sins.

The final night of TCX was about surrender. I came into the ballroom to different scenes shown on the screens. They were about how Jesus lived a whole life of surrender from the time he was born to the time he died. I was told to think about those pictures and think about the impact. Then Candice spoke again. She used the practice of Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) to unpack pertinent verses about Jesus’ life on Earth. And she made us think, on where would we be in these verses. From His birth to when He was in Gethsemane praying to God before Jesus was arrested by the Romans. It was a humbling experience for sure. Also that night, we were to make a decision, if you wanted to. It was if you would pledge to spend one year after graduation to serve missionally. After prayerfully considering this, I decided to do this. However, I added something to mine these two words, “or more”. I don’t know what God has in store in my life and I am happy for that. I want to live out a life of mission, to develop a servant heart. In order to radically love Christ with everything we have, we must OBEY what God told us to do.

So what did I learn

I need to be vulnerable to other people, so I can be open to people what I am dealing with spiritually.
I need need NEED consistency in my life, especially in my daily walk. And lastly
I need to pray in a fervent and passionate manner. God likes to be bothered (Isaiah 62:6-7).

I am already excited to go back next year, it will be cool to see this post almost a year from now and see how I have changed.

"I will be at the TCX conference through Cru from Today (12/28/11) until New Years Day. I am excited..."

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:03:03 -0500

“I will be at the TCX conference through Cru from Today (12/28/11) until New Years Day. I am excited to go and grow in my faith, meet up with my campus, as well as seeing some people that I haven’t seen since when I was at North Myrtle Beach on Summer Project. If you are going, great! If not, and you still want to experience a portion of what TCX is all about, you can view a livestream for the conference. The site is here (http://www.gotcx.com/). I hope to blog what happened during the conference (Unless I need to sleep, which I might need). Hope to see you there!”

My Christmas Card-Blog-Thing

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:37:40 -0500

So I decided to do a Christmas Card in blog form. Because I don’t want to bother sending out all of the envelopes, especially if you don’t want to read this. Anyways, you can’t have a Christmas Card without a picture, so this basically summed up my year

As you know, I spent this summer in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on a Cru Summer Project. Over the course of 10 weeks, I was poured in and encouraged so much. If anyone is thinking about going, I will passionately say DO IT! It was a great experience and I wish I could have some of that fellowship back.

This fall, I am rooming with my friend Bobby. It is interesting how we click, but I am more than glad that he’s my roommate. It is a learning experience, but it’s also good seeing where he’s at. For example, I wanted to start a prayer group on campus. Not only that he agreed that such a thing was needed, but he and a friend of ours actually ran away with it, and I thank them for that because of how well I do things (coughsarcasmcough).

I am hopeful to see what 2012 brings, I am applying for the Social Work program so I am nervous, but I really hope I can do this.

Thank you and DFTBA!

What do

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:40:06 -0500

So you want to go on a (Stateside) Summer Project...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:35:00 -0400

Do you want to go on a Summer Project? Do want to impact the world for Christ? Do you need to gain experience to bring back to your campus? Well I can help point you in the right direction. As someone who went on a Stateside Summer Project, I have seen what happens on a daily basis.

This is what happens on a given week on a stateside Project. On Project, you most likely need a job (it depends on the project, but for Projects like North Myrtle Beach or Ocean City, you do). This is what you do during the day (Except Sunday and one other day because of discipleship). However, this is what happens during the week. On Monday, you have Bible Study with your staff discipler. We studied the Gospel of Mark, but of course it changes with the Project. Tuesdays we head out to either the beach or this place called Barefoot Landing to go sharing. If you are reading this and the fact that sharing the Gospel scares you, don’t be scared. You will get used to it. On Wednesday, we have reflection night, otherwise known as Date Night with Jesus. You spend about three hours reading the Bible or doing other things. On Thursday, we would have our weekly meeting which would be like any other Cru meeting at school. We will have worship, games, announcements and a speaker who will give a talk. Friday is your free night to do things on your own, or with groups. Some things that we would do is go out somewhere, or hang out on Project property. On Saturday, we would have a project social. We would eat, and do something as a Project. We did things like a scavenger hunt, a movie night, and a softball game against the staff. And on Sunday we would have Sunday school where we were equipped, and we went to Church, and had a meeting that night.

So if you are reading this and you have not been on a Summer Project, you might be a little intimidated. Let me tell you, it was a little intimidating having to meet 97 people I have never met in person (outside of Facebook). But once you arrive on Project property, everyone welcomes you like family. I guarantee you will have one of the best summers you have had. You get poured so much spiritually that by the end of the summer, you may seem exhausted spiritually, but you can take what you learned back to your campus and initiate these changes. Also you get to be someone to persuade people to go on future projects.

So I think you are wondering about questions about how I can pay for it or if you’re wondering what project to apply for, you can go to www.gosummerproject.com for those questions. I hope this helps for anyone who are thinking on going on a summer project in the future.

What music am I listening to these days?

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:30:15 -0400

I love music. I mean, if there was no music in the world, where would we be? Here are some bands that I’m liking especially now.

The Waiting Kind- I first learned about this when the band followed me on Twitter (shameless plug: I’m at keithgraham91). Out of curiosity, I checked them out on Spotify, and what I heard was so awesome. I immediately followed them back. I continue to listen them now.

The Waiting Kind is a indie Christian band from Boise who wants to see everyone be touched by by their music, no matter where you are at spiritually (http://www.facebook.com/thewaitingkind?sk=info). This is one of their songs that I first listened to by them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYHjFCxzXOc

Deas Vail- This band I only discovered today, and this band is awesome. The band is translated to God’s Humble Servant in a combination of Latin and French. But any language the band is named, it is a pleasant name regardless. The sound reminds me in a way of Relient K.

I first learned about this through a Youtuber named Naveregnide, who usually talked about the band, or would show a poster of the band in his vlogs. But curiosity was how I got into them. This was one of the songs that I listened to because of how resonating it was to me. So here’s that song…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-3_dAVJIrQ

Gungor- Okay, I love this band anyways, but I have a renewed love since I downloaded their new album “Ghosts Upon The Earth”. I knew about Michael Gungor for several years, but I never knew that he was in or he formed a band until my church at school played “Beautiful Things” in worship. Because I am pretty sure you are familiar with this band, I will post a song from their newest album. If you are not familiar with the band, I recommend you listening to them because they are an awesome group of people making God known.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vHFsXOdTt0

These are just a few of the bands I am interested in right now. I am glad these people are giving God the glory by making music that people can listen to, no matter what situation they are in.

mission:prayer (working title)

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:31:49 -0400

One thing that I definitely wanted to see after leaving project was a prayer group that would earnestly pray for the world and for the campus. I think I make the first step tonight. What happened was my roommate had a prayer meeting tonight. It made me wonder that we can make a prayer group, with a few times to accommodate the busy lives of students. This is a “sketch” of what could happen with this project is the following.

To create prayer that would be glorifying to God, and to pray for all things, including revival and awakening for this campus and for the world.
To create worship and prayer opportunities outside Cru to praise God.
Creating 24/7 prayer, because God called us to be watchmen all day and night so we can pray to Him and to keep bothering Him until God hears us (Isaiah 62:6-7).

So these things are what I need to get this thing off the ground. I need people to support, pray, and join me to help start this project. There is no way I can do this alone. I want to start this group tentatively next semester, Lord willing. So the more people that can help me and support me planning this, the better. One last thing, I thought of a working name for this and the best name I thought of was mission:prayer. So let me know if you can help me and of course, prayers are always needed. Thanks everyone!

Fall Getaway: Recap

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:07:06 -0400

Hey y’all, I got back from Alexandria, MN for Fall Getaway. Because I was on the Special Events/Operations team for Cru, My team planned the weekend with a staff member. It was cool seeing how this weekend played out. Our main Speaker, Bob Francis spent 30 years as a staff member with Cru nationwide, until about 4 years ago when he is now working at the headquarters in Orlando. It is cool hearing insight from someone who has spent that much time on staff.

The first night Bob talked the idea of faith and how Abraham stayed faithful to God even if it meant almost sacrificing Issac, his son (which alludes to the Gospel in Genesis 22). In a way, it was great hearing the fact that while Abraham lived, the Gospel was being stressed. Saturday morning, Bob gave had to do with hope and eternal perspective. And that night he talked about love being the core motivation to live out our lives. Sunday morning, Bob tied all three talks together after answering questions from the students.

What I personally got from the weekend is that I need to be a better steward with the life God has given me. It is easy to find other ways through my effort, but ultimately, I need to give it to God. I need to give up my time and my finances. I need to be smarter with these things and not squander it on lifeless living.

My Testimony

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:42:19 -0400

I have no idea why I haven’t cranked out my testimony yet, but I have free time, therefore, I am doing this. Here it is.

I cannot say whether or not my parents were believers when I was born. On one hand, I was baptized when I was a baby. But on the other hand, we never went to Church unless it was either for a holiday like Christmas or when we were at my grandparents house. When I was in First Grade, one classmate asked me whether I believed in God or not. I didn’t know what to think, and it was that situation I mentioned that baffled me. I unfortunately had my parent’s temper and I also started swearing in sixth grade. I also had a jealousy problem It was something that I thought was normal (coming from my parents), and when my friends swore (especially with classmates), I thought it would be cool to swear too. But at home, I was this good son who wouldn’t swear. It was like living a double life.

In Seventh Grade, my mom was thinking about joining a church. I was reluctant at first, but after, but I came with later on. My parents enrolled me into youth group and was surrounded by guys my age. My friend asked me to come to this camp in Northern Minnesota called Northern Pines. I gained some friends through this and it was there that I accepted Christ as my Savior. But I didn’t fully see what that looked like. I knew that I needed to pray frequently, and go to church. When I was confirmed, a lot of the people I was confirmed with left the church and they lived for their flesh, I wanted more teaching, so I wanted to go to senior high youth group.

The summer before my Senior year -of high school, I was touring all these colleges to see what fits me (it was through community ed.). I was touring UW-Stout, and when I read their organizations, Campus Crusade for Christ came up. From there, I wanted to join in. It also wasn’t until my second mission trip to Tennessee that I really started to “get” what it meant to be a Christian. I came to St. Cloud State immediately coming to serve my Spritual life, I joined Cru, started to find a Church, and joined a Bible Study (and I kicked my swearing habit!). But, I needed the motivation to actually find a church, pray, and crack open my Bible (I sometimes still need this!). I was discipled even though I was taking 16 credits.

When I got back to campus to start another year, my Bible Study leader last year told me that my discipler no longer followed Christ. It was a buzzkill for me. After our fall conference, God was telling me what to do with my summer. After some praying, God was calling me to go on a Summer Project to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was an awesome summer and I met new friends as well as growing in the Lord. I learned a lot about sharing my Faith to others and about Prayer. Needless to say, it was an awesome summer.

My life is set before me, it’s not mine, it’s God’s. I am willing to see what He has for the rest of my life. What happened in the past is over and it is forgiven to my eternal Father.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.-Hebrews 12:2

My Importance of the Gospel

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:00:35 -0400

One of the things that God has been teaching me this semester is the importance

of the Gospel to my life. I know how it is important to me and I have shared it

this summer. However, being the person who I am, I need to make it clearer, and

Lord Willing, I can make Him better known. God has revealing this to me

through quiet times, friends, sermons, and at Cru.

When I say about the importance of the Gospel, I mean the importance

to my life. I have shared the Gospel to many people when I was in North Myrtle

Beach, telling them how important the Gospel is to their lives, but I need to

learn specifically what it means personally. One thing that I have identified is

how broken I am. I know I have sinned against God, and let’s face it, we are

all Prodigals (Luke 15:11-32) and we have followed away from our Eternal

Father, but we all need to identify that we are broken and without Jesus,

we have nothing going for us. But thanks be to God, he sent His son to do

ministry, taught 12 of His friends to do further ministry, was persecuted and

tortured, and died and came back, knowing He saved everyone who may know

Him from an eternity apart from God. God loved us, so he sent His Son to do all

that, and spend an eternity with His creation, us.

If you want more info of what I believe, don’t be afraid to let me know. I would

be more than happy to talk with you. This is important stuff and if you are

interested, that would be awesome. What is your importance of the Gospel?