Does this offend you?

<sup>John 6

60</sup>On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

⁶¹Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? ⁶²What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

I appreciate your post Megan. I want to speak truthfully to others about Jesus. Lots of people are waiting for the savior still, and we can tell them he is here. When Jesus talked to the Samaritan Woman at the well (John 4), she said "I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us". She wasn't a Jew and still she was waiting for Jesus! The whole world was waiting for him, but so many still haven't heard.

God has grown me a bit in being bolder and more upfront with people about truth. He has pushed me to ask questions I have been afraid to ask people, to tell people their beliefs are wrong (in a loving kind of way, as much as I could), and even to yelling down a hall in a busy mall at a guy who just blew off the gospel and led his girlfriend to do the same. I love the way Jesus straight out says "Does this offend you?" knowing full well that it did. He lost several disciples after this event, but the ones his father chose, he won't lose. We ought to be upfront with people. Sure, we may look like "fanatics", but we should be! Yes, we will scare some away, but the ones the Father has chosen will never leave. I'll follow Jesus' example.

Understandably, it is not easy to have people leave because what you say is just too hard for them to accept. It hurts. People will say "what happened to you, you've changed". If close people to you haven't left you, trust me, it hurts real bad and it can bring several other struggles along with it. But here is something I pray for.

⁶⁷"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."


We won't leave because we have to have Jesus! Where else shall we go? I sincerely hope and pray that each person on our team will never leave this faith we profess. Satan's lies steal away so many (1 Peter 5:8). Be on your guard against him and hold fast to the truth. I've made this commitment to many brothers in the past, and I make it to you all. If you are mocked, insulted, teased, persecuted, beaten, chastised, hated or crucified for boldly proclaiming Jesus, as long as I still have breath, I will not leave you. I will stand with you as together we follow the God of all and put on Christ in this deceived world. Do not fear man (Galatians 1:10). I sincerely beg and plead with you, never never never turn away. The reward at the end is worth all of it!


⁶⁹"We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

acts 13:7b

i was going over some of my thoughts from this summer. came across this verse...

acts 13:7b- the governor invited barnabus and saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God.

WOW. do people want me to hang around them because in doing so, they'll hear more about my God??! i don't think that is true of me. i want it to be SO BAD, i think that is such a beautiful example of selling your life out for the One you love more than anything in this world. i want that. i want to shine in this way. i want to proclaim the name of my Dad everywhere i go. i want to boast in His Glorious Name.

we can all be so deceived into thinking that others around us don't want to hear about God. this is phony. even when we're persecuted, it DOESN'T matter, it's an HONOR. i want to constantly be praising the name of my Father, who has redeemed my soul from going down to the pit. i want to live to enjoy this Beautiful Light. i don't want to hide it.

so i think this is a great goal, especially with summer coming to an end and a new school year beginning. i want to declare His Name in the dorms, in the classrooms, on campus, on the street...everywhere. i want people to know who they can go to to talk about Christ. i think it's an awesome vision to have in outreach. i appreciate the lives of men and women who have sold their lives out for Christ. what we sow now we're going to be reaping in 20 years...does this scare you or make you excited? it's something to definitely think about. :)

Prayer Request

Big prayer request.

Our sister Heather sent me a text this morning saying she was on her way to the hospital because of a headache she has had for the past couple days. Initial tests and scans and such show nothing wrong, but they wanted to check at another hospital to see if they saw anything.

Please pray for her. She is our sister. Ask that God would heal her and make her feel better. Also pray that if there is something there that needs to be dealt with, that the doctors would find out what it is. Lets come together and plead with God for her health.

wait.

"God's best is always going to be worth waiting for."
this is a quote i heard in a faithwalkers east teaching by george sebek "while i'm waiting" online last night.

i struggle with the temptation to force things to happen, take them into my own hands. i have such a silly mindset that i KNOW what i want. honestly? i have no idea though. it's such a problem in my life. waiting is the most testing and trying thing we can go through sometimes. i want God's ways...but i don't want to wait for them.

i learned that waiting is training. it teaches me faith, perseverence, persistence.
i can't give up on God. even when i'm waiting for things in my life.
the Bible mentions this so much. SO MUCH. we are told to wait.

MY LIFE CANNOT BE IN MY HANDS AND GOD'S HANDS AS WELL.
i'm learning that God has GOOD REASON to make me wait. can i trust that? i have to.
why would God make things difficult for me for no reason? He LOVES me. unconditionally. He wants my best. He ONLY does good things. what a beautiful promise.

i want to completely trust in God's heart. He is so good. in every situation, i want to learn to let go and trust God. He has a different perspective than i do. LUCKILY, He's God and i'm not!

i'm trying to learn to TRUST GOD'S TIMING. God is never in a hurry. Jesus had so much to accomplish in His 3 short years of ministry, but you never see Him in a hurry. He was calm, at peace, but PURPOSEFUL. i want to be like Him. patient, and trusting like that. God sees all of history simultaneously, let that be enough to trust in!

if God were to give me everything i asked for RIGHT AWAY, it would probably destroy me. it's silly that i want God's blessing, but i don't want to wait. waiting simply means i have to trust God knows what He's doing and when He wants to do it.

these are super jumbled thoughts...but it's what is hitting my heart, thanks to all i'm learning. i decided that it's okay to wait. i can do this. God is testing my heart, and He will use these delays in life to refine my integrity. they are SOVEREIGNLY designed by God to build my character, so i can be spiritually mature. God is so good, in every trial, He is with us, and He is growing us.

"BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD." -God. :) what a beautiful thing it is, TRULY, to wait for blessings from God, and things we think we want.

Crawl

So, I was listening to a CD that my Dad had in his truck yesterday, and there was a song on it that I ended up really liking. It's called Crawl, by Superchick (surprising, I don't usually like them all that much). It's a pretty song, but what really got me is what I thought the lyrics were saying, which I'm not even sure they say anymore (still sounds like it to me).

Anyway, what I thought she said is "And when I have to crawl, well, you crawled too." Whether that's right or not, it still gave me a pretty cool thought: God crawled. Did you ever think about that? I hadn't. But God, the creator of everything, who is so powerful he did it with only his words, who made me and you, and could take everything we know away in an instant, and who is so far above me I don't feel like I could ever really know him... that God; he crawled. On earth. As a baby. And probably again as he was dying.

This week has been pretty tough, and I kinda feel like I'm just crawling along. It's been hard with family, but also very busy at work and also very hard as far as my "spiritual life" goes. I think I would go so far as to say I'm a little peeved at God right now. But something I forget very often is that he knows what this life is like. He lived life, just like we live. He had friends die. He was tempted. He got tired. He had pain. And He even crawled on the ground.

I find it pretty encouraging and awesome that God understands what we are going through like that.

Again with the Cost

I've been hit again today, the cost of following Jesus. God must want to make sure that I really get this. There is no turning back and I have no claim to anything in this world. All I need is Jesus and just like when he told Levi "follow me", I need to leave everything and follow him!


Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

-Luke 9:23



As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

-Luke 9:57-62

Also, here is a link to the full length video of that last one I posted. Probably my new fav song ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4lwYRUwDRM

Make War!

I like this video, hope it fires you up like it did for me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=041jIpPkVCg

Let me go with you!

"The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."

Luke 8:38-39


I'm sure you have all heard me sound somewhat suicidal at times. And truly, I desire to depart from here and go and be with God. Even if it was just before the best day of my life, like the day I get married or right before the birth of my child, I'd rather go see him because I know seeing him will be over a quadrillion times better than those things. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to those things still, but I want to be with Jesus, with all my soul I want to go see him.

Although I may beg him to let me go with him, much like this guy who had thousands of demons driven out of him by Jesus, He still says, "Go and tell how much God has done for you". No sense in arguing with Jesus, I'll just do what He says, He is the Boss. Someday I'll see him, but I will wait patiently and do my best to please Him now.


Good news! My niece was born on Saturday!!! Natalie Jane Maley! There were a few scares, but she is doing well and is healthy. I will be going home next weekend for her baptism (my family is Catholic and it is a pretty big event for everybody). Please be praying for my time at home with my family and that I would be bold and shine for Jesus, telling about all that he has done for me!

Also, be praying for our sister Alicia and her family. I am mourning with you sister and I pray that your family will find comfort and peace in Jesus right now. We all together love you and support you.

So, not sure if this blog is for sharing prayer requests or not... but if not, I personally think it should be, mostly because I'm selfish and could use some prayer. Today has been kinda rough. At about 4:00 this afternoon my mom called me and told me my aunt, Carol, has cancer and that her and my dad were on the way to the hospital to see her. She hadn't told anyone, but I guess she was diagnosed about a month ago. At about 9:30, I got another call saying that Carol had been moved into hospice care, and probably has about 24-48 hours to live, and at the most a week. I don't really know what to ask for in terms of prayer, as I'm not quite sure what to think at this point, other than I know that her two kids can use prayer, as well as my dad (it's his sister), who are all taking it pretty hard. I also know that pretty much none of my family on my dad's side, other than my dad, are saved, including her... If you would pray for this, I would really appreciate it. Thanks guys

Update:
So, thanks to anyone who was/is praying. I just thought I would let you know that Carol passed away today, around noon. I would still appreciate your prayers, especially for the family now. Thanks