Can I have a piece of that....wait, gimme ALL of it!!!!

Numbers 33:50-56

Upon conversion, we become a new creation! The work of God's holiness begins in our lives. He leads us to become more and more like Him and less like the world around us. Upon inheritance of the Promised Land, God commanded the Israelites to "drive out all of the inhabitants of the land". Now, that's a tricky little word. "ALL" means, quite simply, all! But, somehow, we always reduce it to only meaning "part of" or "just a little bit" or "just enough to get me by". Especially, when we are talking about the things of God (Don't worry, the Israelites had a tough time with it as well). When we begin to seek the things of God, the things that do not honor Him should not even be on our radar. But the truth is, a lot of times these are the things that cause us problems because it seems like they are constantly in our face, tempting us and leading us to make poor decisions. This is where that tiny, confusing word, "all", comes back into play. God clearly told the Israelites that if they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land (Remember: He said ALL of them!!!) that they would be "barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides". Are you seeing what I'm seeing yet? There are a lot of things that we keep in our lives that don't honor God. We keep them there because we don't want to completely let go of it or we think that they're not that bad and God wouldn't really mind. When, in actuality, these are the very things that bring us down and slowly hinder our relationship with God. So, the question is, have you driven out everything that does not honor God? Don't let something so simple hinder your relationship with Almighty God!

Game on...

Sunday Worship...

Sunday is going to be AWESOME!!! I wish all two of you could be there with us!!! Despite the fact we are leaving for camp right after the service the worship set is going to be, well, let's just say I can't wait...

You Never Let Go
Glorious Day
We Fall Down

Sermon - Parable of the Talents (w/ special Compassion video)

Jesus Paid It All (Oh Praise the One)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Forever

Oh, I can't wait! For real...

Later.

I got a hankerin' for...

I'm completely pumped for our summer series that will be starting up June 25. It's called CRAVE. The basic idea is found in many verses but one is Matthew 5:6. There are many many things that this crazy world throws at us that are appealing to our fleshly desires. Before we realize it, we are hooked on these things and we begin to desire them intensely. Basically, we begin to crave them. However, many of them do not honor God. Instead, they honor our own selves. Its the thinking of "if it makes you feel good, then do it" regardless of the consequences and whether or not God has anything to say about it. The goal of this series is to reverse the thinking of satisfying our natural desires and put the focus on living a life that is pleasing to Jesus Christ. Christ calls us to be set apart from this world and live for the fulness of the glory of God the Father. My desire is that we will crave a life that is pleasing to the Lord, bringing glory to the Father and lifting up the name of Jesus...

Hope you got a hankerin' for Jesus...

Bring it...

Voices?? What voices...

Are those voices in my head???

It’s no surprise to me that the way we live our lives affects our service. Now, I’m not talking about the outward appearance of things. You know? The way people see you in everyday situations! Don’t misunderstand me. This is extremely important but to me its something that is obvious—common sense (disclaimer! not everybody has it!) leads us to be on our “best” behavior when we are around people. Unfortunately, this leads to many people joining the masquerade, prancing around with their masks on, and covering what’s really going on deep inside.

As Paul writes to Timothy, he says, “I thank God whom I serve…with a clear conscience…” This has really caught my attention because when I look at it and really think about it, I think about what is really going on inside my own soul! I think about what my heart must look like in the sight of God! I mean, I’m talking below the surface here! I’m talking about the depths of what REALLY drives me! Do I serve God with a clear conscience? Am I able to serve God with a clear conscience? Is there anything that needs to be cleaned out and cleared up that is hindering my service to God?

I invite you to stop and think just for a minute and ask yourself this question.

Here’s to a craving for things of Christ that fully satisfy rather than ungodly insufficiencies!

2 Timothy 1:3

Graduation...BOOYAH...

Hey...

The time has finally come...

As it stands right now, in 4 days and 3 hours, I will be FINALLY walking across the stage, shaking hands with Dr. Kinchen (I should tell you a story about him), and receiving my diploma (Bachelor's of Christian Studies). I don't even feel as if I fully understand this. For the past four years I have always had school work to think about and now, all of a sudden, it's gone. Not that I don't mind, but I have to be honest and say that I will miss it, the class time especially. Not so much the papers, midterms, and finals but for sure the class lectures where I seemed to have learned the most (yes, I am one of the few who actually listen)...

So, here's to the close of a LONG chapter in life (so it took me 11 years, who's counting???)...and many more blog entries...

game on

more new adventures...

Sunday is BIG...

For those of you who don't know, Sunday is my first day at Wakulla Springs Baptist Church (it's in Wakulla, duh! which is in Crawfordville, duh!) haha. I am really excited to continue to watch God work in this situation as He has already done so much. Unfortunately, starting new means leaving something behind. First Baptist Gantt, you will always be a part of me and I will never forget the lessons learned, the relationships built, and the crazy good times we had together. May God bless you all and please don't ever forget that you can contact me at any time. I love you all...

That being said, back to Sunday...

Worship set list...

Glorious Day
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)
Forever
Mighty to Save
Better Is One Day
How Deep the Father's Love

Really, really excited...I love these songs and I believe the gospel is presented throughout...

If you happen to be down that way (Tallahassee) on Sunday, say around 8:30 or 11:00, feel free to stop on by and visit and join us in worship...

Talk to you guys soon.

Game on.

sick, sad, little world...

i saw this (click on the word "this") and my heart sank. this is what we have to deal with in our culture today. and we wonder why we have problems. we wonder why we don't see the Spirit of God working. obviously, this isn't the only reason but it is a very big one. and it breaks my heart on many different levels. what happened to morals, convictions, and the fear of God. i talk with students that are searching for direction in life and i talk with students that feel the effects of this type of culture. they feel that this is the way that everybody should act, including themselves, and it really hurts my heart.but at the same time it grows the passion inside of me even bigger to show and tell everyone i come into contact with that Jesus Christ is where true love is found; Jesus Christ is the source of Godly acceptance, not worldly, wishful thinking. be encouraged, adults, to teach the young Godly love. be encouraged, youth, in knowing that you're created by an all-knowing, all-powerful God.

game on...

some cool stuff...

i really dig amazon.com...

i'm turning into a book junkie (aka bookworm) but i'm not a nerd, haha! but seriously i'm starting to dig reading books. now, i'm not really talking about fiction books (although there are some good ones every now and then) but i'm talking books on theology and philosophy; christian thinking...

but you have to realized that i have a very simple mind so i try to find books that i can understand...and i have found a few...

so, now, directly from this page you will have the opportunity to look at and purchase the books (among other things) directly from amazon.com (probably the cheapest)...

check back from time to time and see what pops up...

and for the first one (drum roll please)...mere christianity by c. s. lewis...



great read. easy to read. allows you to begin to grasp some of the deep theological concepts that affect every follower of Christ. i know it sounds boring but i promise you it's not...

game on...

i'm back...

hey everybody,

i know it has been way too long and i apologize. since classes started life has been crazy busy but excellent nonetheless. i am plugged into the technological world, too! i am now on twitter so if you want to know what i am doing (it won't be too exciting....most of the time, ha...but maybe) then feel free to "follow" me. it should be fun.

i am curently reading, let's say....14 books! they're all great, too! only five of them are text books by the way! but it's all good, ya know!

stay tuned...

more AWESOMENESS...

more...

this was AWESOME......

hey guys,

i went on a trip...oh, wait! no i didn't...

SNOW!!! (in florida) and the pics to prove it...

last time i saw snow like this was in WEST VIRGINIA!!!

enjoy...

amazing...

i have to admit that i am falling in love with my Savior every day. it seems that everyday God shows me something new or leads me to think of something like i have never thought of it before...

i kind of shared this with the youth last night. i have been reading through the gospel of luke and just finished yesterday morning. the last two chapters deal with the betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. these two chapters came alive to me like never before. as i was reading i could actually feel the presence of God. like in some sort of supernatural way i was actually present while these events were taking place. chill bumps ran up and down my body. i actually had tears come up in my eyes and felt a deep sense of sorrow just thinking of the way Jesus was feeling when he was betrayed, how he was rejected by the very people he came to save, and when he was put through the cruelest of punishments. a murderer was set free. the perfect reflection of Majesty was crucified...

on a divine level i was there and so was everyone else past, present, and future. and praise God that the best part is the truth that Jesus is alive! this is the power of God and the truth of His Word. what other book can speak to your heart as if your life depends on it? none! only the perfectly inspired holy Word of God...

i challenged them to begin reading through the gospels. it doesn't matter if this is your first time or your one hundredth, the Word of God will speak to you and become real to you if you allow it to...

i'm starting on Mark...

God bless

are you serious???

hello everyone (all two of you!!)

alright, how can you not be aggravated at this stuff that's going on with tim tebow and the commercial that is supposedly going to air during the super bowl? it's all over the news and the big question is "WHY?" because somebody out there thinks it portrays an anti-abortion message?? what?? i don't care of you are a gator fan or not but if you call yourself a follower of Christ, this should really be hitting a nerve with you! i mean, seriously!! here's a quote i found here: "we don't need a christian fundamentalist athlete lecturing us about his beliefs." (Jodi Jacobson, editor-and-chief of RH Reality Check). seriously, jodi??? i don't think a guy making a simple statement about how his mother chose not to have an abortion is a lecture! it's pretty much a fact! and its the truth!

praise the Lord for a person such as tim tebow. at least he's standing up for what he believes in amid persecution. also, CBS seems to be standing firm on airing the ad.

this just brings to light the battle we are in as Christians in this world.

please, let's don't take this lightly. to me, this is a big deal. much bigger than a superstar football player in a commercial. this shows me that there are people who are completely lost in this life, completely separated from God. we have to act. we may not ever be on a commercial during the super bowl, but we come into contact with people everyday. no matter how much we might disagree with them, we have to display the love of God to them.

i encourage and urge you to pray, stand firm, and rejoice in the Lord!!

almost never knew...

the new song by the david crowder band, "how he loves" is certainly becoming one of my favorites. i love it. its raw. its honest. its not your typical "worship" song. and it helps you to become intimate with our Savior. i was introduced to the song by my big sis and then actually heard it at exit 2009 and fell in love with it. the next week i bought the album...

so, i have decided to teach it to my kids tonight and as i was looking up the lyrics i learned something that is very intriguing...

david crowder did not write this song! some of you might have already known this but i just found out and figured there were probably others out there who were in the same boat. actually, john mark mcmillan is the songwriter and musician who penned this great piece...

he writes about it on his personal blog (link found under blogs i follow on my page or here )...

check it out. its called "the promenade." and if you haven't heard the song yet, check it out!

hey guys...

i know its been a few days since i have been on here...

school has started and it is shaping up to be a crazy busy semester. good thing is though that this is my LAST ONE!!!! i am super excited but yeah it is going to be busy...

unfortunately, that means i might not be able to express my thoughts as much as I would like but.....that also means i will probably have a lot more to talk about from a variety of different subjects...

so, i invite you to stay tuned, check out the site from time to time, and see where we go...

also, if you would keep me in your prayers i would GREATLY appreciate it...

the coolest sounds...

hello again,

yesterday (thursday) i had my follow up brain MRI (yeah, i had brain surgery) and those things make the coolest sounds...

just letting you guys know how everything went: bad news...still have a brain tumor (i am going to use that until pigs fly!!!) good news...it's not really a big deal!!! Yeah, unfortunately there is still a little bit of the tumor in my brain (official term: residual). but, the doc said that it is not going to be a big deal and that I should have no problem with it, at all. he also said that it is extremely benign, which i take as meaning, well, in short, i'm not going to die from it!! he doesn't expect it to grow any but i do have to have yearly MRI's just to check on it and make sure...

funny how my Creator works! i think He's still letting me know that no matter how hard i try to control things in my life, i can't!! so, like the loving Father that He is, he continually pushes me to trust Him more and more with every little (or big) thing that may come up in life...

that's all folks!

New stuff on the blog...

hey guys,

i put some new, cool stuff on the blog page....like an Amazon search engine: i love amazon.com and have bought many books from there (textbooks mainly) so if anything i write sparks your interest for a book, then search for it, right there!!! Also, there is a google search engine and we all know that google solves major world crises (haha).

so, check it out and have fun...

Wow!!!

Ok, read Luke 14:12-24, then read the last blog...

I think our Father knows what He's doing...

New Adventures...

For those of you who have actually read some of my blogging (sounds so weird but cool at the same time), you may remember the one (the last one, haha) where I was talking about saying yes to God rather than automatically saying no, for comfort's sake...

Well, this one is kind of an extension of that one...

It's amazing when God shows you something in your life, if you truly try to be obedient to His will, how much you become aware of those situations. For me, it's still a struggle but I am recognizing when it occurs and am able to think about what God may be trying to tell me...

Don't get me wrong, ok? A lot of people, when they start thinking about God asking them to do something, automatically jump ship because they think that every time He is going to ask them to become a missionary in India or a pastor in Alabama (haha) or something else. For some, this is the case but not for all. Many times, God works in the smallest of things, the everyday things of life!!!

Now, back to the story...

I was hanging out with a friend (aka., Bob, the B.O.B., Bobby B, Bloom Daddy, etc.) watching football and playing nerf football with his one year old (I got a couple of black eyes, jk!). He begins to tell me that he was going to be coaching the middle school fastpitch team and proceeds to ask me if I would help....I'll give you one guess as to what my first thought was!!! If you haven't figured it out yet, they were: "But I don't have time", "We will have basketball starting soon", "I HAVE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE!!!!" Wow! Those were my thoughts! I wanted to say no so bad!

Well, we started practice yesterday and I was introduced as Coach McCall, assistant coach! I have to say, I had fun! I mean, it was amazing! Doing something I love and helping others along the way....

Now, fastpitch is a whole new thing for me. I have plenty of baseball and slowpitch experience (it's pretty much second nature) but I'm figuring out that the basics of the game are pretty much the same. I am really looking forward to what this season holds and who knows, if I had said no, like I wanted to, I could have missed out on something big...

Again, don't be afraid to test the waters a little bit. Our call to follow Jesus is one that is constantly challenging us to step out of our comfort zones in order for Him to work in our lives so that He can work through our lives, all for His glory! Don't miss the opportunity!

Have a blessed day!

NO, NO, NO....YES!!!

I have told a lot of people lately about how God has been working in my life. mainly with the fact that I like to tell God, "no" when he asks me to do something. I like to stay comfortable in my situations so when something comes up that stretches me a little bit, I immediately duck and hide, run for cover, and get out of dodge. don't look at me like that!!! like i'm the only one!! but do you know what i've learned recently?? these situations in life are when God is trying to bless us! and if we say no to what He asks us to do how can He possibly give out His blessings.if Jesus would have said no, would he have been crowned king of kings? if david would have told God no, would he have been labeled a man after God's own heart? if paul would have said no, would he have been one of God's main sources to write His Word? these are just a few biblical examples but they still had to make the choice whether to say yes or no to what God had called them to do. the same is true for you and the same is true for me. I don't want to miss what God the Father, the Creator and my Savior, has for me. my prayer is that this is your desire as well.

God bless

Control Freak...

We had an awesome night tonight (Wednesday). God amazes me more and more every time. It seems that when things look to be in the worst possible situation, He always comes through and speaks to us in ways that we never see coming…

It was just one of those days for me. You know, nothing was going right, things weren’t happening the way I wanted them to go, and I was just down on myself and life in general. I mean, it was cold outside, which usually means no one is coming to church and I was not fully confident in what God wanted me to teach about…

Guess what that means?? GOD HAD TO BE IN CONTROL!!!

Why is it that we always have to be in control of things? It always works out better on the Father’s terms anyways! So, wherever you are at in life or whatever may be going on, don’t try and make everything happen the way you want it to happen. Just take a step back, trust God, and let it happen the way He wants it to.

The blessings that you receive will come out of nowhere!

Our God is an awesome God! Luke 11:13

Awkward Moments......

Awkward Moments…

Number two…

Pigeon Forge, TN. EXIT Conference 2009.

Ok, I don’t really know how to tell this but it was awkward and hilarious so here goes…

God did some absolutely amazing things this week so please don’t mistake this for something it is not…

we were in sevierville returning to pigeon forge after watching alvin the squeakuel (or something) with everyone else from the conference. van full of twenty-somethings and teenagers. traffic in these towns are CRAZY (to say the least) and cars are bumper to bumper for as far as you can see. well, unfortunately, we were treated for another free show that we did not intend to see. the passengers in the car in front of us begin to partake in, let’s see, extra-curricular activities!!??, I don’t know, let’s just say they were doing more than driving and we’ll call it the “French” version. and their windows were not tinted at all. I’m boxed in driving the church van and absolutely no where to go. I’m kind of minding my own business and all of a sudden I hear a resounding, “OOOOOHHHHH” come from behind me! needless to say, we laughed and watched. I mean, what was I supposed to do? they were right in front of us and I could not get around them! nonetheless, very awkward moment. I told everyone that they were married! hahaha!

the birdsongs...

more sweet music from EXIT Conference 2009 pigeon forge, tn...





sorry no pics from the actual show but that's only because i was running lights for them...

these guys love Jesus, they are all family, and very talented. give them a listen and support their ministry...

sweetness from the creator...

just a few pics of some awesome scenery...

take a minute to think about how awesome our God is and what an amazing, beautiful creator He is...

then think a little further about the fact that He loves you and me more than you can imagine...

WOW!

after edmund...

these guys are amazing...





if you're looking for something different that sounds incredible from talented musicians....this is it!

EXIT CONFERENCE...

to sum it up...

God, driving, pigeon forge, Jesus, lights, cameras, mountains, the Holy Spirit, awesome kids, awesome chaperones, awesome adults, new friends, great memories, snow, ridiculous comments (haha), after edmund, birdsongs, face rocked off, zeb cook, acton bowen, lance (the van), no heat, gatlinburg, FREEZING, numb hands and noses, the Word of God, bass guitars with keyboards on them, amazing light shows, you said what?, the power of God, worship, unity, ONE, broken arm rests, broken seats, alvin, stop yellin' at me, ipods, gold dollars, rivers, driving, taco bell, gideon bibles, ice cube wars, togetherness, brokenness, forgiveness, a call to be bold, and much, much more........

to be continued...