"God's not dead, He's surely alive,

living on the inside, roaring like a lion!"

it's never a mistake to do something God is calling you to. never. i was reminded of this a couple of times in the past two days, once by a roommate and the other through pretty typical circumstances.

..:: way 1
my roommate, chaz, is probably the most obedient dude i know. the LORD has taught chaz what it means to be both sensitive to His Spirit and to surrender everything chaz wants for kingdom work, for the LORD's work. case in point: chaz went to starbucks the other day and felt like God was asking him to just tell the dude across the room who was doctorin' up his coffee that "God really does love [that dude] and that the LORD sets us free. " so chaz did it. and nothing at all immediately happened. chaz was a little discouraged, but didn't doubt for a second that God was using that somehow. so when chaz felt God urging him to tell some random lady and her kid the same message 2 minutes later in that same starbucks, he did it. willingly and faithfully. and the same reaction occurred - nothing at all immediately happened. so chaz thinks the LORD was just testing chaz's faithfulness and is okay with it...he goes back to drinking down his coffee and just chillin' out. then another lady - whom chaz hadn't talked to at all during this whole time in starbucks - approaches chaz and says this, "God told me to come to starbucks today because i asked him to show me that He was still at work in athens; i heard everything you said to that man, then to that lady and her kid." God used chaz's obedience and faithfulness to encourage His body of believers, that woman in particular. boom-shocka-locka-boom! the LORD is good and we are so ridiculously blessed to be used by Him, to partner with Him in the amazing Truths and Realities that He's unveiling all around us. He's awesome.

..:: way 2
i didn't want to go to wesley tonight because i had a feeling God was gonna move like something fierce. and i needed to write some lesson plans for school tomorrow/had an assignment due at midnight (yes, the same midnight that is quickly approaching as i write..what can i say, i wanna get this stuff down while it's fresh).you know the next part of the story...i went to wesley anyway. because really if there's anything of true worth that i've learned the past few years it's that God is way bigger than any assignment or obligation. that doesn't give us license to use God as a scapegoat for not doing our work or for being irresponsible at all...just means that being with God, in His Presence is more valuable than anything else in the world. period. so how did he unveil the value of faithfulness here?? he shed some ridiculous light on a couple of truths that i needed to hear, and did it while giving me plenty of time to eat & finish my assignment on time. it doesn't matter what my circumstances are - hardship, struggle, & suffering or peace, pleasure, & rest - God is always worthy of my praise and He knows exactly what He's doing (romans 8.28).

not quite yet

been awhile. the fact that i've been scrambling most every day to prep for the next day of school has something to do with it being such a long time since my last post.

that being said, today's blog is not [directly] about school. thankfully it's about way more. the lives we were made to live do not boil down to do's and don'ts, rules and regulations, "achieve _______" and "achieve ________." we were all made to do ultimately do two things that i can be sure of: (1) love God with everything we have (heart, mind, soul, strength) and (2) love others. if you know the LORD i speak of, i doubt you will argue much with those two things. doesn't mean you'll always like them looking through your own perspective, but when you take a step back none of us can say that anything of worth in our lives is truly centered on anything else. these two commandments are at the heart of who we are.

over the course of this semester, i've had the chance to spend time with enough friends and acquaintances that feel like they have little or no direction in life past graduating from college to conclude that degrees don't equal direction. our degrees and past experiences definitely play into preparation for where we're going, but they don't dictate the course of our lives. let's look past the fact that we aren't 100% where we're going though. we need to pray, think, discuss, seek out where we are going (or rather where He is taking us). if you're anything like me you've gotten hung up on trying to control the details way too much, though. so try this instead of playing out every little detail: pray for direction, clarity, and passion. and devote yourself to whatever kingdom work you have been given during this time. do these things as much as possible for the next week with me & let's see what happens.

let me know how it goes for you? for now, i leave you with a thought from j.foreman & co off the latest switchfoot album, 'hello hurricane'...


if it doesn't break your heart it isn't love
no, if it doesn't break your heart it's not enough
it's when you're breaking down with your insides coming out
that's when you find out what your heart is made up of

"yet"