Importance of Mentors

In the life of ministry, it almost important that we who are called into ministry appoint for ourselves mentors to disciple, or in other words, apprentice under. Usually, they are pastors, but can also be extremely Godly people that you trust and know to be wise. You usually just pick one main person to disciple under, and have other people around to mentor you as well. The idea is, so you don't misinterpret, or learn things the hard way, and to learn from wiser people so the knowledge can be shared with others. A perfect example of this was Jesus and his 12 "Talmidim" which in Hebrew translates to disciple. They learned everything they could from Him, in order to be like Him, and to spread the teachings of Him to other people. Such as it is with ministry. One of my main spiritual mentors is Pastor Roy Mansfield, who I hold in the highest respects and regards as one of the wisest persons I have ever met. Last Wednesday, we had our last "Experiencing God" small group and it was just awesome. Everybody has cooked all these delicious dishes, (I, of course didn't because I cannot cook) anyways, I had Pastor Roy to visit what he calls his "Counseling Couch" for counsel.

I had a friend who, I will not name for his safety, was contemplating committing suicide. Being a good friend, after he confided in me and had asked for my advice, I gave him the best possible counsel I could but I just could not get through to him. My friend was a person who would never really contemplate these things or even say half of the stuff he was saying, so immediately I sensed the presence of the evil one at work in his life. I went to the one person who I knew could help me with this, Pastor Roy. As I explained what was going on, he gave me the advice that I needed to hear, and then asked for me to start in prayer for my friend. Pastor Roy prayed that we would resist the enemy that was putting such a hold on my friend's life and making him want to commit suicide. After we had prayed, I thanked him and went home. As I was driving home, I received a text from the brother of my friend who told me that "He's ok now, he doesn't want to do it anymore. He's come to his senses."

At this moment, I knew that God was at work here.

Pastor Roy has a saying, "When we work, we work. When we pray, God works." I know now the reality of the truth of this statement. God has the power to do the impossible. He saved my friend's life from a horrible fate. It was not us praying that saved my friend, it was God who worked. My friend went to church and he asked me when me and Pastor Roy had prayed for him, I told him around 7 and he told me that's when he felt better about everything. God was at work that night.

Stuff Contemporary Church Goers like. READ THIS!!

This is a list of musings, and mostly stereotypical views on the modern christian church goers and what they like. I myself am one of those so, I thought I would point out a lot of funny stuff that I've seen within my own church and abroad. Enjoy!

1. Chik-Fil-A (even though it's closed on Sundays)
2. Flip flops
3. Free Music
4. Hillsong United
5. Ultimate Frisbee
6. Attending church functions just for the free food
7. Contemporary Worship Music
8. Rick Warren
9. Conferences
10. Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
11. Making stabs at other denominations, mostly Pentecostal jokes.
12. Traditional Hebrew Language, culture and history
13. Greek language and history
14. Air Conditioning
15. Going out to restaurants after church
16. Not tipping very well at said restaurants
17. Religious Debates
18. Gossip
19. Using words like "flippin" to replace actual cuss words. Ex: "That was soo flippin awesome!"
20. Dairy Queen
21. Traditional "Nap after church"
22. Small groups
23. Advertising. Mostly advertising their church
24. Family Life Radio
25. The "Art and Music culture" scene
26. Attending Art shows
27. Attending Music concerts and local band shows
28. Local bands
29. Avoiding the "rough crowd" at the local band shows
30. Staying in the corner of the local band show with your Christian friends
31. Talk about how badly those people need Jesus
32. Tattoos
33. Fedoras
34. Cabbie Caps, aka Flat Caps
35. Not wearing a suit on Sunday (awesome)
36. Complaining that you can never find a decent parking spot in the church parking lot
37. The back row of the Worship Center
38. Starbucks
39. Mac Book pros, and other various Apple products
40. The Passion of the Christ (even though it's biblically and historically wrong)
41. Mel Gibson
42. Morgan Freeman playing God in Bruce Almighty
43. Trying to figure out ways to pray for somebody
44. Constantly asking "can I pray for you?"
45. Long hair (this is mostly from younger guys to youth)
46. DJ music (again, mostly youth)
47. Toms shoes
48. Africa
49. Texting
50. Texting while the Pastor is talking

God Speaks

A couple blogs ago, I spoke about relationships and feeling called to be single. Now, I realize that it's more real than I had originally anticipated. God spoke to me the other night in a devotional, and it rang so clear to me, it was almost as if that He was speaking audibly and directly to me, and no one else. I study a daily devotional called "Experiencing God" and that night, I experienced Him in such a way that I never have before. I would always speculate or doubt if God was speaking or not, but this time was different. I was 100% positive. It was crazy, I remember reading over the words and then it hit me, I thought it was someone playing a joke on me. I stopped and went "Woah dude...this is nuts". I never heard God speak to me so clear and plain. It was a magnificent feeling that I could never really express to you in words. My mind was blown, my emotions were spinning. At that moment, I realized that God doesn't always have to be so clear in His ways and purposes, but when He does, He changes you. Whenever He decides to reveal Himself to you, He wants You to do something. God doesn't speak, just to hear Himself speak. He has a plan for you to fill out. This is true all throughout the bible. Moses, Joshua, David, Abraham, Jonah, Paul etc, everyone God spoke to had a purpose and plan for them.

Many times, I've tried to get around something that I wasn't exactly sure if God was telling me to do it or not. Today, and even many times before, He made it plain and clear to me but I just wasn't conscientious at the time. I strongly believe God is calling me to be single. Why? I have no earthly idea, but Pastor Roy once told me: "If you could fathom God, or even understand Him within the depths of your own mind, and figure everything there is about Him, then He wouldn't be God".
Obedience, utter and total surrender to doing God's will, and not your own, requires you to go down a path that you might not understand or even see. True faith, is a hard thing to come by for every Christian, we're so used to relying on others or our own understanding and sight, that we become dependent on the very things that let us all down.

Being single, requires the strength to not rely on others to give you happiness and joy. I may or may not be single forever, but if that is God's will for me, then that is where I want to be. There is a greater joy in knowing that my God and my savior Jesus Christ loves me, than anything this world could ever offer me.

One Love

God desires us. He wants us to be in a intimate love relationship with him that is real and personal. If none of us were without sin, then we wouldn't need Jesus. "We love Him, because He loved us first" --1 John 4:19


Let's think about what that means first. We love because HE first loved. This verse indicates that before creation existed, before man, animals and that Starbucks in the mall was even there, God loved us. God knows the past, present and future. He loved us before He even created us. Isn't that mind-blowing? He knew the world would fall into temptation, so He sent His son to die on the cross for our sins. He is the master planner. He knows it before you even think to do. God will always beat you to it. We are not original due to this fact, we merely copy what God has already made possible for us to think.

Temptation is a hard thing to refuse, in any form that in comes in. Temptation can lead to addiction, it can ruin friendships, and destroy integrity. Our minds are nomads. They wander from place to place when attention isn't fixated on what drives us, or in other words pleases us. No one is above temptation, and no one is safe from it. We are tempted everyday in some shape or form, whether it be small as a piece of cake you KNOW you shouldn't have, to as big as cheating on your wife.

Whatever our struggles, we all have them. Sometimes life comes at us like a freight train and makes us forget about God, and then it makes us complacent with out relationship with Christ. God however, desires us and loves us in such a way that he devises a plan to bring you back to Him. Surround yourself with Godly people, who will step in when they see you stumble and fall, pick you up and lift you higher than you ever were to begin with. I've found such people, and they truly saved my life.

This will be hard for you, but try to desire nothing but The Lord, and an intimate relationship with Him. Cast aside all other desires, when they come, refocus your attention on Him. Try this for a week and see how much God will love on you and bless you.

Don't let selfish desires and temptation forget who you are and what you believe in. You are more than any mistake you can ever make, and God is greater than anything you can ever imagine.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.” --Psalm 46:10

Looking for love...in all the wrong places

Ever think that God sometimes speaks through music? As a musician, God knows that He can my attention through music because I have a deep connection to it and I'm always vibing to some song. Lately I've been struggling with relationships, friend and "girl" friend wise, more focused however on the "girl" friend aspect however. I've been trying and trying again but it seems that nothing seems to work out for me. I prayed that God would speak to me last night in my devotional (the first devotional I've had in about 2 weeks) and reveal to me his purposes. This morning, I had a sudden feeling to listen to "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North. It's funny because I haven't really listened to that song it a while, and it collects virtual dust in my ipod. As I was listening, all the lyrics really fuzzed out, but this verse is what caught my attention:

"Why are you looking for love? Why are you searching as if I'm not enough? To where will you go child? Tell me where will you run? To where will you run?"

The whole time I was looking for a girlfriend, I was neglecting God. I thought more of a female relationship than my relationship with Lord Jesus. In my devotional it says that when God says He's going to do something, He guarantees it's going to happen, and that "IT" never works, HE works. The "IT" being a system or way of doing something. I can't replace God with other things. Although I feel really convicted about this, there was another verse that comforted me, and last night, I prayed that God would show me that everything was alright:

"Cause, I love you. I want you to know that I love you, I'll never let you go."

Be Bold

Lately, God has been speaking to me quite a bit and I'm beginning to see a pattern. I sense that God is calling me to make certain adjustments in my life in order for His will and work to be completed through me. God has been hinting to me that I need to have a stronger trust and faith in Him, and that I can say I trust Him all I want, words do not matter. It is the action that truly reveals what I believe about God, whether it be in my relationships with people, commitments or conversations. Also, God spoke to me today about being more intentional and bold with my faith. Yesterday, I got into a heated argument with my father over faith and Jesus, and I felt like giving up, but God spoke to me saying that I do not need to worry, that no matter what trial you may face, as long you trust in Me, and Me alone I will deliver you. It was really reassuring because I fear rejection or loss, feeling uncomfortable or fear of failure. Marty's message today spoke to me almost as if he spoke exactly what was going on in my life, and what I needed to do. That happens a lot in my life, and I believe that is one of the ways God speaks to me in a personal way. We as Christians all face these fears, which makes us silent when the time for boldness arises. The disciples were flogged and arrested several times after teaching in the name of Jesus. After they had been imprisoned, the would go out and do the same thing they got arrested for. After multiple warnings, finally the Pharisees got tired of them and had them arrested, planning to execute them. Instead after a long discussion with a esteemed member of the counsel named Gamaliel, they instead flogged them and let them go. If you are unfamiliar with the term "flogged", it is one of the worst punishments in the ancient society, right after crucifixion. In fact, before Jesuswas crucified, he was severely flogged. They would take whips with glass shards, sharp metal or hooks and whip the victim until their flesh literally was peeling off. So one by one, they were flogged and then set free. Even after all this punishment, they were still not defeated or unwavering in their faith. They prayed to God for even MORE boldness and continued to teach in the name of Jesus. You see, the disciples had a passion for Jesus unlike any other because were firsthand witnesses of the power and might of God. They were even His students! Imagine what it would be like if Jesus came back, and choose 12 people to be his disciples today and chose you, as you were living your daily routine. Let's say you're mowing the grass, then a man walks up to you and immediately you notice that there is something different about him, but you can't exactly find out what. He then asks you this "Come, follow me. Leave behind everything that you know and follow me." If you were put in this situation, what would you do? Would you follow him? Leave everything that you love behind? Your family, friends, job, school, pets everything behind you, and follow a man you never met before? You probably wouldn't, but you don't know what is at work here. You see, Jesus chose His disciples to be apart of a plan that God had started. A revolution that would forever change the face of mankind for all eternity. But...you don't see that, you only see the things at face value. You would probably think this guy is nuts and tell him to leave, but then you wouldn't have experienced what the 12 apostles experienced. To follow Jesus, requires faith, even in the things you don't see. When Jesus approached Matthew, Simon Peter, John etc, they all immediately stopped what they were doing, and left everything , their family, wives children, behind to follow a man they just met. In order to be apart of God's revolution, you must have bold faith. Church, as Christ intended it, was never a building, but rather a movement. He built the foundation His church on this truth: that He is the son of the Living God, who died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again. That is what church is. It's not a building, it is not the idea of "kirche" which is the German word for "Lord's House". It is none of those things. It is a movement that God has started, and is continuing today. Not even the gates of hell can stop this movement that God has started. Sometimes it's about standing up for what you believe, even when you are fearful of the results. Be bold. That's what our armbands at Northstar say. It doesn't mean be rude, but rather stand up for what is right and for what is truth. I am challenged by this messaged and by God speaking to me these past couple weeks. I will have more faith, I will be more intentional with my faith, my relationships and actions, and I will be bold, so that I can be apart of a revolution that God started a long time ago.

Answering The Call

Over the past couple of months, God has been me to do something that I don't quite understand. I trust in God's leading, but understanding the reasoning behind it is what I struggle with. After my last serious relationship ended in January. I stayed single for a while until I met another girl whom I grown very fond of. She was a believer and was very attractive, both mentally and physically. She was artistic, which is very appealing to me. We began talking and hit it off pretty well, but it just didn't work out and the whole thing ended up pretty horrible afterwards unexpectantly. I met a few other girls and the same thing began to happen and I started noticing a pattern. Either a guy had already beaten me to her, or something would happen to where it just wouldn't work out.

I began to sense that maybe God was calling me to be single, but I didn't know why? It was very frustrating to me because I'm a very affectionate person, and I really don't like being single. But then it began to make sense after a while. I felt that maybe God was calling me to be single to help me focus on other areas of my life, that a relationship would only hinder. Also, that by maybe just by being obedient in God's leading, and trusting in Him even when I don't understand the situation entirely, that I might grow more spiritually in my faith and relationship with God, and by being obedient God would bless me with a relationship with a girl that is compatible with me. I feel that I should focus more on the relationship I have with God rather than a girl because that would mean I am seeking earthly and secular things. Perhaps another reasoning behind this is because God is protecting me from being hurt, or falling into temptation with sin.

My logic and reasoning are nothing compared to the limitless and infallible understanding that God has. As you can see, there are many things behind the reason why God is calling me to be single. Many times have I tried but all opportunities have been closed shut for me. Sometimes God calls us to do things that we don't understand or grasp logically. God might call us to do weird things that make us even question if that is God's direction. The thing we have to realize is that by just being obedient that God shows us His plan for us, and that He will give us the desires of our hearts. We cannot think like God. We cannot fully understand God because if we could then He wouldn't be God if we figured Him out. God's power and wisdom far surpass anything you could possibly comprehend. God knows literally everything at all times. I find a hard time following God's will when I don't understand it, but it takes faith. Faith is believing in what you don't see. You might not be able to see the reason or logic behind it, you might not even see the direction the path might be taking you, but if it is God's will, it is always right, and it is always good.

You can trust in a God who already knew and loved you, and created you before existence was even though of. Being obedient takes faith. Faith is doing something without knowing the result, but trusting in God and His leading. God calls everyone to do something they don't understand. God has called me to ministry, and that was the LAST thing I pictured myself doing.

God might be calling you to do something you don't understand completely, and you might not even be realizing it. I am trusting God in His leading and I am responding to Him by being obedient and waiting for Him to show me the right girl for me. Whatever you sense God calling you to do, pray to God and ask Him to reveal to you His purposes behind whatever it is you feel God calling you to do.

We don't always understand what God wants us to do, but if have true faith in Him, and trust in His leading then we can be obedient and respond to God and grow in our relationship with Him. God uses these crisis of beliefs to teach us something about our character, or even God's character. Perhaps a spiritual truth or principle He wants to instill in you. There could be thousands of reasons, but know we can trust in a God who has purposed everything in your life according to His plan. Have faith, even when you don't fully understand the why behind it.