I AM GRATEFUL!!!

This morning we opened up in prayer with the words "because of you"...  I can say that because of you (Generate HIGH) My wife and i can laught, love, hug, and cry with a great joy in our hearts.

This week I was inspired to write a letter.  These letters are to the many High school students that attend Generate HIGH tuesday nights.  It's a letter of love and inspiration because my heart has been touched.

I looked back from this past year and realized one of the greatest influences in my life is this group.  They have moved me and inspired me in ways that I never would have realized without them.  I don't even think they tried to move me, they just show up worship, and i'm blessed.  I am truly grateful for their hearts and devotion to God.

One letter goes to the Girls and another to the guys as they have each poured somehting unique into my life.

I love all you guys!  I'm so proud of you!

In awe!

I was happy then, now i'm just in awe of her.  Rejoicing in the wife of my youth.

PERSONAL!!!

I enjoyed the most beautiful hike with my wife and dog yesterday.  Saturdays often create time for her and I to reconnect with eachother and God. 

I can say i don't know why He would choose to bless us like that, but the fact is we felt like David in Psalms 23.  we walked down that mountian feeling all the things expressed in this chapter.  We felt like we knew Him more, felt safer in His arms, felt rested although an intense hike, Felt like nothing could overpower us, saw beauty on a differernt level and ultimately grew closer to one another in the presence of His creation.

Tony Wood once said that "a change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.  Never felt more ture.

Fact is life gets busy, but what are willing to do to recconect with Jesus?

Ps:  I love my wife!

Visitation Vs Habitation

Visiting someone’s house is alot different than habitating there. Visiting involves 1 maybe 2 meals + shower + bed + other stuff. Habitating there involves 3 meals a day + snacks+ Shower(S) + TV + Toilet + laundry, you get the point.

You know what's amazing in churches; Christians get visitations by God and angels all the time Hebrews 13:2. Remember how good those feel. You get empowered, shake a leg, cry, and go crazy in a good way. Then because it's only Visitation In hours, minutes, or even seconds it's gone.

What about the habitation? 1 Corinthians 3:16 says He dwells in you as you are a temple. The habitation of God is everlasting and available every single day you breathe. Could you imagine the difference? Is it better having God for a day, or having God every day?

The challenge is to conquer the issue that keeps habitation of God from happening. And you cannot conquer until you are ready to confront. Go get em Tiger!

For more encouragement read about Benaiah 2 Samuel 23:20

Habitation Vs Visitation!

This hurt bad.

I bruised my tailbone jumping off these stairs Tuesday for Generate HIGH.

I landed on the bag just fine, but had no idea that 2 girls had been laying on it previous to the jump so the all the fluff was gone, so from 10 feet up i landed right on my tailbone.

ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch!

Nevertheless a great sermon illustration and great night.

I played the whole thing off well. no one even knew.

It's a progression thing!

Are you living in the past?

Remember the phrase “those who don’t learn from the past live there”. It makes a lot of sense right!

Think about this!
Burying the past things that have happened is a crucial part people’s lives. If there dead issues there is no need to hold onto them. There’s no reason to beat a dead horse, but what about the things that we bury alive?

You see there’s things present in my life today because of what happened back then that still influence me. Don’t get me wrong I’m a new creation in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:17, but I can’t bury them because I have not released/dealt with them fully.

Ever been in a psychologist’s appointment? They don’t drag up old things to taunt and hinder people; rather use the information from the past to determine the extent of which it’s alive in the unconscious today. Have you ever refused to look in your past because you still feel trapped in it?

For me I know exactly where certain traits come from and deal with them today. Visit your unconscious clean it out and make way for what’s next. If you don’t then all you have is old beliefs never allowing yourself to experience the new ones. This is why He said…↙

Luke 9:60 says “let the dead bury their own dead”. Jesus had no desire for people stuck in their unexamined past, they are useless to Him. Let the old things be buried, work on the ones that are still alive, and make way for the new.

“Those who don’t learn from the past live there”.