Radical Christian

If Tomorrow Never Comes

2011-03-07T23:56:00.000-05:00

I want to start this off by saying, YES, I do know that the title of this is a Garth Brooks song. I just happened to play it tonight on my way home from life group and it has really convicted and inspired me. I am writing this to share my heart with you, and I hope that this will also open your eyes to live your life differently. If you haven’t heard it listen to it before you finish reading this and see if you get inspired and or convicted by it. Try to think in a spiritual way, not a romantic way.

I listen to it and I think about James Eunice so much. If you don’t know who he is, he was 17 year old high school student who drowned on January 15, 2011. He and I were not really close but we were close enough. There is not a time I saw him that I didn’t get or give a HUGE man hug. Well on January 15th, tomorrow for him never came. He had a very short 17 years to love God, and love people as much as he could. I can honestly say, that is something he did very well! His life has made the biggest impact on this city I have EVER seen before. I am not writing this about him, but he is such an amazing example of what I am about to talk about.

Think about the title for a minute, If Tomorrow Never Comes. Then think about that being true for you right this second. What if tomorrow never comes for you? What would you change in your life if you knew tonight was your last? What if you read this, and tomorrow night is your last night? Will you allow this to transform your life if only for one day? What if that one day of change made an entire city change? What if you have a year left, and that year changes thousands of lives? What are you waiting for?

As I sat in my Jeep on my way home tonight these are all questions God threw at me. What if tomorrow never comes, will I be with him? Will people look at my life and see Jesus with a different face? Will my actions in my life change even one person? As I lay in that little box in the front of a church, will people have a chance to look at me and say, I wish he knew God? As they look in that box at my lifeless body, will they say to themselves, that guy was messed up? Or will they see an empty vessel that once carried the power of a living and eternal God? Will they say that Josh Hewett lived his life as an example, the same example Jesus did?

Those are a lot of questions. I urge you to read them and don’t take them lightly. Read them all again. Take time and let them sink in. Do you see any of those being said for you when your tomorrow doesn’t come? If so, are they good or are they bad? If they are bad, and you want to find out how to have the better ones, the answer is Jesus Christ. He lived and died and rose again, FOR YOU. If you have any questions about this Jesus, please message me and I will do my best to let you meet my Jesus.

Another song I listened to that made me think was The Dance, also by Garth Brooks. It is a song about life aka the dance. Life is a gift given to us by God, and how we dance that dance is our choice. I have danced my dance my way A LOT, but God’s way A LOT more recently. If you are dancing a bad dance, God is the best choreographer. In this song he says “I could have missed the pain, but I’d of had to miss the dance” In other words, he could have skipped the hard times, but if he did, he wouldn’t have lived his life. We can put ourselves in a closet and have people bring us food so we can live. But what kind of life is that? Wouldn’t you prefer having pain, because through the pain comes a stronger better you. You will learn to find Joy in your pain like the book of James.

[2] Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, [3] for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)

How do you count it all joy? In the moment you may not find it joyful, but the outcome and the lessons you learn because of them, you will find joy. In future trials and pain, you will learn from your old ones that joy comes in the morning.

This is about all I got for now. I hope this will IMPACT your life in a HUGE WAY! If you need to talk, you know how to find me! Thank you so much for reading.

Josh

CHRISTmas

2010-12-16T11:50:00.002-05:00

When you hear the word Christmas, what is the first thought that runs through your mind? What does the word Christmas mean to you, and what is the actual meaning of Christmas?

For a long time I can honestly say my first thought of Christmas was "YES!!! I get presents and get to eat a lot of food!!" Why did I think that? Not because I think my parents did a bad job, but because society has taken out the real meaning and made it a selfish thing. It is probably the holiday people spend the most money because it has become something we expect to get things. For a long time I can honestly say that the word Christmas to me meant Jesus' birthday but I never put too much thought into it. Ask yourself if those same things is what you currently think of have thought in the past... I bet it is.

Now things are a lot different. Now the word Christmas means Christ Mass... Let me explain that. First Christ is what you see. It is about Christ, it is the beginning of what he has done for us to inherit the kingdom of Heaven. It is about him. Second is Mass, catholics use this term for their services so to me it means service or memorial in a sense. It is time of the year were we gather together as family and remember Christ. Does that make sense to you? Hopefully it does.

The actual meaning of Christmas is to symbolize and remind us what Jesus did for us. It is a remembrance of 2 HUGE miracles that changed history forever and paints a beautiful picture of Gods love for his people. First miracle, God became flesh. Without this birth he could never have walked the earth as 100% human, 100% God. Well he could, but he chose this way for a reason. The second miracle is he was born of a virgin. Without a virgin birth, Jesus would have been born sinful like everyone else because Mary was not yet married. This isn't me saying Mary was sinless, this is me saying she was pure so she could have a pure child.

We should look at this season in remembrance and it should bring us to our knees because this is the beginning of Jesus' life and our personal example to see what exactly God is capable of through us. He wrapped himself in flesh not only to show us an example of what it means to follow God but also to show us his love and anger. He came to give us something to hold on to instead of just have a picture of this guy in Heaven. He was physical. he is not here now, but his spirit is and it may not be tangible but you sure can feel him all around you when you decide to acknowledge him.

This is all I have for now. I hope by this you will see Christmas in a different way. Remember Jesus loves you so much he came to Earth and died for you. He took the wrath of God for you. Think about more than just his birth, make this holiday a time when you remember Jesus and EVERYTHING he did for each and every one of us.

Masquerade Christianity

2010-08-07T14:08:00.002-04:00

Wow, it has been so long since I have done this! I wish I could write all day every day! God uses me in his time though. The title of this comes from J.T. Cheek, Life group leader, friend, brother in Jesus Christ. One day at life group we went off on a tangent and it all concluded with J.T. saying Masquerade Christianity. It blew me away because that is such an appropriate term for religion in south Georgia.

We live in "The Bible Belt". Most of our southern morals are based on biblical teachings. We are getting away from that now but still a lot of our moralistic ideas are biblical. It's not right for this or that ... You get it. Anyway, This is why Christians look weak to the world, this is why Christianity is so accepted into everyone's lives because they see Christianity is just a word and not a commitment/ lifestyle . When you first accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life it's a lifestyle and a commitment to God.

I don't know a poll but I bet if you asked 10 people if they were Christian on the street that probably 8 would say yes. Out of those 8, how many live that lifestyle? Live their life by that commitment and let Jesus be Lord of their lives? How many of those people do you think see God as enough for everything in their lives? Honestly, I am not there yet... God is enough for me in certain areas and unless I keep myself in check I will fall away again because God isn't enough to me in certain areas yet. I don't know that I can say I know those areas but that's what prayer is for. I want God to be enough for me. I want to always recognize what Jesus did for me on that cross and what that means to me.

I have been privileged to see one of my now closest friends growing so much in his spiritual walk. He seems to be asking all the right question and it is so encouraging to see God working in his life. He too lived a life just as most everyone has, including me, of masquerade Christianity. What exactly do I mean by that? First what does that mean to you? To me I have heard versions of that my entire life People always talking about wearing a mask to cover your true feelings and emotions so people don't know what's wrong with you. I know I have worn a mask for a long time and finally took it off about a year or so ago.

Masquerade Christianity is people living a lie full of religion and not a life full of God. People who pray and read their Bibles day in and day out just to check it off the list for that day. People who claim Jesus' name in public but their lifestyle is a perfect picture of them spiting in Jesus' face on the cross. It is people who will tell you that God is enough and they know their Bible better than lot of Christians, they believe in God and believe what Jesus did on the cross was for them but have not yet bought into that fact that it is a real story not just something on paper. God isn't real to them but they believe. They Bible says in James 2 -

[19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
(James 2:19-20 ESV)

This means that belief is not what it's about, it's about the faith. Masquerade Christianity is people who try to work their way into heaven. They know the Bible, they have the appearance of a Christian, but they have no faith. Again the Bible says in James 2 - (actually the very next few verses from the above passage)

[20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
(James 2:20-23 ESV)

Faith without works is dead and works without faith the same. You can't live your life and have faith in God but not show that, do the works of God. And you can't do the works without faith, if you do what is the true purpose behind your works? Is it a look at me thing, I know my Bible and I want to show you, but is what you can quote all day real to you? Does it speak to your heart?

These are just thoughts I wanted to share... I hope this makes an impact in your life as it has in mine. I hope that you have faith and you have works and that you take off your masks and live a life of God and not of religion. God Bless you all!! Love yall!!!

Please Comment!

Let The Waters Rise

2010-01-26T07:31:00.005-05:00

The title is the name a song by Mikechair. They are a pretty new band but anointed by God for sure. If you have not heard this song I have it on my music blog. You can find that in the top right hand corner of this page, the tab called Christian music, it is the very first post. This song is very powerful and every time I hear it I get more and more connected to it. This is the chorus:

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If you want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

The beginning is saying basically that there is something in my life swelling beyond my control, I can see it coming, and it wants to suck me into it. It is so powerful I can't stand up anymore. Then without a beat they say let the waters rise, if you want them too, I will follow you. Wow, can you imagine doing that? You see something huge coming, it is so powerful you can no longer stand, you look up and say God, if you want this to overtake me let it, I will follow you no matter what. Wow, this is a lot like "I will praise you in this storm" By Casting Crowns, the chorus to that song is this:

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I'm sure you have heard it but have you ever actually listened to it? The power of this song, wow. When I get down this song helps pick me up so fast. Because the message is, God, no matter how bad this get, you will shine in my life. Through even the worst pains, you are God, and you are all that matters.

Both of these songs I would say come from James 1:2-4 "2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

(For those who don't know what steadfastness is, the definition is loyalty in the face of trouble and difficulty.)

Can you do that? Can you count it all joy? I know you can and I know I can, but you have to be close to God, you have to keep God you #1 and not because your supposed to but because you want him to. Through being tested you will produce loyalty to God through all your trials and troubles no matter how hard it is. And through your loyalty to God, you will become perfect and complete. This verse is so encouraging to me. When you are down, read this verse, listen to these songs. God will get you through them! If you need someone to talk to, message me. I have my facebook and myspace posted up top. My ears are open to your problems!

Thank you so much for reading this! I hope this helps you out!! God bless you all!

Intentionality

2010-01-25T21:56:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone, this is my first blog since I got all my sites set up. For those of you on facebook the link is "http://radicalchristianblog.blogspot.com/". This blog is going to be about my new blog pages and my intentions of what to do with them. And soon following I will post another that I feel needs to be written.

My intentions for my new blog are pretty simple. If you look at the top right hand side you will see the link to my other blog (Christian Music.) The purpose of that one is for those of you who want to find new Christian bands that fits your genre of choice. It is also and mainly for the people who are not believers, so they can come here and see that Christian music is actually really good and sounds great. But there is a message in each song so by that they will hear the message of Jesus in a song.

As far as my blogging intentions, not only do I blog to get thoughts out of my head but also to share my view on things with others and for them to share their opinions on the matter with me. If you have read my blogs before you know that I always ask for comments. That is intentional for the sole purpose of helping someone else that is reading it. If you comment it give me a sense of I was right and everyone agrees or maybe I need to look into it deeper. Also what ever you say may help someone else understand what I was trying to say in a different way.

I think thats about it! Thanks for reading

Put down religion, Pick up Jesus

2010-01-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

This is my first note of 2010! Seeing as how I'm only 3 hours into it! haha

First and foremost, I need to thank Spence Parkerson, worship pastor, disciple, friend, but most importantly fellow brother in Jesus Christ! If it wasn't for him this would have never come to my attention! I love you Spence and I'm sorry about missing our meetings! Love you bro!

Ok, this title is so important to me! I have been drug through the mud for a month or so now. Tested left and right, and failed I think every test. God has challenged me and I failed. Honestly, I got to a point where I knew God was right beside me and I understand what he did for me, but I still didn't care... I never thought I would get that way but I did. Spence made me admit it and it was such a relief to get it out. I was going to church, I didn't want to be there, but deep down I knew I needed to be there. I heard some great sermons and still didn't care...

Well, after meeting with Spence one day in particular he said something that has changed my life forever. All he said was, stop trying to be religious and start living for God. So simple but so powerful!!! This is my life motto since that day!The reason this is so powerful is because as a Christian today we think we have to spend a certain amount of time reading our Bibles and praying or we are not really a Christian. The truth is if you put down religion and pick up Jesus and just live your life for him, you will be a lot happier! WOW I love that!

He talked about our callings and said something else that impacted me in a big way. See our calling to us is what God has called to do and we make that seem like we are called into the mission field, to be a pastor, a deacon, a Sunday school teacher. That is a calling, don't get me wrong, but its only a temporary calling on our life. When you read the Bible you will see that we all have the exact same calling. That calling is to be a Christian first above everything else. Live our life for God and spread the word about what Jesus did on that cross over 2000 years ago. That is a calling that is confirmed time after time in the Bible.

This is a little different than my other notes, its kinda just to let you all in on whats going on inside my head. I pray that this has impacted you even if only in a small way. More notes to come soon! My prayer is that God will use me at least once a week to share things of my life and things of his word with you all! Thank you so much for reading and please comment or message me and let me know what you thought! I love you all so much!

The Narrow Way

2009-05-29T03:03:00.001-04:00

3 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Matthew 7: 13-14

Read that and read it again. Think about what that means to you.

"Enter by the narrow gate" - to me this is simply saying the narrow gate is the right one to enter through without having read the rest of the above scripture.

"For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many." - This is something that is so hard for us to comprehend. Not everyone will go to heaven, actually by what this says, many people or most people will go to Hell because they will chose the wide gate and the easy way. By them choosing that way and following that path, they will find destruction in the end. Pain and suffering for eternity. What is eternity, I can't explain because I don't think the human mind is made to understand what that really is but I know its a long long long time. We can and should try to bring everyone to know God but in the end we can't get everyone and the ones we do get will most likely fall back and chose the wide gate again... We are born to having already chosen the wide gate, it is only by the grace of God that we come to him.

"For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." - From what I said before that narrow gate is the right choice this says that not only is it right by leading to life but it is also narrow and hard to follow. The Christian life is so far from easy but it is very possible. This also says that those who find it are few meaning very few people will enter the Kingdom of God. As I said above we should try to help bring people to God but in the end very few people will stay on that narrow path.

If the way is narrow and you have truly become saved and you take a step off the path by committing a sin God will always pull you back to the path. You can run as far as you want from that straight and narrow path but he will always pull you back. I look back at my life and I have always said I got saved at 11 years old but sometimes I would questions it. I heard Paul Washer preach on this passage and some of the following verses and at the end I got all this from it and realized that since 11 years old God has always pulled me right back to him. Now I walk the path as straight as I can but as a human of course I stray off. the important thing is that I realize I am off the path and God guides me back to it.

This is just something i really felt like sharing with everyone so if you would like to comment or message me or anything, please do! Thanks for reading!

Dancing WIth God

2009-05-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

When I meditated on the word Guidance,

I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.

The movement doesn't flow with the music,

And everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky..

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,

Both bodies begin to flow with the music.

One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back

Or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.

It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,

And attentiveness from one person

And gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "I".

"God, "u" and "I" dance."

God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust

That I would get guidance about my life.

Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings

And mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God, as God abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead

And to guide you through each season of your life.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached.

If God has done anything for you in your life,

Please share this message with someone else..

There is no cost but a lot of rewards;

So let's continue to pray for one another.

And I Hope You Dance Through 2010!

A little Encouragement For The Discouraged

2009-03-12T01:25:00.000-04:00

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31 (ESV)

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Phil 4:13 (ESV)

Well, I am writing again so thank God for this! I haven't written in a long time about the power of God and try to define him just a little but more. I could never define everything about God but I am surely not going to stop until I am dead. I have been talking to it seems like so many people recently about either coming back to God and giving him a second chance. The above verses seem to come to my mind so much when I am talking to them. To me, I would call these encouragement verses. These verses are so profound. "If God is for us, who can be against us" I use this one to tell people who are very discouraged and just want to give up. I ask them to give him a second chance because with the power of God behind you, nothing and I mean nothing will stand in your way. This verse gives us that comfort for sure and its so obvious. And the second one says "I can do all things" that does say ALL THINGS, not some or a few things. This mean you can do everything you have ever wanted to (within reason) with the power of God at your back.

These 2 verses go hand-in-hand to me. Not only can we do all things through Christ but when Christ if for us, nothing can be against us. I love these verses. This one is not as long and may not be as powerful but I wrote this for the people who needed to hear it. Because everything happens for a reason and I dont know who you are, but Im glad you can be my reason foe this note! I thank God for you!

If this is my first blog/note you have read of mine, please read my others! I pray they bless you as much they have blessed myself and others! Thanks for reading!

Randomly weird feelings

2008-09-17T23:13:00.005-04:00

Ok, I know I do this quite often but here is another one, this on is going to be different from most any others. First off, if you reading this period, Thanks for taking the time to either be nosy or you just enjoy reading my notes/blogs

Ok so first of all, I'm 100% tired of giving into my selfishness and giving into the temptations put in my life. I am doing everything within my power to fix this but that main thing I need to do is just open my heart to God, give him my life. I live my life the best I can for MY GOD but I am only human. As I sit here tonight trying to think of things to do my first lesson/sermon for my youth group I can only think of all those worldy/sinful things I have allowed myself to do.

Right now I am listening to a song call "How he Loves Us", the Kim Walker version, if you havent seen it you need to youtube it and just listen to the words. but its talking about how God loves us so so much. I mean think about it, he died a terrible death, he suffered, and what did he suffer for? He was beaten, and form my understanding you could see his organs through his ribs he was so badly beaten. Not only did he get beat, but carried a wooden cross that later he would be nailed to by his hands and his feet across a town and up a mountain. Then once he got to that top of that hill, he laid there on that cross and willingly let these men hammer nails through his hands and feet. then they hing him up mocking him, as he hung there suffering. Eventually he suffocated fro his own blood. That is so gruesome but thats the truth. Jesus, the human version of MY GOD did all this and for what? He did all this because he wanted to be an example of how to live a perfect life, how to have faith and work miracles. He healed so many people, loved everyone so much and he died for us, for all of our sins. "He became sin, who knew no sin", that is from Chris Tomlin's song Jesus Messiah.

Jesus became our sin so all we had to do is believe in him, believe in his father, except him into our heart and we are saved from an eternity of HELL. he lived on earth for us to follow his guidance and do the work of God as we are created to do. Anyway, Jesus went though all of that so we can act like he isnt real, so we can be selfish and disobey his every command. Why are we so selfish? Why is there so much hate, violence, sex, drugs, anything that is not of God? Why are people so selfish?

Anyway, so think about it. "How he loves us" The lyrics say this

Oh, how he loves us so, oh how he loves, how he loves us so.

think about that, this song is my favorite song and its not about anything but God love for you, Gods love for me. He Loves You, He died for you, he even went to hell for 3 days for you and me. Think about that for a little bit. Jesus went to the worst place ever, for YOU and for ME, and yet we dont believe in him or we just dont care about it. The name Jesus has lost its meaning. JESUS LOVES YOU as do I. Thanks for reading, I hope this has touched your heart and will also make you want to change your life. JESUS LOVES YOU!

WHAT IS LOVE?

2008-09-17T23:13:00.004-04:00

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. 5 It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
1 Cor 13:4-8 (ESV)

I was listening to “Came to My Rescue by Hillsong” on Youtube and in the video I saw a picture where “LOVE NEVER ENDS” was pointed out and I thought I want to find out where that is in the Bible and read on it a little, I don’t know why it struck me but I wanted to read it. So I did, and I found it was loacted in 1 Corinthians 13:8. I read the entire chapter 13 to find out why the writer, in this case who would be Paul I believe, would write Love Never Ends. As I read I found out that LOVE is not only a very powerful word, but if you have true love, nothing will get in the way of you the one you love. Nothing can get in the way of you and the one you love.

I think these verses decribe and define love perfectly. This may not help you understand the feeling, but it will help you understand that love is way more than just a word. As I was sitting in church yesterday morning Pastor David said he hates the word Christian because it has bene watered down so much, because someone who does not live a Christian lifestyle calls themselves a Christian just to give themselves a religious label. I would say the same thing about the word love, I don’t hate the word but as we all know this to has been watered down, because a 13 or 14 year old tells their boyfriend or girlfriend they love them when really, they have no clue what love is or maybe even means.

I don’t have an inspiring words, I just wanted to share this with all of you. Read the above passage a few times if you have to, but read it and make sure you understand it. And when your done, think about the word love and hopefully, your view on this word has changed. God Bless You All!
Josh

The way God works through us is Amazing!!

2008-09-17T23:13:00.003-04:00

ok so I have a few stories here to tell but they are all great!!!

First story is about a girl I met over 2 years ago I think on myspace, she and I both we and are Christians. We shared stories about God and enjoyed hanging out together. Well as we started hanging out I found out she has 2 atheist brothers. One of her brothers (AJ) and I talked a pretty good but and I would talk to him about God. I didnt push God on to him but I would tell him different things. I found he wasn't really atheist because he believed in a higher power just not God. Well later this girl got married. She married a guy I thought was a druggie but I didn't want to say anything to her to lose her as a friend, she and I haven't talked in a long long time but last night we did. She said that her husband had been into drugs really bad and I think she did, she didn't really say but she did say she had been to jail like 3 times I think. But she said the third time she went to jail she didn't think she would be getting out soon. She said after she got out after a week, when she got him AJ told her had been praying for her and when she came home that God does answer prayers!! Since then he has been going to church and prayer often. He is only 15 or 16 but from what he called atheist to Christian because his sister went to jail... AWESOME!!!

Second, I was on the internet the other day and I found a site a lot like myspace. One thing different is there is a spot where people can talk about a blog or give advice about a blog. I started commenting on one where the girl asked if being gay was wrong. I was prepared and I gave her the reasons it was wrong mainly because God said it is wrong and I gave her Bible verses to prove my point. Well other people wanted to bash God but one person caught my eye. She said she used to be a Christian but she lost her faith a while back. I asked her if she had msn messenger because I wanted to find out what made her lose her faith. She said yes and we started talking. She lost her faith because she had like family members die in like a month and the hurt caused her to turn against God. I said well maybe they are in heaven right now, they aren't suffering so why should you be suffering form them leaving this world. Anyway, push lead to shove and she said she didn't think God would give her another chance. I said God is a second and 10th, and 50th, and 1,000th chance God. He never gives up on us. She said well what should I do, I said pray to him, ask him to forgive you of your sins and ask him to come back into your heart and guide you to become the woman of God he wants you to be. After a few minutes of not talking to me she came back and said now Im crying, I asked why are you crying, she said because I said that prayer and already feel a lot better about myself. She and I continued to talk about God and I offered to help her with anything she needs help with, she said she was going to take me up on that but in the mean time try to find her a church. I havent talked to her in a few days but Im waiting for her to get on!!

I told these stories to show what God can do in peoples lives, he saved 2 people that easily and this has encouraged me to never give up on a non-believer. I want to ask everyone to please keep these 2 people in your prayers as often as possible, God has them back now we need to pray he keeps them!!!

Thank you all for reading!!

Josh

Are You Ready?

2008-09-17T23:13:00.002-04:00

While we were at camp Louie Gigilo asked us many times “Are you ready?” and I thought to myself, am I ready? Can I hold myself in any situation and still bring glory to God? As I thought about him saying we should go to bars and talk about God, aka witness to people, but I thought am I ready for something like that. I have never wanted to drink nor given into peer presure just because I don’t want to do it. The big question is could I go to the bar and not lust over the girls who wear rather exposing atire. Could I hang around people drinking and not talk like I would if I wasn’t trying to live for God. And I don’t mean cuss I mean talking nasty about stuff and making innapropriate comments. Well I would like to tell you all this, I AM READY and I have been tested. I went with a friend to some of his friends house. I didn’t know anyone but just my friend but Im not shy so I quickly began joking and stuff with the guys. Well little did I know they were going to drink. The brought out all pretty good bit of alochol and started doing shots and drinking beer. First I want to say this, the host, the guys whos house we were at, asked me if I wanted some and I said I don’t drink. He said you want a coke, which I have to admit was a very respectful thing and I saw something different in those guys from that momment. Well they drank and we slowy began talking about church stuff and God. One of the guys there started telling me that his finace and I would get along rather well because she to is into church and she has been trying to teach him about God. Well push lead to shove and before I left he said he wants me to help him understand also. This guy was drinking a beer, not drunk but drinking, and told me he has to stop drinking mainly for his kids but that he wants to be more responsible. Im waiting for him to add me on myspace and or facebook and I will begin my witnessing. And I will go full throttle because he is really wanting to know. And the other friend I wrote about in my last note/blog, I havent been able to talk to him yet, but the time will come!!! Thanks everyone and please continue praying for me as I teach this guy about God and what God has done for him and why he should live for God. I love you all!!! GOD BLESS!!!!!

Are you truly a Christian?

2008-09-17T23:13:00.001-04:00

I'm back again with yet another piece of something I would like to say. I must admit it is rather frustrating when you look at people who say they are Christians but they love to party, get drunk, and many many other things that are against the Bible. I know its hard to live a life like Jesus did but most people are not even trying and I can believe at the people who will tell you they are true Christians. They probably know the Bible rather well, some know the Bible way better than me... But so do Atheists... And the true believers in Jesus Christ wonder why it is so hard to make someone who don't believe to believe... its because all these people that claim to be Christians but don't have a true relationship with Jesus Christ. I would like to challenge anyone reading this to pray about it first, then go after your friends that say they are a Christian and get drunk every Friday or Saturday. The only thing about this is, if you are the person that says I want to do this and you start praying, and then you take your first step, what ever it may be, to witness and talk to these people, MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY AND DON'T LET THEM DRAG YOU DOWN. I am also talking to myself when I write this and I would like to ask anyone and everyone to pray for me because I am about to take on the challenge of witnessing and trying to prove God to an already believer that has fallen. He has questions that to me seems he isn't saved at all but he claims he is I think. It will be a tough road but God never said it would be easy... Thanks for reading and God Bless!!

What kind of friends do you have?

2008-09-17T23:13:00.000-04:00

1 Corinthians 15:33
NIV - " Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
NAS - "Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

From this scripture you can get what you want from it but this is what I get. First I put 2 different versions of the same verse because they both help you understand it differently. I like the NIV where it says "Do not be misled" but then I like the NAS "Bad company corrupts good morals" to me this is what it means. If you are trying to like a Godly life but your hanging out with people who arent Christians or people who say they are and dont try to live the lifestlye then they will influence you. I have seen this a lot and actually I have done this myself before. To anyone who is reading this please try to improve who your friends are if you want to live for God.

heres a small story about something that happened to me and one of the first times I ever have seen God show me what he meant besides just telling me through other people. I was at my hotel room in Pigeon Forge in Tennessee. I randomly woke up at like 6 even though I had only slept for a few hours I was fully refreshed as if I had slept for 10 hours. Anyway, everyone was still asleep and I wanted to just go sit on our balcony and talk to God.

After getting dressed I went outside and sat down. TO explain what I was looking at, there was a big creek or small river, how ever you want to say it, in front of me. And as I sat there I began to just talk to God. Not askign for anything, just thanking him for being the God he is and for everything I have been given. As I sat there I saw 1 duck fly into the river. a few minutes later about 6 more ducks flew into the river and swam over to the other duck that was alone. one by one the ducks began to fly off but the first duck to come never left. within 5 or 6 minutes the duck was alone again. then again one by one a duck would fly in and swim over to the lone duck. before he swam away there were like 6 other ducks together then they all flew away together. This is what all this means.

God sent the ducks to me to show me what would happen to me as I got closer to him. The lone duck was me. He showed me that at one time I had no friends meaning when I was a baby. As I grew up I began to get loads of friends but I didn't have a relationship with him so I began getting the wrong friends. Then when I decided to have a relationship with God I started losing some friends. the closer I got the less friends I had until I felt like I was all alone in this world. But as I continued living my life for him I started making new friends. and by the time the all the ducks flew off together I had more friends and better friends then I did before.

The moral of this story is the closer you get to God, the less friends you will have, but you will in the end have more and a lot better friends than the ones you will lose.

If you read this please comment and let me know what you think. I hope in some way this has touched you and will help you somehow in your life. GOD BLESS!!