Voicing Heaven in Earth's Language

High calling, high destiny, high stakes, life and death, ultimate. Do not settle for less than fullness. Do not cut the blood of Jesus short. Do not cut yourself short. Refuse that lie and call it what it is: Unbelief, Faithlessness. To lessen the high call of God is to call the blood shed for us insufficient. To settle for a gospel only of forgiveness and to sell the true word, proclamation and good news of God over the earth short is not the Gospel. It is faithlessness. It is unbelief. To lower the standard to a place where human flesh alone can reach it is faithlessness and leads to the lie of pride which says, "See, I can do it." But it's a lie because you did not do IT. You invented a new goal and reached it, selling yourself short of the true goal, the Gospel of God. A Gospel of full redemption, healing, holiness, consecration, and sanctification. A Gospel which established and consummates the kingdom of God in our tangible, literal reality here on eart

Let me qualify something.  I do not know if “friend” is the best word for suffering, but I do know this: “To the pure all things are pure…” (Titus 1:15 NKJV).  All those who are godly will suffer and we rejoice in persecution for Christ’s sake.  We count it an honor to complete the sufferings of Christ in our bodies.   God is granting me the great blessing of finally beginning to understand this a little bit.  Experience has a way of making the deepest of concepts very real and interpreting them to us.  Only because of experience do I now understand what Thomas Dubay says when he states in his book Fire Within , “We ought not to view the relationship [of suffering and growth in prayer] as extrinsic,; that is, as though suffering is a ticket that admits to prayer but without inner causality.  On the contrary, suffering borne with much love and in union with Christ crucified purifies and renews.”  One will never find freedom to suffer if they continue thinking that it is an extrinsic

Am I pretending? Have I lost all vision, or is this just a season where some dryness has hit? Have I walked outside of your word, oh God. How I ask for you to direct me? Am I just pretending, or am I missing it? Where do I go from here? You know my heart to obey You! It's there, I know it is! Do not allow me to miss it. "The call is to die." You have told me this repeatedly. "Be available and listen." I heard this last week. I have experienced much contentment, even in the current season, but today feels aimless and like a sick cycle carousel going nowhere. I feel like I'm going through the motions. I want to go somewhere with You. I know that vision resides somewhere in me. I believe it's in my heart of hearts, where the Spirit of God resides through faith. But, in my mind there seems to be no clarity beyond general "pie in the sky" dreams. I do not mean "pie in the sky" as in "impossible," and lofty, but

Dear Friends, Updates are hard for me to continue, though I imagine that I will and it's because there's so much for me to give myself to in life and sitting at a computer typing an email doesn't seem like a great way to spend my time. However, when I connect it in my mind with communication to those dear to me, it's a little easier to justify. It's also difficult to do because I am in a confusing season right now where not a whole lot is really clear to me. I'm seeing this as a spiritual trend right now in the lives of many around me. It's interesting what God is letting His Church go through internally right now. Perhaps this is not the best place to write from, but here I am. I. Recent Happenings II. The First and Second Commandment III. Our Corporate Covenant and Fellowship IV. Other Lessons and News Some recent happenings: Our trip to China was canceled due to the H1N1 virus. Every case in China came from an American, so China won't let us in.

Dear friends, I have been having the time of my life the past several months as I've continued in journeying with God and the lessons have been innumerable. I am at a stage where my long-term goals are clear and the clear direction of the rest of my life is set and I know the immediate next steps in terms of the rest of my life, but a lot of the in-between stuff is cloudy, that is everything from September 2009, on. What am I doing up until Sept. 2009? Thanks for asking! I covet your prayers for the upcoming summer, as I will be journeying to Harbin, China with my covenant fellowship here in Wilmore. The three of us are going there to pray as we have a calling to the nations of the world and the global Church. We will be tagging along with 7 others from Asbury College and the "official" reason we're going is to teach English for 3 months to students over there. This is a very exciting opportunity since I have greatly missed China since I was there in 2005 and m

Some of you know that I was planning on going to China this summer to teach English over there. Some of you may not have known that. But anyway, that was the plan. During the month of June, things started looking shady regarding that trip because of the occurence of H1N1. Finally, near the end of June, the trip was canceled just as we had suspected. Over the time that we had been planning for the trip (some other friends going with me), several had donated money to the trip, though we had not done any overt fundraising other than one fundraiser that had been suggested to us. By the time people had finished donating to it, we had raised about $730 toward it. Once the trip was canceled, I began to check with people regarding the use of the money. Each one told me to keep it for future ministry opportunities. Fast forward... The church youth group at the congregation I attend was headed for Puerto Rico on a mission trip this summer. A new kid in the church was planning on going

He is. A fountain of living water flows. He is… All-sufficiency. He is… The first pilgrim, perfected in His humility. He is… The One that has called my name and I cannot resist. Nothing will hold me back. I want Him. I want Him. His vibrant voice envelopes me and terrifies me. I cannot resist the gift He offers. I am… In love. I am… Persevering fearlessly to receive the gift of Himself. I am… A nothing who wants everything. I am… Lovesick for life. Fainting for this real-life fantasy. Ravenous for reality. Dying for real passion. Longing for the legacy of the Man to be found in me. I will go to great lengths to die That I might be made alive Truly and fully living In liberation to the utmost Bound by nothing Released to Everything Even to the realm of infinite impossibility For greater is He that is in me Than He that is in the world.