Coward, Immediacy

Ok, so my last entry was when God told me so things and I got the feeling to go to prison in the literal sense to set the captives free. Well, since I have been back at school I have called the jails so many times I couldn’t count it. So after 3 long weeks of call and answering machines I am finally being allowed to come in with a prison ministry team which I was totally psyched for. Last night I was at Thomas Road Church at 630 and this guy comes in and sits a few rows up to the right. I cannot explain it but I knew something was up with him and that I was supposed to go talk to him. I began praying immediately. I had a friend next to me and I wanted to tell her to pray for him as well. I just couldn’t muster it up after almost telling her several times. She looked at me a few times and knew something was up. This was all going on while we were learning about Elijah, whose story I was very familiar with. Well, in the middle of the service this guy got up and left so I got up and followed him after convincing myself to move. I left and he was inside the church towards the entrance. At this point I was shaking with a mix of emotions. I wanted to go towards him but lacked the courage and went into the bathroom. While inside I kept moving back and forth in between the door and then on the loudspeaker the Johnny said go! Go now! Go! This was as Jezebel was chasing after him and God told him to go. So I went. I walked towards the doors where he was standing and lacked courage again and jutted towards the door next to him. so as I am in the freezing weather with a shirt I figure I turn around and go in the door he was at and talk about the cold where trying to strike up a conversation (which I know is lame) so as I was going back to the entrance he came outside and I just stood there acting like I was waiting on a ride. So awkwardly I said its cold out. So I said this asked him what he was doing and he said he was waiting for something. He asked me why I was out here and I said for him. He was kind of weirded out which makes sense, I would be too. So after I said this he spilled his entire story to me. About how he had done a whole bunch of bad things and how there is like a warrant to arrest him or something and he just called the cops because he is turning himself in. so I ask for his number but I forgot my phone in my car so he gave me his and with urgency I dialed my number as the first cop car showed up. The cop got out and was getting ready to arrest him as I was making sure my phone was being called. So the cop asked me who I was and I said no one (which was also lame, I should have been there for him) but gave him back his phone and they took him away. I went back into church and right when I sit down Johnny talks about how we need to have immediacy. I was proud of myself because I felt like I had done that but I didn’t. I was a coward and lacked immediacy. But I sat down and told my friend. When we got back to my car I showed her my phone and how there was a missed call because I left my phone in my car. So when I got back to my dorm I was going to call him and I didn’t know why I knew he wouldn’t be able to pick it up so as I am about to go into my room some guy comes up and wants a haircut. Which I give on my dorm for 5 dollars and I told him to go away and I would give him one later. This was the second part the immediacy. So because I told him to go away I called the guy and it almost went to voicemail and he picked up. i was hoping and he picked up and I asked him how he was able to pick up while he was in jail. He said the cops gave him his phone, I have never heard of that happening before. So I got his name and where he was staying. He told me to pray for him and I think this is the jail that I got approved to go into. Well we will see, God really does move and I will pray for Him to continue to do so.

Long Time, No Talk

I have not written on this for a while and I have documented experiences and I’m going to post some big things but really now this blog is more for myself.

January 2, 2012

A few days ago I had one of those very rare moments when I used to chuck my bible against the wall for what I God needed to show me. I don’t do that anymore but in another way God revealed what He wanted to say. Ephesians 5:14 and when it happened I wrote it down on the front of my bible of the day and time of when it happened. I did not know how it applied but again I knew it was directly from Him. Get up sleeper!

Rise up from the dead

And the messiah will shine on you!

Today I showed up at passion and I immediately got in there and literally God talked to me and I was filled with chills and started crying and no one else heard it. He said You Are My Son! I have done so many great things in the name of God. I have witnessed and been a part of over 30 miracles within this year. God I was discipling to others, spreading the gospel, and was in awe of the power of God! He told me that it was not enough; I am supposed to magnify Him more! I was in complete shock and told me my faith was lacking and that this was nothing and my friends saw me crying. Then throughout this 2 hour session I hear Ephesians 5:14 proclaimed as passions message 3 times during different parts of the sermon. I told my friends I had something to tell them later and I did but not in complete. I told them about verse and they have witnessed this experience before from me but I did not tell them that God called me to literally rise up! Today was the third day of passion. January 4 2012. It was awesome lacrae and piper and they were great. Piper came out and I was expecting something great from him and nothing resignated with me. I went to praying and was just completely zoned out in it and God talked to me again and no one heard again. He said that I was his slave. That earlier the things I had done were done in His name. And the phrase set the captives free came ringing in my head and echoed an immeasurable amount. HE told me to go to prison. I am slave to Him; literally I cannot go without seeking His righteousness and set them free that are imprisoned by the One who has chained me. Where I go I will literally be chained to the Lord. I have never given a sermon to people but I felt that this should be back at school ay Lynchburg and that I am going to the prisons or jails of Lynchburg and going to show God the imprisoned to set the captives free! This is so beyond me that I am wholly complete in the truth! This is going to be everything in the unexpectable.  And I lost the other text but the following day driving back I got chained to Christ and started crying again and now I am literally chained to the gospel.

Not a Failure

Two nights ago on Friday I was getting ready to go home early. I had finished my exams. To leave campus all I had to do was clean my room. I just wanted to take a nap but I ended up oversleeping by a few hours. I came out of my room after waking up and was getting ready to clean my room and pack up my car. I saw a friend on the hall came up and asked how he was doing he said fine. Just small talk. The conversation ended and as he left the hall. I just stood there frozen. I ran out of the hall caught up with him and asked what was going on. I really didn’t know but he had been thrown off the hall, his keys were taken away from him and his door was locked so he couldn’t get his stuff out of his room. After this I felt like something weird was up I called a friend who knew him better and asked him concerning my dorm mate’s stress. I told him I felt like something was up and he agreed. So I waited outside by dorm mate’s new hall for a few minutes while trying to get in. I eventually caught up to him and told him to come to dinner with me.  We got our food and sat down said grace and started eating. Nothing was being said and I had no clue what to do. I asked him what he was thinking. He was planning on killing himself. This entire time I was praying while he was talking. He just started crying. He has a hard time making friends and he had been thrown off of his hall a week before the semester ended. He said how he feels like no one cares about him and how he is a failure. He told me that no one would care if he died. I told him a cared and I was his friend. I told him that if he would have done this to himself he would hurt me. I told him not to hurt me and he made a promise that he wouldn’t again. I told him that other people care about him and that they would be hurt too if he had hurt himself. He texted them and they showed up within minutes and reinforced everything that was said. We talked for a long time. We got back to his new hall. His new R.A. hear the situation, called him up and hung out with him the entire night and introduced him to other guys on the hall. This all started because his roommates made him feel isolated and alone. That night something bad was going to happen and God saved his life. All people just need someone to talk to and someone to tell them how much they are worth in the eyes of God. He is priceless and now he knows it.

Big Thanks

So thanks to the people that helped and especially thanks to God. I saw Him the entire time. So it was the following day and we met Allen at his house. I came up and said “Hey, Allen. You remember when I said I could do everything I could.” He said ya. I told him why don’t you come over and help me out with some stuff in the car. Two cars fully stacked with food and $300 left over. He started crying a little and repeatedly said thank you. To be honest it was the most sincere reactions I have ever seen. To be honest I don’t think he understood what was happening. We unloaded food for about 20 minutes and I don’t think it had completely sunk into him yet. Anna his girlfriend was crying the entire time though in little bursts. Once everything was loaded in their house we told them we had money left over and we headed out to Wal-Mart for some additional supplies because we didn’t know everything they needed. So we got there and I was hanging with Anna. She was pampering herself for the first time in the most minute way though. She got a blue outfit and some fruit spray and shampoo and conditioner. She got new underwear and bras. She felt blessed with the things that we all take for granted. Allen got 2 pairs of shoes and we ended up getting some more food. We headed back and when we got there we unloaded again. We got in and everything was done that we could do and we were ready to head out. They asked if we could just stay a little longer and her threw in some pizza’s and just started talking. By the way while we were there it was impossible to sit because the entire room was stacked with food. How cool is that! When we were at Wal-Mart we had orders from Allen’s mom to come back with some black Reebok shoes. When we came back to the house she walked back and forth in the room every 5 minutes talking about her new shoes. She hadn’t had a new pair of shoes in 45 years. After we ate some pizza we started talking and they were just so thankful. We got them their own bibles and some devotional material. Throughout the last 2 weeks we have been talking back and forth. Progress is being made and God is sweet!

11/17/11

HE>i

Miracles happen. So here is the reality of what has happened in less than 18 hours. From my last story I wrote about the drug dealer that I talked to the other day well that story didn’t end there. So when I dropped him off I saw about 7 other kids playing outside his house which I assumed were his. I took out a pen and wrote my name and number and said, “If there is anything you think I can do for you I will, give me a call.” So this morning I woke up to a drug dealer at the other side of my phone and he said he needed some help and just wanted to talk. So the whole day I told him I would do my best. Later I decided to go out and I told my friend to come with me, and well, he wanted to go to after I told him what happened. So we ended up meeting Nick and Samantha in downtown Lynchburg. He told me how he just needed some food, so we went in and bought some food. When we came out he told me that he spent his only four dollars to just come and meet me. He told me how tomorrow he just wants to talk. He said I don’t even have to go out and meet him. He just wants to talk and pray and wants to know more about Christ. His girlfriend told me she’s not looking for money or hand me out, just a job. She told me her story about her life. At this point they told me the truth. They said they thought I was just a joke or a charade. They then told me their real names. His name was Alan and hers was Anna. They had questioned all goodness that they have seen and now Christ has just overwhelmed them to know people care about them and so does Christ. Tomorrow my friend that came with me and another guy then myself will come and talk to them but with something as I would describe as a miracle. After talking to them me and my friend hopped in the car and just sat there and talked and started tearing up. When you see real hurt and pain in a person’s eyes you feel it with them. I told Tyler, thanksgiving is coming up and I said I know what I’m thankful for but they don’t. We came back we were both pumped to get people involved and we both. Haha Tyler and I are so alike. We both expected God to do great things. We told out hall and other friends from other halls. Before we had anything happened I was on my way to head out of the dorm. Tyler saw me and asked where I was going. I told him to pray and he said he was coming so we went to the prayer center. We were in there for an hour. He was in one corner and I was in another. I got down on my knees and I cried out to God. I repeatedly said God you are powerful GO GOD GO!!!!!!!! I repeated this constantly while thinking of Alan and Anna their broken hearts and I said GOD YOU ARE GREAT AND DO GREAT THINGS!!!!! I knew God is who He says He is and that this is nothing for him. haha lol and when I said I was crying out to God I mean seas of tears and globs of snot. When I was done Tyler and I prayed together and seriously the prayer was the most important part about today. And normally I don’t mention people’s names at all but while I was writing this he came in and said I could use his name, but back to the miracle. So we shared this with so many people and they shared it to other people. So I went out tonight and drove all around campus with so many halls wanting to give. Right now my truck suv is stacked to the top with food we have over six hundred dollars and more is coming in. I had a guy that felt like he needed to do something and has been riding around on his skateboard all night grabbing food in handfuls dropping it up and then going back to pick up more. O, ya, all this has happened in four hours. Everyone has come together to give this and by the way more is coming. Tomorrow Alan wants to pray and talk about Christianity. They have no clue that this is coming and what’s been going on. We just want to blow their minds. People have been asking why and how has this been happening and for every question we have answered ...GOD! I have been going into other peoples rooms and giving them updates. And as I do this I say if there is one thing I can leave with you it is…this can happen every day. BE BOLD IN CHRIST and you will never be disappointed. Thank you to everyone that has helped and made this possible

Surprise, No Limits

Today was pretty epic but part of it stared late last night. I got this movie from a Christian store called Encounter. I’ve seen it before but I thought it was the perfect outreach movie so I decided to purchase it. So I ended up watching it with two other friends but it didn’t mean that much to them. After the movie was over I went back to my dorm and a friend called. He had just come back from home so I watched the movie with him again and another guy from our hall asked if he could join us. We said sure. The movie was about Jesus showing up to 5 strangers and addressing each one of their different problems. One of them had been depressed before becoming a Christian. And as the character in the movie was sharing her story the guy we were with just started breaking down. He wasn’t crying but just breathing heavily and covering his face as if he was in shame. As soon as I saw this I began to pray over him. My other friend looked at me and saw me praying and decided to start talking to our dorm mate. He shared with us that he knew he was a Christian but he said he felt so distant from God and started talking about how he had been depressed about certain things. My friend asked him what the most prevalent sin in his life is, and asked him to answer honestly. He said his computer and masturbation. So my friend broke it down to him in scripture about how and why that is wrong. The entire time they were talking I was still praying. And then my dorm mate asked how he was supposed to stop. He said he felt addicted and he knew he should not if he is a Christian because Christ heals all wounds but he said then why can’t I conquer this. He wanted to stop but he just couldn’t and I could see the shame he felt. He kept on repeating that he wanted this to end but he wouldn’t make a commitment and at this point I don’t know why but I got so happy. I stopped praying, hopped out of my seat and came over to sit next to him and I said “You Can.” He just kind of gave me an, ok look. And then I got pumped and asked him if he want this to stop. He said, “Yes.” So I said, “Ok.” I began talking to him about when he starts to bring out his laptop and he gets that little voice in his said to stop or that he shouldn’t be doing that. He said, “ok, ya” as if to continue. And then after you hear that voice you start reasoning with yourself. Again he agreed and as he did this my friend told him the difference between desires and actions. He understood everything so I continued. So I said right when you get that feeling of reasoning in your head I want you to do something crazy. Again he said “ok, what.” I said I want you to jump out of your bed book it down the hall and bang on one of me or my friends doors until we open it and talk it out through scripture. I told him this is how we are going to stop that until there are no more desires anymore. You had to be there though it was so awesome. He said ok and he would try it out next time. So the next morning we got back from church and me and my friend were about to go to sleep and all of sudden we heard some knocking. We totally forgot about it. It was our dorm mate he booked it down the hall just like I said and banged until someone opened the door. He came in and said he had those desires and he started to read some scripture out loud. I mean this was the coolest thing ever. A college student not wanting to be lustful and running down a hall and banging on doors to stop it. man, that takes some guts and it was so awesome to see. But what happened today didn’t stop there. Me and my friend we took some other people into down town Lynchburg to try and help our friends spiritually grow. This time we had a few more than before. We loaded into my car and headed out. So once we got there we prayed and we all headed out in different directions. So at the ended of the day we all had great experiences but what the Lord did was just ridiculous. I went out with my friend and instead of looking for people we just ended up talking about some personal stuff and when we were done we were ready to serve. So from where we were we turned around and right as we turned around a guy approached us. His name was Michael. He came up to me and said he’s seen me before and what I’ve been doing in Lynchburg. I hadn’t met him but he asked for a dollar. I said sorry I don’t have any money but I do have a debit card and I asked him if he was hungry. I told we could go get some food and his eyes lit up and as he did this he yelled out behind him. hey guys lets go this dude is going to buy us some food. So I wasn’t planning on buying 5 people food. It was really just a funny moment though. But as they all came up there was five of them in total. There was Michael who found me, Nick and his girlfriend Samatha, and then Tina and Clumont. I asked them if they were hungry and they all said yes. So I said lets go get some food and we ended up going to Wendy’s. They came in and asked me what we can get. I told them whatever they wanted so each of them as they got in line ordered what they wanted and…it was so funny. After they ordered as much as they could eat each one of them looked back questioning if I was really going to pay for it. To be honest I think that they were just completely shocked. So as we waited for the food I got to talk to a few of them. They were all very grateful. Michael was the first one to talk. he was an older guy and just cracked you up with whatever came out of his mouth. He told me how he had bounced from state to state. He told me about the scariest part of his life about 5 or 6 years ago when he fell asleep and almost froze to death in the winter with several feet of snow and ice on top of him. He told me how he had 15 children. What he told me broke my heart constantly. I got to know each one of them and the last person to talk was Nick. He was huge, a mean a really massive guy and kind of scary looking. He was kind of the leader of the pack. He came over and sat next to me and said what do you want. and I said I don’t want anything. He didn’t believe me. He asked if I just wanted to hear their stories or something. I said no, just saw you guys were hungry and people gotta eat right. He said ok. I said if you guys want to talk that’s fine I can listen and he started telling me his story. He told me that he went to college at Florida State. He told me he was a good football player and the Miami Dolphins wanted him but his mom made him get an education. I asked him, well why are you here. He pulled up his pants and told me he was tackled and the bone below his knee popped out as he showed me his scar. I said ok, so how are you here now on the streets. He then asked me if I wanted him to be honest with me. I said you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. He then paused for a while and then opened his mouth. He told me he was a drug dealer. And as he told me this he lifted up his shirt and showed me where he had been shot 5 times in the chest and 13 times in the back. He then stopped and asked. Why are you really doing this? I told him, I’m a Christian. And what it means to be a Christian is to love and act on it. I told him, “I’m just trying to show you Christ’s love in a practical way.” He leaned back thought it over for a little while and said, “ok.” the people I was with today told me repeatedly how no one ever does this. They told me how hard things are. I saw it in their eyes as the would order their food, checking to see if I was going to stop them. I saw how they questions kindness in people. This can tear a person down to know what others have experienced and how much grief and sadness there is. But there is hope! Christ tears down all barriers and walls. I talked to a drug dealer today about Christ. That’s crazy. The shepherd calls his sheep and all are meant to hear his call. Before I finished writing this my dorm mate ran down the hall again at 2 a.m. and just pounded on my door asking to read the bible with me because he didn’t want to act out on his desires. Real things happen when you are willing for Christ to lead you. Today was a surprise. I had no clue what God had intended for today but I learned one thing. If you limit, you limit what God can do with you and the cool part is, if you don’t limit God anything can happen.

Getting Lost

Today I was just having a real urgency to go out and serve. So I told one of my friends and he decided to come along after one of my professors gave a lesson on evangelism. We were planning to do what we have done before, which was talking to people that looked like they could use help. We tried to return to the part of town where we were last time but got completely lost. We actually ended up at a hospital. I started laughing and said, OK! They need help too. Earlier I was thinking of going to a hospital like the movie Patch Adams and then when we got lost at one I started laughing. So me and my friend went around a hospital and got lost in it too. We had no clue what we were going to do there but we prayed to be guided. That didn’t happen lol we thought we could go to a food court but no one was there at 4 so we that ended real fast. We decided to go get a balloon. So I went and purchased a really funny, funny face balloon. I got a piece of paper and wrote down my name and number. We went to the elevator on one of the wings. We really had no clue where we were going or what exactly we were doing just to reiterate. So we got to the third floor went down a hall turned around and asked a nurse, “Who needs a balloon?” they kind of looked at us for a second and then gave us a room number. So we knocked on the door to the patient’s room we came in offering a balloon. Asking how she was doing and talked to her for a while. At first she was very skeptical thinking we were on a routine, doing this for everyone. We told her she was the first. She said things were tough and she needed strength. She said this as she began to cry and talked how it was hard for her and her 8 year old son. She said that is what she needed prayers for (I don’t know if she was a Christian). We then came out of that unit and began to pray. We went down the elevator. And this time my friend bought a balloon. It was the cutest balloon bear ever. We went to a different wing of the hospital, went to the 4^th floor and repeated the same thing. This time we met a different lady. We came in gave her a balloon and asked how she was doing. She said, “I’m doing” we talked briefly when we were done she advocated she was a Christian. We held hands and prayed together for her. Earlier today we went out to try and meet people’s physical needs and then trying to help their spiritual needs. It is something totally different when you cannot help person’s physical needs which you are used to making it harder to reach them spiritually. Today was a real humbling day and something we needed to experience. So many people are out there hurting and no one cares about them. I was in a hospital for a few hours today and every patient was alone except for one. That is so lonely and to imagine while a person is intensely sick. This story is not to make people feel sad for others or talk about how unfortunate a situation is. I am sharing this because I hope that it is an eye opener. So many people are stuck in the same room everyday with terrible pain alone. If you want to help someone do it this way.  My pastor quoted Gandhi today saying, “I like your Christ, just not your Christian.” That is such a true statement. As followers of Christ we should try to resemble Christ as much as we can. He spent all his time with the poor and the sick. Today I realized I have forgotten part of His people. I hope you choose to act instead of my mistake. For the people reading this please pray for Suzanne and her son Christopher and Lanle who need constant prayer. Thanks