Him, we proclaim!

PASSION. a conference for college students. 
45,000 college students to be exact. 


that's 45,000 college students gathered for four days. 
45,000 college students from all around the country.
heck, all around the world.
all proclaiming and lifting high the name of Christ.
sacrificing money to end slavery.
giving up a portion of Christmas break to expand in the knowledge of Christ.


so I have one question:

WHY.

why aren't our campuses being transformed daily?

why aren't more people coming to Christ?

why are people still seeking fulfillment where there is none?

because no one has told them.

no one is telling them. 

these questions have been bothering me all through Passion and ever since I've gotten back to campus. today, I was slapped in the face with why this question was bothering me so much.


first day in english class, my teacher explains that this course is going to make us take a stand on certain issues and support why we stand where we do. 


my heart starts to beat a little fast.


she then proceeds to write down six questions on the board that we must answer. the last question? 


"state an argument that you can fully support"


my heart starts to beat even faster.


the first thing that came to mind was to argue that Jesus Christ is God's son. 
this is when my mind and heart began to fight it out. 


should I write down this argument? or should I take an easier route and make an argument against abortion, or something less controversial? 


then it hit me. 


if I am not willing to stand up in my class and tell my teachers and fellow students that I believe and know that Jesus Christ is God's son, then I have become one of the reasons why His name is not being proclaimed. 


my biggest frustration became my biggest nightmare. it became my daunting reality. 


the Lord revealed to me today that the reason why these questions of WHYs were bothering me so much is because I am the reason why. 


after class was over, I quickly walked back to my dorm to hash out this new reality I was just revealed to. 


thankfully, He is faithful. to provide. and to forgive. 


the first truth He guided me to was Romans 1. here are the words that jumped off the page to my heart:


for the sake of His name (vs 5)
Your faith is proclaimed in all the world (vs 8)
so I am EAGER to preach the Gospel (vs 15)
for I am not ashamed (vs 16) 


one word: PROCLAIM. 


I have gotten so comfortable with just showing people Christ, that I have forgotten an important and crucial part: to proclaim. 


St. Francis once said, "Preach the gospel at all times -- If necessary, use words." 


every time I read this quote, my heart would exhale. as long as I am showing people the Gospel, words are not necessary.


yes, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:12)


but there is a crucial and undeniable part to this. 
we must proclaim. 


for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
how then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
and how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?
and how are they to hear without someone preaching?
(Romans 10:13-14)


you will receive my power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Jude and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
(Acts 1:7-8)


devoting themselves to prayer 
(Acts 1:14)


the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved
(Acts 2:47)

PROCLAIM:

to announce or declare openly

to make known publicly

to extol (praise highly) publicly

now therefore GO, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak
(Exodus 4:12)


do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. for it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you
(Matthew 10:19)




PROCLAIM




pray for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare boldly, as I ought to speak
(Ephesians 6:19)


to make the word os God fully known the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. to them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.


HIM, we proclaim!  
(Colossians 1:27-28)


You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
Your wondrous deeds and Your 
thoughts towards us;
none can compare with You! 
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told
(Psalm 40:5)

PROCLAIM!

may all fear be destroyed.
may concern about opinions of teachers, classmates, and anyone else pale in comparison to      proclaiming His name.
may we diligently pray that our eyes would be open to the numerous opportunities that are overlooked.
may we diligently pray that He would teach us His ways. teach us how to be His witnesses. 
may our confidence be found in Christ, 
yielding our words to His. 






nothing more. nothing less.










bless 

this is our God. we have waited for Him.

adjectives to explain how I'm feeling right now? 


EXCITED. (so much so that I haven't stopped jumping around for the past 30 minutes) 
shocked.
thankful.
joy.
overwhelmed.
peace.
blessed.
humbled.
and even more excitement!


I want to share about an opportunity the Father has graciously placed in my hands for this summer. eeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppp! okay so...


flashback to August: I felt a specific calling from the Lord about working as a counselor at a camp this summer. no doubt. the only question was, how can I choose between all these amazing camps? 


little did I know, all my questions would be dominated by the Lord's sovereignty and clear provision.  


today, I got a phone call from Pine Cove offering me a summer job to work at Outback as a counselor and lifeguard!! for the whole summer. say whaaaaaaaaattaknfgkdfngdkjgndkfjgadfgadfjgndafkgjdnfgjkdnfgjdfnkgdjgndfjgnkdfngdgnjgdlkfgdflkgfd? 


just wait, it gets better.


before calling them back, I talked it over with my parents to make sure they felt a peace about me being there this summer and their enthusiasm confirmed to me this is where the Lord wants me to be. 


done.


prior to this phone call, my struggle as to where He wants me this summer came in with trying to decide between Pine Cove and Winshape. both GREAT camps. both with the same goal, to share the Gospel with kids. 


so, where do you want me Lord? 


as I was praying through these options, I straight up asked Him to make it so clear to me as to where He wants me that I couldn't deny that this is His will. 


brothers and sisters, we serve a Father who listens and answers our prayers. 


He is shouting to me through my parent's encouragement, giving me the exact position I desired, and through the support of my precious friends that this is from HIM. that this is where He wants me serving.


to say that I am nervous about packing up my things and traveling all the way to Columbus, TX for the whole summer would be an understatement. YES I am excited. YES I have a peace. and YES this is the Father's will. but, this is scary. being stripped away from my family, friends, and comfort is a scary thought (praise the Lord for the United States Postal Service).


but it is good. so good. 
I want to get to a place in my walk with the Lord that I have to rely on Him, for everything. I believe that working this summer will teach me how to do just that. 


so yes, it's a scary thought. but thanks be to God! for He will never leave me nor forsake me. for His name sake, He will lead me and guide me. 


here's to this summer! camp counselor. Outback. 3rd-9th graders. Texas.
and my Father. 
I submit all these to You.


I ask you to be in prayer for all the many campers that will be at Pine Cove this summer and that the Lord will reveal Himself to them and literally change lives.


all glory and praise to Him!






this is our God. we have waited for Him. 




trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8






bless

go broke

as many of you know, my sweet Kels is in Zambia for the year serving our Father. her recent blog update has blown my mind and convicted my heart. 


I have no words other than- Praise the Father, He is greater!


check it out for yourself:  http://kelsweeks.blogspot.com/2011/11/expectation-is-root-of-all-heartache.html


these words from Kels is how I desire to spend my time in Tuscaloosa. to forget about how my "good works" look to others, but to abandoned it all for the sake of His name. 


For two seconds i got wrapped up in how all this made me look and forgot the reason i came here in the first place. I came because God called me here. God called me to come and glorify Him. 

Perhaps God had me come to Zambia so i could learn that im incredibly impatient, im disgustingly selfish,  embarrassingly ungrateful, spoiled rotten, obsessed with image, relying way too much on myself day to day and not enough on Jesus. Perhaps God brought me to Zambia to use this family to show me that all i need is Jesus.


Kels, thank you. for your obedience. your honesty. your love for the Father. although you are half-way around the world, you are pushing me in my walk with the Lord in ways you will never know. I love you, Kels and am praying for you always. 


But thanks be to God; who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. who is sufficient for these things? for we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak Christ. 


Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 2:14- 3:6

bless

praise God from whom all blessings flow!

a season to give thanks! 


as I sit here and reflect, I am overwhelmed by the so very many blessings I have to be thankful for. to say that I will effectively and adequately express my thankfulness for all the many blessings in my life would be to say that I can do the impossible. 


well, I am going to give the impossible a shot.


first and foremost, I am thankful for the Gospel of my Lord, Jesus Christ. nothing is due my life than my Savior. the Creator of the Universe, who loves His precious children, gave the world His Son, to come and live out a life loving the Father above all else. A life that we are to follow through His spirit and strength. He loved and treasured us so much that He sent His perfect and holy Son to die in the place for all our sins. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).


My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!


this glorious story does not end there. not only did Christ die for our sins, He conquered the grave and death when He rose three days later! O, death, where is your sting? Praise the Lord, O my soul! 


There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.


the Gospel is enough. the Gospel is enough to be completely satisfied and thankful for more than this life. may my life be a reflection of Christ's love. He must increase. I must decrease. always.


crazy enough, through Christ, we are given life to the fullest. life abundantly. the Father lavishes His love on His children through the many blessings He gives.


so come one, lose your life, just so you can find it!



I am humbled, amazed, and thankful for the blessings He has given to me so graciously. He has provided me with a family who has taught me the bible and shown me His love ever since I was born. their individual walk with the Lord encourages me and sets an example for me as to how I am live my life. I am thankful for their love, encouragement, accountability, and prayers they offer day in and day out. praise the Father for my precious family!


not only has He provided me with an amazing biological family, but He has given me a family where there are no blood ties, but heart ties. I am overwhelmed when I sit back and reflect on my first semester as a freshman and how the Father has proven His faithfulness to me through the relationships He has given me. To call them friends would be inappropriate. these friends have turned into my sweet brothers and sisters and have truly provided a sense of community and family for me. I am thankful for their walk with our Father and their love for all people. to my Calvary family, thank you for pushing me closer to the Father and for giving me a place to call home at Tuscaloosa. I love y'all so very much.


new family and old family. my new family is collided with my old family from Shades and Hoovs. although things are different, I cannot overlook how blessed my heart is by my Shades and Hoover family. 


Shades:
thank you for providing me a safe place to learn and grow alongside others. you have prepared me and set the stage for the rest of my life. for all your prayers, hard-work, time, and energy, I thank you. it is always a blessing to come home to a church who continues to pursue the Lord and who is taking His name to the ends of the earth. may the Father continue to bless Shades as a community of believers growing together and sharing His love to others. 


you know what they say: once a Shady, always a Shady! my heart is with y'all, my Shadies.


Hoovs:
it is weird that I am looking back at my time spent here because I feel like I should still be here, not off being a "cool" (I use this word loosely) college student. to the years spent at Hoover and with the precious friends I still adore, thank you. our memories of  football games, pep-rallies, dress-up days, stressing over dances, riding our scooters down the halls and being top dawg seniors will be precious to me always. 


in the wise words of Don Hulin, errrrrbody have a great day! oh and Go Bucs!


Apart from all the precious relationships I have been blessed with, there are some random things that make my heart happy and I am thankful that the Father allows His children to enjoy the simple things in life.


here goes! 


I am thankful for headbands and bandanas to wear in my hair, my faithful Chacos (we are going on 2 and a half years now, y'all!), Enos to relax in, Camelbaks to decorate with cool stickers, Patagonia backpacks, fake glasses to complete my hipster look, folk music and just down right good music, watches, friends who blog, my cool beans Canon camera, driving around with the windows down, pretty fall colors, cold weather, scarfs, boots, reading books by the window, walking (which leads to dancing) in the rain, whipping my hair back-and-forth, a good hug, laughter, smiles, being crafty, playing and dominating four square, attempting to play Ultimate, old yet precious hymns, Tweeting excessively, Instagraming any and everything, sunsets, jeans that fit perfectly, Chaco tan-lines, fun fingernail polish colors, long-sleeved t-shirts, spending time with my favorite people, going to concerts, singing out loud (although my friends wish I would refrain), community, joy, braided hair, school supplies, making situations awkward, late-nights, long car rides with good conversations, old journals, thrift store treasures, and making long lists...


thank you Father, for all Your many blessings. but most importantly, thank You for Your Son. may I express my thanksgiving to You with my heart and with my life. to You all honor and praise!


may you feel overwhelmingly blessed by the Father who loves you and cherishes you above everything else. 


don't forget to tell the ones you love how thankful you are for them and to eat bunches and bunches of turkey!


Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

bless