So i got back to college on Saturday and MAN I LOVE IT!!!! Last year round this time i was miserable and wanted to come home but this year i am just excited!!! i have gotten to hang out with some old friends and some new ones and i love all of them and thank God they are in my life. There are a lot of things i could blog about but i wanna start with this one… Last night at bout 10:30 a large group of students were gathered in the middle of the sidewalk outside the cafe with a table some chairs, two guitars, and a kid with an amazing ability to make sick beats with his fist and a drum stick. Now i have seen this happen at seu several times but this was different there were way more people and the atmosphere was THICK. so they were playing praise and worship songs and where the verse would normally be they would stop singing and a senior here at seu named Kenny stepped up and would freestyle but not just freestyle you see he has a unique gift. he preaches on the streets but does it through his rhymes. and at times (last year i saw him do this) he will actually begin to prophesy to individuals in the crowd through rhymes! it is amazing but last night him and a couple of other rappers just allowed God to flow through them and speak through them. The whole time was amazing and my room mate matt and i really could feel the flow of the spirit and it was amazing to watch and see what happened next. Kenny kept turning around and saying “man i need a slower beat.” and he would spit a rhyme turn around and go “man i feel it stirring” it was amazing to see God was moving in a flow and we were slowly progressing towards something. eventually kenny had them sing “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” and when we heard it matt and i both new he was bout to rip it and bondages were bout to be broken. Man he got up there and spoke to specific things that women were going through and lustful thinking that had men bound up. The other rapper hit on things like “divorce in family” and other things. Then kenny preached a lil’ but in a flow not a long drawn out message it flowed almost with the music and he gave altar calls in the middle of it and had all of us pray for our fellow brothers and sisters. When all was said and done we kept on worshiping and praisin’ and kenny humbly bowed out quickly without even a word. Then some upper classmen said some words a couple of students gave a quick testimony and praise to the Lord and it was over… NOT matt and i came back to the room and God really spoke to us and we had some awesome direction given to us from God and all i can say is as brewster and evan say “GIDDYUP.”
Archive for August, 2007
i’m out/Stronger
Well i’m off! i’m heading back to school and i’m really excited bout this school year!!! Matt (my room mate) and i have been talking a lot and really see eye to eye spiritually and we really see God doing something awesome and we are gonna strive to get on board and “follow the flow of the spirit” as Tim storey always says. I really wanna just thank everyone this summer who has really helped me and spoken over and into my life. i have learned sooooo much interning and i thank all the pastors especially Pastor Al for helping me this summer and really taking me under your wing! i hope to be able to intern again next summer, God willing. I want to end htis blog with this simple but profound thought. I went to lunch with one of my highschool friends and an teacher from my old highschool and while we were out the conversation was brought up about how the teacher let’s call her “Ms. C” was very concerned last time i was home and she mentioned when i spoke in her class bout my bad grades i made that last semester and then she told me when i preached you could tell my heart wasn’t in it and my mind was in a million places. That really hurt me to remember that time but she did make me fell better by saying how it looked like i was back on track. I thought back to that time and even now i almost get naucious just thinking about how depressed i was, stressed, bound to sin, and thinking bout people who i let stay in my life and hurt me, and i was on medicine to try to help with the depression and it only made me worse. i really look back and i Thank GOD that he saved me and he turned everyhting around. Kanye West has a song (no it’s not christian but there is a cool story behind how he wrote some of it) and it’s called Stronger and man i really understand that concept of “what does not kill you only makes you stronger” NOW of course i Give God all glory and honor and praise for me where i am and making it through all that. It’s makes me feel good to know that the devil tried but failed, because God has a destiny for my life and i am victorious no matter what and as i have heard so many times “i am already victorious before the battle even begins because Jesus already won the WAR!!!-(roughly quoted)Pastor Raley. i just thank God that through everything i have grown stronger in my faith in Christ and i have come out with a greater testimony and a better understanding of how to communicate with and understand people. Every season has a reason just lean on God he won’t let you go through more than you can handle Your STRONGER than you think.
Tips with preach
Consistency:
It’s very important when deciding to change something that you continue to change it and stay consistent in the change daily. i decided to dress up everyday now does that mean i’ll wear a jacket everyday?! no but i strive to dress my best after all it’s like i said it makes you feel better about yourself, but it also let’s others see that you have enough respect for yourself and or the business or school you are at to dress up and take joy in your job (whether that be school or work). Also it shows that i am confident in who God had made me i am happy being me i’m gonna work it out i’m gonna “do me” (be myself) enjoy being who God has created me to be. Now pastor raley and trent yesterday insisted all this was for a girl lol! i can’t lie some of this is so that when i go back to school i am in the habit of dressing nice not just for all the reasons listed above but also for girls lol but i don’t think it’s wrong to wanna dress up nice for girls it shows that just as much respect i show for myself i’ll show that and much more for the girl God places in my life when the time is right!
love ya’ll
-rob
Tips with preach
TIP OF THE DAY:
This is my advice for today! A friend once told me “if your having a bad day then just dress up.” Now i’m not having a bad day but it is true when you feel down take steps to improve your attitude. Pray-allow God to minister to you. Dress up- change something about your normal routine. Also dress up just to set the bar for excellence. When you dress up you change your attitude you feel more confident.
looking at where you are and where you were
hey well i really don’t have a lot of time to do this and i should be eating or shopping but i wanna share a lil’ of how fine arts in indianapolis has gone. it is amazing it took monday and half of tuesday toget here and get completely settled in. we been going to performances and shopping and just having an awesome time! My time has been a lil’ thrown off if you have ever gone to fine arts you never know or think bout what time it is. On wed. i honestly believed it was tuesday for a good portion of the morning till a friend told me it was Wed. lol. but this trip has been good. i am stil learning a lot about me and i’m trying to figure things out. So i do appologize that my blogs have been very inspirational or interesting lately, i just can’t write everyhting i’m going through because it’s personal and just hard to explain. One thing i did talk about with a friend earlier this week is how it is amazing to look at where you are and to look back at where you were. For me a year ago right at this very time i was competing in Fine arts. I learned some very upsetting news not long before i left. and i had officially broken up with my girlfriend of the time not that long before. I spent most of my trip trying to get her back (that was retarded). Anyway so i looked at that and looked at my freshman year of college (WOW) how much i have changed and grown from that period of my life. I think it’s funny though because i have found myself in a couple of situations that reflect the past (a year ago) but i look at the difference and how i have changed. Israel Houghton once talked about a “glass ceiling” on the “another level album” he talked about how it was like a barrier keeping you from the next level but eventually you will break through. Recently i heard him say “The glass ceiling you were trying to breakthrough has become the floor for the new dimension.” How powerful this is!!!!! the things that held you back a year ago and the things that you finaly acheived, YOUR highest goals, or expectations are now the FLOOR for the new dimesnsion and the new dreams and goals that are ahead of you. You are on the floor of your past progress and breakthrough now it is time to climb and find the next ceiling to breakthrough that will only take you higher and higher to the next level and the next dimension. God’s plans for you are beyond our comprehension they are beyond your highest expectations!! Keep seeking God keep dreaming (go check out brewster’s blogs on “dreamers”). Look at where you were and where you are now make comparisons look at things you still need to work on but look at the progress God has made in you. Look at how much you have grown!!! Dare to step into the next dimension.
FUNNY STUFF
hey check out the announcement viceo for crave i was recently in!!! it’s funny
keep a look out i’ll be re-capping out indy trip soon!!
Letting wounds heal pt.1
Well tonight i learned somehting bout myself. i was talking to a girl who not long ago basically told me we are just gonna be friends. i began talking to her the next day which tripped her out because she couldn’t believe i wanted to talk to her that soon. She constantly told me “don’t talk to me till your ready.” since then our convos have been great but every now and then i say something to hurt her. i do it to let her know i am still mad and to hurt her the way she hurt me. I know you perfect people never did anything like that before. anyway i did it tonight so we talked bout it and i said “well i guess i never really give myself time to heal” that’s when it hit me. Sometimes it’s necessary to give yourself time… she wants me to take time and not talk to her till i’m ready. I have a lot going on right now with everything.. i think this week away in indianapolis will be good it will get me away and give me time to hang with God and figure all this out. be praying for me i will blog on this topic at another time love ya’ll…..
when disappointments come…
So i have been thinking a lot about something to blog about and this just kinda hit me today. Lately i have been let down by people a lot. whether it be plans to hang out, a girl i really liked, people saying they will go to church with you after the hundredth time you think maybe they will actually come this time. I am not mad at any of those people! i’m hurt but not mad. i learned somthing as i sat here, it’s important not to let life’s disappointments bring you down. Sometimes those “disappointments” are not meant to be a disappointment but something that needed to happen to protect you or show you how to pray for yourself or maybe even that person who disappointed you. I also learned that you can’t give up on people. Brewster is always making that point clear to me that Christ never gives up on all of us who hurt him and fall short of his glory all the time. When you get disappointed do the following;
1. take a breath
2. handle the situation without freakin’ out talk with the person and explain why you are frustrated.
3. look at the real issue behind the disappointment. Does this person need help? Is this a person maybe you don’t need to hang around anymore? did you ask somehting unfair of them? were you resonable if they were gonna say no to somehting were you willing to accept that?…etc
4. PRAY, talk to God about it. Talk to him like you were talking to a friend he will listen and his advice is the best.
5. Be willing to learn from what happens to you in life change things that need to be changed, be flexible, but stand up for yourself discuss your feelings with someone when they hurt you.
be blessed.
-rob
bachelor party
So last night i got to go to Pastor Jeremy’s bachelor party and i must say that was an interesting experience! It was pretty cool how in the beginning before we completely emberassed him, we sat in a large circle out on the deck of the Hilton overlooking the ocean and we all went around and shared thoughts/memories and gratitude that we have for Jeremy. It iwas pretty cool to see grown men really express themselves and even Jeremy mentioned how in life we don’t always take the time to really express our emotions or thoughts and it was cool that we were able to do that. Now aside from all the mushy stuff… we got him good let’s just say he had a very unique outfit and we pretty much tortured him by making him go ask to play volleyball and skip around ocean walk, go in cold stone dance for a large group of people, perform a few songs in the bandshell with a lil guitar and microphone. run some stairs at which point jeremy’s fiance and all the girls happen to walk by and saw a lil’ preview of our hilarious night at which point jeremy took off running up the stairs to hide. At this point we yelled here come the girls and the police for some reason thought we were yelling the “fuzz” so he got in one of our guy’s face and was looking for a reason to take him to jail lol it was more funny than anything! so he shut down our good time! but it’s ok we ended the night on some good laughs! Jeremy was an awesome sport through the whole thing! i am very worried though because i am family so who knows what brewster has planned for me when i get married.
There’s a method to the madness
so last night i went to dinner with my Youth Pastor/my boss and i sat and enjoyed an amazing dinner @ applebees i highly reccomend that bruschetta burger it’s at another level! anyway we sat and talked and discussed everything from the service last night to interning to ministry. As i sat there i realized that there is a method to everyhting the Youth Pastor has us interns do. Sometimes it may seem like he is singling me out but in reality he has me do it because he knows i will and he trusts me to do it. A lot of times we do some really goofy or time consuming little tasks and it’s easy to get frustrated but he has us do it for a reason. He told me “the whole point of interning is to grow as an individual.” I did not intern by accident i was the third intern hired for the youth department literally two weeks before i came home for the summer. I have grown and learned so much about myself it’s incredible and i have learned tons of stuff about the ministry. So i kinda just wanted to encourage those of you who maybe are doing a job or more importantly trusting God and maybe he is moving you around and having you do things that seem pointless. Just know there is a method to God’s instructions!
