Saturday, August 21, 2010
Living with True Confidence
Lately, ive been thinking about how we as humans spend so much time worrying about what others think about us. We blow money on expensive clothes to keep up with the latest styles, buy top of the line cars to show ourselves off in, and us girls especially may spend all morning getting ready in order to look pretty. But have you ever thought about Why? My opinion is that we seacrch for the approval of others as our sense of confidence. We feel better about ourselves if others compliment us, we get our since of pride from our popularity and friends. The problem with this is that it will give you a false sense of confidence. You may feel confident when you are looking good and others want to be around you, but what about the days when you feel a mess and feel lonely and deserted? Also, worrying about the opinions of others can often hold you back and keep you in a box. So how do you break out? Get your confidence from The One who made you, and knows you better thananyone! Look and pray to God for confidence, and you will get it. Because, he thinks you are beautiful no matter what you wear, and he will love you no matter how much you screw things up. You are not who others say you are. You are who God made you to be. So take back your identity. My youth leader always says "you are a son or daughter of the Most High God." He is absolutely correct. So treat yourself like royalty and hold your head high, because you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God, the Creator. Once you realize this, what others think about you will have no effect on you, and when this happens you will finally break out of the box you put yourself in and take a stronger stand for Christ! Look around. You are FREE!!!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Ghandi Quote
So lately this quote by Ghandi has been stuck in my head....
"I like your Christ, but i do not like your christians, they are so unlike your christ"
Wow, that stings. I mean, the purpose of being a christian is to show the world what Christ is like. Yeah we mess up, we are human. But think about it. Christ hung out with prostitutes, theives, tax collectors, and he LOVED them. He showed compassion to those that the religious leaders rejected and rebuked. In fact thats why Jesus had so many problems and confrontations with the Pharisees.
Think about us christians; we are seen as some of the most judgemental people on the face of the planet. Thats something we could all work on. No one is perfect, so no one but God has the right to judge and if he shows the worst sinners love, than why cant we?
Lets turn around the bad stereotype of being judgemental christians and lets show the world how Christ really was. Lets love those that others reject and see as failures. We can reach more poeple through love than judgemental words. So as a christian are you going to model Christ or the Pharisees and religious leaders?
"I like your Christ, but i do not like your christians, they are so unlike your christ"
Wow, that stings. I mean, the purpose of being a christian is to show the world what Christ is like. Yeah we mess up, we are human. But think about it. Christ hung out with prostitutes, theives, tax collectors, and he LOVED them. He showed compassion to those that the religious leaders rejected and rebuked. In fact thats why Jesus had so many problems and confrontations with the Pharisees.
Think about us christians; we are seen as some of the most judgemental people on the face of the planet. Thats something we could all work on. No one is perfect, so no one but God has the right to judge and if he shows the worst sinners love, than why cant we?
Lets turn around the bad stereotype of being judgemental christians and lets show the world how Christ really was. Lets love those that others reject and see as failures. We can reach more poeple through love than judgemental words. So as a christian are you going to model Christ or the Pharisees and religious leaders?
LA missions trip and my unlikely role model
Sorry its kinda long, i actually did alot of summarizing, but there was so much i had on my mind that i need to share.
So this summer me and 15 other people from my church made a lifechanging trip to Los Angeles, CA. We traveled 6 hrs to the Oasis of Hollywood for the Urban School of Evangelism. We were tought about street ministry and how to share our faith with strangers. They tought us the basics but God tought us the rest when we did our "hands on training."
We had been preparing for this trip for almost a year. Our 2 youth leaders went before and knew what to expect. We held meeting after meeting in a way to get us comfortable to share our faith with others, even though there is no comfortable way to do it. For months we anticipated, prayed, and prepared for this trip. We prayed God would use us to be a blessing to others, but i would never realize how much he used those people to be a blessing to me. Finally the day arrived for us to head out for Hollywood.
Basically to make a long story short, we arrived at LAX after a 6 hr trip and let me tell you, the weather in CA was PERFECT! It is pretty much the opposite of NC. Sunny, warm, breezy, and very little humidity compared to the hot, humid, muggy, rainy NC. We arrived in Hollywood and met 6 other people from Sacramento. These guys were awesome and im pretty sure even though we only knew them for a week, it felt like we were friends for years. They will be friends we will never forget.
Hollywood's culture was so vibrant and different from ours. We walked down Hollywood Blvd. almost every day and saw souvenire shops, burger joints, stripper clubs, smoke shops, tattoo parlors, and a fair share of marijuana dispenseries. We saw so much talent on the streets. There were numerous street musicians, breakdancers, dance crews, and street rappers there. I loved watching them do what they do best, but it was sad that for many, this would be the only way they would ever be recognized due to the fact they had no money to start a career in it.
One thing that was a wake up call for me was the poverty. Hollywood is both probably one of the richest cities and poorest cities in the USA. I have seen more homeless people that week than i have seen in my whole life. It broke my heart. To think how many wealthy people would walk the blvd. and literally step over the homeless people to get where they needed to go and not give a second glance. Our leaders armed us with hygeine packs and mcdonalds gift cards to give some of these people, but it was sad that this was all we could do, take care of a week's worth of hygeine or 1 meal. But, the people were so grateful and acted like we just wrote them a $1,000 check or something. One homeless man in particular really had a great impact on me.
To make a long story short, the beginning of my week was kinda rough. I had a few conversations but none were really that deep. I did feel kinda discouraged but God was not finished with me yet. Almost midway through the week i teamed up with Joe Woodard. An adult leader that did street ministry in Phoenix, AZ everyday. He was awesome and God really used him to reach the lost. We were at Santa Monica and i told him how much i loved ministering to homeless poeple, so he bought 12 cheeseburgers and apple pies from micky d's. We handed them out to minister to homeless people, but there was one man who God used to minister to me.
We walked up to a guy sitting on a bench alone. I asked if he had supper yet, and with a hopeful look he answered no. We told him what we were there for and gave him a burger and pie. Teary eyed, he told us how grateful he was. You see, earlier that day he was starving and was kinda in a funk because he fell for satan's lies that God would not provide. He said he considered comitting suicide and had his mind made up, but then God got a hold of him. He was a christian and remembered what God had said about proivding for the birds and flowers, and also would provide for his people. So he decided not to committ suicide because he knew God would provide. And that was when we walked up with his supper. WOW! Its amazing how God uses you in ways you dont even realize.
This man was 76, homeless, alone, and didnt have Anything, yet he was a great role model for me. He was seriously one of the happiest people i have ever met. He didnt have anything, no friends or family, never fell in love, but was more content than anyone i knew. He did have a setback when he considered satan's lies, however, he fully trusted in God to take care of him. He told me to never give up trusting God and never quit praying. I asked if i could pray for anything for him. He said "yes pray for me, but i dont have a specific request. God used you guys to provide for my needs and he will continue providing, what more could i ask for?"
What if we all had that kind of faith in our God. That man had no one, except God that is. he didnt have anything but the clothes on his back, yet his faith was stronger than mine. He fully relied on God to take care of his needs, and he really didnt care about his wants. And because of it, this man had such a radiant and contagious joy. i hope that i could one day be so strong and have such faith in my God like he does. I may never see him again on Earth, but i look forward to seeing my role model in Heaven, with an eternal home and never worrying about another meal again.
Like i said, i set out on this adventure hoping to be a blessing. But God used this man to be an incredible blessing to me. I will never forget Tom. And hopefully one day i will see him again. Living a life, fully relying on God, not worrying about materials or even your needs in faith knowing he will provide.....now thats living life on the edge.
So this summer me and 15 other people from my church made a lifechanging trip to Los Angeles, CA. We traveled 6 hrs to the Oasis of Hollywood for the Urban School of Evangelism. We were tought about street ministry and how to share our faith with strangers. They tought us the basics but God tought us the rest when we did our "hands on training."
We had been preparing for this trip for almost a year. Our 2 youth leaders went before and knew what to expect. We held meeting after meeting in a way to get us comfortable to share our faith with others, even though there is no comfortable way to do it. For months we anticipated, prayed, and prepared for this trip. We prayed God would use us to be a blessing to others, but i would never realize how much he used those people to be a blessing to me. Finally the day arrived for us to head out for Hollywood.
Basically to make a long story short, we arrived at LAX after a 6 hr trip and let me tell you, the weather in CA was PERFECT! It is pretty much the opposite of NC. Sunny, warm, breezy, and very little humidity compared to the hot, humid, muggy, rainy NC. We arrived in Hollywood and met 6 other people from Sacramento. These guys were awesome and im pretty sure even though we only knew them for a week, it felt like we were friends for years. They will be friends we will never forget.
Hollywood's culture was so vibrant and different from ours. We walked down Hollywood Blvd. almost every day and saw souvenire shops, burger joints, stripper clubs, smoke shops, tattoo parlors, and a fair share of marijuana dispenseries. We saw so much talent on the streets. There were numerous street musicians, breakdancers, dance crews, and street rappers there. I loved watching them do what they do best, but it was sad that for many, this would be the only way they would ever be recognized due to the fact they had no money to start a career in it.
One thing that was a wake up call for me was the poverty. Hollywood is both probably one of the richest cities and poorest cities in the USA. I have seen more homeless people that week than i have seen in my whole life. It broke my heart. To think how many wealthy people would walk the blvd. and literally step over the homeless people to get where they needed to go and not give a second glance. Our leaders armed us with hygeine packs and mcdonalds gift cards to give some of these people, but it was sad that this was all we could do, take care of a week's worth of hygeine or 1 meal. But, the people were so grateful and acted like we just wrote them a $1,000 check or something. One homeless man in particular really had a great impact on me.
To make a long story short, the beginning of my week was kinda rough. I had a few conversations but none were really that deep. I did feel kinda discouraged but God was not finished with me yet. Almost midway through the week i teamed up with Joe Woodard. An adult leader that did street ministry in Phoenix, AZ everyday. He was awesome and God really used him to reach the lost. We were at Santa Monica and i told him how much i loved ministering to homeless poeple, so he bought 12 cheeseburgers and apple pies from micky d's. We handed them out to minister to homeless people, but there was one man who God used to minister to me.
We walked up to a guy sitting on a bench alone. I asked if he had supper yet, and with a hopeful look he answered no. We told him what we were there for and gave him a burger and pie. Teary eyed, he told us how grateful he was. You see, earlier that day he was starving and was kinda in a funk because he fell for satan's lies that God would not provide. He said he considered comitting suicide and had his mind made up, but then God got a hold of him. He was a christian and remembered what God had said about proivding for the birds and flowers, and also would provide for his people. So he decided not to committ suicide because he knew God would provide. And that was when we walked up with his supper. WOW! Its amazing how God uses you in ways you dont even realize.
This man was 76, homeless, alone, and didnt have Anything, yet he was a great role model for me. He was seriously one of the happiest people i have ever met. He didnt have anything, no friends or family, never fell in love, but was more content than anyone i knew. He did have a setback when he considered satan's lies, however, he fully trusted in God to take care of him. He told me to never give up trusting God and never quit praying. I asked if i could pray for anything for him. He said "yes pray for me, but i dont have a specific request. God used you guys to provide for my needs and he will continue providing, what more could i ask for?"
What if we all had that kind of faith in our God. That man had no one, except God that is. he didnt have anything but the clothes on his back, yet his faith was stronger than mine. He fully relied on God to take care of his needs, and he really didnt care about his wants. And because of it, this man had such a radiant and contagious joy. i hope that i could one day be so strong and have such faith in my God like he does. I may never see him again on Earth, but i look forward to seeing my role model in Heaven, with an eternal home and never worrying about another meal again.
Like i said, i set out on this adventure hoping to be a blessing. But God used this man to be an incredible blessing to me. I will never forget Tom. And hopefully one day i will see him again. Living a life, fully relying on God, not worrying about materials or even your needs in faith knowing he will provide.....now thats living life on the edge.
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