frustration.

I have not written in my blog in some time but I have some extra time on my hands due to the fact that I deleted my facebook, It is so freeing to not have that huge distraction in my life.

I have been reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, it has been life changing for me. My relationship with God has been elevated to a new level, its not easy and it is a struggle every single day but I know with God's help I can work through it.

Recently I have been frustrated with some things that are going on in my life and I had a really negative attitude and began spreading out among my friends. Then I was venting to my mom later that night and mentioned something about transferring but then I just had to remember that God called me to where I am for a specific reason and I pray that He will continue to show me everyday why that is. :)

blessing from God!

In July I will be traveling with a group from my home church to the city of New Orleans to continue to help rebuild even though it has been almost 5 years since it happened, there is still a great need.

I sent Art (owner of Papa Roux) a copy of my support letter. He agreed to help me out, and in turn came up with "sides of Kelsey" the sides are normally free with your meal when you dine-in so he asked customers to donate a dollar for them and then he gave the money to me, Art ran the special for a week and in turn gave me 261 dollars! That is amazing the amount far surpassed my expectation. I thank the Lord for Art, his family and all the Papa Roux customers who helped me out!!!!! I will be sure and take lots of pictures and update you when i return the end of July. Thanks again!!!!!!!

rebel.

romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

the word conformed(syschēmatizō) in the greek means to fashion or shape one thing like another. So when it says we need to conform to this world, we should not look like the world in any fashion. This is a difficult thing to accomplish, from the music we listen too- to the clothes we wear. We need to conform to the image of God, when we do this we should look more like Him everyday.

Jesus was a rebel, a renegade, outlaw/ sanctified
troublemaker but He never sinned, oh/ and He lived His life by a different set of Rules/ the culture ain't approve/so you know they had to bruise em/ that's the way they do/ man, His sweat is so gangsta/ everyone the same/ everybody do the same stuff/ tattoos, pierces, smokin' up and drinking/ money sex plus them extravagant weekends/ man if that's the high life/ I'll puff puff pass that/ you leave evaporated like missing a gas cap/ I guess I'm passed that/ I'm in rebellion/ rather have a dollar in my pocket than a mill-ion/ scared to worship money, my wants over Elyon/ I'll remain a rebel while the rest of them just carry on/this is what I live fo/ this the hill I'm buried on/ if Jesus is the truth/ that means one of us is VERY wrong/ think about it

REBEL ]Lecrae

(I know in our day, 'rebel' means 'sinner'.
But everyone is sinning, so it's no longer rebellious to sin!
Jesus was a rebel who was counter-cultural.)

No glory to me all glory's to the King on the throne (Jesus) you either love Him or leave Him alone but you can't do both yeah, I know you heard that once in song I pray you hear 10 more fo ya gone hey listen up, holmes The stage is the corner crowd is the streets That's why I rap the bread of life cause they dyin' to eat
I'm a rebel you know the kind that die in the street Cause you refuse to
conform, won't eat the kings meat yeah, Christ rebelled by shunning the
Cultured He eatin' with sinners givin Pharisees ulcers He never got married, He was broke plus homeless yeah that's the God I roll with ya boy gotta wife
and no I neva cheated I'm prayin for humility whenever I get heated forget
about the drugs rebel against pornography this ain't how it oughta be,
homie this is how it's gotta be A rebel

You're just a conformist if you're drunk and naked, and driving around on a motorcycle, smoking cigarettes and breaking commandments and getting pregnant out of wedlock. Everyone's done that! That's so tired. If you really want to be a rebel, read your Bible, because no one's doing that. That's rebellion. That's the only rebellion left!

single moms.

today i attended a graduation... much different than graduations that we normally attend. It was for the girls where my mom works, she works at a daycare for single low-income mom's who are still in high school and college. the moms can attend the daycare if they attend parent meetings, clean, and keep up their grades. It is a free daycare. It is essentially a ministry... but not Christian based. anyways at tonights graduation it finally hit me, i never realized the importance of the my mom's job or how amazing the mom's are. One mom talked about how hard it was too study and to also be up with the baby multiple times a night and how her little sister helped her out so much. I have been babysitting for 4 kids and it is really hard work I cant imagine being a single mom. As i sat watching the graduation video, the preschoolers graduate and the mom's give their speeches. I was almost brought to tears. One mom talked about how she never would have finished school if it weren't for mom's house. Then i realized Mom's House is changing Toledo. They are helping break the welfare cycle in Toledo, it may only be a few girls at a time, but its working. Tonight celebrated that over 100 moms have graduated Mom's House! I don't think that Mom's House realizes all that they have accomplished. One mom who graduated was telling how now she is married, 2 kids, and an awesome job that she worked hard to get and deserves! She has broken the cycle and hopefully people will begin to follow her example. I wish that Mom's House was a bigger place but there is constantly a waiting list... It is a perfect organization to begin developing a community with. I thought about other cities who don't have Mom's House and I pray that it will begin to grow and expand! I thank the Lord for Mom's House and the impact they have on these girl's lives, and for my mom who takes care of the young children, she is doing an amazing thing much more than just a "job"

GOSPEL

well it has been an adjustment moving back home for the summer. I am still getting used too it... I am sure it will be a great summer though :)

So I really don't like to read all that much but I have a lot of down time at the moment so, I decided I could catch up on reading all the books that I wanted to read during the school but didn't have time. So I began with one that John Schmidler and Dale Shaw recommended and even sent it too me. "The Gospel Primer" by Milton Vincent it is a very basic book just talking about the aspects and power of the gospel and every time that I pick the book up I am blown away. One of the things that really has been on my mind is that the gospel is not just what you hear when you get saved, but it is the basis of our faith and we should be rehearsing the gospel DAILY. I would recommend you all to read this book : )

don't push life it goes fast enough except for finals week.

here I sit again should probably be studying...

but writing in my blog is more fun :)

I am wishing to be home and at the same time be in Indy...

recently I have been reflecting on my first year at Crossroads... it has been amazing journey already and I know that there is much more too come.

one event that remains heavy on my mind... was an afternoon where two of my friends and I prayed with a student I will refer to as "Job". In class we were talking about ministry burnout... Job raised his hand and said, sometimes I just want to pull over my truck and give up. Earlier in the semester Job had told me a just a portion of his story... He said something like this..." finally something good came into my life I had received an associates pastor position, but then the world came crashing down one thing after the next, my first funeral was my head pastors... then my wife didn't want to be a pastor's wife so she left me... then the factory where I worked closed... I am now living with my son..." In the midst of all of this strife, Job is still following and obeying God, he is 60 years old and and still is planning on going to seminary in the future. That right there is a huge encouragement to me...

On our class break we asked if we could pray for him... he said I am almost afraid to pray... and that he didn't want any more misery...

We prayed the best that we could for him that day and I am trusting that God knows all of our hearts.

There was one thing that Job said that I will never forget and there are some days when I echo this simple prayer... "God, I miss you."

Sometimes being at Crossroads can be frustrating... but the time that I spent with Job reminds me of why I am at Crossroads and those times outweigh the frustrating day by far... Job ministered as much to me and my friends as we did to him.

I always thank God for bringing me to Crossroads and I pray that I will continue to seize every opportunity to serve and glorify Him.

psalm of repentance.

something I wrote while in my first semester of bible college... I learned a valuable lesson that I will never forget.

[PSALM OF REPENTANCE.]

I have sinned

I continue to sin

I live in sin

but YOU catch my attention

and you show me my sin

you convict me of my sin

I cry out to you

I ask you to forgive me

I turn away from sin

I repent of my sin

no matter how much

or how great my sin is

YOU forgive always

your grace overwhelms me

your angels rejoice

in heaven

where one day

I will be

because YOU died for me

and forgave all of my sin.

first day

well today is the day...

I did it...

I started a blog...

we will see how this journey goes, I started this blog so those of you can follow me while I am away at school.

I want to tell of how my journey is going, my journey of conforming to Christ's image and preparing for full time ministry while in ministry.