Friday, December 30, 2011

The Way Home

I recently watched a movie called 'The Way Home' with mom. It was an incredible and inspiring movie based on the true story. It is about a two-year old boy, Joe Simpkins who disappeared from his home in Carroll County, Georgia for about eight hours. His father, Randy Simpkins, left him outside riding his tricycle while he went in to turn off the lights and lock up the house. When he returned back outside little Joe was gone. The next eight hours would make his emotions feel like a rollercoaster ride and cause his priorities regarding God, his family, and community to be tested. The disappearance of Joe Simpkins brought his parents back together and his whole community was involved with the search. Eight hours later, little Joe was found by Ed Walker and his son Terry.  Little Joe was reunited with his parents and because of all that went on during those eight hours of searching, it brought his parents back together.


As I watched the movie, it really got me thinking. I realized that the relationships I have are very important. I realized that I need to keep building up those friendships. 


I also thought of a shepherd watching over his flock. When one sheep wanders from the herd he goes through all measures to find to find the lost sheep. After he finds it, he keeps the sheep the close to him so it won't stray again. 

As Christians, when we wander far from God, he will gently bring us back to Himself even if it means breaking us. Sometimes He will. He will bring trials into our life that will make us depend on Him and focus on Him more. It will also make us trust Him more. 


Continue to trust God and depend on Him.




Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Ministry is Everywhere

I don't really know what to title this but recently I was going through my notes in my Bible and I found some notes from a message I heard in Ministry Chapel last year at Word of Life. Thought I would share it with you guys.

The speaker spoke about ministry.
  1. Who does ministry?
    1. all of us-We all have a ministry=full time.
  2. Who do we minister to?
    1. We minister to the body of Christ.
      1. We are to grow in all areas of life.
    2. We minister to one another.
    3. We minister to everyone we come into contact me.
    4. We minister to wherever there are people. 
      1. God knows where our ministry is. 
      2. In order to know where our ministry is, we need to know God.
  3. The core and heart of ministry is loving people. 
  4. We need to put off our old selves and put on the new self. 
    1. We need to become so possessed with the mind of Christ to become more and more like Christ.
  5. What is the benefit of ministry? The speaker used the example of expository preaching.
    1. Genuine Christians who go to church in a real church.
    2. Christians think biblically
    3. They develop conviction where there is clarity. 
    4. Everyone's belief is tested at every text
I took a lot from this message I heard. You may be asking yourself why I have chosen to write on this topic. Well I have been told to start out small in ministry like working in nursery, in the preschool class during Sunday school, and also helping out on Wednesday nights. It is taking me a little bit to get on board with the whole idea because I feel ministry shouldn't be treated as different levels. Ministry is ministry no matter where you are. Ministry can be when you're making coffee on a Sunday morning for fellowship time. Ministry can be when you are working sound for a morning service. It can even be when you are just having a conversation with someone on facebook or even skype. Ministry is everywhere.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Welcome

Hey everyone! Over the past few months I have been debating on whether or not to start blogging but have decided to. Welcome to my blog. I hope all that I post will be an encouragement to you and will cause you to think a little a bit.


Since June I have been working on raising support for a potential missionary internship to South Korea. Support as been coming in at an extremely slow pace and I have honestly become discouraged over the past few months. I know that God is sovereign and in complete control of every situation.

Right now, I am currently looking for ways to get more involved in my local church along with finding a part-time job as well. It has been encouraging though having friends and family standing by my side during this past few months.

I look forward to posting more and more over the next few months and into the months beyond that.