my life…in text format

Hello all!!

I appreciate the comments and prayers for our camp. We got home from camp yesterday late afternoon and it was an amazing experience!

God really touched lives in both the campers and the staff.

I am downloading some pictures to the computer right now and will be posting highlights/pictures/stories and get back to blogging like normal very soon.

Keep checking back. Thanks for stopping by!

I’ll see you guys soon

Unrealized Service

-How am I serving people?
-How are people serving me?
-How am I serving God?
-How is God serving me? (This question almost makes me cringe to type because I can’t imagine my God serving me, but that’s exactly what He illustrated to us.)

-Don’t let the service you offer that goes unrealized discourage you from continuing to serve.

Dad went on to tell a story about a young girl that he came across at a McDonald’s drive thru window. She used to come to the Safehouse a few years ago and she was so excited to see my dad. She continued to go on and on about how she graduated in the top 8 in her class and had a full ride to Youngstown State University. She said she was just thinking about how she wanted my dad and my mom to come to her open house. She was so excited to see him and tell him about everything going good in her life.

It’s a great example of how we have no idea how our service effects the lives of the people we serve.

-Christ wants to come to our aid.

-We have to realize the power that He carries.

-What am I missing? What has Christ done in and through me that I am unaware of?

-What is Christ doing in me now that I simply do not realize?

-What will happen if I do realize it?

-What are you capable of if you realize the true power of Jesus Christ? 

Matthew 8:23-27
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

It’s Sunday. It’s time for live blogging of the sermon.

Here we go… 

Where is our pure devotion to Christ?
What have we allowed to get in the way of our pure and sincere devotion to Christ?

What does the word “devotion” mean? 5 minutes with God each morning, reading my Bible? Of course not!

Devotion is our response to what we add value to. Devotion is what we pour ourselves into and what we allow ourselves to be influenced by.

Have I poured myself into God and allowed myself to be influenced by God?

Devotion = Loyalty.

Have I been loyal to God?

Devotion = A full presence of focus without distraction.

Where is my focus?

My heart is convicted. My focus has been blurred, my desire to glorify God has become something I attempt to do on my own rather than allowing the glory of God to shine through me because of the sacrifice of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The schemes are out there, the traps are set, clear vision is necessary.

Clear vision only comes by gazing, with full devotion, into the eyes of Jesus Christ. Focusing my attention on Him and Him alone. We all move one step at a time. We all live one breath at a time. I need to focus each breath on the amazing grace that sent my Savior, my King, to a cross that He did not deserve to go to so that I can live a life that I fail at daily. A life of freedom and closeness to a God that loves me. Who’s more concerned with my ability to look up to Him each time I fall than He is my ability not to fall.

What is God asking of me?

What is God asking you to do today?

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What are the schemes we recognize satan is using to separate Christians from God?

-Deception, Distraction, Perversion
-Self-Indulgence
-Complacency, Materialism
-”We pray in situations so that the result of our prayer will benefit us instead of the will of God.” (I think this is a thought provoking statement).
-The scheme that deceives us into thinking we are a weak remnant as followers of Christ.
-Religion.
-Compromise.
-Not speaking the truth. (Not going to a brother/sister when you see them in fault as the Bible instructs).
-Fear. (Absolutely paralyzing).

Fear can hijack our faith.

What do you think?

-”The early church was in the homes.”

-Today we’re going to practice the old church culture. We’re going to work together to answer some questions and we are going to help preach the message today.

-Satan is deceiving people. He is attempting to deceive even the elect of God. We live in a culture and economy that is ever changing.

-When we think that our life is so geared towards prosperity, we need to remember that we live in a fickle, ever changing environment. We need to ask, where is God in our lives in the midst of our current situation? How do we rely on Him now? Because if we don’t rely and trust on Him now, will we trust Him in the storm?

-Ephesians 6:10-13

-Question: What are the schemes that we recognize Satan is using to separate people from God?

That title is supposed to be read while using the voice like the guy on the radio promoting that monster truck rally that you always hear about. SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! (random echo) you know what I’m talking about.

Anyway, today is in fact Sunday, the day before Memorial Day. Marking the beginning of Summer and hopefully a slew of beautiful, warm, sunny days.

I will be blogging my pops’ sermon today. Northpoint Community Church did a series called It’s Personal and my dad felt that the message was too important and necessary to not share with the people we enjoy community with.

So, if you’ve heard the sermon series, some things might be familiar, but with a little different flare. This is the final sermon in the series and so far it’s been awesome, so if the past few weeks are any indicator of what today will be like…You may very well find some life changing truths on this here blog by 12 noon today.

See ya in a few!

Andy ::

I really hate that I’ve allowed almost two full weeks to go by since my last post. I really want to blog more frequently. It’s Sunday, Mother’s day. Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! Thanks for what you do, raising us crazy, rotten, spoiled, snot nosed kids. You’re great and we love you for it!

Currently, my computer clock reads 11:25, which is interesting because it’s only 11:20 (my computer clock is five minutes fast)…weird. My dad is currently preaching a killer message about bringing God home and making our relationship with Him PERSONAL. It seriously is a fantastic message. I’m considering taking notes on my blog and just post the notes from the sermon. Maybe I’ll start doing that in the next few weeks. Live blogging dad’s sermons. I like it.

Thanks to all you guys who come by and read this, my small corner of the internet, I would love to see this little community we have here continue to grow.

Got a question for you:

If you are in a relationship with God…what are some ways we can make that relationship more personal?

If you’re not in a relationship with God…I hope someone that’s in a relationship with God hasn’t ruined it for you. And if they have…I’m sorry.

Love.