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The Love of the Father...

I stumbled upon this song the other day and it just brought me to my knees. God, the way you love me astounds me....I cannot fathom it. You have done all this for me, and all you ask in return is my heart. Jesus, I give you my heart. Give me the strength to love you a little better, to serve you a little more, to glorify you through my life just one step more......Lord, I want to love you like you have first loved me. Here is my broken clay, mold me into your masterpiece...take my simple offering and set it ablaze for your kingdom.....

Something to think about.

Before you read the rest of this post, watch this video.....

(click here) Tears of the Saints

The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.......wow

the numbers blow me away, the pictures of the girl with scars on her hands fill my eyes with tears, the very magnitude of need in our world brings me to my knees.........there are so, so many in this world who are hurting, who are struggling to just survive. 30,000 people starve to death every day, and I have all you can eat buffet three times a day......

If I can anything through this video, I hope I can cause you to think. Think about the way you are living your life right now, RIGHT NOW. What are you doing to bring healing to those around you, what are you doing to bring the message of the gospel to those we so desperately need it. This has definitely challenged me. Even with my very limited resources as a college student, I am looking for every opportunity I can to follow my Jesus and answer the call.

Recently a man named Jack Murphy came to chapel to speak. He was famous for his role in the biggest diamond heist in history. He was eventually caught and his many other crimes, including murder gave him a sentence of 240 years......240 years. And yet, God came to him in the deep darkness of prison. A ministry started by Bill Glass came to his prison yard and put together an event. He brought famous athletes, nascar drivers, rock stars and many other to his prison. But he also brought hundreds of volunteers to this weekend, armed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jack was drawn by all the famous people and he really wanted to see the fast cars and so he went. But when the time came to pair up with a volunteer and talk, Jack was convicted with the way his life was going. The young college student asked him, are you happy with your life? Jack said no, Then, he said, you need a new driver. Let God be your driver. And Jack knelt down that day and became a Christian. He wanted that new driver, he wanted a new life.He didn't say how, but somehow he got out of prison after 25 years. And now he tours with Bill Glass all over the world, in the very prisons he just escaped from. He goes not because he likes prisons, but because he knows the need of those inside those four walls. At the end of his chapel speech, Jack asked if we would be willing to go with him to DFW state prison on Nov 11-13 and be that light in the darkness. I was intrigued, but was too scared. He then said, "I know your scared. You don't think you can relate to a hardened criminal. But God doesnt need your words or your experience, he just needs your obedience. You need to put Him back in the driver seat." And I signed myself up. I'm still scared out of my mind about what I'm going to say, or what I'm going to do. But I'm also excited, excited for what I know God is going to do.......

I'm not here to brag about how great a Christian I am, cause I am most definitely not, I merely want to encourage you. We are all called to be lifetime missionaries, maybe not in a distant country, but in our workplace, our social groups and in our communities, I would strongly encourage you to get involved. Check out Champions for Life at:this link Maybe they are having one near you. But whatever you do, don't just read this and watch the video and not let it change you. Don't ever forget the face of that little girl. God loves her as much as He loves you. He is calling us to go to her, to comfort her, and to protect her, to give her a home, and to show her the only way to Salvation.......

Now the decision is yours to make....

Super Bowl Time!!!!

So all I got to say is wow. God you are AWESOME. He has been doing some incredible things in my life recently. Although when I tell them they might not seem very earth-shattering, to me they are. So as most of you know, I am going to college in Texas to be a missionary pilot. Well as you also probably know, college is expensive. Tack on flight training and you got alot of expensive. So anyways, I don't know, it just seems like recently I have been kinda burdened with just the sheer magnitude of debt that I am going to have when I graduate from here, and despite my best efforts at working part time jobs during the semester, its just hard to make ends meet. I don't know why but I was getting just a little depressed, although I might not have been showing it outwardly I had this burden on my heart.
Well we serve an awesome God. And this past couple weeks God has just come alongside me and encouraged me to persevere and not to lose heart. I was at church a few Sundays ago and was listening to a message on Paul and the "thorn in his side" that God had {blessed} him with. I'm sure you have all heard the story, but I will just paraphrase it for you. Basically God had given Paul this weakness, whether physical or emotional we are not really sure, but we do know that it was a burden on Paul. Three times Paul asked God to remove it from his life but God did not. Finally God said to Paul, I will NOT take this thorn from you, because I have given it to you to grow your faith. In your weakness I will make you strong. Through your shortcoming, I will be glorified. I will shine greater through your weakness and I could have ever through your strengths......
And I just felt God speaking to my heart at that moment and saying, "I have given you this weakness in finances." You will never be rid of it. You will never be rich and have multiple houses and cars and an extravagent lifestyle, instead you will have just enough to make it through. I will bring you through. Though this weakness, MY power will be shown in you. And through your life I will be glorified. And a peace just came over me at that moment. I can't explain it. I was like the entire weight of trying to figure out how to pay off college debt was lifted of my shoulders and I was free. Not free from the debt, but free from worrying about it. GOD WOULD TAKE CARE OF ME. He would bring me through, He had promised me. And however long it took him was totally up to God. And I am ready to follow Him.

But the story is not over yet. God decided that He needed a little bit more fireworks.......So you all know I love sports. Football in particular.  I am a die hard San Diego Chargers fan. Have been all my life. I was born with it. Well I have never been to a profeesional football game, let alone my Chargers football game. As you know these games are quite expensive to attend. Well it just so happens that a few days after church, my good friend Mirb message me. He's all like, "Did you know that the Chargers are playing the Houston Texans in Houston on November 7?" {the texans are his favorite team......poor soul} And I'm all like of course I know that. Then he goes, "Well would you like to be there to see it?" and I'm like, whats the catch man....He's all like, "no catch bro, its my birthday, all expenses paid." At this point, it hasn't quite set in my mind and I'm like well, that would be cool, but its never going to happen. He goes, "ok, I'm ordering the tickets right now....."
I had to pause a moment to pick myself of the ground. Did he just say that we were going to a Chargers Football game??? Did I get enough sleep last night? I think my mind is playing tricks on me. I read the message again, yes he really did just say that.............thus begins a crazy victory dance around the dorm room with many shouts and jubilant cries............really, I'm going to the game. It might as well be the Super Bowl, this was a big deal.......then with tears in my eyes, I remember God's promise.
"I will take care of you and bring you through." Wow God, really? you are an incredible God.........wow.

So as you all know I like to end these things with a motivating thought. So why don't you just try out my little experiment. Maybe God hasnt given you the weakness of money, maybe you are weak in another area. Take some time, think about what worries you the most. What do you spend the most time thinking about? Then give it to God. Let him have control of your weakness. Let Him shine through you, like sunlight through a stain glass window. Test Him. See if He follows through. In Malachi we read,

"put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer [2] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts."


Take that step of faith, let God take the lead. Stop living a life of false pride and acting like you have it all together, let God make you perfect through weakness.....who knows, you might be going to the Superbowl...

Musings on Hebrews 11...

So this month I have been going through Hebrews and today I was in Chapter 11. The Hall of Faith chapter. Here is a little excerpt from the chapter to give you a small taste,

 "11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, [1] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

I don't know about you, but whenever I read this chapter, chills run down my back. The faith that these people had astounds me. I wonder, if I was in the same place as they were; if I was faced with the thought of being torn in two or renouncing my faith, would I be able to STAND?

I would hope so. I would hope that the love of Christ, and passion for my SAVIOR would so permeate my being that nothing could separate me from my JESUS! But what about you? Do you have the faith of a mustard seed? 

I think that America, for far too long has been slipping back into a coma of complacency. The body has neglected its commission in life to stand and be a LIGHT in this dark world. To stand for TRUTH!  There are many, many hurting people out there. People who desperately need the truth of the gospel to set them free. But they are not just in Africa or in Indonesia. They are in your own community. You pass them at the gas-station. Maybe they don't look like they are hurting, but inside they are on the brink of letting go. They have held back the pain and the hurt for so long that they can't even cope with life. THESE are the people that GOD has called us to help. THIS is where the faith of God's people is needed. 

God has called us to a life of faith. A life of single devotion to the one who has created us. The one who saved us. Do you have the faith that can move mountains? If not, ask God for it. And hold on tight, cause He will give it to you. Don't hold back, live your life in reckless abandon for HIM.
LETS GO SHAKE THEMOUNTAINS....

What is my calling?

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet...

What is my purpose in life. What has God placed me on this earth for? What's up with all these weird talents that I have and how am I supposed to meld all of them together into some sort of lifestyle? I think this is one of the questions that Christians (especially younger ones) spend most of their lives trying to figure out. And if my experience is anything like most of you, ITS HARD! In fact looking back I spent so much time worrying if what I was doing was what God had planned for my life or if I was on a crash course with the edge of a cliff.....And the cliched "Pray about it" responses were not helping....I AM praying, but where is that {giant} pillar of fire, or that voice that shakes the ground, "Luke Sullivan you have been called to be a trash man." But it never came. {I'm kinda glad he didn't call me to be a trash man....}

But over the years, God has been changing my thinking on this. I finally came to this ground breaking discovery:  God wants you to do what you love. Wow, really God??? It might seem like such a simple thought to you, but to me it was life-changing. You see, my whole life I had lived under the assumption that there was ONE set strict plan that God had for your life. And if you weren't really tuned into to the divine calling channel and you somehow missed one of those divine answers, and picked the wrong college to go to, or ate the wrong flavor ice cream for July 4th that your life would be a failure. Ok, maybe failure is too strong a word, but in essence you would have missed out on what God wanted for you and he would be disappointed at you. And that's the last thing I want God to feel about me; disappointment...

So how did this new discovery change my perspective on life? Well let me use an example....
First off, I have never been a father before, so this is all speculation. And fathers, if I am totally off base let me know. But if I {were} a father, and I had a son, I would pour my life into him. I would want him to be the very best that he could be. And to be honest, when he was first born, I would have these awesome dreams of the man he would grow up to be. Well as he grew up, at the begging I would have quite a bit of rules, but as he matured I would pull back the control and let him make the decisions. Soon enough he would be a teenager and start his walk into independence, and he will have to start making decisions for himself. And although I would appreciate his asking me what to do on certain decisions, I would want him to make his own decisions. In essence, nothing would bring me more pleasure as a father than to finally see my son become a man and make his own decisions and be making the right choices. Now looking back, did he grow up to fulfill those dreams I first had for him? Probably not. Am I disappointed in him that he didn't grow up the way I wanted him to? Certainly not, he is an independent person who makes choices that make me proud to be his father......

Well in a sense, our heavenly Father treats us in the same way. Although he loves it when we turn to Him in prayer to ask what we should do, He also wants us to make our own choices. We are not robots. Choices are a part of life. And when we make the right choices in our lives and plot our course in order to bring ultimate glory to our Saviour in the forefront of out mind, then our Father could not be more proud of us.

So are you struggling in a career choice? Where should you go to school? What kind of pizza should you have tonight? Pray about it first. Then search the Scriptures. That is one of the biggest ways God will speak to us. But often the Scriptures doesn't tell us specifically whether to marry Mary or Jane. When you search the Scriptures and find that both sides of the issue are completely Biblical and in line with Scripture, then search your heart. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? What are your passions, what drives you? And then GO FOR IT! No regrets don't look back. No second thoughts. Live your life with reckless abandon for the glory of your maker. Don't worry about whether or not it is the perfect plan for your life. Its the one your on right now, if its not where God wants you, He'll let you know. But remember, these aren't wasted times or experiences. They are a part of the grand drama we call life.

We have been called to be world changers, salt to the tasteless masses, light to the great darkness.

Now go and change the world. And maybe someday my grandson will read about your life in a book and he'll want to grow up to be just like you....who knows...

Snoopy