Peace

So last week, my car was broken into and my messenger bag was stolen. For many who see me around a lot, they usually can pick me out from the low-hanging white over-the-shoulder bag that holds all my files for work and church. Of everything in my car, it seemed odd that they took just the bag, but it was still a lot for me for them to take. Included in its contents were many of my notes from church and study, my Bible and few of my credit cards. They completely cracked open my passenger window and did their deed.

Now, to anyone, I suppose “normal”, this act of burglary would send them into a place of indisputable anger, and maybe even over the edge with emotion. But for some reason, as I walked right over to my car to discover the shards of glass all over my passenger seat, I felt………nothing. Really. My sis Princess was with me when I found it, and I just had this calm look on my face as if I was saying “oh look my bag’s gone”. In such a demeanor , it would have actually been easy for me to change the subject and completely ignore what happened. Hinestly. When the police officer arrived, he had this perplexed look on his face as I gave him my statement. He kept asking me if this had happened to me before, as if I had become prone to these events and was used to it. I could tell he was wondering why I wasn’t distressed and I couldn’t do much but just tell him my story. I even cracked a few jokes and threw him off for a little. It was quite an interesting conversation, and I’m sure he doesn’t run into my type often on calls like those.

As I wrapped up my report and left the scene, I could only think about how I reacted to it all. I mean, someone just stole my bag and broke into my car. I should be angry and mad and all the other emotions associated with it. As I drove to work that day, I could only do one thing – praise God.

I realized that my whole attitude that day was based on the fact that God gave me a peace through the whole thing. I always understood that God would get me through the bad times, and He has done so through some of my most difficult moments of understanding this world. But this was the first time I was challenged this way. This never happened to me before, and I didn’t know how to react really. But when I think about it more and more, I know that the peace of God is what got me through. I learned that when I prayed for God to give me patience for something, he not only gave me patience for that one incident I asked for, but he instills it in you permanently. See, when I asked God for help one day, He didnt just give it to me for that moment, and then take it back. His help is permanent. He equips us with His strength that is everlasting, He is, after all, an everlasting Savior.

Long ago I prayed that God would carry me through difficult times, and give me patience and understanding and a sound mind. He answered my prayer then, and unbeknownst to me, He answered it again last week. It’s not abnormal that I reacted that way; it’s a reflection of how He’s worked in my life and His transformation of my heart. He gives us a peace that passes all understanding – even that of police officers. Sometimes it even passes your own when you least expect it.

Domin8 the 808 St8 in 2008

So we just wrapped up an awesome week of God with the Hawai’i District Youth Convention. A part of me is dead tired and can’t wait for the relief of sleep. But a greater part of me is still reeling from the excitement and grandeur of an amazing experience.

This year’s theme was “Dominate the 808 State in 2008″ and our special guest speaker was Pastor Chris Hill of The Potter’s House Ministries in Dallas, Texas. Aside from the amazing presentation of the Word and the romantic worship, the convention played a pivotal role in my affirmation for my calling into the Youth Ministry.

If I could express the liberty I felt with pouring into these kids into words, it would be void of the very passion that is required to accompany its definition. For one of the first times in my life, I truly felt like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing in His ministry. God allowed me to work with some amazing youth leaders filed with passion and love for these kids, but more importantly, He showed us how to use such a little time with them to really feed into them the meaning of a relationship with God. I thought I knew why I loved doing this, but God continues to surprise me and renew that heart for it. To God be all the glory for His renewing grace. I can never be too thankful for that.

I also, like I said, made great friends, from the crazy nutheads that I could go crazy with all day, to the newly-inspired teenagers that continue to remind me why I do what I do. I got close with great folks of God, like my brother Eric from Faith AG who I believe will be a great leader for God’s ministry in coming time. He has a hunger for stewardship that you rarely see nowadays, and not only does he want to do this, but he understands how important his role in it is. He puts himself in a position to be inspired, and sometimes we can get so up in arms with everything around us, that we forget to take the outside perspective of it all. My bro Eric reminds me that we all have room to learn from our fellow man. Therefore, he is an inspiration. I’m glad to be a blessing to him, but he is one to me as well. Then there is Bri, oh and yes, she was my crazy and kooky youth leader partner. She represents a fresh outlook on life. She keeps it real with everything, but she maintains a positive nature of herself. She taught me to laugh again. In a stressful and sometimes overwhelming operation like organizing and executing a youth convention for 420 kids, you can sometimes lose your laughter. She was there to make sure I didn’t.

I was also blessed to share it with my closest group of friends, and to share in this revelation of His calling with them too. Sometimes I had nostalgic moments of Indy07, which provided for some comic relief sometimes. I got to serve, and this time, really serve freely. We had our challenges, but all of it pales in comparison to what God did: move. And move He did.

Thank you Jesus for your revolution through this youth generation.

Jambaism #5

I was on my way into work and stopped by at Jamba Juice for a refresher before a long watch. As I drank my fruit concoction,  I noticed Jambaism #5 written on the side of the cup, stating

 ”Your body is a temple; littering is strictly prohibited”

Now I know it sounds like a weird spin on 1 Corinthins 6:19, but it’s message is true. But it made me start thinkin. Why do we litter? (and when I say we, we’ve all done it one time in our lives, admit it) Well, among many reasons, we simply are lazy to wait for a trash can to happen upon us and throw it away then.  We end up polluting places that dont need trash instead of putting it in the proper receptacle.

Isn’t that how we are in life sometimes? We litter our hearts with trash when we should have enough patience to wait and give it to the God. Now I’m not saying God is a trash can, but have we not been taught that we can cast our burdens unto Him? We say that a lot, but all too often forget about it. It’s like forgetting you had a winning lottery ticket on your countertop next to the coffee-machine and was struggling financially. Let’s remember that God is our refuge and our strength. He will take care of our problems, but we have to wait and have patience on Him to do so, and not litter our hearts with it. We can’t be impateint with life and think we don’t need God in it. Seek Him out – I know I need to.

I knew Jamba Juice was heavenly. Just never though it would remind me of God like this

Pull over

To say that it’s been quite some time since I’ve blogged is an understatement; it’s been weeks. However, to say that I’ve been neglecting to jot down my thoughts is an untrue statement, albeit true if you consider that I havent posted them on this site. In that case, I am guilty as charged, but intuitively so.

It’s already March, and already I’ve had my life change so much since we rang in the New Year. As I stated in my previous blogs, I’d been facing some undeniable truths in my life. Some of them were things that I purposely shut out while others were new realizations in my own relationship with Christ.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat in a service at my friend’s church and the guest speaker had been ministering a rally throughout the week. I attended a service prior to that Sunday, so I understood briefly what the dialogue of the service would be like. Now, I fall a little short on what the Word in particular was about that night,  but it doesn’t mean I wasn’t listening. My heart felt a certain pull as he talked and for some strange reason, I felt a little more plugged into this than I usually was. Not only did I comprehend everything for what it was worth, but I developed this urge to adopt it, as if I could literally speak and mimmick the same words. It seems strange to think that, but it climaxed to the most unearthly experience I’ve had since I gave my life to Christ back then. Towards the end of that sermon, the speaker walked over to me, halted his teaching, and delivered a prophetic Word tailored to me and only me. Yes, no joke. He began to speak a Word from God to my life completely unforeseen through out his sermon. He looked me dead in the eye and began to deliver God’s instruction for me.

He said that amongst everything that I am going through, I need to go back and work on my relationship with Christ. He said that God has amazing plans for me, but in order for me to go farther in Him, I need to make sure I develop my personal relationship with Him.

Words can’t really defy exactly how my heart felt when I received this. All my life since I’ve known God personally, I’ve longed for just a special interaction – where I can literally hear Him talk to me. This came that day, and it couldn’t have been more true and so right in timing. 

I’ve stated before that 2008 will be a season of change. With no relation to the Brack Obama Campaign belief, I truly think this year will be about change. I know God is going to literally change things up in my life in certain areas. I know that. But a spiritual transformation is what I’m longing for. For God to tell me that working on my relationship with Him is what He needs confirms evertyhing I’ve been developing a passion for. I knwo now that I need to develop me – and work on ME. I think big, and I know His plans for me have to skyrocket, but I can’t get there until I take care of my life with Him. To seek Him more. To pray more intimately. To trust Him in my everyday life. To REALLY get in tune with Him. That’s what He wants from me. I’m so relieved in a way. It seems like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulder, only this time, that weight was uncertainty in my faith. I’ve always had self-confidence issues, stemming from long before my spiritual journey with God. I allowed that same insecurity to overwhelm my faith.

No More.

I’m not perfect at it, but I’m working on it. I’ve been “reading” this book by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis (when I say reading, I really mean listening to an audiobook on my iPod. I suppose listening to Rob Bell read it to me makes it more genuine. Plus, it reminds me of bedtime stories ) I just finished the first chapter, and let me tell you, what a book. My buddy Tomas recommended it to me, and already it’s changed my perspective on being a Christian. Tomas recommended it to me months ago, but I truly believe God didnt want me to read it until now, because every word speaks to me as if it was written for me. The Bible means even more now, and for the first time, I’m making it my own.

I’m so excited that God is taking me on this ride. It’s like getting excited to do something you’ve never done before, where the sheer excitement of a new thing just overwhelms you. My walk with God was like going on an extra long road trip in a new car, but putting minimal effort when it came to taking care of the vehicle, or not putting gas at all, but just hoping you could just keep going. I had depended so much on my ambition for God to carry me through to a higher level in my relationship with Him that I forgot to focus on maintaing it to keep it going. Sometimes I gotta pull over and fill up and check the oil and test the brakes. Only then can I keep going the extra mile.

How about you? Have you ever wanted more with God? Maybe like me,  you just need to pull over at the next stop, take a breather, fill up on gas and check under the hood. Take a minute to do just that. Take time to just let God talk to you and recieve what He has. Cast your burdens unto Him and let him just take control, but make sure you take time to also work on it from your end. Check your prayer life. Check your Word study. Make sure your fueled up spiritually.

God put a detour on my life when He sent a messenger to deliver His plan for me this year. A much needed detour, back to the scenic route to remind me of Him.

Take the next exit. You’ll be glad you did. I promise.