Are We Master of Disguise

I was up late last night just thinking about life as a Missionary to this world and what it means to be a citizen of Heaven and not of this earth, then the Words Master of Disguise came to my mind. And I thought how much time do we as Christians spend trying to be something we are not in order to get what we think we need, I mean if we are already a citizen of Heaven then why do we let the influence of man determine what face we need to put on in order to be promoted or move on to the next position in life, dont get me wrong I believe we need to present ourselves with excellence, but why is it that we put on a mask, and then dawn a costume, and start a broadway production depending on the people or the leval of appeasement we need to show. Have we forgotten that God is the one who promotes and that if we stay aligned with him then we wont have to speed up the process or worry what man thinks b/c it's God we serve not man. Master of Disguise, it's funny, first we put on this suit that is not who we are, to impress, or to seem the way we think will make other think more highly of us. Then after a period of time people start seeing that image and believing that is what we are but it just looks crazier and crazier then after we have gone so far we just get trapped b/c we want to be ourselves but we cant be know b/c we are scared of what people will think. In the end it just becomes a big pain in the head, b/c we fought for what we thought we needed instaed of doing what we know God wants. Let us be true to the king and Remember that we are citizens of Heaven and not Residents of Earth.

marine Kid

What a long weekend!!!!

Well where do I begin lets just say that this has been one of the longer weekends of Elevate we had a garage sale to raise money for our missions trip this weekend and it turned out to be a small flee market, we started the weekend at 6:00 fri morning and then began setting up for the garage sale at 2:45 at the church we did not stop picking up stuff until 11:45 at night and then we had to finish setting up , lets just say we worked all thru the night it was a pretty eventfull night then as the following day arrived the mens Gathering showed up and we had that also going on in the morning . It was crazy b/c I did not get to leave the church until around 3:00 then I had a friend that needed my help moving some stuff at his place lets just say I did not sleep until Sat night at 1:45 in the morning then right back up to St. Francisville to set up church at 8:00 in the morning . it was definatly a funny sight to see my pillow when I finnaly got to sleep .Well your probably wondering why I have a picture of Michael Jackson on my Blog, well thanks To Jonathan Mink I am offically 24 hrs dumber for allowing him to play a Michael Jackson marathon all night long at the garage sale while we set up. Let me tell you it was a thriller haha, I still have to stop myself from hearing those haunting sounds in my head I feel like I have been scared for life thanks Jonathan, your encouraging tunes kept the momentum going and our spirits alive. HEHE

Motivated, Dedicated, OH YEAH

Well this coming 31st Saturday Morning for Elevate reminds me of a special Day we used to have twice a week back in the Corp, PT day, usually Monday and Friday we would have a 3 mile run starting at 4:45 and ending whenever the platoon sergeant felt like it or our Battalion Commander said to stop.This Saturday Morning we have a 3 mile run and Ive been pretty excited about it, I love competition and anytime when there is a run I always think back to the Days when we would have huge Battalion runs or just small team runs. But there was always Cadence being sung and it would always get me motivated. If there was one thing I ever liked about running it was the Cadence. I've been joking around with some of my friends b/c their talking about the music their going to listen to, hard rock Christian, or relaxing stuff to stay focused, Im playing my Marine Corp Cadence its gonna be slamming.

7 Weeks, and over 400hrs

Healing Place Church Mozambique

Well we had a little recap on the year this morning that I thought was intresting we only have 7 Weeks left and 2 of those will be spent in Mozambique, Ive really pumped b/c we have great friends that we are going to launch our HPC CAMPUS in South Africa with Pastors Isaac and Carol Willams they have such a dedicated heart for God and it truly shows giving up the comforts of the states to go serve overseas.I also learned that in this period of 9 months we have had over 400 hrs of clas and we still have 5 weeks to go, with just 5 weeks left we have to finish strong, its easy to let yourself slack off but once you have made it this far why would you want to .

Joining The Family

What an incredible night, to think that we had the awesome privilege of being able to Baptize so many young people in the freezing cold water that actually wanted to get in and go Public for Christ was awesome. Soon as they made the announcement for baptisms all the kids and even some adults ran to get in line, it was such a blessing and a win for the kingdom. I thought it was so funny b/c Pastor Dino made a comment on Sunday morning that we didnt have a baptism tank on hand but we just so happened to have this really big one right out back , and thats what we did, nothing better than getting saved at Church and then getting dunked in the church lake right behind the alter. I couldent think of any better memory of the Church than to know every time you come on properity you are reminded that I gave everything I had to God right here and they will never forget it . Always making investments in all generations for the glory of Christ.

Warriors Of The Faith

Hebrews 11:32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women received their loved ones back again from death.

But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half,^[a] and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.

These verses of Scripture are so powerful to me when I read them. I look back at this weekend of amplified and I can picture the young men that I had a chance to lead and encourage in their walk of faith, I see them as the present day prophets of old, and great pursuers of Christ ,standing their ground at all cost. I was so blessed to see the hearts of these young men knowing that they were living for God and that their passion was not being quenched by the voice of this world, in ministry its easy to get discouraged and feel like your not making a difference and that there are so many people how can I reach them all, my heart beats beyond my reach. I thank God for giving me the blessing this weekend to know that the generation now is standing its ground and will go the distance without giving in. Those young men remind me of this book that pastor Dino gave me awhile back it's an excellent book called Courage that Changed the World. They are todays knights that wont give ground but only advance for the kingdom of God.

King of the Hill

Well I probably should explain this picture, one of the funnest nights me and the boys have had in a longtime, its funny because when you get a bunch of guys together all in one room there is this very bizarre event that happens that is called wrestling we had 15 guys together this weekend and we had a blast, everyone just pilled up and played king of the hill Ive got more bruises and aches than I thought were humanly possible by getting ambushed all on one it was great the right after this we had a bible study haha. I love it b/c this was 2:00 in the morning, we got to bed and got right back up at 6:00 to go do an outreach at a school that we have been helping there were about 50 people at the school the next morning all painting and cleaning the place up. What I Love the most about all these young men is that as fierce as they were wrestling and battling one another, they are just as passionate with their faith as they were wrestling, those guys are sold out and will all make great leaders and live sold out on their campuses and wherever they go as Gladiators of the faith, living sold out for Jesus no matter what it cost them and no matter how hard it may seem they all know that in the end the prize is well worth it and that fighting for the King is truly worth fighting for

My Friend, His Heart

It's amazing what God wants to teach us thru the ones the world has forgotten, this was deffinatly one of the most awesome experiences of my life, in Down town Baton Rouge in the inner city we worked an event called the wow Jam that some good friends of the church came and put on, a big outreach to the lost and hurting in areas no one wants to go to or be apart of, My Friend is what little Davante kept calling me the whole day. He got Baptized Sunday 3/3/07 at gus young park and it touched my heart b/c little Davante had no one with him when he made that Decision for Christ, I stood right beside him and just smilled b/c Gods heart had to be beating so hard with Love for him, Davante is mentally challanged and after he got Baptized I had to help him get dressed and dry off and take care of him and feed him, it just made me think of how God takes care of us how he takes care of our every need and clothes us and feeds us, and never turns away from us. My heart was broken and I will never forget that this is Gods heartbeat and his cry for those that have nothing, we are here to give and Love, this weekend we have Amplified and I can picture one more highschool student or jr high kid that needs someone to listen and be a friend, thats his heart and that is why we are here to reach the world by serving one.

Throw Down With Uncle CHAD

What a night at Refuge we had an incrediable band from Dallas come in to Host Amplified, then we brought back and old friend from up north named Uncle Chad Daniels. Its funny b/c Pastor Dino said something in our class yesterday to Dr. Tweez our High School Pastor, he said I believe we are living in a day were we cant afford to go without saying something otherwise the world will speak for us. Well any body that knows Chad Daniels knows that he is gonna say something, he has alot of Wisdom and deffinatly speaks the truth I'm excited for amplified this year, it will deffinatly bring some new life in and Challenge this generation of Youth to discard the mask and Dawn the Armor. Chad said something last night that was so true some in here just need to have there minds Deleted and start with a clean sheet, this world will so easily fill you up with lies and deciet but we have to do what ever it takes to fight for our Purity and righteousness in Christ b/c that is the last thing the world is trying to give us, and the first thing its trying to take away.

Thinking Back

It was such a blessing to have so many good friends there supporting us and cheering us on, I really didnt take the time to thank all of them enough but it just made me think that we are so blessed as Sons and Daughters of God to do life with people that will put aside themselves and go out on a limb for you b/c there is so much hurt in this world and so much rejection, to have friends over 50 that helped out and came together and have committed to so much in our lives that is was such a blessing to have them there to be apart of us committing to each other, I Love what Pastor Mike said friends that will go to the MAT for you thats what its all about , sharing life together b/c were all in this race together.

Honor Courage Commitment

Its crazy b/c I just got a call from one of my good friends Ryan Scott, he just got out of the Military (USMC) and is now with the reserve unit in Georgia 1st Force Recon, he's married and he is in the process of finishing the Police Academy but whats crazy is that Ryan now has been to Iraq 2 times and the 2ND time he went voluntarily, and now he is going back for a 3rd tour on his own. Its hard to explain to people why guys like Ryan do what they do unless you have been in the military or unless you have experienced some kind of serious event in life, but all the stories you hear are true it's not for glory its not about fame its about the man to the left and the right (Fellowship of the MAT) as Pastor Mike would say its hard to tell him not to go b/c I was there and I understand but at the same time you also care and want to see your brother safe, certain things only the heart knows and certain things only the soul can express words will never be enough. Ryan Scott, we call him scottie to hottie, he is deffinatly the example of John 15:13

10 weeks strong

Well this morning was the last of a 10 week study on the 1st book of John with Pastor Dino, it has been a great series of teaching and a great way to build foundation for the day ahead and the days ahead, Light, Love, Life are the main keys of the study and it was just great to see all the men that turend out for the last day of the Study. Pastor dino taught on how to be a man that brought these 3 things to the table in our own lives and understanding that these 3 things are who Jesus was its an amazing thing to know that God created us to be like him and we have that opportunity the question is what are we going to do with this choice that he has given us.www.dinorizzo.com

Refuge Flow

Something that has been on my heart for such a long time is one of my favorite stories in the Bible the story in 2 samuel where Eleazar walked out to face the entire Philistine army by himself because all of the Isrelite army had fled and left him there and as he was approaching the Philistines he looked back to see his king approaching to fight with him and on that day Eleazar and king David faced the Philistines by themselves and fought and the Bible says that they fought for so long that Eleazars hand had frozen to the sword and they defeated the enemy army I cant help but think about all the times when I have faced enemy armies and Satan trying to take me down and when I look around no one is standing with me but when I get ready to fight my king steps up and says wait I'm here with you and I will not leave you though its just the to of us He will fight for us and uphold us no matter what the situtation we will win.

Bold Faith and His Gospel

This morning was awesome for Elevate we went to do a street ministry and Blake and I were on a team it was really cool b/c we bought big WATER bottles of water and went to this construction site to witness and bless these two guys that were working, and we gave the guys some money for lunch, its funny b/c the look on their faces was incrediable and they were like its good to know that there are still good people in the world, then I did my best to communicate to these hispanic guys who couldent speak any English so I used body language to talk to them it was awesome to see how happy he was when I gave him the water,you know its sad to think about how cold this world is and how shocked people are to get something from a loving heart. I wish sometimes my hands were big enough to put mud on the worlds eyes and let God wash off the blinders so they could see his love its also funny b/c that is our job and it is our calling to love the unloveable and to heal the hurting thats the mission and thats his heart