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.