1″Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father

5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

1. “they say that…”
2. “besides, every knows that…”
3. “why don’t they just…”
4. “Did you here that…”
5. “They always…”
6. “It’s the same with the…”

I have decided that I am going to try and get better at not having my own opinions about stuff. Or at least not voicing them, but maybe even not having them at all. I think I’m gona try being more concerned with facts and less concerned with my views. Better yet, more concerned with individual people and less with any views. If I want to be heard, I will open Garageband, click on preferences, make sure that internal microphone is active, and record myself telling myself all of the unverifiable opinions that I can think about a certain subject. I will then burn this to a CDr and put it in my car and listen to me as I drive, like I do with demos and stuff. I will think that I am really smart and will probably even argue with myself about what I am saying. Regardless, I will spare those around me from having to hear me talk about stuff that I don’t really have a grasp on anyway. Opinions look like onions and onions give me heartburn and opinions make peoples breath smell.

hold me to it…

God is doing some amazing things in our Little Church on the northeast corner of Indianapolis.  We are becoming a catalyst for his blessing.  Our weekend services have become a haven for true worshipers and a beacon of hope to so many in our community that have been marginalized or turned off by church in the past.

Last night, I attended a service at Eastern Star, which is the largest church in our city.  I watched as Jeffery Johnson, the senior pastor, gave a check for $183,000.00 to Convoy of Hope, which will feed over a million people in Haiti.  This was due to a response by our church and many others in our city.

Jesus said that we feed him when we feed the “least of these”.  Well, there is no doubt that God is blessing.  We are seeing a move of the Spirit that is refreshing and awesome and we are starting to see that God is blessing our church in order that we might be a blessing to others.

It’s a dream to lead worship at a church like this.

Not empty religiosity, just people that want to be used and want God to move among them.

-Holy Dust

Most people that spend any time with me notice that I have my head in the clouds a lot.  I notice things in the sky; hawks, vultures, clouds, planes, stars.  I learn the cycles of the moon and just kind of pick up when its going to be full and when it is crescent; when there is a new moon.   Im not an astronomer and don’t know my constellations real well, but I do know what the star clusters look like and where the line up over my house.  And the difference places they sit in the sky at different times a year.  It’s not just some hobby that I have.  I notice the sky for two different reasons.

1. God Did It: God finds pleasure in painting the night sky.  I feel like if my Dad is into something, I should be into it too.  I feel like if I notice and am like, “Lord you are so mighty and amazing” he will get glory from my adoration.  I actually believe that the God that I love and worship and follow, really painted the night sky.

2. Jesus Comes Back In The Clouds:  Scripture tells us that Christ will come back just like he left, in the clouds.  When Jesus comes back, I want to see it.  I don’t want the dude next to me to nudge my shoulder and let me know.  I really believe he is coming back and that it really could happen at any moment.  Sometimes I gaze up the sky and wonder if today is the day.

I feel like each of us should lead lives that notice the sky and all the workings of nature around us.  Nature is what our heavenly Father is into.  And I want to be about my Dad’s business.  So, wake up and look up. Notice God around you.  Stop driving life so hard with your head down at your feet.  God does amazing things.

Psalm 8:3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have put in place, who is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

I read my bible and get really pumped up when I hear stories about King David when he says things like, “who is this Philistine who defies the armies of the living God”.  I’m like, YES, when I here Paul talk about how he is a prisoner in chains for the gospel, and how he would consider everything a waste compared to knowing Christ and being radically devoted to him.  But I got to be honest, I’m kind of jealous.  I feel like they had this super devoted and risky adventure of a life following Christ and I’m like buying non honey nut Cherios for my boys because they don’t need all the sugar in their diet.  I mean, I don’t want the organic band wagon to leave without me.

Furthermore, I see the kinds of global disasters that are happening all over the world that are exactly like the labor pains of the end times that we read about in Revelation.  I’m thinking that I’ve got to put all the cards on the table.  I’m the only thing standing in the way of a life that makes radical attempts and surrenders fully to God.  God will use my life in big and amazing ways as I give him all of me.  My hopes, dreams, ambitions.

I just wrote this song that puts it all in perspective.  It’s time we see ourselves as the disciples and apostles saw themselves.  All in; Fully surrendered.  God wants to use you to change the world, but first you have to say to Him, Im All Yours.

Im All Yours- By Rick Stump

A little clay, a little sand, the breath of God and I became a man.  I turned away, my heart went black, but God gave up his only Son and bought me back.  Jesus take my life and make it Yours.  Then use my heart to love this broken world.  Im all yours.  When I look, give me your eyes.  To see the poor and the oppressed here in this life.  And where I go, You go beside.  Turn every mortal step I take into divine.  Jesus take my life and make it Yours.  Then use my heart to love this broken world.  It’s amazing how this little ball of clay, could come to life and do the holiest of things.  And I have nothing I can offer you of worth.  But my dust is Yours, my dust is Yours.  jesu take my life and make it yours.

Have an awesome day!

Cancer is a horrible disease.  It ravishes beautiful bodies.  It is one of the clearest pictures of the reality that we live in a broken world.  It is a broken world.  Yes we find beauty in it often, but there is no hiding that things are happening all the time that are not right.  war; hunger; loss of innocence; Leslie dying.  None of this should be this way.  How do we find hope?

Well, for Leslie, she had a hero in Jesus Christ.  She had a real relationship with her creator.  She claimed that Jesus is the reason that she could fight so hard.

And there, I said it.  It was Jesus.  The only one that could heal Leslie/ the only one that had ultimate control of the Universe, thus allowing this struggle to become Leslie’s reality.  He could take the cancer away without even breaking a sweat.  Now, I don’t really want to argue that Jesus was Leslie’s anchor and that some people use alah or budah, or some other “faith method”.  No!  There comes a time when the truth needs to be said, and If you are counting on any other “faith method” other than the one Leslie used, you are Lost.  Christ Jesus, the creator of the universe, is the only truth, and He is also the only one responsible and capable to help Leslie.  When someone close to you dies there is no more time to be splitting hairs.  It’s Jesus, so repent soon.

But Jesus was the only one that could help Leslie.  We prayed for him to heal her…a lot.  We wanted her to stay here in the broken place with us.  If she went away we knew how bad we would miss her.  We do miss her.  It hurts really bad when you lose people.  It’s unnatural for humans to die.  But God (Jesus) had other plans.

Towards the end, as we all started to face the reality that cancer would ultimately take Leslie’s life, it started to hit me that Leslie’s healing was coming soon.  I realize that this sounds like a fanciful way of saying that Leslie has gone to a better place.  But it’s not.  Today Leslie truly is healed.  She has actually won her battle with cancer.  We will miss her, but she has won.  Christ has conquered the brokeness of Leslie’s world.  One day he will put it all right.   He will make the pain go away.  It will be morning.  But slowly there are broken things that he is fixing one by one and Leslie is fixed.  She is all better.  I am still broken, but I know that one day I will be all better.

We had been praying for a long time that Leslie would be healed.  We truly believed what we prayed with all our hearts.  God, (Jesus) the only one who could help Leslie, did.  He rescued her and healed her body and soul once and for all.  Today, at this very moment, Leslie has been healed.

But we, the still broken, will love, miss, and never forget her.

Every Wednesday Night this summer we are playing at The Lake House in Noblesville, IN.  We will be playing all of your favorite songs from 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm.  It is going to be a blast.  Bring your friends.  The venue is very nice, great atmosphere, good food and drinks.  It will be awesome to see you guys out there!!!

Directions: The Lake House is located just north of 206th Street on Hague Rd.  The easiest way to get there from our side of town is to take SR37 North to 206th.  Take 206th West to Hague (Road T’s at Hague).  Then North to Venue on Left