Wednesday Update

This morning Amber, Austin, and I had the privilege of going to Mom and Dad's church, FBC Silsbee, to help with their Vacation Bible School. Momma asked me to share the plan of salvation again this year on their ABC day. I absolutely love this opportunity! Today I shared three different times a very simple illustration of the gospel. I don't know how many committed their lives to Jesus today but I do know that God spoke to the hearts of many kids today. I am thankful to be used as a tool of God. We then traveled to Casa Ole for lunch and enjoyed a meal with my family. Following that, I got to relax some with a newfound friend, Jeff Martin, playing some basketball on Xbox. Yes, I know it seems a bit childish but it is nice from time to time to just relax and hang out. From there Austin and I went to the church to get ready for VBS where I truly believe God tested me after I had a wonderful day and I failed miserably. Scripture teaches me that God allows trials into my life to grow me. It's great to read in scripture but difficult to live out. My attitude must change. I must work to be more like Jesus. I am not "good enough". I must continue to battle 1 Corinthians 9:27 style. After a late but great night I hope to go and love on some of our students at ETBE tomorrow. Finding time to do it all is tough but it is worth it. I miss those kids yet I couldn't be more proud of them. Getting to meet Joey Romero tonight, their Ghana trip leader, really got me excited about what God is sound in their lives all summer long. I hope each year we send that many students from our student ministry to do God's work. God is good.

What an amazing Sunday! / VBS

I would honestly say that I truly enjoyed this past Sunday.  The morning time brought an opportunity to encourage two of our seniors with the story of Jeremiah, a prophet who struggled with his calling in life.  Often times when I read of men and women in the Bible I feel like I just don't measure up. But I measure up with Jeremiah just fine.  Called by God to bring a hard truth to the Israelites Jeremiah struggled and questioned if he was really doing what he should be doing.  He even got to a point where he felt it would have been better if he would have never even been born.  I am no Paul, no Peter, no John the Baptist, no Moses, Esther, or Ruth.  I can definitely identify with Jeremiah though.  This life is tough!  There is so much pressure, so much temptation, and so many "right" things to always be doing.  There are so many books to read, so many trips to take, and so many people to minister to.  I feel like at times I am simply juggling all of life.  When I am taking care of my family well I feel like I am slipping at the church.  When I am on top of things at the church I feel like I am missing time with my family.  Even at church when I am doing a good job of ministering to our students I feel like I am missing out on our elderly or the other way around.  I know how Jeremiah feels.  But there is one verse in the book of Jeremiah that I am holding on to... "If I say, 'I won't mention God or speak any longer in His name,' His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail."  No matter how much I struggle (James 1:2-3) I must persevere because the cause of Christ burns deep within me like a fire.  I cannot hold it in!  I will press on toward what Jesus has called me and my family to do!  Pray for Amber and I right now.
In the morning worship service I was able to lead a young man, now 4th grade, to Jesus who had been talking with his family for weeks about it.  His name is Nick.  This is an amazing story because both of his older brothers, Reid and John, have both come to know Jesus in 2012.  Reid got saved at Hot Hearts and John got saved at the Ken Freeman Revival.  Reid told me a couple months ago that John reads his Bible every day.  There is no doubt in my mind that Nick saw the difference Jesus has made in his older brother's lives and the Holy Spirit drew Nick to God through that.  Amazing!
Later that evening, after setting up for VBS, we had around 20 people playing Ultimate Frisbee at the high school practice field since there was no church that evening.  After two hours of playing my cousin, Austin Hill, shared his story of how he came to know Jesus.  A fun night turned in to an evangelism night just like that.  I promised myself that I would take more opportunities to share Jesus with people.  That was the first step.  God used that testimony in some students' lives and I can't wait to see how (if God allows me to).
Yesterday night at VBS we had an amazing time.  There were 180 kids and 111 workers on our opening night.  That means that 300 people came together to talk about how amazing Jesus is!  For some reason that is pretty exciting.  God gets the glory but I must say that Amber Stark, Amber Harris, and Ginger Gomez along with many others have done an incredible job in preparing for this week.  Last night went by effortlessly due to all of the preparation by those ladies.  I am thankful for their faithfulness.  Praise God!
Looking forward to tomorrow as I share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the students at First Baptist Silsbee. Then hopefully Austin and I will be heading to ETBE to help serve for a day on Thursday. Philippians 1:9-11.