So Sunday was exciting (to say the least):  During the early service, some electrical stuff caught on fire, causing lights to go out, etc.  Just picture this: numerous baby cribs full of babies from the nursery being wheeled down the street to the CLC.  Yeah, it was quite interesting.  However, praise God that it didn't burn any of the building.  They were able to get it out in time, but it did do a lot of damage to the electric stuff (technical term, yes I know).  Anywho, all is fine now, besides the air conditioner not working, but that's no biggy.

For some reason, I have been reading quite a bit lately.  I've never really been a big reader.  I usually start books, get halfway through them, and lose interest/time.  However, I just finished "Tuesdays With Morrie," (great book, by the way)  and at the moment I'm reading "The Screwtape Letters" and "The Mortification of Sin" (both, so far, are excellent!)  So, it's been good.

I stayed up pretty late last night painting.  It has become a way of worship for me, and I'm pretty stinkin' excited about it.

In the past few weeks, I have figured out one thing: I am much better/more comfortable leading small groups, or even a very large group, in discussion, rather than "preaching" a Bible study in front of a crowd on Wednesday nights.  I enjoy the discussion, the Jesus conversation, the disagreeing with each other about certain beliefs without arguing, the coming to a conclusion that Truth is Truth and It always will be, the wrestling with Scripture TOGETHER, the unexpected questions the Lord places in students' hearts.  I enjoy that.

Back to "The Mortification of Sin":
            "If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." -Romans 8:13 
    Mortify: to put any living thing to death; to take away the principle of all its strength, vigour, and power, so that it cannot act, or exert, or put forth any proper actings of its own.  Jesus mortified sin by being slain on the cross.  We are to mortify sin in our lives as well.  We are to HATE it. When was the last time you HATED you sin?.....even the "small" sin. (By the way, sin is sin...God hates it all.)  Let me know what you think about this verse. 

I wish you all a happy Tuesday.  My last day here at FBC MP will be this Sunday.......I don't even want to begin thinking about leaving them.  I'm going to miss these guys so much!

I leave you with this:
          "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and TO THE END OF THE EARTH!" -Acts 1:8  Lord Jesus, send us.

Currently Reading The Screwtape Letters By C. S. Lewis see related

Yeah, so it's been awhile.  Get over it.  (If you don't have time to read the whole post, then don't read it.)

M-FUGE was good.  Yet again, God moved, worked, molded.  It's odd to me....He is the only One who is able to move like this, the only One who can intervene so perfectly.  However, for some reason, I'm surprised every time.  He never ceases to amaze me...well, now anyway.  I used to be bored with God.  Ha....bored with God?  Right.  I didn't look for His miracles. (And yet again, I am reminded of Forrest Gump.)  Anyway, time for a stinkin' cool story from M-FUGE.

Monday, we helped harvest vegetables at a farm (I know, right?!  You travel from TEXAS for 2 days to go to a farm in South Carolina!!) Anywho, the man there wasn't a Christian, however, he donated 80-90% of his 36 acre crop of vegetables to charity.  What's so cool about this??  This man has a servant's heart.  What's so sad about this?  He doesn't know who he's serving.  He just kept reminding us that lots of people would get to eat better that week because of what we did.  We tried explaining to him the Truth that it's not because of what we did; it's because of Jesus Christ, who is Love.  He tells our track leader that God and church are just not for him.  He respects us and our beliefs, but He has too much to worry about without having to add "that" to his plate.  If only he knew......

Tuesday, we went to a place called "Freedom Schools."  It's a middle school (grades 6-8) made to keep kids in that area reading throughout the summer.  They play tennis, work on computers, learn about poetry, read books, AND the best part: They have a step team!  (way cool.)  So, we get there, they divide us into many groups of about 4 or 5.  They tell us that each summer they have a different theme for the school.  This summer just happened to be themed "Africa."  The kids and teachers are all African-American, and none of them have ever even been to Africa, but they all have very heavy African accents.  What's so cool about all this??  Each classroom was named according to a different part of Africa.  The classroom I was placed in was "Uganda."  ....go figure...

Wednesday, we went to a boys' home in the country.  It was beautiful, and the boys there were so stinkin' awesome.  Yeah, some had behavior problems, and some had physical problems, but they all had a heart and were just waiting to use it when we got there.  What was so sad was them asking us if we would be back, and us telling them, "No...sorry.  If we could, we would.  But we can't.  I'm so sorry."  The thing is, a "sorry" is not what those boys needed.  They needed consistent, obvious, evident Love, and in the short 4 hours we were there, I hope we showed that to them.  Again, the woman over the boys' home was not a Christian, and her reasoning was much like the farmer's.  I am curious to find out what the Lord does with the seeds planted there.

The last day of site, we went to a church/food bank.  The church was a very multicultural church called "Lord of the Harvest," and we were able to go there and help them divide up food to send out to people in need.  It used to be a theater, but they made it into their church after the theater shut down.  It was way cool.

So Thursday morning (before site) we had our college Bible study, and Whit (the speaker) was our leader.  We spoke about our passions...and I told them about Uganda.  That night, at the worship service, Whit mentioned my calling to Africa in his sermon, and talked about what kind of shape Uganda is in right now.  He showed pictures of African people who are suffering, and then told us about a girl who one of the camp staffers, Julie, had gotten to visit with when she went to Africa.  This young girl's parents had been killed when she, her sisters, and her brother were very young.  So, their uncles took them in to live with them, and in turn molested them until they were 13 years old.  The young girl contracted AIDS, and on her death bed, Julie led her to Christ.  She soon told Julie, "Please tell my sisters this Good News....and tell my brother, I am no longer an orphan."  I got to meet Julie that night, and she prayed for me for my calling to Uganda.  Talk about sweet, sweet fellowship.

Yeah, this post is quite long, but oh well.  It's not over yet.

More tomorrow.  I'm tired of typing, and I'm still trying to sort through and grasp some of my thoughts about the past week or so.  I'm gonna be leading the Bible study for Impact on Wednesday night...so stinkin' excited about it!  I wish you a happy Tuesday.  Leave me some Love.

H-Mac

Currently Listening The Face of Love By Sanctus Real I'm Not Alright see related

Please keep us (FBC Mount Pleasant Youth Ministry) in your prayers.  We're leaving at 7:30 in the morning for South Carolina (18 hours away from here) on a charter bus.  We'll be stopping in Birmingham, Alabama to sleep tomorrow night, and finishing up the drive the next day.  SOOOOOO, pray for safe travel, genuine faith, changed hearts, renewed spirits, brokenness, and true, unexplainable Joy.

And uh, I feel very selfish for asking this, but please pray for me.  There is something I've got to do when I get back, and it won't be easy.  I don't know what I'm supposed to say or how I'm even going to contact this person, but for some reason, my Lord keeps placing this on my heart, even when I have begged for Him to take it away.  I'm not gonna lie...I'm afraid.......of drama, of bringing back painful memories, of rejection, of confrontation, of cutting off all communication.....of never seeing this person again.    I need some serious guidance.  For those of you who do pray with me in this, thank you, and praise God for such faithful friends.

See you in 10 days.

WARNING: LONG POST

So, Friday was awesome.  I got to drive the guys from Building 429 around in the church van, take 'em to lunch, dinner, and whatever else they needed.  I must say, I had a blast with those guys.  Michael (the drummer) just got married 2 weeks ago (the same day Cyndi and Chase got married) and he and his new wife have been traveling on the tour ever since...crazy...

Yesterday I wasted time by watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest...absolutely awful and cannot be compared to the first one at all.  The end.

Last night, after leaving Billy's and chillin' with those guys for a little while, I went driving.  Due to the insane cost of gas lately, I forgot how much I enjoyed doing that.  However, the Lord started revealing "stuff."  I bawled.....you know, the kind of bawling where you just clench your teeth and cry out to God.  The kind of bawling that starts by you trying to swallow that annoying knot in your throat, which leads to trying to hold back the tears, which leads to hard, painful crying.  I realized that there is still a lot of crud I haven't dealt with.  There is still pain that I haven't released, and embarrassing shame that I haven't let go of.  There are people I need to talk to and words that need to be said.  And just when I thought the Lord was just showing me this stuff for me......

........He used all of it tonight during girls' discipleship.  I got to tell 20 or so girls that they are loved and pursued by GOD!  I got to show them the amazing Truth in Psalm 45:11 that "The King is enthralled with [their] beauty, so [they should] honor Him, because He is [their] God!"  I got to share with them the beautiful love story of Hosea and Gomer, God and Israel, God and themselves!  And the ate it up...they let Jesus grasp hold of them and they prayed like I had never heard them pray before.  They cried out to Him in all their pain and sorrow and shame, and they got REAL with Him.  And I was able to talk to a few of them afterwards about the pain of becoming too emotionally and physically involved with guys and how Christ is pursuing them and He's crazy about each one of them!  And I was able to see a very small portion lifted from their shoulders...not all of it, but enough to reveal Hope.  Thank You, Jesus.

If you get the chance, check out Charlie Hall's song "Come for Me" on his "Flying into Daybreak" CD.  It's a good one.

Leave me some love...I pray blessings and brokenness for you today.  Holla!

Currently Reading Every Young Woman's Battle : Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World (The Every Man Series) By Shannon Ethridge, Stephen Arterburn see related

BUILDING 429 CONCERT TOMORROW IN MT. PLEASANT! Yay!

Yeah, so I have the wonderful job of driving Building 429's bus driver to the hotel and back all day.  But hey, free concert!

We leave for M-FUGE in South Carolina a week from today....I'm so excited!  The drama ministry is coming along, slowly but surely.  We got together a good skit with a good Message, and I'm super-dooper-ooper ecstatic about them doing it at M-FUGE.  It's been a blast so far, which is funny, 'cause I really don't know much about drama/theater, but the Lord is taking complete control over it all.

I'm reading "Every Young Woman's Battle" right now.  No joke, I have been surprised by some of the stuff in this book that I didn't realize I struggled with.  Some stuff I used to struggle with, and I'm learning how to guard my heart from letting satan creep back in and lie to me.  It's a pretty intriguing and challenging little book.   You should read it.

I finally got to talk to Ricky last night!  It was good to get to catch up with a friend I haven't seen/talked to in a while.  It made me start thinking about other friends I haven't seen/talked to in a while, and I started missing some folks (yes, I just used the word "folks").  If only I had the guts to call some of those people up.......

Welp, I need to go finish up some stuff for camp.  Holla at me!  (I'm so white......)

H-Mac ><>