Excitement

This has been quite the crazy week. I'm still very pumped because this past sunday 2 guys from me and Wade's small group accepted Christ which is awesome and I was there to pray with them, so it's just an amazing thing to be a part of. ESPN's Gameday will be in Columbia this Saturday and I hopefully will be there too, and we Play the #7 Tennessee Volunteers this weekend. That should be a good one. I'm also pretty stoked about the new series at Mount Horeb starting the Sunday after next called Deal or No Deal. It's going to be about worship and we are actually playing Deal or No Deal and I will be hosting so there is a possibility that I may go completely bald for this event. Next Thursday I'm going up to Indiana with Nick and Trevor to help lead worship which should be an awesome awesome experience. God's doing some big things, and it's been an exciting week.

Unfortunately though I have come down with some odd sickness. There is congestion and nausea and it's been hard to sleep. My mommy took me to the doctor yesterday, and I thought that I had an ear infection because I've gotten them a lot. He checked around in my ears and checked my glands and my throat and said that it didn't look infected. In fact he said that he thinks that it just may be some sort of weak virus or something that will just go away with a little time. I just had to wait it out is basically what I was told. Scary because last night I felt miserable and I was almost certain that he was wrong and I had some sort of fatal disease that was going to kill me in a short time. I seriously laid in bed from about 8:15 last night until 10:00 this morning. When I woke up I still felt bad, but after breakfast I started feeling better, and now it's 11:15 and I'm feeling pretty good. So it would appear that the doctor was right.

It takes me back to a few verses. One is James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure Joy,my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Somehow in the midst of my sickness, when I was feeling down and when I felt useless, it wasn't hard for me to see God working. Just being able to sit back and think about what all God is doing even when I'm weak fills me with Joy and definitely makes me want to persevere. It has been a "good" sickness I guess you could say, and I'm a huge fan of the word of God spoken through James.

Sovereignty

One of the Beauties of college is that you get to pick every single class that you want to take. I happen to be a huge fan of 24 and do enjoy history and a little bit of political type things, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a class called Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. Pretty cool I know.

So today we talked about counter-terrorist tacticts and there was a heated debate on whether or not we can win the war on terror, because there are tons of nations that simply will not cooperate with the "War on Terror". You see different countries and diffferent governments believe very very strongly in their "Sovereignty".

My Professor said that sovereignty is this: when a country like the US for example does what is best for the US and ignores what other nations say or do. He said that we don't use a very popular system in our government to prevent and help stop Global Warming because of the huge impact it would have on the Oil Industry and our Economy . And it's not just the US... it's any country. They are going to do what is in the best interests of their people and of their government.

God is the exact same way. He doesn't move or budge by anything we say or do. God is always doing things that are in his best interest, the Kingdom's best interest, and in our best interest.

A lot of the times we are quick to blame God for bad things that happen in our lives or we say "how could a loving God let something like 9/11 happen?" It's his sovereignty. First of all I think that Bin Laden and terrorist organizations are totally responsible, but it doesn't mean that God is not glorified through it. God wouldn't allow anything to rattle his best interest and so I think I'm starting to learn to trust more, because in all honesty I can't see the big picture and a lot of the time I have no idea what is best for me in the long haul. God will be sovereign forever and do what is best ALWAYS! No matter how we view it.

Winner

Free Stuff... we all love it. I know I do. The first week of USC was a crazy one because right in front of one of the main buildings, the Russel House, tons of organizations and business set up these tents right in the middle of where everyone walks and gives out free stuff. It was awesome, I got a free Dominoe's lunch, free energy drinks, flashlights, pens, I mean I was stocked up on kinds of junk. I mean I even love watching other people get free stuff. It's crazy, I spent 2 hours the other night watching Deal or No Deal, and I found myself screaming at the TV and wanting people to pick "the right cases". I wanted them to get the most possible money possible, and I've never ever seen these people before.

The same can be said for my love of other people coming to Christ. One of the most emotional and happiest moments of my life was at a camp called BigStuf in Panama City, Florida this past summer. There were about 50 of us, and the last night there was an open invite and challenge to accept Christ as Lord. There were 5 people from our group that stood up, and I remember before they stood up, I was screaming inside please God let some people get this awesome gift of Grace. I didn't want anyone to miss out on this opportunity, and I was soo happy to see these people stand up that I cried. And I'm not one to cry, before this summer the last time I cried was about 4 and half years before that. Like I can remember pretty much every time i've cried in my life. It was AWESOME, and it's those moments that remind why I wake up every morning and why I don't want to see anyone lose or miss out on this breath-taking gift of salvation.

Familia

So right now i'm on fall break. It is basically a 4 day weekend that we get from USC which is pretty sweet cuz I love having time to just kinda sit around and do nothing. I've gotten to just be able to hang around my family and see how they are doing since the oldest has gone off to college. It has been cool to see that my mom and my brother are actually getting along, cuz there used to be a lot of yelling in Spanish around here, and to see that my brother is maturing a bit. It's awesome to see God working in their lives.

A really cool thing about my brother is the other night as soon as i got home, he came up to me and asked if I wanted to study the bible with him... WOAH, my little brother actually approaching me about it. This is the same brother who I couldn't have a serious conversation with, and now he is initiating a bible study with me? It's good stuff, and i'm glad God's working right at home.

me

so I'm wrestling with how I should deal with other belief systems that don't match up with Christianity, true Christianity. It honestly makes me angry to hear some of the things that people say, and I get riled up and the first thing I want to do is disprove it and prove that I am right and act like I have all the answers. But tonight my good friend Wade Joye said some pretty good stuff: Facts rarely change people... and it's true.

I didn't come to Christ because one of my Christian friends debated evolution to me. Or because they gave me all of the prophecy in the Old Testament, and then put it together with Jesus's life. I came to him because I saw Jesus working in other people's lives and I thought... I want that, NO, I NEED that. I think at this point I'm realizing that maybe all I can do, maybe all that God really wants me to do is tell people what I believe about him and "be" what I believe about him.

So what do I believe? I believe that me as a person before coming to God, I was completely lost, and trying to figure out my own way of life on my own and DEAD in my sin. I could have tried as hard as I wanted and it never would have been good enough. I believe that even though I had chosen to deny God's way, and fell in a path of Sin... he still sought out to make a way for me to get back to him. I believe God HATES sin, and that he is a loving, but JUST God. He hated sin soooo much and loved us sooo much that he let His son Jesus come to connect us to God... he let his son suffer one of the most agonizing deaths in order that maybe one of us would see the sacrifice and simply accept what Jesus did and believe that it works. Once I accepted Christ as my savior, once I confessed my sins to him... he took them off of me and began to allow me to experience life the way it was intended... I'm not perfect, nor do I think that I will be, but I have freedom over sin through the redemption that Christ has given me. I also believe that not only is salvation one of the greatest gifts ever and that it comes from Christ ONLY, but there is this bonus that is often overlooked even though it's freakin crazy. THE HOLY SPIRIT that lives within me and keeps me in tune with God and lets me in on what he thinks, and what he wants for me.

God is working in me through his Spirit, daily, and my prayer is that people out there will see that and eventually get to a point where they say... I need that Jesus thing that Andrew has.

getting out of a rut

So basically I've been in a rut lately. I have been letting some stupid things get to me and have been very selfish. I am letting college get to me and pretending that it is bogging me down and that all I have time for is things that I have to do. On top of this I've been trying to do it on my own... DUMB IDEA!!!! Last night I had a pretty freakin sweet time with my roommate and we watched some Rob Bell videos, which was like a breath of fresh air. It kinda snapped me back to reality and let me see the beauty of God... I know people try and rag on USC's campus and say that it's in the middle of the city and it's too busy and things like that, but right now I am looking outside of my dorm window and I have an AMAZING view of just like trees and like some cool looking houses off in the distance. If people could see what I saw and feel how I feel about my view from my room, everyone would want to live here, and everyone would see that Columbia isn't so bad after all. I had been feeling useless, down, and almost like the only one who gets it when it comes to Jesus, but I know now that it's not gonna be the case and I can feel God with me. It's crazy and Rob Bell and Nature are 2 very cool things.

The Beginning October 12, 2006

Hmm... so blogging is cool... and i'm gonna try and do it as often as possible. this will most likely be thoughts on what God is doing in my life.