A Pile of Leaves can lead us to our greatest fear!!!

Picture Fall...you are young...it's fall...your dad just finished raking all the leaves in the back yard...as he finishes piling them up he informs you that you are not to jump in the pile of leaves...you don't see any harm in it...you've done it many times before...so...you get back about 20 ft...get a running start and...SPLAT...the reason your dad told you not to jump in the pile of leaves is because...even though you didn't know it...there was a large pile of trash...so dad comes out and grabs you by the arm...all nasty...smelly...and dirty...reminds you that he told you not to jump in the leaves...and than gently and lovingly takes you to the bathroom and begins to wash you off...now you could have avoided this all together if you had only listened to what he said...but you chose to do it anyway because it was what you wanted to do...

I was praying this morning about listening to his leading and how to obey...and he place

d that illustration in my heart...and then he reminded me of how the other day myself and a few of our first year students were working on cleaning out the XMC resource room...when one of them came across a black trash bag with prop "plants" in it...I immediately told her not to put her hand in the bag...and what is the first thing that she proceeds to do??? ??? Put her hand in the bag...when at that time I let her know that the reason I told her not to put her hand into the bag is because there was a good possibility that it was contaminated with poison ivy...to which her response was "Imma go wash my hands now!!!...So this morning God reminded me of the fact that Jesus knows what is in the bag before we even pick it up...and that he knows what is in the middle of the pile before we ever go to jump in the leaves...

Now the things that we keep jumping in or shoving our hands in may be the things that are holding us back from the power that God wants to release in our lives...

Nelson Mandela said...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Today I choose to step out of the box of fear of being small...or possibly that I am capable of more than I could ever truly imagine...and allow myself to get beyond the piles of leaves that i continue to jump in...or the black plastic bags that I continue to shove my hands in...I will get beyond the fear of my power and live in the power that God has called me to live in...

God thank you for giving me ears to hear when you are telling me not to jump...or shove my hand in the bag...and thank you so much for allowing me to get beyond my fears of the power that you have placed in my life and live in it to the fullest!!!

Change the Philosophy

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation

will be the philosophy of government in the next."

Abraham Lincoln

I heard this quote when I was about 13, since that day there has been a burning passion in my heart to change a generation. Thats what this blog is going to be about, changing the philosophy of a generation, today and tomorrow.

There are visions that God has placed in my heart that I cannot wait to see come to pass. One of these visions is in the very early phases of comming to pass.

The way that it is comming to pass in through an event called The Bash '09. This is an event geared at targeting the unchurched in a new and unique way. It isn't about preaching "hell fire" or a "feel good" message. It is about getting them to a place where they are open to hear a message then presenting them with the truth.

This is going to be accomplished by getting local christian rock groups to come together on a high school football field, and rocking out for Christ. But that is not what is going to get these students there. The thing that I am believing is going to get the students to the field that night is the fact that we are going to have outrageously BIG giveaways. These will hopefully include: a flat screen tv, a wii gaming system, an i-pod, but the one that I believe will bring in more than any thing is a brand new car, not sure what kind yet, but thats the goal, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

More than any of this we will be in need of your prayers, for favor, for provision, and most importantly for souls. That God would prepare them for what He wants to do in their lives. The event isn't until May 8th but the earlier we can accomplish what we need to accomplish the better it will be.

Keep an eye here for updates, I will blog them as they come in, again thanks for all the prayers, and heres to Changing the Philosophy!!!