Rice and Beans

1. SOLIDARITY: We are standing with our brothers and sisters in East Africa who live on limited incomes and who can only afford simple meals like Rice & Beans.
   
2. SIMPLICITY: Those of us who live in wealthier nations often eat for pleasure and eat in excess. We are going to eat a nutritious and simple meal to give up on wasteful consumption.
   
3. SHARING: We choose to simplify and stand in solidarity in order to share with our brothers and sisters. We are asking you to look at your food budget for the month and give whatever you would have spent on your food for that month to the kids living in our East Africa partnerships.

Facebook!?

Well I do love Facebook, and by 'love' I definitely use that term QUITE loosely.

But, some people I know shared a 'event' with me, and if you aren't familiar with 'events' or 'Facebook' you probably don't have a Xanga, but if you do just go here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

But any who, so the group was http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=194840691282.

This sparked an interest to me, for all of those who are not into going over seas to do missionary work, or those who are not too sure how to help out, or what you can do?

Well this event is basically very similar to Black History month or Hispanic Heritage month, or what have you.  Yet instead of dealing with our self absorbed American 'culture.'  If we can call it that.  It's thinking about the millions of people in third world countries that survive off of...  Rice and Beans.

But instead of just bringing awareness it is asking you to do something.  Join the thousands of people around the world in eating Rice and Beans... ONLY, for the month of March.

Now, how is this going to help out in any way except for make us, Americans lose weight?  Well it won't unless you go the step further.  The money that you would have spent on EXCESS foods, compile for a month, and then see what the difference is.

That money could be sent off to anywhere for help in any non-profit organization at this point to help them out.  In this 'economic' trial, hundreds of organizations are having to work extra hard to support their cause.  You could easily save $100.00 a month by doing this.  That $100.00 could easily buy beans and rice for an entire village in Africa, or any third world country at that.

Need a place to donate?  Here I'll help just click here!
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=22293

But yeah, off that high horse<<< really? :D

I think I will write another weblog after this.

So my challenge to you, is live outside yourself for the next month.  Save money< that may be new to you.  Think of someone other than yourself.  Pray for someone other than yourself.  Live for something other than yourself.  It doesn't have to be by eating rice and beans either, but leave your selfish ways behind and help out others.

That's it! :D

If you just want more information about this go here!
http://www.eatriceandbeans.com/

Love you guys
josh

Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

Tonight I listened to a pod-cast by Matt Chandler. It's a series over the greatest commandment. Tonight we talked about "The Transformation of the Mind" in regards to:

Matthew 22:37
37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

It was great to listen to, just brought a bit of reality to where I am with my walk, and how I treat the knowledge of the Bible.  It was good to just know that the pushing through, that the fight, and the roughness of reading the Bible is normal.  That our MIND is not very cooperative and that we must fight to read sometimes, and know that most people have the same problem.  It was super refreshing.

I have been reading through from beginning to end starting in November.  I am now in II Samuel.  For the past week or so I have been very just, "bleh" and not feeling it.  I love what I read, and when I do read, it just hasn't been very 'fruitful?'

I can't just pray, or just read the bible, I need to be reading and studying and praying, and praying and reading and studying and studying and praying and reading, all equally.  So that God can clearly show me what He has for me.  I need to be reading so that I can clearly portray the Bible and the Lord in that.  So that I will have the knowledge of the Lord and accurately bring that to the people of the world. 

Proverbs 2:1-6

¹ My son, if you accept my words
       and store up my commands within you,
 ² turning your ear to wisdom
       and applying your heart to understanding,
 ³ and if you call out for insight
       and cry aloud for understanding,
 ⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
       and search for it as for hidden treasure,
 ⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
       and find the knowledge of God.
 ⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom,
       and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

This was great to read to know that I need to desire these things then the LORD will give us wisdom.  I can't not grasp wisdom on my own, but I can by the leaning of the Lord.

We need to be able to correctly handle the word of truth.

II Timothy 2:7
7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give insight into all this.

Great Fear: People will continually go to church, get motivated then leave and do nothing.

Lazy People: Prefer motivation to transformation.

To know TRUTH and not act on it makes the heart grow COLD

That was the Sermon Notes basically with some of my initial thoughts. 

Afghanistan Update:

So today Dilip, called me to talk to me about Afghanistan.  It was really great, we talked about plans my desires, where I feel like God has me right now, and what He may be wanting to use me for.

I am an English Education Major, with a Minor in Spanish.  Well almost, I am about 30(ish) hrs away from graduating, which is cool, but I am just not at school to graduate.  I have been working at Camp for the past 2 years which is something that I am positive God has me doing.  Now, Dilip urged me to finish up that degree, because the people of Afghanistan will be wanting to know my credentials for teaching or just being in Afghanistan.  He said I should plan a short-term trip over to see what it's all about and what is happening over there.  I told him the summer would be a great time for me to go over there.  He said that sounds great.  We talked about some of the things that I could be doing during the summer if I went.  It was all great to me, one of them seemed to be almost a "summer camp" over there for them.  Outdoor recreation with the kids.  How AWESOME IS THAT!?!?!?!  He said I should fill out the application, and just send it in.  I should start raising support, and MOST IMPORTANTLY KEEP PRAYING ON THIS!

My Plan<<< hahahahahahah
1) Pray and Pray and Pray
2) Fill out application.
(pray some more)
3) Inform my Family... (ooo gosh)
(pray some more)
4) Begin planning out expenses
(yes pray some more)
5) Start raising support


All the while praying and praying.  I really need you guys to be praying for me, it's a huge step for me and I totally feel the Lord is guiding me with this. 

What can you pray for?

1) My Heart to continually be after the Lord.
2) That I will have the Heart and Courage to continually pursuing this opportunity.
3) That my Family will receive it well.
4) That I will be continually pursuing Gods will.
5) That God will continue to reveal His will for my life to me IN what I need to be doing.

Thanks guys I really appreciate it!

"Allow us to remember that Jesus is with us, so go out and be Christ in others eyes as we serve and strive to live for God's glory while spreading the Word to schoolmates, teammates, families, non-believers, and friends!" -unknown person

Love You Guys!
-josh

Logically Insane

I have truly been contemplating this GO, that I feel God is leading me towards.

I have been praying intensely about several things lately, but more than probably anything other is that God will reveal what He want's me to do.  I am not worrying about anything, just really wanting to know if this is what He wants me to do.  I feel like He is saying this is the plan I have laid out for you, but I think I have just have personal doubts.

I feel like God is telling me to go to Afghanistan.  Bizarre!?  I feel like yes, but I can't help but have this huge weight of trust in my heart to go, and trust God to provide a way.

Some of you may be like, why for!?  Well, I feel like I should go be a missionary in Afghanistan, and use my 'almost' English Education Degree, and Teach English.  It's against the law to be a missionary in Afghanistan, but you can go and do 'community development' and that is what I am going to be doing, while being a 'underground' missionary.  It seems so exciting to me, almost illogical, but just something that seems to be what I need to do.

I have alot of things on my plate that tell me that it wouldn't be smart, but all of which can be solved easily, just as long as they are given to the Lord.

This is probably the one thing that has been constant in my mind for the past week.

Please just continue to pray that God will clearly just speak to me and assure me that it is His will, or not.

Thanks guys!

Love You
josh

Let Your Kingdom Come

I have been praying quite a bit lately on what my life is going to look like in the next year.

I work at Camp right now which is incredible, I love it, and it's probably the perfect 'job' for me.
Yet daily I feel the yearning for more, I want more.  What is this more?  I haven't a clue. 

World Mandate was huge eye-opener for me and my spiritual walk.  I have never had a heart for missions or anybody over seas or who wasn't in my immediate sight, yet God opened my heart up on a whole new level!  I do thank Him for it, it was an incredible experience that I just believe was that something I was looking for. 

God has an amazing way of working on me, usually the things I think I will never care about, God is like "BAM" here is my heart!  I do pray daily that my heart will be more like His, and my desires will become more like His desires.  Well I feel like God is doing that.  It's kind of  life before I became a christian, I hated kids, then God was like, "BAM."  Now look at me, I work with kids 24-7 almost, it's awesome, I love it.  I have such a huge heart for kids.  Now He has given me a desire to work over seas.

I have a country in mind, but it's seems very far-fetched and not obtainable, but Afghanistan.  I realize it's really far a away, and a very dangerous place to be, but I truly feel God leading me to go.  To do what?  Well, I feel either to teach English, or to do something else, that He hasn't yet revealed to me.  It is a completely exhilarating feeling I have in me when I think about it, and I wonder is it me being 'highly excitable' (camp high) or God filling me with this intense desire to do His will.

World Mandate is something that I am just going to promote.  You want to experience something completeing eliberating and eye-opening?  Go!  Do!  Seek! Praise! Learn!

Go - Go out teach the word of God, pray for people, and have the faith that God WILL heal this broken world!

Do - Make your belief a Do rather that a maybe sometimes I will pray and read, but a Do as in walk by faith, lead people to Him, be FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT, you are the temple of GOD!  Don't just sit around expecting people to find you, but go out and find the Broken Hearted, the Desperate, the Lost and Lonely!

SEEK - Seek His face!  Pray, be filled, read His world, learn His heart!  Expect Him to do GREAT THINGS!  BUILD YOUR FAITH!  SEEK THE LORD!!!

Praise - Praise the Lord, be faithful, commit your life to praising Him, and dedicate your every action to praise the name of God, to lifting His name above all names, to declare Him the KING of KINGS, the LORD of LORDS!

Learn - Learn His Heart.  Learn His Desires.  Learn His Heartaches.  Learn His where His Tears come from.  Learn His Wants for YOU!

It was probably a very critical action in my life to go to World Mandate.  It just opened me up on an entirely new level!

Let Your Kingdom Come!

We all desire for Him to return but He won't until EVERY SOUL has heard his name, and the Gospel has be preached to EVERY NATION!

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as teh testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14

What are you doing to bring His Kingdom to All Nations?

Have a Great Day Everyone!

Love You Guys!!!

josh

Thanks Guys!