Hunting For Jesus

So if any of you are from Wisconsin then you will know that last week was a very important week in the life of us Cheese Heads.  I’m not talking about Thanksgiving and the gluttonous amount of food that we eat.  And I’m not talking about the three Packers games that were played since the 17^th.   What I’m talking about is the nine day long season that has most Wisconsinites pressing pause on life.  Well if you haven’t figured out what I am talking about then I’ll just tell you.  What I’m talking about is Whitetail deer hunting.  Yep! These wild creatures have many men and woman in Wisconsin(myself included) running to the woods for nine days to spend countless hours sitting, just waiting for the chance to shoot this animal.  My reasoning is for the adrenaline rush that comes from the hunt.  Others have their reasons too.  Some hunt for food, for sport, or just for the pure joy of spending time in the woods.  Whatever it is that attracts us to this sport it has control on a lot of people’s lives for a week.  Good honest people that hate getting up before 5AM are forced into rising before the sun is up to go sit out in the cold of November to wait for hours on end just to shoot an animal.  Yeah, it’s crazy :p  

 So in my many hours of pondering while I was out in the woods last week I had a thought: what if we put the passion that we do into hunting for deer into hunting for Jesus?  I think God gave me this thought and once it popped into my mind I too was like, ‘’Wow!’’  It’s a valid question.  So much time, energy, and money is invested into hunting and nine days of people’s lives go on hold while they’re hunting for deer.  What if we took out nine days of our lives to go hunting for Jesus?  I think the end result would be life changing.  There’s nothing wrong with hunting at all.  I was just thinking how the world could be impacted if our zeal for hunting would be changed into zeal for Christ. 

This is going to be a short post, but this is the thought I had.  I’m not here to convict anyone or say you shouldn’t hunt.  I was just given the thought and the challenge that I should be investing my energy as a soldier of the Cross into hunting for Jesus.   

Seeking Jesus Christ

            Wow!!! It's been too long since I've posted something.  I will try and do better at keeping up regularly with this.  What I'm going to share with you is something that God was teaching me back at the end of July. So...back at the end of July I was out visiting some of my friends at Ellerslie (the discipleship school I was at last fall.)  While I was there God taught me quite a bit. One of the things God was teaching me on was the subject of Hell…yeah, not so fun.  The lesson God had for me was very sobering and convicting…but it was needed.
            We listened to a sermon by David Wilkerson (the link is at the bottom) called, A Call to Anguish.  The message, to say the least, was convicting to the core.  Christians in our world today, me included, say they care.  We all feel for the orphaned and the widowed and would love to help…if it’s convenient for us or makes us look good.  When in reality, we should desire to help these hurting people because God has given us His heart and that’s what He burdens for.  This in essence was the lesson God was and still is teaching me.   How can I say I care or even really say I’m a Christian if I can listen and hear about the hurting millions around the world and go right back into my day to day tasks and plans and not even give one more thought to them?  How can I spend countless hours wasting time watching the latest TV show or playing the latest game I got on my iPhone?   I can’t, not if this is something I truly care and am burdened for.  And this isn’t something that I can desire to burden for on my own.   Something I’ve learned is that I may have my own plans for my life such as going into Brazil and rescuing little children off the streets where they’re being hunted just for fun, but if it isn’t God’s plan for me, then all I’m doing is just another humanitarian act of goodness.  Yes, as Christians we should want to do that and yes for some of us that may be our calling, but my point in all of this isn’t just to come up with what we want, but to pray that God would show us what HE wants.  Once we find out God’s plan for our life then move on that, then and only then will we be blessed and we’ll help make changes for eternity.
            This all is what I’ve been convicted on.  I spend (or used to spend) lots of my time at night watching TV shows on Netflix.  God convicted me on how I use my time.  If I care, which I do, then I need to make changes that match my talk with my walk.  Instead of focusing on the show, if I choose to spend that time on prayer or reading, how much impact will I have on the world?  That answer is kind of hard to answer, for we will never know the full impact we’ve had on people until we reach Heaven.  But this brings me to the second part. 
            While I was in Colorado, I listened to a message called, “Preparing For The Battle”.  In that message, Eric Ludy was talking about how the home is the training grounds for the mission field.  He said, “If you aren’t preparing yourself at home, if you aren’t serving and helping with the needs of your family and community, then you won’t be ready when you’re overseas doing supposed mission work.”  I was challenged by that.  So often I hear a message and automatically want to fly over to Africa and help feed the starving children.  I never really have looked at my home as a place for preparation.  I keep thinking if I go out of the country I’m going to have a great adventure and I will be doing God’s will when the facts are He may just want me at home.  My mission field may be the lonely man down the street.  My life may be complete when I help lead just one straying sheep back to the shepherd.  And you know what, if that’s all I do in this life, well then praise God!!!  Something I’ve been truly praying for is that God’s heart would be mine...that I would truly rejoice for that which He rejoices in and weep for that which He weeps.    
            Our home is boot camp.  It’s a place we can “train” and prepare for the coming battle which is for sure to come.  I’m the kind of person that would love to be out of my house( I love my home and family, so don’t take this wrong) and would love to be on the other side of the world serving God.  This may happen, but until then, I need to take this time He has given me at home and make myself ready to go, so when that day comes I AM ready and not just thinking I am.
            So my encouragement to you all who are reading this is live in today.(Matthew 6:34)  Don’t be preoccupied with all the details of figuring out what you THINK God is calling you to do and focus on seeking Him and getting to know more of our Savior and as a result of that He WILL show you where you are supposed to go and what you’re supposed to do.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

A Call To Anguish

             

Love

                Love, what is it?  Love is mysterious.  Love is wonderful.  Love is happy.  Love is sad.  Love makes us feel good.  Love dictates our actions.  Love is that amazing sensation a man feels for a woman.   Love is something a man shares with his dog.  Love is something a geek experiences with the latest software for his computer.  Love is what some artists expresses in their paintings.  Love is how a mother cradles her new born baby.  And love is what causes a man to go to the ends of the earth and back to see his wife simply smile.

                Love IS all of the above I stated; however love is so much more.  Love is totally selfless, always thinking of how to give and not get.  Love is trustworthy and faithful.  Love is always honest.  Love is sacrificing everything I have, even life, to see someone else happy.   Love is why I have eternal life in Heaven.  John 3:16 “For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  God wanted us to be able to live in glory with Him forever so He sent His only, perfect, righteous son to come to this earth as a baby, the most vulnerable thing on this planet, to die the most horrible gruesome death a human can suffer to pay our penalty for sin just so that we can have everlasting life in glory.  WOW!!! What an amazing act of love.  So, since we are children of God and we are called to live like Jesus, then wouldn't that mean we need love like He did?  YES!!!  In the book Matthew the Pharisees asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was and this was His answer, “You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second like it: You shall LOVE your neighbor as yourself. “(Matthew 22-37-39) So according to Jesus, the first two greatest commandments are about loving.  I would think if loving takes such priority in Christ’s life, then we need to make loving the highest priority in our life.  Also, 1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”  So what does love really look like?  1 Corinthians 13:4-8a tells us.  ‘’Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS, BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURE ALL THINGS.  LOVE NEVER ENDS!”

                God lays it out pretty simple for us.  Love Him and love our neighbors.  He gives us an outline of what love REALLY looks like and He gives the greatest example of love to follow after…Jesus Christ.  Also, for those of us who are Christians, we have the God of love within us.  What an amazing thought! :)

                So back to our original question: what is love?  Love is Jesus Christ…and therefore, to love is everything!   

Life with God is an adventure

I was talking with a friend tonight and I was sharing with her how I am so unsettled and just plain old bored with Northwestern Wisconsin.  I told her I am ready and wanting to go do great things for God but am just fed up with the same old routine each day here.  She then said, “Try and make each day here an adventure with God.’’ That comment got me thinking…and hence this blog post.

Life with God is an adventure wherever we go.  I tend to think (and I think a lot of people do to) that in order to minister to someone or to go on a missions trip or to even live an awesome life for God that we need to go to Africa, India, Bangkok, The Red-light District in Amsterdam, or somewhere else outside of this country.  Well that is a lie!  Yes it may be true that a lot of these places are Jesus deprived and we here in America can have all of Him we want, but that doesn’t mean we need to go to these places to necessarily have an adventure and change lives for Him.  

I love adventure and I would love to travel the world but God has me in little old Frederic Wisconsin. (whoopdeedo)  However, one of things He is doing here in this little farm town in Wisconsin is giving me about four days a week where I have nothing going on.  Not many people in our world today have this much free time in their life.  I do!!!  God has given me plenty of ‘’freedom’’ to do what I want.  This time is a grand time to be spending with Him and growing in His word.  But I have been too ‘’busy’’ wanting to go elsewhere and do things for God overseas…where what God really wants from me is just myself.  I have been given an opportunity most people don’t get to give God everything and to really seek Him in these days I am home. 

If you read in the New Testament, the disciples spent three years in the presence of Jesus.  In this time they were growing deeper in their faith in God.  After the three years of preparation with the King of kings the disciples began their ‘’adventures’’.  Each man had a ministry of his own and did wonderful, fantastic, awing things for God…and eventually almost all of them were martyred.  Wow!!! But each one of these twelve men spent three years in preparation with their Lord.  

I think one of the things God is trying to teach me here in these seemingly boring days in Wisconsin is that every day with Him is an adventure all of its own and that anytime I spend with Him, whether in my living room or on the mountain tops in the Appalachian mountains, is a day of growth, preparation/teaching, and all around awesomeness with the King of the universe… and that my friends is never boring.  God’s presence is anything but boring.  His presence is more than we can ever imagine or dream about.  It brings us to our knees. It makes us want to cry, laugh, dance, praise, shout, sing, worship our Creator, and scream for joy. 

 

So, if you are like me and just feel fed up with the same old daily schedule and routine I would challenge you, as my wonderful sister in Christ did with me, to view everyday you get to spend with God as an adventure all of its own. Even if you are in your living room with just your Bible, God will fulfill all your expectations for adventure.  Cherish the time you get to spend with Him, because our daily lives and schedules have a tendency to get in the way of spending time with the most important individual in our life.

In James chapter one at the end of verse four it states, ‘’…lacking in nothing.”  Nothing means…nothing.  So God promises that we will not be left in want for anything.  For me, that includes adventure and travel.

 So, pursue God and view every day as a grand adventure with the King of the universe and I promise you that you will never want for anything. 

Hello Friends

Hello Friends,

I did it!!! I finally created a blog :)  Now some of you might be wondering where I got the title for my blog so, I will put your mind at ease.  When I was at Ellerslie this last fall(2011) during the graduation ceremony the staff gave each man a title they thought we were liken unto.  The name I was given was, The Surrendered Vanguard.  

The Vanguard is the front lines of an army.  Surrendered means: yielded to or given over to the will of someone or something else.  So consequently, the surrendered vanguard is the front line of troops who are ready and willing to give their life for the cause for which they fight.  My aim in this life is to be that yielded soldier on the front lines for Jesus.

I love Jesus and my goal in life is to honor Him in all I do.  All I want to do with my life is what He wants me to do.  One of the things Jesus has placed within me is the love for writing.  This is one of the reasons I started this blog.

Along with writing, I also love adventure and travel.  I have no doubt that I will be living an adventurous, journey-filled life while serving my King. So, another reason I created this blog is to keep all my friends and family updated on where God will take me in this life.

God is great and I am so thankful for His grace and saving power.  I accepted the Lord into my heart on October 13, 2011 and since then my life has been forever changed.  The last reason I have started this blog is to share and encourage my brothers and sisters in the Lord with the things He is teaching me.  

So thanks for checking out my new blog and I will do my best at keeping you updated on what my Lord, Jesus Christ, does with my life.  Until next time my friends...peace :)