The State Of The Union

I think it goes without saying that there are some changes taking place in our nation currently. And many of them are not looked upon with favor by many. Sky rocketing unemployment rates/job loss; a government that has largely lost the trust of the people they're there to serve; children having to deal with things that they shouldn't have to deal with; the family unit being torn apart... etc. You get the point.

I grew up in the public school system. In the public schools, they have a certain curriculum that isn't favorable to the gospel. Now granted, I may have grown up in a highly conservative around. I just picked up a book the other day in the store called "Brave New Schools" by Berit Kjos. I just started it, but it addresses soo many vital ideas that are being presented in school and even in society.

I graduated 3 years ago from FIRE School Of Ministry. They're mandate that they feel the Lord has put on their hearts is to be a training center for the Jesus Revolution. Check them out at www.fire-school.org. I also still attend the church there and service in various outlets. The president of the school, Dr. Brown, has authored several books, two of which I want to mention here because they made a profound effect on me and I want to present them to you, the reader. One is called "Revolution: The Call to Holy War" and the other one is called "Revolution In The Church." Now, I want to mention right away then when we say 'revolution', we are NOT talking about a violent over throw of anything. But we are talking about doing what we can do to make a change in society. Through evangelism, discipleship, prayer, bible study and other things of the like.

One of the biggest things that I personally see that needs to change is the hearts and minds of the believers and disciples of Jesus. I've grown up all my life in the church. Mainly, the non-denominational denomination/charismatic. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the biggest things that I have seen is the fact that we need to get our acts together. So often, it seems like church is treated more like a gigantic social club. Now, i'm NOT against fellowshiping with other believers and encouraging one another. But what kind of impact are we having on society? Are we known in heaven and feared in hell? (These are questions I often ask myself). Now, if you've been a friend of mine of Facebook here for any amount of time, you know that I put up all sorts of political stories. It's one thing to sit around and post things about how bad things are, but we have to take it one step further and provide viable solutions to the problems.

Now obviously, our first and most powerful solution is the Good News of Jesus Christ. It's one thing to preach it, it's another thing to live it and walk it out. Let us show the world that we mean business and show them the Love and Truth of Jesus Christ, thus making a truly lasting impact on the lives around us.

Apostolic Strategy

Sometime ago, the Lord laid it on my heart to understand what Apostolic Strategy is. So i've been praying and praying and praying for Apostolic Strategy. To give a definition for it, i'd say its an idea or strategy on how to take a territory and claim it for God and pray into it.

I believe i shared this before, but sometime ago, i was helping a friend of mine rebuilding his uncles cabin. The job they gave me was to knock out a portion roughly 4'x5' of a cinder block wall. Now for a guy like me, it sounded great! i get to take a sledge hammer and just go to town on this thing! All the aggression i get to take out on it...

Well, you can imagine that after a very short time, i got very winded. so i just started to chip away little by little. It was during that time that the Lord started to really speak to me about strategy. And lately, he's been bringing it up again and again. Just today, while home during lunch, i quickly jotted down some notes about "how to take a public high school for Jesus." now notice that i said for Jesus. that means non violence.

I can remember a youth pastor once telling me that he always got calls from the nearby high schools because soo many of his kids went to these schools. And whenever God would break out in the high schools, they would call him to come in and minister at the schools. What an open door!

So in light of that, i've also been working on my vision for the future. What i wanna see myself getting involved in in the coming years.

Part of that is is to be involved in working with computers. And with my new job, i'm learning a lot of that stuff. The company that i work for is Logitech. so at work, i'm on the Logitech account. In the coming weeks i'll be working the phones and troubleshooting problems for people over the phone. I'm excited.

I miss the relationships that i have with people from Wal-Mart, but it was time to move on. I'll see them in the days and weeks to follow i'm sure. I still plan on shopping there.