October 2011
1 post
“My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what...”
– Colossians 2:6-7 (MSG)
September 2011
12 posts
Here comes my year! →
I feel so blessed to be the Volunteer Lead for Our Neighborhood Homework house, through the APU Ministry and Service office! God is good, and I have no doubt he will do great things in this place this year! I can’t wait to go love the youth of Azusa and serve alongside others with the same heart and mindset!
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things that...”
– Francis Chan
Be. Just Be.
He is the Provider, so he provides. He is the Comforter, so he comforts. He is the Savior, so he saves. He is the King, so he reins. He is Truth, so he reveals it. He is Love, so he lavishes it. Let us remember WHO God IS, not just what He does or will do. You can’t DO through God’s power without first BEING with Him. So BE still, and know that HE IS God.
Let Him Change
God never changes. Ever. Period.
But our lives in Him are created for change. Constantly.
We CAN always change, our lives can always change, when we are OPEN- We cannot face newness with fear or anger, resistance or closeness, but with hands outstretched, ready, waiting, embracing the unexpected, uncertainty and uncontrolled. Only in this place, this stance, can CHANGE be all that it is intended...
I don't believe in coincidence.
Sometimes God is almost amusing with the way He frequents my thoughts, my interactions, my conversations, my sightings and learnings and undertakings. Yet when I step back and truly take a look at the scheme of all that has seemingly splattered before me, I realize that it is nothing but the incredible and undeniable working and speaking of the Holy Spirit.
It stuns me how when God is revealing...
Be AWAKENED!
Awaken and revive your Spirit in this place! As I cry out to you, my being almost pulsating in desperation for this community, may each member of this body CRAVE you and see the utter need for us to PLUNGE into the uncertainty of all you have called and are calling us to! This is it! You are faithful, and YOU WILL DO IT! This is the year, and I have no doubt that you are working up something huge...
“Lord, grant me the ability to do little things as though they were great, since...”
– Blaise Pascal
August 2011
13 posts
He is, therefore I am.
Lord, you are good.
Your love endures forever, in all circumstances,
so I have set my heart on being content whatever circumstance may bring.
You do not abandon the works of your hands,
and all that you do has a purpose-
a divine and inexorable purpose that you will accomplish.
Your being is the constant that undergirds all existence;
You are there.
In you I live and move and have my...
Of One Mind
My dear friend, Cosby, from camp, posted a blog about Redwood Camp that stirred in my soul, swelled up my heart, and moved me to tears. The words he committed to writing are words and thoughts and notions that have been swirling in my mind for the last 2 weeks. The way he described all that God has done, or at least the way he attempted to convey such a divine and other-worldly experience, is...
“Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music —...”
– Henry Miller (via mydelight)
“To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior...”
– Unknown
This is glorious! The Lord’s prayer by the...
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and...”
– Maria Robinson (via bestillandknowiam)
June 2011
1 post
May 2011
6 posts
stephtakeda:
Cracked to the Core
Calloused and hardened, becoming a shell.
Just how much longer- time only will tell.
My skin once as supple and soft as a petal,
Has now become more alike oxidized metal.
I’ve tried so vainly to maintain my shape,
Making so sure that no pieces escape.
I’ve labored to make myself as a figure
Nota bene: my fragments configured.
Now I can stand and see my reflection,
Turning to face my projected...
Hope for the Humbled
I just wrote this poem… I kind of just started going- I had no idea what it would be about when I began. It simply formed as I allowed the words to fall into place.
I stare intently as the curtains fall,
Over my glistening, listening eyes.
I wait in stillness to hear the sound,
My ears are searching and seeking replies.
And as the darkness engulfs my sight,
I wake to realize, regret that...
“Thus a transformation is effected, and in its place, new problems and dilemmas...”
– Professor M. Bruner (via breesumm)
April 2011
1 post
Nonjabulo
Once again, I’m slacking on the updates, but I need to get these things out now since the sequel of weeks to come will be filled to the brim.
On monday I got to really connect with an 18 year old girl named Nonjabulo. Talking with her, she instantly became very open and real about a lot of things she has dealt with in her life, and the struggles she faces daily. A quick glimpse: she has no...
January 2011
1 post
My South Africa Blog →
I’ve started a blog for my term abroad in South Africa this Semester!
I’ll do my best to post updates once the journey begins on January 20th!
December 2010
1 post
Link →
“My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, not even blessing, but Himself, my God.” -Oswald Chambers
August 2010
5 posts
This is my Spring →
Azusa Pacific University In Focus: South Africa Semester from Azusa Pacific on Vimeo.
The news is in... →
I am going to South Africa in Spring 2011!!!!!!!
SOUTH AFRICA!!!!
… Here I come!
Knowing is not enough. →
There’s a difference between knowing and believing. Further, there’s a difference between believing and moving to action. Further still, there’s a difference between acting and allowing the…
Omnipotence! →
I want to know the power of God and His Holy Spirit! Not in it fullness, lest I die on the spot, but to the maximum that my human self can experience! I want the Spirit of God to wash over me,…
July 2010
31 posts
He's Shouting →
God is so good! I’ve been spending a lot of my summer contemplating where I’m at in my life, what I want to do with my life, what I’m passionate, and how to get to the place where I want to be. …
Link →
“Love is doing whatever you have to do, at whatever cost to yourself, so that people can be as happy as they can be, eternally.” -John Piper
2 Chronicles 16:9a →
The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth to strengthen the hearts of those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9a
Nothing More →
This is a song I wrote today. It was a heart-churning prayer, but the words came out in song. I can’t portray the tune or anything, but I thought I’d share the words, because I have a feeling all…
My Prayer →
Lord, may your love consume me more and more each day. I pray that I not only start my day with a desire for more of You, but that every moment, I turn to You in an honest effort to bring You glory…
My Prayer →
Lord, the more I learn of you, the more I realize I will never know you completely. Nothing about you is finite. All of you is beyond my humble human understanding. I pray that I will seek to know…
My Soul Purpose (Outline) →
This is an outline of the main points in “My Soul Purpose” by Richard Leslie Parrott (This is mostly for me to use as a refresher in the future). Soul Purpose A Living Relationship with God…
My Soul Purpose (Ch. 10) →
Quotes from “My Soul Purpose” by Richard Leslie Parrott. “Live in the tension between truth and hope. It is here that God does His work of creating life in you. With God as your guard…
My Soul Purpose (Ch. 9) →
Quotes from “My Soul Purpose” by Richard Leslie Parrott.
“The desert sends us headlong toward our inner lives with all its anxieties, unrest and blindness. When there is calm around us, we…