Confession....Good for the soul?

James 5:16 "Confess your tresspasses to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed...."

What is confession so hard? We seem to run from it so hard. I find that even when I am with my accountability group the last thing I want to confess is the areas I am really struggling with. Sometimes I talk around them, talk about lesser evils. But those areas in my life never go away....the areas I hide. However, when I am finally open and tell my friends....they pray for me and healing can come. Healing from sin, dissapointments, guilt! Confession is indeed a great thing.

I think one of the biggest reasons why confession is so hard is that we do not trust people! I will be the first to admit that as a Pastor the last thing I want to do is confess an area of struggle to someone who is going to spread it to the world! However, that's not a good excuse to not confess!

Just....a random thought today from the Word!

My need to open up!

Lets be honest! I don't do the being open and honest deal very well. Tonight I was sitting the car with one of my best friends...and I just couldn't open up about deep things in my life. Lately, I have really been hiding. The sad thing is that the people closest to me see this helpless attempt to hide! haha....Tonight I am just thinking how I wish the Lord would help me to really open up to people!

God's Best!

It was a few springs ago. I was in Denver, Colorado, with my team of students from CBC. I was leading a team to minister to inner city Denver. It was at this church that I met this Pastor. She was a beautiful woman. I knew she had been through a lot because she had a baby a couple months before with a whole in its heart. I met her husband. He was this big Samoan man. I remember thinking, "How does a beautiful blond woman end up with this big Samoan man!" Right about the time I was thinking this she told me a story I will never forget. She told me a story of how a few months before she had gone through this awful experience of her baby being born with a hole in its heart. One Sunday she was at church with her husband and the Pastor said if anyone needs a miracle to come down to the altar to pray. She said she felt so tired that day, but got up to go down. She said in that moment her husband reached out and grabbed her hand and said, "No hun you just sit today. I am going to go and fight for our family in prayer. You can just sit and rest." She told me in that moment that this was the type of man I should desire and not settle until I ment him!

I have no idea why watching Bride Wars reminding me of this story tonight. But I was just thinking of the worlds warped view of relationships and the roles in relationships. Maybe its Valentines Day coming up, but I just know one thing.....God intended relationships to be like the one above with the Pastor and her Samoan husband. God intended men to be the leaders in relationships.....and lead their families to God! I just thought of how beautiful relationships are when they are done God's way. I think of my parents who are an example of this....and it makes me praise the Lord for those who are examples to us who are younger! I pray that in our culture we will be reminded of how relationships should be and that we will not settle for anything less than God's best for us! I will leave with this. My Mom always told me that there is good and then there is Best! She said its really easy to settle for good! But only the brave and those who really trust God with their lives wait for the BEST! I pray that all of you will not settle except for Gods best for you!

Bells and Prayers

C.H. Spurgeon once said, "Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give only an occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might."

So if you have been near me as of late...you have probably heard me quote this to you! I know that I sometimes overdue things. I am a pretty passionate person. But...this quote is life changing if grasped. Its true that in our daily lives, there are periods of time when we scarcely pray. We are the ones who walk by the bell daily but forget to pull the rope. We may think....gee....I wish God would work in my life like he did a year ago. We forget to pursue, forget to pray, forget to connect with God. In the midst of our daily lives, we offer an occasional, often apathetic prayer, or a prayer over our food...a meaningless tradition.

Other times, crisis times arise and we grab the rope in desperation....asking God to work. Yet, as the hard time roll by, we again forget to pray. We get caught up again...in our lives. Only when we really need something from God do we pray.

However, who are the men and women who will begin to pray with such passion, determination, and dedication to the cause of God that the bells in heaven begin to ring with such fervency that God cannot help but begin to move with revival in this generation. Sometimes I find myself falling in the apathetic prayer or crisis prayer rut....and I complain about things...complain about the church...complain about how people don't love God as much...etc. However, what if I began to pray for the church...and a move of God in it. What if I began to pray for students like their lives depended on it. What if I began to pray for my friends....that God would light a fire in their souls. Is it not true that George Muller lived his entire life dependent on prayer. Do I live my life dependent on prayer. DO YOU? What if we began to live our lives dependent on prayer....? I bet we would begin to see revival in our churches. I bet we would begin to see creativity stir in ministry. I am sure we would begin to see miracles happen again. I am sure of it....when we begin to pray....GOD MOVES!

Aren't you sick of it....wanting more of God...but never doing anything about it. Guys...and gals....lets go hard after God. Lets run after him. Lets ring that bell until God begins to move in new creative ways we have never seen before!

Frustrating conversations

SO tonight I had this conversation. I said a lot of things that came from the heart. The other person I was talking to towards the end of this conversation said that everything was surface! SURFACE....it was so frustrating. Have you ever been in a conversation when you have said so much....BUT not what you really were wanting to say. That was tonight for me. I feel the agonizing pain now inside of know that I did not say what needed to be said tonight and wondering when I will finally muster the courage to say what I need to....ugh sometimes its hard to be honest!

Spoons and Duct Tape!

Who would think that a little duck tape and spoons could bring so much fun in youth ministry! WOW...what a night last night! We had this incredible bonding moment as a group when we played the shower cap duck tape spoon game! I have never had so much fun watching my students and leaders rolling on the floor trying to get spoons stuck to their heads! It was one of those great moments when you are like, This is why I'm a youth pastor! :)

Ugh....

Ugh...today is one of those days where I feel like I'm losing control! I feel like I am losing more than just money out of my wallet to more and more bills...but I feel like I'm losing one of my best friendships. This hurts...because it seems that every day that passes the less communication that happens, the one less phone call, the one less shared story. And I know...I should just blame it on busyness, but I know there is more to it than that. When I finally do try to extend myself to fix what is being torn apart phone calls go unaswered and texts seem to fall into the ozone and never returned. I hate this feeling...I hate that the one person who means the world to me has become so distant. I hate that we don't laugh on the phone for hours anymore. I hate the fact we don't hang out. I hate the fact that when we do talk it seems to be another argument. ugh...I hate what is happening today and I just don't know what to do!