Been Crazy…

Wow. It’s been a little while. It’s now 1:13am and instead of writing an essay I have decided to take a break and write. That last few weeks have been musical madness but has been awesome. I got to spend sometime at home and lead worship at the church I grew up in. School has been kicking my behind as I go into the last 5 classes of my college career. I feel like it’s been an eternity. The last few months in the midst of craziness I’ve been dwelling or trying to on the unfailing love of God. In Psalm 13, David says “How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” David continues to beg for God, but in verse 5 David says this through the midst of his distress, “but I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.”
As I began to keep going through the Psalms and the Old Testament all through it mentions the unfailing love of God. Sometimes we have this view of the Old Testament God being this war-hungry, angered God. However intertwined in the history of nation of Israel is deliverance and the restoration of the nation because of the unfailing love of God. No matter how many times they mess up and eventually are even placed into slavery. God promises to restore them and redeem Israel. Our sin is never to great or to overwhelming for God. It maybe to much for us, but the blood Christ has covered us. It’s not by our actions or anything we do that we are made right, but only by the blood and grace of Christ. Through his unfailing love.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Vacation

I’m on Day 5 of vacation and finally had a minute to sit down at my computer. After the trip to Belle Glade I was struck by a virus that kept me in bed for a few days however it may have been God’s way of giving me rest. I was ready to go for our Student Worship Night last Wednesday which was awesome time of worship with our students. The day after the worship night I got on a plane, car, and 2 ferry to catch up with my family on vacation in Rhode Island. It was a great time to take it easy and spend some time with my family. Now I’m back in NY catching up with friends and hanging out with family. It’s always nice to be able to step away for a little bit and be able to breathe. Highly recommended.

Dancing in Belle Glade

Belle Glade Day 4

We’re in the midst of Day 4 at the Student camp in Belle Glade. Today High School is putting on a Back to School Bash at a local park. Hundreds of people have come out to receive school supplies and food. Please keep the team in pray as we move into our final night. The students have been amazing as they have served the community of Belle Glade. It has impacted them significantly. You can join us this weekend at Christ Fellowship as we recap our week in Belle Glade.

Belle Glade Day #1

Well all the anticipation and work is finished and we launched our first night in Belle Glade. It was a great first day, students got to serve at Glades Day while other students prepared for their VBS tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers this week. It’s great to see students who are following the path that God has for them and truly putting the love of Christ into actions.

Student Life: Daytona Beach

Quick little mid week post.

I’m hanging out in Daytona Beach for a few days this with a few of my good friends from O-Town and Shea Fae. Student Life has brought in some of the best including Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Leeland, and my favorite the David Crowder Band. I love watching different ministries do there thing especially when they do it so well. I’m looking forward to check some stuff behind the curtain and see how student life runs there show. Here are some pics of the stage set.

I’m hoping to get a chance to hang out with the Crowder Band tomorrow it’s been a long time since they’ve graced the stage in Tuscarora so many years ago. Other than that it’s nice to be away which is giving me some time to get ready for our Belle Glade trip in a few weeks and prep some stuff for the fall. More pictures to come.

When Life Gets Crazy…

The last few weeks has been crazy. Moving always adds unneeded stress but got through it. The thing that always surprises me is that when life gets to the craziest between I always need to stop and remind myself that God is in control. My first reaction is always to try to figure stuff out myself. It’s usually not long till I realize that we’re not made to do it on our own. Community is so key in life. Being able to know that there is people who are there and want to do life together. It’s cool.

Anyway need to go pack. I’m looking forward to a fun week in Daytona @ Student Life with a bunch of good people. I’m excited to see how Student Life does what they do and get some cool ideas.

In other news here’s a video from the Block Party

Change…

I’ve never been a big fan of change. Ever since I was young any little change would throw me off. I remember I hated to move around my room because the first few nights I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Other people always loved changing things or didn’t really mind if things changed, where I would freak when things changed. In the last few weeks my good friend and roommate left and in a few days I’ll be moving out too and it brings back my reservations about change. But I’ve come to realize that as life comes we need to embrace change. I don’t mean just blow with the wind and change things just to because you’re bored but don’t stay away from change because of fear.

I think much of my problem is that I find comfort in routine. I like to know what happening and know what I’m going to do. A few years ago I made a choice to move to Florida which was a huge change. I wrestled with leaving all that I knew and coming to something totally unfamiliar. I’ve often thought why did I do it and I think what I’ve realized is that while a routine is good it can become so comfortable that it begins to numb us to what we have in our lives. I’ve learned in my walk with God He challenges me with change.

I remember battling with the idea of moving to Florida because I knew God was calling me to something else and I wanted to follow but I was paralyzed by this fear of change but of course He’s always more than faithful. I can’t imagine not moving to Florida its grown me in so many ways. What I’ve learned is my life isn’t mine the more and more I surrender to God the more He continues to show Himself faithful. “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

Hillsong United’s New CD

Hillsong United’s new CD came out a few weeks ago. Make sure you download it on itunes. Great CD once again.

Summer Begins…

When I was growing up I remember the beginning of summer being one of my favorite parts of the year. The relief of school being over, the warm weather, staying up late, and sleeping in. Then sometime in the last 6 years without warning what use to be 2 months of freedom has turned into a few days or a week of vacation here and there. And really its not that bad just changes in life. This summer which I would say began about 2 weeks ago has already become chaos. I can tell when life is getting chaotic my room, office and car all start to get a little messier than usual. I felt all of these the past week and I know its usually a time when I rush the important part of my life. I rush through conversations with people, start worrying a lot more, and see my dependency on myself become stronger than my dependency on Christ which usually leads to failure.

I’m the kind of person who doesn’t mind stressful moments sometimes I may even say that I enjoy them. But I know there comes a point when I feel as the weight of it all and loose my reliance on Christ. However during these moments is when God is begins to reveal Himself again. I grew up in a church that I wouldn’t say was legalistic but did preach the law heavily which I don’t is wrong. But from an early age I always grew up knowing that I’ve been redeemed of my sin but not fully understanding the fact that my sins have been cast to the deepest depths of the ocean. I’ve been reading Romans 3 this past week Paul says this
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. “

So many times I forget how powerful the love of Christ is for us. We fall to Satan’s lie that makes us think our sin is greater than Christ’s love for us or that it can separate us from the love of Christ. Roman 8 says “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Praise God that He has redeemed me and His love surpasses and covers all my sin.