Jesus SAves!

John 14:6 ” Jesus said ,I am the way and the truth and the Life, no one comes to the father except through me.”

It has now been 10 months since i have been in my internship. God has really been doing a work in me. It is amazing how awesome God is. I don’t even know what to write about except God. He loves us so much and wants to transform us into better people.

Time flys by so fast, i feel like i just got here and it has almost been a year. I finish my internship july 8th and i am already have things on my schedule after that. The first week after i complete my internship I will be going on a two week trip to do skate ministry. Which will result in me traveling the whole month of July. I am not sure what I am going to be doing in August and september however, I have decided to stay out here in california to experience it from a different view point.

So pretty soon my internship will be up, summer will fly by and i will be packing up my stuff here in CA, and heading to Joplin missouri to begin the first part of my 5 month tour.

I’m so excited to be going all over the country getting to share the Love of Jesus Christ. It is an honor and a blessing to be able to take part in fulfilling the great commission.

Jesus said in Mark 16:15 “…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; But he who does not believe will be condemned.”

I am stoked to get to go and do what God has called each and every one of us to do. Preach the Gospel! Jesus saves!

I still don’t know how everything is going to work out. But its all good, because i do know and am now more convinced then ever that God knows. And i can trust that if i continue to serve him that he will continue to provide for me.

Proverbs 16:3 say’s
“Commit to the lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

I believe that!

new photo

Hey Everyone, 

Check out the April issue of Transworld skateboarding magazine, in stores now!  It is my second ergo advertisement, and my second time ever being in this magazine. God is good!

Forgive Me…for not writing…

So it has been over two months now since i have updated my blog! i know, i know, I have really been slacking with this whole blog thing. However If you enjoy my blog posts then please forgive me! i am fairly new to this, and from now on I am going to try to make a concious effort to update my blog at least once a month. I know that is not a lot but its more then i am doing right now so its a start. 

I will start by saying how much i love my friends and family. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing family and so many awesome friends all over the country. I am so thankful that i got to go home and spend time with them for the Christmas Holiday! I don’t think i reliazed how much i missed people till I spent time with them again, and had to leave again. But a lot of the time God has to seperate us from people, or things, or even really good things, in order to take us to a really great place. I know i don’t want to hold onto a good thing because i am scared to let go, and because of fear miss a great thing. 

The Bible says that “God did not give us a spirit of Fear, but that of power, love, and self discipline.” I want to walk in the power, love, and self discipline part! And that is why i am now making every effort i can to seek the Lord with all my heart mind and soul! 

Jesus is the reason for the season! For God so loved the world that He GAVE his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not die, but have everlasting life! 

I have been in my internship for over 7 months now. Wow! time really does go by fast! I do miss everyone back home, but I do love it here as well, and i am greatfull for all my new relationships. I have 5 months till my internship is up and I know that it is going to fly by just like the first 7 months did. i really like how time seems to go by fast, i feel like if it went any slower life would be boring. But Thank God that he knew what he was doing, and although this life goes by fast, we can be sure that we are going to spend eternity with Him in Heaven, if we have him in our hearts. 

Well over the last few years i have lived in 3 different places in the country and i have people in every one of those places who want me to continue living there or move back there. I have been torn, i want to be everywhere with everyone. But obviously that is impossible. So over the last few months i have been praying and seeking the Lord about what to do with my future, and I am positive that he told me to go on this upcoming skate tour. I know, i know,  that sounds funny… god told you to go on a skate tour? but i really was ready to stay here in california, continue my studies, and give up the skate tour if that is what God wanted. Like i said i was torn, but as i prayed about it, God showed me 3 times that the skate tour was the right choice. So i am now commited to doing a 5 to 6 month skate tour starting this october! And although before i did not know what to do, as i acted on what the Lord told me, I now have total peace that I have made the right decision. My internship ends in july and then the first weekend in october i will begin this next 6 month period of my life. Myself and 2 other skaters are going to be spending every weekend of october and november of 09 and january through march of 2010 in a different city, getting to use our talent of skateboarding to share the love of Christ with the youth of America. 

“…Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord…” i believe that! and that is all i want to do!

New Letter

Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

 

Dear Friends and Family,

 

I hope everything is going well for you, and that all of you are enjoying each day life has to offer. Thank you so much for supporting me in the past, I really appreciate it and I have been blessed by your generosity.

 

If you haven’t heard my new life in California is going great. When people ask me what I do, I have been telling them that I am in “a hands on Bible College” at The Sanctuary Church. I have been learning so much by reading and studying, but also through applying the word of God to my life.

 

I have been here for 5 months now, and I only have 7 months left till I am done my internship. I am completely confident that it was the Lord who led me here, and although I am still not positive on what I am going to spend the rest of my life doing, I am positive that the same God who led me here is going to lead me somewhere else.

 

In the last five months I have made some amazing friendships, seen personal growth in my life, and I have also been able to impact a lot of lives here in California as well. My relationship with the Lord has never been better. I have been memorizing and getting a better understanding of scripture. I am learning to let the Holy Spirit guide all of my steps, and I am becoming more and more accustomed to hearing the Lord’s voice.

 

However nothing comes with out a cost. My journey has not been easy. Jesus never said that being a disciple would be easy. He said that we would experience trials and tribulations, and that we would have to carry our cross. However he also said that if we give up our life for Him we would find the true meaning of life in Him. It has been very humbling for me to be in a servant hood position, and to have to rely on other people in order to survive. But I am starting to see the Lord’s calling in my life and I am trying my best to walk in it.

 

I am writing this letter to ask for your thoughts and prayers, but I am also asking you to go the extra mile and support me financially as well. By supporting me you are enabling me to continue studying the word of God, continue serving in His house, you are helping me to learn how to help other people, and finally you are helping me seek out what the Lord’s will is for my life.

 

Phillipians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”

 

That is a promise from God, I have no doubts in my mind that God will meet all my needs as I do my best to live out the calling he has put in my life. Thank you so much for everything. I love and miss all of you! Anything you send me is tax deductible and can be sent to my home address or the church address. Please make the checks out to “The Sanctuary Church”, with my name in the memo. Thank you!

 

5161 Tasman Drive,

Huntington Beach CA, 92649.

 

Or the church address at,

 

The Sanctuary Church.

8642 Westminster Blvd,

Westminster, Ca. 92683.

 

photos/ Thanks giving

i haven’t updated my blog lately so i figured i would just post a few photos. For you guys to check out if you wanted…. I hope and pray that everyone has a happy thanksgiving! I wish i could be there with all of you! I know i have not been the best at taking photos either or posting the ones i have taken. But here are a few photos. Just last week i was the best man in my friends wedding in missouri! it was an amazing experience and privilege to be the best man. The picture is of the grooms men!

prayer!

         Some people say that if we don’t step up and do what God has called us to do, God will send someone else to do his work. That is a good thought, but what if that is not true. What if our failure to step up to our potential, leads to people missing out on the plan that God has for them. What if there are certain people that God places in our life in order for us to encourage, challenge, love, and impact. What if God places people in our life because they really need us to help them and point them in the right direction. If we are not willing to tell people about the meaning of life, and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, who will? People could forever miss out, because we didn’t do what God wanted us to do. I don’t know exactly how it works. However I do know that we have the potential to impact peoples destiny’s, and to forever change their lives with the love of Jesus Christ if we are obedient to share it with others. And we also know that God is good, merciful, loving and always willing to give everyone a second chance!

     We have youth group on thursday nights from 7 to 8:30. Towards the end of september we started building some ramps so that we could have a mobile skate park. Since the first week of October my buddy Aaron and i have been pulling the ramps out at 5:30 every thursday and skating with whoever till church starts. We are trying to invite as many people as we can to come skate with us and give them a chance to hear the Good news! And of course God is always faithful to show up. A lot of new kids have been coming and there are a lot of stories to share. So here is one. As we were sitting in youth group last thursday i felt led to pray for one of the new kids. I prayed for them the whole service and even while i was praying i wasn’t sure why i was praying for that person. But sure enough by the end of the night they asked the Lord into their heart and went forward for prayer. I don’t know what was really going on in their life, but I i know it was encouraging for me to see the Lord answer my prayer that quickly, and to know it was God who was leading me to pray for this kid. 

The thing is we can’t always see the effects of our prayer that soon, but that doesn’t mean that our prayers are not being answered. And the bible teaches that as we pray in faith according to God’s will that he hears us and that he is faithful to answer us. So we need to know inspite of our doubts that our prayers are IMPORTANT! And God is ALWAYS working whether we can see it or not! Sometimes we are just blessed enough to see it!

new video

 

thursday night

www.sanctuaryhb.com

 

Hey everyone thanks so much for checking my blog. I am planning on writing a new blog this weekend. I wanted to let every one know that there is an awesome 2 minute video on our website. www.sanctuaryhb.com its is an easy quick way to check out my new home!

Skateboarding!!!

Hey everybody! So much has been going on, i think i said this last time i wrote but i really don’t even know where to start. I wish i had the time and money to call everyone and fill them in on a day to day basis of what my life out here on the west coast looks like. However we all know that that would be impossible so i am going to try to sum up the last month or so in a few paragraphs. haha. 

Anyway I have begun to make a lot of great friendships here. I believe that is one of the reasons God brought me here. Not that i don’t have a lot of great friends back home, because i do, and i wish they could be here with me. But it has really blessed and encouraged me to be able to spend so much of my time with other Godly skateboarders. 

I Just got back from a skateboarding competition in florida, i was there for about 5 days. The skateboarding industry is a very dark place and it needs to see people who stand up for truth. For the first time in my life I am beginning to see how much people really do need a purpose, and how so many peoples lives are meaningless.

God is doing so many cool things with skateboarders right now. In the beginning september “Christian Skaters” held a skate conference at our church. Skaters from all over the country and world came together and were able to worship, fellowship, skate, and strategize together on how we can better impact our community. It was a huge blessing for me because i got to spend time with a lot of my fellow skate brothers that i haven’t seen in months.  ( Check it out some of these skate ministries if you have time… http://www.christianskaters.com/ http://www.boardersforchrist.com/ www.untitledskateboards.com/ http://www.relianceskate.com/ www.livinit.com)

I am so thankful for all the amazing stuff God is doing in my life. I have only been away for a little over 2 months but i am more confident now then ever that it was the voice of the Lord that led me here. When God called Abraham, the father of our faith, he called him to leave his family, his home, and his friends, because he wanted to separate Abraham from the very things he depended on. In order that Abraham would depend on God, and learn to “walk by faith not by sight”. Which is something we all need to learn. The bible says that god directs our steps, it doesn’t say That God steps for us. I believe that God wants to separate all of us from one thing or another in order to mold us into the people we were meant to be. And i am excited that God is doing just that in my life and in the life of my family, my friends back home in maryland, here in california, and all over the country. 

 

 

Proverbs 16:9

Proverbs 16:9 say’s

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs His steps” 

This was one of my days off, and i wasn’t sure what i was going to do, but God had a plan. 

The house next door to us is doing construction, so every morning around 7:15 to 7:30 i wake up to the sound of hammers and nail guns. And for some reason that day just seemed louder then normal. All i wanted to do was read and i couldn’t find any quiet place to do it so i went to starbucks. Of course when i got there i realized it was just as loud there. A little frustrated i start talking to God and praying and I thought to myself … well… maybe God got me out of the house because i needed to talk to somebody and soon enough as i think that, this girl rolls up on a skateboard. So immediately  i start talking to her about skateboarding and we begin a conversation and soon enough God comes up and i as i began to share with her all the ways God has been working in my life i find out that she has been to my church and that my friend Aaron has been talking to her about God and praying for her for a while now. She is into witchcraft and has struggled with anorexia in the past. However she is also really interested in God now and is starting to believe that he loves her. Nothing intense happened we simply drank coffee together and talked. But i was sure that God got me out of the house for a reason and used me to encourage her, and reaffirm the truth that he had already been speaking to her. 

By this time i am back home and i just wanted to go skate, however alot of my friends were out of town this weekend. So i was lightly praying and thinking about what i was gonna do with my day. I texted my friend Chad to see if he wanted to skate. I didn’t hear back from him. So i figured i would go look for a magazine and hang out at barnes and nobles for a bit. As i am driving down the street i see my friend chad skating in a parking lot. HA! So again the Lord directed my steps and I ended up spending the whole day skating and hanging with Chad. 

 

So anyway God directed my steps all day long. Its rad,  God’s word always prove to be true in our lives! If we choose to walk in it.

Where to Start…

I don’t even know where to start. So much has been going on since the last time i wrote. Its been a month now, and i am finally starting to get in the swing of things. Living here is different, it is a big change from what i am used to. It hasn’t been easy, but its okay because its the tests and trials that develop our faith. The fact that i don’t have all my friends, and family around has made me rely on God more, and i think that is why he calls us out of our comfort zone. I know that is why he calls and has called me out of my comfort zone. If we stay in our comfortable and stay safe we don’t need God. But it is when we step out in faith, and when we don’t know what to expect that we are forced to rely on God and trust in him. The cool thing is that the word says he will never leave us or forsake us. Anyway I have already seen God provide for me, and work in me, since i have been here.

God has put a lot of loving, and powerful people in my life here that i am excited to learn from. I have also begun to get a good core group of friends who truly love the Lord, and are seeking him with everything they have. I know and trust that if we seek him God will reveal his plan and purpose to us when the time is right.

Really where do i start, there are already so many stories to tell. But i am thinking of this one that shows the power of love. I have been going over to the skate park on a daily basis, and when i first started going there i would see this little kid (victor) there every day trying to act all tough. At first he didn’t even want to talk to me. But within a few days he began to open up to me, and we started having some good conversations. Soon enough he came with me to the church youth group and gave his life to the Lord. Now he calls me almost every day trying to skate. And just last thursday night he brought 3 of his friends to the youth group with him. I know i didn’t do anything special, i just simply did what Jesus said, ” love your neighbor as yourself” It was God who did the work in this kid i am just stoked that God used me. Thats the cool thing, God wants to use us we just have to be willing. 

Although i miss all of you guys, and sometimes wish i was home, i know this is where God planted me for now. And i know that as i press in and trust in him more and more, He is going to continue to use me more and more. It is not about us or what we can do for God, its about us Letting God do his thing through us. And when we allow God to move through us we begin to see miracles! 

love you guys!