some verses i have been thinking about lately

1 peter 2:12-live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

that is the prayer i have been praying lately....christians aren't taken seriously because we keep living contrary to what God wants us to. God constantly says to be holy because He is holy. i pray that i will live such a good life that even pagans will glorify God by seeing my life. the world doesn't know what to do with a person who is totally surrendered to God. i want to bring God the glory by surrendering to Him and doing the good deeds He has prepared me in advance to do.(eph.2:10)

ezra 7:10-for ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws to israel.

pray for me as i want to be studying God's word and committing it to memory. its been hard to get that in my daily life as my routine and time for things is so crazy right now. i'm excited that i'm joining this prayer group and then a separate small group at church. i really want a good community of people to hang with and break down scripture with and spur one another on to good works with.

also, i'm praying that i will continue to communicate the truths of Jesus as effectively and clearly and boldly as possible. please pray for me in this.

this past week in philly was great....let me give you one story....the church i have been going too called epiphany has an hour of prayer before the service starts in the sanctuary. well, i was in there praying. we had just finished and i hadn't even closed my bible yet and this man starts talking to me. he says that he and his wife are teachers in philly schools....(those are some of the people i need to be connecting with)...and then he asks me what i do...i was like...i just moved here to be the philly city director for younglife....he was like...he was a volunteer with younglife when he was in grad school 7 years ago....how amazing is that....and he is now on my prayer "hit" list of potential volunteers...isn't it awesome how God brings people along...you just sit and pray...and wait on Him....i could go on....

please continue that i will meet and have favor with the men of the peace in the city....thanks so much again.

grace and peace and HAPPY THANKSGIVING

city adventures

well, i think i have found a place to live.  that is exciting.  i will be living just outside of southwest philly.... its a perfect location bc it allows me to get away from the city but at the same time be close to city.  its still a temporary thing though bc ultimately i will be living in the city.

some observations about the city...

1.everyone walks around with a hoodie and an ipod...(or maybe talking on the phone..)  its like no one wants to be known but yet screams i want someone to truly know me.

2.i believe everyone loves the sports teams here so much bc they want something to unite them....something that is "safe" to talk about....its also something they can believe in

3.the city needs more believers walking the streets and talking to people....there is a certain fear about the streets....i have to honest...i get nervous myself(fearful)...its a tension that i have to fight each day....but i know scripture says...2 timothy 1:7--for God did not give us a spirit of timidity(fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline....scripture also says...that if you try to save your life then you will lose it....the one that is in us...is greater than the one in the world....so much to be said...

so yeah, please pray for me....the answer is Jesus...He knows us....He unites us....He is who we should talk about and be about....i want to be someone who is an open book...that shares the love of Christ with every person around me not just with my words but with my actions first.  st. augustine said..."share the Gospel, and when necessary use words."  1 thessalonians 2:8 says " we loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well."   i want my life and my words to be inline with the Gospel....that is my prayer.

also, i have a huge meeting with the president of eastern college on wednesday....pray for continued favor...God has done some many amazing things...

thanks again.

grace and peace.

God's provision

i'm absolutely blown away by God's provision.  He keeps making things happen that i couldn't of imagined.  psalm 40:5 says, "many, o LORD my God, are the wonders you have done.  The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were i to tell them, they would be too many to declare."  that is how it has been here in philly.  God is doing so many amazing things in my midst.  on sunday,  i had the privilege to go greater exodus baptist church.  we were going there to worship with the church that has already been so giving and loving towards us.  we were hoping that we could meet with their pastor dr. herb lusk.  i had my doubts that it would be possible on a sunday morning without an appointment.  well, God had different plans.  we ran into dr. lusk in the parking lot crossing the street as we were going in the opposite direction.  he invited us up to his office to talk.  he walked us into the service.  and at the end, he announced who were and gave me and then other 2 men with me a microphone to talk to the church.  wow, it went great.  afterwards, i got to talk to the director of their hope center(which is a center for pregnant women).  and then as were in front of the church about to leave, a man walked up to us and said he wanted to go into battle with us and help us anyway he can.  it was an outstanding day.  and dr. lusk's sermon was powerful....he talked about how Jesus is our answer instead of some political figure whoever it may be.  it was amazing.  i'm so thankful for the Lord and how He is allowing me to know that He is doing everything.  i'm the one that gets to show up and be faithful to Him.  praise God.

philly students

whats up friends....man, i have been doing some studying on philadelphia schools over the last couple of days...it is crazy..... in virginia, i thought we were doing good and we were in all 2 city schools. exciting right!!!

well, philadelphia has 84 high schools and a total of 207 schools and 180,000 students....that is incredible. those are just the kids that are in school. there are countless other kids of age to be in school, that aren't. in addition to that, that are alot of private schools that have students. of those kids that are in school...84% of them live in poverty. can you believe that? according to the former ceo of the philadelphia school district...tens of thousands of these students have a parent who has been incarcerated. this stats are mind blowing to me.

isn't it good, that we serve a God who is bigger than these issues. it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the daunting numbers, but God isn't. He has a plan. please continue to pray for these kids who need the opportunity to hear about Jesus. Kids who need to hear the living hope. please pray that kids hearts will be soft and ready for the light Jesus to shine on them like the sun rising in the morning bringing heat to a cold, dark place.

i have been continuing to have great meetings with people. i got to meet with a lawyer today who is so excited to be on committee. i'm so encouraged by people who take hold of what God is calling them too and letting nothing get in the way.

pray that i continue to meet the men/women of peace in the city. pray for favor at this bible study i'm going tomorrow morning. another 645am bible study...i'm becoming a morning person. those who know me maybe surprised by all that.

grace and peace and much love.

temple university

so wow...i was on the campus of temple university and north broad st. half the day today for a meeting....i forgot what college life was like.  there were people everywhere.  today, obviously was a busy day with the election and all.  i don't think i have been to a place where people were so passionate about it.  people had flat bed trucks going up and down the street blasting music and telling everyone to vote for obama.  in my lifetime, where i'm from, i don't think i have experienced anything like that.  they offered me free starbucks to vote.  to bad, i'm not from pa cause it was cold outside.

i can't wait till we have leaders coming from temple.  william penn and ben franklin high schools are so close to their campus.  all the leaders would have to do is walk a few blocks to be at the school.  i got the privilege to pray at william penn.  i thought it was interesting they had voting there while school was still going on.  especially when they were arresting people in other areas of philly for illegally being at the voting places.

God has big plans for philly, i know.  if He told us what they were, then i bet we wouldn't believe Him.  He is just calling me to be faithful to Him and He will continue to open the doors.  i look forward to walking in the streets with kids knowing that God has already gone before me....isn't it encouraging that He goes before us and we march under His banner(flag)....instead of how some people say, "i got your back"  which doesn't help when you are in front.

continue to pray  for wisdom and vision casting opportunities....and meeting with people of the peace...God's protection

thanks...i love you guys.

first full day

whats up friends....so yeah, today has been a full first day. i got to go to a mens bible study at 6:30 am.(yes friends, i was up at 545 for that event) it was a honor to be there and discuss the Word of God with great men. we discussed how God loved Jacob and hated Esau...yet, Jacob did everything "wrong" and Esau did everything "right." it was a very lively discussion.

from there i went to the office and worked on a budget for the year. my first budget as philadelphia city....around 135thousand dollars...nice. pray that we are able to raise way above that. we also worked on a list of potiental leader, donor, board members. its really cool how many people want to join together and serve the Lord in philly.

next, i had a lunch with my committee chair for philly. that went really good. God has brought up a man who is really excited about younglife in philly. so we meet for a couple of hours.

from there we went an meet with one of the vice-presidents from eastern college. great man. he is really passionate about kids from the city coming to school there. i'm hoping to get a bunch of our kids in roanoke and in the future in philly to go to school there. as we were leaving we got to talk to dr. black...the president of the school. so that was a God opened door because i've been told its hard to get a meeting with him. and this time all we did, was walk out the door and he was in the car next to us.

from there, we went and ran some errands. i really need a computer that works so went and looked at some apples.

from there we went back to the office till 5pm.

so yeah, a fun filled day. i thank God for all He is doing here. please join me in praying for the peace and prosperity of the city. that God will allow us to meet the men of peace...that God will give us wisdom in building the infrastructure of the ministry...
thanks so much friends. i love you guys. eph. 210

last night in roanoke

well, its my last night in roanoke!!! i'm emotionally drained...tears have been flowing. kinda crazy. if you would of told me at the beginning of the year that my life would look like it does now, then i would say you are out of your mind. it has been the hardest year....a broken engagement takes its toll on a person....i'm so thankful for all my friends and family here that have rallied around me in phone calls, meals. and prayers. i'm also thankful that you can count on Christ to be with you through any situation. i've gotten to experience and see His hand in my life so much.
now as i reflect on my time at acts2....wow, God has allowed me to be apart of some incredible things...i tell the kids each week that God is going to use them to change the world and He is doing that right now. we have one girl that is leading younglife in another city....we have hired our first staff person who was a kid in the program....we got other kids that giving their lives to what ever the Lord maybe calling them to do....on top of all that...their is no greater thing you can do than to share the love of Christ with someone....to watch Christ change their life...wow....God brings true freedom...and i've been blessed to see 100reds of kids give their lives to Christ and many more have gotten to hear about Him.
acts2 staff and volunteers....i love you...the heart of each one of you is precious....i've been so blessed by you....to have had the opportunity to lock arms together and do the Lords work...i love yall and will miss you alot.
THANK YOU GOD FOR CALLING ME TO ACTS2....I LOVE YOU....
GRACE AND PEACE ROANOKE. MY HEART WILL FOREVER BE CONNECTED TO THIS PLACE.