Kansas City Fall 2009 - One Thing Have I Desired - Part 2

Being marked and sealed during my time with the One Thing Internship at the International House of Prayer.

Kansas City Fall 2009 - One Thing Have I Desired - Part 1

Being marked and sealed during my time with the One Thing Internship at the International House of Prayer.

Georgia Spring 2009 - Back Home, But Not Done - Part 2

Find out what's next for JD's adventure.

Georgia Spring 2009 - Back Home, But Not Done - Part 1

Coming to you straight from home.

Devotional - Psalm 2:11

“Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.”

Lord, where is our awe and where is our astonishment? Why don’t we fear and why don’t we cower? I fall into sin so easily, playing into the schemes of the enemy and neglecting the punishment that You bring for disobedience. Why don’t I honor the rod and staff? I have taken grace for granted and have known that it will always be there to catch me. Please don’t let me abuse this blessing. Let me serve You and worship You with a grateful and fearful heart because without You I would be nothing and have nothing. Let me dance and sing without shame, always to honor You.

FYM 2008-2009 Nicaragua

A Year in Review.

Devotional - James 3:5-6

"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

The tongue is a very delicate and extremely powerful tool. So small, yet so destructive. Just like the bit in the mouth of a horse or the rudder of a boat, the tongue is a small part of the body that can manipulate and determine the entire course of a person's life. It can take just a spark to set a forest ablaze, and likewise a simple comment can blast into an explosive argument. Destruction comes in the tiniest of packages, but just the same, praise and encouragement can come from the tongue. It has the power to take life or give life, curse or bless, ridicule or edify. So what will we choose? Will we have a tongue that destroys or lips that lift up? We are free-willed to choose and Christ gives us the power to speak life into others.

Devotional - James 1:13-14

"When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

Lord, I thank you for not tempting me and for always providing a way out when temptation comes. Keep me from my own evil desires and from my self-destructive habits. I have been drug away time and time again to find myself naked and ashamed, sulking in my own sinful waste. I become entice by sinful desires, thus giving birth to sin, which grows like a leech feasting on blood, sucking the very life of which it breeds on. The only result is death. Sin is a lonely and dark road of tyranny. It leads to a dead-end of wrath, leaving no hope and only despair. Lord, regret has consumed my mind and my thoughts are plagued by re-runs of past sins. Cleanse my heart, my eyes, my tongue, and my mind. Give me light, give me breath, and give me life - the eternal and the everlasting. Give me You!

Nicaragua/Costa Rica Spring 2009 - An Amazing Adventure

A final send-off from Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Devotional - 1 Thessalonians 3:7-8

"Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord."

Persecution comes because of faith, but faith in Jesus makes it all worth it. We have faith that Jesus came to save, to love, and to redeem. We have faith that there is more to life than just the here and now; more than just the physical realm of space and time. We believe that God created it all and that Christ stands at the center of it all. Our faith in Christ is in extreme opposition to the enemy and one day most likely we will face persecution. It could come in the form of ridicule, torture, or even death. Whatever the cost we must stand firm in the Lord, hold to His Word, and cling to the Holy Spirit. We will endure and because of our faith we will reign with Christ.