The Soldier...

I can't help but feel like a soldier preparing for battle the past two days.  Kirk is giving us tons of direction, and piles of information so we can suit up and be prepared.  Are we prepared?  Probably not...  But Terrel (an intern working with Kirk) said something quite convicting tonight..  He said, "You can only fail at evangelism if you aren't doing it!"

How often to we watch as dead men and women walk past us and we do nothing to warn them of the fact that they are dead.  I never want anyone to think, 'Why didn't Keith tell me..?'

We hold the amazing key to life within our hands, minds, and souls...  Terrel was right, and he helped me realize I've been failing...  It's so easy to get stuck in the mode of not bringing up Christianity, but living it quietly...  So I can say, I've been selfish!  I have something amazing, something beautiful...

LIFE

And yet I don't like talking about being alive...  How backwards is that!?

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way the persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:10-12

Yesterday we had a great time spending the whole day learning together and reading our Bibles...  It is awesome to just be able to forget what is going on in our crazy lives and get back to what matters... GOD!  Today we spent most of our day helping Kirk around the house with little jobs and things that have been put off...  It was great to take a bit of a mental break (I can't even explain how powerful yesterday was....  It was just awesome!) and do some good old physical labour...  We did however spend a bit of time first thing this morning being equipped with the classic Creation Vs. Evolution debate...  We really got a chance to just discuss, ask questions, and watch a few video seminars on the topic...  Not to mention rooting all our discussions, questions and answers in God's Word..  And yes, there is a lot more to the Bible than I ever realized...  It's amazing to get back to what God has written us, and learn from it...  I don't read it nearly enough, but now I long to...

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." - Matthew 5:6

It is about time we hunger, and it is about time we thirst...  How awesome is it that when we begin to become uncomfortable, hungry, and thirsty...  It continues...  I don't think Jesus meant filled as soon as we hunger, and as soon as we thirst...  But it is oh so satisfying to strive towards righteousness, because in heaven, we will be filled...

The other day working in the Gospel Lighthouse (back in Brantford), a women came in to buy a guardian angel medallion for a relative who was going off to the war in Iraq...  It really made me think what we are really depending on...  Does the medallion bring about God's compassion, grace, mercy, protection, and forgiveness?  Or do we have all that at our disposal..?  I think God is more in control than we can imagine, and that is what is so beautiful about being His soldier...  We don't need to know exactly where we are going, or what we are doing, we just have to trust our commanding officer...  God knows what He's doing..

And as soldiers prepare for war, we will be committed to the task at hand...

Tomorrow is our first day one the streets, and we plan to spend the weekend in Halifax (this coming weekend) doing 3 days of street ministry...  God has provided a church for us to stay at in Halifax (there will be five of us)...  I continually thank God for this opportunity...

...this awakening...