Prison Update

So, yeah I am starting to get accustomed to the new world inside the prison walls, all the while trying not to get to comfy and let my guard down. My heart really goes out to those guys though, many of them are so lost. I saw the church crew of inmates going back to their rooms yesterday, there were about 10 of them...out of about 3,000 inmates! Hopefully there are more that I just didn't see...doubtful, but hopefully. The stories are still coming, but you get used to it after you are around it day after day.
Anyways, God has really opened some doors to witness. They have not been easy, but sure enough they were opened to me. I like a good challenge from time to time anyways. Keep praying for me, that God would protect me and put words in my mouth...He is the only one that can wake up and change the human heart, and even at that, they have to be willing to listen.
Linds and Seth are coming tomorrow. I am really excited about it, and can't wait to see them. Keep praying, and God bless!

Prison Adventure Recap

OK, so the first week was as action packed and impacting as I thought it would be. Here are some highlights:

-One inmate attacked a female prison guard and tried to drag her into his cell with him...you can pretty much figure out what he had in mind.

-There was one fight really close to us, but by the time we could get to the window to watch the guards had it broke up.

-I found out that the remaining 5 of the famous "Texas 7," that escaped from prison a number of years ago and were not caught until they made it to Colorado, are in the prison. They are held in the death row area.

-Some of the inmates are in that prison for the rest of their lives, so they really don't care what they do to you.

-It is really sad to see all of the young inmates that will be in that prison, staring at the same walls for the rest of their life...incredibly sad and depressing.

-It seems that most of the prison guards have to be a little loco to handle the insane situations they are put in.

-Inmates will make a "shank" out of absolutely anything...and I mean anything!

-When surrounded by hundreds of VERY dangerous inmates, it can be an intimidating situation even with a guard at your side. But you kinda get used to it.

I will have more stories and highlights in the near future I am sure. Some of the stories I don't need to tell due to the nature of them. Keep praying for me, God is really opening some great doors to witness...hard situations, but great opportunities.

Palunski Unit Prison

Today was my first day on a new job that I will be working for a month or so. I am actually doing some electrical work to a Death Row prison facility called the Palunski Unit. It was quite an experience! I was literally in direct contact with people serving life sentences for capital murder, child rape, and all sorts of wickedness. It is a different world in such a big way. I will try to keep everybody updated on my experiences as frequently as I can. Please pray for me, for God's protection and that I can somehow be a light in this dark place...and when I say dark I mean it.

Great Communication Tip

All communicators, preachers, or wanna be's...go read this.

A Halelujah Moment

Our little boy, Seth, is FINALLY sleeping through the night...uninterupted...after nearly two years...Thank God! Seriously! Now all I have to do is train myself to stop automatically waking up in the middle of the night and this phase will be history. Bitter sweet.

Passion

Yesterday I began to pray that God would help me in my public speaking and gift me in an even greater way to be able to take any group of people at any given time in any given mood and effectively lead them to the place He wanted them to go. The very first thing He spoke to me was about passion. Always, always, always speak with passion and never back up from it.
Passion has always been one of my strong suits, and it is a huge part of my personality. But, what do you do when people are reluctant to follow, or give their life to Christ when you witness, or get on board with the vision? Something that we must refuse to do is to let such reactions douse our flame with water. Our passion destroys reluctance because it is contagious and it brings people to a place of decision. Passion pierces through complacency and mediocrity. Passion is on one side or the other, it is totally sold on something. How can we speak life and direction into people if we are not sold on it and fired up about it ourselves? People follow passion, it spreads like wildfire. Whether it is from the pulpit, on a street corner witnessing to a stranger, or at home leading our family devotional time, everything we do must be fueled with passion...it makes what we are saying believable.

Things Are Picking Up

God recently "shook our cage" here at The Crossing. We had poured most of our energy into planning and had neglected deep, prolonged times of prayer for the church. Yeah, God wasn't real impressed. Don't get me wrong, the structure is definitely needed, but prayer is the necessity. Every since we have really made prayer the utmost priority things have really been picking up...bigger crowds, breakthroughs, and so on. With that said, please continue to join with us in prayer as we continue this journey that God has chosen for us. Thanks so much!

Just Enjoy the Ride

I am a firm believer in spiritual authority, especially parental authority. So, when my parents speak something into my life I don't just pass it off. I try to apply myself to it and pray about it to see just what God is trying to speak to me through my spiritual authority.
With that said, my mom sent me a text this morning and it just said, "read Ecclesiastes 8:14-17." I have been going through a difficult time without a lot of answers, so it was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment...guided by a good combination of the Holy Spirit and a mom's intuition. It broke me away from my scheduled reading for the morning, but God knew exactly what I needed to hear today.
That Scripture reference talks about how we get all tied up with the "big questions" of life. We let hard times and hard questions challenge our faith when they are meant to sharpen our faith. The passage goes on to say that not even the wisest man could comprehend all that goes on under the sun. So, why should we bog ourselves down with questions that we will never know the answers to? Why don't we just trust God and be content with the hand that we have been dealt? Why don't we just enjoy the ride with the hope of knowing that God is in control and He has a good outcome in store for us?
Here's the bottom line, don't waste your valuable time by trying to over-analyze everything. Everybody has questions, and everybody experiences hard times...you aren't alone. Give it all to God, trust Him. Count your blessings and enjoy the ride.

Impressionable

I have hair like a brillo pad. It's true. To let it grow out would be embarrassing at best. So, I keep it cut short and always use gel. But, there is a catch. If I let my hair start to dry after I get out of the shower for any more than about 10 minutes...it's too late! At that point it is back to the same old stubborn mop it was before I loosened it up with some conditioner in the shower. It is a very small window of opportunity.
Same principle applies with new Christians. We have a very small window of opportunity to impress upon them sound doctrine, because if we don't, it is inevitable that they will be influenced by other myths and ridiculous ideologies and theologies. They are like play-do in the hands of a child, or clay in the hands of a potter. If not done anything with right away, they will harden up by the surrounding elements and shaping becomes difficult to impossible. Discipleship is crucial, and early discipleship is absolutely essential. Just a thought.

Looking in All the Wrong Places

Two nights ago, Seth woke up in the middle of the night (his regular routine) and headed off towards our bedroom crying and looking for us. What he didn't know was that we decided to sleep on the Guest Room bed, which is right next to his room, instead of our own that night. So, he runs to the other side of the house to our bedroom looking for us and we weren't there. Poor child, he was probably feeling pretty lost and confused until I could orientate myself and lumber down the hall to catch up with him.
In many cases, we do the the same in relation to our walk with God. We wake up in a lonely and scary situation and we begin to look for God...and maybe, just maybe, you have found yourself feeling eluded by God's presence in the midst of your darkest hour. Could it be that the Lord is simply closer to you than you thought? Waking up in a dark and scary place can be very disorientating. Maybe, you are lost, looking way out in the mystery of the "cosmic nowhere," when all the while God is right at your side...the foot prints in the sand beside you. Could it be, that you sub-consciously didn't even think God could be close to you in your unstable and embarrassing situation.
God definitely keeps things interesting, and you may not always find Him in the same place or in the same way you did before...but, one thing is for certain, He is always there and maybe He is closer to you than what you thought.