For everyone that goes to Porter, you know what I mean when I say God has been doing some amazing things. Revival is getting ready to break out and I can't wait for it to happen!
I have been reading One Thing You Can't do in Heaven by Mark Cahill with our FAITH class. Kenneth asked us to read the first chapter by next week, but I'm pretty positive I will be done with the whole thing long before then. The book is awesome. If you haven’t read it before, I strongly encourage you to do so. It really makes you wake up and puts your butt in gear.
Cahill has made it his life objective to witness to as many people as possible. For four years straight, he has talked about eternity with everyone he has sat next to on a flight. He prays for them long before he meets them. I love it when he says, "And since I pray for those people before we meet, I don't consider them strangers but friends." If we honestly pray that God will bring people in our lives to witness to, then when the time comes, it won't be a surprise. You will not be shocked or uncomfortable, because you expected it. That is one thing this book has encouraged me to start doing. Pray and it will happen. To be quite honest, I use to not believe in the power of prayer. It was just a "duty" I thought I had to do to be a believer. I learned on Tour two years ago though, that prayer really does work. It isn't a duty but an awesome privilege. Another line Cahill uses is, "Isn't it amazing that the God who is in total control of this universe will take time out of His day to hear us pray to Him?" We are so lucky to be able to talk to GOD.
Think about it...what is the one thing you can't do in Heaven? We can worship. We can sing songs. We can praise. We can learn God's word. But what is there in the Christian walk that we do on Earth, but can't in Heaven? We can't witness. NOW is our only time to reach the lost. This book explains no matter when we witness, it's a winning situation. There are three outcomes- they will accept Christ, you will plant a seed, or they will reject Christ. Rejecting Christ may not seem like a “winning” situation but the Bible tells us we are blessed when this happens. When do we lose, then? When we don't witness. I'm only on page 62 so I haven't even heard half the things Mark Cahill has to offer, but he says some pretty neat stuff so far. In this book, he describes many ways to strike up a conversation that can lead into Christ. I have decided to start trying some of these techniques this week at school. Before I would wait for witnessing opportunities to fall into my lap. I would think that people would take me as annoying or weird, and that no one really wanted to talk about God. This book has helped me overcome that. Cahill mentions, "We typically think that people don't want to talk about eternity and Jesus, but that's just another lie from the devil." I learned this week that eternity is a matter everyone wants to talk about! They just need someone to talk about them with it!
Last night, I thought the prayer service at church was great. After I got home, God laid on my heart that I should try and start FCA at Henry Clay. I called Mrs. Noble(Brother Wayne's wife, who is a Spanish teacher at my school), and she agreed to sponsor it in her room. She just told me to bring a few kids by this week who are interested with me and we can begin to plan. I hung up the phone and realized, I really have no Christian friends at school, and the two that I do have, I never even see. I didn't really know what I had gotten myself into, but I prayed God would let it work out. Well, today in Political Science our class had a "debate"(even though everyone in that class is a Democrat and agrees with each other besides me and another girl). It was over separation of church and state. I am usually pretty quiet in that class but some ridiculous things were being said, such as "FCA should be illegal" and "Students shouldn't even be allowed to express their religion." So, needless to say, I got involved. When I thought the entire class was just about ready to pull a gun out on me, the only other Republican, Rachel started helping me out. After class, we got into a discussion. She has gone to LCA her entire life, and it is her first year of public school. She looked at me and said, “I just don’t understand how people at this school can see so much that points to God, and completely be so against Him.” We started talking about Christ and I told her about possibly starting a FCA. She literally asked me if she could help out. We started talking and she has some great ideas, and a few friends that she said would definitely come if we did it. How amazing is God!
There is a poem Cahill found that really hit me:
My Friend
My friend, I stand in judgment now,
And feel that you’re to blame somehow.
On Earth I walked with you day by day,
And never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together here on Earth,
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true,
I called you “friend” and trusted you.
But I learn now that it’s too late,
And you could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light,
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you “friend” in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And, yet, on coming to this dreadful end,
I cannot, now, call you my “ friend.”
It is time for us, as Believers, to take a stand and use our life how God intends for it to be used. 150,000 people die a day. It is up to us that those people don’t go to Hell. If we really want a Revival, lets stop living our lives like we want to and start living our lives how God intends for us to. We are just a blink in eternity, so lets leave a mark.
I have been reading One Thing You Can't do in Heaven by Mark Cahill with our FAITH class. Kenneth asked us to read the first chapter by next week, but I'm pretty positive I will be done with the whole thing long before then. The book is awesome. If you haven’t read it before, I strongly encourage you to do so. It really makes you wake up and puts your butt in gear.
Cahill has made it his life objective to witness to as many people as possible. For four years straight, he has talked about eternity with everyone he has sat next to on a flight. He prays for them long before he meets them. I love it when he says, "And since I pray for those people before we meet, I don't consider them strangers but friends." If we honestly pray that God will bring people in our lives to witness to, then when the time comes, it won't be a surprise. You will not be shocked or uncomfortable, because you expected it. That is one thing this book has encouraged me to start doing. Pray and it will happen. To be quite honest, I use to not believe in the power of prayer. It was just a "duty" I thought I had to do to be a believer. I learned on Tour two years ago though, that prayer really does work. It isn't a duty but an awesome privilege. Another line Cahill uses is, "Isn't it amazing that the God who is in total control of this universe will take time out of His day to hear us pray to Him?" We are so lucky to be able to talk to GOD.
Think about it...what is the one thing you can't do in Heaven? We can worship. We can sing songs. We can praise. We can learn God's word. But what is there in the Christian walk that we do on Earth, but can't in Heaven? We can't witness. NOW is our only time to reach the lost. This book explains no matter when we witness, it's a winning situation. There are three outcomes- they will accept Christ, you will plant a seed, or they will reject Christ. Rejecting Christ may not seem like a “winning” situation but the Bible tells us we are blessed when this happens. When do we lose, then? When we don't witness. I'm only on page 62 so I haven't even heard half the things Mark Cahill has to offer, but he says some pretty neat stuff so far. In this book, he describes many ways to strike up a conversation that can lead into Christ. I have decided to start trying some of these techniques this week at school. Before I would wait for witnessing opportunities to fall into my lap. I would think that people would take me as annoying or weird, and that no one really wanted to talk about God. This book has helped me overcome that. Cahill mentions, "We typically think that people don't want to talk about eternity and Jesus, but that's just another lie from the devil." I learned this week that eternity is a matter everyone wants to talk about! They just need someone to talk about them with it!
Last night, I thought the prayer service at church was great. After I got home, God laid on my heart that I should try and start FCA at Henry Clay. I called Mrs. Noble(Brother Wayne's wife, who is a Spanish teacher at my school), and she agreed to sponsor it in her room. She just told me to bring a few kids by this week who are interested with me and we can begin to plan. I hung up the phone and realized, I really have no Christian friends at school, and the two that I do have, I never even see. I didn't really know what I had gotten myself into, but I prayed God would let it work out. Well, today in Political Science our class had a "debate"(even though everyone in that class is a Democrat and agrees with each other besides me and another girl). It was over separation of church and state. I am usually pretty quiet in that class but some ridiculous things were being said, such as "FCA should be illegal" and "Students shouldn't even be allowed to express their religion." So, needless to say, I got involved. When I thought the entire class was just about ready to pull a gun out on me, the only other Republican, Rachel started helping me out. After class, we got into a discussion. She has gone to LCA her entire life, and it is her first year of public school. She looked at me and said, “I just don’t understand how people at this school can see so much that points to God, and completely be so against Him.” We started talking about Christ and I told her about possibly starting a FCA. She literally asked me if she could help out. We started talking and she has some great ideas, and a few friends that she said would definitely come if we did it. How amazing is God!
There is a poem Cahill found that really hit me:
My Friend
My friend, I stand in judgment now,
And feel that you’re to blame somehow.
On Earth I walked with you day by day,
And never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together here on Earth,
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true,
I called you “friend” and trusted you.
But I learn now that it’s too late,
And you could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light,
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you “friend” in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And, yet, on coming to this dreadful end,
I cannot, now, call you my “ friend.”
It is time for us, as Believers, to take a stand and use our life how God intends for it to be used. 150,000 people die a day. It is up to us that those people don’t go to Hell. If we really want a Revival, lets stop living our lives like we want to and start living our lives how God intends for us to. We are just a blink in eternity, so lets leave a mark.
7 comments:
Jordan,
It is truly a blessing to hear your words. They are a challenge and an encouragement to get out there and share Christ. God has some great things in store for your life. He is going to use you to do amazing things for His kingdom because you are open to His leadership in your life.
I know it is hard to stand for your faith sometimes when it seems as though everyone is against you. Stand strong---I am sooo proud of you. Thanks for standing up for what you believe in and giving others the courage to do so as well.
Oh, and Mark Cahill is going to be one of the primary speakers at the Gatlinburg Retreat this year. It promises to be a good kick in the pants for all of us!!!
Love,
Kristy<><
Jordan -
Mad props on that one! Double the props actually!
Kristy basically took the words from my mouth. The book by Cahill is quite encouraging yet challenging, but the effects, if taken to heart, can certainly bring us closer to God, resulting in some magnificent things!
The 'Burg Retreat is going to be great! I wish I could still be in high school...
Jordan thanks for the hook up and by the way we are babes just kiding Dawn
Hey Jordan let me know if you need any help with anything. I was a leader in our fca at tates creek, it's fun and rewarding but not easy!
i heard rumor about a new post...guess i was wrong.
Hey I just wanted to say how much this poem means to me. My youth group ( Deer River Bible Church in Deer River, MN ) A girl wrote a play called "Tomorrow may be to late" we performed and the play ended with a girls best friend dying and going to hell because the other wouldn't witness because of her fear of being rejected. We had video taped a fire burning and put it up on the wall and had her stand on the stage in black and recite this poem. It gave you shivers down your back and to this day when I consider not witnessing I remember the poem and the reality of death. Thanks so much it was encouraging to see this.
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