back to the basics

tonight i was reading through some underlined verses i have in my Bible and i was refreshed as i read this verse...

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." Phil. 2:3

This verse has be my "life verse" for some time now, but recently i had forgotten about why this has been my life verse.

It's so easy, for me at least, to get caught up being so selfish sometimes...
I start to think about myself above others and i start to put other things ahead of God...
i hate it when i find myself in this position...
i feel so conceited...

But i was definitely refreshed to think about how tomorrow and the rest of this week and month and school year i'm going to make a solid effort to put God and others ahead of myself....

the way it should be!!!
:)

Hollywood Blvd.

what a crazy past 24 hours!!!

we arrived in California last night and the weather was gorgeous, as I expected, what I wasn't expecting was waiting for luggage for an hour and a half...lol...it all worked out :)

After getting a good nights rest at my friend Julissa's Grandparent's house, where there was a lemon tree in the front yard, we headed toward Hollywood...
the sun was shining and it felt amazing...way better than Michigan :)

right as we parked there on Hollywood Blvd. I could tell there was a darkness to this place...not a physical darkness, but a spiritual darkness...it became pretty evident why as we were just walking the streets like the tourist we were...
one particular sad thing about this street was that there was like porn shops every other building or so...then...on top of that...there was about 10+ "smoke shops", where they sold drug paraphernalia.

it reminded me of the "gutter" that Craig Gross speaks about in his book called "The Gutter"...this was the place people thought they could find "happiness"...drugs, sex, greed, celebrities...it was all there...

i tried to ignore most of the things i saw in Hollywood, but there was a group of guys that really caught my attention...they were across the street and they had big signs...signs that said "Repent and Believe in Jesus or Burn In Hell!!"...they had about 3 of these signs that said something to that effect...
they were just yelling and screaming at a group of people that were outside of a famous theater..they were yelling that "all of them were going to hell" and that "God hates everything they did"...

this extremely bothered me..so we (Amanda, Chrissy and I) proceeded to the other side of the street where this was all happening...
i didn't want to get mad, but i knew i would if i went up to them without some "accountability"...
not too long after were standing in this crowd Julissa and Landon (Julissa's boyfriend) come find us...Landon imediately walked over to these guys trying to understand why they were yelling at everyone and being so harsh...
after i said a quick prayer i descided to join this "conversation" as well...

i did more listening than arguing with these men, but they were condemning people so harshly...
there was one particular women who was dressed as Marylin Monroe and one of the gentlemen screaming decided to judge her in front of everyone...
he was telling her that she was a "slut" and that "because she was dressed that way she was going to hell"...

the lady claimed to be a Christian and yelled back at him...to no avail though...the man was so ruthless and had so much hate in his words that he was making Jesus and the Gospel message look like it was only for perfect people...
i didn't understand...
my heart went out for this women as she was slammed in front of maybe a hundred people...

after we finished our conversation with the gentlemen and walked back down the street we came across that women who was dressed as Marylin Monroe...we stopped and talked with her, apologizing for those gentleman's hateful words...
she shared with us some of her story of where she's come from and the situation she is in now...
before we finished our conversation with this lady we asked if we could pray for her...right there...on the busy sidewalk of Hollywood Blvd.
she agreed to our request...
as we prayed for this women and brought her request before our Father I felt a peace come over us...something i've never felt before...
there was something different about what we were doing and how we were doing it...it was such a conviction on my heart..
a conviction to reach these people...whether tourist or venders...or the homeless...all of the people on that street were carrying around such great darkness...

after all our confrontations my hands were shaking...i was mad...mad at those men who thought they could save people...and also felt such a spiritual battle, not just in that lady, but on that whole street...

as we got back to the car i felt so weak...so drained...
but i knew we had done a great thing...

i like to think that we were the "light" to Hollywood Blvd. today :)

billy goats and water towers!!!

soooo....

i've only been in the Washington/Idaho for like 7 hours and i've seen a ton of water towers...and all the water towers look exactly the same...kind of wierd...

and then where i'm staying (Chrissy's house)is next to a mountain and i'm expecting billy goats to come run through the yard any minute now...even though the natives say there are no billy goats :)

gut check!!

this morning I read the book of Titus..it was so good. i seem to overlook Titus alot mainly because of its size :)

there was one particular part of Titus that stuck out to me...it was in chapter 1 and verse 16...
it says this,
"They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good."

this was a definite gut check for me...i had to ask myself...am i one of those people?? do i profess to know God, yet deny His existence with my behavior?

or...

am i letting my light so shine before men that they may see my good works and glorify my Father in Heaven?? (matt. 5:16)


i hope i'm bringing God glory, but i know there are things i need to work on....




to those who have been praying for me, Thank You!!



-Joe

the lyrics that are feeding my soul

There is love that came for us
Humbled to a sinner's cross you broke my shame and sinfuless you rose again victorious

Faithfulness none can deny through the strom and through the fire there is truth that sets me free Jesus Christ who lives in me

You are stronger you are stronger
Sin is broken you have saved me it is written Christ is risen Jesus you are Lord of all

No beginning and no end You're my hope and my defence you came to seek and save the lost you paid it all upon the cross

So let your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher be lifted higher

these lyrics were written by Hillsong...the song is called "Stronger"

for the week that i have been home i've been singing this song over and over...

it's the subtle reminder that i need to keep going every day...

if you haven't read my blog yet about this song go to www.honestscreams.blogspot.com


hope everyone is having an awesome Christmas!!!

new game plan and awesome books

it's been a learning experience so far at home...i've been trying to do different things to keep me busy and keep my mind off from myself...
house cleaning, organizing junk in my room, putting music in order on my computer, whatever it takes to keep my mind off from myself...
it's a new approach, and so far it is working...
i've been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and that has been a challenging read. It's just awesome how God speaks to me through His word and then challenges my heart even more as i read this book...
i know that it is just a book, written by a man, just like me, but God continually uses Chan's words to speak straight to my heart...

between Crazy Love and The Gutter by Craig Gross, i've had a major perspective change on how i view ministry, how i look at my priorities, and how i communicate with other people...

to all my friends who are praying for me...Thank You!!!
your prayers are working and God is continually amazing me :)

my enjoyment

i was asked to share more of my emotions..

so right now i'm talking with some of my best friends on skype and we're having a good ole' time...

right now my emotion is "Happy" and "Content"

more to come!!.....