Heart MakeOver

I just listened to a great sermon from Pastor Chris Hodges of Church of the Highlands. He was speaking about expanding the capacity of your heart. This really shook me up as I have been at a place of stagnation over the past few weeks. I have not been intentional in my walk and have been at the state of blah. Although, I know God has been working all around me in amazing ways over the past few weeks, I have a difficult time going to Him daily the way that I desire. Writing in this blog helps me to reach down and pull from experiences that have been recently affecting me.

I have felt desensitized to the world around me and that has really bothered me. My heart used to urgently soften when I heard of someone really struggling or having a tough time in their life. But that feeling has not been there lately. And one thing that I have learned in this, is that my faith to God is much more than a feeling. It is a behavior, an action, a choice, a prievelege, a safe place, and most importantly a deep relationship with the one who created me and died for all my faults and failures. Yet, knowing this has not carried over to the way my heart used to break for someone who is on the edge of destruction. Those moments used to cause the fire of God to stir deep in my belly. This "unreaction" may be coming from some bitterness of those who have hurt me or let me down. Or even more a feeling of God not being there in situations I deeply need him in. I'm not sure, I am just thinking out loud and hoping God will come rushing in with an answer or a response to my lack of ferver.

I am now calling out to God for a deep encouter with Him. As David was after God's heart I ask for that same yurning. I know God freely and abundantly gives to those who ask. And, I know now that is not worldly possesions, but spiritual upgrades and renewals. I want God's word to come alive yet again. I know that He is faithful in all things, even when I am not.

be blessed,
your boy elbow

Real Life

Last night at YoungLife a kid came up to me after and asked if I would pray for him. I knew some things had been going on his life, but it really hit me last night. Most of the kids that I work with are inner city kids and have lived lives that I could never imagine. So, the kid, our leader, Jack, and myself went into one of the closed off hallways and began to ask him what was going on. We knew he was affliated in one of the local gangs and he was trying to get out. But last night, he told us the gang was looking for him and wanted to him dead. They had already found one of his friends over the weekend, shooting him twice, leaving the friend in Intensive Care with not much hope of making it alive.

This cut right to my heart last night and could not fight back tears later in our leaders meeting. I saw this innocent kid scared out of his mind and in complete submission to the Lord. All he wanted from us was prayer. He wanted to hear this would be okay and God was watching over him. He has been hiding out at a family members house and bolts there everyday after to school. He told us he did not want to think bad thoughts and consider taking matters into his own hands. This left me in such fear for this kid, because I know he has a wonderful heart and is having to make decisions no one in their life should ever have to make.

As we prayed for him, I just thanked God for his heart of surrender. He knows this is dangerous and he does not know what to do. And when we have no idea what to do God is right there for us to show us a safe path. And this 17 year old kid recognized this and desires for the Lord to walk with him every where he goes.

So, please keep my friend in your thoughts and prayers. I wish there was more I could do, but as my leader told me last night I would only be putting my life in danger by getting involved. Prayer is all we can do he said. Trust in God to watch over him, protect him, and guide him through this.


be blessed,
your boy elbow

JOY

Wow, it has certainly been a long time since I have contributed to my blog. I feel distant from my writing, but I should long to write more, because it gave much relief throughout my day. Reflecting on life and the things God has been doing is never a bad thing.

I just listened to an amazing podcast by a Pastor in L.A., Erwin McManus. This is great man of God. I really enjoy listening to his messages, because his words are well thought out. His messages are profound and speak life into me. He is a firey man and I encourage you to listen to his sermons.

The message I listened to this evening was about joy and how to find joy. God created this life to be enjoyed and sometimes in our walk with God we lost the sense of enjoyment or almost feel guilty for feeling enjoyment. Yes, trials and tribulations will come and out of those times joy will be found. But do not let your circumstances create joy or think, "well if this happens then I will be joyful." Let joy create your circumstances. And I am not talking about superficial or fake joy, because that is sickening. Real joy is sought after. In Psalms it talks about seeking God as if he was a hidden treasure. The joy of the Lord is what I need to be seeking. Because it will energize life in a way I have never experienced. Faith should be lived out in excitement; Erwin proposed the question, "When was the sacredness of God mixed with despair and guilt?" Yes, the sin within us brings sorrow and hurt, but great joy should come out of knowing God looks past that and sees the wonderful person He created us to be.

Authentic love, joy, and happiness are hard to find in this world. But they can be seeked out of a true intimacy with God. It is easy for us to relate with despair, hopelessness, and loneliness, because those feelings are easily attainable in this life. It is much easier for us to connect with these; instead of seeking greatness from the God of great abundance.

Trust me I know the word of God is a double edge sword and I am speaking right to myself. I am longing to know God's heart. He has really spoke to me to abandon the things of this world and seek Him.

"Seek first the Kingdom of the Lord and all things shall be added to you."

Good to be back.

your boy,
elbow

Surrender

Today was a great devotional day from the book that I am reading, "Purpose Driven Life." It talks about the freedom of life when we can surrender ourselves to Christ. As the apostle Paul says, "I day daily." This is such an incredible concept that Christ offers us. He asks us to lay down everything in our life, so that God may take care of us. This seemed a little scary to me, because I think in my small little mind God may not take care of some of things I ask for. But how limiting is that of this amazing God. I do not know why this thought even makes it way into mind. God has incredible things in store for me, if I can give Him my life. The thought of surrender is completely against the grain of the society we live in. We are taught to win, succeed, never give up, and fight for victory. But God knows this life of ours is hard and all He is asks that we let go of our entire life for Him, so that he can give us victory and most of all eternal victory.

Amen!

Pastor Hodges always uses a quote, " If we are on our face for the Lord, we can never fall."

My buddy John and I have began praying everyday for someone, because we have seen the power of prayer in a number of our friends lives. So everyday either one of us will text message the other with someone that God has laid on our heart. We both will pray for this person throughout our day and keep them in our thoughts. I know God is working in this. It is awesome to know that we both are caring for our friends and wanting the best for them through Christ.

I just had a great lunch with Pastor Bryan Sederwell of Denver Church. I wanted to talk with him about his vision for the church, my visions/calling, and outreach in the Denver area. This was a great conversation. He has such a heart for the city of Denver and wants to work as hard as he can to spread the love of Christ throughout the metro area. This was great to hear! I then shared with him I felt God calling me to minister to the homeless in some capacity. And the first thing he said was the timing for this could not be any better. What a blessing! Denver Church is just getting set to move into North High School and this will allow major growth to take place. Outreach is major factor in the church and he mentioned a number of people to speak with. I told him I would love to be on staff to help out in this area of the church. We both are big vision thinkers and can see how God wants to work through us for the city. We are both huge on leveraging relationships/churches/organizations for the greater good of the Kingdom of God! This was certainly the works in motion of something great. Bryan's heart and energy is certainly echoed in the church and soon to be the greater Denver area, believe me! We talked about our families, sports, and just enjoyed the day on the roof at the Lazy Dog in Boulder. I am so fortunate to have had this lunch with him and I am super excited for the next few months for this relationship to grow!

"Don't ask God to bless what you are doing, get with what God is doing because that is already blessed." - A wiseman shared this with Bono of U2

be blessed,
your boy elbow

Answered Prayers

The last few days have been answered prayers. It started on last Thursday when I happen to stumble on to the website denverchurch.tv. I have been looking for a small group to get involved with for quite some time now. Denver Church happen to belong to Association of Related Churches, started by Billy Hornsby (Victory and Church of the Highlands also belong). Well I shot Pastor Bryan an email, asking if I could get involved in their small groups. He quickly responded and let me know that their LifeGroups had actually just launched that week. Well, I called the LifeGroup leader, Stevie and he invited me over to his apartment that night as they were having their first meeting. We had a blast over at his place and I knew this was an answered prayer. I felt comfortable sharing how the Lord has worked in my life and we actually openly discussed an issue Lisa (Stevie's girlfriend, UF Grad '06) was going through. Accountability was a main focus of this group, which is something I was definitely looking for in a small group.

Then, I decided to check out Denver Church on Sunday morning. It was literally a 15 minute walk from my apartment. They met in an elementary school and it was actually their one year anniversary as a church! I knew this place felt right the moment I walked in the doors. I was greeted by Pastor Bryan and the moment I met him I could tell he has a real heart for the Lord. His message was a highlight of how the Church has grown over the last year and where God is leading this church. What a great time for me to come him and hear the overview. The church was like a family and made up of people my age. I have really been looking to surround myself with Godly people that are my age and this was that answered prayer. They finished the service with a song Church of the Highlands introduced while I was in Birmingham called, "God of this City." It really solidified this church for me. The icing on the cake was, after the service I spoke with Pastor Bryan about the fact that I went to Victory Church and he told me that the Worship Leader Kirk, was actually Pastor Mike's son-in-law. WOW!

Then this morning there was another answered prayer. My very good friend Sarah has had a very hard time since her and her boyfriend broke up. I can relate with her and we have really strengthened our friendship over the past few months. I have really been praying for her as she has been struggling with the pain of this ended relationship. I have tried to share with her how the Lord is bringing me through my hurt. She has been a great friend for me during this time in my life. Well my prayer was answered this morning as we were chatting online as we do a lot of mornings at work. She told me she was really having a hard time and upset about making some regretful decisions. I told her there is only one way to get your life back in line and that comes by allowing Christ into your life. This seemed foreign to her. I began to describe this transformation process that has taken place in my life and my buddy John's life, because she has recognized this change. She asked me how does she go about letting Christ be the focal point in her life. I said by praying to God that all her sins be forgiven and for Jesus to be Lord of her life. This must be done with a sincere heart, but God will hear her prayer and salvation will take manifestation in her life. I felt like God had opened up this conversation and the Holy Spirit was giving me the words to say (type). She got back to me in about 20 minutes and she said that she had done this. She told me she was full of tears and I told her I was absolutely ecstatic for her. I never dreamed God would have used me to help Sarah find this, but it was awesome. She was floored that John and I cared so much about her that we had been praying this would happen in her life for over 5 months. I told her this is love and compassion for others that God will place on your heart, once salvation takes place in your life. I could not stop emphasizing how excited I was for her. I called my buddy John and shared this with him and I think he was like a deer in the headlights once he heard what had just happened. I then spoke with Sarah's best friend Lauren, who had just had a conversation with Sarah last night about following Christ. I told Lauren I would let Sarah tell her what happened. I am so proud of Lauren as she has come such a long way and it is tremendous to see the Lord becoming so prevalent in Lauren's life.

God is good my friends.

As John would say, Do Work!

be blessed,
your boy elbow

A few days in Birmingham

WOW! It was such a blast being back with all my friends over the past few days. God has truly blessed me with friends that love me and understand me without me saying a thing. All of my friends just wanted to know how I was doing and it was so refreshing to share with them where I am in life. It was also awesome to hear where they were and the their thoughts of what they want to do with their lives.

God revealed some things to me during my time there that were truly remarkable. There was a conversation we were having about someone going through something. And one of my best friend’s, Martin was being somewhat critical of how this person handled a situation. He then asked me what I thought about it, then he quickly caught himself and said, “Elliot will forgive them and he does not pass judgment on people.” He said this in front of my other friends. Martin knows me very well and has recognized that I hate to get in conversations where someone is being talked badly about. His comment made me start thinking about gifts of the Spirit. I then got into a conversation later that evening with my buddy John and shared with him Martin’s comment. John didn’t hesitate to say that the Lord has blessed me with a gift to see the good in people and look passed their sinful actions, recognizing the goodness in their heart. I was blown away as we continued discussing this, merely by the revelation I was having. It started to make so much sense. I know this had always been in me, but it took me finding salvation for this to take fruition in my life. God has given us all gifts and a purpose to carry out for His kingdom. Life matters so much more when things like this are opened up.

Also, during my time in the ‘Ham I was able to meet with Robert Record, the Director of Church of the Highland’s downtown Dream Center. It was so funny how this happened. John and I were at church Sunday morning, and as service was nearing to an end I asked him if we could try and find Robert. We bumped into Pastor Steve Blair and I asked him if he knew where we could find Robert. He said he is actually right behind you. Wow! I walked over to Robert and nervously introduced myself. I told him that I had sent him an email a few weeks back concerning the Dream Center. He was amazed that he had not read it, because he normally was very good about checking his emails. Anyways, he asked if we would like to grab lunch that afternoon. Dumbfounded, I said absolutely. So, John and I went to grab some Mexican food with him. Robert shared with us how he got started with this and the vision for the Dream Center. Believe it or not he is from Louisiana, seems like everyone I meet is from this great state (I have no idea what God is trying to tell me by this). John and I were blown away by the vision for the Dream Center, as it is going to be a full circle economic development center for downtown Birmingham. I was under the assumption it was going to be a glorified homeless shelter. It will be far more than this, providing: housing, medical clinics, job placement, recreation, and much more for those people struggling in this area. I then shared with Robert how I felt God calling me to this ministry and my vision for how God wants to use me to expand ministries like this around the country. It was such an amazing conversation we had and I know this is going to be blessed.

There were other things revealed to me, a truly heartfelt conversation between my buddy Trey and I on the way to airport, as I was getting ready to leave. I was able to share with Trey that I had been praying for him and I was so happy to see where God has brought him. It was an answered prayer to go to church with John and Trey on the Wednesday night I got into town. It was also awesome to see where Trey and his girlfriend Haley are. He was in a similar place in his life that I was at during my last semester in Gainesville. It was God revealing to Trey what was in front of him and thank the Lord Trey was able to recognize God calling out to him.

Plus, in the first time in my life I was given the opportunity to pray for all my friends before we had breakfast one morning at the lake. I felt like my dad, as I recall from my childhood days my dad was always asked to pray before a group of us would eat. I was so excited that they asked me to pray for the meal we were receiving. I am so thankful I was able to go home and visit with all my best friends.

Thank you Lord!

be blessed,
your boy elbow

current state

I really do not know what to write about today, I just feel a need to put something out for everyone who has been reading this. It is so cool to get a random email or when someone points out something they had read in my blog. Especially if I had never shared my blog address to them. Life has been very busy for the last few days.

I have been working til midnight nearly the last two weeks in order to be ready for our big presentation tomorrow in front of 150 investors from all over the world. We received a verbal commitment for $500,000 yesterday, a prayer answered. I just want to ask that you all keep this in your prayers over the next few days as we are completing this financial process. Thank you for keeping Hunter and I in your prayers.

Next Wednesday I am flying back to Birmingham for a week and I ecstatic to see all my friends. These people mean the world to me and I just looking forward to being in their company. I hope I can make myself leave, but it'll be hard as I will probably eat Full Moon Barbeque everyday I am there. I am really looking forward to attending Church of the Highlands both Wednesday night and Sunday. Pastor Chris Hodges always pours his heart into every message and it is awesome to see the Lord shine out of this man.

I am eagerly ready for work to slow down so that I can spend more time for prayer, church, my bible reading, Hunter, and whatever the Lord has in store for me. I spoke with my buddy Andy about working with his brother at the Denver rescue mission. This is the Jesus Saves center downtown and they work with homeless people, who generally have extreme substance abuse problems. I cannot wait to help out over there. I feel that I am lining up with God's path when I am spending time with people in these situations. And it is truly rewarding. I thank the Lord that he uses me for His work.

Love yall.

be blessed,
your boy elbow