Monday, February 11, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
There He Sits
As men all but forget beautiful purity, trampling her into the mud with the soles of corrupted minds filled with vain philosophies and demonically inspired thoughts; as women look for freedom in dark caves, for liberty in cages; as youth shrivel the substance of their souls with the mindless drivel of entertainment, young men sacrificing their manhood for pleasure's opposite and young women sacrificing their womanhood for the same; as kings and dictators and rulers refuse to do homage to the Son, the creator of all power and authority; as the poor and the needy bear the brunt of injustice, the product of an unbridled, undead selfishness; as men forsake their normal functions and women forsake theirs; as the whole mass of humanity forsakes goodness and even calls it evil; as it embraces evil and even calls it goodness; and as it stumbles toward the brink of chaos drunk on the wine of immorality, He sees. No thing is hidden from His fiery sight. And every pair of eyes will one day gaze into His as He peers into the the very center of selfhood, unearthing the beat of each heart. That moment is mere seconds from being what we call the present, when eternity in all its terror bears down on human spirits. Are you ready? Don't be swept away in a flash flood of filth. But always be beholding the throne; and the One who sits upon it.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Mexico Trip Summary
Below is the letter that I sent out to all those who supported me in my mission trip to Mexico. Enjoy!
Hello All!
What an exciting trip! My time in Mexico was one of the best experiences of my life! God, as always, far exceeded my expectations. I thank Him for sending me with such a great group of people (my church youth group), and introducing me to some awesome missionaries in Mexico. He did mighty works through us all.
First off, to any supporters who read my blog, I want to thank you once again for your generous giving both in prayer and in finances. Because you decided to give, I was able to take advantage of this opportunity to impact the people of Mexico with the Gospel. Lives were most definitely transformed and impacted (including my own), which should be of no surprise to us since our God is always making old things new and restoring that which is broken.
Restoration and transformation were definitely the main themes of our ministry times. And it began the very first night we were there. After settling in to the houses of the missionaries we were staying with and spending half an hour in prayer, we drove in an 18 passenger van and a couple of suburbans (which were our modes of transportation for the rest of the week) to a local church. The worship was full of energy and power (even though I could only understand a few words :) and we saw people healed of pain in the neck and other areas. Then after a timely message by my youth pastor, we were able to lay hands on the local members of the church and see them impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards we spent another forty-five minutes or so praising the Lord in song and dance as the Spirit was preparing us for an awesome week.
Every day of the week in Mexico was filled with rich times of fellowship with each other and with the Holy Spirit. And one day that sticks out in my mind as one I won’t ever forget is the workday. The workday was an entire day dedicated to doing practical jobs on a church building located in one of the poorest areas of Guadalajara, Mexico. These jobs included everything from taking parts of the roof off to painting large interior sections of the building to mixing and laying by hand 450 square feet of cement 3 inches deep on the second floor. After all the work was done, I was completely worn, but extremely satisfied with everyone’s efforts to get everything done. There’s something about physical labor that gives you a unique sense of satisfaction, especially when you’ve completely drained yourself in the process.
Now it’s critical you understand that when I say that every single day of my week in Mexico was awesome, I’m being completely serious. But there are those moments amidst those days that stand out among the rest as personal favorites, the workday being one of those moments for me. Another favorite moment of mine was the opportunity I had to preach at one of our meetings. I won’t deny that there was a sense of nervousness beforehand as I prepared speak, but I also acknowledge the peace and the rest the Lord gave me in it, and the confidence that I had in Him to bring forth what He wanted to say through me. A lot of times our fear of something (which could be speaking in front of people) is an outflow of our lack of trust in the Lord’s goodness and our ignorance of His unstoppable desire to glorify Himself through us. And He did just that. The message went smoothly overall (with the exception of a few misspoken phrases and a couple of translating problems which we all laughed at afterwards :), but most importantly, God moved mightily in the time of worship afterwards, and the Holy Spirit ministered to people in some awesome ways.
The final special moment about which I want to write to you occurred on our final night of ministry. On that night, after hitting the streets and inviting people from the local villages to the service, the team gathered near the front to pray. We really felt like we achieved some breakthrough in prayer and were encouraged to see God move during the rest of the service; and He did. After worship we laid hands on people with arthritis, back pain, and hearing deficiencies and saw them healed. We saw a girl’s leg grow to its right length and we saw arches grow on feet that had none. Talk about an increase of faith! I was far beyond excited, I was overflowing with joy and thankfulness. My heart cried, “There is no word I will honor above Yours, Jesus. You commanded us to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, and cleanse lepers (Matthew 10:1), and now I’m seeing these things happen before my eyes. I’ve always professed healing to be true but now my theory has become a reality. How can I ever not believe again?”
I hope these stories have moved and encouraged you. I’m excited about the work of the Holy Spirit continuing in my life and in yours. And I thank you once again, for your support. I pray that God would bless you, keep you, and cause His face to shine down upon you. That He would reveal Himself to you from day to day and that you would be conscious of His presence at all times.
Grace and Peace,
Thomas
Hello All!
What an exciting trip! My time in Mexico was one of the best experiences of my life! God, as always, far exceeded my expectations. I thank Him for sending me with such a great group of people (my church youth group), and introducing me to some awesome missionaries in Mexico. He did mighty works through us all.
First off, to any supporters who read my blog, I want to thank you once again for your generous giving both in prayer and in finances. Because you decided to give, I was able to take advantage of this opportunity to impact the people of Mexico with the Gospel. Lives were most definitely transformed and impacted (including my own), which should be of no surprise to us since our God is always making old things new and restoring that which is broken.
Restoration and transformation were definitely the main themes of our ministry times. And it began the very first night we were there. After settling in to the houses of the missionaries we were staying with and spending half an hour in prayer, we drove in an 18 passenger van and a couple of suburbans (which were our modes of transportation for the rest of the week) to a local church. The worship was full of energy and power (even though I could only understand a few words :) and we saw people healed of pain in the neck and other areas. Then after a timely message by my youth pastor, we were able to lay hands on the local members of the church and see them impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards we spent another forty-five minutes or so praising the Lord in song and dance as the Spirit was preparing us for an awesome week.
Every day of the week in Mexico was filled with rich times of fellowship with each other and with the Holy Spirit. And one day that sticks out in my mind as one I won’t ever forget is the workday. The workday was an entire day dedicated to doing practical jobs on a church building located in one of the poorest areas of Guadalajara, Mexico. These jobs included everything from taking parts of the roof off to painting large interior sections of the building to mixing and laying by hand 450 square feet of cement 3 inches deep on the second floor. After all the work was done, I was completely worn, but extremely satisfied with everyone’s efforts to get everything done. There’s something about physical labor that gives you a unique sense of satisfaction, especially when you’ve completely drained yourself in the process.
Now it’s critical you understand that when I say that every single day of my week in Mexico was awesome, I’m being completely serious. But there are those moments amidst those days that stand out among the rest as personal favorites, the workday being one of those moments for me. Another favorite moment of mine was the opportunity I had to preach at one of our meetings. I won’t deny that there was a sense of nervousness beforehand as I prepared speak, but I also acknowledge the peace and the rest the Lord gave me in it, and the confidence that I had in Him to bring forth what He wanted to say through me. A lot of times our fear of something (which could be speaking in front of people) is an outflow of our lack of trust in the Lord’s goodness and our ignorance of His unstoppable desire to glorify Himself through us. And He did just that. The message went smoothly overall (with the exception of a few misspoken phrases and a couple of translating problems which we all laughed at afterwards :), but most importantly, God moved mightily in the time of worship afterwards, and the Holy Spirit ministered to people in some awesome ways.
The final special moment about which I want to write to you occurred on our final night of ministry. On that night, after hitting the streets and inviting people from the local villages to the service, the team gathered near the front to pray. We really felt like we achieved some breakthrough in prayer and were encouraged to see God move during the rest of the service; and He did. After worship we laid hands on people with arthritis, back pain, and hearing deficiencies and saw them healed. We saw a girl’s leg grow to its right length and we saw arches grow on feet that had none. Talk about an increase of faith! I was far beyond excited, I was overflowing with joy and thankfulness. My heart cried, “There is no word I will honor above Yours, Jesus. You commanded us to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, and cleanse lepers (Matthew 10:1), and now I’m seeing these things happen before my eyes. I’ve always professed healing to be true but now my theory has become a reality. How can I ever not believe again?”
I hope these stories have moved and encouraged you. I’m excited about the work of the Holy Spirit continuing in my life and in yours. And I thank you once again, for your support. I pray that God would bless you, keep you, and cause His face to shine down upon you. That He would reveal Himself to you from day to day and that you would be conscious of His presence at all times.
Grace and Peace,
Thomas
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Not tribulation; not hunger, thirst nor any kind of want; not the future; not the past; not the present; not pain nor death; and certainly not man. The Lord is my light, my vision; I see life by His light and I am guided by it daily. He is also my salvation. My heart, my soul, my mind, my strength, and everything I am is bound up in my covenant that He has made with me. I don't have confidence in anything else for the salvation of my soul: nothing else delivers me from evil; only He snatches me from the clay, from the grave, from Sheol itself, and plants my feet solidly on the rock that is higher. I shall not be moved. Whom then shall I fear?
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Beauty of Purity
The Lord loves purity, and for many reasons. One that comes immediately to mind is that purity is a direct expression of his nature and his reality: the one who is pure is not tossed about or affected by the trends and fads - the winds this world blows and their varying temperatures; but instead he is timeless. Immovable. The very voice of love, hope, faith, joy, and peace
He is unstained, unhindered, by the perverted indoctrination of those who are bent on practicing evil. Instead, he brings eternity into time with his very being - with every expression of his alive-ness. He has a doctrine of life; but it is more than a doctrine: it is a way of life. It is, in fact, the Way of life; and it encompasses him; it constitutes his existence. So, one could say he is a doctrine of life.
Yes, he is timeless; but he is simultaneously within time. He is not distant or far off in the future - impersonal and unreal. Instead, he is more in this moment than any one person who is trapped in time can be. And yet he is not in this moment per se: he cannot fully be contained in one moment or expressed in it; but it is his coming to terms with the immortality of his soul that causes him to be simultaneously fully here and fully there - there referring to the fullness of God's Kingdom: the fulfillment of God's dreams (that they would be with me where I am). Therefore, he lives unbound by time's chains, and yet he does not undervalue time. In fact, he redeems time, making it beautiful, colorful, and creative. He bends time to his Father's will; for he is a steward of all that his Father has given to him.
Yes, he is immovable in His faith; and he is a mover of others towards good works. In his immovability he is like the oak: his massive roots penetrate deep into the soil, and his trunk is the very picture of strength. His spirit is deeply entrenched in the person of God. He is always exploring God's mind and contemplating and meditating on God's thoughts and desires, slowly making them his own, integrating them into the patterns of his thought, into the tendencies of his heart. He moves others in that he spurs others on towards good works of the Spirit. He sees God's gifts in others and exhorts them to develop that which they have been given.
His words drip life; in this way he is the voice of all that is good. His words produce abundant fruit in the lives of others; and they resonate within the pure in heart. The pure one gives voice to the yearnings and longings of the Spirit; for he is always conversing with Him - always listening for the slightest of whispers. He has forsaken all other voices; he listens and rests in only that which his Father speaks; and he reveals what he hears to the broken around Him, bringing the warmth of joy to their downcast hearts. He is truly a deep drink for all who find themselves desperately thirsty. And even as he is surrounded on all sides by overfed, piggish souls and neglected spirits, his words divide soul and spirit, and refresh and renew the spirit, restoring its health and injecting it with an abundance of life. This raising up of dead spirits of man reflects the tremendous beauty that the pure one carries within him; his words of resurrection give us a perfect image of the richness of his heart; for out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth speaks.
Yes, this one - this pure one - has a quality of otherworldliness that is simultaneously refreshing and disconcerting. Refreshing in that it gives life to the deepest part of one's being; it reveals God on new levels and in new dimensions. And disconcerting in that it confronts everything within us that is not of that same unstained quality and calls us to a deeper and more intimate abiding in the love of the Father - free from sins chains and free to follow and be fascinated with the God-man, King, Messiah, and Friend, Jesus the Christ.
He is unstained, unhindered, by the perverted indoctrination of those who are bent on practicing evil. Instead, he brings eternity into time with his very being - with every expression of his alive-ness. He has a doctrine of life; but it is more than a doctrine: it is a way of life. It is, in fact, the Way of life; and it encompasses him; it constitutes his existence. So, one could say he is a doctrine of life.
Yes, he is timeless; but he is simultaneously within time. He is not distant or far off in the future - impersonal and unreal. Instead, he is more in this moment than any one person who is trapped in time can be. And yet he is not in this moment per se: he cannot fully be contained in one moment or expressed in it; but it is his coming to terms with the immortality of his soul that causes him to be simultaneously fully here and fully there - there referring to the fullness of God's Kingdom: the fulfillment of God's dreams (that they would be with me where I am). Therefore, he lives unbound by time's chains, and yet he does not undervalue time. In fact, he redeems time, making it beautiful, colorful, and creative. He bends time to his Father's will; for he is a steward of all that his Father has given to him.
Yes, he is immovable in His faith; and he is a mover of others towards good works. In his immovability he is like the oak: his massive roots penetrate deep into the soil, and his trunk is the very picture of strength. His spirit is deeply entrenched in the person of God. He is always exploring God's mind and contemplating and meditating on God's thoughts and desires, slowly making them his own, integrating them into the patterns of his thought, into the tendencies of his heart. He moves others in that he spurs others on towards good works of the Spirit. He sees God's gifts in others and exhorts them to develop that which they have been given.
His words drip life; in this way he is the voice of all that is good. His words produce abundant fruit in the lives of others; and they resonate within the pure in heart. The pure one gives voice to the yearnings and longings of the Spirit; for he is always conversing with Him - always listening for the slightest of whispers. He has forsaken all other voices; he listens and rests in only that which his Father speaks; and he reveals what he hears to the broken around Him, bringing the warmth of joy to their downcast hearts. He is truly a deep drink for all who find themselves desperately thirsty. And even as he is surrounded on all sides by overfed, piggish souls and neglected spirits, his words divide soul and spirit, and refresh and renew the spirit, restoring its health and injecting it with an abundance of life. This raising up of dead spirits of man reflects the tremendous beauty that the pure one carries within him; his words of resurrection give us a perfect image of the richness of his heart; for out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth speaks.
Yes, this one - this pure one - has a quality of otherworldliness that is simultaneously refreshing and disconcerting. Refreshing in that it gives life to the deepest part of one's being; it reveals God on new levels and in new dimensions. And disconcerting in that it confronts everything within us that is not of that same unstained quality and calls us to a deeper and more intimate abiding in the love of the Father - free from sins chains and free to follow and be fascinated with the God-man, King, Messiah, and Friend, Jesus the Christ.
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