About To Be Elevated...

My life has been influenced by some great men and women of God. I have my unbelievable God-fearing family to start. I have the mix of quiet, yet stern leadership from my father who is secretly my biggest hero to my outgoing, crazy in all aspects of the word, faith living, and prayer warrior of a mother. My 3 brothers have turned into my best friends over the past 4 years. All who have influenced me in one way or another in my walk with Christ. I watch everything, from their relationships with their wives to the way they handle everyday blessings and struggles. It is encouraging to watch God's hand in all of it. I love my brothers and the men they each have become. But what some people don't know is the influence I have gained from Godly leaders all over this country, from friends (or friends of the family) to well-known preachers and speakers. I listen to a lot of podcasts and have started to read a lot more lately. (I highly encourage you to read "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick). People like Pastor Bob Shirock, Joseph Stowell, Jack Janigian, Josh Lindstrom, Dan Plantz, Kevin Stacker, and Dr. David Wheeler have all poured personally something into my life that has helped me along the way. Their friendship personally to me and to my family has been something I have not taken for granted. Then there are those names of Pastor's I do not personally know such as Steven Furtick, Judah Smith, Britt Merrick, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, Perry Noble, Clayton King...to name a few...who have all preached something into my life that I will take with me forever. God has brought me through some tough stuff in my life but in the weight of other people's problems and the problems of the world I am extremely blessed and fortunate. I also love to hear of how truly our God is. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things as long as we have the faith to believe and obey.

You hear stories of people all the time that are sold out for the ministry but some of these stories just blow me out of the water. There are some men out there that don't get the credit they deserve because they are beyond humble. People don't understand how sold out these guys are for the Kingdom. You have Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Church who authored one of the country's best selling books and when the revenue came in, he could have walked away loaded with money but instead the man paid back every penny he received while preaching at Saddleback and the church he pastored before. He decided that the salary he needed just to survive each year was going to be his salary for the rest of his life and every dollar he received from his book was going back into the ministry. Lets not forget the man doesn't take a salary for what he does even to this day...and technically has never been paid to be a pastor because he returned all the money to the Kingdom. Talk about a man walking what he preaches and being an example of what it is like to steward what God has given. Then tonight I read a story about a guy named Gary Sessions who is the man behind the money of Elevation Church and is in charge of the Finance Department. He retired in 2007 from Wachovia Corporation, but wanted to serve the Lord. All he had to do was be patient and allow God to open the right doors...and open the right doors God did...God always will because He is always faithful. In 2008, after volunteering at Elevation for a year, he started to run the Finance Department. The man has never taken a salary from Elevation and continues to give faithfully and bless the ministry of Elevation. He's quoted saying, "If there's anything I've learned in my life, it's that God doesn't walk for you. He walks with you. And if you'll walk with Him, He'll show you the way. I can look back on great joy in my life, I can look back on great tragedy in my life - and I can see God's hand on everything. I'm 68 years old. And I've lived long enough to know it's God who's made me who I am. I can't worship any man or anything. I can only worship the Lord, because I am who I am only because of Him." That is some pretty powerful and wise stuff. There are plenty more stories of great men of God who are doing similar stuff but I just don't have space to write. The fact is, God is in control and He only wants 100% of your heart. All we need is to be obedient to the God who sent His only Son to die in our place.

I am truly stoked however because I am about to be shaped into exactly what God wants me to be.

Tomorrow I am about to start an internship at Elevation Church under the leadership of Pastor Steven Furtick and his staff. Already in 2 days of being here I have experienced some pretty insane stuff. These people have a vision and they are truly living out the impossible. It cannot be explained how their church has done what it has done other than the fact that God is completely in control and answering the prayers of these people that simply have the faith to ask. I think of James 4:2-3 that basically says, 'You have not because you ask not' but the motives have to be right. God must get the glory and I cannot wait to learn from these people and apply it to my life. God has been teaching me so much about my own faith and about waiting on Him for His plan to unfold. Proverbs 3:5-6...go look it up if you don't know it and memorize it...it will apply to everyday life and decisions. I hope to give updates and feedback on what God is teaching me throughout this summer...

Cheers