Posts

Ripples and Waves (My Final Ministry Update)

Image
As I was pondering what to write about in my last ministry blog with F.O.C.U.S, I asked God for a prompt or theme, and He responded with an image in my head of a single water drop in an ocean and seeing ripples flow across the sea. If you are not familiar with what ripples are, they are small waves or series of waves on the water's surface. They are especially caused by an object dropping into it or a slight breeze. Ripples are the instant effect of wind on water and they die down as quickly as they form, as the surface tension of the water dampens their efforts. If a wind blows steadily across a large enough patch of water for a few hours then the ripples become waves and these will not be dampened so easily. Ripples are mostly affected when the water surface is calm. By throwing the rock or dripping a single water drop into the river, you have given the water some energy. That causes the water to move around, trying to spread out the energy so it can go back to having a still, fl...
Post a Comment
Read more

He Refreshes My Soul

Image
As the deer   pants for streams of water,      so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.      When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food      day and night, while people say to me all day long,      “Where is your God?” These things I remember      as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God      under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise      among the festive throng. Psalms 42:1-4 Hello, my support team!          April went by fast and now we're on the final lap of the semester! It's crazy to see how quickly the 2021-2022 school year went by quickly. Core is coming to an end this week and next week every student will be taking their final exams and heading to their summer plans. For me, I am still f...
Post a Comment
Read more

John 14:6

Image
 " Jesus answered, ' I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6     We have been going through a sermon series since the spring semester started called, "Live No Lies". This theme started during one of our staff meetings last semester when my director pointed out a book he read called Live No Lies by John Mark Comer.  The main point of his book shares that our society is at war. He’s not talking about a war with foreign assailants or domestic terrorists. Instead, the war we are fighting takes place deep in our minds and body. Our lies. The problem isn’t just that we’ve been told lies; it’s that we end up living them. Our students hear and believe in lies that come from three categories; 1.) The devil, 2.) The flesh, 3.) The world. Lies can be very deceiving if we're not paying attention to them. They can  plant  false ideas about who God is, who we are as human beings, and how ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A New Beginning

Image
Ministry & Life Updates      Hello, support team! This past month has been bonkers with Texas weather going from warm and sunny to snow and icy roads. When we faced snow and critical road conditions, our fellowship nights had to be canceled because the campus closed for all students who commute to each campus. The neat side to that is our team created an online hang out to replace TNF (Thursday Night Fellowship) like Discord and Zoom to play online games (i.e; Jackbox, Codenames, and Scribble). This was pretty fun being my first time exploring Discord and how the website works. A lot of our students have used Discord mostly to chat and stream with friends from across the metroplex. Plus, this made it easier for my guys in core who can't make it to Plano for TNF were able to join Discord and that was encouraging. The Preston Ridge campus (PRC) is showing some promises of students becoming interested in Jesus when Adriana and I have been on campus talking to students. T...
Post a Comment
Location: Plano, TX, USA
Read more

Ezekiel 11:19-20

Image
  Winter Camp 2022  " I will give them an undivided heart   and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone   and give them a heart of flesh.   Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God." Ezekiel 11:19-20 A New Heart The longer I walk and fix my eyes on Jesus, the harder it gets. He shows me weak areas of my heart that are very hard for me to fix on my own. It's humiliating to see myself as weak and I try my best to avoid hardship, mistakes, and weakness. If I try to avoid them then I wouldn't need Jesus at all in my life and would say I'm perfect, but I'm not. I can't rely on myself or follow my flesh to avoid my own mistakes. I need to admit that I am a sinner and weak and I need God to change my heart, even when it's painful. " My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever " (Psalms 73:26, italics a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ephesians 4:17-24

Image
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.  20  That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21  when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23  to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Happy 2022! Happy new year everyone! I'm very excited and eager about what 2022 h...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Purposeful Life

Image
  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 Full of Purpose Can you recall the first time when you discovered "the truth" from God and believed your purpose on earth is? For me, I was 18 at a summer youth camp who knew of Jesus but didn't believe why he had to die for my sins and was raised to live. A devotional study I was at that camp, educated me on what a true hero was. The truth is seeing what God's true purpose was to save all humanity. Not just the people in the past but for all generations who encounter the gospel could be saved just by believing in Jesus who loves me and died for me to live for him. My paradigm of Christianity shifted as I moved forward to my adulthood, even when I stepped into F.O.C.U.S at Collin and learned my purpose as a disciple. Following Jesus' example of what it means to be created in the image of God (or what it means to be human) starts with Jesus. Our purpose of living l...
Post a Comment
Read more