The Holy Spirit

I don't really know a whole lot about the Holy Spirit. I know He is one of the three in the trinity, but I don't really know a whole lot about Him. We tend to forget about Him, and many of us don't really know who He is. How often do we take Him and apply Him to our life. I rarely ever do, until recently. We are thankfully in the age of the Holy Spirit, they did not have Him back before the time of Jesus and even when Jesus was here. First thing we must recognize is that He is a person, not something like a floating entity, He is real. He is God. My eyes were truly opened to this tonight. I always pray to God and to Jesus. I occasionally pray to the Holy Spirit to help me interpret scripture, but He is much more than that. He prays for you, comforts you, strengthens you, He is your friend. He is not distant or just something. The scriptures refer ti Him as Lord who is the Spirit. He is God. We all "know" this. I "knew" this. Do I apply it or live by it daily, no. The Holy Spirit initiates the relationship (John 3:3-8, Titus 3:5). He is divine, and really is the modesty of God. He always gives God the glory. He deepens and secures our relationship (Galatians 3:1-3, Philippians 1:6). I need to utilize the Holy Spirit daily. It is a must. He empowers God's mission (Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20). This should not get you down and have you think that you need to be a better Christian, and live in fear. Or that you need to try to earn your salvation more, because that's not how it works. This should encourage you that you have God the Father here on earth living in you. You need to have joy and enjoy the Holy Spirit and let Him work in you. The 2 biggest hindrances of the Holy Spirit are first volume. We all have busy lives and many of us have too much going on to sit down and talk to the Holy Spirit and listen to Him. Even though that should be our main priority and focus. Second problem is comfort. We all like to be comfortable and not worry. We want to be safe and rely on self. In reality we should just trust in Him. It is what He commands us to do. Think about what you pray for the most? I know mine is generally self centered prayers. I'm not saying that is completely bad. We need to pray for growth and our relationship with Him and others. In order to grow we must be with God, take Him and know Him, spend time with Him. Be desperate, I need to say that I can't you can, tell Him that I can't change on my own and ask Him to help me. That is what he want, you to be longing for Him. A real relationship, where He can help you. Lastly, be a risk taker for the building up of Gods church. This means evangelizing. It is hard and for many you must take a few steps out of your comfort zone. I am, and the Holy spirit is helping me, that's for sure. Please pray that I keep and continue to rely on the Holy Spirit who is living in me, to guide me and that I may trust in Him and build my relationship with Him ever stronger.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Knowledge

It has been frustrating. The internet was down all last night all morning, then I went to boarders book store and still couldn't get on the internet. I though it was my computer. Thankfully I gave it one more shot and I am now at Panera Bread, and using their free Wi-Fi. Yesterday I learned a lot, not just information but knowledge. One of my fellow co-workers who is also on project, Ben, came into work yesterday talking about Romans 9. Particularly verses 14-25. It is some very scary stuff, that is if you don't have the right tools. Not only do I have God's sovereign and Holy Word, but I have my go to guy when it comes to the hard questions, my Dad. When I have a question that I can't answer I go to him, he is very wise in this aspect and has a whole lot of knowledge in this topic. Romans 9:14-25 basically says "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I have compassion on whom I have compassion." It goes on to say "God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden." That kind of scared me. I had a whole lot of questions and I really didn't know what to think. I understood prior that we have the choice of free will and that we make our own decisions, this made me confused. That God chooses who he gives mercy and compassion to and that he may harden peoples hearts. This didn't make any sense. Verse 19 says "Then why does God blame us? For who resists his will? 20 But who are you O man, to talk back to God? This did not encourage me either, and I knew then that I needed to call my Dad and have him give me some insight on these questions I had. In Exodus it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart it also says that God hardened Pharaohs heart. My dad explained that to a Jew this means the same thing. To say that God did it or that we chose means the exact same thing to a Jew. God is all knowing and He knows what we have done, and will do. He is omniscient He knows all, but it is all still our choice. We have no right to question Him either. Read Job 38. God is the potter and we are His clay. We do not ask Him why, because he owes us no explanation. The biggest thing to take from this is that everything we do is by our own will. God doesn't make us do anything. If everything was predestined than we would be puppets on a string, and it would defeat the whole purpose of Adam and Eve biting the apple. It would make God a cruel God, a master of puppets that predestines people to Hell. This is not the case. Thankfully, He is merciful and shows us grace. He gives us the opportunity to repent and have Jesus be the Lord and savior of our lives. If it was predestined what would be the point? The best thing to do is act as though you are predestined and live into that. Live as a son of the Lord God almighty, and let Him use you according to His plan. He knows, trust Him because He knows best. The best analogy I have, which I hope I can write as well as I can say is this: Imagine you are standing infront of a door, and it is your choice to walk through that door. If you want to, you could very well turn around and walk away, and never walk through the door. You decide to walk through it anyways. As soon as you do you turn around and above the door is a big neon sign flashing, "I knew you were going to walk through"-God.(Well more internet problems. I finished writing this blog in Panera Bread, but did not know that their was a 30 minute time limit. So I am now back at the Hotel and trying to re-write what I wrote. I am a little frustrated and out of my rhythm, but I will do my best to finish this out in its original form). See, God is not bound by time, He knows the past, present and future. It isn't necessarily June 29, 2010 for Him, He knows all and knows what you are going to do. It is all still your choice, your freedom, your free will. That is what makes Him God. I later got the chance to dig into 1 Peter 1:6-7. It explains that God shows us His mercy and that we are shielded by our faith, we must still be obedient. Later on in verse 8 it says "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." That was exactly the encouragement that I needed to hear. It is funny how God works. I suggest and recommend that you find someone to take your tough questions to. Someone who has good knowledge of the Bible and who you trust. So that when you do get stumped, confused, or just need some help interpreting what God is saying, you have solid help. I am thankful that I have my Dad to turn to. Please pray that I will keep growing in my wisdom and knowledge of God and His scripture, and that one day I can help others like my Dad does for me and for others.

Serving Him,

Daniel

The God of my body

Did Jesus have a six pack? I would say yes, He was not wealthy, he was a hard working carpenter, and definitely didn't eat junk food. He was in pretty good shape. Why does this all matter. Our body is God's holy temple. I know that sounds funny, familiar, or redundant. 1 Corinthians 12-20, explains that you are not your own, it is the Lords body, and it is on loan to you. It was bought at a price and needs to be treated well, in all aspects. Read Matthew 21:12-13. People should know we are different by how we treat our body. Their are 3 main ways to honor God with your body, and all 3 of them hit me right at home. 1. What we do to our body. Read the section of 1 Corinthians 6: 16,18. It explains to flee from sexual immorality. Especially in todays culture, it is the normal and accepted. The Bible explains the danger of this and the importance to stay as far away from it as possible. It is not easy, but remember, we must suffer in the little things, just as Christ did. 2. What we put in our body. Ungodly images and words, and how we eat. It is a huge temptation daily for almost all men. Not to look at women the way the world does, but rather as our sisters in Christ, the way He would. The one that is a struggle for me is the music I listen to. I have a long past of listening to unclean music, really since I can remember. It is a daily struggle not to pollute my mind with these worldly songs. Thankfully my roommate, Grahm, has given me 3 Christian rappers to listen to who are all really good. If you are interested they are, 116 Clique, Lecrae, and Tadashi. Because what you listen to and implant in your mind will influence your walk with him, and come out in your daily lifestyle. Also how we eat, 1 Corinthians 6:12-13. This steps on almost everyones toes. Because America as a whole eats awful, and it honestly bothers me. This is something I really don't struggle with. If someone is eating fast food everyday and eating multiple desserts a day, it is not good. If you are indulging in food every meal and not taking care of your body, you are wrong. This doesn't mean that you have to be on a super strict diet, or that you can't ever eat sweets, but do it in moderation. If you need help, talk to someone with experience, or educate yourself on the internet and or books. 3. How we take care of our body. If you are too busy to exercise 1 hour 5 days a week then you need to cut somethings out of your schedule. Their is really no excuse. I understand missing every once in awhile or having 1 really busy week. If it is important to you, you will do it. You can get up earlier, cut out TV time, cut out internet time. If someone says that they are just too busy, I don't believe them. This doesn't mean you need to go to the extreme and run8 miles a day and be in the gym like a body builder. Moderation. There are some problems that get in the way, people get apathetic, they just let themselves go, they put down others, or they want to be rebellious to the worlds standards. Talk to your true friends. The ones who really accept you and love you for who you are. Remember that God loves you and accepts you, don't loose perspective. You have to be happy with the way God made you, and not focus on how God made other people. Psalm 159:13-14, The root of the issue behind why we mistreat our bodies is an image problem. We are all unique and not to be compared to others, also not to make your own image an idol. I sometimes catch myself doing that. Many of you who know me know that struggles I have had in this area, as a child and even when I was done playing football weighing 230 Lbs. If you feel like you have a problem in any of these areas, pray to Him about it, talk to family members, or true friends who accept you no matter what. Please pray for me in all these areas and to not make my own image an idol before God.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Why do you?

Why do I pray, get in the Word, share the Gospel, choose not to get drunk, am here on summer beach project, why should I share my testimony. Because that is what I want to do, not because I have to, it is something I feel called to do. Today we really learned the importance of sharing your testimony. Why share it? Read John 4:27-42. We should use it not to try and convince someone, but rather to speak the truth. A testimony is something that is glorifying God by communicating a personal story that's so beautiful in your life. When the Spirit of God rescued you from the pit of hell. A story of repentance and trust in the one and only God. It is also an easy and great way to share the Gospel, because an effective testimony really does share the Gospel. We should view the world the way Jesus does, if we don't then we're not getting it, John 2:19. 3 things that a person must do. First is recognize. Recognize the problem, we are all sinners and our sin causes separation from God, Isiah 59:2. We need to realize that we are the problem, not God. Second Realize. Realize the solution, Jesus death was not required, it was a choice, as He tells us in Mark 10:45. The righteousness one died for the unrighteous. Third Respond. So what must I do to be saved, Mark 8:34. You have to first die to self, and accept Christ as Lord of your life. Their is a huge difference in someone who uses God and someone who has a deep rooted, intimate relationship with God. When we respond to the Gospel of Christ it means that we repent and I mean literally and seriously change our mind and view of the world, the way Jesus would. We must realize what Christ has done for us and rejoice in Him and throw our selfishness aside. Today I had the opportunity to not only share the Gospel to a total stronger, but also give my testimony. I am not going to share it tonight, but I have a very good testimony that I feel many people can relate to. I shared with a rough looking guy most of us would usually just walk by. His nickname was "Lucky" (I never got his real name). I shared the Gospel with him today and shared my personal testimony. He really listened and he took the track. He also said he was interested in reading more of the Bible. I planted a seed today, that is all God asks of me. My roommate Josh and I also had the opportunity to share the Gospel with 2 other young guys today at the beach. My most success yet. I am getting much better at this and I am thankful. Because I realized that it was not me talking, but the Holy Spirit through me. Your prayers are working, keep them going.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Sadie Hawkins

Tonight was the Sadie Hawkins skit night. All the guys rooms did skits in front of the whole project, and the girls picked which room they wanted to take out tomorrow night depending on the skit. Our room did a skit called "Beans" where we acted out a skit and then did it again with emotion, and then again with a western theme, and then again with a gangster theme, and then a sad theme. Everyone loved it and were cracking up. Not only did our room do a really great job, but I was truly impressed. We were asked out on a date for tomorrow night by a friend of mines rooms, Blaine. Her room of girls are taking us out for dinner and we were told to bring our swim suits, so we're all excited. Of course I was sad that Natalie's room could't take us and she was sad too, but we're both excited about our room dates tomorrow. This morning I dug into the word and read Romans 8, which is definitely my favorite chapter in Romans. Verses 1-2, and 6 are fire, they just get me excited. The main verse of focus today was verse 18. It basically says that the suffering you have been, are now, or will go through isn't even comparable to the Glory that you will have in the end. Nothing can compare! I am fortunate to not have had tremendous suffering in mt life, yet. At least compared to many others. I have had my tough times and will continue to, but to think that they won't even compare to the glory that I will receive in the end is just so powerful to me, I really can't even fathom it. One thing I do know, is that it is going to be SO worth it. As bad as you think it is or might get, in the end, it is more than worth it. I trust Him, and I turn to Him with the little things now, for practice. So that when my life does get tougher, which it will, and I go through a rough patch, I won't turn away from Him. Rather, I will lean even harder on Him, harder than I even have before. God promises, so i believe. The verse before says that we not only share in His suffering, but also His glory. The rest of this chapter is just encouraging to me. Like verse 26, says just to rely on the Holy Spirit, like when you don't know what to say. He will fill those words,and help us in our times of weakness. And again my new favorite verse that pops up again and again 31. I love it. It truly empowers me daily. In the end this message is clear, ALL suffering is totally worth in. Because in the end, when t really matters, the Glory will be revealed to us. Thank you for your prayers and keep on praying.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Principles

This is the first time in awhile that the internet has been down, not only last night, but also this morning. Now it's finally up and running and I can write. I had the day off of work and decided to go golfing, again. It was great. Then the whole project went out to dinner, a place called Newks. After the talk we played this game called bigger, better, best. There were like 6-7 teams of 8 people or so, and each team started off with a penny. You would do around public places and trade people something bigger and better. It was fun to see what some people brought back. Last nights talk was on principles. A principle is a briefly and clearly expresses statement of universal truth (always true). A Biblical principle is the message behind the words. Two quotes that were used that I really liked where, It is not how much I understand but how much I use. That is what I am learning here, not only how to study scripture and learn about it, but how to apply it to my life and make it useful. The other is, the opposite of ignorance is not knowledge but obedience. This is so important to me, they can teach me as much as they can here in Panama, and I can use it the same. If I am not obedient to my Lord and Savior and His principles it is meaningless, it serves no purpose. I'm learning that it is more than knowledge. When reading scripture I have previously talked about observations and interpretations, Principles are the truths we pull from our observations and interpretations. This is why scripture memory is important. To really know something you got to really know it. To retain the meaning of Scripture to affect our daily course of action, even when we cannot remember a verse "word perfect." Scripture memory is something that we do here, try and learn 3 verses a week. I am not very good at it, and word for word correct is very difficult for me. But It is still going round and round in my head on a daily basis, and if I choose to apply what I am learning then it is a huge benefit in my life. Pulling out principles is one of the best things I have learned how to do here. A principle should go from general to the specific. A principle should correlate with the general teaching of Scripture. In the end this will help us to make Godly decisions. Doing this gives you the tools and the know how, in how to live on a daily basis. Principles help bridge the gap between information and application. Here ares some examples of principles I have pulled out of Scripture. 2 Corinthians 3:18, All Christians are being transformed into the same image of God. 1 John 1:8-10, We all have sin. God will forgive us of all, if we confess. Joshua 1:8, Stay in the Word. Philippians 2:3-4, Die to self. Not yourself, but others first, they are more significant. Also care about others interests....... These are all universal truths, because the Scripture is true and the message is clear. So with this information I can apply this to my life in order to not only better myself, but please God and be a good witness to others. Please pray that I can do this on a daily basis.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Idols

Today was a full day. My roommate and best friend here on project, Josh,got up with me early this morning and went to the gym. It was nice to finally workout with someone else. Then I had a full days work, which might get rare because of this oil spill. When I got off I ran errands with Natalie and got stocked up for the next week or so. Then I got in the word with Josh and we spent some real solid time together. We read 1 Peter 3:13-17. I suggest you take a look. It has a whole lot of wisdom to soak up. The first thing that stood out to me was verse 15. Always be prepared to give an answer... give reason for the hope I have. This hit me hard. I know the bible, I grew up with a father as a minister and Christian schooling, but can I really defend my knowledge against others. We talked about how sometimes it seems like the non-Christian atheists or agnostics study up so much to disprove the Bible, our gospel. I realized that I need to have a stronger defense. Faith alone will not suffice with these types of people. The only way to have a good offense and be prepared to give an answer as God calls, give reason for my hope, is by studying the scripture. The nest thing that really hit at home is the beginning of verse 15, it says to set Christ apart. Meaning to make Him first. I don't always do that. How many times will I put off doing a Bible study, or miss getting in the word, forget to pray, make up excuses to spend time with Him. On the other hand do you know how many workouts I've missed or runs I've missed since I have been down here...? Not once, I haven't missed one workout or run. That is my priority. I will get up at 6:30 a.m. to go to the gym, but I won't get up early to spend time with my creator. Yea, it hit me kinda hard, and me and josh talked about these struggles. I need to be careful to not make my workouts or body and idol. I will sacrifice my time with The Holy one to play cards with my roommates, but no, no, no I won't sacrifice a lift. It is definitely discouraging, and I need to get my priorities straight. I need to make sacrifices and suffer for God. This is when the encouragement comes in. Verse 17, "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. This is what motivates me and makes me keep coming back for more. God will use whatever, others, scripture, own personal convictions to set you back on track. But it is much better to suffer for good than evil. Please pray I don't make idols before the Lord, and that I will keep my priorities in check. Also that I will truly be willing to suffer for Him.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Suffering

Today my closest roommate Josh came running with me this morning and is going to go to the gym and work out with me tomorrow morning, and that is very encouraging. It is nice spending more time with him and having someone going with me is always better. Tonight I learned about suffering, I never really understood why their is suffering and why we go through it. It always seemed to make much more sense in a world with no or as little as possible suffering as possible. In Genesis 3 man sinned and opened up the world to suffering, before there was none. This opened up the world to Satan. Now it is just part of living in a fallen world.The other reason for suffering is so that God can show his glory, John 9:1-3. I always think if I am suffering that i maybe did something wrong, or something like that, God doesn't make us suffer for that reason. He may discipline us though. This was tough for me to swallow, but it is true: God allows ALL suffering to happen, Satan does nothing without God's permission, without a villain their is no hero. This was hard for me to think, that God really allows EVERYTHING to happen, but Romans 8:28 backs it up. I believe the scriptures ans I believe God is always sovereign, we have to believe that. Everyone suffers, especially Christians, John 15. Everyone suffers, and then we suffer some more.God uses suffering for many reasons, mainly for His glory. He uses it to bring people to Him. I know I will try to do things on my own till the last possible minute and then I turn to God. We also see things through suffering that we wouldn't normally see. It truly shows us our need for Christ, 2nd Corinthians 1:8-10 and 1st Corinthians 12. It also makes us more like Christ, Romans 5:4-5. It is a rough process and we must say that we can't do this on our own, I need to depend on God. CS Lewis says that pain is God's megaphone. Think of steel, it needs to be taken to the fire to be molded AND to get the impurities out of it, so that it can be made new and be better. We are God's steel, he will put us in the fire, but he does it through love. He knows that we can handle all things through Him. He will not put you through anything you can't handle, especially if you lean on Him. Suffering is a necessity and we have to engage in some suffering. We have to choose some suffering, Philippians 1:29 and 3:10-11. Suffering is choosing the hard road and it is not sweet.One of the hardest things for me to take in is that God doesn't owe me an explanation for why He puts me through suffering. He's still God and still good. He knows best. We suffer for Christ through obedience, sacrifice and loving people. If you are not suffering already then you probably really aren't living for Christ. I learned that I must suffer in the little things and trust God. Because when the big things come I will be ready to suffer and lean on Him. If it is not important to me I won't suffer, I need to make the little things important. So why suffer? WE are rewarded for it, Luke 6:22-23. Suffering through little helps us suffer through much, just like mentioned above. Lastly and most importantly it brings glory to God. This was all very new to me, I never understood suffering for Christ, but I must, in everything. Heaven will mean that much more. Please pray that the little things are important to me and that I will stand strong in all aspects of my life.

Serving Him,

Daniel

All you need is love

Today was a great start to the week. I had a good lift this morning, an awesome time in the Word, a nice day at work, and as always, a great D-Group. Today I dug into John 15:12-13, I encourage you to take a look at it. God commands, not asks us, or suggests us, but commands. He says to love each other as I have loved you. Honestly, there are only a few people who I truly love. That I would really lay my life down for. Realistically lay my life down for. I mean it's easy to say, but if I think about it, who would I take a bullet for? Actually die for. God calls us to love all of our brothers this way. This convicted me this morning, because I don't love my brothers and sisters that way. And from the verses the other day love seals the deal. In order to truly master being humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, you must love that person. It's hard to imagine what that would look like for me, to love everyone in that way, the way God commands us. Next I read John 15:7 and it said, "Ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you." I know what I was thinking. I'm going ask for everything, or that God doesn't give me everything that I ask for. Later in 15:6 B, it says, "The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is the first time it has ever clicked for me. I have always heard, ask God and you shall receive. IN MY NAME. Today my eyes were opened, what we ask God needs to be honoring to Him, not selfish requests, that are all about us. Like God please help me be rich, happy, good looking, ect... Rather, God help me be humble, gentle, patient, kind, caring, compassionate, forgiving. It also takes work on your part and separating yourself from this world. Later in chapter 15, verses 18-19 it talks about how the world hated Jesus first, and how we don't belong to this world that also hates us. It is actually not a bad thing to be hated by the world. By the world I mean worldly sinful things, not literally the people of the world. The last thing I picked up from John chapter 15 was something that I have never really heard or understood before. That God/Jesus is our friend. He is not our master and we are not His servants. I guess I always picture God as our boss, or that we are his servants that do His work. It clearly says that we are His friends. Now think about your friends, you're true friends and how those relationships are. It is a much more comforting feeling to think about God/Jesus as your friend. The love that His friendship has and how we should reflect it. It really got me thinking. I need to start loving everyone the way God loves me. Easy to say and extremely hard to do, but it is a command. Not a suggestion. At times, daily, I will fail, but if I continue to give effort the rest will follow. Love is over all and seals the deal. Please pray that I will start to love all the way that God loves me. It sounds corny, but it could make a world of difference in not only my life, but others.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Lost Focus

This is almost just a side note blog, this isn't the usual blog time or message. Today I was feeling weird about my last couple blogs, something just didn't feel right. So I sent my mom a text and I asked her about them, and she ended up calling me. I told her that I felt like my last couple blogs have just felt funny to me, not my usual writing. She couldn't think of a word and she basically told me that my blogs have become almost preachy and that they have lost the touch of the original intention of the blog. I immediately agreed with her. Lately I have been rushing through my blogs, just knocking them out before I go to bed and carelessly leaving errors and confused messages. Secondly, and more importantly I once again let my pride get in the way. When I first started doing this blog, I was really just doing it for me. I didn't care if anybody was reading it, I was doing it more for my self than anything else, like a good way to catch up before I went to bed. Recently I have been told that I am doing such a good job, and how awesome it is, and how I am a good writer, and it has all gone to my head. I let that take control instead of what was really important. I lost my focus. I don't know why, but I am surprised that Satan was able to turn this on me. Once put in perspective I realize now that my writing has started to get a little preachy and self-righteous. What I do find encouraging is how the Holy Spirit works. This morning my mom said that she was thinking these same thoughts and she sent me a text saying, "thinking about you" that is when I preceded to ask her if she thought my blogs were "off" because I felt like I have lost touch and that they weren't good. We had a great conversation and I felt that it was necessary to write this today. I will try and make my remaining blogs, like I did before, more personal and about me. Not trying to preach and impress people with my writing. It feels nice to get this conviction off of my chest. Please pray that I can keep working on my pride and all my other struggles.

Serving Him,

Daniel

The God of my Time

I dropped my mom off at the airport today and she had a great time here visiting for parents weekend. It was great having here as well. Tonight the talk was on time, and how it should be used. Our nation as a whole is all about the next, the new, whats going to be, the future. You want to be in high school, then college, then you end up wanting to go back and live in the glory days? We have to change how we view where we are right now. We need to enjoy right now and not just be satisfied, but thankful. God placed you where you are right now for a specific reason. Just like the other nights blog, in all we do honor Him. Live in the moment, that is what God calls you to do. James 4:14 says, "What is your life? For you are a midst that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Really think about how insignificant your time here on earth is compared to eternity. Wouldn't you rather just enjoy your short time here and be content with where you are, living in the present, not trying to rush your future. On a day to day basis, what are your priorities. How do you decide what is best for your time? You must run your schedule through the lens of the Bible. What does that mean? Turn to the scriptures, almost always is the answer. Read Romans 12:2. (Really read it). Life is short and God's way of encouraging a bit of focus. How we spend our time should be different than how the world spends its time. Read James 4:4-10 and Revelation 22:10-15. We fill our day with worthless time, on facebook and TV, bondage is tied with sin. (John 8:34). We are slaves to sin, whether you want to admit it or not we spend a lot of time sinning. But there is freedom in the Lord, John 8:31-32. Today the biggest waste of time is technology. Life is not lost by dying, life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day in all the thousand small uncaring wins. We need to focus on just taking a big breath sitting down and listening to God and what he has to say to you. We listen to so much other things, tv, radio, news, music, other people. One of the hardest things to do it to be still (Psalm 46:10). We are such a busy group of people and the best thing to do is to get your priorities straight. Pick a top five and make a weekly schedule. A planner is very helpful, also identifying weaknesses is huge. Why do we need to work so hard, 3 simple reasons. We are commanded to, 1 Corinthians 10:31. It's part of our witness, Job 1:1-3. Lastly, for greater opportunity in life, the whole first chapter of Daniel. God did not pick or use lazy people. He used hard workers and people who used their time wisely. Please pray that all of us here in Panama can keep to a strict schedule and be a steward of our time and a witness to others.

Serving Him,

Daniel

The Glory of God

Today was nice, Natalie's mom, Joan, came in town today and we had a great time. We went to the beach and enjoyed each others company. We all went out for a quick bite and then they had a parents meeting. Tonight Tony talked about The Glory of God. We always hear about Gods glory, what does that mean to you? Paul says that just glancing at His glory would completely change your life. God shows His glory, and in the Bible when He does, men fall to their faces. That is just at a glimpse of it. Can you even imagine what that would be like? Maybe you don't really know what it means. Few men in the Bible were blessed that specifically saw Gods glory. Moses was one of them and he asked God to show him His glory. In Exodus 33 God says that no one can live and see my face. Moses only saw the back of Gods hand and was glowing for days. Like supernaturally glowing, it was so crazy the people had him wear a veil. Now even crazier is that God made us in His image, Genesis 1:27. After sin that all changed, we lost His glory. We fell away from God's glory and righteousness and were separated by sin, Romans 3:23. Now in Romans 6 it says Because of sin we are separated from Him and are going to die. Thankfully Romans 6:23 says we earn death BUT, are given eternal life through Jesus. We do not get this from doing good. Isiah says that our righteous acts are like filthy rag to the Lord. There is nothing we can do through works to get us right with God. He pays the penalty that I deserve to pay. He forgives us for what we don't deserve to be forgiven for. Why? Because He loves us! Everyone knows John3:16, and if you don't look it up and I'm sure you've heard it. He gives us a clean record and sees the righteousness of His Son in us. The verse that everyone should also know and don't is John 3:17. It basically says that He did not come here to tell you that you did wrong. He wants you to surrender your life to Him. He says, "Come to me as you are." We all think that this gift can't be free and that we have to work for it, or that nothing free is worth while. In fact it is not free. Just like the U.S. we live free and did not pay for it. The cost for this freedom is blood. Blood that Jesus shed for you and for me. So it's free to us, He paid the price for it. That is not all it takes, Romans 10:9 is a great verse, it is also misused very much. People base that verse on getting fire insurance. The biggest key about Christianity is that it is not a religion, but a relationship with God. If you don't have a relationship with Him and your life doesn't reflect His Glory, then you might need to take another look. Repentance. It costs nothing and everything at the same time. WHAT? How can something cost nothing and everything. Again, you don't work for your relationship with God. You surrender your life to Him. You must, must, must trust God and surrender everything to Him. So it costs you nothing, but you must surrender everything, fully surrender your life to Him. Trust, I promise you that Joy in Him is a much better life. Build that relationship and let Him really truly run your life. Do you know Jesus that way? I pray that you do before you go to bed tonight. Pray for all those who don't know Him this way, not just here, or reading the blog, but everywhere.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Encouragement

Today I picked my mom up from the airport, she came to Panama City Beach for parents weekend. I would have been on time, but my GPS took me to the old airport because the brand new airport just opened up, so I was a little late. No worries. I got her checked into the hotel and moved into her room. She got to meet a lot of my friends and team leaders and staff members. It was great. Natalie got off work and joined us soon after. Her and my mom, thankfully, have a great relationship and were both SO excited to see one another. All three of us decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Bonefish. We had a blast. Lots of catching up and sharing what we have learned and how we have both grown in God. It was just such a nice time. We then dropped Natalie off at the hotel to go to bed because she has to be up at 5 every morning for work. I took my mom to super wall mart to get some groceries and stock up for the weekend. After I unloaded them into her room she shared some really nice encouragement to me. They were notes from some of you. Little notes attached to support letters that I have received from you since I have been gone. They may have been small, but they were huge. It meant a lot to hear from all of you, and I am glad I can share this with you. I was reading Colossians Chapter 3, the verses of focus were 12-17, but I like to read the whole chapter. The verses of focus explained that because of Him we are made holy and He loves us. First off that is so encouraging. Next He explains how we need to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, forgiving. Really think about all those words..... I am really not very good at any of those. I'm not very compassionate, I'm not very humble, I'm definitely not gentle or patient. Really think about your day to day life. How these words just seem like words, God is calling you to be all these things. Now be honest with yourself and think how well you are at any of those. Especially forgiving, for the most part, we are not a forgiving nation. God says to forgive as He does. Because if God can forgive all my awful sins all the time, then I can forgive my brothers and sisters. It all comes down to love, love seals the deal. If you have peace in your heart from Christ and are able and willing to learn, then you will be full of love. My favorite verse here is verse 23, it says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." If that was really our day to day attitude, things would be much different. We all would be super compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, and loving, and for the right reasons. The thing is, that is what God calls us to do. Everything, everything you do, do it for God and give Him the thanks. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If you really do everything for Him, really for Him, you could do anything. That to me is encouragement, at its finest. Sit down and read these verses, don't get down and discouraged, rather be uplifted. Forget about the world, and do everything for your God, your Savior, your Creator, your Lord. Do it for Him and through Him. I promise you, you will see a difference in your daily walk, and so will others. Be encouraged. Please, please, please keep praying. Especially for this weekend, Parents Weekend.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Interpretation

Last time we had bible study training we talked about observation. If you have been reading the blogs, that one was a week ago from today. Tonight we talked about interpretation. Interpretation answers the question, What does it mean? After you observe the text and ask many questions you interpret what you have observed. The meaning is not our subjective thoughts read into the text, but God's objective truth read out of the text. Their are helpful steps to help you really interpret what you are reading. Because at first I had no idea what to do and I felt very lost. First you must realize you cannot do it on your own. Next you must rely on the Holy Spirit to help you. The Spirit of God will guide you in all truth, without Him we can't do anything. If you stay connected to the vine and we can do anything. Read John 14:24 and John 16:13. Next thing you do is answer the questions that you observed using the 5 C's. Content, Context, Comparison, Culture, Consultation. They are all fairly self explanatory, but very helpful. Content is the raw materials, data base, with which you will interpret the text. Content is what goes before and after the text. It is helpful to read the whole chapter of what verse you are reading from so you can see the whole picture (Context is King). Comparison is something I have recently started to do, its using resources. Like cross reference, a concordance, and using a topical Bible. It is great to get different perspectives in scripture. Scripture will back up scripture, it's pretty awesome. Lastly Consultation, Bible dictionaries are huge, commentaries are great, and seeking Godly counsel is the best. Go to someone like your pastor if you don't understand something. Use your tools though. Here are some principals that has helped me. Remember that context rules. Always seek the full counsel of the Word of God. Remember that Scripture will never contradict Scripture. Do not base your doctrine on an obscure passage of Scripture. Interpret Scripture literally. Look for the author's intended meaning of the passage. Lastly, check your conclusion by using reliable commentaries. I know some of this may be slightly overwhelming. This is how I start off. I enter my quiet time asking God to warm my heart to Him and His word. Next I ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom in understanding. After I read the scripture I write it down and I really observe it and pick it apart. I go over it several times and then I read the entire chapter in which the verse came from. Cross Reference is huge, and it really helps you understand things that are trying to be portrayed through the scriptures. It might be tedious at times, but I promise it is extremely helpful and has greatly improved my quiet time with the Lord. Well my mom arrives tomorrow for parents weekend, and I am picking her up from the air port at 3. So pray for safe travels for her and parents weekend here at the beach.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Sex

Today was by far the best DAY of project yet. I had a day off and so did one of my roommates and since I work at the Holiday Inn, I get a discount at a golf course. So for $27 I played 18 holes of golf, with a cart, and clubs. For those of you who don't know, that's a pretty good deal. Tonight the speakers talked about sex. Always an awkward feeling with this word. I know many of you when saw the title sex were probably feeling a little weird about this blog. Tonights talk was based off of Proverbs 5. It explained how sex is a powerful gift from God. Proverbs 5 is a father speaking to a son. I suggest reading this before, along, or after this blog. Solomon is begging his son to listen to him about sex and how it can be a blessing or how you can really mess things up with it. Sexual sin is enticing and appealing. Read verse 3 for a description. It is described as sweet and smooth, examples today would be porn, hooking up with opposite sex, and other sexual sin. "Looks", but it is NOT sweet and smooth, in the end it is bitter in sharp (verse 4) it had a bad ending. It explains that sex not in the context of marriage with your spouse leads to death, not immediate physical death, but it could ruin you. Through sickness and it has you miss out on the good things that God intended it for. Proverbs explains to not give in and avoid even temptation at all cost, it says to take the path far from it. Don't even flirt with that line. Famous line, but if you play with fire you're going to get burned, same idea. Proverbs gives three basic reason why we should stray from it, 1. Profound personal loss, 2. Painful regret, 3. Public disgrace. All fairly self explanatory. Again sex is powerful, and it can be a blessing or cause misery. God explains in verses 15-23 how sex is meant to be for 1 man and 1 women only and in marriage, no exceptions. I'm not going to go into any more detail on that, but it is clear cut about sex. He created it for this one reason and for it to be great. Guidelines to help you stay strong emotionally, are to guard your heart, meaning that you need to have personal boundaries set. Second it guard your time, don't be stupid with it and put yourself in harms way. Surround yourself with Christian brothers and sisters who will help you. Lastly guard your savior, meaning your heart is ultimately for God and don't turn your girlfriend/boyfriend into an idol. Jesus stays number 1 and He can only meet all your needs. Physical guidelines are 5 simple things. careful with kisses, no need for making out. Horizontal is horrible, there is no need for it if you're not married. Beware of the bonus room, meaning don't be in a room where you are completely exclusive and have plenty of alone time together. Neck and knees are off limits. Lastly hardcore accountability, someone who will ask you the though questions, and not a best friend who it will be easy to tell. Someone it would be embarrassing to admit things too. These guidelines are for unmarried people in a relationship. God did not make sex to be a burden or for something for you to miss out on, but rather a delightful intimacy for you and your spouse to enjoy. That's enough sex talk for tonight. Please keep praying, because when people lack sleep frustration builds and sometimes it is taken out when it should't be. So pray for all of us here at SBP.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Relationships

Last night was the big relationship talk. Everyone was making a huge deal about it. It is usually a very convicting talk, and it really puts many people in perspective of their relationship. Natalie and I weren't worried one bit, we were actually looking forward to the talk. We are both very confident about our relationship and truly see God guiding our path together for marriage. I can confidently say that God has called her to be my wife and I know she feels the same way. So in saying that, I was not worried about a relationships talk. If a talk is going to possibly put your relationship in jeopardy or question, then you probably shouldn't be in that relationship. Tony, who is my campus outreach leader, mentor, discipleship leader, the man who really turned my life around, and friend; Him, his wife Claire, Natale, and myself all went out to dinner for a double date. It was really fun, it wasn't for counseling or anything like that, it was just a fun double date. We all really enjoyed it, well at least me Natalie and I did. After that we went to the relationship talk. They gave their relationship testimony and then dug into the Word. The main focus of the talk was based on Genesis 2:15-25. Just about all of us know the Adam and Eve story, but it was really nice hearing it put in perspective. Starting in verse 18 God explains how it is not good for man to be alone and how loneliness should not be. God sees your needs and knows how you long to be loved and love someone else. God says I will meet that need. God will not always meet that need immediately. Remember, in His time, not ours, His will be done. Much easier said than done. We must fully give ourselves to God, and completely go forth into the responsibilities He has called you to do. Seek first His Kingdom and everything else will fall into play. Don;t go searching around, just do what he calls you to do and do it full heartedly, and He will take care of the rest. We must seek God and take all are desires to Him, have Him meet them His way. The key is that you must trust He will provide. Your life will look completely different if you hand Him the keys to your life and let Him take over. Not any of this Jesus is my co-pilot junk, more like He is my pilot and I am His passenger. Trust Him to take control. Again MUCH easier said than done, I know this first hand. I know I am no expert on relationships, and never claimed to be, but I did get some good advice last night. Don't solely rely on your partner to meet all your needs, it won't happen and it entirely un-realistic. Only God can take care of all your needs. The example he used was like a bridge that says 5 Ton max, don't over load that bridge. God doesn't have a maximum and He can handle it all. Look to Christ to take care of your needs so that you can give all yourself to your spouse. I have been called to lay my life down for my wife, when the time comes. If I don't overwhelm myself by trying to take her burden and mine, but rather give it all to Him, I will be able to give her everything I humanly can, and be the man that God has called me to be in her life. I must first accept Gods gift of grace, and rely on Him to meet all my needs. In verse 21 it shows how God does provide, God provides a companion, what he says he will do, he will do. I like this analogy, God made women from Adams rib, not from the head so that she tops him or not from his feet to be trampled on. Rather the rib, to be equal, under the arm to be protected, near the heart to be loved. After the talk Natalie and I talked and this only boosted our confidence about each other. Yes, we know we have a lot to do and work on before we get married, but each day is a step closer. Each day God works in our life and mends our relationship. We give it to Him and trust Him with us and He will provide. I'm sure I caught some of you off guard with this blog, but I am glad I could open you up to it. Please pray for my relationship with Natalie, for her and for me. Pray for all the relationships here at project.

Serving Him,

Daniel

How others observe you

Today at work was busy, it made for a long day. It was the most action the Bamboo Grill had seen this summer. I probably cooked about 100 hot dogs ans hamburgers each. It made for a long day, but once I got off it ended up being a nice day. Monday nights are always room meeting nights. As I have mentioned before it was D-Group night. Tonight we did our weekly check to see how each of us were doing on our goals. Seeing how we have improved and what we need to continue to improve on. It is a very real time and you must be able to take criticism and have tough skin. Thankfully we all are pretty good at this. Last nights talk we all sat in silence and wrote down our strengths and weaknesses. Tonight we went around and shared to our room what we wrote down. Not to hard, it is fairly easy to say some good and bad things about yourself. I'm sure all of you could sit down and write 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses. Here is the tough part. After sharing our strengths and weaknesses; each group member would share a few strengths and then weaknesses. I was completely honest in all of my evaluations just as I expected my roommates to do to me. I even said before they spoke to not sugar cote anything and that I have tough skin and could handle it. They all said some really nice things, at first. How I am a leader, I'm very outgoing and can approach anyone, I'm passionate, a hard worker, and that I have the ability to change my attitude quickly from funny to serious. It was very nice to hear all these things that others said. Than came some more real stuff that I was prepared to take. I said how I am not the most patient person and that I get frustrated easily, I have a problem showing sympathy to those I don't love, and how I am not humble. My roommates added to this list. They explained how I have a desire for how I want others to perceive me. How I am DANIEL KRONZ and I don't want others to see any of my weaknesses. I completely agree, and I can come off very cocky and arrogant. This ties into how I don't want others to see me mess up, and I want to look perfect. I am very work resulted and work oriented and this can be a bad thing. It was very real and it hit home hard. It was things that I needed to hear. To make me a better witness and try to change into a more godly man. No, I will never be perfect, but I am thankful for the honesty and truth mt roommates gave me. Keep up all your prayer.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Talents

The reason the last 2 blogs have not been posted till the morning is because the Wi-fi at the hotel is not working and I have to come down and plug into a hard line. I talked to one of the workers here and they are going to get a technician and try to get this fixed sometime today. Yesterday we talked about talents. What are talents? Back in Bible times a talent was a unit of measure, but today talents are what God has blessed and entrusted us with to be used for His glory. The talents we have or don't have God gave us or did not give us for a reason. It's important to Him so it should be important to us. He gave them to us for a purpose, and if He's concerned we should be also. Our biggest problem with talents is that we are not satisfied with how God made us. It comes down, really, to two problems. The first is that we are lazy with our talents. Look around it is evident just about every where. Mike Tyson could have been the best heavy weight boxer ever, ever! He had SO much talent and just threw it away. Think about all the athletes, actors, singers, family members, friends that fall in this category. The ones that had so much potential and so many gifts and talents, and they just threw them away. It's because we are lazy and abuse them. With ability comes responsibility. The second problem is that we want to be like Mike, meaning that we want to be someone else more than we want to be ourselves. The wanting to be like Mike comes from this generation with Michael Jordan. We all strive so hard to be something we're not, to be better, to be like someone else. This is probably what I struggle with the most. Not that I want to be someone else, don't get me wrong, I love being me. I do though always want to be better, and when I mean better, I mean not being satisfied with how God made me. I want to be more athletic, I want to be faster, I want better genetics. What I should be is thankful, and realize that God made me this way for a reason, His purpose. I am just the way God wants me, and He knows better, He knows much more than I do. He doesn't make mistakes, He sees the bigger picture. God made you just the way he wants you! What you do is just as important as any other job, no ones job is more important than yours. That is where God put you and it is where you belong. He made you that way for a reason. We say, no God you made me wrong, I should be like this. When I do this, when you do this, when we do this, it is dishonoring to God. It is showing your lack of faith in Him and what He is doing in your life, and I am extremely guilty of it. The best way to be a good steward of your talents is to stop trying to be someone else. We even try to push people into trying to be someone their not, and that is wrong too. The story of David is one of the best examples of this. Samuel goes and finds David and anoints Him as new king, over several of his older, bigger, stronger, "better choice" brothers. David was the youngest, the little one, the runt, the "last choice". In God's world, in which we live in, he was first choice. He was going to be the next king. We think we know whats best or who is best for which job when God is the only one who really knows, and we need to trust that. If you're not embracing how God uniquely made you, then you're not using your talents to the full. It's not easy, but that's how God made us, and it should be more than enough. Pray for all of us on project down here in Panama City Beach, that we all can accept who we are through Him. That we honor the way He made us, accept our talents, not be lazy or abuse them, and being satisfied with ourselves.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Umbrella

I had a day where I could sleep in, nothing to do until 1:00. Our talk today was about evangelism and how our greatest barrier to the Gospel is ourselves. Read Matthew 26:69-72. When we go share the Gospel we must get over ourselves. You are not doing it for you, and you cannot do it on your own. Sometimes we get caught up doing the right things but for the wrong reasons. It is just our human nature. It can be tough to evangelize, we might be scared or un- confident. Christians today must engage the culture around them; we have to talk to people. Think about your won personal life, how many times a day do you just walk around and walk by people and say nothing. We just walk by, not even saying hey. We must talk to people. Step 1- Say hey, thats all it takes, just grab their attention. Step-2 speak up don't be stuck up, it's not about you. The Gospel starts with a conversation, their is no other way to share. We must relate to the world in which we live in, take in trust in someone, care for someone, build a relationship, and share the Lord. I know it is scary and you might be afraid, it might be un comfortable, you might get made fun of, you might lose a friend, someone might get made at you, you might not do a good job. Your identity is on the cross. Those are a lot of maybe or what if's, and so what! Who cares, Christ is your savior and it is HE you should worry or care about. Not worldly things. I know it seems like I am talking a big game, and you might be thinking, Daniel it is easier said than done. Why don't you do it. Well yesterday we went to evangelize on the beach. I felt called to go out by myself. I am not going to lie, I was nervous. You look at everyone and analyze everyone so much different when you are planning to walk up to one of them and share the Gospel. I saw my guy, he had just walked his buddy to the edge of the pier and was walking back to his spot on the beach. I B lined for him. I walked up and said hey man whats up. I asked him where he was from, what he was, doing, down here, what he did. Then I Just hit him with it. I said, "What do you believe about God?" He told me he wasn't sure, and I just let him talk for a minute. I then asked him if I could share something with him. It was my first time ever doing this, so I had my tools ready. I pulled out my track and walked him through it. I used the bridge diagram, for those of you who don't know, it is a picture of human and sin and God and holiness on the other side. The only way to get to God is through Jesus. He seemed very receptive and I tried my best explaining all of it to Him. As soon as I pulled out the track The Holy Spirit took over. I put my trust in God and He took care of me, nothing new there. i was nervous and scared, and as soon as I opened my mouth about Him, He took over the conversation for me. Joel wasn't completely ready to give his life over to God, but he seemed very interested and took the track. His name was Joel, and I will be praying that God will be working in His life. I was nervous and a little scared, but I trusted Him. This time I was more prepared, I prayed and put my trust in God, and I had tools to help me. Next time will be even easier. Keep up the prayers.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Irony

Today was a fairly relaxing day compared to others. I went on a nice long run by my self, which was quite relaxing and then I spent some time in the Word. The irony lies in what I read today, but more about my relaxing day. I got off work super early and had time to go to the gym without being rushed. Then I got to spend some quality time with Natalie, it felt like the first QT we have gotten to spend in awhile. We walked around and went shopping at Wall-Mart, good times. Then we all wore white and had our Friday night social. The reason for the white was because we had a rave tonight. For you older folks, a rave is black lights, fog machines, techno music, and glow in the dark sticks. Another fun night with all Campus Outreach. Todays scripture was Romans 8:31-39. Again with the Romans 8:31 . I love it, it just makes me feel better. Not over confident but comforted. I think it is ironic that two blogs before I decided to write about Romans 8:31 and it shows up once again. This time I got to dig in a little deeper. The more you read into the chapter the more you learn about God. Obviously He is powerful, He is the Almighty, WHO can be against us!? After that it talks about God's graciousness and generosity. He gave His only son for all of us sinners. We hear that all the time, but really think about it. He gave His only son for us, it gives me goose bumps when I really think about it. We are so desensitized to Jesus dying for our sins we forget the huge part of the human sacrifice Christ made. Not only humbly but willingly. He was perfect in every way, and could have said no or not allowed it. He was the son of God, he could have done whatever he wanted. Instead he died and rose 3 days later... Why? Because He loves us! That really shows God's grace, compassion, care and generosity. In Him we find strength, this should not get you down, but lift you up. Don't feel bad, God is for us, who can be against us? We are conquerers through Him. We can take on anything and everything with Him on our side. Nothing can separate us, NOTHING! Read the scripture, it's in there! How comforting and encouraging is that. I'm getting all jacked up writing this. Don't just read this blog, open up your Bible and read Romans 8:31-39 and not only get encouraged, get excited. Please keep up the prayers, some people here need them more than others. So just pray for all of us, I mean all of us at project. Especially for room cohesion and sleep deprived college kids. We are all on the grind and work long days with long nights. And then go back to hotel rooms with 5 in a room. Things get a little complicated. Thankfully our room is doing great, but pray for everyone here. Thank you so much.

Serving Him,

Daniel

How we should pray

Tonight they talked to us about prayer. Sadly doesn't prayer sometimes just seem boring? I find myself getting distracted and just feeling like I don't really know what I am doing. Generally we only pray for things that we can do and it really makes it so dull and boring. Pray for what He can do, give Him the power. Start out small and watch the results start poring out in your life. I even catch my self doing Santa Clause prayers. What I mean by that is I pray with the attitude of God I've been good and I did this so I want this, this, and this. The Bible calls us to come to God as a child. Read Mark 10:14-15 and Matthew 18:3, They say you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven unless you come like a child. A child at a young age will speak their mind and come at you with an honest and open heart. A heart and mind willing to learn. This is how we are suppose to approach God when we pray to Him. Honestly and open. Next we should come to our Father messy. Don't try to get all cleaned up and then go to God. You cannot get clean without him. Or if you try to look all clean to God, he knows your lying. We are all sinful and deserve death. God wants you to come to Him with your problems. In Matthew 11:28 he asks for the weary and heavy laden. He wants to carry your baggage, because you cannot do it alone. Many people get this concept messed up. Either by thinking that they have to get clean before coming to the Lord, or that they will try to pep them selves up and make themselves look good while talking to the Lord. Neither work, God is the only one who can help you with your struggles and the funny thing is He wants to help. Also he sees through all your deceit, He knows the true you. Come to Him messy with all your baggage, and he will take care of you. Lastly, come as the real you. Luke 15:1-2, My summarization is God welcomes sinners the ones He came for, not for the righteous, Take of your mask! Don't sugar coat it. Jesus was sent to this world for all of us sinners, he didn't come to save the righteous. We need him and we need to be honest, don't put up a guard or a mask, open up and be the real you. He sees you for who you are, so talk to Him as you are. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.: Jeremiah33:3. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Foe everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened Matthew 7:7-8. So keep praying for me and this project.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Romans

Most days here are the same at project, not nights, but days. I get up every morning at 7 and do some kind of cardio, I get in the word, I go to work, and then I go to the gym. It's just about the same schedule everyday. I like that. I have a very disciplined and scheduled person. Every night is different, the weeks structure is the same and each night holds its new adventure for us to follow. After work we did a group picture, for project. Can you imagine trying to get 100 college kids at one place in a specific height order, yes it was difficult, and also fun. Wednesday nights are set up for group dates. What group dates are, is generally a guys room of 4-5 will ask out a girls room of 4-5 and you all go do something fun. It is a great way to get to meet everyone on project and it makes it fun. I think it is also good practice for interacting with Christians of the opposite sex. Needless to say, group dates are pretty fun. You can go roller skating, put put, pottery painting, dinner, kayaking, snorkeling, the possibilities are endless. Last night was not an official group date, but 17 of us headed out to dinner, and because of such a large group we had to split up. So my self and 4 girls decided to go to buffalo wild wings. It made for a fun dinner. Just to let you curious people know, neither I nor Natalie are the jealous type and we both enjoy group dates very much. She didn't get to do one last night because she had to be in at work at burger king before 5am, so she was in bed early last night. The Bible study I did recently was on Romans 8:14-17, it explains how we are sons of God and heirs to God. My newly learned technique is after going over your selected verses, read over the chapter you are reading from. Kind of like it's good to know what is before and after to fully understand. Well, Romans 8:31 popped up again. This verse was the verse I read the night before project and has reveled it self to me at project 4 different times. The second half of the verse says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"If you really think about this verse it is not only SO powerful, but encouraging. I get pumped when I read it, it makes me feel invincible. Because in reality we are. You should honestly live every day in no fear because of this single verse. What do you have to be afraid of.... death? Why? In death is eternal life in perfection with your Holy Father. The question is not simply, who can be against us? It is saying GOD IS FOR US, who can be against us? Isn't that just encouraging. I think God keeps putting this verse into my summer to give me strength, to show me that I have nothing to fear. Start off everyday really thinking and believing that verse and see how it changes you day. Keep up the prayers, they are definitely working.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Father Talk

It's kind of ironic that tonight we talked about fathers. Because my best friend from The Citadel, Davey Miller, his father just had some serious surgery. He had a stroke awhile back and was unaware that it had happened. Doing hard labor all your life and smoking multiple packs of cigarettes for 30 years will eventually put a hard toll on your body. This past week he went in for a very big and serious surgery. He is doing well, but definitely needs your prayers. His name is Mike Miller, and he is a great man, he stood in as a host father my knob year. His son Davey is obviously worried and for good reason. Hopefully this isn't the beginning of a new problem in this families life. So my first and most important prayer request is that you not only keep Mr. Mike in your prayers but Davey along with his entire family. Tonight we talked about Fathers, our image of God as our Father. Our image of God as our Father is clouded by our sin. We think of our past experiences with our earthly fathers, some good and some bad. It's hard to accept God as our father who is perfect and forgiving and loving and caring. 1 John 1:19 expresses how God forgives us of ALL our sin, no matter what it is, as long as we confess it to Him. This is hard for us to imagine this type of forgiveness because we can go no where else to receive it. In Isiah 43:25 He explains how he even forgets your sins once you are forgiven. They are gone from His memory. Unlike our flawless human examples in our life. God's righteousness is shown in 2 Corinthians 5:21. That is who we are in the Gospel. We are redeemed. We are Holy. We are forgiven. How encouraging!? He loves us more than we can possibly imagine. As much as you think you love someone or think someone loves you, God loves you much more than that, even if you don't love him.... at all. Romans 5:8- "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were sinners Christ died for us. Really think about that for a second, I mean it, stop and think about that. We have got to come to God and see Him not in light of our sin but in the light of His love and in the light of the cross ans see God as the loving father He is. We see God as our father through our own personal experiences with fathers. Some of you might not have been blessed with great earthly fathers. Thankfully I was. I am thankful to have had such a great dad who was so very forgiving. He even stopped yelling at me as a child because he said that his children were the only people he yelled at and he loved us the most. He truly cared about me, and really represented what an earthly father should be like. He let me go out on my own, like the prodigal son, and received me with open arms when I returned. He always forgave me when I was wrong and never stopped loving me. God in heaven is a much better Father than my dad. He loves me more, he cares for me more, he forgives me truly, he will never stop loving me, never give up, He is my father. I am free from fear. I am the son of the Most High God. Even if you don't believe in Him, He believes in you, and He loves you just as much as anyone else He created. He will never stop loving you, and if you confess to Him, He will forgive you. His son, Jesus, died on the cross for you. Yes, You, I am talking to you! How encouraging is that, there is nothing you can do to lose His love. He loves you more than anything you could ever experience. I have three questions I want you to take seriously, go ahead and write them down if you want. What experiences in your life have led you to your view of God? What is your view of God as your Father? What does the Word say God your Father sees you? Please take this all into consideration. Mainly tonight, tomorrow, all this week pray for Mr. Mike Miller and his family. He is a great father too.

PS: Mom you are just as awesome of a mother. I love you both

Serving Him,

Daniel

Strengths and Weaknesses

Every Monday night at 7 we have D group. If you have been following, D Group stands for our discipleship group. It is just our room of 5 guys, which have all gotten very close in these last 2 weeks. Again my roommates are Graham- The room leader, Josh, Mark, and Sean. We all live in 1 small hotel room and are very close. Tonight we went over strengths and weaknesses. Mine are every day getting in the Word 30 minutes everyday. I only missed two this week, but I set a goal and now will have 4 daily reminders from my roommates. The other is scripture memory, which I struggle with extremely, I didn't take it very seriously this past week, and my goal for this week is to learn all three verses. I'll let you know how that goes, we're going to be studying on a nightly basis. The roommates struggles are all confidential, so you only get to hear about mine. I tend to get frustrated daily and decide to let it build up slowly over stupid little things. Then when the tension gets to breaking point it's over something so small and stupid that it makes me look like a big jerk. My roommates are on it, but your prayers definitely won't hurt. Other wise I'm doing pretty awesome. Something I am doing very well on is balancing my time with Natalie. My roommates even commented about it tonight. I was worried that I would either over indulge my time with her, or that I wouldn't spend enough. I am here for the Lord first and foremost, but she is a huge part of my life and will stay apart of my life, for those of you who don't know, she's the one. And I'm trying to build our relationship more on His foundation, and she is amazing. So we're doing great! We then talked about Isiah 30:15 and we really dissected it and dug into it. It starts off saying "Sovereign Lord" "Holy One" (NIV) this signifies and reminds us of the importance of GOD. the verse then goes onto the importance of true repentance, the need for quietness in our life, and the necessity of rest. Even God rested on the seventh day and so should we. It was an awesome time with my brothers. We then all went over the goals we set up for project and all told each other what we need help on. I wrote down everyones and visa versa. So accountability in our room is huge. Praise God. Keep praying for anything and everything.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Self Discipline

This morning was a little more of a ruff start than usual. I got up and swam in the ocean this morning and was stung by a manowar. It was between my chest and armpit. It hurt like crazy, but I put hot water on it and vinegar, and it is much better tonight. We went to Sunday school and then church, which were much better this time. Me and Natalie had a nice little day date, and took a nice long walk on the beach. We then went and had an amazing talk by Tony, who was my campus outreach leader at school. He spoke on self discipline, which is defined as training and controlling oneself in ones conduct. The Christian view of self discipline is best defined by self love. Without self love we are self destructive by nature. We live in a here now, self gratifying world, and this is why self discipline is so important. Without self discipline we can't take the actions we need to take to be a consistent good steward. You cannot solely rely on your own self discipline in all aspects of life. Yes, somethings you might be good on, like for me my diet. But other things you cannot do on your own. Self discipline does not replace the Holy Spirit. Read Galations 5:22-23 and 2nd Timothy 1:7. We must daily surrender our selves and our struggles to God, because we need Him and His strength. C.S. Lewis has a great quote that says, "The problem with a living sacrifice is it keeps trying to crawl off the alter." This is why we need the Holy Spirit. As much as we want to do things on our own, we can't. It is just to hard, we are to sinful at heart. The Holy Spirit gives us the conviction, self discipline helps us to see it through. The best example sounds like the biblical answer, but truly it is the only way, look how Jesus did it and pray for it. But be practical, don't be unrealistic. I mean God can do anything and everything, but don't set goals that are to high or too low. Read Luke 16:10 and Proverbs 6:27-28. We are all creatures of habit. The longer you wait to get it, the harder it will be, read songs of Soloman 2:7. This means to set your standards now, yes you, and yes now. For example tithing, if you don't start now when you don't have money or things are tight, it will be just as hard when you have 500,000 and you have to give 50,000 away. When you set standards they shouldn't change. This all starts with self discipline. Some may be better than other and we all have our different struggles. Pray about it, look to the word for encouragement, and lean on the Holy Spirit for help. God bless.

Serving Him,

Daniel

Echoing

Yesterday I got to sleep in and just enjoy a day of rest. I did laundry for the first time since I have been down here, it was relaxing. We went to the church to have our second evangelism talk, and we talked about the two different types. There is confrontational and there is relational. Confrontational is the type that we will be doing here in panama. It is defined as speaking to some one you have never met and is generally spontaneous. We are called to do this any where, like social gathering spots like malls, stores, and gas stations, the beach, like down here in Panama, and anywhere and everywhere else. The other type is relational. It is defined as speaking to someone who you have built a relationship with, a relationship of trust, and someone you hang out with or spend time with. This is generally unsaved family members and friends. The key is to actually have a relationship with this person, spend time with them and do things that they like. Don't make it all about you and taking them to church and stuff. You can do this with your co workers, or if you are still in college dorms, athletics, and greeks. What you do here on earth will echo into eternity. Sharing Him will save others and they will save others and so on and so forth. Not only are we called to share His message, but by doing this you can spend time worshiping and glorifying the Lord. Don't get the picture wrong and think that you are making friends or building relationships with ulterior motives, because that is not the case. It is what we are called to do and making friends along the way is just part of that process. And so what if you make friends just to lead them to the Lord, there is nothing wrong with that. Read the scriptures Acts 18:3 and Luke 5:29. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please keep praying.

Serving Him,

Daniel

80's Social

Today was pretty great! I got off work early and had enough time to surprise Natalie at her work with lunch. She works at Burger King and does the drive through. After that I went to the gym and got ready for 80's night. Now just to let you know this blog will probably be a little shorter than the regular ones. One reason is because on Fridays we do socials. They are gatherings of all 100+ of the Campus Outreach students and we do a dance. Its a good, clean, fun social gathering. 80's was the theme, so of course I went all out. I shaved a handle bar mustache and wore an old school wife beater, the old muscle man ones with the one string going down the back. Some short short cut off jean shorts with matching head and wrist sweat bands. Along with some high white socks and some big ol shades. I pretty much looked awesome. Some of you would use a different adjective, but i Ill try to get a picture up asap, and if I can't figure it out on this I will put it up on facebook. If you dont have facebook, let me know and I will e-mail it to you. Everyone else looked amazing as well, all 80'ed out. I was so encouraging to have over 100 college kids, probably half 21 years of age, having fun completely sober. To you that might not be as big of a shock, but for the real world it is just about un heard of. Realistically college kids in a large setting at 11 o'clock at night with no real parental supervision are drinking and other things. This is a fairly new setting for me. I liked to party in college, and party hard. I had just as much fun tonight sober, as I did any other night, and I feel better about that than any other night I had while being intoxicated. I will definitely feel better tomorrow morning as well. It was a great night and I had so much fun. Good clean dancing, everything that went on Jesus would have taken part in, that's for sure. It's just so encouraging to be apart of something like this. I'm so glad to be here. Thanks for the prayers, and don't stop, I have 7 more weeks to go!

Serving Him,

Daniel

Observations

First I would like to again apologize for this not being up by this morning. The internet at the hotel is sometimes sketchy, and I couldn't get on from yesterday afternoon all the way to this morning. They had to reboot it, and now it seems to be working just fine. I will always post my blogs at night before I go to bed so they will be ready each morning, so if this happens again you will know why. Anyways last night we talked about getting in the word, and breaking it down so that you don't miss things that might be significant. Observe the obvious you would be surprised how much you you just skip over when your reading, if you sit down and examine every word, it makes a huge difference. First approach the Bible with a spirit of humility and reverence. John Calvin had a quote that captures it well, he said, "We owe to scripture the same reverence which we owe to God, because it has proceeded from Him alone, and has nothing of man mixed with it." Think about that next time you have your quiet time. It's not the same as just reading a book or having the attitude of having to get in the word but more like getting to get in the word. Great privilege comes with great responsibility. So before you even get into the word begin with prayer and a dependence on the Holy Spirit. When reading the Bible a beginning technique, not a standard, just a technique is to ask the question what do I see. Circle or mark key words or phrases, and observe the obvious. A good practice verse that we did was 2 Corinthians 3:18. Give it a shot and really spend time not just reading the verse, but dissecting it and really listening what God is telling you. Pray to the Holy Spirit for an understanding, it will change the way you look at scripture. An example of how important the little words can be is Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. How small is the word but, or and. It is such a regularly used word and looses its significance, BUT every word that is in the Bible God put there for a reason. Romans 6:23 would be meaningless without that but. It would sound like "for the wages of sin is death" pretty discouraging. But makes a huge difference. Think about that next time you get in the word, it's not about how much you read. It's all about your time with Him. Well this is the first time I have asked for prayer requests on my blog. First please pray that myself and others will not let Satan in. What I mean by that is, we have all been here over a week now and it has been amazing. Satan hates this, he hates what we are doing here and he wants to do whatever he can to make it stop. People will start to get less patient and let the little things bother them. Please pray that Satan will not enter in this place for anyone at project. Also sleep is scarce for many, especially my Natalie. Most nights we don't get to bed till midnight or so and she has to be up at 5 every morning for work, long long days. Please pray for us all who on a daily basis are not getting enough sleep and need to keep driving on. Keep up all the prays. Thank you so much!

Serving Him,

Daniel

Free Day

Today started out just like every other. I got up at 7 and ran for 40 minutes with my classmate Van. Then I spent some time in the word and got ready for work. Work was usual, just another day in the Bamboo Grill at the Holiday Inn Resort. It's always fun flipping burgers and just hanging out with the guys, hot, but fun. Thankfully I got off work early and had plenty of time to go to the gym. I might be at project, but I'm still gana get my lift on! After a nice shower I headed to the beach and played some volley ball and Frisbee. Just a nice relaxing day at Panama City Beach, Fl. My team leader, which is the male student in charge of team 3, my team, which is one of three teams. He invited me to just hang out for a little. So we met out front at 8 and took a ride. We just talked and I shared my past and just all the above. He gave me a lot of encouragement that really made me feel good about my self. Clearly not let it go to my head, but still very nice encouragement to hear. He said he could just see the passion I had for Christ in my eyes and charisma. He said that I was special and that God really blessed me with leadership ability which could really help develop our team and help out project. This was all encouraging because I look up to Ben, even though he is younger, he is much farther in his walk with Christ than I am. He gave me lots of great advice and said that he would be like my older brother the rest of project. I'm so glad God put him in my life. Great day over all and can't wait to get the next day started. Thanks for all the prayers, I appreciate it. Keep praying!

Serving Him,

Daniel

Repentance

Today was probably the best day yet. The main reason is because Natalie got in town, safely, yay! Anyways, I started out the day with a drug test, which all people who get a job at The Holiday in must do, and then I went into work. While at work Natalie got in town and got all settled in with her rommies, which she loves. I rushed back and gave her a big hug, and then we went to wall-mart. We got her all stored up on groceries and then went back to the Campus Outreach Hotel to leave with our room for the talk tonight. John Muller gave the talk, and it was just incredible. He spoke on repentance, and the difference between worldly and Godly differences. We think of repentance as when we're wrong and we get scolded, and that God is saying that we are lucky that Jesus saved us. Or that your personal attitude is that of a knowing parent, and you are like, "you already know, fine, I broke a rule, give me a break chill out." He did with Jesus, and that is all the wrong view, it couldn't be further from the truth. His form of repentance is joyful! It is a biblical repentance, there is no other kind than a joyful one when with the Lord. The response is an unfeigned turning unto God and to all goodness, and a serious return from the devil and all evil. To truly understand this repentance you must understand the beauty and grace of Jesus Christ, but also comprehend the filth and sensual nature of my sin. Read Ephesians 1:7. Once you truly understand this you realize that you get what Jesus deserves and He gets what you deserve. Jeremiah 2:11-13. This gives the example of how we trade our clean water (living water) for cow pond water (sis tern water). You need to get away from these things that distract you and repent, but don't be like an "evangelical pharisees" who talk to God just to look good, but actually lost focus on Christ. Christians easily forget that they don't have to earn this repentance, we have it! How encouraging is that! We are not a slave to sin , but a slave to righteousness! If this doesn't get you pumped then I don't know what will. I'm sorry if this blog seems like it's all over the place because it kind of is, but I'm just all jacked up about it. Well it's time for bed, I need some sleep, and I'm getting up early to start another day at SBP that you will hear all about tomorrow. Keep praying and God bless!

Serving Him,

Daniel