Hello reader! It has been 2 weeks since I last posted, and I finally have something to blog about. I feel like there are a lot of heavy hearts out there reading this and I feel lead to bring some encouragement.
Maybe right now you feel hurt from betrayal, or being lied to. Maybe it is because you have a strained relationship with somebody that you wish could be mended. Maybe you feel taken advantage of. Maybe you feel hopeless that nothing good can happen. Maybe you are not satisfied by the things you have chased after in life, although you believed they would bring you true happiness and contentment. Maybe you have a hole in your heart; one that nothing you have searched for can fill. Maybe you doubt a turnaround in your life can happen. Maybe, you feel completely dejected and meaningless. Maybe, you feel like garbage, a failure, a good-for-nothing.
Well let me just say, there is HOPE!
This HOPE is everlasting! This HOPE is fulfilling! This HOPE brings satisfaction! This HOPE brings a peace in your heart! This HOPE brings freedom! This HOPE brings LIFE!
This HOPE comes from Jesus. Yeshua. Elohim. Yahweh. God. Lord. The Savior. The Provider. The Healer.
God loves you and cares about you more than your mind can ever comprehend. Maybe for some of you, you need to truly accept the love and hope that He has to offer. He can bring you through trial and bring victory!
"He rescues the needy who calls to him, and the poor who has no one to help. He was pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the needy from death." (Psalm 72:12-13)
"The kingdom of my father cannot be overcome, even by death. In the end everything will be all right. nothing can harm you permanently; no loss is lasting, no defeat more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever."- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
Nothing is too big for God to overcome! I challenge you to lay down your insecurities to the Lord. Trust Him. Follow His guidance, and see where it leads you. Maybe offer up a prayer like this:
"God, I don't know you. I don't even know if you are completely real or not. But if you are, God please come into my heart. Fill me up with your love and grace, which I have never experienced before. I lay down my insecurities, hurts, and baggage and the Your feet Lord. Please bring restoration. Bring perseverance. Bring strength. Bring love and forgiveness. Make me a new person, the person you have intended me to be. Amen"
Over 100 years ago, New Orleans christians would say that "They were seized by the power of a great affection" when they gave their life up to God. I challenge you to chase after that affection. Take a risk and see where it leads you. If you need any help with how to do that, don't be afraid to ask me.
May grace and peace be with you throughout your walk with God! May He deliver you from your deepest darkest holes! Rely on him!
A filthy ragamuffin redeemed through God's perfect and holy grace,
David
Monday, November 28, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
A Direction? Say what!?
Hey you! I hope that when ever you are reading this, you are having a blessed day/night. It has been about a week or so since I last posted, and I thought I would share something that has happened since.
Since I arrived at ACU, I have been completely confident God is leading me towards ministry. However, I have never really had a passion for a specific form of ministry such as youth ministry, or full-time international missions, etc. I have been patiently waiting for God to make it clear where he wants me to be and what he wants me to do. I believe what ever he gives me a continuous passion for, in terms of ministry, that is what I am supposed to do.
On Saturday night, I went to a coffee shop in downtown Abilene to read some of The Ragamuffin Gospel (which was awesome). After having a good amount of reading time, I drove around town and had some personal time with God in prayer and worship. As I was singing in the car, a thought popped in my head.
That thought was about church planting.
I don't know if it was God speaking to me or my mind just thinking about something I never really thought of before, but I was suddenly filled with a passion I haven't felt before.
Being in Abilene, I have realized I am more of a city-person than I thought haha. Right now, nothing would be better than going into a city, with an amazing team God has assembled for me, and plant a church in the heart of a city.
It would be extremely tough, but right now, I really feel led to that when I get out of college. I want to be part of the Jesus movement in a city that desperately needs him. When I think of cities like that, I automatically think of Chicago and Milwaukee. Maybe that is where I will end up eventually.
I cannot help but think about the enormous Jesus-movement that is taking place in Seattle right now. Years ago, Seattle used to be the least-churched city in all of America. It was in desperate need of churches. However, God has used Mark Driscoll and his community called Mars Hill Church, as well as many other devoted pastors and servants, to slowly grow Seattle into a Jesus-loving city. They are no longer the least-churched city in America, and is increasingly growing the body of Christ there.
I want to be apart of God's great plan in another city.
I want to be part of a movement so enormous, that it will infect the whole city with Jesus' love and compassion, and then the whole country.
So that is where I am at right now. I feel as if God has finally given me a direction in what I am supposed to do in my life. It could change any second, but that is where I am at. What ever God choses to do with my life, I will accept it. But again, that is where I feel led at this moment.
I will continue to pray about this and my direction going forward. I would appreciate if you would do the same, while also asking God to lead in your life as well. I can't wait to look back on this 10 years from now and see where we are all at.
Here is something that has encouraged me to step out my comfort zone, and hopefully will do the same for you. It is based off of Isaiah 61:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon you. Because the LORD has annointed you to preach the Good News to the poor.
He has sent you to bind up the brokenhearted. To proclaim freedom for the captives. And release darkness from the prisoners. To proclaim the year of the LORD's favor. And the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn. And to provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty, instead of ashes; The oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of dispare. This nameless, faceless generation, this army of the LORD, will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.
They will rebuild the anciet ruins and restore the places long devastated. They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. This is the hour of an awakening, of a genreation, of an army of the LORD!" - Daniel Bashta
May you be infected with the incurable disease that is the Heart of Christ!
A ragamuffin and nothing more,
David Neill
Since I arrived at ACU, I have been completely confident God is leading me towards ministry. However, I have never really had a passion for a specific form of ministry such as youth ministry, or full-time international missions, etc. I have been patiently waiting for God to make it clear where he wants me to be and what he wants me to do. I believe what ever he gives me a continuous passion for, in terms of ministry, that is what I am supposed to do.
On Saturday night, I went to a coffee shop in downtown Abilene to read some of The Ragamuffin Gospel (which was awesome). After having a good amount of reading time, I drove around town and had some personal time with God in prayer and worship. As I was singing in the car, a thought popped in my head.
That thought was about church planting.
I don't know if it was God speaking to me or my mind just thinking about something I never really thought of before, but I was suddenly filled with a passion I haven't felt before.
Being in Abilene, I have realized I am more of a city-person than I thought haha. Right now, nothing would be better than going into a city, with an amazing team God has assembled for me, and plant a church in the heart of a city.
It would be extremely tough, but right now, I really feel led to that when I get out of college. I want to be part of the Jesus movement in a city that desperately needs him. When I think of cities like that, I automatically think of Chicago and Milwaukee. Maybe that is where I will end up eventually.
I cannot help but think about the enormous Jesus-movement that is taking place in Seattle right now. Years ago, Seattle used to be the least-churched city in all of America. It was in desperate need of churches. However, God has used Mark Driscoll and his community called Mars Hill Church, as well as many other devoted pastors and servants, to slowly grow Seattle into a Jesus-loving city. They are no longer the least-churched city in America, and is increasingly growing the body of Christ there.
I want to be apart of God's great plan in another city.
I want to be part of a movement so enormous, that it will infect the whole city with Jesus' love and compassion, and then the whole country.
So that is where I am at right now. I feel as if God has finally given me a direction in what I am supposed to do in my life. It could change any second, but that is where I am at. What ever God choses to do with my life, I will accept it. But again, that is where I feel led at this moment.
I will continue to pray about this and my direction going forward. I would appreciate if you would do the same, while also asking God to lead in your life as well. I can't wait to look back on this 10 years from now and see where we are all at.
Here is something that has encouraged me to step out my comfort zone, and hopefully will do the same for you. It is based off of Isaiah 61:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon you. Because the LORD has annointed you to preach the Good News to the poor.
He has sent you to bind up the brokenhearted. To proclaim freedom for the captives. And release darkness from the prisoners. To proclaim the year of the LORD's favor. And the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn. And to provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty, instead of ashes; The oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of dispare. This nameless, faceless generation, this army of the LORD, will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.
They will rebuild the anciet ruins and restore the places long devastated. They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. This is the hour of an awakening, of a genreation, of an army of the LORD!" - Daniel Bashta
May you be infected with the incurable disease that is the Heart of Christ!
A ragamuffin and nothing more,
David Neill
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