I Graduated!

So I graduated today, and to tell you the truth it hasn't really hit yet. It probably won't hit me till August and everyone is going back to school, and I a starting that full time job that has yet to be found. But as I look back on my 5 years of college, I start thinking about all the great people that I met and also all the mistakes that I made.

My first 2 years of school, you could say that I wasn't the smartest person. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but who doesn't. But my junior year is when the Lord grabbed hold of me and has never let go. The people that he has placed in my life have made a huge impact. I want to personally thank you all for everything, from the guys in my small group, to my roommates, and to even my brother. You all have been there for me, and I can't forget the people outside my small group and those who don't live with me, you all have made an impact in my life. I know for now that the Lord has called me to be in Chattanooga for these 3 months, but after that I don't know. But I do know that the Lords will is being played out, and will continue that way. I am gonna miss all of you these 3 months, being praying for me and the others that are working at this camp, and that God will intervene in lives at this camp. Please stay in touch with me on here or on facebook. 

Thanks for everything,

Ben

WKU Capstone

Ok everyone here is my senior project for WKU. The quality and overall production value is not to my standards, let me know what you think.

Patience is a Gift

So its been awhile since I have posted on here, that doesn't mean nothing has been going on because it has. What I want to share today is a simple term. That term is PATIENCE. Your hear patience is a virtue, and that is absolutely right, it is also a gift from God. You see over the past month I have been placed in situations where I have to be patient. I have asked for patience and have received it. These situations have been in the form of me interviewing for a job and really trying to seek the Lord out in it, and he also put me in situations with the people around me. You see no matter what I want and how bad I try, it's always going to be on the Lords terms.

Here recently I interviewed for a job at a church, for the longest time I had been praying for this job and they called me down for an interview. Everything went well with it and they offered the position to me. I left and went home and prayed about it for a few days. But I never received peace about it, you see I could not see myself there, for some reason I just did not have peace about taking that job. If you know anything about me, I like to have things planned out and ready to go. Well this is one of those times where its not planned out, or at least for me to see. The Lord has his plan ready and I know that through this I will gain patience and trust through out all this.

Its funny that when you try to do things on your own, you are going to mess it up. I have experienced that myself in the last month. I have tried to control a lot of things and they fall apart. The Lord is always going to be in control no matter what. You are going to have times of weakness where you want to control it, but its never going to work out unless you let God take full control.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps" Proverbs 16:9

We can have everything planned out our way, and think that it is going great. But remember that the Lord will guide us and as it says will establish his steps.

Is your light out?

So I know it has been awhile since I have posted something on here. God has taken me through some much in the last 6 months. You know here all the time that you need to do what the Lord wants and you need to submit. Those are only words until you actually follow through with that and really obey the Lord when he is calling out to you. I am experiencing this right now and I know that I am in a safe place and that the Lord is not going to let anything hurt me as long as I am here. But obeying the Lord comes with responsibilities. That responsibility is to be the light of the world as we are called to be in Matt 5:14. Henry Blackaby says that the problem is not that there is too much darkness, the problem is that our light is not shining in the dark places. For those of you who know me and you know that I like Charlie Hall, he has a song "Song of the Redeemed" in that song there is a verse that says "We sing it in the darkest place, we shine the light of beauty and grace." We need to be in that darkest place, our light needs to be shining everywhere we go, whether that be in church, home, work, or a basketball game. Are you doing these things, are you letting your light shine always, or is the dimmer on? Like I said with obeying comes respinsibility to the Lord, and that is to never let your light go out, if you have the light of Christ, then it never goes out.

Life of Faith

This is topic is a topic I am passionate about because I struggle with this all the time. That is living a life of faith. What does it mean to live a life of faith? Does it mean to completely devote your life to Christ and place all trust in him? Yes. Does it mean that no matter what you are going through, whether it be struggles or any sort of pain, that you will rely on the love of the Lord to get you through it? Yes. You see it is easy to answer these questions when I am typing out this Blog or to say it to someone else. But can you really say these things and answer them truthfully. I can't, now that does not mean I am not a Christian. You see I struggle with pride. I feel that I have to control everything and that I know whats best for me. But the reality is that I don't know whats best for me, and I know that God is always in control and that he is sovereign over all.
When I think of living a life of faith. I think of Abraham. What a great example of living a life of faith. Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son. So he took his son and himself up a mountain with out any hesitation. Walking for days up that mountain Isaac kept asking Abraham where the lamb was, and Abraham replied to him saying that God will provide the lamb. Abraham never lost faith, he laid Isaac down on the stones tied him up and grabbed the knife to sacrifice him, an then the Angel of the Lord appeared to them saying not to touch the boy and that the Lord had provided a lamb. You see Abraham not once turned back or hesitated about killing his son. He trusted the Lord, and even though he did not know what was to come. He knew that the Lord will provide for him. I ask myself why can't I have that much faith? Why am I always struggling with control? I think we need to have the faith like Abraham had. Never looking back never hesitating, always going forward not knowing where I am going but know that the Lord will guide me. Maybe these are questions you should be asking yourself.

Temptations We Face

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." Hebrews 4:15

We all go through temptations everyday, whether that be physical temptations or temptations to just do what the world does. I struggle with this everyday, whether or not to dive into the word or take that ever so relaxing nap. Whether or not to spend time with people I need to be investing in or to play video games or watch TV. These are the temptations we face everyday. I have learned that we are not going through temptations so that we can sin and that the devil can say we did bad things. The reason that Satan tempts us is so that he can draw us away from the Lord. But what I am trying to say is that during these times of temptation we should be drawing closer to the Lord and seeking his wisdom and guidance throughout all of this. No one is going to be able to get you out of temptation better then Jesus Christ. If you are struggling with this then draw closer to him and dive into his word, cause there is nothing better then the word of God, not even that video game you are playing. I am saying all of this because this is what I am going through right now. The point behind this blog is to share with you all what I going through in hopes of helping you all out through my struggles.

Called to Holliness

As I was reading today in "My Utmost for his Highest", the verse today was from 1Peter 1:16. This verse states "be holy for I am holy." as simple as that sounds, its a very hard concept to come across. What does it mean to be holy? What does it mean to fully devote your life to the Holy One? These are the questions that I asked myself while I was reading today. Its going on 2 years that I have given my life to Christ, and I am still learning what it means to be holy. I think we all struggle with this everyday of our lives. Oswald Chambers states that "Holliness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind-- placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself." Wow!! Now that is some big expectations. He is not saying that we have to be perfect, cause we are not perfect. I am not saying that you should go about your day saying I need to act like this to be more Christ like and focus on what your acting like, because then you start to fall. What I am saying is be engulfed in God, and in his words. When people see you walking down the street or on campus tbey should see Christ displayed in you, by the way you treat yourself and others. I am guilty of this as much as anyone. But I challenge us to be more Holy, not because it is something we should do but something we are called to do.