Your Master

Who is your master? 

Don't just dismiss this question, think about it. Give yourself an honest answer, what is the master of your time? What are you consumed with?

We all want to say that Jesus is our master, but can we truly say that? This morning I was reading Galatians 1, it says:

"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Are you trying to serve two masters? The Word of God clearly says that it can't be done. If you aren't serving Him, you are in sin. Yes, it is blunt, but it is true! I pray that as I lead the men entrusted to me in my Core that it would never be about pleasing them.  There is nothing in that! I am then sinning and not leading them to the Father.  

It will be difficult in almost every situation that you are in throughout life, but if we truly want to do the will of the Father and be His bond-servant, that is what it takes. We must not allow our fears, insecurities, worries, stresses, or anything not from Him dictate what we say or do. This means whether you are working at McDonald's or if you are in the ministry, we must do all things as unto Him (Colossians 3:17). Do not let your sinful nature take control, it is a constant battle and thankfully He has shed His blood so that we can defeat it with the power of the blood and the Holy Spirit. 

I pray that you are encouraged and that you go on and serve only Him as your master. 

Lastly, if you think this would be beneficial for someone, please share it with them as that is why I do this. I want to bless people. I know the Lord has given me certain words to speak, and I want for those words to fall on the ears the Lord intended them to.

Be blessed!

Solitude.

First, I want to start with a little bit on vulnerability.  It is what is lacking in the church. Whether its the vulnerability in the church, like showing people what the Bible promises Christianity to be instead of just simply “asking Jesus into your heart,” or if its the personal vulnerability to tell the deep dark sins in your life (John 1:5). 

The reason I shared that is because I am going to try to be vulnerable here.  

Over the past two months, the Lord has done more in my life than ever before. That is the best way to say it. I think that it is so easy for those of us who grew up in the church to just know the right answers, while living life on our own. We rely on others for our relationship with God, just taking things others say, and letting that be our “revelation from God.” I know this fully well because for almost my entire life, I fell into this.  My relationship with God consisted of me never running from Him, because I knew the consequences, but also never running to Him.  I made it really far doing this. It was easy, and I never had to leave my comfort zone!  I made it even into spiritual leadership here at the Honor Academy as a Core Advisor while living like this.  

That is what it took. I needed to be placed into spiritual leadership to see it. I thought I was doing well, and that everyone who actually experienced God were faking it (I did have occasional experiences with Him, but I never actually desired Him and His Word or His life)!  In the past two months, God has taken me to a place that I could no longer do it on my own. I was failing at everything I tried. 

I don’t know exactly when the change happened, or what triggered it, but God gave me a desperation for His Word and a hatred of the things that are not of Him, but this was only the first step.

The second part of this was that I relied on others for my relationship with Him. I mean, sure, I was actually living in Him and running to Him, but I relied so much on those around me to process, to vent, to do almost everything. I needed to be broken of this.  

This is where I am now. I can’t say that I’ve learned fully, but the Lord is definitely trying to teach me. The only way He could do that is by removing those whom I relied on. He has slowly been doing this over the past few weeks, so that now, I have almost no one. I’m not saying this as a type of sympathy story, in fact, it is quite the opposite.  I know that this is the only way that I can learn to rely solely on God for my relationship with Him. The place of solitude is a wonderful place to be... I think.  It hurts a lot, and I’m not denying that, but it also is a place of huge growth. We are such a social society that to be in solitude is almost unheard of, which is why I think I have been so far off for my entire life. 

Finally, this is for anyone who may end up reading this. If you have a story similar to this, or are where I was, I do know a couple of resources that helped me know the Father some more.

-To get a better understanding of God and our relationship with Him, and a desire for His Word, read “Multiply” by Francis Chan (www.multiplymovement.com)

-Read His Word!

Lastly, here are a couple of songs that I’m thoroughly enjoying right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o3mMsmbIbQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVudZGyvqE4

Blood and Fire!

Hello!

I just wanted to take a few minutes this week to tell you a little more about my core!  

This year I am responsible for giving them vision and discipling them throughout the year!  Each Core Advisor gives a name to their core, and it is the main focus for their vision for the year. This year, I know that the name God has given me for their vision is Blood and Fire. 

This name sounds very intense, and in a way it is.  The name is taken directly from Acts 2:17-19 “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; “ 

This isn’t exactly what it means though, as in the verse it talks about literal blood being shed and the judgement fire of God.  In the core vision, the blood simply stands for the Blood of Christ.  This is so powerful and God continues to show me that daily.  The Blood is the love of Christ.  Without the Blood, we are dead, but with the Blood, we have life and life abundantly.  It represents so much.  The enemy will continue to attack us, but anything that is covered by the Blood is off limits to him, so we can have the victory over him because of Christ’s Blood!  We don’t have to sit in pain, listen to his lies, or allow him to win in our lives; Christ has the victory!

The second part is the fire!  It says in Hebrews 12:29 “for our God is a consuming fire,” and in Malachi 3:2-3 it talks about how he is a refiner’s fire, burning away the impurities to make pure silver and gold. Along with that, in two different places, the Bible talks about “seraphim” which means “Burning ones.”  These are the four angels that are the closest to the throne of God.  The reason they were called burning ones is because they were so close to God’s consuming fire that they were consumed by Him and began to look like Him!  When we seek him and spend more and more time with Him, we too will begin to look less like ourselves and more like Him!  

That is the quick overview at what my vision is for them this year, and I’m really excited about what God is going to do with it this year!  I ask that you pray for my eight guys, that they would continue to seek Him and that they truly walk out in this! 

Consumed by Him,

Andrew

My Job.

Friends, I apologize for the lack of updating this past month! 

To pick up where I left off, my other role this year is where I work!  I am currently serving in Teen Mania’s Global Expeditions as the Admissions manager.  It is a big role to fill and I am blessed to fill it.  My job is quite the opportunity because I get to enable thousands of teenagers to go on short-term trips in over 30 countries this year.  I do everything from reporting, to data-entering, to getting visas for them to travel into certain countries!  

I truly love what I am doing in the ministry of Global Expeditions and I definitely feel blessed to be a part of what they are doing.  The mission statement for Teen Mania Ministries is, “Our heartbeat is to provoke a young generation to passionately pursue Jesus Christ and take His life-giving message to the ends of the earth.”  Our role in Global Expeditions is to be the branch of the ministry that enables teens to “take His life-giving message to the ends of the earth!”  We do this by providing a safe environment for our trips, by having great leaders and global partners, so that teens can go without parent’s needing to worry! We have been going for over 25 years, and in that time, we haven’t lost anyone on the field!  

Another reason I am so blessed to serve in this ministry is because the trips that I went on throughout high school to Dallas, Jamaica, Italy, Jordan, and Israel were all with this organization, so I have seen the amazing things that can happen on these trips, not only in the lives of the nationals, but also in the lives of the missionaries.  I know that I have not only seen deaf ears opened and lost people encounter the living God, but I’ve also seen God do some miraculous things in my life while on these trips.

If you would like to learn more about the ministry of Global Expeditions, please visit our website at www.globalexpeditions.com. 

In Love,

Andrew

A New Leaf

Hello Friends!

I just thought that I would update you all with how this new season in my life is going!  I am currently playing two roles here at the Honor Academy, the first of which being a Core Advisor.

A core advisor is a big leadership role at the Honor Academy.  I am directly over a group of nine men who live together and do almost everything together (they are called a core).  My role over them is to facilitate their year, pouring out into them, discipling them, and being here for them to continue to grow through the year!  I am really excited for this opportunity because I know that God has put me here for this time, and has given me a vision for them. This vision, that God has given me, is going to be set before them soon, and it will be a focus for them this year.  They will seek the characteristics that are embodied within it, which ultimately will bring them closer to the Father.  

I will give you all more information about this vision for them when the time is right, but as for now, I will cut this off.

Next week, I will tell you more about my other role for this year! As for now, here is a picture of my accountability partner and myself from an event we did with my core this past weekend!

Much Love, 
Andrew

P.S. My accountability partner (Josh) is on the ministry team for Acquire the Fire this year! If you want to know more about what that is, or just want to follow what they are doing, check out his video blog at: http://relentlesspursuitmtblog.blogspot.com/

The Ring!

Our word, what's it worth?  We live in a world where integrity, honor, and commitment have been forgotten.  Whether its something "small" like leaving someone behind when you promised them something, or lying to keep our reputation up.  It doesn't matter what the situation is, if we give our word that something is right, it better be right.  Our yes' need to mean yes, and our no's need to be no.  I don't care who you are, we all have failed at this in someway, but the question is, how did you respond to it?  Did you keep it on the D.L., or did you apologize, and make it right? If you still haven't asked someone for forgiveness, then you need to make restitution.  This is something I'm learning now, and honestly, restitution is so wonderful.  Once the weight has been removed, you will notice that you can be so much more free.  Trust God and make that move, it's something you definitely won't regret, even if you do end up losing something for it.  This in my opinion is the first step in regaining our honor and integrity.  That was just my little ramble on integrity, but this next part is the main thing I wanted to say.

Commitment. We, as I said earlier, are in a world that has either forgotten commitment or are afraid of it.  I think there is definitely a reason to fear commitment, because in Proverbs 12:22 it says that "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord..." are you willing to put it on the line?  God will help you fulfill your commitment, even if it's something that isn't what he originally desired, like in Joshua 9 and 10.  So make sure you are wise about the commitments you make because God will help you through, and you are putting a lot on the line.  

What I have done on Saturday, March 10th was committed to a lifetime of honor, discipline, integrity, and teachability.  Honestly, the day you become a Christian, we commit to this, but this weekend, I received a ring that is a physical reminder of this commitment, and in order to keep it I must uphold these standards.  Along with that, I again committed to this lifestyle.  I am also now a part of the Line of people who wear this ring, and as a part of that line, we are each committed to be teachable and held accountable by anyone in this "Line." I am really excited about what this means in my life, even though the ring obviously has no power, what it stands for is really significant to me.

The Next Chapter....

Hello Everyone! 

     Sorry it has been so long since you last received an update!  Things have been very busy here at the Honor Academy!  Since I talked to you last, our old January class graduated and a whole new January intern class has arrived!  Another thing that changed is my Core Advisor left.  While I am very sad that he had to go, I am very excited with what God is going to do in the next six months! My new Core Advisor’s name is Zach Burke and we have just merged with his core.  We are now the largest core on campus with 15 men!

     With the new core, we have received a new vision.  Our core name is The Living Stones! The core name is from 1 Peter 2, and our core values are unity, consistency, and discipline.  We have already began pursuing this for our lives, and trust me, it has been very difficult.  Unity is one of the things that has been the most difficult for us.  Since we were two separate cores, we have to start almost completely over.  There have already been many conflicts, but we are resolving them, and still pushing for that unity.  God has pushed us all to grow in very unique ways, and I know that I have gained much patience and am learning new things each day. 
      This past weekend, we had another Fasting LTE (Life Transforming Event) and God moved in miraculous ways!  I was able to just spend a lot of time in the Word and just spending time with God, but we also had a few sessions each day.  During the session on Saturday night, God moved in ways that I have never seen before.  Our speaker Blaise Foret was just talking about the Kingdom of God when he remembered someone who said that they’ve been having back problems.  He called her up and we all prayed over her and she was healed!  Then God began healing people all over the building!  We spent a few hours of just praying over people individually and deaf ears were opened, broken bones were healed, eyes were healed, more backs were straightened, knees were healed, and many other people were healed!  I have never seen God move in such an amazing way and it was awesome, He got so much glory!  

     As for my future, I feel that God is leading me to pursue photography and use that as my ministry, both through the photography itself and also by using the money earned to send missionaries across the earth!  I know that in the next few years I am supposed to be furthering my talent as a photographer, to reach the calling God has for me.  I am still in the works of figuring out what the exact details of the next few years are, but am pursuing many options and praying about them all.

     Finally, PRAYER!  Here is what you can pray for; first, for diligence in my ministry placement.  God has been moving in AMAZING ways in the Acquire the Fire Contact Center, especially for the Pittsburgh event.  As of right now, we are 800 people ahead of where the team was last year! That means that 800 more teenagers will hear the gospel in a way that applies to them, 800 more lives will be changed!  So pray that I will remain diligent as I call Youth Pastors around the Pittsburgh area and tell them about Acquire the Fire.  Also pray that God would give me the words to speak as I try to share the heart of Acquire the Fire with them.  

     Second, pray for my personal growth with Christ.  Pray that I will continue to seek after God more than I ever have before.  Third, that God will give me clarity about what I am supposed to do earlier.  Lastly, that God will continue to provide the finances for my year at the Honor Academy.  I only need $1021 to pay for the rest of the year which is such a blessing.  Pray that God would use miraculous ways to provide that money, because all we have to do is ask, and he will do it.  

     Thank you SO much for praying for me and just caring enough to read through this long update! I really do love you all and appreciate all that you are doing for me.  Without your prayer and faith, this year at the Honor Academy wouldn’t have been possible for me, so again, thank you so much and keep up the prayers and faith!

God Bless,

Andrew

“Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.”

-Psalm 31:5