Thoughts from Curtis- Tour

Hey everyone I Just got back form tour and it was amazing! One of my most memorable moment on tour was in Fort Smith Arkansas, during the prayer portion of the prayer meeting, was hearing the prayers of the students I was praying with.

At first they seemed a little scared and timid, but all of the sudden it was like a fire just ignited and their prayers completely changed. To hear the prayers form these kids broke my heart in so many ways. They were hungry for something deeper then they have ever experienced, and were willing to do whatever it takes to get it. They prayed for their schools, friends, church and so much more.

This tour was beyond words for me because of the way God moved and how people’s lives were changed. It is so hard to right this blog today because I don’t have the words to tell you what happened.

Thoughts from Alleli- Forgiveness

Luke 5:5-8 -- " Master," Simon replied," we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me -- I'm too much of a sinner to be around you."

Jesus had healed the sick, raised people from the dead, and casted demons out of those possessed. Yet he also cared about the struggles of daily living. He filled boats with fish after a bad day of fishing. He paid attention to the children when everybody else ignored them. He cried with friends mourning the death of family members.

So why would He not care about you? He knows you better than you know yourself. I have had many friends say to me, "Oh God could never love me. He doesn't want me. I've done too many bad things..."

What a load of CRAP. Take a look at the many stories in the Gospels:

One of Jesus' disciples, Matthew (or Levi), was a tax collector. Tax collectors were generally considered dishonest men in the community since they took more than what the government required and keeping excess for their own personal piggy bank.

Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman at the well. The Samaritans were a despised group of people by the Jewish community for the immorality of their ancestors. He also went as far as to offer "living water" and speak of her private life and still forgive her of her sins.


There was a woman in Luke 7 who annointed Jesus' feet with perfume. She knew her many sins were forgiven and couldn't help but praise Jesus by anointing him with fragrances and washing his feet with her tears.

Ummm....I could keep going, but my point is Jesus isn't looking to bash us over our heads with our sins. Jesus has grace and we need to accept that grace. Granted, we can't just go around doing things we know aren't healthy or legal and just figure God will forgive us. That defeats the purpose. You know, every time I read the Gospels, I get a new revelation and insight on just to how much God has really forgiven me. It astounds me every time I think about it and it also makes me realize just how much I really need Jesus to have control over my life.

It says in Luke, "Healthy people don't need a doctor-- sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent." I plan on taking that to heart. I'm sick, I need Jesus. I accept the gift of grace and forgiveness He offers. I encourage you to do the same.

Thoughts from Macy- The Blessed Will of God

Philippians 4:9 "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

What is my purpose in life? Am I even doing this whole, "walk with God" right? God has hope to give me a future, but what if I'm screwing that future up? Is this the will of God?

Me, as well as a lot of you, I'm sure have come to the cross roads of these questions. Some times I think, "I have to know it all NOW or my life is automatically off God's will." These questions/thoughts can only lead to one thing, and let me be the first to tell you it ain't Jesus. These thought patterns are awful to get into. It can make you feel guilt, shame, mistrust, and temptation. It will lead you down the road to questioning your faith, and your foundation as a whole.

So, let's look at your foundation. What is it built on? Silly things like church hymns, and memorized scriptures? or is it built on the characteristics of Jesus. Look at the scripture above. Now, answer me this: Why are we worried about the future? The solution to being in God's will is incredibly simple- Do things as Jesus did, do them as he tells you to, and do them well.

As humans we must feel it's our responsibility to over complicate things Jesus did. For some reason or another, it is near impossible for us to think that something so vast, such as completing God's perfect will for our life, can have such an effortless answer. Start believing my friends. By looking at this scripture you should see that the more your worrying about the future the more your eating tomorrow's Mana. All God has for us today it to practice what we already know. In other words, eat the Mana God intends for you today, in this moment. By doing this we will be one step closer to seeing the fullness of God. Relax, do what God says, and walk in the on-going, everlasting, wonderful, spectacular, peace of God.

Thoughts from Aly- Singleness

Singleness.....most people view it as a curse, but is it really? When you are single, the loneliness can be overwhelming at times, but would your loneliness be cured if you shared your life with someone? Would you truly be satisfied laying in someone's arms? Can someone else tell you who you are? Can someone else tell you they love you enough times for you to truly believe it and never doubt it? Can someone make you feel safe or secure all the time? Is it possible for you to become a better person by having someone at your side forever? If you are only half a person to begin with, can someone make you whole?

I know the answer to these questions....the someone is not a man or a woman, it is Jesus Christ. He is the only person who can ever tell you who you are....in Him. He is the only one who can make you a whole person so you can pour into others without being afraid of running dry. He will tell you He loves you in so many ways and so many times that you will never have reason to doubt. And if you do, He'll tell you again and again just how much He loves you until you believe Him again. All you have to do is ask. In His arms, you will be truly satisfied. Not a fleeting satisfaction, but a lasting all-encompassing satisfaction. When you allow Him to speak into your life and heart and be constantly by your side, you will never be lonely. In the dead of night, He is there. When you are shedding those silent, agonizing tears, He is there. Even when you can't express your pain in words, when another human being would be helpless to understand, He knows exactly what you need and can touch your heart in a way no one else can.

Many times, as I go through life, people ask me why I am single. I'm single not because of circumstance or necessity, but by choice. I am choosing God and He is more than I ever dreamed. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? That's what I first thought, but He has continued to whisper into my ear over and over and I am certain now. He is more than enough. I am content being single. Not a grudging acceptance, but content...satisfied....happy to be single. Now, in my time of singleness, I can chase after God with all of my devotion. A verse in Acts has caught my attention.

“He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.” Acts 21:9 (NIV emphasis added)

This is such a small, often overlooked verse, but it has so much to teach. The daughters were unmarried....and they prophesied. There is a power in singleness because of the devotion you have the opportunity to give Him. Another key word is four. There wasn't just one daughter who hadn't yet been married off. There were four. In that day and age, daughters were usually married off as quickly as possible so the father didn't have so many to care for. This strikes me as unusual that there were four of them all at the same time and ALL of them prophesied.

Don't look at your singleness as a curse, look at it as an opportunity. Now is the time I can serve God and learn who I am. A time to develop my character and pour my life out for others.

Thoughts from John- Grace and Legalism

I just got off the phone with a man interested in starting his own internship program and he said something that really hit me. We can doing anything starting with the foundations of God and grace, but we as humans can turn anything into legalism. As humans, we all have weaknesses in our grace. I recognize this live among a world that shows this.

My heart cries out for a generation to hold themselves not to individual standards, but a generation that holds the standards of God. One of the greatest views I see in God is His love and grace. He has so much and is willing to give it to all of us, but He will eventually hold us all to the same standard. God’s love in consistent and equally infinite to all.

What I am learning and seeing is God wants us to all to recognize He loves us so much (and if you don’t believe me check out Zephaniah 3:17 or read Passion for Jesus by Mike Bickle)! The thing I struggle with and realize is we all don’t feel like God “speaks to us”, but the question I am now forced to answer is am I really listening? How can I say I don’t know God’s love or I don’t hear God today when I am not looking for these things?

We can’t be caught up in what we aren’t seeing and we have to concentrate on what we can see and what we hope for. We must stop condemning ourselves for the sake of self pity. I have faith in God, and I know that all times will come to pass with proper listening and action. So I encourage you take some time everyday to listen to God and love some people. With these actions we will begin to shift from condemning legalism to a generation living in love and making God’s love complete.

Thoughts from Cassie- Knowledge

Today during the first hour of the prayer meeting I was looking back through my journal, and I stumbled upon this entry from a while back I thought was beautiful:

1-10-08
So, I have found something amazing. Knowledge of God is not something freely given, God gives it to those he trusts, those who fight for it. Just as I feel I need to be fought for, so does God. He fights for us every day, and I’m beginning to see one of the best ways I can show my love for Him is to fight for His knowledge, to fight for the words He has for me.

Proverbs 2:3- “Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Thoughts from Aly- The DI Plague

Over the past week and a half or so, a plague has hit our Desperation team. It doesn’t seem logical as to whom it hits or when, but when it hits, it’s not playing around! It chose to strike me last Thursday. I was down for the count. I spent 72 hours in bed, most of it sleeping. I didn’t have the energy to do anything.

I was praying about it the other day. I asked God why I was so ill and for such a long period of time. I’m not normally one to get sick. I had been sleeping a lot and eating healthy so why was I so sick? His answer caught me off guard.

The couple of weeks before I was sick had been particularly dry for me spiritually. I was distracted at prayer meetings. I only read my Bible out of habit. I would often speed read through just so I could say I finished my reading. My God time went from an hour or more of profound time with my Savior to being completely satisfied with half an hour of dry reading, journaling and listening to music.

God said I was spiritually sick long before I became physically sick. Because I was spiritually weak, I had opened myself up to physical sickness. It was the first time I connected my spiritual life to my physical well-being. It was a gigantic revelation to me. My spiritual life has become tied to every other aspect of my life, intricately involved to be exact. Because I was sick, it forced me to spend quality time resting. I was able to have my first productive God time in weeks. I felt refreshed and was on a God high for the rest of the night.

Since then my physical body is getting better much faster. More importantly, I’m not spiritually sick anymore. My heart feels alive again! So I would encourage you, check your spiritual health regularly. Don’t ignore your spiritual health it’s even more important than your physical health!

Thoughts from Susan- Giving it up

If there’s anything that I’ve learned in the past 24hours it’s that life likes to kick you when you’re down. Yesterday started out pretty bad and though I was determined to keep a positive perspective, it just seemed that the hits kept on coming. For a while I had the typical woe is me mentality, I was so angry my stable little world was being shaken so fiercely, I wanted to react, to lash out, and to hurt someone as much as I was hurting. In another point in my life I would have gone that route...

Instead this time I chose to give it up to God. I laid it all down, the hurt, the rage, the helplessness and confusion. Even though I couldn't comprehend why any of this was happening, I trusted God was walking with me through this. I know he’s given me the strength to handle this with more wisdom and grace than I ever knew I possessed.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?...I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait on the Lord” Psalm 27:1 &13-14

Thoughts from Kelly- Battling Contentment

Being content has been one of my greatest battles recently. I know God has brought me to a place in life where I am fully alive and happy but I never want to be satisfied with where I am! The only time I want to be satisfied in my walk with Christ is the day I’m with Him in Paradise.
I was strongly convicted during a prayer meeting early this week. The worship leader stopped one song into our corporate worship time and said he thought we needed to stop because we were just going through the motions. My intentional thoughts are not some I’m proud of, I said, “Who does this, I mean honestly, we just started worship!” I answered my own question later though: a godly man does, one who is eager for God to move in His people and is sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
I was lifting my hands in worship and singing because that’s what the normal thing to do is. I lost the passion and fiery love for God and was just going through the motions. My heart wasn’t alive, I wasn’t actually worshipping, I was just doing what felt right.
Since then I’ve been super intentional in my times of worship. I set my heart before God and pray He’ll spark it alive, that it would burn before His throne as something pleasing and holy. I don’t want to worship for the sake of feeling good about myself or because I like the music. I want to be so in love with God I couldn’t help but express my love in return to Him through my worship and my life.

Thoughts from Whitney- Respect

God is really teaching me what respect is. Growing up I made a lot of mistakes, and I never learned how to respect men. Other than my father, I never really respected men period. But I am learning that men just want to be treated like men, and that means respecting them.

I’m also learning that my emotions are a gift from God. God made women to be emotional beings so we can help/connect with others that are hurting. I used to be ashamed that I was like that, but now that I know it’s a gift, I am proud. There are going to be things in life that only a man can do, as well as there will be things that only women can do.

We have to be content with who we are, and be pleased with how God has created us. Embrace his love, and you will find yourself learning to love yourself just the way you are.