The Spotlight

john

2008-12-12T08:33:00.001-08:00

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) HH was with God in the beginning."

-John 1:1-2

i read that today as i was sitting in my room watching my friends play NCAA 08 and it just amazed me. i couldn't grasp it haha. it was awesome.

but when i was reading on i saw in verse 14 it says "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." i nearly cried ha. it was so cool to see that. because reading from the first verses to the 14th verse you see that Jesus was with God from the get go pretty much. wow. how gracious and almighty is God. that even when Jesus was with him he knew he was going to have to send him to die for all of us. he didn't have to! but he did. HE DID! so if you read this i hope it just encourages you. i know it encouraged me... because i've been down lately and seeing that just makes me wanna jump and shout and all those random what nots!

thanks , God bless... and good luck on exams

hey

2008-11-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

hey guys! i just came to let everyone know that i will be leaving MC.

for the past couple of weeks i have been struggling with the Lord on what i need to do. If i need to leave or stay. So i fasted one night on wednesday and got in the word. hoping that i could hear from God. I did. as i was reading i just let the word speak to me. i felt God saying he wanted me to stay and from there it just Got awesome. the weird part was about a day later or 2 days later when i told my parents i decided to stay. the night i told them they sat me down and said we really need you to go to hinds. the reason? Well, my father is currently working in iraq with a civilian company and since obama is president elect he will be coming home very soon. So they needed me home. So needles to say im pretty sure God answer my question for me. i was so confused for a couple days. because i really felt God wanting me to stay.. but as i began to sit and think about it i thought.. maybe God answered my question by taking away what's keeping me here. *money* obviously.

soo yeah thats my life right now....i am leaving MC and going to hinds community college in rankin. yep alright thanks guys for readin!

2008-10-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

John 4:23 - "...yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the father seeks. (24) God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

there's not much i can put to that verse. God wants our worship to be meaningful. he wants us to worship in spirit and truth. how many times do we worship in vain.

the funny thing is everyone thinks I am talking about singing. A worship service in vain, but I'm talking about what true worship is to God.

it says in romans 12:1- therefore, i urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your SPIRITUAL act of WORSHIP.

did you see it? it says our spiritual worship is giving our lives as living sacrifices.. Holy and pleasing to God.

God deserves more loyalty then what I give him and what everyone else gives him.

a song by phil wickham called TRUE LOVE

the earth was shaking in the dark

all creation felt the fathers broken heart

tears were filling heavens eyes

the day that true love died

when blood and water hit the ground

walls we couldn't move came crashing down

we were free and made alive

the day that true love died

hola!

2008-10-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

update on my life so far. it's been over 2 weeks since i've blogged. i seem to catch myself getting busy with useless things, but oh well. well, to let everyone know I'm doing fantastic and God is really using me somehow. i sit here at MC and ask myself why am i here? what is my purpose? and God just spoke to me through one of my devotions about the story of the three trees. the story goes like this.

one day three trees decide to pray that they would be used for some noble purpose rather than decay from old age. The first tree wanted to become a manger where tired cattle could feed after a long day's work.. God rewarded the tree for having such a modesty. it became a very special manger-the one in which the son of god was laid.

The second tree prayed that is might become a boat. The prayer was answered, and soon its fine wood sheltered a very special passenger-the Son of God. it heard Jesus calm a fierce storm by saying, "peace, be still." The tree counted its life as worthwhile in order to witness such a scene.

the third tree, however, was made into a large cross to serve as an instrument of suffering. The tree was initially deeply disappointed in its fate. However, one day Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to its limbs. Strange, but the cross did not hear groaning and cursing as on the other crosses. Instead it heard the Son of God offer words of love and divine forgiveness-words that opened paradise to a repentant thief.

The tree then understood that its part in the crucifixion of Jesus provided for the salvation of humankind.

thats the devotion i had. As looked at it and meditated on it i know God was speaking to me. saying nathan you are like those trees. you want to be used for a noble purpose so just ask. God wants the same for everyone. if your reading this then just read that part up top and just meditate on it. Let God speak to you in your room or outside of wherever you are. Ask God to use you. you can't do it yourself.

letting go

2008-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

well hello everyone! I guess since its been almost about 4 days since my last post i figured i would write something.

so in my last post i spoke about Rush and how i am trying to keep my eyes set on God.

well these past 4 days i have been in a big spiritual battle. between school and work and rush etc, my focus on God HAS gotten harder,but I'm still keeping strong. what i really want to write about in this blog, it might be longer than normal, is what has been going on in my life at MC and how this spiritual battle is being won.

So as this last week started rush and everyone had to go to these rush parties. So monday night was i do believe circle K and that was pretty fun and i enjoyed it! then, tuesday was i think rotaract and blue and gold? oh gosh i cant even remember! the parties were this week and thats all i can remember! so as the week went by i started thinking long and hard.. what club should i rush! So i began to pray about it... God just was really working on me and i just tried to listen to him, but STUFF got in the way. Tests came up and i had to study for those while trying to twist together the rush parties and everything became stressful.

I got all the test done and it was such a relief! i felt like a little birdie who just learned to fly! ha ha freedom! As friday drew closer i remembered that i would not be there friday for pref. day where we choose what tribe we are going to rush.

Currently I am at orange beach and it is amazing! Just had to throw it in there real quick.

but as i was saying i wasn't going to be at MC for pref day... so rushing Shawreth was out of the question unless i had someone stand in line for me, but i wasn't going to make someone do that for me. so the next day or two i just battled what i wanted to do because civitan started to be the other choice if i was not doing shawreth. so i said forget it.. i'm just going to take this time while I'm at the beach and i will pray about and see what God speaks through me.

So as i sat on my balcony at the beach i do believe friday morning i just soaked on the Word and just listened to God and this is the scripture he gave me....

James 4:7-10

(7) So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the World. (9) Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of Joy. (10) humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

When i read that i just couldn't believe it. I am not saying that the Tribes are bad AT ALL! when i saw that it spoke to ME. saying Nathan... if you did this right now... in this time in your life then your loyalty WILL be divided between me. I just kept asking myself how? and why? cause i so badly wanted to rush... and one of my very very good friends was depending on me to rush...i was soo fustrated. then, I remembered what someone once told me..there are things in life God does and we don't understand, but in the long run when we look back we see exactly what God was doing. Right now we're just caught up with what we want.. and not what God wants. God wants all of our hearts.. not part or just a quarter of it! its either ALL IN or NOT... don't be in the middle...

Revelation 3:15-16

"i know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! (16) But since you are like LUKEWARM water, neither hot nor cold i will spit you out of my mouth."

i think its time everyone gets the point... I'm tired us being lukewarm....God says right there!!! right there!! that he will spit us out of his mouth!! i don't know about all of you guys, but i'm not sitting on the fence anymore.

Matthew 7:7-8

"keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks, receives. everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened..."

thanks for reading guys.

Bleh

2008-10-01T14:29:00.001-07:00

So my week for everyone that wants to know has been pretty lets same... average? the Rush parties have started this week and those have been fun, but on the other hand they have been a somewhat burden since i have had 2 test i have had to study for. other then the test and stuff my weeks been great. i have been just trying my hardest to keep my eyes focused on what the Lord wants to do with me. day in and day out i feel God is removing stuff in my life that ,even though it is awesome and great, could actually harm me and cause me to falter farther along the path. Trying to be a believer and walking by faith right now is really tough, but i feel God is using me in some random way.. its crazy, but awesome. School presses on and so does my life and no matter where i go and what i go through God WILL be there. thanks for reading.

Matthew 8:5-13 (truly walking by faith)

tuesday!

2008-09-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

so today wasn't such a great day for me... i woke up and randomly remembered that i forgot to blog before sunday! yay! go me! so i head to class around 11 and our freshmen experience group went to the cafe and ate. so i got to sociology afterwards and i LOVE that class, but we have test on the internet and i went on there today and found out that the computer did not ready my test answers soo i have a zero for two of my grades. grrrrr. after become furious with that i go to bible class. i caught myself getting angry because my teacher constantly talks and expects us to write notes the whole time. after my lame day i come back to my room and hang out and God just really spoke to me through this song. its called (*fin) by anberlin.

this part of the song just totally spoke to me.

We're not questioning God
Just those he chose to carry on his cause
We'll grow better, you'll see
Just all of us, the lost causes

i asked myself what that meant. and i still cant fully grasp what it means, but i think i know what it means.

I am a follower of God and they say right there.. we're not questioning God just those he chose to carry on his cause.

and as i sat in my room being angry about school and classes and ect.. it hit me.. those who chose to carry on God cause are going to be question and pushed harder.

to me it makes sense.. in my brain it makes sense to ME. to everyone else? i dont know if this makes sense and if it does that sweetness and if not... then dang.. i wish i could make it more clear...

thanks! peace love!

introduction

2008-09-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

hey! My name is nathan and I attend MC. If you are reading this I am pretty sure you are a Student at MC too.

well I'm from Brandon, Mississippi and I go to church at Crossgates Baptist in brandon. I was saved by my Lord and savior around my tenth grade year of highschool and ever since i have been walking strong with God. He's pretty much awesome.
Since i've started following the Lord he has gifted me with so much that its amazing. I have been playing guitar for 3 or 4 years and have led worship in my church since my senior year of highschool. God has given me a voice to use and the ability to play a guitar. I plan on joining our new college worship band that we will be creating pretty soon actually. Crossgates Baptist will start having college study above the cafeteria on monday nights.. I dont know the exact times yet, but ill be sure to let you all know.

What i want to acheive through this blog is not to just tell everyone about all my drama and what i am doing in my life, but what GOD is doing in my life. I want everyone to read this and be encouraged in some form.

my major actually right now is Business, but I am going into the ministry. I pray that God will direct me in the right place to serve, but there are not gaurantees. I WANT to be a worship leader or maybe a youth Pastor, but it's not what i want.. it's what God wants.

Romans 14:23 "...anything that is not of faith is sin."
-
- i leave with that verse as an encouragement....how do we live by faith? James 1:22 says "Do not merely LISTEN to the Word, but DO what it says"
notice the bolded words... we are not to just listen to the word and just go about our lives, but actually do what it says.. thats how we live by faith.

Thank you and God Bless