Prosperity Gospel

This is the hope of the world: Jesus, not America, not prosperity, but Jesus, and His strength in us, His life in us, His love in us.

Obama & World Poverty

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

-President Barack Obama, Inaugural Address

[quote from The One Blog]

I was blown away by his passion for world poverty and helping those around the world. I don’t believe I have ever heard a president speak in this way, and it is quite amazing.

If you would like to send President Obama a personal message of thanks for his position on Global Poverty and Hunger, visit one.org!

To read more of President Obama’s Inaugural Address, go here!

a desire of a man

So I don’t make many posts of just talking about my life. So here it goes…

It’s been a good couple of weeks, in and out of myself, traveling, searching, loving. I am just kind of stuck in a rut, it seems sometimes… other times, I am so uber excited about life, and what is to come. 

One thing that has been on my mind lately is money… I work at Chick-fil-a, and it is O.K. money, but I know I can’t do that for the rest of my life, and I don’t really want too… What I would really LOVE to do, as I’m sure most people do, is travel, travel, travel. It is hard to do that these days though, and actually be able to eat… I know that I am called to be a missionary, a good father (but not just to my own children, but as a spiritual father for God’s purposes…), an blogger, a videographer (but not for money), and of course, as I have mentioned, a world traveler; I want to make a difference in this world. I’d love to start a mission to help people around the world, in poverty, with disease, help get people out of slavery, being a father, love, be affectionate towards, and be compassionate to the world, giving up of myself to those who need God, and who need to be encouraged. I have been told I am going to be a man who blesses, lives with, or is helpful towards, the most insignificant people of the world. And with all my heart, I want what God wants for me, I know that is this. I feel it all within my bones, within my eyes, within my mind, within my gut, the utmost parts of my body, and my heart (which is the most strong). I desire so much to live with God, be with God, loving Him, being with Him, being best friends, and loving others while I love God. I want it with all that I am, I could cry for years, for eternity, if I don’t do it. If I don’t strive for these things, I know I will cry for eternity. 

So as I live in this moment, day by day, striving to be the person God wants me to be, messing up, confessing my sinful ways, and loving those around me in intricate ways, ways I hope no one else has loved before. It is as if I will burst, blow, die if I don’t do what I know God wants to do through me, in me. I have to do it. 

Pray for me, that all these things, my flesh mostly, that make me fall, that make me fail, leave, and I find strength in God. 

With tears, many tears, I ask for you to pray for me, that God will be in me, and I will be in Him, and that I will do what He does, what He desires, what His heart longs for. Thats all I want. 

 

And in these final moments of this day,

I know what I must do.

I must pray, I must earnestly pray,

for God’s mercy,

for God’s grace,

for God’s forgiveness of this broken state,

I must earnestly pray,

pray, pray,

for His return to me,

for my return to Him,

for the end of myself has come,

at the end of this day,

and for it all to never come back.

Video interview to come…

So yesterday evening, I went over to my friend John Poole’s place. Earlier that day we had talked about creating a video for him and his trip to Australia coming up (Sunday)… So on the way to his house, I got some footage of his everyday life: him smiling, laughing… when we got to his house, I interviewed him about how his relationship with God is now and where it is going, and where are you going anyways? What are you doing there?… That sort of stuff…

I am uber excited about it, and I can’t wait to show you guys! It should be ready by tomorrow sometime… trying to get it out before he leaves on Sunday or Monday… 

So keep your eye out for my first interview with John Poole about his upcoming trip to Australia, and the world!  

-Stephen