Reflecting Thoughts

Academia

2007-11-06T22:17:00.000-06:00

I've been observing this past semester how our education system in America is absent of some very important facets to life, that is wisdom and understanding. We are taught knowledge and analytical thought which is important, but is not the end all that seems to be portrayed in school. It's no wonder that a high percentage of college students who were once Christians are not followers anymore or struggle with believing in God. You can't analyze faith. Faith is believing in what is not seen and with out it you can't please God as scripture says. You can't even began or have relationship with Him with out first stepping out on faith. Wisdom and understanding come from God and is so needed in our relationship with God and in life, but is cut off by our education system. This is very frustrating for me to watch in school, because is see students putting there "faith" toward the professors, resulting in becoming conditioned toward knowledge, as the only way of living. Some students don't know what they believe but will be taught to believe reason not faith which is a tragedy.
Looking at the beginning, didn't the serpent tempt Adam and Eve with knowledge! Hum! I believe our education system is subtly influence by the enemy. The serpent was declared as crafty! Although I'm not writing to bash the system but as a servant and ambassador of Christ I feel the need to make aware the issue at hand at least to my friends and if God wills address the system its self. A thought I had recently is that Church needs to bombard the education system and begin to impart wisdom to there students. Paul was very educated but considered all he learned as rubbish compared to knowing God and the wisdom which comes from Him. Yet the Lord used Paul's knowledge to debate the philosophers of his day. So in stating that knowledge through education is important but is not the end all. But a means to influence the world in a positive light. Ref. Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 11:6.

REMNANT

2007-10-31T19:20:00.000-05:00

I want to share with every one a word the Lord spoke to me on May 20^th 2005 I wrote it in my journal so here it is (The Lord spoke to me twice today strongly saying, “I'm raising up a remnant and you Ryan are a part of that remnant.”) I didn't know what it meant but it did not go away for I wrote another entry on July 10^th 2005 (This idea of the remnant being prepared is still cloudy to me but theres some verses in Isaiah that could go with this idea.) Isaiah 61 is the scripture that stuck out the most to me at that time, and is currently which I will explain later but first here are some of the passages, “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners.” This is a calling for every Christian because it was Jesus' calling. He said follow me and go make disciples. Also in Isaiah 61 I believe it refers to the remnant which says “Rename them, Oaks of Righteousness planted by God to display his glory. They'll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They'll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new. You'll hire outsiders to herd your flocks and foreigners to work your fields, but you'll have the title Priests of God, honored as ministers of our God. You'll feast on the bounty of nations, you'll bask in their glory. Because you got a double dose of trouble and than your share of contempt, Your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever. Because I,God love fair dealing and hate thievery and crime, I'll pay your wages on time and in full, and establish my eternal covenant with you. Your descendants will become well-known all over. Your children in foreign countries will be recognized at once as the people I have blessed.
Now to put some context to what I've written. About a month ago I was talking with Tim and another guy and in the conversation Tim used the word remnant. When he said that something came alive in me, a promise the Lord spoke long ago so I went home and found the journal entry and read it. Before this word remnant was a mystery to me but now I have understanding. You see God has called his remnant, I believe some are in OKC because at this present time there are believers from different churches and from different states and cities that God has called to down town OKC to serve the poor, homeless, broken, and forgotten people of OKC. The Lord is bringing us together as the CHURCH as ONE body. There are different denominations coming together as one church the way God intended. His call is simple, Love the Lord and Love People when you follow his command you wonder why were so separated over stupid little issues. But back to my point I believe that restoration has begun in OKC. The rebuilding of the old ruins is happening. Isaiah 61 is happening before our eyes. I can't tell you how privileged I am to be apart of this restoration. I know that His word shall not return void. You see I forgot about what he spoke to me two years ago but the Lord did not. I learned from this experience that when the Lord speaks write it down because it is amazing to go back and read a promise you wrote from the Lord and is now happening before your eyes.
What is the Lord saying to you? What promises has He spoken to you? His name is
Faithful and True. The Lord stands on His word. Be encouraged and believe your promise may
answered any day. His word will not return void. The Lord is full of surprises and loves to
surprise His children.

Divine Opportunity

2007-10-05T00:47:00.000-05:00

More news on the feeding homeless first it’s been a while since the last blog so I’m going to compile a few weeks altogether so week: (six-eight) to say the least it’s been a crazy adventure.
So there we are feeding homeless as always nothing out of the ordinary as far as homeless people go. And here comes Quincy a.k.a. Q, right up to me and says “hey come with me you need to meet some one another pastor you need to meet.” Buy the way he tells everyone I’m reverend Ryan I just smile (don’t like labels really, servant would better way to describe me) any ways so we walk down the street and there are two guys sitting on the curb one of the guys I don’t remember his name at the moment but the other is Tim. Now Tim is a youth pastor from California and felt called to live here in OKC. Through a series of events so he step down from his church! He is the owner of a building across from the rescue mission which is near where we server. Tim felt that this building needed to be turned into housing for poor women and children. So Q and I walk up to Tim and he just looks at me hesitantly not sure what I was up to, so I shared my heart with him about seeing this area restored. He looks at me shaking his and says “you are the fifteenth person I’ve heard today within the past eight hours say the same exact words (restoration of this city).” So currently were getting this building repaired so that people can live in it.
Now this building was once a crack house, and a whore house. Rapes were committed in there, and murders were committed in there also. It was said by some that that building has been Satan's strong hold for years. (News flash this building is no longer Satan's but Gods now.) My plan is to move into this building a begin serving even more in the community there. There are a few others interested in moving in the building so we are waiting on God to see what His plans are exactly for this place. We’ve been discussing about moving in those who want to serve first and then bring in the women and children, that way we can begin getting involved in their lives right away. Much prayer is needed if those reading feel so inclined to.
On a serious note we are serving in a very dark area spiritually. For instance just the other night we decided to go hand out sandwiches instead of cooking hot just to change it up a little. In doing so an interesting thing happened to us as we served. A man who called him self Isaiah! He seemed to be speech impaired so it was hard to understand him, we tried are best to communicate with him. As we continued on are way to feed others he began discouraging us from leaving. He acted as if what we were doing was wrong and we should stop feeding people. So I asked him what we should do to serve, he gave no answer. He wanted us to save him, “but it’s Jesus who saves,” we replied! So he said “OK I’m ready, what must I do.” I said “repent”! Here’s where it gets interesting. When I said that he laughed at me and had us follow him across the street where there was no one around. By this time my friends are ready to keep on handing out so I decide to share my testimony with Isaiah as they continue to hand out food else where. As I’m sharing my testimony I realize he could careless about my story. So I sit and think about something else to say and the parable of the lost son comes to mind so I begin to share this story and right away Isaiah starts arguing with me saying that not how the story goes. It’s at that moment that I realize he’s was a distraction sent to keep us from serving the homeless so I told him I was done talking with him and if he was around next Friday I would see him. Later that night one of my friends had a nightmare. A spiritual attack maybe?
A few days later I’m down town again with Tim and we’re talking with a homeless person who is tired of living this way and becoming receptive to the gospel. All a sudden a 24 year old guy comes and sits down near us. He seemed very angry so Tim started talking with him but he didn’t answer he just told us “you keep on praying it won’t do a damn thing” along with lots of foul language. He went on to say that his life was good and better than the rest of these mother f-ers. He then began saying he was going to Texas and when he gets back he’s going to waist all of us, (Us meaning homeless and those serving) as he had his hand in the shape of a gun. After that he walked off and the guy we were talking with said “he had never seen him like that before.”
In conclusion there is a war going on between light and dark down there and the darkness is losing to the point that threats are being made against Gods people along with distractions. I realized when that kid threatened us that I was willing to die. For the sake of Gods Kingdom established in down OKC and around the world. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to take risks even to the point of risking your life for a His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. Once again keep us in prayer it’s truly needed and appreciated. Much love to all.

The Author

2007-09-16T01:34:00.000-05:00

A story: It starts back a few years ago, A certain man had a threat made on his life for no good reason at all, so he fled the city to give the one making threats time to calm down. The man fled to his home town; little did he know the threat of death its self had followed him. When he arrived to his home town he was confronted by a group of people at least fifteen in number that wanted nothing more then to beat him down for being a different race, so they went after him with fist pounding and feet kicking all over his body as tears streamed down the mans face, he wondered why this was happening to him and afraid for his life. Amazingly the group some how were unable to put an end to this mans life. He escaped death but it was not over. As he came back to the city where he lived, death followed him but this time it was internal. He struggled with thoughts of death, thoughts of taking his own life. He had no idea where these thoughts came from but they were trying to take over.
Then one day the man meets a person who had eyes that radiated light brighter then the sun. These eyes had nothing but life shining through them; he reached out his hand to the man, and when he did his hand seemed to radiate light. The man took a closer look, his hand was pierced and where the hole was light shone through it. The man grabbed this pierced hand and gazed into the glowing eyes and at that moment life entered the man. These eyes were filled with life, the person then declared that he was the Author of Life there was no death in Him. The man wept, the presents he felt was nothing he could describe with words, death was ripped out of the man and destroyed. Why have you come, the man declared? I came because I love. Did you not know that when you reached your hand out to me you reached out with your heart as well he asked? This was an act of faith He said. It was then that life was given to you. For the life I behold is for all who reach out to me. I Am the Author of Life He declared. The man now lives free of death, full of life and love. The Author walks beside man as like a brother to this very day.

The Masses

2007-09-11T01:34:00.000-05:00

week 5: So this journey I'm on (feeding the homeless) is not what was expected and everything at the same time. My friends and I were doing the same thing cooking hot dogs sharing life together and getting to know a few homeless people at least those who like hanging around. Now some background, we set up near The City Rescue Mission which house about 300+ homeless people. We set up after the mission is closed and who ever doesn't get in by 7:00pm sleep on the streets for the night, now some homeless choose to stay out of the mission for one reason or another they call themselves campers, I've encountered about 75 campers give or take so we plan to feed about 80 homeless. Well on this particular night the fire alarm goes off at the mission so there forced out for the moment and word gets out there are hot dogs being cooked so your talking at lest 200 people come looking for food and we have maybe 60 hot dogs by that time needless to say we were out within minutes it was crazy. We had to turn most of them away but we got to meet a couple people that night. It's shocking to see 200+ homeless people it really was over whelming for me. In that moment I couldn't help but ask, Why are there so many homeless here? What is my role in putting an end to this? I see Jesus Christ in a new way. Its like I've spent all this time seeking Him in church like most of us Christians do but I now know where to find Him now. Jesus is with the broken. Jesus is with the forgotten. Jesus is with the homeless. Jesus is with the hungry, Jesus is with the widow, Jesus is with the orphan and when I'm with those people I see Him at work. Jesus becomes tangible to me Its hard to describe its like I get to touch Him when I shake hands or hug those people out on the streets. In closing, Where can Jesus be found tangible in your life?

BEAUITY AMONG THE MESS

2007-08-27T22:57:00.000-05:00

I decide to share my journey currently here in OKC. A few of us who are a part of Mars Hill have decided to feed the homeless about 4 weeks ago in downtown Oklahoma City on Friday nights so here's some stories I have to share with you. First of all we just bring a Weber grill some hot dogs, cold water, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The first week: we had no idea where to set up the grill so we just picked a spot that we thought would be a good place and out of nowhere a man by the name of Quincy a.k.a. Q some how knew what we were up to as if he expected us to come and told us where to set up which turned out to be awesome, we ended up feeding about 35-40 people but at the end of that night I was perplexed about this man Q who I decided was an angel sent to show us the way.

Week two: I meet a man named Nate who was passing through town he was an older man but had a hard dark past Nate said early in his marriage his wife committed suicide which sent him down a path of hard drugs and proclaimed he died a few times of an over dose but was revived, Nate said after a the second time he died he came to the Lord and knows God has a plan for him just can't pen point it in his life, I believe his testimony is something he needs to share every where he goes.

Week three: Quincy came back which foiled my idea that he was an angel but none the less he's probably one of the most enthusiastic people I've meet, and knows the people on the streets, so he's a great help for us. Q took me to the people to see where they hung around to get them familiar with me and I with then, the homeless are vary timid towards unfamiliar people so Q is bridging the gap between us I'm hoping that the homeless will begin to trust us and they are slowly. By the third week were feeding around 55-70 people some come and go some hang around and are very thankful and happy there teaching me a lot in light of faith and gratitude.

Week four: This night was the most heart breaking for me because we encountered a mother and four young children ranging from 4-8 in age who luckily had a place to stay but homeless none the less I personally had to walk away for a minute because I was about to burst out in tears. With all the wealth in the world our children deserve better, in fact not a single person on Gods' green earth should be going to bed hungry there is enough money and food to go around for all. So in closing, I ask the Church what we are doing about the forgotten, homeless, & marginalized people of your city and around the world?

Living among awkwardness

2007-08-27T22:44:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, and for the rest of you I am back in school at OSU-OKC, I just completed my first week of school. I decided to blog about my recent observation which includes me too. I was sitting in the eating area on the first day waiting for my next class to start, and everyone was sitting at the tables by them selves which can have at least eight people around them, and everyone is looking at each other and the question came to mind, what happened to us through the years that made us so isolated from one another and brought that awkward feeling, because if we accept it or not we’re all curious about one another but nobody wants to initiate conversation though in fear of rejection or something. I remember when I was young I could talk to everyone, I wasn’t shy or afraid of anybody, so what is it? Is it a culture thing? Are we really afraid of that other person?
So personally I made a point to walk up to someone didn’t know and it was awkward but once you get through that awkwardness it’s not so bad, but does it have to be awkward? Can we live open and fearless? I guess through my journey I’ll hopefully get the answers. Maybe some of you have the same questions. Maybe some of you don’t have that problem. Comments are welcome I’d love to hear them or some questions you have as well. Much love to all