johnwyatt.cc

One Day Without Shoes

I like Tom's. It's a great cause!  It's been great going shoeless today, although I cannot bring myself to go barefoot to the restrooms here at the office. :)

College Life Message Podcast

What up, blogospheromaniacs?!  I love making up new words that include "blog" and "blogosphere."  Totally tubular.

Just added to the sidebar: the College Life Podcast!!

That's right, now you can grab your favorite messages from me and the other College Life Jesus freaks right here on johnwyatt.cc!  You can also pick it up through this link.

Soon to come: itunes, baby! AWWW YEAH!!

PJW

Childhood Dreams

What did you want to be when you grew up?  Man, I wanted to be a ROCK STAR.  Yep, a full-on Heavy Metal Monster!

  

One thing that turned me in that direction was the lifestyle of the TV rockers.  L.A. in the 80's was gnarly, and the whole thing was played out live on MTV.  It was lascivious and over-the-top: sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.  As soon as I saw it, I picked up a guitar and made plans to move to Hollywood to get a piece of the action.

 

Something was happening in my life which made me so desire that lifestyle for myself: Man, I was a wounded pup.  Lots of hurt in my heart for various reasons. 

 

After I got saved, I put my guitars down forever.  I thought I’d never play again.  Then, one day, God told me to pick one up and praise Him.  It was a glorious transformation.  He redeemed my musical ability, but removed the hurtful desires of my flesh. God REFINED my childhood dreams, so I could bring Him glory!

 

Here's a killer Scripture: Psalm 37:4 'Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.'  Before I began to delight in the Lord, my desire was decadence.  Now, my desire is to connect young people to Jesus.  That didn't come from within!  God planted it into me.  When my heart got aligned with His, He gave me HIS hearts' desire!

Has your dream been through the Refiner’s Fire?  As Christians, we have got to let God do this.  He can remove the dreams that are leftover from our time B.C.  Then, He will plant His dream into our hearts!  WAY BETTER!!

 

Today, instead of leading a headbanging throng into an indulgent lifestyle, I'm leading a Generation in the Name of Jesus.  As a young man in Ohio, there is NO WAY I would ever have seen that coming...

 

Not in my wildest dreams!

 

Check back shortly for the mp3 download of this message from College Life on 7/16/08!

Exploring College Ministry

Ben Hines, who authors the blog www.exploringcollegeministry.com, stopped by at College Life for a visit last night.

Ben is a killer guy.  He's travelling the country, surveying college ministries in action.  His hope is to help those of us with ministries to College Students become more effective by sharing what he learns along the way!

Check out his blog and some of the stuff he's come across!

Selena

[I posted this on the Celebration Missions blog site...check out the rest of the Costa trip entries and some great pictures at fromthefield.wordpress.com!]

Our team was going door-to-door today in the neighborhood of Aurora, praying and giving away gifts. A little boy led us to a house where he knew there was a woman who was sick. As we entered the house, we learned that the woman’s name was Selena, and that she had been sick in her bed for five years.We gathered around her in her tiny room, framed out in termite-infested wood, and began to pray. Though we prayed in English, the Name of Jesus is the Name above all Names, and could be heard echoing though the small barrio alleyway.

Our team prayed with the kind of unbridled faith that sets captives free. The kind of boldness that comes from knowing that our God hears us when we pray. Selena began to pray in the Spirit along with us. As we prayed and I watched what God was doing, I was absolutely convinced that at any moment she would jump up out of her bed!

We all started to cry as we came to the realization that, despite the language barrier, we were, at that moment, completely in agreement for Jesus, the King, to come and heal her body. As we left, Selena was still in her bed, but her face was radiant.

I can still hear her voice, conversing with God in tongues unknown to man.

Then, we moved on to the next tiny tin home.

College Life Costa Trip

WORD!

In Costa Rica again this week with our team from College Life!

We'll be building a feeding center at the local community center, roofing a young family's house, hosting cookouts in some gnarly neighborhoods, teaching english classes, and playing with kids in the streets! 

It's Semana Santa, Holy Week, and the country is a blur of action!

Check out the celebration missions blog for continuous updates: www.fromthefield.wordpress.com!!

Thanks for your prayers!

jw

Should Christians Be Involved in Politics?

Whoa! This was a hot topic at College Life. My goal was not to answer the question in my 10-minute window, but to challenge our students to think about their opinions and actions.

I believe that Christians Should Vote I extrapolated this from the Scriptures:

Proverbs 14:34: "Righteousness exalts a nation."

o Our public leaders choose our public policies and enact them, good  and/or bad.

 Proverbs 29:2: "When the righteous rule, the people rejoice (and) when the wicked rule, the people groan."

o In our country, the People (including us) are charged with electing our ‘rulers’.

 1Peter 2:13 “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority [figure] instituted among men…”

o We get to pick ‘em, but even if our guy doesn’t win, we have to obediently live under their authority.

 

I do NOT believe that Political processes are to be our primary concern.   This is debatable, even within the church. Some Church leaders would argue that it’s our obligation to defend people and creation from political terrors. Easy examples: Genocide, hunger, legalized abortion and environmental issues.  These things are brutal attacks on the things which God values.  And, they have solutions that include political activism.

However, politicians decide what is legal, NOT what is right. Spiritual problems are at the ROOT of these political issues. Why do these atrocities happen? The hearts of people are filled with sin. That sin bears fruit: genocide, hunger, legalized abortion and environmental issues. There are no political solutions to spiritual problems.

I believe we need to find a balance for our time: meeting social needs as The Body, and leveraging our numbers to help resolve political turmoil. What does balance look like?

We should vote.

We should take up causes like defending the oppressed.

o Only do what you are called to do!

We MUST do it all in love, in the Name of Jesus.

o 1Cor 16:14: “Do everything in Love.”

o 1 Cor 13:1-3: Don’t be a clanging cymbal!

Our call is to minister the Love of Christ to people’s needs:

o Spiritual Need (they need a Savior!)

o Emotional Need (they need a Friend!)

o Physical Need (they need food, shelter)

 

While lasting freedom and peace will only come with Jesus’ return, we honor God and promote Jesus when we do what we can.

CL Beach Invasion

College Life invaded the BEACH INVASION on Sunday afternoon!

Beach Invasion is Celebration's outreach to the homeless in Jax Beach.  Pastor Wade leads the team every Sunday afternoon.  They do an incredible job!!  Praise GOD!!

Every week, the Invasion provides AWESOME food (chix, rice, beef, deserts...it smelled so good to my fasting-heightened sense of smell!), fellowship, clothes, prayer and compassion at 4PM in Happy Stefano's Pizza's upper room.

What a great opportunity to hear the stories behind the faces of guys like Tom, Michael, and Rich, whom I met on Sunday.  They are struggling, and they need a hand.  What an honor to serve them with the hand of Jesus!

Check for pix to come.

Get plugged in through the Celebration Outreach website, or at an outreach near you!  You WILL be glad you did. 

At no time are we acting more like Jesus than when we are serving those in need!

jw

Deep 07

The Girls and I were amped to help with the first ever College Life retreat: DEEP 07!

We were at Southwind in Central Florida for an awesome time of getting to know one another, and spending time pressing into God!

Sunday night kicked off officially with an extended time of worship and prayer.  We spent a long time pressing in, petitioning God to move in our hearts and the areas where we minister: the Universities, our workplaces, the beaches.  We were challenged to commit to intercession, from the Word in 2Chronicles 7:14:

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. "

And to go with boldness and confidence in the annointing of the Holy Spirit to preach the Love of Jesus, from Acts 2:17-18:

‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

In our morning session, Pastor Corey showed us that a Deep relationship with God is a function of Consistency in our walks, and encouraged us with ways to build that consistency.

We ended the day by creating a "monument" to remember this time with God.  We wrote letters to ourselves "from God," reminding us of what He stirred up in our hearts this weekend.

I personally left the weekend super stoked and refreshed!  Praise the Lord!

Check out pics from the retreat on the College Life Facebook site!

Relationships...AWWW YEAH!!

Tonight, we'll be discussing relationships at College Life.  God is all about relationships.  Our relationship to Him.  Our relationship to others.  Relationships iz good!

Tonight, you'll have a chance to tell the story of your best friends and most awesome experiences with them!  AWWW YEAH!  Then, I have the distinct privilege of sharing from the WORD what God thinks about relationships!

See ya there: 9PM at Celebration Midtown.  Click the College Life link to the right for directions or more info!

jw