Mahalo - Thank you

I keep a small piece of orange string tied around my finger to remind me of something. It may be an old-timer practice but it works. The color orange has been identified by many people as the color of freedom. 

check out: How do you wear orange?

I wear this string around my finger to remind myself of the freedom that I have been given through Christ. 

God tells His people five times in the book of Deuteronomy , "Remember you were once slaves in Egypt." In each case, God is using the reminder to motivate them to obey Him. Remembering our bondage should allow us to appreciate our freedom so much more and should motivate us to care for  those still in bondage. 

When I speak of freedom, by no means am I speaking of our American freedoms. Here in our country, the reality is, we are the home of the brave and the land of the people who are in bondage to their freedoms. The very freedoms we glory in, end up enslaving us to the point that it's all we can think of. "Heaven forbid that my freedom of privacy is ever violated." it's not the end of the world. 

I'm talking about the spiritual bondage that we have all been enslaved in. This depraved condition takes over us and enslaves not only what we do, but how we think. Remembering this spiritual condition and the freedom you have received, should motivate us to see others be set free. Remembering the slavery I was once in, compels me to be obedient to Christ's call to reach the world with the gospel. 

Happy Birthday!!

So on Wednesday the 28th of April, I will be 22 years old. Wikipedia describes the number 22 this way:            
Twenty-two is an even composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2 and 11. 22 is the sixth discrete semi-prime and the fourth in the (2.q) family. With 21 it forms the second discrete semiprime pair.There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.In Australian rules football there are 22 players on each team, comprising a starting 18, and 4 bench players.

I want to add a passage from scripture that I want to make a reality this year. 

Psalm 22:22, " I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you."

How cool would it be to constantly have this mindset that "I exist to make God's name known to everyone I come in contact with"? That's what I desire to do for the rest of my life. 

This is what's going on

Hey everyone, I hope Christmas and New Years was enjoyable for you all and a great time of relaxation and fellowship. Christmas break has been really good overall but there’s been a consistent rollercoaster of hopes surrounding going back to school. This past year I’ve been attending New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson Michigan where I’ve been studying God’s word intensively in their Bible program. It’s been a great time of getting into the word and challenging my thinking and worldview. Last semester was a struggle with finances and I saw God work incredibly to provide the funds that I needed to stay at school. Over Christmas break it’s been an interesting time trying to see how God is working things out. I was offered another position at my job at the Salvation Army here in Jackson that is better pay and more hours, but even with that I still wouldn’t have all the money that I would need for school. So right now the plan is to commute to work from home (maybe do a little couch surfing) and work for the spring and summer and save up and return to school in the fall and finish the Bible program. Please pray that God will work this all out because I have a tendency to try to take control. I’m excited to see how God works things out in the coming months. Love you all. Grace and Peace

Need Urgent Prayer

This whole semester has been a huge growing process in so many ways. Right now I am wrestling with the possibility of returning home in the middle of the school year because of finances. I am still behind on my payments to the school which will run into about $860 starting in November. Within the next week, I will need to come up with enough money to catch me up on these payments or I may have to return home. I have been blessed to have a job here in Jackson for around 12 hours a week but it’s still not quite enough to cover school payments. Please pray that God will provide what He has promised. Whether that means going back home and continuing on with ministry there in my home community or remaining here at Bible school. One of the biggest struggles is dealing with my own pride. I always want to seem like I am stable and self sufficient and I let it get in the way of depending on God for His awesome provision for every aspect of my life. Please pray for His provision and His humility to be displayed in my life.
-- His, cody

Salvation So Great

Christ came to give life and provide us with freedom; not just freedom from Hell but freedom from the bondage of sin and this world. Watch this video

Greetings from Jackson!!

Life is good here in fast-action-Jackson. Classes are continually showing me God’s Word and it’s chewing up my worldview and transforming my thinking. Some days after class I feel like I’ve gone through a meat grinder and I just sit there as a bloody, mangled pile of spoiled hamburger. Only by grace through faith in Christ do I have any real hope. So that’s classes. School life is great as well. I’m part of the student leadership here at school on the campus life team. It’s been a really neat opportunity to get to know a lot of the other students better and grow along with them. I’m also in the chapel band. This picture is of us playing in the auditorium. We have music in some of our chapels during the week and about once a month we have a music chapel that is completely just worship music. I’m growing in my musical abilities as well as my understanding of what corporate worship really is. It’s so much more than just singing, but a response to God with our whole being for what God has already done and for who He is.