LP 2012

It is already my last week here at the leadership project and i feel as though time has just shot by. Yet in this short amount of time God has truly been able to do "Far more Abundantly than all that i could Think and Ask." I want to thank all of you that have been praying for me and that have supported me financially this summer i could not have learned the things i did if it were not for you. You all have blessed me so much and i can not wait to bring the Lords vision for my life back to Western. Some prayer request for this week are:
A strong finish
That Lp would not just be a season of spirituality but a life style.
Faith to trust in the Lord with the rest of my finances
And a passion that can not be put out for the Lord.

Thank you,
Love
Ryan

Vision Revealed

This week has been a roller coaster ride...but not one of the fun fast looping ones. It has been one of those roller coasters that simple suck! It does not go that fast it feels like at any second one of the old rusty wheels will break lose. It smells like butt and its nauseating gyrations are made more uncomfortable by the dried over vomit and chewing gum caked on its side. But in the midst of this wild ride my eyes were opened to something bigger and better in the distance. In the dips and turns i had lost sight of it but in my apex i could not keep my eyes off of it. This weekend God removed some of the flesh covering over my eyes and gave me a glimpse of true vision. I have realized that God Is SO much bigger and better than me and the things i can do. HE does not need to proclaim his word or sing praises to him for if i was to keep my mouth shut the rocks and trees and creation would shout GLORY TO GOD. These things i view as chores, qualifications and responsibilities were all wrapped up in darkness behind the flesh of my eyes. I had been failing to see this whole time. Caught in the imagination what i thought reality was. There was something in the way of what i wanted to see. and that something was me. For vision is blind behind closed eyes. God be my vision lead my steps to a path that follows you and continue to open my eyes so that i can see the vision that you have for my life.

Dear Miss Sadie Hawkins

This week was sadie hawkins week which means that all of the guys prepared a skit for the girls and then the ladies chose what room they want to date based off the skits. Our skit was a lot of fun and we ended up getting picked by Julie Smith's room. The date they had planned was incredible. We were told to dress in 80's apparel . Decked out in neon, head bands and high socks the girls cooked us dinner then drove us to our surprise date. After much driving and confusion we ended up at the worlds sketchiest skating rink. We entered into a modern day version of "The Lord of the Fly's" Kids were everywhere and adults were no where to be found. Immediately we were attacked with high pitched profanities and physical aggression. These kids were the rulers of this rink and we had clearly intruded their stomping grounds. As we began to skate the minions became like hundreds of little roller skating terrorists. We were tripped, punched, flicked off and mocked. They tried their darnest to bring us down and break us but they could not stop the boogie! We danced, fell and sang our way into their hearts. Slowly but surely they start to open up to us and even dress like us. Soon enough they no longer refused us but welcomed us and even wanted to be us. Chaos and disorder had fled and and music and dancing had taken its place. The gospel was shared, kids were being prayed for, numbers exchanged and bonds were built up. A mini revival had taken place on the roller rink that night and it was here that we realized. The missions field is here! Kids are looking for a good role model, they want instruction and order. Some one to show that they care enough to help them reach their highest potential. And until our generation can step up and lead out,  these younger kids will continue to look to the world as its example. Although foreign missions  are definitely needed and encouraged i feel like we miss the fact that there are lost people all around us as well. This poem gives insight to this problem.

LOST and ALONE

"I see a world longing to be found

Filled with glimpses and hints of something profound

So easily this emptiness weighs them down

They've tried to fill it by raising up crowns

Sadly they realize they've raised nothing but clowns

 Continuing to retreat to their empty ghost towns.

And to those that see more than flesh and bone

the ones who realize that we arent alone

Often we travel to a foreign land

thinking this is the only place to carry out God's Command

But the lost are here too, disguised as the found

Alone in flesh, dead, waiting to be placed in the ground

So how can the be found is no one is searching

Looking for hearts that are broken where sin is lurking.

In the shadows we should shine our light 

Seeking the lost and misguided, 

calling them to a Father whose love is abiding

Near and far you can find the Lost and Alone

So dont cease to reach out in love and call them home."

Independence Day

When i take a step back and evaluate my life i can not help but see Gods redeeming love pouring over me. From the blessing of a family that will press me to the Lord to a public college that has challenged me to grow in ways i never thought possible. God indeed is good and through His grace i have been saved. As that thought becomes more and more a reality i fall deeper and deeper in love with the creator of this universe. Because of his strength through me i was able to lead my room in a way that pointed them to the cross. However this last two weeks i got the idea that i was doing this all on my own and our rooms success was because of me and the things i have done. And the moment i got that thought in my head God brought me back to a place where i can do nothing but rely on Him. He is my strength and where i find success. All of my righteous deeds are like filthy rags but in him i can do all things. Psalms 146:5 says "blessed is he whose help is the God of jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God." This is my one and only prayer for this week, i pray that God will be my help and my rooms help and that we will realize that God is the only place we find strength without him we are worthless broken men damned to eternal fire. Thank you all for your prayers and support! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!

Pain in the butt

This last week has been difficult yet truly rewarding each day i feel as though i die more to myself and rely more on God. It is a hard and painful process but it is eye opening. Work has gotten a lot better for the guys in my room which is awesome we have all had better attitudes and are realizing that we work for the Lord and not for man which is definitely is a much larger incentive especially  when we look at the old testament and see what elijah did to those prophets of baal and what God did with the Israelites. Another new discovery this week is that i have a butt cist. Technically it is a spinal cist but it sends alot of pain to the booty region. After much violation and extremely cold hands i recieved good news and some bad news. The good is it is not a cist that has reached skin level and the bad news is that it has the possibility of getting worse and moving into my stomach where i will need butt stomach cist surgery. So some butt prayers would be greatly appreciated because it feels like a broken tail bone right now and sitting down has become quite the process of positioning.

Prayer Victories:
Work has definitely become more rewarding and everyone seems to have a lot more energy and willingness to work hard.

Prayer requests:
As LP reaches half way point i pray that we can all maintain our energy levels and that this passion will stay ignited after LP. I especially lift up Josh Johnson as he will be leaving in a little over a week to go back to school i pray that he will just soak up as much as he can now. I would also like to lift up Danny Ross, that he will stay encourged in the Word after the Cross Cultures Project and that he will have safe travels and will really be able to reflect on his trip and taste and see how good God is and has been.

Deadly snakes and twenty Bucks!

So Lp is definitely about growing closer to the Lord but it is also about doing really cool manly things...such as slaughter a deadly snake. This story begins on our day off when chris, kendal and I went hunting with some other guys on project armed with nothing but knives, instinct and facial hair we set out to kill a wild boar. We stumbled upon a watering hole where we saw tons of tracks and pig dump. As we were following tracks i spotted a lone beaver asking to be made into a hat and a delicious meal. He however happened to be a magic beaver that could disappear but as chris went to go inspect what looked like a beaver home he jumped and whipped out his knife and readied it for attack. He told me he saw a huge snake so kendal and i encouraged him to kill it. He swung at it but the snake got away and swam to the middle of the water. I was on the other end of this half pond half river when the snake and i made eye contact. after an eerie pause the snake jolted towards me. I was standing on a slippery log surrounded be quick sand so the option of running was immediately shut down i grabbed a stick and prepared for battle. The beast and i never lost eye contact as he slithered in front of my log and prepared to strike. Fangs showing and in position to kill, he made his move. As he struck i came down with a heavy hand and smashed his face with the stick. I motioned towards the seemingly lifeless beast when with a quick snap he struck again this time i did not cease to beat the snakes face in until i was sure it was dead. we brought our kill back and found out it was a cotton mouth so we skinned it, cleaned it and then ate it to celebrate our victory. It was a great bonding moment between men. As for the twenty bucks  well that is a less complicated story. I found twenty bucks at the bottom of the pool!

Prayer Victories This Week:
I have really been uplifted with alot more energy and God has really been helping me and the guys get through work with a good attitude. We have also opened up a lot as a room during our time of confession with each other. We have realized that the honey moon version of lp is over and we are strong enough to get through it as long as we give it all to God.

Prayer Request:
That God will give us a hunger for his word and a true understanding or realization of his grace, and through realize just how lost we were before Christ. Also that we will continually work hard at work and be a witness to everyone we come in contact with. And for me i just pray that my support will all come in, it has been slowly coming in and i just need the faith to believe that God will Take care of it.

Feeling the Heat

I have finished my first week of work and meetings and fun and let me tell you this junk is hard. Zaxbys is awesome but by far the hardest job i have ever worked! we work 8 hrs with no break and if we are lucky Elvin our boss man will let us eat some food. Besides that everything is going really well just hard so i could definitely use some prayer in having energy and excitement to learn!