WOW! The past few weeks have been crazy busy. Not a whole lot of time recently to post so I'll just catch ya'll up from last weekend (March 24-26). Friday the 24th Reverend Hale, Allen Ingram and I went to Myrtle Beach to see Audio Adrenaline. Rev. has the hookup at the beach so we stayed in a condo really close to the beach and it was awesome! Audio Adrenaline is my favorite Christian band ever! During the concert, they did Big House. This just happens to be an amazing song and each time they do it, Mark Stuart (lead singer) always goes through the crowd and lets the audience sing part of the song. Of course, with this being an Audio Adrenaline concert, EVERYONE rushed the stage at the beginning. Everyone in my row except me, rev., A-man, & 2 old people on the end of our row was up front (and by the way, it is so cool to see old folks at an AudioA concert. All I kept saying to myself was, "Man, it would be so cool to be up there interacting with them! Anyways, back to Big House. During the song, Mark Stuart came down my row & started to sing to another old lady in the row behind mine. He then proceeded to come towards me while walking on top of the arm rest in the auditorium! He reached down and gave me a five & shoved the mic in my face for me to sing part of the song! It made my night. He skipped Allen & Rev. got to sing too! This is probably the last time I'll ever get to see my favorite band ever in concert so I will definitely cherish these memories. Here is a pic of Audio Adrenaline totally rockin' out!
On Saturday morning we got up and met Jonathan's old youth leader, Kim, for breakfast. She is so funny. After breakfast we all went running on the beach. The wonder of all that God has made NEVER ceases to amaze me! The ocean is so beautiful & being able to experience everything with close friends is unbelieveable! After we went running I talked the guys into getting into the ocean with me (& the dum-dums actually did it with me). Do any of ya'll realize how cold the ocean is this time of year? Rev. wasn't gonna go all the way in until a wave nocked him down him down (haha Rev.). Allen went in to his waist and ran back to the beach (what a wimp--joking) and me, I was out in the water DIVING in the waves! The few people on the beach were standing there saying, "Look at that idiot!", I was standing in the water (shivering of course) saying, "Yes, I'm an idiot!" On the way home we stopped in Tabor City and had lunch with some of Jonathan's friends (my new friends too!). Jonathan is extremely directionally challenged so of course we got lost A LOT and as a result, let's just say we spend a lot of quality time with each other.
This past weekend, we had S.P.A.M. (sundays pretty awesome meeting)! Jonathan did an amazing Easter message on the cross. What Jesus did for us on the cross was amazing and no greater love has ever of will ever be shown to mankind. It really doesn't make a lot of sense that a perfect Jesus would come to an imperfect world, live among sinners, live a perfect life, die a criminals death on a cross and pay for the sins of the entire world with his blood! Not only that but, 3 days later, he conquered death to give us eternal life! Wow! Born a refugee, executed a criminal, resurrected Savior & Lord! God really used Jonathan to speak to the youth and all of our friends. I am so thankful for him and the constant encouragement and support he provides for me and the rest of the youth group.
Tomorrow night I get to speak to the youth group. I was supposed to help teach at the lock-in on Friday but I'm gonna be out of town. If anyone knows me, they probably know I am extremely passionate about the persecuted church and the witness they have for Jesus. I can only pray that I would be so brave if I was ever in a situation like that. If anyone is interested, you can check out www.persecution.com. This is the website of the persecuted church and such an eye opener. The world, especially America, really needs to wake up and realize that serving Christ is really the only way to live a truly satisfying life. It's about time we start taking the Great Commision seriously and not just look at it as the Great Suggestion (see Matthew 28:16-20). Please pray that I get the message across to the youth about how important serving Christ really is (I'll post the study later). After I speak we will be putting together some action packs for the persecuted.
Now for the really big news. My trip out west to Arizona and Colorado to minister to the Hopi and Navajo Indian Nations is THIS WEEKEND! I am so nervous and so excited and ready to see God move in a mighty way. It will be an amazing trip and I know God will use everyone participating awesomely (i think that's a word)! Well, I'll post ya'll later. BE REAL, SERVE THE KING!!!
in HIS grip,
craig <><
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