God Is Alive In Us

Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 
He alone is to be magnified and praised with the tongue that we have been given.
May His breath, the breath of life be breathed out of us as we speak to others about our living God.
In the book of Acts, Saul breathed out threats against Christians...
We are to breath out LIFE, the living Word, God's word, to those who are spiritually dying due to a lack of God's word.  The Bible is God Breathed.  Let us partake in breathing life into others!
Praise God.

Romans 5

Praise God :)

Here's a good word from the Holy Scriptures...

Romans 5 (UPPER case letters are there to emphasis a word or more)

Therefore (everything previously stated in the book)
being justified (also known as when God looks at us "Just as If i'd      never sinned")
By Faith
we have peace
with God
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.

By whom ALSo,
we have access
BY Faith
INTO This grace
wherein we stand.

And rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so,
but we GLORY in tribulations also:
Knowing (having the right "kingdom seeking, righteousness seeking" mindset)
that tribulation worketh (works) patience;
and patience, experience;
and experience, hope.

And hope maketh (makes us) not ashamed;
BECAUSE
the love of God
IS shed abroad
in our hearts
BY
the Holy Ghost

which is given unto us.

Praise God :)

Volleyball

Heiskell's first volleyball season ended today.  After qualifying for the semifinals, we lost two games to Faith Lutheran, who beat us earlier in the season.  We thanked Jesus as a team after the game anyway.

1 Thessalonians 5:18  "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  

If any of you had the privilege to see how much improvement all of the volleyball girls have made over the past month, you probably would not believe it.  The Heiskell Eagles had an amazing season and I look forward to the next one. 

The Junior High Retreat

The Spirit of the Lord moved in many ways on our Junior High trip.  As we sacrificed our time to pray for all those attending our school, we finished by praying outloud for one another.  Prayer and praising go hand and hand; so after our time of prayer, which lasted nearly 45 minutes, we spent another 45 minutes or so praising God.  Voices were lifted high and tamberines were shaking as we came down from the hilltop where we glorified the Lord. 

Soccer, football, volleyball and badminton were the main sports played on the retreat, and everyone had a blast.  Students who found it hard to encourage others ended up speaking positive words to those they normally don't talk to.  The Bible studies that we heard were convicting and relevant to our day.  One huge message was that even if people seek to do things right in their own eyes, it can still be wrong and it can still be sin.  We want the Lord to reveal to us what HE wants us to do, not what we THINK He wants us to do.  There are great consequences for doing things our own way, and there are great blessings for accomplishing that which the Lord has asked us to do. 

Thank you for all your prayers; the Lord cleansed us and gave us new insights about who He is and what He is doing.  Hallelujah.

Volleyball for God's Glory

Howard School hosted our second to last volleyball game this afternoon.  Thursday, September 29th at 4:30pm is our last home game.  Playing volleyball is a lot of fun and when you play for the Lord. God makes the games more exciting after praying with both teams.  We lost the first game, won the second game, and the third game we won 15 to 13.

Sometimes we know in our hearts and minds that we are to do all things for God's glory, but every once in a while, we need a reminder. 

1...2...3... GOD'S GLORY!
(one of our cheers to end a huddle after a timeout)
 
After all, that is what Heiskell is all about.

THE CENTER AND FOCUS OF OUR HEART

Prayer

Prayer is what has changed hundreds and thousands of lives at Heiskell school. Prayer is what moves mountains that are blocking people from seeing the glory of the Lord. Prayer is what happens when you can not talk to the individual at a specific time. Prayer is what is needed for us to experience the movement of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is what changed my family and me Prayer is what will change your family and you.

Please continue to pray. The Lord knows we are thankful for those of you who already do!

Hallelujah!

If you are not sure what to pray, or how to pray, read the psalms out loud and change them into personal prayers for yourself.

School is AMAZING!

One way to keep a Christian going is by having a mindset of praise and thanks.

Lord, I thank you for school!
Lord, I praise you for what you are going to do this year!
Lord, I thank you for these precious gifts and I praise you for your Holy Spirit that is already changing hearts!

Philippians 2:14 says "Do all things without complaining or arguing".
Wake up in the morning and praise the Lord! We get the privilege that others do not have which is going to school and learning! Thank you Jesus.


1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether then you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God".

Round Two

This morning, twenty six people are going to come to the mission from the United States, mainly from a church in Arkansas.  At the end of last year, Allison, Michelle and I went to a revival service with Pastor Rick at the church in Arkansas and gave our testimonies.  After the services we prayed for people and there were many people who received healing from the Lord.  This will be our second group and we start quickly by going to a church tonight.  Tomorrow, the 20th and the 22nd are the only evenings we do not have churches! 

The time with the other five interns this past week has been a great time of intimate bible study, worship and opening up to one another about past experiences.  One thing lacking in the church today is real fellowship.  What I mean by this is brothers and sisters in Christ actually talking about their struggles and their victories, their deep wounds from the past and their vision for the future.  We are to fulfil the law of Christ by bearing one anothers burdens, we are to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and we are to press on towards the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  Allow others to open up to you and open up to others so that the love of Christ can be shown to you through them and so that you can experience the love of Christ through them towards you.  Sitting in front of a television screen making very shallow conversation will not allow you, nor the other people to see the real love of Christ.  Accept people and help them get past their past!  Love them no matter what they have done! 

More pictures will be uploaded to Rick's Blog later this week or early next week.
http://www.latterain.com/

I LOVE YOU ALL!

End of School, Beginning of Summer

The Lord is so wonderful.  Thank you Lord for all you do.  You are great and greatly to be praised.

Today is my eight day in Brazil.  The Holy Spirit has been convicting and healing hearts almost every night.  Each morning is packed with about two and a half hours of Bible study after a number of worship and praise songs.  Yesterday we took clothes into the hills and mothers with their infant babies came out to get clothes.  Today we saw the families and people who came through the line for food that they receive each week.  One of the older women I saw a few days ago and I prayed for her for a few minutes and then when we saw each other it was exciting...  she grabbed my hand and kissed it! 

Tonight we will go to our sixth church.  Sunday mornings church was so powerful and the first person I prayed for, we wept.  As I left go of her, there was another one wanting me to pray for them.  I prayed and cried and then another one.  God was pouring out His love upon the people at the church and myself included.  Two or three people prayed for me as well. 

If we dont go to church at night, we normally have another two or so hours of praise and worship and Bible study.  It is great when the body comes together and voices their pains and struggles and we pray for each other. 

Please pray for strength as we continue to be filled up and then pour out Gods love to these beautiful Brazilians.  We Love You!!!

The end of the year...

To wrap up the last week of school, most of our classes had the opportunity to practice their dodge ball skills by playing against one other person.  The competitive side of students was seen as they chose which friend to battle against.  Each student also received a folder with exercises and scriptures that they learned during the year. 

Allison and I are flying to Brazil tomorrow and will be there until my birthday, which is the twenty eight of June!  We are both extremely excited for the change that is going to take place within us as well as others.  Jesus is going to continue the good work which He has begun in us, and will continue to change us from glory to glory.  Change can be a wonderful experience when it is the Lord who is lovingly and gently changing us. 

Please pray for strength, protection, and favor as we visit the seventeen different churches during the month of June.  Thank YOU! 

Badminton, Olympic Day, Presidential Fitness Test

The past two weeks in physical education class we have been practicing the game of badminton.  Although some of the students were not thrilled to practice serving as much as we did, they have become especially good at serving.  Some students actually hit the birdie over the net into a hula hoop!  This will probably be our final week of badminton, and they will get to play games!  Olympic day is on Friday, and next week we will have the Presidential Fitness Test.  I hope you enjoy the pictures below of the junior high students and the kindergarten students. 

To Him Who Is Able!

I wanted to update you in how gracious God has been through the families of the Heiskell School and others.  So far, our trip to Brazil has been funded for nearly two thirds of the total cost.  Allison and I are getting more excited each week to go and minister to hundreds of people. 

The Lord is so great!  Thank you so much.

One More Week of Hockey!

Hockey has been some of the students' favorite game in physical education.  A few weeks ago we started to learn how to dribble the puck and pass it to our partners.  Last week, we started playing games toward the end of the class and this week we will finish our hockey unit with more exciting games!  Below is a video of the fifth graders playing and more pictures are located on the "Heiskell Physical Education" page above.

PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS TEST

Please remind the children to get ready for the presidential fitness test

which will be held near the end of April before Olympic Day!

They will be tested on the following... 

1. Pushups in one minute (core strength)

2. Sit ups in one minute (chest strength)

3. The mile run (endurance)

4. Sit and reach (flexibility)

5. The shuttle run (speed)

The times and numbers necessary to recieve the presidential or national fitness award are located on the gym's bulletin board.  You can also click on the "Heiskell Physical Education" page above and then scroll down to find the information by age and gender. 

Pictures of Ships and Sailors

These are some of the different positions when calling for "Ships and Sailors".

Captains Coming

Meet Someone

Row Your Boat

Two Boats Rowing

Eat Together

Two Groups Eating Together

Starfish

 Two Starfish

 Dead Fish 

 Captains Coming 

Ameba Tag and Peanut Butter and Jelly Tag

Spring Break seems to be long gone, but the games that we played are not!  Whenever you have a large number of people in a group, see if they will play one of these two games. 

Ameba Tag is a great game to play to work on building team work.  When you have a large number of students holding hands, trying to tag one person without letting go becomes very difficult! 

After talking to one another in a small huddle, they must keep their bodies in a straight formation and try not to let go of each others hands while they chase and tag one other player.

When the line gets real long, it is very hard for everyone to turn around quickly.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Tag is another great game to work on shuffling skills.  In this game, three people are holding hands, two are "pieces of bread", with one person being the "peanut butter".  The fourth person, "jelly", has to try and run around the two "pieces of bread" to tag "peanut butter".  The students who are "two pieces of bread" must keep "jelly" away from "peanut butter"!  The "bread" must shuffle quickly left and right as the "jelly" tries to get around the "bread" to the "peanut butter".

Ships and Sailors

Ships and Sailors is a game that has turned into a favorite at the Heiskell School!  Ms. Boyd, our wonderful second grade teacher told me about the game last year and it was not until this month that I have really introduced the game to all of the children! 

Ships and sailors is a fast paced, thrilling game where there is much starting and stopping as well as a need for keen listening skills.  If the students are in the "CAPTAINS COMING" position, they are not allowed to move for any of the commands until the "caller" says "AT EASE!"

When in the "at ease" position, students follow each command given which include...
Meet someone/Greet someone consisting of two souls,
Row your boat - consisting of three souls sitting criss cross apple sauce one behind another,
Eat together - consisting of four souls sitting down "eatting" together,
Star Fish - consisting of five souls laying down with their head on the ground with all their feet together in the middle!  Sometimes there are six in a starfish and the one soul that the caller see's lay down the last is out.

There is also the call for "Hit the deck" which has everyone lay down on the "boat",
Dead Fish is when they flop onto their back and stick their tongue out and they must freeze,
Alive Fish is when they can wiggle on their backs,
Ships is when they run to a designated wall and Sailors is the other designated wall!

This game can be played with two people, but having a group of people makes the game more exciting! 
Maybe you can play with your family! 
Remember, when the captains coming, you can not move UNTIL they say, "At Ease!"

Do You Want To Know The Truth...???

Truth obviously is found in the Word of God, but it is also found by measuring distances and sizes. 
If I want to tell you the truth about how tall I am, I would measure myself and tell you five feet, ten and a half inches.  If I want to tell you how many ounces are in a cup, we know that the answer is eight ounces are in a cup.  If you want to know how much sugar is in a twelve ounce can of coke, keep reading... 

On the coke can label, it states that it contains thirty-nine grams.  If you empty out thirty-nine packets of sugar that have one gram each, you will see that it ALMOST fills a one-eight cup container.

The truth is, when you drink a soda, its like putting an eight of a cup of sugar in a can with some other crazy ingredients and putting it in our body, which belongs to God! 

Jelly has nearly sixteen grams in one or two tablespoons...
Measure it out with your children with gram packets of sugar and be amazed! 

Although the snow is gone, the memories remain. 

Praise be to the Lord for a most glorious beginning in 2011. 

May the Lord continue to wash our sins white as snow.  

I added a "page" which includes a number of pictures

that my sister took during the week of snow that we received! 

Please visit the page listed above to see some nice pictures. 

CLEANING

Idols are everywhere in the United States.  Idols are considered to be people, places or things that we give more time to than we do the LORD Himself.  There also can be false idols in homes.  Wooden totem poles can represent false gods of other nations.  Trinkets and gadgets, gizmos and fabric from other places that have been cursed can be brought in and can cause a disturbance in your household. 

Do you know where everything has come from in your house?  Are there things from previous generations that have been passed down that you do not know about?  Has a family friend or co-worker in ignorance given you something that is not Holy or pleasing to the Lord?

In the book of 2nd Chronicles chapter 29, there is a description of people cleansing the house of the Lord. 
Specifically in verse 15... ¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD."

I know my house is not a church buildling, but it is a place of gathering to worship the Lord our God, Jesus Christ.  Our house has been given to us by God, and He owns all things. (Psalm 24:1)  We worship here in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24) and Jesus is in our midst, as we gather in His name. 

Over this Christmas break, we went through our outside storage place, (which use to be my dads office!) into the attic, the basement and closets, as well as discerning if there was anything that was not pleasing to the Lord in our house.  It was good to cleanse our property and throw away some things.  After all, there is a time to keep and a time to throw away! 

May the Holy Spirit lead you in showing you things that may not be necessary in your house hold.
Our God is a Holy God, righteous and true altogether. 

May His grace, His mercy, His knowledge, His wisdom and His truth be added unto you, in Jesus name.

Merry 2011!
 

A New Year

Praise God for another year.  Each year is a blessing because we have the privilege to glorify God and His son Jesus Christ.  Having the ability to glorify Jesus is what makes life a joy.  I am so excited to share the Lords glory with others and I hope you are as well.  If God is for us, who can be against us.  Remember Isaiah 61:10 which talks about how we will greatly rejoice in the Lord and our souls shall be joyful because He has clothed us with the garments of salvation and He has covered us with His righteousness!  Praise God we do not have to earn our righteousness. 

I hope you take each of these 52 weeks this year and learn some more about our Lord and share that knowledge with another. 

Ministry...  that is...  communing/communicating with others and bringing up words pleasing to our Lord (mainly His Word), is like breathing spiritually. 

Have you been breathing lately?!

May grace, mercy, peace and love be added unto you and your family, in Jesus name.