Question of the day

I was sent a question by a friend for a simple definition or understanding of entire sanctification. How simple can a person be with such a deep compacted term?

As most of my friends know I am a movie buff from action, drama, thriller, comedy, anime, cartoons, etc... (To those who know this movie better then I do, forgive my paraphrasing) I remember a scene from the movie, "2012" where the young Monk is asking his wise elder and teacher to know what to believe. The wise teacher begins to pour tea and allows it to overflow, the young monk puts his hand over the cup to stop him. The wise teacher asks him how do you know the truth if your cup is full? As he empties the cup he looks at the young monk and tells him "now there is room".

In the same concept, how can the Holy Spirit come upon a body filled with self centeredness, egocentric,strong willed, greedy, etc...? I asked my mentor and he give me the illusion of the individual driving a vehicle and having God in the passenger seat. Keeping God close so that person can use Him as their personal servant. I am hitting a tough spot in my life God I need you now. The process begins in that individual's life when they give up those deeds and characteristics of being in control and selfishness and gets out of the driver's seat and down on their knees to be God's servant.

I once read an account of a similar process as a simple walk. In this walk or journey the person sees a cabin. It is warm and inviting, the person notices many other people walking past this cabin as if it were invisible to their perception. A humble person can see this cabin. The person walks on the porch in this process understanding their living in sin and Jesus Christ has atoned for their sins. The person fills warm compared to how it felt on the road. Never knowing the difference until walking where only a few have journeyed. The person twists the nob of the door understanding justification an act of forgiving sins. The person pulls the door towards them, a personalized action, in the belief of being an repentant believer (regeneration). The door is fully open and the brilliance of God radiates outwards as God's gracious gift of adoption becoming a child of God. The person has never experienced anything like this in their life. The life changing process of bad thoughts, and selfish characteristics are cleaned away. As the person walks inside that cabin craving to be closer to the brilliance of God they enter into Christian holiness (entire sanctification). It does not make them prefect for only Jesus Christ filled those shoes but the aim of a Christlike servant making the journey towards God.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me".

    

Onwards to Hamilton

As the journey continues, friends we have left our main character in entanglements of his reflecting thoughts and dark alleyways. He has found his self, which is good because anyone who loses their self is a person who is seeking meaning. He is traveling down to Hamilton, New Zealand.  

Auckland's Park

God has gifted me with a location near a park that is suppose to be 500 acres. I have been through a few locations and to its botanic gardens. I also have pictures of these in my profile. Let me know what you think.

Auckland Museum

A beautiful museum with history and cultural learning. I have other pictures in my profile.

Pastor

Something to think about...I walk the community to invite people I meet in conversation. To know them for who they are and not what they have done. So, I was thinking how awesome a six letter word can be. I was asked by a man the last week, 'What are you doing here?' I answered 'I am a pastor'. Pastor...and I saw respect grow for that word and given to me for God's will on my life. It reminds me of when I was Cleveland, Ohio and I would walk the streets and a few gang members would stop me and ask me, 'what I am doing?'. While you could plainly see the gun sticking from their shirt, I would answer, 'I am a pastor' I found respect as they allowed me to pass. A simple word that represents a life's choice to be God's servant. No matter the environment I still find respect for such a word.

Dave

I am walking one day and I hear a voice, "what are you doing here?" I look around to see a man four times the size of me. The back of my head I am thinking is this a good situation?...lol. First response, "I am a pastor". Which lead into an hour long discussion from school, women, fishing, and outreach. It is amazing where God leads me and with a police ankle bracelet I know where I will find him every time I walk as we talk all the time now.

He wants to join the Church and start bringing his kids there as well. A God moment indeed.

Connection

I have started walking the community of Takanini, South Auckland. I have meet several people but one I connected with we talked for about an hour and found a building relationship.He wants to bring his kids to youth ministry on Friday night at 7:00pm where I will be teaching. He also wants to come to Church at 2:00pm where I will be. I am also working on building a community garden and a few other ideas. A Church needs to be for the community, help the broken, the lost, and the hurt and show them all are welcomed.

Maori customs

Second entry star-date 9272012...lol (nerd moment). I was thinking about the interaction I have had and to begin with would be being greeted by a Maori. A ‘Hongi’ is a Maori greeting in New Zealand. It is by pressing of noses (lightly) and foreheads together. Each breath (‘ha’ which means breath of life) out through their noses and when the noses are pressed breathe in. This action shows that both people are sharing the same breath, an oneness if you will. The person greeted is not seen as a visitor any longer but a person of the land. The moment before I noticed a 'Haka' a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge. It is done by a group as vigorous movements are done and stomping feet and shouts are made. An amazing sight to witness as most people step back.

A litte about me

I have been told I need to start blogging because my friends want to read my experiences and the ministry I have been gifted into doing. I am grateful for my friends as they encourage me onwards.
Meeting new people is always an exciting time, as the hope of establishing meaningful relationships is a good foundation for a lifetime friendship.
I was given the chance to tell people about myself and God's call on my life. In so doing reveal His design for me and the trials and struggles I needed to walk, or even crawl through to mold me into who I am.
It only makes sense to begin this first real blog with telling who I am: born on the farm I was raised well and understood hard work. We raised beef cattle, black Angus cattle, our freezer was always filled. I am the only boy in my family as I was the last of three older sisters.
I assume it was good times, I have no memory of it so I just listen to my family as they point at me and say, ' you had a good childhood'...:) I will explain why I don't remember such a wonderful existence.
I wanted to learn karate. What boy doesn't want to kick and punch and his parents feel good for their kid as they are sending their energies outward instead of bottling them up.
I was in a karate studio, which had duct tape holding down the carpet from a concrete floor. I did a hurricane kick and slipped on the duct tape. Oh how I love you duct tape for the so many things you do, but this time not so much. I hit my head on the concrete floor. The next day memories are hard to hold onto and my eyes saw dark pixels like watching a static channel on the telly. I also ended up with headaches. Worse than migraines and occurring every second of every day, I learned to be quiet. As anything that caused a vibration would hurt, I had to learn to speak with few words. My movements slurred and slowed and at some points nonexistent. I learned to listen.
God told me in not so many words that I had more to do and I began to walk in His path instead of my mine. In 2001, He called me for missions on a holistic level. I started with children ministries, then teaching Bible classes at Church. I finished my AA and then moved from the farm to Ohio for my BA and worked in children ministries.I worked for Urban Resource center on the West Side of Cleveland, Ohio. Children, youth, community outreach and events were part of my duties as I was also a children's pastor at another Church. A year passes and I am called back to Cleveland by someone I worked with and co-pastored a multi-cutlural multi-denominational hip-hop Church.
God kept leading me to help the broken and be there for others. As I felt it time to leave I worked for a few years and found God telling me to continue onward. I went to Nazarene Theological Seminary and found a program called 365M. I signed up and prayed for God's guidance and I found myself here sitting in Auckland, New Zealand at a table looking out at an amazing view. This is more information then I tell to most people about myself so I am sure a few reading this are wondering how come I never heard some of these stories. Well, I am an open book my friends but you need to turn to right chapter to read about it...lol. God Bless

New Zealand

I was called for missions in 2001. 11 years later, I found myself on a plane from Kansas City, MO to Dallas, Texas to Brisbane Australia to Auckland New Zealand.