And They're Off

Well, I hope to leave tomorrow. God has not shown me where I am supposed to go so I am going to leave and hope that he will lead me somewhere. It has been a good three days here with my family. God has really blessed me with them and I thank God for the things he has been doing in their lives even prior to me leaving and I thank him for what he will do after I leave.

I ask:
1. That God will show me where I am supposed to be headed or at least that I will be sensitive to the Spirit's leading me there.

2.That God will take care of the fears that will arise once I start off. That He will continue to give me peace and guidance.

3.That God will start preparing the people's hearts. I want to sow on plowed soil or reap on ripe fruit.

-Brennen

Goodnight Dallas!

Well my time at Cornerstone is coming to the end. Only two more days left. It's definitely been a fruitful time as I got some street smarts and some God smarts. I am now used to people always asking for money and wondering how I could do them like that when I refuse. I'll miss the kitchen and all the fine workers up there that do it on a regular basis. I got to do connections today at the school. Connections is pretty much a time to connect God to the studies. Anyway it went really well not that I can take any credit for it, it was all God. I talked about humility and how Jesus did not perceive equality with God something to be grasped but made took the form of a servant. I talked about the time when Jesus washed the disciples' feet and so I washed their feet as well, at least the ones that let me. I don't really know if I made much sense but I know God allowed them to understand. You could tell that the Spirit was among us and thankfully he was able to make something out of my mess. I am going to miss the students and miss seeing what God will do with them. I will certainly miss the Philemon guys and especially Richard. The Christ conversations and just the companionship taught me a lot and helped me understand God more.

Some prayer concerns right now.

• God would reveal to me where He wants me to go next.
• For the students, that God would break down their walls and speak to them in a way that they cannot ignore or deny Him.
• That the small amount of work that I did would multiply and produce much fruit.

-Brennen

Divine Nature

Just got back from a prayer meeting. 10 to 1. God is showing me how important prayer is and I definitely like doing it and it is badly needed. I pray now like I never prayed before allowing God to lead and guide my thoughts and words.

So I was praying this morning and God told me not to praise Him for His works. I guess I did not ever think about it before. God does not want us boasting in our works and people giving us praise for them and but God is above that right? Nonetheless God told me not to praise Him for His works. He told me to praise Him for who He is and not what He's done. He still wants me to be thankful for those things but the praise belongs wholly to Him and not His works. He wants me to praise Him for His divine nature. Praise Him for being sovereign, holy, loving, just, because in reality He has to do all the works we see because He is all these things.

I read Ephesians 2:22 this morning. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Him is Christ and you is the body. So God wants to dwell in the body. Read that sentence again. Think of what would happen when God dwells among his bride. It says though that the Spirit is building us together. Spiritually we are not ready for him to live with us. That means revival of the saints and purging of apostasy. We have to let the Spirit fix us up.

Yeah that's all I guess. I don't have any specific requests. I would ask that you just praise God for who He is and His divine nature and thank Him for His works.

-Brennen

Invincible Men

God has showed me some stuff this week so far. First off He taught me about invincible men. The men are Samson, Elijah, Shamgar, and so on. This is from a book I have been reading and I agree with this statement, in times of spiritual decline, God has raised up men, filled them with His Holy Spirit and sent them out to challenge the darkness. I pray to be this man in this time. Through this God gave me peace about not having a partner. I believe the God of Abraham and Issac is my God and He will do those type of miracles through me, not because I am anything but because I'm giving myself up to Him. Personally I think God cannot not do miracles. It may seem like He does it in different ways today, but He still does it visibly and through His children.

Another lesson from the Father is about grace. It is still something I cannot comprehend and I don't think I ever will, but He talked to me about it some. We all hear the we are justified by God's grace. We can do no works to get to heaven because they are not good enough and we accept that. So once we are justified we start doing those "good works" for Christ so we can become a mature Christian because James talks about the works that we should have in Christ. But here's the kicker, we are sanctified by God's grace. Many Christians treat Jesus as the doorman. He lets us in by His grace but once we are in we can take it from there. That's not how it is though. He takes us everywhere and shows us where we need to be. No amount of works can sanctify you those are just evidence of the faith that you have in Christ. The faith that means giving up your life to Him instead of just your works. Grace..........Grace..............Grace.............Grace.............Grace. Focus on His grace and maybe it will make sense. Thanks for the prayers. By the way, I am here only as an extension of the Body so if you have prayer requests please share them with me so I can intercede on your behalf. You can tell me on here, facebook, or email black_shorts@hotmail.com.

-Brennen

Dallas

First off I want to apologize for not updating at all recently. I ask for your prayers and then I don't even tell ya'll what is going on. So I'm living in a house that the church owns and doing ministry here. I go to the school that the church owns everyday and help out there. The school is for at-risk juniors and seniors. I do not work with the kids as much as I would like but there are plenty of other things to do around the school. Like knock out the glass from the backboard of their basketball goal that someone shot with a gun and shattered the whole thing. Also I work with the kitchen every Tuesday and Thursday and help feed the homeless. This is only when Cornerstone puts it on, other churches and organization will do a feeding at other times and I'll go there and help them. That is all that is scheduled for me. Pastor Chris allows freedom in the other time. I don't work with the local high school as planned which is a bummer but it's all good.

Jeremiah left this morning for North Carolina. He felt God leading him toward Good News on the Move. I'm glad for the time we spent together and his encouragement to me during this time. So now I am praying for a new partner. I do not know if I am supposed to have one or not, God has not showed me yet.

One of my favorite things here is the Philemon House. It is pretty much a halfway house for saved ex-cons. These guys have such a great spirit and they are really encouraging to me. I go to there bible studies and hang out with them regularly. I work with one of them at the school a lot, Richard. Now that Jeremiah is gone I'll probably hang with him most of the time. He is loves God and actually shows it.

Some prayer requests would be:

• for God to reveal to me if I need a partner or not and if I do for Him to provide one.
• faith. I need more faith to give my will totally to Him.
• direction. Two weeks left and I do not know where I am starting.
• that I decrease that God may increase.

-Brennen