A great song!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbmtjQppsao


O Praise Him by DAvid Crowder

Surrender

I am just letting you guys know that the next blog is going to be on surrender. Since Jesus surrendered His life for our sin and died on the cross for us, i thought maybe during this time of lent, you could surrender something until Easter. Let me know what you think.

My experience of Christ at Hope Church

Last weeks message at my church challenged us to find peace inour life with God. I was very happy and excited to see the many peoplewho went up to the stage steps and spent sometime with God. It is greatto see how we can help others through hardships and tribulation as theywalk with God.

The message of peace really spoke to me, since I am having someproblems at home between my parents and I. I know as brothers andsisters of Christ that you will lift my family up in my prayer, so thatwe may conquer our problems, that keep us from growing together

I can't begin to describe what Hope Church means to me. When I firstbegan coming to Hope, Mrs. Speake showed me God's love through her inthe many Sunday school lessons. Then I began the process ofconfirmation, where i gave my life to Jesus.

I didn't become a true friend of God until after I went on the YouthRetreat in Ocean City, MD two years ago where K.P Westmoreland really inspired me, and that was the moment when I was literally "on-fire" forGod. I went home from that retreat wanted to become closer to God

Today as I look past at the two retreats I have gone on with the YouthMinistry at Hope, they were both great opportunities that I am gladthat I didn't miss out on.

Today, I go to Hope to learn how I can one, become closer to God, but also to worship God with an amazing group of people.

I can't wait for the new school year to begin, because I know God hasso much planned for me and everyone of you. The youth ministry at Hopeis a safe heaven for so many kids on Sunday nights where we have fun,while also learning more about God.

For those who don't know this yet, God is calling me to become a youthpastor, and show the next generation of kids His Love and have a placeto get away from the many temptations of Satan.

I found this bible verse that amazingly relates to the message of peace that Pastor Jeff talked about last week.


Psalm 119:165


"Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble."

I am going to start trying to write weekly updates about different topics, and if you have any ideas let me know


god bless,

phil

James 4:10

This is by far my favorite scripture form the bible. It shows me a lot.
James 4:10 states this, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
The passage is very important in my life. It seems that it is telling me to be a humble individual. Who do you like more an arrogant football player like T.O, or a humble team player. It is a fact that people life others who are humble and not arrogant. Jesus was a humble individual, and was punished for many things, but he didn't care that he was punished for doing good things. I try to live like Christ everyday, as much as I can. For example, I can't cure blind people or leprosy. I try though to not sin and do no harm, do good and love god.

I challenge you to humble yourself, and try not to bloat about all of you accomplishments or about how well you did on the test?

god bless phil

Interesting Bible verse

“[Ask, Seek, Knock] "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”- Matthew 7:7-8

I stumbled upon this bible verse while i was looking for something else. It amazing what God throws at us sometimes.

This verse means a lot to me and my life. To me, this verse is telling me that if you ask, you will be given for the thing you asked for most of the time. If you take the time to seek what you are looking for, you will find it. The word knock in this verse, means that if you ask God for opportunities to do something, he will give you opportunities. Just remember though, to make the most out of every opportunity, because it might be once in a lifetime opportunity.

Just remember to ask, seek and knock for opportunities in your life, and you will be given god given opportunities.

Settle your differences

I know everyone has been in an argument over their beliefs with someone. For some people, including myself, I have a hard time accepting other people beliefs or opinions sometimes over certain things.

Recently I got into this bitter argument with one of my friends over whether God existed or not. I know that I wouldn't be on earth, or even born if god didn't exist. God is my best friend and I love him like he's my brother. My friend on the other hand, believes that a spirit created everything. The point of what I'm gonna say is very serious, and it affects everyone's friendships every day.

We need to try to settle our differences when it comes to our opinion. It not good to hold a grudge against someone, because you told like their opinion or what they believe. Think about his, if people didn't have different opinions, then we wouldn't even have elections. I know it can be hard, but try to respect others opinions.

I regret being rude to my friend and his views, but no one is perfect, so I will learn from the past and not repeat it in the future. I am also glad that we have stayed friends, and have since settled our differences.

Lets try to make the world a better place by settling our differences, and bringing piece to your relationships with others

Plan in life

You might have a plan in life. You might know what you want to be when you grow up. You might know what your family is gonna be like when you grow up. The truth is though that you might have a plan, but the best thing is to follow God's plan for you.

God knows the best things for you. The changes that happen, that you might not expect, happen for the better. They might actually help you become a better person. God also has a purpose each of us on the earth, that might be different then what you want.

Think about the following:

Joesph didn't believe Gabriel that Mary was having a baby.
Mary and Joseph never expected that they were going to have God's son.

We need to expect the unexpected in life, because sometime the unexpected is what is best for us. Also, follow God's plan in life and not yours.

God is the best person alive

phil