December British Leadership Prayer Project: Queen Elizabeth II!

Next month, I will be praying for Queen Elizabeth II. In her case, I will be praying that she leads three people to Christ. Meanwhile, I will read more about her personal faith so that I can pray for other things in her life as well.

Prime Minister David Cameron Prayer Project Complete!

I just finished praying for Prime Minister David Cameron. Unfortunately, I cannot go into details because the library's internet connection will be shutting down in about two minutes. I can't wait to have a personal computer again...

British Leadership Prayer Project: Prime Minister David Cameron!

If countries were women, Great Britain would be the young lady who loves "Star Wars."  When I studied abroad there several years ago, the British people and I were a match made in heaven.  I fell in love with their culture and made many of the best friends I have ever had over there.  That is why I desperately want them to receive everlasting life through Jesus Christ.  My British friends are among the most attractive, intelligent, and wealthy people whom I have ever met, yet most of them are miserable.  The majority of them have never heard the gospel and don't realize that their lives have value, meaning, and purpose in the sight of God.  They are so desperate for happiness that they are pursing addictive and self-destructive habits to fill the void in their lives.  Yet, there is one key difference between them and my American peers: they are willing to listen to the gospel.  Great Britain is ready for a revival, and I have decided to pray that this wonderful nation once again receives the peace and joy of Jesus Christ.  I will spend each month praying for either a British political leader or a member of their royal family.  For November, I will be lifting up none other than Prime Minister David Cameron to God.

The Prime Minister does profess to be a Christian.  However, based on his statements in the articles below, it's possible that this assertion is based solely on being a member of the Anglican church.  Unfortunately, being part of a church is not enough to receive eternal life.  You must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to be reconciled with God.  This month I will pray that the Prime Minister accepts Jesus as His Lord and Savior.  In case he has already done that, I will also pray that the Holy Spirit sets his heart on fire for God so that he can lead others to Christ.

You can read about the Prime Minister's religious beliefs at the links below. 

(Disclaimer: This is NOT a political blog.  I do not endorse any political views which are expressed in these articles, nor do I pledge support for, or claim affiliation with, any political officials, candidates, policies, organization, parties, etc. referenced therein.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1225751/David-Cameron-My-faith-God-prayers-I-really-think-Boris-Johnson.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-shows-off-his-faith-with-a-swipe-at-archbishop-6278361.html

(Photo from Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron)

Jon Jones Prayer Project Complete! The End of the MMA Prayer Project Era...

I completed my prayers for Jon Jones last night.  Basically, I prayed that he gets rebuked by Ronda Rousey, repents, and rededicates his life to Christ.  In addition, I lifted up the MMA world to God for half an hour.  As much as I love the sport, He has called me to a different type of project.  That being said, he made it clear to me that He will pour His Spirit out upon the MMA world.  I received confirmation earlier today as I was walking home from the library.  Key people whom He brought to my attention were Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Miesha Tate, Sarah Kaufman, and Cat Zingano.  I believe that He plans to use all of them to get His Word out.  He also brought Chris Weidman to mind multiple times throughout the month, although that didn't happen today.  While I must fully dedicate myself to my new assignment, I will keep abreast of what is going on in MMA to see how He spreads the gospel there. 

October MMA Prayer Project: Jon Jones!

This month's prayer project differs in that the fighter in question is a professing Christian.  Jon Jones often thanks God after he crushes his opponents in the ring.  Even though he is clearly a gifted athlete, he still has an insane work ethic and it clearly shows in the octagon.  That being said, his actions outside of the cage suggest that the world has had a bigger influence on his life than the gospel.  For that reason, I will be praying that the Holy Spirit convicts him so that his walk matches his talk.  In addition, I will pray that he leads one other MMA fighter to Christ.  Let's go!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Jones_(fighter)

Sarah Kaufman Prayer Project Complete!

I finished praying for Sarah Kaufman's salvation while I was making breakfast.  I have found that, if I wait until nighttime to pray, I will fall asleep.  However, if I pray in the morning or early afternoon, I will do it successfully.  Additionally, I am going on long walks now.  This allows me to pray as well as get some fresh air and exercise.  These walks allowed me to catch up on sessions which I missed. 

I will still pray for MMA fighters.  That being said, God is leading me to shift my focus elsewhere.  October will be the last month in which I pray for an MMA fighter for fifteen minutes a day.  After that, I will scale it back to five minutes a day.  Starting in November, my fifteen-minute prayer sessions will be for the royal family and political leadership of Great Britain.  I studied abroad there when I was in college and would love to see a revival of the gospel in that wonderful nation.  I have faith that, through earnest and steadfast prayer, such a revival will come to past. 

Sarah Kaufman Prayer Project Update #1

So far, I have prayed for Sarah Kaufman eleven times.  The Holy Spirit has led me to ask God to have Ronda Rousey give her the gospel.  I also asked God to give Sarah Kaufman the strength to forgive someone who has seriously hurt her in the past.  I cannot say for certain what this particular hurt is.  After all, even though I am one of her fans, I don't know her personally.  Suffice it to say that, if it is as serious as I am led to believe, then she will need all the emotional strength that she needs to forgive it. 

I am firmly convinced that Rousey will become saved and lead many others to Christ.  Will she be instrumental in Kaufman's salvation?  I have no clue.  All I know is that God will reveal His Will in due time.

September MMA Prayer Project: Sarah Kaufman!

So far this month, I've prayed twice for former Strikeforce Bantamweight Queen Sarah Kaufman (pictured on the right).  The only blemishes on her record are submission losses to Marloes Coenen and Ronda Rousey.  I love this project because Kaufman is the first WMMA competitor whom I really followed.  In particular, I enjoyed watching the footage of her powerbombing Roxanne Modaferri.  While I am disappointed that her showdown with Sara McMann got scrapped due to the latter's injury, I am looking forward to her UFC debut against Jessica Eye later this year.  Meanwhile, I will be praying that Jesus Christ makes His own debut in her life for this month's MMA Prayer Project!

(Photo credit: Dave Mandel via Sherdog.com)

http://www.sherdog.com/pictures/gallery/fighter/f_16524/206843/

Fallon Fox Prayer Project Results

I prayed a total of 26 times for Fallon Fox.  During the end of August, life went pretty nuts, so I missed the last five days.  As I prayed, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche kept coming to mind.  I have a strong feeling that Rousey will lead Fox to Christ after her own salvation, but that's all it is, a feeling.  As far as why Carmouche kept coming up, who knows?  God will reveal it on His timing.

I'm disappointed that I didn't finish, and was tempted to do a make-up session earlier today.  That being said, I didn't want it to interfere with the start of my September prayer project, so I decided just to mark it as a failure and let it go.  Sometimes you just have to move on to what's next. 

August MMA Prayer Project: Fallon Fox!

Since I am primarily praying for MMA fighters now, my celebrity projects have been renamed MMA prayer projects.  This month, I will be praying for the salvation of Fallon Fox.  God has made it clear through His Word that only He has the authority to determine your gender (Genesis 1:27).  That's why I believe that Fox has every right to fight in the men's division.  However, many people forget that God also loves everyone so much that He sent His Son to die for us so that we can have eternal life (John 3:16).  When Fallon Fox meets his Maker, his final destiny will not be determined by whether or not he has had a sex change operation.  It will be determined by whether or not he has accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior.  So this month, I will pray every day that Fox has an encounter with the Messiah so that he can live in paradise forever.  

(Photo from Sherdog.com:  http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Transgender-MMA-Fighter-Fallon-Fox-Hopes-to-Compete-at-Highest-Level-50759)

Ronda Rousey Prayer Project II Complete!

Last night, I focused on praying that Ronda Rousey would receive the gospel from Chris Weidman and his wife.  As I prayed, Fallon Fox came to mind.  I believe that after Ronda Rousey is saved, she is going to "pass it forward" and witness to Fallon Fox.  However, only God knows what the future holds. 

Earlier this morning, I read an article on Yahoo!Sports in which the Muhammad Ali of Women's MMA sternly rebuked a fan for asking a question about her sex life.  Does this mean that she has been born again yet?  No.  Nonetheless, it is a very positive sign.  As the second clip from a previous time period indicates, such a question would not have been handled with the same maturity that Rousey is showing now.  I'm now a big Ronda Rousey fan as a result and look forward to following her career further.

The following link goes to the article.  Please be aware that the second clip is somewhat raunchy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-rips-fan-asks-inappropriate-video-233510848.html

Ronda Rousey Prayer Project Update #3!

I am all caught up on my prayers for Ronda Rousey.  I got off track on the 20th, but got my focus back and am now current.  I have been focusing on praying that she parts ways with the Diaz brothers.  If you are not familiar with Nick and Nate Diaz, just google their names and you'll find all of the reasons why I am praying for that.  I also prayed that she starts a ministry teaching judo to children when she retires from MMA.  On one interview that I saw, she mentioned that she was teaching judo before focusing on her MMA career.  She said that her mother had taken over since.  So basically, I am praying that she does the same thing after she gets saved, but uses it to reach children for Jesus.  After all, self-defense is extremely important, but it just postpones the inevitable.  We all are going to die one day, no matter how many black belts we get.  For that reason, it is important that we all get a relationship with Christ so that we can spend our eternity with Him.  Only the cross can defeat sin, and the more that I pray for Ronda Rousey, the more that I am convinced that she will find that out and accept Jesus Christ as her savior. 

Ronda Rousey Prayer Project Update #2!

I have prayed for 15 minutes for 14 consecutive times for Ronda Rousey.  During this time, I had a really crazy vision about how she would come to faith in Christ.  However, as I wrote it down in my journal, I became extremely uneasy and suspicious.  As it turns out, the "vision" was a hoax by the enemy.  This is just more proof that you should be very well grounded in God's Word as a Christian.  If you aren't, you can be tricked into believing all sorts of nonsense.  I think part of the reason why I realized that I had been hoodwinked so quickly was because I've been reading my Bible on a daily basis again.  Now, do visions occur?  Yes.  However, they are a lot rarer than people think and need to be scrutinized in light of scripture.

On a side note, Chris Weidman and his wife keep coming up in my mind as I pray for Ronda Rousey.  That's why I find it interesting that his rematch with Anderson Silva has been scheduled for the PPV that was originally headlined by Rousey vs. Tate II.  I do think that the decision to bump Rousey and Tate down to the co-main event is an unfortunate sign that women are still considered second-class citizens in the MMA world.  At the same time, I'm wondering if this slap in the face was allowed by God in order to allow Weidman and his wife to witness to Rousey.  Now, it is highly possible that I may be reading too much into current events.  Nonetheless, I will be keeping a close eye on the situation to see how events unfold.

To learn more about the rematch between Weidman and Silva, check out the following article at Sherdog.com:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Dana-White-Chris-WeidmanAnderson-Silva-Rematch-Official-for-Dec-28-in-Las-Vegas-53893

Ronda Rousey Prayer Project Update #1!

So far, I have consistently prayed for Ronda Rousey every single day for a week.  For that reason, I got blindsided by a bizarre request earlier today which will seriously inconvenience me.  As ridiculous as the request is, I have no choice but to comply, for reasons that I will explain in my memoir about this stage of my life.  Nonetheless, I'm not going to let this stop me from praying to God.  After all, God is with me and He'll provide me with a way to resolve the situation. 

Anyway, I've been led to focus on praying that Rousey starts a ministry teaching Judo once she becomes saved.  I also felt led to pray that she meets Chris Weidman and his wife.  Now, I don't know exactly how this will play out.  However, I really got the sense that the new UFC middleweight champ's wife is the one who will lead her to Christ.  At any rate, in spite of the setback in my personal life, I will continue to lift Rousey up to God and look forward to seeing how He will work in her life. 

Grudge Match! Ronda Rousey Prayer Project II

For July, I decided to pray for Ronda Rousey's salvation again.  I already did one fifteen minute session before my Bible study tonight.  I am doing this because:

1) I got my spiritual butt kicked the first time and failed.
2) Since she is having a rematch with Miesha Tate, it seems appropriate
3) Things between her and Tate sound really bad on the set of "The Ultimate Fighter."  When Dana White says its "pure (expletive) mayhem", that's a pretty bad sign. 

So I'm praying that Rousey gives her life to Jesus Christ this month.  I will also try not to get too much guilty pleasure out of the fireworks on "The Ultimate Fighter" this September. 

For more about the filming, see this MMAWeekly article which was reposted on Yahoo!Sports:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ultimate-fighter-18-filming-ronda-023310338--mma.html

(Photo from same article)

Chael Sonnen Prayer Project Complete!

After a grueling day of supplicating before the Lord, I managed to catch up on my prayers for Chael Sonnen's salvation.  I feel way behind due to one of the worst months of my life, but rallied over the weekend and did four sessions yesterday and several marathon sessions today.  I believe that Sonnen will accept Jesus as his Savior one day, but the images that came to mind as I prayed led me to believe that it will occur much later in his life.  Basically, I kept seeing him tap to Anderson Silva late in the fifth round of their first fight over and over, and later as I prayed, Anderson Silva was replaced by Jesus Christ.  I'm no prophet or seer, but I strongly suspect that God was sending me hints that Sonnen's salvation will occur many years down the road.  Also, Vitor Belfort kept coming to mind, so I think that he will get involved somehow, although I got the feeling that his encounter with Sonnen (should it come to pass) won't be particularly amicable.  I also had the feeling that Miesha Tate will be involved as well, but again, I'm not a prophet and it may not occur the way that I envisioned it during prayer.  In fact, a lot of these images which I saw may just be my overactive imagination.  That's why I will stay rooted in God's Word, the Bible, to ensure that I stay on solid spiritual ground.  At any rate, I have faith that God will answer my prayer and that Sonnen will see Him one day in paradise.

Chael Sonnen Prayer Project Update #1

So far, I have prayed for Chael Sonnen for a total of eight sessions.  This month, my project got off to a rough start, but I will finish strong.  I'm under a lot of stress, but my faith in Christ will get me through it.  I discovered that he managed to get a fight with Shogun, which is pretty interesting.  While I'm sure God can use that to reach him, I'm not certain that He will.  After all, it's not nearly as shocking as Miesha Tate being selected as the new coach for "The Ultimate Fighter."  I believe that some other means will be used, although God is not limited by my own understanding.  Tonight, I prayed that Sonnen would reconcile with the people of Brazil.  While a lot of what he said was mostly pre-fight hype for his rematch with Anderson Silva, I felt that he crossed the line with many of his remarks.  If he does become a Christian, it will be a great witness for him to seek forgiveness for it.  In the meantime, I will focus on first things first: his salvation. 

June Celebrity Prayer Project: Chael Sonnen!

                                      

When you are the greatest promoter in the UFC, they have one name for you: Chael P. Sonnen!  I used to consider him the greatest heel in MMA.  Then he turned face when he agreed to fight Jon Jones on short notice at UFC 151 after Dan Henderson got injured.  The fight got rescheduled for UFC 159 after UFC 151 was cancelled (just google the event to find out why).  Nonetheless, I became a huge fan of his after he stepped up not only for that, but to coach on "The Ultimate Fighter."  This month, I will pray that the "American Gangster" steps up to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior, so that he can have eternal life.  Chael Sonnen!  Find the Lord!  While you can!

(Photo from Sherdog.com: http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Chael-Sonnen-In-His-Own-Words-36112)

Miesha Tate Prayer Project Completed!

I finished praying for Miesha Tate's salvation last Friday night.  I focused on asking God to use her experience on "The Ultimate Fighter" to lead her to Jesus.  I also prayed for reconciliation between her and Ronda Rousey.  Is that a long shot?  Sure is.  However, after seeing Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels reconcile, I believe that anything is possible.

Tate Vs. Rousey On "The Ultimate Fighter": An Answer To Prayer?

Earlier today on Yahoo, I saw a headline regarding the Tate-Rousey feud.  After reading the article, I was amazed to discover that former Strikeforce champ Miesha Tate will now be coaching against UFC champ Ronda Rousey.  Long story short, Cat Zingano, who was supposed to coach, injured her knee and had to bow out.  Dana White called Tate to fill in and she said yes.  Since the biggest grudge match in MMA today is now going to happen, UFC fans (including myself) are ecstatic.  However, considering how the events unfolded, I'm wondering if God is using this to accomplish something much greater. 

After all, I saw the match between Zingano and Tate.  Zingano won fair and square, and if Kate Winslow hadn't stopped that bout, Tate wouldn't have a face left.  In an instant, Tate lost a chance to coach and get a title shot on the first ever season of "The Ultimate Fighter" to have female coaches.  However, now, she miraculously gets reinstated as a coach and title challenger in one fell swoop.  Tate is an elite fighter, but there is no way she can claim that she earned this.  God gave it to her as a gift.  I truly believe that Jesus will use this to lead her to Him.  Am I saying that my prayers were the only factor here?  Absolutely not.  Do I believe that God has listened to them?  Oh Heaven Yeah! 

Now, obviously, I was not praying for Zingano to get injured.  I'm a huge fan of "Alpha" and think that she is a humble and classy fighter.  I loved her brutal honesty after the match where she admitted that she was scared to death of Tate and really looked up to her.  Nor am I saying that God gets enjoyment out of letting athletes get their joints blown out.  That simply is not true.  Sometimes, though, God allows bad things to happen so that His work can be seen in the lives of people.  I believe that it was His will that Tate would get this coaching spot, and I also believe that He will use it to reveal Himself to Tate.  For that reason, I prayed for fifteen minutes at church tonight that He would use "The Ultimate Fighter" to lead her to salvation.  As I was praying, Vitor Belfort and Benson Henderson came to mind as well.  I prayed that those two Christian fighters would have an impact on Tate as well.  At any rate, Jesus Christ has shown that He has been listening to my prayers, and I will no longer doubt Him as I continue to pray on the behalf of MMA fighters.

For more on how Tate became a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter", see the following link to Yahoo!Sports:  

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mma--ronda-rousey-shocked-as-miesha-tate-replaces-an-injured-cat-zingano-on-ufc-s--tuf--show-233340082.html

Miesha Tate Prayer Update #3

I prayed all of last night to get caught up on my prayers for Miesha Tate's salvation.  It was rough: I kept getting distracted and doozed off several times.  I do not recommend marathon prayer sessions for people who are just starting off.  In my opinion, it's better off to consistently pray for a short time period a day, then increase it as your spiritual muscles grow.  At any rate, I felt led to pray about her relationship with Bryan Caraway this time.  Now, listen, I don't know either of these people and have no idea whether or not they have a good relationship.  In fact, their dating life is none of my business.  That being said, it is foolish to think that Miesha's boyfriend won't have an influence on whether or not she finds God.  For that reason, I prayed that God would work it out so that Miesha would be led to Christ, regardless of whatever happens to her relationship with Bryan.  Who knows?  Maybe Bryan will get saved, too.  I will just have to pray and have faith. 

Miesha Tate Prayer Update #2

I just prayed for Miesha Tate for an hour to put myself back on schedule.  I shifted my focus to asking God to help her heal physically from her match with Cat Zingano.  I also asked him to help her recover emotionally, since getting upset in a bout with such high stakes had to be an extremely disappointing experience.  For some reason, "Temari's Theme" from the Naruto soundtrack kept playing in the back of my mind and I was imagining myself praying in the voice of Chester Benington from Linkin Park for a bit.  However, that probably had more to do with the fact that I am a rabid Linkin Park/Naruto fan (although I am giving up the latter for reasons I will reveal later). 

I did get some bad news earlier today, though.  I won't get into all the gritty details, but suffice it to say that it involves my living situation.  I was blindsided with it after my afternoon jog and wasn't too happy, although I kept my emotions in check.  I don't think it's a coincidence that it happened the month that I decided to get right with God and dedicate myself more fervently to Jesus Christ.  Especially since this happened only a couple of days after I lost my job.  Nonetheless, God has shown that He is still looking out for me, since He gave me my old job teaching martial arts again.  While I do anticipate more trials as I pray for the salvation of MMA fighters, I know that Christ will support me through these hardships. 

Rebirth!

God has told me for months that my 28th year would be life-changing.  I have a great new church, new friends, a new martial art to master and everything is getting better.  The darkness that began in December of 2010 has finally started to lift and the Holy Spirit is showing me what I need to do for my future.

At the same time, I am remaining vigilant.  Without a doubt, Satan has gotten wind that 2013 is the year of my rebirth.  The recent spiritual ambush which I experienced confirmed it.  Luckily, my mentor and a local pastor came beside me to help me survive it.  Christ listened to their prayers and rescued me from the evil one.

However, there is one more battle that I must face.  Even if Satan were to be chained up in the bottomless pit right now, I have one foe who will not be defeated so easily: myself.  Is my flesh more powerful than the devil?  Absolutely not.  Nonetheless, Satan can only be in one place at one time, whereas I am stuck with my sinful nature until the day I die.  Starting this year, I will daily put that nature to death.  Starting this year, I am reborn!

Miesha Tate Prayer Update #1

So far, I've stayed on top of my prayer sessions for Miesha Tate.  It has not been easy.  Satan has done all sorts of things to try to distract me.  Sometimes, he has succeeded in breaking my concentration.  However, whenever I get knocked off course, I refocus on God and get back on track.

I've mainly prayed for her salvation, but I've also prayed for healing from the feud with Ronda Rousey.  Obviously, I don't know Miesha personally.  That being said, based on what I've read and watched online, it seems like she was wounded deeply by the whole conflict.  Additionally, that upset loss to Cat Zingano has to have been devastating, so I will pray that she bounces back from that, too. 

Stepping Into The Spiritual Octagon

I've decided to make MMA fighters the focus of my prayer projects.  God has used them in a mighty way in my life.  Before I got into MMA, I was depressed and discouraged.  I honestly felt that my life was going nowhere.  Seeing these young men and women pursue their dreams inspired me to go for my own.  In praying for their salvation, I am able to give something back.  I also love that some of them are Christians and honor Jesus for their success.  For these warrior-saints, I will be praying that they receive the strength to resist temptation and continue to boldly proclaim their faith.  Meanwhile, I will step into the spiritual octagon to battle on their behalf through prayer.    

May Celebrity Prayer Project: Miesha Tate!

                                                        (Photo from Wikipedia.org)

After skipping April, I decided to get back on track by praying for the salvation of former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha "Cupcake" Tate.  In spite of being an accomplished fighter, she is best known for her personal feud with current Women's MMA Queen Ronda Rousey.  If WMMA were high school, Rousey would be the head cheerleader and Tate would be the President of the Honor Society.  It was basically a no-win situation for Tate; it had to be tough to see everyone gush over the person who went out of their way to make her life miserable.  The bright side of her upset loss to Cat Zingano is that it gives time for the whole feud to cool off a bit.  This will allow her to refocus on her fighting career.  In light of this, I decided to refocus on my prayer life and made Tate my May prayer project.  So here we go: 31 15-minute rounds of prayer for the former champ!  Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's time!

March Celebrity Prayer Project: Michael Phelps!

                                                        
                                                 (Photo from Wikipedia.org)

What more can you say about the most successful Olympian in history?  Michael Phelps and all of his gold medals make me wish that I took my time in the pool more seriously.  At any rate, I am glad that he used his athletic career to bring more honor and prestige to the sport of swimming.  I saw many of his events at the Olympics last year and was extremely impressed.  This month, I will be praying that he gets saved, so that he can be extremely impressed when he goes to heaven and meets the One Who gave him his swimming prowess: Jesus Christ!

February Celebrity Prayer Project: Helen Mirren!

 

(Photo from Wikipedia.org)

This month's celebrity prayer project is going to be Helen Mirren, who did an excellent job as Lillian Hobson in "Arthur."  That should come as no surprise from one of the most accomplished actresses alive, but in that film, she was even better than I had heard.  In the movie, her character said that she would most likely be looking up to Arthur from beyond the grave, not looking down.  I will pray as hard as I can that this will not the case for Helen Mirren herself.  Hopefully, she will encounter Jesus Christ this month so that she can become saved and continue to prosper in heaven.  However, whether or not she does (as well as when), will ultimately be up to her. 

Playing Catch-up

So far, I have prayed a total of 45 minutes for The Rock.  In other words, I have some catching up to do.  No excuses.  I set this deadline and I am going to meet it.

 

Accept The Ultimate Deliverance!

"I will save you from the hands of the wicked and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.” (Jeremiah 15:21)

This verse carries a lot of significance for me, because I know what it is like to be saved from the wicked and the cruel.  Long story short, I refused to attend a church on an island in the Pacific which did not teach the true gospel of Christ.  Would it have been easy to compromise my faith in order to fit in with the community?  Of course, but you should go to a church because it teaches the truth, not because you want to be part of the crowd.  As a result of my choice, my reputation was sabotaged, my job was put into jeopardy, and eventually, my life was threatened.  Nonetheless, Jesus saved me, ensuring that I was safely evacuated from the island in one piece.  Even before that, he raised up allies from the most unlikely places to help me out when I needed it.  Two of them are my good friends Richard and Emily, whom I am still in contact with.  I was also helped by my friends Shrew, Heinson, Songro, and Timothy, although we have since fallen out of touch.  Instead of winding up unjustly fired or worse, dead, I am alive and well, and it is all thanks to Jesus. 

I want to make it clear that, sometimes, God allows Satan to have his way with people's lives.  Even His servants are not immune from being attacked, raped, or killed in this world.  Why does He deliver some people from an evil fate and not others?  That is a question to be answered in another post.  For now, I will just be thankful that, ultimately, we can all be delivered from the evils of this world through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If you are saved, no matter what happens to you in this world, you are guaranteed eternal life with God in heaven forever.  That, my friend, is the ultimate deliverance.   

January Celebrity Prayer Project: The Rock!

                                                           (Photo from wikipedia.org)

FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK...HOME!  Those are the words that I want Dwayne Johnson to hear when he goes before God after he enters eternity.  The Rock is the most entertaining man I have ever seen.  He is great as a wrestler and phenomenal as an actor.  I've never met him personally, but every story I hear about him from those who have is positive.  He seems like a really kind-hearted and humble individual and I would love to get his autograph.  However, in the meantime, I will pray that he meets the God who gave him his electrifying talent and personality and gets eternal life from the True Great One: Jesus Christ!  

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Finishing the Jennifer Lawrence Celebrity Prayer Project was not easy; I had to deal with a lot of turmoil in my life to finish it and had to do some 2-3 hour prayer sessions to catch up.  Nonetheless, I completed it.  To be perfectly honest, it's the first one that I have finished.  In every other prayer project, I only made it about halfway and then gave up.  That's the reason why I will now provide periodic updates on how I am doing for accountability purposes.  These updates will occur roughly every week of the month. 

Ironically, praying about others makes me feel better and more refreshed.  Very often, when I pray for myself, I end up treating Jesus like Santa Claus and just read off my mental wish list.  When I pray for others, I am a bit more selfless.  In addition, it relieves a lot of stress because it causes me to remember that God is more powerful than my problems.  I won't say what those problems are because I want to publish them in a book called "That Was Then, This Is Now."  The title is a nod to S.E. Hinton, who wrote an excellent novel with the same title in which Bryon, the main character, has to make some really difficult choices in order to grow up and become a man.  In the past three years, I've had to make a lot of difficult choices so that I could pursue the path that God has placed before me.  Granted, I also made some decisions which I regret, but God has used these to teach me wisdom and discernment.  Now, things are starting to change for the better, and I have the feeling that 2013 is going to be an amazing year in which I will be blessed and, in turn, be able to bless others.