Author and Authority

"If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." -John 14:14

Hello kingdom and nations! God continues to provide in exciting ways. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last month.

Monday was the first time for our band to play actual songs together. We practiced through Fix You, Hello Goodbye, and I Shot the Sheriff. It started out a bit rough, but as soon as a good communication was established to the band, we were jamming out. The best blessing that God has given me through the band is a drive to be excellent. I can tell that each member of the band is focused on giving the best performance possible and is putting in the amount of practice time required to do so.

Today, I will have a meeting with Hillsong Maintenance about a volunteer position for the weekends and possible job opportunities in the future. I'm looking forward to learning whatever they have to teach me every weekend and working to take care of the house of God. Please pray for favor in this area. Also pray that I can be diligent in my assignments.

This week in my argument class we discussed the factuality of the Bible and the creation story specifically. Did God really create the heavens, earth and everything in-between in 7 days? This question really got me to focus on my faith and what I really believe about the bible. I realized that I had reasoned my way out of the creation story. For me, it isn't about how God created the earth, it's about the fact that He told us that He did it in 7 days and I tried to rationalize my way around it. I didn't really believe that God actually could create the earth in 7 days. Now I believe that he could and it encourages me to know that the Bible tells me he did.

I've also been challenged in my New Testament Tutorial class to purposefully read the book of Matthew and memorize scripture. In the first ten chapters of Matthew, I have recognized the major theme of God's authority. Jesus seems to always be healing sicknesses and raising dead people while asking if people have faith in Jesus authority. The verses that stuck me the most were Matthew 9:28-29, When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to the, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened...

Once again, the challenge came to me, Do I really believe that God is able to do these things? Do I turn to Jesus with my problems with full faith that he can solve anything? This is definitely something that I've been thinking and praying about.

Thank you all for allowing me to come here and be challenged in all aspects of my faith. I pray that you are all being taught, encouraged, and challenged as well.