I know that I have not written in a looong time......
Mucho has been going on!
Wow, where to start... welll how bout just the short version???
My wife and I are back in Brownsville, TX and are pretty close to closing on our home.
Whaa????
in Brownsville?
Well yea.
Through prayer and what we believe is God using / preparing us for upcoming trails and blessings, we will be serving in Brownsville for the next few years in developing a discipleship center and working with the youth group.
So now my blog will have more to do with that, as my journey begins in making disciples working with young people, this will be both challenging and a lot of fun!!!!!
so I will keep you posted on all the craziness and following of our King Jesus in brownsville.
Two things i really want to say to all of you today.... one more important than the other....
the first and least important is that I will not be so much having a blog, but really i will be having a VLOG of some sort. I find that if i just post video up here, it will be a lot easier for me than to write something.... do no worry, the posts will not be 2 hours long, just like 2 minutes 20 seconds of updates and whatever is in my heart.
sooo., yea... just so you know.
The second, i do want to draw your attention to... and have your heart a for......
So, i found out some extremely bad news this morning.
Pastor Joel Stockstill's (He is an extremely gifted and anointed youth pastor at Bethany World Prayer Center in LA, whose messages have continuously changed my life) wife, Amy Stockstill passed away last night. Im not sure how old she was, like 25 probably, and they had been married like 2 years. I believe that it was cancer.
So this is an arduous task for us christian, as we bear one anothers burdens and weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15)
Please pray for Joel and Amy's family, as they are consoled by our powerful comforted. Please take some time today and lift them up in prayer.
I did not know Amy, or Pastor Joel for that instance, burt my heart goes out to them, and it hurts.
I can only imagine how my life would be crushed if Lisa was gone. I know it would be the same for all of you and your spouse (or future spouse).
So again, I ask you to carry this burden, and life up prayers full of faith fueled by love.
I am now reminded of one of my least favorite verses in the bible....
Psalms 39:4-5
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am.
Indeed you have made my days as handbreaths, and my age is nothing before you; certainly every man
AT HIS BEST STATE IS BUT VAPOR.
None of us know if we will be here tomorrow, so lets live out this Tuesday for Jesus and give him thanks.
He is Good and has given us life. Lets pray for Joel, and give our spouse some extra love today, since
it truly is a gift from Jesus.
for those that wish to leave your thoughts on pastor Joel's blog site, here it is..
http://www.joelstockstill.com/?p=100#comment-1353
love you all...
here is a test video........
the sound is a little bad, im in a bit of a time crunch, and i really just want to see if this actually posts, i promise the sound will be better for the upcoming videos.
Hey Pastor! Great idea!! I like the "Vlog" thing .... so.... good for that...
ReplyDeleteand on the other must important subject of your post you can be sure Josh and I will be praying.... I can't imagine (and don't even want to) the pain that would be..... but we know God's grace is sufficient.... and He gives it to us in the time of need. The other day... Josh and I got confused downtown Milwaukee.. it was a very cold night... and what was supposed to be a great night became a nightmare when neither of us could find each other... I was worried about him and he was crazy worried about me... thinking the worst had happened! and looking for me in a big crowd.... when we found each other (it was about 1 hour) we hugged and cried so much! .... so your post reminded me of how terrible that feeling is in your stomach of just "thinking" ... "What if something happened?" So.. if it was like that for us... with just a "doubt" I can't ... I really I can't even think what it would be what it would be like waking up one morning without him and knowing ... he is gone.... for sure! .... It is great for us as Christians to know that we have REAL HOPE! AND PEACE THAT WE WILL SEE AGAIN!!! and know that the person is home too!!! but the pain is not for the person... who leaves and is now with God... but for us who stay here... and will miss so much. I've seen my father in law... who lost his wife on April 2006 ... She was diagnosed with cancer on February 2006 ... and then.... only 2 months and she passed away.... she was a wonderful christian and somethimes as Christians we don't think those things can happen... It is amazing to see the strength God has given to Josh and his dad.... losing such a wonderful person... BUT even that has been used by God... many people received Jesus in her funeral... just for the AMAZING AND WONDERFUL way "she died" .... because even on her bed... she kept everybody laughing and saying how much she was looking forward to be with her Lord. Now, even her sister and her sister's husband have been attending to church consistently, received Jesus and we can see a change in their lives.... Even the fact that I met Josh and I am now here in Milwaukee has everything to do with her passing away but that is another long story.
I just can see how different it is when a saint "dies" and I use "" because we know that they never die.... they just got rid of this flesh and are really living.
So.... We will pray for that same comfort for Amy's family and husband.
Thanks for sharing with us pastor....
------------
Oh! BTW ...... I've had my blog so abandoned too! but in my case... I just don't feel like writing (it doesn't look like it after this post)... but this baby really... agh! well... you know..... in fact... I got to go.... I just started feeling sick!
Hugs for you, Lisa and Ben!
God bless you.
thanks for the comments Paloma!! Good to hear from you! I sometimes start to think of the great adventure you are embarking in Wisconsin. And now pregnant!!! wow!! Our prayers are with you! Thanks for praying for Pastor Joel!
ReplyDeletelove you guys, say hi to Josh for me.
I am very excited to hear you guys moved back to Bville and will be working with the Youth!!!! I believe great things will come out of that!
ReplyDeleteI miss you and your family- all of them!
Blessings,
C <><
you're one strange strange VLOGger.
ReplyDeleteBLAST~! you beat me to the VLOG-ness.
ReplyDeleteoh well.
First off, I cant really even begin to imagine Stockstill's burden dude. I mean....I cant....I dont even know....
and
this is only the beginning~
Hiiiii!!!
ReplyDeleteNo more videos????
:P