Starting back up

Well its been forever since my last post on here, that's probably because this semester was the hardest one I ever had. Not too mention my computer would only work half the time. But guys the big news now is I am a college graduate. There were many people proven wrong on this past Saturday with me walking across that stage, but I can't take the credit, it's all Gods. I want to take a little time to thank Him, my parents Matthew and Stephanie, Travis and Teresa Cole, and anyone else I am forgetting to mention. I plan on returning to School in the Fall/Spring for Seminary which one, I dunno but I'll be there.

This Summer I will be leading a mission team out to South Dakota and would very much appreciate all the prayers and support we can get. Our goal is to grow closer to Jesus and see others come to know him. We plan on doing this by Loving Jesus, Loving People and Enjoying bringing them together. It should be a great Summer. My staff are great and I look forward to seeing what God will do this Summer. We will be living and working on a KOA Campground five miles from Mount Rushmore. I'm psyched to see all that God has in store for us this Summer. Please write us down in your prayer journal and pray for us daily. This Summer I plan on doing this blog two or three times a week and praising God for what he is doing in our ministry out in South Dakota. Please continue to read and see how God is answering your prayers for us.

God has been continuing to teach me that this life is not about what I want, it's about what he wants. I was really slack in my Devotions and Prayer life towards the end of the semester and I feel so awful about it. It has been hard to break the spiritual drought I was in. But I am seeing more and more that God longs for me to be fully soled out to him and nothing else. We all will come to the decision to either follow ourselves or follow God. And let me tell you it's a tough decision, it is one that we must make daily. But if we are going to do anything worth talking about we must follow God and give him our all. I was in D.C. a few weeks ago and witnessing to a man who was homeless and had HIV. I am not one to really just walk up out of no where and start witnessing to someone but if God tells me to do then I do and that's just what happened. While talking this guy opened up to me and I felt the urge to share Christ as the ultimate healer to him. When I did the guy was completely turned off and basically told me he didn't care about the after life, rather just what was going on right then. It broke my heart. I was later telling my best friend Bryan about it and he said something that I will never forget, it's not about you Mike. It's about God and you did your part. Bryan was right, there was nothing I could do to get this guy saved, but I did follow God and do what he asked me to do.

Here is my challenge to you, Choose today who you will serve, rather it be God or yourself. Those are really the only two choices you have. Joshua gives a great challenge in Joshua 25:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

How great is God? Really?

It has been forever since my last blog attempt. So much has been going on and when I get to the end of my night I just don't really feel like typing. I love doing it though because I feel like when I do this I get to praise God so much more than I usually do and that's awesome.

Well God Is honestly to good to me, I'm so thankful I'm not God because if I was a lot of bad things would go on. I'm so thankful He never says thats it, I've had enough your on your own now. Oh how He knows how much I deserve that. It blows me away to know that the God of this whole universe cares specifically about me and my needs. Purely amazing, I am starting to understand him a little better too, I think. I see now that every time I ask for God to give me something and its not part of his plan, it always for my good. Yea, sure, God knows best but is something we often hear but its sooo true.

I recently read a book on prayer by Dr. David Earley and it has really changed my life. I have been trying to pray for over an hour a day and I feel so much closer to God. The cool thing that I have learned that no matter what if I have a problem it needs to be taken to God in prayer. I am so thankful that God takes time just to listen to me to talk to him. I think everyone should pray to God more, especially now that I am really starting to see how great of a tool/ ability to talk to the father it is.

Well, since being back at school it was really hard to focus on the ministry that I do here (Prayer Leader). But while wanting to quit and just be a normal student God showed me he still wants me to do this. Am I the best prayer leader? not by any means but when it comes to leading these guys by the Spirit, that is all I have been doing for the past three weeks and let me just say that God has definitely been working in my life and my guys lives. The first week we covered Proverbs 3:5-6 and I think that was the night that everyone begin to see that I cared and that God was not finished with me leading these guys closer to him. The next week was followed with a lesson on healthy friendships/ relationships and that drew the guys in so much more. I even have guys who are part of other prayer groups coming to my prayer group after theirs because they are interested in what God is doing. Tonight we talked about either being hot or cold for God. Its something that we all need to hear and its something I really felt like God was telling me to speak on. The response was simply amazing the guys were so into the lesson and what God/ I was saying that it really convicted them, I believe. I told the guys that for the next little while of this semester we are going to be covering spiritual disciplines, and they all seemed to be really excited about it. I overall am really excited about what God is doing this semester and cannot wait to see what else he will do.

I am asking for prayer from anyone who reads this about this semester and what God wants me to do after it. Whatever it is I am excited for it, but I do need to know what his will is. Well hopefully I will do another one of these soon.

Verse of the day 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Praise the Lord, I am back at school! I mean I miss my family a ton but its great to be back for this final semester. I'm not really "checked" back in for school yet but I will be when Monday gets around. I'm looking forward to what God will do this semester and what will come after it. I haven't posted in a while because of lack of time lately and trying to get into a healthy sleeping pattern. I will probably post a bigger post tomorrow but tonight I just wanted to give God all the credit for what he has done and will do, THANKS GOD!

Where does the time go?

Well, so much has happened since the last time I posted on here. The biggest thing probably is that I am able to return to LU for my last semester of undergrad. The funny thing about that is that I was never really worried about it, I knew that God had it in control and would work it out when it was the right time. The right time just so happened to be the last day of financial check in, but that just shows me that God doesn't forget about us, he is always right on time! This past week has been full of events, small ones, but they kept me busy so when it would come to the late hours of the night when I generally post things on here I was too exhausted to write. One really cool thing happened this week, Tuesday night my little sister Kathy came over to the house to hangout and spend sometime with me. It was great to be able to hang out with her because it seems as since she got engaged she just doesn't care about our family anymore, and that hurts but I have been praying that God would open up her eyes.
So I will be headed back to LU for my last semester of undergrad next Saturday and I just cant help but wonder, where did all the time go? I remember pulling up to dorm fourteen as a freshman and going into a whole new place where I didn't know anyone and just making a ton of friends and slowly started to learn that there is something far more than just living the rest of my life. Amazing how much I have grown over the past four years, and I can't wait to see how much I will grow over the next four.
In my devotions lately I have been reading about how sometimes God has to use huge things to get our attention because if he doesn't then we probably wont notice that he is talking to us. I pray that I am more like him and I can start to notice when he is talking to me without him having to use the big stuff. In Jeremiah today I was reading about how all the false prophets were proclaiming stuff in God's name that he never said and how angry it made him. I pray that I will always say only what God wants me too and nothing else. When we go off and start teaching what we want to teach and not what God wants us to teach we are in sin. We are to teach what God wants us to say. Why else was Jesus always contradicting how the pharisees lived there lives? I am finding the more that I read about Jesus the more of a rebel in his culture he really was. He never sinned while being a rebel but rather rebelled from all the stuff the culture had deemed acceptable that went against God. Amazing, as Christians there is a lot of things we need to rebel against in this generation, too many Christians are just accepting all the sins that society say wont hurt us because its not wrong. God is watching me and pays attention to every action I do, therefore I want to glorify him in all that I do. I challenge whoever reads this that if there is something God has brought to your attention while reading this, surrender it to him, you'll be glad you did.
Verse of the day- 1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ
This is my favorite verse and I want it to be true of my life. What about you? Will everyone know who you follow by the way you live? I hope so.

God Knows best....

You know, I think I stay up way too late and should probably start to get in the bed a little earlier. I woke up this morning and got ready for church, but I don't think I was ready for church. Way to often we got to church and don't really prepare ourselves for church and that is what I did today. I went in thinking oh man I'm going to be late and not thinking at all about needing to prepare my heart to hear from God. Well that was rudely awakened in Sunday School today as we talked about Jesus feeding the five thousand. I really enjoy my Sunday School class at church, Tony does a great job telling us what he thinks the word means. What really encourages me about him is that he is not a fake Christian, what he says he lives. That is the kind of man I want to be known as.
Well as we were talking in Sunday School about how Jesus fed the five thousand it hit me once again, people had to have FAITH in him that he could feed them all. Think about the last time you saw someone feed at least 8,000 people with just five peaces of bread and two small fish.(if your like me you haven't) But Jesus took the bread and the fish gave thanks and blessed it. I don't care what god you follow, there is no way at all that your god can do what my God did on that day. It blows me away to think of all the great miracles he has done on this Earth and yet I still feel as if I ought to worry, ridiculous. Funny thing is right after Sunday School I went over to our morning service and Pastor Jason spoke on Matthew 6, the worrying portion. I have really recently come to the terms with I don't really need to worry about anything because anything I need God will provide if I have FAITH in him. Pastor Jason's message was reaffirming that as long as I do trust him and truly give it over to him, he WILL take care of it. Really, how GREAT is our God?
In the devotional book I bought yesterday, I read about Joesph and his brother's after the funeral and how they were worried that Joesph was going to pay them back for all the evil they had done to him. Joesph is probably my top favorite Bible character, because he reminds me so much of myself. He weeps when his brother's send him the letter supposedly from his father and lets them know that he will not only take care of them but also their children. One of my favorite verse of scripture is here when Joesph says to his brothers,"What you meant for evil, God has done for good." I love that, it reminds me so much of my life. What Satan meant for evil, God turned out for complete good. How amazing is he? My mom said something today that I will never forget, we were talking about how great God is and how I have changed so much from the rough past I have had, she says "I know now that the reason we were put there(west Monroe Church) was for you guys." Boom, right there, never thought of that really but it's definitely true, God had his hand on me my whole life and has always brought the right people in my life when it was the right time. Sometimes I get in a hurry and think its the right time but I need to realize that only God knows the real right time. Satan meant my life for evil, but God has decided to use it for good, HALLELUJAH!
Later on in my quiet time tonight I read in Jeremiah and he discovered that God is never wrong, and what he says will always rule supremely. Jeremiah prayed for the destruction of his own people, can you believe that? they were so evil and far from God that they couldn't even listen to what his prophet was telling them without beating him up and putting him in jail. Sound familiar? Maybe its time that we stop praying for all this peace and we start praying for God to do whatever it takes to bring us back to him. I know the times that I see that I need him the most are when something big gets my attention and lets me see how small I really am. God will have his way, and we need to realize that. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
I read some in Matthew tonight too, its amazing how the old testament leads right up to the new testament don't you think. Tonight was about Peter when exclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God. How amazing is it that Peter knew Jesus was God's son, Jesus even says "it was not men who told you this, but it was God." Amazing, I desire so much to be so close to God that he is sharing stuff with me all the time that others do not know, because our relationship is just that good. I want to know him so much more. I think that should be every believers mentality, to know God more.
Tonight I heard Pastor Sam speaking on love, loving others with the love of Christ. I love people but not nearly the way I should. I have decided that along with Growing to know God so much more this year I want to love others with the love Christ loves us with. If I can do this I think it will definitely make me a better Christian,a better person, and make whatever ministry I am part of more successful.
Verse of the day- Genesis 50:19-21 (The Message) Joseph replied, "Don't be afraid. Do I act for God? Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I'll take care of you and your children." He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.

Learning to be smaller

Wow, what a day! It started at five forty five this morning and has really been non stop all the way til now. We took my nephews and niece back to Tennessee today, and it was a great adventure. We left around 6:00 this morning and drove through all the unexpected snow and mountains. The kids were great though, they slept most of the trip and that made it such a good ride. I tried to catch some sleep but it never really happened. We drove dropped them off and headed back. We stopped by the Biltmore mall on the way back home and had a chickfila milkshake and checked a Walden books that was going out of business. I bought a devotional by Eugene Patterson, who wrote the message, and it seems to be really good. I am always looking for a new challenging devotional and this one seems to be really good. I did two days of it today so I could be caught up on the new year for the book. It was a pretty long drive back so I called a friend and we caught up on how each other were doing and our plans and such. She made me a little jealous when she told me she was snowed in, I mean can I get any snow where I live? I don't even have to have a foot just give me some ha.
But as far as my quiet time tonight, God was definitely showing me that I need to realize that I am nothing with out him. Jeremiah was still all about how Jerusalem and Judah had made God mad because they were not doing what he wanted them to be doing, and because they were serving themselves and false gods. He was going to punish them by making them captives of a foreign country and not hear their prayers until he was ready to glorify himself and bring them out of captivity again. It makes me think, how often do we find ourselves treating God as just a genie in which we ask for things for but we choose to do things our own way verses following his way. In the end God does get all the glory but why not allow him to have all the glory right now? Just a thought. After Jeremiah I moved onto Matthew and got to read more about Jesus and how to be a better Christian. Something I have been challenging all the youth I spend time with lately is how are they going to be more like Christ? They have to examine his life, what he did, what he said, and why. I find that since I have started implying this into my study I feel like I have grown closer with him.
Tonight Jesus fed the 4000 men (as well as the women and children). I find it very interesting that Jesus while only having seven loaves of bread and two small fish found it a necessity to feed his followers. Jesus was not only concerned about the spirituality side of things, he was concerned with the physical side as well. Jesus shows us an perfect example here of how to evangelize to people, you must take care of their physical need before attempting to do anything else. If he hadn't done this a lot of these followers probably would have collapsed and found it hard to get home. Jesus doesn't stop at just the spiritual life and neither should we. We must love people to Jesus, the older I get the more I see that to be true. I am so very happy that Jesus cares about the small things in my life as well.
Verse of the Day- Jeremiah 16:19-21
O LORD, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
"Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.

Do men make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!"

Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the LORD.

A New Years Thought

Well it feels like forever since the last time I wrote here and its only been four days or so. I have been on a mission retreat with the youth from west monroe. It is always great to go back and see how God is still working in the old youth group. Now I see it so much differently though, I see it through a leaders eyes(I know as hard as it may be I have become somewhat of a leader) Everything I have learned in my classes and just life in general I try to apply when I'm leading.
We worked in the church and out at an old run down trailer that anyone who saw it would just call it trash. We were fixing it up for a great guy God has also called into the ministry to live in. The funny thing is that no matter who would look at this trailer everyone would ask what are you doing why not just tear it down and build something else. I see the old trailer as an example of us, when anyone would really look at our lives apart from Christ that's just what we are, a rundown no good sinner. But with a lot of hard work and not quitting God turns us into something beautiful. I am so glad that he didn't just see me for being that old worthless nothing but saw me as a treasure just needing some work.
Well while on the mission trip and being the boys leader sleep was not easy to come by, but I knew this that I would not lay my head down to go to sleep before I prayed for each of those boys by name and spent some time with my Father. I think God really blessed that, I had no problem with the boys and they were all safe and worked hard and seemed to grow a little closer to God and each other. And that's what a missions trip is about, ministering to others, growing closer to God and each other. My quiet time with during this trip was brief but man was it awesome. Honestly is was the time I spent in prayer that was awesome. God is so great and he is so big but yet he takes time to meet with me each day, he actually wants to hang out with me all the time. It blows me away to think that the God of this universe wants to hangout with me. Well the trip in my eyes was a great success and I think everyone will agree on that. The one thing I learned from this trip is that if we are always open to doing whatever God wants us to do, there is no telling where he will put us. HA, I say this because I had no clue about this trip until the day before it was to happen and Jason asked me to help. I told him I definitely would because I feel like he needs all the help he can get and I think God really wanted me to do it. I dont know it just felt like God was saying time to put what your learning to work, follow me.
Well it is now officially 2010 and a whole new year. 2009 is gone and the new one is here. This year I plan on being in the best shape I have ever been in. I also plan on being closer to God then I have ever been. I don't know where I'll be at the start of next year but I know that I plan on following God and wherever it leads, Im willing to go. Its very exciting. I commit this year to God and Trying to be a better servant of him.
Verse of the day - Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.