Purchased To Be Free

So my good friend Nathan sent me this link and it was quite moving to watch!! I wanted to share this with people because it brought me to tears! It is one of my all time favorite preachers and a video with it. Don't worry it's not an entire sermon it's just a clip from it but it's so moving! I encourage you to watch it and let me know what you think!! It's the following link:

http://braveheartedgospel.com/

Then click on the Paris Reidhead video labeled "Come"

Moving to say the least!!

120 Day Fast

So I feel as though I've fallen back into some of my old ways and need God to take control of my life in every way. I'm going to be fasting from today until the end of the year. That will be a total of 122 days. I've talked with my doctor and all is well so there is no reason to freak out like everybody in my family. I feel as though there are several areas in my life that need change and obviously getting closer to Jesus is the main reason but here are some reasons I'm going to be focusing on during this fast:


Journaling
Scripture Reading
Being a Spiritual Leader
Weight Loss
Prayer Life
Preaching
Sermon Writing

I just feel as though before when I fasted for 40 days that I had this closer walk with Him and more of a sensitivity to His movement. I want that back and I know that He will reveal Himself in a new and fresh way to me. I'm excited to dig deeper into the Word and write some sermons. I will be blogging weekly instead of daily because of the craziness that I call a schedule and I doubt anybody would want to read it daily. I'll try to include pictures this time and it will be more of what I'm experiencing and stuff like that. I'm excited and will obviously keep you updated.

Part 3

As the music played and all the formalities of a church service went on I was getting kinda nervous because I didn't know how people would react to this, I had never preached looking like a homeless man. I had never preached where everybody didn't know I was the speaker, and I had to hide who I really was. It was just everything all wrapped up into one that made me anxious about the whole situation. The announcements were made and I could tell that everybody that normally sat where I was didn't sit there today because I was almost alone in my row. After a few songs were sung it was greeting time and I was anxious to see how people would or would not greet me and still didn't know how people would react. The offering came and the usher on my side didn't even offer me the plate to put money in. However when there was a kid's offering later they did offer it to me. I found that interesting.





I don't know if you have seen the cardboard testimonies video on Youtube but you should!! They did their own version of the video on there and each person came out with their cardboard and showed who/what they were before they were saved. Then on the back who/what they were after they were saved. It was pretty moving and I wanted to cry however I didn't want to blow my cover so I remained calm. After this I knew I was on, so the Pastor got up and began to speak and I got a few butterflies in my stomach. He said that there was somebody who was at the outreach yesterday and that we had got to know each other and he invited me up.





I walked up there as Perry, and he continued on and said that they had a nick name for me and it was Perry. However that my real name is Nick Jones and that I was a Nazarene evangelist and the guest speaker for the day. The faces were priceless, mouths dropped, eyes got bigger and you could almost see the gears turning in their heads thinking "Did I talk to this guy? If I did what did I say?" In fact there was one guy who was sitting up a little bit from my wife and he actually said out loud "WOW."



I began to speak while unpacking some of my bag onto the altar "There were some of you that talked to me yesterday and today, and those of you who did gave me a lot of things." I placed those "things" on the altar as I listed them off. I continued on and said "You even told me when and where church was and invited me to come to church. However NOT ONE of you said anything to me about Jesus! I found this shocking and disturbing." I then read the verse out of Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ You could hear a pin drop on the floor and it was carpet. I then proceeded into my sermon and gave my testimony.



As I was giving an altar call I noticed a few people coming up and didn't think anything of it, that was pretty much the way they went. However about the point where I was about to stand up and give a closing prayer or have the Pastor do it, I look up and there he is. He started to say that he was nervous and didn't want to say what he was about to say but felt God leading him to do so. I started to freak out a little because I didn't know what he was going to say. He then proceeded on to talk about a man that was down at the altar and that his name was Joe. Joe had taken care of his mother for 3 years until she died and now was homeless. The Pastor had talked with Joe the day before and said that Joe had got saved. Now he was down at the altar praying for God to be Lord of all in his life.

The Pastor then went on to say that Joe needed help and asked them "What are we going to do to help Joe out?" It was very silent and I could hear that pin drop again. After a few minutes he asked everybody to come forward and form a circle around Joe and the entire church prayed for this man. It was not light fluffy prayer (if there is such a thing), but deep heart felt prayer that caused tears and sobbing to occur. I was taken back because for the first time (maybe ever) I was witnessing a New Testament Church showing what should be done for somebody in need. They asked what he needed and he had only the clothes on his back. So I gave him my backpack with food and a blanket in it. They asked what size shoe he wore and it was a 12, well I wear a size 12 so I took the shoes I was wearing off and gave them to him. Another man asked what size shirt he wore and gave him the shirt he was wearing (he was wearing an undershirt, don't worry no nudity in the church). The Pastor offered Joe to come to his house later and take a shower and shave. It was amazing to watch the selfishness that we all seem to have dissolve away because the Holy Spirit was on fire inside.

Lunch was awesome, a group of us stayed at the church and had KFC to eat with Joe and it was nice to fellowship with him and find out his likes and stories. Later on that night the church raised enough money for Joe to stay in a hotel room for a week and people were donating clothes and food left and right. They also bought him a cooler to keep all the food in and I believe there was even a bike that was donated. Now I look back at that situation and wonder how many churches would have done the same thing? Would your pastor have taken it upon himself to feel the movement of God enough to say something like that? Would your congregation have been as selfless as this one was? Would something like this bring you together more, or split you apart? Why is it so much of a shocker and a rare occurrence that things like this happen? Shouldn't we be expecting things like this to happen, and shouldn't it happen more often? I hope and pray you are encouraged not only to look at people in a different way, or witnessing in a different way, but that you will want your church to catch fire like this one did/has. What A Jesus!!!

Part 2

Well my aunt dropped me off in front of the church at 8 or so and I walked to the front door to setup shop there. I pulled out of my bag my blanket, a sign I had made that said "Homeless and need help. Please spare change. God Bless." I had a cup we had picked up at Tim Horton's and I put out my little Gideon Bible. I then put my book bag next to me and sat down, covered up, and leaned on the church to fall asleep. Not long after I did this I heard something going on inside the church and voices were getting closer. I didn't move, some because I was still tired, but mostly so that it looked like I slept there all night. After a few minutes a guy opened the front door and and asked if I wanted to come in and get warm. I declined the offer and told him I was fine out there. He asked if I wanted some coffee (which I don't drink anymore) but I thought sure that would warm me up so I accepted. I gathered up my things and put them in my back pack and walked in behind him. Nervous looking and surveying every room I walked slowly with a slouched body language and a head hung as of a broken man. He took me into the Pastor's office and the Pastor introduced himself again and said that they would see what they could do for me and so I was taken into a large room where socials are held and given some coffee and cookies. After a while the guy who invited me in brought me a half eaten bag of Frito Twists and a can of Vienna Sausages. I quickly put them in my bag and held onto the coffee for warmth. There was also a Sunday School class being held at the tables where I was seated and the Sunday School teacher had looked on my website and found that I was going to be at that church so he called the Pastor and found out, but he kept it hush hush. So as people came into class they introduced me as Perry and said I was at the Block Bash that they had held the day previously. Kind words were said but they were few and quick because I definitely was stinking and probably wasn't the person they thought of when the word "visitor" was said. So I went through Sunday School class and since I had been sitting there for 2 hours my seat was starting to hurt my butt so I squirmed and scooted around to make it a little more comfy. At one point the guy sitting next to me offered to share his Sunday School and when the teacher got up and went to look for another one the guy sitting next to me patted my leg and after his hand left there was a $20 bill!! I didn't say anything and just put it in my pocket and was amazed that somebody would do that!! The Sunday School teacher came back unsuccessful but the guy next to me offered me his book to share so I looked at it and it was so hard not to say something because it was about scripture, my favorite topic!! After Sunday school the guy who was sitting next to me offered to take me into the sanctuary and wanted to know if I needed to use the restroom so I said I did. I still had the coffee that I don't drink, so I dumped that into the toilet and took a break for a second and straightened up my back for a second because it was hurting to be slumped over all that time. As I came out of the bathroom I just walked past everybody and tried to sneak into the sanctuary. However I was stopped by a couple of greeters and they handed me a bag of goodies for being a visitor. I had talked previously with the Pastor about where to sit to see who would feel uncomfortable with me around. He told me and I headed that way as I entered, however they were already there, so I sat in front of them, I figured if nothing else they would at least smell me! As the service started a few people greeted me but the music started and the service was about to begin everybody took their seats....

Homeless For A Day, Seeing A New Testament Church Part 1

So I was asked by Portsmouth First Church of the Nazarene to preach at a special Sunday service this past week and it turned out to be something that would be stuck with me (in a good way). The thing was it was not an ordinary thing where they asked me to just speak, they had other plans that went along with it. They had an outreach planned for Saturday where they have a park nearby and kind of took it over. They have a stage there and the band was playing, they were giving out hot dogs, chips, juice, cotton candy, popcorn, they had blow ups where the kids could play on, booths and other misc stuff going on. It was pretty awesome, it was a good turn out and several people from the church were there. Well I was to show up at this event they had as a homeless guy and see what the reactions would be. So I had a black zip up hoodie, black cargo pants, older sneakers, white V-neck undershirt, and an old beat up Auburn hat. Well I stayed at my Aunt's house and before I went over I dirtied up myself and my clothes (not to say all homeless people are dirty, but how much of a stereotype do we have to think that?). I had my cousin drop me off across the street and slowly made my way over to the park. It was interesting to see people not say anything to me until one guy with a camera invite me over to get some food. So I went through the line and got a couple of hot dogs, some chips, and a juice. Oh yeah and also a flyer. So I sat down and started eating my food off to the side and up came a gentleman named Kevin and he was very friendly. He introduced himself, his wife, and kids. Well he introduced pretty much everybody who came nearby. He asked me my name and I told him Barrett but somehow he got Perry so I just went with it. He invited me to church and told me when and where it was. I finished and made my way around the platform on to the children's section of the park where they had games and things going on and nobody seemed to even acknowledge me being there. I walked by with a slight slump in my stature and had my hat pulled down over my eyes. I tried to be as stand-offish as possible and it definitely worked. I made my way completely around the stage and back to the beginning and just stood next to people to see what the reactions would be. Needless to say the men held their wives tighter, no one made eye contact, people avoided me in a general sense. It was a horrible feeling of being an outsider that I don't wish on anybody. Although nobody said it I felt as though they were saying "Why don't you get lost bum and leave us alone." It was a shocking feeling and I never thought a church would ever do that to a person. I spoke shortly with the pastors and they asked me to go over to an individual and sit next to him and start up a conversation. As I started walking towards him he got up and walked away. I went through the line again and got seconds, but this time I put it in my backpack that I had with me which contained a blanket, Gideon Bible, and other odds and ends. As the event ended I tried to reach my wife on the pastor's wife's cell phone but she left her cell in the car. So I was forced to walk back to my Aunt's house which was 1 mile away. 1 mile might not be much for skinny people however with us biggins we have a little bit more trouble with that. It didn't seem too bad though and before long I was there. Once I got there my wife and aunt were there and told me that I stunk because I hadn't taken a shower in a day or so, plus I had been sweating for a mile so I was ripe! I decided to shower so that my wife would sleep next to me that night. The rest of the night I had to myself and I hung out with some family and got to bed early so I could get up and see what the reaction would be. I got up at about ten til 8 and had my aunt drive me over to the church where I set up for the morning that would be remembered...

My Bucket List

So Mindy and I rented truly one of the greatest movies of all time The Bucket List. So it got me to thinking what my Bucket List would be and this is what I have so far:

Get In Shape/Stay in Shape
Give someone a "Free Lunch"
Cruise
Preach in every State
Deep Sea Fishing
Preach overseas
Mini Marathon
Half Triathlon
Alaskan Cruise
White Water Rafting
Mission Trip
Become 501 c3
Become full time evangelist
Write a book
Get Ordained
Get Masters
Get Doctorate
Preach at General Assembly
Preach at Central Ohio Church Camp
Street Preach
Start CD of the Month Club
Start Newsletter
Visit Cooperstown, NY
Preach at an Olivet Chapel Service

Some of these might seem stupid to you and I don't know if I'll ever get to do all of them, however it's MY Bucket List so far. I could and probably will add to this and I'm sure there are some things that should be on here that aren't but it's late and I'm tired and this is what I came up with. What is your Bucket List?

Just Cause

It's been a while since I've posted anything and it's kind of frustrating. However I'm going to attempt to get back into the swing of things. I recently set up the RSS feed thing on Outlook (I'm a nerd I know) and I was very excited. I'm finding that I love Outlook because everything is in there!! Well this is all for this post but I'm hoping there is a lot more to come. Until that time comes,

Peace, Love and Hair Grease!

Big Pappa