Updates and other such fluff

As of late, it seems as if I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to blogging. Could it be that blogging really isn't my thing? Maybe it could be the fact that I have nothing relevant to say or that I just don't care to blog anymore. Well, I think that it may just be a combination of everything.

Blogging really isn't an outlet for me to share my deepest thoughts, ideas and whatnot. Many people have volumes of diaries where they share everything that has happened...Today I had waffles for breakfast.....BIG DEAL!! LOL

But seriously though maybe I should start blogging ones a week or a month just to keep people abreast of what is happening in my world. So much has happened in this first quarter of the year that I'm not sure if I could fit everything in. What do I talk about? What do you want to know or even care to know? Whatever it is then I'll try and summarize my life for you and what makes me tick.

As you all know, I'm a 28 years old traveling evangelist with and unshakable confidence in God. Following Him step by step and obeying His voice is something I take very seriously. Have I been perfect in following His plan for my life? Not really...but I do know that if I do miss it, I can repent and start over at the point where I fouled up and start afresh there.

As I said earlier, this year has been pretty interesting for starters as you very well know, the economy tanked in the Babylonian System. This shouldn't affect the Believer, but it has because people got all freaky over it and fear set in. Giving in most churches has dropped and in some places stopped all together. Churches have closed because they couldn't afford to keep the doors open. This isn't a bad confession, but a statement of fact (which by the way can and will change), opportunities for me in the first quarter have pretty much dried up. I was expecting to preach at least 3-4 times each month and yet so far I only preached 3 times. I preached only a quarter of what I was believing for. Did I miss it somewhere? In some areas yes, but none of those had anything to do with me not preaching. There is a devil out there and he doesn't want the Gospel of the Kingdom to go anywhere....A lot of the places I was supposed to go or called all told me the same thing, "Sorry brother, our economy is bad. We can't afford to have anyone" Oh, really?!!!

In my humblest opinion, you can't afford not to have anyone. During difficult times is when people need to be encouraged the most. When people are at the bottom of the barrel, they need some good news in their lives. I have that Good News because I have Jesus...So anyway, sorry about getting on my soapbox there, if you'd like me to elaborate more, just ask...I'm like Kenneth Copeland when it comes to stuff like this; It makes me so mad that Christians would rather believe the devil's lie, instead of God's Truth, His Word.

Because of this, I've had to fight the Good Fight even harder because with all the negativity that has been surrounding me, finances have been low and I have had to double up on the Word and stay in a positive attitude of faith. Affirmative faith is what I call it..Faith that isn't moved by anything, but God and His Word.

On a brighter note, I have been in an interesting relationship with a Special Someone. I went to Rhema with her back in 2001. She was second year and I was first year. We're about the same age, except I'm a few months older. Our story began several weeks ago when I got a message froom her Pastor to call her. At the time, I wasn't dating anyone or even remotely interested in anyone. I asked him why and told him that I didn't even know her number...Bad move...LOL

He wrote back with a more imperative tone and said, "CALL HER NOW!!" I actually thought that she was in some sort of trouble and I was concerned. I saw her more as a sister and I didn't realize that her Pastor was trying to set us up. So I called and the rest is history. If you want to know more, just ask.....Am I in love? Yessss *blushing and grin* Are there marriage bells in our future? Only time will tell because I do need a helpmate, but I need the one that God has ordained especially for me.

My heart is so full this morning. Full of love for this Special Person in my life, but more importantly that the Lord has been truly good in my life. The Bible says in Proverbs 10:22 that "The Blessing of the Lord it makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." Even when hard ties come, I can still rise up victoriously no matter what. Who cares what people say, what the news media says or even what our government says...MY GOD WILL PUT ME OVER!!!

Lafayette or Bust

Well, it's been a few days since I've been home from my trip to Louisiana and so I think that I should fill you in on what happened during the trip. To be quite honest with you, I was totally psyched about this trip, so much so that it was all I really talked about for days leading up to it.

Gene and I graduated from Rhema together in 2002 and hadn't seen each other or talked to one another in the seven years since graduation. In 2006 I was led by the Holy Spirit to google him. Now I hadn't seen him or even thought of him in all that time; why now? Thank God for the inward witness because after reconnecting with him, we because to just share with one another what was happening in our lives. The good, the bad and even the ugly. One day Gene told me about him and Mary becoming engaged and he asked me to be in his wedding, which I gladly accepted. The story of how Gene and Mary got together is just awesome and if you know Gene, you know that he has a real genuineness about him.

Well, I dislike sap and fluff and so I'll save you that part and just jump into the trip. The trip for me actually began the night before because I had so much trouble sleeping because of the excitement. I finally ended up falling asleep around 1:30 and unfortunately had to get up at 3:30am. That is so depressing having to get up that early. I arrived at Pittsburgh Int'l around 5 to begin my trip my checking in, going through security and the other stuff. This didn't take too long and so I figured that I could have slept in til 4, arrived at the airport at 6 and still had time to spare. After making my connecting flight in Memphis, TN, I arrived in Lafayette, Louisiana around noon. After picking up my car, (Chevy HHR- It was a retro station wagon), I wen to go to my hotel and ended up getting extremely lost and wound up in a bad part of town. After driving around for almost an hour, I found my hotel and checked in.

Lafayette isn't really all that bad as long as your familiar with the main roads. I'm used to the grid system of roads, Lafayette on the other hand, is far from that. The locals told me that a drunk man designed them. This I had to believe. By the end of the trip I knew the roads better than Gene and his family (not really, but I come close to).

I met up with Gene at the Church on Thursday and got to meet his beautiful bride. Mary is just an awesome woman and she'll be a great help to Gene. Really they're a great help to one another. I even got to meet Mary's daughter Liz as well. After hanging at the Church, we wound up at Cracker Barrel for some lunch and to just have some fellowship time. Gene and I had some fun with Liz because she wasn't feeling to hot, she had the sniffles and that just opened the door for us to tease her a little. This was all in good fun.

I do not like to share personal stuff, but I'll just say that my heart really went out to Liz. No in a romantic sort of way, but in a way that she needed someone to just love on her and to just reaffirm her self-worth. I continue to pray for Liz because I know God has some great things in store for her life. I think of Liz as a little sister and really think and speak highly of her. Mary did a great job raising her and her brother Billy.

Friday began like any other day where I went exploring to learn the roads better and to just add miles to the car. I eventually met up with Gene and 2 of his girl's (Misty-16 and Molly-9) to pick up our tuxes and head out to lunch. Gene's girls are just adorable and I count it a huge honor to have met them.

I am skipping around a bit because I want to give each person their own story without making this too long. Tomorrow I will continue to talk about Gene and Mary all they way up until they left Saturday for their honeymoon. Monday I would like to talk about Gene's sister Rachel and her family as well as their parents. I know Rachel will read this and so I'll try and say nice things about her...hahaha..She is a tremendous woman of God and I count it an honor to be a part of her extended family.

My Thoughts On The Economy

As you very well may know, the economists, the government, media and everyone else who is alive and breathing, are talking about the state of our economy and their recession. Notice I said their recession. I for one, am sick and tired of hearing how bad things are because I choose to walk in the BLESSING, instead of the curse.

All you hear is doom and gloom and that things are getting worse. What are they trying to accomplish by putting fear into people. They say, "Get taxes done now and get your return." Once people get their return they don't spend it wisely, but blow it on things that only bring happiness for a short while. I heard one person on the news say that they'll get a big screen tv. Why? How does that help the problem? To me, it adds to it.

Now, I know this country is facing hard times, but the Church shouldn't let itself be dominated by fear and the worlds system. It should be dominated by God's system. God's system always has a good return and its resources never run dry.

As a traveling minister, I have to believe God for every cent that comes in because I don't work a normal job like most people. I travel to churches and minister about the goodness of God. But when the Church is struggling, that limits the opportunities I get to preach. I shouldn't be dependent on churches, but on God. He's El Shaddai, the God who is MORE than enough, He'll get me through.

I guess I'm telling you this because in the past several days, I have either had meetings cancelled or been turned down because, "I'm sorry brother, because of our recession, we can't have anyone." I don't know about you, but that is exactly the time to have someone. Someone who preaches the Word with signs following. Someone who encourages the body so that faith is built in their heart.

All my life, I was raised on the principle, "Even in tough times, sow a seed towards your need." This isn't just a give to get principle; but a seed, time and harvest principle. God said give and expect a return on your giving. I could share story after story about how God supernaturally supplied my every need. It's when our natural, meets His Super that things begin to happen.

The Bible says in Proverbs 10:22 "The BLESSING of the Lord, it maketh rich and He adds no sorrow with it." It's the blessing that will cause us to prosper in hard times. It's the blessing that will cause us to stand when others fall. I choose to stand and walk in the blessing.

Why? Because God will meet me where I'm at and He will see to it that every need is met. Now this doesn't just happen over night. You give in faith and you release your seed to God and stay expecting. Pay day doesn't always come on Friday, but it does come. When it does come, be ready for that net breaking, boat sinking catch.

There's more I could say about the blessing, but I just wanted to wet your appetite a little.

Until next time,

Josh

2009 Goals and Expectations

In the past few weeks, I have read blog after blog from people who have mapped out their goals, aspirations and what not for the new year. Me, well, I've never really had a plan going into a new year and so I thought that maybe I should.

Habakkuk 2:2-3

NKJV: Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. (3) For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

If I every want to accomplish anything for God this year; I need to first and foremost have a plan, His plan. I need to run with that plan because it will bring me success at the appointed time. I may have to stand in faith and not waiver, but that plan will surely come to pass in my life.

Outside of His plan for my life, I too have some goals, expectations, dreams, desires and so forth that I want to accomplish this year. I have had some success in the past without making a plan, but sometimes I experienced failure because I wasn't prepared like I needed to be.

So this time I plan on nothing but success. I plan to come out on top no matter what. Come hell or high water, I will not fail.

What is this glorious plan then, well for starters I would like to get a good nights rest every night. I understand things come up, but in most cases turning off the computer and/or tv is a must and hitting the hay before 11:30.

Secondly, I desire to devote more time in prayer, rather fellowship with my Heavenly Father and just getting to know Him better and learning to become more sensitive to His voice. I might also throw in regular devetion time. Not just doing devotion books, but more time spent in the Word for my own personal growth.

Thirdly, I would like to lose about 30 pounds, it's not that I am super huge, I just want to be healthier. I already exercise, yet I don't do any cardio or abs. This is a must, thus the reason why I have a spare tire..... hmmmmm?

Fourthly, I would like to learn something new everyday. Not just to obtain facts, but to gain knowledge and insite into new things. I enjoy reading, so I may just pick out a subject and read books on it. Literature? History? Biographies?

These are just a few of my goals, mostly dealing on a personal basis. Now ministry wise, that is a whole different ball game because I have goals already established and I am making them off as I complete them.

For example, I plan on preaching more and more every year, maybe increase my schedule by 5 services or 10. I'll do my part by making the phone calls and then I'll rely on the Holy Spirit to send the opportunities my way.

What goals have I completed, you may ask? Well, I 'm preaching more out of state than ever before and I am licensed with Rhema. Another part of my ministry vision is to preach from the Pacific to the Atlantic and from Canada down to the Mexico border. This is just a start, when I complete this then I will believe for opportunities to preach in every inhabited continent and island of the sea.

That's pretty much it when it comes to my goals. I haven't included anything concerning relationships or friendships because that's a little more personal, plus I am in the middle of being molded and shaped into the man God wants me to be, after the molding process is complete and I've been proven by fire, then the relationship aspect will happen.

If I left you hanging in any way, sorry about that. If you want to know more, just ask.

Be blessed,

Josh

Why I Dare To Dream Big

To honestly say that 2008 didn't have any challenges and setbacks, I would be lying. Now I don't want to be all down in the mouth and make it seem as if 2008 was miserable, it's just that I lost some really important battles both in my personal life as well as in my spiritual life(ministry included).

For starters, I didn't get to preach as much as I wanted. Since I began in ministry, my itinerary doubled in size every year. This year however, I faced some pretty lean months. Months where I didn't speak at all. Some because of being cancelled on, others, well, They said, "I'll get back to you." If they had no intentions of having me, then just tell me. By the time I realized they were never going to call, it was too late to schedule anything.

Other than that, I nglected to really buckle down and just have a real personal devotion time. I would read and study, but that was for preaching only. I know, I know...you idiot!!! I realize that and so I have made some adjustments that I have implemented starting today. Now you know why I lost some battles.

My success in life solely depends on my relationship with my Heavenly Father. With out really getting to know Him and His Word, I robbed myself from walking in the blessing. By blessing I mean everything: Spiritually, Emotionally, Physically and Financially.

My one true desire is to see the Manifold Blessing of Almighty God explode in my life. I dare to have clear cut vision of what God has designed for my life. even though He moved step by step. I desire to just trust Him as I walk with Him. I desire to see myself better than where I was a year ago. My dream is to reach more people and accomplish more things for the Kingdom of God.

For starters, I desire to understand His Word in a clearer way. My dream is to have the Word just explode in me and become my way of life. My way of victory. My way of success. To accomplish this I have to lay some things aside and pick some things up.

I have to lay aside those things that would rob me and hinder me from fulfilling my call. My call as a minister, but more importantly, my call as a Believer. A Believer's call is to simply believe and act like the Word is so, no matter what.

I dare to dream big because I serve a big God. I dare to dream big because Greater is He that is in me. I dare to dream big because no weapon formed against me can prosper. I dare to dream big because I have the mind of Christ and I know all things.

In the next few days and even weeks, I would like to share with you what my goals are for the year. Why I set them and what I need to do to accomplish them.

I trust that this has awaken you somewhat into what causes success and failure. It ultimately rests on being a doer of the Word and putting the Word first, no matter what.


Love Ya,

Josh

My Call pt. 4 "The Final Frontier?"

I never once dreamed that my sharing about my call into ministry would have brought me this far, part four to be exact; but it has also allowed me to share with you some of the more detailed and intimate side of who I am.

Those of you who know me, may see me as being very outgoing and sociable; but it wasn't always that way. I am very shy by nature and chose, rather ran into my shell because of what others have said about me either to my face or behind my back.

Words are very powerful in the arena of life. They can make or break you. Bring life or destroy life. I have always wanted the sense of belonging to something or someone. I mean, wanting to feel like I'm a part of something.

I can remember kids my own age at Bible School and how they acted, I sorta wondered why they were even there. Was it mommy and daddy that sent them? Was it the Lord? I hate to judge and this rant sounds like I am, but the call of God is a serious thing and that call carries with it a heavy responsibility. God is love!! God lives in us!! Love(God) is in us!!.........Without love, we are nothing but a bunch of noise.

Anyways, I came back to Rhema for my second year a different person. I came determined that I was going to be a friend, an ally, someone that could be trusted. After seeing how people acted, I wanted God to shine in me. I wanted His love to radiate from me to others. Slowly, my shyness started to melt.

Really, it took the combined effort of many people to bring out the best in me. They took me out of my comfort zone and taught me how to be the man of God I am today. I am by no means perfect, just crowned with dignity and worth. Just blessed and highly favored.

Second year at Rhema was a blast. I entered into it knowing what I was to do which was to be an Evangelist. How bout that, a shy kid called to Evangelize? School was easy for me because I was determined to learn all I could and put it into practice.

I was in the Evangelist group and not long after registration, God began to stoke the fire. I was sold out on God and I was ready to begin the path He had for me. As I mentioned previously, I got to know many well-known ministers and something I would do would do is when I had the chance, I'd ask questions. Questions about their call, how they prepare to minister, things like that. I wanted to know what I was getting into.

Something that has stuck with me is what Rod Parsley shared. I asked him, "What do you do the day your to preach? How do you prepare?" His answer rang in me and has brought many victories in my life. He said, "I get alone and just fellowship with my Father." It's that personal fellowship with Father God that will calm any internal storm and release that burden-removing, yoke-destroying power that abides in you.

Something I did regularly was to go to Rhema's park at night just to pray. I'd walk around the entire campus praying either in English or Tongues just to quiet my mind and get revelation. What I'm doing now was prayed out during those walks and things I haven't even entered into was prayed there as well. I called this my Gethsemane experience because it was just me and the Lord, no-one else.

During Second year I made it a priority to get to know the some of the First year students, just to prepare them for what to expect and to help out if needed. One instance that comes to mind is when my neighbor was having problems with his roommate. They lived in a 1/1 (one bedroom/one bath) apartment. Those things offered no privacy and so there was bound to be some problems. I know because I faced that two times. My first roommate kicked me out because I wasn't into the party scene and just having fun I was there to learn, not party. Second roommate fought with me constantly. Come to find out from his friends that he was jealous of me for some reason and just wanted to put me down. This happened during First year so by the time I came back to Second year I had my own place.

Getting back to my neighbor, he came by and asked how to get a stain out of the carpet and so I offered to show him how. When I walked into his apartment, the place was a disaster zone. It was a pig sty and there was food crumbs all over the place, not to mention it looked like 2 pack rats lived there. I asked him about this and that's when he mentioned about having roommate issues.

I shared with him about some of my experiences and advised him to talk to the roommate and settle the matter peacefully. Well that didn't work out too well and after having a meeting with the head of student housing, he was told that he could evict his roommate. The roommate was allowed to stay until the end of the school year. There is more to this, but I'd rather keep you guessing.

Also, because of my love for sports, I made it a priority to attend every home basketball game and travel to some of the away games. B-ball was a lot of fun and I got to spend it with a great friend who I keep in touch with to this day. Really, there was a girl on the team that I liked, but didn't have a chance with. I probably did, but no worries. It's all in the past.

The games brought great stories for me to use when I preach. Some stories have never been told because of things that took place. Plus I don't want to embarrass anybody.

Second year went by fast and so I accomplished a lot in just those nine months. I came out of my shell, made friends, did great in school and accomplished many other things by the grace of God.

I graduated May 18, 2002 with a 3.95gpa which for me was great. I was a C- student in High School. I left Rhema the following morning and never looked back. I miss Rhema to this day and look forward to the day when I can travel to my Spiritual home.

What do I miss most about Rhema, you may ask?

1. That strong corporate anointing
2. The love that permiated the campus
3. Exaltation (Tuesday morn prayer service w/ Miss Lynette Hagin)
4. Hearing Pastor Hagin Preach
5. Mom and Dad Hagin who both went home to be with the Lord
6. Friendships I made.
7. Zio's and China Star Buffet

This list isn't half of what I miss nor is it in any particular order. Rhema molded me into a man with an unshakable confidence in God and it developed a confidence in me that I can do anything with the Lords help.

Well, that about wraps up the story of my calling. I didn't do it justice by sharing all the details or share about what is happening with me to day; but if you just sit tight, maybe I will share with you some of what is happening in my life today.


Love ya,

Josh- Mark 9:23

My Call pt. 3

In the previous 2 blogs I shared about how I was called into ministry and what events led up to me applying to and getting accepted to Rhema. Today I would like to share with you about my experience at Rhema. The trip to Rhema all the way to my departure.

After getting my acceptance letter from RBTC, I continued to work at Interforest and sow seed towards my Rhema adventure. Finally on August 13th, I and my folks made the 1,050 mile trek from Monaca, PA to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This was my first time driving this far of a distance and so I was not used to sitting so long in a car(ouch!!) We made the trip a 2 day event to save us the pain, agony and tiredness. A straight shot would have been 18 hours, but that wasn't about to happen. We stopped just outside of St. Louis Missouri after driving about 12 hours, I was sore and stiff, but hey, my first cross-country trip!! We took two cars and after driving 12 hours, my dad and I felt that we needed to stop. We found a Ramada Inn just outside of St. Louis; come to find out that a Six Flags was next door, thus making the price for a room astronomical. So we got back in the cars and drive some more. We eventually found a place 5 miles down the road which was reasonable. To be honest with you, I slept so well that night.

On Sunday morning, we finally arrived in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I expected to see desert and cacti, I was so wrong. It was actually green. I won't bore you with details, but let me say that I was able to get a place in the Student-housing complex across from Rhema, which was a total blessing.

Living at Student-housing was a blessing because I met so many interesting characters. Some, I wondered whether or not they were called because of how they acted. For instance, there was an egg fight in the parking lot and some of the cars were hit. I had a knock on my door and the maintenance guy, told me that I had to pay for the damages done to his car because one of the kids who threw eggs actually lived in my apartment the previous year and was friends with my room mate. I told the guy (Dale Hayashi) that I wasn't paying a dime because I didn't even know the kid or even the fact that eggs were thrown. Actually, I insulted the guy because he made me mad.......That's how I was baptized into the apartment life.

Making friends was real tough for me because of my introverted nature. I was shy and really struggled mightily, what turned all this around was just people taking me under their wing (The Hagins, Wiggins and may others) and helping me to really open up. I eventually by the time I graduated, became a social butterfly and was the go to guy at student housing. What I mean by that is that I helped people out with their roommate problems and other issues. I had roommate problems too because I didn't get a long with them. It was a combo of both of us. When you live in a one bedroom apartment, you're bound to have problems.

Anyways, I started school in September and was blown away by the amount of knowledge that the instructors had. I had classes on so many different subjects and a mountain of books to read. The key to the books is (1) Read the books for Doug Jones's class first....these were usually due by midterm (2) Read the larger books and the boring ones to get them out of the way (3) Read the smaller ones which won't take too long.

After the first week, I was thrilled about the adventure the Lord had for me. I was enjoying school and meeting many, many people. The classes were not difficult if you'd just pay attention and do what the instructor wanted.

I can remember in N.T. Literature that for midterm we were to do either the maps of Paul's missionary journeys or do a written report of his letters (Prison, Pastoral, General). The teacher stated that she was grading the maps harder because everyone does them. so being the Einstein that I am, I chose to do a report on the Prison Epistles. A few weeks later we got them back and I got an A. It wasn't a 100% A, just an A. On the paper it said, "This isn't the oder in which I taught." So what? was my response, but still it was an A. A lady did the map and she got an F because the teacher couldn't see the lines. This woman bawled and cried and wined....hehehe.
This woman said a few weeks previous that she was going to doll her paper up, I mentioned to her to be careful and just do as was instructed, she didn't listen and so she received a big, fat F. F as in failure. F as in foolish.

As she was crying, I rubbed it in and said, "I told you, you dingbat!!!" The other ladies didn't like that too much, but so what. She was eventually allowed to do it over and received a C because she was late. As I mentioned earlier, we had many, many colorful characters at Rhema; including yours truly.

We had a guy that laughed all the time and at everything. We had a guy with growths all over himself. I have an interesting story on him, but if you want to hear it, just email me....LOL

One of the memorable highlights of my first year was the Christmas Banquet. The weather that morning was around 60 degrees and nice, four hours later, the weather turned south and it was 20 degrees and snowing like crazy. I picked up my date and drove to the NRC for the banquet. I couldn't believe the weather changing that fast. Later that night after having an awesome time, we were heading to leave when we were informed, "During the Banquet, it snowed 3.5" and had freezing rain to top it off." What a lousy night, it took me almost 40 minutes to drive her to her apartment which was about 4 miles away. The drive was hairy, but I got her there safely.

During my first year, I met so many wonderful people. I made it a point to go to ORU every week to sit in the audience during "The Hour of Healing", hosted by Richard and Lindsay Roberts. I was there so much that they eventually learned my name and even asked if I wanted to help by running a camera or something. I refused only because I wanted to focus on my studies. During this time, I met the cream of the crop when it came to TV ministers. Everyone from Creflo Dollar to Jerry Savelle to Jesse Duplantis and many others. Talk about having favor!!! That's what happens to a Kings kid...

The year just flew by and before I knew it, I was finishing up my first year. I had so many interesting things happen to me and so many opportunities to prove that the Word works.

All in all, I believe that I was at Rhema at the right time. If I only knew what would happen down the road, I would have been in doubt because God had a plan and it was His timing that made the difference.

Well, this is long enough so I will stop here. Sorry to disappoint you by quitting so soon, but my creative juices are finished for now.

Be blessed,

Josh