I am not boasting but.....

So how cool is my job! I am so thankful that Christ called me to do His work with youth here in Anderson South Carolina. Capstone Community Church is such a blessing to my family and I. God has given me such a special youth group that my family and I have just fallen in love with in such a deep way. God gives allows me to challenge these students as well as share in their joys and heartaches! We get to travel and see Gods beauty and creation all over this nation. In a few weeks we will be going to Virginia to participate in a mission project called World Changers! I see kids grow in their relationship with Christ and take new steps in maturing in their faith. How many of you have a job that allows you to be real and honest about past mistakes that you have made, in hopes that you might be able to stop the same mistake from being made in the future of someone else’s life. In a few days, I even get to have a fun day with the youth and spend the whole day at Carowinds. I don’t know where you are in your life, but I hope you find the same enjoyment and pleasure out of your job as I do mine. I know most jobs don’t involve you planning out eventful things for a group of kids to do, but I can’t think of anything else I would want to do. The days are long, the pay will not make me rich, I put up with a lot of teenage drama, and I cannot get enough! I love my Job. It makes it all the differences in the world to see one youth grow closer to God!

THIS SPOKE TO ME!

I thought someone might need to here this, I know I did.

Psalm 27

Of David.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh, [a]
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

8 My heart says of you, "Seek his [b] face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

So So So Busy!

Wow, it seems like the weeks keep getting more packed with things to do! I know that only 24 hours are in a day, but it seems like those 24 hours are fleeing very quickly these days. The month of May has been so much fun, challenging , and rewarding! We have had some type of event every Saturday of the month, from the give it away day, to a youth trip to the Mall of Georgia, to World Changers meetings, so much fun and excitement! With Carowinds and World Changers right aroound the corner, things will be hetic with C-Group and my family over the next few summer months.Keep my family in all of your prayers as we approach many more exciting events comming up!Man I love my family and my job, thanks God for giving me them both!

So Proud!!!!!!!!

The response from Capstone Community Church on the day of our “Free Give Away” was amazing! So many of you stepped up and gave your morning away to be a blessing to people that you did not even know! Do you realize in a single day we clothed, fed, and loved hundreds of people in the name of Christ! I can imagine that our Father in Heaven was smiling down at us while saying well done my good and faithful servants. Thank you to all who participated, you guys are the arms and feet that are reaching the community.

Now, let me share with you why these events matter in case you’re still struggling with the importance of them. If we reached just one person in a way that allowed them to understand the love Christ has for them, it is more than worth it. Mrs. Pearl was an elderly lady that we met through this event last Saturday. Mrs. Pearl was so blown away by the amount of love she was given, that she had to know more. Guess what, Mrs. Pearl was at church Sunday morning wanting to know more about this church Capstone Community Church that seeks to serve rather than to be served. Praise God! You guys heard the challenge and met it head on, I could not be more proud to be a part of this body of believers called Capstone Community Church.

Giving like Christ does!

Does giving something away for free come easy to you? It is not something that I am always comfortable with. This idea came into my head a few weeks ago when our church was challenged to give money away to someone just to bless a life! We were challenged to pray to God that He would reveal a person in our life that could use the money, give it to that person, and tell them that Christ wants to bless their life through this gift. It sounded so easy when our pastor was talking about it that Sunday morning. Here is the problem, giving something away means giving away control to someone else. I found myself wanting to know what exactly that person was going to do with the gift that I had given them. It was a strange feeling that I had to deal with, was this person going to use the money in a proper way? Would this person use the money the best way I felt they should use it? If you haven’t picked up on what I am going to talk about yet, let me help you. When you give something away, you haven’t truly given it away until you can release yourself from the worry that follows the action of passing hands! I know it will be hard for you to understand this because I am so wise and all “sarcasm”, but God knows more than I do. God knows the future and can see past worries and anxieties. The money we were challenged to give away did not belong to us in the first place, Gods money will be used how God chooses for it to be used.

May 3rd Capstone Community church will participate in a Giveaway Day for its community. Everyone is encouraged to bring things from their homes to give away to needy people in the community. Once again this idea of freely giving will be put to the test. As people come and take things that are to be given away, what will our reaction be? To truly give is to give with a cheerful heart, not to wonder how many things this certain person has already taken. Remember God is in control, items will go where they need to go, one way or another! To end this blog, I want to share this scripture passage with you.

2 CORINTHIANS 9: 7 “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

God has revealed to me that a cheerful giver is one that can give freely, without fear or anxiety of what will happen or been done with that gift. God desires a cheerful giver, so I challenge Capstone Community Church to rise up and meet this desire of God!

I MUST SAY THANK YOU !

I must say thank you to all of my adult leaders who help me with the youth group at Capstone Community Church. This past Sunday our church had an event called “Youth Sunday Fun Day.” This event was so much fun because of our willing leaders to put it all on the line for these youth.

Our leaders had to drive youth all around Anderson, completing various task that had points based on difficulty of the task at hand! Some of the task put everyone in very funny circumstances, such as singing in public to a stranger, climbing in a random person’s bath tub, and going around town hugging police officers. Did you have fun watching the youth witness to a horse, or give their testimony to a huge statue? I hope you guys realize how much of an impact you’re having on these youths lives.

25 youth participated in this event as well as 6 adults. I would love to keep seeing that number grow in the months ahead. God will continue to bless c-group, as we continually seek His wisdom. I can’t wait until we all get to hang out together again; God is so good to us on a daily basis.

Erin Pickel, Benjamin Beaver, Scott Canup, Reena Thomason, Todd Wood. Thank you!
You guys continue to blow me away with your support for this ministry!

Brent

New House!

If you have been anywhere around me the last few weeks you know that my wife Reena and I are buying a new house. As of Thursday, March 7th we are the proud new owners of 98 Road Haven DR. Also if you have been around me any the past few weeks you know that we had several difficult times going through the house selling process. Thank you Jesus, it is over and I give Him all the glory for it.

Reena and I are so excited about this gift God has given us and we can barley take it anymore. Now that the process is over, I take a second to reflect over all that happend. Several times the selling was stalled through various unforseen reasons. Through strong work from our realitor (Josh Webber) and many prayers sent to God by Reena and I, it's finnally sold and bought.

Psalm 25:5 "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." At times Reena and I could only hang on to scripture like this. As much as we thought we knew what would be better for us, I am glad it worked out like God wanted it to work. Daily I continue to learn that the best we can give to God is simply say, Guide Me!

If we really understand the love that Christ has for us, we can find peace in the midst of uncertanity. When our hope moves from God to man or earthly things, this is when stress takes over. When we ask God to guide our lives, what stressful situation is to big for him? NONE!

Yes I am so very excited because of our new house, but I am also excited that God helped guide Reena and I through the process. Thank you to all the people who prayed over my family durring this time. (Don't be supprised if I call you to help me move too)

Brent