GuitarJC13's Xanga

Your Love Will Never Change

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:39:03 GMT

They tell me there’s songs reserved for angels
Would You sing me one, a stranger
Just to prove Your love?

They tell me You’ve given poor men kingdoms
And handed guilty freedom
And taken on their stains
Your love will never change

They tell me that You dwell with good and evil
In alleys and cathedrals
Shadows and the light

They tell me that You hold the world together
Not from guilt, but pleasure
And You somehow know my name
And Your love will never change

So tell me there’s nothing that You can’t do
And You’ll love me though I’ve hurt You
And that You’ll take my blame
And Your love will never change

Faith

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:10:00 GMT

I’ve been thinking a lot this morning about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When the king of Babylon threw them into the furnace for not worshiping his statue, the 3 of them said “Our God will deliver us, but even if He doesn’t, we will never worship you.”

How much faith does it take to trust God even when things get that bad? Would I be able to say that?

Working at I Love Evelyn has been the best and worst 4 months of my life so far. I’ve seen love. I’ve seen need. I’ve joined a new band. I’ve seen people sleep outside on sidewalks. I’ve seen an 18 year old homeless kid get a job and turn his life around. I’ve seen homeless shelters put people on the street. I’ve moved into a house with my best friends. I’ve seen people kicked out of their homes.

A woman just came in our building and showed us the obituary of a man who died in the local homeless shelter 3 days ago. His name was David Hooper and he was 49 years old.

A man named Scott just came in saying that he got mugged 2 days ago down the street. He now has nothing but the clothes on his back.

Another man named Brandon who has spent the last 3 nights sleeping outside in the rain told me today that “If Jesus came back right now, He’d be here.”

I learned all of this in the last 10 minutes, from the first 3 people who walked in our doors this morning.

That phrase from Daniel, “even if He doesn’t,” is so profound. It’s the kind of faith I want. That’s the kind of faith I need considering that I quit my nice, cozy job to become an advocate for the homeless. Somehow God has sustained me, and has kept watched over my finances. With no savings and no income, money has been plenty.

So faith isn’t trusting that God will pull you through. Faith is trusting God even when He doesn’t pull you through.

JustWallpaper

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:37:53 GMT

I ran across these online today... Enjoy!

Coffe Saves Lives!

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:31:30 GMT

This is a blog that my friend, Sam posted at 3:30 am this morning:

"OH MY GOD! you used me! you used me tonight!

Sitting in the apartment feeling tired yet restless, I had the sudden urge for coffee. I couldn't settle for instant coffee i wanted it from EZ mart.. and I wanted it now! After we got the guys off of the couch we headed down the stairs for the car. Chad was leading our caffeine yearning parade. He open up the door to the outside, held it open for us all, and i look at Chad just in time for the most horrified look i have ever read on his face. We rushed out of the building to see what was the matter. A lifeless looking body laying outside of our door. Crouched down low, we call our familiar friends name out, and try to shake him to life. "wingnut! wingnut are you ok?!" he looks up confused at us. Joy came straight to my heart like a rushing wind on the beach. Thank you Jesus, is all that i could think of.

As he started explaining to us why he was lying there, drunkenness reeked off his breath. He said he had been trying to ring our doorbell, but we were making too much noise to hear his cries for help. He could see us walking back and forth between the windows of our apartment, praying God, please let my brother find me before i die on this sidewalk. He told us stories of things in his life that had been taken away, his wife, kids, car, bike, job, and anything else you need to survive this harsh world with. He sleeps in an abandoned building that has halfway been burnt to pieces, no water, no electricity... only parts of a roof that cover his head on a rainy day, a feeding ground for blood thirsty insects. He told us his church wont let him back in, I mean.. this man KNOWS the word of God back and forth, but to him.. the only way that he knows to cope with his fear, hate, and loss is alcohol and lies.

We took wingnut to get something to eat and drink, even gave him a place to stay. God used me.. he used me tonight. If it wasn't for us leave to get some coffee, we would have never seen wingnut, never could have helped sober up this broken sole.. He loves us and we love him. God is so good... my friends, he will use you when you last expect it.. are you ready??

-samantha noelle"

Coming Summer 2010

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:21:36 GMT

Te Amo Evelyn, vivo en la Ciudad de México

Vote for I Love Evelyn on MySpace Impact Awards!

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:00:32 GMT

http://www.myspace.com/impactawards
http://www.iloveevelyn.org

MySpace Impact Awards has chosen I Love Evelyn as one of the final 3 organizations this month for its impact in poverty relief! Winner gets featured on MySpace and receives $10,000 towards their cause.

Please, help us out buy getting on MySpace and voting for I Love Evelyn!
www.iloveevelyn.org
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More about I Love Evelyn:

I Love Evelyn is a small group of people/organization that focuses on going to where the homeless, hurting, and hungry men and women are and loving them, providing for them, listening to them, laughing and hugging them.

We've spent the last 12 months on the road traveling to the 50 biggest cities with the highest population of homelessness and hunger. We went to the homeless camps, under the bridges, in the broken parts of town and loved. We filled our backpacks with food, water, and bibles and went. We fed. We loved. We had the beautiful opportunity to share the love of Christ.

Now we have a small building in downtown Texarkana, Texas. It's there that we (4 guys and 3 girls, all in our 20's) spend day to day in the streets with the homeless men and women, and spend the evenings creating, planning, and praying about new ways to provide needs and justice for those who are without.

Though our main focus is going to where the homeless men and women are and loving on them, we also focus on a few other areas.

1. We use music to raise awareness, involvement, and resources. We have shows weekly that involve a band who is passionate about similar things. All money from shows goes DIRECTLY to the people in need.

2. We use art to raise awareness, involvement, and resources. The last Saturday we have an art show featuring local, lesser known artist. 20% of each piece of art sold goes to someone in need from Texarkana.

3. We made a film about the journey of 6 people traveling 35,000 miles and finding out first hand what homelessness in America looks like. We are touring with a few bands to show the film this summer. All films that are sold go DIRECTLY to people in need.

4. We support and help start other ministries that are like minded. We are all in this together. We need each other.

5. We are always thinking, creating, praying about new ideas on how to more effectively provide for all the needs that we see in this world. We are always trying to become better neighbors to our broken friends. We love Jesus with our whole heart, and we are always seeking ways to better follow His words in Luke 10.

Although we are involved in other areas, our main focus is the homeless men and women on the streets. We love spending time with them. They've become our very best friends.

San Antonio

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:08:29 GMT

Hipsters in San Antonio really make me mad.

I hate when people pretend they're doing something to change the world but in all reality they don't give a crap at all.

How He Loves

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:35:23 GMT

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

Well, I thought about You the day Stephen died,
And You met me between my breaking.
I know that I still love You, God, despite the agony.
...They want to tell me You're cruel,
But if Stephen could sing, he'd say it's not true, cause...

Cause He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us.
Whoa! how He loves us.
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

Called

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:49:56 GMT

Hebrews 11:8

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.

A friend asked me yesterday "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

It took quite a bit of thinking, but all I could come up with was "I don't know. That vision is ever-changing"

Surprisingly, I was very comfortable with that thought.

The past 2 weeks I've been working at youth camps, I leave tomorrow for my 3rd camp in Panama City, FL. The days after I get back from that, I will be heading to St. Petersburg, FL to live among the homeless population there. I will be sleeping where they sleep, eating where they eat, living and loving the people of that area.
After that trip we will be making another trip to speak at a church in Albuquerque, NM. I'm really looking forward to these trips and getting to go love these people.

Last week I made 2 amazing new friends. As we were working at SuperSummer, we all felt called to go and spend most of next summer in another country. Right now, the 3 of us are praying and preparing. I will have more details about this when we figure them out.

I ask you guys to keep me, my friends, and ILoveEvelyn in your prayers as God uses us for His will.

Mid-term 2009

Tue, 12 May 2009 16:45:24 GMT

It's already May?

Wow...

So far, this year has blown by. I've been through so much, but there is so much more to come. Big things are coming up that have me uber¹ excited. I've already traveled via car to New York City and back. I'm currently working on a film.² I've been writing songs. I've learned to play piano fairly well. I'm in a new band, and we will start working on our album this week. I've opened up for Todd Agnew and Big Daddy Weave.

Over the summer, I will be working for ILoveEvelyn. We've got a bunch of shows coming up at the building. May 23rd is Shoes for Evelyn. We've got Mid-Winter and Cedar's Return playing and it only cost a pair of shoes to get in. We'll be working on the film a lot over the summer, but we'll also be going on a short tour hitting up cities like Memphis, Nashville, Cincinatti, and Chicago.

Not only am I doing those things this summer, I will also be gone for 3 weeks straight with Trinity³. We've got our Jr. High Camp that I'm helping at. The next week is Super Summer at Mary-Hardin Baylor in Belton, TX. I'm going to be leading a small group there and possibly leading worship. The week after that Cedar's Return will be leading worship at a camp in Panama City, FL.

Somewhere during all of this, I will be planning⁴ for the fall. I honestly don't think it's going to slow down at all once August hits, but who knows?

Oh well, I'm out!

^1. New cool term that means "really" or "super." I'm just trying it out.
^2. see www.iloveevelyn.org
^3. see www.oneministry.com
^4. Everyone who reads this knows I don't plan anything.