My Blog

Rome

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 00:29:24 -0500

Rome was absolutely amazing! The first thing that we did when we got there was go down to the Roman Forum where we had the opportunity to walk down to Paul’s prison cell. I had mixed feelings as I stood there in the small, cramped, pitch dark prison cell. On one hand I felt some sadness to see what exactly Paul had to suffer through. The persecution he dealt with for the sake of the gospel came to life in my mind. But on the other hand I was filled with joy in that cell because it is Paul himself who writes from that very cell in Phiippians 1:12 and says, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel...” Paul is talking about his imprisonment here. Paul did not see his persecution as unnecessary and he didn’t even ask God why? Instead Paul was thankful for his persecution because God used it to advance the gospel. I am so thankful that God allowed me the opportunity to stand in the very place that was meant for evil toward Paul, but yet served to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ even until today. It is because of men like Paul, who have dedicated their lives to furthering the kingdom of God, that I am able to stand here today and freely profess my faith in Jesus Christ.

Our second day in Rome we took the metro to the Vatican, which is the very center of Catholicism. It was a very interesting experience for me because until now I really haven’t learned too much about Catholicism. But we went to St. Peters Basilica and we walked around to all of the previous Popes tombs and also to the tomb of the apostle Peter. What went on at these tombs just blew my mind. As we walked through and looked around, there were people all over crying over these Popes and even bowing down to them and worshiping them. I had to ask myself the question, why are they worshiping these men? Then we we walked up to the apostle Peters tomb, and they were doing the same thing there as well. They were bowing down to this tomb of Peter. This amazed me because I had just read in Acts where Peter comes to Cornelius and when Cornelius sees him, he bows down at Peters feet and worships him. Well Peter doesn’t accept his worship, but instead he looks at Cornelius and says, get up for I too am just a man. I have to believe that if Peter didn’t want people bowing down to him then, he sure doesn’t want people bowing to him now. We serve one God who is worthy of our worship! Let us bow down only to the true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ each and every day of our lives.

Florence

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 08:35:03 -0500

Florence was a cool city besides all the rain. It rained 2 out of the 3 days we were there. It was okay though because we got to see everything that we wanted to see there. We saw the famous “David” statue which was so much bigger than I pictured, we toured an ancient Medieval town where supposedly they filmed parts of the movie “Gladiator”, and also we were able to catch the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen on our last night in Florence. Not to mention that I had two cones of the 2008-2009 World Champion Gelato. Literally the best gelato in the world, and it was! Just trust me on that all of you who didn’t get this tremendous opportunity.

Many cool things happened while in Florence. You’ve probably already heard this story already, but I wrote a blog back in Barcelona about about a guy we met named Ron from Philadelphia. He was the guy who told our group that he could see something different about us. He asked us if we were Christians and we were able to tell him that we were. However, we were all disappointed because we never really had the opportunity to sit down with Ron and share the gospel with him. So we left Barcelona with a chip on our shoulders, and we just prayed that God would reveal Himself to Ron and perhaps water the seed that we planted. We prayed that God would bring fellow believers into the Ron’s life who may have the opportunity to share Christ with Ron. Well God answers prayer. Listen to this: I was on the computer while in Florence and I was talking to Neal who we had told all about Ron. Neal proceeded to tell me that they were in Rome and a random guy came up to them in the hostel and asked if he could hang out with them. Neal said of course he could and when Neal asked the guy his name, he responded with, Ron. Neal said that as soon as he said Ron he felt like this was the same Ron that we had been praying for in Barcelona. So Neal asked where he was from and sure enough it was Ron from Philadelphia. So not only did God answer our prayers, but He sent Ron to our other group in Rome. The only way to explain this situation is God and God alone. We serve a God is much bigger than we are and He is so worthy of our praise and worship.

We took a bus tour in Florence and toward the end of the tour we realized that we were on this tour the entire time with a movie star. This girl whom I had never heard of, played in the movie “Take the Lead” with Antonio Banderas. It was fun to watch when these girls discovered that she was on the bus with us how they were just completely awe struck. Our tour guide rushed to the back of the bus to get an autograph, and everyone couldn’t quit turning around to see this actress. It was crazy because one I had never seen the movie and two I had never heard of this girl before. I’ve never seen her in any movie or commercial. But even as unpopular as this girl was, these girls were in awe of her. It was fun to watch until I begin thinking of how I serve a God who created all things, who is sovereign and in control, and who is greater than I could ever possibly fathom, and I’m not sure that I have ever just completely stood in awe of Him as these girls did for this washed up actress who played in that a movie once with Antonio Banderas. I pray that I would be committed in my life each day to just be completely blown away by the greatness of my God. He is worth of our praise! Let us be awe struck in His presence.

Cinque Terre

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 08:34:29 -0500

It’s about that time in the trip where you really begin to get tired and frustrated and homesick. I honestly was in much need for a breather. That breather came in the form of Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre was an amazing city that was extremely laid back and relaxing. The scenery blew me away, it was probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear, and the mountains surrounding the city were like something you see in magazines. It was incredible! I did a lot of sitting out on the beach, eating pizza and gelato, and spending some time alone. It was great and really did prepare me for the rest of the trip. One night our group was together and went around and just shared what God was doing in our lives and so I shared that it seemed like the consistent theme that God continues to teach me here is being led by the Holy Spirit in all that I do.

I was reading in Acts 5 where Barnabas sells his field and brings all his money to the apostles and lays it at their feet. Then a couple named Ananias and Sapphira feels led by the Holy Spirit to sell a piece of their property as well. But when they sold their property they only brought a portion of their money to the apostles. The apostles look at them and ask, why are you being disobedient to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has led you to sell your property and bring the money to the apostles and yet you did not follow Him. Then the Bible says that they both fell over dead. This passage scares me! I’m not saying that I am going to fall over dead, but I am scared of what might happen when the Holy Spirit leads me to a place or to a person and I do not follow the Him. How many times in my life have I disobeyed the Holy Spirit and not gone wherever He leads. I believe that if we continually disobey Him, we may not fall over dead, but there may come a point where the Holy Spirit says, if you’re not going to listen to me, then I am not going to speak. Pray for me as I strive each and every day of my life to live according to the Holy Spirit. There is no other reason to live on this earth than to follow the Him.

TJ’s Blog From Nice

Sat, 30 May 2009 02:05:03 -0500

Nice, France was truly a beautiful city! The beach was unlike anything I had ever seen before with mountains on either side, rocks all around the crystal clear water, and no sand whatsoever. Well the no sand part wasn’t all that great but it was still pretty, just wasn’t good for the feet. But anyways we got into Nice and immediately met a great guy from Australia named Cameron. He was a lot of fun to hang out with. We all felt as if he was actually part of our group because he meshed so well with us. He hung out with us all day everyday while in Nice. We learned a lot about him and about where he is from and where he is going. He told us that he wants to come and visit us in the states so we will be looking out for him back in Alabama.

So Nice was a lot of fun to tour and to sight see, but honestly I enjoyed Nice so much because God really spoke to me through His word. I couldn’t possibly write all the things that God is doing in my life on this trip, but in Nice I began reading in Acts and we serve a great God who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The apostles are arrested at the end of chapter 5 and as the council discusses what they must do to shut them up and to make them stop talking about Jesus, a pharisee named Gamaliel stands up and says just to let the apostles be for a while. He continued on and said that there have been men before who had claimed to be somebody and who had followers just as Jesus did. Once these men died, their followers soon scattered and you heard of them no more. Now what Gamaliel said next blew my mind. He said to just let the apostles be for a while and if this story they claim of Jesus is of man, then these men will soon scatter and their story will die. But if their story of Jesus is of God, then no one will be able to stop them and their story will live forever. What a great thing to say coming from an unbeliever like Gamaliel. My friends its been about 2,000 years now and here I am still writing and talking about this amazing story of Jesus Christ who is the living Son of God and who is able to rescue the world from hell. I believe the gospel that I am speaking of is not from man, for it has not failed nor has it died. This gospel is from the all powerful, Almighty God who created the world. This is why we go and tell the world about Christ, because it is a real story about a real Christ who is really alive and lives inside of us today. Gamaliel, I must say you hit the nail on the head! Good Call!

Barcelona

Sat, 30 May 2009 02:02:17 -0500

Barcelona was a great city! We had a lot of fun touring the city and chillin at the beach. We had the opportunity to meet many people while we were there. One guy that we met was named Ron from Philadelphia. He was traveling around Europe much like we are, going to many of the same cities. We invited Ron to hang out with us the first day in Barcelona and we had a great time. But what happened next was pretty amazing! We were all sitting around the table that night after Ron had spent an entire day with us and something happened that had never happened to me before. Ron looked around at us and said that he could see something different about us. He said that we weren’t like most people and he even went as far as to ask if we were Christians. I have never in my life had someone recognize me as being a Christian just from hanging out with me as sad as that is to say. It was truly an awesome experience! Ron hung out with us a little more while we were there in Barcelona and then oddly enough he was on our same train to Nice, France. We were able to build a great relationship with Ron. Pray for Ron as we pray that he would find Jesus Christ in his life.

I finished my study in the book of John in Barcelona and I have to say that God spoke to me greatly through reading the Scripture. As I read the final chapter, I was reading about how Jesus appeared to the disciples three times after his resurrection. The third time, the disciples were out fishing but were having trouble catching fish. So Jesus appears to them and tells them to throw the net on the other side and you know the rest of the story. The disciples throw the net on the other side and their nets become full of fish. Immediately they turn and recognize the man on shore to be the risen Son of God. Now I’ve been trying to picture in my head what happens next. Peter turns and leaps from the boat to swim to shore. He was in such a great rush to get to Jesus. The others in the boat just simply row into shore. All Peter had to do was just stay in the boat and he could’ve gotten to shore a lot easier. I picture the disciples just floating in and looking at Peter like, “what are you doing?” So my question is what was Peter thinking when he leaped out of the boat. Then I remember that just days before Peter denied Christ. He denied three times that he was even a disciple at all. So I believe that Peter leaped from the boat to get to Jesus simply because he could. See Jesus had died days before and you can only imagine the guilt that Peter felt. But now Jesus is standing on the shore risen and alive with his arms wide open. Peter must have had such a rush in that moment that he couldn’t wait long enough to just float in. He had to get to Jesus at that moment. Isn’t it great that when we fall, we have a risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is full of love and mercy. We serve a king who forgives and stands with His arms wide open. The question I have to answer for myself though is whether or not I am willing to leap from the boat in order to get to the One who is able to save me, the risen Son Jesus Christ.