Steve Thompson - God Wants You Confident

Journaling through Psalms 2, 51, 53, 73, 74, 144, 145, 146; Isaiah 58, 59, 60; Joel 3; Malachi 1; Deuteronomy 6, 30, 31, 32.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my sin! Purge me and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Yahweh, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Do good to Zion in Your good pleasure, build up the walls of Jerusalem. When God restores the fortunes of His people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. But when I thought to how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. He who sits in the heavens laughs; Yahweh holds them in derision. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His furry, saying “As for Me, I have set My King in Zion, My holy hill.” “For I am a great King,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and My name will be feared among the nations.” So they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of Yahweh drives. I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward You. Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterword You will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made Adonay Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works. Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt. Direct Your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! “A Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares Yahweh. “And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says Yahweh: “My Spirit that is upon you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring,” says Yahweh, “from this time forth and forevermore.” Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then shall your light break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall be your rear guard. Blessed be Yahweh, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my Deliverer, my shield and Him in whom I take refuge, who subdues people under me. O Yahweh, what is man that You regard him, or the son of man that You think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. Bow Your heavens, O Yahweh, and come down! Proclaim this among the nations; consecrate for war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears, let the weak say, “I am a warrior!” Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Yahweh. Flash forth the lightning and scatter them: send out Your arrows and rout them!

 For when the Yahweh Yeshua, the Lion of Yehuda roars from Zion, His enemies will be scattered! Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving Yahweh your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days. Be strong and courageous, it is Yahweh who goes before you, He will not forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. “Hear, O Israel; Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the Word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and with out iniquity, just and upright is He. He found me in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; He encircled me on the mountainside, He cared for me, He kept me as the apple of His eye. Like and eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. Yahweh alone guided me, no foreign god was with me. He made me ride on the high places of the land, the Sangres de Cristos. My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, O my soul! I will praise Yahweh as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.                                                                                                                        Selah

Journaling through Psalms 2, 51, 53, 73, 74, 144, 145, 146; Isaiah 58, 59, 60; Joel 3; Malachi 1; Deuteronomy 6, 30, 31, 32.


My Wanderings: Journaling through Psalm 119 and other Psalms-21 May 2010

My Wanderings: Journaling through Psalm 119 and other Psalms-21 May 2010

John Piper - Radical Christian Sacrifice - Sermon Jam

Urgent Need!

Hello family and friends,

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I need $1600 to stay in class by October 1. Also, my school is planning a short term trip to Central Asia in November, but I need $1300 by Sept 27 for the plane ticket. I know this is very short notice, I am sorry for that but it has been really out of my control.

The total costs for these are:

$3,271.19 for this semester of school, so I need half by Oct.1

$2.281.40 for the Cen. Asia trip including flight

The good news is that I am in a mentoring position at school. Therefore, I am in a semi-staff position which means I will not be asked to leave campus. If I do not come up with the funds to stay on as a student I will still have food, shelter and ministry for at least 8 months but I will not likely be able to go on global internship in a year.

I am confident that the Lord is faithful to provide what is needed for me to accomplish His purposes for my life, but I ask you to pray.

Pray for the money to come in, whether that means you can help or not. Pray for me and my 10 guys that I am mentoring, they are my main focus this year so I need loads of wisdom and patience. Also, I would like to pray for you. I have set hours throughout the week set aside for intercession, so please send me prayer request on facebook or via e-mail to eric.rainwater@bcom.org.

You can send cash or checks to:

6820 Auto Club Rd., Suite A
Bloomington, MN 55438

to give online for school:

https://bcom.populiweb.com/bookstore/student_charges.php?accessKey=341e4b785a0a0fc7ad628ecc98617b7135ad1f2560a21bce9f04251d39af074b52d69534482c236174e25194ef2e1dbffcbc1be5f1af6c

this link is good for 30 days.

to give for Central Asia which are tax deductible:

Check- write the check to STEM International

STEM International
6820 Auto Club Rd., Suite J
Bloomington, MN 55438

do NOT put my name anywhere on the check simply add a separate note with my name and team #718 otherwise it will not be tax deductible.

or

donate online:

https://secure.bethanyinternational.org/donate/index.php

after entering your personal information you should select “Donate to a Ministry” and scroll down to “STEM”. In the Comments box at the very bottom of the page, specify “For ___(Eric Rainwater)___, STEM team #718”.

If the gift is for a particular team member, donors should include that name in the Comments box. Otherwise it will go to the team as a whole. All donations are Tax deductible and a receipt will be sent to you.

Again, I am sorry for the short notice.

Shalom
Eric Rainwater

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psalms 27:13-14

Battle Cry

My Wanderings-August 2010

Greetings dear family and friends,

What a wonderful summer it has been but it is time for school to start once again. Over the summer I worked full time on campus which is helping me with tuition here at Bethany College of Missions. I have grown very close to my fellow brothers and sisters that were here over the summer.
It was great to see many of you on my trip back home earlier in June. I must say what an encouragement it was to know how many in the Rainwater family are keeping up with me and supporting me, many of which I may have never met or at least not seen since I was too young to remember. I cannot give enough thanks to God for blessing me with such a great family.
But I must also thank everyone who has supported me through prayer and finances. Your continued support and love gives me great strength to run this race even harder. I am sure that the Lord will bless you all even more for your faithfulness. Give thanks to the Lord who provides!
As this summer comes to a close there are many exciting things coming up this school year. The first great thing is that I am going to be a mentor this coming year. I will have up to ten freshmen boys whom I am in charge of discipleship as they enter into this new season in their walk. It will be an awesome opportunity to minister into these young men's lives by coming beside them to stir them on in righteousness. This will be my main ministry outside of my own studies. But there is also going to be some great ministry events happening throughout the year.
The first event is a large hippy music festival called Harvest Fest that is going on the weekend after Labor Day. There is a few of us joining with a local ministry know as Street Level to minister in this dark place. We will literally be a light in a dark place. I attended last year and there was much fruit.
Secondly, I have an opportunity before Thanksgiving to go on a short-term trip to Azerbaijan, a small country north of Iran. I do not have all the details for this trip but will be updating you soon. This trip is an elective class that counts towards my degree.
Probably the most exciting thing is that I will soon find out where I will be going on my overseas internship a year from now. Please pray for my fellow students and me as we prepare for this process over the school year.  I am so excited about all that will be happening this year and hope to have many great stories to share with you all. I want to thank you all again because I can not walk this journey with out you. And again I must thank God for His grace to walk in righteousness before Him.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9


Some cool Kenyan's we met while watching the World Cup Finals