shoutout

i just want to give a quick shout out to my friends, and true servants of Jesus Christ, Chris and Lindy Thompson. they have just moved to nairobi kenya to be missionaries in the slums of nairobi. check out their blog at www.onlyservants.blogspot.com. please give them your prayers and support as they reach out into the uttermost and do great things for the kingdom of GOD.

chris and lindy, never lose hope, never lose faith, and never quit. GOD's hand is on you and your work. much love.

GOD is Greater

justlisten

recently i have become close friends with a homeless man here in boone. i dont know why i feel a strong connection with him, but i feel he truly is a brother in Christ who is filled with hurt and emptiness. over the past few weeks he has been coming by the son's light coffee house (check out the link to son's light ministries) just to talk with me. i first met him when he stopped me in a parking lot asking for money for food. i took him to chic-fil-a, gave him my cell number, and expected to never hear from him again. but i think GOD has different plans for this man and me. little by little we have gained each other's trust and have opened up to each other with personal stories, both sad and happy. he comes by almost everyday to just sit with me on the sidewalk and talk about life. last night i got a call around 11 to come to the coffee house. my friend was there and was in bad shape. when i walked up he embraced me and cried on my shoulder. i stood there in the parking lot holding a 41 yr old man, starved for love, starved for a shoulder to cry on. we sat down on the sidewalk and he poured out his heart. he was at the "jumping off point" and repeatedly he told me he was tired of life. i have offered him help with finding a place to stay and some new clothes, but last night he told me, "billy, the only thing i want from you is friendship. someone to listen to me. if i had all the money in the world it wouldnt heal this hurt inside of me. ive got a hurting soul. ive got an emptiness i cant fix and i dont know how. i know everybody tells me Jesus loves me, but why do they have everything they need and i live on the streets. they just dont understand. im tired of life. every morning i crack my eyes open i ask God why He woke me up again." i didnt know how to respond. I prayed, "GOD give me the words to say." but the only thing that came out was "love." i said, "i dont know how to fix your situation. i dont know how to help you get over addictions, and get you off the street. but the only thing that is going to fill that emptiness is love." but as darkness flees from the light the mention of love seemed to scare him. he stood up and frantically said to me, "ive got to do something, im tired of this. i better go. see you tomorrow." im afraid he doesnt know that GOD really loves him, and i really love him, and there are others who really love and care for him. i dont know if i will ever see him again. i prayed last night that GOD would comfort him through the night and show him a reason for living. it is hard not to fear the worst for him, but i have faith that GOD will keep him alive and bring him back to a place where he can find love. we have the ability to give him all the material things he needs to live a "normal" life, but he knows and i know that he will still be a broken soul. sometimes we need to give money, food, or clothes, but sometimes we need to just listen. either way it is all about love.

please pray for my friend. he has been a big help with teaching me how to minister to the homeless and i hope that one day he can help me teach others how to reach out to those on the streets. this is what the name whythewoods is all about. reaching out to those who sleep in the woods, under the bridges, behind the walmarts, and and in the alleys of our world. please keep praying.

GOD is Greater

dailyprayer

thank you guys so much for praying for me through this time of sickness. i am feeling much better now and the malaria is finally getting wiped out of my system. i should be 100% by next week.
friends, my plate is full. wtw is becoming a full time job and with football and school looming in the foreground i know that i will need the strength of GOD to get me through the next several months. as whythewoods continues to grow and develop, and my personal life becomes busier and busier, the last thing i want to do is forget where my strength comes from. only by giving do we receive. and it is by giving our soul, body, and mind to GOD that we receive His divine strength and ability to do His great work. i wrote this prayer a couple years ago, and i pray it from time to time when i am feeling spiritually or physically weak, because it reminds me to give everything that i am to GOD and He will lift me up; He will heal me.

a daily prayer

LORD GOD, in the first of morning, when my eyes open and see the sun of another day graciously given by You, i give my spirit to be filled with the joy of Your Love.

in the day, when the harvest is ready, i give my hands and my feet to Your service, to Your will, and to all who need to know the Love of JESUS.

when the day is done, and the darkness closes in, i give the battles that rage in my mind, i give the struggles of the day passed, and the fears of tomorrow. i give You the still moments of solitude when satan wants me.

LORD GOD i am Yours. today, in this moment, i give my life.

amen