Ashton writes:
Revelation. When you first read this book it looks like something only the scholars can master. But revelation is for the weak, the humble, the ordinary person. Everything in this book is explained almost in the next sentence. Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 1:1) If we want to know Jesus, we should read this book. It reveals his heart, power, and leadership in preparing the nations for God's glory. The more I study about eschatology, the end times, I get more and more excited! I can't wait for the day when He comes to rule the earth as the Bridegroom King and Judge. Even though it will be a terrible and dreadful day, my soul still cries for His return. (Joel 2:11 and Malachi 4:5) It will be very terrible to the rebellious who will witness the most severe outpouring of God's judgements ever seen. They will receive the fullness of His wrath. (Rev. 14:10) But it will be a great day to those who call on Jesus' name because they will experience the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in history. (Joel 2:28-32) The end times is the most written about subject in the Bible. There are over 150 chapters about the end times. If you put all of the Gospels together there are only 89 chapters. This clearly shows us how important God thought it was to warn us about the coming days. We must study the end times because they reveal Jesus' heart and leadership. The scriptures in the end times are literal unless specifically indicated as symbolic by the scripture.
While I was studying Revelation, I came across Revelation 14:19-20 which says, "The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside of the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia." This is talking about Jesus returning as the Bridegroom King and Judge conquering the earth. It confused me how a God of love, mercy, kindness, and compassion could be so cruel to kill so many people where the blood ran in the streets as high as a horse's bridle for almost 180 miles. I couldn't fathom a God who wipe so many people off the face of the earth without the blink of an eye. I knew that they were evil but I didn't know why He chose to do it this way. I kept asking Him to show me this side of himself and thankfully He did. He showed me He must do it this way because He is righteous. I knew that He is full of justice and justice must be paid by evildoers. He showed me that He hates injustice. How He hates sex slave traffickers, abortionists, and many more unjust things. He told me that He is a lover of justice, a lover of truth, and a lover of humility. He said to imagine how I felt about sex slave traffickers, abortionists, and other injustices. He showed me how I want to do everything in my power to make them right. That is how Jesus feels and how he has felt since the beginning of time. He talks to them to get them to stop but they have hardened their hearts and do not listen. So He must wipe them out. It all became clear to me after he explained it to me. Now when I read the passages about him wiping evil men off the planet I get excited that He is showing His justice and restoring those who have had injustice done to them. Even though a lot of people will be slaughtered to reach the goal it is all done out of love. He slaughters the evil people out of love for those suffering injustices.
I hope this makes sense. If you have any questions or want to challenge what I wrote or correct me please feel free to do so. I love you guys! I hope this wets your appetite to want to study more about Revelation.
I will be doing a lot on Revelation as I go through the Omega course with the Intro group so keep watching to see when I post another on Revelation. God Bless!
His forever,
Ashton :)
February 11, 2009
February 5, 2009
JP: The Wilderness
Jeff writes:
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord..."
During summer break when I was a Sophomore and Junior in high school, my brother and I would head to the North Georgia mountains for a week at a time to go trout fishing. At that time we were pretty die hard about our fishing expeditions. It basically was us against the trout and only true fishermen were actually in the stream and using artificial lures. Real trout fishermen didn't use waders either. For you non-fishermen, waders are like huge rubber pants that come up to your chest and go over your clothes to keep you dry and in this case warm also. Warm because the stream temperatures in North Georgia run about 65 - 70 degrees. So, as real fishermen we would be out there in tennis shoes and shorts.
In our minds, any novice could sit on the banks and catch fish using corn for bait. After all, this was part of the feed that the trout were raised on in the fish hatcheries. Our goal was to find a place in the wilderness far removed from people. Fishing with artificial lures involved you attempting to entice the trout into thinking that your lure was actually a part of their natural environment through movement and speed or "activity" as Mike liked to call it. The last thing we wanted was some "rookie" spoiling our perfect environment by stumbling and splashing down the creek. We had a neighbor that had a perfectly secluded cabin that was miles from civilization and if that wasn't available we would search to find the most remote, desolate spot possible to camp.
I remember one trip in particular when I was a 17 and we were in the perfect wilderness area. We were so die hard that we would even separate from each other so as not to "spook" the fish. So, I was all alone working my way down the creek. I was navigating down a small waterfall area that had sheer walls about 6 feet high on both sides and a pool at the bottom that was about 7 feet deep. Then it happened, I slipped and fell. I remember what proceeded to come out of my mouth.... "Momma!!!" Now why would a 6 foot, 185 lb athletic football player yell out for his momma? Because that was safety to him, that was the one he could trust in to help and save him.
So, why are we in Kansas City? I believe that one reason we are here is that this is our wilderness. Cold, snowy, windy, and isolated from the world that we love. This is a time to be removed from the things in our lives that might become a distraction from fully pursuing God at this time.
Deut 8:2-3, 16 the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what is in your heart.... So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger and fed you manna which you did not know... that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone: but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.... who fed you in the wilderness with manna... that he might humble you and... test you, to do good in the end.
Just as God placed Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus in the wilderness for for a time of testing and teaching, He has placed our family in the wilderness to cause us to fully depend on Him. Placing us in the wilderness to remove distractions that take our gaze off Him. God is jealous in His desire for us. He was wanting to remove those familiar props that we knowingly and unknowingly lean on instead of Him. He desires for us to find our identity solely in Him rather than our job, our church, our friends, dance, or even our family. Our existence and identity are sustained and upheld by what God says about us, not anyone else. He wants to be our sole provider and sole means of identification.
He desires all of our first cries to be Abba instead of Momma or IRA or bank account or XYZ Company. The Father is releasing His grace for us to walk through our wilderness and is revealing His heart for us. He asks us to just rest our heads on His chest and to remember that He is Faithful and True. This is the one thing of greatest importance, right?During summer break when I was a Sophomore and Junior in high school, my brother and I would head to the North Georgia mountains for a week at a time to go trout fishing. At that time we were pretty die hard about our fishing expeditions. It basically was us against the trout and only true fishermen were actually in the stream and using artificial lures. Real trout fishermen didn't use waders either. For you non-fishermen, waders are like huge rubber pants that come up to your chest and go over your clothes to keep you dry and in this case warm also. Warm because the stream temperatures in North Georgia run about 65 - 70 degrees. So, as real fishermen we would be out there in tennis shoes and shorts.
In our minds, any novice could sit on the banks and catch fish using corn for bait. After all, this was part of the feed that the trout were raised on in the fish hatcheries. Our goal was to find a place in the wilderness far removed from people. Fishing with artificial lures involved you attempting to entice the trout into thinking that your lure was actually a part of their natural environment through movement and speed or "activity" as Mike liked to call it. The last thing we wanted was some "rookie" spoiling our perfect environment by stumbling and splashing down the creek. We had a neighbor that had a perfectly secluded cabin that was miles from civilization and if that wasn't available we would search to find the most remote, desolate spot possible to camp.
I remember one trip in particular when I was a 17 and we were in the perfect wilderness area. We were so die hard that we would even separate from each other so as not to "spook" the fish. So, I was all alone working my way down the creek. I was navigating down a small waterfall area that had sheer walls about 6 feet high on both sides and a pool at the bottom that was about 7 feet deep. Then it happened, I slipped and fell. I remember what proceeded to come out of my mouth.... "Momma!!!" Now why would a 6 foot, 185 lb athletic football player yell out for his momma? Because that was safety to him, that was the one he could trust in to help and save him.
So, why are we in Kansas City? I believe that one reason we are here is that this is our wilderness. Cold, snowy, windy, and isolated from the world that we love. This is a time to be removed from the things in our lives that might become a distraction from fully pursuing God at this time.
Deut 8:2-3, 16 the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what is in your heart.... So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger and fed you manna which you did not know... that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone: but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.... who fed you in the wilderness with manna... that he might humble you and... test you, to do good in the end.
Just as God placed Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus in the wilderness for for a time of testing and teaching, He has placed our family in the wilderness to cause us to fully depend on Him. Placing us in the wilderness to remove distractions that take our gaze off Him. God is jealous in His desire for us. He was wanting to remove those familiar props that we knowingly and unknowingly lean on instead of Him. He desires for us to find our identity solely in Him rather than our job, our church, our friends, dance, or even our family. Our existence and identity are sustained and upheld by what God says about us, not anyone else. He wants to be our sole provider and sole means of identification.
Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to seek Him in His temple.
Blessings,
Jeff
February 3, 2009
KP: Family
Kristian writes:
Wow, I cannot believe that we have been in Kansas City for 3 weeks!! Time is going by so quickly. I read my children's blog entries and see where they write, "now that life is slowing down" and wonder where they are living?! Then I read as they describe accurately all that we are doing/learning and know that we may not be in the car as much as we were in Marietta, but that life has by no means 'slowed' down. It has just shifted, and it is good.
There are so many things on my heart to share but time restrictions demand that I must choose. I title this entry as 'Family'. Each of you know that if there is one thing that we are known for it is family. Both Jeff and I were raised with a significant priority being placed both on our immediate and extended family. We were raised in the wisdom that life is 'done' in the context of family. Good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, accomplishments, poor choices, holidays, vacations, church, and 'regular days' all are lived as a family. Since having our own children we have continued in that vein.
In His great wisdom, God has placed us in families. Over the years, these relationships lead us and draw us to Him. He loves us, we learn to love Him back and then we spill that love over to those we are in relationship with. What a great set up. And as we grow, He expands our family. We grow from our immediate and extended families to deepening relationship with our church family, to our cell group family, to our intercessor family, to the cell group family we shepherd (like Jeff and the 11th grade guys), to both the Middle School cell group family (for Mallory) and High School cell group family (for Ashton), and our dance family. We grow, and then...
He calls us out. Our calling is not really changed. Jeff and I have always been called to minister to families-whether to young children, youth, or couples in the context of their marriages, or even just as a way of how one family raises children just a little differently than the norm of our society. So, we have been called out. Our location and the members of some of our peripheral families are changed. But one facet of our calling is the same. Jeff and I, along with our 2 precious children, have been called to IHOP in part to minister as a family in the context of family. Jeff and I knew that part of our 'job' from the Lord as Intercessory Missionaries at IHOP would be to disciple, raise up and support in the context of family some of the students in the schools, internships, and even some of younger ones on staff. What a privilege to pour into future evangelists, preachers, worship leaders, forerunners....These young men and women are being trained in a lifestyle of night and day prayer and fasting and we have been allowed to be in this place at this time praying for them, with them, praying for the nations that will be impacted by each one. "But Lord", we cried, "how? So many of them are light years ahead of us in their theology. They are so passionate. They are truely in love with the Man Jesus, our bridegroom". We felt so inferior, so incapable. Then the compassionate words from the Lord came...when you are weak, I am strong (IICor 12:10), those I have called, I will equip (Heb 13:21)
So, we said yes, full well thinking that we would be ministering to the 18-22 year
old group. That would be logical. Our children are approaching that age range. We have found ourselves pouring out on their peers in the past. But no, that hasn't really been the case since we have been here. God is currently using us with the single 28-32 year olds. Wow! Who would have thought? Well, obviously God did. And do you know what is opening the doors to relationship? FAMILY!! These are great 'young people' from great families and God has called them out, to IHOP-KC, for this season of concecration and prepartion. They miss their families, their moms, dads, siblings, their church families. (Just like us) But we represent what they are missing because God in his infinite wisdom has called the Price FAMILY to IHOP Kansas City. Wow! They want to come over and hang out with the "old people". (Hey for a 28 year old, Jeff and I are kind of old to choose to hang out with on your evening off from the prayer room!) They want to ride in our van, with the family. (Even sitting in the backseat!) They want to come over and chop onions and make dinner with us. They want to eat at the table with family. They want to come over and play Uno. They want to hear stories about how the 4 of us all pile on top of the bed in the evening for family review of the day and what teaching struck each one or what the Lord revealed that day. They want to bounce ideas off of Jeff and I. They want to share how the Lord is teaching them. They want to ask questions of us about issues we have faced since being called as missionaries. Our experiences, our setbacks, our joys, our heartaches. Many of the guys and girls are from our Intro class but they did not necessarily come here expecting to stay for the longterm. They are seeking what they Lord has as the next thing and wondering what we have encountered in our journey.
Yes Lord, use me. May I be faithful in all that I do. I pray that I will be a blessing to others. To whom much is given, much is required. The Price family has been given much. I pray we give much and that the Lord is glorified.
On a flip side of the coin, the Price family also misses the families that we left in Marietta. But God knew. And, He is so good. So many of you have called, emailed, written. Thank you! You will never know what a blessing you are. And, God in his infinite mercy has put us into some new families as well. Our Intro class is like a big family of 50, but we care about what each one has on their hearts. Within the class we are in 4 groups and from here we break out for discussion and have our home groups. Our leaders are a wonderful couple with 2 amazing young sons! (You better study your Bible because this next generation of 5-8 year olds will put you to shame.) The girls have begun attending their Jr and Sr. high youth groups. Mallory met a sweet friend the first night who has helped to acclimate, and Ashton met a 16 year old dancer who takes class at a nearby Christian dance studio. We have even been taken in by some of the KC friends of our friends back home (Thanks Jules). Ashton has become reaquainted with some of her leaders from when she came to Awakening Teen Camp last summer. One precious lady whom we met when we were here for a week in April has adopted our family. She is always giving out much missed hugs and even brought dinner to the 6 of us when we were moving in. (4 Prices and my mom and dad) Then she took my parents to the airport on Monday morning when we had to be in class. What a blessing. Then there is precious Ashley G. I love that girl!! She gives the best hugs and always searches us out to say hi with that big beautiful Georgia grin!!! And, I have to brag...Moma Sandy you should be so proud of your Ashley. She selflessly texted Ashton and Mallory on our 3rd weekend inviting them to the movies. That was exactly what they needed! She picked them up from the prayer room, took them to see her home, took them to eat, and then went back to our house to watch a movie. God is so good.
We miss you all dearly. In the same breath we are at rest that we are right where we are supposed to be. God is good and we are so blessed.
We love you much!
Kristian
Wow, I cannot believe that we have been in Kansas City for 3 weeks!! Time is going by so quickly. I read my children's blog entries and see where they write, "now that life is slowing down" and wonder where they are living?! Then I read as they describe accurately all that we are doing/learning and know that we may not be in the car as much as we were in Marietta, but that life has by no means 'slowed' down. It has just shifted, and it is good.
There are so many things on my heart to share but time restrictions demand that I must choose. I title this entry as 'Family'. Each of you know that if there is one thing that we are known for it is family. Both Jeff and I were raised with a significant priority being placed both on our immediate and extended family. We were raised in the wisdom that life is 'done' in the context of family. Good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, accomplishments, poor choices, holidays, vacations, church, and 'regular days' all are lived as a family. Since having our own children we have continued in that vein.
In His great wisdom, God has placed us in families. Over the years, these relationships lead us and draw us to Him. He loves us, we learn to love Him back and then we spill that love over to those we are in relationship with. What a great set up. And as we grow, He expands our family. We grow from our immediate and extended families to deepening relationship with our church family, to our cell group family, to our intercessor family, to the cell group family we shepherd (like Jeff and the 11th grade guys), to both the Middle School cell group family (for Mallory) and High School cell group family (for Ashton), and our dance family. We grow, and then...
He calls us out. Our calling is not really changed. Jeff and I have always been called to minister to families-whether to young children, youth, or couples in the context of their marriages, or even just as a way of how one family raises children just a little differently than the norm of our society. So, we have been called out. Our location and the members of some of our peripheral families are changed. But one facet of our calling is the same. Jeff and I, along with our 2 precious children, have been called to IHOP in part to minister as a family in the context of family. Jeff and I knew that part of our 'job' from the Lord as Intercessory Missionaries at IHOP would be to disciple, raise up and support in the context of family some of the students in the schools, internships, and even some of younger ones on staff. What a privilege to pour into future evangelists, preachers, worship leaders, forerunners....These young men and women are being trained in a lifestyle of night and day prayer and fasting and we have been allowed to be in this place at this time praying for them, with them, praying for the nations that will be impacted by each one. "But Lord", we cried, "how? So many of them are light years ahead of us in their theology. They are so passionate. They are truely in love with the Man Jesus, our bridegroom". We felt so inferior, so incapable. Then the compassionate words from the Lord came...when you are weak, I am strong (IICor 12:10), those I have called, I will equip (Heb 13:21)
So, we said yes, full well thinking that we would be ministering to the 18-22 year
old group. That would be logical. Our children are approaching that age range. We have found ourselves pouring out on their peers in the past. But no, that hasn't really been the case since we have been here. God is currently using us with the single 28-32 year olds. Wow! Who would have thought? Well, obviously God did. And do you know what is opening the doors to relationship? FAMILY!! These are great 'young people' from great families and God has called them out, to IHOP-KC, for this season of concecration and prepartion. They miss their families, their moms, dads, siblings, their church families. (Just like us) But we represent what they are missing because God in his infinite wisdom has called the Price FAMILY to IHOP Kansas City. Wow! They want to come over and hang out with the "old people". (Hey for a 28 year old, Jeff and I are kind of old to choose to hang out with on your evening off from the prayer room!) They want to ride in our van, with the family. (Even sitting in the backseat!) They want to come over and chop onions and make dinner with us. They want to eat at the table with family. They want to come over and play Uno. They want to hear stories about how the 4 of us all pile on top of the bed in the evening for family review of the day and what teaching struck each one or what the Lord revealed that day. They want to bounce ideas off of Jeff and I. They want to share how the Lord is teaching them. They want to ask questions of us about issues we have faced since being called as missionaries. Our experiences, our setbacks, our joys, our heartaches. Many of the guys and girls are from our Intro class but they did not necessarily come here expecting to stay for the longterm. They are seeking what they Lord has as the next thing and wondering what we have encountered in our journey.
Yes Lord, use me. May I be faithful in all that I do. I pray that I will be a blessing to others. To whom much is given, much is required. The Price family has been given much. I pray we give much and that the Lord is glorified.
On a flip side of the coin, the Price family also misses the families that we left in Marietta. But God knew. And, He is so good. So many of you have called, emailed, written. Thank you! You will never know what a blessing you are. And, God in his infinite mercy has put us into some new families as well. Our Intro class is like a big family of 50, but we care about what each one has on their hearts. Within the class we are in 4 groups and from here we break out for discussion and have our home groups. Our leaders are a wonderful couple with 2 amazing young sons! (You better study your Bible because this next generation of 5-8 year olds will put you to shame.) The girls have begun attending their Jr and Sr. high youth groups. Mallory met a sweet friend the first night who has helped to acclimate, and Ashton met a 16 year old dancer who takes class at a nearby Christian dance studio. We have even been taken in by some of the KC friends of our friends back home (Thanks Jules). Ashton has become reaquainted with some of her leaders from when she came to Awakening Teen Camp last summer. One precious lady whom we met when we were here for a week in April has adopted our family. She is always giving out much missed hugs and even brought dinner to the 6 of us when we were moving in. (4 Prices and my mom and dad) Then she took my parents to the airport on Monday morning when we had to be in class. What a blessing. Then there is precious Ashley G. I love that girl!! She gives the best hugs and always searches us out to say hi with that big beautiful Georgia grin!!! And, I have to brag...Moma Sandy you should be so proud of your Ashley. She selflessly texted Ashton and Mallory on our 3rd weekend inviting them to the movies. That was exactly what they needed! She picked them up from the prayer room, took them to see her home, took them to eat, and then went back to our house to watch a movie. God is so good.
We miss you all dearly. In the same breath we are at rest that we are right where we are supposed to be. God is good and we are so blessed.
We love you much!
Kristian
January 31, 2009
MP: New Life
Mallory writes:
Hey y'all,
I had a great Christmas!!! My favorite thing about it was probably being able to be around my family and friends. After Christmas we went to OneThing in Kansas City, and this year's OneThing I believe was the most impacting or influential one that I have ever been to.
So this year the leaders decided to change up how they did most of the conference. At one point of each day we had always broken up and gone into little teaching groups but this year we never broke up into those small groups things. Instead we all stayed put and Mike Bickle taught.During this time he taught on eschatology, which means end times. Personally I thought that it was all very helpful because now I understand the end times much better than I ever did or thought that I would for a long time. I had thought that I was too young to be able to figure out what he was talking about. But when he said that he knew 8 year old kids that knew about eschatology I thought to myself well it will be very helpful if I know what will happen in the end times. So knowing that people younger than me could do it, I had faith that I would be able to understand what Mr. Mike said. And actually I did end up understanding almost everything he said and what I did not understand my parents were able to help me with. And then we had about 17,000 people singing some of Misty Edwards songs to bring in the New Year. It was absolutely awesome!!!!!
Thanks to the help of many beloved family and friends we were able to get out here 2 days before our Intro course began. I would list everyone that we had helping us but that would be way too hard as we had so much wonderful help.
To move on!?! Well,right now we have a very busy schedule so it is hard to pinpoint just one thing!!! OOOOOOHHHHH I almost
forgot on Friday I have youth and on the first night I went(that was 3 Friday's ago) I met a girl named Caitlyn. She made me feel like I truly did fit into this youth group!!!!! She is so kind and right now she is the person that I am hanging with so that I can meet other people as well. I am really excited to be here right now.
Let's go on a bunny trail. Today is my daddy's birthday!!! Is that not exciting? I think it is I guess because I had his gift wrapped up 3 days ahead of time.
In our small group we have Samuel and Allison Mosley as our main leaders. They have Ms. Christina and her son, Tyler, and Mr. Cory and Mrs. Paige and their brand new baby, Macy Nicole Wilson as the associate leaders. Baby Macy was born on Jan. 19. From what I hear she is absolutely adorable!!!!!
Mallory(for the Price's)
(P.S. Sorry if some of this was already written by others)
Hey y'all,
I had a great Christmas!!! My favorite thing about it was probably being able to be around my family and friends. After Christmas we went to OneThing in Kansas City, and this year's OneThing I believe was the most impacting or influential one that I have ever been to.
So this year the leaders decided to change up how they did most of the conference. At one point of each day we had always broken up and gone into little teaching groups but this year we never broke up into those small groups things. Instead we all stayed put and Mike Bickle taught.During this time he taught on eschatology, which means end times. Personally I thought that it was all very helpful because now I understand the end times much better than I ever did or thought that I would for a long time. I had thought that I was too young to be able to figure out what he was talking about. But when he said that he knew 8 year old kids that knew about eschatology I thought to myself well it will be very helpful if I know what will happen in the end times. So knowing that people younger than me could do it, I had faith that I would be able to understand what Mr. Mike said. And actually I did end up understanding almost everything he said and what I did not understand my parents were able to help me with. And then we had about 17,000 people singing some of Misty Edwards songs to bring in the New Year. It was absolutely awesome!!!!!
Thanks to the help of many beloved family and friends we were able to get out here 2 days before our Intro course began. I would list everyone that we had helping us but that would be way too hard as we had so much wonderful help.
To move on!?! Well,right now we have a very busy schedule so it is hard to pinpoint just one thing!!! OOOOOOHHHHH I almost
forgot on Friday I have youth and on the first night I went(that was 3 Friday's ago) I met a girl named Caitlyn. She made me feel like I truly did fit into this youth group!!!!! She is so kind and right now she is the person that I am hanging with so that I can meet other people as well. I am really excited to be here right now.
Let's go on a bunny trail. Today is my daddy's birthday!!! Is that not exciting? I think it is I guess because I had his gift wrapped up 3 days ahead of time.
In our small group we have Samuel and Allison Mosley as our main leaders. They have Ms. Christina and her son, Tyler, and Mr. Cory and Mrs. Paige and their brand new baby, Macy Nicole Wilson as the associate leaders. Baby Macy was born on Jan. 19. From what I hear she is absolutely adorable!!!!!
Mallory(for the Price's)
(P.S. Sorry if some of this was already written by others)
January 30, 2009
AP: Hello All!!!!!
Ashton writes:
Hey everyone!
How are y'all doing? I hope everyone is well! It has certainly been a long time since I wrote last and I apologize for not writing like I said I would. Now that the pace of life has changed I am hoping that I will be able to write weekly updates. I am also going to start sending out weekly emails telling some stuff I have been learning in the prayer room and in class. So if you would like to be on the weekly email list, email me at my old email address or my mom's email address and I will be sure to add you to the list. However I will be posting these on this blog.
Okay, so quick update on how we are. As most of you probably know, our house sold 12 days after we put it on the market. We got full asking price, we didn't have to pay all of the closing costs, we got to keep our new fridge we like, and we got to live there from Dec. 19th to Jan. 8th rent free. God is so good. He ALWAYS takes care of his children.
Then we were worried how we were going to be able to do Christmas, OneThing, my birthday, and move all before Jan. 8th. But again God provided. After Christmas we went to the OneThing conference out in Kansas City. It was fabulous. God showed himself and moved in powerful ways. The couple of days after the conference my parents stayed to look for housing. (They had taken us during lunch one day to see the outsides of 3 different houses but they went to see the insides) Because we were new to the area and didn't really know where we wanted to live, they decided to rent a house 0.4 miles from the prayer room. It is a great house. So when they got back to Georgia we had 3 days to pack EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. But thankfully we had the help of some fabulous people. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us pack and load the Uhaul. We couldn't have done it without you. In fact, we might still be there packing if we didn't have any help! You guys were so helpful. Thank you for sacrificing your time to help us prepare to move. We thought that we were going to get everything in the biggest Uhaul and a trailer but we were wrong. Even though we had gone through and gotten rid of a lot of things we needed a second of the biggest Uhauls. God surprises us in many ways.
We drove on Friday, January 9th, my birthday. But thankfully I have a great family who made the day very special for me even though I was in a car the whole day. We had stopped in the McDonald's parking lot in Cartersville to regroup and take a bathroom break before the trip. I decided to go in and ask a worker if I could get anything for free because it was my 17th birthday and I was moving to Missouri. She gave me a sample special coffee drink! I thought that was very funny. When we got to Missouri on Saturday, Daddy called Jules Tompkins, a great friend we know from church, to get some of his friends in Kansas City to help us get the large pieces of furniture into the new house. About 6 of his friends came over after church to help carry the furniture. That was a huge blessing because by that day we had been carrying things for 3 days and my arms were beginning to give out.
We started Intro on Monday the 12th so we really didn't get time to unpack. But the next Monday we had off so we unpacked a lot of boxes! My room actually looks like a real room now! YEAH! This is our schedule: On Tues-Fri we go to a class in the morning and the prayer room in the afternoon. We have cell group on Wednesday night. It is so much fun! Then on Fri and Sat nights we go to the prayer room during the day and to the EGS (Encountering God Services-you can watch these online for free at www.ihop.org) On Sun we go to serve with the 2-4 yeare olds, go to church, and spend the afternoons in the prayer room. We get Mondays off as our day of Sabbath. This is our day of rest. If you want to call us, we will be available all day Monday. You can get us during the week but it is a little more tricky to reach us.
It has also snowed 3 times! The snow never really goes away. It just clumps into huge, dirty, ice blobs on the side of the road and in the yards. But the first time it snowed it Mallory and I got to play in it but not for long. It was -5 degrees and -19 degrees with the windchill! It was soooooo...... cold! Now it is in the 20s when we get up and in the 30s for a high. It is strange but I am beginning to think that it is warm! I never thought that I would say the 20s were warm!
Well, we've been here 3 weeks. It is so hard to believe that much time has gone by. It seems like it has only been a week or so. So many good things have happened to us. But I will write about what I've learned in my next post so you will come back to read more. :) If you would like to send us letters, email us and we will send you our address. We hope to be sending out a news letter soon which will have our address on it as well. We will put pictures on the blog as soon as we figure out how. It will probably be within the next couple of weeks. Well, I guess I will write another entry later. Talk to you soon!
Love ya!
His forever,
Ashton :)
Hey everyone!
How are y'all doing? I hope everyone is well! It has certainly been a long time since I wrote last and I apologize for not writing like I said I would. Now that the pace of life has changed I am hoping that I will be able to write weekly updates. I am also going to start sending out weekly emails telling some stuff I have been learning in the prayer room and in class. So if you would like to be on the weekly email list, email me at my old email address or my mom's email address and I will be sure to add you to the list. However I will be posting these on this blog.
Okay, so quick update on how we are. As most of you probably know, our house sold 12 days after we put it on the market. We got full asking price, we didn't have to pay all of the closing costs, we got to keep our new fridge we like, and we got to live there from Dec. 19th to Jan. 8th rent free. God is so good. He ALWAYS takes care of his children.
Then we were worried how we were going to be able to do Christmas, OneThing, my birthday, and move all before Jan. 8th. But again God provided. After Christmas we went to the OneThing conference out in Kansas City. It was fabulous. God showed himself and moved in powerful ways. The couple of days after the conference my parents stayed to look for housing. (They had taken us during lunch one day to see the outsides of 3 different houses but they went to see the insides) Because we were new to the area and didn't really know where we wanted to live, they decided to rent a house 0.4 miles from the prayer room. It is a great house. So when they got back to Georgia we had 3 days to pack EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. But thankfully we had the help of some fabulous people. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us pack and load the Uhaul. We couldn't have done it without you. In fact, we might still be there packing if we didn't have any help! You guys were so helpful. Thank you for sacrificing your time to help us prepare to move. We thought that we were going to get everything in the biggest Uhaul and a trailer but we were wrong. Even though we had gone through and gotten rid of a lot of things we needed a second of the biggest Uhauls. God surprises us in many ways.
We drove on Friday, January 9th, my birthday. But thankfully I have a great family who made the day very special for me even though I was in a car the whole day. We had stopped in the McDonald's parking lot in Cartersville to regroup and take a bathroom break before the trip. I decided to go in and ask a worker if I could get anything for free because it was my 17th birthday and I was moving to Missouri. She gave me a sample special coffee drink! I thought that was very funny. When we got to Missouri on Saturday, Daddy called Jules Tompkins, a great friend we know from church, to get some of his friends in Kansas City to help us get the large pieces of furniture into the new house. About 6 of his friends came over after church to help carry the furniture. That was a huge blessing because by that day we had been carrying things for 3 days and my arms were beginning to give out.
We started Intro on Monday the 12th so we really didn't get time to unpack. But the next Monday we had off so we unpacked a lot of boxes! My room actually looks like a real room now! YEAH! This is our schedule: On Tues-Fri we go to a class in the morning and the prayer room in the afternoon. We have cell group on Wednesday night. It is so much fun! Then on Fri and Sat nights we go to the prayer room during the day and to the EGS (Encountering God Services-you can watch these online for free at www.ihop.org) On Sun we go to serve with the 2-4 yeare olds, go to church, and spend the afternoons in the prayer room. We get Mondays off as our day of Sabbath. This is our day of rest. If you want to call us, we will be available all day Monday. You can get us during the week but it is a little more tricky to reach us.
It has also snowed 3 times! The snow never really goes away. It just clumps into huge, dirty, ice blobs on the side of the road and in the yards. But the first time it snowed it Mallory and I got to play in it but not for long. It was -5 degrees and -19 degrees with the windchill! It was soooooo...... cold! Now it is in the 20s when we get up and in the 30s for a high. It is strange but I am beginning to think that it is warm! I never thought that I would say the 20s were warm!
Well, we've been here 3 weeks. It is so hard to believe that much time has gone by. It seems like it has only been a week or so. So many good things have happened to us. But I will write about what I've learned in my next post so you will come back to read more. :) If you would like to send us letters, email us and we will send you our address. We hope to be sending out a news letter soon which will have our address on it as well. We will put pictures on the blog as soon as we figure out how. It will probably be within the next couple of weeks. Well, I guess I will write another entry later. Talk to you soon!
Love ya!
His forever,
Ashton :)
November 19, 2008
KP: Procrastination
Hello everyone. I have procrastinated long enough on this entry. As many of you know, I am a perfectionist. So, I did not want to journal until I had perfected a writing on what the Lord is teaching me or what is currently going on in our lives. I have been intimidated as I read what others who are much younger than I are writing with such great impact! (Ashley G., Kurt M., Ashton P.) Then I compare my thoughts/writing to the 'pros' like Wes Martin, Dan Diaddigo and...I just don't write at all.
Well, you love me (us) or you wouldn't be reading this. God has called me to this new ministry as part of this family. So I am going to trust that He will equip me to adequately write something that is for someone out there. So here goes....eloquent or not, here are my thoughts today.
We have had an incredible amount of change over the last six weeks. We have completed renovations and updates on the house. We have sifted through 21 years of accumulations and purged ourselves of many unneeded and unused items, passing them on to others who can use them. In this process I have had to come to grips with the fact that I had a poverty spirit and was operating with a poverty mentality. My rationalism was that it was all good stuff and "what if I needed it some day". (With my newest excuse being-especially down the road when we were not officially employed with a 'real' paycheck) Folks, that is greed and hording! I do not need it. I am not using it. I have not used it in quite a long time! This provision was given to me, but I was not passing it on to the ones that were the intended recipients. I was hording "just in case". I was in essence telling my Heavenly Father that I didn't trust Him to be sufficient to meet my needs and that I needed to provide for myself. First of all ,He is sufficient. Secondly, we cannot provide for ourselves but for the grace of God. Most of all, He is my Father. And, just like our earthly father He desires to give us good gifts and to take care of us, only more so because He is the God of the universe. So, the house is cleaned out, many people have been blessed, and I feel a freedom that I cannot adequately describe.
The house is on the market and has had good traffic with good reviews. Now we wait on the Lord's timing for the 'right' buyer. The Lord has begun to raise up our prayer and financial partners. This has been an exciting time for us as we watch Him do that which we cannot do. Faith. I have been praying and asking the Lord for more faith for about 15 months. Interesting isn't it. I liken it to praying for patience. Typically you receive as your answer to the 'patience prayer' trials which are designed to develop patience in and through you. Well, I am seeing that when praying for more faith, you receive circumstances that cannot be solved or achieved in and of yourself. Hence, faith is developed. I have heard some say,"Faith is spelled R-I-S-K". Well, that might be true because on several occasions lately I have thought that faith surely must be a four letter word!
I was reading a newsletter from Tom Schmidt, a missionary acquaintance of ours. The article that caught my attention was "Be Strong and Courageous. Be Strong and Very Courageous". He was talking about change and how that seems to be the buzzword in the political arena now days. He went on to comment on how much he did not care for change but would like to convince himself that it was related to him being older, wiser and more experienced, yet knowing that it was not. (I could not even try that excuse as I have never cared for change.)
He went on to write the thoughts of my heart and I would like to quote this excerpt:
"I wonder how much of my anxiousness finds its roots in fear of the unknown; fear of the 'what ifs'...if we fail, if God doesn't provide, if we get hurt, if it's not what we thought it would be...and the list goes on."
"BUT GOD PRODS THE VERY DEPTH OF MY HEART WITH THIS QUESTION: Am I like the spies of Numbers 13 who chose to be led by fear and concern of what laid ahead of them? Or rather, am I going to align myself with Joshua and Caleb whose report was prompted by faith in God? The God who provided a grape cluster so large that it took two people to carry it upon a pole with pomegranates and figs. The size of the grape cluster indicating the goodness and provision of the Lord, in spite of the woe-sayers surrounding them!"
This old testament story is one place I have been praying into. Lord, give me the faith of Joshua and Caleb in the midst of people with bad reports. We have heard it all! I started writing the things we have heard, but although they are true in the natural, they do not supersede the things of the Lord. Instead I testify to what is true and everlasting: He has called us to be missionaries in such a time as this. His ways are perfect. His timing is perfect. He is good. He is above the real estate market, the banking and loan industries, the stock market, the economy, and the political realm. He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills. He loves us. He will provide for all of our needs. He equips those He calls. He uses the weak.
We all know these truths. Are we going to act and speak like we believe that they are true? What do you believe? Not just what you say you believe, what do you really believe? I have had to ask myself these questions and make decisions. I am choosing to stand on the Word of God, put myself out there in a place of vulnerability before you and everyone else, putting everything as I know it on the line. I am choosing to believe that I have heard the voice of the Lord, been obedient and in FAITH am handing it all over to Him and believing Him to be who He says He is and do what He says He does!
It really boils down to who is your God? Where is your trust? This has been another track I have been on and a topic for a future writing....
I love y'all! I am thankful for you!
Blessings,
Kristian for the Prices
Well, you love me (us) or you wouldn't be reading this. God has called me to this new ministry as part of this family. So I am going to trust that He will equip me to adequately write something that is for someone out there. So here goes....eloquent or not, here are my thoughts today.
We have had an incredible amount of change over the last six weeks. We have completed renovations and updates on the house. We have sifted through 21 years of accumulations and purged ourselves of many unneeded and unused items, passing them on to others who can use them. In this process I have had to come to grips with the fact that I had a poverty spirit and was operating with a poverty mentality. My rationalism was that it was all good stuff and "what if I needed it some day". (With my newest excuse being-especially down the road when we were not officially employed with a 'real' paycheck) Folks, that is greed and hording! I do not need it. I am not using it. I have not used it in quite a long time! This provision was given to me, but I was not passing it on to the ones that were the intended recipients. I was hording "just in case". I was in essence telling my Heavenly Father that I didn't trust Him to be sufficient to meet my needs and that I needed to provide for myself. First of all ,He is sufficient. Secondly, we cannot provide for ourselves but for the grace of God. Most of all, He is my Father. And, just like our earthly father He desires to give us good gifts and to take care of us, only more so because He is the God of the universe. So, the house is cleaned out, many people have been blessed, and I feel a freedom that I cannot adequately describe.
The house is on the market and has had good traffic with good reviews. Now we wait on the Lord's timing for the 'right' buyer. The Lord has begun to raise up our prayer and financial partners. This has been an exciting time for us as we watch Him do that which we cannot do. Faith. I have been praying and asking the Lord for more faith for about 15 months. Interesting isn't it. I liken it to praying for patience. Typically you receive as your answer to the 'patience prayer' trials which are designed to develop patience in and through you. Well, I am seeing that when praying for more faith, you receive circumstances that cannot be solved or achieved in and of yourself. Hence, faith is developed. I have heard some say,"Faith is spelled R-I-S-K". Well, that might be true because on several occasions lately I have thought that faith surely must be a four letter word!
I was reading a newsletter from Tom Schmidt, a missionary acquaintance of ours. The article that caught my attention was "Be Strong and Courageous. Be Strong and Very Courageous". He was talking about change and how that seems to be the buzzword in the political arena now days. He went on to comment on how much he did not care for change but would like to convince himself that it was related to him being older, wiser and more experienced, yet knowing that it was not. (I could not even try that excuse as I have never cared for change.)
He went on to write the thoughts of my heart and I would like to quote this excerpt:
"I wonder how much of my anxiousness finds its roots in fear of the unknown; fear of the 'what ifs'...if we fail, if God doesn't provide, if we get hurt, if it's not what we thought it would be...and the list goes on."
"BUT GOD PRODS THE VERY DEPTH OF MY HEART WITH THIS QUESTION: Am I like the spies of Numbers 13 who chose to be led by fear and concern of what laid ahead of them? Or rather, am I going to align myself with Joshua and Caleb whose report was prompted by faith in God? The God who provided a grape cluster so large that it took two people to carry it upon a pole with pomegranates and figs. The size of the grape cluster indicating the goodness and provision of the Lord, in spite of the woe-sayers surrounding them!"
This old testament story is one place I have been praying into. Lord, give me the faith of Joshua and Caleb in the midst of people with bad reports. We have heard it all! I started writing the things we have heard, but although they are true in the natural, they do not supersede the things of the Lord. Instead I testify to what is true and everlasting: He has called us to be missionaries in such a time as this. His ways are perfect. His timing is perfect. He is good. He is above the real estate market, the banking and loan industries, the stock market, the economy, and the political realm. He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills. He loves us. He will provide for all of our needs. He equips those He calls. He uses the weak.
We all know these truths. Are we going to act and speak like we believe that they are true? What do you believe? Not just what you say you believe, what do you really believe? I have had to ask myself these questions and make decisions. I am choosing to stand on the Word of God, put myself out there in a place of vulnerability before you and everyone else, putting everything as I know it on the line. I am choosing to believe that I have heard the voice of the Lord, been obedient and in FAITH am handing it all over to Him and believing Him to be who He says He is and do what He says He does!
It really boils down to who is your God? Where is your trust? This has been another track I have been on and a topic for a future writing....
I love y'all! I am thankful for you!
Blessings,
Kristian for the Prices
October 21, 2008
AP: Life
God is so good when life is hard.
Our deadline to put our house on the market Oct. 1st was not accomplished, but great things have happened because of it. In order for our house to stand out against so many other houses on the market at this time, we discovered that not only do we have to have our house look great, but it has to be practically empty! This means we have to take down all the tacky wall paper that we hated when we moved in, sand it, prime it, and paint it. We also have to pack up most of our belongings. So my parents decided to pull Mallory and I out of school for our fall break to help paint and pack. On my mom's birthday, one of the presents that she received was the prayer room live for one year. So while we have been peeling wall paper, preparing the backing to come off, pulling the backing off, washing the walls, priming the walls, and painting them, we have been listening to the prayer room. The cool thing about it is that we are drawn in to the music and intercession while we are working and now have a greater passion and burning desire to be there. We are so excited that we can barely contain ourselves. Even though we will miss all of our family, church friends, school friends, and dance friends, we know that God has great and amazing plans for us. "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) Mallory and I are excitedly preparing for our Christmas show even though we know it will be our last show with PHWD. We also found out that Intro to IHOP will not start on January 9th as we had expected but on January 12th. That is good for us because it gives us extra time here at home before we move. During the first week in January, we will be packing up the final items while going to our last FaceDown at RiverStone, our last youth on Sunday, and our last Sunday morning service. It will be sad, but it will be exciting when we get there. You can be sure that I will post pictures on the blog to show you our trip and our new house!
Anyway, I just got back two weeks ago from my high school retreat for my church. God showed up in amazing ways. Christian, a worship leader from IHOP-Atlanta, led worship with his team. God used them mightily that weekend. We had powerful times of worship and intercession. Pastor Steve Hambrick, the pastor of our new church plant, spoke for us that weekend. On Friday night, he talked about us being called by God as world changers. He said that God wants us to not only wake up to do what he wants us to do but rise up. We need to have endurance for what he wants us to do and not give up. We have to be aware of parasitic sin. We may be able to deal with sin for a moment but it will try to come back and we must be aware and on guard against it. We also need to be aware of the extra-spiritual fat, the things that are not necessarily bad but are hindering you from doing your best for God. We need to look at what takes up most of our time, thoughts, and money. The way to get rid of spiritual gluttony is when you get something, you give it away and then go back for more.
On Saturday night we had a powerful worship and intercession time. At one point during the night, Christian got off stage and started to pray for people that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit and that we would begin to operate in the Holy Spirit. People began to dance like David danced, sing songs to Jesus out of the depth of their hearts, prophecy, become drunk in the Holy Spirit, and pray in tongues. While this may have been new to some people, I was used to it from exposure I have had from Mountain of Worship conferences and other conferences. I was very excited and ran to find Kathy Ryan. I had gone to ATC (Awakening Teen Conference- a 2 week conference at IHOP KC) over the summer with her and Brooks Tompkins, and we had prayed that these very things would happen to our youth group and that God would move mightily. When I found her, we both grinned huge smiles. We both knew that God was answering our prayer and we couldn't be more excited. About an hour and a half into that, we began to pray that the wind of the Holy Spirit would blow into our youth group and set us ablaze with a greater hunger and desire to know him more. As Christian was prophesying that God's wind would blow over us, a door to the right of the stage blew open with such force it startled me even though I was on the opposite side of the room and through the loud music. (Youth music is always loud-the louder the better!) Christian ran off the stage to Mason Tanner who was standing by the door and asked him if he opened the door. Mason said that he hadn't done it but rather the wind had. Coincidence? I think not! Christian, then very excited, began to prophecy not that the wind of God WOULD blow over us, but that it WAS blowing over us. Needless to say, it was a very powerful time. Pastor Steve Hambrick told us that God wants to do something IN us so that he can move THROUGH us. He said that we can never stand still in our walk with God. We are either moving away or towards him. Continuing to move forward means that we must continually be giving our life away for the things of the kingdom. Everyday, God wants to draw us in, love us, and send us out to love his children. After he spoke we went back into ministry time. We prayed for three things: to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and operate in them, and for healing either emotional or physical. We worshiped and prayed until well into the night. I was so energized by what had happened that night in our youth group that I could not go to sleep until at least 3:30 in the morning!
Well this one has been a long one but I hope it has been good. I am planning to update the blog every Sunday, so you can check Monday morning and a new post should be there from me. My family members may update it during other times of the week as well. Please pray that God would continue to send his peace to us about our house selling. Also that he would continue to stretch us as we prepare to be continuously soaking in the atmosphere of night and day intercession and worship. We love you and can't wait to see you during our weeks!
Ashton (for the Prices)
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