Born to be wild!

What were you born to do?
~this is one of the questions Pastor Byron asked this morning. A very though provoking question. He spoke this morning on Rahab the prostitute, the story is found in the second chapter of Joshua if you would like to read it, but it tells of how Rahab allows two of Joshua's spies to stay at her place and hides them from the King and tells him that they were there but were no longer. This eventually leads to the fulfillment of God's will when Joshua's army conquers Jerico. All of this to say that Rahab wasn't born to be a prostitute, but a servant of God. Pastor Byron asked the question, "do we let our biggest failure define who we are?" I know so often in my life i do, but i realize that i was born, like Rahab, to be a servant of God. My failures may not be as extreme as hers, but nevertheless i often let them define who i am. That is exactly what the devil would want me to do. But because of Christ i have victory over my failures. "The power of God works best in weakness."( 2 Chorinthians 12:9) We sang a song this morning that i know satan hates to here, it's called Shout unto God, it's pretty much a chant and the words are:

the enemy had been defeated
death couldn't hold You down
we're gonna lift our voice in victory
gonna make Your praises loud

shout unto God with the voice of triumph
shout unto God with the voice of Praise
shout unto God with the voice of triumph
we lift your name up, we lift your name up

Our lives should proclaim the truth of this song. No more living like were defeated. No more walking with our noses to the ground. But living every second to bring Glory, Honor, and Praise to our Creator, the One who gives us victory, the One who took our filthy lives and made use clean and whole.

Another EYE OPENING sunday at C3!

Sunday morning at C3 was amazing as Pastor Byron continued the series Barbaric Grace. Below I have typed a few of the things that He said that really hit me.

"Comfort keeps us from success."
~As humans we all tend to gravitate toward comfort, but God often calls us to do things that are outside of our comfort zone. I am confident enough to say that if God hasn't called you to do something that is uncomfortable then you aren't listening well enough.

"Faith is the only thing that defeats fear."
~One thing I like to remember when stepping out in faith is that God will never fail. I often have insecurities about myself and doubt that I’m good enough to do what God is telling me to do, but I have to remember that I didn't create myself. It was God who created me this way so if I doubt myself then I doubt God. Therefore, I should drown my fear in faith.

"Why do we define ourselves by what others think about us?"
~I’d like to say that this question doesn’t apply to me, but I would be lying to myself. It’s ok to be cool and to be liked by others, but when that becomes more important than being the person God wants me to be then we have a BIG problem.

"Jesus feared the cross, but His love for us was greater than that fear."
~Love from the father does a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick on fear.

I want to serve God. How do I do it?

I have talked to so many new believers who are so stinkin ready to serve God they can hardly stand it, but a lot of them think that in order to fully serve God they must become a minister, or a bible scholar. This couldn't be further from the truth. Yes God calls people to become pastors and bible scholars, but God calls the majority to other things. God has placed a skill and a passion in everyone of us. I believe in order to serve God to the utmost we need to purse our passions and develop our skills for the purpose of Christ. God doesn't call us to do things that we can't do, he has placed inside of us all we need to fulfill His will for our lives. I know that many people don't really know what their passion or skill is, and to be honest if you don't know you can serve God just as much as someone who does. The bottom line when serving God is loving Him and loving others and we can all do this.

Our story isnt written by what we think, but what we do.

Tonight rob bell is speaking at hard rock live, and several people at C3 are going... I'm not one of them :( but anyways, i decided to check out his church and see if they had a podcast that i could listen to. Well they did and guess who was there guest speaker this past sunday. One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller. His message was about story telling, and what it takes to make a great story, and how each of us tells a story with our own lives. It was a great message, you can get the podcast if you go here and click on add podcast to itunes. Anyway, i had heard this analogy before and i loved it, but what hit me smack between they eyes was when he concluded with, "Your life story isn't written by what you think but what you do." That is so true, you can know the bible from front to back and you can pray like nobodies business, but what is your life story? What are you doing? Donald Miller also said, when writing a story you should first come up with a climatic moment and then figure out how to get your character there. For us as Christians our climatic moment is when God says to us, "Well done my good and faithful servant." What are we doing to get there? What am i doing to get there?

Blah!

So, i have been feeling a little under the weather lately. So much so that i didn't even feel like blogging this week. But now I'm feeling a lot better, but I'm still not 100%. But hopefully i will be by Sunday.

So i think i am going to start doing a quote of the day on my blog. And today's quote comes from my roommate Barry Oser who, after saying that he mispronounced the word thesaurus until he went to college at the age of 20, said, "Dude... I'm stupid man... I have the vocabulary of a freakin four year old..." It was funny at the time. I don't know if anyone else will think its funny... but i did. Oh, and he's a very smart dude by the way.

A lot of my friends from back in the GA have started blogging. and it is a really cool way for me to keep in touch with whats going on in their lives. One thing that i have learned since i have moved to orlando is that there are awesome people everywhere. I miss my friends in georgia, but i have made tons of new friends in orlando in the three weeks that i've lived here. Sometimes people are just so freakin nice. Its so amazing.

Barbaric Grace!

bar·bar·ic

1.	without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive: barbaric invaders.

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Today Pastor Byron launched a series called "Barbaric Grace". It truly opened my eyes to how barbaric Christ was and how Barbaric we should be as Christians. The whole idea of church and the system of church has become so civilized. I don't think that this way of doing church is from God. You don't have to agree with me but just hear me out. I think that a lot of churches have become so routine and boring. Get all dressed up on Sunday morning, sit in the same seat on the same row in the same pew, sing the same songs our parents use to sing, say hey to the same people we always say hey to, talk about events that we can have to attract lost people, but it always ends up being the same old shindig every year. All of this sounds very civilized and BORING! Of course at this type of church one does leave with a feeling of satisfaction, the type of satisfaction you get when you do something you really don't want to do but you know its best when you do it. Like going for a run. Well i think that church, rather than being one's run, should be one's meal before the run. It should prepare us for the battle that we fight during the week. I truly feel that C3 does that, but back to barbaric grace. It was barbaric for Christ to go to the cross, but it was through that barbaric act that His grace covers my sins. And because of this i feel that i owe my life to Christ, and to follow Christ's example I feel that if i were civilized about my faith and the way i live, then i would be disobeying God. I feel that God wants us to be barbarians when it comes to our church, our lives, and our worship and there is honestly no other way for Christians to be.

Hillsong United Conference.

So this weekend was amazing. Me, Darrell, and some friends from back in Georgia went to the first ever hillsong united conference in America and it was really amazing. I learned so much from it and i would love to share it with you, but honestly right now it is all a blur. I was given so much information and it hasn't quite had time to digest yet, but when it does i will let you know. :)
I am super excited about church tomorrow as we launch this new series called BARBARIC GRACE! Its going to be wild!!! I let you know more about that tomorrow.
And one more thing... is it weird that as i am writing this, everything I think of to write is in an Australian accent. If you don't know, hillsong united is from Australia, so everything i heard this weekend was said with an Australian accent.... Anyways, Have a great day!

Soulmates!

I read an article today in relevant magazine that totally opened my eyes. It was about this man and women between the ages of 70 and 80 and the love that radiated between them even after all those years.
They pulled into a parking spot out in front of a local coffee shop. The man opened his door first and very slowly went around to the back of the car and popped the trunk. From it he pulled a folded up wheel chair. He unfolded it and wheeled it around to the passenger side. After helping his beloved so gently into the chair he bent down and gave her the sweetest kiss, as if they were newlyweds.
This story was told from a young man sitting in the coffee shop observing all of this. As he sat there and observed this he couldn't help but think of all of the stories they must have. Stories of the wedding, the kids, going off to war, returning from war, the hard times they must've gone through, and the great moments they shared, and how there love for one another continued to grow with every passing day.
I know so many times in my life i think that if i don't pray each morning or read my bible each day then i am separated from God's love, but the bible says that nothing can separate us from the Father's love. at the love that is shown between the elderly man and his wife and how their love is still so fresh and true, and i know that kind of love only comes from one person, and that person is God. They individually received the love of God and then allowed that love to overflow onto one another.

three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love-
and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Seriously GO READ SOME BOOKS!

But don't just go read any old book. Go read the bible. Without the bible we walk around in darkness. We are like sheep without a Sheppard. God speaks to us through his words. He gives us rules and truths not so that we will have something else to restrict us, but so that we can have life and life to the fullest. Satan comes to kill steal and destroy, but Jesus came that we can have abundant life. So turn off the computer for a little while and go read some books... of the bible.

Highlights from the weekend!

OK, If anyone gets a chance to go see a band called mute math, please go. It was one of the most energetic and tight concerts I've ever been to.

I got to hang out with some of my friends from back in Georgia , they came down for the mute math show, and we had such a good time. God has blessed me with so many amazing friends.

Church this morning was amazing. I really think everyone within an hour driving distance should have been there, and should be there every week. We had a guy named Eric come in and just have a conversation with Byron about homosexuality. Eric was a homosexual for about ten years and then one day he got saved and was extremely convicted about his lifestyle and God radically changed his life. Now he is married and has a kid and is living the life God has created him to live and is happier now than ever. God wants us to have life to the fullest, and when we are happy i believe that it brings Him great joy.

God hates sin because it hurts us.

We should stop focusing on what we shouldn't do and start focusing on pursuing Christ through reading His word and prayer, then holiness will follow.

Love is in the air.

Yeah, this title makes it sound like i just found the love of my life doesn't it? But no, unfortunately i didn't, that will all come in God's time. But what i did discover today is how awesome people can be. Before i moved to orlando, i had about a two week period in which i was jobless. So with all this time on my hands i seemed to waist a lot of it in one of the greatest coffee shops i have ever been to, a place called Elements coffee. I meet so many new people and had some great conversations, so yeah i guess this time wasn't really waisted. But today i got an email from a guy i meet, who works at Elements, telling me how much of an impact i made on his life and how amazing it was to have a growing relationship with Jesus. It was so amazingly encouraging to hear of how just a few conversations totally changed this dudes life. I told him that it was totally and completely God that had changed his life i was just the one that he used to convey his love through.

But it was so great that God slowed me down so much that all my time was spent just talking to people and investing in peoples lives. But that is what my whole life should be about, not just my free time. I get so focused on myself and what i have to do instead of focusing on God and His purpose for my life, which is to show them His Great Love. That is my purpose.

Gooooooooo DAWGS!

Today was awesome. I love working in a church that isnt scared to be real. I always thought that when i was at church i had to put on some kind of front that made everyone think that i was this perfect little christian, but the truth is that if i try to cover up my imperfections then i am living a lie. I just want to encourage anyone reading this blog to be real, and find a church where you can be real. There is nothing worse that walking in a church and feeling judge. The truth is that if we are perfect why do we need church in the first place?

On a lighter note... my georgia bulldogs beat the gators yesterday, and that win couldn't have come at a better time, since i'm living in florida now i have a lot of people to aggravate.. ha ha ha!

Its so easy a caveman can do it.

So today i started paying for my own car insurance under my own name and man does it suck to be single and under 25. I got my best price from geico but it was still freakin expensive. anyways... Me and my friend mark went to the house of blues to buy tickets for the mute mate, eisley show on nov 2nd today and, even though it was only like 25 miles, it took us like an hour to get there. Dont expect to get anywhere fast in orlando. traffic sucks. I guess im just use to living in the country and only getting slowed down by tractors or deer. Its all good though.

Even though its taking some getting use to, i am super excited about being in orlando. God is using c3 to reach so many people that wouldnt normally even go to church. It is truly an amazing thing to be a part of this ministry. Jesus Christ came to rescue everyone from a life of sin and and eternal separation from God. I believe most churches, however, are all about just keeping everyone in the church happy and i dont believe that was Gods intention for the church at all.

Burnt toast!

So this is my first blog ever... i think this is the blog where i introduce myself and tell the few readers that will read this whats going on in my life. Hello i am Josh Wilson, and i just moved to Orlando Florida. i have a roommate named Barry, who i meet during the summer, and we have no food in our house. The other day i wanted a grilled cheese and we didn’t have any butter so i decided to try and grill it anyway... it didn’t work out too good. So yeah, i guess i took a lot of things for granted when i lived at home with the parents, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, cleaning the house, PAYING THE BILLS! That last one was the most shocking.

The new city is pretty shocking as well. Im just not use to not knowing where everything is. I've lived in Albany Georgia with my parents for the 22 years of my existence so familiar is all I’ve ever really known. But i am super excited about this move, its just going to take a little while to get use to the area.

The reason i moved down here from the GA is because I got a job as a worship pastor at C3 church and its really awesome. I was in a band called Riverdale and we were together for about nine or ten years. I meet Byron (pastor of c3) about a year ago when he spoke at a revival at my church in Leesburg, Ga. This past summer he spoke at two different camps that we played at and there i got a chance to really get to know Byron and the vision God has given him for C3 church. I am super excited about all that is going on at c3 and I honestly love the authenticity of the members of c3. When I walked into c3 for the first time I truly felt like everyone was being real, as apposed to the churchy, stuffiness that is felt in most churches today.