ripe

i had a post with the same title last week, but then it didn't seem right then, so i deleted it.

as God brings us down this journey, i think it is amazing how He is preparing us. me in particular, as i seek His face, he continually reveals areas in my heart of bitterness and anger, and i continually have no choice but to give them over to Him. 

no choice?

nope. not from where i stand. see, i have been down that road before, and know exactly what kind of place that ends up, what kind of fruit that bears. i want nothing to do with it.

see i desire to be, like caleb in joshua (Old Testament), a wholehearted follower of God. to "bear fruit" that is pleasing.

here is the flipside though: a few chapters later, joshua addresses isreal and gives the famous "choose you now this day whom you will serve..." but that isn't the whole story. when the leaders of isreal say that they too will serve the Lord, joshua warns them that if they commit to following the Lord, that He will hold them to it, and He is a jealous God, desiring all of who they are. that there are stiff consequences and responsibilities to committing to follow the Lord.

so this following comes at a price, but the reward?

i make my stand, i give up my heart (daily, sometimes hourly) and desire the ripest of fruit God can offer in my life.

clean

"wash me and i will be whiter than snow."

it is amazing how dirty our hearts can be. i have found, and keep finding areas within me that are just plain bitter, mean, and angry. just when i give something over to God to cleanse and make whole, another area reveals itself.

but what is amazing is that God just keeps taking it, when I give it up to Him, he washes me and makes that part new. 

so as i wait for this whole thing to do what God wants it to, i keep getting cleansed, i keep getting  reminded why it is so important for people to share God's story in their lives. 

when we tell of God's forgiveness, His power, we are giving Him glory. and that is what we were created for. we weren't created for us, we were created for Him.

that is what excites me about this whole thing.

launched

a temporary website has been launched. it is tied in with my business site.

you can see it here:

www.phillippalacios.com/a_bold_stand.html

please all continue to pray that more and more people would feel led to do this thing.

and that God's timing would prevail.

i feel the urge to tell everyone about it, but i then feel that "not yet" within me. like this thing has to grow on it's on accord, not on mine.

lets go.

it is time for me to finally share with all two readers of this blog what this is all about

"my name is _______ and I am a transformed follower of Jesus Christ."

God has put on my heart a vision to expand the reach of these transformation stories. as people are willing, film their stories in a complete, unbroken "take," and place it a yet-to-be-built website. this website would be absolutely free, visitors would be able to view the films online, download them in HD, listen to just the audio, or read a transcript of them. they could use them in Church gatherings, small groups, Bible studies, wherever. the only copyright placed on them would be that the viewers gauge if God is leading them to take "a bold stand" and profess to the world who they are, and who they strive to follow.

as for the actual films themselves, like i stated before, i would attempt to leave them unedited, even in the case of slight mess-ups. there are many reasons for this but the most prominent in my mind is that the story of God's provision, healing, and struggles in someone's life is in itself more powerful than an emotional piece of music that is playing underneath their words, or brilliantly placed b-roll footage. this is all very similar to using white letters on a black screen for worship music at Crossroads Bible Church gatherings: no frills, no manipulating emotions.

Simple. Restful. Real.

this isn't to say i just turn on a camera and say, "go." i still use all the talents that God has entrusted me with. I light, record sound, frame the camera, and everything else as best i can.

i hope to have at least one person a week willing to be filmed, so as you read this and think of your own story, or as you talk with someone who has a story that you feel is important to share, pray over whether God is leading you to take a bold stand and tell the world that you are done flirting with faith.

check it out:

www.phillippalacios.com/abs/ABS1.wmv

beginnings

this is now where it begins to get interesting.

with the very first step "in the can" there is so much to pray about:

how much scoring (music) to put to it, if any.

how much cutting (editing) to do to this story, if any.

because if i follow what i have learned, i won't cut, and i won't score. it will be a raw, untouched testimony of God's love.

unconventional, unpolished.

"simple, restful, real"

almost

this picture is so typical for this type of post, but if you could see the original uncompressed, unshrunk version you would understand why i picked it, the lighting in it is just beautiful and the timing of the action was really close to perfect for the framing... 

my friend called me out of the blue and told me he had an idea, a vision that might be a blessing in so many ways starting with teens, then young adults, then all ages. 

this vision in it's scope was so eerily near to what was given me, just in a different order, that it has God written all over it. 

and now i feel a little like gideon, when he asked God for confirmation, God gave it to him. then he wanted more confirmation, and that is where i am, kinda, sorta.

because over the past week and a half every real conversation i have had has in one way or another pointed to this vision, not directly mostly, but in essence. and then the phone call came.

my two fleeces.

so now i have been given this confirmation, what do i do with it? how do i act? how do i move from here? 

not how as in how it would work, but how as in how do i move forward. it is so easy to move forward in my human strength, but moving forward in His? half of me tells me one thing, the other something totally different. 

so now after waiting, God blesses us with this vision, now we wait on Him again.

maybe He is just teaching us patience.

one thing

interesting how just even one conversation can trigger wishes and desires that you swore off only a few days earlier, and then you think "am i really willing to give it all up?" 

 i understand, a little, what it means to die to yourself daily, but i would say sometimes its more like hourly.

when a vision is given, and it is good, it is so easy to put my own "spin" on it. thinking thoughts like "well i think that if we are to do X then we should look at Y and then i can get Z." then the vision that was once God-breathed becomes cheapened, man-made and schemed.

i don't want that. but my heart goes after it time and time again.