Another.

Another couple days has passed by without a whole lot of drama, or anything super special go on. The Basement last night went really well; God moved, and that is really what matters. We could talk about what went will for production team, or the drama team, or the care team, but the reality is that God showed up and did the thing that no team can do, even the best team in the world. The altar was so crowded (to the point that we waited to clean the stage because there were so many people at the altar), and people got their lives rocked. Like Laura and I were talking about last night, people met Jesus last night for the first time. Like the first time we found that love, people found what it means to be fully embraced by the Father. People realized that their beauty enthralls the King, and that has to be the most beautiful thing that one has the opportunity to see.

I smile to think about the people who woke up for the first time today knowing that they are loved by the King, no matter the things that they did yesterday. I smile to think that people are loved to the point that their friends don’t matter anymore. And I laugh out loud when I think about the people that God brought to me; I laugh with them (and often at them). They have taught me to laugh. They teach me what it means to love others. They let me know that I have people who pray for me, who will scare me in a dark hallway just to laugh, who make me smile when I don’t want to smile, and who make me want to follow Christ with everything inside of me. I would be lost without them, and probably way too serious.

This is the team:


You definitely need to check out the Basement when you are in Birmingham. If you have to come here just for the Basement, you still need to do it. The revolution is rising. A generation who is preparing themselves for the return of Christ is leading the very thing that could usher in the return of our Saviour.

And this is what we like to call history in the making:


What are you doing to make an impact in your own generation? Will you be an historical interruption or just another status quo Christian? Will today be another day that goes down as a day that just passed by without you making an impact on someone's life?

May we be a generation who prays as if it all depended on God and live as if it all depends on us!

Others Can, You Cannot

If God has called you to be really like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion & humility & will put you in such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians…& in many ways He will appear to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians & ministers who seem very religious & useful may push themselves, pull wires & work schemes to carry out their plans but you cannot do it…& if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure & rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may brag on themselves, on their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, & if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself & all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making money, or having a legacy left to them or in having luxuries, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something better than gold, & that is a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord will let others be honored & put forward & keep you hidden away in obscurity because He wants to reproduce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can be produced only in the shade.

He will let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him & get the credit for it, but He will make you toil & work on without knowing how much you’re doing. And then to make your work even more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done, & thus will make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love & will rebuke you for little words & feelings or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, & has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He will not explain to you reason in His dealings with you. He will take you at your word; & if you absolutely see yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love & let other people say & do many things that you cannot do or say.

Settle it forever that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit & that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not deal with others. And when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased & delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship & management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you have found the vestibule of Heaven.

You know at times it may seem unfair that others can do things that you cannot do, but just remember that God has a purpose & plan for your life that only you can fulfill. I know in my life that the Lord won’t allow me to say or even do some things that other Christians can say or do, but that’s not because the Lord is unfair, but I realized that my plan & purpose that the Lord has for me won’t allow it. But everything comes back to trust. Do you trust God with your life? Do you trust His timing? Just remember…others may; you cannot…


From a friend...

Good Morning Friends!

My prayer is that you are well today, rested and ready to face the challenges and the joys that you will find before your head finds the pillow to conclude another day.

Each day is hard in its own ways for each of us. At times, we don’t understand what it means to find ourselves out of the situation that we don’t want to be in. There are times that we don’t understand why we aren’t getting the things we think we deserve, when the reality is we don’t. Like Pastor Dave said last night, if I got what I deserved, I would be struck down dead. I don’t get what I deserve, and I praise God for that!

I never deserved to meet this girl who changed my world:


Or this one:

I didn’t deserve to meet my “brothers” (who we all have a love/hate relationship with each other):


I never deserved the opportunity to see God do this:


And I never dreamed that I would actually be a part of it:


And no doubt, I didn’t deserve a Saviour who went and did this to cover my sin:





I didn’t get what I deserved. I praise God I didn’t get what I deserved.
Are you thankful that you get what you didn’t deserve?

Another day.

Another day. Another moment to rise to the occasion.

It’s a glorious rainy day here in Birmingham. Classes are back in full force; I’m just not ready for this. May 15 cannot come soon enough.

God is moving. God continues to show up when we get ready for services. God is showing up in our daily lives. Church yesterday was good; worship was refreshing. Good to see God show up in people’s lives. Matt is speaking this week; I’m looking forward to it. If you live in Birmingham, you should definitely be there. Comment or email me for details. We are watching a revolution rise up in this city; we should be honored that we are a chosen generation. Being chosen isn’t always easy; looking for the easy way out is not for us. But it would be easy to be that way.

Proverbs 27:19
A mirror reflects a man’s face but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.

Show me your friends; I can show you your future. Your five closest friends will shape you more than anything else.

Check the people you are with. Are they seeking the Lord? Are they teaching you? What do you do when you are together? Is the Lord a part of what you do on a regular basis?

I’m watching a revolution rise because people got with people who call them to be better. People who call them to rise to the occasion of our lives. People who want us to be the generation we are called to be rather than the generation that people expected us to be. People who desire God to show up in our world. People who want others to see what is means to really glorify Christ with our lives.

Some of the team

(By the way, check out Basement Mission Media every Tuesday Night at 6:30p central time, 7:30p eastern time, 5:30p mountain time, and 4:30p pacific time to see The Basement on live feed. The Basement comes to your home computer.)

The Revolution


Will you rise up to the occasion of your life? Will you make it count for something in light of eternity? Or will you continue to be the status quo like every generation before you?

We're changing Birmingham; what are you changing?

Love each of you! Leave me a comment!
Kris

25 Things...

So, the truth is I don't really have anything cool to blog about tonight, and its taken it out of my today just to survive, so I thought this would be interesting.

RULE: Once you've been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you it's because I want to know more about you...

Here are my 25 facts:

1. One of the worst things for me is getting up. The whole idea of "Smile, its a new day!" doesn't hit me for a great while after I am awake. I love to sleep.
2. I am rediculously stubborn, even to myself sometimes. Some ideas I just can't "get over."
3. I am a horrible procrastinator. I suffer for it. I'm late just about everywhere, mostly because of the procrastination.
4. I love media. I don't go many places without a computer. I rarely handwrite anything now a days because I can just type it.
5. I want to do full time large scale youth ministry for a job.
6. Lillian is most of my world. And she's cute too!
7. I love my guys. More than they know. And, my girls are AMAZING. My whole world would be messed up without them in my life.
8. I am so DONE with school. Just want that piece of paper that says GRADUATED.
9. I do want to get married at some point. But it won't be for a while. I'm focused on the Lord, graduating, and ministry right now.
10. I am an observer by nature. I will more often watch than participate. Unless its something I'm good at and need to step up and lead, I'll normally just watch.
11. Work is getting old quick. I've never kept the same job both semesters since I have been in college. Ask me about that sometime.
12. I've had the same cell phone number more than half of my life. & that says a lot cause I'm only 20.
13. I can sleep just about anywhere if I am tired enough. And I love to sleep on airplanes. Its not very often I don't fall asleep.
14. I have far too many clothes. More than any one person should own.
15. I carry my backpack just about everywhere. Its like my grown up security blanket. If I have it, I feel safe.
16. I tend to do things in order. But in order means how I think they should be, and don't always make a ton of sense to everyone else.
17. This is taking forever.
18. I'm not sure that I really want kids. My sisters can have me just a bunch of nieces and nephews to spoil.
19. I'm not spontaneous pretty much at all. Seriously.
20. I love to have sweet tea. I could drink it just about everyday. But I try not to.
21. You need a twitter. Facebook status updates on steroids. Pretty cool.
22. I dream of getting married. I want to get married, but I know right now that I need to be focused on the Lord and his purposes.
23. I'm praying for my future husband. I can't wait to meet you babe!
    
24. The Basement is a huge part of my life. That's like its own 25 random things post.
25. And finally to the end, I love Jesus. I was set free from a life of suicide and depression and he has taken me places I dream of!

Love ya'll. Keep Jesus FIRST today! Be blessed!

Verse of the day...

So picture of the day failed horribly in my life, but I wanted to let you read a verse that rocked my world.

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.' " 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

We are nobody's who God has chosen to use to be a part of changing the world, and scripture is clear that He's chooses the no body's so that HE gets the glory. God is moving in this city. God is using us to change our city. And God is about to do more in this city than you can imagine.

Check out our website or our myspace to see what the Basement is all about and see what God is doing in Birmingham!

Super Cool...

And updating my blog for the second time in the same hour.

For one thought:

If you had every resource, what would you do that you aren't doing now?
What impact would you make that you aren't making now?
Would it be worth it to give something up so you could make an impact on earth, that could last through all of eternity?

Just thinking... I want to know what you think.
Kristyn