He loves us

This past week has been very contradictary...earlier in the week, the guys from mobile, Pastor Randy, and his neice and her friend all left the island. The guys and girls went home, with the exception of Ryan who accompanied Pastor Randy to Honduras. Once they were gone, I realized how good of friends we had become and how much time we had been spending together. It's kinda lonely, but God is continuing to move despite how I feel. So really, I have no complaints. After they left on Wednesday, I moved into the apartment and headed back to the church. That night, we had our first new believers' class. Three came and we studied the first and some of the second chapter of 1 John. It was incredible how God was moving and speaking. We had some great conversations and questions asked during the class and even after. Thursday, Ryan and Pastor Randy were leaving for the Bay Islands' Baptist Conference, so after they left, I was told to take the rest of the afternoon off. Mrs. Cindy took me to Foster's Grocery so I could get some groceries for a while. I had a good time with that seeing how I love to cook...the prices are another story...everything's expensive in Cayman. Friday, I went in to the church about 1:30 PM because I was going to be there until 10:00 PM with the youth group. I had some good study time and researched some other things. About 6:30 PM, I grabbed my guitar and went out to the sanctuary. I decided I wanted to plug my guitar in to see how it sounded through an amp because I had never heard it. I rerouted a couple cables to a monitor and set it up behind me because the chord wouldn't quite reach. I started playing, but nothing came out. Oh well, I didn't worry about it because now I was in worship mode and didn't wanna stop. I could feel some disturbances around me, but it happens and I just kind of ignored it. As they got stronger, I just stopped and prayed, and they ceased. Then Mrs. Virginia had to leave to pick up Jykalli and Jonassi for youth night. As she left, the spirits really tried to make their presence known...and they succeeded. I remembered why my guitar wasn't coming through the monitor. The battery had gone out in my tuner. So, I ran upstairs to grab a new one, came back down, took the other out, and put the new one in. As soon as I did, a huge roar of vibration and screams came from the monitor right behind me. I don't even know if my feet hit the ground; I just know my guitar landed, and I was still airborne! I ran to it and shut it off as fast as I could, but my nerves didn't shut off until about 30 minutes later when the youth started to arrive. Quite scary, but also quite funny at the same time. The night with the youth went really well. They behaved and were quiet for the most part, and God definately had a message to listen to.
Saturday, I woke up, cooked some breakfast, and headed to the pool for some laps and a workout. After I finished, I grabbed a book and sat in a chair by the canal. I didn't realize that I was out there for so long. I didn't get any sun while I was in the pool, but after sitting by the canal for two hours with no sunscreen...I'd have to say I looked like a well done crustacean. I had a few good laughs with some of the band members at the church on Sunday.
Sunday morning, I woke up at 7:10 AM and started getting ready. I was preaching this morning, with Pastor Randy out, so I got some breakfast (cheerios) and headed upstairs to finish getting ready. While doing so, I started feeling sick, and it turned from feeling sick into being sick. Afterwards, I was still nervous and antsy, but I continued to get ready. I finished putting on my suit and headed next door to the Von Kanel's apartment to meet Mrs. Cindy. As I arrived at the church, I headed to Pastor Randy's study and continued the morning in prayer. I hardly even looked over anything because I just couldn't stop praying. It was a great time with the Lord, and I knew He had something planned. Worship was awesome; very joyful, had the congregation clapping along and singing. I could already tell the Lord was moving. As I entered the pulpit, I started off with a joke about my suit and tying my tie to kind of break the ice and welcome the guests and members. I never really start off that way, but since it was my first time preaching and I was taking the "pastoral" position this morning, I felt it was somewhat necessary and had assurance from God that it was alright. This next part, you need to understand, this has nothing to do with me or what I said or anything I did...It was only God that played a role in it. During the course of the sermon, I had to stop several times because the whole church was clapping, shouting, and praising Jesus. I had never once experienced this in a baptist church, haha. I felt like we turned charismatic all of the sudden, which I have that feeling a lot in my own life. It was amazing to just experience the Lord move in His Word and in that church. Mrs. Virginia, the church secretary, said this is the liveliest the church has ever been. Many people told me how wonderful it was, and I would immediately direct the comment away from me and to God. He deserves all the glory, and power, and majesty; for He is all Glorious, all Powerful, and all Majestic. May the love of Christ be abundant within us.