A Man on Fire...

This new name seems to fit me very well...

I love Firefighting, such a rush and so much fun! I love the pressure of performing a skill perfectly with peoples lives on the line... call me weird if you want to. I have very fond memories of training with Vashon Fire and getting my helmet melted in some of the training fires we did because it was so hot. How many people can say that they have been into a burning building? I can!

One of my favorite movies of all time is Man on Fire, starring Denzel Wahington and directed by Ridley Scott. It is a very graphic and intense protrayal of a bodyguards revenge on the people who kidnapped his charge. It ends with a very cool ending full of sacrifice and reunion. Not for the faint of heart, but a great movie.

I just finished reading a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. He writes an amazing and true story about how the power of prayer can transform a church. He very eloquently states the current starvation in the American Church due to lack of prayer and issues a bold call to wake up!

My favorite holiday is the 4th of July (shout out to all the cool people who came to Vashon for the last one, that trip will live in my memory for a long time!) The reason I love this holiday so much is because I get to light of Fireworks! I love seeing the hard earned money of people go up in smoke, oh but what cool and pretty smoke it is!

My favorite song in High School was Fireproof by Pillar. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! It really helped me to get through some things knowing that I was Fireproof in the eternal sense. I am very grateful that I know Jesus in a better way now than I did then, but I still love being Fireproof!

One of my favorite things to do is to go to the beach and light a bonfire. It is so much fun to just sit and watch the sunset, be with friends and eventually make s'mores. The best ones are when you get about 10 pallets and light those off!

A favorite story in the Bible comes from the 1 Kings 18, Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal.

It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."

After taunting the prophets of Baal, Elijah turns to his reliable God,

"Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

I love this story!

The best prayer times are those where the Fire of the Holy Spirit is invited. I remeber times in the Prayer Shack with Chad Johnson and Chase Donnely as we prayed the fire of the Holy Spirit on one another. Chase always got worked by God quickly and Chad and I would end up on the floor in Holy laughter, always a great time! I need more times like that in my life.

Finally, my favorite description of a man of God comes from Zecariah 3:2, "...is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" I love this picture! As a servant of God, I am to be burning hot and completely consumed. The only way to stay on fire is for the brand to stay in the fire.

That is where my life is. I want to be a Man on Fire, consumed with passion that expresses itself as service to my King and those around me. I want to remain hot and in order to do so, I need to abide in the original fire, the Fire of the Holy Spirit.