Restless night before the Kerr Lake Triathlon

have not slept very well, and I have my race, but I have just been spending time with my Father.
I am spending some intimate time with Him, and He is speaking to my heart.

It is hard being an athlete, being an athlete in this world. The pressure is huge, the pressure to preform, especially when you have some talent.
My main prayer is that somehow, when I race, and the way I race, will reflect Christ. I hope that in speech and deed, "I will magnify the Lord, who is worthy to be praised" haha AWESOME SONG!!!!!!! I yearn, and hunger to be a witness, a testament to the Light, to Christ. I as well other athletes struggle and wrestle against my flesh, my pride. I will always be better than some people, and there will always be people better than me.


AS Jason Upton puts it "Worship is what you do before you come on stage, before you come to church."
I yearn to worship God while I train, while I race. I do that, not all the time, but I yearn to do that more and more each day.

Tonight, God is giving me a peace about my race. He is saying to me heart to continue to focus on Him. Even if I crash, even if I get a flat tire and I cannot repair it, He is there. Even if I get sick, or cramp up, get dead last, He is there. Even if I win my age group...He is there.
He is the reason for my racing. I am in this world to spread His love and Christ's message.
I know why I race, I race for Him. Yes I race because it is fun, and I am good at it, not great, but good.
But because I take the time to worship Him while I race, I get filled with His Love and Truth. I am spending more time praying now, and thanking God for giving me talent.
What I want most out of other people who see me race is this:
Oh yes, thats Nick Cook, he is filled with the Joy of the Lord, he loves Jesus.

What hurts the most, is seeing my friends who are better than me train so hard, and do so well, but they do it for themselves, not for God. It pains me because I see the potential in them to be great witnesses to the Faith, but they would rather ignore God, and make themselves idols.

That is why Christ compels me to race: to show others His Love, His truth, His passion. Not that I am a good athlete who can boast about my own talent. But someone who can Boast in Christ. The sheer life changing power of the Gospel and Jesus Christ by Grace through Faith.

Well it is 3:30 and we are leaving to go to Henderson around 4am. I hope God speaks to your hearts tonight through my three blogs as He as spoken to me.

Be Blessed.

JASON UPTON CONCERT pt 2

Another Thing worth mentioning. This Church, Christ's Bride, is in the world.( our buildings) Our religiosity, our preferences are for us in the World. When we become one body in Christ, we are not of this world anymore. When we enter into the family of Christ, we are not of this world anymore. John 15:19
The real church is not a building, but a body of believers who are passionate about spreading God's word in order to bring about life change. We are passionate about seeing others become one in Christ, free from law of sin, and the wages of death.
I am convicted of my own sin because growing up in a religious institution who promotes their man made traditions over others, and sometimes over the Gospel, I find it hard in my heart to truly accept others (mostly other Christians) who come from a different background. I am hard on my self, and others who believe that their own church, their own personal preferences are more important than the precepts of Christ. (Pastor Perry Noble spoke about this in his Sermon on the Prodigal Son) I implore you to check out this sermon from the Series "Me or Jesus"

Jason Upton said this about the church (the buildings, the centers, the places where we come and gather) "A common place where the sins of the world are concentrated in one place... and we(the world) will see that in order to deal with it."

We allow the church to be a place in life where we can all focus on the Gospel, and let Jesus, not a man, or many men, defeat sin. Only by bringing the WORD in a relevant, and undefiled manner can real life change happen. The Church should be a place where we can focus on Christ, not a place where we point fingers out of hatred, not a place where we condemn people, no, a place where we can accept others for who they are, and love them like Christ, so that His Power will set them Free.

What does that mean for us as believers?
"A new level in Glory(Christ's Glory in this world) is always a step down before it is a step up." Jason Upton

That means that we who are believers must not become like the Older Brother in the Prodigal Son story, whose heart was more concerned about the work of Father(God), than the Heart of the Father(God).
Why am I so hard against Christians? Was it not Jesus who spent a fair amount of time correcting the religious leaders of the institutions, and was it not Christ who corrected His followers out of love so that His message would reach others? Yes.
If we are going to really live for Jesus, then we must humble ourselves before the Throne, "to get on the threshing floor" so that Christ can elevate us to a new level.

I WILL WRITE MORE ABOUT IDOLS, AND BEING IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD AND WHAT THAT MEANS LATER ON.
I HAVE TO BE UP AT 345am to drive to Henderson to compete in a Triathlon.

In the mean time, I hope this both encourages you and challenges you, but really I hope it challenges you as it has challenged me. It's not all about feeling good. It's about being one in Christ.

JASON UPTON CONCERT pt 1

So last night, I drove from Charlotte to Winston-Salem to hear Jason Upton at First Assembly Of God in down town Winston-Salem with AJ, Jordyn, Justin, Tim, Rachel(Jordyn's mommy) and others from Victory Fellowship. It was amazing. Jason Upton's prophetic singing and his ability to truly bring the WORD is breath taking. It was down right encouraging and offensive, as I believe it should be.

I really saw the SPIRIT move last night. I really saw the power of God through Jason and the WORD challenge yet affirm people last night. I journaled a lot during the concert, and I took some very good notes.

Fire Burning In The Sky By Jason Upton really spoke to my heart, as well as others around me. God's message through Jason Upton was to "Lay it all down for the heart of Heaven," Which reminded me of Acts 20:24:
24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

Jason Upton sang again and again "Whom the SON sets FREE is FREE INDEED," and that means that is offensive and encouraging at the same time. It is scary because that requires us to lay it all down, and to surrender all to Jesus. "To truly be free, means to be fully controlled by Jesus." ~Jason Upton. It is something that takes a lifetime and then some. When we accept Christ, we are free from Death, but in order to live freely, that means we have to focus on the Christ, and model ourselves after Him. That means we have to be in the Word daily, pray daily ( I mean intimate time with God, intimate prayers, life changing prayers) not just for ourselves, but for our World.

OKAY SO I WILL PICK UP IN THE NEXT POST, THIS ONE IS GETTING TOO LONG HAHA

Prince Caspian part 1

If you have not seen Price Caspian, then you should go see it ASAP!!!

I'm gonna go to bed, but I just wanted to say, that it was Awesome!!!!
Some of the best parts of the movie was when Aslan was talking to Lucy.
I will write more about those quotes in the morning, and more scripture.

but for now

It was good to go to the movies by my self, with 7 other people in the theater. I just felt the prescence of God so strongly tonight. The peace of Christ that Transcends all understanding.... (Phil 4:7), really was upon me tonight. I kept coming the to brink of tears tonight because I was just so in Love with Jesus. I just felt so deeply and intimately connected with His heart tonight. It was just plain breathtaking.

God is just moving so much in my life, and in my heart, that it is hard to explain.
I just feel the breath of God. A sigh of contentment in singleness, and a sigh of being full, overflowing right now. God will call me to keep moving, keep changing, but right now, this very brief moment, I feel full, and I can just stop and rest, to bask in His Glory.

That's it.
Praise God!!!!

I'm driving a rental car...YAY!!

So on Monday I was running at the Green Way near school, and I get this random call around 6pm.
Apparently some random couple found my wallet near their house, two miles away from the Greenway and couple of miles from my house. Well of course I was out of it, I had ran 6 miles, and had 2 more to go, so I was like, hmm maybe it fell out of my car when I was rearranging stuff, and I always do that when I take out my ID and Cards.

Well I run back, and see that my rear driver's side window is busted, and there is glass everywhere. I also find a note on my car from the driver next to mine who had her SUV broken into as well. Well Karen (thats her name) Praise God!! had already filled a report, and so I filled another one. Funny thing is (my wallet was wrapped up in my sweatshirt and it must have fallen out as the robbers were flailing stuff around in my car) Funnier thing still, Karen's Car had nothing in it, and mine didn't have anything in it as well. Funniest (not really) 5:30pm soccer fields were covered with people and no body called the cops. They did it right in front of people.

Good thing is that I have Nationwide Insurance :) (My Aunt Angel works for them) and I have great coverage. I have a rental car and its pretty sweet.

Point:
Satan is such a pest! I mean just a hindrance, really. I thought it was kind of funny (after I calmed down haha) that this was how he attacked me. This was all he could do. I mean lets face it, Christ has won, and Satan had been defeated, yet he still tries to get at us.
God has blessed me with a great rental car, and great coverage while my car is in the shop. I don't think that was in Satan's plan. I guess the joke is on him.

1 John 4:4

I start my first real day of work at my pool in the morning!! It should be fun!!!

Another night with little sleep...

For the past 3 weeks, I have not been sleeping as well as I would like to. I find my self having to take naps during the day. I am so thankful for naps, and for rest.

Every night pretty much for the past month God has been waking me up at random times in the morning, and just laying people on my heart to pray for. Prayer is a powerful thing, and I believe it is the best tool besides the Bible that God has given us. The Word shows us and teaches us how to pray, and how we can use prayer to move mountains and change lives.

The awesome thing about waking up and praying, going back to sleep, waking up again a few hours later to pray again, is that I am seeing God show off His Amazing Powers of Healing, Restoration, Guidance, Peace, Wooing, and Joy.
I have seen first hand the fruit of praying in the Spirit, and intercessory prayer can have in people's lives.
There is just something awesome about talking with Daddy at like 2-5am in the morning. It is very intense, and it fills me up.
What if more people spent intimate time in prayer? What would happen? I'll tell you...
People's lives would radically change, some the next day, some later on, but God moves heaven and earth for people. He is God, Perfect, Loving, Awesome!!!
I just have a heart for prayer now more than ever. I really love it when God wakes me up, and He speaks to my heart. I am growing more than ever, and God is wooing me.

Side note: I am just so content right now being single and letting God woo me. He is drawing me nearer to Him each day, and I love it. I am spending more time in prayer, specifically in the Spirit, praying for my future wife. I am just thanking God so much for revealing some of the important qualities that my wife will have that just speak to my heart. I am content right now in just surrendering my heart to Christ each day, and letting Him fill me up.

I am also just spending more time thanking God. I am not perfect, I am selfish by nature, but God is just revealing so much to me right now, its is overwhelming :) Why not thank Him?

Training

So tonight is short and sweet, just some thoughts.

It feels great to loose 5 pounds. My run, and bike have really been faster and more efficient.
This past week, esp today, I really felt great on the bike. It feels more natural, and I have more confidence in my ability as an athlete. I have always had confidence, but loosing weight and seeing the results is just awesome. I still have a love-hate relationship with training. It still sucks, but I love it.

I guess its like that with Christian growth and discipline. There are times where it just sucks. Emotionally its is overwhelming, and Satan really goes after me hard. The more I pursue God, the more attacked I get. That makes sense. Satan is not going to attack me as much when I am not in the word, or praying like I should. He just sits back and lets me become lukewarm.

But I see the results of praying, and spending intimate time with God. It is the very fuel for my body and soul. Yes there are sometimes when reading and praying are hard, when doing the right things are so much harder than doing the wrong things.
But I am in this race for the long haul, and I am building up my endurance more and more each day.

So to you who are struggling with endurance, Romans 5 talks about persevering and building character with the Hope we have in Christ.
Continue onward, boldly and unashamedly. Romans 1:16.
The payoff is worth the process.
I am just so in awe of what God is doing in my life and others around me.

And I just love being Baptized with the Holy Spirit and having my own personal prayer tongue with God.

Continue to pursue the peace that transcends all understanding. Philippians 4:7