Hope Ministries gives hope to 18 year old from Western Sahara, Africa

This is Ivory.. Interesting testimony. About 3 weeks ago he was in Western Sahara, Africa. He was found with no food and no home. It was the Hope Ministries of Tampa that found this 18 year old male. He only spoke in a unclassified language. The Hope Ministries team communicated with him by hand gestures and clicking noises. Hope Ministries were so moved by meeting Ivory they couldn't help but to give him a new life. They brought him to Florida on there flight. On the plane ride he was able to learn some English. Now he is in a ministry at Southestern College in Lakeland, Florida, that was created from Ivory's inspiration. It's called IvoryProject (IP), it's a ministry dedicated to helping kids from Western Sahara, Africa just like Ivory. The students love having him. He is continuing to learn English, and how to write.
For further information you can visit the IvoryProject website at http://ivoryproject.snappages.com/ created by Southeastern student Sterling Conwell.

-Andrew Fulford.

Facinate me God!

In my journey with God, the greatest reality that has griped me is 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us." This reality has messed me up. In a great and terrible way. Great, because there is nothing more pleasurable then being in His presence, feeling His delight over you. Terrible, because once you're marked by this reality, you can't go back to business as usual. You're ruined by it. Hedged in. You can no longer love God with your human seal. You demand to be drawn in, and be fascinated.

We all have a intense longing to be fascinated. It's a God given longing, created for Himself to satisfy. We have settled for many counterfeits to quench this longing. The entertainment industry has made billions of dollars off this longing. There is no escaping this demand from the human spirit. It must be satisfy. Either by God or a lesser thing.

The reason I decided to write on this topic is because I've been convicted for not making God my only source of fascination. Being fascinated by who God is and His love for us, is the only thing that produces love in our hearts towards Him. Apart from this we cannot love God. This requires giving the Lord your time.

I can't write anymore. I'm disturbed..

Biography

Friends and Family,

I wanted to write a little biography since I’m graduated and it’s supposed to be a big deal.

I want to announce that my future is already a success. My greatest dream is accomplished. I’m loved by God, and I am a lover of God, therefore I’m successful…

Okay, I’ll give you a peek into the life of Andrew Fulford. Here’s some basic facts. I’m the first product of Audrey and Billy Fulford, and I have two “younger” brothers… I can’t say “little” anymore because Josh is quickly catching up with my muscles. I’ve lived in the Tampa area my whole life, and I love it… Okay, let’s get to the good stuff.

It all started in K-5. My parents did the best they could to try to translate the Gospel into 5 year old terms. I said “the prayer.” I remember laying in bed that night saying “forgive me for my sins” or something along those lines over and over again until I fell asleep. So I didn’t quite get the understanding I needed to really put my faith in the divine knowledge of the Gospel.

Elementary comes my way, and I’m attending Citrus Park Christian School, still believing that I have a free ride to heaven because of the prayer I prayed when I was 5. Elementary was bitter and sweet. 1st grade, I discovered I wasn’t the greatest reader. 2nd grade I had an awesome field trip to Cypress Gardens. My first girlfriend in 3rd grade was Courtney Watson. Tall, blonde, blue eyes. Her birthday is December 13. And I still remember her house phone number, but I’ll keep it to myself… 4th grade I had a really pretty teacher. 5th grade was the year 9/11 happened and I was ticked, because my mom wouldn’t let me watch the news. And since 6th grade was considered elementary at Citrus Park, I’ll just add that to this paragraph… In 6th grade I got braces.

Elementary school was dull for the most part. I was embarrassed my mom worked at the school. I could never get away with anything… Baseball was always great. I played at Citrus Park Little League. My dad was an awesome coach. I got hit in the mouth with a ball in my 5th grade baseball season, and almost lost my bottom teeth and lip. I’ll never forget that… Another thing I’ll never forget is when I told my mom to “shut up” one day. I got my butt tore up, and I had to write Ephesians 6:1 five hundred times. I was apart of a ministry called Awanas. It’s a ministry that challenges kids to memorize Bible verses, and a place to have fun. My dad was the game director. I hated memorizing the verses, but I loved game time. I would cry if I didn’t get first place… That sums up my Elementary years.

At the end of 6th grade I found out my parents wanted to put me in a public school. I was all for it. I attended Walker Middle School that’s a few miles down the road from our house. 7th grade was a bit intimidating… I had my own locker and I got to switch class. I knew a few guys from playing baseball with them. I became good friends with a lot of the guys that lived in the neighborhood down the street. These guys got me into the popular crowd, and I began to imitate everything they did. Skateboarding and long hair was in. I was cruel to my younger brother, Josh. The way I treated Josh in the past is one of my biggest regrets… 8th grade, I was still pretty innocent. Still loved baseball. Kept up with the skateboarding… My family was attending Christ Community Church. I really like the youth pastor. But at that time of my life I loved the things of this world more then I loved Reality and Truth.

High School comes along, and the pride in my heart is greater then ever before, during my freshmen year. I’m on the baseball team, the facial hair is coming in nice, and I have 600 plus Myspace friends. I was popular within the freshmen circle. I had a woodshop class that I liked, but I got kicked out for never doing a project… I went to my first party after a baseball game with one of the pitchers on my team. I had my first “fatty” code name for a fat lip of dipping tobacco. It was Skoal raspberry. I could barely stand up. Then I had my first drink of alcohol the same night. It was apple Smirnoff. Chick beer, I know. So my freshmen year was pretty dark, I went to a few get togethers and drank socially, but greater darkness has yet to come.

Sophomore year came, and oh yeah, by the way, I was always a horrible student. People always would say, “Dude, I only got one B” and I would say, “ Yeah me too, all the rest were C’s, D’s, and F’s.” But anyway, Sophomore year I had a relationship with a girl that took a Mack truck to my heart. She ran it over a few times… I became really tight friend with a couple guys in my class, who had a lot of money, loved to party, and had parents who didn’t care. Now, this dark scene only lasted about 4 to 5 months. I was only involved in this lifestyle in a real way for a little bit. I smoked marijuana more then a few times, and drank a lot of cheap beer, and stole a lot of dip cans. Never drove home drunk, but I let my drunk friend drive me home. If you’ve ever seen my truck it has a crater on the side… I was totally sober when that happen, sophomore year, while off roading. Stupidest 15 seconds of my life… So this 4 to 5 month period was at the end of my sophomore year, all the way through the beginning of my junior year.

So junior year comes, I‘m in the popular crowd of the 10,000 students at my school, and my pride is off the charts. I continued with my ways for awhile, and then my parents began to get suspicions and stopped letting me hang out with the guys I was hanging around… I did have a friend named, Brock, who didn’t drink. He was my workout partner. He came into the scene at the beginning of my junior year… I took that hard for a few days, but something inside me didn’t care that much. I went into a season of depression for the next month, I didn’t care about anything. I got into a lot of fights with my mom.

Here’s when it gets good. One day in October of 2007, I was having a rough day. I was in a angry mood, and feeling depressed. My dad, Billy Fulford, sat me down and asked me what was up. I tried to avoid conversation. I sat there in complete silence as my dad patiently and graciously sat in my room trying to get me to share my heart with him. He was in my room for a least half an hour before I said a word. Finally, after my dad had tenderly asked me over and over again, what was going on, I began to share my heart. I began to bring to light the things that I had kept inside for months. I came to a breaking point. I thank the Lord for my dad. As I sat before him with a open heart and water falls in my eyes, he asked if he could pray for me. As he did, I began to have peace, and I entertained the idea of turning my life around and starting fresh. After he prayed for me he suggested I go talk to a youth pastor as well.

I’m going to fast forward about 3 weeks later. I’m sitting in class, and I look to my left and I see a Asian kid with long black hair, reading his Bible. I build the courage to go talk to you him. We end up having a awkward but good conversation. He invited me to a Bible study he attended on Saturday nights at a friends house from his church. I was kind of interested, but I’m not the one to go to someone’s house without first meeting them. So in my mind I made plans not to attended. But Saturday came and “Incoming call… Chris the Christian” showed up on my phone. (Who by the way is Chris Maniquiz, and he’s is one of my best friends.) He called to see if I was coming, and asked if I wanted to meet him somewhere to follow him to the Bible study. So I went. I remember it being a little awkward at first, but once worship started I was awe-struck. I had never seen a group of people my age engaged with God in such an authentic way. I began to enter into worship as well. The view I had of God was distorted. But I began to believe the good things I knew about Him. My heart began to come alive in that moment. Little did I know that this was the beginning of the Man, Jesus, ambushing my life… I talked with some of the people there for a little bit after it was all over, then drove home. On the way home I began to pray earnestly, asking for God to reveal Himself to me.

From that day, addictions were broke, bad friendships were cut off, cursing left my lips, and I became a new creature. I began to have a hunger for the Word of God. I could not put the Bible down. The spirit of wisdom and revelation was on me, and I began to understand the things which I once thought was foolish. My Bible has rarely been out of my reach, even to this day. Praise the Lord… Instead of doing nothing in class, I would knock out whole books of the Bible throughout the school day. I had read the whole New Testament within that month. I would talk to God throughout my whole day. I continued to go to the Bible studies on Saturdays with Chris… So much has happened from the time I met God, to now. I’m afraid I’d be writing forever if I shared with you all my experiences. The Disciple John, only being with Jesus for 3 years, said at the end of his record of the Gospel, “…there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.”

The past two years with God has been an amazing foundation for what lies ahead of me. I’ll let you in on what’s been happening lately. I got home school my senior year. Reason being, to have more time in the Word. It was great. I learned a lot and grew a lot in my experiences. I played baseball for Cambridge Christian along with my home schooling. I must say I died to myself a lot that season. But it was good, we got runner up in states… I’ve been waiting to get to this part of my story since I started writing. March 1st of this year, I started to date a girl who I became friends with through serving at a youth ministry called Oneighty. This was in December of 2007 when I met her. Her name is Ceciley Hooker. Yes, I make jokes about that last name a lot. She is a incredible girl. She’ll be graduating next year as a home school student as well. She’s a worship leader at Growlife Church, which we both attend now. The past year and a half we’ve become good friends. And the first four months of our relationship has gone very well. We’ve talked about marriage a couple times and… Haha, just kidding. Her dad needs to check his pants after reading that line. But in all seriousness, Ceciley and I have handle our relationship under the counsel and wisdom of Jesus Christ, and I know that He will bless that… I valet park for 717 parking enterprise. I really enjoy the job. And working out is still a hobby of mine… My plans for the future is to go to EMT training and Fire school at Hillsborough Community College to become a City of Tampa Firefighter. I’ll be used by God in that career, and also plan to use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given me in whatever Church I‘m attending. I long to be a husband and a father to a daughter.

These last couple paragraph I want to direct my focus to you, the reader. I want to encourage you, my beloved, to pursue reality with God… Do not go down the road I was headed. I believed that the end of my relationship with God was the prayer of salvation, until I got to heaven. You see, a lot of “believers” don’t really believe that God desires them, that God actually longs for them. 1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us”… Did you know it’s impossible to love God, without first knowing that He loves you?

A third of the angles fell and God did nothing. Two humans fell, and God put on flesh and took there punishment! Beloved, do you know how valuable you are?! We are created in the image of God. Some of us have returned that favor, and have made a God in our image! A God who hates to forgive, a God who is quick to anger, a God who keeps a record of wrong doing. But that’s wrong! God loves to forgive, He is slow to anger, and He blots out transgressions as far as the east is from the west. Some of you believe that you‘re sin has disqualified you. You believe that Jesus died for you sins a long time ago, and since He did, He know has to “put up with you“. You think every time you do something wrong, the Lord is saying, “Get it together! I died for you, and you can’t just stop this addiction?“ But no! What He‘s really saying is, “Beloved! You think you‘re dark, but I say you‘re lovely to Me! When I went to the cross, I knew that you would love other things more then Me… But I still went, because my heart burns for you to know Me!” Do you realize that Jesus asked a Jewish Tax Collector to be apart of His apostolic circle. In the Jewish culture, to become a tax collector was outrageous. It was rebelling against your family and joining the Roman office. Matthew was the tax collectors name, and Jesus looked at Him and said, I want you. This was not just a invite into the Kingdom. No, this was an invite to the apostolic circle. Matthew has a gate named after him in the New Jerusalem (Heaven). You see, Jesus looks for the cowards… Look at my life, I was an idiot. You think I’ve become the person I am today, because I’m determined? Absolutely not! I was a coward like Matthew, and the Lord said, “Andrew, you’re what I’m looking for”. God‘s mercy, met my foolishness, and I started a transforming process. Beloved, when you see God for who He is, and not for who you think He is, supernatural transformation begin to happen. The transformation is both bitter and sweet, but it’s a journey that‘s worth every step.

Father, I ask in Jesus name, that you would release a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Your Son, on this reader right now. Replace the lies they believe with truth of who You really are. Encounter them by your Holy Spirit. Let Your jealous love give them no rest, until they say yes.

Till He Returns,

-Andrew Fulford

The Gospel

The past two days I've been listening to the song called "Found" by Hillsong over and over again. The chorus is "And I found myself in You" repeated. I came across this song at a good time, because the Holy Spirit, graciously reminded me of Romans 6:6. Which reads...

"knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin"

This is why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most power message the Globe has ever heard. Because when Jesus died, every believer's sinful nature died with Him. It is a fact that everyone who has said yes to Jesus, also died when He died two thousand years ago. Since we are in Him, we also know that we have been raised up with Christ and seated in the Heavenly places.

Romans 6:5

For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection

We were united with Christ through His death, because He took on our punishment... But He did not stay in the grave. As Jesus' Bride we were also united with Him in His resurrection. That same power that raised Christ from the dead, now dwells in us. He's called the Holy Spirit. Not only is the Holy Spirit going to raise us from the dead at the end of the age, but right now the power of God is at work in us.

Romans 8:11

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So when God took on flesh and became a Man, He put your sinful nature in Him, because Jesus bore the sins of everyone who would humble themselves and repent of there sins and be forgiven by His blood shed. Now our man of sin is dead, and we receive new life. Paul describes us as becoming new creatures.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The old things have past away. That means my sinful nature is gone, it's done away with. Jesus died, so my sinful nature died. So Paul, by the Holy Spirit, tells me to consider myself dead to sin.

Romans 6:11

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Knowing this marvelous truth, I no longer need to do anything, but reckon myself dead to sin, and alive to God. This truth has power in it. When I get this revelation, and the eyes of my heart are enlighten to see that Christ put me in Him when He died, then I become instantly set free from the power of sin.

So now I have these two natures in me. Sin nature and this new creature. Though our sin nature is dead, we have not been fully sanctified, we are in the process, until we get our resurrected body. But right now we have a choice. Are we going to reckon ourselves dead to sin, and live in the new creature, the spirit. Or are we going to try to do this righteousness thing on our own, in our flesh. It's that simple. I can wake up every morning and just thank the Lord that I'm a free man, and ask for deeper revelation of this glorious mystery. Or I can wake up, and pray that I won't sin, and use all the willpower I have to resist unrighteousness.

We're are dead to sin. For God so loved the world, that He took on flesh, and knew He was coming to the earth to die. To be a Representative for all of us sinners who would repent, and love Him. It was no accident that Jesus went to the cross! No, He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the Earth!

Revelation 13:18

...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Before creation even began, Jesus was groaning and longing to give Himself for a Bride. It was no inconvenience for Him to hang on a cross. Our God is so humble! Thank you Lord for who You are.

Oh Lord, let us encounter you in spirit and in truth. We are hungry for you. Give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Your Son.

Radical Call to the First Commandment

This is stirring in my heart right now...

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Though we are not all bless in the same way when it comes to finance and health, we are all blessed equally when it comes to spiritual blessings. It is written, "Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing". Knowing that this is true, we all stand on the same level ground. I don't care who you are. Jesus said, "ALL who are thirsty come to me". Spiritual gifts, understanding, wisdom, revelation, and knowledge do not come from intellect, but from the spiritual blessing we received in Jesus Christ.
As believers we already have this. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places is ours, because we are in Christ. The question may be, why don't I see the fruit of it? Why is Pastor Bob over here have more insight then me? Why is the Bible not making sense?... It's an issue of hunger. Where are you directing your hunger?
Right now, I feel the Lord's heart for the new believers, and believers is compromise.
To the new believers, I want to say, there is no such thing as becoming "burnt out". If anyone has told you that to much Bible reading and praying will burn you out, please, in a spirit of meekness disregard that. Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." In other words that screams, "BE OBSESSED WITH ME" The only thing that is going to burn you out is your sin. So go hard after God, yet take one caution. Christianity is not a fantasy, nor is it all about experiencing God on an emotional level. It's about reality and Truth. Jesus is a Man. Right now, He's alive and breathing. He's interceding for us right now. He's full of desire, and He burning to return back to us. He's actually thinking on something specific right now. Once He became a Man, He took on the flesh for ever. He is now in a resurrected body, fully God, but yet fully Man. He can only be one place at one time... Do not lose focus of the one thing necessary, and that is to sit at the feet of Jesus. (Luke 10:42)
To my brothers and sisters who are growing wearing. Receive grace and strength in your inner man from the Holy Spirit. Every spiritual blessing is at hand. Direct your hunger to Jesus. He is worthy! Do not say in your heart, "I'm not cut out for this radical lifestyle". The truth is we all suck at this lifestyle. But thanks be to GOD! For He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth. He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. Nothing can separate you from Him. Death nor life, nor angles, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other thing in creation. The Holy Spirit is in you, He's a great Helper. He's not just something that let's you no when you sin. He is, like Jesus, also a real person. He desires your dependence on Him. And God, being jealous, will eventually bring you to the end of yourself, with only the Holy Spirit left to run to. Beloved, Jesus is coming back soon, have you given Him, His heart's desire? Abide in Him. Return to your first Love. Remember where you have fallen from. Think back to the time you were the most committed to Jesus, and go back to that place and stay there. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, He will help you. We can't go long without His help, you can trust me on that one. Get into fellowship with people that are wholehearted in love with Jesus. Began to get violent, turn the TV off, get a bottle of water go on a fast.
There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus! Repent of your sins, and push the delete button. (I love that button) Then rejoice that Jesus is your Representative!... Beloved, we see through a veil right now. We have a distorted view of who this Man, Jesus, is. But there is no doubt that Jesus is Truth. It cannot be escaped.
Do not say in your heart,"I have let God down" NO! You haven't! You have one life to live and all you have to give is love. So get over yourself, because God's grace and mercy happens to be a lot greater then your sin. Get a good look at this Man, and you will fall in love with Him. Don't quit the race, keep running. He is worth it. He is beautiful. There is no One like Him.

This is the Gospel

knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.


I'm a dead man!

Chief Among Sinners

1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

I want the understanding he had.