Ben Pettit

Jesus, what will tomorrow be like? I’m not anxious or worried about it, but just curious what You are going to do. The Holy Spirit blows when and where He wants to, so would You blow it hard into Westside at about 10:41 tomorrow? Would You meet with us Lord? Can we humble ourselves and pray? Can we cry out to You and surrender? Lord, I want to lead people to You. I want them to see Your face and be forever changed. I want to completely get myself out of the way and allow You to move.

I know the enemy is going to be there tomorrow as well. In Your name I pray that he would not be allowed on the grounds of Your holy place tomorrow; that all distractions would disappear. Would You anoint the words of my mouth with Your Holy Spirit? I want to be a vessel, a carrier of the good news.

I’ll never understand why You died for me. I know that You love me more than I’ll ever even have the capacity to love. I am so thankful, Lord: thankful for Your blood and Your grace. In Your name I pray. Amen.

Sustained injury.

She was just like everyone else her age. She wanted to fit in. She wore the right clothes and went to the right school. She drove the right car. She wanted to be loved. She wanted to be cared for. He was one of the popular kids. When he asked her out, she of course said yes. He was a jerk and forced her to go beyond where she wanted to go. She never told anyone. 6 years later she’s still hurting and wanting to be loved and cherished more than anything. She never could see the One who loved her more than anyone…

Sustained surface.

He did it all right. He led the worship music for his youth group. He took every opportunity to learn the right information to succeed. He wanted wisdom more than anything in the world. He made friends with the right people, and he fit in on the surface level. But, he always wanted someone to ask him how his day was and actually care enough to make eye contact and listen to his answer.  He was hurting inside, but so put together on the outside so that no one could ever tell. He had the occasional drink, but never to much. He loved the Lord but it seemed like his church friends were worse at friendship than his non-Christian friends. At least the non-churched friends cared enough to listen…

Sustained permanence.

Her father passed away tragically when she was 13. She was a daddy’s girl. She depended on him for so much. Her mother was very strict on her. Mom said that she couldn’t go out with a boy until she was 16. So at 14 she started dating a guy who was 19. Her mom never knew and she sneaked around her back for months. The boy said that he loved her and wanted to show her. She said no, but he persisted. She had pain for the next week. She finally had to tell her mother, and they went to a specialist in Dallas. The violence was extensive and permanent. She’ll never be able to bear children…

Sustained identity

She had pink hair. She would do anything to stand out in a crowd. She would never smile for a picture. Her parents were divorced, and she didn’t even know what a family ever was or could be. She looked for acceptance in all places. Places in the youth group and in the party circle too. Bible lessons Wednesday night and drunkenness Friday. She got dared to kiss a girl. She liked it and felt ok with it. For the next 4 years she would struggle with who she was. Holding on to the sin so hard and believing that’s who she was now. Never grasping the love and freedom that comes from her heavenly Father…

They just needed love. Sustained,

love from the Father.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25

Are you willing to surrender every thought, every action, every word, every single desire to that of the Lord? You have to literally die to self to have Christ to dwell and live inside of you. You must be reborn. Every morning are you willing to say… Lord, this is your day. This is your life. This is your breath. His body was broken and His blood was shed for you and me.

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21

What are you willing to give up to follow him. Eternal life or that pornography addiction? Leading your family to a place of truth… or are you satisfied with destruction?

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:5-11

Need I say more?

I know it’s been a while since I last posted. Most of you are wondering how the kids devotion went, and I am excited to say that it went really well. I tried to speak on their level as much as possible and be a little silly too. I really appreciate the opportunity our Children’s Pastor, Gary, gave me to speak to them.

I’m sitting at Starbucks outside and it’s good to get away. I registered my Starbucks gift card on the website today which allows me to enjoy some free internet while I’m here. I put clouds in the subject line of this post but to be honest there are not any clouds in sight. Instead, there is a great big blue sky hanging over head. On days like today, I feel like I can do anything through Christ who makes me stronger.

I believe the Lord has called me into a new season of my life. I want to lead in my job with zeal. I want to lead in my relationship with Stacy with patience, love, understanding, kindness, self-control… I want to lead the people of Westside Church to a place of intimacy with the Lord.

This Sunday has excitement looming all around it. Last week our Student Pastor resigned and it was a hard service for everyone. We debuted Bluetree’s song (via Chris Tomlin) God of this City last week. I was encouraged when our pastor, Scott, said that the vocals sounded very tight and clean on it. Good job, Brian and Donna! You guys make me look good!!! haha.

I want to give a special thanks to Jason Semberger who has been pioneer in helping our media program off the ground. His wife is having their second child (woot!) so he won’t be around as much, but we loved having his expertise for as long as we did. This next week I am going to put together a new video machine. This computer will be used as a presentation computer in the Sanctuary. I’m so excited about it!

Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city…

The most challenging thing I have ever done is happening at 7:10 tonight. I am doing the devotion for Awana’s at Westside to about 40-60 children. I’m not sure how to effectively get on the level of a child. It’s been SO long since I have been one, I kind of forget what it’s like. I can’t go super deep, descripitive or even logicial. So I am left with?

No idea yet…