David Rameau
August 25, 2010
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1-3
I remember as a teenager in High School complaining to my mentor Manny Daphnis about not feeling comfortable whenever I'm in school. His response to that was, "David, you're just passing through. This is not our home." This revelation hit me so hard that till' this day it stays with me. This is why I started off with the question, "Do you feel comfortable?" The question is irrelevant to us as Christians because this is not our, "home sweet home," therefore we will never feel like we arrived until that glorious day when we meet our savior and here Him say, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant." Till then, we need to remember to glorify God in all that we do and know that we are just passing through ☺. Blessings!
Praise Adonai,
David Rameau
Recently, I have been examining myself for things that I want to do in the future. The difficult thing about that is that I need to be in tuned with what God would have me to do. I want to tell God what I want to do and have His Spirit follow, than hear what He would have me do and follow His Spirit. It's been rough, but awesome at the same time. Why rough? Because it means that I have to be so close to Him that I could distinguish His voice in the midst of chaos; and consistently seek His face when things get so called 'busy.' I simply say all of this to show you that I too struggle and to tell you the good news which is we don't have to worry. All we need to do is.... "Be still and know that [He] is God" (Psalm 46) And then we will remember that He was and is still in control. God Bless You!
Praise Him in the storm,
David Rameau
July 13, 2010
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
-John 3:16-17
Have you ever hated someone before? Do you currently hate someone now? You see, I would not be surprised if you were to answer, "yes" to both of those questions. I would be impressed if you answered "no". The reason why I say this is because that would mean you chose to love. It's easy to hate people or find reasons to justify your negative feelings towards them. But, to love, that takes a child of God. Do you consider yourself to be a child of God? If so, let us love as Jesus Christ taught us to love in the verse above. He loved those who loved Him and loved those who hated Him.
I implore you my brothers and sisters of the Faith, choose love today. I challenge you to love those who irk you and speak ill of you. Let your light shine. I know you are not able to do this alone and you've probably failed miserably trying to do so. I know I have at times. It's always when I try to love on my own accord; with my own power and strength. Allow Jesus into the areas of your heart you've tried to block him away from or harden. Once you've surrendered all of you to Him, He will begin to use you in ways you could not imagine. So, with that being said, go and love in Jesus' name.
To my brothers and sisters who have yet to know the Lord I want you to know that God loves you. Yes, that's right. He's not waiting on you to accept Him before He loves you. He has already made up his mind, He loves you and He's hoping someday you say, "I love you too." Till then, remember you are loved, because God chose love and God is Love.
July 5, 2010
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Growing up as a child I was a rebel. From second grade all the way through 5th grade is when I experienced some of my worst years. The reason why I say this is because as I was acting up during these years, I heard it all. "You will not amount to anything. You need to be placed in a special-ed class. You're tossing your future away. College is clearly not going to be part of your future. You're a mess."
Unfortunately, I began to believe all this stuff. And I believed it because the people who said it were not merely speaking words, but were speaking them to me with conviction. In other words, because they believed it, I believed it. It took me awhile to notice that what they believed was false.
You see, it's not enough to have the right words to say to the youth. It's not enough to tell them they will succeed when you believe that they will fail. It's not enough to pray for them to be saved when in your heart of hearts you feel all hope is lost for them. It's not enough.
Just as I was able to tell when my teachers were being serious and meant what they were saying, our youth today have a "belief detector" that's twenty times stronger and they know when you mean what you say and when you're just talking in the air. According to scripture it's called being double-minded. Our youth today identify it as being a hypocrite.
I know that my youth are hearing "You are more than a conqueror. You're headed for success. You have a bright and hopeful future ahead of you." They are hearing this and it's not said with doubt, but conviction. Why? Because I know the Truth; God has a plan for their lives (Jer. 29:11). And I believe they shall attain it in Jesus' name.
P.S. I will be blogging once a week. If what I have written has blessed you in any way let me know so that I could remain motivated ☺. You could email me at: david@tbpm.org Blessings!
May 19, 2010
God blesses a mess. It blows my mind when I think of God's unconditional love. He does not ask us to come to Him when we have our act all together. He says, "Come as you are." That's crazy. I think a lot of times we forget the other piece to coming to Him as you are. He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. He's willing to invest so much time into our lives. In us! If we just let him. A lot of times we become discouraged and disappointed with ourselves that we begin to despise who we are. Praise be to God that He loves us for who we are and who we are not. It's easy to say that He loves us when things are going well. But, it becomes very difficult to remember when we are going through our trials and tribulations.
Beloveds, we need to remember that as we live our life that trusting God is the best thing we could ever do. He loves us more than anyone or anything; and promises to finish the good work He has started in you (Philippians 1:6).
Where do I begin!? First of all, we want to thank all of you for your support. We would not be able to do what we do without you. Our arrival into Haiti was an experience. As we got off the plane we were greeted by one of the missionary camp workers who drove us to Gran-Goave, Haiti. I cannot begin to describe that car ride. Many of the streets had piles of rubble to the sides of them, because there was no place to dispose of them. Buildings that have collapsed have now become a gravesite, due to the bodies buried underneath it. Mindy and I did what we could while we were there, but the help the Haitian people need is beyond a week visit. After seeing many of the damages the earthquake has done, and looking at the current state of Haiti, we became overwhelmed. It was the word of God that helped us through it. The scripture that brought us comfort was 1 Corinthians 12:4-12. Haiti needs a lot of help and it is possible to help them, if we all play our parts. While in Newburyport, we happen to see an art exhibit and there was a lady selling her paintings to help the relief in Haiti. Praise God! Here is a woman utilizing what God has gifted her with. This is what we need to learn as a Church. There is no gift to small or insignificant that God cannot use. If we all focus on our part, then the puzzle pieces will come together and we will see the completion of the big picture.
It could become devastating when you see a lot of things happen and you cannot fix it all. Through all of these situations, I learn not to focus on whole problem, but the part God has gifted you to address. Trying to tackle the problem solo is not a wise thing to do. We are not asked to do everything ourselves, instead we are asked to play our role in the body. Scripture is clear; we cannot afford to bury our talents (Matt. 25:25-28). I would go as far as to say that the biggest tragedy is to have an individual not playing their part. Why? Some of you may ask, because that means the body will always be dysfunctional. I leave you with the words from Hezekiah Walker's song, "I need you, you need me. We're all apart of God's body."
January 26, 2010
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10
As most of you have heard, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. My wife Mindy and I have family and friends there, so this news has truly left us in a state of shock. Currently, I (David) still have one cousin who has not been located. Please pray.
During our personal times of prayer we felt the Lord tugging our hearts to go to Haiti. Due to this tragedy, Mindy has postponed full-time nursing school. We immediately began to prepare ourselves for going either short-term or long-term to Haiti. However, as the days (which feel like months) have passed, God made clear that we are to go, but not now. Being patient has not been easy for us, but we know that the Lord's plans are better than ours, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:9).
We strongly urge you to give to world relief efforts towards the crisis in Haiti. This is a time when the children of God need to stick together. Please, keep Haiti in your prayers.
January 25, 2010
As Mindy and I begin this New Year, we have considered how we've approached many things including our fundraising. God is growing me as a Neighborhood Youth Minister with The Boston Project Ministries and given me many opportunities to love his children. Everyday I'm working with urban young people helping them to reach their God-given potential. Our neighborhood, which is where I grew up, has some challenging realities.
As we enter 2010, we want to renew our invitation to you to join us in this mission work. In order for us to also go to Haiti short-term in the near future, we need your help.
This year, we have a monthly support goal of $600 per month. Last year, we averaged $175 a month so we really need your prayers and help to reach this new goal. Our hope is that we will have a consistent group of supporters to serve as our missionary care team.
Thank you in advance for your prayerful consideration of all we've written. Please let us know if you would like to meet in person to discuss our work with The Boston Project Ministries.
August 22, 2009
A Heart of Prayer
Greetings my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, my heart is filled with joy as I begin to write and tell you of all the great things the Lord has done and is doing in our lives today. My wife and I stand in awe of Him. In the past couple of months I have seen youth who have had no interest in church begin to attend church regularly. I've seen youth who are quick to give an attitude and quit, be receptive to authority and endure work throughout the entire summer. I've even seen young men, ready to hurt each other, sit down with one another and express how they felt hurt and disrespected! Only the blood of Christ could do such a thing. Our God is awesome!
Working in the Dorchester neighborhood has really pushed me to be more of a prayer warrior. I am reminded daily that the issues our youth face today can only be answered through our prayers. Throughout this summer we have gained a deeper appreciation for prayer and remaining with a heart of prayer.
As Mindy and I continue to pour ourselves into the community, we ask that you join us with a heart of prayer so that we could see strongholds on people lives be broken and lives being healed by the saving power in Jesus' name ☺. After all, "...Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12).
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