Letters from Lilongwe

For every believer one easy question to ask ourselves is "What would I have done"?  Without the blood of Christ, what would I have done, would anything in my life be different, would I love in differently, lack love?  Would I still respect my parents, still pursue a degree, build relationships, ect.  The answer to these questions may be Yes, my life on some of my action points would not look that terribly different, and that answer alarms me at times.  But then I remember what the Blood of Christ did, it was much more than just some moral compass of Good vs Evil, some good rules to live my life by, its a chance to engage in life with the Creator of the Cosmos, to walk in the Kingdom while still walking on this sin filled earth.  As I learn more about the Father who so loved my very being to condemn his son on by behalf I can't resist falling in love, falling in love with the Lover.  The Great Romancer is knocking on my door saying, "Let me in, and i'll love yo

Tonight is the first night of the winter mission trip at grace midtown.  I am typing this on my nexus so things will be short and sweet but I should be able to post some reflections each night.  We are sleeping over in the old midtown building on state Street so that will be exciting, sleeping on the floor... Our goal for this trip is to physically restore some houses in the bluff, and spiritually claim the community for the kingdom and just bless the people living there and provide in whatever needs they have.  Tomorrow my group is physically restoring a house the church bought to eventually host a year long missions school.  We are the first group to actually be organized to head into the bluff and start to do hands on work.  Its great to see how the lord is doing to move in my community as the lord mobilizes people to engage our community.  We bought new property now we are going to move in and actually care for the part of the city we are loving in.  Time to see the kingdom come

This song was used in a the SDP2013 video , then once I found the video I remember seeing it some other time.  Take a listen, but this song has me entranced...   You can analyze the lyrics but they are decently simple. The taste of eternity Is here on our lips With every breath we sing With every breath we sing of Your majesty It's here in our midst With every breath we sing All is Great in the Lord Paul Shackelford

Thinking back to how much the Lord moved and worked in my heart this summer is getting me pumped!  Can't contain the goodness of his love! SDP2013 from Grace Midtown on Vimeo . All is from the Lord Paul Shackelford

What does love look like? This has been the question that I am asking, what does your love for me look like, how do I learn from how you loved me so that I can love others in that same manner.  Father you are the teacher of love, how to love, what love is, what it really is.  In these last few days that Father has been revealing so much about how I am to be Romanced, how can I ever Romance someone if I do not know the Romance of the Father?  This fact has led me to just sit, read, ask the Father how he loves me, tangible ways, in my day, in my walk to class, in my lunch with a friend.  When I accepted Christ into my life, I did more than just say some words, I accepted the proposal of a loving God who simply wants to love us!   And oh how this song captures almost everything that has been rocking me in the last few days! What does love look like? is the question I've been pondering What does love look like?  What does love look like? is the question Ive been asking of

Psalm 88 For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm *  of Heman the Ezrahite. 1  O  Lord , God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. 2  Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. 3  For my life is full of troubles, and death *  draws near. 4  I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. 5  They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care. 6  You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths. 7  Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude 8  You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape. 9  My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O  Lord ; I lift my hands to you for mercy. 10  Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?

Man Alive, this is one of the most powerful spoken words I have ever heard.  Once again while cruising on Myspace this morning I came across the new Gungor live album that I had not heard yet and this spoken word was the first song I listened to and it blew me away.  There is no need for me to recount all of the truth dropped in this song/video/expression of the soul! All is Great at the Foot of My King Paul Shackelford

Deng, Father I have been placing my focus on the waves not on your Face!  While playing around with the new Myspace, just check it out, its kinda cool.  I was making a morning rise mix for my quite times in the morning, and this song stuck out so freaking hard.  Listening to it again while I am writing and its rocking me...  Take a listen and see what the Father speaks to you! Father, please continue to remind me that you are the only one who brings me peace, during Finals and the many trials of life I will run to the world for me peace.  Father I want to run through the world and find you in it, seeking your face in my community, my brothers and sisters, seeing your hand bring peace to this world.  Thanks for showing us when we are just running in circles and need to simply come back home and rest with you. I’m so forgetful, but You always remind me You’re the only one who brings me peace You’re the only one who brings me peace So I come, Lord I come I come, Lord I c

127  While praying tonight during a Chaplain meeting someone prayed the start of this psalm and I jumped straight to it because this always speaks volumes to my soul.  Unless the Lord does the preparation than our actions are worthless   This is why its so important that we are seeking after the Father and seeking his heart, his will and our true Identity in Him.  Without that our actions our efforts although they may be from good intentions are meaningless.  Therefore the action point for me personal is to arise early in the morning not to work, but to dance with God.  He desires to romance us therefore we need to treat that relationship like any other romantic relationship.   Unless the  Lord  builds the house,      those who build it labor in vain. Unless the  Lord   watches over the city,      the watchman stays awake in vain. 2  It is in vain that you rise up early      and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious  toil;      for he gives to his  beloved  sleep.

All Sons & Daughters have been on my radar for a good long while now, I saw the David Leonard back in Pittsboro when he was playing with Jackson Waters .  It was a great show so when I saw that he was working on worship music at his Church in Franklin my ears perked up.  Then I downloaded some free stuff off NoiseTrade and it absolutely rocked my world.  So enough of my backstory for this song, but it dives deep into my soul and asks the Father for a reason to sing.  Lord give me a reason to sing and teach my heart of your Joy, Love, Compassion which compel my rebuild heart to sing fully.   Please take a listen to this exceptionally powerful son, and also check out the backstory for this song below... Check out Part One of this blog post that was started just under a year ago.   http://paulshackelford.blogspot.com/2011/12/reason-to-sing-all-sons-and-daughters.html All is in Great in the Kingdom of Heaven Paul Shackelford

Like normal I am just rummaging through the internet and I find something that catches my eye.  This is a very interesting venture that caught my eye on Kickstarter.  Its a project in Chicago using old building supplied that typically ends up in the land fill because its cheaper to throw them away than to safely deconstruct the building.  Deconstruction is a very impressive movement that at times uses at risk teens and puts them to work deconstructing houses and then keeping the materials.  This teaches the teens valuable construction techniques and also gets them off the streets into productive positions.  Also once the materials have been recaptured they can have a second life.  In this case they are using repurposed lumber to create furniture  sell to new building project, and now to start product lines solely created from old building materials.  Take a look at the video and see if you would like to contribute to this Kickstarter campaign. All is in Christ, Paul Shac

Today I am sorting through my old drafts and this video showed up, so ya I really like this concept of innovation.  I have never heard of Parlee Bikes but this seems to be really cool, shifting gears with your thoughts.  It is going to be very interesting to watch this technology develop and the applications become apparent to the general public. Enjoy. Its all in Christ Paul Shackelford

Deng this song is heavy.  I remember going to the Beach over the summer and someone was playing this song in the car and it was just rocking me.  The lyrics are below, take a moment and enjoy the truth that is laced throughout this song.  Most of it is simply spoken word that dives deep into the heart of God. Life. Love. Forgiveness. Acceptance. Stripping demons right off my back trying to leech life off me. Get off me and feel my father's fury oppressor! One day you'll feel the full blast of His vengeance. Cause I've got strength. He blew courage in my backbone. Now i'll stand straight and militant. Lining up with Jehovah? knowing you can't challenge Him so we march forward. Swift as eagles, set like talons ready to grip souls from your grasp slick snake and my Lord seizes you and vengeance is His. But for now? a holy mandate to heal cause I know how bad it hurts. Full of madness at first but now gladness bursts at the se

I have been listening to this one song non-stop for about as week.  I still can not get enough of this Aaron Keyes album,  In the Living Room . I do not have much time to add my thoughts about this song, just check it out and tell me what you think.  Its also awesome to see people I actually know in this video! All in the Power of Christ Paul Shackelford

A few days ago Will Reagan & United Pursuit held a CD Release at Grace Midtown for "Endless Years".  I was able to volunteer for the event and score a free ticket.  The night was an amazing time of worship and enjoying the powerful truth of lyrics placed into artists mouths by the Lord.  After having a slow, stagnant few weeks it was great just to soak in the Glory of God, relax, not sing along or anything just allow his voice to permeate my soul. The CD just came out yesterday so snag if off  Amazon  or  itunes , its legit and will speak to the core of your being! All is Great in the Presence of the King Paul Shackelford

People always think that praying for people is hard.  That's a myth that still dominates much of my decision making.  This morning I realized that it is simple, if you feel the need or see the need for someone to be prayer for, ask them if they want to be healed and then ask the Father to heal them.  We have been given the Holy Spirit and we expect that the Spirit is moving in peoples hearts, why not expect that the Father also desires the restoration of physical bodies also!   Therefore I am charging myself to simply ask if people want to be healed, then pray for them expecting the Spirit to work in ways that I can not comprehend. Its All in Christ, Paul Shackelford

Mark and I were talking last night, looking up at the stars and realizing that at the snap of Gods finger all that we were looking at was created.  Every star, planet, house, aspect of our existence at the snap of Gods finger.  Then we started thinking through all of the billions of people who had gazed upon the moon in the last x-many years.  How many had been impacted by the truth of Gods hands at work by gazing at the heavens and been amazed.  This thought is too large for my mind, this blog, and every supercomputer in the world.  Only God can comprehend the lives of billions of people, every detail, every blessing, every second, only god can comprehend this magnitude.  Ya, that's good stuff... All in Christ, Paul Shackelford

This has been a very hard month...  First on a light note I had to shave my beard for no shave November.  That pained me on many dimensions, lost a vital part of my face, lost my facial insulation, now I have to ensure the growing process(it itches like crazy).  Second realized my grades were not so hot, therefore I have added a lot more of my energy into learning for class.  This was a massively bad idea, last night I realized that I gain life from meeting with people one on one and I have not met with someone intentionally in a few weeks and that hurts.  I am realizing again that I do not trust the lord to be a giver of good gifts.  I believe that I can earn a degree to earn a job to earn a wage to provide for my family.  I fail to believe that God provides thought means, that I can not comprehend!  I may try to learn as much as I can at tech, still get a poor GPA and not get that typical IE job, but I trust that he provides for his children!&#160 Third, I have just been believ

Over the few months I have forgetting and being reminded that God is indeed good!  As I prepare for years down the road I often fall into my own strength and forget that I have the commander of the cosmos as my Father.  As I fret over classes, relationships and decisions he is watching as a hurt father watching a child think it knows best.  Frequently I am humbled by my own lack of strength, knowledge, and experience.  I am learning how to fall on my face when I feel the enemy attacking and my own desires clouding my vision.   I need you , oh I need you , every hour I need you !   This basic truth has been setting me free in these last few days.  I am so thankful that the father has new mercies every morning because I need them!   All the Glory and Honor be to the Father, Paul Shackelford

Well its been a while since I last posted anything, therefore I write a little something during my database class.  Last week I had a blast doing lots of stuff outside of classes.  This semester I have been able to find a lot of joy in stuff I am learning in class and detaching from that and just enjoy life.  Thursday of last week lala, Megan and I traveled up to Gainesville GA and got get rocked at the Kari Jobe All Sons and Daughters concert.  during the worship time the lord reminded me of my main prayer request for a better part of last semester, I was continually in need of rest!  I could feel this lack of rest creeping up as the semester was starting to build. This summer I learned a lot about peace, and during the past few months I have felt immense amounts of peace from the father.  Also I can feel that when the devil is attacking, the first thing he goes after is my peace.  During worship the Father drew a the connection between rest and peace, I am still learning what he int

Tonight was an amazing night with the WayFare camp that our sister minstry 3DM puts on for Highschool and Middle Schoolers.  I volunteered with the group today to help the students on their service projects around the Myrtle Beach area.  The service work is not very important to my story but thats the reason I went to their night service with the rest of our group.  The topic for the night was all about identidy and transformation of identity from the curses we have had spoken over us to who the Lord sees us as.  We have been doing a lot of this is the past few weeks at SDP and the Lord has been revealing many of my false identities and replacing them with his Truth.  Tonight I surrendered my false identity as a Black Sheep.  There was a song in high school called Black Sheep by Saliva and I have since that point in time though of myself as the Black Sheep of my family.  My family never placed this identity on me, but rather I laid it on my own head because I felt like I was not as ta

Tonight we had some amazing teaching and it would take a long to time relay some of the powerful truths the Lord was dropping during that time.  Therefore I will tell some of the cool things the Father revealed to me after the talk.  We met in some random building near the Hotel because the conference room was being used tonight.  So after the talk I went and spent some time just talking with Papa.  I walked to a abandoned parking lot designed for an amusement park that shut down in 2001.  This is an expansive area that makes it very conducive to sitting in silence listening to the Lords voice.  I was asking a lot of questions from just to hear he Lords voice in something.  I asked, "Why do You Love Me", and he just rocked me speaking truths into my heart where the Devil had fed lies.  I just cried and walk and cried and walked feeling the weight of the Fathers Presence.  Then I just kept on walking to bench I had ran past on my nightly runs.  As I walked I asked the Lord

These last few days have been packed.  David Rhodes, a leader in the 3DM ministry open up some questions in my mind about Silence.  After a short talk we all broke out and spread around the hotel and waited for the Lords voice.  During this time I did not hear any voices or anything but I go lots of clarity about my Leadership roles, my stewardship of the gifts of the Father.  My main take away from that time is that I will and have been given responsibility and its not my event, organization, project, but rather is a gift that I have a responisbility to care for.  My words are not really coming together but my mind is thinking back to Baby Dedications in my Church when the parents are charged with a fact that these babies are not their children, they are Gods children and they simply have been blessed with time of earth to nurture.  During our half hour of silence I had a Will Reagan and United Pursuit Band song dominating my heart. In the quiet In the quiet In the quiet I know

Greetings from Myrtle Beach!  My time down here has been amazing as I see Papa move in so many ways.  We have been learning a lot about what it means for the Kingdom to be at hand.  How we have God living inside us and what it means for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.  These thoughts have been making my mind spin but the Spirit of Truth has been revealing so much in such a short amount of time.  Please pray for my faith to be ever increasing, trusting the Lord to do crazy and amazing things through our team. All is Great in the Comfort of God Paul Shackelford

Starting day three down here on SDP is gonna involve an early morning workout, a great breakfast and a long time diving into the Word.   I am super pumped to be down here and see what th lord does through our team.  Last night was an amazing time just talking about how the God of the universe lives in us and how that mindset radicallt changes our evangelism.  We had a great time of prayer as we prayed over people for all types of healings and restorations.  One thing yall can be praying for is that our family group gets oue jobs at Nike.  We will be interviewing sometime in the next few days just pray that the Lord will lead the manager and our words.  It is amazing to see the power of the risen Christ at work in our team. Update: The run was great and we played a lot basketball so now I am worn out and its just 10.  Time to jump into the word and tune my heart, mind and soul to the Lord. All is great in the Lord Paul Shackelford

Praise the One who has saved me from death He is God, He is good, He is Jesus Praise the One who has saved me from death He is God, He is good, He is Jesus Yeshua I love You You are God, You are good, You are Jesus Tonight while sitting out on the porch listening to the rain I came to the realization that I did not love Christ.  I was thankful for his sacrifice because it made the way for me to have a relationship with my Creator and Father. But thankful is not the response or relationship I am to have with Christ.  I am suppose to and on my own will Love my Messiah for his sacrifice.  Death on the Cross is a though that has become dullen'd by my time in Church and around Christians during my life.  Dead on the Cross was the biggest act of Love that this world have ever seen and ever will see and how could I not love the person who Died for Me.   HOW COULD I NOT LOVE CHRIST!!   After doing some writing and reflecting on John 13:34-35 I just started listening

The Gospel Is Big Enough to Fight for Itself Man alive, this article hit me right in the jaw.  Its all about how we are trying to defend the Gospel constantly, while we should share the Gospel with the power it holds.  While talking with the Free Thinkers at Tech I found myself going on the defensive in a way that did not show the love of Christ.  I was trying to scamble for new thoughts that might change this guys mind instead of speaking from the Truth. All is great in the Lord Paul Shackelford Reading Progress The Shack - done The Porn-Again Christian - started today