Running

So, anyways...

I'm starting to wonder what I can do in terms of daily commitment to the world. I really liked the pressure of the posting every day. My blog may have suffered from it, in terms of quality of content. ;-P So, let's make it happen again.. I'm probably going to do a picture every day. Most won't be artsy, and most will be on my iPhone, but it'll keep the daily content coming.

So let's start with what I've been doing for the last 3 weeks.^_^ Editing 29 hours of audio and 13 hours of video. 0.0

Christian Fundamentalism - Fundies

Ugh, externalistic fundamentalism. That beautiful concept that has helped produce more crusty Christians than I can imagine. It makes a lot of sense. Much of child training up until 1995 when Ted Tripp's book "Shepherding a Child's Heart" came out drove the child's externals and really ignored the child's heart. They wanted their children to look good and be a pretty trophy on their shelf. 

When people care only for the letter of the law they are not setting themselves up for success. And when they add to the law, especially in application to other people's lives, they are setting themselves up for destruction. I've heard more than enough stories of unrepentant hypocrites who made a big deal about how they dressed, how they never watched movies, how they never danced or drank, etc.   Where was the faith?  The love?  The heart? 

If you're a dad and you're handing your son knowledge but it's filled with nothing but hypocrisy, your son will throw it out. You may think he doesn't perceive your hypocrisy but children aren't stupid; they will see through the lies.  The children sit and watch their dad or mom say one thing and do the exact opposite in their actions. This leads to the overwhelming rebellion we see today.

But do we replace the externalists with antinomian libertines?  These guys want to dance on the grave of fundamentalists who pretend to take the Bible seriously.  They want to dress however they want, show off as much cleavage and leg as possible, in reaction to what they perceive as narrow-minded, externalistic fundies.  "So get drunk and party down!" Is this the proper reaction?  This doesn't sound a whole lot like loving God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength either.  They disregard everything the Bible says and live like the devil, but go to church on Sunday. The one thing I appreciate about fundamentalism is at least they're trying to obey God while the opposing party could care less about what God thinks. There's a difference between trying to obey and completely ignoring every single word that God says. He gave us this wisdom in His book called "The Bible: The Word of God." Use it. 

I'm asking for you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Quit worrying about others and forcing your little gray-area principles down other people's throats. I ask that you force the Word of God on others. You tell them the Word and then they have the responsibility to go live it and make applications themselves. They are the ones responsible to God for their decisions and actions. 


And that's the ultimate problem I see with fundamentalism, Mormonism, Islam, Catholicism, etc. They don't want the heart. They are training these people to live to the letter of the law. Not to the heart of it. And that's what makes Christianity distinct and an amazing religion. People do things because they love God. They obey the law of God because they love him.

And I pray I will love God more today then I did yesterday. And that tomorrow I will love him more. I've struggled with many sins over my short life. And I struggled with assurance for some time. But at the end of the day, I look at my sin and hate it because I love the God who was willing to send down his Son to die on the cross for my sins and rise again three days later and now sits at the right hand of the Father. And he died to cover our sins and be the ultimate sacrifice. But do you love him and keep his commandments?

Be wise, search God's Word and strive to obey him to the best of your ability.

Let me end this with Proverbs 1:20-33:

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place ofconcourse , in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will makeknown my words unto you. Because I have called , and ye refused ; I have stretched out myhand, and no man regarded ; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh ; When yourfear cometh as desolation , and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress andanguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early , but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose thefear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Take Care

I've found that there are certain pathways that lead me to certain sins. If I start to wander down that road in my mind, I typically end up going elsewhere. 

I think the Proverbs 7 warning holds true, especially in the lust sin. " Passing along the street near her(seductress) corner; And he took the path to her house" ~ Proverbs 7:8 

If we allow ourselves to wander down a road in our mind, it can lead us to bad places. Walking down the road may not be bad, but where it leads can be a problem. So if you struggle with a sin, it can be anything, anger, lust, complaining, bitterness, etc, look for those warning signs. Look where you're walking. Be careful. It can oftentimes be easier to avoid temptation in the first place by avoiding those areas that hurt you in your fight to grow to be more like Christ.

Look in the Mirror

Do you ever stare at yourself in the mirror and ask who you are? Who are you becoming? Why do you do what you do? Being honest with yourself about who you are and the direction that you are headed can be difficult. Oftentimes we're blinded to our own faults and easily see others very clearly. The Christian life is about walking down a path. You're either walking away, or you're walking towards Christ. Where are you walking?

Sunday Scriptures

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~ Philippians 2:10-11

What Will You Give Up?

If you were asked the five things you wouldn't give up no matter what torture or means were used upon you, what would you say? Are you passionate about anything to an extent that you would not let anything or anyone trample on or destroy it?

"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." ~ Matthew 21:12-13

Sometimes I wonder when we are around those who hate God and express it loudly, if we back down are we as passionate about what we believe in as they do?

Romance is About Planning

That's probably one of the most unromantic things one could say. The whole chic-flick genre is all about spontaneity, new, and exciting. But is this really how romance works? It's about the spontaneous trips to Italy? It's about finding love in the most spontaneous and fun dude? I don't know. The thing is, what takes priority in your life is that which you schedule in your life. Sure, I guess if you don't have any kids, you don't have a really stressful job but a very high paying one, and you are a creative genius one could come up with a way to keep romance alive in many different ways spontaneously. But how many people are like this?

Chic-flicks or any movie for that matter is about a problem. It's about finding flawed people and putting them in really horrible, stressful, or weird situations and making them react badly to most of the situations they are in. Otherwise, we wouldn't watch it. But is that how our normal lives are? Filled with drama all the time? No. And we need to stop trying to make our lives like the movies, or emulate the movies because it's unrealistic. They pack a lifetime of excitement into an hour and a half. 

The most successful men I know financially are good at planning and scheduling. They run tight schedules that help them to get the most done and find the quickest way to do it. The men I know who make family devotions a priority in their lives schedule it. If in all these other areas people schedule to be successful why not romance as well?

And I get that romance is all the time. It's doing the dishes, it's cleaning up the house, it's putting the little people to bed, etc. It's about serving. And I think scheduling romance is a great way to serve as well. Scheduling the dinners out. The nights away, etc. It means you actually care. I appreciate the fact that my parents go out quite often. They go off for a couple nights here and there. They run out to dinner a few times per month.

Here's why I think marriages will lose their spark over time. Guys are selfish. Girls are selfish. That pretty much sums up my thoughts on it.

What are your thoughts? I'm unmarried and single, therefore my opinion doesn't hold much weight anyways. I'll get back to you in 10 years and let you know, Lord willing. ;-)

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done one of these in awhile. I think I'm becoming less thankful. :-/

Today I'm thankful for work. Because otherwise I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Work does stuff. And I like doing stuff, or at least the idea of it. Therefore I must work. Cool. ^_^

That's it... Zzzzzz.

What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?

Ask any guy or girl that and you'll often hear "I don't know" or something ambiguous. How about yourself? Do you know what you want to do with your life? Perhaps you don't know the specific thing that you want to do. But writing out a vision and creating one will help make that happen.

So where do you start? Look at your gifts and talents that God gave you and use those. Go do something. Your heart follows actions. Don't follow your heart. Your heart will lead you to destruction.
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ~ Matthew 6:21" Put your money, time, and energy into where you want to go and generally your heart will follow. ^_^

Church Explosions

I've heard of quite a few, I've seen one. These churches will literally be torn in half.

One thing that I think is important is don't make hasty decisions. Stick around for awhile. Let the bombs stop exploding and let the dust settle. Rashness is where I see most people make a big mistake. That's one way my dad has impressed me. He's willing to stick out uncomfortable or antagonistic situations. Of course, there is a point where things just have to end. But I can't tell you how many situations I personally would've thrown up my hands and got out of there where he keeps going. (I don't envy the job of the pastor.) And that's one thing we need. Be patient. Be humble.

Too many people treat the church as some sort of entertainment choice. They come because the preacher is dynamic, or the fellowship is good, or the fellowship meal food is tasty. Easy come, easy go. My dad always says, choose your bunch of sinners and stick with them. I think we need to have this philosophy more. It'll make us more stable long term. Maybe one group really turns you off, well then go somewhere else. No big deal. But do find someplace and create roots. I realize that stability is mocked. Marriage is mocked for instance. But don't let that be your driving force. Try to be stable. Christ is incredibly stable. He's the rock. Shouldn't we attempt to be this way, instead of being blown around by every wind of doctrine or little fight?

Please don't be the angry men and women who are unstable and want to hurt others. Love others. Even the ones you disagree with you should love. If there was only more love I think we would see less big explosions.

Sunday Scriptures

Every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. ~ Hebrews 3:4

Last Words

The last words Paul wrote to the Corinthians were "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an holy kiss." ~ 2 Corinthians 13:11-12

Too many people either just want to be right or more mature and throw their friends under the bus. Or they talk about being in unity and making up the truth to be whatever they want. This verse brings it into perspective.

Also, greet each other with a holy kiss. :-)

;-) Or at least try to be more relational - hugs are cool. But don't get creepy. ;-P

Little People

Why call them children or kids when they can be called little people. Way better. ;-)

That's all. Sleep tight everyone. ^_^

Through the Tears of Blood

How will you know a true friend? How will you know who is going to ride through those waves of blood with you? How will you know who really loves you and will lay their life down for you? You're going to have to get in the ship and ride those waves with him. I've known a good number of people during my short lifetime, and over the years you see this exact scenario. You reach some sort of horrid impasse and either they stick through it, or they leave and possibly even throw a few stones on the way out. I'm kind of sad to put it this way. I honestly wish we could just all take a test or ask a few questions and suddenly low and behold we know who will be a true friend.

My best friends are those who I've fought with. The ones who have borne the brunt of my sin. This is how it's always going to be. To reach a certain level in your friendship you have to accept the challenge of that level of friendship.

If your friendships are about hilarious/well-thought out responses on Facebook and an occasional pithy comment about the sermon on Sundays, your friendship will never go beyond that level. And those friendships will break down as I've seen time and time again. They're not based on anything of value. No substance. Substance isn't something that's built through fun and games, although they certainly have their place, substance comes from hard work and long hours.

Your family is going to generally be some of your best friends because you're stuck together. You grow up with your family. But in the modern day society of baby care, preschool, K-12, college, and eventually a job in who knows where as long as it pays you enough, your own family won't be your best friends.

People say that friendships will last forever if you're always there for each other and care for each other. Yes, true. But why do half of marriages end in divorce? Why do the majority of young people shack up? (In answer to that, the previous generation was the divorcing generation and now naturally the children don't want to have to go through the pain and suffering their parents went through, so they naturally avoid marriage but want some sort of emotional/physical relationship to satisfy them. I read an article on that recently, anyways...)

See? People aren't willing to go through the hard times. This is a new phenomena to some extent. People didn't break off marriage relationships or avoid them altogether just a hundred years ago. We're living in a society that can't have strong relationships. They don't have the ability. They don't have to stick around through a fight, because they could go to school, go to work, take an airplane 2,000 miles away, or can just escape into a movie/computer.

Please guys, live in a way that you can take the seas of blood and hardship. Don't be the one who is ending their marriage or not getting married because you are so selfish that you will break off a covenant or avoid it for that reason.

Friends are amazing. Friends are those who love you. They care about you. They are standing next to you in the ship and when the waves get big and everyone else runs or goes crazy they will still be standing at the helm next to you. Maybe you're missing an arm or your face is destroyed beyond all recognition, but they still stand with you.

Christ is going to always be our ultimate friend. He died for us. Can we all try to emulate him and lay down our lives?

Driven By Emotion

Most people are driven by emotion and personal experience. You can throw facts and statistics at people, but unless you're able to appeal to their emotions they will ignore all of it. We are emotional. One experience we have may shape our view of life in a wrong impression. Much of today's political atmosphere is based on the rhetorician rather than someone who stands for what's right. Whoever can put on the better show tends to win.

Now, facts and statistics can appeal to peoples emotions. But much of the time the deciding factor is driven by the emotions. That's why we know a good speaker or blogger because they appeal to our emotions. A truly good speaker/blogger backs up his/her arguments with actual facts, as well.

Basically I'm saying instead of just absorbing whatever people tell you, try to look at it with an eye of critical thinking. But at the same time don't be the eternal skeptic, like I tend to be.. <_<

Sunday Scriptures

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; ~ Colossians 3:12

Sorrrrrryyyyyy

Friends,sorry for the lack of posts. We were doing our conference this last week and the late nights/talking all day aren't really conducive to getting posts written. I'll be a good blogger next week though. ;-P

Part of the Problem

It's easy to forget that you are part of a problem. It's easy to look at others and see problems. But when you look at you, "Mr. Perfect" there's nothing wrong. Sometimes you have to take a good long look at yourself and see if you're the one or at least one of the ones contributing to the problem. Whatsoever that problem is.

People Remember

People remember for a long time. This is one thing I've learned about people. If you offend them, they remember. They may remember in a way that will not hurt your friendship. But it's like a marker through a sentence in a book. You may forget it's there. But the instant you open up the book, ta-da there it is.

But how do we get rid of that marker blotch?

Well, how many pages have you marked up? How many times have you asked forgiveness? How big a blotch did you make on the book?

Here's the deal. You have to ask forgiveness. When you ask forgiveness, (and mean it) it's like writing next to that big blotch, the words you markered on with a little love you heart scribbled next to it. So, they'll still see the blotch. (and it will fade with time) But instead of cold and angry memories of you making marks all over their book, they will see the love and repentance you had. It'll become a warm and happy memory, hopefully.

Here's the thing, fights aren't bad. Fights happen. People are sinners. People have to stick their foot in their mouth sometimes. But what happens after them? Do you both go away bitter? Do you make big blotches on books constantly? Or do you make those blotches and follow up with some tears, some writing, and just plain old love?

Now if you tore up the book and put it through a shredder, that will be a lot harder to fix.. :-)

Pretty Simple

Life is pretty simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. (Acts 16:31) And yet, this pesky problem called "original sin" keeps making everything complicated. This pesky problem of twisting Scripture to say whatever you want it to say and in the end ignoring the basic principle of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why, oh why do we do this? Probably because we don't believe in him.

Oftentimes, the person who protests the most or the loudest is oftentimes in the wrong. I've watched shows like CSI where the man who immediately asks for his lawyer is the guilty one. That's how it can tend to be in real life. If one's conscience is hurting them, i.e. when I disobey my parents, I'll oftentimes become cranky and irritable. I want to figure out how they are in the wrong. It's my natural fight response. The other response is flight. Run away and don't deal with things. But in the same situation, my conscience irks me. You see? Now life is getting complicated.

I complicate my life all the time. <_< ....

Sunday Scriptures

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. ~ Colossians 3:1-4

Schedule

Schedule. Schedule. Schedule. The more you do, the more you have to schedule. Otherwise you won't do everything. Shocking. o.0 I skipped too many workouts this week because I had to finish projects. If I had only scheduled. <_<

Eyes

My eyes are tired. I am tired. Good night my friends. :-)

Always Striving? - A Short Story

The thought "I'm so tired" flashed through his mind. His eyes stared at the road with an occasional languid blink. As the minutes sped by those blinks came more often. His lids opened and shut more slowly.

He pinched himself and felt the blood move a little faster.

He glanced over at the sign on his right. Only a hundred more miles to Greenstone. They had booked a hotel there, and he only had to make it another hundred miles. He slowly eased his chair back. He was cramping in his right leg.

"They'd been driving all day." "He'd done most of the driving, and had only slept a few hours last night." As these thoughts passed slowly through his mind, his eyes shut. Only a few seconds.

His eyes jerked open as he hit the bumps on the side of the road. He woke up, but slowly began to feel tired again. He looked at his children in the back seat, quietly sleeping. His wife sat next to him with a few wisps of her hair moving as she breathed. He must stay awake he told himself. Their lives depended on him.

He glanced up and saw another sign. "Only another fifty miles."

Ever so slowly his resolve began to fail him. His eyes again fluttered shut more often. He closed his eyes.

He awoke with a pain in his head. He touched his head and felt liquid. He opened his eyes and saw the red glare on his hand. He felt warm. As cognizance slowly came back to him, he turned his head and saw his wife. Sitting there, just as before. But now, his wife's body no longer breathed. He looked at the dangling rear view mirror and saw what was a peaceful scene before, now turned into a living nightmare.

He sat up in bed. He looked over to see his wife laying next to him sleeping peacefully in their bed and he breathed a sigh of relief.

---------

Our lives are made up of moments. One moment could totally destroy our lives. If we were to drop a hot coal in our laps, we would be left with a scar forever. In the same way, the choices we make can leave scars that will last the rest of our lives.

Many lives have been ruined by men or women doing foolish things. Families, churches, and entire governments have felt the power of the hand of foolishness and lethargy(sin). It ruins lives, it destroys churches, and is incredibly sad.

We must not let our guard down. It only takes one sword thrust to end our lives. We may fight well for an hour, and then let our guard down for five seconds, but it's that five seconds that mattered. Every second matters, don't let yourself be caught off guard.