End of Year

Hope you all had a wonderful year. And I hope you all grow this next year more in Christ and closer to Him. ^_^

Lovely Blogging

Well the year is almost over. It's exciting. It's time to come up with next year's goals. What are your goals? I'm in the process of coming up with mine. Hopefully some good stuff will happen this year, Lord willing. ^_^

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for parents who love their children. Too many children are killed today. And many parents just want to get their children out of their hair for most of the year and groan about having them home during the summer. So it seems parents who really love their children and want to be around them are becoming increasingly rare.

Laughter

Laughter is medicine to the soul. And I think that phrase is generally true. It means you can find the humor in life. You can find the fun in the midst of the roughest times. Sure, we can all be in good humor during the good times. But how about the bad times? Are you still happy? Are you still joyful? Or are you stressed and your hair is falling out? ^_^

Ask Yourself

Where are you planning to be over the next coming years? What's your vision? Do you just go with the flow? Or do you have a plan?

Prosperity Gospel

Why is modern day evangelicalism built on a Christianity that seems to ignore passages like Psalm 88? I'm not sure.

Sunday Scriptures

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ~ Luke 2:11

Who is He?

Time is a great teller. It shows us the way one's life is headed. That's why making a decision on who someone is by a couple of isolated data points can be unwise.

Online Fruit

Do you produce an aroma that involves the fruit of the spirit in your online persona?

Thankful Thursday - Stupid Blogs

Today I'm thankful for Ray. He's a wonderful friend. We've done many projects together. Stayed up late, gone crazy. And it's his birthday "tomorrow"/today ;-P.

I'm reminded continually how important good friends are. Many people I know get angry and stomp away like little children whenever a little blip goes on in their radar that's hurtful. But having a friend who you can yell at, fight with in the mud, and yet still come out friends on the other side is what life's all about. And that's the friends that I want to have. There's too many friendships that have one little piece of trash thrown in the mix and suddenly you're all up in each other's faces trying to shoot each other on blogs, gossip columns, etc. I'm tired of it and am thankful for the friends God has blessed me with. And I pray I will be a good friend as well and will be willing to slog through the sloughs with them. As well as enjoy the good times. ^_^

Hello

Sometimes life throws curve balls at you. What do you do with them? Freak out? Focus? Get smart? Get mad? Get happy? Give up?

Yep

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”~ Oscar Wilde quotes

Multitude of Sins

Love covers a multitude of sins. If I can't forgive others, how will my Father in heaven ever forgive me?

Saturday Sayings

I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.  ~ Francis of Assisi 

Friday Friends

I love my friends, family, church, etc. Snowboarding tomorrow... Zzzzz. ^_^

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for snow. It's beautiful, it provides moisture, and it's definitely a cozy feeling when you're inside with some hot cocoa and a good book.

However, when you're shoveling it, not so much.

Poor Vs Rich

I was reading through James 1 earlier and came across the part that talks about the poor and the rich. 

"Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways." ~ James 1:9-11 

It's something easy to forget in my quest to make money. This life is literally as short as grass. It comes up and blossoms in the summer and then dies that winter. So just remember as you quest to make money and do fun/exciting things with your money, this life is going to end soon. We are all going to stand before God someday, and the state of your bank account will not matter at that point.

So what are you going to do? Serve God with your money or not? Remember we have a short life, oh so short, yet it seems like so long to us. We only live 60-100 years. Some of us are taken at 22. At one point people lived hundreds of years, but today it's much shorter. Material wealth will disappear like sand particles running through our fingers. Friends leave. Who will you depend upon?

Love God more, and love your money/stuff less. ^_^

Faces

What's behind your face? Are you beautiful on the outside and ugly on the inside? Or the opposite? 

I messed around with photoshop a couple weeks ago and took some fairly old people and made them quite young again. Following a few basic rules like the golden ratio/social norms and such I can make people look beautiful in photoshop. But, what's behind those faces? Just the normal or ugly face if I were to see them in person. It's kind of like what all of us do to some extent or another. We have an ugly interior but we touch it up and try to look good to others. If someone were really to get to know us, they'd find out who we really are.

So, what's behind your face? What's going on in that mind of yours? Is it Godly? Is it full of the fruits of the Spirit? Does it put others before you?

Change

When putting aside sins to follow God and His laws, we must depend on Christ for we ourselves can ultimately do nothing without Him and His saving work.

Sunday Scriptures

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ~ Genesis 1:1

Read the Bible?!

If you really want to know how to defend your faith, read the Bible. I'm surprised and a little sad that I rarely see anyone use the Bible as their ultimate source when they determine what they believe. It may be because nobody reads their Bible? I'm not exactly sure. Reading other books by wise people is great. But if you ignore the Bible to do so, you're kind of missing the entire point.

So go read it!

*cough*

*goes off to do so*

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for soap. And lotion. Both great stuff. For sure...

Tired... Zzzzz.

Christmas Is Coming

Yay! I enjoy the holidays. It's a wonderful time with family and friends. There are alot of warm memories throughout November and December. And when we focus those times on Christ I think they become much better.

Conscience

If you want to be awake and functional in the morning, go to bed and get decent sleep.

Do I follow my own advice?

No... <_<

Balance of Fear and Love

One thing that I've been reminded of recently is the balance of fear and love. As I read through the Bible I notice that virtually every Psalm/Sermon on the Mount/etc show the balance of fear and love. It shows how great God is and his power to destroy the wicked. But then it continually brings you back to his grace and love for the righteous.

I can see it being a hard balance for teaching elders/everybody to keep in mind. Balancing between the hell fire and brimstone preacher/the cushy God loves you and is harmless messages seems to be difficult. Most of us do things in a very unbalanced manner. We're flipping over here, doing this, doing that, etc. But you can't ignore one or the other because you can see from the example Scripture gives we are given a balance of both.

As one of the elders in church put it, when you rule with a fist of fear in your family you will get obedience. You won't get an inward wanting or obedience to do it, but you'll get an external shell. I.e. I think much of fundamentalism/mennonites/etc is built on the externals. But what gets you to honor your parents long term and in your heart, it's love. We do things because we love. Not necessarily our choice, but we will follow because we love.

In the same way, in our relationship with God we generally turn from our sin because of our fear of hell and the destruction and judgment promised in the Word. But that doesn't keep us. Ultimately, we'll obey consistently because we love Him and His rules and laws.

New Blog Url ^_^

Check out the new website - www.lovesolvesproblems.com. Feel free to start migrating over there. ^_^ I'll keep posting to both, but this cuts down on most of the typing out my long blog url that no one can remember... <_<

Sunday Scriptures

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Who Are You?

Evaluate yourself once in awhile. Who are you? What are you becoming? Where is the path you are taking going? Why did you take that fork in the road? Why did you say that rude thing to someone? Why did you avoid that conversation? Why didn't you eat dessert? Are you growing closer to Christ or farther away?

Questions are good things, especially to ask of yourself. ^_^

Thankful Friday

Today I'm thankful for my family. Sometimes you don't realize what you have till it went on vacation to Florida. ;-(

Growing More In Christ

Whatever you do, whether you go to college. Whether you're getting married. Whether you moving across the country for a job transfer. All of our changes in life must accomplish one thing in particular. They need to bring us closer to Christ and grow us in him. So as you calculate your path and your vision for your life don't forget this. It must have an affect on all your plans and calculations.