Between The Lines

New Site

2006-10-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

I've got a new blog now. I'm planning on posting on it more than i did on this one so we'll see if that works.

http://betweenthe-lines.blogspot.com/

"D-Money"

2006-07-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Apparently that is my nickname at camp. Well week 1 of camp is over an done with. These last two weeks have been non-stop action, learning, growing, and not sleeping....i love it. I got to Salina, Kansas last thursday and we had 4 days of orientation to get ready for camp This time was spent learning about different things and ways to make camp go smoothly and affect the most students. This time also gave the summies a great time to get to know each other. There are 13 of us-8 boys and 5 girls- and we all get along really well, which surprised me. They are all awesome people and i am glad that i get to spend the summer with them. The first day of camp was kinda nerve racking for me because i was the only one of the summies, besides the two egyptians...who are awesome, who had never been to super summer, or for that matter who wasn't southern baptist. but once the students got here everything went away. it was natural and a blast. getting to know and interact with the students was amazing and i met a lot of really cool kids. There are pictures of week 1 on the just for youth website. Take a look at the pics, they are pretty cool. Anyways, i'm still tired so I'm going to go sleep.

peace out

Super Summer/ Big H

2006-06-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm about to leave for Kansas on Wednewsday to go to Super Summer. I am really excited about it. It should be a great experience and a lot of fun. I have been trying to get things ready and prepare for my lessons and skits. I don't know why but I have had a hard time preparing for these lessons. I don't know why but I just have. I've looked at them all but I have had a hard time sitting down and really digging into them until today. haha...kind of a bad habbit of mine i guess.

Anyways, I want to brag on someone for a minute. I want to thank Harry Anderson for investing time into me. When I got back from school he approached me and asked if I would be interested in getting together once a week to pray. I am really glad that he did this and was willing to invest time with me to talk, share things, and pray. He has really encouraged me and pushed me to grow. He has been a great role model not only for me but for several other guys in our church youth. So thanks Harry. Love ya bro

D&N-G.I.C.

2006-05-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tomarrow is the tri-annual D&N-GIC (Derek & Noel Golf Invitational Classic). This little shindig started out last summer as the Derek and Noel Back to School Classic and has evolved into a tri-anual event. It is filled with lots of laughs, a little smack talk, tons of bad shots, a couple good ones, and just a good ole time. I can't wait.

Can you break the code?

2006-05-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

So I went to see the DaVinci Code last night. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a good movie. Tom Hanks, who by the way is a freaking beast of an actor, did a good job. I'm glad that he was picked for his role. There are a few things that I'm confused on that were in the movie so I will post on it again later when I get my thoughts in order about it.

Gimme some of your thoughts if you have seen the movie.

Summer Time Anyone?

2006-05-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

Finally, School is done. I can't believe that I'm already half way done with college... well, not quite, but close to it. Anyway, that is just wierd to think about. I'm so glad this year is over with and I am ready for summer. I am ready to do nothing for a month. Ready to go to Super Summer for a month. Ready to move into my new house in F-City next year. I am just ready. Good things my friends, good things!

Super Summer

2006-05-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

So the end of the year is quickly approaching and finals start this weekend...yes that's right, I said this weekend. I am extremely ready to get this year over with and start the summer. I am going to be interning at a Super Summer camp in Kansas and I am starting to get excited about it. I am really looking forward to getting to meet a whole lot of new people and hopefully build some friendships in youth ministry.

NFL

2006-04-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so for the last two weeks or so there hasn't been anything on espn except for nfl draft stuff. Today was the first day of the draft and I am glad that it is finally here just so they will hopefully talk about something else other than draft stuff.
So here are my thoughts so far on the draft.

Houston: Big mistake not taking Bush. He's quite possibly the best college player in years and you pass on him.
New Orleans: Of course you gotta take Bush since he's there, but I wouldn't want to play for the Saints.
Titans: Good choice with Young.
Denver: Good choice with Cutler.

Brazil Craziness

2006-04-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Ok...check out this guy in the lower left corner of the picture. You can just barely see his head.

So, we are standing on the street corner in downtown Porto Allegre waiting for our bus driver to come and pick us up. So we are just chillin...taking pictures, making small talk, and just kinda hangin out. All of the sudden, (i don't remember who) but one of us says "hey thomas i think this guy is talking to you". Now I had seen this guy a little earlier yelling but I had no idea he was yelling at us. I though he was just selling stuff on his corner and trying to sell things to people walking by. So thomas turns around and we see this guy charging us with a wooden crate in his hand. When thomas turned towards him the guy turned back around quickly and ran back to his corner. Now at this point we are all just kinda like "what the heck is going on". Thomas is just as confused as we are and is standing there looking at us and back at him and back at us again. About this time, i hear grant scream "thomas look out" and see the wooden crate being hurled in the air at thomas along with crazy yelling in portuguesse. The crate comes crashing down on the ground as the guy chucks a trash back in our direction. Luckily the crate did not hit anyone even though i think the trash bag may have caught either Kristi or Amy's foot. So, once again we are left standing there...in a foreign country...with a crazy Brazilian guy throwing stuff and hollering at us. All the while three police guards are standing about 30 feet away watching this unfold. A few seconds later, the guy comes running back towards us to get his crate back. Here is where the story gets a little interesting. Seeing the guy coming to get his crate back, Grant gets the brilliant idea to kick the crate away from him and try to explain in english to the guy that he can go tell the police about it but that he isn't getting his crate back. Now this never occured to me at the time but thinking back on it, this could have gotten kinda crazy. haha I mean, what is going through your head right before you kick the crate away..."i'm in brazil with a crazy guy yelling and throwing things at us and i'm going to take his crate away." yeah...great idea. haha Now of course none of this was going through my mind at the time and I'm sure it wasn't going through Grant's either. However, in the end it turned out ok. The police that had been watching for a while finally decided to come over and make the guy leave us alone. The funniest part of the story to me was that the whole time this was happining, thomas is standing there doing absolutely nothing. haha i mean, he is the only one that could mabey understand this guy and he stands ther like a confused little kid for about 10 minutes. it was really pretty funny. Well that concludes my crazy brazilian story which i may or may not have altered in any way, shape, or form.

Life Verse

2006-04-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

2006-04-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

"You are not your own; you were bought at a price." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conveit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Phil. 2:3

"Serve one another in love." Gal. 5:13-14

"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say. 'If it is the Lord's will, we ill do this or that,' ...Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." James 4:14-17

More Pics

2006-04-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

2006-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

So this last week at Stumo the speaker talked about leaving an impact. This was something that I had kinda been thinking about over this last week or so. Last time I was home me and my dad were kinda talking about something like this and it was sorta stuck in my head. It got me thinking about the way that I act and the way that I go about my life.

Sometimes I feel like I don't always live my life like a person in a postition of leadership should...which is probably not good since I am going to be pursueing youth ministry. So the talk at Stumo this week was something that I needed to hear. So here are my notes from the talk...

1. Pray: "Pray without ceasing." 1Thess. 5:17
"to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

2. Serve: "do not forget to do goodand to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Heb 13:16
-people will remember the little things that you do for them.

3. Shepherd: "be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve." 1 Peter 5:2

Legal... (cool)

2006-04-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the English Camp...

oh and by the way...this is the pole that Zack ran into two years ago, ahahaha. Perhaps teh funniest thing I have ever seen

O livro esta na meza

2006-04-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

So I am back from Brazil and am completely overwhelmed. The trip was so awesome I can't even put it into words or know where to even start. I love how beautiful the country of Brazil is and how friendly and open the Brazilian people are. Both times I have been i am in awe of how much the Brazilian people love us. They are so nice and are always wanting to talk to you about anything and everthing.

Ok...so where to start....? Here is a short outline of some things we did

Tuesday we arrived in Brazil and got to hang around the camp with the missionaries.

Wednesday: Hugo and Hellen needed help working on their house which they are in the middle of building. We learned how to pour a concrete floor which is a little different from the way we do it in the US. We also helped them get their hall way walls up and painted. They were so nice and awesome to hang out with. I was really glad we got to help them out and I hope it helped.

Thursday: We went into the city of Porto Allegro to talk to one of the schools. Going to the schools has always been one of my favorite things we do when we go to Brazil. It is fun to get to hang out and talk with the students and get to know them. They are so welcoming and treat us like rock stars. After visiting the school we went into downtown Porto Allegro where we had an interesting encounter, but I will write about that later.

Friday-Sunday: ENGLISH CAMP. This is the best part of the week. I love hanging out with the students and getting to know them. They are all so awesome and friendly. They are willing to be open with you and talk to you about anything. They are so fun to hang out with. I will write more about the English Camp later too.

That's all I have for now. This is just a short intro to our trip and I don't know where to begin talking about details so I will hold off for a little while until I can get my thoughts organized.

I will say this:
The country of Brazil is a place that desperately needs God. I think something like only 3% of the country is Christian and 60% of the population is under the age of 30. Spiritism is the main religion in Brazil and it is a graveyard for Christianity. The people of Brazil desperately need Christ in their life. Pray for this.

I will write more later and post some pictures.

"those who are trying to make it through the next few hours and everyone in between"

2006-03-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

I picked up this cd the other day. I had heard that it was kinda like David Crowders's cd so I went and picked it up. I like Crowder's cd for the most part, but I really like this one. It is really good.

go get it.

Charlie Hall- Flying Into Daybreak

Brazil

2006-03-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was hanging out with some guys from church and we were talking about the first year that we went to Brazil. It was fun talking about the trip and hearing stories about last year (which i didn't go on).

I am getting siked about going again. I leave on Monday to go again. I am pumped and cannot wait to get there. This time I think it will be a little different because I am going with all adults and no youth, and we are going to be doing a few different things this time. Never the less, I am excited to go.

Here are some things to pray for:
-for safetly for the team
-for the missionaries already there
-for the camp
-for the Brazilian youth
-for a successful trip

It's madness baby

2006-03-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

Finally...probably one of my top 5 favorite times of the year...MARCH MADNESS.

The tournament kicked off today with some great games right off the bat. Boston College barely pulled out a double overtime victory over Pacific. That game scared me cuz I got then goin to the final four.

Can I get a shout out for my boys in red as we take on Bucknell tomarrow. Woopig

Discipline

2006-03-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

How to Live a Life of Discipline

I beat my body and make it my slave. 1 Cor. 9:24-27

1. Establish Your Spiritual Disciplines.
The Lord disciplines those he loves. Proverbs 3:12

The Big 4:
1. Get in the word
2. Prayer
3. Fellowship
4. Share your faith

Hebrews 12:10-11 God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

2. Do Everyday Activities with Excellence.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23

- You will never make a disciple if you yourself are not disciplined.
-Rely on a greater power for help

-Pray- ask God for grace to have discipline
-Plan- set goals

3. Tap into God's Power.

Let God be your Motivation to be disciplined.

Right - Wrong - and Grey

2006-03-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

"Everything is permissible for me"- but not everything is beneficial.
1Corinthians 6:12

Lately I have been thinking about some things and I was just getting myself more and more confused. I was having a debate with myself about whether certain things were right or wrong to do. There are three different areas:
White- things that are easily distinguishable as right
Grety- things you are not sure are right but aren't sure are wrong either
Black- things that are easily distinguishable as wrong
So for me, I was having trouble identifying the "grey" areas.

Here is a list of several things- decide for yourself if they are black, grey, or white.

drugs lying helping the poor smoking cigarrettes drinking sex

hiring a prostitute ... to paint your house gambling cursing smoking cigars

smoking cigars but not inhaling making out praying riding a bike

sharing the gospel with a friend who isn't a believer hanging out with druggies

Anyways, when I got to stumo this last Tuesday, I was shocked to find that the speaker was going to be talking about these "grey" areas. Wow, does God have some awesome timing or what? So anyways, here are some things that I came away with from the other night. Oh and that list above was also from the speaker and I though it was kinda funny so I put it up here.

How To Navigate the Grey Areas

1. Will it bring me closer to Christ?
"all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." 1 Corinthians 10:23

2. Could it turn into an addiction?
"all things are lawful for me, but not all things are are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." 1Corinthians 6:12

3. Could it cause anyone to stumble?
""Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 1Corinthians 8:8-9
- when I first heard this I was like, "whatever, me doing something shouldn't have an affect on another person, they are just being immature."
-right after thinking that the speaker said this "a sign of maturity is someone giving up their rights for the sake of someone else."
-wow...ouch

4. Will it help or hurt my testimony?
"For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." 1Corinthians 10:32-33
-as Christians, our reputation is HIS reputation.
-as Christians we are always being watched and analyzed. we be aware that we are not hurting our own reputation, but we are hurting God's reputation.

So that was the first half of the talk. We will talk about the second half next week. Anyways, the point of this post is this:
I am just blown away at how He does things at exactly the right times in our lives.
As far as for me and my "grey" areas, I need to stop being concerned with whether I think they are right or wrong, but think about the big picture. Sure I can physically and legally do a lot of things, but if I call myself a believer I need to look at whether it is hurting my chances of showing others Christ.

Youth...part 2

2006-02-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

From having to postpone the date, to not knowing if we could pull off the music, to having to make last minute changes to somethings,...I think it went rather well.

To be honest I was pretty skeptical of how well this whole thing would turn out and if it would be a flop or not. The day before there were some things that I was worried about that we wouldn't be able to do and it would turn out bad. However, Sunday mornings sermon by Grant really put things in perspective for me.

I wasn't doing this for myself, for anyone, or anything. I was doing this for God. Like Grant said his sermon, we are to have an audience of One, Him. We were there to fellowship, listen, and worship Him; thats it. The only audience was God.

After realizing that it was about him, I think that it turned out great. Granted there were a few mistakes in the a few songs, but that is just a minor detail.

I think it was good for the youth to get together and fellowship. I thought Harry did a great job of giving them some encouragement in this time of transition.

Sunday night reminded me of back when I was in youth and we did this on a regular basis. Now that I am not in youth anymore it was just awesome to see all of them getting together to hang out and worship God.

I am hoping that we can start doing this more often and make this a regular thing.

Youth

2006-02-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

Turner and I have been working (talking about) on getting a youth service together for the youth at Grace. I think it has been hard on the youth program not having a youth pastor around. I am not around that often but from what I hear things aren't going so great. The life groups are struggling and there is nothing going on for large group meetings. This means that there is no unity amoung the group and I think that is something that needs to be there.

So we finally got things worked out and we are going to start a service for the youth. We were going to have the first one last sunday night but because of the weather we postponed it to this coming sunday night. I am really excited about doing this. I think it will be a good opportunity for the youth to come together, which hasn't happened in a while. I am praying that this will give people some encouragement while they don't have a youth pastor.

It's Snowing!!!!

2006-02-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

Ok so after all of the hub bub about this huge winter storm we actually do get some snow. One thing I hate about Arkansas is that every time the news says anything about snow, everyone makes a huge deal about it and freaks out; and most of the time it doesn't even do anything.

However, this time they were right. It started snowing about 3 hours ago and is still coming down pretty good. The campus looks really cool all covered with snow and lit up.

Way to go weather team...you got it right this time.

Heaven

2006-02-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

What do you think heaven is going to be like? In my bible study we are going through Ephesians and tonight an interesting point was brought up. I don't think it really had too much to do with what we were talking about but it was interesting.

Someone said how God made the earth in 6 days. Then he said that He has been preparing a place for us since then.

If God made the earth in 6 days and it is beautiful, what is heaven going to be like? I can't even begin to comprehend this.

I just though that was an interesting point and totally crazy to think about.

What to do??

2006-02-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have been thinking hardcore about somethings. I am trying to decide what I am going to do this summer. I have a couple of options and I want to be able to do them all but I know I can only do one. Stumo does a summer project called Kaleo which is a leadership training/evangelism thing. I have talked to some people that did it last summer and I have heard nothing but good things about it. Also I would like to do a youth internship somewhere. I would like to do it at Grace but without a youth pastor I don't really know how that would work. Also there is a youth camp that I heard about that might be good to work at this summer. I wish I could do all of them but I can't. Right now my thoughts are this:

- I only have 2, mabey 3 summers left...it seems like I have longer but in reality I am going to be graduating sooner than I think
- I want to to something that would be good for my future plans
- I want to do kaleo at some point and my thoughts are it would be better to do it sooner than later
- I'm thinking I can always do an internship the next summer or even mabey during the year next year

I don't know...

Pumping Iron

2006-01-24T20:12:00.000-08:00

I heard a good line today by one of my friends that I thought was pretty good. He said that working out was kinda like having quiet time. At first you don't really want to do it but once you get started you don't want to stop. Once you get in the swing of things and start doing it regularly it gets easier and you don't want to stop, but if you do stop and don't do it for a while it is hard to get back into it.
Just an observation about how lifting and having quiet time are connected.

Bible Study

2006-01-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the first week of the discipleship group that I am going to be in this semester. I am really excited about this group because I think it will really help me with my walk. The guys in the group are really great and I think they will help me to stay accountable. Tonight we got our accountability parnters and wrote down what we want them to help keep us accountable with. I have never done this before and I think it is really going to help. There is something about being vulnerable with someone that you don't know very well yet. I think this is a good thing and will definitely help me to stay accountable to certain things. I am really looking forward to getting more involved with this group.

Back Again

2006-01-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

I'm back up at fayetteville again this semester after considering some other options. It is good to be back. I missed being up here with everyone. I have to change some things this semester though, otherwise I won't be back again. I don't really know what to think about that. I'm not really nervous....I guess I'm just kinda anxious about it. Anyways...it's good to be back.

This is what it's like

2006-01-12T21:34:00.000-08:00

As the christmas break is coming to an end I am actually ready to get back to school. I have had a lot to think about over the break about whether to return to fayetteville or not. I got myself stuck in a position where I let my grades slip and wasn't sure if going back to fayetteville would be the best thing. I have been thinking about this a lot and came to the conclusion that I am going to try it again. I know that I can do it and I want to prove it. I don't want to sit back and wonder if I ever could have done it.

Ahhh... I am just ready to get this all over with. Sometimes I wish that it would happen faster and other times I think that it is going too fast. Sometimes I just want to get it done, move on, and start my life. But then I think about it and realize that I have all the time in the world for that and I just need to relax and let life happen right now before it catches up to me and I am out in the "real world".

Blunt

2006-01-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

I just picked up this cd http://jamesblunt.com and it is pretty cool. I met a guy last week that was playing him and it was kinda catchy. Just thought I'd plug it. If you like acoustic stuff you might like this.

Notes

2006-01-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a fewe notes from the conference last week...

Be a Loser:

What does it mean to lose your life? Hold your things loosely and surrender them to Christ... listen for him to call you...Anyone who loves *insert here* more than me is not worthy of me.

Fruit:

Fruit is good, Fruit Reveals, Being Fruitless is bad.

The Parable of the Lost Things

Each centers on something important, each involves an intense search, each ends with a celebration.

The Parable of the Lost Things Reveals the Heart of God

God's heart for the lost, God's seeking for the the lost, God's joy in saving the lost.

The Christian life is an endless series of new beginnings.
God exhists to glorify himself...We exhist to Glorify God.
Application

Growth takes time, make your applications reasonable for who you are right now, get accountability

Crap

2006-01-05T22:26:00.000-08:00

Over the last month or so I have felt like I have been in a spiritual drought. I just really haven't been able to make myself do anything even though I knew I was in a drought and wanted to get out of it. This past week at the stumo conference I feel like I was snapped out of it. The speaker at this conference was Sam Hannon. He is a U of A grad, former stumo staff, and is now a pastor at Fellowship in Rogers. It felt like all of his talks were aimed right at me. It felt like they were directed right at me telling me to snapp out of this crap that I am in. This week really challenged me to get involved on campus, act on my faith,and to let God handle all of the rest. I'm praying that this won't be like a lot of "church" camps or whatever you call them. Most of these get everyone all fired up and that lasts about a week or two and then disappears. I am praying that this will be different.

STUMO

2006-01-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

The past 4 days or so I have been in Tulsa at a stumo conference. Since last year I have been involved with this campus ministry at U of A. Now when I say involved I really mean that I go to most of the weekly large group meetings and that is about it. I know about 5 people that go there and 3 of them I have known since high school. About midway through this last semester I realized that I haven't been involved at all. I wasn't in a small group and I wasn't reaching out to anyone there. I would go the the meetings and then leave when they were done.

So about halfway into last semester they were promoting their winter conference. I heard a lot of people talking about it so I decided that I was gunna go. I figured if I wanted to start getting more involved and reach out to people this would be a good way to start. It turned out to be just what I needed. I met a lot of people from my campus that I didn't know. I think this week was a good start to reaching out and getting involved with people more.
I will write more about the conference later.

Goodbye 2005...Hello 2006

2005-12-31T23:55:00.000-08:00

So instead of having church tomarrow morning we had church tonight. It was very different than our normal services but I like things that way. I thought it was a very good way to end the year. Tonight we spent time remembering this last year and time praying and thinking about this coming year. The worship was awesome and at one point Grant asked everyone to write down some things that we wanted to see God "show off" this next year. I thought this was a really cool thing to do.
I had never really thought like that before. Most of the time you just hear about people's new years resolutions like loosing weight, exercising more, blah...blah...blah...blah. That stuff is boring. I feel bad for saying this but it is true...I have never really thought about what I wanted to see God do next year. So this year I made a list of things that I am praying that God will (in the words of Grant) "show off to me" next year. Some of these things are things that I would like to see done in me, through me, and in others. I may list them on a later post. I just thought that this was a good way to bring in the new year, worshiping with my friends and family. But anyways I am glad that the new year is here and can't wait to see what God is going to do next year(or I guess now this year).

New Year...New Start...New Thoughts

2005-12-31T01:12:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am coming to realize that I am not a very open person. I hide a lot of what I am feeling inside. I don't know why I do this and most of the time I don't even realize that I am doing it. As much as I hate the whole "new years resolution" thing mabey this should be mine. I really need to work on being more open and not hiding everything inside.

If It Wasn't For You

2005-12-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

If It Wasn't For You
Do I believe in the resurrection of CHRIST?
And did HIS death bring forth new life?
And did HE raise up and bring back Lazarus from the grave?
And is there supposed to be a second coming?
Am I wrong because I’m wondering
why the fallen Babylon is up and alive today.
And do I really believe in the mark of the beast?
Cause he's still dwelling up in my streets,
Strapped and ready to fight this war.
And he's got more guns than you and me.
But most people don't wanna believe,
That they still prejudice simply because we poor.
Do I believe that Mother Teresa was a angel on this earth?
And thou shall love thy neighbor even if he acts like you?
Do I believe in Heaven or Hell?
Shoot, hell yeah I do, cause we alive today,
And my crew is living proof.
If It Wasn't For You
None of this would ever mean a thing
If It Wasn't For You
Tell me why else would I believe?
Would I believe?
Do I believe that the rider of the white horse,
Is coming back for the righteous?
And the morning star keeps gettin brighter every day.
Is there such a thing as good and evil?
Still division amongst the people,
And we're not all created equal just because you say.
Do I believe in the trinity, and will I live eternally?
Even though I'm not quite the saint that you claim to be.
Did Dr. Martin Luther have a dream?
Was Haile Selassie a king?
And is it ok to sometimes feel a little bit confused?
Will armageddon never come?
I'm not perfect, just forgiven.
And I might just push back the next time you shove.
Do I believe in one God, one aim and destiny?
Just don't forget your first love,
That's what my moms use to tell me.
If It Wasn't For You
None of this would ever mean a thing
If It Wasn't For You
Tell me why else would I believe?
Would I believe?
If It Wasn't For You
Then none of this is for nothing
It's all for nothing!
****
It's all for nothing!
It's all for nothing!
If It Wasn't For You
None of this would ever mean a thing
If It Wasn't For You
Tell me why else would I believe?
Would I believe?
If It Wasn't For You
None of this would ever mean a thing
Would I believe?
If It Wasn't For You
Would I believe?
If It Wasn't For You
Would I believe?

He's not safe...But he is good

2005-12-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

I went and saw Narnia last night and I though it was really good. I have not finished with the book yet but from what I could tell I think they did a really good job. The only thing i didn't think was great was some of the effects. It was too easy to tell that they were using a backdrop some of the times. Also i think think it would have been a little bit better if they had made it pg-13 so they could have done a better fight scene. I guess that is what the book is like though. So in all I though it was a great movie.

HS Life Groups

2005-12-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

Ok so last night I sat in on my dad's high school life group that he leads. I know pretty much all of the guys in it and it was cool to just sit and listen to them talk about stuff. They are doing a study on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. One of the points that was brought up was "what is your fire"? In other words, what do you feel like the Holy Spirit is calling you to branch out of your normal routine and do? I just though it was really cool to see these guys open up and become vulnerable with each other. It made me realize just how much I miss being in a "life group". Not only miss being in one but NEED to be in one. That is one thing that I am going to work on next semester, getting involved in a small group. I mean it's like they say, you can only lead out of the overflow and right now I feel like I havn't done a good job of that.

Prayer

2005-11-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

I was reading Grant's blog earlier and saw that he had this posted. I have never heard this prayer before and it couldn't have come at a better time. Wow, ... it is really convicting. Thanks Grant for posting this.

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things
I cannot change.
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know th difference

Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace

Taking, as Jeus did, the sinful world as it is
Not as I would have it
Trusting that You will make all things right
If I surrender to Your will

So that I may be reasonably happy in life
And supremely happy with You forever in the next
Amen.

Living Sacrifices

2005-11-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

"Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
-Romans 12:1-2

This is probably one of my favorite verses in the bible. It is a good reminder that I am called to give everything that I have to him. It is then, that he will show me his will for my life. Sometimes it is hard to do this because I don't like waiting for things, I want them when I want them. I want to know his will right now and I don't want to wait. But it isn't until I give it all over to him that he will show me. What am I here for? What am I going to do with my life? ect...ect...ect... These questions are things that will not be answered until I am fully committed to him. I need to learn to just sit back, trust him, and it will be shown to me. There is nothing that I, nor anyone else, can do to know these answers. It is up to him as to when or if he wants to answer these questions for me and I need to learn to accept that and trust in him.

Strength

2005-11-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

"He gives strenght to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ... But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."
-Isaiah 40:29,31

What if I stumble...

2005-11-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is christians who acknwledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Wow...that is a real eye opener.

Fig Tree

2005-11-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
-Habakkuk 3:17-19

God calls us to rejoice and worship him in all that we do and in all circumstances. In good situations and bad, we are to praise him. This has been kinda hard for me lately even though I know that I should. I am trying learn that it is not about me but it is about him. God has a plan for everything and we (I) are to worship him in all. I need to get over myself and put it all out there for him no matter what is going on in my life.

Mad?-Helpless?-Confused?-or all of the Above

2005-11-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

Mad: adj.

1.Angry; resentful. See Synonyms at angry
2.Suffering from a disorder of the mind; insane.
3.Temporarily or apparently deranged by violent sensations, emotions, or ideas
4.Lacking restraint or reason; foolish

Lately I have been in a mood where I am just mad. I'm not mad at God, and I'm not mad at anyone. I'm just mad. I hate this. I hate the mood that I am in and I don't like myself for being this way. I just want to stop being mad. I hate not being able to be in control of a situation or at least have a say in it. That is the worst feeling in the world when you didn't see something coming and there is nothing you can do to change it. It feels like you're paralyzed, helpless, and defenseless. That is how I have felt lately...helpless.

Have you ever had a lot to say but you can't quite say all or any of it. Maybe it's not that I can't say it, but that I don't know what to say. I don't like not knowing what to say. Most of the time I am atleast able to say something but right now i don't know what to say at all. I don't want to say anything wrong that will make things worse but I want to say enough to be heard. I don't know... I am just really confused right now.

First of all I just want to get out of this stage of being mad. I hate myself for not being able to get out of this mood. I guess that is something that I need to work on.

Stumo

2005-11-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so last night i went to stumo. i'm really glad i went because i hadn't been able to go in a few weeks. it was really good to hear some of the things that the speaker talked about. he talked about "How to connect with God". it is amazing how everytime i need to hear something, it somehow get brought up, in this case, connecting with God. the two main points that the speaker made last night were
1. spending time with God (the word, prayer)
2. removing oblstacles (cofession of sin)
i have noticed that i have been trying to fit time with God into my schedule and around the other things that i want to do. one of the key things that i got out of the talk was that i need to prioritize time with Him above myself. because it is not about me, it is all about him; everything is about him.

"search me, o God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
psalms 139:23-24

"the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." AW Tozer

Underdog

2005-11-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Audio Adrenaline
I am so weak and I'm so tired
It's hard for me to
Find enough strength to feed the fires
That fuel my ego
And consequently all my pride has all but died
Which leaves me
Down on my knees Back to the place I
Should have started from

Been beat up
Been broken down
Nowhere but up
When you're facedown
On the ground
I'm in last place
If I place at all
But there's hope for this underdog
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
You can call me the underdog

I'm in this race to win a prize
The odds against me
The world has plans for my demise
What they don't see
Is that a winner is not judged by his small size
But by the substitute he picks to run the race
And mine's already won

Been beat up
Been broken down
Nowhere but up
When you're facedown
On the ground
I'm in last place
If I place at all
But there's hope for this underdog
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
You can call me the underdog

New Blogger

2005-10-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

Ok ok ok... i always said that i would never have one of these things so i guess i am kindof a traitor...oh well. well, this semester i am taking an introduction to world religion class. at first i thought it would kinda be a blow off class and i wasn't really getting much out of it. however, i now know that this was because i wasn't putting much into it. we are actually talking about some really interesting stuff. there have been some really deep things that have been sparked up in class such as
1) what is religion
2) how do i know i exist
3) how do i know what is real and what isn't
I think that this class is gunna help me to grow in my walk with Christ. it is challenging me to think outside of my normal "box" and look at things at a different level. i am hoping that it will give me better insight to other religions so that i might be able to understand better about people who do not have my same beliefs.