Zach's blog

A question for Old Testament scholars

2011-10-16T09:45:00.000-06:00

I was reading in Galations 3 and Paul says in verse 8, 'And the Scriptire, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed."' (ESV)

I don't think I understand the gospel in the context of what God said to Abraham.

A different perspective

2011-08-23T00:06:00.001-06:00

Let me tell you about a story that happened today...

I'm in the middle of searching for a job and I thought I had a good lead at a coffee shop but sadly I got a call today while getting ready for the event that I will tell you about shortly and no dice on that job.

I was in charge of an Ultimate Frisbee tournament that happened today. I had a blast and I think that it was a good success and as far as I could tell people really seemed to enjoy themselves.

After all was said and done, I was tossing a disc with one of the ladies that was there as I hadn't been able to play in any of the games (I didn't play because I was organizing it and I have shin splints at the moment). So tossing the disc was amazingly fun. But then it happened.

I went to get the disc but my left foot slipped in the wet grass and my knee cap decided that it did not want to stay where it was supposed to. I had to move my knee cap from the left side of my leg back to where it is supposed to be. Extreme pain...if there is one thing that I can recommend about your knee cap, don't dislocate it.

As I was laying on the ground writhing in pain, a group of people started to form to see what they could do to help. There wasn't anything they really could do. I just needed to let the pain subside so that I could walk to my car. I finally decided that the pain wasn't going to get much better than it already had. I got up with help and started to hobble to the car with help and got in with help. It was a good thing that it was my left leg or I don't think I would have been able to drive home.

As I was hobbling to the car, the nice young lady that I had playing with caught up and gave me a hug because she felt bad. I reassured her that I would be fine and that there was no way it was her fault.

As I was driving home, I realized that I didn't have my phone. I figured that it probably fell out of my pocket while I thought I wanted to chop my leg off to make the pain stop. I didn't know what to do as I couldn't call anyone to help me. The best thing that I could think of was to go to the house of the friend who was helping me as he could only be about 5-10 minutes behind me. I told him my predicament and we headed back to campus.

We got there and a saddening feeling just overcame me as the sprinklers were on in the location where we were tossing the disc. We called the phone and could hear it and then we went to the AV to see if it had been turned in there and no dice there and then we went to the Rec Center to see if it had been turned in there and still no dice.

We decided to look one last time and at last we heard it. If you haven't heard my ring tone before, you should ask me because it is pretty awesome. Even better yet, some how the sprinklers had not hit it. Praise God! It is rather hard in this day and age to not have a working phone.

So the end of my evening really wasn't going my way. I got hurt and lost my phone. But a verse that reminds me almost daily that I should have a different perspective on life made me think differently. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Let me expand on this a little. Now I sure do love God. Great, we can move on...the next two words are the ones that I have to remind myself of a lot. ALL THINGS...not just when you think that you have everything all together and life seems peachy, but when things are hard. When you think that everything and everyone seems to be against you. When you hurt your leg and lose your phone all in the same night. ALL THINGS work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

I know that I have been called according to his purpose so even when I don't get the job, hurt my leg, and lose my phone in the same evening, I know that some how in some way that it was all for my good because I love my God and he loves me a whole lot more. I may not know or understand at the moment how it is for my good but I know that it is. I have seen this verse in action and know that it is true. Ask me about it some time and let me tell you how much my God has done for me.

I like this picture of the church

2011-08-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

Soma Communities - Tacoma, WA from Verge Network on Vimeo.

An update for Cans for Campus

2011-08-15T22:42:00.000-06:00

Wow! Thank you church for being awesome and supporting the student ministry. Now lets pray that God does something amazing with this massive amount of pop.

A Resurgence post

2011-08-06T13:26:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to share this post, Guard Your Heart

Can for Campus

2011-08-06T13:13:00.000-06:00

Cans for Campus from Summitview Community Church on Vimeo.

If there are any of you that may wonder if this actually works let me tell you that it does. My team supported a guy that had a fridge in his room last semester and we just told the floor that we had free pop all year. We would have guys come in and take a pop and then they would just hang out with us and start telling us about their day. Pretty cool to see God do things through something as small as giving away free pop (or as I consider it, caffeine).

A day in this past week.

2011-08-06T12:59:00.000-06:00

I am not sure if I can begin to tell you how cool this day was. I think I was able to see God in many different places and in many different ways. I'll do my best to explain the day.

I don't really remember the morning, but that could be because I slept in for a good part of it. Something that I haven't done in quite a while. I read in Acts that morning before I got going on the day. It was before Stephen's speech (Acts 7) and I took note of the community that the people in Acts had. Another part that I love is Acts 5:17-42. I would just encourage you to read it and let God speak to you through it but my favorite verse is 29. I pray that I may always obey God rather than men including myself.

I was then given the chance to help move two ladies to their new places. I don't ever expect 'payment' per se but I sure do love food. We were given lunch by the end and it was very tasty. Then I was helping a friend with fixing the back tire on their bike. It had blown out and needed a new tire and tube.

We went to a bike shop near where I live and as we were checking out the guy behind the counter asked me, "still doing speeches?" I was very confused by this question, I had no idea what he was talking about. He refreshed my memory by saying that we had been in the same speech class at Front Range. It all came flooding back and he said that my speech was the only one that he remembered from the class. I was thinking to myself, what did I speak on? He then refreshed my memory again on a speech that I did on sound.

I was completely a taken back that this guy had remembered me and the speech I gave. We talked a bit about what we were doing with school now and then I had a thought. He works with bikes and we do free bike repair on campus occasionally and he would be perfect to help. I asked if he would be interested in helping some time and he said sure, so I got his number I'm going to call him next time we do a bike repair.

Never underestimate what God will do in any aspect in life. An unbeliever remember a speech I gave that I hardly put any faith into. I just did the speech to get it done yet God used it so that I could reconnect with this guy that I maybe talked with a few times during the semester if even that much.

So after the shop utterly amazed, I fixed the bike and took my friend home. Now the rest of my day was consumed with something I was very excited to do. Another friend of mine called the night before to see if I could help him plan his proposal. So the rest of my afternoon was being his gopher in order to pull it off. I picked up roses and cleaned out my car. Collected the things that he needed for the evening and had dinner with my family. I went a picked up another friend because I needed back up.

We went to the location and set it up and worked with the staff to get everything ready. This was a stealth mission for us as we did not want to be seen as the girlfriend did not know it was happening that evening. We had walkie talkies with in ear buds so that we could communicate with each other silently.

Everything was set in motion as they got there. The second part of my mission was to be the stealth photographer. It was kind of hard to get really good shots because the lighting was rather low but I think I was able to compensate. The mission was a success, she said yes.

After that was all done, we did not have to be all stealthy anymore and showed our faces in Walmart. We needed to buy a fan but they were out at the first Walmart so we went to the second. We go the fan and we were headed to the check out when this lady asked if we could help her put a heavy box onto her cart. We said sure and helped her out. After check out we put it in her car and started creating small talk. Found out that she just moved here that day and that she came to this Walmart although the other one (the one we came from) is closer because she didn't know about it.

I said that I didn't know where she was at but that we are both Christians and that we go to the same church. I told her to that she was more than welcome to come. That was about when our conversation ended and as we were driving away I was amazed yet again. God orchestrated things in a way that we would end up there that evening and we were given the chance to invite her to church. Awesome!

It is cool to be able to see God in a lot of different ways in your day. If you just look for it, I bet God will be gracious and allow you to see him in your day.

Are you a version of the shirtless dancing guy?

2011-08-06T12:00:00.000-06:00

Everyone needs to switch over!

2011-07-29T10:51:00.002-06:00

I wonder if I was like this when I got my wisdom teeth pulled?

2011-07-25T22:11:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine posted this on facebook and I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Enjoy :)

So much to catch up...

2011-07-04T13:05:00.000-06:00

I was thinking recently of how much God has done in my life and how some of it has been posted onto here. I was just going back through so of my posts and it is kind of cool to see how I have almost used this as a journal. I don't process things very well by myself and so writing them down seems to help me. I hope you have enjoyed my blog so far and I am going to take you on a little journey of what God has done over the past couple of years.

It all started out on my 21st birthday (currently I'm 23). I was up for an adventure and what an adventure I had.

I went to El Paso Texas that summer and in hind sight, it is amazing to see how much God did.

I love my nephews! Although they are much bigger now than 2 years ago.

Crazy days, Jesus, running sound, and updates were more common then compared to now.

More nephews, and more El Paso. I don't think I will ever forget how much God did there. Maybe I will compile all of into one post so that the story is in one spot instead of many.

You can often tell what the biggest problem or obstacle was as I would often write about it. And there were salvations that I just couldn't help but put into the blog because it reminded me of how much God can do in a person's life.

I have learned a lot about God's Sovereignty.

And there was so much in between and so you should just go read about it if you are really interested.

Now for a few more recent things...

Check these out

June 12, 2011: A God Bigger Than All Our Brokenness from Summitview Community Church on Vimeo.

I was encouraged by David in the Psalms today and I will leave you with these Psalms and I hope theyencourage you as well.

Psalm 61:7
"May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!"

That is my prayer, that God would appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over me.

Pslam 62
"For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
² He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

³How long will all of you attack a man
   to batter him,
   like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
   They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
   but inwardly they curse.
                         Selah

⁵For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
   for my hope is from him.
⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷On God rests my salvation and my glory;
   my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
   God is a refuge for us.
                         Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath;
   those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
   they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰Put no trust in extortion;
    set no vain hopes on robbery;
    if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

¹¹ Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
¹²and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work."

My heart just resonated with this Psalm today.

Infusion

2011-06-11T21:31:00.000-06:00

I posted on a separate blog this week. Check it out here.

Forgiven

2011-05-18T23:13:00.002-06:00

Another ERock Newsletter that encouraged me.

Some videos

2011-05-10T00:48:00.000-06:00

Pray?

2011-05-02T20:28:00.000-06:00

This is something that I have been thinking about lately and a verse that I really want to sink down into my heart and know that God really does answer prayers. I am not really sure how this comes about because I have definitely seen God answer prayer in my life and the lives of people around me, yet it still hasn't sunk down.

James 5:16

Also, check this out from a sister church in Salt Lake City.

I have been there

2011-05-02T19:41:00.000-06:00

Look at first picture in the series. I have been there.

I'm actually going to do a short post...

2011-04-28T22:06:00.000-06:00

Today was awesome.

I was given the ability to work. I have been thankful that I even have a job and that I get to work.

Then I went to the church building and got to mow the lawn. I love mowing.

Then I went and did IEP (Intensive English Program). I am a conversation partner in the class and so I just get to talk with the students. Today was our last day and so we had snacks and hung out. Then we (other partners and I) helped the students with presentations they are giving next week.

Then I had a bit of a quiet time. Nothing amazing out of it but it is always good to get into it.

Then I played ultimate frisbee. It was a blast. Nothing more on that.

Then we went and ate dinner and I was gross from the day so I took a shower and now I am hanging out in the dorms. And that brings me to now.

What was your day like?

A Silhouette of Hope

2011-04-18T23:20:00.000-06:00

A Silhouette of Hope from Summitview Community Church on Vimeo.

Easter Week at Summitview

Oh where to begin...

2011-04-18T00:10:00.000-06:00

Life happens so fast that I can hardly keep up. Can you?

This post is going to be a bunch of my thoughts over the past couple of weeks and some thoughts that I have had recently. Things that I have seen in my life and in others and hopefully show you some of my heart (or the lack there of). There will be a lot from things that I have read and so if you are ready to dive into a post that could be as long as a book...then I hope you enjoy it.

Life has been a bit crazy for me as of late. I work part time in the dining center as CSU and I am working part time for the church. The dining center is a great job. I get to work for and with a bunch of people serving the students at CSU. As most of you know, I am one of those extreme extroverts that will walk up to complete strangers and just start talking to you. I just love people and they rejuvenate me. And so that is what I get to do at work. I get to talk to my co workers about almost everything. Anywhere from what they did over the weekend to what they think about Jesus. Which is what I get to do for my other job with the church.

Now I need to make a clarification on my job with the church. I don't really see it much as as "job" but more of a lifestyle. The church is just helping me free up time to go and talk with people. I will be honest, it has been really hard at times, but there are also so many other times that I just love doing it. I set up times to go and talk with people about faith and what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.

A few people/activities that I get to do on a weekly basis that you could pray for:

Obviously there is work at the dining center. There are tons of people that I get to talk to on a weekly basis. So that means each week I need to try and reconnect with each person and catch up with how their week was and in some way speak some truth into their life. I have seen that come in many different ways so far and I pray to see more. You could also pray that I would grab each opportunity I have to speak truth to anyone and to be bold in that place.

I'm not going to give names but hopefully you can give a name for them by the description I give. God will know whom you are talking about. There is a guy that I met at a seminar and he is honestly seeking truth. But the hard part for me is that the questions he is asking are way over my head. He has been asking about science type stuff which isn't anything that I have really studied. He has been trying to figure out what his world view is as he believes that has huge implications on anybody's life. What do you believe to be true? Thankfully I have a brother in Christ that is able to answer a lot of his questions. All three of us meet every Friday to talk and it has been amazing to just listen to their discusion. Most things I don't understand but I would have to say that it is really fun to learn about everything. I get to chirp in a few times about the Bible and sometimes they do talk about things I know and I get a better chance to give my two cents.

There is a small group of guys that I get to hang out with in the dorms. These guys have been a bit of a challenge. It is rare for them to stay on a serious subject. Even as the case may be, they are an awesome bunch of dudes that I would love to see changed for Christ. A brother and I did get to share with one of them recently and he already says he took the check (if you know the judge analogy, if you don't ask and I can explain it to you). This gives us some direction now as far as where to go from there.

Another opportunity I have had is to go back to Front Range Community College (where I got my associates degree from) and do some sharing there. There was one girl that I walked up to and asked if I could join her for lunch. Turns out that she is in a class with a brother that goes there. I haven't run into her again but I'm hoping to keep the small friendship going that started.

I think I will be my last one for now. I have had the amazing opportunity to go and talk with internationals that go to CSU. Ha, imagine that...I get to talk more. There is a program at CSU called the Intensive English Program (IEP). I get to be a conversation partner once a week. I go into the classroom and speak about whatever topic the teacher gives. There are about 5 other conversation partners although sometimes I wish I was the only one. Because then that would mean I would just get to talk that much more. Many of these international students want friendships and to talk about US culture and just learn about the a native to the US. This is great because it is a ready made friendship and I pray that I would get to share the gospel with each person that I am able to hang out with outside of class.

That is some of what I get to do each week. That does not include leading a team, doing the outreach class, leadership training class (ltc), prayer meetings, meeting with dudes on my team, other meetings, D-team on wednesdays, running sound for church about every third Sunday, the Rock, etc. Please do not see this as Zach's list to show how much he does in a week. I only mention this because if I were to read something along these lines, that is what I would think. Really, I need prayer in all of these places. That the way I act and the things that I do would be honoring to God. That my devotion in everything would be first and foremost Christ.

Alright, need a break from reading? I sure do...

That was long enough, now on for recent thoughts I have had recently. My current word that I have been dwelling on is abide. I have been reading in the gospel of John and I will speaking on 15:1-11.

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ²Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

I am not an expert in any way on this passage, these are just the things that I see and if you have any other thoughts on them, I would love to hear them. I am going to start in verse 2.

For the little I know about trees, this stuck out to me. When a tree branch is dead, it is not going to produce or bear anything. That is why you would want to cut off a dead branch as it isn't doing anything good for the tree. Now when you have branches, you prune them in a way that they will grow even more. I feel like that is what God does with us a lot of the time. As much as it hurts and no matter how much we don't like the pruning, it is good for us because it says we will bear more fruit. God is cutting away the things in our lives that keep us from having a pure devotion to him.

There are many times that I often don't want to have God prune anything because I know that it is going to be hard to give up any idol that I may have. I have prayed and keep praying that God would always be pruning something in my life. I don't ever want to become comfortable with where I am at in my walk with Christ. Something that is hard to pray but I hope that you would.

Okay, now I want you to go back and read verses 4-6. Jesus is saying that he is the vine and we are the branches and that if we abide in him, then we will bear much fruit. I know, you probably want to know why I pretty much just repeated the verses after I made you read them. Well, I think it is crucial for verse 7. And if you need to go and refresh yourself on what it says, go read it again.

There are many times where I think I can focus on just the last half of that verse. I can ask God whatever I wish and it will be done for me. Wow, thanks for being a vending machine God. I need something now and so I ask and I receive. Hurray! :)

WRONG!

If that is what you think, you should think again. God is not your personal vending machine that you can call on when you need something. He gave us a condition before he said 'ask.' We should abide in him and his words should abide in us, then we can ask. I looked up the definition of abide and it is along the lines of, 'to remain; continue; stay.' I looked up the greek for abide, and it was the same thing as the definition. So we should remain in God.

Now if we remain in God and his word remains in us, I believe the only things that we are going to be asking God for are things that God wants us to ask. I don't believe there is anything God would not give us as long as it is for our good (Romans 8.28). And I truly think that if we stay in God, we will only ask for good things.

I don't think I explained that very well but there is amazing truth in those verses. And he says that he does all of this so that our joy may be full. Well, I conclude that if we abide in God our joy will be full. So if you want to be happy, abide in God and let him prune you up so that you can have complete devotion to God.

I have a friend that writes the word of the day on the inside of their wrist so that they can remember what they read that morning. Pretty useful tool to help you abide in God all day. Because you see if often enough that you remember what you read in the morning or you can keep the same word for multiple days if you are trying to work on one thing. I can tell you that I like the idea and mine is 'ask' right now. Because then I remember everything I just wrote about.

So I am going to abide in Christ so that the things I ask for will be the things that God wants me to ask so that he will do them so that my joy will be full.

Okay, let me give you a little analogy. I am driving in a car and I need to shift lanes. The car to my back left is just close enough to me that I can't just move over. So I down shift to pick up a little speed and I get over and then get back into cruising at my previous speed. Make sense? I hope it does because that is what I am doing here. Just changing lanes slightly because now I am going to talk about a book that I have been reading.

The book is "The Great Gain of Godliness" by Thomas Watson. He was an old Puritan and that should be all that I really need to say about it. I am reading the book because my church, Summitview Community Church is doing something called Spring Training. This year it is called Gain. Last year it was called Kill or be Killed. It is for the men in our church to get together once a week for 7 weeks to discuss this book and have a short message that relates to it. It is at the wonderful time of 6 am on Wednesdays if you caught any of my sarcasm in there. But it is the only time that most men in the church have free to all get together at the same time. And so really, it is awesome to have coffee, donuts, and discusion with a bunch of dudes early in the morning.

The first week we broke down into smaller groups and we keep the groups for the duration of Spring Training. There are approximately 5-7 guys in a group. Most groups are pretty diverse as far as age goes. It can go from high school all the way to the old guys. There are three married dudes (with and without kids), a single guy in Symbio, and me. I love being around and hearing from the married guys because it gives me an insite to what it will be like someday.

There was one chapter the really struck a chord with me. It wasn't even the whole chapter, just a section on it. I am going to give you a few things that I underlined and hopefully I will be able to express myself in some way that makes sense on why it stood out to me. The book is walking us through what it means to fear God. I think we can often have a distorted view on what it means to fear God. If you are looking for some insite on fearing God, we just went over it in church and you can find the message online.

This chapter is called Is the Fear of God in our Hearts? This part of the post may seem very random but I am pulling things from the book and my thoughts on them. Sorry if you get lost and I may not comment on everything but they stuck out to me and I hope they stick out to you.

If sin were on one side and hell on the other, I would rather leap into hell than willingly sin against God.

Watson quotes a philosopher/theologian to show how we should fear our own sin. And this quote puts it into perspective for me. I really think we should fear sin to this point and have this view on it. I don't think I have that at all. I often let the pumpkin float by me and if you don't know what I am talking about, please listen to this message. Fear sin or things that you ran away from when you were a young christian will become okay with you. You will become comfortable in your life with sin.

A God-fearer directs the rudder of his life according to the compass of the Word.

This has been something that I have been learning for a long time. As a kid and even into my youth, I hardly ever read the Bible. Since coming to college the word has become more of a part of my daily life. There was a paper that I did on genetically modified crops and a quote I found there was interesting. It said something along the lines of, 'If you change the direction of a cruise liner by two degree at the beginning of it's voyage, it will end up in a very different port or even on rocky shores.' I feel like this applies. The rudder directs where a ship goes and we should direct our life by the Word.

Luther said he had rather obey God than work miracles. A gracious soul crosses his own will to fulfill God's.

A holy heart knows there is nothing lost by obedience.

A steady pulse shows health: a steady walk shows grace.

He who fears God would rather displease man than God

The fear of God will make a man afraid of Satan's snares. He has the eye of faith to see these snares, and the wing of fear to fly from them.

his snares are so cunningly laid, that without the guidance of God's fear we cannot escape them.

The devil tempts men to evil, 'that good may come' of it (Romans 3:8).

The link will actually give you Romans 3:5-8 because I think we need to look at the context of the verse to really understand what he is talking about here.

The white devil is worst. Who would suspect Satan when he comes as a divine and, if need be, can quote Scripture?

Another snare of Satan is to tempt to sin under a plea of necessity.

As if to say for one example that I can see in my life, "you need your rest because you deserve it and you should find it here (insert something that is sin when you find your rest in it)."

This next part is not a part I understand a whole lot about. It is about the heart and it is just very mysterious to me.

The fear of God will make a man afraid of his own heart.

Confused yet? Because I sure am.

'The heart is deceitful above all things' (Jer. 17:9). It is 'deceitful'. The word signifies, it is a 'Jacob' or 'supplanter'. As Jacob supplanted his brother, and took away the blessing, so our hearts would supplant and beguile us. 'Above all things': there is deceit in weights, deceit in friends; but the heart has an art of deceiving beyond all. In the best of hearts there is some fallaciousness. David was upright in all things, 'save only in the matter of Uriah' (1 Kings 8:13). A godly man, knowing there is a spice of this deceit in his heart, fears himself.

Go to the Jer. 17:9 link, there is more to it than Watson puts in.

No man can believe what evil is in his heart.

This next section is a lot strait out of the book. And I don't think I am going to comment on it, I'll just let the text speak for itself.

No man knows what is in his breast, or what scandal he may fall into if God should leave him. Christ warns his own apostles to 'take heed of surfeiting and drunkenness' (Luke 21:34). A godly man therefore fears his heart with a fear of caution and jealousy. The heart is not only stubborn, but subtle. Le us a little trace this imposter, and see if there is not a cause to hear it. The heart shows its deceitfulness regarding things sinful and things sacred.

Regarding things sinful, this deceit is in the hiding of sin, as Rahab his the spies in the flax (Josh. 2:6). So the heart hides sin. And how does it hide sin? Just as Adam hid himself under fig leaves, so the heart hides sin under the fig leaves of excuses. It was done against the will, or in a passion; or it was done along with others. Aaron laid his sin in the making of the golden calf upon the people: 'The people are set on mischief' (Exod. 32:22). And Adam tacitly laid his sin upon God himself: 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree' (Gen. 3:12), as if to say, 'If you had not given me this tempting woman, I would not have eaten.'

The heart's deceit is seen in flattering us. It will make us believe we are not so bad as we are. The Physician deceives the patient when he tells him his desease is not so dangerous, when he is falling into the hands of death. The heart will tell a man he is free from theft, when yet he robs others of their good name; he is free from drunkenness when, though he will not be drunk with wine, he will be drunk with passion. Thus the heart is a flattering mirror to make one look fairer than he is; and is there not cause to suspect this impostor?

Secondly, the heart shows its deceitfulness regarding things sacred; it will be ready to put us off with counterfeit grace. Many have been deceived in taking false money, and many, it is to be feared, in taking false grace.

The heart is ready to deceive with a false repentance. A sinner is troubled a little for sin, or rather the consequences of it, and perhaps sheds a few tears, and now his heart soothes him up that he is a true penitent. But every legal terror is not repentance: 'They were pricked in their hearts' (Acts 2:37); yet after this, 'Peter said unto them repent' (verse 38). If every slight trouble for sin were true repentance, then Judas and Cain may be lifted into the number of penitents. Evangelical repentance works a change of heart (1 Cor. 6:11). It produces sanctity. But the false penitent, though he has trouble of spirit, yet has no transformation or change. He has a weeping eye, but an adulterous heart. Ahab fasts and puts on sackcloth, but after this, he puts the prophet Micah in prison (1 Kings 22:27).

The heart is apt to deceive with a false faith; it would put the dead child in the place of the living. Those in the second chapter of John are said to believe; but Christ did not believe their faith (John 2:24). True faith, as it casts itself into Christ's arms to embrace him, so it casts itself at Christ's feet to serve him; but spurious faith, though it is forward to receive Christ's benefits, yet it plucks the government from his shoulders (Isa. 9:6). It would have him a priest, but not upon his throne (Zech. 6:13). This the heart is full of fallacies; he who fears God fears his heart lest it should rob him of the blessing. That saying of Epicharmus [Sicilian father of Greek comedy] is good, 'Remember not to trust.'

The fear of God will make a man fear death. Death may challenge a part in our fear, first, because it is such a serious thing, it is the inlet to eternity and puts us into an unalterable estate. Secondly, because of its proximity. It is nearer to us than we are aware; it may be within a few hours march of us. God may this night seal a lease of ejectment, and say, 'Give an account of your stewardship'; and what if death should come before we are ready? Thirdly, because after death there is nothing to be done for our souls, there is no repenting in the grave: 'There is no work, nor device . . . in the grave, whither thou goest' (Eccles. 9:10). So death is to be feared with a holy and religious fear.

I am not sure what all you caught in that short section of the book but there was a lot that stood out to me. I would love for you to just pray for me about that chunk of the book.

One more quote from this chapter and a few more from the next.

Great men are mirrors by which the common people dress themselves.

Water, when it is hot, soon boils over; when the heart is heated with anger it soon boils over in furious speeches (James 3:6). Passion transports.

The heart is a cask full of wickedness, and the tongue is the tap that lets it flow out. When the face breaks out in sores and pimples, it shows the blood corrupt. When men break forth in unsavoury speeches its shows the heart is profane.

Were people's hearts more humble, their tongues would be more charitable.

The more spiritual we are in our speeches, the more we resemble Christ.

Verba sunt speculum mentis - Words are the looking glass of the mind (Bernard). As you may judge of a face by the mirror, whether it be fair or foul; so by the words we may judge of the heart. A lascivious tongue shows a lustful heart, an earthly tongue a covetous heart; a gracious tongue, an gracious heart.

The tongue is the index of the heart.

A word spoken in season may make such a powerful impression upon another's heart that it will do him good all his life.

Need a break again? ...I agree.

I recently had a friend ask me for some guidance on future plans. And I posed the question back to them, well what do you want? And I can't quite say I entirely agree with what I said. I was basing this off of:

Psalm 20:4-5

May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Psalm 21:2

You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Psalm 37:3-5

Trust in the LORD and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this:

And Luke 11:1-13 but I am not going to put that one on here. You can look it up if you would like. We can see that God wants us to bless us and give us the things that our heart desires. But then we just looked at how our heart is deceitful. So then how can we be sure that what our heart desires is not something that our heart is deceiving us in? Watson talked about it some and even how we can measure our heart to a degree by what comes out of our mouth. And earlier I talked about how when we abide in God, we will really only be asking things that God wants us to ask him for because our heart is going to be more aligned to his plan and his will.

But then Zach brings up the fact that God already know what we are going to choose in anything and that we really don't have a choice as far as what happens in our life. Well then I bring in the fact that we do have a choice in what goes on in our life and that is the cool part about the Christian life.

God wants us to put our whole trust in him. Not just that one tiny little fraction that we think we can hold onto that is God and we can do the rest on our own. Maybe this will help get it into perspective for you. I think I first heard this analogy from a message at The Rock. I don't remember which one but I love this analogy.

You are an octopus and you have 8 arms. With each arm you are allowed to hold onto one thing but the exception to that rule is God. You can hold onto him with all 8 arms. Many times we are only holding onto God with one of our arms and the other 7 are holding onto things that we are putting our trust in. We don't want to let go of the other 7 because they can be like a security blanket for us. When we can hold onto those 7, we feel safe and comfortable because we know that we can do those 7 and still hold onto God. Are you able to let go of those and cling to God like Blondin's manager clinged to Blondin as he traversed the Niagara Falls on a tight rope? Stop holding onto things and hold onto what is going to matter in the end. God.

Look at these verses.

Proverbs 19:20-21

Jeremiah 29:11

Psalm 33:11

Proverbs 12:20

Proverbs 15:22

Proverbs 16:1-9

And this is just a short list of what it looks like to follow God in the plans that you make and what your heart's desire is. Cling to God like there is nothing left and he will prosper you like you have never seen.

Did you actually make it all the way here? If so, I will be impressed. I always say that I will blog more but it never happens and so all I really do are massive posts.

2/14...

2011-02-14T23:34:00.089-07:00

A journal entry from today...

I was really tired today. I didn't get home until 2ish in the morning last night and then I got up just before 5:30 to get ready to work today. It was a very slow moving morning and it was like the engine just didn't want to turn over. Finally got moving at a normal speed and was at work. Today was my second day of work and it seemed like I learned how to almost everything that does not involve serving food. I monitored Parmelee and then they had me help Bob because he was by himself and had a lot to do with filling of the condiment type of things. Then they also put me on dish because Pablo was the only one in dish. So I would monitor and then go and help dish if I could and then I would go and help Bob some more. Then it was back to monitor and the cycle repeated itself all morning long. Then I sat down for maybe 10ish minutes to eat a quick lunch and I was moved to helping PM cooks. Scrubbed potatoes and oiled them. Seasoned chicken and put on tray to be cooked later. Then I diced 5 pounds of green peppers.

A cool God story from today. I was working on filling things for Bob and one of the managers came in and was all disgruntled because she found out that we were going to be getting 35-40 junior high students. I guess that age range seems to make a mess of the place and she just kept going on and on about how long it was going to take to clean up. So I prayed that these students would be different and they they would be well behaved and not make as much of a mess. I asked the manager later on in the day how they did and she said they did very well and was surprised by how they acted. Thanks God for an answer to prayer!

I worked 6:30-3:30 and was wiped out by the end. I went to the student center and I was going to work on some stuff but that didn't happen because I passed out. I slept for maybe an hour but oh how I loved that hour. Got to hang out with Josh which is always a blast. We talked about idols and how way back in the day they literally had a wooden idol and they would worship that. We thought about what it would be like with our 21st century brains and how we have idols but they look totally different from what they looked like back then. I got rid of caffeine and the computer for a while because they did become an idol for me. It wasn't like I wouldn't bow down and worship them but they took the place of where God should have been the whole time. They certainly didn't give me any sort of satisfaction that only God can give.

Then it was time for the outreach class. It went by fast and there si much that I need to work on this week. Went to my leader meeting and this is when things got a little hard. We start off by how each of us is doing and so I started off and I just kept talking. I mean, that is what I do but I was able to vocalize a lot of what I was thinking which was good.

They asked about work and so I told them all that I had done today and then they asked how my other job was going. I realized that this is probably going to be one of the hardest jobs that I have ever had. In all of my other jobs, including the dining center, I clock in and start to work and there is an exact list of things that I can do throughout my day. By the end of the day I can see the fruit of my labor and all that I had done. It is rewarding to be able to see that and it has been so engrained into me that I try and look for that in what I do with this internship.

There is not a time that I clock in or out and there is not anything I can do to cross something off a list and there isn't necessarily anyone that is looking over me constantly to see how I am doing and what I am doing for my work. So much of this job is a war within myself as I try to stay encouraged because I probably will not see much of the fruit of my labor and that there is a lot of dying to myself to go and do things when I don't want to. To have a lifestyle of outreach and not just a certain time or place for outreach.

*omitted section due to not being able to put it online. There are some things going on in life that are not extremely encouraging. If you ask, I am willing to share most of them but not willing to put them online so you will have to ask me personally*

So I was walking home discouraged and I had my ipod repeating Our God by Chris Tomlin to try and pound some truth back into this head of mine. I got home and I just knew that I needed to do some reading because if I would try and comfort the only place God can comfort with just another idol of mine. I've been in John and chapter 4 has been extremely awesome!

I read the passage about Jesus and the women of Samaria. I specifically read John 4:35-38 and it just sang to my heart.

"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

I felt like I was should not be receiving the wages I have been paid for what I have done so far because I had not really seen much of anything that I would be able to claim as fruit. But this has a different perspective and the perspective that I have had has been focus on me me me me me. When I look at God for what the best is for my life and for the lives around me and for the things that happen in my life and so much more, everything will turn out for the better.

I hope that this has been as much of an encouragement to you as it has been to me. Happy Valentines day and I hope that you remember that God has the perfect relationship that anyone can have. I had a blast today because I know that the relationship I have with God is a whole lot better than any relationship I will ever have here on Earth.

Good bye...

2011-01-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

...at least for now. I sadly had to do this with caffeine as well. Since before the beginning of the year I gave up caffeine because I was too addicted to it. I could not go a day without getting a headache if I didn't have it. Either I would have coffee or pop or an energy drink and many times I would have a combination of two or three of them throughout the day. They are all just so tasty and I would live off of them and it was not good. I would stay awake throughout the day by drinking more caffeine.

The first few days were rough. It was almost like a constant headache for a couple of days but since then, things have been good. Now for the other thing, really I am saying goodbye to all of you.

The internet has become such a distraction that I have to put some limits on it. There is no way that I can get rid of it completely because most of my life revolves around the internet. But the constant checking of my email and facebook and reader and twitter. I would start by checking one and then I have to check them all. And then once I have checked everything, I would often find some computer game to let my mind go to mush. I have all of my connections to the outside world not only on my computer but also on my ipod which means that as long as I have internet, I am not too far away from all of my connections. I even get text updates sent to my phone from twitter and so I am constantly being bombarded all day.

Okay, I know that I did this to myself but at least I have realized it and now I am trying to turn it around. Will it be tough for a while? Yes, just like the caffeine there will be a withdrawal phase but I hope to turn all the time that I spend starring at a screen for something better. Something that will be more productive to my life.

This will mean that I only check my email once a day and the rest, I'm not sure I will check. They are all just things to keep me connected to other people but if you really need me, text me. Or you can call but if you tell me to call via text, I will probably get back to you faster.

So, goodbye for now.

And the wait is over

2011-01-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please.......splash. I have taken two new jobs. The first job is not one that I will ever get the chance to have at any other time in life. Many of you that read my blog have probably heard about it, I am taking the Missions Initiative Internship with the church.

Many of the details have yet to be worked out. I am so excited for this that it is hard for me to know where to start. Maybe with what I will actually be doing...

I get to be on campus for big chunks of time during the week to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people. Such as this past week, I was able to spend some time on campus to share my life with a dude who was eating lunch. I had just got mine and so I asked if I could join him and he said yes. I sat down and we started talking and the conversation led to Christ. He says that he knows Jesus as his Savior but I wasn't able to dig much more to see if that is what he really thought. I invited him to The Rock and to come to team sometime and got his contact info and so you could pray that he would come and get connected. His name is John.

I get to love on people and build a relationship with them. In today's world, there is so much that keeps us from relationship (i.e. twitter, facebook, texting, etc.) that many people have never experienced that. Within all of this, the gospel is the most important thing. And the goal is not to hand out as many tracts as I can but to have genuine relationship that leads to Christ.

I will get to live with a family and essentially become part of that family. I don't know whom I will get to move in with yet.

There is so much more but I will stop here because it is bed time.

I can't get enough prayer and so if you do remember me, please pray for me.

Mark 8:1-21

2011-01-15T01:19:00.002-07:00

We don't know when each section was specifically written as the chapters and verse numbers were add later on in history. But for at least the section that I am going to be talking about, I don't think that we can have each section without the other ones right around it. This is verses 1-21.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away."And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees Demand a Sign
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?"They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

Boom, we start off with a miracle of Jesus feeding 4000 people out of a couple loaves of bread and a few fish. One part that I find interesting is that the disciples almost seemed reluctant to give up the bread that they had. Each one of them would get at least half a loaf of bread. Giving up their bread would mean giving up the food that they needed so that they too would not faint.

Side note: when I think of a loaf of bread way back in the day, I think of it as just enough for each person to have one loaf and have their fill. A loaf was not something that you cut up and share with a bunch of people. I could be completely wrong, but that is the way that I see it.

Now I say that we can't separate these sections because each one talks about a boat that went from here to there or there to here and it just seems like Mark decided to record these events one after another and I think because they happened in that order.

Now onto the pharisees, they want a sign from Jesus. And I can only think, if you had only been there to see him feed 4000 people, then you would have seen a sign but Jesus goes on to say that no sign will be given to them.

It just keeps getting better and better. Now they are back on a boat and Jesus tells his disciples to be careful of the leaven of the pharisees and of Herod. Now they are back to the point that they have no bread again, okay, so one loaf, but to them it must have seemed like none. It almost seems as if Jesus gets irritated with the disciples. He tells them, "Do you not yet understand?" What are they supposed to understand here?

It makes me think that they are worried about their food which brings to mind Matthew 6:25-34 where it tells us not to worry about such things. That if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, God will take care of the rest. I want to think that the disciples were not thinking about kingdom matters but about how hungry they were.

I get from all of this that Jesus will take care of us. The disciples seemed to have forgotten that Jesus feed 5000 and 4000 with just a little. I almost also think that they didn't want to ask him for a miracle. With just a little faith, Jesus can do a whole lot. But I think Jesus wants us to bring him lots of faith, because that means there is that much more to work with.

Stay tuned for an update on Zach's life and big things that are happening there.

Mark 8:22-26

2011-01-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

I found this passage very interesting. While I was reading it, the thought that Jesus messed up the first time came into my head. Why did Jesus heal this man's eyes twice? It isn't like Jesus would get it wrong. I mean come on, just read the gospels and you can see him healing all over the place. I just thought this was interesting...

Two messages that have changed my life...

2010-10-27T00:16:00.000-06:00

and that I have to remind myself of what they talk about daily.

The first is one is a message that I have posted before but it seems like I get something new out of it every time I listen.

Outreach

This second message talks about prayer and how it is necessary for our life. Check it out.

Prayer

Happy listening :)

My Crazy Summer

2010-10-19T00:18:00.000-06:00

Let's see if I can remember most of it.

I started it off in Disney World. That was a blast.

I stayed at a friends house with him and his brothers while their parents were away.

I then moved into a frat house with the rest of the Rock.

I took 16 credits over the summer. By God's grace I got 3 A's and 2 B's.

I co-led a discipleship team with another dude.

I led a Friday service project group.

I worked full time and then part time and then full time again.

God a new computer. A Mac :)

Moved to an apartment at the end of the summer.

Played Ultimate Frisbee every Thursday.

Learned more of what it means to run after Christ. I think I will always be learning this which is not a bad thing.

Okay, now I have to get off because I told myself that I would start shutting things down at 12:15 and now it is 12:18. I wouldn't change any part of my summer if I could do it again. There was much rejoicing at times but there was much sorrow at others. But I know that it was all for my good because of Romans 8:28 because I have been called according to God's purpose and I sure do love him bunches.

Good grace blog readers!

Slowly but surely, I will catch up

2010-10-16T23:58:00.000-06:00

I don't think I am going to be able to remember anything about the rest of the trip to disney world. I just have to say that it was a blast to spend time with my family that way on a vacation. Being with the parents, the sister and brother-in-law, and most definitely can't forget about the nephews. They were all over the place all the time. I still don't know two little boys can have so much energy. I think by the end of the day, all of the old people were more tired than they were.

The hotel we were at had swimming and a movie night. So we got pizza from California Pizza Kitchen and it was much good. I think the movie had something to do with rats? mouse/mouses? (I know, I spelled it wrong, deal with it) some sort of animal? I can't remember. But I really like the pizza, maybe that is why I can't remember.

By the way, if I repeat myself from the posts while I was there, I apologize. I didn't care to take the time to reread what I put there.

One of the best parts about the trip was being able to see a space shuttle launch! I knew that I wanted to put something about it in the blog so I wrote a little bit about it on the way to NASA in my itouch.

A spectacular sun rise. The sun was coming up and it kind of looked like the sun rise at the beginning of the Lion King. It seemed like the edges glistened a bit while it was this golden yellow. I would have taken a picture of it but I was too lazy and B had his head on my lap while he took a nap. Plus I was mostly just resting my and took a glance too see how light it was outside by that point. Pretty much awesome.

We had to get up way early to catch the bus to get to NASA and then we drove for a really long time but we finally got there. We went out to the watching sight which was like 6 miles away or so. The craft seemed so small but they really are crazy huge. We then waited for what seemed like forever for the spaceship to blast off. We did get to see a dolphin swim by in the waters that were near by which was pretty awesome. When the shuttle did blast off, it was an amazing sight. It took off crazy fast and the shear amount of energy and thrust and power was...I don't think I have words to explain it. Another thing that made it amazing was that it was the 3rd to last shuttle launch ever and the last launch ever for that shuttle specifically.

The shuttles are 30 some years old and are being decommissioned. NASA's budget has been completely cut essentially and so they are no longer sending shuttles up there anymore. They are working on a new design if they do ever get funding back, but for now, it is like NASA has become no more.

Essentially the trip was awesome and I loved it and hope to do it again some day with my family.

Disney World Day 1, 2, and 3

2010-05-11T21:36:00.000-06:00

Well, I am out in Disney World with my family right now and we have been having a blast. So far, we have been to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom and today, we are going to go back to the Magic Kingdom for more magic. I am gonna try and post something on here everyday, kind of give you as much of a running commentary as I can. But we will see how well that goes.

My parents were going to get me an itouch for Christmas but couldn't find one that was a good deal and so they just got one for me before we left. So most of these posts will be from the memo pad from that. Maybe I will get a Flicker account so that I can put up pictures for all of you to see, but that won't be until I get back.

Day 1
We made it out yesterday. The flights were fine and not very bumpy at all. It was good to just spend time with the rents. We got here first and went to go and get our tickets from the super nice hotel that we are going to be staying at on Monday. We went to get settled in the hotel and then go and pick up Sarah, Willie, Skyler, and Bryce. When Skyler saw us he started to run for us and Bryce was close behind. The sad part is that while we were looking for the car because we forgot where we parked, Skyler biffed it hard. Face first onto the ground. So things started off a bit hard but maybe that will be the only one. We are headed off into Epcot now, should be a pretty good day. Soarin', Test Track, Mexican food, Mission Space, and fireworks.

Day 2
Every Person Comes Out Tired (EPCOT) sure is true. I think all of our legs hurt by the end. Test Track sped us around while we flew over California with Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove on Soarin'. Leutant Dan from Forest Gump took us to Mars and we at really yummy Mexican food. Neither of the boys liked the big rides but they did like Turtle Talk with Crush. We traveled the world and saw many different place. I got to really test out my camera today with the firework show at the end of the night. Everyone went to get our spot for the show and I ran around for a while getting pictures for friends and I went on Test Track one last time with fastpasses that we didn't use. I found Germany and looked for a beer that one of my friends wanted me to find for him. I think the boys will like tomorrow better as they will be more adjusted to this time zone and we are going to the magic kingdom.

Day 3
Well, as much as it says that wishes come true at Disney World, it sure doesn't seem like it. So far, everywhere we have gone I can always hear a kid crying. It sure doesn't seem like it is all that magical after that. Today was a blast, I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS! We went on a ride where you drive a car that is on a track but you get to steer it around. Well, I put Bryce in the drivers seat with the steering wheel and all he did was let us bounce around and let the track guide us....never again, never again, never again. I think I have whip lash from it. We went on Space Mountain second and it was sooooooo much fun. The day just seemed to fly buy because by the time it was time to go, it seemed like we just got there. SO after Space Mountain, we went and shot aliens with Buzz Lightyear and then went to be scared by some ghosts at the haunted Mansion. Then we had a cannon of a time with the Pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Now that was all before Lunch. We left far a bit to go check into our new, really nice hotel where I have m own room, the rents have there own room, and the sister and family have there own room. Well, the place had a water break the night before and so we couldn't check in but the kids got to go swimming for a while. We had dinner at one of my favorite places, Panerra Bread. Went back to the park and got to go onto the Big Thunder Mountain. When we were going to go onto Splash Mountain, it was broken and so we didn't get to do that but Sarah, Willie, Skyler and I tried to weave our way through the crowd that was trying to watch the light parade to get back to Space Mountain for two more rides, it was much fun.. We watch more fireworks and by this point, the boys were beat. We went home to sleep and when i hit the bed, I was out. The boys were out before we even got home.

Day 4
Soon to come...if I can remember it.

WAR A Word From Steele Croswhite

2010-05-06T10:23:00.000-06:00

*This was taken from the The Rock Church Newsletter*

“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Did you know we’re in a war? The war is for our souls, and it takes place in our minds. All day long, the world around us (and even our very flesh) communicates something contrary to the Spirit of God. Each day the devil wages this fight. If he can infiltrate our thoughts and get us to believe a lie, then he can begin to redirect our lives and color the decisions we make. In the end, such decisions lead us further and further from Christ.

Because the war is in our mind, we must take captive every thought — every idea and every motivation — and hold it up to the truth of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). Does this thought honor God? Is it rebellious toward Him? Is the thought real, or does it contradict the truth of His Word? Does the thought cause me to be secretive or ashamed, or does it draw me closer to God’s Spirit?

We cannot afford to become lazy in our thinking nor in our understanding of biblical truth. To effectively engage in a war, one must be adequately equipped. Only a fool would enter a battle unprepared. Ephesians 6:14-17 gives us a clear picture of what our attire should be: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

We need to pray every day: “Lord, I hear lots of voices that are not Yours, directing me away from You. Will You lead me in Your truth? By Your Spirit, will You open my eyes to discern what is real and what is a lie? Will You give me the strength to take every thought captive and make it obedient to You? You are all I want in this life. You are my place of refuge.”

Today, be prepared for the war. Take up your sword, grab your helmet, and with divine power demolish the strongholds that wage war in your mind. Jesus will lead us into victory by leading us to Himself!

See you on the battlefield,

Steele

FOXNews.com - Has Noah's Ark Been Found on Turkish Mountaintop?

2010-04-27T10:08:00.000-06:00

FOXNews.com - Has Noah's Ark Been Found on Turkish Mountaintop?

Posted using ShareThis

Need New Music?

2010-04-22T22:50:00.000-06:00

Maybe you will find an artist that you like here.

Easter

2010-04-22T21:58:00.000-06:00

This was the Easter service at Summitview 2010. It portrays Christ's life, check it out here.

Impressive!

2010-04-19T12:04:00.000-06:00

I got these pictures in an email from my Grandparents and I have to say, that is impressive. It is the runway for the airport in Gibraltar, where ever that it...

So who wants to play chicken?

Do you believe it?

2010-04-09T13:58:00.000-06:00

Ephesians 2:19-22

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

For those of you who know Christ as Savior, you were aliens to the Kingdom of God but now are a citizen of some place that is greater than anything else in this world. That place is built upon the only person that can support it which is Christ. We cannot reconcile ourselves to God and there is nothing that you can do. Here is the proof. Because Christ has built and still is building this temple that God can dwell in by the Spirit. Do you believe right now that the spirit is dwelling in you?

1 Corinthians

2010-04-08T22:24:00.000-06:00

If you haven't read 1 Corinthians lately, you should. I dwelt in the later half of the book for a while letting it's words sink in. There is a lot of good stuff in there but I am going to draw your attention to the end of chapter 15 verses 54-58. Paul is talking about the resurrection of the body and what will happen when Jesus comes to bring us home.

Starting about mid way through 54 "then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Isn't that good? Death has no claim on us. Nothing can hold us back because we have victory in Christ. It says that sin causes death and then he wraps up a pretty good portion of Romans in less than a sentence, "and the power of sin is the law." If you did catch that little phrase, go ready Romans.

Because we can have victory in Christ over sin and if has no grip on us, Paul tells us to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." I love the last part, we can know that we do not have to labor in vain.

I feel as if my thoughts are scattered in this post, I hope you see what I'm seeing because it is beautiful. Keep pressing on friends.

So NPR is good for more than just the news

2010-03-30T21:56:00.002-06:00

Are we going to fry?

2010-03-30T07:54:00.000-06:00

I'll let you decide for yourself, but be warned...there is many hours of video to watch here.

An Inconvenient Truth

an inconvenient truth...or convenient fiction

My hope is in Christ!

2010-03-29T14:54:00.000-06:00

This is an email that I sent to my discipleship team and thought I would put it on here to and I hope you may be encouraged by it as well.

~~~~

Hey friends, can I just tell you how good our God is? Today, I have just been overwhelmed with how much our God loves us. He has taken all of our sin upon himself and taken it away from us. All of our past sin, all of our present sin, and any sin in the future. We suck and can't do be righteous in ourselves (Romans 3:9-20), but Christ died for us and God see us as righteous (Romans 3:21-31). There is nothing that you can do to gain life (Romans 3:23). To have life, we have to put our hope in Christ (Psalm 33, my favorite psalm). What are you living for? Is your hope in Christ today?

Something else that I have been thinking about lately is the shortest verse in the Bible. Do you know it? It's John 11:35, 'Jesus wept.' There are many times where we can see Jesus weeping. This got me to thinking, what do I weep about? It has not been easy and I told God that I wanted to weep and God does answer prayers. What do you weep about? Do you even weep?

Encouraged,
Zach

God's Sovereignty

2010-03-23T18:35:00.002-06:00

Let me tell you about a little story that happened to me recently. I was heading to a friends house to go walk the dogs as the place where they live is a bit sketch and for safety reasons I go over to help out. I came to a red light and stopped and waited for the green. When I got the green, I started to move through the intersection when all of a sudden I found myself going in the direction of the street I was crossing. I was hit by a vehicle that ran the red in the front left corner. My car is totaled and I'm not sure about the other persons vehicle but I don't imagine it is too good. I am fine, I was just a little bit shaken up and got a scratch and a bump on my lower leg. The person in the other vehicle has taken to the E.R. by an ambulance because her chest and neck hurt.

Now let me explain to you how all the dots connected for me to realize and understand God's sovereignty so much. During the summer, my car died and I was out of a car to use as my own. Then during winter break, my dad and I flew to Seattle to see my sister and pick up a car from my sister and her husband that they didn't want anymore. We fixed it up and drove it home where I was able to use it as a car of my own. This was the car that was in the accident.

Now I was probably about 5 feet away from death. If I had taken off any faster, I probably would have been hit in the driver door, therefore hitting me. The person was going at a pretty fast speed when I got hit and only God know what would have happened if I would have been hit on the side. I can see why my car died over the summer, although it was my stupidity in why it died. I can see why I got this car from my sister, as if I had my old car, the damage to me and to my old car probably would have been greater. I say this because the vehicle that hit me was old, and in those days they were built like tanks. I bet if I was in my old car, their vehicle would have sustained minimal damages. My acceleration speed in my old car was much better than this one and if I was in it, I probably would have been hit in the side. The most I can say is that as much as I would rather be up in heaven right now with God, he is not done with me here on Earth yet.

I can see how God knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen. I didn't know that I was going to be in this accident, but he did. I didn't know that this vehicle probably saved my life, be he did. I never thought that running home to grab my winter jacket would keep me warm while outside dealing with police, but he did. There are so many more dots that I could make out if I thought about it longer.

Another thing that I have been thinking a lot about since then is how close to death I was. I literally was probably about 5 feet away from it. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." So we are told to use our time wisely as the days are evil. Why should we choose to use out time wisely? We can see why in the parable of the talents. The wicked and slothful servant did not know when his master was coming back and did nothing with what was entrusted to him. With what you have been entrusted with, have you spent the time you have been given in a way that will be counted worthy? We don't know when Jesus is coming back and I sure do hope it is soon. Nor do we know when God will snatch us up to be with him, that is if you know Christ and I get to stay here for now because God isn't done using me here on earth yet which I am okay with for now. And if you don't know Christ, I would suggest you find out where you stand with him. Because driving a car is not as safe as you may think it is.

I like it

2010-03-22T21:43:00.002-06:00

Easter Egg

Need something to listen to?

2010-03-20T17:58:00.000-06:00

For those of you who like listening to messages, and for those who don't listen to messages all that much, I encourage both parties to listen to both of these within the next week.

Outreach

Idolatry

Enjoy :)

Awesome quotes

2010-03-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

"I don't know what we're doing but I'm into it!"
-Random kid at the church building

"I miss daddy! When is he co...ooo a rubber band!"

-My nephew Bryce

Question of the day

2010-03-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was at work doing work as you should do when you are at work. I work at the church building as a facilities guy and so I get to fix a lot of things and it is much fun. There are some home school enrichment schools that meet here.

I was in the ceiling fixing some air ducts and some of the kids were going to recess and I overheard two of them talking and I quote, "I was so busy this morning, I had so much to do and this was all that I was able to bring." He was talking about the carrots that he had in bag for snack compared to the kid that was with him who had a large bag of pretzels.

I'm not concerned about what they had for snacks, although that could be another whole discussion, but the fact that the kid thought he was completely busy this morning. He may have said it because of the food that he had but I was surprised that a kid about the age of my nephews would think that he was busy. I couldn't understand it.

So here is my question, should we impose our busyness upon our kids? Now I don't have any of my own and I think that I can say that I am honestly busy. Because we can be busy with productive things or with silly things that really don't matter (I'll talk about this in about a week). But should my kids ever think that they are busy in their day? Should we, as adults, give our kids a lifestyle of busyness or a life style of leisure? Where is that middle ground?

Who doesn't like free music?

2010-02-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

I heard of these guys from Travis and I must say that I really like them. And they currently are offering their newest album for free from their website. No sign up or anything. Just click and download.
Angels and Airwaves

Yep, those are my nephews!

2010-02-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

What are you living for?

2010-02-11T06:42:00.001-07:00

10 Words That Don't Exist, But Should

2010-02-05T09:48:00.002-07:00

I got this in an email, and I thought some of them were pretty good.

1. AQUADEXTROUS (ak wa deks'trus) adj. Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub tap on and off with your toes.

2. CARPERPETUATION (kar'pur pet u a shun) n. The act, when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance.

3. DISCONFECT (dis kon fekt') v. To sterilize the piece of confection (lollipop) you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, assuming this will somehow 'remove' all the germs.

4. ELBONICS (el bon'iks) n. The actions of two people maneuvering for one armrest in a movie theater.

5. FRUST (frust) n. The small line of debris that refuses to be swept onto the dust pan and keeps backing a person across the room until he finally decides to give up and sweep it under the rug.

6. LACTOMANGULATION (lak' to man gyu lay' shun) n. Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk container so badly that one has to resort to the 'illegal' side.

7. PEPPIER (peph ee ay') n. The waiter at a fancy restaurant whose sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners if they want fresh ground pepper.

8.PHONESIA (fo nee' zhuh) n. The affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer.

9. PUPKUS (pup'kus) n. The moist residue left on a window after a dog presses its nose to it.

10. TELECRASTINATION (tel e kras tin ay' shun) n. The act of always letting the phone ring at least twice before you pick it up, even when you're only six inches away.

Christ wants everything...not just what yout think you should give...everything!

2010-01-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Dang it, I keep seeing this theme of giving it all to Christ. To count my life as nothing and give everything I have. I'll present the evidence and you can decide for yourself.

Matthew 13:44-46

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Matthew 16:24-28

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Luke 14:25-28

The Cost of Discipleship
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Philippians 3:7-9

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Well, there it is. What did you decide? I'll tell you what I think though. As much as I would just rather live for myself and what I want, the Bible says otherwise.

Christ is a treasure and a pearl and the people in the parable sold everything that they had to attain it. Not just some or part of it, but everything they had to attain what they had found. They put their complete trust in Christ and they he would take care of the rest.

I think that Matthew 16:24-28 says it pretty well. You must deny yourself, take up your cross, and then follow him. I don't want to be one that gains the whole world and have my soul be forfeit. You cannot give 100 percent if you don't deny your life. How can I give 100 percent if I love my life more than what Christ has done for me, which is what Luke 14:25-28 says.

While at Faithwalkers, there was a person on my team where they realized how worthy Christ is of everything I am. And I just have to say that I completely agree. Christ is completely worthy of my whole life because of what he did for me. My prayer is to be more like Paul in Philippians 3:7-9.

Amen!

2010-01-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

The Parable of the Sower

2010-01-22T13:02:00.001-07:00

We have all heard this story many, many times. I probably cannot count on all of my fingers and toes how many times I have heard it and read it. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."

"Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Wow, now that is quiet a parable. Jesus tells us the crowds the parable and then later on his disciples ask him what it means and he tells them. It seems to be laid out pretty well. I think this is a great parable and I have seen every single type of seed Jesus talks about. But what I want to talk about here is the seed that was sown on good soil.

The very last part was pretty convicting to me. Jesus says that the seed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and another thirty. I had to stop and think about it, what do I yield? Twenty, fifty-five, eighty? I sure hope that I am one of the cases that produce a hundredfold. I want my life to count for something more than just living for this world.

What seed are you, and how much to you bear fruit and yield?

What do you think?

2010-01-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was reading in Matthew and I read these verses and I completely love them, but I want to know what other people think about them.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

So what do you think about this set of verses?

A few Christmas things to catch up on

2010-01-13T10:05:00.001-07:00

Silence and Solitude Part 5

2010-01-12T23:59:00.037-07:00

Here is the last part to this series, please refer back to Part 1 before you go on to read this section.

~~~~~~~

Part 5

Journaling
The following is a copy of the template I created for myself to organize my days of silence and solitude for the purpose of journaling. I offer it knowing that you can and should chande it to fin your life. This is not Scripture, it's not perfect, and I don't claim it is. Rather, it is a simple tool for you to adapt as you need. For me, I keep notes in my Moleskine throughout the week, and sit down to answer these questions on my laptop in a Word document. This keeps it simple for me and allows me to see God's work in my life over time.

Ideally, every Christina would do a modified version of this plan every week as an act of worship, taking around an hour to answer a few questions that are most pressing for them. In addition, it is wise to take at least one full day a month in silence and solitude to answer all the questions without being rushed, leaving time to open your Bible, pray, repent, worship, and ponder.

Silence and Solitude Journaling Template
"... the report about him [Jesus] went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray."--Luke 5:15-16

Date:
Modified or Full Plan:
Note: Here I am making note if it's one hour or one day for silence and solitude.
Place and Conditions:
Note: I am someone for whom space deeply matters. On a nice day I sit outside by a river or at a beach in a beautiful spot. I don't like coffee shops (too noisy and crowded) or the office (too much distraction). I like to be up high with a view, crave fresh air, love the sun, and cannot relax where it's loud, busy, ugly, stinky, disorganized, poorly designed, uncomfortable, or too hot or cold, and yes, I am picky. So, I note where I was and that helps me keep a record of nice spots for silence and solitude days. I borrow friends' vacation homes, have spots I like outside of town in the mountains, and so forth.

Part 1 - Recent Evidences of God's Grace

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word."--2 Thess. 2:16-17

Note; To have good words and works, we need hope and comfort by seeing and savoring evidences of God's grace. I start with this topic to get me into a mode of worship. I can be quiet a gloomy and moody person, so this gets me going in the right direction for my time with God. I often take an hour on this topic alone and make a long list, thanking God and praying as I go.

Part 2 - Deep Questions

"The purpose in a man's mind is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out."--Prov. 20:5 (RSV)

Note: These are my questions and you can make your own or change mine. I don't include Bible reading and study because they are like breathing to me, but you may want to add them. In question four I'm talking about my wife, Grace. I list each of my kids in question five because with a big family it's too easy to treat the kids as a herd rather than knowing and pastoring each one. I put my owrk last, figuring that if the rest of my life is in order, work will go well. I rate every question on a scale so that I can be honest about how I'm doing and track progress over time. The prayer points are things I pray about as I'm journaling and things to put on my prayer list that week. The action items go on my calendar. Lastly, I share a lot of this with my wife, friends, and others, and a lot of my blogs and ministry training are simply sharing what comes out my journaling on days of silence and solitude.

1. How accurate is my view of God lately?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

2. How are my joy in the Holy Spirit and corresponding hope?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

3. What temptations and sins are mosst ensnaring?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

4. How is my connection with my wife?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

5. How is my connection with each of my children?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

6. How is my health (e.g., weight, diet, exercise)?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

7. How is my sleep (e.g., bed time, quality of sleep, length of sleep)?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

8. How is my energy level?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

9. How is my dominion over my technology (e.g., cell phone, laptop, email, text)?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

10. How is the stewardship of my wealth (e.g., finances, possessions, property, investments)?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

11. Hos is my social life with friends and extended family?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

12. Who or what is filling my tank lately?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

13. Who or what is draining my tank lately?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

14. Who has sinned against me and how am I responding?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

15. Who do I need to confide in and where should I seek wisdom?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

16. Are there any warning signs that I am burning out?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

17. Am I successfully getting our of the river onto the bank enough through silence, solitude, study, and Sabbath?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

18. What do I need to stop doing, do less of, or hand off to someone else?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

19. How are my self-deception and truth suppression?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

20. How is my writing (e.g., books, blogs, papers)?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

21. How is my preaching (preparation and results, in and out of Mars Hill)?
+Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
+Prayer Points
+Action Items

~~~~~~~

I have a love/hate relationship with journaling. I love doing it because I can get things out of my head and put it on paper so that I can see it before me instead of trying to keep track of things in my head. I find that when I journal, it is a way of talking with God. I get to think through the things that are going on in my life and here is where the catch is for me. There is so much going on in my life that I just want to keep writing and writing and writing. And I don't really have the time to do such. I think that there are some good things that Mark shared here but I would recommend doing your own thing when journaling. Maybe take a few things that he said but definitely come up with your own plan.

Well, there has been a lot to think on and a lot to chew on from this little discussion. I pray that Mark's thoughts and my thought help you to pursue Christ more as you pray, read the word, and journal.

Silence and Solitude Part 4

2010-01-07T13:05:00.001-07:00

It is a new year and I have been busy with family and friends. It almost seems like forever since I posted on here. But to continue on with the silence and solitude series, please refer back to Part 1 before you go on to read this section.

~~~~~~~

Part 4

Silence and Solitude Stealers

Despite the Bible's exhortation and Jesus' example to enjoy times of silence and solitude, few Christinas regulatly enjoy thses gifts from God. This is because there are some real enemies at work that need to be combated for silence and solitude to be enjoyed. The following are some of the more common silence and solitude stealers that have to be dealt with as an act of repentance:

Those people - pushy, needy, demanding, high-drama, inconsiderate people steal your life, joy, health, and time--often in the neame of ministry, when it's really people-pleasing idolatry that allows them to get away with it.
Technology - you cannot be a maturing Christian following the example of Jesus Christ if you are always surging the Internet, dinking around on your cell phone, reading emails, texting, tweeting, rocking out, and watching TV. You have to turn them off to tune int ot God. Yes, I have all of the latest technology, and I turn it off so my soul can recharge. Do you really think Jesus would have been checking his buddy's friend request in the Garden of Gethsemane if he had and iPhone?
Lack of planning - in Leading On Empty, Wayne Cordeiro shows that in Genesis 1 when the Bible describes days, it says there was first evening then morning. So, bibically, the day begins at night with rest, Sabbath, and silence. That then prepares us for work and conversation. This is like Jesus who spent time alone before beginning his public ministry.
Trading busyness for fruitfulness - some people say they are too busy to worship, pray, Sabbath, journal, and so forth, cut they have tragically traded being busy for being godly, obedient, and wise fruitful stewards. Is your busyness truly fruitful or would some plans to organize your world, home, diet, budget, schedule, and life be helpful?
Lack of appreciation - the Bible has a great deal to say about the benefits of purposeful silence, including:

hearing from God (1 Kings 19:11-13)
waiting patiently for the Lord to act (Lam. 3:25-28)
worshiping God (Hab. 2:20)
knowing God better (Ps. 46:10)
praying effectively (Luke 5:16)

My prayer is that those reading this who are guilty of people and noise addiction would experience the regular gifts of silence and solitude because that is often where God is waiting for us. There was silence before God spoke the world into existence, and silence for forty days before Jesus began his public ministry. May you too enjoy silence and solitude before you attempt to live your life with, for, like, and to God.

~~~~~~~

I have to say that I love number one and two. There are so many people that I love hanging out with and there is so much technology that I love messing around on. I can get distracted by what people and this world has to offer. There are many times that I justify myself in what I do which is not okay. I tell myself that it is okay to go and hang out even though I have not had any time with Jesus that day. I think that your day will be more filled with Christ if you are to dive in each morning and spend time in the word and in prayer. Mark says that night is when it should start, but I think you need something to reguvinate you in your day. Something that you can hold onto and cling to through out your day. So the best time, I think is in the morning before you start anything else in your day.

Silence and Solitude Part 3

2009-12-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Please refer back to Part 1 before you go on to read this section.

~~~~~~~

Part 3

Understanding Silence and Solitude

Silence and solitude is fasting from people and noise for a prescribed time to connect with God and replenish the soul. The opposite of solitude is isolation, where someone is burned out and goes into survival mode by disappearing. Solitude is goldy, isolation is deadly, and if we don't enjoy the former we'll wind up pursuing the latter.

Despite the constant pressures upon his time from family, friends, and fans, Jesus' own life was marked by ongoing times of solitude. The following verses speak of how Jesus often pracited the spititual disciplne of solitude:

"And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone." (Matt. 14:23)
"And he said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat." (Mark 6:31)
"And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place." (Luke 4:42)
"But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray." (Luke 5:16)

Furthermore, as we study Scripture we see that Jesus used solitude for a multitude of purposes. Following his baptism, Jesus spent forty days in solitude preparing for his public ministry (Matt. 4:1-11). After his cousin, John the Baptizer, was beheaded, Jesus spent time alone to mourn (Matt. 14:12-13). Jesus also used times of solitude as occasions for intense and focused prayer (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16). Jesus specifically used solitude as an opportunity to pray and seek the Father's will before choosing the twelve disciples (Luke 6:12). In addition, Jesus used solitude to rest after a hard day of work (Mark 6:31). Finally, knowing he was soon to be crucified, Jesus spent time alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, coming to grips with the painful obedience that was required of him (Mark 26:36-46 [It is actually Matt. 26:36-46]).

Other biblical figures also used solitude for a litany of purposes. Moses spent time alone on the mountain with God in order to receive a word from God, namely the ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20). Isaiah was both saved and sustained by God through his times of solitude with the Lord (Isa. 30:15) In Psalm 62:1-2, 5 David says that in solitude God calmed his fears and encouraged this soul. Paul as well spent some three years in varying degrees of solitude being prepared by the Lord for ministry, according to Galatians 1:17-19.

Clearly, time alone with God serves innumerable good purposes in our lives. Therefore, to help you consider how to enjoy purposeful times of solitude, I would encourage the following. One, you may need to simply schedule a day of solitude to ensure that this is a regular part of your spiritual life. I do this at least one day a month and find it to be the most important and refreshing part of my life; it enables me to function in the other areas of my life because it helps me remain continually connected to Jesus. Two, find a place where you like to go. This may mean that you spend a day in God's creation hiking or simply resting. Three, if you are a parent, this may mean that you have to get up early or stay up late to get some time to yourself at home.

There are many things you can do during your periods of solitude, including:

Nothing
Meditate on a short section of Scripture
Rest
Read long sections of Scripture
Pray, including a prayer-walk/hike/bike
Read a good book
Journal

~~~~~~~

Wow, the first part was very much more relevant to me this time around that when I first read these. I have to admit and repent of yesterday. It seems like the whole day was a waste. I was lazy all day long. I got up and I was lazy. I sat around and played games on my computer from the time I got up to the time I had to head out, which was utterly lazy. At work, I was lazy and didn't really want to do things very well or to the glory of God. I didn't want to do anything to the best ability that I could. Small insignificant things would irritate me because it meant that I had to work harder. I just wanted to be lazy. Even after work, I had seen that I was completely lazy about it and I was still lazy after work. I did nothing productive at all. I probably could come up with many different verses about not being lazy. Here is one that I have memorized because of the things I do in ministry. Proverbs 22:29, "Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." Be excellent at what you do, and don't be lazy about it! I think I was searching for isolation as I didn't want to do anything with anyone. And that is not me at all, I thrive off of other people.

As this is something that I have never really studied, seeing Jesus and all these different people in the Bible has a different impact now that I read them again. I can see that they thrived off of their times with God. They were rejuvenated and as David says, he put his hope in the Lord. I don't think that I do that very often. Most times I try and do this silence and solitude thing, I am looking forward to hanging out with people again. I need to change in how I think about these times. They are a time to seek God and to put my hope in him.

I would be careful about some of the things that Mark says you can do. I would abstain from doing nothing. I can't remember or find the exact verse but I believe that it says something to the extent of, idle hands brings about sin. So I would be careful to do nothing. I did that yesterday and it did not bring about any good. I would be careful of what you think rest is as well. Often times I rest by doing nothing, or by sleeping for longer than I should, or even by hanging out with people when I should be off by myself. Make sure you rest in God and not in things of this world.

Silence and Solitude Part 2

2009-12-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

Please refer back to Part 1 before you go on to read this section.

~~~~~~~

Part 2

Organizing a Silence and Solitude Day

Four Ways to Change Your Life

Heart change - conviction from God and repentance from you
Study - research and fact-finding for how to change your life, which includes reading the Bible and other books, speaking with people you know who have wisdom, etc.
Plan - ongoing, detailed, and prayerful life organization
Action - working your plan and making changes as life requires:

Moleskine - always keep a journal like this nearby to jot notes, thoughts and convictions in
Journaling - use your laptop to gather the scattered ideas in your Moleskine and prayerfully and carefully add to and consider them
Calendar - take action items from you silence and solitude day and put them on the calendar, as without being officially planned, nothing ever gets done to completion

Most people are good at one or two of these steps. Some have a heart to change and do their homework but do not make a plan and take action to change thier life. Others have plans and action but are religiously just doing duties because they have not experienced heart change from God. Others move from heart change to action without research and a plan; they mean well but the make their life (e.g., health, finances, relationships) worse.

Take some time and be honest with yourself. List each of these steps in order from the one you are strongest at the one you are the weakest at.

Where is your life getting stuck and what can you do to grow where you are weak? Who do you need to talk to and learn from? What do you need to repent of?

~~~~~~~

So here is my list in order from strongest to weakest: 2, 1, 3, 4. And even then I am not very good at 2 or 1. I actually like journaling. I find that it is easier to get all of my thoughts on paper where I can see them in front of me instead of trying to keep them all sorted out in my mind. The problem that I have is that I often just don't find the time to journal. I think I am going to set a specific time each day to even just write that I don't have time to write much currently, but at least keep a journal going. That way I can see where God has worked in my life and what prayers he has answered.

Silence and Solitude Part 1

2009-12-16T23:48:00.002-07:00

I am just going to give a preface before I dive into this. So far, this study has been good for me and I figured that I would share it with all of you as well. It is a five part series and I have gotten through part 3 so far. It is from Mark Driscoll and I don't know where the brother who got this for me, got it from. So I will retype it for you and remember, this is from Mark Driscoll...not me. At the end, I will give you my thoughts and how I see my life with the context of each section.

~~~~~~~

Part 1

Organizing a Silence and Solitude Day

I am an introvert who is contemplative. This means I crave and desperately need silence, solitude, study, prayer, and journaling because the Holy Spirit uses these moments to connect me to Jesus that I might be more like him. For those like me, organizing days for silence and solitude may come rather naturally. But for those who are extroverted and active, the people and tasks in their mind and life can keep them from having regular and productive time to fast from noise and people and to hear from God, speak to god, and be with God.

So, this blog is the first in a series that will help you organize a silence and solitude day. The series of blogs will culminate in a lengthy template I use to organize my own silence and solitude days. I shared this document with the Mars Hill staff and so many friends on Facebook and Twitter asked for it after hearing about it that I decided to write it up in brief form and give it away in hopes of being helpful.

Four Ways to Live Your Life

In his book Leading On Empty, Wayne Cordeiro says that there are only four ways to live your life:

Reaction - passively dominated by urgencies and pushy people
Conformity - succumbing to the fear of man and just being and doing what everyone else wants, which is not necessarily following God's will of you personally
Independence - nonconforming rebellion in the name of freedom, marked by doing only what you want and ignoring godly authority over you
Intentionality - reverse-engineering your life and living it prayerfully and putposefully, journalling your thoughts throughout the day, and using silence and solitude to hear from God and organize your life.

Whis one of these four most typifies you? Is your life a frazzled mess because you are in perpetual reation mode? Have you not really even deeply pondered God's will for your life but just done what you were told by other people?

Are you the sort of person who is defiant, independent, and self-reliant? Or, do you regularly (e.g., at least one hour a week and one day a month) get silence and solitude with God to work on your life before you work in it?

~~~~~~~

Now, back to what I think, I am very much the "extroverted and active, the people and tasks in their mind and life can keep them from having regular and productive time to fast from noise and people and to hear from God, speak to god, and be with God." I'll be honest and say that I don't get regular times in the word and many times, I just don't feel like it because I would much rather spend it with other people. People are what rejuvenate me, not being alone. Out of all of the ways that it says we live our life, I like number 4 the best and pray that I might do that more.

I feel like I am a person that is very much in the reaction mode, maybe not so much the pushy part but definitely the reaction part. Always running from one thing to the next, trying to manage everything that I am doing, I am a micro-manager. I would tend to say, most guys are like this, that they are in the reaction mode. When I see something wrong, my first thought is how do I fix it. And so, I am always trying to figure out how to fix things. And many times I am not the best at it and I have to let it go and let God take care of it. I pray that God would change me to make me a person that loves his word and longs for times with him.

This is why...

2009-12-12T23:28:00.001-07:00

This is taken directly from our church news letter and this is exactly why I run this race. There is not much more that brings me more joy than seeing someones life change this dramatically! This story is especially close to me as he is on my discipleship team and although I have heard and read the story many times, it still brings me to tears because of the huge change in his life.

New Faith: Taking the plunge
Jumping from Atheism to Christianity
By Chris Neal

In September, during a D-Team campout, I stood at the edge of a 12-foot cliff along the Poudre River, contemplating if I would make the plunge from atheism to Christianity.

I'm a 20-year-old student at CSU. No one in my immediate family is religious; I grew up thinking Noah and the ark was a fairy tale, and we only went to church on Christmas Eve. I started hanging out with a D-Team two years ago, and they convinced me to start going to the Rock last year.

On November 6th, after the Rock, I started talking to Chris Klumph, and he asked when I'd been saved. I told him that I wasn't yet, so he asked me where I was at spiritually. I told him that over the last couple years I've been looking for answers. He told me that I should earnestly seek God so that he would reveal himself. So I went home and kept reading the New Testament that Nathan Hrouda gave me a couple years ago.

I was in John 6, shortly after one of the versions of Jesus feeding the 5,000. I was immediately struck be line 26: "Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.'" I was convinced that eating the loaves had some deep symbolic meaning that might show me that there's a way besides an obvious miracle that might convince me of the reality of God. So I asked one of my housemates, Stephen Meyer, and he said that they were just following Jesus because He basically gave them a free lunch. I asked Stephen how looking for miraculous signs could be a preferable alternative when the Pharisees had asked for sign after sign. Stephen said that the problem wasn't in asking for miracles, it was that the Pharisees were so dead-set in their false beliefs.

I had to admit that I was definitely one of those stubborn people. Even though I'd been going to the Rock, to church, to a creation science class once a week, and I'd even started reading the Bible, I wasn't being open minded at all. Whenever I heard a statement, my first thought was "Where's the flaw in that argument? What's the best way to refute that claim?" I knew then that I needed to change my outlook, but still didn't know how I was supposed to get proof without a miracle. Then I read John 7:17 - "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.'" I kept reading until John Larsen came home, then told him about what had happened that evening and what I'd been thinking. He told me that it was awesome that my stubborn mindset had changed so greatly in one night, but that taking that step had pretty significant implications. I was sobered, but still determined to make a big step that night. I then remembered that I'd jotted down the lines of one more Bible verse that I'd just read while waiting for John. It was John 9:3, in which Jesus told people that a blind man wasn't being punished for his sins; he had bee blind so that God would be glorified upon his healing. The blind man might have suffered due to his blindness, but he must have appreciated his vision all the more once he miraculously received it. So maybe God wanted me to wait until now so that I'd have the kind of testimony that I'd wanted to hear for the last few months: a testimony with a clear point at which someone had a sudden revelation that led them to believe in God. I hope when I share my story with others, they will realize that the search for truth can be a long process, but eventually, if they're simply willing to open their mind just for a few hours, maybe God could reveal Himself to them.

That is what I did, as John asked if I was ready to 'take the plunge.' I did, praying with him to accept Christ. I may not yet understand everything about the Christian worldview or God's ways, but I felt that the events and emotional impact of that night were enough for me to make the jump of believing in God and begin my search for truth as a Christian.

That is why I love this church and this movement, to see people lives changed for Christ. I will say it again and I will say it for the rest of my life. I will run this race and keep running through the high and low only to see more peoples lives changed for Christ!

It's that time of the year again...

2009-12-09T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well, yes the snow has fallen and it is about -5 degrees outside right now and we put up lights inside the house, have a little fake tree with lights on it and I am just loving this season right now.

But at the same time, it is also finals time. I have one final done and two more to go and a paper and a project. There is much to be done and much grace is needed. I could use some prayer along with the rest of everyone else that have finals.

And remember, keep that smiley face on your hand. :)

Why do I do all this?

2009-12-04T01:10:00.003-07:00

The school year is about over. I am done with this semester on the 14th of December which means finals are right around the corner. I have this love hate relationship with finals as once they are done, that means I am done with that class. But that means that I have lots of studying to do. I always have to remind myself of why I am doing all of this.

Back when I was at CSU, I really didn't put God and school together. And with that, I was trying to do things on myself which eventually was my down fall with school at CSU. I would try and get a grade for myself to make myself feel good or for my parents so that I could show that I was doing okay. It was never for God that I was doing school.

I have learned way more now about why I do school than I ever thought I would. And even more so, why I do everything in this life. I have had to realize that my life is not my own. I have been listening to a band that I heard of recently called Owl City and one of the songs on the album is called Metor Shower says just that.

I can finally see,
that you're right there beside me,
I am not my own,
for I have been made new.
Please don't let me go,
I desperately need you

I am not my own,
for I have been made new,
Please don't let me go,
I desperately need you

I had to realize that I do everything in my life for the glory of God and none other. That I can not take any praise for anything in my life and that it all has to redirected back to God. So when I do good in school, I can praise God for what he is doing in my life.

There was a brother who wanted to share the gospel with someone each day before he came and so he would put a small infinity symbol on his hand to remind himself to go sharing. It would remind him of eternity and that he wants to share eternity with someone else today.

Now what does this have to do with what we do and why we do it? For a while I would ask people if they wanted a smiley face drawn on their hand just because I had a permanent marker. I was actually talking about this subject with my break down group and I told them that if you need a reminder on why we do everything in our life, including school, put a smiley face on your hand just as our brother reminded himself of eternity.

So remember as we go through the end of the semester, why we do school. It is to glorify God alone! And if you need to remind yourself of that during the toughest of finals and projects and papers, then put a smiley face on your hand.

Also, when you feel like school is just too much and over bearing, you can also look at this picture and know that our God is bigger than that! (Picture of the galaxy Andromeda taken with and ultraviolet camera) And that means that he is bigger than school!

Epicness!!!

2009-11-27T00:54:00.001-07:00

I am not even sure where to start with this. Let's see here...So over the summer, Stephen, Gio, and I got to know Jayson. Jayson was our boss for Stanley Steemer and we got to challenge him in his faith and I know God did some pretty amazing things over the summer with just our little group of 4. Jayson was hoping that we would be able to come out for a Thanksgiving break trip like we did last year. That is where this story starts...

I knew that we were not going out to El Paso for a Thanksgiving break trip but I really wanted to bless Jayson so that we could see him again and encourage him. I decided that I would try as hard as I could to get down there for a short little trip. So I asked Stephen and Gio what they thought about it and they eventually said yes. I started working on the plans and got a place to stay at and was able to tell Jayson that we were coming down. We got to stay with Ryan and Amanda which was great fun as Stephen and I got to stay with them over the summer.

We headed down to my parents place after The Rock on Friday to stay the night. We got coffee and breakfast to go from my parents, which was awesome, and we were headed to Gio's place to drop stuff off there and to see his mom on Saturday morning. We got there and had even more coffee, which was okay with me considering that it was really good! Finally we were off to El Paso. After a long drive, lots of gas, and good times in the car we finally got down there. We made great time due to Gio's lack of being able to pay attention to what the reading was on the speedometer was.

We grabbed some dinner at Sonic as us three have some pretty good memories at sonic. And then we went to church, and that was freaking awesome in itself. Worship was great and then Tom talked about how we are not citizen's of this world but of a different kingdom. And I honestly can't wait till I am taken home. You can check the message out here, and I recommend it! Just click on Holy War (11/29/09). We stayed and helped clean up a bit and then headed home with the Ryan and Amanda. We got to hang out with them some as the packed up because they were actually headed to Colorado for Thanksgiving break. It was good to catch up some but they had to go to bed.

We hung out for a bit in the morning and then headed over to the shindig they were having that day. We got to eat and have lots of yummy food and hang out with the church. We finally were able to see and hang out with Jayson there and catch up over what all has happened since summer. Jayson and his wife Suzie had their first child the Wednesday before we came out which was one major thing that happened with them. Jayson's brother was out along with Suzie's sister and so we got to meet them and hang out and have much fun chatting. We hung out for a while and then headed over to Jayson and Suzie's for pizza and monopoly.

We played one of the oddest games of monopoly that I have ever played. Stephen, as hard as he tried, could not die. The game went a totally different direction than anyone would have thought it would have gone and it was much fun, or at least I thought it was...Stephen might disagree with me. We had to head out then because Jayson had to work early in the morning and we had decided then that we just wanted to head home then instead of stay the night again. And so we went home to pack up and clean up.

I went to the store to grab some food and coffee mugs and a 3 liter of Dr. Pepper. I have to say that I was very proud of the 3 liter :) Gio drove the first leg of the trip while Stephen and I slept so that we could stay awake together during the second leg of the trip. We got to Albuquerque when Gio decided that it was time to wake me up to drive as he was starting to get tunnel vision, if you understand what that means when driving...I think I understand it. I drove for a while talking with Stephen when he decided that it was time to go to sleep as he didn't really sleep while Gio was driving. As I was driving, I all of a sudden saw flashing lights behind me and that feeling of "oh crap, I'm caught". I was averaging about 85-90 during this time because there was absolutely no one on the road. But the sheriff went around me and I saw him cross over the median to a car that was on the other side of the road with it's flashers on. Well with great excitement I hit 105 when I figured that I should slow down so that a po-po really don't pull me over. I got all the way to Trinidad when the sun was coming up and I could no long drive safely. I switched with Gio again, as Stephen really is not a fan of driving, and promptly fell asleep once we were back on the highway. I was awaken by Gio slowing down and he said that he was being pulled over. After that was done, I went back to sleep and was awoken again because he was being pulled over again. And well, I went back to sleep. We got to his house where we picked up his brother and kept driving to my house. Gio decided that he didn't want to drive anymore and so I took over. I had much fun during this last part and made it home safely. This was not the end of the trip yet. We had to take Stephen home and I drove with my mom up to Fort Collins and back and we had a blast on that drive too.

In all the trip was less than 72 hours and I was greatly encouraged. Jayson has completely turned his life around from where it was when we first met him. He stopped drinking and smoking altogether and has been pursuing Christ even more. It is going to be awesome to see what God does with that man!

As you can see, the whole weekend was completely epic because everything was very impromptu which made it great and did I say epic, well it was epic! If you ever get the chance, go and see some friends so that you may encourage them and so that you may be encouraged yourself.

Your Love Remains

2009-11-18T17:54:00.001-07:00

Here is an awesome video and song from our brothers and sisters out in Utah

More Hebrews and a Proverb

2009-11-16T20:17:00.001-07:00

Hebrews just got done talking about how a bunch of the Old Testament characters had faith and because of their faith, it was counted to them as righteousness. And then it says at 11:13-16

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

I am not a citizen of this world. I belong else where and I am awaiting my homeland and my God is not ashamed to be my God!

I laughed when I read this Proverb. It is 27:14

14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.

I now have a verse to tell people not to wake me because I am sleeping! Okay...well, that might be taking it a little too far

mmmm....so good!

2009-11-15T23:44:00.001-07:00

Here is some encouragement for you... or at least I found it encouraging.

Hebrews 10:23-25 says:

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

I love verse 23! What is our hope? Our hope is that Christ has covered all of our sin and is coming back! And then it says, 'for he who promised is faithful'. With this, we can know that he will be faithful in redeeming us.

And then in Hebrews 10:31, it says:

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

It just got done talking about our sin and that God will be just and I actually find this encouraging. I am in the hands of the living God which is a place of comfort, but at the same time it is such a fear thing. I am in the hands of the God that could end my very next breath.

Be ready because Christ is coming back, I am reminded of Luke 12:35-48

35 "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

41 Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?" And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Sounds

2009-11-06T13:36:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine found this video...check it out

Sounds

An interesting talk, I think it is true that music is very powerful. Maybe that is why I like it so much and why I love running sound. Music strikes a powerful chord with a lot of different people.

Words can't describe it....

2009-11-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, so you know how I was talking about my super sweet friends, well their website is up and they have a few songs that you can stream. I have gotten the privilege to listen to the entire CD and it is freaking sweet! I am super excited for when the rest of you can listen to it all. The album will be released on the 13th and you all should buy it.

Now I also have some pretty sweet friends that live out in Utah. We have a sister church out there that is called The Rock Church. They also have put out some pretty sweet CD's and they have a new one that is going to be released on the 14th. Here is the website for their newest CD called Promises.

I just can't escape from all of the awesomeness around me. I am privilaged that I even get to be part of it. Plus some good friends of mine are getting married that weekend as well. It is going to be one epic weekend of awesomeness!

I have the coolest nephews ever!

2009-11-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

They were Star Wars Clone Troopers for Halloween

AWESOMENESS!!!

2009-10-29T16:27:00.001-06:00

So I have some pretty sweet friends. There isn't much more to it....

Okay, so I will tell you why. Travis Swan and Katrina Stone are some of the best musicians I know of. Travis is the worship leader for Summitview which is the church that I go to. And Katrina does music for life. She has also been a fellow sound person with me.

Anyway, they just finished a CD which will be released mid-november. The band is called The Unlikelies and here is a song that they are giving away for free that will be on the CD.

http://www.travisland.net/Almighty.mp3

This is their website that will be up soon; theunlikelies.com

And while I am at it, I might as well tell of the band that I run sound for almost every Friday. I also think that these friends are pretty sweet. I get to hang out with them lots and also get to make great mixes for them. They also have an EP that you can download on the Rock website. The Rock is the college student group from Summitview.

Pretty much, my friends are cool.

Not a bad deal!

2009-10-26T21:27:00.000-06:00

http://www.win741.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/

Where is your heart?

2009-10-03T14:10:00.002-06:00

And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So where do you put your treasure and your heart?

Joy

2009-10-01T23:15:00.002-06:00

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
-Jesus (Luke 10:19-20)

Alright, just think about this. Jesus has given us authority to tread over Satan...how cool is that. I have been given the power to go through anything that this world can throw at me. But for those who have accepted Christ, we get to rejoice that our names are written in heaven! How much more cool is that?

What a day!

2009-09-29T22:52:00.004-06:00

Let me tell you about the day of September 28th, 2009. It was quite an epic day...

I had a really hard time getting up that morning and got to work just a tad bit late. But the thing was that Greg and Chris weren't there yet, so does that mean that I was actually late? I'll let you ponder on that for a bit....okay, that was long enough.

Chris and I started working on the lights in the auditorium because a lot of them were out. By then end, I think we changed about 10 lights. Now, to change all of these lights in the auditorium, you could use the genie, which is a scissor lift, but for the other, you would have to use this super freaking huge ladder that has to way lots and is really hard to move around. Now I would have to climb all the way up it and then change the bulb while not actually touching it because they are special. Okay, so it isn't that hard, it just seems like it when all you are doing is yawning while you work. About mid-morning, we decided that we needed to get some liquid caffeine and so Chris got some coffee and I got some DP! yeah, woot woot for the DP. Although a vanilla latte would have been just as good. So after our short break we get back to work and finish up the lights and start to work on the sprinkler system in the auditorium. Each sprinkler head has a cap that goes on it and some had been falling off. Now, the place to get to the pipes in the ceiling requires going up to the very top and climbing around on 2" wide pieces of metal that are holding drywall up and the metal is held up by wire. And so if you take a wrong step somewhere....down you go. And so I climbed around and got to this hole that I had to go through. It was like a fire wall that has this small 2' by 2' access hole and well...I yet again had to step on 2" metal that is more flimsy than the first set. So we work on the system and figured out that there was nothing that we could do for it at the time and so I went up there for essentially nothing. But all the same, I love climbing around up there and doing stuff and it was a lot of fun. And so not it is about 12:15 and I have to rush off to my next thing for the day.

A good friend, Justin Marks, wanted to take me to get a message at the Student Center. We tired to do it on Friday but they were all booked and so we rescheduled for Monday. I get there and we wait for just a bit and then it is my turn. I sat down in the chair and he starts going at it and it is just awesome! It only lasted for 10 minutes unfortunately but as Justin is getting his turn, I get to sit in one of those chairs that you see in malls all the time. It was this robotic chair messager thingy and I decided that I need one in my house. I can only imagine they are super expensive. Well by this time, it is time to head off to class.

I get to class to see an unfimiliar face at the front of the room. Apperantly our teacher got a cold and had this sub come in for the day. He has been an audio engineer for a couple of years now and is not really a teacher. He even admitted that. It didn't really seem like he wanted to be teaching and I guess he thought we didn't want to be there. Although, I would have to say that it is one of my favorite classes right now. And so he fly's through the powerpoint and after class there is a classmate asking him a question and I was sticking around just to make sure that I understood. And we start talking some and he is showing me some of the mics that he brought in to class and he asks if I want to come and see his studio some time. I was like, REALLY??? And I said sure, I got his number so that I could call him some time to come and see the place. I couldn't believe it. Hopefully, this might even turn out to be a career oportunity. We will have to see what God has in plan. Another class comes in and he has to teach and so I head out and go home.

I am home for a bit just to realize that I had locked my keys in the truck...again! I did it about two weeks ago. I think I need to go and make a spare copy. I call AAA and they come and get my keys out and then I decided that it was time for a nap. After all this excitment in the day, I was tired. I dose for a while and get up to work on some homeworkness before I have to head out to the observatory to do some astronomy labs.

That place was packed. I was in a group of about 40-50 people memorizing where things are in the sky. I had so do another lab of looking through a telescope at the moon. And the deck where the telescope was at had about 20 people on it. Now this deck wasn't very big. When I was final able to look at the moon throught the telescope, I was just amazed! The moon as so beautiful and bright and it had so much detail on it...I can't describe how cool it was to look at it. This just gives me more evidence that God created such a thing for us to look at. That is his beauty that we are looking at in the night sky.

Our God is so cool. Just the small things in life can bring us so much joy. Things like while you are at work climbing around in the ceiling, or having someone message your back, or getting a number to go and look at a recording studio, or looking at an amazing moon! What a day it was to live in God's presence. He is always there and he does care about us. Although we may have good days and bad days, he loves us all the same!

Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:7-9 (emphasis mine)
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.

the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.

the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

Just let go

2009-09-27T22:52:00.006-06:00

Today, I was reading in Luke 9 and right at the very end where it talks about The Cost of Following Jesus.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

I started thinking about this passage and well, I was pretty convicted and still not quite sure where I stand with it. Jesus said to these three men to follow him. But Jesus hit them at the heart, where it hurts the most. He told them that they had to let go of certain things before they could start to follow him.

I had to take that and apply it to my life. How much am I still holding onto? I can say that I am still running and following after Jesus but what am I holding onto that is behind me and keeping me from getting closer to him? It is like you are running as hard as you can in one direction but you are not getting very far because there is a parachute attached to your back with the wind blowing in the opposite direction. All you have to do is release the parachute so that you can run. I know that as life goes on that I will let go of a lot of things and I will cling to many others. That is sadly only because I unfortunately love this sinful-broken world. I wish it was not this way and that Jesus would take me home already but as Philippians says, I am still here for a reason.

I can only ask you this as I realize what is holding me back...what are you still holding onto?

Pretty much awesome!

2009-09-19T18:25:00.003-06:00

The bass guitar has to be one of my favorite instruments in a band and I have to say that this is pretty cool

And as far as more classical instruments go, the violin would be one of my favorites, but this too is pretty cool

But I love running sound the most!

2009-09-03T16:40:00.000-06:00

Let me catch you up some on life since El Paso. I told my boss at Stanley Steemer that I would be able to stay till about mid-august while most everyone else came back on August first. I let the peeps who went back on the first borrow my car because they needed an extra car to go back and the few of us that stayed were going to be able fine without it. Well, I didn't think to check the oil and neither did they and so my car died. It blew a piston rod and is no longer useable. We sold it for what the body is worth and going to save that money for a new car. Well, new car to me...probably used. Because my car died, my parents and I are going to be a two car family until we get another one.

I am still doing sound for The Rock (www.rockrevolution.com) and for Summitview (www.summitview.com). We just had out first service last Friday....and that seems to be worded wierd. Anyway, it was freaking awesome. The service was great and God did some pretty awesome stuff. The week prior, I was working to get out new place ready, which turns out to be an awesome venue. Last Friday though, before the Rock, it was seemed like chaos all around. Partly because we have a pretty young crew as to what they are doing in their ministries and so I had to help out all over the place. I felt like I was being pulled in a million different directions. But with God's help and strength, I made it through the night. By the time I got home, my legs just ached and I was ready for bed.

Instead of working nights at the church building as a building attendant, I am now working days there as Chris's side kick, the facilities guy. I just started this week and I worked on sprinklers with Chris and Greg, our boss. It was much fun.

I am also now on a new team...or rather a combined team. The discipleship team that I was on just joined John Larsen's team to make a huge team. We had our first team yesterday and it was fun. We are going through Philippians and we started with 1:1-18. We are finishing out the rest of chapter one next week. There are now approximately 20 or so people on our team. I am super excited to be on the team. I think God is going to do some awesome stuff with our team in ways that we probably won't see or understand.

I am taking classes out at Front Range again this semester and I have to say that I am kind of excited for some of my classes. One class that I am excited for my Audio Production class. I get to learn about recording sound and all that fun stuff.

So that is Zach's life as of right now, I'll keep you post for later things

Drumming in your sleep....????

2009-08-27T22:43:00.003-06:00

So I was at band practice, and it is always a great time as always. I love listening to the band figure things out and get it down for The Rock. I get to sit there and try and figure out what sounds the best and make sure things aren't overlapping eachother, blah blah blah. You don't want to hear about what I do at band practice. In fact, I think most people would consider it boring. But as they were practicing for a song, Ryan closed his eys for a sec and he some how thought that his new puppy was jumping on him because a tom fell therefore waking him up....while he was drumming still. It was hilarious :)

This is fun

2009-08-21T00:38:00.005-06:00

This is something that my uncle sent me....and I have to say, that is pretty awesome. And even if this isn't real, which I have a feeling that it is fake, it is still pretty cool.

Response

2009-07-27T09:46:00.003-06:00

So my sister had my nephews look at my blog and all the pictures that I posted on here and they liked it so much that they drew a picture for me. And well, my sister...haha...took another picture and sent it to me. I have to say that I love them too!

My Nephews!

2009-07-23T15:41:00.010-06:00

My sister recently got a Blackberry and has been loving it. She sends photos, it seems almost everyday. Although I don't get to see them very much, I get to see them via pictures from my sister.

I do have to say that I love them lots and can't wait to go and see them in a couple of weeks...

El Paso thus far...

2009-06-28T22:55:00.003-06:00

Once again, it has been quite a while since I have written on here. I have been super busy with work and have barely been able to even get on the internet, my main mode of communication is through the phone which is really weird considering I don't even really talk on the phone that much anyway.

I am working for Stanley Steamer and if you don't know what that is, it is a carpet cleaning company. I'll tell you a little about how I got the job. I remembered that one of my friends that did an infusion a couple of summers ago cleaned carpets and I figured that I would give it a try. I emailed as many as I could find, I think that was on a Thursday. On Saturday morning, I got a call from my the regional manager and he told me to go and have an interview on Monday morning and fill out an application. So I go in Monday morning and it turns out that I get hired on the spot and started that day. Circumstances turned out to be that by Wednesday of that week, I was in charge of a truck and had keys to the shop. Which also means that I got a pay increase within three days. I also have been working essentially 40+ hours a week which means that I have been really tired. This week starts my 4th week working down here in El Paso

A short break that I was able to have was to go back to Colorado for Ryan and Christy's wedding. I was one of the groomsmen in the wedding and I so I got to get all dressed up and have an awesome time. I drove up with a group of people on the Thursday before the wedding and had Ryan's bachelor party which was a blast. I also met my mom in FoCo for dinner that evening just so that I would be able to see at least her while I was in Colorado. Then we had the rehearsal and dinner. I don't think I have seen or ever will see again a rehearsal dinner so elaborate as that one again, it was super fun. Then the day was upon us. They got married in Estes Park and so during the morning we went and played disc golf at the Y there and then got ready after we had finished that really fun course. Took some pictures and then I got to help solve some sound problems which is always fun! And now for the big moment, after dating for 5 and a half years, they were finally at the time. We had gone through everything and all was ready. Ryan was up at the front with the rest of the wedding party and Christy was on her way down. You could tell that Ryan was trying to not make any funny faces as his beautiful bride was walking down the isle. John Meyer gave a great message and then it was time to celebrate. We all had fun dancing and hanging out. We had to head back down to El Paso on the following day, so we went down to my parents house to sleep and then head out from there. My parents made us a Father's day breakfast and we left from there. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Today I went with my boss and three other people to the Guadeloupe Mountains in Texas. The hike was not all that long but super fun. I took some pictures but my camera died soon after we got on the trail which was epically sad because we saw some amazing sights that I would have loved to take pictures of. Hopefully I will be able to get back there some time soon and take pictures for real this time.

God has been awesome down here and I feel like this is a time of trusting God this summer. Keep praying for us!

Psalm 146:7b-10

Life...

2009-06-05T10:21:00.012-06:00

It seems as though it has taken forever for me to update this thing. There has been so much that has been going on, it seems as though I have not had any time to do anything on the computer.

I am current in El Paso, Texas and have been here since the may 24th. I am down here to tell people about Jesus and help a sister church that is down here. I am super excited and can't wait to see what God has in store. I am taking a break from looking for jobs, so that I can finally update this. Most of the places that we have been to keep saying that I have to go online to apply and so I spent pretty much all day in one spot applying for jobs. Maybe I will go backwards in the timeline of Zach to update you on my life.

So I am currently in El Paso and we came down here on the 24th and I totally just repeated myself here. We have been looking for jobs ever since we got down here but still haven't found any. There are two people who had jobs before they came down and then only one other person has found one so far. So there are still 17 of us looking. Hopefully we will have jobs by next week or some of may have to start looking at going back home for the summer. Not something that I want to do and I trust God will get us jobs.

I went to Disney World recently and had a blast there. One of my high school friends has an intership there right now so he works at Splash Mountain. We were able to cut the line and just go to the front for splash mountain and thunder mountain because Andrew (my friend) has conncetions. So we went on those bunches. Here are some pictures...

The Magic Kingdom!!!

Splash Mountain!!!

Thunder Mountain!!!

Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror!!! I have never really been a big fan of this ride, but is is great to try and make some good faces at the camera...

EPCOT...which stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired according to one of the cast members.

We had dinner and a show at this really cool place. They cooked the food infront of us and then it we were celebrating my birthday and Andrew's birthday and so we got hats too just like this cool guy...

I didn't like my hat very much...

This ride was awesome! It was a super huge centrifuge and it would spin you around and put I think it was 2.5 G's on you. I had a lot of fun on that one yelling and pushing buttons and landing the space ship!

School ended and I didn't do as well as I wanted to but things are still good. Something to do with school though, I have decided that I am just going to get my A.A. and then decide what I want to major in. I am about half way through it but and I am taking a super exciting class next semester! It has to do with sound.

I think this is all that I will write about for now, partly because I haven't written forever and even writing this one I paused for like a week and have forgot more that has happened and also I just can't remember right now.

Be praying for jobs for everyone here in El Paso for the summer!

Dodging Sprinklers

2009-04-22T12:04:00.002-06:00

Well, I worked last night and as I was walking around the building to make sure that all the doors were locked and the windows were shut and the sprinklers were going on the east side of the building. I was walking right along next to the building and passed two of them and there was yet another ahead of me. I couldn't tell how far away the head was from me because it was dark. I thought it was moving away from me but it turns out that it was actually moving towards me. I started to get hit by the water and I jumped to try and get over it but now I was only standing closer and being blasted by water. My entire front was soaked and so I just walked through the rest knowing that there was no point in trying to dodge them now. So here is my great wisdom in this....never try to dodge sprinklers, you will get wet!

Movie

2009-04-22T11:02:00.003-06:00

I am supposed to watch a film for my English class and there is a list that I have to pick from...
So, if you know of one of these that is good, you should let me know.

The Searchers (dir. John Ford)
3:10 Yuma (either version)
Unforgiven Appaloosa
Open Range Orlando (starring Tilda Swanson)
A Very Long Engagement (French Film)
Life is Beautiful
Apocalypto
Antonia‟s Line (German film)
Memento
The Life of David Gale
21 Grams
Bridal Veil Falls (Swedish Film circa 1910‟s)
Don‟t Look Back (the film version for Bob Dylan‟s music clip)
Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones)
Hamlet (starring Mel Gibson)
Othello (starring Laurence Fishburne)

thoughts???

Cali

2009-04-18T16:04:00.016-06:00

Disclaimer....I wrote this right after the trip but haven't been able to put it up because I needed the rest of the pictures and I didn't have those and so I got them and then then I just haven't had time to finish it so while I am here in El Paso, I am taking a break from trying to find jobs because they are all online and so...here is from Cali!

I was on my out to California to see my grandparents just as a storm was coming in. I was sad to leave because we were supposed to get snow and if you know me, you know that I love snow. But it has been a long time since I have seen my grandparents. I got home right around midnight thirty and had to laundry. So I stayed up all night because we were supposed to get up at 2:30 so that we could leave by 3:30 to be at the airport by 4 so that we could catch our plane which left at 6.

The plane had to be de-iced before we could take off because it was snowing some and the wings had ice on them. The ride up was super bumpy for the first 15 minutes while we tried to get out of the clouds. I had a blast because I love turbulence, it makes the ride fun. Kind of like a roller coaster, you get thrown all over the place. The ride started to get boring because we were getting out of the clouds but I took a few pictures with my phone because it was super cool to see the sun just hitting the tops of the clouds. We had a super short layover in Phoenix and then we headed off to California.

When we got to my grandparents house, we looked around and it hadn't changed a bit...well, except for one thing that did change but it wasn't anything huge. I tried to do some homework after we settled in, but that wasn't working out because I stayed up all night and didn't sleep much on the plane and I was trying to do it outside in the sun but that was just putting me to sleep so I took a nap. My mom woke me up to say that my cousin wanted to take me to In-N-Out. With those words, I was up and moving because if you have never had In-N-Out, then you are missing out (haha, I just rhymed). It was super yummy and so we headed to the beach so that I could say that I went there during this trip. It was dark and we pretty much just walked down to the water and back. I took a picture of the ocean in the dark and I would put the picture up but all it is essentially a black picture and you can't see anything.

I worked on a paper for most of the day at Panera Bread on Saturday, so that was boring but I was glad to get it done and turned in. We played Mexican Train Dominos before dinner which was fun, I came in second place if I remember correctly and then my mom and aunt went to go and get pizza for dinner. I don't remember what we did for the rest of the night so on to Sunday.

We went to church and the message was good. It was essentially a gospel presentation and in why we should accept Jesus as our Lord and savior but there were a couple of points that I am not sure if I completely agreed with. He said that it didn't matter that Jesus died on a cross but that he died for our sins and that is all that really matters. And for some reason I have been thinking about that and I seem to remember reading somewhere that he had to die on a roman cross, but still, if people come to Christ because of that message, then hallelujah. Had more pizza for lunch because we had leftovers and then we went for a road trip. Papa wouldn't tell us where we were going but we ended up at this place where they just grow tulips and we were there when they are all in bloom, so it was pretty cool. We didn't actually get to go up close and see them but it was still super cool from a distance. I also got some pictures of the beach on the ride home.

(My mom is saying tulip here)

I slept in super late on Monday, partly because I could and I don't often get to sleep in. And so by the time that I got up, Papa wanted to know if I wanted still have breakfast or just skip to lunch. I opted for breakfast. I took some pictures around the house before we had to leave for the airport to go back home. My grandpa loves gardening and the sort so I tried to get some good pictures of things. I don't know what the one on the left...just a pink flower maybe? The one on the right is an orchid. Mainly I just took pictures of flowers but they are still cool. And now this is a historic event for my grandparents, we got In-N-Out for lunch before catching our flight and they eat it as well. This was the first time that they have every had In-N-Out! Both plane rides on the way back were boring because there were not bumps at all....I was so sad. We got home and my dad made me a latte to go and I headed back up to the foco to get back in the swing of my busy busy busy life.

I have to say that it was awesome to see my grandparents again. It has been a super long time and I hope that I get to go back again. We may have not done very much but sit together or read things or just talk some but it was still super fun!

Did Jesus go to Hell?

2009-04-14T22:58:00.002-06:00

Here is another good question....I was once again searching for a message to listen to and I found something that I think to be rather disturbing. Mark Driscoll was talking about whether or not Jesus went to hell and his conclusion was no. I just watched a short clip of it but that is what he concluded. That Jesus said "It is finished" and also that when he was talking one of the criminals with him, he said "You will dine with me in paradise." I was forced to think about the death of Jesus and what that means to me. I could not just take what he was saying in that short little clip as true. I think that his death meant something so much more. I asked a Stephen about it and he came up with something that seems to be backed up by scripture and made more sense in my mind that Jesus just dying and the curtain tearing in two and a great earthquake and then Jesus is partying in heaven and then he comes back to earth three days later. You should ask Stephen about what he thinks about it...I found it to be rather interesting.

When Jesus died, he took the full wrath of God upon himself and therefore he took the punishment that we deserved...death...for eternity. If Jesus had not died for us, then we would have to spend eternity in hell for our punishment. So then what do you believe...did Jesus go to hell or did he not? These are thoughts that I have gotten from Stephen and things that I have read and just stuff that I have thought. I would highly recommend checking and backing the things that you find and believe against the Bible. There was another sermon from Mark Driscoll that I actually listen to all of it and there were somethings that he said that I was not so sure of.

I don't know if this makes sense, I hope it does. I think that it is good to admire pastors and listen to their teachings and on what they think about the Bible, but do go on just believing every word they say. You should check what they say with the Bible and with others around you to make sure that they are speaking the truth. Not to say that Mark isn't, I am just saying that you should watch what you listen too. (Yes, I know I just said that awesomely and you all should like it!)

Does Satan Exist?

2009-03-31T14:45:00.003-06:00

This was something that I found while I was actually looking for a message to listen to, I must say that it was very interesting and probably took more time than I had to watch it all.

http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/faceoff

I would have to say that Satan is real!

Leviticus 26:11-13

2009-03-30T17:35:00.002-06:00

"I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect."

I think this is so good! God is going to make his dwelling among us and then I had to look up what abhor means. From Webster's 1828 says 'To hate extremely, or with contempt; to lothe, detest or abominate.' Now reread it, my soul shall not hate you! God is walking among us and we are his people. God is the one who brought us out of the land of Egypt or in otherwords to apply it to me, he has saved me from a life that is of sin and death. Here is the part that I love, he has taken our yoke and broke it and he has made us walk upright, we no longer have to carry our own burden! He has takin it upon himself and we have been allowed to even just walk. I could keep on talking about how we can walk, but I think it will be better for you to dwell upon it.

How great is our God!?

Transforming and rainbows

2009-03-09T14:32:00.003-06:00

I helped some brothers out in a video that they did for girls appreciation. And I must say that it was pretty good. I am in it at about 4 minutes.

Here is something that I have been pondering for a bit, were there rainbows before the flood?
My answer is yes but you can do the research for yourself. Here is where I went...

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/tools/flood-waters.asp

Birthdays

2009-03-05T21:45:00.003-07:00

So I had my birthday this past week, and I have to say that it has been one of the funnest and most weird that I have had.

First off, I was sick and did not go to my first class because I woke up with a horrible cough. And then mister John Larsen wanted to take me out to lunch, so we went to Café Mexicali and when we went to pay John said that we were celebrating my birthday and the cashier lady asked to see my license. And then I got a free lunch. So remember that if it is your birthday and you go there, show them your license and they will give you a free lunch. We had a good lunch and super filling.

Now here comes the fun/exciting part of the day, one that I won't forget. I decided to go for a drive and listen to a message which is one of my favorite things to do. If you look here, this is where I went and it is a freaking awesome drive. The map starts at my college...

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=S+Shields+St&daddr=W+Harmony+Rd%2FN+Harmony+Dr+to:Highway+38%2FHighway+38e+to:40.619189,-105.357127+to:Old+Flowers+Rd%2FStove+Prairie+Rd+to:Old+Flowers+Rd&geocode=FVpXagIdXFy8-Q%3BFT1YagId2C68-Q%3BFfZTagIdR5m7-Q%3B%3BFejqawIdSua3-Q%3BFTMCbAIdVNy3-Q&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0,1&mrsp=3&sz=17&via=1,2,4&sll=40.618399,-105.358179&sspn=0.006018,0.009753&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17

So I got to point B where I normally take a right where it will bring me back to Fort Collins. This time though, a sign caught my eye and it was talking about the road that leads to the left. I may have read the sign completely wrong but I think this is what I think it read:

No off road vehicles;
Private property on
either side of road,
so stay on road;
Don't touch any animals;
etc...(it said some more but I don't remember them)

So I was like sweet, that is so me. I can follow all of those rules. And so I went for an adventure! It is a single track dirt road and super beautiful. If I did get out of my car, I would have been able to go and pet some cows....that had some horns on then....and looked kinda scary cause they just stared at me as I drove by....but other than that, I could have went and pet them.

I am getting along about 3 miles now from the road and it gets more rocky and hilly. There was a big puddle in the road that I got through alright but then there was another puddle that was bigger. I decided that I didn't want to get stuck and I saw that there were some tracks that went off to the right up onto some grass that had been flattened by the snow. So I started to go up and around on the grass. What I didn't know was that there was also a huge rock in the way that was just covered by the grass right about where C is at on the map.

Well, as you can probably figure out, I hit the huge rock on the driver side.. I hear this huge kabla...bam...crunch all within seconds. I try moving but I can't... I got out to go and look at the damage and find that I high centered my car on this rock that is now on the passenger side. This happened right about 1:00pm. And I told myself that if I didn't get my car off of the rock by 2:00pm, I would have to start walking and find someone to help me or hitch hike back to FoCo as I had no cell phone reception there or at the road.

So I start by using my jack and trying to shove rocks under my tires to try and drive over it. I got some under the front, but that didn't really help much as the rock was still pushing against the middle of the car. The car was on a slope with the passenger side in grass and the driver side in some mud. As I was started to lift the back side, it started to slide and I started to freakout! Because the car slide, the jack was no longer really pushing it up so I got the jack back under again, it slid more! I did this till the mud on side of the car was no longer allowing it to slide because of the build up. It was almost off and I just had to lift up the passenger side some more to get it off.

I got some rocks in there and cranked the wheel to the left and I got away. Now I pulled ahead were there was now some ice covering the road. I was able to carefully turn around, but now I had to go back through that mess. I scouted my path carefully and was able to make it back through. I decided that I didn't want to be on that road anymore so I got back and for some reason was still up for adventure. I took a left out of that crazy road and went off to see where that took me.

It took me back to town the long way and I got home. I took a good look at the damage and could see that the underside had some major indentations in it. I took it to Mike Wharton the following day to see if anything serious had happened. He concluded that nothing super serious was wrong and that I should just drive it till it dies.

I did some chores at home and then mister Justin Marks wanted to take me out to eat. We went to Noodles and I had some yummy mac & cheese with chicken. That was super good too and was ready to head off to team.

Team was pretty good, we studied Romans 4 and now here is where it gets weird. I had been drinking a lot of water that day because I had been sick and so I had to go pee. So I went and as I was about to come out, I hear this singing coming from right outside the door. They had a cake for me and they were singing happy birthday to me as I was in the bathroom. I decided that I would just stand there and wait for them to go away because I did not want to blow on the candles as I was sick. They finally left as the all the candles had burned down and had gone out. Then we got to have some yummy cake with wax. I must say that I have never had anyone sing to me while I was in the bathroom.

It was a birthday to remember!

Blogs

2009-03-05T17:20:00.001-07:00

Here it is, all of Zach's thoughts...or at least the ones that I want to tell you. Enjoy!