It wasn't the first place I thought to look

It's obviously been quite a while since my last blog post. Two and a half months, actually. And I'm sad to say that in that time much of what I've been doing is serving myself. Maybe that's not right, maybe that's being a little too harsh on myself. I wish that was the case, but if I'm being honest with myself it's not. There have been many times when I was growing in my faith, reading my Bible regularly and recognizing and turning over to God parts of my life that were jacked up. That might have been 30% of the time. Then again, 30% might be generous. I've also discovered that I'm still a good actor, cause I've been able to keep the screw-ups from those closest to me. I guess today I got to a point where I realized something had to change, which has happened plenty of times before. This time I decided to do something about it.

I made and acted on a conscious decision to return to reading my Bible every day. That's something I haven't been doing, and I feel that it's a huge part of why my spiritual life has taken a huge nose dive into the ground. I was going to go to 1 John, because it's full of grace and mercy and that was what I felt like I needed. Then I grabbed my Bible and saw that the ribbon-thingy was at the beginning of James. So I read James. And while it wasn't the first place I thought to look, it turned out to be exactly what I needed; especially chapter 4. I was looking for grace; I found it in verse 6 of chapter 4: "But he (God) gives more grace. I humbled myself before God, told him I couldn't do it myself despite all my trying to.  And as always, God did something awesome!

Coffee

Coffee. I made a whole lot this weekend. I got to spend a lot of time with a really cool girl, hang out with a bunch of really cool people, and make a lot of coffee. Saturday morning I realized that all week God had been showing me the importance of patience. I had been praying about something, and I got impatient. Instead of waiting for a yes or no from God I assumed the answer would be no and decided to get annoyed, which caused me to sin. Immediately following this I discovered that the answer was in fact yes, and this opened my eyes to the importance of patience. I saw that throughout the week all the things I had gone through with kids at camp, the times I had almost flown off the handle but kept my cool, had been intended to show me how important patience was. Yet, when I asked God to reveal His will to me on a particular aspect of my life, when I should have had the patience to wait on His answer and His perfect timing, I was impatient. It showed me something. What I think is the right time usually isn't. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than my ways and thoughts. His perfect plan includes perfect timing while my flawed plan by nature is on a flawed schedule. I will be patient. I will wait for the fulfillment of His will in His PERFECT timing. And I will continue to serve Him while seeking His will and His glory every day.

Thank you Jesus. Thank you for your forgiveness, and thank you for having a plan for not only my life, but the lives of everyone. Thank you for using me to minister to your children and to show your love, mercy, and grace to those who desperately need it, both within the Body and without. I pray that you will help me to continue to do so, and that I will do so more and more effectively.Thank you for opening my eyes to my own impatience, and for showing me that if I will simply wait on your answer and your guidance you will lead me where I should go. Thank you for the salvation so freely offered to all who believe. Thank you for the love, mercy, and grace that you have shown to me so abundantly. And thank you for the people you have surrounded me with, both the believers and nonbelievers. Thank you for the encouragers and for those whom I can encourage. Give me the boldness and courage to do so, to share your love, and show me what to say and do. Act through me, make me but a vessel to pour out your love on others. You are amazing. Thank you. In your beautiful and holy name, so be it.

It's been a crazy week,

but not entirely in a bad way. To be fair some of it has been bad, and I'll hit that before the good so I can finish on a positive note. But first, I just wanna say that God is awesome. No particular reason; but that's not entirely true. There is one VERY particular reason. He sent His one and only Son to Earth to live a perfect and sinless life, knowing He would one day give up that life for the lives of the very pitiful, worthless wretches who would kill Him. And He still came, and through His death and resurrection we can have life, and have it more abundantly. And all we have to do is believe. For that reason, I say that God is awesome. And that is the understatement of not just the century, but of all eternity.

Now for the bad. I almost had to bite my tongue off to keep from cussing at a camper the other day. See, I used to have an extremely dirty mouth - I would cuss up a storm. I tried a few times to stop cussing, but I was relying on my own strength. I tried to do it without God, and I failed. Then came January and the huge wake-up call that a run in with the law often brings. I began to seek God instead of myself, and without even thinking about it those words disappeared from my vocabulary. Then came the third week of summer camp, and an 8-person soccer game at 9:30 in the morning. One kid argued with me about penalties for at least the first 30 minutes of the game, and I managed to keep my cool for most of it. But the time came when I had had enough, and as I heard the "f" start to form in my mouth I bit off the word, closed my mouth, and turned around to look at the other counselor who was playing and silently screamed. I turned around and in no uncertain terms, but at the same time without being mean or hateful, set the kid straight on our relative positions on the proverbial food chain. I even explained to him why what he was calling penalties were in fact not penalties. I really wish I hadn't lost my cool for that second, but at the same time I thank God that I didn't cuss at the kid and that I was able to regain my composure very quickly and handle the situation correctly.

Well, that was the bad; now for the good. I spent the weekend at home with my dad (all our womenfolk were away) and got to have a late Father's Day with him and celebrate Olivia's fourth birthday. It was great; honestly one thing I really miss about living at home is being able to spend time with my dad. I also picked up a french press, which means I can finally make coffee at the apartment again without having to pay a bajillion dollars for those Keurig k-cups. And it's so much better - by far the best coffee I've ever made myself. Next thing I buy is gonna be a grinder; gonna grind my own beans! Started up Bible study with Alex again this morning, and it was awesome. He brought Hardee's, I brewed coffee, and we got in the Word. I really treasure the friends I have that I can do that with, the main two being Alex and Tucker. Y'all are both an encouragement to me, and I love you both to death. I also got to go to College Connection for the second time this past Sunday, and it was great once again. Good food, good fellowship, and good people. The sense of community that I've seen within this group, and within Alliance in general in the one time that I've been so far, is super-duper neat. Got ice-cream with some of the folks after we left, and that was great too. I'm just really excited about what God will have in store for me at my new church home in the mountains.

And now I come to the last thing I want to say before I hit the sheets and get some shuteye. Knowing God's will is SO important. Without seeking His will and being able to determine what it is we might as well be shooting blind. I've sought God's will on many of the bigger decisions in my life. I sought His will on my decision to join the Navy, on where to go to college in the first place and then more recently on whether to stay here at App or go back home and do my undergrad work at Southeastern. I sought His will on where to go to church up here in Boone. Now I'm seeking His will on something else, as well as reading a book entitled Finding God's Will by Gregg Matte. I've read the introduction, back cover, and inside flap so far (just started tonight) but it seems like it will be good. One particular thing it said I really liked: The best way to find the will of God is to do the will of God. Seems like circular reasoning, but I think what it's saying is that to find God's will in particular areas of our lives we must do what we already know His will for us is: immerse ourselves in His word, come to Him in prayer often, share His love and good news with everyone we meet. Then His will in specific areas will become more evident. And that's what I'm seeking now, for His will in a specific area to become clear. Specifically, in an area pertaining to women; one in particular. I've hung out with her a total of 3 times now, twice in group settings at College Connection. She's a really cool girl, super pretty, and a ton of fun to hang out with. Most importantly, she's also a Christian, one who seems to be actively seeking after God. She actually asked me to pray for her, which is something that I have not experienced in a girl that I've been interested in before, and something that I find awesome. Anyway, I'm seeking God's will on how I should pursue this relationship; whether to pursue it as a romantic interest or to keep it as just friends, to use the colloquialism. I pray for guidance for both myself and for her on that front.

Anywho, it's about time to pack it in. Goodnight interwebs.

So, I found a church up here. Finally!

Well, I prayed about it. And I checked out a couple places, but ultimately I didn't have peace about attending any of them. Then, yesterday morning I went to Alliance. And I had peace. Last night Alex and I went to the Alliance college group meeting/hangout/free spaghetti. And I had peace. And it was awesome. God has showed me the church I need to attend up here, and I'm stoked. Honestly a little surprised; it's not a Southern Baptist church. Guess I was a little set in my ways. But hey, He is faithful, and He will ALWAYS provide.

9 yThe heart of man plans his way,

but zthe Lord establishes his steps.

- Proverbs 16:9

Have I mentioned

that I like tea? A lot. Like seriously, it's awesome. You know what else is awesome? Hammocks. Specifically mine; if you have one, I'm sorry, but mine is cooler. I chilled in it this evening for the second time since I got it on Thursday, and although it got a little cold and I had to pack it in earlier than I wanted to it was super duper awesome. I got to do something awesome while laying in my awesome hammock, which brings me to the next awesome thing: reading. I love to read. I'm a big fan of C.S. Lewis (fiction and philosophy), Shakespeare, Robert Jordan, and Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (isn't Ignatius just an awesome name?) along with a bunch of others. I have to say though, there is one book that really stands out from the rest. It's one that I've been reading on and off since I was a wee little lad, and I still haven't read all the way through. Part of that is due to the previously sporadic approach I used to reading it, part due to rereading the parts that really stick out to me. I do, however, plan to have the entire thing finished by the end of this year. I'm talking, of course, about the Bible. The Holy, perfect living Word of the One True God, every word breathed by Him, inspired by Him, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). I got to read this book throughout the day, and it was definitely awesome. I was able to read it this morning after I woke up, as well as this evening as I was chillin' like a villain in my hammock. I finished up Ecclesiastes, and tonight before I go to bed I'll be starting Proverbs. I did a little bit of reading in Zechariah 3 today too; I was listening to a sermon given a couple weeks ago at Alliance Bible Fellowship here in town. It was about the way God sees us; how we are wearing literally dung-spattered garments but because of Jesus Christ we are made clean. I'll include the passage at the end of this post along with a link to the sermon; it was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. Funny how God makes stuff happen isn't it? Maybe awesome would be a better way to describe it? Yeah, I agree. Definitely awesome. I'm gonna check out Alliance in the morning. I've heard good stuff about it, and Alex went last week and said it was great. I've been needing to find a church up here, and this may be it. I'll be praying and seeking God on this tonight and tomorrow, both before and after I go. Anyway, here is the link to the message and the passage from Zechariah. Good night, and God bless.

http://www.abfmessages.org/Podcasts/2012_05_27_093441.mp3


Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan1 standing at his right hand to accuse him.2 And the Lord said to Satan, l“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand2plucked from the fire?” 3 Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, q“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, rI have taken your iniquity away from you, andsI will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, t“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

It's been too long.

It's been exactly seven days since I last posted. Considering my intention was to post AT LEAST twice a week, preferably more, I'd say I need to get back on it. And so I've decided.

It's not for lack of material to post about; I've had multiple times in the past week that I've intended to write a post. It just seems that every time I think of the blog I decide to put it off until later, and then I forget about it until some other time, usually at work when there's nothing I can do about it. I allow myself to get distracted, and that's something I simply can't do if I'm going to use this as a way to keep myself accountable as well as a method of getting my thoughts and viewpoints into the world. Because they're just that important; they deserve to be there, right?

Anywho, I almost put this post off till tomorrow, which would have meant that it most likely wouldn't get done. But I didn't, and I'm glad of that. I just finished up my first week of camp as a counselor, and I have to say it was awesome. I came into the job looking at it as nothing more than a way to pay the rent and get a little bit of extra money. That was all I was looking for, and to be honest I applied for this job because I had a connection and my buddy said I should be able to get it. Then I went to the first day of staff training and found out that I'd be working with some pretty cool people. I finished the training week pretty happy with how I figured the job would be, but still more happy with the simple fact that I had a job (I had been looking for one for a while, and had some that looked pretty promising just completely fall through. Looking at it now, all I can say is God had a plan for it and I'm excited to see how he continues to work it out.). Then the first day of camp came, and it was great. I mean, I'm seriously getting paid to play with kids all day? And in the first day I moved from 25 hours a week to 40, so more pay and more time to hang out with the other counselors and the kids. There have been a few frustrating moments, but overall I continue to thoroughly enjoy the job. Those frustrating moments also provide fodder for prayer, which is never a bad thing. I also have an awesome opportunity to be a positive influence and a witness to the kids as well as the other counselors, which is super duper fantastic. That's more fodder for prayer too, so this job in general is just food for prayer and a mission field of over a hundred people total. Awesomeness! Thank you God for both providing this job and, in hindsight, for closing the doors on the others. I prayed He would provide a job for me this summer, and he did more than that. He provided a wealth of opportunity as well. He was faithful to answer my prayer, and He gave me a large mission field. And He went beyond the best that I could imagine. As the song says, how great, how great is our God.

1 Corinthians 1:9
9 nGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.


Romans 8:28
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together hfor good,1 for ithose who are called according to his purpose.

2 Corinthians 4:15
15 For cit is all for your sake, so that as dgrace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, eto the glory of God.

It's been a busy week...

It's been a pretty busy week. We started training for summer camp on Monday, and it's been pretty great. The people I'm working with are awesome, and I have a feeling it's gonna be great once camps start next week. I mean, I'll be getting paid to play games with kids all day. In fact, we were told if we didn't play with them we weren't doing our jobs correctly. Awesome, right?

In other news, one of my best friends from church back home is getting married tomorrow, and it's pretty exciting. Weird to think that she's gonna be married, but great. I'm friends with her husband-to-be as well, and I'm super happy for both of them. They're great people and they're great together. They also both love Jesus, which is awesome. I'm of the firm belief that the vast majority of the time a believer who is seeking Christ and a nonbeliever (or a believer who isn't focused on putting God first) shouldn't be in a romantic relationship of any kind. I've seen it happen in my life and in the lives of friends; the one who is seeking Christ begins to compromise on "small" things to make the other person happy, and before long they're compromising on bigger and more important things and have turned from the life they were living to one that is no longer pleasing to God. I've done it, and I know others that have as well. On the other hand, when two strong believers are dating/engaged/married and they're both putting God first and pursuing His will together, awesome things happen. I've seen this too. Marriage, when entered into correctly, is beautiful. Just like everything else, when we do it the way God intended it is infinitely better than anything we could dream up ourselves. I hope to get married someday; I pray that God has a woman for me to love, cherish, put before myself, and pursue Him with, who can love me despite my many mistakes and failings. It truly is a beautiful thing.

Congratulations Lauren and Jake!!!

Creation testifies

The awesomeness and grandeur of our God is so wonderfully displayed in the beauty of His creation.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

The Boston Tea Party

I like tea. I like iced tea (preferably sweet) and hot tea. I like Earl Grey tea with a turkey avocado sandwich at my favorite coffee shop. Right now I'm drinking a tea called Mellow Moments which has an awesome mix of mint and herbal flavors and is actually quite relaxing. Because I like tea so much it's hard to imagine the terrible state of mind the colonists who performed this admittedly patriotic but still completely insane act must have been in. Now, I get why they did it. They were Brits and as Brits they liked tea; the Brits across the pond got greedy and, knowing how much all Brits like tea, decided to impose crazy taxes on tea in America to make a few extra bucks. So the good ole' soon-to-be Americans threw all the tea into the harbor and started drinking coffee. Don't get me wrong, I like coffee too. But why couldn't they have just stolen the tea? That way they still don't have to pay the taxes, they still hurt the British, but they get to enjoy their tea as well. Everybody wins. Except the British, cause they lost. Sorry chaps.

The point of this little history lesson/tea rant is this: to truly be revolutionary you have to stand up for what you believe in, even if some people (maybe even most people) will think you and/or your actions are crazy. I'm currently reading through DC Talk's second Jesus Freaks book; it's title is Revolutionaries. Each of the stories it tells are convicting. Each one makes you take a look at yourself and see areas where you fall short, where you could be more devoted to God and less to yourself and to the things of this world. However, tonight I want to talk about one specific revolutionary in the book: a man named Stanislas. Stanislas was the the bishop in the capital city of Poland, Krakow, in the late 11th century. At this time the king of Poland was Boleslaw II, known to his people as Boleslaw the Cruel. Stanislas saw the injustices and atrocities the king was committing and took it upon himself, as the bishop of the capital city and already one of the kings most trusted advisers, to confront the king about his wickedness so that he might repent. After listening to Stanislas's rebuke the king paid no heed, and in fact sent men to kill Stanislas while he prayed. The men could not do it, and when they told the king of their inability to carry out his orders he assaulted them, took one of their weapons, and killed the bishop himself. Up to this point no one had the courage to confront the king of his evil. Stanislas did so, and though he was killed for it his death served as a catalyst and a rally point, and soon the king was overthrown. The point is this: a true revolutionary does not let fear of man keep him from doing what is right. A true revolutionary does not fear man, but fears God, and that fear of God steers him to do what he knows is right, even though it comes at a personal cost. That cost will be different for each person, unique to each situation. It could be loss of some friends, it could be ridicule by acquaintances or people you don't even know. It could be giving up a comfortable life in the US to go overseas, spending time in a Romanian jail for smuggling Bibles, or being beaten by members of your own village because you denounce Allah and profess faith in the One True God. It could be death.

The idea for this post came last night. On the way to dinner with my folks, my dad mentioned something he had been hearing on the radio (AM) all day. Apparently the ACLU had brought a suit or talked about bringing a suit against Franklin County because of a prayer said at a high school awards ceremony. A student who does not believe in God felt "left out" during the prayer, and so the ACLU was of the opinion that prayer should be disallowed. In the end the school board decided to side with the ACLU; apparently next year the handbook for Franklin County Schools will state that prayer is not allowed at all. This is wrong. The ACLU claims as its purpose to "defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country." If this is truly their goal, why do they not defend the rights of Christians to pray in public? How is it defense of the rights of everyone in the nation to allow one atheist be the cause of the loss of rights of many Christians? The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. This is the first right the ACLU lists on their website that they work to protect, yet they take away the freedom of a Christian to pray in public. Directly below that, the second right they claim to be working to protect is equal protection under the law. They claim to fight unlawful discrimination. In the US it is illegal to discriminate based on religion, yet in this situation (and many, many others) the ACLU has propagated discrimination against Christians. They say they fight for freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination while in practice they fight to take away the right of Christians to practice their religion in public. (Now that I think about it, they're violating the First Amendment in more than one way. The prayer was spoken aloud. That's freedom of speech as well.) Something I've heard thrown around by many atheists (and others, especially concerning the NC Marriage Amendment vote) is the separation of church and state. They will harp on it until they are blue in the face. Here's the thing though: they say the church shouldn't play a role in the state but want the state to place limits on the church. Even my imperfect human mind can comprehend that this way of thinking is way off base. I will be doing more research on this matter. I will be praying and seeking God's will, and I will possibly be writing a letter to someone about it. Something needs to be done. Maybe nothing will change; I cannot expect someone with a worldly perspective to understand an eternal perspective, one tempered by God Almighty. But maybe something will change, because I CAN expect God to do great things through even a vessel as imperfect as myself.

22 But be ndoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing.- James 1:22-25

Praise the Lord!

Found out today that I got the job I interviewed for last week! Praise God!

Youth

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 

           -1 Timothy 4:12

In 1st and 2nd Timothy Paul is giving instructions and encouragement for the ministry to his protege. Timothy is much younger than Paul; he is described as Paul's "true child in the faith". Because of his youthfulness it is understandable that he would have some hangups about getting into ministry. I mean, he hasn't been alive as long as many of those he will be teaching and, in some cases, pointing out faults in and reprimanding/disciplining. Surely the age difference will make them write him off as some uppity kid who deserves at most cursory politeness. By worldly standards he should sit down, shut up, and not interrupt while the grownups do the talking. What he had to realize is that age doesn't matter; what matters is being obedient to  God's calling in his life. In this verse Paul is reminding Timothy that his age doesn't matter. As long as his speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity are examples to other believers, as long as his life and everything he does lines up with God's Word his ministry will have the profound effect it should.

Age causing people reluctance and anxiety at speaking is not a new thing by the time Timothy is feeling it, nor did it stop with Timothy. All the way back in the book of Job Elihu is reluctant to speak because of his youth. In Job 32:4 the Bible says "Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he." He is the youngest there, and because of that was "timid and afraid to declare his opinion" (Job 32:6). However, because   of his convictions about God he did speak out. He spoke out for six chapters (ch. 32 - ch. 37). He reprimands the three friends for failing to answer Job. He rebukes Job claiming righteousness and purity before God, for claiming God has been unjust in His dealings with Job. He speaks of God's perfect justice and then expounds upon the greatness and majesty of God. He who is the youngest calls out those who are older. He decided to put aside his timidity and fear to speak up, and God used his words. Nowhere in those six chapters does anyone else present speak. They can find no answer or rebuke for Elihu's words.

God does great things through young people. This is evident throughout both the Old and New Testaments, as well as from other sources. In DC Talk's second Jesus Freaks book there is the story of a young North Korean named Kim. Kim saw one of his friends killed in the street for being a Christian. He came home to his mother, who had hidden her faith from her sons to protect them, in tears because he didn't understand; he didn't even know what a Christian was. She told him, and he came to faith in Christ. He led his three younger brothers to Christ that same night, and soon after crossed the river to China to procure a Bible for the family. He found one miniature Bible, but could find no more. Before he returned to North Korea though, he told the group of Chinese Christians from whom he received the Bible that he needed 5000 more and would return in a month to pick them up. The Bibles were ready when Kim came back, and he and his brothers smuggled Bibles into North Korea for at least a year. This is what can happen when young people put aside fear of not being taken seriously and have faith that God will prepare the way and provide the words to say.


Here's a link to some good videos about youth acting on faith, by youth acting on faith. I just found the site; so far it seems pretty good.
http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2010/04/video-series-fabulous-life-of-a-teenager/

Real, lasting JOY.

I believe there is a difference between joy and happiness. A huge difference, as in they aren't even close to being the same thing. Similar, maybe. But still crazy far apart. This actually came up in a 3 hour conversation Alex and I had with another friend about a week ago that ended at 1:30 AM when I finally decided I needed to be able to wake up later that morning. What it came down to was Alex and I defined joy as a gift from God, something akin to a sense of prevailing peace and...well, not quite contentment, but contentment, that was dependent of nothing but our relationship with the Father. Happiness, on the other hand, is an emotional state in which we feel good overall, based on circumstances and events that we experience. In other words, happiness is fleeting and completely dependent on us while joy is completely opposite: neither fleeting nor in any way dependent on us. It is a gift from God, given when we follow Him. It is what allows two Christian parents of a three year old boy who has died from cancer have peace, to be able to praise God and trust in His plan instead of wallowing in grief and self-pity. It's what gives them the strength to carry on, to see the opportunity to help others and further the Kingdom which is present in the loss of their dear son. You know when people talk about being able to tell something is different about a Christian and how they want to know what that something is and experience it themselves? Yeah, that's joy too. And without God, that just doesn't exist. 

Job 20:4-5 says this:

4 Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed on earth, 5 that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

The exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment. That is happiness, not true joy. It cannot be true joy, for two reasons. First, it is "short" and "just for a moment"; true joy is permanent, it lasts "all our days" (Psalm 90:14). Second, those in view here are described as wicked and godless; in Psalm 90:14 it is said that joy comes from God. In Galatians 5:22 joy is listed as part of the fruit of the spirit, the attributes expressed when the Holy Spirit indwells a Christian. 

Happiness is fleeting; it is a human emotion based on circumstance and situation. Joy is something else entirely. Joy is not fleeting. Joy is not based on any situation or circumstance we may find ourselves in. It comes from loving God, from putting Him and His will before our own happiness. With this in mind, I'd like to say that I (and I'm sure I'm far from alone) am all-too-often guilty of doing things to make me happy in the moment when I should be focusing on God, on His glory and kingdom. Pursuing something constant, uplifting, and unconditional. Something awesome, perfect, and amazingly beautiful. In a word: JOY. This should be our focus. Not happiness, because then we would never be able to make the sacrifices and tough decisions we are sometimes called to make or to step outside our comfort zones, but joy. Real, lasting JOY.

A Good Night

Just watched a few episodes of American Guns, read three and a half chapters of Job, and now I'm typing up a blog post with Rush of Fools playing on Pandora. It's a good night. And Fame was the first song it played. That's one of my favorite songs of theirs, especially from their first album (Can't Get Away is awesome too). I had an interview for a summer job today; I think it went pretty well. We'll see. It was prayed over before, and it's continued to be prayed over since. No matter what happens, I know God will provide. I have faith that He will, and that is quite a good lead-in to what I was planning on posting about. I didn't intend it to be. Cool, huh?

Job 11: 7-9 says

7 j“Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

8 It is khigher than heaven3—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

9 Its measure is longer than the earth

and broader than the sea.

That's Zophar speaking - one of Job's friends who sits with him in the ash for a week straight. As a side-note, that's friendship right there. Anyway, here he is trying to convey to Job the impossibility of understanding why God does something. And it is impossible - unless they are divinely revealed - to know God's thoughts. Job replies to this in chapter 12, letting Zophar and the other two know that he knows that. He gets it. In fact, he builds upon it. Zophar showed the wisdom and omniscience of God; Job shows His strength, His omnipotence, along with his wisdom and knowledge.
Job 12: 13-25 show this clearly:

13 l“With God3 are wisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

14 If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he mshuts a man in, none can open.

15 If he nwithholds the waters, they dry up;

if he osends them out, they overwhelm the land.

16 With him are strength and psound wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17 He leads qcounselors away stripped,

and rjudges he makes fools.

18 He slooses the bonds of kings

and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

19 He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows the mighty.

20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted

tand takes away the discernment of the elders.

21 He upours contempt on princes

and loosens the belt of the strong.

22 He vuncovers the deeps out of darkness

and brings wdeep darkness to light.

23 He xmakes nations great, and he destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and yleads them away.

24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth

and zmakes them wander in a trackless waste.

25 They agrope in the dark without light,

and he makes them bstagger like a drunken man.

Job says this to show that he knows God is responsible for the calamity which has befallen him, even though he does not know the reason(s) for it. Despite the circumstances surrounding it, this declaration is still a beautiful statement of God's perfect, unassailable power and wisdom. This power is demonstrated countless times throughout the Bible: in creation (Genesis 1), in raising men from the dead (John 11), in healing the blind (Mark 8), and through the salvation offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the Bible we are called to have faith (Mark 11: 22). In fact, in 2 Corinthians 5: 7, we are called to walk by faith, not by sight. Walk here can also be translated as live, as in to walk continuously or for your whole life. We are called to select each step not based on what we can see, on what we know, but on faith in God and his perfect purpose. God even defines faith for us. He says, through the author of Hebrews, that
 faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ethings not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by fthe word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of gthings that are visible. 
Faith is a gift from God that allows us to have peace, to know that he is the creator of all things (verse 3) and therefore above all things and able to provide. But as awesome as that is, that's not the awesome thing here.

The awesome thing is that the faith we are called to have, to live our lives by, is not a blind faith. It's not like some guy in a mental institution is telling us to have faith in him, that he will provide for us. It is a God who is proven many times over to be all powerful and all knowing, just as Job and Zophar tell of in the Old Testament. A God who can and will provide each and every need of each and every person, just as it is said in Philippians 4: 19:
19 And my God mwill supply every need of yours naccording to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

God is perfect in knowledge and power; he knows all our needs and is able to provide them. Even better, he promises that he will provide them according to his perfect plan.

We just have to have faith.

I Don't Have It

God, give me the strength. Give me the words to say, if you want me to say anything at all. Something. Something to speak to a heart as only you can. To bring about radical change, a complete paradigm shift as only you can. Allow Alex and myself to be excellent witnesses for you. And I pray not only for a paradigm shift for those we witness to, either together, separately, or in some other group. Change our own minds, our own spirits as well. Reveal yourself more completely to us through these experiences and interactions. Draw us closer to you, and as that happens use us to draw others to you. Allow us and help us to demonstrate your love, to live out your will and allow your grace to be shown through us. You are perfect and awesome and just and indescribably loving and merciful. Help us share the incredible relationship we have been given with the Creator of the universe with those who so desperately need it, whether they understand that need or not. Conform our lives to you in such a way and to such a degree that it will be blatantly obvious to everyone we meet that something is different; introduce in them a desire for it, or even just a curiosity about it, and use our interactions with those people to point them to you. Even if we see no fruit from our labors, let us plant the seeds. Even if we see no fruit from our labors, help us persevere, not growing weary despite time passing. Help us persevere and press on like Caleb, who waited 45 years on a promise. Help us be like Jeremiah, who was mocked and beaten by his own people, his own family, and still obeyed, still persevered, through over 60 years serving you. As Dr. Henry preached this morning: help us be the kind of people who move mountains. Amen.

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Revival

My roommate (who is awesome, by the way) got me a book for my birthday entitled In God We Still Trust. It's a 365 day devotional, and each day has a patriotic theme to it; appropriate, with me being in the Navy and all that jazz. It's pretty neat, and I try to start each day with a nice cup of coffee, this book, and the Bible. I missed a few days there for a while (by a few days I mean most of the month of April), but on the last day of April I made the decision to begin my day in that way once again. The heading for April 30's devotion was "Revival in America", and it was about Jonathan Edwards and the great revival he led in New England in the 1730s. Now, the last thing on each day's page in the devotional is always a Bible verse, sometimes with a little snippet written along with it. For this particular day the verse was 2 Chronicles 30:9. Here is what it says: "For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn His face from you, if you return to Him." The devotional was about the revival of a nation. But revival of a nation is dependent on the revival of individuals. Without revival in the hearts of individual people, nothing will ever happen on a national or global scale. This one little page in this one little book brought to completion something I had already started to realize. Real revival was needed. It was needed right here in my soul. I had spent most of the last few years running from God, trying to do things my own way when I knew I shouldn't, only trusting Him when I was in a pickle that I couldn't get myself out of. Looking back I could see times where I had started really pursuing Christ, but those times were always followed by me trying to live life on my own terms. I'm here to tell you that doesn't work out. Ever. So I stepped out of the kiddie pool, took off my dinosaur floaties, got a running start and dove into the deep end. I made the decision to live my life for Christ all the time, not just when I felt like it. It's not the easiest thing. In fact at times it can be pretty stinkin' tough. It takes a lot of discipline and a good bit of time management, making sure I don't get caught up in other things and miss out on spending time in the Word, in prayer, and just taking in the beauty of God's creation and marveling at the awesomeness of His love and grace. But boy is it fun, and boy is it rewarding. And oh boy is it freeing.

First post...again?

So here goes; I'm redoing/restarting/revamping/some other thing that starts with re- the blog again. This time it's different, though. This time it's a complete overhaul. I've had some distractions over the past few months, and more than once my eyes have been on something other than the prize. I know it happens, humans aren't perfect. I get it, honest I do. But I've played the prodigal too many times for too long. I originally intended for this blog to be a way to keep myself accountable by posting the results of my studies online, but I let that intention fall by the wayside. Not quite how I planned it. Anyway, I'm gonna start it back up, and I'm gonna do it the way I originally intended. Same name, same game, one difference. I'm actually going to play the game this time. I'm committing, right now, to two posts a week. At the LEAST, two posts a week. I'm gonna take the focus off of myself (at least, as much as I can in a blog that I write) and put it where it should be: on God and his Word.

Here goes.