Guilty of Gloomy

So, I've been realizing lately that sometimes I confuse emotion with the Holy Spirit. Let me backtrack a little. So, Daniel and I made the observation that we were starting to act less like friends and more like we were going out again. We got that all fixed up and what not. So, the next day, I was a mess and I had myself convinced that I had no reason to be sad. After all, it wasn't like we were going out or anything. I was sure I was feeling convicted of something and I just could not figure out what. So, after what seemed like an eternity of crying in the back office at work, I really thought and prayed about it. I also thought about what my boss had said that sometimes we think we are being convicted of something and it's our own emotion or even Satan trying to distract me. I finally realized that I had cut out all the things that I was used to with Daniel and that it really was almost like breaking up all over again. And then I realized I hadn't even mourned the first time really. I had put my own grieving on the back burner because I thought that's what everyone expected of me, when it was really only what I expected of myself.

Gustav

First of all, I would like to start out by saying, that is a great name for a hurricane. Anyways, so this last Sunday in church, somebody brought up the need to pray for the people in New Orleans because of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Gustav. So Mr. Wells asked one of the nice old men in our church to pray for those people. This nice old man stood up and prayed for a safe evacuation and that the damage wouldn't be too bad. The whole time I was supposed to be agreeing in prayer I was thinking, "Wait a second! We are praying to the God of the Universe, why don't we just pray that the hurricane miss New Orleans. He can do it you know!" So, I turned to Kenny and Daniel after service and brought this up and they said I should pray for that so I did. The next morning, my dad turned on the news and it said that Gustav had missed New Orleans and even though flooding was still a concern, it was down to a Category 1 storm. Now, even if the storm had hit, isn't it good to know that God could stop it or reroute it if he chose. Or that God knows each person that will be personally effected by a store like this. God is Good all the time.

The Thessalonians

So, in Matthew we are commissioned to cut off our hand and pluck out our eye if they cause us to sin. Sin is what keeps up from progressing in our walk with God. Sin causes us to wallow in our spiritual infancy. We, as a church often view it as acceptable to remain a spiritual baby for longer than we should. We don't see a problem with seeing a lack of wisdom in people who have been a Christian for 6 month, a year, or even years. When Paul went to see the church at Thessalonika, he was with them for 3 sabbath days, that is equal to about two weeks. Now, within this two weeks, people accepted Christ and were being taught about the second coming of Christ. That is a pretty deep subject for someone so young in the faith. Many people would ask how the church would be ready to receive this. It's simple, they cut away their sin. Instantly. Whenever God convicted them of having an idol, they cast it down. Whenever they were made aware of the sin their hand our eye caused them, they removed it. How radically changed would our lives be if we reacted the same way to our sin rather than bargaining, arguing, or excusing ourselves?

Bondservant

So, I've been having this huge dilemma in my life over my various issues. I'm working on not airing my dirty laundry, so we'll just say that what the issues are doesn't really matter. Anyways, so I was struggling the other night and I went to God's Word like we should when we struggle. I read 1 Cor. 6:20 which says that we are not our own, but we are bought at a price. That's what the term bondservant means, bought at a price. So, that just really got me thinking. I do have a question for all you blogging geniuses, how do I add your blogs to my favorites on my profile so that I can get onto them without having to track you down or remember url's?

I fail

I know I fail because I haven't posted in so long. So I thought I would talk about something challenging. You know me, I'm deep when you can't see my face. Lol! Anyways, go to a Sunday night bible study with some peeps and we have been studying Hebrews for about two months now. One thing that has really challenged me is that our leader told us that in our spirits we know if we are ready for Jesus to come back. I remember telling Ron one time in about February 2007 that if Jesus came back, I would be ready, but I don't know if that's true anymore. How do you feel? Think about it and pray about it. Are you prepared for Jesus to come back like a thief in the night?

Expelled

So, my friends and I went to see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed tonight. It was amazing. If you haven't heard, it is a documentary hosted by Ben Stein (Bueller, Bueller). He is basically questioning the scientific community about the debate, or lack thereof, over intelligent design (not to be confused with creationism) v. Darwinism. It was just amazing. Oops...I already said that. I actually cried at one part and I was totally inspired. Stein talks a lot about how we are losing our academic freedom and how scary of a reality that really is. There is on man, Richard Dawkins, who is like the big wig of Darwinism. It was so sad to watch him being so deceived. Stein asked him, "So what if you meet some god after you die?" and all I could was that he really will meet God and he will say, "Depart from me for I knew thee not." I just wanted to run up to him and tell him how much God really and truly loves him despite the fact that he is wrong and is helping to spread these falsehoods. Now I am just praying about what to with what I've just heard.

Disclaimer: Intelligent design and creationism are not the same ideas. The point of this film is not to make a case for a creator, but rather to debunk (nice word, eh?) Darwinism. No one ever really goes right out and says God is the intelligent designer.

Vital information for your everyday life

1. What is your occupation? I work in a chocolate shop and I go to school.

2. What color are your socks right now? White and gray sport socks.

3. What are you listening to right now? The hum of the refridgerator.

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Safeway chicken tenders.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? In first gear in a parking lot.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? A nice mellow shade of yellow

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My dad.

8. How old are you today. 17

9. Favorite drink? Code Red Mountain Dew

10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football or Olympic Gymnastics

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? I've had highlights.

12. Pets? A dog and a cat

13. Favorite food? Subway. 14. Last movie you watched? Beetlejuice

15. Favorite Day of the year? Honestly? My birthday.

16.What do you do to vent anger? Throw things usually. I have a pretty bad temper.

17. What was your favorite toy as a child? My maggie simpson doll

18. What is your favorite season? Spring

19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs. They make you feel like you are the only person around.

20. Cherry or Blueberry? Cherry

21. Whatever happened to: Chivalry

22. When was the last time you cried? Oh, I don't know. I know it was recently, but I don't remember when or why.

23. What is on the floor of your closet? A bunch of boxes we had no place for.

24. Favorite smells? Pert Plus shampoo and what my hair smell like after I get it cut.

25. Who inspires you? Simon Peter

26. I don't quite know what the question was. So here goes: Quote of the day: Ah, Kenny touched the pen and now it doesn't work anymore.

27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese burgers

28. Favorite car? Right now, I'm real into cars with AC

29. Favorite cat breed? The cute kind

30. Number of keys on your key ring? 6

31. How many years at your current job? like 2 weeks, but I've been at school for almost 13 years now

32. Favorite day of the week? Thursday

33. How many states have you lived in? 2

34. Do you think you're funny? I have my moments.

Rockin Out!

So, this past Sunday night, our praise team led the music for the evening service at church. First of all, artistically (and only by the grace of God), we did amazing. We sounded great. We had a real drum set. The whole shebang. Secondly, as far as worship went, we were leaders with right hearts and you couldn't even see us. All you could see was the Holy Spirit who, by the way, totally showed up. He moved mightily and just broke some of the congregation and we were able to act on the verse that says to weep with those who weep. And, for the first time ever, the youth led service was viewed not as entertainment, but as worship. I was expecting to here nasty comments or people who were upset by us, but it didn't happen. I did hear one thing that upset then I got over myself and realized, "What does it matter?"

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

So, this whole college thing has been a long, gruesome process that I have by no means enjoyed. It actually just plain sucks. But, today, I received a huge blessing from God that really just was a light in the dark. I got my SAT scores and rather than cringe I gasped and jumped and screamed and praised God. I got a 2020 out of 2400, which translates into a 1330 out of 1600. Not only so, but my highest scoring section was the Critical Reading section, which I thought I would get the lowest score on.

The Men's Retreat

I know that that title is exactly what hooked you. So I sort of have a question to pose to ladies and young ladies at RBC. The weekend of March 14 -16, the men and the boys are going on a retreat. This isn't unusal. Every September, the boys of RBC are invited to go on the Men's Retreat. They were also invited to particpate in the class The Quest for Authentic Manhood. My question is: why don't the females of RBC do this? I personally (to avoid any generalizations) feel that I am not welcome to participate in say the Ladie's Retreat. I know that the men invite the boys because they want to teach the boys how to be men. So, who is going to teach the girls how to be women? Isn't it only fair that we be instructed also? I don't know. I may be wrong. Maybe there are more opportunities than I realize. So, you tell me.

New Year's Resolution

1. Be bold and boldy follow God WHEREVER he leads.
2. Get abs/Get in shape (not like gross man abs, but lovely reserved lady abs).