Wedding Update…

 

Just wanted to give everyone an update on the wedding plans. This Friday Tiff and I had an appointment to look at a banquet hall for the reception. Before our appointment we went to look at the church where Tiff went to school and decided that we were going to have the ceremony there (I really liked the church.) We then went to the banquet hall and neither one of us were very impressed (they were pretty expensive and nothing special.) On the way back to her mom’s we stopped at another banquet hall to take a look. We ended up speaking with the owner for over two hours, he even arranged for his chef to cook us each something something to eat (which was really really good.) This place was amazing! We both fell in love with the room as soon as we saw it. 

Today (Sunday) we went to the church that Tiff went to growing up. I really liked the service and afterwards the pastor asked us to come up so he could pray for us and pray for our marriage. We both were really encouraged by what he had to say and it really made me look forward to the future and what God has for my family! 

God Bless!!

 

I’m getting married!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that as of 01/30/09 I am engaged to be married to the most amazing girl I have ever met. For the whole story, here’s a link to her blog: www.xanga.com/strwbryrepublic/691134659/im-getting-married-d/

God bless!

The Winners Manual…

I am currently reading a book written by Jim Tressel (head football coach for Ohio State) called “The Winners Manual.” Every year at the beginning of a new football season he gives his players a manual containing many great quotes regarding everything from attitude, to discipline, to Faith.  This is one of the quote from the book that I really liked and I thought since It has been awhile since I’ve posted anything I I would share it with you:

“I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.”
(Author unknown)

How we pray…

One night, a couple weeks ago, I woke up wide awake. I knew it was late but I didn’t know quite what time it was until I looked over at the clock, It was 3:00am. I remember awhile back my mom said to me that whenever she wakes up in the middle of the night she feels like it is God telling her that she needs to pray about something, so I began to pray. As I was praying my mind began to wander and I remember praying very matter-of-factly, “God make me focus on you.” As soon as I finished praying it was like I almost had to laugh, this prayer came so natural to me and yet I felt like this time was different. I began to think about how many times we as Christians pray without even thinking about it. How many times we say “Lord give me this…” or “Lord make me like this…” when the reality is, he’s already given it to us and he’s just waiting for us to take it.

A friend of mine recently described it this way, “Imagine you are chained downed to a chair, you are completely bound to this chair and unable to move. You struggle too break free but nothing you do can break the chains. Now imagine that you begin to pray and seek God to break those chains and as soon as the words have left your mouth God breaks the chains and sets you free. Amazing right? Well, what if you refused to stand up? What if you had tried so long to break the chains by yourself that you were convinced that they could not be broken. So you just sat there, bound by these invisible chains.” Whenever I think about that I think about times in my life when I have refused to stand up. I continue to pray over and over for God to set me free and all he wants me to do is just stand up. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there are times when we need to diligently pray and seek God for things in our life. But when we consistently pray for things that he has already given us, prayer becomes less like worship and more like a crutch.

I believe that this can also lead to two very different attitudes of prayer. The first is an attitude that comes from being humble before God and recognizing our own lack of faith in what he has done. A good example of this comes from Mark Chapter 9 where a father brings his son to Jesus and asks for his son to be healed, Jesus replies to him “… If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’ Mark 9:23, 24 (NKJV)” Even though the boy’s father believed that Jesus could (and did) heal his son he still had unbelief in his heart. Out of humility and recognizing his own unbelief he cries out “Lord, help my unbelief!” This is very different from the second attitude of prayer, which comes from having a lack of faith in what he has already done for us.

In thinking about it this way it seems to lead me away from the prayers of “Lord, give me what I don’t have” to “Lord, help me to understand the things that you have already given me.”

Obsession

Just wanted to share a song that I haven’t been able to stop listening these past couple of days, The song is called “Obsession” and it was originally written awhile back by the band “Delirious” although the version below is a remake done by “David Crowder Band.” I posted a video of the song and the lyrics can be found here.

Thank you…

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that left comments on my earlier posts. I really appreciate everything that was said and it encouraged me to get writting the things that I believe God has but on my heart. Thanks again and check back often!!

The Glory of Heaven

A few weeks ago I decided to start reading the New Testament. As I was reading I got to the story of “The Temptation of Jesus.” The story I’m referring to is the story of Jesus spending 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness fasting and seeking after God. During this time Satan approached him in the wilderness and began to temp him with things of the world. When I got to Matthew 4:8 I began to write down somethings that I believe God was putting on my heart:

Matthew 4:8,
“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (NKJV)”

How many times has this happend to? How many times has the devil tried to temp you with all the “glory” of the world? Think about all the things in the world that satan tries to temp us with.

When I was growing up I used to think about all the “great things” that this world had to offer. I would lay in bed at night an imagine what it would be like to own this or to own that. What it would be like to wake up in the morning and to jump on my brand new motorcycle and go for a ride. Not to say that its a bad to own nice things or to have nice things. But what are your motives for having these things? Do you see these things as gifts that God has given to you or are these things “glory” of the world?

Put youself in Jesus’s shoes for a moment, the scripture says that satan took him to “an exceeding high mountain”, think about that. The highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, is roughly 29,029ft high (I say roughly because I got this off of wikipedia.) That’s almost five and a half miles into the air, can you imagine the view from up there? If you’ve ever gone to the top observation desk of the empire state building  and looked out over the Manhattan it seems like you can see for miles. Even at that point you are still only 1500 ft in the air.

The scripture says the devil took him to top of the an exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kindoms of the world and the glory in them. The scripture also goes on to say in verse 9, “And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.(NKJV)” Satan offered Jesus all the “glory” of the world and all Jesus had to do was to bow down and worship him. How many times have we as  Christians given in to the temptations of the “glory” of the world? Now i’m not implying that Christians are worshiping satan, but when you give into the tempations of the world who are we really worshiping?

Are there times in your life when you feel that you’ve given into the temptations of the “glory” or the love of the world? The bible says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 (NKJV)” Thats a pretty strong statement, if you love the things of the world, the love of God is not in you. This is not saying that if we love the things of the world that God will not love us, it is saying that if we fill our hearts with love of the things of this world then have no room for the love of God in our hearts. Now I dont know about you but I need the love of God in my heart, because without it I would be nothing.

The Glory of Heaven
So what happens when we reject the things of this world? After satan had tempted Jesus with all the “kingdoms and glory of the world” the bible says Jesus refused satan saying “…Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’’ Matthew 4:10 (NKJV)” Even after satan had tempted Jesus with all the things of the world Jesus still choose to worship the only true God of the universe. I think most of us know the definition of “Christian”,  the definition of christian means to be “Christ like.” By calling ourselves Christians, we are calling ourselves to be “Christ like,” more specifically Jesus is calling us to be like Him. In being “Christ like” we should also refuse satan when he tries to temp us with the things of this world.

And finally it says in Matthew 4:11, “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Matthew 4:11 (NKJV)” We as christians also have the power to refuse satan when he tries to temp us and as the bible says he will leave us and God will send his angels to take care of us. Can you imagine that? God will send his angels to take care of us, now I dont know about you but thinking about what I am gaining by rejecting the things and “glory” of this world, it seems like a no brainer. In rejecting the things of this world, God will give us the glory of heaven.

One word…

I’ve been struggling with coming up with the words to say. Words to describe myself, words to describe my feelings, words to describe why I am the way that I am, and so, with one deep breath I am going to give it a try….

It feels as though I am on the brink of something amazing, we as a people, are on the brink of something amazing.

I feel as though i’ve just had a taste and now I want MORE.

I feel it everyday, everywhere I turn I am reminded of it.

I feel it from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep.

I feel when I am happy and I feel it when I am sad.

I feel it in my soul, this hunger for something more, this hunger for something that I cannot explain.

There is really only one word I can think of to explain this feeling.

One word that sums up everything that I am and everything that I hope to be.

Jesus.