This video was inspired by Los’s 90 second video, except I’m not sure I can do ANYTHING in 90 seconds so mine is a little longer :-).  

 
Have a great few weeks peeps!!

John isn’t asking for a ton of money and if a few of my readers could give $5 or $10, he’ll have what he needs in no time.  More than the money, John needs your prayers and those are FREE, so you don’t have an excuse.  I’ll embed John’s video below.  In that video, he refers to his blog post about the subject and you can CLICK HERE to read that and to find the donate link to come off of your $5.  

I can’t imagine the excitement/nervousness he must be feeling right now.  Check it out!!  

Human3rror Goes to Korea - Needs Your Help! from John on Vimeo.

Tis the season folks.  GIVE!!

I can’t explain to ya how hard it is to get people to give their testimonies.  There are a few “in the works”, but I know these people are extremely busy, so it could be a week or so on those.  

Never fear though as this is quite a story to fill the gap.  The video below is the testimony of Pistol Pete Maravich.  Great stuff!!  Check it out:

As always, look to the right in the “find me here” section and get ahold of me to share YOUR testimony.

Do you attend what you would call a charasmatic church?  The technical term for the opposite, I guess, is a cessationist church.  I get that there is a charasmatic/cessationist debate going on somewhere, but I need someone to shed some light on the cessationist side for me.

I took a Theology class a semester or so ago that did nothing but talk about debatable Christian topics.  It was basically to build knowledge to stand your ground with atheists, agnostics, evolutionists, etc.  On the topic I’m referring to here though, there was talk about what the cessationist churches are like, but there was no mention of any biblical standing on which they hold their beliefs.  So, again, I don’t get it.  Someone out there in blogville help a brother out.

I write this post because it matters to me on a personal level.  I’m pretty sure the church we attend here would be classified in the cessationist column.  I say I’m pretty sure. It sure isn’t charasmatic, but may lie somewhere in between.  I was almost ready to leave this church because of this, but have prayed and feel God has a purpose for me here.  Not sure what it is yet, but I’m sure when He’s ready, He’ll let me know.  That’s another blog for another day….Onward!

The problem is I feel restricted when I worship and, in my opinion, that is the last thing you should feel when you’re praising God.  Someone please explain to me where it is in the Bible that says don’t raise your hands; don’t be passionate about your praise.  Someone tell me where Jesus said to sit in your pew and give dirty looks at the guy who is in tears with his hands reaching toward Heaven.  I understand that different people worship in different ways, but where is the biblical standard where a certain type of worship is forbidden?

I understand wanting to be traditional or wanting to be part of a traditional church, but I might suggest you look around.  This blog you read isn’t a “traditional” method of communication.  We aren’t living in a traditional society.  But we are living in a place where more and more young people need reached with the Word of God and sitting in your pew with that dirty look is NOT gonna get it done.  Do you think God is surprised at technology advances?  Do you think He frowns at those who are praising Him in whatever way He is moving in them?  Is the only instrument we are supposed to raise, our voice?  Are guitars evil?  Are drummers forbidden?  Just as I have heard said at the end of many sermons, before the praise music starts…”As long as you’re not disturbing or disrupting the people around you, worship as you will.”

Yeah, maybe this “new” style of worship is different and maybe it’s even uncomfortable to you, but maybe, just maybe, it’s necessary.  Maybe God is moving people closer to Him in ways that may not work for you.  We are not all identical and surely you must realize that we aren’t all going to react the same way to different types of worship, but is it really necessary to prohibit it?  Again, show that to me in the Bible please.

I would assume these are the same churches that aren’t real crazy about the “mega-church”.  I have heard, too many times, people talk negative about mega-churches.  I don’t get that either.  Do you think they got the name “mega” because they’re driving people away from Christ?  Do you think thousands of people come together on Sundays because horrible things are going on in there?  Do all of them come to Christ?  NO, but not all of your 50, 100, 300, etc. members are followers either.

Again, I write this in hopes of gaining knowledge.  Not to change my mind, but maybe to shed some light on what I don’t understand.  This is the only subject I’ve learned about at Liberty that didn’t fully explain both sides.

Anyone??? What Kind of church do you attend?  Is any type of worship “forbidden”.  Have you ever experienced anything like that?  Help me out.

Wow! My immediate response was to start listing the people I am influencing. Then I had one of those sobering thoughts you speak of. Sometimes I struggle on looking too far, not focusing on what is close. My struggles lie in setting a Godly example for my wife and kids. I sometimes overlook the impact they will have on people by my setting that example. Sounds cliche, but I don’t want to be one of those people living in a glass house with a handful of stones. To see his post, click here.

To those of you out there who think God doesn’t read blogs or blog comments, Gabriel, my son, brought this home today:

Respect

 I leave that comment and God says…Hey, don’t get down on yourself, you guys are doin a pretty good job!  Ya see, 5 years ago, “RESPECT” wasn’t big on my priority list, but it gets preached a lot around here nowadays.  It is awesome to see God, not only work through me, but working through my kids too.  

Give Him some time…and listen….He’ll speak to you too!!

From both of us fitting into a pair of Grandpa’s underwear as kids, to where we are today, I’m proud to call her family!!  Thanks for sharing April!

This is her story:

Growing up I was not raised in a Christian home.  The only influence around me was in the form of  one Lilly among thorns, my aunt Yvonne.  For as long as I  could remember she would wake herself up, get herself dressed and walk alone across a major highway to get to her place of worship.  Every summer, when my sister and cousins would spend all the long months at grandma’s house, she was faithful to invite us each and every Sunday.  As an elementary student she was faithful, as a high school student, she was faithful, as an adult she is faithful.  Even though she was only a few years older than me, I saw her as an elder, a mentor and a friend.  But the thought of going to church was not always inviting to a young girl with no background in religion.  I clearly remember squeezing under my sheets hoping she would believe I was actually asleep and not ask me to go along.  But she would give me a gentle shake and ask anyway.  Sometimes I would go, but more often I would not.

As I grew I would see the paths she took, the decisions she made and the way she held her head high even in hard times.  I held her on a pedistal.  Constantly falling far from the standards she held, I never felt I was good enough for her God.  Each year I lived my heart grew harder.  I went on to go to college, get married and start a family.

When my eldest child was ready to go to kindergarden I had a firm belief that I did NOT want her to attend any of the local public schools.  Even though I was far from being a Chrisitian, I still had high moral values where my children were concerned.  Visiting those schools, I found even the little kindergarden children dressed like they were little Madonna’s and I don’t mean the mother of Jesus!  lol

I started to visit private schools and came across a local Baptist church that had a growing school system that went all the way to high school.  I decided to schedule a visit.  Kyleigh, my then 5 yr. old, and I went to sit in on a class.  The teacher, Mrs. Sauders, made us feel more than welcome and we had a great time.

 I noticed something about this woman that reminded me of Yvonne.  A quiet spirit and confidence I couldn’t put my finger on.  I knew one thing, whatever she had, I wanted some of that!  We enrolled our daughter in the school, but only AFTER we were assured by the principal that we were NOT  required to attend church to send our daughter to their school.  After all, she needed a good education and if I HAD to sacrafice my beliefs (or lack there of) for her to get it, I would, as long as I wasn’t being forced to believe that junk!  Far be it for anyone to tell me who I should and shouldn’t worship.

At the time, I was a declared agnostic…to me that meant that I didn’t believe in anything.  I went so far as to ban all religious materials given to my children, mostly by my husband’s mother (a former Sunday school teacher and believer in Christ.)  I couldn’t see reading my daughter a book about Jesus if I didn’t believe that he even existed.

You see, I felt like he was no more than a fictional story, like Santa Claus.  I had been lied to about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy…so who was this Jesus, just another fairy tale made up to inspire children to behave?  I had trust issues that ran deep within me, coming from a broken home.

Shortly before Ky’s school started, I started to feel like maybe I should visit this church.  Something I had never done as an adult with my family.  The hardest part for us was  the thought of leaving our children with strangers in a place we weren’t  comfortable being.  No trust, no control.  That was what was keeping me from Christ…pride and fear.

We went for several weeks and listened, really listened to what was being said.  I would study those around me, their charachter, attitudes and the way their families functioned.  No, they weren’t perfect, but they definately had a peace about them that I simply had never witnessed in the world I lived in!

Then one day in April, 1998, my husband and I recieved a visit from a local pastor, Tony Menard.  He sat in our living room and asked us a very poinient question. “If you were to die today, where would you go?”  I couldn’t say heaven, that’s for sure.  I came to understand what it meant to be a “sinner” and had no problem admitting that I was indeed in need of a Savior.  The next step was to believe.  To step out on faith.

Looking back I can decribe that time in my life as if I were on the tallest diving board, bouncing, bouncing and as my feet leave the platform and my back arched perfectly, I leapt.  I leapt with all I was and all I had to give.  I dove into the water a sinner and rose again in the arms of Jesus.  I felt a wave of peace flush over my body, literally.

My cheeks grow flush and my heart races every time I think of what Christ did for me.  What He saved me from.  I have lived everyday of my life in awe of Him,  since that day I swallowed my pride and gave all control to Him.  Some people may say I have gone over the edge…to that I say..You bet I have and thank God for that!

Even though we pulled Kyleigh out the following year and began educating her at home, along with our our (now) 6 other children, I am so thankful to God for bringing me to that church in Brownsburg, Indiana.  It’s not easy being a Christian.  People who knew you before don’t want to believe the change is real, no matter how long ago it was!  When I face those who don’t understand my faith or those who watch me with a magnifying glass hoping I will fail…to them I say…I may not be perfect, but I am forgiven.

God is Good.

RUNNING TOTALS:

Starting Weight:  Me:  277.8    Ria:  149.4

Last Week/This Week:  Me:  263.4/259.8  -3.6 lbs   Ria:  136.2/136.4  +.2 lbs.

SUCCESS:  Me:  LOST 18 lbs.    RIA:  LOST 13 lbs.

How did you do this week?

Yes, I leaned to the left, in my 7 or 8 year old chair, and the hydraulics failed as it went down, but didn’t come up.  As I said then, my chair had a gangsta lean.  Well, after a few days of putting up with the lean and a massive pain in my left butt cheek, I was heading out today to buy a new chair.  I didn’t look forward to paying $200 for a butt rest, but with school, I spend a lot of time in that chair and my wimpy butt (pardon the pun) couldn’t stand the pain.

Ria calls this morning on her way to work to tell me there is a chair sitting by the dumpster and I should go get it.  I told her “there is a reason it’s by the dumpster, honey; I’m not goin to get nuthin!”  A few hours later, as I’m getting shaved and showered to go buy my chair, she shows up with this.

FREE!!!

Hey, it’s not new, but at the PX this would cost me closer to $300.  I like the price tag of FREE much better.  Ok, so I didn’t pray for a chair, but I think it’s safe for me to believe that God has better plans for my $300.

Do you pray for crazy, unimportant stuff?  When they’re answered, do you thank Him or do you generally forget that you prayed for it because it was so insignificant to begin with?

Something to ponder, I suppose.

We are 6 hours ahead of EST in the states.  I first said I was going to bed at 9pm and was gonna get up at 3 am, which would be 9pm in the states, to watch the votes come in.  I had been saying for months that I thought it would be over by then, but wanted to see for myself.  At 2am I finally made it to bed. I never get up when the alarm goes off; I usually hit the snooze button 134 times.  Not today!  I popped up at 6am and ran to the computer.  It was over like I thought it would be.  I’m not sure I truly believed what I had been saying until that moment though.

The first image I see on my screen, after the electoral map, is Jesse Jackson.  I’m not a big fan of Jesse, but to see him standing in the middle of a crowd, with tears streaming down his face, gave me just an inkling of what he must be feeling.  

I sat in tears from 6am to, well, it’s 9:45am and I’m still a little sniffly :-).  I have yet to see Obama’s speech, but from the blogesphere, I hear that I may be bawlin again soon.  Some thoughts:

I’m happy this morning, in a way that I have never been, for a group of people who I have little to no connection with.  I thought that, and my wife said, “you have something in common with them: we’re all Americans.”  Sounds simple, but that’s right.  Maybe more today then any day ever in my history.  We’re all on the same page…..literally.  We’ve said it for years, that we were making progress and I rolled my eyes as I watched all of the hate there is in this world.  Progress?  What is progress?  All it was to me, before today, was talk.  Today, I feel different.  Today, I FEEL the progress.  I have witnessed what my parents and grandparents probably never imagined.  

Are all of our problems solved?  Is racism finally dead?  Can we all rest now?  Of course not.  Nothing is that easy.  Listen, I don’t keep my political views a secret.  I may not run my mouth like I used to about the way I see things, but I’m not a hermit either.  I remember how I felt in 1992 and in 1996 and let me just say it does not compare to how I feel this morning.

I’m a white man.  I’ve never had many black friends.  I’m not a racist; never have been.  I am, like I imagine, most white men are.  We just don’t think much about it.  Maybe I’m naive to think that way, but racism doesn’t exist in my little world.  Although I cannot possibly feel what racism feels like to someone who has experienced it, TODAY I feel like I can understand how it feels to be part of something moving us away from racism.  Yes, this country has made great strides today and I will pray that we build on these strides in the near future, but this morning I cry with joy in my heart for African American families.  I have tears in my eyes for the black single mom, who for the first time in her life, this morning, will tell her kids, “see, you CAN be anything you want to be.”  I cry for the black grandmother who once worked in a cotton field, never imagining this day would ever come. I can’t get over the sense of pride I have right now.

As this is my first presidential election as a Christian; as a follower of Christ, I have to wonder how God is speaking to us now; how God has spoken to us in the past.  In this year, 40 years after Martin Luther King was killed, that number, 40, brings on a whole new significance to me.  Were the past 40 years like those of Moses and the Israelite’s 40 years in the wilderness?  What is called “40 Years of Probation by Trial”….Have we spent the past 40 years in a probation period, doing it our way, and now being a time of change and new beginnings?  Are the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, all of which were 40 years, symbolic here and now?  Has it been biblically “raining” for 40 years, symbolic of the 40 days of rain with Noah?  Did it take that much rain to clean us up enough so we can see?  That number is in the Bible several more times then what I have mentioned. How, God, are you speaking to us? I will pray for clarity, but I KNOW our God is speaking. I will leave the interpretations to the people who get paid to make them, but for today and the days to come I’m a proud son of God, who happens to be an American.

On January 20th I can start to be critical and have thoughts about policies, but for today I have taken a step forward along side a nation of people an ocean away. May God bless the rest of our steps and when we slip and fear going in reverse, don’t turn around, don’t look down, look up, to Him and He will guide you.

I leave you today with some of Romans 13:1-3.  ”1-3Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.”

Thoughts, comments, feelings???

The new Intense Debate comment system is up and running and a redesign is in the works by master web design guru Kris Kelley!!

Now, if I could only get you to comment….