Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Heavy Heart
Tonight my heart is heavy. It's after 1am and I should be sleeping. I can't shake this feeling.
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus’ blood and righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain:On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;All other ground is sinking sand,All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,I rest on His unchanging grace;In every high and stormy gale,My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His bloodSupport me in the whelming flood;When all around my soul gives way,He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,Oh, may I then in Him be found;Dressed in His righteousness alone,Faultless to stand before the throne.
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus’ blood and righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain:On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;All other ground is sinking sand,All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,I rest on His unchanging grace;In every high and stormy gale,My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His bloodSupport me in the whelming flood;When all around my soul gives way,He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,Oh, may I then in Him be found;Dressed in His righteousness alone,Faultless to stand before the throne.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Ug...
I had the best of intentions of writing something today...something meaningful... Either I had nothing to say...or I got distracted...both of which are really true. I will shoot for later tonight...maybe I'll have something to say then...who would think I would be one to be at a loss for words... oh well.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Another Shot
Today is a new day. It started off VERY good with an early morning up, some great time in the book of Romans and a long walk with God. It was cool. I think I went for between 2 and 3 miles. It was just good to get out, get excercise, and spend some time in prayer.
I've started Phase One of the South Beach Diet again. This time I will go all the way to my goal before I slip into phase 3. My current goal is 185 pounds. I'm currently just under 240 according to my scale at home, though I think it weighs in a little heavy...at least on me. : )
This morning Bethany made me some AWESOME scrambled eggs and for lunch I was in Jacksonville so I tried Subway's new Tuscan Chicken Melt but I had it as a salad instead of a sandwich. I highly reccomend it for a decent lunch...and it was only 5 bucks!!! I currently find myself sitting in the Three Legged Dog enjoying a second cup of bourbon-pecan coffee. It's nice. A little splenda and I'm a happy camper. For those interested in my listening experiences, Moby's 18 album is in my earbuds.
I've been going through some things lately personally, just in wanting to be as effective of a Christ-follower as possible. I don't want anything to get in the way of hearing and following God as closely as possible. Because of my personality (a bit obsessive...a bit...)I have to really watch the time I spend on "not as important" things such as Facebook and other people's blogs. It's good to connect with people and good to get some of the solid learning that I get from places like the Resurgence and other places but if I was honest, I'd have to say that the majority of the time I spend "online" isn't currently making a positive impact on any part of my life. It's a crazy thing. Take a social butterfly like me and a need for more information and it's like a gaping hole that the internet has gone into. I'm not dropping off the digital planet or anything like that, I'm just going to temper the time I spend on such activity. I want to be more productive... and I would hate to think that the (however long) I spend on facebook was time that I wasted when I could be reading a book that would help me grow spiritually or spending actual, real world time with someone that I hope to minister to. Most of my students are not "hard core" facebook kids yet so a little involvement there is enough to be in that part of their world. I'm not speaking here of what I do ministry wise online, but the parts where I am just killing hours. I hope this makes sense.
I've also come to the conclusion that I own a bunch of stuff that I don't need or use. In order to clean out the house, simplify my life, and hopefully make some extra money, I'll be getting rid of some of it. I'll probably list everything on here just in case anyone wants to purchase something. I spend too much time with my music...some of it will go away. Not all, because I don't think it's bad or anything, I just need to do this for me to make sure my priorites and time is in a better situation. It's like a safeguard for now. We'll see where that takes us.
Let me clarify this post for a few people: This is in no way one of those get rid of it all cause it's bad for you things... But it is a time of looking at my personality and seeing where I need to make cuts for the Glory of God. Where can I be a better follower of Jesus, a better husband, father, son, and youth pastor? I'm looking at these things.
I couldn't sleep last night and all of this has been ricocheting around in my brain...and heart.
I talked to an old friend yesterday expressing some frustrations with ministry that I have been having. Nothing new to anyone...common stuff amongst youth pastors and other guys...I was looking for someone to pray for me that I would be able to reach the kids...that they would follow and serve and passionately worship Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It was a good conversation and one thing inparticular stuck out to me. He told me that the first thing we have to do is ask, " Do I believe what I am preaching?" Of course I do. But follow that with me for a minute. If we believe that God is in control, that He is Sovereign, that He calls people to Himself and it is He who does the saving, not us then that should RADICALLY effect how we act, minister, and even how we think about our ministry "results". It is our job to be the faithful messengers, to make the appeal to people, to reach out, to love, to preach the Gospel. God's Word accomplishes exactly what He wants it to. You and I can therefore minister with the full knowledge that His Word will not return void. It will accomplish all that He wants it to. The results are up to God. He gives the faith, we can with full confidence, then tell the good news!
I wonder if these posts would be shorter if they were happening more often? Maybe, maybe not. God seems to be up to something big right now...and I just want to be right in the center of it. "I want to be like that lightening rod, where the only thing I fear is God Himself".
I've started Phase One of the South Beach Diet again. This time I will go all the way to my goal before I slip into phase 3. My current goal is 185 pounds. I'm currently just under 240 according to my scale at home, though I think it weighs in a little heavy...at least on me. : )
This morning Bethany made me some AWESOME scrambled eggs and for lunch I was in Jacksonville so I tried Subway's new Tuscan Chicken Melt but I had it as a salad instead of a sandwich. I highly reccomend it for a decent lunch...and it was only 5 bucks!!! I currently find myself sitting in the Three Legged Dog enjoying a second cup of bourbon-pecan coffee. It's nice. A little splenda and I'm a happy camper. For those interested in my listening experiences, Moby's 18 album is in my earbuds.
I've been going through some things lately personally, just in wanting to be as effective of a Christ-follower as possible. I don't want anything to get in the way of hearing and following God as closely as possible. Because of my personality (a bit obsessive...a bit...)I have to really watch the time I spend on "not as important" things such as Facebook and other people's blogs. It's good to connect with people and good to get some of the solid learning that I get from places like the Resurgence and other places but if I was honest, I'd have to say that the majority of the time I spend "online" isn't currently making a positive impact on any part of my life. It's a crazy thing. Take a social butterfly like me and a need for more information and it's like a gaping hole that the internet has gone into. I'm not dropping off the digital planet or anything like that, I'm just going to temper the time I spend on such activity. I want to be more productive... and I would hate to think that the (however long) I spend on facebook was time that I wasted when I could be reading a book that would help me grow spiritually or spending actual, real world time with someone that I hope to minister to. Most of my students are not "hard core" facebook kids yet so a little involvement there is enough to be in that part of their world. I'm not speaking here of what I do ministry wise online, but the parts where I am just killing hours. I hope this makes sense.
I've also come to the conclusion that I own a bunch of stuff that I don't need or use. In order to clean out the house, simplify my life, and hopefully make some extra money, I'll be getting rid of some of it. I'll probably list everything on here just in case anyone wants to purchase something. I spend too much time with my music...some of it will go away. Not all, because I don't think it's bad or anything, I just need to do this for me to make sure my priorites and time is in a better situation. It's like a safeguard for now. We'll see where that takes us.
Let me clarify this post for a few people: This is in no way one of those get rid of it all cause it's bad for you things... But it is a time of looking at my personality and seeing where I need to make cuts for the Glory of God. Where can I be a better follower of Jesus, a better husband, father, son, and youth pastor? I'm looking at these things.
I couldn't sleep last night and all of this has been ricocheting around in my brain...and heart.
I talked to an old friend yesterday expressing some frustrations with ministry that I have been having. Nothing new to anyone...common stuff amongst youth pastors and other guys...I was looking for someone to pray for me that I would be able to reach the kids...that they would follow and serve and passionately worship Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It was a good conversation and one thing inparticular stuck out to me. He told me that the first thing we have to do is ask, " Do I believe what I am preaching?" Of course I do. But follow that with me for a minute. If we believe that God is in control, that He is Sovereign, that He calls people to Himself and it is He who does the saving, not us then that should RADICALLY effect how we act, minister, and even how we think about our ministry "results". It is our job to be the faithful messengers, to make the appeal to people, to reach out, to love, to preach the Gospel. God's Word accomplishes exactly what He wants it to. You and I can therefore minister with the full knowledge that His Word will not return void. It will accomplish all that He wants it to. The results are up to God. He gives the faith, we can with full confidence, then tell the good news!
I wonder if these posts would be shorter if they were happening more often? Maybe, maybe not. God seems to be up to something big right now...and I just want to be right in the center of it. "I want to be like that lightening rod, where the only thing I fear is God Himself".
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Long Haul
So...I haven't blogged in a couple of months. I actually have started a Word Press blog but have not switched over yet. I might not. It really all depends. It's not that I don't have things to write about, it's just that most of what comes into my head never makes it to the computer. Sometimes I get a feeling or an idea but don't want the general public to be able to access it.
I've started playing a little bit of Star Wars Galaxies Online. It's a good time. I just don't have much time for games.
This summer is going to be packed. I have a lot of youth goings-on planned. I'm hoping that the our students will grow closer to Christ and closer to each other over the course of the summer. We still need to pray for and work to raise a little more than 3,000 dollars for our mission trip. The deadline is looming but God is faithful and has not ever let us down. I remember last year when we were at the deadline basically, and we prayed for God to provide. Someone walked up and handed me a VERY large check that took care of almost the entire rest of our bill for the mission trip. We were blessed in this way last year. Please be praying with us that the money is provided in whatever way God has planned for it to be provided.
If anyone is curious, I'll post our summer calendar here:
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Updates on life...
It has, once again, been quite awhile since my last blog post. I have a lot on my mind to write about but for whatever reason, I don't immediately write it. I guess that's not the way this is supposed to work. I didn't used to have that problem.
Let's see...what has gone on in the last few months...
We had a baby! Asher Rhine was born on January 24. He's not too big but he sure is cute and we really love him. He is another blessing from God. My quiver is full.
And... I shaved.
And I got new sunglasses...
Liscense and registration please...
A few posts ago I was talking about deciding on some music to purchase and a very nice man named Bob Kauflin commented on my blog. For those of you who don't know, he's the head dude over at Sovereign Grace Music and as I found out, incredibly generous. He offered to send me the SGM cd of my choosing. I chose the Come Weary Saints cd. To my suprise, he also included their newest album, Psalms, with the cd I had requested. I really appreciated this. The Come Weary Saints cd is so good and hit me right where I was so much that it stayed in the car cd player for about two weeks straight. It is awesome. Here are some pics:
I have some things that I have been thinking on as of late. I have been reading some and have been VERY inspired to start back to writing on my novel. I am working on being self disciplined in this. It seems like with most things in my life, they kind of fell apart last fall with all of the pregnancy complication stuff. I quit doing some things that I had been doing well, such as working out. I have gotten up to 235 pounds, still a far, far cry from when I was huge but still larger than I want to be. My goal is to weigh 200 by the time school is out. I hope my body can do it again.
Bethany and I have been invited to be a part of a couples Bible study this spring and we're pretty excited about it. I think I may have even found someone to babysit the older two kids during these times.
Thanks to all of our friends who have been praying for us. Please keep it up. We love you all.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguration Speech Generator
This morning I read about an Inauguration Speech Generator over at marko's blog. You should check out this link:
http://www.atom.com/spotlights/inauguration_speech_generator/
It works like a madlib... Below is the speech that my students came up with this morning in pre-class... pretty funny.
My fellow Americans, today is a sparkling day. You have shown the world that "hope" is not just another word for "cheese", and that "change" is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually shoot. Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces fluttering and skanky challenges like never before. Our economy is hairy. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for babies. Our healthcare system is crazy. If your tibia is sick and you don't have insurance, you might as well call a painter. And America's image overseas is tarnished like a Bob Ross's afro rabbit. But pooping together we can right this ship, and set a course for The New Gym.Finally, I must thank my insane family, my saucy campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank little people like Mrs. Shinall for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of hanging the American people. Without your spicy efforts, none of this would have been possible.
http://www.atom.com/spotlights/inauguration_speech_generator/
It works like a madlib... Below is the speech that my students came up with this morning in pre-class... pretty funny.
My fellow Americans, today is a sparkling day. You have shown the world that "hope" is not just another word for "cheese", and that "change" is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually shoot. Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces fluttering and skanky challenges like never before. Our economy is hairy. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for babies. Our healthcare system is crazy. If your tibia is sick and you don't have insurance, you might as well call a painter. And America's image overseas is tarnished like a Bob Ross's afro rabbit. But pooping together we can right this ship, and set a course for The New Gym.Finally, I must thank my insane family, my saucy campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank little people like Mrs. Shinall for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of hanging the American people. Without your spicy efforts, none of this would have been possible.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wii Little Entry
It's Monday...but it's a holiday... that means that I have more time to recover from the weekend of youth ministry...by doing more youth ministry. I love it. Today I'm supposed to be catching a movie with some dudes from the group. I don't have school today so we should be able to catch a matinee of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I hope it's hilarious.
I've been shopping on emusic and iTunes for some new music. I love Red Mountain Church and am trying to decide between one of their albums that I don't have, an Indellible Grace album, and a Sovereign Grace Music album. I guess I could just get them all...
God has been working on me the last few weeks. He is using the people around me to mold me into the kind of youth minister that I need to be...one that acutally ministers to kids.
I've been shopping on emusic and iTunes for some new music. I love Red Mountain Church and am trying to decide between one of their albums that I don't have, an Indellible Grace album, and a Sovereign Grace Music album. I guess I could just get them all...
God has been working on me the last few weeks. He is using the people around me to mold me into the kind of youth minister that I need to be...one that acutally ministers to kids.
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