Categories
Uncategorized

Running

Categories
Uncategorized

So, anyways…

I’m starting to wonder what I can do in terms of daily commitment to the world. I really liked the pressure of the posting every day. My blog may have suffered from it, in terms of quality of content. ;-P So, let’s make it happen again.. I’m probably going to do a picture every day. Most won’t be artsy, and most will be on my iPhone, but it’ll keep the daily content coming.

So let’s start with what I’ve been doing for the last 3 weeks.^_^ Editing 29 hours of audio and 13 hours of video. 0.0

Categories
Uncategorized

Christian Fundamentalism – Fundies

Ugh, externalistic fundamentalism. That beautiful concept that has helped produce more crusty Christians than I can imagine. It makes a lot of sense. Much of child training up until 1995 when Ted Tripp’s book “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” came out drove the child’s externals and really ignored the child’s heart. They wanted their children to look good and be a pretty trophy on their shelf. 

When people care only for the letter of the law they are not setting themselves up for success. And when they add to the law, especially in application to other people’s lives, they are setting themselves up for destruction. I’ve heard more than enough stories of unrepentant hypocrites who made a big deal about how they dressed, how they never watched movies, how they never danced or drank, etc.   Where was the faith?  The love?  The heart? 

If you’re a dad and you’re handing your son knowledge but it’s filled with nothing but hypocrisy, your son will throw it out. You may think he doesn’t perceive your hypocrisy but children aren’t stupid; they will see through the lies.  The children sit and watch their dad or mom say one thing and do the exact opposite in their actions. This leads to the overwhelming rebellion we see today.

But do we replace the externalists with antinomian libertines?  These guys want to dance on the grave of fundamentalists who pretend to take the Bible seriously.  They want to dress however they want, show off as much cleavage and leg as possible, in reaction to what they perceive as narrow-minded, externalistic fundies.  “So get drunk and party down!” Is this the proper reaction?  This doesn’t sound a whole lot like loving God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength either.  They disregard everything the Bible says and live like the devil, but go to church on Sunday. The one thing I appreciate about fundamentalism is at least they’re trying to obey God while the opposing party could care less about what God thinks. There’s a difference between trying to obey and completely ignoring every single word that God says. He gave us this wisdom in His book called “The Bible: The Word of God.” Use it. 

I’m asking for you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Quit worrying about others and forcing your little gray-area principles down other people’s throats. I ask that you force the Word of God on others. You tell them the Word and then they have the responsibility to go live it and make applications themselves. They are the ones responsible to God for their decisions and actions. 


And that’s the ultimate problem I see with fundamentalism, Mormonism, Islam, Catholicism, etc. They don’t want the heart. They are training these people to live to the letter of the law. Not to the heart of it. And that’s what makes Christianity distinct and an amazing religion. People do things because they love God. They obey the law of God because they love him.

And I pray I will love God more today then I did yesterday. And that tomorrow I will love him more. I’ve struggled with many sins over my short life. And I struggled with assurance for some time. But at the end of the day, I look at my sin and hate it because I love the God who was willing to send down his Son to die on the cross for my sins and rise again three days later and now sits at the right hand of the Father. And he died to cover our sins and be the ultimate sacrifice. But do you love him and keep his commandments?

Be wise, search God’s Word and strive to obey him to the best of your ability.

Let me end this with Proverbs 1:20-33:
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place ofconcourse , in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will makeknown my words unto you. Because I have called , and ye refused ; I have stretched out myhand, and no man regarded ; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh ; When yourfear cometh as desolation , and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress andanguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early , but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose thefear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Categories
Uncategorized

Take Care

I’ve found that there are certain pathways that lead me to certain sins. If I start to wander down that road in my mind, I typically end up going elsewhere. 


I think the Proverbs 7 warning holds true, especially in the lust sin. “ Passing along the street near her(seductress) corner; And he took the path to her house” ~ Proverbs 7:8 

If we allow ourselves to wander down a road in our mind, it can lead us to bad places. Walking down the road may not be bad, but where it leads can be a problem. So if you struggle with a sin, it can be anything, anger, lust, complaining, bitterness, etc, look for those warning signs. Look where you’re walking. Be careful. It can oftentimes be easier to avoid temptation in the first place by avoiding those areas that hurt you in your fight to grow to be more like Christ.
Categories
Uncategorized

Look in the Mirror

Do you ever stare at yourself in the mirror and ask who you are? Who are you becoming? Why do you do what you do? Being honest with yourself about who you are and the direction that you are headed can be difficult. Oftentimes we’re blinded to our own faults and easily see others very clearly. The Christian life is about walking down a path. You’re either walking away, or you’re walking towards Christ. Where are you walking?

Categories
Uncategorized

Sunday Scriptures

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~ Philippians 2:10-11

Categories
Uncategorized

What Will You Give Up?

If you were asked the five things you wouldn’t give up no matter what torture or means were used upon you, what would you say? Are you passionate about anything to an extent that you would not let anything or anyone trample on or destroy it?

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” ~ Matthew 21:12-13

Sometimes I wonder when we are around those who hate God and express it loudly, if we back down are we as passionate about what we believe in as they do?

Categories
Uncategorized

Romance is About Planning

That’s probably one of the most unromantic things one could say. The whole chic-flick genre is all about spontaneity, new, and exciting. But is this really how romance works? It’s about the spontaneous trips to Italy? It’s about finding love in the most spontaneous and fun dude? I don’t know. The thing is, what takes priority in your life is that which you schedule in your life. Sure, I guess if you don’t have any kids, you don’t have a really stressful job but a very high paying one, and you are a creative genius one could come up with a way to keep romance alive in many different ways spontaneously. But how many people are like this?

Chic-flicks or any movie for that matter is about a problem. It’s about finding flawed people and putting them in really horrible, stressful, or weird situations and making them react badly to most of the situations they are in. Otherwise, we wouldn’t watch it. But is that how our normal lives are? Filled with drama all the time? No. And we need to stop trying to make our lives like the movies, or emulate the movies because it’s unrealistic. They pack a lifetime of excitement into an hour and a half. 

The most successful men I know financially are good at planning and scheduling. They run tight schedules that help them to get the most done and find the quickest way to do it. The men I know who make family devotions a priority in their lives schedule it. If in all these other areas people schedule to be successful why not romance as well?

And I get that romance is all the time. It’s doing the dishes, it’s cleaning up the house, it’s putting the little people to bed, etc. It’s about serving. And I think scheduling romance is a great way to serve as well. Scheduling the dinners out. The nights away, etc. It means you actually care. I appreciate the fact that my parents go out quite often. They go off for a couple nights here and there. They run out to dinner a few times per month.

Here’s why I think marriages will lose their spark over time. Guys are selfish. Girls are selfish. That pretty much sums up my thoughts on it.

What are your thoughts? I’m unmarried and single, therefore my opinion doesn’t hold much weight anyways. I’ll get back to you in 10 years and let you know, Lord willing. 😉

Categories
Uncategorized

Thankful Thursday

I haven’t done one of these in awhile. I think I’m becoming less thankful. :-/

Today I’m thankful for work. Because otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Work does stuff. And I like doing stuff, or at least the idea of it. Therefore I must work. Cool. ^_^

That’s it… Zzzzzz.

Categories
Uncategorized

What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?

Ask any guy or girl that and you’ll often hear “I don’t know” or something ambiguous. How about yourself? Do you know what you want to do with your life? Perhaps you don’t know the specific thing that you want to do. But writing out a vision and creating one will help make that happen.

So where do you start? Look at your gifts and talents that God gave you and use those. Go do something. Your heart follows actions. Don’t follow your heart. Your heart will lead you to destruction.
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ~ Matthew 6:21” Put your money, time, and energy into where you want to go and generally your heart will follow. ^_^