Hillsong United (greatest youth praise band in existence) is coming to Northpoint Community Church in the ATL on Tuesday April 4th @ 7:30. You know what the best part is? IT'S FREE. That's right, free concert. Holy cow I'm excited. Here's the info.
Also, Stellastar* will be playing at the 40 Watt club in Athens that Thursday. I'll be making road trips that whole week apparently.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Question
So I just happened to be thinking about something: Does God ever give us a time frame for certain things to be accomplished? I have seen plenty of examples in the Bible where God foretells something to someone (Noah, Abraham, the whole coming of the Messiah thing...) but are there examples in the Bible of God not only saying "_________ will happen." but also that it would happen in a specific amount of time?
Curious...
Curious...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Now Playing
HillSong United. I just recently purchased More than Life and I honestly can't help but crank the volume when listening to it. I've had Look to You for some time and it's a loud one as well.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Change
Change is good. Most of us agree with that. I, for one, don't usually deal with change that well. At least not big change. But last night, as I was looking out my bedroom window, it occurred to me that it was this time last year that I really began seeking after God in a serious way. This time last year was when I began to really put God first and to fully submit to His Will for my life, no matter what that was.
I've said this before and I will say it again, I can't believe how much God has changed me in the last year. Many people here in Anderson were spared from knowing who I was before I committed myself to God. I say spared because without God, I was a pretty bad person. I was so flippin' selfish, dishonest, angry, and afraid. It is really difficult to put into words because I was still me in terms of my basic personality traits, but everything was skewed. My priorities were out of order. I didn't have much room to really care about other people, even those I truly loved. On the surface, I talked a big game, but I exhibited nothing to back it up in my actions. I often wonder what people who were my friends during that time would think now. Would they believe it? Would they think it was real? Would they see me and see God in me or just somebody who got tired of hurting himself and other people? Would they think of me as a hypocrite? I've prayed that no matter what I had to endure, no matter what was required, I wanted my actions to reflect me and the person that God had made. I have prayed continual that my words and actions would match up. I've prayed knowing that it is easy to tell God "thank you" with my mouth, but I wanted my actions to say "thank you" more than my mouth ever does.
I haven't been perfect, but for the first time in a very long time, I can look back on the last year of my life and not see any regrets. I have made mistakes, but I have no true regrets. What a great feeling. But it wasn't me who did this. All I did was submit myself. All I did was get on my knees and tell God that I was tired of being that way, of hurting myself, other people, and Him. All I did was tell Him that no matter what it was, I wanted His Will for my life and not mine. The rest was ALL HIM.
I've said this before and I will say it again, I can't believe how much God has changed me in the last year. Many people here in Anderson were spared from knowing who I was before I committed myself to God. I say spared because without God, I was a pretty bad person. I was so flippin' selfish, dishonest, angry, and afraid. It is really difficult to put into words because I was still me in terms of my basic personality traits, but everything was skewed. My priorities were out of order. I didn't have much room to really care about other people, even those I truly loved. On the surface, I talked a big game, but I exhibited nothing to back it up in my actions. I often wonder what people who were my friends during that time would think now. Would they believe it? Would they think it was real? Would they see me and see God in me or just somebody who got tired of hurting himself and other people? Would they think of me as a hypocrite? I've prayed that no matter what I had to endure, no matter what was required, I wanted my actions to reflect me and the person that God had made. I have prayed continual that my words and actions would match up. I've prayed knowing that it is easy to tell God "thank you" with my mouth, but I wanted my actions to say "thank you" more than my mouth ever does.
I haven't been perfect, but for the first time in a very long time, I can look back on the last year of my life and not see any regrets. I have made mistakes, but I have no true regrets. What a great feeling. But it wasn't me who did this. All I did was submit myself. All I did was get on my knees and tell God that I was tired of being that way, of hurting myself, other people, and Him. All I did was tell Him that no matter what it was, I wanted His Will for my life and not mine. The rest was ALL HIM.
Remaking Bish
I recently decided that I would "make" myself a morning person. Historically, I haven't been much for waking up early. I've been somewhat forced into through my military experience, but I usually dread getting up anytime earlier than 30 minutes prior to when I need to be somewhere. But I decided I didn't like that about myself and I knew I needed some form of motivation to get me out of bed other than relying upon me and the alarm clock. I needed a reason.
The reason has become running. I've always run at night, but when I heard that a crew from Newspring were training for a marathon early in the morning, I figured what better way to motivate myself than to do the same. So since last week, I've been getting up at 5:15am to start running at 6am for however many miles they are doing. I probably won't actually run the marathon, but the point isn't that; it is to get my butt out of bed in the morning.
One thing I've already come to see is how much I enjoy the sun coming up. I think God probably came to visit Adam and Eve in the mornings (it says he came walking in the garden during the "cool of the day" which could mean early morning). I found myself looking forward to it. You should check it out sometime if you don't already make a habit of it.
The reason has become running. I've always run at night, but when I heard that a crew from Newspring were training for a marathon early in the morning, I figured what better way to motivate myself than to do the same. So since last week, I've been getting up at 5:15am to start running at 6am for however many miles they are doing. I probably won't actually run the marathon, but the point isn't that; it is to get my butt out of bed in the morning.
One thing I've already come to see is how much I enjoy the sun coming up. I think God probably came to visit Adam and Eve in the mornings (it says he came walking in the garden during the "cool of the day" which could mean early morning). I found myself looking forward to it. You should check it out sometime if you don't already make a habit of it.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
In honor:
In honor of Chuck Norris, today I'd like to pay hommage to my personal top 10 list of Chuck Norris facts, in no particular order:
1: Chuck Norris went to a fortune teller once. She predicted pain.
2: Chuck Norris beat IBM's Deep Blue in chess in under 30 seconds, then killed the families of the engineers who designed it because Chuck Norris has no patience for incompetence.
3: The "Chuck" in Chuck Norris is not short for Charles, it's short for Chuck Norris.
4: Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.
5: Blitzkrieg is the German word for Chuck Norris.
6: Filming on location for Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris brought a stillborn baby lamb back to life by giving it a prolonged beard rub. Shortly after the farm animal sprang back to life and a crowd had gathered, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked the animal, breaking its neck, to remind the crew once more that Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.
7: Chuck Norris knows the trouble you've seen. Chuck Norris knows your sorrow. In fact, there's a greater than 95% chance he caused it.
8: If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.
9: One time after Chuck Norris stubbed his toe, he killed everyone in Ohio.
10: The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
1: Chuck Norris went to a fortune teller once. She predicted pain.
2: Chuck Norris beat IBM's Deep Blue in chess in under 30 seconds, then killed the families of the engineers who designed it because Chuck Norris has no patience for incompetence.
3: The "Chuck" in Chuck Norris is not short for Charles, it's short for Chuck Norris.
4: Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.
5: Blitzkrieg is the German word for Chuck Norris.
6: Filming on location for Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris brought a stillborn baby lamb back to life by giving it a prolonged beard rub. Shortly after the farm animal sprang back to life and a crowd had gathered, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked the animal, breaking its neck, to remind the crew once more that Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.
7: Chuck Norris knows the trouble you've seen. Chuck Norris knows your sorrow. In fact, there's a greater than 95% chance he caused it.
8: If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.
9: One time after Chuck Norris stubbed his toe, he killed everyone in Ohio.
10: The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
Full Circle:
It has come, my friends. Yes, it has come. Is it possible for a human to conceive of an event so wrought with power? Dare I say not! See the infamous Chuck Norris interviewed by Tony Danza. What I wouldn't give to just have seen Chuck roundhouse kick Tony to the face instantly ending his existence then stand over his contorted body and in true Walker, Texas Ranger style say, "Who's the boss now, Tony. Who, I ask?" Watch the video and salivate.
via david putnam.
via david putnam.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
So....
A lot has happened. And by a lot I mean a great deal. And by a great deal I mean if anyone is reading this, you'll have to ask me in person because I'm not going to cram it all into this little webspace....
Have you ever been "tasked" by God? I mean have you ever experienced something and heard yourself saying, "Man, it feels like I was built for this." I can now say that I've joined the ranks of those whom this has happened to.
I took a Missions Education Tour of Honduras and Guatemala for the last two weeks. As I posted a little while ago, it was a miracle I even got there because God really showed up for me financially. But we toured different missions projects, both urban and rural, for the two countries and had a fantastic time. No seriously, it was a really great time, I'm not just saying that. Although I would've preferred to not travel so much (seemed like we were traveling somewhere new every day) I can truly say it was a great learning experience. While in a very isolated part of Honduras, I opted to spend a few days with a missionary pilot to see what his life/job was like. I couldn't stop laughing. Not because it was funny, but because it was fun! I couldn't believe someone got to do this everyday. We flew a 6 seater Cessna at 120 knots (roughly 140mph) right over tree tops which is an impossibility here in the states (silly cell phone towers). Then we landed in a village, watched the chickens scurry away from the plane and got rushed by a bunch of village children. I seriously laughed out loud! After speaking with another missionary named John Taylor for a length of time concerning mission work I learned the following:
- Mission work is essentially just obeying the Bible as opposed to my previous view of it being some illustrious and supremely holy calling. Jesus tells us to go...so go already. It doesn't always mean foreign missions, but we are all called to spread the Word somewhere.
- Foreign missions typically requires people who are "jack of all trades" types. Thank God. I thought I'd never find something that would fit that aspect of me. The pilot I stayed with was obviously a pilot but he was also a minister, a 24/7 ambulance, a mail carrier, a handyman and also a father/husband. I like variety.
But the nail in the coffin was not the discussion nor was it the flying. Roughly an hour after speaking with John, I became viciously and horribly sick with food poisoning. No, it wasn't the deer meat I had for breakfast. It was commercially packaged Honduran chocolate cookies. Imagine that coming back up. Ewwww, I'm gross. But that was it. I knew then I had made the right decision to pursue this goal because it was a blatant attack. God was not going to arrange all He had to get me to that place, setting me up to hear about missionary aviation and then tell me this was not something I was supposed to do. But he allowed that to solidify the decision so that when I second guessed myself later on (as I am accustomed to doing) I could remember that I had made the right decision and didn't buckle under an attack.
So I got one of my two goals accomplished for that trip: I heard from God. And I got called. I don't know where to or exactly when and there is a process that might take some years before I'm ready to leave, but I'm going. However, I didn't get to see a monkey (goal #2). Maybe I'll have one for a pet one day...
-
Have you ever been "tasked" by God? I mean have you ever experienced something and heard yourself saying, "Man, it feels like I was built for this." I can now say that I've joined the ranks of those whom this has happened to.
I took a Missions Education Tour of Honduras and Guatemala for the last two weeks. As I posted a little while ago, it was a miracle I even got there because God really showed up for me financially. But we toured different missions projects, both urban and rural, for the two countries and had a fantastic time. No seriously, it was a really great time, I'm not just saying that. Although I would've preferred to not travel so much (seemed like we were traveling somewhere new every day) I can truly say it was a great learning experience. While in a very isolated part of Honduras, I opted to spend a few days with a missionary pilot to see what his life/job was like. I couldn't stop laughing. Not because it was funny, but because it was fun! I couldn't believe someone got to do this everyday. We flew a 6 seater Cessna at 120 knots (roughly 140mph) right over tree tops which is an impossibility here in the states (silly cell phone towers). Then we landed in a village, watched the chickens scurry away from the plane and got rushed by a bunch of village children. I seriously laughed out loud! After speaking with another missionary named John Taylor for a length of time concerning mission work I learned the following:
- Mission work is essentially just obeying the Bible as opposed to my previous view of it being some illustrious and supremely holy calling. Jesus tells us to go...so go already. It doesn't always mean foreign missions, but we are all called to spread the Word somewhere.
- Foreign missions typically requires people who are "jack of all trades" types. Thank God. I thought I'd never find something that would fit that aspect of me. The pilot I stayed with was obviously a pilot but he was also a minister, a 24/7 ambulance, a mail carrier, a handyman and also a father/husband. I like variety.
But the nail in the coffin was not the discussion nor was it the flying. Roughly an hour after speaking with John, I became viciously and horribly sick with food poisoning. No, it wasn't the deer meat I had for breakfast. It was commercially packaged Honduran chocolate cookies. Imagine that coming back up. Ewwww, I'm gross. But that was it. I knew then I had made the right decision to pursue this goal because it was a blatant attack. God was not going to arrange all He had to get me to that place, setting me up to hear about missionary aviation and then tell me this was not something I was supposed to do. But he allowed that to solidify the decision so that when I second guessed myself later on (as I am accustomed to doing) I could remember that I had made the right decision and didn't buckle under an attack.
So I got one of my two goals accomplished for that trip: I heard from God. And I got called. I don't know where to or exactly when and there is a process that might take some years before I'm ready to leave, but I'm going. However, I didn't get to see a monkey (goal #2). Maybe I'll have one for a pet one day...
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