cynical

This is my battle today. Pride has led me here. I feel like I am above and beyond most if not all. This is not a good place to be for I know it is not the truth. Confusing "doing" with "being" is a terrible mistake to make and yet I make it. This is what is called self righteousness and it is my sin du jour. Are not these times of testing fun? I pray that I can let go of self and let God be God.

Overlooked

Looks like I am having trouble walking again. The walk, you know what I mean? I don't know if it is pride or just me wanting to be a part of something, maybe its all pride. Maybe, I just thought I would be asked but that didn't even happen. Self denial is at the heart of following Christ, I have to reconcile this with grace and mercy, I know. Doesn't stop feelings from getting hurt. It seems that no matter where, I am always on the outside. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel and calling it quits, but my love for God, no matter how small it might be, keeps me in it. Don't get me wrong this isn't a pity party, I am not feeling sorry for myself. Maybe, I'll just step aside and just stop, would anyone even notice and ask me or would the complaining and gossip train kick in? No one ever ask me, they ask those who are inside my circle, but don't come close enough to really care. I know that I am rambling but this is how I purge it from my soul. I have felt the weight of depression before and this is not it. I feel like that kid who no one picks to be on their team and I am left to just stand on the sidelines to watch the game. Scratch that, I wasn't even invited to the game much less stand in the crowd to be picked even though I said I wanted to play. Guess its worse because the kid from the next neighborhood was invited to play. Is there no one able to see pasted my facade? My facade has taken my whole life to construct, it is what protects me and keeps my heart from breaking. More than likely it is a bad thing for me, in fact, I know it is because my heart still gets wounded, much like it is right now. Can't wait to teach in the morning, it's really all I have. I thank God for my wife. He has used her time and again to rescue me from myself. With her I have been able to discover agape. Since she chose me, God has blessed me far beyond anything I could have imagined. Ugh, the funk is on. Wow, really? I am this beat down over this? Maybe I can just sleep it off. Maybe it's because its 115 am and I have been moving, cleaning, and painting all day since early this morning. I am going to bed, the morning sun will bring change, how do I know? God renews us every day and I need renewing, BAD!

Where are the cats? Have you seen the cats?

The cats knew something was up and have been hiding from us while we have been moving. Today we couldn't find them in a virtually empty house. Did they slip out and open door during the move? They have never gone outside before, they have always been too scared. Oh well, if they want to stay in the old neighborhood I guess I'll let them.

Moving is 4 the birds

Well, last night we spent the night in the new house. I didn't get much rest, hard a hard time sleeping. A few friends moved all my heavy furniture for me today. Just a few little things and cleaning to be done now at the old house. Man, I am glad the moving is almost over. I am beat! Through it all God is good and has blessed me with a lot of fellowship time with an old friend that I haven't been spending much time with. Good but tough times.

Ah, Sunday

Oh, how I love the Day of the Lord. Great worship today at Glenloch. Neil continues to walk us through Romans. What a masterpiece the book of Romans is.

Tomorrow starts our final push to get moved. Once out, we have to get this placed cleaned. Man we can dirty up a place.

Moving anyone?

Began to move more stuff today, fun fun!!

Look up Dr Kermit Gosnell and read the article from the Huffington Post. Nice, huh?

Learned a new term, Christotainment

What is Christotainment? Unfortunately it is what is going on and being passed off as worship. If you win people with entertainment you must entertain them in order to keep them, then they die and go to hell. Worship service is to worship God not entertain those who show up to the church building. Grow you church over night, all you need is a great sound system and light show, throw in so good singers and boom, instant crowd! What ever happened to a reverent worship service where God is shown the up-most respect and honor. Why all the silliness and story time from the pulpit? Man is not saved by stories, man is saved by hearing the gospel preached. Jesus said that if He would be lifted up, HE would draw men unto himself. The gospel is what people need, nothing more, nothing less. Thanks Wretched!

The Daniel Diet and the house.

Have you heard of the Daniel diet? Well the spiritually immature being blown about by this and that have heard and are doing it. Unfortunately they haven't read the Scriptures to see that it actually made Daniel and company fatter than those who ate the king's choice foods and wine. Unfortunately, "America's Pastor" Rick Warren is leading or attempting at least, to lead his church into this farce. There is no diet plan anywhere in the book of Daniel. Sorry pastor Warren, swing and a miss. The Wretched crew offers a better diet from the book of Daniel, The Lion's Den Diet. You simply don't eat the food placed before you.

Now, another full day at the house. Got Maggie's room insulated and sheetrock hung. The family room, I have it insulated and some sheetrock hung. Installed two Hvac returns installed also in the family room. Installed a new thermostat in the living room.

This afternoon took a trailer load of stuff over and got it stacked out of the way. Gonna move as much, if not all, the small stuff moved tomorrow. All the big stuff the first of next week and we will be in. My man Ed is coming tomorrow to install the carpet in the bed room. More to come, never forget to give God thanks, even for the perceived "bad" things.

The House and death

Ok, day 2 of misery. My legs gave out at about 345 but I stayed and worked until 8. My body is hating me right now and my fuse is short. Bodily, I am worn thin, but I have had a lot of time this week to ponder in my spirit. I think death is near. Yes, I am the wretch the song refers to! (Todd Friel) I must remember that my strength is in Christ or I wont last much longer, and  I haven't even moved the furniture yet. Got good news, we get to keep our Uverse! Yea!!!! It is the best TV service/18 mb Internet and phone service I have ever had. Got a 30 yard roll off delivered today which means I have 30 days to get all the demolition done because that roll off isn't cheap. Got all the Sheetrock torn out the new addition. Can you believe that they hung the Sheetrock on an exterior wall without putting in insulation? Well insulation is now there, got a few outlets moved and now it is ready for Sheetrock. Still got plumbing to do and some electrical. Boy I really am rambling tonight. Simply typing as it comes out. I now believe the well is dry. Good night!

The House and my Mack

My little man .is three years old now. If we could just get him to use the potty now it would be great. He is growing too fast.

Success! I installed a new hot water heater, and it works! Booyah! Now got to get moved in. Got some electrical work to do that I didn't get to today.

The House cont.

Can you say running out of time? That's exactly what is happening. Got the room painted, hope it looks better when its dry. That wet paint made all those imperfections in the walls that I spent 2 days sanding look like I haven't done a thing. Tomorrow I have to install a hot water heater and do some electrical work. Hot water heater I have and can do. The electrical I am not so confident in, I mean, I have done it before but I am no electrician. To top it off, it has to be done in time to go to church! I also have to fit time in to get mack a birthday cake, a few presents, take the baby bottles to PRCC, go talk to charter, and I am sure there is more but I have forgotten right now. Got the best Pastor/friend, as he came and helped me finish up the blow in insulation this am. Thanks Neil! Daniel has helped late a few nights too, where would I be without these guys? Far behind schedule!

Best decision I ever made and the house

Yes, 13 years ago today I did make the best decision that I have ever made. I asked my wife to marry me. She made the worst, lol, she said yes. It has been the best 13 years of my 40 years on this earth! I love you Melissa! Now, the house, ugh. I worked from about 1040 until 900 pm today. I am beat! Got to move in this week.

Delivering the Gospel, is there a wrong way?

Is there a wrong way to deliver the Gospel? Is there a line of reverence that should never be crossed? If so, what is that line? What about worship? Is there a line when it comes to reverence of worship? I would love some response to this. You can even post anonymously if you wish. I know what I believe, I just want some serious feedback.

We have a man down!

Ugh, my body is hating me right now. It has been a miserable day pain wise. I feel like I have been beaten with a bat from my ribs down. Got absolutely nothing done today. I can't fall behind schedule, I have to have it ready to move next week. Rest assured God will see me through.

Had a great lesson this past week at Bible study at the bcm. You know God had provided more than enough for Adam and Eve in the garden. I have always thought that they were walking around in the garden fighting the urge to not eat from the tree of knowledge. But you know, in the garden there was no want, there was no desire for better or more, Adam and Eve were fully satisfied because they had God there with them meeting all their needs. They prospered, they were not tempted by the tree. I bet they walked passed it everyday without giving it a second thought.

It wasn't until Satan approach Eve and tempted her to doubt God and His provision did they look upon the tree differently from any other tree in the garden. Bing, light bulb! We read that God will prosper us and immediately we think finances, health, etc. No, not at all. The prosperity is that we get God. He is all sufficient, having already supplied what we need, we need not be tempted with things that are in the process of fading away. The most valuable thing we could be given is the reconciliation we have with God through the blood of His Son Jesus the Christ. Being freed from the penalty of my sin is the greatest treasure on earth and in heaven. Praise God first for who He is and second for what He has done!

The House cont.

Spent today hanging an exterior door, installing four can lights and that was it. Isn't that enough? Sheet rock wasn't dry so maybe tomorrow I can sand and paint.

The House

Just spent almost 8 straight hours with only one quick break for supper working on one room. My good friend Daniel was a super star helping me today. Took out some sheetrock, rehung sheetrock, took out a in-wall a/c unit, closed up hole in the wall where the a/c was, then mudded the sheetrock in hopes of being able to sand and possibly paint tomorrow. Got to get carpet in this weekend or early next week. Also have to  get hot water heater in this weekend or early next week. Moving next week regardless! Anyone want to help? (the sound of friends running!)

Easy Christianity

You know its strange that the NT Scriptures don't give even the slightest hint at following Christ as being easy yet easy Christianity is what many in the church look for. They want to be healthy, wealth and wise, they long for happiness. They want to skip past the first two things Jesus laid down for his disciples, "you must DENY YOURSELF, TAKE UP YOUR CROSS," and jump right into "follow me." I hate to give us a reality break, there is no following him without denying ourselves and taking up our cross. There is only deception and denial without the first two. It is time to repent of our pride and self worship, admit it is what we have been doing, and turn to him the author and finisher of our salvation and live in the fullness of life that He has promised those who follow him. Quit looking for another gospel because there is no other Gospel!

You Don't Need Gimmicks, The Gospel is Good Enough

Just preach the Gospel! Jesus said "if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself" so save the gimmicks for the traveling circus and the used car lots. If you win them with entertainment it will take entertainment to keep them. The bait and switch doesn't work in the secular world, what makes you think it will work in church? If you win them with the Gospel, Jesus will keep them. Just give them what they need and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Good Grief

Just because you believe in something doesn't make it true and just because you can prove it doesn't mean people will believe it. The Bible tells us to be prepared to have the knowledge to defend what we believe, so my question is do you? The sad fact is that according to studies done by the Barna Group 55% of adult professing Christians have claimed to have shared their faith within the past twelve months, according to when the study was done. That means that 45% are living a life of willful disobedience. Maybe this is a part of the problem, according to a Gallup poll only 32% of Evangelical Churches believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
This would show that only 32% are truly Born Again because if the Bible isn't the true inerrant Word of God then no one is saved! Yikes!

The 10/40 Window and Missions

Have you ever heard of the 10/40 window? I challenge you to look it up, the majority of the lost people of the world live there. Pray that workers will rise up to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ there. Did you know that 1.6 BILLION people have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ? How will they be saved if they do not hear? How will they hear if we do not preach? Salvation come by the hearing of the Gospel! Let US go, if you can't go, then help send, both jobs are equally important, and be in prayer constantly for the lost.

National Anthem

Thank you Christina for tearing apart our Nation's Song and then butchering the rest of it by over-singing it. It is a sad day for the NFL. Opening- shot, half time- shot, good game, according to Meat Loaf "two outta three aint bad", but too bad for Christina and BEP's we saw them at their best.

Fox, did you think that was a good half time show?

Quite possibly the worst half time show in the history of the super bowl. I am sorry to say that even the Janet Jackson incident was a better performance than that steaming dish we were served this year. I honestly contemplated suicide, yes it was that bad. When you could hear the music, I don't think they could hear just how out of tune they were with each other. Fergie should have been shot on sight for even attempting Sweet Child of Mine, Slash should have smashed his guitar on her. Dirty Dancing remixes, ugh! Hopfully the took the sound engineer outback and dealt with him. A deaf man could've mixed it better. Maybe they will actually bring a good band like Foo Fighters, Poison, or hey roll Ozzy out there, it positively couldn't get any worse than what I just suffered through. I believe my rant is complete!

Norton Anitvirus is killing me

I have Norton Internet Security Suite and just scanned and found 6 new virus on my computer. Luckily they were all low risk/low damage virus'. What the heck Norton you are supposed to stop it before I get it not after! Well, I am downloading a firewall because Norton's isn't doing the trick, hopefully it will help.

Homework and Morality

Just knocked out my Christian Education class and some Modern Church History. Looking at morality and how it might relate to Education in my Christian Ed lesson for this week. Many of the people in the text had morality all wrong. Morality isn't governed by what we do, it is what it is, God's Law. Moral law is prescriptive, meaning its how we should live, it isn't necessarily descriptive, meaning how we live. Moral law is not determined by the community nor is it by society, it is ingrained to the very fabric of who we are. It is why in every culture around the globe whether you know God or not that things like stealing, murder, and rape are considered immoral and illegal. One guy would use moral dilemmas to determine morality, for instance: "Suppose you lived in Europe during World War II. You are hiding Jews and Nazis come to your door and ask if there are any Jews in the house. Would you lie or would you tell the truth?" Or "A man's wife has terminal cancer, another man develops a cure just for that particular type of cancer and charges $2000 dollars for it. The 1st man doesn't have the money, he borrows as much as he can get from towns folk but i is only $1000. He pleas with the second but the second man won't budge. So, the 1st man breaks in and steals the cure and saves his wife's life." Which man committed an immoral act? So what do you think? Does the ends in these two stories justify the means? Is lying in circumstance #1 morally acceptable? Is stealing in circumstance #2 morally acceptable? Let me know what you think.

I just set up my mobile blogging tool and giving it a test run. Just sitting here watching Todd Friel on wretched tv, my favorite nightly show!

Poll

You are able to post on my blog anonymously, so don't be afraid to speak your mind, that's why I left facebook. And yes from time to time i will remind people that I have a blog on FB but I will not use FB for posting or responding to comments there.

Dual Standards

Question: Have you ever noticed that absolutely no one has to meet your expectations but you are required to meet theirs? Come on people, comment!

Scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours!

Please click follow if you don't mind! If you have a blog, put in the comment, i will add a link to  it and promote it on mine. I will visit and follow you! Thanks!

Wednesday Night Apologetics

Man, I had a great time teaching tonight! What a great class going on Wednesday night! I love the participation, people who aren't afraid to ask questions, open and eager to learn. A great time of fellowship and learning the fine art of Apologetics. Discussion point: If you don't give the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified you are just giving a pep talk. God has call, commanded, and equipped His people to be His witness', to make disciples, and teach them everything we have been taught by the Holy Spirit, to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The reason many don't share the Gospel of Jesus is claimed to be fear, if we are honest the fear is that many don't even know the Gospel that they say has saved them. My question would be, if you can't share the Gospel because you feel as though you don't know enough, are you sure you have been saved? You can't claim that you weren't called to evangelism, in fact you weren't called, you were commanded. You were given the charge of giving away what you have been given. If you were in class tonight have another laugh: "Man, those were some big heads!"

The House

Okay, I have been working at the house for 2 days now. Um, can you say overwhelmed? This is going to be insane. To say that it needs a lot of work is probably the biggest understatement in the history of the world. Am looking for Romans 8:28 to be in play on this move. Not to mention some friends who won't run and hid when its time to move, you know who you are. I told my wife a little less than a year ago I never want to move again but she didn't take me seriously. So the move will happen soon. God grant me strength to pull this off because without you it wont happen!

DANG!!!! John MacArthur went off on Joel Olsteen

"He is a pagan religionist, in every sense. he's a quasi-pantheist, Jesus is a footnote that satisfies his critics, and deceives his followers. His whole thing is that man has the power within themselves to change their lives. The only way that this can be your best life now is if you are going to hell." "This is satanic" He then goes on to show how Joel's gospel is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ but the "name it and claim" gospel which is no gospel at all."This is false kind of Christianity and a false view of God." "I think preachers like this, who preach this stuff really hate the true God and are afraid to death that some people might find out who he really is."  Ouch You go John! I bet Joel hasn't received a spanking like that since he was a boy. This is what the Bible calls accountability. Did you know that there is a "Your Best Life Now" board game? Oh my, Joel, really? Sad and funny all at the same time. Pray for Joel please.