Ponderings....

What is it that makes us want to do the impossible. When we are told no, we say yes and try to make it happen. We ponder the unattainable, make it the improbable, and we change it to an everyday occurance. Over the course of this last century mankind has achieved the impossible many times over. Is there any way we could have fathomed at the beginning of the 20th century that we could fly? That we could talk to someone across the globe? That we could visit the bottom of the ocean? That we could look down upon our planet from the moon and see her in all of her glory? God has given mankind the means to do the impossible. Everyday we learn something new of God's creation. We cannot take no for answer. We will devise a way around the "no" to find a "yes". It's how we are built. We are continually seeking the truth, it is the essence of what we, humanity, are. We want the truth, and we have it. It's staring us in the face and he is saying,"I love you" We just have to look and listen...

Leadership

What is that almost undefinable quality that some people have that makes others want to follow? Is it exclusive or can anyone become this way. Why do people want to follow? Is it because it's just easier that way. Or is it because they don't want to take responsibility of their actions and let someone else take the heat. Why does this happen? How does it happen?

Leadership

Leadership. It's a word we bandy about alot in the church. We are always wanting to raise up leaders, but there is a little problem with this. For every leader there is a follower. Everyone is a leader in some sense but having real leadership, the ability to lead people isn't something you can just learn. You have to be born with it.

You ever notice how some people just seem to have a train of people behind them? Some don't even notice it, others leverage it for power. Others are oblivious to it, and others know what to do with it.

Like anything else in this world the people in a certain field have a talent and a drive for it. Anyone can learn to be a leader but that doesn't mean they will be great at it. And on the flipside some people are just naturals but that doesn't mean they will be great at it either. To be a great leader you have to have the natural inclination for it and the effort put into it.

Much like an athlete he can have all the talent in the world but if he doesn't put the hard work in he will never become the best there is. But the same can be said for the untalented hard worker. He will never be able to become the best because he just doesn't have it in him.

It's a sobering fact but one in which I believe in. I don't know where I'm going with this but i will be writing more on leadership in the upcoming days, weeks, months (whenever i get around to actually writing again) and it will probably make more sense then....

...

What has become of the church? We have become the quivering, no trembling, apologists of our day. We hide and apologize what we believe all in the name of "politeness". We reject the idea of being persecuted in the church of America. We don't want to offend anyone, we don't want anyone to get angry, or actually feel remorse because of the sin they are in. Our Lord was stricken and beaten, torn and gashed, and nailed to a tree and we can't handle offending someone? We only seem to care about the opinion of everyone who doesn't matter. We are trying to please everyone but our God it seems.

We have lost our Voice. We have stopped being conduits for God. We are saying everything but what the Lord tells us. It is time for us to get our Voice back. To speak for what our God says and not care about the consequences. If we truly moving in the Spirit then it won't be our words that are being spoken but God's and his can truly make a difference. It is not us but him. But we have to take the first step by speaking the Truth and the whole Truth.

Faith

Throughout the history of the Earth there never was a people who did not seek a higher power. Every scattered tribe from the deepest recesses of the Amazon to the blazing plains of the Serengeti had a God or gods to whom they revered. This cannot be some cosmic coincidence of astronomical proportions? Can it?

There must be some reason man has looked up into the sky and wondered why it was all there? There must be some reason that every civilasation in the world has prayed and worshiped to something. The one thing that unites every person in the history of mankind is religion. This deep seated longing for something more, to fill a void in their soul.

Why is this? Is it some chemical imbalance in our brain, or is it something we imagine to our fear of the unknown at bay as some postulate?

Or is it because we were created incomplete? That we need something more than what is around us. The evidence is all around us. And the answer is simple as most profound things are.

Yes. We were created to worship the one and only God. The Living God. The Father. The Son. The Holy Spirit. The Trinity. The God of love, mercy, kindness, holiness, grace, joy, and justice. A God that weeps as he sees his children murder one another. A God that loves everyone, from the newborn babe to the unrepentant murder. He loves us all equally, unequivocally, and unconditionally. His grace and mercy know no bounds.

There is a reason for that emptiness inside of you.
That reason is to be filled with his love, and worship him.

Generation

Generation, are you ready to rise? Are you tired of standing aside as this world dies around you? We watch with weary eyes as our family and friend's succomb to the attacks of the enemy. We watch them become drug addicts, alcholics, and suicidals. We stand and watch as the people around us slowly die, and we do NOTHING.

I say again, Generation, are you ready to rise? We say we are different, but do we do anything different than our forefathers? We Can be different by being the GENERATION of the LORD. A Generation that belongs to God. A Generation that picks up its' cross and dies to itself. A Generation that isn't apathetic to its peers that are hurt and dying. We are a Generation of change. And, it is time for us to Change this world with our voice. And our shout will be "THE CROSS!" Our mantra will be "Jesus!"

There is a Fire shut up in my bones and I can no longer be silent; WE can no longer be SILENT! We must get off of our pedestal of religion and hypocrisy, and help save this world. If we don't become the the messengers of God who will? There will be nothing left after us.

So I say, Generation Arise and Shout! For now is the time of the Lord. Now is the time to cast away fear, doubt, and trepidation. If we hesitate to spread the message and love of Christ then we will be too late. This world doesn't have time for another generation to come and save it.

It is up to US...

A Psalm...

Oh Lord I am hungry
Oh Lord I am dry and thirsty
Oh Lord I yearn for you
Let me eat of your Word
Drink of your everlasting waters
Breathe into me oh Lord
Fill me with your Spirit
Fill me with your love
Joy, happiness, grace, mercy and justice
May I be righteous and holy
A man after you
Let my worship be pleasing unto you
Like a sweet aroma, a fragrance like no other
May I be a humble servant in your sight
May I be a slave to your Will
Lord use me and guide me
Let your light shine
You are me strength and my shield
You are my Father, Healer, Provider, Shelter
You are my Savior

I was, dare I say, almost afraid of what was going all around me. Everything seemed so fluid, shifting endlessly. A whirlwind of change came into me life and shook everything up. Everything was up in the air and all I could do was ride out the storm...

But now thing's are falling to the ground, and I like where they've landed. The landscape has changed. It has transfigured into something, different, something better.



Change is the destruction of the old.


And the creation of the new.

Once again change is in the air. As winter turns to spring, things begin to grow and change. Things I thought were impermeable are as transient and ephemeral as the wind. Things are in flux and I'm beginning to accept it. Not everything is going as I thought, but when do they? But I'm learning to go with the flow, and just let God do his thing. Taking my hands off and just letting Him do his thing is harder than I thought. Much harder. But I know that, in the end, everything will be better.

Dawn

Sitting by the fireside
Hoping morning will come soon
We are the hungry and the desperate
The tired and the poor
We are searching for something more
We don't know what we're gonna do

There is a hole in our Soul
We are searching to fill the void
Nothing seems to satisfy this longing
As the dawn begins to break our hope begins to renew

Spinning

It has come, we have been waiting with anticipation
Our breath held
We cringed when we heard, slowly accepted, and when it happened
We were not prepared
Change is upon us and we are just along for the ride
Without anything strapping us in
The world is spinning, the ground less solid
We try to grab ahold but it slips through our fingers like sand
We try to see what's ahead but we can't focus
As everything around us crumbles
We try to catch our breath
But it is snatched away like the leaves on an autumn morning
Where we will end up we'll never know till we get there
But it's up to us to decide to make it good or bad place...

Falling

Oh God
Everything, Everything is falling apart
Everything is failing

Where am I to go?
Where am I to run?

The ground cracks and crumbles
This world is torn a sunder
I slip, I fall

I'm falling and falling
There is only darkness coming
It is all around me
Surrounding and enveloping

Oh God!
Everything, Everything is falling
Everything is failing

Where am I going?
When will I stop?

I can't do this on my own...

You reach out your hand
But I don't know if I can hold on
I know you're strong enough
But am I?

When I...

I can't explain
All I know is
I need you
All I know is
You'll be there with me
When I fall
You'll catch me
When I stumble
You will embrace me
You will wrap your arms around me
When I look down
You tilt my head up
When I fall apart
You put me back together
When I can't catch my breath
You breathe into me
When my heart is broken
You give me a new one
When this world turns its back on me
You pull me close to you

Quotes

• Not all who wander a lost. [J.R.R. Tolkien]
• They are able because they think they are able. [Virgil]
• Absence makes the heart go wander. [Unknown]
• In war, truth is the first casualty. [Aeschylus]
• There are two kinds of people: those who don't do what they want to do, so they write down in a diary about what they haven't done, and those who haven't time to write about it because they're out doing it. [Richard Flournoy and Lewis R. Foster]
• Bad days happen [George]
• Fear comes before all great things [George]
• How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. [Marcus Aurelius]
• All is not gold that shines like gold. [Alanus De Insulis]
• A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. [Herm Albright]
• A room without books is like a body without a soul. [G. K. Chesterton]
• The race is not to the swift
  or the battle to the strong,
  nor does food come to the wise
  or wealth to the brilliant
  or favor to the learned;
  but time and chance happen to them all. [Ecclesiastes 9:11]
• The only constant is change. [Unknown]
• Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear. [Mark Twain]
• Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. [Joshua 1:9]
• Make a decision, even if it's wrong. [Jarvis Klem]
• Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you. [Elbert Hubbard]
• I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. [Thomas Jefferson]
• For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing. [Romans 7:19]
• Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. [Theodore Roosevelt]
• Imagination is more important than knowledge. [Albert Einstein]
• He who thinks he leads, and has no one following him is only taking a walk. [Unknown]
  

• ---

What lies ahead

The future. When we think about it, it stirs our imagination. We think about it on a societal level it conjures up peace, prosperity, and hope. We believe and strive for a better tomorrow. It is not something to be scared of but yearned for.

But when we think about the future on a more personal level it is not such a joyous thing to think upon generally. When we think about the future in this aspect it is with much fear and trepidation. And do you know why? It is one of humanities basest instincts: the fear of the unknown.

As we start to grow out of childhood and become adults our fear of the future is almost overwhelming. With so many choices and possibilities that lie ahead at that time it is almost impossible to look at the positive things that can happen. The negative things begin to push the happy things into the background and all that can go wrong forces its' way into the foreground.

But there is a solution. And once again it's quite simple. Do I even need to say it? Hmmmm

Jesus. Our lives are in his hands and there is no need to worry about tomorrow.

True Love

It's indescribable
It's incomprehensible
It's undeniable
It's heartbreaking
It's heartmending
It's illogical
It's chaotic
It's fun
It's joyous
It's kind
It's patient
It's true
It's neverending
It's unquenchable
It's fervent
It's ardent
It's passionate
It's breathtaking
It's beautiful
It's awesome
It's encompassing
It's forgiving
It's everything

It's just Love

Tyger! Tyger!

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

By William Blake

Choice

To say that a man doesn't have a choice in life if to rid him of his humanity.

To say that we are just a product of our up bringing and that Ted Bundy had no real choice in him being a serial killer is an injustice to the man who grew in a bad neighborhood, in a bad school, and in a bad home and made something of himself. If we take away choice we have no morality. There is no right or wrong then. There just is. This strips all responsibility from man. It turns us into nothing more than animals. That is the difference between Man and the beast. Choice, and all the reprecutions they bring.

Mmmmm

Today I learned a valuable lesson. Food is delicious. Even if you eat 5.8 lb of it in 45 minutes...I also learned that a half hour later I was slightly hungry again...

I also learned that I probably have a problem with food...

I eat too much...

But thank God for Hyper-Active Metabolisms...

Impact

"Hi, how are you doing today?"
"Hey, what's up?"
"It's good to see you."
A smile, a hug. A minute of conversation. That's all it takes to make an impact in somebody's life. Many of us go through life wondering how we can make a difference in this world and don't know how. But we just need to realize it's so simple.

We are just so self-absorbed that we don't see the people around us. If we would just open our eyes and see the people around us hurting. In our campuses and work places we ignore the ignored and perpepuate the problem. As Christians this should horrify us. It does me. I went through a bout of depression as many people do and what brought me out of it wasn't something huge or momentus it was just a random acquaintance saying hello asking if I was alright.

When we do see these people we usual think "what can I do", and just ignore them. Apathy is deadly. All it takes is a smile and a sincere question and it will do wonders. Why we don't do this I'm not entirely sure but I hope we start to do it more often...

Unity

Unity. It's a word with powerful conatations and meaning. We all preach it but do we truly know what it means? What it stands for? Unity means to stand as one. To act as one. Sounds simple doesn't it?

But to achieve this we must throw aside our most deeply held differences. We have to cast off our prejudices of our ancestors. The ugly hates we all harbor toward one another silently. To look at one another on the same level when we naturally tilt our heads downward. We must cool the fiery anger we hold against a people who have wronged us. We have to quell the suspicions that well up when we look at someone different from our selves. To look past the color of our skin, the languages we speak, and the territorial claims our forefathers set is of paramount importance.

I have thought long and hard about these problems. I've tried to come up solutions, some simple most complicated. So far I have come up with only one. It's so simple it requires just a single word:

JESUS

...

Fear comes before all great things...

Superman I am not

Why do I spend so many sleepless nights worrying about things I cannot control? Why do I think I can fix everything? Why can't I put the pieces back together? When my friends' lives why do I try to hold it all? I try so hard to figure it all out. I try to be strong enough for both of us. For the Three of us. The Four. The Five. The Six...

And I just can't do it. I'm not strong enough. I can't do it.

Alone that is.

Why has it taken me so long to realize this? Why did it never occer to me before?
Why did it take so much pain and frustration? Why did I never seek you like this before?

Please...Forgive me.

But now I know.

You're always there beside me and to strengthen me.

Thank you God...