the haven Ministries

2010-06-20T09:10:00.000-04:00

Open Mic: Bagel 2.0

2010-04-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

Open Mic: Bagels

I do not know about you, but I really enjoy an everything bagel with cream cheese on it. It is so good. In fact, it is one of my favorite snacks and breakfast items. Bagels are said to not be that healthy for you, but what do nutritionists really know? What I do know about the healthiness of a bagel is that they are a good source of fiber, selenium, thiamine, iron, and folate. I will not go into detail why it is good to have a healthy source of each of those, you will have to look that up yourself, but just know that bagels are good for more than those reasons too. We as humans are like bagels. We have similar qualities that are needed to help us on our Christian walk and faith.

No bagel I have ever had is bad. Some are unique yes, but still tasty and delicious. There are many flavors of bagels in fact. Some of my favorites are Chocolate Chip, Everything, Cinnamon and Sugar, Blueberry, and plain. Just like there are multiple varieties of bagels, so too are there multiple varieties of humans. Not one kind of human is bad, but we are all unique, and we all give a different flavor to the world. Just like other forms of bagels, we have people of different skin colors, different genders, different sexualities, but all play an integral part of spreading the good news and being a Christian that helps others.

All bagels are formed by taking dough and boiling it which gives you a hard outside and a soft inside. I truly believe that we all need to strive to be more like a bagel. I am not saying that we should be hard and stubborn like the outside and be jerks to the people around us, but being hard on the outside can represent a whole new meaning. We have learned that some bagels are different flavors, but some bagels have items added to them like nuts, seeds, herbs, sweets, and even fruits. I know when it comes to some of the fruit bagels the fruits are mixed in the dough before they are boiled. I inform you of this because why should we be soft in the inside like a bagel?

I think we are called to be soft on the inside because we are meant to love one another. We are supposed to be a good person. Just like a bagel is filled with fruit, we too are to be filled with fruits. Galatians 5:22-23 talk about the fruits of the spirits, and what fruits we are to be made of. They include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the fruits that we are supposed to full of. When we are full of these things we are opening to others, we are more accepting of others, and others will see us in a positive light. These things will help spread the gospel, these things will make us a better person, but we need to be able to protect them.

We need to be hard on the outside to protect these fruits that we have been given by God. It is not to be hard and mean and be a negative person, on the contrary. When we use our fruits they will shine through the exterior layer of hardness so others can see them, but without being protected from sin and life, we can lose our fruit or it can become bitter. We are told to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Our inside is meant to be guarded from the world around us and the things that will destroy us. We will be tempted throughout our lifetime many times, if not thousands or millions of times. We need to be able to say no and block off the sin and still be able to live a life around the fruits that are in us. Galatians also speaks in chapter 5:19-21 the things that can keep us from heaven. It says “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” It is important that we are able to say no to these things among other things and be tough and be hard enough to have these things not penetrate our lives.

If we are able to be like a bagel, when we get tempted in our life we will be able to fight off the temptations and still show a life worth living and we will be able to live like Jesus. After Jesus was baptized he went into the desert and there he found temptation by Satan. Jesus was tempted three times by Satan, but all three times Jesus fought off the temptations and remained calm and peaceful and responded to Satan with love. This is the living example of what being a bagel looks like. Fight the sin, but approach life and the ways of humankind which is full of sin with love, peace, and kindness.

We are called to be disciples of God and to spread the good news. Well I must admit that a bagel is not nearly as good without its spread. We need to spread the good news, and in fact the spread for bagels can help make the good news more appealing or tasteful to many. It makes it flavorful, and no longer bland. When we spread the good news, we need to keep in mind that Jesus never was bland but full of flavor. Some people put a lot of spread on a bagel and some put a little. I encourage you as a Christian; someone who is like a bagel, use a lot of spread and make sure there is enough for everyone. Without the spreading of the good news, Jesus’ sacrifice would be limited to only us. That is not what we are told to do “keep the good news.” Rather give the good news.

What flavor of bagel are you?

Heartbeat

2010-04-25T16:43:00.001-04:00

Open Mic: Heart Beat

So I was lying in bed the other day, very relaxed which does not happen very often but in the silence of me just lying there, I heard something. Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum…. And this continued. It was neat to be able to hear that noise. That noise is life. That is the noise that God gave us to live a happy life. They say a normal heart beats per minute is between 50 and 100. I have no idea what mine is right now, but when we are not in the ‘normal’ amount of beats it is a bad thing.

I beg to differ! Not saying that doctors are wrong, but symbolically (key word there) maybe they are. I mean think about it, what is normal? That is a whole other Open Mic, but we are Christian. We are not normal, nor do I think we should ever be satisfied with being normal. Jesus himself was not normal. He did not hang out with normal people. Therefore, in my thinking, I am fine without being normal. That being said let us take a look at two ways we can be not normal in regards to our heart beats.

First, it is said that the ‘normal’ heart beats per minute is 50-100, and I would say that we probably all fall pretty close to that. Let me tell you story. When my lung collapsed for the second time in August while in the Hospital I set off all the alarms that were connected to me. I had about four nurses all running in my room. They all woke me and were all scared. I had no idea why. Apparently, my heart beat per minute dropped dramatically from around 66 to 30. That is not ‘normal.’ Why do I share this with you? If you have ever had a spontaneous pneumo-thorax (lung collapse) you know that they do not let you sleep because the nurse have to check your vitals and see how your lungs are sounding every hour. Clearly that is hard to fall asleep with. Well when my heart beat dropped was the one time I actually fell asleep. I was relaxed and in peace. I was content. Think about that, I was not normal when I was relaxed, when I was in peace, when I was content. Therefore being content is not normal in regards to heart beats and life. Philippians 4:11 has Paul saying that he learned to be content. We are meant to be content with our lives. We live these busy lives that we barely get to relax for even a minute. That is what has become normal. Why don’t you become not-normal and be content and relax and be peaceful. Philippians goes on to say that we know that God will provide for us and that is why we can be content. So in this regard be content and be not-normal.

Secondly, there is this thing called an Arrhythmia that is not a normal thing. This simply means that you have an irregular heartbeat. In other words, not a normal heart beat. Once again we see what is normal and what is not. What causes an arrhythmia? There are few things that cause one including, coronary artery disease, electrolyte imbalance in your blood, changes in your heart muscle, injury form a heart attack, and healing process after heart surgery. Can you re-read that last one please! Healing after Heart Surgery.

I don’t know about you, but maybe an Arrhythmia is a good thing. I mean we already know that it is not normal, but it comes after heart surgery. I have been asking God to fix my heart for ages. I want to love like he does. I want to care like he does. It is something that deals with our hearts. When God performs heart surgery on us, we should have an arrhythmia. Once again we should not be normal. After God performs the surgery on our hearts, we will be forever changed. We can longer be the same person, because our heart is not the same. Our hearts will start to sing, shout, skip, dance, all the while being undignified. I do not believe this is what our heartbeat looks like after we have God’s surgery, ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum, but rather what if it was ba-bum, ba-bum, skip, ba-bum, ba-bum, singing…. You get the picture? When God transforms our hearts we have an arrhythmia. Our hearts sound different because they are different. Our hearts start to skip and our hearts start to sing. We know that God wants our hearts so he can work his miracles. 1 Samuel 16:7 says it best “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord on the heart.”

It is your choice to be normal, or not normal. I think the correct term for not-normal is special. You are a child of God and you are special. What is normal? I don’t really care because I want to be not-normal and live for God fully. I want to be content and I want my heart to be transformed and have it understand REAL love. Place your right hand over your heart. What do you feel? Is it a normal heart beat? God is always ready for surgery, make your heart sing, be joyous, be content.

Static Electricity

2010-04-22T17:42:00.000-04:00

Open Mic: Static Electricity

Static electricity is the buildup of electrical charges on the surface of some object or material. Static electricity is usually created when materials are pulled apart or rubbed together, causing positive (+) charges to collect on one material and negative (−) charges on the other surface. Results from static electricity may be sparks, shocks or materials clinging together.

I want to look at three different types of static. I want to look at Static Cling, Static Shock, and Static that Repulses.

Okay, so we all know what Static Cling looks like. I am sure that we all rubbed a balloon in our hair on a sweater. The balloon collects negative electrical charges on its surface and the clothing collects positive charges. You can then stick the balloon to the wall, which does not have an excess of either charge. It is such a neat thing to see. We can make a balloon stick on the wall.

So many times I wonder if we realize that in our lives with God Static Cling exists. I mean we have God that is a Positive Charge, and you have us (sinners) who are the negative charge, when we mix them together they create an attraction. God wants us to stick to Him. It is not hard. We need to stick to God. When we can do that, God holds us tight. It is not like a balloon that the charges will start to fade and the balloon will start to fall from the wall to the ground, but rather, it creates an attraction so powerful that we will stick like Static and never fall from God’s hands and Grace. It doesn’t mean that we will not have at times an overload of negative charges in our lives (I mean look around you, we all make mistakes and are sinners). This leads me to the next kind of Static and that is Shock.

So If there are enough positive (+) electrical charges on one object or material and enough negative (−) charges on the surface of the other object the attraction between the charges may be great enough to cause electrons to jump the air gap between the objects.

Once a few electrons start to move across the gap, they heat up the air, such that more and more will jump across the gap. This heats the air even more. It all happens very fast, and the air gets so hot that it glows for a short time. That is a spark.

I mean think about it. God is clearly a powerful Positive Charge in our lives. We are human and are negative charges like I mentioned above, but when we collect enough sin, when we collect enough negative charge, it creates two powerful charges. What happens? We get shocked. It can hurt. I mean my car and I create a positive and negative charge all the time and when I tough the car I get shocked bad. Probably about 4-5 times a day. What if that shock was a sign from God? Think about it. The only reason we are getting shocked is because of two powerful forces (positive and negative), and if we collect enough crap in our lives God’s positive charge and our negative charge are going to collide and shock us. What if we used every time we got shocked by anything as a reminder to ask God for forgiveness and his love? Though we are not being shocked by our car because we have sinned, but in our Christian lives have we been shocked? Have we been hurt so badly we have scars? I don’t think you can blame God for our pain because chances are it came from one of your choices. It came from you and added itself to your already negative charge. Let the shocking every day be a reminder to Love GOD SO MUCH IT HURTS!

So maybe you are then thinking, well clearly, I am such a negative charge, that if we get rid of positive charge I won’t be shocked. Well yea that is one option, but before I talk about this think of what I just said “if I get rid of the positive charge.” That never sounds like a good idea. What is an example of just negative charges? Have you ever gone down a slide and you came out with all your hair raised up? Taken off a hat and had it all sticking up? That is the result of all negative charge. Your hair is actually repulsing itself off one another. None of your hair wants to be by any of your other hair. It only tries to get away from each other. Think about that. The same goes for our lives if we only have a negative charge. We will send friends packing; we will find ourselves lonely because we keep repulsing each other.

We need a positive charge in our lives. We need God! We cannot do it without him. We should want to stick on God fully, knowing that when we keep messing up and keep sinning or adding to our already negative charge we will get shocked. I don’t know about you, but I will use that as my wakeup call everyday to love God more fully. Only having negative charges leads to nothing positive (haha pun intended). Give God a try and stick to Him. I promise you will not be disappointed and if you are, check how much negative charge baggage you are carrying around. Pitch that and LOVE GOD.

Flip Flops

2010-04-13T17:06:00.001-04:00

Open Mic: Hmmm what to use for a word? I always struggle coming up with a word, but today, I was looking outside and then I looked down and say my flip-flops on my feet, so I will attempt the word FLIP-FLOP!!!! Here we go. Won’t you join me on this journey?

Flip-Flop: So, I love wearing flip-flops. I mean they are great. I imagine Jesus when he was here on Earth rocking a $1 pair of Old Navy Sandals. I mean can you see him wearing them? I mean he was revolutionary. He always stuck out. That would definitely help. :) On a more serious note, what are the reasons for Flip-Flops? They protect our feet. We slip them on, and we can go anywhere. We can walk on rocks, grass, pavement, and lava. Well I would not recommend that last part though. Hehe. They are so easy to use. No confusion. We don’t have to worry about bending down and tying them, we just walk up to them and put them on and go. I wear them 95% of the time in the warm weather. Here is the question! Do you wear Jesus and God 95-100% of the time? Did you know that God is just like flip-flops? He is always there to protect us, but not just our feet. He will protect us from all sorts of things. He is not confusing to get that protection. We just slip Him on and go. God is that simple. All it takes is to ask for His protection and you receive it. Have you ever worn flip-flops when one of the straps breaks? That happened to me the other day. Luckily I had another pair here at work. It is not fun to be stranded with one sandal. You only have ½ protection. God differs in that aspect. He will never break on you. The love and protection that God gives you is unbreakable. God protects you in everyday life. Just talk to him and ask him for his loving arms and hands to protect you, and he will be the ultimate pair of flip-flops. Better yet, you can wear God in all seasons of weather. Not just warmer weather. So I wear my flip-flops all the time in the summer, but why not wear God and have his protection year round in the hard and easy times, in the hot and cold times. He is there. Will you let Him protect you?

Super Bowling

2010-02-07T19:38:00.002-05:00

Today we went bowling and there were 18 of us. It was a great day. We ate pizza and bowled, I mean what could be better?

Now I am sitting here with my sister watching the Super Bowl. It is a decent game so far. Not the best, but there is still plenty of time. There is still the whole second half.

I would love to say that we all have plenty of time to win the game, but we cannot say whether or not we will be around tomorrow or the next. Unfortunately, terrible things happen, and we don't always the second half to make the game winning decisions. We need to make those decisions now so we can win the Game of Life. Without those decisions our trophy or heaven will not be available for us.

I encourage you, to choose God, to choose Jesus and choose the winning side. A side that when we win the reward is so great and so spectacular that nothing can compare to it.

This is a bigger game than the Super Bowl. More is at stake!

How will you play the game?

Confirmation Sunday

2010-01-30T01:05:00.003-05:00

This Sunday is Confirmation Sunday. I am extremely pumped about it. We are confirming 28 youth and baptizing 4. I am so proud of each and every one of them. I was given total control over the service. I must say, WOW that is a lot of work. I picked the music and the beat that I wanted it, and worked on how to create the most heart and soul emotions. I am excited. I created videos for the Service, and I worked on when to have lights and when not too, to create an impactful service. I will be giving the message, and I am pumped about it. I am talking about the Journey that we are on. How our journey is just beginning, and relating our journey to forms of adhesive, primarily glues. I am actually excited it. Are you an instant stick or lasting stick form of glue? Instant stick is great right away like Super Glue, but over time it breaks down and falls apart. The everlasting glue like Elmer's, is horrible at first, it smears and barely feels like it will stick, but over time it becomes infused in whatever object it is adheared to and does not chemically break down. That is a little taste of what I will be speaking about.

I am nervous for this week. I want it to be so powerful and heart provoking, and I am trying to micro-manage it. I am not sure where that comes from, but over the last year, I have found myself micro-managing pretty much everything and I am becoming OCD with certain things. It's crazy.

Have a blessed night. Keep Smiling :)

Goober

2009-11-11T21:26:00.002-05:00

I have a story for you! So one of the coolest people in the world and I were arguing about how to spell goober/gouber. In fact, Microsoft Word recognizes goober but not gouber as a word. Any ways, we were yelling, punching, pinching, slapping, and even kicking. Actually, none of that is true, in reality, we made fun of ourselves while we texted each other. Lame right? However, we think it just means we are freakin awesome.

Needless to say it made me want to know more and who was right. So the first reasonable thing to do would be to search Wikipedia right? Well, I learned a lot. Goober (yes that spelling) is another name for a peanut. Who knew? If you add an ‘s’ to Goober you get a brand name chocolate-coated peanut. Also the brand Goober is a food product that combines peanut butter and fruit preserves (jelly for us common folk). Well that doesn’t answer my question of wanting to know more about goober, however, it did show how REASONABLE people spell the word. I mean I was spell champ in 8th grade.

So the next thing that any academic would do is look up the word goober in an Urban Dictionary. Here is what that said. “Basically a goober (let me emphasize the spelling again. Hah) is just a kindhearted, rather oblivious goofball. It’s a term of endearment really. It comes from the ancient Scottish verb ‘to goub,’ which has to do with doing a dance and smiling sheepishly while doing so.” Well, if my friend were to be Scottish I would accept the spelling gouber, but she’s not, however, due to the origins of the word, I will agree to disagree (like our text earlier).

When I think of a goober, I think of someone who is being silly and who is a goofball. I have been called a goofball my fair share of times, in fact, my mom used to call me that a lot. I mean, I am only a goofball or a goober around those that are my friends or family. The people I care about. Then it made me think, am I goober with Jesus? I mean I am close to Him. I love him. Or better yet, is Jesus a goober in my relationship with him?

Why should I be a goober with Jesus? Bare with me here. If Jesus is a friend, I should treat him like I would any other friend. I don’t want to have a fake friendship; therefore I will be a goofball with Jesus. I will have a playful friendship with him. One that we can laugh at things that happen in our lives, act silly, or even be undignified like David was. In fact, the verb to goub was about dancing crazy. Being undignified is like being a goober for Jesus. Jesus wants a REAL relationship with you. If that means cracking jokes at each other, so be it, if it means, playing hide and go seek, just know that Jesus will always find you, and if it’s his turn to hide he just stands by you. (That just made me think of the next Open Mic) Who doesn’t like to play? So many times know we think we need to be serious when it comes to Jesus, but I don’t find that to be true. I imagine Jesus in heaven, looking down at me, HIS FRIEND, laughing and saying ‘Oh Mic, you little goober.’ It would be my honor to be a goober around Jesus, because it means I am comfortable around him, it’s a sign of endearment.

I think Jesus is a goober as well. Jesus is definitely kindhearted, and I can see his disciples when he had 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread and said he will feed 5000 people. I can hear the disciple’s kid around with him calling him a goober for his silliness. I think Jesus wants to have a playful relationship with us. He kids us, he jokes around with us. One minute we think all is well, and BOOM there is a surprise a twist in events. That is when we look at Jesus and think “Oh Jesus, you goober, you really got me!” The other option is to blame him, but that just makes us dwell in the current situations. Plus Jesus has our backs, and he may play practical jokes on us, or maybe they seem like practical jokes because what Jesus is doing in our lives is not what we wanted. There is the key word, WHAT WE WANTED! Jesus when he throws in a surprise is being our best friend, a REAL friend, one that he can honest around and love and be a goober. He has our plans and we may think we know our plans but we are so wrong, so maybe what we see as a practical joke from Jesus is simply our desire to control our lives.

I like being a goober and so should you. Have a playful relationship with Jesus. Love Him! Enjoy the time you have with him. If Jesus is not someone who you can be a goober around, it is so simple. First, ask Jesus to be a friend and a leader and guide in your life, and he will. Tell him you love him, like you love your other friends, and before you know it you and Jesus will be two goobers interacting with each other.

Booger Christianity

2009-11-06T00:29:00.004-05:00

Yes you read the title correctly! I like to take weird things and relate them to God. Can you guess what I used this time?

This time of the year, people's sinuses kick and yes we get boogers in our noses. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It's life. I wouldn't suggest standing around with your finger in your nose all day playing putt-putt with the boogers, and definitely am I not saying you should have a mid-day snack with them. Yuck!

However, in order for you to understand why I chose boogers let me explain some stuff about them. In order to understand boogers we need to start at its origin and that is mucus. Mucus is a good thing. It is slimy and gooey and can be multiple colors. Sounds fun already huh? Mucus is all over the nature. When it is in our noses it's a thick, sticky, wet pudding-like gunk that coats your skin and hairs. Mucus is very important with every breath we take. Each time that you take a breath; there are three very important things that happen.

1. The air that you breathe in is cleaned by tiny hairs in your nose, trapping little bits of dirt and dust and germs that come in through your nose.

2. As you breathe, the air is made slightly wet. Your nose having damp passages does this.

3. The next thing that takes place when air enters your nose is that the air is warmed. This happens because the blood flows through the lining of the nose and gives off heat.

Even though these three actions are to keep you healthy, germs can sometimes get into your respiratory system. The germs start growing in your nose, throat and lungs. You have a cold! When you have a cold the linings of your nose and / or throat swell. Thick, clear liquid called mucus forms and its purpose is to wash away the germs. The mucus builds up and blocks the air passages. This is what causes a stuffy nose and a cough.

Boogers are dried-up mucus and dirty nose debris. They can be small, slimy lumps or big, dry, brown clumps. Either way, boogers are filled with the junk that’s in the air you breathe. Dust, pollen, germs, sand, fungi, smoke, small particles from outer space! The good thing about your mucus is that it helps trap all this junk and keep it from getting close into your lungs.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had something in our lives to help keep the bad out? I mean, boogers are all the bad things that our nose and nose hairs are keeping out of us. The things that might harm our lungs and other things inside us. There are bad things in this world that can harm us. Maybe not physically but maybe spiritually. It would be nice to have a filter of sorts to keep the bad out and keep us clean and pure. How do we not let the life around us get to us, and us fall victim to it? Stereotypes surround us, and they are an evil thing. How can we keep those out of our lives? How can we keep the other possible downfalls in our lives out? What I am about to say may be blasphemy but sue me if it is. We do have a filter, we have Jesus. Jesus is a booger. If we live our lives like Jesus, these bad things around us, this world around us will be defeated and we won't be a victim to it. Jesus us a booger because he takes the particles that are going to be detrimental to our Christian life, like gossip, cheating, lying and so on and gets rid of them. Now it takes us to blow our noses to actually get rid of them. Jesus helps us with the first part, but it is also our part to fully get rid of those bad particles. Jesus will not play nose hockey and get rid of our particles that we pick up, but he will collect them for us, and make it easier to get rid of. I think of it this way. When I lie, Jesus catches all the particles and clumps them all together; however, if he just got rid of them for me, I would not learn a thing. He wants us to get rid of our particles. So I then have a choice, continue to lie until I can no longer breathe, which is what happens when we sin all the time, we feel the pressure, or I can breathe in deep. I must get rid of those particles first. I must pick them or blow them out. Shoot you can even do a snot rocket for all I care. I just recommend that you get rid of them.

Next time you go to pick your nose or even blow your nose remember that those are the particles that are potentially harmful to your body. Then remember that Jesus keeps you safe from those things in your life that are potentially harmful and makes it easier to get rid of them because he clumps them altogether for easy removal.

Jewelry Box

2009-10-30T01:18:00.005-04:00

So here is the latest thing I am working on, I am just starting my thinking about it. Here is the gist, but it is still a work in progress. The normal item would be a jewelry box. Have you ever noticed that when you find the right person we are like a jewelry box. I was chatting with my sister tonight about her life and all, and she said something that caught my attention which turned into this.

When we love someone, we open ourselves up. However, when that is the right person, when we open ourselves up including our hearts our hearts should sing. It's just like those jewelry boxes that girls had when they were younger. They opened it and there would be a ballerina and music. We need to be like that jewelry box.

Maybe not necessarily for a girl or a guy, but are we opening our hearts to Jesus? Are we allowing our hearts to sing when we talk about him? It is so easy to do this for a significant other, but why can't we always do this for Jesus? Every time that Jesus talks about us, I can imagine he has a skip in his step, his smile and face glistens with glee, and his heart sings.

We need to be more like an old school jewelry box. Every time we talk about Jesus, we need to let our heart sing our love for him. Maybe your jewelry box is broken, on mute, and maybe it's at 100%, then it just matters what song is playing. If your jewelry box/heart is broken, let God fix it. Let him take those healing hands, and make your life worth something. Let him repair your jewelry box and let it sing loudly. Maybe you are struggling and yours is on mute. I encourage you to push the mute button again, turn the volume up. Jesus never puts us on mute, and though we often do not treat him like we should his heart still sings for us. Let your heart sing... LOUD!!!

Jack-O-Lanterns

2009-10-21T17:41:00.002-04:00

Jack-O-Lanterns are every where now. Halloween is getting closer. I always liked seeing carved pumpkins. What do you think of when you think of pumpkins? Maybe pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin chili, maybe even fall. DO you think about carving pumpkins?

Did you know that carving pumpkins have a spiritual significance as well? Well they do! I will explain. First in order to carve a pumpkin you must cut a whole in the top. Then you grab all the nasty stuff on in the inside and throw it away. You then carve out shapes or designs into the pumpkin. When you are done you put a light inside so it shines bright.

We need to do the same things at times in our lives. We guilt built up with sin and full of nasty things. We need to have a Spring Cleaning, but in this case let's have a Fall Cleaning. We need to allow God to cut a whole in us and take out all the nasty sins and bad choices that we have made. We need him to chisel out the bad parts of us, and make us a new entity. When you carve a pumpkin it no longer is an ordinary pumpkin, it is now something new.

When we allow Jesus to cleanse us we become a new entity. We become closer to being whole. When Jesus cleanses us and we ask for forgiveness, Jesus not only does it, but he inserts a light into a life, so we can shine bright and how others who Jesus is. We are so much like a Jack-O-Lantern.

Create in yourself a new heart. Ask God for a new heart. As he is cleaning out all of our sin, he will renew you.

Psalm 51:10 says "Create in me a new heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

When we draw near to God he will cleanse us. Hebrews 10:22 says "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." We have all sinned and all fall short before God, but God will sprinkle his love on us, and forgives us.

Clean your mind as well. This is a difficult thing but while God is gutting our sin and reaching into us and cleaning us, let Him clean your mind as well.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

The nasty part inside the pumpkin is something that we can all relate to. That is our sin and our bad decisions. Yes, some of them are simply mistakes, but God will forgive you. Have you ever noticed that a pumpkin can be pretty heavy? However after it is cleansed it is so much lighter! The same goes for us. Hebrews 12:1b says "let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up." Don't let the sin and those bad choices hold you back any longer. God has forgiven you. Strip them off and let your life be lighter. God doesn't just cleanse us of our sin, but if you allow Him, he will cleanse so much more. He will cleanse our attitudes. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32.

The last thing you do for a carved pumpkin is fill it with a source of light. Jesus will fill you with light as well. He will fill you love, he will fill you with happiness, and joy. So much light will come from you that others who are in the dark will have their path become brighter. Be that light for others! "For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light." Psalm 56:13

You up for a little fall cleaning? You ready to be cut open and and cleaned out and made new with the ability to shine so bright with God's love? You ready to show the world that you are a Jack-O-Lantern?

Majoring in Majors vs. Majoring in Minors

2009-10-09T18:20:00.003-04:00

So I am doing some research into the Pharisees for a paper that I have to write for my New Testament class. I came upon some terminology that just hit the spot for me. I have always believed this existed, but I had no name for this phenomenon. According to lastdays.org they call it "Majoring in Majors vs. Majoring Minors"

What is this exactly? Well the best way to explain this is by an example. Tony Campolo said this to Fundamentalist concerning 3rd world famine victims: "They're starving, and you don't give a damn. And what's worse, you are more upset that I just said 'damn' than that these people are starving." Now I know this is a Youth Page, and I my example involved swearing, and I am not condoning swearing, but do see what this example means?

It means caring about the larger issue at hand or the smaller issue at hand.

The Pharisees were all about Majoring in Minors while Jesus was Majoring in Majors. Jesus didn't care about the little things, like healing on the Sabbath, eating with Tax Collectors, cleansing the sick which in those times made you unclean yourself. Jesus saw the bigger issue at hand. He healed a withered arm (Mark 3:1-5) even though it went against laws of that time. He saw the bigger issue. Jesus ate a meal with Levi who later would be known as Matthew (the same guy who wrote Matthew) and through this meeting Levi was converted to Christianity. What was the Pharisees reaction? They couldn't believe Jesus would eat with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus saw the bigger issue with reaching out to those who need it. Do sick people or healthy people need a doctor? Not the healthy. Same goes for Christians and non-Christians. But did the Pharisee's rejoice because of Levi's changed life? Did they ask Jesus, "What are you teaching that has such a wonderful effect on these people?" No, they were grossed out that he would even associate with such people (Mark 2:16).

Are we going to major in the majors or the minors? Its your pick! I am sure glad Jesus majored in the majors because without that Jesus would never had died on that cross for me and you. Nor would he have eaten with me, because I am a sinner. However, Jesus walks with me everyday and doesn't care that people see me with him, because he cares about the big picture.

So often we get caught up in the small picture that we are blinded of the big picture. I will tell anyone this. I am over 21 so I am allowed to go to bars, I go to bars and I talk to random people because I love it. I explain that I am a Youth Pastor and they are amazed that I am there. Most of the time we start talking about God. I meet them where they are. I do not ask them to go out of their comfort zone because chances are they never will, so I go to them. If I majored in minors, I would not go to the bars. However, I see the bigger picture. I see that the bar is just a place, its about talking to them about God and reaching out to those who do not know him.

What other ways do we major in minors?

It's in your court, what side are you gonna be on?

Shame

2009-10-06T18:21:00.004-04:00

In Seminary, we have focused a lot with shame and honor. This week's reading is on Mark and we are talking about the Messianic Secret. Basically, this is the fact that Jesus kept his true identity secret for the most part. Why would he want to do this? I mean he is Jesus.

Here are some thing to think about though. When you were associated with a title of Messiah you were of high honor. In fact, anyone around you was also associated with that honor. If Jesus went around telling people who he was others would be honored, but that was not what Jesus wanted. This is sweet. Ready? Jesus redesigned what it meant to be honored and shamed. Jesus spent time with those who were shamed. Those who had not an ounce of honor. The lepers, the sick, the dead, the possessed, the poor, and he loved them, and he re-defined what honor was. Honor was no longer how much property, money, or friends you had, it was about being shamed. This can be seen all through Mark. Jesus died the most shameful death that there was, to prove this point. In that time, Jesus should have been shamed, but among Christian eyes he was honored, and still is. Honor is not something you possess because you have money, or a big house, or a big car, honor is something you possess when care for the lost, and the least. It is about caring for those that are considered shameful. It is about putting yourself with those that are shamed.

The great thing is Jesus did this for us, we are shameful people yet Jesus was associated with our ancestors. He cares and loves us.

Jesus didn't want people to tell others who he was when they were healed because he didn't want people thinking he should be honored because he was the Son of God, but because he wanted to show us how wrong we are. We put our honor in all these material things, but REAL honor does not work that way. Real honor is about being shamed, and not caring. It's about not being the coolest person in the world, the best youth minister in the world, etc. It's humility, it's serving others, especially those that the world says that are shamed. My name has no honor to it, it has no money to it, but Jesus' name did, but he chose to not be recognized by those terms. I will put it in words of my Professor Dr. David Watson "the one who is regarded favorably in God's eyes will necessarily be regarded unfavorably, and thus dishonorably, in the eyes of the wider public." This is why Jesus says we are to take up our crosses and follow me. We must understand shame before we can live like Jesus. Shame = A Good Thing! What we see as shame, Jesus sees as a good thing.

Just a thought!

Youth Hallroom

2009-10-04T15:01:00.001-04:00

So I finally finished decorating the youth Hall Room, and I wanted to let you all see it. It is a fun atmosphere.
The top picture is with the black lights on looking down the hall. As you can tell you cannot see too much.
The second picture is of our Youth Calendar in the Black Lights.
The third picture down is a pic of the room without the blacklight. So basically when there is light this is what you see.
Lastly, the picture is of our Youth Doorway.
Creepy yet fun. Thats what Halloween is all about @ the haven.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow Starts an Exciting Week!

2009-10-03T11:45:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow is almost here.

I cannot believe it.

I decorated the hallway of the youth room last week to get it ready for the month of October and Halloween.

Tomorrow starts Confirmation at 9:30 and regular the haven at 6 PM. I am pumped. Our new series is called "Practical Atheist." The first week we are talking about Lukewarm Christianity.

Practical Atheism is believing in a God, but living like one does not exist.

Curious? That's ok, come check us out. It's gonna be a good one.

The games on Sunday are going to be amazing as well. I will give you a hint. It involves, a skull, and some feet, but not yours!!! wahahahahahaha

Fire Alarm

2009-10-01T23:30:00.003-04:00

SO today in the office was an exciting one. I have been decorating for Halloween downstairs in the youth hallway, and I went out and bought a Fog Machine. I was so excited. I was trying to make the hallway haunted. I asked around and made sure it was okay first, and I had the go-ahead. After it warmed up, I pressed go. I then went to work decorating by using spiderwebs when all of the sudden the church fire alarms went off. I immediately opened the outside door, and go to run up stairs having to open all the doors because they all shut when the alarms went off, and I found all the staff upstairs, looking at me. I was shocked to think they automatically blamed me. hahah

Needless to say, we had an enjoyable day in the office. Want a good work experience, you should see us at Northwest. CRAZY!!!

It makes me think. DO we have fire alarms in our lives? I mean when things get heated, when our lives feel like they are melting away, do we have a fire alarm. DO we have something that warns us? We all have our meltdowns, but melting is not possible without the heat (in this instance a fire). Do we have friends, that keep us liable? Friends that will cool us down when things get heated? I encourage you to find a friend that can be a fire extinguisher in your life, and will never bail in the heat of it all. If you don't know where to begin, I suggest looking to Jesus. He is a great friend, and he would be one heck of a fire extinguisher.

Just a thought

Anxiety

2009-10-01T00:43:00.004-04:00

So often in our lives we get so caught up with what is going to happen next that we get so anxious we no longer are thinking clearly.

I don't know about you, but I used to be so anxious I couldn't sleep at night. I would lay in bed for hours waiting for myself to fall asleep. I was finally put on a medicine to help me, but it slowed me down, and I didn't like that. There had to be another way.

For me, it was God. I realized when you fully rely on God all will fall into place. Maybe not how we planned or imagined it, but it will fall into place exactly how it was meant to.

When we are anxious not only do our thoughts get all jumbled and mixed up, we put our whole body into a great deal of stress.

This Video clip is an example of what happens when anxiety takes over!

I hope you all enjoy this, and remember, when God is in control, and I mean complete control, we will find a life that is not full of anxiety, but one that is more relaxed, and one that we can focus on the good around us, not the bad.

God Bless,

Life Goes On!!!

2009-10-01T00:35:00.003-04:00

Failures, Break-Ups, Deaths, all these things happen around us all the time. Maybe it is a family member, ourselves, or even friends.

I know for me, I saw my life as over when my girlfriend and I broke up. I was devastated. Why would God be doing this to me. All the happiness drained from my face and from my heart. Then the realization came to me. Through all of our failures, through all of our break-ups, through all the deaths we are apart of, we decide how we handle these situations. We can either sit back and mourn about our lives, or we can rejoice and start anew and live life to the fullest.

Through Gods' Grace you can take the bad and make it GREAT! Trust me, I know.

When we feel that our world is tumbling down around us, when we feel that our lives are over, and there is nothing worth living for, remember this. YOU ARE WRONG! There is a God who loves you with all His heart and because of Him we have something worth living for.

Life

Goes

!!!

How the Arnold Palmer Came About!

2009-09-29T15:31:00.002-04:00

This is not the truth, but it would be funny if it was this way.

While at Seminary a few others and I came up with this because the tea is bad by itself there and so is the lemonade.

"He then left the city of Columbus traveling to the village of Dayton. The men of the community were gathering for common meal when they saw two chalices before them on the dirt path. One looking like gold and the other like muddy water. The men now curious take each cup and try of each of the lustrous liquids. The look of disgust appeared on their faces and this is where God revealed his masterpiece to the followers. The vision goes like this 'take the gold and mud color liquids that future men will call Lemonade and Ice Tea, but do not drink of them straight for thy is bitter on thy lips and tongue. Take both liquids and raise them above your head and bless them. God then commanded to mix the liquids together.' Hence forth that day man had a refreshing drink. The men after drinking this refreshing muddish-gold liquid pondered on what to call it. Just then an angel of the Lord appeared and said 'it was I that told God about this concoction and therefore name it after me. I asked and what is that? He simply replied Arnold Palmer.' To this day men and women have a refreshment that is clearly from God."
~ From the Gospel according to Mic

Start of Something New!

2009-09-28T18:21:00.004-04:00

WOW! September is almost over. I cannot believe it.

This past month has been a blast. We went to Magic Mountain (took 26 kids), had a Game Night (30 kids), and just had our Fall Picnic last night (35 kids). Our Youth room was never designed to hold this many kids. It is completely AWESOME!

I am in the midst of cleaning my office and getting ready to start Confirmation. So I need to clean my office so we can meet in there. This week as well I am decorating the Youth Hall for Halloween. I really like this time of the year. :)

The 48 inch black lights came in the mail today. YAY!!!

It has been an exciting time.

This week starting in October, the haven's theme is "Practical Atheist" which I am excited about.

Come check us out and have a good time with us on Sunday Nights from 6-8 PM

First Aid Kits

2009-06-25T09:52:00.003-04:00

So today, I am making sure we have actual first Aid kits. We have about 5 First Aid Kits, but no full ones, so I am mixing and matching and making 2 First Aid Kits on Steroids. :)

Fun times at Northwest UMC.

Made me think though. Do you have your first aid kit? I mean when you get hurt, break a bone, or get burnt, what do you use for bandages? Splints? etc? Though these may be physical wounds, we also have emotional wounds and we have a first aid kit for this. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate Ibuprofen, He is the ultimate Band-Aid, He is the ultimate tweezers.

He is our Ibuprofen because when we feel bad and hurt, he takes away our pain.

He is our Band-Aid, because when we are injured he heals us.

He is our tweezers, because sometimes we have things so deep down that we don't think we can fixed or healed, but Jesus will not just stop at the surface. He digs down deep into our skin and pulls our our guilt, regret, and sins. We are forgiven because He dies on that Cross for US!!!!

Don't Leave Home Without Your First Aid Kit

Ice Cream and a Movie

2009-06-24T09:46:00.003-04:00

Hey there everyone,

Just a quick update of the haven ministries.

We went out yesterday to Graeter's Ice Cream and then saw Paul Blart at the theatre.

We took a full van (a.k.a Party Bus) which is 15 in total.

Next event is Junior High Missions

The week after that is the Clippers Game, and I need to know if you are going by July 6th

You can RSVP by call, text, or email

micmohler@yahoo.com

740.703.4896

Vision

2009-06-20T13:02:00.003-04:00

So I am about to start a book called Chazown by Craig Groeschel. He is one of my favorite pastors to listen to well besides my dad of course. Chazown literally means vision, and I wanted to do a pre-write on the book and what I believe about our visions.

We all have our visions, maybe its for our own lives. Maybe it was to go to Harvard then off to Med school and become a doctor. Maybe it was/is to work with teens. Let me tell you my vision of about 5 years. This is a vision that one day I want to see come true. I want to design and run an after school teen center called the haven. It will have bowling, miniature golf, arcades, billiards, air hockey, ping-pong, foosball, stadium seating couches looking at a 30 foot screen for movies and music videos, a snack bar, a dance floor for dance parties on weekends, a stage for bands, and this is just the beginning. Why do I tell you all of this?

I tell you because without a vision in your life, you may live it and be happy, but you have no challenges/goals to achieve. I know that is not the right wording, but hopefully you get what I mean. Without my vision of the haven, the haven at Northwest would not be started. I am in the process of making the fellowship a permanent youth center with Air Hockey, Pool Tables, Ping-Pong, Arcades, Rock Band, only a 10 foot screen, and so much more.

If you don't have a vision for your life, sit down and pray to God for a vision. With a vision great things can be done. Martin Luther King had a vision and with that vision came something very powerful and he lead the way on equal rights.

It takes a VISION

Dear God, thank you for the sun and the rain, thank you for our visions, and God please never stop giving us visions for our lives, and things we do. You are truly a remarkable God. Amen.

Sun Burnt

2009-06-18T17:13:00.004-04:00

So I want to tell you all a lil story.

I have never been burnt. I just don't burn. I can stay out in sun for hours and hours and just get darker. Well so a medication I am on says do not be in direct sun light, and I was like pshhhh. Well I am now redder than any red I have ever seen. :)

My shoulders and neck are extra chrispy if we were at KFC.

It made me think though. It feels like I am being weighed down because my shoulders are not able to move like they used to. I can't pile any other things on my shoulders because it hurts.

In our Christian lives that is so much like our burdens we give ourselves. How many of you have burdens? Probably all of us. We have these burdens and they weigh us down where we can't put anything else on our shoulders because it hurts.

Give your burdens to Jesus Christ, and let him take all the weight. Live a life without burdens. I promise you will like it. Jesus is like our Sun Screen. He won't let us get burnt, won't let us go on with life without the ability to burdenless.

Don't get burnt. Use Jesus.

Dear Lord, thanks for the sun, and the good weather. Thanks for being our sun screen and taking our burdens off our shoulders. Amen.

It's Official

2009-06-02T13:45:00.003-04:00

So I am officially the Full Time Youth Pastor now. Jean showed me her new office today, and I have a whole room to myself. More than I need. I cannot wait to make it my room. I never really tried, but I figured now, I will see what I can do to make it feel like my space. It is sad though. I have that room to myself. Pam is downstairs still, so that is good. I am not in the dungeon by myself.

The Dance-A-Thon was a success. We raised over $800 for Multiple Sclerosis Society. One unfortunate event did occur, while playing a game we did manage to break a window. That was definitely the downside of the event, everyone is okay, and health is more important.

I am excited to swing into things this Summer, and take over Youth Ministry. We will see what gifts God has given me, and we will see how well Jean trained me. ;)

Have a wonderful sunny day

Good Morning

2009-05-27T12:34:00.003-04:00

I dont have much to say right now, but I will give you an update. 5 days until I am a Full Time Youth Pastor. :) It must be official because I get a Credit Card. That is very exciting, but the word caution keeps being said around me. :)

I ran into a scare last night to. I talked with JAM (Jackson Area Ministry) where we are doing our Senior High Missions and they didn't have us on the calendar or anything. Luckily, that week, was available and I got us scheduled. We will be going to Meigs County.

I have learned something. I am already an anxious person, my mind runs a mile a minute, however I am a very laid back person, it takes alot to upset me. I wasn't really worried about Missions and not hearing something back from JAM because I knew God would provide. There are some things in life that are just not worth getting upset about or losing your 'cool.' Now when I say that, I would be lying to tell you I never lose my cool. I have my struggles with letting little things bother me. I also know that God will provide and take care of me. He gives us Blessings in Disguise. (I just a wrote a paper on this)

Take today, and take it moment by moment. Dont worry about all you have to get done, focus on the first thing then the second then the third and continue this process. Our God is so good and he loves you so much. Spend more time dancing in His Love, and less time going through the routine.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T15:21:00.003-04:00

What a weekend. My roommates and I hung out and that was a blast. We cooked out yesterday, and mmm that was delicious. I am sitting in class, waiting for another 9 days when I am done.

I have a Final tomorrow and Thursday, a speech next Monday and a Final next Wednesday. Almost done. Better yet, 6 days and I become a full time employee at Northwest UMC as Youth Pastor.

We have some exciting things in store, including mixing things up again. If you know me, you know routine kills me.

Bring It!

Recycling

2009-05-23T10:35:00.003-04:00

All I can say is WOW! Let me just tell you, I took all the recycables from this last week over to Sims Recycling, and we had so much stuff it filled the WHOLE ENTIRE church van. It took me a good half hour to load it all up, and a good hour to seperate them all into bins at the recycling center. When it comes to the aluminum we had 54 pounds this week. We had 22 pounds last week. To date we have made $26.60 for the Habitat for Humanity.

I must admit when we started this, I didn't think Northwest would get into it, but I was so wrong, and you know what I am SO GLAD I was wrong.

Thursday Afternoon

2009-05-21T16:04:00.004-04:00

Wow, it is hot again. I am so excited. This weather makes me think of camp though, and I must admit that I am sad I will not be going back this summer, however, my alternative is so much cooler. the haven will be rockin` this summer.

So I had Yoga this morning. Whoever says that Yoga is easy, I will beg to differ. My arms and abs were burning today after class. I am getting stronger. hahaha. Oh how I wish that was true.

So you know the Bible talks about working out right? Back in the day, they didnt have Yoga, but they would pick up big rocks and throw them. Now unfortunately, normally at people, but what a great game of Dodgeball that would be. :)

That is just a random thought that popped in my head.

Wednesday Night

2009-05-20T22:24:00.003-04:00

So, I am sitting in my bed, about to start some homework which I will be up for the few hours finishing, and I am not starting until now because my family went out to eat at P.F. Changs for my sisters 27th Birthday. Let me just say, I am blessed by my family. I will not share what was our discussions throughout the night mainly because you would think we are dysfunctional. I'll put it this way, if you know my sense of humor, I get it from somewhere. ;)

It was such a great night and with Dad now a District Superindant we barely see them especially because they live in The Plains. God has blessed me with two great families. My actual family, and my church family. Isn't it great to have two families? It is such a great feeling to know that you are loved by multiple people.

I am saying all of this because you need your family, like it or not. They help you grow, even if it was a negative experience in your life you can grow from it. I would not be the Young Man I am today with the love and support of my parents.

I was laughing tonight because we were in Fossil looking at watches, but the watch I want is a Miami Dolphins watch which is exactly like my dads. The cars I am out looking at to buy is the same model that my dad drives. My profession is exactly the same my dad took when he was my age. *Note: I don't want to be a DS though* In other words, I am blessed to have a great dad and I see it as a good thing that I want to be just like him.

God Bless,

Goodnight

Wednesday May 20th

2009-05-20T11:34:00.001-04:00

Goodmorning.

Last night I went to a Memorial Service for Elijah Lee Albert Glenn Hamm. He was born on April 27th at 4 AM and passed away April 28th at 11 AM. He battled for 31 hours. He was born to Adam and Megan Hamm whom are two of my very best friends in the world. It was a great service, and I had no idea what to expect because I had never been to a memorial service like this.

Though this was a horrible situation that occured with Elijah passing away, let me tell you that in those 31 hours, Elijah changed many lives. He brought families together, he had dozens of churches praying for him, and he brought his mommy and daddy closer together. WOW! I know that is not the word many would use after this type of thing happens, but that is all I can say. The beauty of God's hand is truly at work. He took a sick baby and changed the world with him. Now Elijah is perfect and in heaven with our Lord and Savior. He is most likely in Jesus' arms being carried as he walks on the golden paths of heaven.

Do not doubt what God can do in the moments of our despair. I promise you He can take any situation: good and bad and make them great.

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Job 1:21

Bagels

2009-05-19T12:24:00.002-04:00

So bagels are so good. I mean they have all kinds of flavors including chocolate chip, which is what I had today. Bagels are a good breakfast food, and they provide us with some necessary grains for our lives. Did you know that bagels make a great analogy of our lives as a Christian? I think bagels show a great example of how we should be. I mean, not that we should be round and be toasted, but bagels are normally soft on the inside and hard on the outside. At this point many of you might think “is he saying we should be hard on the outside?” I am, but hear me out! God calls us to be full of love, loyalty, honesty, charisma, and those usual good traits. On the inside of us, we need to full of those, we need to be full of love, and be soft and caring as a Christian. We have to be careful though, because when we open up to others and care for others, we become vulnerable and open to temptation. This is where the outside being hard on a bagel is a good thing. We need to be thick-skinned per say in that we don’t allow ourselves to be tempted. Those things that tempt us will find you, in the moment that we are our weakest. Maybe it’s cheating on a test, cheating on your spouse, maybe its lust, maybe its greed, maybe its pornography, maybe its conceitedness. You get the point. When that is what our inside is full of, we cannot be successful at being disciples of God. We send out the wrong message. We need to be thick-skinned to block out the temptation. Jesus was a bagel. A good one I might add. He was full of love, compassion, and so much more and when he was tempted by Satan, he was able to say no because he had thick-skin. The devil tempted him three times, and all three times, Jesus said no, finally telling Satan to be gone. Jesus is a great example of what it means to be a bagel for God. I know that sounds weird, but it’s the truth.

If we want to show others what it means to be a God-follower and spread the good news to those who don’t know it, we need to block out the bad and allow the good to enter us. It doesn’t matter what flavor bagel you choose to be as long as you are a bagel and you allow God to enter into your life and be full of love on the inside and block out the devil and say “be gone.”

Sunglasses

2009-05-19T12:23:00.007-04:00

Open Mic: Ok so I am going to try Sunglasses today: This is the part that I will make up on the spot something biblical with sunglasses. So, what do sunglasses do? We wear them to protect our eyes from UV Rays, and the block out the sun light. On a bright sunny day, it is hard to see things. Luckily, sunglasses allow us to see without being blinded. Do we put on sunglasses in our spiritual life? I mean light is seen as a good thing, and dark is a bad thing. But do we put on sunglasses knowing that we are blocking out Jesus. I mean think about it, if light is good, if light is Jesus, and we put on this sunglasses in our lives we are blocking the good, and allowing the evil. In our real life sunglasses protect us from the light but in our spiritual life sunglasses can't protect us, the only thing that can is Jesus who is the light. When we put on our spiritual sunglasses it is like telling Jesus we don't want you right now. Maybe we do it because we have
sinned or we want to continue to sin but dont want to feel guilty. That is very common.
In our lives it is okay to wear sunglasses, but in our spiritual life we need to delight in the light and know that God is our protector from all things, not just UV Rays.

If Saul had spiritual sunglasses on when Jesus approached him, would we have Christianity that we know it today. If you don't know, Saul was blinded by the light that Jesus brought with him, but through that experience Saul transformed into Paul because he saw truth in that light. If he wore his sunglasses, he would not have seen the truth in Jesus and would not have transformed. The majority of the New Testament was written by Paul

When it comes to Jesus, take off your sunglasses and look deep into the light because when you do, you will be changed radically, and the person you will become will be someone that can change the world.

Gushers?

2009-05-19T12:23:00.006-04:00

open Mic: I want to talk to you about Gushers today. So I absolutely enjoy Gushers. They are so good, and they never disappoint me. :) Have you ever wondered how Gushers can be related to our lives as Christians? Well here is my attempt off the top of my head. So as you probably know, that Gushers are a gummy treat with a gooey goodness in the middle. In a way that is our life right? We may not be a gummy treat (unless you are kissing people - but you didn't hear that from me :)), but the thing about Gushers is that the best part isn't the outside but what's in the inside. Wait a minute that sounds so familiar. God gave us a heart for a reason. David who has the heart after God's own heart shows us that. God didn't choose him from the outside, his hotness, his sexiness, his money, NO! he chose him because of his heart. He chose him for what was in the inside. I know I choose Gushers because of the inside, and we know that God does too. We need to recheck what our hearts are saying to others, are they open to others, are they loving others? We may not be Gushers, but our inside should be the gooey goodness and share the love that God has given us to everyone else.

The Whopper Sandwich

2009-05-19T12:23:00.005-04:00

So I was thinking about something today, and what could I write to tie God to food, because I like this Food/God thing. Then it hit me, so lets see what I can do.
Today's Word is Whopper.
Have you ever had a whopper? If not that is ok. So I was thinking what if we were a hamburger, just a hamburger on a bun with nothing else. That is a boring life, there is no pizzazz, there is no color, just boring old patty on a bun. See I believe that is what our lives are like when we have a life without God. Our lives are boring, flavorless, bland. Who wants that? I want a life that is full of flavor, full of goodness, and that is exactly what God gives us. He makes us with so many toppings. With God in our lives we have Hope, Love, Faith, Grace, Forgiveness, Peace, and Joy. With those in our lives we have a life that is flavorful, worth living. The Whopper is not just a sandwhich that is a patty and a bun it has, lettuce, mayo, tomato, onion, pickle, ketchup, and mustard on top of the Hamburger. God has done the same thing in our lives. He takes Hope (Lettuce) and puts it in our lives. He cuts up some slices of Faith (Tomato) and puts it in our lives. He puts a couple of pieces of joy in our lives (pickles) - however a couple of pieces of God's Joy lasts forever. He takes the onions which normally make us cry, and fills us with peace and puts that in our life. He pours out Forgiveness (Ketchup) on us. As well as pouring out Grace (Mustard) on us. Lastly, he SMOTHERS us with Love (Mayo). God gave us a full life, one that is full of life and flavor. I challenge you to choose the Whopper over the plain hamburger.

Pasta

2009-05-19T12:22:00.002-04:00

So to start this one off, I have a verse for you.

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

So pasta is a meal that is very high in carbs, there is a study that 82% of runners that have a high carb meal before running can last longer. I believe that is true. I believe that if you eat more carbs you can do this. Well pasta is a great source of carbs. Did you know that approximately 45-65 percent of calories should come from carbohydrates. That is pretty much half of food intake then. That shows you how important carbs are. God calls us to run the good race and fight the good fight. Well in a spiritual sense, carbs don't do a thing for us when it comes to running. However, what if God was the pasta and he was the carbs to our spiritual fullness? How can we run the race and fight the good fight without God keeping us going. Maybe we would last about a week maybe 2, but eventually you would lose energy. We need some kind of carb to help us keep going. In my book the best carb is God. He is always keeping us nourished and he gives us that push when we feel we can't continue.

We need carbs in our daily diet but I challenge you to pick the carb that won't be found in nutrition books, this carb can be found in the Bible.

Spinach

2009-05-19T12:21:00.000-04:00

Is God spinach?
I say this because we know that Spinach is good for us, yet we don't like it, we don't want to eat it. People won't even try it. I always say you should try something before you knock it. God is great in our lives, but sometimes we see him as spinach, because we know that he is good for us, but we still don't have him in our daily diet. Spinach is very high in so many vitamins and minerals. Including Iron, Vitamins A, C, E, K, even a good source in protein. Why wouldn't we want to eat Spinach, it is so healthy for us. A little bit of spinach can go a long way. But don't people deny God everyday even though we know he is good for us. He may not be a good source of Vitamins and Minerals, but he is very high in love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and salvation. Those are things that our body needs too, even though the RDA doesn't include it. God is essential in our lives, and better yet, he doesn't taste bad. God is like spinach in the aspect that people treat God like spinach, but the great thing about God is, he is better than Spinach, and works even more miracles than spinach can, and God doesn't taste like spinach.

Maybe a good example is Pop-Eye. A normal man with normal strength, but when you add the spinach to his life, he is a powerful man. Isn't that just like our lives? We are all normal Joe's (not the plumber) and without God (spinach) we are nobodies. However, you add God (spinach) and you have exponential possibilities.
The story of Samson in Judges sounds similar. He is a man with God and had super strength, but when he was no t with God he had the same strength as me, and as we all know that is pretty much NONE. I know in my life, my strength with God in my diet isn't my body build or how big my muscles are, my strengths with God in my diet is something completely different. God in our diets will do amazing things.

So...
I encourage you to give God a try. Don't just assume that he isn't there for you. Don't treat God like Spinach. God wants us all to give him a try. He knows by doing that, you won't want to go back to normal life.

Pepperoni Pizza

2009-05-19T12:20:00.002-04:00

So today's word is Pepperoni Pizza. I am making one for dinner and it was on my mind, plus in class the other day I found out it is one of the foods that provides the most Sodium for our body. Crazy huh? However, I have a point with this. Have you ever realized how good pizza is? I mean it is great. It tastes good, smells good, mmmmmm. You take some dough, and it becomes a crust, you add some sauce, cheese, and pepperoni (or add your own meat) and it creates a delicious meal. Did you know God can be like Pizza? God is always good for us, I would imagine if God was in edible form, he would be SO GOOD! Also, sometimes Pizza can be messy to make, you have sauce everywhere, cheese all over the countertop and floor, and a mess is created. However, our lives are often messy, and its not cheese or sauce that makes it that way, its our everyday lives, our drama, our lies, or sins, but God can transform that messiness, by carrying us. He would be the crust to our Pizza. He is a place for us to belong to. When you add that crust it no longer is just our sins, and what not, it creates something. It creates a Pizza where our sins are forgiven, and all that matters is our lives are now filling, and good, and thats because we add God to the 'mix'. Without the crust (God) our lives would be messy and nasty (sins), but God can take those sins and that mess and clean it up and make some that is so good... Pizza (Forgiveness).

Silly Putty

2009-05-19T12:20:00.001-04:00

Silly Putty for God
So when was the last time you played with Silly Putty? Believe it or not I played with it today while I was in class! It is an interesting thing this Silly Putty. Nothing special, but provides us with hours and hours of fun. What if we were like Silly Putty? I mean what if we were Silly Putty for God? As you know if you take Silly Putty and stick it to a Newspaper or a Comic Book it will copy the Newspaper and Comic Book. So let’s say we are Silly Putty and we want to copy something. Not something like a Newspaper or a Superman Comic book, how about copying God. God has a life for us that nothing else compares to. He wants to Mold Us. My life is far from perfect and maybe you can relate with me on that, but I also know that when I give my life 100% to God, I will be molded into something unbelievable. Look at David; he was molded into a warrior that defeated a Giant named Goliath. There is Josiah, who was molded into a King when he was just 8 years old. Even better, how about Mary who was molded into the Mother of Jesus Christ. There are so many possibilities with God, they are endless. When we allow God to Mold us, our lives will no longer be like a rollercoaster. We may still have our ups and downs, but with God sharing the cart with us, it is an adventure, not something to make your stomach turn.
We have a life that we will have struggles and we need God, but if we are like Silly Putty and form around him and copy him, God will guide us. We can think of us as Glow-In the- Dark Silly Putty when God is guiding our lives. God is the keeper of light, he allows us to live our lives in light, while Satan offers Darkness. However, if we are Glow in the Dark Silly Putty, and we copy God, we will have plenty of light.
The one thing we do not have in common with Silly Putty is that is was accidentally invented. We were not an accident. God knew of us before we were born. He knows every hair on our heads, every cell in our bodies, for He made us. He knows every thought, every motive, and every pain we feel. God wants to mold us into something amazing, but we as well need to want to mold our lives on him. If we do that, and we are confused with a situation, but because we molded upon God, we too will know what to do, we will know the right answer. In Job 10:9 it says “Remember that you molded me like clay.” We are not the first ones to be molded, we are one of many, and God has perfected the meaning of Molding Us. The tricky thing in our lives is to Mold upon God 100%. God is someone you can’t see, you can’t touch, so it can be hard to mold him, but if we Mold upon living things like sports, friends, drugs, or even sex, then we are being Silly Putty for all the wrong reasons. Those things cannot give us happiness; they cannot lead us in the right direction. God can do that, God will never let us down, while friends come and go, and girlfriends or boyfriends come and go, God will never leave us and his love for us is indestructible. Romans 12:2 says “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” God has a perfect plan for us; it even says it’s good, and pleasing. I will take that any day over suffering and pain. God knows what he is doing, unlike us, who live our lives in total chaos. Let God Mold Us into something amazing, something that will shine so bright, brighter than anything like Glow-In-The-Dark Silly Putty. Just remember, we need to Mold to Him, like we want to, like we Love him, like we Trust him. Do all of these and you will be like Silly Putty for God, living your life stuck on him, he’s the one carrying the weight when we are stuck on him, not us. Be open to God’s ideas, they are perfect ones. Just as the disciples were open to and eager for Jesus’ teaching and direction, we need to be teachable. If we don’t allow God to change us through his Word and the input of others, we’ll prevent ourselves from becoming the people that God wants to mold and shape us into.

Hang Tough

2009-05-19T12:19:00.001-04:00

Hang Tough

When your life gets you down
Try not to frown
When your life can’t get any worse
And you think your life is one big curse

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

You think you have it bad when that girl breaks up with you
Or even when Santa forgot that gift when you were two
No one said life would be easy
Sometimes it’s a hurricane and others a little breezy

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

Life can be all you want it to be
Just try not to make all your prayers say the word me
Be persistent with your prayers
God will answer because he cares

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

Keep praying over and over again
To heal someone or even forgive a sin
God won’t get tired to hear your voice
He’ll kick back and he’ll rejoice

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

I wrote this because I was talking about persistence at Camp in summer of 2006. Isn’t it funny how hard it can be to be persistent sometimes? One minute you are on a high and the next you have hit the concrete floor with a thunk. It basically talks about the persistence of prayer. As you can tell that one stanza is repeated over and over again. It says turn close to God and pray. All the Time. He will heal you. And like Emeril would say BAM! To your life. Well that is the shortened version. But I believe the shortened version works very well as well. Think for a second: what is your life like when it’s bland? What is your life like when it’s flavorful? I would imagine you would call flavorful = happiness. I would imagine you would call bland = non-exciting. The dictionary says Flavorful = full of flavor, tasty. And Bland = not highly flavored; mild; tasteless. Well that makes me wonder how you get that tastiness. It just so happens the answer to that is very simple. JESUS! Jesus knows what it means to turn bland into flavorful. He did it in John 2:1-12. He made the bland into flavorful when he turned water into wine. JESUS is what our life being flavorful is all about. He is like a spice, and herb, a seasoning. When we live a life without Jesus it is blah. It is like food without a seasoning. Think of stuffing without the good taste. But when we cover ourselves in the herb, spice called Jesus Christ we become flavorful. We become whole. We become something we can be proud of. However, no one said that using that seasoning called Jesus was easy. We find those times that life sucks, and instead of pulling the Jesus herb out of the cupboard we pull out self-pity spice. We pull out a jar called misery and we pour it all over ourselves. I am one to be talking. I do this a lot. We are human. However, we need to do a spring cleaning, and get rid of the self-pity, misery, loneliness, and we need to use an extra portion of Jesus on us. With Jesus in our lives our lives become worth living. He took up his cross and died for our sins. This just so happens to he Holy Week, and it can be our Holy Week as well, by taking up our crosses and dying on that cross. Get rid of our self-pity, misery, loneliness, and know the truth about that cross we carried. It represents freedom. Jesus already did that for us, but we can do it too for ourselves and for others. Why can’t we sacrifice our lives for Jesus’ life?

So let’s move onto another part of this poem.
Let’s move to the part about sometime’s it’s a hurricane and other times it’s a little breezy. So we all stumble, we all fall. Sometimes we trip but catch ourselves. If we had to choose between a hurricane and a breeze we would all choose the breeze or probably the third choice of neither. I am going to call these valleys. We always are climbing and then we reach the top of the mountain. We feel good, but to get to the next mountain we have to cross a valley. It may be a deep valley (hurricane) or a shallow valley (breezy).

1. VALLEYS ARE INEVTIABLE = they are going to happen regardless, so you might as well count on them. You have just come out of a valley, you’re in one right now, or you are probably headed towards one. Jesus said in John 16 “in the world you will have trouble” It is not a matter of if, but rather when. It will happen; it is a normal part of life. Don’t be surprised.

2. VALLEYS ARE UNPREDICTABLE = you can’t plan these valleys. You can’t schedule them. Plus they usually come at the worst time. Have you ever had a flat tire at a good time? They usually happen when they are the least convenient and you least need them or want them. Ever realize how a good day can all of the sudden become a train wreck and all hell breaks lose?

3. VALLEYS ARE IMPARTIAL = No one is immune though. Don’t think that this only happens to you, because you are wrong. EVERYONE faces valleys. Problems, trials, difficulties, disturbances, downtimes, depression doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It means you’re a person. It doesn’t mean you are an evil human being, it means you are a human being.

4. VALLEYS ARE TEMPORARY = they have an end to them. They don’t last. They may seem to take a while, but they don’t last. David himself, whom I consider the Manliest Man in the Bible said “Even though I walk through the valley…” You don’t stay and walk in it your entire life. It is something you go through. 1 Peter 1:6 says “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” Basically life is going to be rough. However, there is wonderful joy ahead. He is talking about Heaven. There are no problems in Heaven, no valleys, no dark days. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ that is where you are going.

5. VALLEYS ARE PURPOSEFUL = I know this is what no one wants to hear, but it’s the truth. God has a reason for taking you through the valleys. The valleys are not just a freak of nature. God wants them to build faith. We love mountain tops, but we don’t build faith there. You build faith in the valleys of life. When everything is going fine and great you don’t need God. But when you come face to face with a dark valley, you get on your knees. Faith is strengthened in the valleys. If you were to read Lamentations 3:18-20 “Gone is my glory, all that I had hoped for in the Lord. I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me.” It sure sounds like Jeremiah is going through a valley. But if you keep reading there is HOPE! “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

Yeah we have our valleys our hurricanes, our breezy days, but through those Valleys come a greater story. A story full of love and story full of no valleys called HEAVEN. God has worked miracles in my life and I know he will in yours as well. I have had my fair share of valleys, and am slowly walking down into one. I say this because we are human. Yeah I am walking down into one, but what does that mean? It means it builds my faith! It also means that sooner or later I will be walking up to a mountain top.

Thank you God!

Manly Man

2009-05-19T12:16:00.000-04:00

This is a poem called Manly Man by Bradley Hathaway. He is my favorite poet.

I don't want my long hair
Pretty green eyes with
NO I DO NOT HAVE ON MASCARA
Eyelashes
Skinny Figure
Undersized T-shirt

Hip
Shake
Too
Much
When I walk.

Confuse anyone...

I AM A MANLY MAN!

Within this sissy frame
Obviously rib-laden chest
Lies a heart
That BEATS

To the drum of a
Native American ritual dancing
WILDNESS
It PUMPS an evercascading supply of unTAMEDness
That a herd of WILD mustangs have yet to grasp.

If DANGER lurks about, I will seek it out.
If adventure abounds, there I will be found.
If a damsel be in distress

I will show her who is best

I AM A MANLY MAN!

Because I DON'T FLUSH
And I leave the lid up.

I drive a nineteen
Eighty eight
Ford PICK-UP truck.

GIRLS DON'T BREAK UP WITH ME
I break up with them first!
(except the last time)

I DON'T SHAVE THE HAOR ON MY FACE
(because I still can't grow facial hair yet...
But when I CAN, I won't)

BECAUSE BEARDS ARE TOUGH

I
FART
BURP
SPIT
WHEN I WANT
Not caring who is nearby

DISRESPECT my MOMMA
And I will PUNCH you in the eye!

I AM A MANLY MAN!
OR AM I?

I TELL MY guy friends I love them.
Sometimes I even hug them
NO I'm not gay

BUT because I LOVE THEM.

When I watched Bambi
I cried.
WHEN MY MEMA GETS MAD
I still run and hide.

LIKE DAVID I WANT TO BE A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
I’m not there yet but past the start

And when people talk
I try to listen
A SPIRIT OF COMPASSION
That’s my vision.
Surely I am a manly man
I WANT TO BE LOVED
And have love
And GIVE love
(not just that romantic kind either)

ALTHOUGH I AM LOOKING FOR THAT BEAUTY
NOT HELPLESS
But wants to be rescued.
The damsel in distress
MAN
WOMAN
MYTH
TRUE.

I WILL FIGHT FOR HER.
CLIMB THE HIGHEST TOWER FOR HER
LOVE HER.
SHARE with her.
DELIGHT in her.
Be her WARRIOR.
Her PROTECTOR

She will be my crown
And I will be hers.

My masculinity will be passed down
And affirmed to my sons.

Each of my daughters will know they are LOVELY
And deserving of authentic romance.

Society tells me
All day long

That I have defined manhood
Completely wrong

BUT YOU ASK any honest man and he will agree
YOU ASK any honest woman and she too will see

THAT I AM A MANLY MAN!

So I am 5’11 and weigh about 130 pounds, so I am definitely not the manliest in terms of the physical. I am content on what my physical-ness looks like. I am not content on how much of a manly man I am. Not because I don’t shave or grunt or fart. But because the thing that makes me a manly man, I have yet to complete. A man of God. I try and try and try, yet I fail everyday. So this is it! A new beginning. I have nothing to lose. Why not try it now. No one said life would be easy. And that person who did was a fool. It was never meant to be easy. It has its easy parts because God never leaves our side. He gives and gives and gives, but what do we give back? Most of the time NOTHING! Not even a thanks. When we do give thanks was it because what we asked for was for ourselves? Are we selfish? Do we care only about ourselves? God created me to be a manly man. Not how the world sees me being a manly man, but how God planned it. You may have muscles, and good looks, and I may not. However I am strong enough to open the Bible. Turns its pages. Strong enough to read it. I may only be able to do 20 pushups in a row, but I am strong enough to face this world, and all the crap it throws at you. I am strong enough to stand before the devil and say NO! I am strong enough to tell him GO TO HELL! I am also strong enough to embrace him and say I love you! For his weakness is not hating him but loving him. I want to dance undignified like David did. Even if it means losing your wife. I want to be strong enough to stand up for what I believe.
God created me to love! A man fights with his fists, but a true Manly Man fights for his love! I will fight for what I LOVE! Love is not just a girl word. A true man can say it without making sure his buddies are around. Love is a word that you aren’t ashamed of. We say love movies are chick flicks! What makes those only for ‘chicks?’

ALL I KNOW IS ‘I AM A MANLY MAN’