Life in Iowa

Tijuana Update

2011-03-13T01:25:00.004-06:00

Our plane tickets have been purchased for our flight to Sandiego this spring but yet feels so far away still. Time has been moving right along though. Suzy and I have had $400.00 come in so far to cover the $600.oo for the plane tickets. What a blessing, Praise God!

Where many seem so supportive we've gotten a lot of bad feed back. People trying to talk us out of going, telling us horror stories and such. People sending us letters and clippings of news events trying to detour us and telling us they won't support us. I understand many of those only have a healthy concern. I don't expect anything less from a people who just sit around and watch CNN or 20/20. Fear keeps people locked up. We're choosing to walk in faith. But as I look around I see many other Christians walking in fear as well. This concerns me and makes me wonder if this is normal or is satan working overtime lately.

Frankly I don't give a hoot what the devil schemes up because I know my God is bigger. God has a set standard above anything the devil can throw against me and I trust God's Word. His Word sets me free and that is where He wants me. Jesus came so that I could have life and have it more abundantly. That's how I plan on living it.

On a side note we still need to raise at least another $600.oo come May. We have a few plans in store and in action. We will have a rummage sale in April and Suzy has signed up to where this apron in church which says 'Here Am I Lord, Send Me'. Throughout the service people will put their loose change or bills in it and all the proceeds will go towards sending Suzy on the trip. With the rise in gas we will more than likely need a few extra bucks. We except prayer and cash and if you feel the urge to send us some moola I can guarantee all will go towards this missions trip. Message me if you need an address.

Human Nature Doubts

2011-02-20T23:04:00.003-06:00

Feb. 17th (Matt. 28:17)

Isn't that just like our human nature. We can witness God's goodness-blessing after blessing-watch His words come to pass and still later doubt. When man came into this world he was innocent. Later falling into sin and living in the fallen state if you will. God sent His only son Jesus to die on the cross and redeem us with His blood. Now to be in the redeemed state. But sadly we still carry over the sinful nature which wages war with the Spirit (Romans 8:7). Jesus over came the sinful nature because we couldn't and He paid our price. We still are prone to doubt in our minds because of this human nature. When we come to the reality of who we are as people, sinful and in need of salvation, we then can turn to Jesus who gave it all and be filled with His Spirit.(Romans 8:9 You however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Father, Help me not to doubt and live according to the Spirit that lives in me. I want to live, Lord. Help me to put off the sinful nature.

Being Mocked

2011-02-20T22:47:00.003-06:00

Feb. 15th (Matt. 27:29)

Jesus Himself was mocked for calling himself the Son of God and King. They made fun of Him, spit on him, hit him, hurled insults at him, used his own words against him and etc. In the same way we too will be mocked and insulted because of his name. Our beliefs will be thrown in our faces and we will be made fun of. If we are vocal in what we believe-if we are acting out what we believe you can be certain that you will be mocked and made fun of. Jesus said that we should remember that the world hated him first. If we carry the name of Jesus with us in life we are targets.

Always remembering Who's battle it is will help us persevere through mocking. I always think I must be doing something right when people tease. Pray for those who do you wrong as Jesus did at the cross. They know not what they do. Also recall how blessed you are. Matt 5:10-Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. The world thinks there is no gain by doing good or right, but we like vs. 10 says, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Busy Body

2011-01-28T21:55:00.002-06:00

Jan 27th (Exodus 18:18)

Even as far back as in Moses' time we see what can happen when we get too involved in our ministry. There is a time to admit we need help. We need a break, the work is too heavy. Moses was headed in a downward spiral and was wearing himself out. We will never be fully charged or capable to fulfil our own calling if we try to do everything ourselves.

Learn to lean on others and their talents. Often I think I have to do it all myself so it gets done right but that's not the case. Pick your help carefully and spread the work load out evenly. Like Moses I should take the advise when it comes and admit I need help.

Father, Help me serve accurately and efficiently, not taking on too much. May I know my limits and listen to others around me.

Impure Motives

2011-01-28T21:41:00.002-06:00

Jan 26th (Matt. 17:23)

I think possibly the disciples were grieved by impure motives. They thought Jesus was the messiah that was coming to set up an earthly kingdom to reign. If they had their minds set on the things above they would have heard Jesus' message more clearly and been filled with joy that He would raise to life again in three days. Having the wrong mindset will cause us to miss the true picture, the real blessing.

We must always be checking our motives. Testing our hearts. By faithful discipline of studying God's Word we can keep ourselves in check. Taking the time for God's Word and revelations to sink into our hearts and change us will help keep our motives pure.

Lord, when you speak, I will listen. I want your word to change me. To grip my very heart. Through my changed heart may I impact others as a rippling effect.

Evil Heart Deceitful Lips

2011-01-28T21:31:00.003-06:00

Jan 23rd (Matt. 15:11)

In verse 18 Jesus says the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. Verse 19 says for out of the heart come evil thoughts. Man's heart is evil and needs cleansing. The only way we can put our hearts in check is lining up our thoughts and motives with God's Word. 1 Peter 3:9 says, Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing. vs 10 "whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech." We must purify our hearts before the Lord. Guarding our tongues is essential to the Christian life but guarding our hearts is even more essential since the things that come from his mouth come from his heart.

Feed The Poor

2011-01-17T19:44:00.004-06:00

Jan 16th (Matt. 11:5)

Often times we think of the poor as one without a nickel. But in reality the poor is the one without hope. Without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ we are poor in spirit. The Bible mentions a lot about meeting the needs of the poor. Our first thoughts go to starving children, homeless, orphans and others who are financially strained.

What about the abundance of wealthy people in towns all over America or anywhere else on this planet but are spiritually malnourished. We often skip over someone who seems to have it all together. They have a big house, nice car, boat, toys, family and friends or whatever the equation but they are poor in spirit. Like Jesus did, lets give the good news to the poor. No matter their situation.

(prayer) Lord, open my eyes to see the poor that are in need. I do believe we should help those less fortunate but I don't want to overlook those who look ok on the outside yet are starving on the inside. Amen.

Tijuana, Mexico Trip 2011

2011-01-16T14:47:00.003-06:00

Today my wife, Suzy, and I signed on the dotted line saying that we are on board for a missions trip to Tijuana, Mexico. We will be spending our time building a house for a family in need. This will be a first time for both Suzy and I to venture on a missions trip. Our journey begins on May 25th when we fly into Sandiego, California. Another first on our list is eating at the In and Out Burger before crossing the border which I am super stoked about. Of course I've never been to California either and will wish I could stay longer I'm sure. Also I believe we will take some time to visit the ocean which this deprived boy has yet to see. Oh-ya, and I've never flown before so I guess I will be getting a bunch of never done befores off my list. We plan on building the small two story house in 4 or 5 days. We will venture home June 1st.

God is really speaking to His people at this time about giving more of themselves and what they have. I've been evaluating what is on my plate of life and discovering that there is so much that can be done away with. When we free up time and resources we can bless God's Kingdom like nothing else before bringing God Glory. People need to be fed, sheltered and above all else need to hear the gospel. We can all do a part in this world and help many suffering souls.

Surpassing Faith

2011-01-10T20:11:00.004-06:00

(Matt. 8:8-9)

The faith of the centurion surpassed anything that Jesus had seen in all Israel. The centurion understood the authority position of Jesus. In verse 9 he states that he himself is also a man under authority and he also has men under his authority. When he tells someone to do something, they do it (Emphasis added). Thus he believed that through the authority of Jesus' words it would be done without Jesus actually coming to his home.

I know (I have the faith knowing) if I get caught breaking the law by those in authority over me, I will be punished. How much more valid are Jesus' words Whom has authority over all? How we like the rest of Israel are weak in our faith. Do we completely rely on the authority of Christ? all authority has been given to Him from the Father. Jesus said ask anything in my name and it will be done. I must trust that what Jesus says is valid for me today. How will I trust Jesus' words today to grow in my faith?

Real Confirmation

2011-01-10T19:59:00.003-06:00

Jan. 9th (Gen. 24:15,45)

(45) "Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder...."

Abraham's servant honored him (Abraham) by the oath he made by praying for confirmation....he didn't choose a wife by presumption or guess or by picking the skinniest or most beautiful girl. He allowed God's leading by and through prayer. God honored Abraham and his servant by following through with his word and answering the servants prayer immediately. Even before he had finished praying God was at work.

When we honor God like Abraham did by not letting his servant choose a wife from the Canaanites or letting Isaac go back to their former land because of God's future promise, and when we honor God through seeking Him first in prayer and looking for His confirmation in our decisions, God in turn will hear us and honor us with his guidance and answers to prayer.

Speak Truth In Trust

2011-01-10T19:50:00.003-06:00

Jan. 8th (Gen. 20:10,11)

...And Abimelech asked, "Abraham, what was your reason for doing this?"...Abraham replied, " I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.'"

Abraham lied or gave a half truth in telling Abimelech that his wife was his sister out of fear of death. Fear drove Abraham to this low point, instead of using his faith like he did through his attempt to sacrifice Isaac. (Gen. 22:1-12)

When tested how will I respond? In any case I should be completely trusting God. God will provide. Whether it's in protection, finances, or anything for that matter (Gen. 22:8). May my worshipful fear of God control my decisions rather that fear itself.

Rearview Accomplishments

2011-01-03T17:35:00.007-06:00

So it's the beginning to a new year once more. I was thinking of some accomplishments I made over the past year and decided to share them here. Close to the beginning of the year I was engaged to this beautiful woman of God named Suzy. She has a passion for life. To serve Jesus like none other and of course to serve others. Her love for people still surprises me sometimes.

SUZY AND MIKE WITH THEIR FIRST WEDDING GIFT.

ENGAGED JUNE 19TH 2010 Then come September we were married. Something I didn't think would ever happen. I'm still in awe that she even takes an interest in me and said yes above that.

MARRIED SEPTEMBER 25TH 2010 I also shot my first deer of my life. That was an experience. Not the big trophy buck I was dreaming about but this doe will do just fine in my belly. I am keeping her pelt with hair on as reminder of my very first deer.
MIKE'S FIRST DEER DECEMBER 22ND 2010

A couple more accomplishments last year would be: my joining of the Adult Teacher Team in our church. I've stepped out and put together a few sermons and taught on a couple of Wednesday nights so far. It's exciting when you start to be filled with so many ideas. God has been keeping me busy. Another accomplishment I would say is the building of a new relationship with my dad. New Years Eve night we had our first telephone conversation. It went well and I'm excited to meet him soon. I hope and pray 2011 will hold many more accomplishments and victory's for Suzy and I both.

Subject To Change

2010-12-17T20:56:00.002-06:00

My how time slips away. So many things, so many changes. Where to begin. I've begun corresponding with my dad for the first time ever. We've exchanged a few letters back and forth and it's been cool getting to know each other this way. We plan on meeting in person come February. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. It already seems we have so much in common.

This coming Monday is opening deer season for Late Muzzle loader. I will be going deer hunting for my first time. Again I'm excited and nervous at the same time. If I fill my tag you can count on me posting pictures. Unless the deer still has spots...LOL!!

Suzy and I are really excited about this being our first Christmas together as a married couple. We are already thinking of ways to keep Jesus centered in our family and start some new traditions that we can call our own. We feel this will be important and foundational when we have kids.

Suzy started 3rd shift recently and this makes for an entirely new schedule to get used to. I think this is a blessing though. We were gearing up to facilitate The Truth Project from our home and were finding it hard to come up with days and times that would be compatible with our schedules. Definitely looking forward to having this small group hosted at our house.

The New Year is around the corner and Suzy and I have decided to change up the way we do our devotional time. I think we will be doing a personal blog devotion. A lot like the life groups that many churches are doing these days, we will read through the Bible in one year and blog daily on our observances, applications, and prayers. We will then share with each other our own Spirit lead session to see what we are hearing from God. We got these really cool devotional journals with the Bible in a year reading plan and place to journal every day along with other short daily devotions which I personally love doing right when I wake up in the morning with a cup of coffee. We might decide to make the journals public but I'm not for sure yet. So this blog might be up for change if I don't make a new one.

Our Adult Ministry group is going well. I taught a lesson back on November 17. It was titled, Enjoying The Winning Life. I thought I did well for the most part but most importantly I preached God's Word and I felt it was a timely message. Unfortunately the reaction I got from the audience made me wonder otherwise. But the next week I was complimented by an experienced woman of the faith. She thought my lesson was good and well studied. I guess I went through what many leaders or pastors go through from time to time. You think you have a dynamite message and it seems to go over every ones head. I'm trying not to be hard on myself and take this as a learning opportunity. I think I feel God dropping another message in my heart. Funny thing is that each message I've preached seems to run together some how. I feel so strong about teaching about spiritual warfare in a new way and showing people things they may have never seen before in God's Word. I only hope that this will spark a passion in them for a self feeding system of their own. God's Word has so much nutritional value that nothing can take its place spiritually.

My Grieved Heart

2010-10-21T18:57:00.003-05:00

My heart is grieved. Grieved to the point of breaking. My beautiful wife and I had the privilege of sitting in on Youth Group last night. Something I was looking forward to. What I witnessed was several young youth that were so disrespectful, not just to the Youth Pastor and the church property but also to the Lord and His Word. It hit Suzy and I pretty hard and we both were broken last night. My first thought (after pushing the thought of beating their heads together out of my head) was that these kids are just like I was around that age. And that's not a good thing.

I know they have bad role models at home. People who constantly let them down. An unbalanced family and I'm sure many other problems. But what can I do but love them and just be there? I try and think of what would have helped me back then. With a bad attitude and not caring for the things of God. Do I say something to them about their lack of respect? God's giving me a heart for the lost. And it hurts. I can only imagine how painful it is for God to see so many people He loves so dearly walk by in life so aimlessly. They have the answer right in front of them but they choose to mock and reject Jesus right to His face.

I need feedback on how to discipline properly in Youth Group. I need advise on how to lead such young people. Like me, I pray they turn back to the Lord. I know prayer had a lot to do with my turning back and so I will keep knocking until that door is opened.

An In-Depth Christian Worldview Experience

2010-10-19T18:42:00.003-05:00

Suzy and I a week before our wedding felt a prompting to take on a project. There was a facilitator training seminar for Focus On The Family's 'The Truth Project'. This four hour Leadership Training class has prepared us to lead a small to medium sized small group in what could be the most important tour of anyones life who will participate. The Truth Project is an attempt to engage in the battle for truth. You see, you and I are engaged in a cosmic battle. A battle that is raging for the hearts and minds of people everywhere, pitting the truth claims of God against the lies of the world, the flesh and the devil. It is a battle over what you truly believe.

This project is designed to build a systematic and comprehensive biblical framework by studying God's blueprint for all of life. For some time now I have felt God speaking to me about warfare. We are in a war. Dare I say a war of words. Satans words against God's Words which started way back in the Garden of Eden. I see and hear people in the Church today speak lies that totally contradict what the Bible teaches about truth. I want people to start examining their faith to see if what they believe is really real.

Suzy and I hope to embark on this adventure together with another couple from our church starting sometime next year. We pray that it will be an encounter with God as we endeavor to gaze upon His face and seek to know Him more deeply. Because it is there, and only there, that we find true transformation-a metamorphosis that will renew your mind and heart and equip you to resist conforming to the world (Romans 12:2).

A New Opportunity

2010-10-15T19:43:00.003-05:00

Shortly after getting a Facebook account I was contacted by a couple of individuals stating I was their brother. Sure enough it is true. I met one of three siblings from my fathers side for the first time at my wedding. I haven't seen my father since I was a baby. So a new opportunity arises. Who knew Facebook would have started this relationship. A lost relationship that would probably never of happened if I would have kept up my Facebook hate club. I'm not sure yet if this is divine intervention or what have you. I will take this opportunity to build a new relationship with a man I never knew growing up. The sweet thing about it is I can be a great witness for Christ in this relationship and the relationships I will be building with my two new sisters and brother.

The other day I received a letter from my father. The first step to getting to know each other. It's kind of scary if you think about it. I'm sure it's scary for him also. He has no idea what kind of person I am or how I might react. He doesn't even know if I will receive him in my life or not. Lucky for him I'm not who I used to be. The old me is dead. I'm a walking dead man that's alive in Christ. So I am mustering up the courage I have to write him back and tell him about myself. Sounds like I will be able to meet him real soon too.

God, what are you doing? What are you up to now?!?!

I Now Pronounce You Mr. And Mrs. Nissen

2010-10-10T19:43:00.008-05:00

Finally In Action

2010-10-05T19:32:00.003-05:00

Finally, my computer is back to normal. Now I might get some work done without pulling anymore hair out of my head. Since my computer has been on the outs lately here is what's been going on.

A little over a week ago I finally got married at the age of 32. To the relief of some family members, yes, I like girls. I can no longer call myself single. We already took our honey moon. Short lived but much needed time away. We spent a few nights at a resort in southern Iowa. Our first couple of hours was interesting to say the least. When we arrived we unpacked right away in a small one room with kitchen, living room and bedroom all in one. The nice thing was the two person whirl pool in the bathroom. But the first hour there the main water line to our whirl pool broke flooding the next room. We were moved out and given another room. But to our delight we were upgraded to a town house. Two bedroom, two bath, living room with two pull out couches and a fire place, patio with a grill, full kitchen, and laundry room for our trouble to be exact. Talk about the favor of God. We hit a few scenic sights during our stay and came home Wednesday.

Suzy had to be at the church to lead her Worship Dance team Wednesday night. We had our 2nd Talent Night of the year. Everyone did a great job. Suzy is really doing a knock out job with this Worship Dance.

At work we finally went back to normal hours so I don't have to get up at 5 am anymore. Yippeee!!!
And now I work on the house.......and of course my marriage.

Thoughts For The Week

2010-09-16T21:09:00.002-05:00

I'm running out of time. Time to do everything. Every moment is precious. Every hour is scheduled. My head spins with thoughts, questions and no remedies. It feels like I'm flying by the seat of my pants some days. A few thoughts to close out this hectic week.....

What does it mean to be on fire for God?
What does ones life look like when on fire for God?
How does it feel when you are on fire for God?
What does eternity feel like?
Am I cut out for marriage?
I better be cause in less than two weeks......the knot will be tied.
My body feels like its falling apart and I'm only 32.
My Chiropractor said "you are falling apart" today. I said "I know".
Why do I believe what the enemy tells me sometimes?
Is my heart becoming callous?
Am I spending enough time with God lately?
Will I die if I work too much overtime?
Will I die if I keep getting up at 5 am every morning?
It sure feels like it.
Is 10 buckets of potatoes enough to last all winter?
I sure do have a beautiful bride to be.
What will I preach on in November?
Will I ever stop thinking of stuff to put on this list?
I can't wait to shoot my new gun.
I can't wait to see the chiropractor again next week.
My house looks like a tornado hit it.
I think my dog likes Suzy more than me.
Yep, my dog likes Suzy more than me.
My computer is a jerk.
I'm sorry mister computer, keep working please.
Looking forward to the honey moon.
Looking forward to some time off of work.
One more week, I think I can, I think I can.
I know I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.

Starting A New Book Or Three

2010-08-26T21:44:00.003-05:00

I'm looking forward to the end of next month even though I've been getting a lot out of this month and I'm sure to do so in the next. At the end of next month on the 25th I will be married. That is exciting all in itself. Starting a new life with a beautiful woman of God. Along with getting married comes all the preparations, including premarital counseling. We are wrapping up a book by Chuck Swindoll called Strike the Original Match for our counseling sessions. Great book. But for our teacher/preacher meetings we have started not one, not two but soon to be three books. As of now I'm juggling 3 books, my Bible, extra overtime at work (praise God) and my life. Sounds hectic but I love it. For now.

For our Wednesday night Bible Studies (And Teacher Meetings) we have been reading Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong by John MacArthur. Great book looking at making decisions in the gray areas of life where scripture isn't so clear. Each Wednesday night we have a lesson on one chapter. Speaking of Wednesday nights, I gave my message and it went superbly. I had confidence, little nervousness, no fidgeting. I spoke boldly and drove my point home. It was better than anticipated. Now back to the books. Our second book that we were given being told it's a mandatory read is Wayne Cordeiro's Divine Mentor. I've only scratched the surface with this book but I have a good feeling about it. Pastor says he has ordered us another book and it will be a mandatory read right after our wedding. It's called Wild Goose Chase. I can't remember the author. So I'm looking forward to the end of next month where I can focus on my reading more. No more counseling sessions running here and there continuously and so on. Also I'm in the middle of a small bathroom remodel. Hope to be done soon. On a good note I sold my big truck which will help reimburse me for the money I've been spending on wedding stuff. Soooooon the chaos will end, I hope!!!

Up To Bat

2010-08-12T21:35:00.003-05:00

Next Wednesday I'm up to bat again. I will be hosting/co-hosting our Wednesday night Bible Study at the church. We have had a few teacher meetings and everything seems to be going well. I will be sharing a message about "coming in" to God's presence (worship) and "going out" with God's presence (witnessing). I'm excited to give this timely message which will teach a few points on what worshipping God does for us. My message will also cover going to the world with God's message. I am sad to say this message is not original. I didn't come up with it from my own personal devotion time. God didn't necessarily speak it in my heart. I did in fact get it from a sermon series I heard online. It was a four part series and I felt the first two parts of the series would make a great Bible Study. I'm not really concerned about my originality quite yet. After leading a couple Wednesday nights I've come to realize I need to concentrate more on my deliverance of my message. I need to get the butterflies out. It seems my brain fills with a fog as soon as I get in front of everyone. So I will use this time to try and flow through a message. I'm thankful that I will be up to bat with someone else. This will shorten the time issue. So much stress comes from trying to fill the entire time slot.

Why I'm Sorry Introduction

2010-08-08T07:37:00.002-05:00

Why I’m Sorry is a summary of how I feel today about the sins I’ve committed “yesterday.” Trying to put the past behind us sometimes isn’t always the easiest thing to do. My wrong doings are all filed under yesterday. What I did “yesterday” isn’t implied by actually yesterday even though I did sin yesterday. When you here me say “yesterday” I’m simply making a remark of the past. All the history wrapped up in my little life. With that said “yesterday holds a lot of trouble. Trouble that was destined to spell my future out for disaster. Short falls and little sins seem to build up on a person. If you don’t know how to deal with sin or just plain don’t deal with the sin in your life they make you who you are. They start to transform a person into something. Something less than desirable. That’s where I found myself. A person living a meaningless life who was less than desirable. The best choice I made was to repent of my “yesterday” and make Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of my life. When I accepted Jesus in my heart I knew I had a lot of sin to deal with. Sin I didn’t all want to deal with. But I knew I had to. I had so many addictions it was overwhelming. When I was baptized in the Holy Spirit which was only 7 days after I accepted Jesus in my heart I was instantly delivered from many addictions. Most people think that’s all they need. A quick fix so to speak. God’s power and love showed up in my life but the battle had just begun. The renewing of the mind was and is still next. Today, a little more than two years down the road I’m still free from drugs, alcohol and smoking. Yet the sin from “yesterday” still haunts me. A never ending battle of fixing my eyes on Jesus. Trying to weed out the negative effects that sin has made in me and resist the flesh of today so not to add to the sin of “yesterday.”

Busy Busy

2010-07-30T21:30:00.003-05:00

It seems so long ago since I sat down to type out some thoughts. I've been so busy. Preoccupied you might say. I've been reading a new book by Charles Swindoll called Strike the Original Match. A Biblical book about rekindling the fire in marriages that are on the edge. Suzy and I are reading this book as it is a requirement for our premarital counseling. I was reading a chapter dealing with little things that tear apart marriages. One of those little things was being too busy. I thought it was rather ironic how that same night I was going over this chapter I told Suzy I was too busy to go to town with her and enjoy the night. I had too many things to get done around the house to spend real quality time. In this chapter I came across a poem that I felt was worthy to share. Charles Swindoll puts it this way. "It is really worth your time....I would add, don't hurry through it. Digest it. Read it-perhaps twice."

Slow Me Down, Lord

Slow me down, Lord.

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing

streams that live in my memory.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations-of slowing down to look at a flower, to

chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read a few lines from a good book.

Slow me down, Lord, and ispire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's eduring

values, that I may grow toward my greater destiny.

Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life

than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

by: Orin L. Crain

Perhaps many of us need to learn how to slow down. From our Bible Studies on Wednesday nights we have found from splitting into groups and taking surveys that most of us deal with the issue of time and how we manage it. How we spend our time can determine and reveal many things. This has been an issue for me and I plan on dealing with it. This is one termite I will not let ruin my home.

Shine The Light In Such A Way

2010-07-10T13:29:00.002-05:00

Through my devotion time with the Lord the other day I came across this scripture. Matthew 5:16. It says, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Then I skipped over to Matthew chapter 6 and read this verse. (vs. 2) "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full." If you keep reading through to verse 3 and 4 it almost seems that from chapter 5:16 to chapter 6:2-4 there might be some contradictions. But if you read throughout chapter 6 it shows the Lord wants us to be aware of "pride". Sometimes in our giving and other good works we can be boastful and proud. I think that our good works should shine before others as long as we are careful not to be too proud. How else are young believers or new Christians to see how it is to be done? How are others in the world (non-believers) to see the love of Christ if we hide every good deed? Look at Matt. 5:16 again. ...Let your light shine before men IN SUCH A WAY that they may see your good works.... Let me say that my girlfriend found out what kind of giver I am. I let her see those checks being written out to ministries that need my financial support. Even when it was inconvenient for me. Let's shine the light of Christ through our good works being careful not bring the spotlight on us. All the glory belongs to God.

The Question Is

2010-07-06T20:55:00.004-05:00

With my line of work I deal with many semi truck drivers. These truck drivers come from differing states. It's funny to me how they all seem to ask me the same questions. Their questions always seem to vary around the economy and how business is going for us. I hear this question often, Are you guys keeping busy? It's noticeably on peoples minds everywhere you go. And of course in the importing exporting/transporting business they notice the up and downs more on a first hand basis. You can kind of see the fear so to speak behind all their questions. They have this sense of fear of not knowing what is coming around the corner. It's easy to get caught up in this "fear" of not knowing. I could dwell on the bad business part of things and get caught up in the "fear" of things. But instead I thank God for my job and trust no matter where I am He will be my provider. When I speak to these truck drivers I usually turn the subject around to being happy to have a job. I always show a spirit of joy to be employed and be working 40 hour weeks. I choose not to get caught up in the "fear" of the future because I know I serve a loving God.

Embracing Change Video.....

2010-07-02T23:52:00.003-05:00

The Big Change!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-02T22:51:00.008-05:00

Truth be told I have not been able to see my chin since I was able to grow facial hair. I guess I was scared to try something new even though I knew it would grow back. Why is change so scary sometimes? You don't know the outcome so you stay bundled up where it's safe. You know not changing is safer and more secure. After doing what I did tonight I would like to think that trying new things more often would become more of a life style.

If I was this scared of a change that would obviously grow back-how much more scared am I when it comes to the bigger choices or changes in life? What about jumping on a plane and flying somewhere or changing careers or moving or getting MARRIED??? Life seems to continuously be changing as I get older. I want to adapt well to these changes and embrace them rather than fear them. God gave me a spirit of love and power, not of fear!!!! May I grasp hold of this and live by it. Not by power or by might but by God's Spirit will I prevail. THE BEFORE PICTURES!!!!

THE DURING PICTURES

THE AFTER PICTURES

Sometimes

2010-06-26T13:04:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I think that the things I need are so far away, out of reach, impossible to get. But today I was reminded that God is my provider. The Word tells me in order to get hold of these THINGS all I must do is seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). God will do the rest. I don't have to struggle or work at getting these things (provisions). God's love is so abundant He will take care of the littlest details. It makes me wonder how often I strive at getting things instead of first just seeking God and letting God be God.

I Hear Wedding Bells

2010-06-21T16:53:00.003-05:00

I finally proposed to the woman I love. Amazingly she said yes! We are looking at 6 weeks of pre-marital counseling. Hopefully we will have a wedding date set soon. This is just the beginning and I look forward to the road ahead. Someone to hold and love and share life's up and downs with. I also have someone that will believe in God's Word with me. I'm pumped!! Now if we can survive the whole wedding preparation we will be good to go. =)

Show The Love

2010-06-18T18:47:00.002-05:00

The whole world wants to see the love of Jesus in you and me. Is this what they are seeing? Are we shining the way we should? Lets love like Jesus loves.

Early Preperation

2010-06-12T22:51:00.006-05:00

I just finished up a Bible Study about coming in to God's presence (through worship) and going out with God's presence to witness (wage war) in the world. I'm excited and nervous to start this new thing in my life. Stepping out can be a scary thing. Not knowing if this is my thing and if I'm going to make a fool of myself is the worst part. Only time will tell if this is where God has gifted me. I know the more I read and now the Word the easier it will be to come up with lessons. This all takes time. Time in God's word, and time in His presence to become mature.

We have another teaching/preaching/leader meeting coming up July 8. I think I will dive in and see where this takes me. I might fail but that's OK with me. If I fail at least I will be one step closer to knowing God's calling and plan for my life. We'll just start eliminating things now!!!

John 14:6

2010-06-11T21:00:00.003-05:00

John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

If Jesus is the way we can't get lost. If Jesus is the truth we can't be deceived. And if Jesus is the life we can't die.

Scrambled Priorities

2010-06-09T17:24:00.002-05:00

Today I was thinking about my priorities. Are my ducks in a row, so to speak? I wonder if I'm making God's priorities my priorities or mine his. Do I expect God to answer my prayers according to what I want done? What about what He wants from me? And this question popped up in my small little brain. What are God's priorities? Well lets see. God came down out of heaven and put on flesh to dwell with us. And then He willingly died for you and me. If I was to answer this question..."What are God's priorities?", I would have to say PEOPLE. God doesn't seem to be too picky when it comes to us people. He isn't all for certain denominations, in fact, I would venture to say He isn't interested in denominations near as much as He is just plain people. He doesn't care where we've been, what we've done, or even what we have believed. He just wants us. God's heart is with people.

What are we doing for God's people? What are we doing as God's property? What are we doing with God's property? There are plenty of hungry people out there. Physically and spiritually hungry or should I say starving to death. That's what's happening. People are starving to death. Are my priorities God's priorities? I think I should help feed God's people.

By God's Grace Only

2010-06-07T20:56:00.003-05:00

When our feet take us places we shouldn't go and our hearts develop attitudes that harden us, we sometimes think that God has lost sight of us. He's forgotten me...But you are wrong. God has set an everlasting love upon you that your behavior cannot change. What you must do is to turn around, humble yourself, and be broken down-and then look up. Acknowledge God's heart of grace and mercy toward you and come back. ~~James Macdonald~~

This is something that periodically happens to me. My feet take me places I don't want to be. Constantly waging war against the flesh. "The spirit is willing but the flesh is week." Something I've been admiring of the Lord is His matchless grace and mercy toward me. He's faithful to forgive me. He paid my debt without my asking, it's already been done. My task is to believe in the One Who paid it. When we get to heaven, no one will be saying.....It's because of me and what I did that got me here to heaven. By no means; they will say, I am here because of the blood of Jesus. We will here no boasting in heaven, no bragging as we might here on earth.

Bash On The Farm 2010

2010-06-06T14:46:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again. Bash on the Farm is coming soon. I'm getting excited. June 18-19, you better be there. You can click here to view the promo video and see a listing of the bands. Remedy Drive and Run Kid Run will be there including tons of other talented bands of various kinds. Come see what the hipe is all about. FREE admission, camping and fun is always free!!! What are you waiting for, don't be such a sissy......live a little.

Let Us Be Aware

2010-06-06T14:30:00.002-05:00

As the church desires to move forward, and advance in its kingdom influence let us be reminded of some of the mountains that oppose:

Apathy: lack of feeling or emotion, disinterest
Consternation: amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion
Dissatisfaction: expressing or showing lack of satisfaction

Memorial Vaca

2010-06-04T21:37:00.015-05:00

In the end, I think the dog had more fun than we did!

We do our best to keep the roads safe here in Iowa.
That's me taking pictures while driving.

We had a little fun at the Jesse James memorial.

This is the site of the first train robbery in the west,

committed by Jesse James and his gang.

Suzy's first fish...she also had the privilege

of catching the most, the biggest and the last fish.

Mostly because I was too busy putting worms

on her hook and taking fish of her hook to

catch my own....that's my story.

4lb 5oz catfish and one happy dog.

My little 3.o lb catfish.

Sunday morning getting ready to attend church.
Did I do something wrong....why are we going home? :-(

What To Say???

2010-05-21T22:36:00.003-05:00

Lately it seems I have so much to say but when I go to say it....nothing comes out. So many thoughts, so little to say. It frustrates me terribly. What to say....when to say it....how to say it...do I say it???? If I say it, will it come out right, will it make sense? Am I making sense now? I'm puzzled, perplexed, stupefied, almost numb. Perhaps I need more sleep. Perhaps I need a vacation. For what it's worth, I don't know.

What I do know is, I could use a better/stronger prayer life. More intimacy with Christ. Taking the sin in my life more seriously and dealing with it. More good books to read would be good. Something to feed my spirit. I know I miss my satellite and the Christian television I used to feed on. I know I want something of value to say.....where is it...???

Raised For Leadership

2010-05-17T18:59:00.003-05:00

This past week I received an invitation to a meeting. It took my breath away at first. I'm still in a daze. I know God is preparing me for something big. It's still a fog, I don't know what it is but I know it must be big. Below is a copy of what I received.

To those interested in teaching/preaching to adults,

I have scheduled a meeting for Thursday, the 3rd of June at 7:00 pm to go over with you some things that are in my heart about raising up adult teachers/preachers/leaders in our church. This has been an area that is lacking in my ministry. You are one that has come to mind that might be interested in being involved. I hope you can come. There is no commitment at this point. I encourage you to come and find out what is on my heart. Please see the enclosed Ministry Description until then. I'll even serve you coffee and dessert for coming that night. Let me know if you are planning on coming. Blessings!

In the ministry description there were a couple of DUTIES that caught my attention. Humorously!!

#7 Remember the 3 unpardonable "sins" of a preacher

Bad breath
body odor
boring

#8 Remember that there is nothing wrong with being "short." Few are the teachers that can keep the attention of people beyond 45 minutes. Contrary to what you might think-you are not Dr. David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, etc. Plan on speaking 30 minutes or less on a Sunday and 45 minutes or less on Wednesday evening.

Moms Update

2010-05-13T11:55:00.004-05:00

I wanted to update everyone on how my mother is doing. She is in good spirits and believing God for healing. As of now she is scheduled for surgery on the 26th of May. They will clean out the knee so it will straighten out completely for healing. The ligaments are going to be untouched, left to heal on their own. So if you could pray for a quick, complete healing in that area and an overall quick recovery that would be great.

Her work place is wanting her to come in to train someone else for her job while she is gone. So she needs a wheel chair for temporary use. The brace the doctor gave her Tuesday is a blessing. She can move around a lot easier with little to no pain.

Yesterday I was planning on asking my employer if I could take one more day off. There was nobody to care for her. Amazingly before I got the chance to call my boss, I received a message from work asking me if I needed one more day off. Praise God!!!! Tomorrow my mother has a friend coming to help in the morning and my girlfriend, Suzy, will be coming to care for her the rest of the day.

In Need Of Prayer Support

2010-05-11T07:14:00.002-05:00

Sunday, Mothers Day, my mother had an accident with her horse. She had an MRI done yesterday morning showing she has torn ligaments in her knee. She also has a couple bones that chipped. She most likely will need surgery. She will be seeing a bone specialist either today or tomorrow. She is in a lot of pain and discomfort. I am taking the next two days off of work to care for her, run her to the hospital and such. Prayers are needed for sure. Personally I am believing by the time she sees the bone specialist there will be a miracle performed in her knee. The doctors wont be able to explain it. Supernatural healing will take place because God is willing.

Making The Right Decisions

2010-05-07T22:41:00.004-05:00

I was watching a movie with Suzy last night. In this movie the main couple are struggling with their finances. The husband loses his job and his wife is a lawyer. It was all meant to be funny throughout the movie but it amazed me at the message I seen. Though this couple was struggling and barely making it on a lawyer's wages, they never took the appropriate steps to minimize their living. They didn't down size on the house they lived in, nor did they get a cheaper car. It was like that was out of the question. They chose to keep driving a Mercedes convertible just so they could keep up with the world.

This weekend Suzy and I are determined on trading in her Trailblazer. It has to be done. It's either the car payment or rent. In the movies we might try every other get rich scheme to try and keep the luxury cars and stuff. But this is the real world and we want to live in wisdom. I can say it is hard for me because I have money to blow but I want to be a good example for Suzy and others around me. I need wisdom when it comes to my finances because it would be so easy to spend it all. I know getting a cheaper car with better gas mileage is the way to go. No matter how it looks, we need to be good stuards of our money. We have been praying for guidance in this matter for some time now. I pray the right priced, dependable, gas efficient car comes our way soon.

A Short Talent Night Clip

2010-04-30T22:39:00.003-05:00

Here is a short clip of our Talent Night at Open Bible. This is our Clubhouse doing a little singing and dancing. Our youth did "The Stand" by Hillsong which was awesome. Suzy and a few girls did a dance to "City On Our Knees" by Toby Mac which was good too. I failed miserably at Bible Quiz thus concluding another great Talent Night.

The Launch

2010-04-27T21:13:00.002-05:00

I'm excited to announce the launch of our new church website. I worked for a couple of months fine tuning it. It still has some areas of change to come and I have other ideas for more pages in the near future. It's nice to have a fully functional calendar that doesn't give me a hard time. It is a huge step up compared to what we had. If you haven't seen it through links on twitter or facebook you can look here.

I still am finding it difficult to get sermons loaded on the sermon player. If I could figure out how to turn my audio files into mp3 files I would be set. I guess I'm not the nerd I thought I was.

Daily To Your Fountain

2010-04-19T14:26:00.003-05:00

By Betty Jo Mathis

Daily to Your fountain, Lord,

My arid soul I'd bring,

Athirst for living Water

From Your eternal spring.

Daily to Your fountain, Lord,

My weary feet would go.

Prone to stray off Your path,

They need Your cleansing flow.

Daily to Your fountain, Lord,

I bring my empty cup

To share with others 'round me.

I pray, Lord, fill it up!

Had I not Your fountain, Lord,

My roots had long since died;

for only at Your fountain, Lord,

Parched souls are satisfied.

Miracle On Highway 9

2010-04-17T13:07:00.003-05:00

It's been a couple of weeks now but I want to share what God has done for me. I have been reading lately of strange and creative miracles that God has performed for His children. One was how these guys flew an airplane over two hundred miles with their gas tank on empty. For some people they try and logically figure out how this could be. They ignore the possible divine intervention. I for one believe that our God is a God of miracles. I have first hand experienced several starting with my salvation and deliverance. I have received healing after having hands laid on me. I am a miracle believing Christian man that says with confidence, "Anything is possible with God."

Two Saturdays ago I was hauling a huge load of wood home. Still ten minutes away from home I felt a wobble in my truck and then heard some grinding noise followed by a series of crunches. In hearing this I immediately pulled over thinking I had dropped a drive shaft. I looked under my vehicle to see nothing out of place. So my first thought was my transfer case was going out. When I got back into my truck and tried driving, it wouldn't go into gear. I heard spinning and grinding sounds coming from the transfer case and transmission. Trying different gears I sent up a small prayer. "Lord, please help me get this truck home safely, please." Finally I got it to go into drive. It felt funny and drove a little funny but it was going. I took it easy most of the way home going 35 to 40 mph all the way home. I thought to myself when pulling up to town that I would go home first and unload the wood then take the truck up to my mechanic. But when I slowed down and turned into town the vibrations and grinding noises got worse so I turned around and headed back up to my mechanics place. When I got out of my truck I looked underneath it again to see nothing out of the ordinary. Then I saw it, smoke rolling from my back wheel. I went to the other side to see that I had sheered off every stud. For you who now little of vehicles the studs are what your wheels sits on and the lug nuts screw to the studs keeping your tire firmly attached. I had absolutely nothing holding my tire on except the angels that God sent for my protection. I explained the whole thing to my mechanic and he looked puzzled. How can that be unless your rim is stuck to your brake drum he said. We went and looked and it was not stuck. The brake drum was sitting inside the rim of my tire. He called another mechanic over to look at it. They both looked in amazement. No one said anything and perhaps I should have but I knew deep inside it was divine intervention which kept me from wrecking on my way home. This is what I am calling Miracle On Highway 9.

I gave my testimony in church a week later. People need to hear what God is doing in the lives of His children everyday. If we only knew of the dangers He kept us from on a daily basis we would praise and worship Him all the more. Our God is a God of miracles and wonders. He loves us so much.

Dealing With Anger

2010-04-16T18:08:00.005-05:00

I've been learning how to deal with my anger lately. I guess I have been learning this for some time now but finally I am starting to get better control over it. Where once I used to throw or break things out of rage, now I can convert my anger and rage somewhere else. I still need to work on my thought process and carrying all my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ but my actions have made a drastic improvement.

Today at work my supervisor said some things that sent me overboard. I was self controlled enough not to let everyone know I was steaming inside. I continued to do my work but couldn't help but think of the things I would like to say to Mr. Poopie Pants.

My new release when I feel the rage building in me is chopping wood and running my chainsaw. This seems to help me vent just enough to get the rage out of me. There's nothing like making lots of noise and breaking stuff in a constructive manner. I hope I don't run out of wood to cut and chop. Then I might have to start cutting my own trees down. That wouldn't be good.

What I Shared Today

2010-04-11T21:46:00.003-05:00

I was asked to share a testimony today. My testimony on what I felt God speaking to me through a time of prayer and fasting from all of last week. We were focusing our fast on our worship time. You see, pastor is concerned because we seem to have become stagnate in our worship. We desire to see the power of the Holy Spirit move. I know for a fact pastor wants to see the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in miraculous ways as He once has under the Open Bible roof. Below is what I said almost word for word....

I must admit when Joyce first asked me if I would speak today I thought, what in the world am I going to say. I wasn't digging in like I should. So I started focusing on and pressing into God and this is what I came up with.

We need a deeper revelation of our Father's love. We should be praying and seeking God for deeper experiences and a deeper relationship always. We need to press into Him until we enter His presence. Everyone here should ask yourself. Where's my passion? Our passion should never fade or grow dim. It should always be growing. Our Heavenly Father created us to praise and worship and commune with Him. He gave us breath and makes our hearts beat....not for us....but for Him alone. We need a deeper passion for His Holy Spirit and the things of God.

I have a cousin in Indiana who's seven year old daughter wrote some lyrics to a song that I'd like to share that with you.

GOD'S LOVE FOR ME

God's love for me is like a flaming fire.
God's love for me is like a roaring ocean.
That's his love for me. That's his love for me.
He protects me from evil. He takes me to
heaven just for believing in Him. Oh,
God's love for me is like a flaming fire.
God's love for me is like a roaring ocean.
That's God's love for me. That's God's
love for me. Almighty God died on a
simple cross not covered in gold or silver.
Just for sinners. Just think an almighty God
died for a sinner like you and me. Oh, God
rescue me. I want to find you. I want to
seek you. I want to see your face oh Lord.
I love you so creator of heaven and earth.
All of evil only you can save me from. I
will devote all my time to you. All of earth
is frightened at the sound of all of your
words. At even the sight of you. This is
God's love for you.

BY SHELBY SORENSEN

It seems to me that this seven year old has a stronger knowledge of our Father's love than most people in church today. We need to be praising His character, His loving, gracious nature. This is the key to worshipping God. We must worship Him for who He is. Praising God for Himself is the heart of worship and it will bring you closer to Him than anything else. (THE END)

It amazes me how God seemed to pour out to me last week. Not all at once and not really noticeable. I had to slow down and discern His presence and His work in what He was showing me. Once Joyce asked me to speak and I asked the Holy Spirit to give me a testimony....things started falling in line. From emails to things I read, books, blogs, devotionals, scriptures and even watching my TV programs. All these things had one thing in common. Everything seemed to deal with praise and worship. Another funny thing. Friday in my daily reading of the Bible I was reading Judges chapter 20 and a few things jumped out at me. I underlined them in my Bible in case I wanted to come back to them for part of my testimony. The funny part is I never went back to those various scriptures but that happened to be the exact chapter that Pastor Joyce Hunsaker preached on today. Can you say Holy Spirit goose bumps?...=)

Persecution To Perseverance

2010-04-10T09:52:00.004-05:00

When I was first born again I struggled with persecution. Persecution on the light side. People made fun of me. They had a blast teasing me about sin and other religious perspectives. So after a while it became easy for me to enjoy their troubles. If something bad would happen to any of them, instead of praying for them as I should, I kind of laughed about it on the inside. I would think, serves you right for picking on me. But as I grew in the Lord I found that God dislikes this very much. Proverbs 24:17 says "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; (vs. 18) Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him."

Its safe to say that I know better now. I'm learning to pray for those who oppose me. I'm learning to bless those who are against me. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). Early in my relationship with the Lord when people were breathing fire down my neck and I was inches away from beating their teeth down their throats, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart. He said, "Kill them", I thought yes I will kill them, He finished by saying, "Kill them with kindness and love". It wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear but when God speaks you listen and do as He says. I must say it was one of the hardest things to do as a young Christian. Leaving the situation in Gods hands and not taking it upon my self to deal out the wrath. "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God,..." (Romans 12:19).

It's an awesome thing to look back and see where and how God has taken you. By being devoted to my Heavenly Father, prayer and reading His Word, I have been transformed. The problems I once was stricken by seem a mere memory of long ago. It's only been just a couple of years now and I've come so far. It makes me wonder. Where will I be in another couple of years?

Value Of Praise

2010-04-08T17:03:00.001-05:00

The Value of Praise

By Pastor David Hallam

Praise: admiration, applaud, glorify, extol. Psalms 89:15. "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance." New King James version.

In looking at the referenced scripture we see the word "blessed" carries the meaning of happy. That is, happy are the people, or you and I, who know or understand the joyful sound. Yes, there is a joyful sound that we can know, to experience and therefore, live.

The words "joyful sound" has the meaning: advance, acclamation of joy, or a battle cry, jubilee.

Acclamation is an overwhelming affirmative vote by cheers, shouts or applause, rather than by taking a ballot.

We give our "yes" in praise. It is important that we keep the source, Jesus Christ, as the focal point or the "bull's eyes" of our praise. What we are told in scripture is that Jesus is enthroned in the praises of His people. Psalms 22:3. To personalize that, when we are faced with everyday life, the struggles of finances, relationships, job situations, health issues, or even when things are going good, let us learn that there is a joyful sound of praise that we can begin to demonstrate.

Begin to invite Jesus Christ into the situation, begin to thank Him for who He is and what He has done on the cross. Ask Him to bring the joyful sound of His kingdom into the situation. As we learn to invite Him into every situation through praise, we will be blessed with this promise:

Psalms 89:15. "They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance."

Take another step closer to Jesus Christ today by stepping up our praise of Him.

Psalm 42:1-2

2010-04-03T07:08:00.002-05:00

1As the deer pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for you, O God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? (AMP)

Desperate For YOU

2010-03-30T18:18:00.000-05:00

Psalm 63:1-2
"O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory." NKJV

Off And Away I Go

2010-03-26T15:16:00.003-05:00

Getting ready for another weekend getaway. Suzy and I are venturing to the deep south. The deep south of Southern Iowa that is. We are going to be visiting her sister in Burlington, Iowa. I for one could say so much more about this trip but considering this site is public and I'm of the Christian Faith I choose to be silent. That is all I will say at this point.

This last Wednesday night after our Bible Study at church I sat with Pastor and another man from church. We discussed a few topics that were on our hearts. One of which was on Pastor Will's heart. He wants us to start switch hitting for each other on Wednesday nights. This would mean coming up with our own lessons and perhaps having outlines and so on. I felt a heavy pit in my stomach as he looked me in the eyes and asked if I had thought about teaching some. I haven't really thought about it much. I guess I get nervous whenever I do. But Pastor thinks I should. So here I sit with ideas flowing through my head on things I could teach about. I'm almost feeling stirred up about this whole thing but I feel I should pray and think more on this. That's all for now. ttfn.

Pleasing Aroma

2010-03-23T18:02:00.004-05:00

In my devotions this morning I read about the aroma our lives lived for Christ radiate to God. I've pondered this many times reading through the Old Testament. You see continuously how the burnt offerings/sacrifices gave a sweet aroma that rose up to God. It always makes me think if my life is a pleasing scent to the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 it says "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God..." Just like the sacrifice the Israelites made from their flocks to follow the commands of the Lord, we too, when we become doers of the Word and not just hearers and make those sacrifices He calls us to make, are a sweet aroma to God. Our everyday worship to God is a sweet aroma. Not just to God but to the people we are around daily. The question I read this morning rings in my head. "What do people think about God as a result of being around me?" Ask yourself the same question and meditate on it. Is there something in your life that needs to change? Remember a life lived for God is a pleasing aroma.

Slippery Slope

2010-03-19T23:27:00.003-05:00

Lately I feel I have fallen. Fallen hard. I can't seem to put my finger on the time I put God on the shelf of my life. I thought I was putting God first when suddenly the scales have fallen from my eyes and I see that truly, I have been putting my wants and needs first. Some how I got the buggy before the horse without even realizing it. How can I stubbornly walk along stiff arming the Holy Spirit.

One thing is for sure. God gives us chance after chance after chance. I'm thankful for His forgiveness and grace in my life. Now that my eyes are open I can get off the throne of my life and let God's will lead me. I will keep an eye open for future slip ups. I cant believe how easy it is to fall and not notice it right away.

Another thing that amazes me is how God can continue to bless me even when I've failed Him. With a gentle whisper He tells me it's OK, get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going, I will lead you my son. He tells me I will get it right the next time. He tells me not to worry or dwell on my past failures but to keep my eyes on Him and walk by faith.

Pray For You

2010-03-18T17:15:00.003-05:00

I heard this song today at work and it made me laugh. I know it's wrong on a couple different levels but man it's funny. I hope you enjoy. WARNING!!!! This is a country song...wouldn't want anyone getting sick.

Curve Ball

2010-03-08T18:03:00.004-06:00

It amazes me how life can just throw you a curve ball. Something you don't see coming. Recently God has been doing some amazing things in my life. He has been giving me favor at work big time. for instance, we are laying people off right now, but last week I got a raise. They keep laying more and more responsibility on me. I know if it weren't for the Christian work values I've learned in the last two years this would of never happened and I would be one of the guys getting laid off. I seem to find God answering more and more prayers as I lay my burdens upon Him. Small or great, I take everything to the Lord in prayer and let Him deal with it and everything seems to fall in line.

I've been praying for Suzy's financial situation to turn around for sometime. Recently she felt it upon her heart to quit one of her jobs. One that has been not just a job but full time ministry work for her. This job has supported her for almost five years and she stepped out in faith. Not even a day later she got word of another job starting soon in Clear Lake. Just today she had an interview and found out she will have over a 200% pay increase if they choose her for the job (Please keep this in prayer). I also have seen prayers answered concerning my van ministry. Asking the Lord to simply show me this is where He wants me and for Him to really start making it evident to me. Last week I had an awesome experience ministering to a young man who I know is troubled and confused. He seemed to be like a dry sponge soaking up everything I had to say. Praise God!!!

But now for the curve ball. Something I didn't see coming hits me right between the eyes. I received a message on Facebook from a young lady claiming to be my sister. No not one sister but two. Not two sisters but also a brother. So just like that I have two sisters and a brother I've never met. They tell me they have been searching for me for two years now but have always known they had a brother somewhere out there. I find it all to be rather strange. I can only take this as an opportunity to let the light of Christ shine. Is this another open door? Is God up to something here? I'm confused and caught off guard. I guess I will see how things go as I build some relations between us four. Funny thing, even in baseball I was never any good at hitting curve balls. We will see how God works through me in this.

Breakaway 2010 Kansas City

2010-03-02T19:56:00.004-06:00

I wish I had taken more photos. That always seems to be the case with me. Oh-well, enjoy the show folks!!

This slideshow design made with Smilebox

Dear Blogger

2010-02-16T17:57:00.002-06:00

Dear Blogger,

Sometimes you make me want to pull my hair out. Other days you make me want to scream and shout and I don't mean shout praises to the Lord either. You don't want to post anything the way I type it and when I go to edit it, you completely erase it like that is suppose to help or something. Then for some strange reason you make me sign in, over and over and over as if the first time wasn't enough. I've had it up to here with you blogger. Good thing you can't see where here is or you might blush.

I'm not so sore at you that I am going to give up on you or anything, but I think I might put you off to the side for a while. I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything but seriously you are ticking me off. If you haven't noticed I've been kind of neglecting you more and more as the months go by. I don't mean anything by it but I have actually been doing more personal journal writing of what I feel the Lord has been pressing on my heart. And no, I'm not going to share any of that with you because, well, it personal. I guess that's why they call it a person relationship with Jesus.

So I will take a small break from your shenanigans.

One more thing. I would like to post some things via my cell phone while at our Youth Breakaway conference that I'm heading out for after tomorrow. If you would be so kind as not to act up I would really appreciate it. Thanks........

Sincerely, Still Ticked Off at you, Mike/offroadjeeper/I'm going to Kansas City and your not/stick that in your pipe and smoke it/if there were a word for sticking my tongue out that's what I would type.

Shout To The Lord

2010-02-13T13:52:00.003-06:00

"Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Sing to the Lord with the harp. With the harp and the sound of a psalm. With trumpets and the sound of a horn; shout joyfully before the Lord, the King." Psalm 98:4-6

Christ Liveth In Me

2010-02-11T21:05:00.004-06:00

Once far from God and dead in sin,
No light my heart could see;
But in God's Word and light I found,
Now Christ liveth in me.

As rays of light from yonder sun,
The flowers of earth set free,
So life and light and love came forth
From Christ living in me.

As lives the flower within the seed,
As in the cone the tree,
So, praise the God of truth and grace,
His Spirit dwelleth in me.

With longing all my heart is filled,
That like Him I may be,
As on the wondrous thought I dwell
That Christ liveth in me.

Christ liveth in me,
Christ liveth in me.
Oh, what a salvation this,
That Christ liveth in me!

~Daniel W. Whittle~

Know It All

2010-02-05T18:55:00.003-06:00

I never once want to think that I've learned all. It seems that the people I work with, or at least a few, think they have learned all and they are all that and a box of crackers too. And people like me amount to zero because they seem to have more worldly knowledge.

In this view I look at Christians today. How many think they have learned it all. With comments like "I've read the Bible before, I know what it says." and "Your preaching to the quire here." I think many of us are really good at hearing the Word but not digging down deep within ourselves and doing. It all takes action on our part. being a believer isn't as simple as thinking I'm saved and there you go. It takes a little gusto on our part.

Look at the disciples lives in the Bible. They weren't miraculously changed overnight into powerful leaders. They were rather faithless their entire time while walking with Jesus. But after a few more lessons they learned how to become leaders, healers, conquerors, through Jesus. Peter didn't go from being a fisherman to a great leader and teacher. Through his time of faithlessness and through the time of denial Jesus was making him all that he should be.

Jesus will do the same for us if we continue on with Him in doing what He says. We will be changed by His Spirit, shedding one garment for a better one. In time we will eventually lose that one and move to the next, gradually being transformed into His likeness. Keep the faith, continue being doers of His Word and He will lead you to greener pastures.

Fun Fun Fun

2010-01-31T20:08:00.011-06:00

I've been working on some photos and church logos for the new web site I'm building. Actually, I'm still in my church clothes from this morning. That's how much fun I'm having. I was having a hard time finding a church logo when I discovered I can totally change up some old ones with the right software. Here are a few samples I've been working on just this afternoon and evening. I'm sure they will change and I will eventually find some different ones to work with here soon. I also need to get out and take more pictures for some of our other pages too. This is so exciting I can hardly contain myself.

In Stitches

2010-01-29T17:39:00.003-06:00

Yesterday just before the noon hour, I found out my girlfriend, Suzy, was waiting outside for me at work. She had come to surprise me but what she didn't know was that I was going to surprise her. Right after I heard she was outside I sliced open my pinkie finger with a razor knife. I went to the bathroom to clean up and put a band-aid on. But to my surprise I had cut myself a little worse than I thought. Ever so calmly I went to my shop Foreman and told him that I was going to run to the hospital to get stitched up.

I went outside and Suzy was full of smiles until I told her I needed her to run me to the hospital. I thought it was kind of funny myself. I was able to keep my humor, good attitude, and continue to be filled with joy even in the middle of a small trial.

The reason I tell you this story is because we all need to stay a positive influence for those around us. At work, all the guys get real angry anytime they get hurt, especially if it involves the hospital. They freak out and curse and swear and feel sorry for themselves because they got a little boo-boo. Though our suffering is just for a little while, we are eternal. Our joy will last forever. I pray that my example would get through to those who see how I react to pain, suffering, or any other trial for that matter.

Another reason for posting this is because it shows me how I've changed since giving my life to Christ Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit is starting to show and that is very exciting to me. By the way I received only 3 stitches which made me feel kind of wimpy. Suzy told the doctor to say she put in 18 so I would feel more manly. When the nurse came in to see how the doctor was coming along the doctor replied, "Very good, I'm on my 18th stitch." that left us in stitches. Ha ha

Being Called By Him

2010-01-26T18:00:00.005-06:00

It's amazing to me how God has been calling me to a much closer relationship with Him. I feel Him drawing me in to Himself. The things the Lord has been sharing with me are deep heart related issues. Issues of faith, trust and love. I'm falling in love with His heart. As we all want to be loved for who we are, I sense God wants the same thing. He has been revealing to me just how important our joy and happiness are. He's been showing me how important it is to rejoice always. He's even sharing how I can have peace and joy even during the most turbulent days. Even though I'm in the midst of a battlefield of a dreary day I can find peace of mind and shout for joy always. Fear seems to diminish, worries float away, anxieties are turned into hope when we know Who has our lives. The Lord has shown me how He is the architect of our lives. We just work out the plan. One day at a time I put full trust in Him, one step at a time patiently I give Him thanks for every day. Something else. God has shown me how things can go round and round until we get it right. Be cautious how you cast your thoughts because what you dwell on is what will result. Be glad always...

We only need to be still and listen and He will reveal. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you. If we can just learn to shut ourselves away in His Presence. No speaking, no asking.

We also must be obedient and do as His Word says. Live in it, completely bathe your spirit in it and reflect it. You would be amazed at how He will bless you not only of what you ask but far more abundantly than you can even imagine. My Spirit and soul are rich with His blessing divine. My heart is touched and its ready to burst with what God has provided me with.

The Spirit of Covenant

2010-01-23T17:46:00.001-06:00

Day 7: The Spirit of Covenant

To me this is the most important characteristic of the Holy Spirit; the covenant life in Christ. If it hadn't been for Jesus and His atonement on the cross, I would have no hope in this life or the next. The Spirit of the covenant constantly reminds me of this and thus confirms and renews my relationship with God. His blood cleanses me from all my sin and inequity.

Whenever we share in the sacred sacrament of communion, we are renewing our covenant with God. The true meaning of the bread and the wine as His body and His blood is too often lost on us. When we eat the bread, as a symbol of the body of Christ, it feeds us and when we drink the wine (or juice) as the symbol of His blood, it quenches our thirst. For Jesus says in John 6:55, 56: "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."

This is my blood covenant with God: because Jesus took my sin upon Him I may escape punishment and receive life in abundance instead.

Every time when I eat the bread, I choose to die to myself; to give up control of my life, and every time I drink the wine, I choose to live a new life in Christ. The Spirit of Covenant reminds me that He has already paid the highest price for me so that I can have life eternal.

The table of communion is also the place where I search my heart to see if I'm still in rightstanding with God. It is the place where I confess my sin, obtain forgiveness and healing. In short, communion restores me in God's sight as I'm again covered by the blood of the Lamb.

But living in a covenant relationship doesn't only pertain to communion or what will happen to me after I die. It also determines how I conduct myself on Earth during the time I have left. If you are truly living a covenant-bound life, you cannot separate any aspect of your life from your covenant with God. It is impossible to accept or pay a bribe in business if you're living in covenant with God. Likewise you cannot be unfaithful in your marriage, and claim to live in covenant with God!

This is serious stuff! Look at what God says in Heb. 10:29-31 about those who disregard the covenant: "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that has sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Day 6

2010-01-22T16:33:00.002-06:00

Day 6: The Spirit of Truth

When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, God expects us to live a life of truth, because it is one of His defining characteristics. In fact, Jesus declares in John 14:6 that truth is His middle name when He says, "....'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'". So if we are to be His children, the truth ought to be evident in everything we do. In direct opposition to God, who is the epitome of truth, the devil is called "...a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Whenever you tell a so-called white lie, or lie by omission, you are aligning yourself with evil.

The Spirit of Truth is at work when we counsel others with their problems. We, as human beings, don't have all the answers and we might not know what to say or how to advise someone. This is where the Holy Spirit of truth will give you the right words to say. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5.

The Spirit of truth is of great help when we read the Bible. It is sometimes difficult to understand Scripture, or we may be unclear as to what God wants to reveal to us with a specific piece of Scripture and how it applies to our circumstances. Then it is necessary to pray that God's Spirit of truth will open our minds and give us insight so that we may understand. The Psalmist had the same prayer in Psalm 25:5: "guide me in your truth and teach me..." The Bible also states time and again that God's Word is the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17. Thus if we keep our lives according to the Bible, we can be sure that the truth lives in us.

But the truth can hurt too. It is painful when the Spirit of truth confronts us with secret sin, or reveals to us our shortcomings. We may not want to face it, but if we accept the truth about ourselves, we can confess it and by doing so, the Spirit of truth, who is our guide to a life of righteousness, will bring us ever closer to God and His Holy fire in which all falseness will be burnt like straw. This is what Jesus means in John 8:32 when He says, "....you will know the truth and the truth will set you free".

Living in truth is more complicated that merely not telling lies. John 14:17 puts it in perspective: "the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." It is clear from this verse that living in truth means completely embracing it, leaving no room for exceptions. If you are in denial about any aspect of you life, you are not living in truth. If you pretend to be happily married, when your marriage is in fact on the edge of divorce, you are not living in truth. The sooner you face up to the problems in you marriage, the sooner you can seek help to sort them out. If you accept your friend's apology, but still remain angry with her, you are not walking in the truth. Until you acknowledge your true feelings of hurt, you'll never be able to forgive her and move past your anger. You can put on a brave face and fool everyone, but you cannot fool God's Spirit of truth. It will find you out on every falsehood and lie.

I thank God for His grace. Eph. 2:8 says that we are saved by grace, through faith. Without grace no one would be saved.

Grace is a difficult concept for modern man to grasp. We can't understand why an Almighty God would just forgive us our sins and accept us. It is proof of His love for an understanding people. His grace saves us from eternal death, it forgives our sin when we confess it, carries us through tough times and helps us to accomplish the things God wants to do through us.

Day 5 Of The Character Traits

2010-01-21T17:10:00.005-06:00

Day 5: The Spirit of Worship

When the Spirit of God dwells in you, you will have an intense desire to worship Him. Worshipping may be somewhat of an abstract concept, but it comes down to showing a deep respect and love for God. It goes hand in hand with praising, sacrificing and honouring Him. Since these activities are 100% God-centered, you can't truly worship God until you've died to yourself. Then the Holy Spirit will lead you and direct you in your worship.

We need to worship God daily as this is where we find the power we need to stand against the evil forces in the spiritual realm (Eph. 6:12). When we worship God in the Spirit, we are praising Him in a way that we cannot do in the flesh. In 2 Chr. 20 we read about an impending battle between Judah and her enemies. But instead of sharpening their swords, we read about their praise and worship. Time after time the prophet tells them, "Do not be afraid or discouraged,....for the battle is not yours but God's and then we see the people's reaction to this in verses 18, 19 and 21: "...and all the people of Judah and jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord,......stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel with a loud voice....to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendour of His holiness....saying: "give thanks to the Lord for His love endures forever.'"

It's important for us to note here that they are rejoicing, not so much in the fact that God delivered them from their enemies, but in who He is. They are praising His character, His loving, gracious nature. This is the key to worshipping God. We must worship Him for who He is. If we focus on Him, it is possible for us to praise Him even in adverse circumstances, even in times when things are not going so well for us. If you feel overwhelmed by whatever is happening in you life, it's time to worship God for being in control of your out-of-control situation. If you are ill, praise Him for being your Healer. If you are in financial need, praise Him for being your Provider. I don't care how bad things are in your life, you can always praise Him for loving you first, for giving His life for you so that you might escape death and have life, for giving you His Holy Spirit to guide you, and for the knowledge that He hasn't given up on you yet!

Praising God for Himself is the heart of worship and it will bring you closer to Him than anything else. When you worship Him in the Spirit, focusing on Him alone, His glory will come upon you like a precious wedding gown. It will envelop you completely and if physical eyes would be able to see it, it would seem like a fire around you. To experience the glory of God like this, is to be desired more than anything else on Earth.

After my quiet time one night, God asked me to bring Him a sacrifice of praise. Instantly tears started rolling down my cheeks as I had to admit that I had never before brought my King a sacrifice of praise. My back had always been too stiff to bow down to Him, and decorum has always prevented me from shouting in celebration of Him! God wants to be adored like this. He says in Lk. 19:40, "...if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!"

I want to encourage you today to take the initiative and cast off all your preconceived ideas about worship. Let's bow down to Him, lift up our hands and shout with the angels, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty..." (Rev. 4:8).

He is worthy of this spirit-filled worship!

Character Traits

2010-01-18T20:43:00.003-06:00

Day 4: A Spirit of Faith

One of the best days of my life was the day Aldo told us how God had restored him to life. "I was dead, but then God blew His Spirit into me and the next moment I was alive." I often think about this when I contemplate those who breathe in and out, but who are spiritually dead.

The moment you are reborn, God blows the Spirit of faith into your nose, just like He blew physical life into the body of man when He first created him. It's this Ruah (literally breath of God) that gives life!

Since the accident, I've come to appreciate the power of faith. God promised me that He would heal Aldo and I'm clinging to it, deliberately focusing on His promise and ensuring that my actions don't contradict it. The enemy, who knows how dangerous we can be if we're faith-filled, is always trying to focus our minds on the negative aspects of a situation, hoping that we will succumb to fear. This happens to me when people ask me how long I'm going to close my eyes to the reality of Aldo's condition. My answer to this is that I'll believe God is going to heal him until I die. I will keep believing, because I know it's the only thing that will ever please God.

Satan still comes to me with his fear and disbelief, but I've learnt to recognize him now. He usually speaks through people and often it is through people who are close to me. This is when I concentrate on looking with my spirit eyes and recite 2 Cor. 5:7, "We live by faith, not by sight". Just like Abraham, I will hope against hope and I will receive the promise. Faith is about seeing with your heart and believing in things we cannot see with our physical eyes. When I was in the throne room, God asked me how I saw Aldo in my minds eye. Like every mother, I visualized my son being healthy and happy, playing soccer with his friends. But God had a different vision.

"I will give you more than what you could ever ask or imagine," He said.

If you ask me what my definition of faith is, I'll have to say it's the willingness to trust God although you don't know the answers. It is to say, "No matter what, Lord, I will trust in You". And it is not easy to make this declaration. One day, out of the blue, Aldo asked, "Mommy, if Jesus were to return today, would He find even one person on Earth who still believes?"

As for me, I look for the smallest improvement in Aldo's condition to strengthen my faith and I praise God for it, because I know every huge work started out small.

Character Traits

2010-01-16T16:43:00.004-06:00

Day 3: The Spirit of Obedience

When you enthrone God and hand over control of your life to Him, it is a sincere surrender, not an emotional or impulsive decision that can be easily reversed. One of the implications of this decision is that you want to obey God. And that is what He expects from us too. He wants you to obey Him in all and everything. You cannot choose to obey Him in one aspect of your life, while you do whatever you please in another. it's all or nothing with God. There are no grey areas.

in 1 Sam. 15:22 we see just how strongly God feels about obedience: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

I've had to learn this lesson the hard way. Although I served God, I wasn't sold out to Him and it took this tragedy for me to surrender my life. I first had to hold my child's broken body in my arms, and later learn to live with his crippled walk before I stopped trying to do His will in my own strength. Once you know how much you really need God; how desperately dependent you are on Him, it becomes easy to obey Him.

My whole life I've tried to obey God, because I was afraid of Him. I was afraid that if I made a mistake, He would punish me and that's why I tried to do the right thing, not because I wanted to obey Him. Only now do I realize that to obey Him is to love Him. Jesus says in John 14:21, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him". Many precious children of God feel that their relationship with Him has stagnated. I want to challenge you to obey God more and more and He will reveal Himself to you in new ways.

Perhaps you look at me and say, "She doesn't have a choice. She has to cling to God and obey Him. She's just trying to make the best of a really bad situation." But this is not so. I've discovered that happiness (or unhappiness) has little to do with circumstances. It is about knowing, obeying and loving God.

The Bible teaches us that we are joint heirs with the Son of God. Thus He cannot but expect the same degree of obedience from us as He did from Jesus. In Phil. 2:8 we see Jesus as the obedient servant of God: "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!"

Character Traits

2010-01-15T18:12:00.005-06:00

Day 2: The Spirit of Sonship

We've all felt rejected at some point in our lives. You may have felt as if you didn't belong anywhere; as if you were completely alone in this world with no one to care for you. You just feel empty inside. So you try to fill this emptiness with all sorts of things like new shiny cars, luxurious houses, designer clothes and expensive holidays, hoping that you'll be accepted because of these achievements. But still, the void remains.

I was like that too, always searching for something to make me feel whole. Now I know that only God's love and acceptance can truly fill that emptiness inside. Now that I've given my life to Him, I can truly say that I belong to Him. God has accepted me. He chose me even though I was proud and full of myself. He called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light. I became His through the Spirit who makes us sons and daughters of the Most High. And I know He will never reject me, even if I sometimes still fail Him. I fit in with Him and with His people. The Bible tells me that He wrote my name in the book of life and on the palm of His hand.

While it is terrific to know that we belong to God, it requires something on our part too. We have to live a Holy life. Eph. 1:4, 5 explains this in no uncertain terms: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." Again it is clear that we are saved through grace and became His children through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, but it demands of us to be "holy and blameless" at the same time.

The fact is that you cannot say that you belong to God, if you're still in control of your own life! You have to give up your life as a living sacrifice to Him. In Matt. 16:24, 25 Jesus says, "...if anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever loses his life for Me, will find it". We have to give up everything that we hold dear in this world. That is the prerequisite to becoming His heir. I had to sacrifice my son, as well as all my Christian doctrine and ways of serving God. As long as you think that you can provide for yourself, you will never receive the full blessing of Pentecost. You have to lay down your emotions, your thoughts, your heart and most of all you own will. Only then will God fill you with His Spirit, and can you live in the Spirit. It is a radical and life-changing choice, and although it is not easy, the reward for this sacrifice is eternal life.

After our accident, I have come to realize that nothing in my life is too precious to sacrifice to God. it has taught me that God sometimes uses the crises in our lives to get us to the point where we are willing to lay down our lives. Only when we are this 'sold out' to Him, can we be His hands and feet to the world. God trusts me with His work, because He doesn't rely on my strengths and abilities, but on the indestructible seed of faith that was implanted in me through the Holy Spirit when I was reborn in Christ.

God shows us every day how much He loves and accepts us.

We've started a new tradition in our house whereby we take turns at the dinner table to tell how each of us experienced God's love that day. Since we've started doing this, we look for evidence of His love everywhere. Nowadays our food is cold before we are through testifying about His goodness.

When you remain in the Spirit, you cannot focus on your own problems. Instead you're focused on His love and acceptance.

Character Traits

2010-01-11T18:38:00.006-06:00

There are many character traits that the Holy Spirit cultivates in us. But I want to share seven of them with you during my next 7 posts unless I get sidetracked for any reason. These posts will be from a book I have been reading recently called "A Message From God", by Retha Mc Pherson, that has really spoken to me over the last several weeks. Here are the 7 traits that the Holy Spirit cultivates in us that I will be covering.

The Spirit of Prayer
The Spirit of Sonship
The Spirit of Obedience
The Spirit of Faith
The Spirit of Worship
The Spirit of Truth
The Spirit of Covenant

I hope that you get something out of this as I have. My relationship with the Lord Jesus only seems to be growing stronger as I dive into some deep books, God's Word and prayer daily. I've come to a point of being able to shut up and listen as the Lord speaks to me. This is a practice I will be working on for, well, probably till the day I die, but is well worth it. Intimacy with God pleases Him in ways we cannot comprehend.

Day 1: The Spirit Of Prayer

All the great men and women from the Bible, the prophets and disciples all "prayed continually" (1 Thes. 5:17). Note in the gospels how Jesus always goes off to pray before we see Him work a miracle. We cannot doubt that prayer is of paramount importance in our relationship with God.

Most people feel they don't know how to pray, but if we remain in the Spirit, He will teach us how to pray and even who to pray for, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of supplication. We just have to be sensitive to Him. How often had you thought of someone all day and in your spirit you knew you should pray for him, but you just didn't? Only to find out later that he really needed prayer at that time in his life.

In Matt. 7:7 God promises, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you," and in Matt. 21:22 He reiterates, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer". Two fantastic promises, each revealing the importance of prayer. The problem is that most of us think that to "ask", "seek" and "pray" is a five minute deal. You won't receive anything if you only spend the last five minutes of your day, with God in prayer just before you fall asleep, utterly exhausted. Prayer that moves mountains, brings healing and spiritual maturity demands commitment, and time to wait on God. You have to seek God like Jacob did: holding on to Him until He blesses you. In our fast-paced world we just don't have the time to wait on God and this is where the enemy steals from us. When we pray, we just rattle off a list of our needs and wants and then we get up and leave His presence without having received His peace or joy.

Instead God wants to build an intimate and loving relationship with you through prayer. It is your direct communications channel to God and you can access Him anywhere any time. Simply telling God your needs, saying 'Amen' and going to bed, surely cannot be pleasing to God(paraphrasing).

God wants us to live in a continuous state of prayer. If you persist in prayer, He will reveal Himself to you. Jer. 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know". This taught me that prayer isn't a one-way street. Now, when I'm finished praying, I wait on God to hear His voice.

1 Peter 5:5-6: "...clothe yourselves with humility...because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." And so I bend my stiff knees and bow my proud back, knowing just how dependent I am on Him.

"Remember Retha, the moment you leave my presence, you will be walking in your own self-sufficiency and pride again," God said. "There is humility in my presence."

"Yes Lord, and peace and joy and love," I added.

I Love Newness

2010-01-02T22:21:00.003-06:00

I've been experiencing all kinds of new things. I can't express enough how much I love the newness of things. How appropriate to start off the new year with something new.

I went before the Elder Board at church and gave a budget request for starting a new website. I have received good news saying that my request is being granted. I am so excited to get the ball rolling on this new site. I still have questions I want answered before actually purchasing anything. I believe the church wants some questions answered from me as well so I am going to do my best and be prepared.

I know this new site will give us that fresh clean new look we need. That old dull boring site of ours isn't cutting it. I believe we should have a spirit of excellence and this is one way of showing it. You can go to Cloversites.com to see what kind of stuff they have to offer growing ministries. I think this will be great for us as we plan on building a new church here in the near future.

First Post Of The Year

2010-01-01T13:21:00.003-06:00

I want to reflect on what I posted yesterday on my Last Post Of The Year. I looked a little deeper into what I was getting myself into and found out that my reading plan was in fact the Old Testament once through and the New Testament twice through. At first I was hesitant because of a small fear of failure. But confidence grew as I reflected on what this really meant to me. Like I read in this mornings devotions, I am on a treasure hunt. I'm searching for hidden treasures in the Bible. I am up for the challenge as I do something I have never done before. I am hungry and know that this book, when devoured, will keep me from sin. Or if I let it, sin will keep me from this Book and the beautiful treasure it holds. I've made a choice to chase after God no matter what I am feeling or experiencing in life. His Word helps me to stay close to Him.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your

Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;

for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts

(Jeremiah 15:16)

Jeremiah felt a rush of "joy and rejoicing" as he ingested God's Word into his heart. The word the prophet used for "heart" means "the inner man, thinking, reflection at the seat of appetites." The Word of God will nourish your thoughts and emotions, and bring you joy.

search the Scriptures' precious store

As a miner digs for ore;

Search, and you will surely find

Treasures to enrich the mind. ~Anon~

Last Post Of The Year

2009-12-31T16:40:00.002-06:00

I did it. I finally read through the Bible in a year. This was one of my goals for 2009. One of few goals I accomplished. I cannot explain the feeling, but it's good. I've already set another goal for next year. This year I read the New American Standard straight through. Next year I will take a different attempt. My reading will jump around a bit but still will finish the whole Bible in one year. I was thinking of tackling the Amplified Bible. Besides just reading I will be working on my prayer life as well. My system you may ask is this.

scripture
observation
application
prayer

This will be accompanied by journaling everyday. I hope to see some growth from this new discipline. My pastor says we need a plan for our spiritual growth and this plan must include filling ourselves with God's Word.

Who Are You Reflecting?

2009-12-22T19:25:00.005-06:00

It's almost Christmas day, I have many things going on, and I'm working Christmas Eve. I've been swirling with thoughts and no time to blog. I've had some things on my heart that I want to share. I figured now would be best considering all the traveling and family time coming up shortly.

Getting to the point, I've been feeling compassion for those individuals who claim to follow Christ but their lives don't show it. What they do behind closed doors is nothing more than SIN. My heart goes out to these individuals who serve in churches and then undermine the Word of God which we are to live by. What gets me is other people telling me what awesome Christian people they are and all I hear are four letter words. I see them drinking alcohol like its going out of style and hear of movies they watch that most pagans wouldn't even watch.

Let me back track a little here and say that I am not near the perfect Christian man I would like to be. Sometimes I have horrible thoughts. Sometimes I say horrible things. I bless God one minute then turn around and curse man the next. Just like Paul mentions in Romans about waging war with the flesh, I find myself doing the very things I hate. But I can assuredly tell you that Jesus Christ knows those that truly try to conquer the sinful nature in His power. His eyes are on the ones who aren't just hearers of His Word but doers.

The type of people I encounter are pretty sure they are going to heaven. What I see are people holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power...(2 Tim. 3:5). Another scripture I have been taken to is that of Hebrews 10:26-29 that says...(vs. 26)"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge to the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,(vs, 27) but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which sill consume the adversaries. (vs. 28)Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. (vs. 29)How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" I also can go back to the parable of the ten virgins that depicts the churchgoers. Jesus is coming back for His spotless bride but His bride is not ready. Many will be outside the gates crying because they cannot get in. Only people who obey God can enter into heaven. The bride must stop sinning because God's bride is holy.

That should be a scary thing to all people. Like verse 31 says "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

We the bride need to ready ourselves for His return. When we go out, blood bought children of God, we should be reflecting God. Of course we should be reflecting God behind closed doors as well. Even in hunter safety course we were taught to do what is right even when no one is looking. It's called integrity people, hello. The more time we spend with God, the more He can shape our character to resemble Him.

If I Could Write A Letter To Myself

2009-12-18T18:06:00.003-06:00

If I could write a letter to me when I was younger. I would write.

Dear Myself,

I'm not going to give too much of your future away by telling you to avoid certain down falls and heart aches because they all lead up to this day and place. This day and place will be very special to you and there is nothing in the world that could change it for the better.One thing I will give you a heads up on. When you are 31 you will meet the most special, precious, loving and beautiful woman of your dreams. Remember to always treasure her with everything you have. Hold on to her for dear life. Trust her no matter what attacks your mind. Put a ring on her finger as soon as you can and ask her for forever. She will be your everything and make your heart smile. Remember that I love you and that's why I'm writing this letter to me, I mean you. I don't want you to miss out on the love of your life. This person will make you forget all the hurt you've ever felt and make any pain in your life melt away to nothing. She will fill that empty void in your life. Treat her with the respect and love she deserves and never, I mean ever take her for granted. She will be the world to you and make your life long dreams come true. Also, don't forget to thank God for every moment you have with her, He is the foundational reason for your coming together.

Until then,
You, me, Michael Dean Nissen

What Are You Made Out Of?

2009-12-17T17:17:00.005-06:00

I take a look around me and see that everybody is made of something different. Peoples hearts are hard or soft. When you step out into God's light what happens to your heart? Some peoples hearts seem to be made of soft clay but when the light of God shines upon them their hearts harden and they become bitter. Others seem to have hearts of wax. When their hearts are exposed to the light, they melt and become warm filled with love. I really don't know where I am going with this. So I ask you, when you are exposed to God's light what happens to your heart?

I guess I derive this thinking from the book Exodus. In chapter 9 we see the account of Moses and the plagues. Many times Moses went to Pharaoh telling him to let God's people (Israel) go or this or that is going to take place. It says that Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not heed the warnings. Now in verse 12 we see it says "But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses." Many would assume that this scripture means that the Lord Himself hardened Pharaoh's heart. I'm not convinced of this at all. I think as people these days harden their hearts toward the things of God so did Pharaoh in his day. You look at peoples reasoning, they have to have logic to understand everything. People surely don't live by faith these days. I imagine Pharaoh was the same way. Set in his ways but when Moses came trotting in giving him commands from this so called Almighty God his heart was instantly hardened.

Lets be careful to realize when God is trying to tell us something. When something just doesn't seem logical, it just might be God's light upon you. Lets not harden our hearts towards the things of God and be ready to make any changes to our lives as God sees fit.

Open The Door To Love

2009-12-08T17:52:00.004-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about love lately. How my ideas and thoughts on love have been changing the longer I live and the closer I get to personally knowing Jesus. I think that's the key right there. Knowing Jesus, knowing love Himself is the foundation. I don't doubt that some one can experience love in some shape or form without Jesus in their life. But love in its fullest can only be experienced in a divine relationship with Christ Jesus Himself. I look at how I used to love and how I'm continually growing in love now. I'm constantly being brought to my knees with the love God offers me. So far from my comprehension, it makes my head hurt trying to fathom such love. Yet it gives me a picture of how the Lord wants me to love and treat others. If you want to experience love to it's fullest, answer the door of your heart. He's there, knocking, waiting, in love, to embrace and accept you into His loving arms. Don't ignore the call, just give up the fight, you too can experience love in its fullest form.

Filled With The Holy Spirit

2009-12-05T11:28:00.002-06:00

The sound of a high wind. The ability to speak in foreign languages unlearned by those who spoke. These miraculous occurrences marked the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to indwell and empower the followers of Christ to turn their world upside down (Acts 17:6).

Does the Holy Spirit Have You?

This same all powerful Holy Spirit indwells God's people today. Paul reminded the Christians in Corinth of this truth by asking, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" (1Cor. 6:19). Why, then, are we so often powerless, defeated, and fearful? The answer is found in our failure to take this truth to heart. We try to live in our own strength. We don't give the Spirit of God full control over our lives. We grieve the Holy Spirit with our disobedience and quench His power in us by our half heartedness (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19).

But we don't have to live this way! God's Spirit lives in us, yearning to help us. To be "filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18), we must recognize His presence, depend on Him, and submit to Him. Then, as we "walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16), He will produce in us "the fruit of the Spirit....love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23).

Another benefit of being Spirit-filled is the assurance that we are God's children. Paul wrote, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16-17). The path to spiritual power and joy is not that of seeking spiritual gifts but that of dependence upon and submission to the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Written Word

2009-12-05T11:01:00.004-06:00

The written word has the power to change lives. The words written in the Bible have been having their impact for thousands of years. These written words have been changing me for some time now. The power of the written word penetrates where spoken words cannot reach. There is something permanent about the written word. I can speak words to you but they will quickly vanish as soon as spoken unless written down. Think of famous quotes; they still have their impact after 50 or 100 or more years. Like the quote, "The pen is mightier than the sword." A line written in 1839, which holds so much truth. The written word is powerful...persistent...pervasive...a mighty weapon for the Church.

I've written things in my past just because I was bored and it was something particular on my heart. I didn't know it at the time but I was planting a seed that would sprout in someone else. Like planting seed, writing will produce a harvest. I've had people tell me, after reading something I have recently written, it was something they needed to hear at that particular juncture in their life. Not everything we write will have powerful results, but you never now. You first must write it.

Thanksgiving Vacation Photos

2009-11-29T19:21:00.015-06:00

We had a fun time on our Thanksgiving vacation.

We enjoyed plenty of food of course along

with a bunch of sight seeing. Here are some fun photos

of us enjoying the big town of Dubuque and surrounding areas.Us at the Festival of Trees in down town Dubuque.
This was a silent auction and I was tempted to bid on
this amazing Hawkeye loving Christmas tree.

This was our favorite wreath. We both love these colors.

Then I got to meet Miss Too Cool For School, Suzy Q

and I fell in love head over heals all over again. :-)

We went and seen grandma on Thanksgiving day

and the day after.

Suzy and I at the bank of the Mississippi River.

Suzy and I at the top of the 4th st. elevator.

That was a lot of fun.

The End!

I'm Outa Here

2009-11-24T16:44:00.002-06:00

I'm getting ready for my third web design class tonight. It's been a head ache but I have learned a little on how to use dreamweaver software. The instructor goes way to fast to follow along on the computer, take notes and let anything he says sink in. I'm sure glad this is not a graded class.

After work tomorrow, Suzy and I are off to Debuque, Ia for three days with her family. I'm so out of here. With so many things going on and tons of over time to put in at work this three days will be nice. I have to be back for church on Sunday though. We are having a staff meeting and going over the entire 2010 calendar year. Also I need to get my papers typed up for my web building budget request to go before the board meeting in December. So to put it this way, you wont be hearing from me in a while so with that said, have a super happy Thanksgiving everybody.

The Pain In Criticism

2009-11-21T16:14:00.006-06:00

It's amazing how peoples words can build us up or tear us down. I woke up this morning in very good spirits full of joy and praise. But later I found a message from a former friend on facebook telling me I haven't changed one bit. I'm not a man of God and I have traded one addiction for another. Telling me I also need to grow up because I wouldn't add them to my friends list. Well, she was right about one thing. My former addictions to bad thoughts and substances have changed to faith filled thoughts and surrounding my self with God, His people and His Word. But her words cut deep, making me feel guilty and ashamed. It took some coaxing from Suzy to build me back up again. I toyed with the thought of leaving her another message but that would only bring me down to her level and that's not who I am anymore. All this has truly shown me why I left my old friends (by left I don't mean run away from like she said). They don't care like they say they care and they criticize my way of life and judge me in their hearts because of my actions. They continually tell me how they think that I think I'm better than them because I go to church. Peoples criticism is never helpful but hurtful. Criticism is usually coming from a judging heart. At least that's how I view it. Not that I'm always right. =) So from now on I think I will try and be careful myself in how I use my words. I don't want to hurt people the way I was hurt this morning.

Headed Down The Road

2009-11-20T21:48:00.005-06:00

I look at this picture and I'm reminded of my relationship with Suzy. It is a lot like a cartoon, its almost unreal. Its too good to be true. Its like a fantasy coming to pass. But it's not...Its for really real and I'm living it out. As each day goes by I feel our love growing stronger for each other and for Jesus. Slowly we are being made as one. Each of our personal relationships with Jesus has been strengthened and built up since we have started going out. We each have decided to pick up the pieces of our lives and with the help of the Holy Spirit put them together making a new picture of our lives together. I used to tell her that everytime we got to hang out it was like another piece of the puzzle was being put together as we discovered who each other were. Life is full of choices. God gives us free will so we can choose. You can choose to re-sculpt a new picture from your fragments or you can choose self-pity and sit in your own stink as I like to say. I have refused to remain defeated. This time my free will chooses God's ways over my ways. Though it might be difficult in the sense that I can't see His plans over mine, I am willing to trust and let Him lead me to whats next for us in this life. I praise and celebrate our God for what He is doing in our lives today. I don't always notice what He's doing in the present but rest assured His ways are above my ways and I will see this picture painted out for me down the road.

The Insanity Of Jesus

2009-11-19T19:47:00.005-06:00

A while back I was reading through the book of John. I couldn't help but notice how so many people thought Jesus was out of His mind. There were divisions of the people because of Him and the words He spoke. Some went as far to say Jesus had a demon. Read chapters 6-8 and you will see how crazy the Jews thought He truly was. In Chapter 6:66 we see that some of Jesus' own disciples stopped walking with Him. Jesus was good at ruffling feathers. Or as I like to call it. Rubbing the hair on the cat backwards. Organized religion can't stand up to the truth and people can't seem to grasp this concept of personal relationship.

Being the only Christian at my workplace some people think I am crazy. Some of them think I'm crazy just for believing in heaven and hell. Some think I'm crazy for the ministry work I do for no pay. Yet others think I'm crazy for giving up so many pleasures that I once enjoyed.

I guess where I am going with this is....I must be being transformed into the likeness of Christ then...right.? Everyone thought He was insane.....and now everyone thinks I'm insane. In my Bible study one night we talked about the fruit of the Spirit and if people recognized us for Christians by it. Are there any signs that the fruit is in you? I would have to say yes. I look back at what I once was and what I am now and I don't recognize myself. The Holy Spirit has done a mighty work in me starting from the inside out.

In conclusion, I started out as everyone else (supposedly normal) and now Christ's insanity is in me and emanating through me. Here's to being crazy and mad and whacked out. =)

Friday Night With Skillet

2009-11-16T18:45:00.002-06:00

Here is a short video from friday night. I would have to say that this Skillet show blows most bands I've seen way out of the water. This was the best, visual wise, concert I have ever attended and I have seen many, many famous rock bands.

CROWD CAM: Ames, IA 11.13.09

Skillet MySpace Video

Are You Serving For The Right Reasons?

2009-11-14T18:55:00.008-06:00

I have learned not to look toward people for praise. Although it's nice to get a thank you, or a 'That A Boy' or a 'Job Well Done' once in a while, that's not why I work hard at everything I do. This is true for every area of my life and your life as well. Whether you're on the job site, at home, volunteering your time and talents or serving in the church for Christ, you shouldn't look for that pat on the back. You will only set yourself up for disappointment. If I'm at work I'm working for the Lord, if I'm serving the church I'm working for the Lord, If I'm volunteering my time for a worthy cause I'm working for the Lord. I will get my pat on the back in due time. In this life and the next I'm sure.

Recently I over heard a man complaining about our Staff Appreciation Day we had at our church. Take note this was an appreciation to those who are on staff and work with the pastor to keep things organized and running smoothly as possible. This man was disgruntled because he does something (I won't mention what so not to give his identity away) once a month for the church and his wife also serves in the church. I heard him saying "I see what kind of church I go to, I do this and my wife does that but we don't get no appreciation" Now you can see how this man has set himself up for disappointment. I seriously wanted to lay into him not just because what he was saying was wrong but because he was saying these things in front of first time guests in the foyer.

I don't serve Christ in the church to be noticed by man and you shouldn't either. When at our day jobs we shouldn't do things only to be noticed by our superiors. When no one is around I work just as hard as if my boss were in the same room. It's all our reasonable service toward God. I feel if this man were seriously serving the Lord he would never be upset about not being recognized. It saddens my heart and makes me wonder who this man is truly serving. In my mind I think he is only serving himself. How can we ever find the joy of the Lord serving only ourselves? Who are you serving and why?

Exhaustive Concordance

2009-11-07T20:00:00.004-06:00

I've recently discovered this magnificent book, The NIV Exhaustive concordance. This is a cool book. It's helped me out a lot when looking for scripture. Sometimes I can't remember where to find a particular scripture but I can remember a couple particular words. Looking up the Greek words and definitions makes studying so much more real and fun. But I was curious as to why they called it the exhaustive concordance. Now I know it's because when you dig into it......you become exhausted. =)

Juggling Act

2009-11-06T21:31:00.007-06:00

Today I was asked if I could put in some overtime at work. Of course my response was "yes" without hesitation. So this means I have to work tomorrow morning. Which also means I have to wake up to the dreaded sound of an alarm clock, something I hate on a Saturday. I was prompt to tell my supervisor I can't work late on Tuesdays because I have this new Web Design class I'm taking. I also told him I can't work late on Wednesday nights because of my church buss route.

So I find myself juggling a bunch of stuff again. So in between doing some side projects for a couple of guys from church during my break times, I also have a bathroom I'm trying to get finished at work on my own time. Apparently I need to get up extra early and go to bed extra late for the next several weeks. The question is....Will the pain be worth the pay? I'm hoping so considering the holidays are coming up fast.

After work tomorrow I have yard work, garden work and Jeep maintenance along with a hair cut and lets not forget spending time with my girlfriend before she goes to work. Wow, I almost ran out of breath just typing that up. Amongst all these things I have had some thoughts running through my head that I would like to blog about if I find the time. Here are a few

Charisma
Pentecostal
Criticism
The Holy Spirit
Concordance
The Written Word

Under His Wings

2009-11-02T18:20:00.003-06:00

As I came across this picture in my emails I couldn't help but be reminded of Psalm 91. (vs. 1) "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (vs. 4) He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark." God has given us so many awesome promises in His Divine Word and truly is faithful. The best promise ever, I would have to say, is the promise of everlasting life we receive from just believing and trusting in His son Jesus who shed His precious blood for us. Somehow I doubt anyone is going to argue with me.

Halloween Day Project

2009-10-31T18:53:00.007-05:00

This is my Halloween day project. I started out with two boards glued together. I sanded them and then cut them out on my c&c router machine at work. Then I routed them around the edges to add some fancyness to them. The oak ones I stained next but the walnut ones I went with a natural finish. Next I took them to the spray shop and gave them some coats of spray lacquer.

Then I took them home and skrewed them together as straight as I could (which isn't that straight).

I didn't attach the deer skull but placed it on there for the idea of the end result. And walla. Dead deer head mounts.

Hanging On For The Ride

2009-10-30T17:22:00.014-05:00

I think I must be losing my mind. The old me never would be doing the things I'm doing today. Serving God has brought me to new heights. It's made me bold (even if I'm a little scared inside), courageous and confident. I keep taking these small leaps of faith (that seem huge to me) into the unknown. I'm just trying to hang on and enjoy the ride that serving Christ Jesus brings. I could say this a million times over, I never would have imagined the things I'm doing today several years ago. Serving in a church, on staff, running web sites, doing power point for worship service, stepping in for a pastor to teach, was never in my plans for the future.

And now.....Just last night I signed up for a continuing education course at North Iowa Area Community College(NIACC). I registered for a Web Design class. I figured this would help out with making a new website for our church. I have Heather VanderPloeg to thank for informing me on this class. She brought this to my attention a little over a month ago and I kind of put in the back of my mind. I was stressed at the time with so many other things that the thought of going back to school and learning more things made my head want to explode. Funny thing, just a day or so after Heather sent me the link concerning this course I found a NIACC continuing education magazine sitting on my counter that had come in the mail. So the other day I was thinking of all this and thought that perhaps all this wasn't a
coincidence after all. Perhaps God has been trying to tell me something. Lately I haven't been feeling nearly as stressed as I had been. So I figured why not, lets go for another ride into the realm of the unknown. Regardless of the going back to school nightmares I used to have, God has been showing me that I can do what I put my mind to doing. I refuse to let doubt and fear tread my course through life anymore. I don't know what the rest of this ride looks like but I can say for sure that it is far from boring.

Prayer Notes #2

2009-10-27T17:16:00.002-05:00

When you pray and commit your concerns to God, you become an awesome threat to the devils kingdom because he knows that you will not go down without a fight. The devil realizes that he is no longer fighting a mere man or woman, but instead one within you who is infinitely greater than he.

You will never receive the benefits of prayer by constantly giving up on the things of God. When you give up on God, you are ultimately giving up on yourself. For without Him, you are helpless to meet the real needs in your life and to fight the demonic attacks that come against you, as well as the distractions that seek to hinder your prayers.

If God says that He is going to do something, we must trust and believe that His Word will never fail.

Confidence leaves no room for doubt. God wants to answer your requests and cries. Continue to commune with Him, learn to know Him and His ways, obey His word, and watch how He works in your life!!!

Results of communing with the Father:

have oneness and unity with Him
receive spiritual strength
reflect God's light to others
receive God's guidance
learn to discern His voice for ourselves and for ministering to others

My Notes on Prayer #1

2009-10-26T19:40:00.008-05:00

Faith must lead the way when it comes to prayer. Be expecting for results

The conduit between prayer and manifestation is faith.

When it seems as if God is not listening, faith must lead the way until the manifestation of what you have been praying for becomes a visible reality. This is why the devil plays tricks with our minds. To make us think that God does not care. Satan wants us to become so frustrated that we begin to doubt the Lord.

Matt. 6:8- Without a doubt, God is listening.

You have to take quality time with God and put Him first and if you will put God first, He will replenish you.

Never give up on God, because He will never give up on you. Hebrews 13:5-He will never forsake us.

He will enable you to mature in Him as you reach out to Him in prayer. That is why the devil uses whatever distractions that he possibly can to keep us from reaching out to God.

Prayer is a door opener. If we would only believe the Word of the Lord without wavering, we could experience the fulfillment of many of our hopes and dreams.

Standing In Awe

2009-10-24T10:44:00.003-05:00

When was the last time you stood in amazement, in awe of God's creation. Often I think of how huge the universe is and how God keeps everything in motion. Just thinking of how complex everything is and how God holds all this knowledge of how everything works is a humbling thing to dwell on. It takes no effort on His part to keep the earth rotating on it's axis and no man can change that. I'm reminded that no problem of mine or anyone Else's is too big for our Father in Heaven. Our God is able and willing.

Welcome The New Blogger

2009-10-23T23:02:00.004-05:00

Suzy Liddle is now blogging. Stop by and say hi and welcome her to the blogging community.

Trying To Find My Witness

2009-10-23T17:32:00.003-05:00

My workplace is a mission field of it's own. Everyone there knows that I'm different than them. There is something about me that just isn't right, not within their understanding. So they poke and prod trying to get me to act like them. Seeing how far they can push me until I push back. I will admit, at times, I feel like pushing back, OK, I feel like swinging on them and knocking all their teeth out to tell the truth.

I struggle sometimes knowing these people need Christ, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to present an understandable conversation that won't lead to conflict. Sometimes I will bring up a conversation about church or something funny that happened on the church van the night before. I guess I'm hoping that it will make them think a little about where they might stand with God. I don't think this really gets through to them. Today I heard a couple of guys talking about the continuous rain we have had. One said, "I'm going to build an ark", knowing I was right there. I sat there and didn't say a word. They know about the stories in the Bible, they know about Jesus but they don't know Jesus on a personal level like they should. It breaks my heart some days to hear the way they talk. I can hear them tease in the back of the shop, saying things in funny voices like, "Repent of your sins" and such. I wonder if they even have a clue as to the fact that they have rejected Jesus and what eternity means for them.

How do I get through to these people? Do I continue doing the right thing by working hard and not acting like them? Should I say something like, "Is this where you want to be when Jesus comes back". I feel like I've placed my witness in my pocket yet I know our witness isn't something we pull out once in a while. It's something that radiates off of us. I want to see these people change so bad but wonder, can that happen without speaking of Jesus and what He wants to do in their lives? I pray for them and wait but there has to be more. How do you reach a lost generation that wants nothing to do with change?

Being Thankful

2009-10-22T19:53:00.004-05:00

I like to try and keep a thankful heart before the Lord. No matter the circumstance I like to give praise to God. I will always be grateful to God for stepping into my life and delivering me from drug addiction, alcoholism, and just plain having a stinking bad attitude. This alone gives me something to always be thankful for. But....

....Even if I lost everything would I still be able to praise God with a thankful heart? Could I see past the loss of my job, my house, my Jeep, my health, loved ones and failed relationships? Would I see past all of that and still remember how faithful my Heavenly Father was on that night to come and rescue me from myself and the grip of satan? He did save my miserable soul from hell fire after all. I would like to answer these questions with 'YES' I would always give God honor where honor is due.

Could I be as strong as Job was? Even with a woman barking in my ear and friends telling me how horrible my circumstances are, could I be that strong? I think I could be, only if I keep seeking God and pushing into Him. Seeking and knowing God's heart leaves me with an inexpressible peace. Knowing for sure His Spirit is with me always gives me a thankful heart. No matter what I am to lose or gain I will always have God's sweet Spirit and I am thankful for that.

This And The Next

2009-10-19T17:12:00.004-05:00

I'm finally starting to feel better after a week of a head cold. My weekend plans changed about five different times last week with a final decision to stay at home all weekend. I was looking forward to going to Indiana but that idea fell through. Then I was looking forward to going to Debuque, Ia and meeting my girlfriends parents but that fell through as well. Suzy and I went to Fort Custer Maze in Clear Lake. That was a lot more fun than I had anticipated. I did get to attend our Staff Appreciation on Sunday. That was a treat. I received many cards of gratitude along with a free all you can eat meal at Pizza Hut and a gift card to Applebee's. talk about score.

Next weekend we are having New Life Drama come to our church followed by our annual Fish Fry. I was asked to host the gentlemen at my house for Saturday night. I am in preperation for four male guests at my house this weekend. Also this Saturday night we will have our Young Adult Ministry bonfire. I am also taking on some extra side jobs after work during the week. There is plenty to keep me busy around here.