2 Timothy 3 (Life Listenings and a Photo)

 ^1-5Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people.

 ^6-9These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself "truth." They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax.  ^10-13You've been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, troubles, sufferings—suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there's no getting around it. Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They're as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse.
 ^14-17But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (2 Timothy 3, The Message)

Timely words for a lot of people, including me.

Shot Senior Photos with Sarah and Sissy the other day :)

Our God Is Love

Good Morning!

My Pastor is doing a 6(? maybe 7...) week series, "Words From the Cross" leading up to Easter.  This week was The Word of Substitution.  Basically, God loves us so much He substituted His son for us.

God Loves us so much, He gave up His son for our life.  Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"

God paid the wages of sin with His son.  We sing a song a lot that goes "He became sin, who knew no sin...So we might become, His Righteousness"  That's what happened.  Jesus took the burden of death so we could live on.  And if we believe that's what happened, then we do.  We get to live on.

So we need to live in a state of Gratitude.  Because we get to live.  If He loves you so much he paid for our sins, why wouldn't we love Him back?  Why wouldn't we want to love and thank Him?

We need to live a life of Gratitude, Faith, and Purity.  My favorite verse 1 Timothy 4:12 says "Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in Life Love Faith Speech and Purity"  Verse to live off of.

Tell others the Good News. Wether you go to Starbucks and buy a stranger a cup to start it, or you do like I do and blog about it.  However it is, get it out there.  Don't be shy!  God'll be there helping you.

I've said it before, Shout Your Faith from the Rooftops.  Share it with people.  Sing about it, write about it, talk about it.  Put it out there.  Look for opportunities.  Be ready.  No Plastic Jesus.  Be shining of 1st Chair wherever you go.  Last night in Youth Mike said if you don't live a 1st Chair life, your message of Good News won't be well received.  You should be Glistening, yes, Glistening of Giddy Love for The Lord your God all day every day.  Be excited!  I see no reason NOT to be excited!  A lovely gal named Maggie who's now in The Rock (Friday Night bible study) Gets questioned because she's so happy all the time.  She is a real 1st chair.  Don't put off a bad vibe.  1 Timothy 4:12.

That's what I have to say this morning, but I can assure you I'll be back on this topic soon.  Have a good day all!  Prayer Requests? Comment or contact me :)

Last Week.

G'morning, everyone!  I think I'm gonna start doing a post every week looking back on the week before.

So, here we go!

Last Week I...

Frolicked through the park.

Made photos with my favorite people.

Stood by as my deeply sore Father fell.  Twice.

Made more photos with darlings.

Ate the best sandwich you can buy at Tomato Head.

Blogged, multiple times.

Thought about Japan.

Worried.

Experienced Bliss.

Mused under a tree.

Watched the moon.

Saw my Grandparents, and cherished it.

Was reminded that God Loves.

Bookmarked verses.

Re-Kicked off The Rock.

Loved Life.

That was my week.  What was yours?

Life Listenings (1 Thessalonians 5 And a Photo)

 ^1-3I don't think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master's coming can't be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody's walking around complacently, congratulating each other—"We've sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!"—suddenly everything will fall apart. It's going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
 ^4-8But friends, you're not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let's keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we're creatures of Day, let's act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
 ^9-11God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.  ^12-13And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
 ^13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
 ^16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
 ^19-22Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
 ^23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it!
 ^25-27Friends, keep up your prayers for us. Greet all the followers of Jesus there with a holy embrace. And make sure this letter gets read to all the brothers and sisters. Don't leave anyone out.
 ²⁸The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5, The Message)

Good words to live by.

Jules and Sissy were being Dinosaurs :)

Prayers Are Appreciated

Good Morning, all.  If anyone out there could spare a moment today and pray for my Father, it'd be greatly appreciated.  My dad is 55 and has had Chronic Back Pain for a long time, I think 2 discs have disintegrated, and Tuesday night he fell back in a chair and really torqued his body.  Luckily he kept his head forward and didn't crack his head on the Trunk behind him.  Later that night, well kinda walking with a cane, he fell again.  He's walking, kind of, but you can see it in his face how much he's hurting.

So if you'd like to put my dad in your prayers today or tonight or whenever, I and my family would be grateful.  Thank you.

Shout Your Faith From The Rooftops

Good Morning!  Sunday I was reading Velvet Elvis, and I randomly thought about something.

Faith.  for me, Faith is loud, Faith is strong, Faith is courage.  And I was thinking about the ongoing thing, you know, have real faith, no Plastic Jesus, all that.  But that's not all of it.

Your Faith should be Loud.

You should shout your love and trust of God from rooftops and stick your head out the car window and scream I Love My God, The God.

Because is a quiet Faith really Faith?

If you don't want to scream about your Faith, do you have Faith?

Whenever I hear people talking, anybody, about Faith and Esteem and whatnot, I always think to myself....

If you're being laughed at and made fun of by non-believers, you're probably doing something right.

Yes? no?

I still do have some friends who spit on the idea of God and Heaven and the whole shebang, but I feel like it's good to have a few friends, not too close, like that, if for nothing else to keep you in check.

You know, check your Faith, through them.  Because if they're not laughing at you, then you're not shining.  You're not beaming God through yourself.  You want to be made fun of.  Or at least, I do.

Check your Faith, at the door.  When you walk into a place, whether it be Starbucks or Barnes & Noble or Walmart, check your Faith at the door.  Make sure you're ready to show God in any way possible.  Be prepared to shout it from the rooftops.  Be prepared to be tried on your Faith, the Devil is everywhere.

Pray for Japan.

Seek Other Believers as Your Family?

Good Morning!  Yesterday was Sunday, I hope you made it to church despite the time change!

One of the points from the Sermon yesterday, was Seek Other Believers As Your Family.

I like that.  I found two amazing believers and they took me in as a brother and helped me when I was new in my journey, as I still really am, and are continuing to help and we learn from each other.

Family is vital.  Whether it be physical or spiritual family, you need family.  To support you, for you to support, to love.  But something jumped out of that point just now.  I have a spiritual family, a lot of us do. Helpful loving brothers and sisters of God.  But what about the non-believers?  Should we not take them in too?  Chances are they don't have a spiritual family, and for all we know they may have no family at all.

Nobody that loves and cares for them and nurtures them and keeps their head up.  Love your Neighbor as Yourself.  What if that Neighbor isn't a believer?  Now I'm not saying take someone off the street in as your close spiritual family member, but I am saying to make an effort to shine some light in their day.

Because they might be happy, but they might not have Joy.  One pan of brownies on a rainy day is all it takes to show a person God.

The new Neighbors across the street? Take them a meal.  Not just to welcome them to the neighborhood, but to let them know you're there and are gonna be there, for it all.  Make a relationship and show God through it.  Invite the family to church, go out for coffee.  Create bridges.

I'm blessed to have a new friend that was dragged to church one day by Jules, and now loves to come with or without Jules.  She found a comfortable, loving, caring, friendly environment and she's learning about God.  She goes to Jules' small group on Wednesday night where they have a question box, for God Questions.  She asks a lot.  And she's asking good questions!  Questions others are afraid to ask.

How could you not invite her into your family?  She's not some raging serial killer, she's a real person that just hasn't found Jesus like we have.  So make it your duty to search with her.  Help her find God's unconditional love.  One of my friends was talking one day about a friend who wasn't allowed to come to church because her parents said she was too bad a person, God wouldn't take her in.

That broke my heart.  Like, I got teary when I heard that.  God doesn't care what you've done!

God will always and forever love you, no matter what.

One day soon I'm gonna talk to my friend about going to get coffee, and learning more about each other.  You don't have to say "let's go get coffee and talk about God" to the new neighbor, because you can bet there's a good chance that's gonna make them feel pretty uncomfortable.  Go get coffee to learn about each other first.

We're at the point where she's asking me questions in the middle of Robert talking on Wednesdays, just about God in general.  Not always about the lesson, but about Christianity and all that.

Answer her.  Don't point at the speaker and say listen, talk to her.  Step out of the room and give her an answer.  Because that question might be very important to her.  It may be simple as day to answer, but she doesn't know that.  She doesn't have everything figured out, and she wants to know.  Respect that and nurture her. Don't turn her away to a speaker that makes no sense to her, answer her.

A lot of people like her don't have parents that can answer those questions.  Her family may love and care for her, but she needs a spiritual family to do the same.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is, Go and make a family of believers.

That's not the same as making believers your family.

Go And Make a Family Of Believers.  Seek people that are seeking people like you, there's plenty out there.  You might sit down the pew from someone lie that every week and not know it.

Seeking other believers as family is just as important, but remember to make a family of believers.

Start a family, and nurture that family like a father or mother.  Care for them, grow them, grow with them.  Good chance they'll ask questions that you may not know the answer to, at which point you ask your pastor, they answer that question and boom you've just answered a question you've had for a while too.  It's a thing, you learn from them just as they learn from you.  Your family of new believers, or your new believer sister or brother will teach you.  Indirectly probably, but it'll happen.

So go invite the new neighbors to coffee, make them a meal.  Do something to build a bridge and eventually show them God.

Seek other believers as your family, while making a family of believers.

Jesus made Disciples out of people, showed them God and His love.  Do the same.