Till Death do I depart

I was in the midst of falling a sleep last night, or early this morning rather and a thought hit me that was actually a little scary. A thought popped in my head that I could totally not wake up in the morning. I could stop breathing in my sleep or someone could come in to my room and kill me in my sleep or whatever and I could transition into eternity. For me the whole death thing isn't really scary anymore. It's more so the transition that's freaky. I've often wondered what will induce my last breath and what way of end God has for me. I was reading a book on worship and there's a part in the book that talks about lifes end and the author talks about a coin he saw that had the yoke of an ox on one side and a butcher knife on the other and it said

The Black Knight.....uh....I mean Dark Knight

You scored as Batman, the Dark Knight.As the Dark Knight of Gotham, Batman is a vigilante who deals out his own brand of justice to the criminals and corrupt of the city. He follows his own code and is often misunderstood. He has few friends or allies, but finds comfort in his cause. Batman, the Dark Knight 71% James Bond, Agent 007 67% El Zorro 63% Maximus 58% Indiana Jones 58% William Wallace 46% The Terminator 42% Neo, the "One" 42% The Amazing Spider-Man 33% Lara Croft 33% Captain Jack Sparrow 33% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

I thought I might be closer to Neo but apparently my lack of computer skills killed me. Oh well!! I'm happy with the results. If I was Lara Croft I think I might shove my head in a bench grinder.

Smallville

Yes I'm a little embarrassed to say but I was watching Smallville the other day on the telly. I actually enjoy watching it. For those of you who may not know, it's the story of Superman when he was growing up as a farmboy teenager in Smallville, Kansas.
Just to give you a little background, Clark Kent is an alien that was sent to earth by his birth parents when their planet was going to be destroyed. He gets found and adopted by a couple that can't have kids and grows up in Kansas. All throught his childhood he and his parents discover that Clark has special abilities. He goes through high school trying to discover who he is and fit in with the crowd but his abilities and his background suggest that he is not like everyone else even though he tries hard to live the normal life (I'm going some where with this so be patient).
In this particular episode that I was watching a girl from Clark's home planet of Krypton shows up at his door one day and tells him that it's time to come home. It's time to reclaim your birthright and be the person you truly were meant to be.
Of course by this time Clark has gotten so used to earth and has grown to love it and all that it has to offer. The girl argues that this is not his real home and that he has so much waiting for him and such a better life in which he will become more powerful than he could imagine. She says she can't understand why he would want to stay here with these people when all they will do is hurt him and misuse him and fail him. For Clark their is a dilemma because on the one hand, going to be with his own people and be who he was meant to be without having to hide it all the time would be ideal. But he is pulled by earth and all the loves of this world because this is all he's known and it's hard to just give it all up because he would be missing something.
Maybe by now you see where I'm going with this but I'll just continue. I think that our struggle as Christians living in this world is the weight and the pull of all the loves this world has to offer. It's so easy and comfortable to just live for this world and all it has to offer because that's really all we've ever known. But God sent his messenger down to earth to walk amongst us and tell us of a better life. The life we were meant for. I would say that that is my biggest struggle. On the one hand I've got eternity with riches, an inheritance, and a chance to go home and be with who I was meant to be with. My real people.
But on the other hand, this world is all I've ever known. I've grown to love it's comforts and even though this world and all it has to offer will probably fail me at one time and/or ultimately, because it's all I've known there is this pull because I might miss something even though deep down inside I know that's not true.

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24

Church! Mmm..Mmm...Good

I just thinking the other day how much I love church. It's such a wonderful institution and I'm very glad and thankful to God for it. That's kind of a funny thought isn't it? Thanking God for church. No one every thinks of God that way but truth be told if there wasn't a God then there couldn't or wouldn't be a church. God does such amazing things and He holds it all together.
Anyway, the thing I love so much about church is the people and the community. I just love how everyone comes together as a family and wants to help each other out. It reminds me of the church in the book of Acts and their love for each other in Christ. Acts 2:42-47 talks about them praising God together, devoting themselves to the teachings, breaking bread together, and fellowship. They continued meeting together, meeting each others needs, and enjoying each other's favor. "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Amen to that!!

Whole in One

We all, due to our separation from God inevitably have these holes inside of us. It's different for every person but rest assured there are holes in every one of us. For me, one of the biggest holes in my life is a broken relationship with my father. We never did the things that fathers and sons are supposed to do and I have felt that all through out my life and continue to feel it today.
We all try to compensate for the holes in our lives. There are different ways of coping, whether they be: eating, shopping, overcommitting, going from relationship to relationship, striving to be popular, money, pornography, lying, and the list goes on.
Enter God. The One that is, "more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need. You satisfy me with your love, and all I have in you is more than enough." That's who God is for us, "more than all we want or need and more than enough." Just from personal experience I know that nothing else satisfies me more than being in relationship and walking with God. Even when I try to step out of that relationship for a while and do things on my own I always come back because nothing else satisfies like that. Money, drugs, pornography, alchohol, clothing, popularity, relationships, friends, spouse, sex, possesions, and everthing else can't satisfy because they aren't God. And God is whom we were all meant for. For it is in Him and through Him that thirst, that hungers, that holes are truly filled and satisfied. Like Jesus answers to the woman at the Samaritan women in John 4:13-14 , " Everyone who drinks of this water (or keeps going to physical things for satisfaction and to fill holes) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Junior highers...Sugar...Rockin Worship...Devoted Heart

Hey all,

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. A lot has been going on and I didn't really know how to write it all out. I'm still not sure how to but I will give it my best.
So the Junior High retreat that I spoke at was amazing!! I had so much fun catching up with the people from my old church back in Milwaukee and it just felt like I was back at home. I got a lot of chances to talk to some really cool kids about a variety of topics and during the weekend it dawned on me why I like Junior Highers so much. They are crazy, energetic, intelligent beings that know how to have fun and still have this innocence about them. These junior highers were just great. I had a blast serving them and worshiping with them.
As for the speaking part, I don't think I did my best for all 3 sessions. But, I wasn't nervous like I normally am when I'm speaking in front of people, and I really felt like God was moving along with me (or the other way around depending on how you look at it). It felt natural; kind of like I was supposed to be doing that. It's kind of weird when I think of how nervous I was before hand, all the doubts about why I decided to do this and everything else that went through my mind.
We did this skit on Sunday morning and it was sort of pointless but it was funny at the same time. My wife (in the skit, not for real because I'm not married yet) and I ate what was supposed to be dog food but was really Hormel Chili. It was so funny to hear the kids response when we took I bite of it. Saturday is usually the time where there is a big response to what God and this retreat was no different except for a few things. Yes there was emotion and possibly sorrow over how lives were lived out but I would say that the best part was when we responded to God's greatness by celebrating with worship. We were literally rockin' the house. I saw kids celebrating, jumping up and down, singing out with loud voices and just celebrating the greatness of God. It's funny how He always has that affect on people at some point. Because of God's greatness, it's only fitting that when we shout together, when we celebrate together His greatness, could we even come close to measuring it or grasping it.