Thinking out loud

I am really into this book we are using in bible class to read while studying the book of Acts,
its called The Flames Of Rome, if you don't have a copy, dude get one.
The Chapter that I read on how Christianity started and how hard it was for those disciples to spread the word was very intriguing, it told of Pauls house arrest in Rome for two years, and told of Christians meeting in houses to worship and spread the word, I cant put it down!
It tells of the very beginning of Christianity and how People were being beheaded because of a
new religious cult that wasn't approved by Rome.
This Book takes you back to the first century!

So Here we are today, we can freely for the most part, speak, worship, pray, etc.. Without getting beheaded, But do we have the same passion as those 2000 years ago?
I think we as a Church at Newsong are going in the right direction as are many other Churches, Praise God!
But If we didn't have the freedom, like those of the first century, would we still be Passionate about our religion?
Even to Death?
Thank you Pastor Hawkins for opening my mind with this exciting book!
Thank you God for Pastor Hawkins!

Baby Jesus
I put this picture up to remind myself of our Saviors Birthday.
All too often in the past my Christmas has been about Santa and presents and not Jesus and Religion. So heres my Question.
What do you think a great Birthday present would be for Jesus?
How about an auditorium full of people worshiping God on His Birthday?
Maybe a Baptism?
What would you give Jesus for his Birthday?

What's your Opinion

I was listening to a radio show on the way home from work and they were talking about how a national Christian organization, was boycotting Ford Motor Co because they recruited to employ and give health benefits to Gay and Lesbian workers.
I personally don't have a problem with Gay&Lesbian humans, I do not condone what they do, and I believe the Bible speaks strongly on this issue.
But as I was listening I wonder to myself, if as a Christian, am I supposed to feel as this organization does and boldly pronounce that I am against the Gay & Lesbian community.
Or If ever asked do I share my viewpoint and back it up with biblical fact?
Is it that this Organization is Holier than thou, or just outspoken, it seems to me that by taking that kind of stance you portray that you are better than others? And here we go again those Christians think they are better than we are! Snobs!
See where I'm coming from on this?
Am I wrong in my thinking?
What do you think?

Home Is ?

Well we finally came back to Michigan. Not because Michigan is home ( Christina was raised in West Virginia, Adam has spent half of his life there), but because of our emptiness.
I didn't have great luck in finding employment, I could have waited longer.
We didn't have great luck in finding a new church, We could have looked longer.
We had family around but it wasn't our FAMILY.
You see It doesn't matter what you have, or what you think you can get, It doesn't matter how much cheaper it is here or there, it doesn't matter what car you drive or what house you live in or the clothes you have to wear.
What really matters is how you feel and who you miss!
And letting God direct you instead of your own selfishness!
We have Family here, a very large Family (and it just keeps getting bigger) that we have missed greatly.
SO I guess what I'm trying to say is...For us Home is where your Church is........That's the best kinda Family you can have!
Praise God...

WHAT!!

Well here we go again, another road trip.
Headed back to the hills, this time it may be for good, or at least a little while.
Too many people to call, don't really know our path.
Pray that we are doing the right thing, don't be sad, we havent burned any bridges, so we can always return.
But right now we have an oppurtunity to better our lives and Adams, so we must go.
We will be back in a few weeks and will know what we are going to do for sure then.
So unless I find another computer We wont be on for a while.
God is with us, (I havent been able to say that before.)
You will all be missed, Keep us in your prayers, not for our return, but for the decision that we have made.
See ya in November.
Jay, Christina, Adam.

Trust

We are finally back home!!
It was a very long week, Tiring, Emotional, Hectic, Exhausting......
Most everyone knows Christina's Dad passed away and we have been in West Virginia.
Everything went very well considering.... We( Christina and I) also learned a very valuable thing while we were gone.
Trust!!
Not the kind of trust that you put in each other, nor the trust you put in people, those kinds of trust are not bad, but they arent the kind to rely on all of the time, for it will fail you.
This week I found trust in God. What!! Trust in God?
OHHH YAAA!!!
Let me explain...
You know our car 94 -192,000 Mercury Cougar gets us where we need to go.
Well we couldn't get a rental(bad timing) we were in a hurry and didn't want to back track.
We had been offered the use of a vehicle....But the pride thing got me..kinda.
So we finally decided that we were going to go in our car and it was up to God to get us there.
It was that simple..gotta go...God its on you..
What are you crazy, that thing aint gonna make it!
Well I don't know if I totally realized or accepted that God took control, until we stopped for the night, and on the window of our motel room there were a set of wings, not in the window, or painted on, but more of a dusting I guess you could say.
It could have been a mark from a bird flying into the window, but how many dusty birds have you ever seen?
Well it could have been many things but for us it was a sign that "I gotcha, its gonna be o.k"
Thank you all for your help and prayers, We couldnt ask for a better Family.
See ya in the morning...God is Good!

Mountains And Valleys II

Last night in our mens group we talked about Mountains and Valleys.
We all kinda have our own, but something was cleared up in my mind,
the Valleys that we go into dont have to be our times of (what I would called suffering).
The Valley should be our place for serving.
So If we look at it like this our Mountain is where God shows us a Small glimps of Greatness,
And then sort of like Moses coming down from the mountain, now go into the Valley and Teach!
So in one way you can say Mountains and Valleys are really not about Greatness and Suffering, but more about Learning and Teaching or Serving!

Words of Wisdom

It's kinda funny( I think) when you have a decision to make that you go looking for others Opinions.
Well thats what I did, thanks for all of your comments.
What I didn't realize is that Either way, Good decision or Bad, God was going to be there regardless.
So why get worked up over really nothing?
A Pastor friend reminded me that sometimes it's not about what God wants you to do , It's about what you want to do, and remember that God is still going to take care of you.
So I guess I learned today that we dont have to look so deep into things trying to see the bottom, that everything gets cloudy and murky.
As long as it's not Illegal, Immoral, and doesnt hurt anyone, why worry yourself?
Make a choice and trust God.
Thanks Tom, for the Words of Wisdom

How do you know?

I have a big decision to make this week and I have been praying about it.
It's a Job oppurtunity.
Like other decisions I have made recently, I have turned to God in prayer.
But how do you know if the feeling you get is from God?
Do you feel good when you think about it, do you get that resevation feeling?
Do you think that it will be O.K., or do you look at the struggle you may have for a while until you get settled in?
What is the deciding factor that lets you know God is GUIDING you?
Here is how you can help. You dont have to speak of your decision, or situation, but I would like to know what feeling you had that told you it was going to be O.K.
Or does it really matter, and just trust that God will take care of you no matter what!
Man I hate when I almost figure stuff out!

I'm Stuck!

Did you ever fell like your wheels are spinning but you ain't goin nowhere?
Thats where I find myself today.
And its not like I have big complaints about my life, I don't.
My biggest problem is spiritually.
Let me explain.
We all have levels of Faith and levels of learning.
Both of these in the last 1 1/2 years has grown, by leaps and bounds!
But Im at a point in my life where I want to go up a level and I dont know how!
What is next for me? Am I ready to take the next step up? What do I have to do to get there?
I don't know!
But as I sit here and type it pops into my head, Does God think Im ready to go up a Level?
Am I my own problem?
Do I want more than God thinks I can Handle?
Maybe I just answered my own questions!

Mountains & Valleys

The last few weeks I have been in a few conversations about being High on the Mountain or Low in the Valley, both in spiritual and personal references.
I know for myself at times I dont have the "Fire" that I think I should have in my Spiritual life, and if I really think about it, my personal life is kinda the same.
So as Im thinking about all of this, I wonder if "MY MOUNTAIN" is a bigger mountain than God's Mountain.
Heres what I mean.
On my mountain I have enough money to support my family, church, and then a little extra to put in the bank and save, I would want for nothing.
On my mountain I may want to be a Leader in the church, ministering to everyone I can.
But in reality on "GOD'S MOUNTAIN" I have enough money to support my family,church, and I have my NEEDS met.
On "GOD'S MOUNTAIN" I am a servant for my church and I clean toilets.
I guess what I'm saying is, why should I think that My mountain is Mount Everest when God has put Mount Brighton in front of me!!

I Almost Forgot

It's been so long that I forgot Wednesday is Prayer/Praise day!!
Please feel free to leave them in the comments.

My Church

Man what a great week it has been! But the week comming up?
I have always felt excepted from the first day I stepped into those church doors, but I thought it was because most of my family had already attended there. So indirectly people had known of me, I played a little softball, golf outings....
I realize now , that was not the case.
This past Sunday there were some visitors that we know and it was great to see them, I know that they were not real happy with some of the other churches they had attended, and tried to get them to come visit.
Well Christina ran into one of them Monday and she said that they felt so welcomed, the handshakes, hugs,and people talking to them, they really felt like they belong.
They said they like the fact that we are REAL, as a Church.
So are we making a difference?
I think we are, and It's great when other people see it too.
Man it's gonna be another good week!!!

How did "He" do it?

The last four month's have been an experience to say the least.
You wouldn't think that you could be tempted by such small things... But, here's a little rundown of some of the stuff that struck me and stuck.

Tired and worn out after a couple of softball games and being offered an ICE CREAM!
Hey where going to Wendy's want a FROSTY! Many times!!!
One of the hottest days of summer and hearing the sweet sound of childhood, the ICE CREAM TRUCK!
Buy one Get one free ICE CREAM sales at the grocery store.
Dad can we go to FROSTY JOEY'S!!

You should see what ---- wrote on there BLOG it's funny.
Can you help me fix my BLOG!
Yahoo 360, a new Blog thing with ads popping up everywhere.

And these are minor trivial temptations compared to what Christ had before him, how many people today could stand on the highest mountain looking down at the greatest kingdoms,
being told I can give you all of that!! Just one small thing, you have to worship ME!!
The enemy is real, he is at work Daily, he will not stop until the final day.
I know our sacrifices will reap rewards, its going to be a Great Day.

Fasting

If you don't know by now, some of our church members have been on a 4 month fast, for blessings on our new church.
I have personally chosen to fast from Ice Cream all summer.
I have been tempted more times (or at least it seems that way) the last few months, than at any time before. But I feel that It's not enough, Too easy so to say.
So along with fasting the cream I so love, I am going to fast blogging until the 18th of September also.
This is really going to take me out of the "loop", but with as much time as I spend trying to
follow what's going on everyday I will definitely have plenty of time to pray, read my bible, and meditate more!!
So Until September 19th,
Love Ya.

Is God Real?

One of the toughest Questions that you will ever be asked if you are a Christian.
And it's the one question that people can DEBATE all day about and still won't get anywhere!
Most people who are trying to prove you wrong will say"I don't see God, how can you tell me he's real"?
"If there is a God why do bad things happen to people"?
I was brought up in a church environment so there was always conversation about God, the Bible...etc.
But I'm wondering about those who are not brought up in Christian Families?
God is probably never talked about, no bible to pick up and read, no glory to God for the good things that happen in your life, No shame for the bad things that happen.
When we were in school we learned from books, math , reading, HISTORY!.
And yet we have a book, written by real people, telling of great creations, floods, real places,
even referencing real people of the times, that we learned about in HISTORY, but people cant understand or see that this is the ultimate HISTORY book!!
It tells from beginning to end, not fiction FACT, yet people don't believe.
I don't believe in dinosaurs, What we have fossil evidence, ohhh you mean like bones and rocks and stuff you can see!!
Don't we somewhere on this wonderful created rock, have some kind of proof of God.
Nah just a bunch of old scrolls that someone found, some old relics here and there,
maybe a bible or two.
I know we live on Faith, But aren't there times when you can just feel the presence of the Holy Spirit around?
The peace, calm, joy, love for one another?
If someone asked you the question, what would you say?

Thank You

Man everyone is bloggin these days(not a bad thing), But its hard to come up with something that hasn't been done,
So I'm sitting here thinking, what to talk about, what to talk about, and it hit me!
I'm going to put together some thank you's to some people who have helped me along the way!!
Both in life and spiritually. So here we go.

Thank you...
God for loving me,
To my family for helping to show me the way,
For the church family who accepts me as I am,
My wife and kids who put up with me,
All the guys in men's group,
The softball team that lets me play with them,

You know, I don't have enough room to list all of the thank you's I need to, so starting tomorrow I think I'll start doing it in person!!
Who do you want to thank today?

I Don't Get It!

Why as Christians do we preach the gospel to others and make others believe that we are a great example of a Modern Day Christians, Yet we cause and sometimes even promote the stumbling of other People and sometimes, other Christians?
As soon as I got home today, I learned that a person who is trying to get on the right track, (without resistance or any Christian counsel), was for a lack of better words, led to the wolves
And because this person stated that"The Good Lord wanted her to move to an area, where she will be tempted, it was O.K.?
And the worst part is that this persons own MOTHER, Who Preaches Fire and Brimstone was the one to let her go, and even gave her Money!
I am very upset and do not know how to help.
Should I confront the mother and ask her why?
Just so everyone knows, I thank God for the Church Family that I have been surrounded with,
And I am NOT making reference to anyone in my church family.
I don't know of another group of people who have shown as much love for others as the members of the Newsong Community Church!!!
I am a sinner,
God knows it,
My church knows it,
But they both forgive me.

Freedom

Language

I remember back a few years to when I was a child, even my teen years, and I'm thinking when
did vile and abusive language become just everyday words?
What I'm talking about is Curse or some of us know them as cuss words, when did they become socially excepted as everyday words?
When I was little and somebody cussed it usually meant run! somebody was stinkin mad and somebody else was going to get it!
Now you hear people talk and these cuss words are part of their everyday conversations!
"Hey how the F you been", " good to efin see ya".
So heres my questions.
1. Have we just become numb to these words and don't care?
2. Have they just become socially excepted and tolerated?
3.Do we not want to Rock the Boat by telling others we don't appreciate that type of language?

I'm not saying I dont have to watch my mouth from time to time, I just dont see the pleasure of saying these words or the need to anymore.
Someone help me out.