A White Christmas

There are songs about it, people wish for it and most of the time it doesn't really happen around here. I'm talking about a white christmas. It seems like in years past we hardly even get any snow before the beginning of the year and if we do get any before Christmas, it doesn't stick around. This year was different. Just a couple weeks ago we had one of the worst snow storms we've had in a long time, then this week it was followed up by about two days of rain and another day of snow. As a result of this weather, it's safe to say that a lot of people had to cancel their Christmas plans. I know mine were changed. I can't complain though, I did miss seeing my relatives on Christmas, but I woke on Christmas day and got to see my girlfriend right away, then I was able to spend the afternoon with my parents and brother, then the evening was spent with my brother and a friend. Despite my plans being changed because of the weather it ended up being a good day. I know God is good and my faith has definitely been increased as a result of this crazy weather, and having to drive in it quite a bit. My main point in this blog is to remind you, just because things do go as planned, doesn't mean that good won't come out of it. I definitely had a good Christmas and I'm thankful that all my family was safe during Christmas and we will be able to usher in the new year. If you spend more time thanking God for the blessings he has given you, you'll quickly forget about the negative things that might be happening in your life. Don't let a little snow ruin your day, thank God that you are in America, where you have a warm house to live in, a comfortable bed to sleep in and legs and feet to walk on.

Going into the new year, I'm sure you'll have new things you'll want to do, goals you'll want to accomplish and milestones you may want to reach, but remember, thank God for everything that comes along, weather it be great success, or just the simple fact that you made it to your destination while you were driving in a snow storm. I don't blog much, so this will probably be the last time I write before the new year so happy 2010 to everyone!!!

GO Vikings and Hawkeyes!

drifting from my normal blog -- sports!!

here is the deal, I wanted to put some predictions in writing because I want to look back in a few months and see if I was right or not. I'm a huge football fan so this is basically just football, mostly the NFL actually. My favorite team is the vikings so I'll just go on record and say that they'll go 13-3, they'll obviously win their division and I'll say they'll even make it to the super bowl, if not, then pretty darn close. I'll say that the Steelers and Patriots are going to be the top teams in the AFC and the Eagles will be tough again for the NFC. This is my prediction, but basically my hope. Super Bowl : Vikings vs Patriots, Vikings by a field goal.

Now on to college football. I love the Hawkeyes, but they have a tough schedule this year, I'm guessing they'll make it to a bowl game, but just barely. If they don't beat ISU this weekend, they will either suck all year, or this will be their wake up call. I'm interested to see how this all plays out. I'm interested to see just how far off my predictions will be.

Dear Death

I can't really take credit for the title since it's from an Emery song, but I thought it was fitting with what about to write.
With various things that have been happening around me, it is becoming more and more clear that death is very real and life is very short. I even thought about it today and I'm personally not afraid of death because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and because of that, heaven is my eternal home. I have no interest in dying though because I know God is not done working through me and I want to touch people with my life and people still need to hear the gospel. Like I always say, this blog isn't about me so my question is, how do you feel about death?

I've never been very good at sharing the gospel with people around me and now I want to use this blog to do it. At Grace church, where I am a member, they are currently studying Revelation and just today I received an email concerning Revelation 20: 11-15. If you go to verse 15 it says " If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" This is truth and it's hard to ignore something like this. Luckily there is a way to get your name written into the book of life. Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Many people say they believe there is a God, but do you really believe IN God? Do you believe that you can go to God in prayer, ask for forgiveness and ask that he would take away your sins and fill you with the holy spirit? When you get to that point, that is when your name is written in the book of life. Some people might even think you need to act a certain way or fulfill a list of do's and don'ts in order to get into heaven, this is what the bible says about that in Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. It's not about acting a certain way to get yourself into heaven, it's about having a personal relationship with Jesus.

Death is real, Life is real, which one do you want to have? Jesus gives life, do you accept his gift?

If you have more questions or want to talk to me about this, please contact me!

It's been a while

I initially thought I would write something in this blog about 2 times a week, well here it has been about 2 weeks since I've written anything. A few things have changed since the last time I wrote, but it's all good. This Blog really isn't about me, I didn't create this blog to lay out my life story, unload frustrations or give up juicy details about what's going on in my day to day life.
That's what friends are for. I think friends are very important. If God wanted everyone to just be alone all the time he would have mentioned it in the bible and he would have never had the church come into existence. I could go into deep detail, but make sure to never neglect your friends. Friends are a gift from God and I know that my friends have helped me not only become a better man, but also strengthen my relationship with God. Moral of this blog... Cherish your friends, and just because you might be busy or whatever, don't forget about them. Heck it might be random, but you could even just call a friend and tell them that you appreciate them and you're glad they are your friend. It might seem weird to randomly call them, but I'm pretty sure everyone likes to know that they are appreciated.

it's starting to make sense now..

I've basically been feeling a little under the weather since saturday and I honestly really hate it, but tonight I realized why I might have been sick. God allowed me to be sick tonight so I would stay home and spend about 2 hours reading his word. If I was in good health, I would be out on my bike or doing something else outside. Although things don't always make sense to me.. I think this really makes sense, God broke me down so I would spend time with him and get back on track with my daily reading.. this is a true wake up call, because I shouldn't have to wait until I'm sick to spend time in the word, I'm realizing that it should be a daily priority and not just a back up plan for when I'm sick and have very few other options for entertainment. I guess what I'm saying is.. don't wait until it's too late for God to get a hold of you..

Blame it on the... ?

This just randomly popped into my head so I thought I'd write something about it. There is a song on the radio called " blame it on the.." If you listen to the song you know that is followed by .. the alcohol. Don't stop reading and think I'm going to go on a rant about drinking.. although I very easily could and may eventually go that direction, that's not my intentions for this post.

I'm just thinking how many times do we blame our own personal actions on other things within our life? I know I do for sure. Like right now, I don't really want to do much because I'm sick and my main desire is to just take it easy. I also speed ALOT, I sometimes blame it on the fact that I'm in a hurry or that it's hard not to when everyone else around me is. I won't even eat certain things because I'm a "picky eater." I know I, and maybe you do too, tend to make excuses for why we do or don't do certain things. I'll just cut to the chase, my challenge is.. do the right things and leave the wrong things alone, because eventually when you stand at the throne of God and you have to answer for your life, you can't say, " well, I blame it on the following things." Make it a point to hold yourself accountable to what is right and focus on not making excuses and you will find that your life will be a lot more rewarding and you won't look back with regret on all the excuses you made for not doing the things you wish you would have done, or doing the things that you know you shouldn't have done.

What are you proud of?

I was thinking about this today and I came up with the thought, what if Christians were as proud of Jesus as everyone else is of their own sins? This might sound weird but, think about it. You look at on people's facebook pictures or their status or just general conversation that people have. What are they talking about? " oh I got so trashed, it was awesome" "I'm hooking up with this girl, it's so sweet" " I cheated my way through class, now I'm getting an A" It's like people are so proud of what they are doing wrong, that they put it on display? Seriously there is nothing respectable about putting pictures online of living a complete life of sin. It's like hey I'm being foolish, come join me in my demise... now on to the flip side..

What if Christians were so in love with Jesus and so honored to be considered God's children that we made the effort to share God's word all over the place? I'm not saying we have to cram it down people's throats, but how about thanking God for a beautiful day or giving glory to God for the fact that he has saved us from an eternity in hell. I say if anything, Christians should be blasting praises to God all over the place, because we have so much to be thankful for. There is no honor in living in sin, Jesus died so he could save us from that life.

Final thought.. Jesus loves you so much that he died for you. Satan hates you and wants you to die. Who's side do you want to be on in the end?

The Experience

I'm convinced that sometimes isn't always about just the music. I go to a lot of concerts and see a lot of talented, and not so talented bands play music. I heard a band tonight that at first I was kind of like what the heck, then I really started to like what they had going. These dudes had energy, a really solid drummer and their music was fun to rock out to. For these guys I felt like they really sold their music to the crowd and the crowd got into it. What I'm getting at is, it seems like some bands might not be as good as others, but they are a lot better at getting a crowd into it, so for that I say props to them! I honestly don't "discover" much new music from opening acts, but some bands are just that good at getting my attention that I look into what they have going on and just might get their cd and see them in the future.

randomness

As a kid I always thought fast cars and motorcycles were really cool and I would imagine how life would be with them. Well I have both now and I'm not going to lie, it's pretty sweet. I strongly believe that these things are not the source of my joy, happiness or any of that. But they are a lot of fun. I did a somewhat crazy thing today and I had fun with it. No big story, just full admittance that having cool stuff is fun and I'm glad that God has blessed me with it.

I really don't get it

After watching the Truth Project at bible study I keep thinking about how people try so hard to discredit God for basically everything. It's going so far as back to how the earth begin. It seems like Darwin and his followers have tried so hard to come up with a theory about creation, just so they can say there is no God. Ok now on the the next step, if there is no God then there is no heaven and no hell, so what we do on earth has no eternal consuquences. Now if there was no God, what would be the point in having self control or doing the right thing other than maybe the fact that we don't want to get arrested and go to jail. I understand that part of it.. people don't want to answer to God, because they want to do whatever they want.

Now here is the part I DO NOT GET... for the most part, most American's have some sort of belief that there is a God and quite a few people have heard the gospel message.. now why would people try so hard NOT to give God credit when, he created the earth, man sinned and in order to fix the mess up by MAN.. God sent his SON to die on the cross, for us! Call me crazy, but anyone who does that kind of thing for me is worth worshipping. God could have easily said, "forget you Adam and Eve, you messed up now you will die and I won't create any more people because of your sin." I just don't see how after all that God has done for the people of this earth, that so many people refuse to have anything to do with him.

something to think about

how much better would the world be if people who claimed to be Christians actually lived their life for the glory and honor of Christ and not just for the fulfillment of their own personal aspirations?

An introduction

I decided to start a blog because sometimes I have conversations or even just thoughts that I think I could share that would be of some benefit to other people. I don't claim to be a wise person, but I'd like to think I can offer some good advice from time to time. Don't read this blog and expect some sort of wise entry all the time. This is my blog, therefore it will be random. Somedays I might just have a sentence or phrase that I want to share and other days I might just have something funny to tell. I will never use this blog as place to vent or open up to readers who might not even know me. I'm not about to pour my heart out over the internet. so here goes with this blogging action!!