A Humbling Experience

So I had the most wonderful morning with God today. We talked and talked as I was working in Electronics. I prayed and worshiped and had an absolutely wonderful time. Since I was having such a great time, I decided to go out and spread God's love over lunch. I did not even stop at my computer to check my email, but instead just threw my ESD jacket on a shelf and practically ran out to my car. I initially did not know where I was going but decided to storm the gates of CVS Pharmacy in Macungie with the gospel! I did not let anything deter me and went straight there. Once there, I jumped out of the car with my spiritual antenna up, looking for anyone that I could pray for and share the gospel with. Then I got an idea, I wondered if I had any Bibles in my trunk that I could give away to any new converts. So I opened my trunk and pulled out a few, but then thought, "Why should I limit God? Why not grab ten!" So I grabbed ten Bibles and pulled out my keys to open my car door to put them in the front seat. But then I realized something... there was no car key with my other keys! I stuck my hand back in my pocket, but nothing was there. I looked on the ground around me, but nothing was there. Then I realized what had happened. My key is broken and sometimes falls off, and while I was getting the Bibles out of the trunk, my key fell off into the trunk, which was now closed and which I had no way to get into. Ugh. So I called Hannah to let her know what was up, then I called AAA to see if they had any suggestions. They told me that they could only get me into the car but not the trunk. Which did me no good. So then I called Hannah again and told here that my only option was to have her come rescue me. It had been more than a half an hour since lunch had begun and I was hot and annoyed and holding a pile of ten Bibles. The air was certainly out of my balloon. So I set the Bible on the roof of my car and prayed and thanked God for the humbling experience. Then I prayed for three nice folks and told them that God loved them. I also had a very refreshing short talk with a very old man who was also a Christian. Then Hannah rescued me. It was a good, but humbling lunch time :-).

Riley's Bedtime Routine

1. Bath/Shower
2. Brush teeth and get dressed
3. Watch "The Miracles of Jesus" DVD
4. Carry up to bed
5. Snuggle together
6. Pray to Jesus
7. Sing (1) Winken, Blinken, and Nod (2) Puff the Magic Dragon (3) I'll Never Let Go of Your Hand
8. Give her a kiss and tell her goodnight

The Kingdom of God

"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Matthew 12:28

I have just been so blown away by what the Spirit has been teaching me over the last week. He has been filling me with an understanding of who I am in Christ, and with that new identity, what I have been called to do. But not just me as an individual, the whole body of Christ! I was reading in Matthew and anyone who knows Matthew knows that the key phrase in the book is "Kingdom of Heaven" which is most literally translated "Kingdom of the Heavens." That kingdom is not spiritual, it is not "heavenly" as some might think, but it is all created matter from the third heaven down to the lowest heaven where earth is. But Matthew does not only talk about the kingdom of "heaven" in his book, but five times he uses the term "kingdom of God." That makes those few moments particularly stand out from the book as special. So what is Spirit teaching us through these passages? Well, rather than look at them all, I want to focus on this one verse where Jesus basically is saying that by the signs He is doing, the people in Israel see that the "Kingdom of God" is upon them! But what is the Kingdom of God? Well, it is a spiritual kingdom, it is the kingdom of all those spiritual being who have submitted themselves to Him. But because it is a spiritual kingdom, the people of this earth have no way of seeing it. That is what was so awesome about what Jesus was doing here! He was literally showing the people of Israel the Kingdom of God! By the signs He was performing, He was manifesting the Kingdom of God before their eyes! The unseen was being seen!

As believers, we are all part of the "Kingdom of God." And being part of that unseen spiritual kingdom, it is our responsibility to manifest it to the world. We are literally ambassadors for God on the earth! When we were born again, we were literally made a new creation in order that we can be fitting ambassadors for God to this world! When God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ! And with that righteousness we are therefore able to properly represent God! And you know what? He wants us to represent Him! As Jesus showed the Israelites the Kingdom of God, we must as ambassadors for God show the world the Kingdom of God! We must show them the love and power of God! This involved humbly submitting to the work of Holy Spirit in our lives. We should live our lives in such a way that people look at us and say, "What is this? What are you?" And we can say, "We are ambassadors for God, redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ and living for His glory." Wow! Imagine that witness! Rather than the Gospel being words we speak, it becomes a life we live! The world will see the Gospel lived out in our lives! THAT IS WHAT WE AS THE CHURCH, AS THE BODY OF CHRIST ARE CALLED TO DO!!! We have been bought at a great price, sanctified and called to make disciples of all nations, SO LET'S DO IT! Let's live our Gospel to the world! Let's be the ambassadors we have been born to be! Let's come to the realization that everywhere we go now becomes an embassy for the Kingdom of God, and everywhere we go, we are shining examples for Him! Let us not live contrary to the new nature that has been given us by God, but instead let us live fully in the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ!!! We are born-again righteous ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, who are being transformed and sanctified every day for the glory of God!

And what is the point? Apart from the purpose of showing the glory of God, in doing this we are giving people a taste of the kingdom that is to come. When Jesus returns, the Kingdom of Heaven (all created matter) will merge with God's perfect spiritual kingdom, the Kingdom of God! In that time, the world will be restored to its Edenic perfection and the Kingdom of God will not longer be unseen, but visible to every people on the earth! Praise the Lord!!! THAT will be an awesome day! As Jesus did, we are giving people a taste of the coming perfect Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Isn't that an awesome responsibility!?!?!!?! Oh how I praise God for it!!!

Refreshed in the Spirit

There are no words to explain the gratitude I have for what God has been doing in my heart recently. Since last February it is as if He has just cracked my heart open and is excitingly pouring out His Word and His Spirit directly into me. It is as if I am being given a blood transfusion by God Himself, replacing my fleshly self with Himself so for the first time in my life, He is flowing through me as my lifeblood. All praise be to Him. So many things which I have felt for years are now coming into focus as He is now making His will clear in my life. The frustrations I have had in the past are melting away and the hopes I have desperately held to are now coming to fruition. As for God's wonderful Word, it is as if he has taken the scales off my eyes and allowed me to see the truth in the words and have it stick to my brain. The Scriptures make sense to me like never before and I hear the Spirit whispering into my ear even as I am reading and praying. All praise be to God for the glorious work He is doing in my life, for His glory. My life is His and I am excitedly moving forward in Him. All praise be to Him!

Refreshing

I watched this video at CBN News this morning and was very refreshed by it. I love seeing the Spirit at work :-).



I am reminded of John 14, where Jesus said,

11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

"Hey World"

by Bob Hartman

It could have gone either way when it came down to the choice
To keep the life within a life that had no voice
It must have surely seemed the harder road to choose
To be so young to have to say who had the most to lose
But she came through like a champ and she blessed the world that day
Then gave the hope of a better life when she gave him away

Now the innocence and joy is there each day he wakes
Expressions of his love of life in every breath he takes
He could have been thrown away before he had a chance to say

Chorus
Hey world, I am here and I have something to give
Hey world, I'm alive and I am wanting to live

He turned to lock the door as he wiped away a tear
The hopelessness of missing love, his adolescent fear
As he struggled for the strength to put the gun away
He found the courage and the hope to face another day
He could have been blown away before he had a chance to say

Chorus

Down the corridor or life in between our death and birth
We may start to lose our way in the search to find our worth
Our value comes in the fact we live
Life is a gift only God can give

Almost 1/3 Through!

So we are almost 1/3 of the way through this year! I was just pondering that and getting excited about next year. Of course this is a great year, but I am really REALLY excited about starting Bible School at the start of the new year! Golly me, I can not even describe all that God has been doing in me and it is incredible to behold. He just blows me away. All praise be to Him :-).

Excerpt from "Experiencing the Holy Spirit."

Oh, Christian, learn at this point that your life daily depends on God's will, on God's grace, and on God's omnipotence. Yes, every moment God must work in your inner life and strengthen you by His Spirit; otherwise, you cannot live as He would have you live. Just as no creature in the natural world can exist for a moment if God does not work in it to sustain its life, so the gift of the Holy Spirit is the pledge that God Himself is to work everything in us from moment to moment.

Learn to know your entire, blessed dependence on God. Recognize the claim you have on Him as your Heavenly Father to begin in you a life in the mighty strengthening of the Spirit and to maintain it without the interruption of a single moment.

Paul tells these believers what he prays for in their behalf in order that they may know what they have need of and ask for it themselves. Expect everything from God alone. Bow your knees, ask, and expect from the Father His manifestation to you of the riches of His glory. Ask and expect that He would strengthen you with might by His Spirit who is already in you as an unknown, hidden, and slumbering seed.

Let this become the desire and confidence of your soul: "God will fill me with the Spirit: God will strengthen me through the Spirit with His Almighty energy." Let your whole life be daily permeated by this prayer and this expectation.

The Gospel

I have been thinking so much about the Gospel recently. I just want to grab the shoulders of those around me and shake them yelling "Turn to Jesus and be saved!" I know that would probably not be the most effective way to lead them to Christ, but it still feels like all I have left. I see people around me every day and I pray, "Lord God, please turn that person's heart toward You if they don't know You already." I am a sort of silent prayer warrior. I hope God takes note of those prayers and works in those random peoples' lives. I especially hope He works in the hearts of those around me who I see every day and yet know are rejecting Him. THEY NEED HIM AND THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW IT! Or maybe they do realize it but are just putting on a cool exterior to try and mask the fact. I want them to break down and give in! I want to see them turn their hearts to Him and know that my prayers have not been in vain! I trust that God takes note of how I try to spread His Gospel to those around me, but I want to see salvation. It is like I see a dark cloud over these people, as they work, as they talk. Every day it bothers me more and more. I know that I need faith that it is all in God's hands, but that is little comfort when beholding those who are [currently] damned.

Jesus paid your price! Don't let His suffering be in vain! You don't even know what you are missing both in this life and the life to come!

I just want to shake some sense into them.

Life...

I am listening to music from years ago... it's incredible how music can instantly bring back so many memories...

I'm remembering visiting Lockridge Park as a child with the family... remembering Dad's old friend Joel... remembering a rainy day and a fort that was nothing more than a pile of warped lumber... remembering Daddy's ankle popping while playing soccer, pulling up handfulls of grass while in so much pain he could not speak... remember him in a cast working with Mark Zook... remembering plastic frogs in my pockets... trapper keepers... Mother dancing to a song that she loves... swimming in the lake... Daddy surprising us one one evening and taking us to an airfield to each take individual flights with a pilot over our house... school uniforms... tea time and movies alone with Mother... Chick-Fil-A... the Bible... Hannah...

If anything is clear, it's that my life is not my own. I thank God everyday for His sovereignty. I have seen His hand in every piece of my life thus far... and am excited to see what He has around the next corner for us.

Foundational Truth: The Separation of Church and State

"Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's."
Luke 20.25

These are the immortal words of Jesus Christ given in the Gospel of Luke. In this simple verse, Jesus makes a clear distinction between God and Caesar, or what we would consider Church and State. Each has distinct responsibilities from God and have been given authority to fulfill those responsibilities.

Throughout history, we have seen this distinction blurred and the results were always disastrous. In the Middle Ages, we saw the Catholic church take on the responsibilities of civil government (the state) and the world saw bloody crusades, oppression, widespread poverty, and total abandonment of the proper functions of the Church. On the other hand, we have seen governments attempt to control the church for political means and especially in recent history have seen government claim responsibilities that are rightfully left to the church. These have caused corruption, poverty, persecution and pointless bloodshed. If each party had respected the other and each fulfilled its proper functions, many of history's greatest disasters could have been avoided. So what are their respective responsibilities?

Let us start with the church, or the Christian religion in general. In Matthew 28.19-20, Jesus lays out three responsibilities: (1) Discipleship (2) Baptism (3) Teaching. Also, James 1.27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." So those are some basic, biblical responsibilities of the Church. Now what are the responsibilities of civil government? Romans 13.4 tells us that God has given civil government authority to be "an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." So, to put it in a nutshell, civil government has been given the responsibility of protecting good people by punishing evildoers.

We must always make a proper distinction between the Church and the State. They each have been given authority to fulfill certain responsibilities, and in any case where one attempts to usurp the authority of the other there is nothing but trouble and pain. We must hold fast to the wisdom of Jesus and render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. That is truth.

Reading, Studying, Talking

I was excited to start Bible studying with my carpool buddy, Dan, today. The plan is that when he is driving (every other day), I will lead as we read, study, and talk about the Scriptures. We decided to start in Genesis and work our way through. We will move relatively quickly through the Bible without much commentary, just presenting the Word with limited interruption except for short comments to aid in understanding. I started in Genesis a while back and am in Psalms now, so it is especially fun to go back and start over after having only recently been there. And it also helps in preparing notes for our study :-). So this morning we started in Genesis 1 and worked through the end of chapter 3. The plan is to finish chapter 5 by the time we get home tonight. I am very excited about how God is going to use this extra study time in our lives.

I am at a point in my life where I absolutely can not get enough of the Scriptures. In Bible college, I read and studied all the same things, yet it was like there was a cloud over my eyes and I could hardly even read the Bible. My eyes would dart all over the pages and I would read the same paragraphs over and over again. It was so incredibly frustrating that after leaving school I did ZERO reading (not just the Bible) for two years! But a couple of months ago, God unlocked something in my brain and for the first time in my life I can not just read, but I can actually absorb the Scriptures and other books on the Bible. The exact same books that I physically/mentally COULD NOT read a few years ago, I am now able to absorb quickly and recall easily.

THANK YOU!!!

What's In The Bible?

This is an exciting new series from Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales. I bought the first DVD in the series today and am very impressed. I am excited to see the rest.

Consistent Interpretation of Prophesy

It really bothers me how easy it is for folks to look at a prophetic passage and admit that the first part has been literally fulfilled, but then say that the next part of the prophesy will be fulfilled spiritually. Let's please be consistent. If we are consistent, we can see that ALL Bible prophesy that has been fulfilled, has been fulfilled literally. As Dr. Paul Benware summarized in the his excellent Understanding End Times Prophesy:

"Prophesies that have been fulfilled completely have been fulfilled literally, and that gives us confidence to expect that those prophetic utterances that are not yet fulfilled (or completely fulfilled) will also end up being fulfilled literally. We believe that Jesus Christ will literally return to this earth and reign at His second coming because He literally came to this earth the first time, being born of the virgin Mary at Bethlehem."

If we interpret consistently, Biblical prophesy is really not all that confusing, and the major disagreements people have over the covenants and the relationship of Israel to the Church all fade away.

Children's Church

I will be leading Children's Church this Sunday and I am quite excited. I was going through Judges (one of my most favorite books) and read the story of my favorite judge, Ehud. After that I sent my pastor an email telling him that if there was a day that they needed a sub for Children's church, I would be happy to fill in and teach the children this wonderful story. He was excited and then they asked me if I could do it this Sunday... OK! Hannah will be visiting her mother's church so I will not have anything to worry about (small, high-maintenance children!) except my lesson.

In NTM Boot Camp, we had a guest speaker one night who spoke on the book of Judges. He went briefly through all the judges in the entire book and at the end explained how God is all-powerful, and just as he gave the judges in Israel exactly what they needed to accomplish His will for them, He will give us today all that we need to accomplish His will for our lives. That lesson stuck deep in me and since then I have always enjoyed that book.

But as for application, I am not sure yet where I will go. I am trying to decide between:

1) Explaining that just as God gave the judges exactly what they needed to accomplish His will for them, He will give you all that you need to accomplish what He wants you to do.

or

2) Present Ehud as a temporary deliverer (a miniature Christ), and then go right into the gospel and explain how Jesus is our eternal deliverer.

I am leaning toward the second option.

I am very excited. Now I must end this and continue work on my props :-).

Random

I was looking through my email at work and came across some numbers that interested me.

First email sent: 10/19/05
Total emails sent: 3748

I started work at Walkers in June of 2005. I was initially at the Warehouse, but in August I was moved to the Shop. Once in the Shop, I worked in Electronics until October. In October I began working primarily with inventory and was assigned a computer to use. I can assume that the first day I used my computer was October 19, 2005. So I have been working at this computer for over four years. I have been working at Walkers for longer than I was in High School. I have worked at Walkers only six months longer than I have been married. In June, I will have worked here for five years. In the four years that we have been married

-Hannah and I have lived in two different apartments, and with her mother.
-We have driven from PA to Texas and back
-We have driven down to Florida and back multiple times
-We have flown down to Florida twice and flown back once.

Totally random, but it was what was currently in my head.

Thoughts on Mark 1

I have been reading through the gospel of Matthew and have really enjoyed myself. But I finished it yesterday and was quite disappointed. It is so majestic and is written in the same way as the wonderful books of the Old Testament. I would go so far to say that it should be the 67th book of the Old Testament. But after finishing it, I was disappointed to have to move into simple little Mark. But, I put my biases aside and in faith began Mark this morning to see what the Spirit would teach me through it.

Now after having read the first chapter in Mark for the first time in a long while, I have to say that my initial attitude toward the book was ABSOLUTELY WRONG! While Matthew is deep and somewhat dark at times, Mark is refreshingly simple. Matthew was written to the Jews and it is all about the future kingdom of Israel, but Mark is about the gospel for me! Right from the start, Mark sets the stage. Rather than presenting Jesus going around explaining OT prophesy, it starts withe Jesus "proclaiming the gospel of God." This is the gospel for gentiles! It is quite simply about Jesus and what he did for us.

Simple and beautiful.

I also love the wilderness imagery. John was the imperfect crier in the wilderness, Jesus became the perfect crier in the wilderness of the world, and now in the power of the Holy Spirit we are left as criers in this wilderness of a fallen world.

I'm very excited to read the rest of the book... it's been far too long :-).

Our Rights With God?

Quote from John Piper, "The Called of Christ and the Loved of God: Part 1" May 17, 1998.

"I assert, that human beings as they presently exist have absolutely no rights with God. None! Zero! We have no rights over or against God. We have no right to claim anything from God. Nothing! Therefore, all condemnation from God is just and all salvation from God is gracious. And nobody can raise any complain whatsoever."

That is ever so true.

The Bread of Life

Jesus... oh sweet and beautiful Savior! I have been watching "The Gospel of John" and pondering the truth of God's Word. It is quite intense. Jesus fed the five thousand and all the people got so excited! The became obsessed with Jesus! They loved Him! What could be better than a king that could make food appear basically out of thin air! They followed him and asked Him time and time again about food and He obliged them and said, "I am the Bread of life!" Then He told them that to be saved, they would have to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Then what happened??? They got angry! What!?!? We saw You make real bread, we can't possibly eat You! Then many quickly lost interest in Him. Jesus was of course talking spiritually, but they had not the faith to accept His words. He could have laid it out and explained it away in the most clear and persuasive ways possible, but He purposely did not. Jesus was interested in their hearts! He wanted their faith! If He had spoken straightforwardly, He certainly would have been followed by larger crowds and who knows what else might have happened, BUT HE DID NOT WANT IT THAT WAY!!! As the Old Testament prophets warned the Israelites, GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU TO LOOK RIGHT, HE WANTS YOUR HEARTS TO BE RIGHT! Time and time again the Israelites heard the law and vowed to uphold it and then regularly visited the temple and did the things of the law to the best of their ability. But they were not doing it in faith! They were just following a list of rules! If their hearts had been rights, their allegiances would not have blown back and forth and over and over and time and time again! Jesus did not care if He only had a handful with Him, because he wanted those whose hearts were right (of course making an exception for Judas, but Jesus knew this and allowed Him to continue anyway).

THE HEART, THE HEART, THE HEART!!! In the Old Testament, God wanted hearts. In the New Testament, God wanted hearts. Today, Jesus wants hearts. Don't focus on the bread, on the earthly things. Look in faith on Jesus, our glorious Lord and Savior! All praise be to Him!

Psalm 128:1-4 (ESV)

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;

Your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.

Memorization on the Cross

I am currently working through these.

Romans 6:6-7
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Philippians 2:8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Colossians 1:20
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Epochs

Epoch - a point in time beginning a new or distinctive period

From whom do I receive my life? God. From whom do I receive my life's direction? God.

God's will is often difficult to see and sometimes even more difficult to understand, but regardless, we search it out. He gave me life and He owns me. So to most properly live my life, I must keep my eyes fixed on God so I will be able to receive and discern from Him what He has for me. This process of trying to discern His will has been going on my life for a long time, and will continue until I die, but it certainly has been getting easier. My hope and prayer is that as my relationship with Him increases in depth and significance, His direct revelation relating to my life, family, and place in this world will become more frequent and clear. But looking at my life thus far, I can discern three specific moments where God told me what my purpose was for that time in my life. These three epochs significanly affected my life, and every decision I made during the time period following each was made in the light of that new understanding. Now it is worth pointing out that these epochs have never been contrary to each other, but rather progressive steps toward a greater plan which God has not yet revealed to me. So as I said before, there have been three turning point in my life where God clearly revealed something to me pertaining to my life that I did not know or realize before. The first came to me in High School.

"Ryan, go to PBU."

In 2003, God clearly revealed to me that I was to attend Philadelphia Biblical University following High School. He did not speak the words to me, but I knew clearly in my heart that it was His will for me. Going to PBU gave me opportunity to be in Pennsylvania where I reconnected with Hannah Joy.

"Ryan, you will marry Hannah."

Late one night after spending the evening with Hannah, I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep. God spoke these words to me, "Ryan, you will marry Hannah." I questioned Him at first, but knew that it was Him speaking... and how can you really argue with God??? Once that was revealed to me, Hannah and I officially got together and then were officially engaged and then married less than a year later. Once married, school was at least temporarily out of the question in terms of finances and also emotionally, Hannah's father having just recently passed away. But we moved forward in the truth that we knew, which was that we were supposed to be married. Every decision was made in light of that truth. The next revelation came while Hannah was pregnant with our first child.

"Your ministry is your family."

These, once again, were not clear words from God, but regardless He spoke them clearly in our hearts. Outward ministry had always been a big part of my life but God was saying that my number one ministry was inward, to my own family. In light of that truth, we made a number of decisions, including changing churches. We needed to be at a church where others would be able to accept that truth and not pressure us into living and serving in ways that took away from what we knew to be our primary call. And this step was not a new direction for us, it was just another step in our purpose, on top of being married.

We are still living in light of that truth, that our ministry is our family, and are trying in everything we do to seek God's will in fulfilling that purpose. But until God gives us the next step in the process, we know that this is the single purpose He wants us to be fulfilling at this time in our lives. Whether it was changing churches so we would be free to minister to our own family, or me joining LBCCS to try and preserve freedom for my children, every decision we have made during this period of time is based off of what we know to be our purpose at this point in our lives.

In our zeal to accomplish these purposes, we have at times pursued ventures that were not in God's perfect will for us, but He has been gracious enough to close those doors before we got in too far. But regardless, I can see two instances during this time where I clearly made decisions myself without regarding God or what I knew to be His purpose for me: (1) Trying my hand at real estate investing and (2) signing up to go to online school and study communications. But once again, God closed those doors and I learned from those experiences.

Now the question is, when will He further clarify our purpose to us? When will He give us the next step? A large part of me feels like God will be making it clear to us soon, but I am willing to wait for His perfect time. It is always such a joy and comfort to know that He is sovereign and no stupid decisions I make will ever change that.

So I will continue to seek Him and His will, and I will continue to pursue what He makes clear to me is my primary purpose for each moment in my life. I am very excited to see what He has for us next :-).

New Blog!

I have started a new blog, another blog on the side. It is based off of Andrew Murray's devotional book, Experiencing the Holy Spirit. God has been using it so much in my life recently, so decided to take it and work slowly through it and rewrite it in my own words. I have decided to take that and put it into a blog. I know it will be a blessing to me as I write this out, and I hope it will be a blessing to you as well. To view my new blog, follow this link:

http://experiencingtheholyspirit.blogspot.com/

Political Spectrum Quiz

My Political Views
I am a far-right social libertarian
Right: 9.48, Libertarian: 6.45

Political Spectrum Quiz

Born Again American

I was directed to this by a forwarded email. It is a beautiful and video, even though it was funded by big-government progressives as a propaganda tool. Apparently people are supposed to watch this and get emotionally charged up, then Obama is supposed going to sail in as the answer to it all. The video was funded by "Declare Yourself" which is sponsored by Change.org, a wildly progressive website that is against everything in this video. Figure that out... :-). Enjoy the video.

Excerpt from Experiencing the Holy Spirit

This paragraph really touched me. It is from Experiencing the Holy Spirit, by Andrew Murray. I have never read any of his work before, but am really enjoing it now. He was not seduced by the widespread legalism of his time (the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries). He spoke truth.

"At no stage of our spiritual career are the power and the deceitfulness of our individual self and the self-life more manifest than in the attempt to grasp the full blessing of Pentecost. Many people endeavor to appropriate this blessing by a great variety of efforts. They do not succeed and are not able to discover the reason why. They forget that self-will can never cast out self-will and that self can never really mortify itself. Happy is the man who is brought to the point of acknowledging his helplessness and impotence. He will especially need to deny himself here and cease to expect anything from his own life and strength. He will rather lay himself down in the presence of the Lord as one who is impotent and dead, that he may really receive the blessing from Him."

Husband, Father, Servant

What I love abou this blog is that it so clearly states my priorities in life. I am a husband, a father, and a servant of my Lord Jesus Christ. Simple, straightforward. I have recently lost sight of these simple priorities in my life, but God has been working in me to get me back on track. All praise be to Him. Let's see what He does :-).