Tagged!

Okay, so JEN tagged me on a meme.

Here are the rules; I'll break a few of them:

• Link to the person who tagged me.
• Mention the rules.
• Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
• Tag 6 other bloggers linking to them.
• Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

Here they are!

• I don't eat leftovers. I can't face the thought of it. Even if it's only a day old, I can't. Don't know why. I just can't.
• I met by lovely wife on the internet, and we've been happily married now for 4 & 1/2 years.
• Got bit by a stink beetle once and had a horrible allergic reaction sending me to the ER. The night I got bit, I ate fettucine alfredo at Olive Garden. Because of that incident, I don't eat anything with alfredo sauce on it.
• I am a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
• My first car was a bright orange '78 Mustang. It was the cool looking mustangs of the previous era. That year looked more like a Pinto. Still it was a fun car.
• I once had a demon cast out of me, except for there was no demon. I just played along to avoid embarassment. Some Christians are NUTS!!!

I tag anyone who wants to play. Just drop me a comment, and let me know you're playing!

Take care!

Devo Day: Time Well Spent

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
Daniel 12:3

I heard the other day that the average American will spend 15 years in front of the television during his or her lifetime. Can you imagine 15 years of sitting in front of that box, clicking away? What a waste of life.

On the other hand, the Bible speaks of many rewards in heaven for the person who faithfully serves the Lord during his or her lifetime, and even speaks of crowns that will be given. In fact, I think we might be shocked when the awards are presented in heaven.

We may expect them to go to all the big names that we know. But just imagine if most of the awards were given to someone named Maude Firkenbinder. You hadn't heard about her. She never pastored a church. She never recorded Christian music. She never wrote a book. But she used the gifts that God gave her. Maybe God called her to be a person of prayer. Maybe she labored in obscurity somewhere. But God saw her faithfulness and rewarded her openly.

When you get to heaven, what will you have to show for your life on this earth? Every man will be tried. Every woman will be tried. All of your accomplishments will be evaluated when you stand before Christ.

It is not so much a judgment for sin, but a judgment of time that was spent in a worthless way. Did you have more passion or excitement for your career or for a sport or for your possessions than you had for the things of God?

It will all come to nothing. Wasted hours. Wasted days. Wasted years.

Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries.

The Answer To Yesterday's Question

And the answer to yesterday's question is...

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Y'all have a good one!

Do You Know?

Props to anyone who can tell me what movie the song on my blog came from without doing a google search. I'll tell you what one of my Bible college professors used to say,

"I may never know if you cheated on this test, but GOD will!"

Okay, so it's not that serious, but see if you can figure it out (My wife couldn't). I'll give the answer tomorrow if no one can figure it out.

HINT: It's one of my favorite movies.

Devo Day: When We Doubt

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. . . ."
1 Corinthians 13:12

Oswald Chambers said, "Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong. It may be a sign that he is thinking."

There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind. Unbelief is a matter of the heart. Doubt is when we cannot understand what God is doing and why He is doing it. Unbelief is when we refuse to believe God's Word and do what He tells us to do.

We must not confuse the two.

Remember the discouraged disciples on the Emmaus road? In their minds, Jesus had failed in His mission and had been crucified. Jesus joined them on that road and began to speak with them.

In the end, they said, "Didn't our hearts feel strangely warm as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32).

God dealt with their doubt through His Word. And God will deal with your doubt through His Word. When you are facing doubt, that is not the time to close the Bible. That is the time to open it and let God speak to you.

Maybe you have been doubting God's ways in your life. Maybe you have been asking "why" a lot lately. Maybe His timing doesn't seem to make any sense.

The Bible says, "All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

It all will be resolved in that final day when we stand before God. God doesn't ask us to understand everything. He asks us to trust Him and follow Him.

Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries.

My Vision

Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers, encouragement and advice. Things are going better for me. I just needed to spend some time on me knees seeking God and fighting some spiritual enemies.

My wife & I have definitely felt your prayers through this trying time.

A good friend of mine sent me an email asking me to send him a copy of my vision. In all honesty, I know what my vision is, but I have never written it down. I sent it to my friend, but I just thought I'd put it on my blog so that I'd have it.

I have felt God’s calling on my life since I was a child. I received Christ when I was 5 years old, and ever since, His calling has never left me, even in times when I have left Him.

My vision is one to travel, minister and motivate various congregations, regardless of their denominational standing. In the past, there have been divisions between different churches, and my vision is one to help motivate members to see past the differences to the similarities, and encourage them that we all can become one body in Christ, regardless of the sign in front of our church.

My vision is also one to motivate others to live up to their full potential in Christ. Christianity is not a destination, but a journey, a journey of valleys and mountaintops. Yesterday’s revelation of Christ must not be enough. Understanding that God reveals Himself through progression, as Christians, we must have a new and fresh revelation of Him in order to handle what we are facing at this point in our lives. God gives everything we need for this journey, but it is our responsibility to bring these gifts to full fruition, to call those things that are not as though they are.

My vision is also one of Spiritual Healing. We live in a broken, sinful world that has left many Christians damaged. Even when God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, there was still an Egypt mentality that had to be delivered out of the Israelites. I believe that God wants to touch our hurts, brokenness, and failures to bring us out of the bondage that Satan tries to ensnare us in.

My vision is also to mentor, equip and train others who want to minister in speaking, and other various gifts that God has given them. I don’t ever want to be selfish with what God has given me, but I want to multiply the workers in the field.

Oh, and by the way, I believe that I have the best readers and blog friends in the entire world. Thanks again for all of your prayers!

Take care!

I Need Your Prayers Badly

I'm writing this post because my family & I are in need of some urgent prayer.

I feel like I'm at a crossroads both spiritually & financially. As many of you know, I work for the local paper in advertising sales. And times are very tough. Print sales just isn't what it once was, having to compete with online advertising companies. Financially, I'm no longer able to provide for my family. I've started mowing my wife's parents' lawn every week in order to earn some extra cash to provide for my family.

There's a favorite saying of mine that goes as follows:

"Ask not what the world needs; instead ask what makes you come alive, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

To be honest, Advertising Sales is not what makes me come alive. I wish it did, but it doesn't. I have a degree in Church Ministries, I love to speak and to teach. I love to write. I also love web design. The problem is with my faith that speaking, teaching and/or web design will be able to provide for my family.

I need a breakthrough both spiritually and financially. I'm worn out.

Today, I'm going home from work to spend some time with my wife in serious prayer about our current situation. Please join me. I feel an urgency in my soul and a breakthrough just around the corner. I firmly believe that in order for certain things to be birthed, that some time in spiritual labor needs to be spent. And that is what I plan to do.

This is what I need you to pray for my wife & I about:

• That God gives my wife & I a clear vision for what our next step should be in fulfilling the purpose He has for us both individually and as a family.
• That God gives us wisdom to see the doors that He is closing, and that God gives us wisdom to see the door that He has opened for us.
• That God gives us faith and hope and encouragement to believe that He will provide for us in this trying time.
• That my wife and I are in agreement and on the same team in the direction that we should go.

Y'all are great. I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't think you'd join me in prayer. Please stay tuned for a follow up of how God is answering our prayers.

Take care!