Some church in Marquette Heights

There is a church in Marquette Heights that is a small brick church. I'm not sure what denomination it is, but they have a small billboard outside in the "front yard". The sign currently reads,


"You say you Love me? Prove it. - God"

What the heck is that?? You're telling me that one non-believer would ever walk into the doors of this place? I mean come on, it just seems a bit...SCARY. I'm not sure I would want to walk in there. It seems to me that this is probably not the most gracious of places. I'd be scared to go in there.

Today, and I have a feeling this week, was/ is kinda crappy. I'm coming off a week where I worked really hard with school and work, and this week is going to be much slower until the weekend. Perhaps God is calling me to do some rest and to refresh my soul.

Nexus

So tonight I gave what will hopefully be the first of many messages at Nexus. I'm not sure if I'm all that great at it or not, but I enjoy the preparation and work that is involved in public speaking. I've done a lot of speaking before, but never to a group of my peers. It was refreshing to be able to speaking about such a cool topic with people that I know have got to be dealing with some of the same exact things...

Bradley 18-9...gotta get at leat one more to make the dance....Or I suppose they could just win the whole Valley Tournament and get in that way...that would be the best way to be sure that they would make it

Less than two weeks till fishing in Alabama...Boy, I'm pathetic!!!

The Evangelical Church

So this is the jist of what I tried to post last week about the evangelical church.........

Why is it that every evangelical church pushes Christians to be in daily meditation of the Word? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't be...but here is the question...

What did those Christians before the printing press do about reading the Bible? Simple answer? They didn't read the bible. In fact, for most Christians before the 1800's only heard the bible read at church. Most towns could only afford to have one or two since they had to hand copied. Thus they were very expensive. So now these people would only hear the bible read aloud maybe once or twice a week, but were still expected to keep a relationship with God? How is that possible? In today's world, those people would have been screwed because they couldn't read it. What I am getting at here...is a growing trend in my thinking. I am learning more and more than little else besides loving Jesus and loving people matters. Sure there are other things to concentrate on, but most of it gets confusing. Two of the solid things that I need to work more on is loving Jesus and loving my brothers better.

Going back....perhaps people before the printing press had a better relationship with God because they revered Him more. Maybe they strived to memorize the Scriptures they heard read aloud because they held the bible in higher esteem because they COULDN'T own one. Folks, I own four bibles...3 of which have dust on them. Sometimes I wish I could desire to read the Word more than I do. Maybe someone needs to take my bibles away so that then I will take notes during sermons, memorize scripture that is read aloud, and altogether have a passion to hear the Word of God and memorize it. The Evangelical church is lying to us. We don't have to read our bibles every day to have a relationship with the God of the Universe. We need to love Jesus and love people

To my Friends...

To my friends who think I need to post more often....here ya go. This post goes out to the Williams' family. (All two of you)
But I already posted today, so I am not sure what to write, except for that it is really late and I need some sleep. We cannot all be Charlie Dean ya know? The guy manages to post like 47 times a day. I don't know how he does it. He's my hero!

Anyone know how to add links?

Does anyone know how to add links to a blog? I cannot figure out how the heck to do this...Also, does anyone know how to add a site counter to a blog??? I want to find out how much people read my pathetic life story as it unfolds!!

Tonight at 7:00-Small Group Meeting

Soda, Chips, Brownies will be provided!!

Be there or be a triangle

Am I pathetic because I am going to Tennessee to fish in 2 weeks????

blogger makes me mad

Okay, so somehow I managed to lost the longest post of my blogging life on here. It was about evangelical churches and the idea of a "daily devotional". I'll re-post on Monday, I'm too mad to re-type all of those thoughts. Freaking crapola!!

Ipod Fixed for $15???

Okay, so today I got some terrific news. My ipod only needs a new headphone jack, which will only cost $15. How freaking awesome is that? I was pretty pumped. I will be getting it back in about 5 business days...no more CD's in my car baby!!!!

I was so encouraged today by a passage in Luke 15. It is the story of the prodigal son. Basically, the younger son asked for his inheritance from his father early, the father gave it to him and then the son ran off spending the money on whatever he wanted. I like to call this passage, "Prodigal Son Gone Wild" because the reality is that this son lived the wild life...probably getting durnk all the time, entertaining prostitutes, strippers, whatever he could find that would please him. His money slowly began to run out and he began to be in need. He decided to come home to where his father lived. Not expecting a great reception from his family, he probably braced himself for the worst. But, as soon as came in sight of his house and farm, his father came running...he didnt care where his son had been, how much money hen lost, how many STD's he probably acquired...he only cared that his son was back. This is it folks! This is the way God pictures us. He doesn't care what we have done. He doesn't care how nasty we have been. He is constantly chasing after us, hoping to embrace us...it is up to us to put down our pride and realize that God doesn't care about our past...He only cares about us and our future. How cool is that???

Sponge

I want to be more like a sponge. I am writing about this to commit my life to being a sponge. Let me explain...I want to be they type of person who is constantly seeking to learn from God, people, and books. I want to always be re-evaluating where I am at, constantly seeking ways to improve myself and those around me. I want to be a better person, I want to be a better minister. I want to soak up as much from the great people around me without hindering them. I want to be the type of man God made me to be. I want to be the best and I want to have a passion for excellence! I don't know why I felt the need to share this on here but I wanted to write this down so I have record of it.

Excellence

I was reminded today about what it is that I am doing. I work at a church that is committed to excellence. It is my goal to provide the best service I can to young adults. In doing so, everything I do needs to be done ith excellence. This is one of the coolest parts about Northwoods. They desire to be excellent in everything so that people from the outside will see that was we do is awesome, well thought out, and inspiring. It is my job to make the program for Nexus every week, and every week I get it proofed. Nearly every week it gets torn apart gramatically, and sometimes structurally. Now, I am not a very sensitive person, so this is okay with me. But I was reminded today that the fact that what I do is being critized and critiqued before the public get to see it is an awesome thing. Northwoods is committed to do doing things well!

Staff Party

Today we pretty much just played all day at work. Charlie and I did some "ownaging" at Euchre. I got to spend some fake money on some sweet prizes, and I got to know some pretty awesome people better! I cannot say how cool it is work with some of the most intelligent leaders and awesome thinkers in this area. God has richly blessed me so I can be a spunge to some of these people.

Nexus this Sunday night back at regular time. Anyone got any ideas of something they want to do after Nexus, let me know. I'm always up for suggestions!!

Survivor

The new series of Survivor has an interesting twist. For the first time ever, the 16 people have been broken into 4 different tribes divided by gender and age. Group of young guys, group of old guys, group of old women, group of young women. Interesting so far...

Still sick. This really sucks. Maybe tomorrow will be better, who knows!

That's all I got...

Boring week

Man, what a pathetic week it has been. I haven't had much school work to do. I haven't done very much work. I have hardly seen Bethany. And I have hardly hung out with anyone with the intention of being impactful. And...I'm still sick. I hate this. Life has come to a screeching halt. Right now, I'm sitting in my room typing on this dang computer instead of sitting at Northwoods like I'm supposed to be doing. Oh well, they understand. Or, even better, I could be at Carver Arena watching Bradley knock the crap outta ISU. Oh well...right? I haven't really gotten past yesterday's crap. It may take more than a day or two. I don't know, it just seems like the direction I'm headed for is boring, unending, and indecisive all at the same time. I have goals and plans, but these goals have all kind of been put on hold. Who knows??? Why do I need to know everything? I suppose God knows, but that isn't satisfying. I feel like I need something more than that. Is it too much to ask that I know where I am going to be in 2 years? Perhaps it is. Is it too much to ask that I know where I'll be in 1 one year? Man, this is getting crazy. I sound like a suicide patient. By no means, really, I'm not...it's just...life feels so incomplete sometimes. (I cannot believe I sound like what I hate...indie, poetic, and dumb) Though I guess completeness comes at the end when I am on the doorstep in Heaven waiting to go in. But isn't that what life is all about? Walking up the endless amount of steps until we reach the end? Where am I in those steps??? I guess that's all I've got for now....a knowledge of steps