We are still in Beta.

we part ways now
but soon we will see
that tomorrow brings forth
another mystery
and new dragons to kill
and beasts to fight
but together we shall
both day and night
hold on to each other
till the morning light

I often find myself wondering what is worthwhile in this life. I think what is worthwhile is often decided by what we believe success is.This is where I express my opinions of difference. I think most Americans would equate success with something like money, or a nice house, or car, or having money in the bank. This means that most Americans find it worthwhile to go to their job, or go to school, or drive a fancy car, or buy a nice house.

Now, I don’t think any of these things are bad. It’s just that I don’t think that having these things is truly success. I think success is only found in doing what God has planned for my life and by doing what I enjoy. This is where I think that doing things like going to school becomes second to other things. It’s not that school isn’t worthwhile, it totally is! But when things come up of more importance, things more worth my time, I choose to do those. Often these things are connected with building or supporting relationships. Now many of you might at first disagree with this, but think about this, have you ever skipped work or school for a wedding or funeral? You’ll probably say that’s different, which it is, but still, you get my point? Relationships are of more importance than “success”. Or maybe I should put it this way, your personal “success” is nothing if you put it above your love for others. How about looking at it this way. What would Jesus think is more important, school/work, or hanging out with the starving child down the street, or the friend that’s falling apart due to all the stress in their life?

What would Jesus find worthwhile?

I recently rearranged my room. Now, when I say I rearranged it, I mean I fully rearranged and cleaned it. As in, you walk into my room now and it’s a totally different place, the bed, desks, and drawers are all in different places. It’s pretty crazy. When I started to clean though, it looked more like I was ransacking the place. I started by emptying all my lockers and boxes. Half way through I looked around the room and went “wow, this is a mess!” And it was! I had boxes all over, clothes all over, papers strewn about the room, piles of toys or electronics, and more strewn all about the place. It was so messy that I couldn’t even in there. But that’s how you start when you deep clean a room.
Once I  had organized the big items it was down for the harder part, organizing the papers. This was the point where I took all the papers I had found from the past years (all the way to elementary school!) and organized them. I had piles for everything! Homework, Notes from Friends, Drawings, Poetry, Random Notes, Bible Lessons, Verses, Journal entries, Music and I think a few others. Remember also, this was all stuff I’d written or had been written to me.Once I finished organizing all those papers I locked them all in a locker. Then I was finally done (after a good vacuum)
So what’s my point in saying all this? Well, I realized that we are sometimes like my room. As in, when God wants to clean us up, or rearrange our life we look like my room. I think the first step God has to do when cleaning us up is the ripping apart. Just like my room looked like it had been ransacked I think God pulls our life apart till you can see everything.
Once God rips our life apart I think only then can he put us back together. I think the next step in the process is God getting a giant garbage can and throwing all the uneeded stuff into, just like I did. After he’s removed everything unwanted I think he then organizes the large things in our lives. This goes here, this goes there, etc. This is the easy part, it’s all the obvious things. Then comes the hard part, organizing our past memories and thoughts. Just like I did with the papers, I can see God sitting down and making separate piles for everything. He goes through and re-reads each paper and then either throws it out, or puts it in the correct pile.

When I think about this it makes me think about what stage my life could be in right now. I almost would think I’m in the process of organizing the papers, but I’m not sure. I think that God might actually be continually doing all these processes in my life. At times I feel like he’s still ripping out things that are uneeded and undoing all my previous organizing. Other times it feels he’s putting something very obvious in it’s right spot. Whatever he’s doing I just want to make sure I trust him. He knows the final plan for my life and where he wants it, so I will choose to trust him.

So remember, when you feel your life is in the midst of chaos, in the middle of being ripped apart and you feel you don’t know where anything belongs anymore……maybe God is cleaning your room.

When I’m down, I know that God will pull me through, but sometimes I don’t want God to pull me through; I just want him to pull some strings.

We are all roses, full of beauty, but beneath the surface we have hundreds of thorns. God knows this about us. God is the ultimate gardener and he knows how to reach out to each of us and care for us perfectly. He sees our thorns and loves us just the same. In fact, God sees our thorns and wants to fix them, if we will only let him. Often we try and hide our thorns from him. We try to keep them beneath the surface and put on our best face. When we do this God still loves us, but when we give him our thorns he will remove them. If we accept the fact that we have thorns and ask God to remove them he gladly accepts. So often though we try and hide them from him and from others. Or we do the opposite. Sometimes all we seem to see about ourselves is the thorns, we can’t get past the fact that we have scars in our lives. We begin to think the thorns are all we are made of, that the thorns are what define us. With either viewpoint we are not releasing our pain to Jesus. Yet even if we don’t let God remove our thorns, he still loves us, he still loves our beauty and fragrance, and our thorns. God loves all of us no matter what. No matter how many thorns we have God can still care for us and love us, without getting caught on the thorns.

Sometimes, going for it, even when you know you might get hurt, is the best action ever to be taken.

Say you’re rock climbing, you see a possible option to scale the seemingly impossible. You look and see that to the left is an easy path, but to the right is an overhang, a challenge. Which do you go for? Well, it’s your choice.

What are your chances of making it up that overhang, of grabbing hold and pulling yourself over it? Slim to none, but you understand that if you do make it, it will be the best feeling ever. So you go for it.

At first the going is tough, and the farther you get the harder it seems. You start getting depressed thinking you won’t make it. But then, once again, you catch a glimpse of that end goal. You wait, and plan and think and then… you leap. You throw yourself out there knowing it’s hit or miss. It’s inevitable, you go for it, or give up.
As you reach out you miss the handhold, but it’s not as bad as you thought, your foot catches and then your hand. You struggle to find a second foothold, a second handhold, but you made it, mostly. Your heart is racing, your adrenaline pumping, that goal is so much closer now. You can taste the victory of reaching the end. Yes, you have to pull yourself up the rest of the way. It’s still hard going, if not harder than the start, but you made the leap, you made it past the hardest part and so you are going for it. You don’t look back. It looks good and unless you make a huge mistake, you’re pretty sure you’ll make it.

But, what if you’d missed? What if you had not caught on at the last second, not reached the second handhold? Well, yes, you’d get hurt. You’d probably be quite upset at first. But, does it matter? You might get lowered to the ground and rest for a minute, recuperating, but soon enough you’ll be either tackling that same wall again, or another. This time, you can taste the victory and it’s that much easier to make the leap.

So why wait? Why hold bak? Go for it!

God is a creative being, right? That’s what my youth pastor was telling us tonight.

Creativity comes from habit. Meaning, you can streamline creativity. This is what our current school theme is all about.

If God is creative, and creativity comes from habit… what does that mean about him?

Another thought…… If God is a creative God and he created the world creatively, was it hard for him to do it? As in, I find it hard to be creative sometimes, I have to work at a good idea, so, does God have this problem.

Last, if God created us out of creativity doesn’t that mean there should be mess ups, since creativity can be messy?

Ponder…..

My life is like a boat in the wind.

As I go through my days I will be swept sideways. A mllion different turns and spins will be happening. The wind will be totally unpredictable. Another day it will blow a steady fast pace all in one direction. I can either be helped in one way, or almost forced another. Then at other times the winds completely die and I feel all alone, with no power and no way to get anywhere. This just leaves me to stop and think about everything. Sometimes the forecast will say that there will be a steady 10 mph of wind the next day, but when that day comes… BAM!… There is gusts of 30 mph winds and then it drops to no wind. One minute it’s coming from the South, the next it’s from the Northwest, then the East and all I can do is drop the sails and try and keep the boat from capsizing.

My life is this boat. I’m trying to keep my life from flipping upside down. I get thrown left and right or forced one direction. When the wind really picks up and I can’t control my life I have to drop everything I’m doing and focus on what’s most important (keeping my life from capsizing). One thing though is always for certain, when I have wind I’m moving, even if it’s the wrong direction, but at least I’m moving.

Miracles, what are they?

I think that miracles aren’t as “amazing” as we sometimes think. I mean, they are amazing but it’s not like God is changing something into anything new, or making something into something it shouldn’t be. See I realized the other day that when God does a miracle all he is doing is returning that thing to it’s natural order. He is fixing it. What I mean is that the world was created perfect and only because of sin do we have disease, death, disfigurations etc. So when God performs a miracle it is really just him fixing the person or situation and restoring it to the way it was created.

This is the same thing that people do whenever they fix a computer and return it to it’s natural state, or fix a broken garment, or repair a car. These items were created working and when we fix them we are doing “miracles”.

Now all of what I said doesn’t mean God’s miracles are any less amazing. It’s still awesome to think that he raises people from the dead, heals the sick, finds the lost, and loves us, even though we are sinners. Plus there are the miracles like walking on water and turning water to wine and splitting the red sea in half, and I don’t think those miracles are exactly returning something to the natural order. In fact they would be what I said miracles aren’t earlier God changing something into something new.
So I, for one,  am still in awe and fear of God. His miracles are still amazing to me!

I’ve recently been amazed by some of what I’ve read in the Bible. Last night I started reading and couldn’t stop and today I read and wow. I just, I don’t see how America and the world has come to view possessions so highly, and come to be so … just opposite Jesus message. This doesn’t even count me out, I am in the same category, but.. just listen to some of these verses.

Matthew 10:38-39

“and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Mark 8:34-38
“then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Luke 9:23

“Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Luke 17:33

Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

Mark 8:35

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Mark 16:15-18

>”He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”"

Matthew 10:7-10

“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. “

Mark 6:8-13

“These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.”

Luke 9:1-6

“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere. ”
They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.”

Luke 18:22

“Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 16:9

“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

Now a lot of these are saying basically the same things. I think that only re-emphasizes the point. Lose Your Life, Carry Your Cross, Take Nothing, Give everything. Why do we find it so hard? Well because it’s so simple, and so basic, that we almost don’t believe it. Jesus tells us he will take care of us and provide for us, but we just can’t accept that. He has a plan for us. It is so hard for us, especially Americans to give up our possessions and everything because we have known no different. I think we all need to reevaluate our lives and our possessions. We need to ask ourselves what is most important, Jesus and eternal life, or the here and now?