Romans chapter 5

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog. For a little bit I've found myself stuck in a sort of rut that I couldn't seem to get out of. I was wondering why I wasn't feeling a closeness to God that I had felt before. For one, I was dwelling on my sin and feeling hopeless and for another, I wasn't reading God's Word as though it was food I needed greater than physical food. I had no hunger for the Word, no thirst for that endless fountain of living water.

Recently, I have finished reading through all of the gospels and the book of Acts. Now I am reading through Romans. Today in particular, in fact just a few minutes ago, I read Romans chapter 5. If you want encouragement, Romans chapter 5 is a great place for it.

Before reading on any farther, I'd love it if you would read Romans chapter 5. It won't take too long. If you have no Bible near by, BibleGateway.com works great!

Now right off the bat, in verse one, you get some encouragement!

Romans 5:1 - "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"

Now a verse that starts with Therefore means that there was important information to keep in mind written beforehand. Lets look at verses 4:23-25:

Romans 4:23-25 - "Now not for [Abraham's] sake only was it written that it (being his Faith) was credited to him (as Righteousness), but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

I just love the added insight that that gives. The Bible wasn't originally written with the chapter breaks where they're at now, so sometimes people break into a chapter without realizing there is good info in surrounding text.

Now, I am not going to go verse by verse through the whole chapter, however, I would encourage you to look through it on your own and let the Holy Spirit speak to you in a way I never could. However, I do want to look at a few more. Verses 3-5 say:

Romans 5:3-5 - "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

So now, even the trials we go through should be looked at in a positive way knowing that it brings hope and hope doesn't disappoint.

Now I'm going to skip ahead to what really impacted me in a new way, even though I've heard it plenty of times. When I was younger, I used to wish that I could take the place of Adam in the garden and choose not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I like to think that I would be able to resist that temptation. It seems so easy to point at Adam and say how horrible he is. Then I looked at Romans 5. When it talks about God's love being demonstrated towards us in Christ's death on the cross, which also brings us salvation, it also goes on to say in verse 17:

Romans 5:17 - "For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

and verse 19:

Romans 5:19 - "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."

As a born-again believer, I have been justified (God declared me righteous through the blood of Jesus) and am now free from sin. Whereas before being saved, all I could do was sin. I was totally depraved until the Holy Spirit of God began a work in me (which He will be faithful to complete!). This means I am no longer a slave to sin and can now live for God; so, going back to what I was talking about with Adam... I now have the righteousness he had before sin entered mankind. I am able to say no to temptation, yet do I? Sometimes. Not all the time. So essentially, I make the same mistakes. I sin just like Adam committed that first sin.

So why do I say all this. For one, I really want you to read through Romans chapter 5 and absorb the truth in it! It's rich! I also want to encourage you to evaluate where you stand with God right now. If you are not saved from the wrath of God by the blood of His son, Jesus, please talk to me about it sometime. Also pray to God that He will save you from your sins. For those reading who are saved, just look at your life and what you need to change to grow closer to God. Embrace the free gift of Grace and press on toward the prize!

I am certainly not perfect. I have my many flaws in many areas, but God's grace is greater still and I am free to live for Him, my Creator, Savior, and Lord of all. May God richly bless you as you pursue His Living Word!

Scriptural Application

This morning I was having a hard time keeping my mind on God and off of my sinful desires. Nobody ever said the Christian walk would be easy.

I have been having such a great past couple of weeks. The many many ways God has been working both through the lives of others and through my life have been indescribable and I'm going to try to stay away from mentioning them all to keep on task with the point I want to make.

With all the things God has been doing and how much I've been realizing it, I knew it was due to the time He has allowed me to spend in His Word. This morning in particular, I was struggling a lot keeping my mind pure, and I knew I had to dive into the Word, the Bible, and use it as intended in Ephesians 6. It talks about The Word of God being the sword of the spirit. A sword in battle is your weapon and also works defensively. It's the one piece in the armor of God that can be used as a weapon. I had to attack my feelings and longings of the flesh (my old sinful self), and I knew I could not do it on my own.

So I knew that the book of Second Peter had some relevant information in it for what I was going through in particular. I opened it up and started reading in chapter 1.

I CANNOT believe how completely relevant it was to my life. Almost every verse in that chapter stuck out to me in the current situation I was in. Let me start going through it a bit.

2 Peter 1:1-2 is more of an introduction, which has value and I encourage you to read it on your own to think about that. I read on to the next paragraph which is verses 3 and 4 which say:

3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
- 2 Peter 1:3-4

So in verse 3, where it says "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness...", that really emphasizes that it is not in my own power that I can overcome sin, it's through God's power. That is an encouraging start. Then in verse 4 it says we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. I like to read it backwards and say how do we do that? It is by His own glory and goodness through which He has given us his very great and precious promises which we have to stand on! This was awesome to me!

Now I want to look at verses 5-7:

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
- 2 Peter 1:5-7

This never stuck out to me so much as this time. For the reason of escaping the corruption in the world caused by evil desires, which I was having, it says make every effort to add to your faith goodness. Well, I have been trying to add to my faith goodness, and then from goodness, knowledge. I've been in the Word a LOT this week because God has really been working on me and may all the glory to go Him for it! The Bible is knowledge, so I've been adding to my faith knowledge and to my knowledge self-control. Now this past week, as a result of being in the Word and building up knowledge, I have become more self-controlled thanks to God. Now the hard part comes in. It says and to self-control, perseverance. Wow. Now I had just been talking to someone online about how perseverance is not something you learn overnight... in fact it's impossible to really learn it because you have to persevere to learn it and that takes time. It was at this point I realized I really needed to persevere. I needed to say no to the sinful desires I had and turn to God and count on Him to deliver me.

What comes after perseverance? It says "and to perseverance, godliness". I want my life to be characterized by godliness. I want the glory of God to shine through me and if I want that, I do not want to give into my sinful desires which takes away from perseverance which takes away from godliness. These all build on each other. After godliness, then brotherly kindness. I need to learn to persevere and grow closer to God so I can share Him with others and show my brothers kindness that comes from God that I could not have on my own. Finally, after brotherly kindness, comes love. God is love.

In my cell group tonight, we talked about how the world defines love and how the Bible defines love and they are very different. Everyone usually thinks of love as doing nice things for others or romantic love based on feelings. True love comes from God and God alone through Christ. God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ died for us. God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ died for us. He became the sin for us who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. It's all through Jesus that we have any hope. So this is how God shows us His love. We are called to love others as God loves us. Wow. Let that soak in for a second. True love is selfless, kind, does not envy, does not boast. True love is shown in a willingness to lay down your life for a friend.

So, to give into my sinful desires that might bring me brief fleeting temporary happiness but ultimately lead to destruction and emptiness, would bring me away from God who is love. Love never fails. It's in the Bible in I Corinthians 13 which I would highly encourage you to read on your own.

Let's go on to 2 Peter 1:8-9

8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

A possession of the increased measure of the qualities talked about earlier will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be effectual and productive for Christ, so I need to be putting off the old sinful desires and putting on the New self created to be like Jesus in true Righteousness and Holiness. Then it goes on to say in verse 9 that if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind. This is truth! If you want immediate pleasure now, then that shows nearsightedness. Sometimes I forget that I have been cleansed from my past sins. I need to look towards who God wants me to be and focus on the true joy I find in Him!

Now to move onto verses 10 and 11.

10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
- 2 Peter 1:10-11

Therefore, in other words, because of what was previously said, we should be all the more eager to make sure of our calling and election. It is fully up to God to draw us to Him and I am so incredibly grateful He has called me. Then it says "for if you do these things, you will never fall." Well. I think that's pretty straight forward. If I focus on God, stay in the Word, learn to Love others through self-control and perseverance, then I will never fall. It's when I lack these things when I stumble.

Then comes verse 11. "and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Wow! Look at what we have to look forward to. We can have an eternity of life in Christ praising God in Heaven and it will be a rich welcome. Now in light of this, do the sinful desires still seem worth it? I would say 100% not.

Please keep me in your prayers. Pray that I may continue to strive towards the prize, that being Christ Jesus, putting aside all my sinful desires and fully seek after God so I can be an effective witness of His return to call his children home!

The joy of my Salvation!

This weekend was up there as one of the best weekends of my life. Mike Baumgartner wanted to visit his home, but had no car. He lives in Iron River which is around a couple of hours away, and I personally wanted to go on a little road trip with someone and visit them at their home, so I told him I'd be willing to drive him home whatever weekend he wants as long as he wouldn't mind me staying there with their family over the weekend. Well, this weekend, he took me up on the offer so we went to visit his house and his family.

One thing I really like about Mike and Matt Baumgartner is their passion for God. We did some other things like ping pong, playing settlers and hiking around in their yard on the beautiful day outside, but most of the time, we were focused on God digging into his Word and just talking about Theology and about God in general. I really appreciate it and love it. I wish it would happen more around here at Tech. It's something I need to make an effort to do.

So, along with so much time with God and focusing on Him, their mom also made some REALLY good food, so I was well fed and I had Mike's bedroom to myself and I really felt at home and enjoyed the company of his whole family. Their dad also fixed the muffler on my car which was falling off, so it was awesome. I also got to help them out in the sense that I vacuumed a lot of their sanctuary at their church and it was a joy to help out after all they did for me.

Over this weekend, we also visited Matt and Mike's Sunday School teacher/church deacon's house to play settlers with him and talk to him about theology and God. His name is Nathan and he's a REALLY knowledgeable man in terms of Biblical knowledge, so to hear his insight on questions that Mike and Matt had was really good. I got a lot out of it and really enjoyed the fellowship.

In one of the mini-Bible studies we did with just Matt, Mike and me, we talked about what we would be discussing in Sunday School the next day to be prepared for it and to see what we could get out of it so we could provide some insight when we got there too. It was one of the coolest times in Bible study I've had in a long time and I got a lot of out of and I think these random Bible studies need to happen more.

So overall, my weekend was nothing short of amazing and God-filled and even the car ride talking with Mike both ways was sweet. When I got back to Houghton, I hung out with some people and then went to Vespers and then had a good talk with Titus on the way back to drop him off. When we got to McNair we were talking in the car about life and God and we talked for quite a while which I think both of us really enjoyed.

Then later when I finally got home which was already like 12:30, I ended up talking to my parents about my weekend. Usually I'm just so tired and it's so late that I just go to bed, but I wanted to talk about my weekend, so I did. Then for the first time in my life, I really talked about what God's been doing in my life in some detail and talked to my dad about different ways to interpret the Bible and what he believes, what our church believes and what I believe. I never talked about that before, but God's really been doing a work in my life, so I opened up to them and they really enjoyed talking to me since I usually pass by and go in my room and shut the door. I ended up talking to them until about 2 AM or so and had to quit because I had to wake up at 6:40 in the morning. I then looked at homework I had to do. The night had only just begun. So, I worked on my homework until about 3 AM when I finally got to bed, so I got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night.

Now this morning was quite a difficult morning with so little sleep, yet I knew it was good for me to have talked to my parents whether it was late or not and God helped me to get up and make it to class. Somehow I'm still pretty awake (coffee helps too...). When I went to get the coffee earlier on, I spend that time between classes to read the Bible and pray and it's awesome to see what God's been showing me in that hour every day.

Today, I read John chapters 11 and 12. Now in the Campus Crusade weekly email, they have a Bible verse and this week had an excerpt from John 11 and I thought it was really good and exciting to see the story of Lazerous. Luckily, I just "happened" to be there in my personal study. I'd been going through Luke and now I am going through John and they're amazing! Just reading how much Jesus cared for Lazerous that he actually wept! Jesus truly loves us! There was so much more I got out of it as well and I prayed for about 15 minutes which was amazing just to open up to God and talk to Him and praise Him for the wonderful things He's been doing in my life lately. It was one of the best personal devotion times I've ever had, so God's so relevant and actively working in my life now. It's so exciting to see and I want to share that excitement which is why I am writing this.

There is so much more I can say with details, but I think I pretty well covered it and nobody is going to want to read page after page worth of material in every detail in my life. I guess if you want to talk about it or want prayer for anything, please feel free to talk to me. I love talking to people! God has really brought to me the joy of my salvation! Thanks for reading, and until next time, God Bless!

Our God truly is an Awesome God!

This past Thursday was a HUGE day for me in my life. I had so many things to do and typically it would have been overwhelming.

Let me start out with a little background on the big event. At Campus Crusade's large group meeting (TNT - Thursday Night Thing), we came upon the week of sophomore takeover. That means the sophomore class runs everything at TNT including someone giving the main talk for the night. Now as a class we were discussing who would give the talk. I knew one kid in particular, Mike Baumgartner, would want to give a talk, because he does nothing but talk about God and is always in the Word which is what I need to be like. I think it's awesome. I have a HUGE fear of public speaking. I'd rather die I think... now that's a slight exaggeration, but you catch my drift.

However, earlier this summer when I read about Hezekiah, I thought it was so good that in the FAR future, I might wanna give a talk on it if I became more bold or something so I had started working on a talk about Hezekiah. Well anyways, going back to Mike Baumgartner, he said that he had a talk he would like to do if nobody else wanted to, so of course, I was gonna let him do it like everyone else. Well, Mike is an RA in a residence hall, and he had some meeting that came up that he HAD to attend. Therefore, he couldn't give his talk at TNT. Now somebody had to step up.

Now I had told Devin I was working on the Hezekiah speech for much later and he said that since I already got a start on it that I should give the talk. He said he could give the talk if nobody else wanted to. Nobody in the group volunteered, but I didn't want to make the decision right away and pray about it, so I told the group that Devin and I would decide between ourselves who would do it so we wouldn't leave everybody hanging.

So, I went up to Devin a few days later and asked him if he had anything he wanted to give a talk on and he said no. I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to give the talk on Hezekiah since the Lord really laid it on my heart to share it with people and then I would have the opportunity to share it with many at once. One reason that made me feel like I could do it is that 2 weeks before, I gave a short testimony at TNT and I didn't feint, however I was very nervous. I knew I could handle it though and if God was calling me to do it, I needed to take that step of faith.

So now I had the responsibility of making this talk more lengthy and polished from the bit I had started on in a much shorter time than I was going to give it, but I knew that if God called me to speak it, then I would be able to get it done.

It was about a week later making it a few days before my talk that I found out something absolutely amazing. Mike Baumgartners meeting... well, it was canceled. Do you think that that is an accident? Accidents don't happen with God. God used the meeting to lead me to give the talk, then canceled it so Mike could come and hear it. How awesome is that?

Alright, so the Thursday of the talk finally rolls around... getting back to the beginning of the post. I had been praying since I knew I was giving it that God would remove my fear of public speaking. I usually get really really nervous and become more reserved and I feel like I can't be effective in a talk when I'm barely able TO talk. My talk was generally about prayer and I figured I should pray about it a lot, so I did. Along with the talk to do, I had an exam the next day, a presentation the next day in another class and a 5 page research paper to do before Monday. I knew that I needed to focus on my talk because God showed me Luke 12 that day that said somewhere in it: Do not worry what you should eat or what you should drink, but seek the kingdom of God and all these things should be added unto you. That's a paraphrase but it's in there. I knew that if I focused on the talk which was the most important that God would enable me to do the other things adequately.

So I decided to forget about the other things and work on just the talk and pray about it. So, it comes to an hour before the talk, and having gone through it with a couple of other people, I felt pretty comfortable with it. I had been praying that God would remove my fear and all nervousness. Well, wouldn't ya know? I got up in front of everyone without a bit of nervousness. I was able to present it like I was talking to someone individually. It was NOTHING short of a miracle if you understood my personality. God worked through me. Without God answering my prayer, I would have been a nervous wreck and ineffective. People came up to me after and said I did a good job and people I could tell for the most part got something out of it. All glory goes to God because without God, none of that would be possible.

Now that night, I was able to finish off the presentation and present it well the next day and I did much better in the exam than I should have I think... I haven't gotten my score back, but I was able to remember more things than I should have, so that was another answer to prayer.

Quickly to go back to Luke 12, I don't want to leave this out. Right before I read that chapter, I was thinking about how I am running out of money and can't really afford to be buying food. Well, when it said don't worry about what you should eat or what you should drink, it really hit home knowing that God's Word is truth. Since then He's been providing me with food in all sorts of different ways including Mike Baumgartner "suddenly having the idea" to swipe me into the dining halls on a day I didn't eat lunch and was very hungry. I went to visit him 2 minutes before he was gonna eat and he was going to actually ask me that very day. Do you think something like that is coincidence? No way. Prayer is powerful and effective and God is great and uses us in our weakness.

It also reminds me of a sermon I heard of God using us in our weakness a few days before my talk and it applied to me so closely. God really worked through me in a public speaking situation which is a definite weakness so all the Glory could go to Him! How awesome is that?!

Congratualations if you read this whole post. I truly thank you for it and I'll be praying that God's glory will shine through it and it will be an encouragement both to you and to me when I look back it it later on. Until next time, God Bless!

Everything good comes from God!

WOW! So God has been doing an amazing work in me lately. I cannot fully describe it, but He's brought me closer to Himself. The Lord brought me to speak at TNT about how He's been answering prayers in my life. I was extremely nervous and it was a huge step out of my comfort zone, but God enabled me to do it. I wish I could have expressed with more enthusiasm the wondrous things that God has been doing in my life.

One example has been two posts ago about how God provided me with a new car. There have been other prayer requests lately I've had that God has answered right away. My green folder with all my school assignments... Well, I lost it and prayed about it having NO idea where it was and in my inbox I got an email saying it was found and where I could pick it up! I couldn't believe the quick answer to prayer! Then I had an exam scheduled on thursday which is the day of TNT... I've never missed a TNT since my first and I didn't want to ever miss one. Well, I prayed about it and God had the teacher change the date to Monday instead of thursday! Is God not amazing. So many times we put God in a box and put a limit on the kinds of things He'll do or we think that what we want to pray for is so insignificant that He won't really care.

God wants to be intimately involved in our lives, we just need to have faith that God will answer our prayers. He doesn't always answer them the way we want him to either. Sometimes we'll ask for something and we'll get something completely different. Sometimes we'll get nothing we wanted but everything we needed.

I place my hope in my eternity and it allows me to fight off sin on a daily basis. I'm far from perfect, but God is perfecting me until the day of His glorious return when He'll take his children home!

To relate to the title of this post, to sum it up, God has been revealing to me that EVERYTHING good comes from Him. Nice weather comes from God. Bad weather is a reminder to praise God all the more when weather is nice. Good grades come from God. He enables us to study. Christian fellowship that builds us closer to each other and God... comes from God. Not getting hurt on any given moment or good health: it all comes from God.

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

There it is in the Word of God. You can believe that and take it to the bank!

Lyrics/Poetry

Well, I've written some poetry to the tune of certain songs, so I guess they are also songs, but I want to eventually add music to them. Here they Are. They don't really have Titles yet and I won't give you the tune, so you can think of a new one in your head without being stuck with the other one I wrote it to. Anyways, here goes...

When life is hard, with trials never ending
We have a hope in Jesus Christ alone
That He’ll return to take his children upward
We’ll live with Him in our eternal home

Until that day, we live for Christ our Savior,
With joy and love in Christian harmony
We have a peace, this world cannot fathom
Because of Christ who died for you and me.

We’ve been made new through the shed blood of Jesus
Rejoice in this, and live for Him each day
Pursuing Christ reveals a life of purpose
So follow in the straight and narrow way.

Now share this truth with people all around you,
The Word of God, more sharp that any sword.
It penetrates the heart and soul of sinners
And brings a hope and eternal reward.

That's the first one. Here's my other one I wrote:

The Son became the sin for us
The wrath of God outpoured
on Him, our Savior on the cross,
so we could be restored.

This gift of love to use is free:
Salvation for all man,
So that we may have eternity
in Heaven, that's God's plan.

Spread news of this to everyone
all corners of the earth
of Jesus, God's own Holy Son
Through Him, we have rebirth.

Some think: a sinner such as I,
Cannot deserve such grace
to those who say this we reply:
just live to seek His face.

Praise God for everything He's done,
rejoice in tribulation
He knows what's best for everyone,
in every situation.

I guess I like my poems/songs to have a purpose and tell a story. Maybe some day I'll write a great song, but for now this is all I got.

Praise God for everything he provides. I encourage you right now to pray for someone who you've said you would pray for. Sometimes we forget that we told others we would pray for them, so I guess it's just a reminder. God bless!

God is AMAZING and answers prayer!

Alright, so the coolest thing happened yesterday. My mom was working at the bank, and overheard one of her co-workers talking to a customer. The customer, an elderly lady, said that she bought a new car and had to get rid of her old one. My mom heard her say a few things about the car and that she wouldn't expect to get more than 1000 dollars for it. So, my mom decides to ask about it and go see it briefly. She said it looked good at first glance and asked the lady for her number.

Now my car is essentially falling apart. It still runs, but there are so many problems with it that it probably will not last much longer. So my mom was looking for me to potentially buy this car. Well, she called me and I was interested in checking it out. We didn't know how much she was going to say it was. So, my mom called my dad and me and we got a time together with the lady selling the car to take it for a test drive.

When we arrived at her house, she let us take it for a spin by ourselves so we could talk about it and comment on it on our own. It's a 1994 ford taurus, so it's pretty old, and it has 128,000 miles on it, which isn't too bad. There's very little rust and has power windows, power locks, air conditioning and cruise control, which makes it better than my current 1995 rust-bucket neon. We went inside to talk to her and she said someone had looked up the Kelly Blue Book price for it and it was valued at 1300 dollars. (I checked and found it to be lower than that, but it was 1055 bucks, so it's somewhat close). Anyways, she said she'd be fine selling it for $950. She invited us in to look at some paperwork on the car and to just talk to her for a while. She ended up saying she would just make it 900 dollars even because it needs an oil change and we'd need to get it licensed, etc.

Well after thinking about it, I don't actually have that much money and I'm trying to avoid taking out any loans while in college, so although it seemed like a good deal I was reluctant. My parents thought I should get it because my car is getting really bad. So, I said I'd like to think about it for a bit and we told her we would get back to her by this afternoon today. She said that would be fine. So, we went home and I came down to houghton. I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place on whether to buy it or not. My car does still run, so I didn't want to pay that much even though it was a good deal. So, I decided to pray about it and pray hard. I asked God to show me that if I should get this, He would have to give me a strong sign... I was hoping it wasn't that my car broke down so I would have to get it out of need.

Well, when I was down hanging out with friends at Cyberia Cafe, my mom called me. When I picked up, she sounded excited and said, "Well Nathan, I think God is working in this situation" so I got excited and said, "why, what's goin on?" Then my mom told me something that God and God alone could explain and cause to happen. She said the lady had called her back and said that on the new car she had bought, she really needed the money to pay the taxes on it quickly and that it would cost her a little over $500 and that we could have the car she was selling for $575! My mom couldn't believe her ears when she was hearing this. This car is worth $1055 and she was offering it to us for $575!

Now I don't know what you think, but things like that don't just happen! We had just called her and told her that we wanted to think about it. We never said no, and she simply called and greatly reduced the price of the car.

Simply put, God answered my prayer and told me to buy this car. To not buy this car would be foolish. Plus, I can actually afford that much without taking out a loan, and I'll have a little bit of money left which should last me until I get a job that I'll need to start looking for. Isn't God simply unbelievable. God truly watches over His children and hears their prayers and takes care of their needs!

Now whenever I drive friends around, the suspension will be better in the back seat and they won't have to ride in pain, so it makes it much better for carting people around too! God is amazing!

I've been thinking...

First of all, God is so good! Lately I've been doing a lot of pondering. God is in control of everything, so why do we worry about anything. If we are truly focused on God and doing everything to His glory, then what could actually be bad? Sure there may be difficulties and trials, but God has not promised us freedom from those here on earth.

I guess lately I've just been feeling like I have this rich inner world that's waiting to explode. I want to show people what's going on in my mind, but it takes some time to explain it. I'm introverted and recharge on my own or one on one in conversations. I love deep conversations with people, but I want them to have a positive focus. Sure, if someone is going through a rough time, I want to hear them out and try to help them. For those following God, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

There are many times when people are talking in large groups and I want to speak up, but something holds me back. Maybe I feel like what I have to say, not everyone is going to enjoy, so I feel like I'm wasting people's time? I don't know, but I think I need to step out of my box a bit and try some public speaking at Campus Crusade sometime, or at least speak up in my rather large cell group (Bible Study + tons more stuff). Maybe the Holy Spirit is leading me to speak and I'm ignoring it.

Please pray that I'll be able to manage my time well. I really want to build relationships with new freshmen this year. I want to encourage people. A little bit of genuine encouragement someone gives to me usually carries me through a lot, so little things that I can say to others or show them that I care, which I do... those things are what really make a difference. It's about being personable, a good listener, but also a good friend who tries to be there for people, whether it's offering them help with something, or praying for them. That's the kind of person I want to be. What's great is that being this kind of person is impossible on my own. I know I can't do it by myself, but God is Great, and He works all things together for good for those that love Him. Putting God first in your life solves a lot of problems. I have a long way to go, but having such great friends who are there for me to hear me out and encourage me, helps me out a lot.

Thanks for reading. There's a little peak at my thoughts for ya.

Campus Crusade for Christ!

I am consumed with the joy of the Lord now that Cru is starting back up again! I've gotten to meet quite a few new freshmen and I get to see almost all of my old friends except those that graduated which I really miss. It's so encouraging to see so many attend our weekly meeting. I know that God is going to do great things on our campus this year as he did last year.

The cell group (Bible study plus fellowship, evangelism and good fun) I am in got a good turnup of 11 people with hopefully more joining next week! We already had a cell group social out to an old abandoned cheese factory for some adventure. The freshmen seem to really like it a lot too.

I was also able to finally contact Alex Helmboldt finally. For anyone reading who doesn't know, he was a former Campus Crusader at tech who I met in Florida on Big Break. Now he is going to be staff at another university. We talked about every week during the summer. For a long time... almost a month I think, I couldn't get a hold of him and I finally could and we had a really good conversation. It's sort of like discipleship over the phone really. We talk about important Godly things and it's a huge encouragement.

So anyways, Cru is back and running full steam ahead. Everyone seems so passionate this year! I guess that's all I have to say for now without boring you. This post is really short compared to most!

South Dakota Trip/Brothers wedding

So...It's been a long time since I've posted. I have been pretty busy. Not so busy that I couldn't have posted, but I prioritized other things over this. Well since my last post, my brother is now married and I went on a trip to South Dakota.

We went down there for my brothers wedding with a bunch of old friends of mine. There were 5 different cars and ideally we'd all stay together on the freeways and everything... well, it wasn't meant to be. Some of my friends like to drive really fast and my parents go the speed limit, so the ones that did drive fast just went wherever they wanted and decided to catch up with us whenever. It was ok, it just frustrated my mom a bit that they couldn't just go the speed limit and stay together as a group. Well, on our way there, my friends tire I guess almost fell off on the freeway, so he pulled over to the side and then right before that happened we had planned on meeting at a cracker barrel. Well my family ended up going to the cracker barrel (which was 7 miles out of the way, but it's where people wanted to go, so I guess it's ok). In the meantime, they got their tire fixed and we all made it down ok.

While down in South Dakota, we went to see Mount Rushmore and the badlands and some other cool sites here and there, so that was pretty cool. I was the best man at my brothers wedding, so I was sort of stressed out because of the speech I had to make. (I'm not much of a public speaker.) Well, the wedding was interesting I guess you could say. On the way down, the flower girl threw some roses at the very last second at the end of the isle. Then the matron of honor who I was escorting down the isle tripped a bit on the stairs... it wasn't too bad though. Kelsey, the bride, when she was coming down the isle was crying, and then my brother started crying when he was reading his vows to her and he had to pause for like 30 seconds to be able to speak. Then when I gave the preacher the rings, he dropped one of them and it rolled along the floor like 10 feet away. When they had to light the unity candle, they couldn't get the thing lit for like 2 minutes... then the matron of honor told them to tip the candle back and let the extra wax flow out and then it finally lit. From that point on out, things went pretty normally. It was a good wedding though. They got married and that's what really matters. The other things become fun memories. I also got to wear a tux for the first time in my life (I hadn't even worn a suit before believe it or not.)

At the reception, the people were already halfway through eating when the wedding party arrived which was sort of odd and they ran out of plates for the wedding party, but found some paper plates in the back for us to use. I was going to give a toast at the end of my speech but by the time we finally made speeches, everyone was already done drinking so there was nothing to raise really plus they were plastic cups. I ended up just saying congratulations at the end and another friend gave somewhat of an awkward toast.

Well, to make a long story that could have many more details short, I am really glad to finally be back home and hanging out with friends in Houghton. I love my family, but traveling with them for a week and a half is a lot of time with 'em.

So now I'm back in Houghton, sort of exciting to be starting the school year just to get back into things with Campus Crusade and to see everybody come back up! The classes I'm not looking forward to so much but it all comes with the territory.

One last thing to note which was awesome is that because I had so much time in the van, I decided one day to finish reading a book I'm supposed to read for Cru called the master plan of evangelism, so I decided to finish that while in the van. I also read the book of revelation for the first time which was awesome to see the power of God and encouraging from the Christian perspective knowing that the terrors in that book, I am saved from. I also ended up reading first Peter through Jude, so essentially First Peter through to the end of the Bible is what I read cuz I had so much time. It definitely helped my relationship with God and understanding who he is. I really like the practicality of Peter in those two small books.

Before reading that, my relationship with God was struggling a bit, but now I'm back on track a bit and it'll be much easier with Cru stuff starting up so I'm excited to get back into things.

I believe I've said enough for now. If you want any more details about anything, just let me know in person and we can talk. Have a great and Godly day!

Hezekiah

This week I was putting together a message for a Campus Crusade TNT meeting in case I'm ever asked to give a talk. I figured even if I never speak it, when you are going to teach something to someone, you end up learning a lot about it yourself, so I knew it would help me whatever it was. I decided I wanted to trust God a lot more with everyday things, so I decided to work on a message about trusting God. It certainly was really worth it! I wrote down Bible verses that sort of related to what I was talking about according to the little notes my concordance had. I looked them up and crossed out the unrelated ones and circled the ones that apply. However, the one longer section I wanted to use as my base wasn't quite what I was looking for.

So, later on, I looked on Bible Gateway.com and searched for Trust and it brought up a passage in II Kings chapters 18-20... actually only one verse but I read around that verse for context because the verse really struck me. It was all about Hezekiah. Now I've heard the name Hezekiah and am sure I've been told about him, but I wasn't really paying attention apparently because I didn't know anything about him. He was a King of Judah that walked with the Lord. He trusted God in everything and followed God closely. When the Assyrians were going around conquering areas surrounding them, it looked bleak. Hezekiah told everyone to Trust the Lord to deliver them from the hands of the Assyrians who had a much greater army than his.

However, a commander in the Assyrian army I think told everyone not to listen to Hezekiah when he told them to trust the Lord. He said the Lord could not be trusted to do something so big. Essentially, he mocked both God and Hezekiah. It reminds me of Galations 6:7 - "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." So the angel of the Lord came out and destroyed 185,000 men of the Assyrian camp. One Hundred and eighty five THOUSAND. Hezekiah didn't have to do ANYTHING but Trust God. He trusted God completely and God delivered.

I beg you, whether you've read it or not to read II Kings chapters 18-20. It's so much better when you read about the whole story. God is great and does great things. We just need to trust him and walk with him!

Edited Post

Well... by the title of this thing I have a lot on my mind and I don't know how much of it that I can type out. I guess we'll see how long this goes. Lucky you reading this. You can scroll through and see the length. Well me, as I write it, it just gets longer and I don't get the big picture until I'm done.
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THIS PORTION HAS BEEN EDITED OUT BY REQUEST
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I prayed that God would help me to see that I am working for the Lord and doing my best for Him and not for the bosses who don't keep very good track of us. I have been praying and will continue to pray that God would help me to work hard in adversity whether others will or not. I want to get my paycheck and know that I really worked for all that. I need to learn to be grateful for every bit of cash I get. It is truly a gift from God. A missionary speaker spoke at my church last week and talked about how we need to give our rights away to God and fully rely on Him. If it wasn't for the grace of God, I could have no job and no money coming it at all. I'm just getting minimum wage, but I truly am thankful for that. Sometimes I feel like complaining and sometimes I do, but please pray for me that I'll see things through God's eyes. He is showing me how to be a hard worker anyways. So that's the work situation in a nutshell.

During this summer, us Campus Crusaders haven't been doing very many "Godly" activities. Not that what we have done is ungodly or anything, but we haven't been doing Bible studies and prayer and praise parties or anything like that and I really desire to do those things and to have small groups to discuss what God has been doing in our lives and any struggles we're going through. I chat with people about serious things now and then but praising God in a big group is so encouraging and exciting to see and I miss it. So I am going to try to encourage everyone to do it next week. It may even require being planned in advance rather than mentioning it on the spot to people. I guess time'll tell what will happen.

This next weekend, I get a 4 day weekend! It's the fourth of July on Saturday, and Friday I get a day off. Monday is optional, so I decided to take it off because I could really use a break from work as you can see.

So I made some phone calls today to some people who are away for the summer either just living at their homes or on CCC summer project. It's really exciting to see what God is doing in their lives and it makes me want to go next year on a summer project, so I'll be praying about that seeing if it's God's will that I do that or continue to work at the Heights. I talked to Robbie Beehler and he's doing some fun things like running some white water rafting and giving segway tours. How awesome is that for a summer job? Pretty Awesome. Alex Helmboldt talked to me for a couple of minutes but had to go so He's gonna update me later tonight or tomorrow. Last time I talked to him he was doing really well training to be Campus Crusade Staff. Titus Brown seems to be doing pretty good. He's been fishing a bit and workin' and stuff. Mike Baumgartner is not only doing excellent, but he's doing very excellent in his words. He is a man living for God and studying the word and growing more and more everyday and it's such an encouraging thing for me to see someone my age so passionate about God which we should all be! Man I gotta be reading my Bible some more!

So this summer I've gotten to meet some new people and have gotten to know them a lot better. These people would include especially Todd Krone and Brian Thompson but also Ian, Jamie, and Troy. We play volleyball a lot which I learned I really love although I'm not all that great and I think I frustrate them a bit when I'm not quite up to par with their standard. They're really nice about it though and encourage me rather than put me down. They give me helpful advice and I wish I could tell them how much I really appreciate them.

I am so thankful for all the amazing friends God has put in my life. I would love to name them all but I am sure that I would forget about someone, but if you are reading this and care about what I'm saying than you are definitely on the list!

Pray for me that I will be able to read my Bible much more than I do and that I would continue to work hard and trust God in everything I do. Pray that when some problem comes up that I'll pray first about it rather than trying to work it out on my own and praying as a last resort. It works so much better when I leave God in control! I've noticed that time and again! Thanks so much for reading. I guess there's a lot more I can say, but that's about all I've got for now. Catcha later.

Cool Stuff

Well, I haven't posted in like... forever. I have a friend who made a new blog and it's really exciting to read. It's a blog where this friend chooses to be completely transparent and shows what God is doing in this friends life.

It's really exciting and gets me pumped up for God. I haven't been following him as close this summer as I was during the school year but I'm inspired to start something... or encourage others to have a prayer and praise party.

Oh man!!!! I totally just got a package in the mail and it was my orange iguanas T-shirt I ordered! I just put it on and it fits. I'm really excited about it.

Man I have so much more to say right now but I gotta go. My cousins are begging me to go do something. Later

YES!!!!

Travis Pond finally put up some pictures of Big Break!!! ..the rest to follow on Monday. I've been waiting for this ever since Big break and Spring Break. I have been looking at his page every single day waiting for them to show up but he's been really busy. Well today I checked it and there they were, all glorious. It instantly brought back a whole lot of memories and he also captured everything better than I ever could have.

Sorry, but I just can't get over it. You can go to his Flickr page and see for yourself. Just click HERE.

Also, today I went to a college aged worship service and it was really nice since Cru and Vespers are not going on right now. The speaker said some things I disagree with or disagree with the way he approached some things, but also said some very good things. My favorite part was when he read Ephesians 5 which is sorta what God showed me from this. It directly relates to my Work at Daniell Heights and is an encouragement. Here are verses 11 through 17.

Ephesians 5:11-17
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

At Daniell Heights, people get lazy and end up sleeping on the job. My brother for instance was still on the bed resting 15 minutes after our 15 minute break had ended. I told him to get up and get working because we're not getting paid to sleep. Naturally he god mad at me because nobody wants their sin pointed out (not saying I'm blameless by any stretch of the imagination regarding this), but it says to have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness but expose them. Lazyness falls into that category. I push myself much more this summer to make my breaks exactly 15 minutes give or take a minute or two. I used to automatically push it over by 5 minutes.

Well, I really need to get to bed because church is in the morning! Have a great day!

In the lull of the day.

Hey everyone who reads this... like all 3 people or so... haha. How are ya doin? (feel free to comment after you're reading this). I don't really know what direction I'm gonna go with this post either. A few somewhat interesting things have been happening in my life. At Daniel Heights... well... that's still not ever going to be a fun job. There's a TON of gossip and drama at work and I'm so sick of it. It's like I'm in high school again, only the people are older, but they all act the same... even the bosses which makes it that much worse. Eck... I don't know what to do about it. Every time someone does something that someone else doesn't like, the someone else will start telling everyone else about it and everyone agrees with what everyone says but won't tell it to the actual person, so the problem with everybody just escalates until everyone just hates each other and so times goes on.

Ah, now that felt good to get out. At least on Monday I get a day off for memorial day, so I get to finally sleep in on Sunday! You have no idea how happy that makes me. :D

So anyhow, I STILL need to get to reading my Bible on a regular basis. I am going to try to start a "read the Bible in a year" thing on the first of June and see how that turns out. I might start trying to get ahead a bit. I think I'm gonna plan to print out a page with everything and cross out some chapter every time I read it. If I miss a day or a chapter, then I'll leave it blank and continue on to the next days so I don't feel like I'm getting behind and give up. Then in my spare time, I'll go back and start filling in the gaps hopefully. I want to gain a thirst for God's Word again, which I've had but have been lacking in lately.

I really hope people at HTC don't mind me going to their house after work like every day. They seem to be pretty ok with it, but I think it gets old after a while and they don't want to tell me to leave. Meanwhile I have my other group of friends doing things sometimes after work but I hope to be doing something with cru people because our interests are more similar. I work with a lot of my high school friends, so yeah. It's sorta a routine everyday. Go to work way too early. Get tired throughout the day, go to HTC and hang out and do something uber fun sometimes and then go back home early so I can wake up early the next day. After doing that like every day, you want a change... especially before 3:30.

I worked out a couple of days ago and I'm still sore now... its so sad. I didn't stretch out my arms enough... I'll live. It's nice to have a reminder that I did something though.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'm a little tired and kinda want to sleep, but I have the weekend to catch up on that a bit.

Catcha later.

Into the swing of things

Well, Summer has definitely begun. This summer is totally different than any other summer I've ever had. I am still at home, but I have a different group of friends (campus crusade friends) that I hang out with the majority of the time. All my other summers I always spent with the same high school friends. Crusade people often do more stuff rather than going to walmart all the time and watching movies (which there is also a time for). Today, a whole bunch of people just hung out at HTC which was sweet. We just talked and ate some pizza and played some mario kart 64. We didn't do a whole lot, but it's great that we don't have to and can still have a great time.

The part of the summer I don't like is my job, which takes up a whole bunch of it. I work at Daniel Heights apartments, doing maintenance of all kinds. The majority of the work is painting, but there is also changing shower heads, scrubbing things like greasy kitchen fans and changing lights, moving furniture... it's really varied sometimes and I can't list everything but you get the gist of it. I have to wake up at 5:50 to take a shower and grab a lunch to bring and head out the door by 6:25-6:30ish so I can get to work by 7. Then it goes until 3:30 where I can do whatever I want for the rest of the day. It's nice, except I can't do stuff late into the night because to get 8 hours of sleep I'd have to be in bed by 9:55... that's never gonna happen cuz that's way too early! So, I just get little sleep and catch up a bit on weekends.

One thing I'm really grateful for is HTC and the girls living there. They don't mind me going there after work everyday and changing into some clean clothes after work and just relaxing a bit there. I really wish there was a way I could show my appreciation to them.

Well, I am getting a bit of a cold, like runny nose type symptoms. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday because I think this acute sickness is because of my lack of sleep. It is however, still cold out, cuz it's Upper Michigan and it's always cold out... I can't wait until my first 80 degree day! I LOVE heat. Speaking of heat, it reminds me of Florida and my Big Break Spring Break trip down there with Campus Crusade. It was so decently warm and sunny and I found the resort I stayed at on street view on google maps so I could look at in in 3D. It brought back all sorts of memories and I really want to go back! Luckily I'll get to next year. I'm already excited for it and there are so many other fun things going on before then too!

Well, this was sorta a different kind of blog than most of mine. This is more just updating people what's going on in my life. I'm so glad God has shown me all these great people and let me get to know them. I need to focus on God more. I am always much more joyful when I do that. Without God, the happiness is temporary. Happiness and joy are two totally separate things. You can be happy and still lack joy.

Please pray for me as I go on through the summer that I'll be in the Word a lot more. Also, pray for some of my friends I know who are not in their campus crusade groups and they had to go home that God will show them that people are still thinking about them and they are cared for and they shouldn't be feeling too lonely because God is always there and they can read the Bible and grow closer to Him in their spare time. I know when I'm not around friends I feel really lonely and I can relate, so pray for them as well. I guess that'll wrap things up for now. Thanks for readin'!

Awesome Day! 2 days from my birthday!

Alrighty, so I had a great day yesterday and today! I got to hang out with a bunch of friends last night until late. We did some fun things... some things I won't mention, but fun. I also got to say a couple more goodbyes which is really sad. Everyone is leaving for the summer... and by everyone, I mean a bunch, but quite a few are staying as well. Davy Jones in particular I may never see again along with his brother and his brothers girlfriend who came up who I got to know a little better. Leslie is also leaving for the summer among other people.

Before it got dark, I went on a bike ride with Kyle Goetz in Houghton and across the bridge, around to chutes and ladders and back to HTC. Then I went to Pizza Hut with the family and then went back to HTC for another bike ride. The second bike ride was rough after the day before that day (two days ago), I went on a 4 hour hike that was quite exhuasting for my out of shape body. The second bike ride went down by the canal almost all the way to chassel and back.

Today, I woke up and was sort of sick to my stomach, so I wasn't able to go to church, but it's not the flu. I must have just eaten something that didn't agree with me. Anyways, I slept a little longer until like noon. Then I decided to read my Bible. I haven't been doing it like I should, so I got some really good time in with God. I read Psalms chapter 9 through chapter 19. I then read a topical Bible book thing I have. Then I read a voice of the Martyrs devotional.

Together, those three things made me realize that God delights in His children when they are walking in His ways. We truly can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. In one of the Psalms I read, it mentioned how Christ is a mediator between the father and us and even though we still sin, we have Faith in Christ who died for us. I like to think of it kinda like God is a train and we are tied to the tracks by the ropes of our sin. God is just and won't tolerate sin. However, God sent his Son to be sorta like Superman to go in front of that train and stop it from destroying us. The only thing about analogies is that they are never quite right on, because Christ went through GREAT pain to pay for our sins and superman only has to push. God knows that we're born into sin and we need a blood sacrifice, so Jesus is there to take on all the wrath of God for us.

Knowing this, we need to really follow Christs example and live a life that pleases him. I have also thought about the fact that the greatest love you can have for someone is to die for that person. I want to be that kind of person willing to lay my life down for a friend. This is exactly what Christ did. Even though He is perfect and He is God, he humbled Himself by becoming man to die for us so we could be saved. If one of my earthly friends payed such a severe price, a bloody death on a cross after being beaten, and it was all for me... I would live the rest of my life with a whole different mindset. The best part is that Christ rose again 3 days after He died according to prophecy in scripture, so we serve a living God. Christ died for us and He is risen again. We owe Him our lives of service and by doing that, we will get a great reward in Heaven. It pleases God when His children honor Him and serve him. Living in sin is like nailing Jesus on the cross every time.

Why is it that we do such things? Well, we were born into a sin nature, but if we have faith in Jesus, then we are born again. We have put off the old self and put on the new self which is created to be like Christ Jesus (This is found in Ephesians somewhere...). We can now live for God with hope. Christ will return and I want to be on His side.

This whole thing is really refreshing to me. Who knew you could get so much out of reading the Bible for like half an hour/45 minutes? I need to do this more often. I do not have joy when I don't.

As a birthday resolution, I'm going to read the Bible every day. I don't want to waste my summer away pleasing myself. I want to live for God and share His love to others!

This post is already pretty long, but I strongly encourage you to go read Psalm 16. It shows David's confidence and joy in God because he is living for Him. We can do great things for God when we are living for Him and following Him and there is NOTHING better!

Cool Psalm

Ok, forget the numbering post idea. I'm getting sick of it.

So, I was reading my friend Lauren's Blog and she was talking about how the Psalms are really awesome and uplifting, so I figured I should read some because I haven't been reading my Bible lately and didn't really know where to start. I read a bunch of good ones but Psalm 5 was especially awesome:

Psalm 5
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing.

2 Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.

5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.

6 You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the LORD abhors.

7 But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.

10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

This is really encouraging when you're walking with the Lord! It's also encouragement to be walking with the Lord because being against Him is the worst possible place to be!

This has been an odd sort of day. Yesterday I had 3 exams in a row which was horrible... I wasn't a fan, but it was nice to get 3 out of 5 out of the way. I have two more exams tomorrow on Wednesday and then I'll be all done! This middle day though is just lame. I just came down to Houghton and have been sitting here in the Campus Cafe for forever. I also learned that my wireless built into my laptop does not and will not work with the new setup of "Rovernet 2.0." I couldn't figure it out and so I brought it to the Tech support people. Figures that they couldn't figure it out either. Oh well. I'll just have to get some external wireless hardware and it should be fine. That'll cost me 30 bucks that I don't have though. I might do that next year when I need it because now that it's so close to the end of the year and I won't be hanging around Tech non-stopped, then it doesn't seem so necessary.

WOW! Ok, so I just took a break to read another Psalm! I read Psalm 6 cuz it came next. I won't copy it down for you like Psalm 5, but you should totally read it. Many times when I sin, I feel so guilty afterwards and it's so hard to restore my relationship with God. That Psalm shows me the mercy of God!

Ok, Psalm 6:9-10 are just irresistable, so I'm putting them on here:
Psalm 6
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

Have a great day!

Post 12: (I was off by one post) Slipping up on Blogging.

Hey all, I know it's been a while. I haven't been too busy to blog, I just don't have as much cool good stuff to write about lately because I haven't been reading my Bible and praying consistently as I should. My dad had an intersting spell at work today. I talked to my mom and she said he couldn't concentrate and he didn't feel like he was actually at where he was at is the best way I could describe it. Anyways, he was feeling really strange, so my mom came and picked him up and brought him to the Emergency Room. His blood pressure was really high and as of me now writing this, he's in intensive care overnight so they can run some tests and see if they can figure out what's going on. If you could pray for my dad, that would be awesome!

So I drove home today to shovel the foot of sopping sticky wet snow off of my driveway. Well actually I used the snow-blower because shoveling all that would have been a nightmare! Then I came back down to Houghton so I could help Ben move out of his house and into another. It was actually pretty fun helping out. He really appreciated it to. Then I got home at like 1:45 and wrote my World Cultures paper and now here I am typing. It's certainly been an odd day.

Since this blog is supposed to be kind of a journal for myself that can be read publicly, for the sake of myself, I'm going to write that it is definitely necessary and worth it to be reading the Bible daily and meditating on God's Word. As soon as we get away from that, life starts getting messed up. I was encouraged today by reading a chapter in I Corinthians. I ended up calling a friend and telling him to read it to and I think he did, so that was cool.

I also got my granola bar in the mail today! woot. It actually didn't taste all that good. It had chocolate, but it also had almonds and rasberry, the latter of which is decent, but almonds are not my favorite. It was really cool to eat it with Titus and Eric though cuz we all ordered them online at the same time and all decided to eat them together.

This summer I really hope to start a ministry at work. If nothing else, I plan to work hard at work which is NOT common at Daniel Heights. I figured if I worked hard and took only 15 minute breaks like we're supposed to, not only would I be doing what's right, but if people ask me why I'm being so diligent, I can tell them I'm doing it for the Lord and possibly share the gospel with them. That would be sweet. I told my friend and brother this and they both discouraged me from doing it. I couldn't believe it! However, I can sort of see their point that you shouldn't be shoving the truth down people's throats, especially when they don't want to hear it and I plan on talking to them as I'm led by the Holy Spirit and if they start complaining or something and make up stories about me and I get fired, well then it's all for the Kingdom of God and every bit of it is absolutely worth it. God will take care of me an show me another job if necessary. However, I don't think it will be much of an issue.

Well I really need to get some sleep. It's 2:40 in the morning and I gotta get up at 8:45 and Wednesdays have classes from 10 until 4 straight in a row and some things going on in the evenings, so I'm going to get to bed. If you read this soon, if you could pray for my dad and for my quiet time with God, that'd be awesome! Until then...

Post 10: It's been a while...

Well, life has been fairly busy lately. I haven't make a blog post since the friday before this last one! Today was Easter, which was awesome. It's the one time of year where a lot of people go to church who would not otherwise go because they feel obligated because it's the day that Christ rose from the dead and conquered the grave! Woot. Jesus is awesome. On Saturday, with Campus Crusade and any other people invited, I watched the Passion of the Christ. It was good to see that movie again as it reminds me of all the pain that Christ went through to save me from my sins. The total pain he felts was certainly not all physical, or perhaps not even mostly physical, but for the First time in all of eternity, the Son of God was seperated from the Father because he took on the weight of all of our sin. I wish I could more fully understand that.

I think if you took that far enough, all of us Christians would realize how much we need to be out sharing the gospel! Many people after watching that movie are affected by it and love Jesus more because of it but don't actually take the step of faith and share the gospel. Now if you're reading this, I'm not putting myself on a pedestal of anything, for I myself certainly do not share the gospel nearly as much as I should. This is why I'm glad that God has put Godly people in my life to help guide me to do some things I wouldn't usually do. After watching the movie, we went out to the campus cafe and met up and then split up into groups of two to go and share the gospel with people anywhere on campus. Quite honestly, the thought terrifies me, being my shy self... at least to new people. However, to KNOW that I have the Holy Spirit inside of me who is working through me, I know that all I need to do is take that step and start talking to people and I will be led to say the right things by the Holy Spirit.

So, that being said, Helen and I went up to a couple of guys and introduced ourselves. We talked to them about life and whatnot and then brought up Easter. I found out they were Catholic and they went to church about every other week or so they said. From the sounds of the conversation and the fact that after a fair amount of small talk, they wanted to get going, I do not think they were Christians just from the responses I was getting, but since they had to go, I just pray that God will use the little we were able to tell them to cause them to really examine their faith and see if it's real. I wasn't able to share the Gospel. I'm really excited for when we do this next week. I hope more people join us!

There are so many thoughts running through my head right now that it's hard to decide what path to take and write about. I guess I can start off by saying my mind hasn't quite been where it should be lately. Nobody ever said living a Christian life would be easy... especially not a life that's pleasing to God, but it should be something we strive for and I've somewhat put it on the back burner by not reading my Bible daily. I MUST get back into that. My days go by SO much better that way.

Oh, there's a track of thought worth talking about: the encounter. I really really enjoyed the encounter. If anyone is reading this blog who doesn't go to Michigan Tech, they're like... whaaaa? An encounter is a worship service that one of my friends headed up just to unite the Christians on campus and for the purpose of outreaching to people. We sang some awesome songs and watched a really really powerful video called fruitcake and ice cream. It's about a girl who went from being totally against God to becoming a Christian in 14 days because of the love of her new Christian roommate who simply listened to her and loved her as we are commanded to love others. The speaker in the movie read from her journal so we could see her thoughts and it was so powerful and moving. After that, we had more singing, then there were some girls who did a praise dance which is a form of worship I'm not too familiar with, but I enjoyed it. I think it was great to do that on campus right inside a residence hall. There were like 70 people? That's a guess, but it was quite a lot. We filled all the seats we had in there. I truly wish I could show how much I appreciate everyone who helped out with that!

Summer is approaching fast! There's very little left in the school year, yet so much more work to be done. Be praying for me that I will be able to focus on my schoolwork more near the end here. I really need to work harder than I have been if I want to get my grades back up.

I want to close this up with the lyrics of a song we sang at Vespers, which is just an evening worship service at a local church for all college students in the area. It's one of my favorite songs and it has a really good message in it. It's called "How Deep the Fathers Love for Us"

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(REPEAT)

I truly want to apply that song to my life and live it out. It captures the message of Easter! Well farewell for now. I think I gave plenty of words to chew on.

Post 9: Friday!

Well, I just got out of World Cultures... a class I'm doing very horribly in by the way. I hope I pass it. It's gonna kill my GPA for sure. Today we watched a movie called rabbit proof fence. It's a true story about these girls that were taken away from their mom because they were "halfbreeds". They escaped the place they were taken and they had people tracking them all over the place and were almost caught many many times. It's a true story and they walked hundreds and hundreds of miles to get back. One of the girls got caught when she was bribed by a guy who told them to go to the train station and get a ride there. She was so tired so she wanted to go there, but she was taken. I saw this movie from a different view than most would. I saw God working in their lives and providing the exact means of escaping. When the one girl did not follow the two sisters, it was like a picture of her falling into temptation. It's the kind of temptation that Satan tempts us with. He makes something look so appealing and so much easier, but it is just a trap or a snare. Rather we need to stay the course and focus on God and He will work all things together for good.

Now this movie wasn't really Christian in any way, in fact, it was quite the opposite. The place they were taken, the people there actually wanted to "train" them to be more white like. They had nuns and a church where they forced the children to go and recite prayers. The "Christian" type things were just the opposite of what Christianity is all about, so it sort of bothered me, but to see God's protection on these girls, it was amazing because it's a true story. I so wish others could see the movie through these eyes.

Moving onto the rest of the day. There are many many different things I could do tonight and I really don't know which one to pick. One group of friends is watching Fiddler on the Roof which I've never seen, another group is watching Bolt somewhere at some point, and a third group is sharing the gospel around downtown Houghton or somewhere else maybe and we call that Commandos after something we did at Big Break that was similar. Along with those three things, there is a Youth Service we're planning at my church and all night long there is a standathon. There are so many things to do and so many choices to make. I'll have to read my Bible and pray a bit to see where God leads me. Right now, I'm probably going to go do Commandos and share the gospel, because that is probably the most important because I think our youth service at my church is going to go just fine without me.

I also could use some sleep. Last night for Shenanigans (our social/outreach event after every TNT (our Thursday Night Thing (our large group meeting for Campus Crusade (the best organization ever)))), we walked downtown just to walk and talk as a group. It was really fun to just hang out while walking and some went to cyberia and the rest of us walked to Hardees. After eating at Hardees, we walked down by Chutes and Ladders which is a park along the canal. Most of us kept walking but me and a few others climbed around on the equipment. It's actually illegal because the park is closed after dark, but we were doing no harm and the police didn't come by, so it worked out ok. After that, we jogged almost all the way to the bridge to catch up with the rest of the group that kept walking and we ended up walking back to HTC and hanging out there. I left a little early (early being at like 1 AM) to go home because I had to drive and not fall asleep at the wheel as well as the fact that I needed to drive back to campus made staying any longer undesirable.

Well, I was just called by Eric VanDrie and we're gonna head into the Commercial side of Houghton and do some gathering of materials (a.k.a. shopping), so I gotta get going. This post is probably gettin' pretty long anyways. Have a Great day!

P.S. In a blog of a friend of mine, she put at the end to read Psalm 18. It's a really cool Psalm that she challenged her readers to read and I did and I'm really glad I did, so you should read it too! God's amazing.

Post 8: Busy, Busy, Busy...

Well, I had an awesome weekend at retreat. I love getting together with cru people and just hanging out and getting to know people better, but I most definitely also enjoy being challenged by the messages I hear and the group discussions! Some people were a little crazy and went jumping in the lake after they cut a hole in the ice... I do NOT handle cold temperatures well. If someone payed me $100 then I would have done it, but nobody offered. haha.

The only problem with retreat is that it usually means that you have a bunch of work to do when you get back to campus. As of me writing these words right now, it's 11:40 PM... make that 11:41. Time is just flying by. I still have to do at least linear algebra which is due tomorrow along with my mastering physics which is overdue that I cannot get greater than a 50% on now. I may do that tomorrow though, I'm not sure.

As for tomorrow, I have to wake up at 8:45, get ready in the morning, drive down at 9:25 so I can get to class by 10. My first class is Basic electronics till 11, then from 11 to 12 I have Physics. Then from 12 to 2 I have world cultures. From 2 to 3 I have Computer and Operating System Architecture, and from 3 to 4 I have Linear Algebra. After that I have a 1 hour break to eat and hopefully then is when I'll be able to do my mastering physics homework. At 5, I have a TNT planning meeting for Campus Crusade followed by a Socials team meeting at 6:30. At 7, I need to decide between either going to a freshman body evangelism outreach event planning meeting or going to Bible Study. Either one will probably go until 9 which is when Men's Leadership Bible study is. At 10 o'clock I need to register for classes promptly so I make sure I get into everything I need to get into. After Men's Leadership Bible study, I am gonna talk to a friend about some things and by the time I get home, it's sure to be at least as late as 11:30. At this point I'm going to wish I was dead... ok, so not really.

I actually quite enjoy my Monday's, but this one has the extra freshman body evangelism outreach event planning meeting thing and my class registration in addition to the usual hustle and bustle. I know God's gonna take care of me and bring me through it one hour at a time. I just hope I'll be able to stay away in my classes. I got very little sleep last night and I'll probably get very little sleep tonight because of the time it already is and knowing that I still need to start and finish my linear algebra. God is good though and he loves me and if I'm doing my best to serve Him in everything I do, then how could the day possibly be bad?

I think if you've been reading along with my blog, you'll realize that I'm a reflective learner which I think sort of makes it for a better read personally, but when I sort through the thoughts in my head, especially when I'm writing them out, I can take more out of it and learn more. I had to definitely pray about the ride situation with retreat and it did all work out. Everyone made it down ok and that's what matters. If I slightly annoyed some people with too many emails... well so be it. God knows my heart.

One of these days I'm going to write letters thanking certain individual people in Campus Crusade who have really made a big difference in my life. I really look up to many of them as Godly people who are living for God and by following their examples, I am learning to become more of a leader and to grow closer to God. Something God's shown me recently through others is that we WILL be persecuted for living for God. It's written plainly in the Bible. If we are wanting to pursue God, then we will be persecuted. If we're living comfortable easy lives, then we're not living the way we should be living. I would count it a joy to be persecuted. I don't say that to sound proud by any means. However, to know that I am serving God and have His approval (the only approval that truly matters), then if anyone else is against me, what have I to worry about.

I need prayers for guidance in my life. I continue to pray for wisdom, because I know in my own power, I make plenty of dumb choices, but if I rely on the power of the Holy Spirit living within me and truly have faith, then God will be able to do great things through me... things of which I want no credit for. I STILL have yet to be sharing the gospel. I MUST get out there and share with people. I find myself getting busy, but that's what the devil would like me to think.

Ephesians 6:12 says: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." When our non Christian friends come up to us and try to make Christianity look bad by twisting it around or by referring to horrible examples of Christians and defining Christianity by them, we need to realize that we're not fighting with Jesus against them. Rather we are fighting for them to escape the blinders of sin and to see the light which is in Christ Jesus.

I have so many more thoughts and things to talk about, however, it is now 12:01 on Monday morning and I need to get to work on my homework. Thanks for taking the time to read this if you have. It can be quite a mouthful sometimes.

Post 7: Frustrating day

Well, everyone has their up days and down days. Most of my days have been great recently, but not this one... at least not so far.

It all started with me being volutold (volunteered and told what I was to do...) to be the ride coordinator for Spring Retreat. I've never gone to a retreat for Crusade before, so I don't know really how far away it is, how to get there or how coordinating rides is usually done. So, I asked people for help which seemed to be pretty scarce. Eventually I talked to Stacy Coleman who ended up emailing me with vague details as to how to handle it.

Well, I didn't know that Lake Ellen was in a different time zone and didn't know how far away it is. I asked a whole bunch of people when we should meet up at the Rosza sign for departure. Nobody knew the answer to that, but I got a few suggestions and someone said 5 maybe. Well, I figured being a little early is better than being a little bit late, so I pick that time. Then I'm told to make sure everyone has a ride and people who need to go late or early would be able to get there and back.

So, I decide to email the Crusade list and ask everyone that if they're going, they should email me telling me whether they're driving (and how many people they can take), or riding and whether they need to leave early or late or not. I get some emails back, but not from everybody. Well today, (the day of departure), I get an email finally with a list of all the people who are going to retreat... so what do I do with that? Well I figured I'd put together a spreadsheet together so I can sort people out and make sure everyone has rides with everyone. It took me like 2 hours+ to put that together trying to iron out all the inconsistencies with people leaving at different times and assign people as appropriate according to what I was told people were doing.

So at this point, I send out another email with the list of people and who they should go with. Well, after I send this out, it is THEN that people feel it is important to finally email me and tell me they already had other plans and were leaving at a different time rather than earlier when I first asked about it. All of a sudden people have all these different driving plans that I wasn't told about and I'm supposed to coordinate all this? So, I'm forced to send out yet ANOTHER email to the whole list (which is a lot of people), and by doing so essentially spamming them, explaining to them that they need to completely forget about the spreadsheet I just sent out because it was so messed up at that point to just meet up at the sign at 5 or as soon as they could make it. I also told them we'd probably be leaving around 5:20-5:30 since apparently that's the norm.

To make a long story short: next time I'm volunteered to do something that is somewhat significant by myself,especially regarding things I've never done before or don't know anything about, I'm Not going to do it unless I have someone else teaching me how to go about doing it first. I was trying to help people out and have it run smoothly by making that list, but instead it caused more of a headache for everyone.

All that aside, I am very excited for Retreat. Luckily I have a little bit of time to relax before hand. Hopefully people won't be too mad at me for making everything so confusing. My day's gonna be turning around really quick and it'll be awesome by the time everyone's rides are taken care of! I got that out of my system and now I'm ready to go! woot!

Thanks for readin',
later!

Day 6: Just some thoughts

Well, This past week was definitely not quite as exciting as Big Break. Should it be? Certainly the climate bonuses in Florida were amazing, but the best part of that trip was seeing God work through me and everyone in Campus Crusade. Should I be seeing that here at Tech? I told myself I'd share the gospel with at least one person per week. I don't think I've done that this past week so this following week I'll have to talk to 2 people. I don't want to make it sound like I'm just doing it for the sake of doing it to increase my numbers or "score" or anything like that. I truly care about people and I feel they need to hear the gospel presented in a loving way. I just find myself being so busy all the time. Do I leave myself with time for facebook? Yes. Do I leave myself time for hanging out with Christian friends? Yes. Could I use facebook less and hang out with Christian friends less to introduce myself to new people? You Betcha in terms of time, but I haven't been.

I think one of the biggest things I slacked off on this week was reading the Bible. I have been spending a lot of time in pretty consistent prayer, but reading the Bible on my own time by myself is something I plan on doing over the course of this week starting with doing that right after this blog post.

Having said that, I'm really looking forward to retreat! It's gonna be my first ever Campus Crusade retreat (other than men's retreats), because I was not involved in Campus Crusade during the first one. Foolish me, haha.

That reminds me. A lot of times I tell my friends who were my close friends in high school that they should join some college Christian organization. They all say they're too busy or they just don't really want to. I was that way at first, but then I went to Campus Crusade and the people there really cared about me and were interested in my life and they invested time in getting to know me. This was different than in my Christian high school which is why I keep coming back. I really love the people in Campus Crusade and the organization as a whole and what it does. Sometimes though, people get the wrong impression when I talk about it. They think I'm pushing them into campus crusade and they view it sorta like a cult... They know it's not a cult, but it definitely does seem to absorb most of my time outside of class. My brother in particular looks down at me for this. He thinks I totally ditched my high school friends still in the area or in high school. It's not that I don't want to hang out with them, it's just that I've met new friends who share more similar interests as me and are really growing closer to God which is great! I am praying for my old friends that they'll also pursue a relationship with God as that has totally changed me into a different person.

I was a Christian in high school, yes, but I was not living my life for God, I was living it for myself which is actually considered to be one of the most miserable kinds of lives. I would now much rather invest my time in other people and sharing the gospel. I just need to get over the fact that I'm a somewhat shy person and it's difficult initiating conversations with new people for me. However, as God has showed me over spring break, I know if I rely on Him, He will work through me despite my weaknesses. The more I trust God and take steps of faith, the more rewarding my life is. It truly does give me a joy and a peace that I cannot comprehend... which reminds me of a verse in Philippians 4.

Philippians 4:5-7 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It's so cool when God shows you that His word is truth. If anyone reading this does not know God personally, I would love to show them how. It truly has changed my life and I want to share it with others. It's by no means "easy" to live for God, but it's definitely more rewarding both on earth and my rewards in Heaven will be greater the more I live for God!

Well, I sort of changed my mood from ok to really good and now I'm excited to read the Bible and have my personal time! Woot!

Well thanks for reading. That's all folks!

Day 5: BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!!!!

Well, I just got back from Florida and had the time of my life! God really used everyone who went on that trip and I don't believe it's possible to not have been impacted in some great way. I was sharing the gospel with people all over the beach, swimming in the ocean and the lagoon pool. I got to hang out with a whole bunch of my friends and grow closer to them as well as meet some new friends. I honestly don't know how the week could have gone better. It is so hard to be back in Houghton where there is snow and having to go back to school, but God will take care of me. I learned I can fully rely on God and submitting my life to Him make it so fulfilling!!! The following is a story I wrote down about someone Megan Beyer and me talked to about the Gospel. I have talked to quite a few others and at least one of them came to Christ. This girl Brittany did not right after I talked to her, but she came so much closer. Here is a copy and paste of the story:

Megan and I decided to go up to this guy who was sitting by himself and drinking a beer. We came up to him and used the game Soularium. We turned the conversation over to spiritual things and he seemed very uninterested. Eventually, a friend of his named Brittany came on over to sit next to him. When she saw the pictures we were showing him, she was very interested and was almost grabbing for the pictures not yet knowing what they were for. So we asked her the first question on the sheet which asked you to pick three different pictures which describe their life. I can’t remember which pictures she picked, but somehow we ended up changing the conversation over to spiritual things. We asked her that if she were to die, what would happen to her. She asked, “Do you mean, where do I go?” We said yes, and she said that she believed in heaven and hell. When asked where she thought she was going, she said Hell. She used to go to church when she was younger as more of a ritual type of thing, but everyone in their family chose their own religion so to speak. Well I asked her that if she could know 100% for sure that she could go to heaven, would she want to hear how and she said yes. We went through the KGP with her and she seemed to be very interested in what it had to say. The way we approached her about it was that we just wanted to share with her what we believe and why and she was very open to it. When we got to the prayer part, I asked her if it was the desire of her heart to pray that prayer and she said sometimes and looked a little confused. We went back over a few things in the KGP and she seemed to really be interested. I could tell she was not ready to commit her life to Christ right at that moment and pushing her to hard to do so would be what Bill O’Conner calls “bruising the fruit.” She needed time to think about it. After we got through it, she started crying and told us that she was so glad that we were out on the beach sharing what she knew was truly important to us. It meant so much to her that we were not out partying and drinking like most people in Panama City Beach do on their spring breaks. After we had explained everything we could, she actually asked us before we got a chance to offer her the booklet if she could have it. Along with the KGP, we gave her a card from the Soularium game with our email addresses on the back of it. She was truly moved by us coming up to talk to her. She was a local who lived 45 minutes away and nobody had ever come up and shared with her the gospel on the beach before. It was great to see Christ working in her life. Although at that moment, she did not come to Christ, she definitely moved on the scale of coming to and growing in Christ from about a negative 5 to a negative .5. I am praying that she will come to Christ, or at least email one of us so that we could keep in contact and share with her more. This is just one of the many stories I had this week.

Isn't God amazing?!

Day 4: Day of Departure

Today, in less than 2 hours I'm leaving for Florida. Am I excited beyond words? (lack of words inserted here confirming a "yes" to the question.)

It's gonna be awesome! I still have a bit of a cold... hopefully my nose won't be running non-stopped all the way down. I think I remembered everything I am gonna be wanting to bring, but I guess time will tell. The anticipation is coursing through my veins!

Yeah, ok, I don't really know what else to blog about as of yet. I sure will once I get down there but am not sure if I'm gonna actually post until I get back. It depends on the wireless situation.

Cya'll later!