Test of Faith

The Aug 29th Devotional from Oswald Chambers pretty much hit an accord, so I thought I pay it the respect it needs through a few comments. My comments are in red.

Faith must be tested(yup daily, hourly from birth to this minute wether it's a foul word, looking a women in lust/acquirement, judging someone because they are different, and just forgetting to pray to God until I need Him on on on all the time the test of my faith.) , because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? (being single minded with God developing that relationship with Jesus, hard when we are so used to loving a physical being that we can touch.) The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me." (as I find my relationship with God and Jesus growing closer I become that much more offensive.)The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. (lately I really have no fear of dying, almost a can't wait for Heaven attitude probably cause its a painful life.) May God keep us in fighting trim!Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us. (a fighter I am a warrior in a different sense always have felt that way.)

Thank you Oswald for pushing me.

Working Out for God

In church this past Sunday I had revelation about my spiritual life and practice. As a competitive athlete I am very disciplined and committed to keeping myself physically fit by training at least 15 hours a week. I also do certain workouts to better and maintain my level of competitiveness.

Then it came to me that I should look at my spiritual life in the same manor. I must work my spiritual fitness in the same manor. Ah Ha. Here is my workout schedule.

Daily Devotional readings
Reading of the bible (i am in the middle of Matthew)
Listen to Pod casts of different Pastors around the country (bell, boyd, stanley)
Praying myself and with the kids
Sharing my path and experiences of my Christian life with my friends.
Volunteering and Mentoring with the High School Youth Group Rezlife
Spending Time with fellow Christians
Writing about my relation with my Lord
Sunday Service 5pm

Wow that felt good. I am pleased with work out and I feel closer and more fit in my spiritual then I have ever in my life. Its A Good Life.

Sunday, Aug 26, 2007

Volunteered in the am for the Jackson County Triathlon and it was a good to see friends and make a new one, connect with a team mate, see pettiness, see families being there to support one another.

Afternoon Ride with a friend to just hang out in the outside! Still cannot believe the beauty of every ride.

Church: What an unbelievable place, the energy, the God thing just fills the tank up. The before and after effect on my kids is way too cool. If I could prove to you the power of God in a real life example, I would show you the joy and energy that comes out of them after Sunday school.

Evening: I recently got my family photos back from a friend that stored them during the divorce. I pulled out some pictures of my ex wife Julie and I on our honeymoon to Hawaii. Memories flooded in, raw pain of the failure of my marriage, shed a few tears. Trust me divorce hurts like you have no idea, But like any heart break, loss or tragedy there are gifts in it. More later.

Margin

I have come to realize how important it has become in my life to have margin. No longer do I crowd my schedule with activities just too keep from being bored. Gone are days where I felt the need to be doing something at every waking moment of the day. I now leave time and big gaps of time to be with myself It maybe a Saturday night where I spend it alone with nothing to do. It is this time I call my margin. I fill it with reflection, reading, and exploring my thoughts, feelings, and events of the past week. To maintain this margin I keep my focus on what is important in my life right now. I call this my WIN test. WHAT IS IMPORTANT NOW. This simple phrase I learned from Steven Covey in his book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." We all need more margin in our lives especially in business where margin means time to reflect on creative ways to solve problems.

Stop with the "I am so busy" crap. Everyone is busy thats just life of being addictive to over activity or better put people keep themselves too busy so they don't have time to feel how unconnected they are to whats important. Jesus was obviously in much more demand than you and he always found time/solitude to reflect and pray to his Father.

In closing on this thought I want you all to know I am never too busy for my friends. Oh I am not really that alone, God and Jesus are with me nudging me, inspiring me, giving me words and most importantly guiding me down an unbelievable path. Thank You Lord for Margin!

God has given you a Life Message to share.

Please Share!

Death

Physical Deaths around the world:
50 million human beings die per year
6,000 every hour, 100 every minute
1 out of 4 people in the USA die before the age 65
8% of us don't make it past our 44 birthday

There are approximately 6.7 Billion humans on earth.
This means .7% of the population loses their physical life every year.
Life Expectancy age in the world is today is 67.

I am 41, if I live to 67 years old it means I have 1355 Sundays left to worship!

God knows how many days you have left are you making the most of every day that you have left?

Smart People Before Us

Have we become so arrogant and prideful that we believe our thoughts of today are much smarter than those who have come before us? Last night I read Dwight Eisenhower's speech he gave at the end of his presidential term in 1963. Its a remarkeable read and it is so releveant today especially in light of the Iraq War and countless small wars we have been involved in over the last 20 years. Here is a little taste from the man.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs, balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual, balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of threat and stress. delivered 17 January 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower

Naked Stuff

If we come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing, why should we attempt to amass anything. Oh, I get it. It makes us feel good when we have stuff. Yeah for materialism I new this belief would make me feel better. I am a little depressed today so I am off to buy a porche. See ya, I will report latter how good it felt, ya for about 15 seconds until the absolute guilt sets in about how many starving children their are in this world.

Maybe we should all be more naked because all we wanted in the early days was love and affection didn't need clothes, money just the freedom to eliminate waste, eat, and be loved. Lets get naked. Because in the end we give it all back to GOD.

Satan's Where

Satan's work and workers have always worked in "The Long Tail". Read the book by Chris Anderson called "The Long Tail" an absolute must read if we are to understand life and economics. How to apply it to the work of satan and sin. If one looks at sin and evil on a graph where the most damage is done is in the tail of evil not in the big sins/evil. Example would be dropping of the bomb on Japan. Yes a single event with many murders but every year criminal acts and war by 1,000's of acts add up to more murders then one bomb. So look at the graph below and realize Satan plan is worked in the long tail. It's the little type of sins that equates to the larger volume of evil in the world.

The Media has Sexually Harassed Us

I have decided to come forward to report a crime which has prevailed too long in our culture. I along with every man and women have been sexually abused, harassed, and molested by the media since we were old enough to watch tv, open a magazine, and look at a billboard. The criminals are the media companies and corporations who pay them to come up with and distribute these criminal acts. If any of these acts took place in the work place the company would most likely be sued for sexual harassment. We have been bombarded by sexual innuendos, nudity and flagrant attempts to get us to enter into inappropriate sexual relationships. If I just drink that beer or buy that car or put on that perfume I will look sexier and satisfy that drummed up innate urge to mate all in the name of buying some company's product or service.

We ourselves have perpetuated these criminal acts by falling victim to purchasing the products or services, by giggling at them, by just turning the other shoulder, and by absolutely not standing up for what we know are morally wrong and illegal acts. The toll on us individually and on our families is devastating at the very least. As a man we now are so programmed to look at women sexually and apart from most obvious men, most women don't even notice our inspection. Hold on women you're not off the hook here. You barely wear any cloths; put inflatable bags filled with salt water in your chest so you can show them to everyone. Please admit you do this to attract attention just like the media does. We are all damaged by these crimes. You laugh at this and chalk it up sex is fun and everyone does, so let's figure out what the results these crimes have done to our culture.

• Between 40-60% of high school girls diet (so they can be thin and sexy)
  
• In 1960 there were 9.6 rapes per 100,000 people compared to 31.7 in 2005 a 330% increase
  
• Approximately 95% of teenage prostitutes have been sexually abused
  
• 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused by time their 18
  
• About 44% of rape victims are under age 18, and 80% are under age 30
  

I'll venture a guess that this increase in sex related crimes are due to the fact that the media uses sex to sell almost everything. It gets at and feeds our innate instinct to reproduce. However, it's not about reproducing it's about seeking gratification of our sexual urges. The problem is that it's everywhere by the time a female is 12 she's realized her worth to society is about the way she looks compared to these perfectly proportion sexy models/actresses/performers in the media. No wonder rape and sexual abuse is growing. How about going to the zoo and jump in the lions cage when they have not been feed to two weeks with blood smeared all over you. Why has the media committed these crimes? Like most business related crimes it's all backed by greed. So what do we do? So where do I report this crime? How do I live with these crimes all around me? Leave your thoughts; I will continue this in few weeks after I see what everyone thinks.