Busy and Trying Times

I apologize to anyone who has been looking at this the past couple of days and not seeing anything new posted. As the title says it has definitely been busy and trying times not only for me these last couple days and weeks but for countless others, in particular the Bond family. (If you do not know who the Bond family is I highly encourage you to check out www.thehokeypokeyplace.blogspot.com) A great deal of learning for myself has come from reading this and I am learning from it each and every day. Learning from a man of God who has impacted my life in so many different ways. More on that later. . . . .


Please bear with me as I try to find / make the time to post on here.

Thanks!


Romans 8:28

Giving Thanks

Tonight I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a communion service that was being held by Liberty. I am so happy that I went because I was able to spend time talking with God and remembering what He did for us on the Cross. I wish everyone were able to experience what I did tonight because of the setup of the service. The service was being held in the Schilling Center and inside was a pathway that was made with curtain walls and displays every 10 feet or so. It was a walk-through service and the beginning had large paper with Genesis 1:1 written out on it [In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen 1:1]. This for me, and I imagine for a lot of other people, set the mood for the whole service.

Before I went to the service I prayed to God asking Him to help me to focus on Him tonight during the service and to reflect on what He did and what He does for me now. I read that verse [Genesis 1:1] and I just felt the presence of God with me. It was such an awesome feeling and I knew that I would have a great night worshiping God. A little down the "path" and there was the verse Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Right below the verse was a little table with a crate of sand and a note that read "Run your fingers through the sand and reflect on how God made you." How amazing is it that God created us from the dust of the earth?!

The path went on and there was a door and door frame with blood on the door frame and the remembrance of the shed blood on the door and the Angel of Death passing over those doors that had blood on them. Pieces of cardboard with all the names of Jesus written on them were scattered over the one wall. Songs [At the Cross, When the roll is called up Yonder, The Old Rugged Cross] were hung up and accessible to read over the verses.

All of these verses and pictures and displays really helped me focus on God and gave me such a real image of the Bible and all that it contains - to a certain extent of course. The last part of the "path" included the following verses. Just read these verses and and realize that God's love for us is so real, so amazing, so true, so remarkable. We, all humans, are so wicked, yet God was merciful to us sinners and laid down His life for us.

Isaiah 53

1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a
root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hat laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgement: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

I am so amazed by God right now. More about tonight to come later. . . .

Love Relationship

John 13:34-35 -
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

What defines our relationship with God, our family, friends, etc. This verse, actually a command, is from Jesus saying to love one another as He loves us. God's love for us is so real and so amazing. I, myself, take His love for granted and I know that I should not. I need to define my relationship with God by my love for Him. That is something that I need to work on. Love for others was what Jesus said, because that's all we need as followers of Him. Lord, may I learn to love you more today - Amen. What defines your walk with God? Is it love. . .or something else? I pray for all those who read this that you may walk in the Lord with love.

Dirty Dishes

The other day I was helping clean up in the kitchen and was doing dishes. There is a dishwasher in the house but whatever doesn't fit in there for the cycle we just wash by hand. A lot of the dishes can become clean quite easily using some soap and water and a dish scrub. Others you might want to soak in hot water for a little bit to help break up some of the residue a little better for easier cleaning. As I was washing the dishes I was imagining how the dirty dishes can somewhat relate to the sins or bad habits we have in our lives. Some habits are easier to break than others - dishes that need just soap and water. Other habits take determination and a right mind set to break - dishes that need to be soaked and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. God is our help in time of need. I have sins and bad habits in my life that I need to repent to God and allow him to wash me clean. I hope this will be a help to everyone who reads this post.

Off to Campus Church now...It's so great to worship God!

Sunny Sunday

My current sleeping situation is on my friends' couch in their living room. There is a nice picture frame window in the the living room which allows me to be greeted by the Sun every morning. Today I am able to enjoy clear blue skies and the Sun shining nicely. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. God's creation. It's just magnificent. The leaves are changing on the trees and all the colors are amazing to look at. Today is another day to enjoy what God has given to me [all of us].

I spent the day reading God's Word, watching some NFL football, watching bits and pieces of a marathon of House, and just hanging out with my friends. As for watching House, I need to start with Season 1 so that I can understand everything that happens. So, if anyone has Season 1 they would let me borrow make sure you let me know =).

Hold that thought...commercials are over...


"Tme changes everything."
"No, time does not change everything. Doing things changes things...not doing things changes nothing."


"Life is made up of a series of rooms. It's who we get stuck in those rooms with that add up to what our lives are."


The above are quotes from one of the episodes of House that I saw today. Those are good thinking statements. What do you mean when you say, "Oh, give it/them some time and it/they will change." Do you mean that time is actually the healer in the situation or that some change that happens in the circumstance is the healer. Well, ultimately God is the Healer, but I think a more appropriate way to put that statement would be - "If you do something about the situation then you will change, but if you keep with the norm then nothing will happen." But it's not so deal with it.



News Flash!!!

Phillies are beating the Rays in the B8 with a score of 6 to 2!!!


Hopefully Penn Sate will go all the way, and the Phillies will be victorious in the World Series, and maybe the Steelers can get to the Superbowl this year! (Yeah, I favor the Iron City over the Eagles.)

Time to sign out.


Keep it classy

T-N-T

Well - I made this blog about a week ago and am finally taking some time to post something. My intentions for this blog are to write down different things that take place in my life for others to read. Many emotions may be touched through this but that I will find out. Feel free to comment or criticize my posts if you feel so lead to. You do not need to have an account to comment because I opened it up to everybody.

...now that the boring stuff is out of the way...

Recently I have been debating with myself as to what I should major in college. Right now I am in a Computer Management major but there are so many times I question myself whether or not I see myself in that major. There are so many things that I want to do or try to do, but on the other hand I know that I need to settle down and figure out for sure. This, however, cannot be done on my own. I need to be looking to God for guidance and direction to follow His will for my life. As I have been deciding what classes I should be taking, I have been praying to God asking for His guidance and help, I have been discussing the possibilities with family and friends, and have been taking my God-given talents and abilities into the picture to help figure out the right thing to do.

But then I stop and think about it now...and I realize -that if I am bringing honor and glory to MY Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and doing everything that I do for Him and to the best of my ability- that there are many "right" things that I can do. Not just one specific thing that I have to do. If I am doing something out of God's plan for me and I am allowing Him to guide my path then He will correct that for me. This is where T-N-T comes into play.

Last Sunday I heard a message regarding the awesomeness of God. Mainly, that He was THEN, He is NOW, and He will be THERE [T-N-T]. A lot of times I pray to God asking Him to help me for something that is in the future - which is not a wrong thing to do - but I fail to remember that God is here with me right now...in this very instant. Stop and think about that. How amazing is that!? If I allow God to direct me in the right path, then He will watch over me. I can rest assured in that truth each and every day.



On a different note:

WE ARE. . .PENN STATE!

http://failblog.org/2008/10/22/clown-car-fail/ Pretty outrageous...I counted 26.