Cleanup in New Orleans Part 4

Today was a short day, we worked some more on de-mucking a house we started yesterday. We didn't get it finished, which is slightly depressing, but we only worked for the morning, then we prepared for new years eve festivities in the afternoon.
A bunch of our group went to new orleans to see what there was to do, but they didn't do much, just walked around for 45 minutes and came back... at 12:30, after leaving at around 7 ish. Heh, the party was definatly back at the church we are staying at. We had a massive bonfire that was at least 10 feet tall. We also had tons and tons of fireworks. lots of lights and sounds and big boomies... OOOO YAA, Big shells with launching tubes... heck yes...
Then there was the Killer Uno game, where the winner gets to add a rule after each round, I never get tired of killer uno. After I get back home (after another 23 hour van ride...) I'll post the conclusion to my trip.

Cleanup in New Orleans Part 3

Whew, today was exausting (yes I finally got on in the evening...). I am about to fall asleezZzzZzzZzzZz.
Anyways, we went and cut down a bunch of trees today, it was pretty fun, carrying all the wood around. And participating in that scottish tree throwing contest... Then we took down a shed... it had a refrigerator in it... it had a couple of jugs of milk in it... they burst... oooh my gosh that was a HORRIBLE smell!! 4 month old milk all over the ground...
Then we went and tore out the guts of another house, which we will finish up tomorrow.
Cya

Cleanup in New Orleans Part 2

Well, here we are, one day down, who knows how many more to go... :P
Yesterday we "De-mucked" a house. Basically everything except for the studs went out. All the carpet, drywall, insulation, everything out. It was fun wearing a respirator though, sort of. Really tiring work, but fun and fulfilling. Afterwards we went out to dinner at a restaruant in Downtown NO, so we got to see some of the sights and sounds and such. I got seafood gumbo, VERY Fishy, not horrible, but very fishy, I liked the jumbalya better, its sort of like pastat bake but with sea food. Then I slept like a rock all night...
On the drive in we got to see a lot fo the destruction first hand, it is a mess down here. half of buildings lying around, lots of litter, signs advertising house gutting and re-building, lots and lots of signs, like the political signs.
We drove on the causeway to get across lake ponchartrain, 25 miles of "bump, bump, bump, bump..." fun, and pretty in the daytime, but long and boring... ohwell, cya'll later.

Cleanup in New Orleans Part 1

Well, after a non-eventful 23 hour drive we finally arrived at Tammany Oaks Church of Christ in Mandeville LA. After a night of preperation... I am writting in the morning (of the 29th) before we head out to clean up the mess. Thus not much to report yet. Although Dinner and breakfast were good, dirty rice and beans for dinner and bisquits and sausage gravy for breakfast.
List of stuff I forgot: (So far, I might be adding to it later.)
Cell Phone
Work Boots

I'll post again after work today.

New Direction for the Blog

After not posting for a couple months (yes I know, I'm lazy) I have decided to change the flavor of the posts, instead of presenting a "lesson" that I have developed, I'm just going to post interesting stuff, even if I can't think of an application for it.

Surely the Joy of Mankind is Withered Away

Joel 1:12 "¹² The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Surely the joy of mankind
is withered away."


The land is barren, there is nothing living left in the land after the locusts have gone through. There is no grapes for wine, no figs, no pomegranates (an exotic red fruit with edible seeds), no apples, nothing. Joel then says, "Surely the joy of mankind is withered away." Another way to say it would be, "Everyone's joy must be gone because of all of this"

Back then I'm sure that apples and pomegranates were expensive items, and if the people couldn't get them they felt like they were experiencing hardship. Now we feel we are experiencing "hardship" if we don't have a computer or a tv or a car.

As I was reading that verse I realized that, Joel's assertion doesn't apply to us because of Jesus. Our joy isn't tied to earthly luxuries. Whatever happens here doesn't affect the heavenly things, so because our joy is in heavenly things we aren't totally devastated when things fall apart down here. Our confidence in Jesus means that we are trusting him to do whats best for us, even if it isn't "fun"

River Journey

This is an essay I wrote for Wade's ministry newsletter about what Kairos has done for me.

---

A person’s spiritual journey is like a river. A long time ago when the earth was relatively unexplored, an explorer sailing down a river had no idea where he was going. Today, the Earth is mapped from space and we know exactly where we are at all times with GPS. But our life is like the old explorer’s view of a river; we have no idea what is coming around the next bend. But even though we have no idea where we are going, God knows. God is the one mapping the river; He knows exactly where it is going. He knows that even though the river is flowing north, it will eventually reach the sea to the south.

Another way our spiritual journey is like a river is in its “life cycle.” Rivers generally start in the mountains from melting snow and rain. It quickly flows down the slopes of the mountains and makes its way to the plains. As the river crosses the plains it slows down, sort of meandering and lazy. After a long journey the river will eventually reach the sea, its journey complete. When we first become Christians our journey is in the mountains, fast flowing, lots of waterfalls, and lots of excitement. After the excitement wears off, our walk with the Lord can grow tired and lazy. We grow weary and slip into the dangerous habit of going to church, reading our bible and praying just because “we always have.” When we finally die, our journey ends and we “reach the sea.” For some people their “sea” is right at the base of the mountains, not that their lives are short, but that they have lived their lives to the glory of God until they die. Others will dry up in the desert like the Colorado River, never reaching their goal. They turn away from God because the plains are so flat that they can’t see any progress.

On my river journey, I started out slow, getting saved on my 3^rd birthday. But until I was about 13 or 14, my spiritual journey hadn’t really started. I was still growing and maturing. Around 13 or 14, I experienced an awakening; I commenced my journey through the mountains. For a couple of years, I was in the mountains, still swift flowing and exciting. But about 2 years ago, I reached a plateau, slowing down and carving a nice channel for myself. (AKA, a rut) Then last October a friend invited me to Kairos. Kairos shook me out of my lazy stupor and it has encouraged me to start listening to God and what he wants. Because of Kairos I have reached the end of my plateau and I am moving through a steep winding canyon. And even as I write this, I can see the waterfall up ahead, where I will plunge downwards, away from the flat plateau, and into the arms of God.

Right now I am trying to steer my course, but I have no idea where I am going. I am learning to look to the Map-maker who knows exactly where my river enters the sea. The people in Kairos are right there in the boat with me, teaching me river navigation and, more importantly, to listen to the Map-maker. Even though my river is curving about, going in all directions very rapidly, I know that God has the map and that he will lead me where he wants me to go.

Should we use should?

Alright, so this ins't from the bible, but the idea is so facinating that I had to post it here.
I am reading a book called Hold Tight the Thread by Jane Kirkpatrick. This book is the 3rd in a trilogy, the series follows the story of Marie Dorion who was a member of the first overland expedition to the Pacific after the Louis and Clark expedition. So not the famous Louis and Clark trip, the one right after that. By the time of the 3rd book, Marie is getting older and has had children and grandchildren. The excerpt below comes from a conversation between Marguerite, Marie's daugter, and Marguerite's husband, JB.
"She (Marie) will have time for you, Etoile (Marguerite). She makes time for her oldest daugter if you ask."
"I shouldn't have to ask," Marguerite said.
"All that should happen in a life is that the sun should come up and night should follow day. A should that is not the brother of something natural has judgement written on it. It would be nice if everything went as we wished, but this desire that all things should go the way we want is wasted. Shoulds weigh heavy on a head."
"But if I've asked your sons to do something, and they know how to do it and its a reasonable request and they don't, shouldn't they do it? Shouldn't you make them do it? Shouldn't a son honor his mother?"
JB though. "This should word is a hammer," he said, "meant to pound you down. It keeps you from finding out what else you could do if you weren't shoulding someone else, wanting them to change. Your mother should do what she thinks she is called to do, whether it pleases you or not."


WOW, now that is deep... "A should that is not the brother of something natural has judgement written on it." How convicting is that? I know I do that everyday; "my brother should pick up his clothes after he takes them off," "The TV should not be on while we are getting ready," "My dad shouldn't gripe so much about lending me money." As JB said above, shoulds pass judgement on someone, you are judging them that they aren't good enough because they aren't doing something the way it should be done.

Using should keeps you from seeing what you can do about it. Should keeps your mind focused on things you can't change, the same as worry does. Jesus said in Matthew 6:27, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life" I can apply that to shoulds: "Who can change someone else by obsessing over how they should do something"

Instead of telling everyone how they should do something, try asking them if they could do something. People will hear it as a suggestion or a request instead of an order and will be more receptive to what you are asking.

Ineffective Refining

Jeremiah 6:27-30
²⁷ "I have made you a tester of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.
²⁸ They are all hardened rebels,
going about to slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all act corruptly.
²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
³⁰ They are called rejected silver,
because the LORD has rejected them." (NIV)

This is a cool metaphor. When a blacksmith refines the ore, he heats it up until all the impurities in the metal burn away or float to the top. He then skims the impurities, called slag, off the top and throws it away. Now he has relatively pure metal to work with.

Spiritually God does the same thing, he allows troubles (the heat) to come into our lives to refine us of our sin (aka slag). God is trying to make us pure metal, the more we hold onto sin the hotter the fire has to be to separate the slag from the metal. If we keep sinning, God will allow us to face troubles that we might not have had if we had listened to Him.

The Israelites were being refined by God, they had trouble after trouble beset them, nations invading left and right, plagues, droughts, etc. and yet they still rejected God, they still held onto their slag. Therefore God said, "Forget it, this metal is unworkable" and threw the Israelites out.

I admit that there are a few chunks of slag that I am refusing to let float to the top, I wouldn't be human if I didn't hold onto a few chunks. But overall, I am trying to let God refine me into the pure metal that he can work with. We will be more effective if we are a tool made out of pure metal than a tool that will crack because of the impurities. Banging a nail with a steel hammer is much more effective than banging the same nail with a lump of iron ore. God can use anyone, he will use us, whether we are a steel hammer or a lump of ore. But God can use us much more effectively when we are a tool made out of pure metal, fitted to His hand, able to hit the nail squarely on the head.

Filled to overflowing with Gods anger

Jeremiah 5:14b
"I will make my words in your mouth a fire
and these people the wood it consumes."(NIV)

Jeremiah 6:10-11a
^"10 To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
¹¹ But I am full of the wrath of the LORD,
and I cannot hold it in."(NIV)

Jeremiah is obviously filled with God's power. How many of us can say that? I don't think I can. I mean, yes I am following God where he leads me. But have I ever been so full of the presence of God that "I cannot hold it in."? No, not really. I long to feel that though, to give myself completely to God, so that I'm "just along for the ride". But there's the catch, I have to give myself completely to God, that is the hard part, we have to give control of our life away.

Jeremiah faced back in ancient Judah what alot of us face today, "Their ears are closed... The word of the Lord is offensive to them." And the Devil uses this against us, he feeds us the lie that everyone is offended by the Bible, so we shouldn't bring it up.
In an interesting story I have witnessed this very thing. At the place where I work a summer job, there are a lot of Christian kids, but most of the "vererans" that are back from previous years aren't Christian. Therefore most of the time the radio is set to secular stations, country, classic rock, new rock, etc. Generally it is the "right" of the person who gets the radio to pick the station. Well, I just happened to get the radio this night, so I set it to the christian station. But while I was doing that, in the back of my mind I was really hesitant about playing this station and very self-consious about it. I didn't want to turn it up really loud incase someone didn't like it. Finally I realized that it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, that I'm going to play my music. But that didn't remove the doubts I had about it. So I "compromised" with myself and decided that if someone didn't like it I would let them change it. After a while someone did come in and change it, and I just stood there. Afterwards, (meaning later that night in bed...) I realized that that guy had no business changing the radio station, I got the radio and I picked the station, just because he doesn't like the music doesn't mean he can change it. Does that mean that I can change the station when someone puts country on? (which I loath) No, I have to endure the stupid twangs and mind-sticking songs. But at the time, I was feeling so self-consious and timid that I didn't stand up for myself. I believe that this is an example of the Devil working, subtley, undermining our efforts to be open about our faith. The Devil affected my thoughts and made me much more timid than I normally am. Although after that night, a bunch of people came up and told me they enjoyed the christian station being on, and that they thought it was cool.

This is only one example of the war between God and Satan and is effects in our sphere of existence. If I ever have any doubts if God and Satan are real or not, I just have to think about what happens when I try and follow God, Satan puts stumbling blocks in my way, trying to get me to trip. Sort of like the way Truman encountered obstacles in the movie "The Truman Show" whenever he tried to leave the island. (Great movie by the way :) )

Faithless vs Unfaithful

Jeremiah 3:6-11

^"6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. ⁷ I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. ⁸ I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. ⁹ Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. ¹⁰ In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.

¹¹ The LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah."(NIV)

This is a good lesson for us to think about. What is the difference between Faithless and Unfaithful?
Faithless in this context means that there is thought of being faithful, Israel completely turned away from God. Israel ran away from God and displayed it proudly.
On the other hand Unfaithful means obeying the law but secretly running away. Judah still held services in the Temple, but worshipped other gods on the side.

In Revelation 3:15-16 it says, "¹⁵I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."(NIV)

There are many times that I have caught myself reading the Bible just to say "oh ya, I read the Bible today..." or going to church to talk with my friends. That is the wrong attitude to bring to God. I am just doing these things for show, not out of a desire to please God. Thankfully I catch myself and then focus on God more, or someone else will mention it to me.

In a recent chain letter I got (meaning I can't vouch for its accuracy...) it mentioned a statistic that 85% of America claimed they were Christian. But how many of those people even go to church? Not many I would say. Then take it another level down, how many people who go to church also read their Bible and aren't there to simply check the box? And again, another level, how many people who read their Bible are applying it to their lives?

This is an example of how "lukewarm" America is today, we say we are christians, but we don't do anything about it. This is the same thing Judah was doing in 600 BC, worshiping in the temple just to "obey the law" then afterwards they go out to the street corner and worship Baal or Molech, or some other god made of stone.

"I will not forget you!"

<sup>Isaiah 49:14-15

14</sup> But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me."

¹⁵ "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!

Eventhough Isaiah is talking about Israel, this passage applies to everyone who trusts in God. I think that this passage speaks for itself. ;)

Being held in Gods right hand

Isaiah 41:9-10

"I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, 'You are my servant';
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand"

Well, the first two lines are really cool, "I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you." First the earth doesn't have corners, nor ends, so the way I see that is that no matter where you are God will always see you and be able to call you, no matter where you are on earth or in your spiritual journey.
Then the third line seems kind of distasteful, "'You are my servant'"? but remember, we are serving God, and since we can't get away from being a servant to something (Romans 6:16,18) I would rather be a servant to God than to sin. Then bring the next line in, what is better than being chosen by God? Think of dodgeball in gym class, if the captains are choosing, and you are the first one chosen, that feels pretty good right? I mean, the captain thinks you are so good that he choses you first so that the other team doesn't get a chance to get you. Just think, God chose you, in Gods dodgeball game, he choses everybody first.
Finally in verse 10, the first two lines tell us why we shouldn't be afraid of anything, "So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God." What is better than having God by your side? Nothing, no matter what is happening outside, the creator of the Universe is With You. On the other hand, learning to trust that he has the best plan is a long and painful journey, one I don't think anyone can truly finish.
Not only is God With You but he will also "strengthen you and help you". In Ecclesiastes 4:12 it says " Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.", if three strands of cord are hard to break, think of when one strand is like the cable holding up the Golden Gate Bridge, is a 1 foot section of that ever going to break? No I don't think so...
Finally God tells us that he will hold us in his "righteous right hand." What could be better? We are the focus of God's attention, we are in his right hand (or left hand for all you lefties out there ;) ) He is upholding us, he cares about us, he loves us.

Anyways, these verses were the camp verses at Eagle Lake Camp in 2003. They are Definatly worth memorizing.

Giving ourselves away to become valuable

Today, in the Daily Bible, they were going over the fall of Samaria, and one of the verses, 2 Kings 17:15, really grabbed me. It reads, "...They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless..." That struck me, how many modern idols do we bow down to? I can name a couple right off the top of my head, TV, Computers, Exercising, Porclain Throne... Well that last one isn't an idol, but everyone bows down to it occasionally... ;) (on the other hand, anorexic people could see that as an idol...)
But, that verse says that when we give ourselves to worthless stuff we become worthless. The converse of that is, if we give ourselves to someone acctually worth something, we will ourselves become valuable. God is the only person/thing valuable enough to give ourselves to. If we follow God we will become worth something.

New Direction

I finally decided about what to blog. I am going to blog interesting stuff from my daily bible reading and what I got out of it.

First Post/Blog/Whatever...

Anyways, this is the first post of my first blog. Lots of fun.

Edit: oops, I forgot the customary first anything is supposed to be "HELLO WORLD"...