Jenny

So, I told someone I was going to write something about them. Hope they like it! In all seriousness the past month to month in a half has been an amazing time for me in my life as I have been able to expand ministry roles and do more than what I was at the church. One of those things that I do at the church I already wrote about in the past "Redeemed" is the title. God has placed me though at the head of a small group where I am able to minister and befriend these guys that are really funny and to be honest with you alot like myself.... It is about the most fun I have had in a while and my dream is partially coming true knowing that I am able to share my life and share the amazingness of Jesus with them. With this comes working with another small group. The leader of that small group is someone that I don't know if anyone could ever dislike. She is one cool person! But since I know she is reading this I want to put a disclaimer here and say this, "You still aren't as cool as I am and never will be, get over it!" Haha! The truth is there is nothing else in life that I could look forward to more than ministry and working with the small group folks. Check back later for a video post. YEAH!

ok This is FUNNY!

I know I have been slacking at the blog thing but keep checking up. I am going to post a couple in the next couple days...including a video blog! wooo hoo. SO watch this and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbvP7dT3Dx0

The rest of the story...

Ok, I realized last night that it bugged me to no end about the circomstances and things going on in my mind with the passing away of AJ. I thought if I blogged about it maybe some stress from my mind would be released but the more I typed and the more that I thought about the entirity of it, the more I got depressed about it, so I now have chosen to pray that God uses the situation in my life and others but also that I will never forget this feeling and that it drives me to be a person that reaches out more than I do. Lord use us!

It's Only Eternity....Come on It's a big DEAL!!!

For the life of me I sit bewildered and in a state of shock. For two long days something has been eating me away and tearing my heart up. Though I am not emotional about it (yet) I find myself unable to quit thinking about it. Here is the deal, a pretty cool guy from my hometown was involved in a car wreck Sunday morning around 4:00 in the morning. He fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the median on the interstate and collided head on with an 18 wheeler. Immediately the car burst into flames and the young man was burned to death. The two people in the 18 wheeler escaped but are in the hospital with injuries the last time I heard. Here is the deal, this guy was not a follower of Christ, if he believed that Jesus was real is one thing, but the fact that his heart was unrepentant and the fact that he ran from the Lord is another. The demons know who Jesus is but they still will be cast into Hell! I keep playing over in my mind what has happened in his life and where he was in life right before this all happened and it hurts and makes my heart absolutely hurt. This guy worked at a place that was full of Christians, even well educated ones. These Christians were around him all the time and though a few out of all of these guys tried to reach out it did no good. So with this I try to dissect the situation and see why. I know at one point that he was completely put off to the idea of Christianity because of the way that the supposed “Christians” were treating him, or because of the lifestyle that they lived. Here is a rhetorical question for you, how can you speak about Jesus unless you act like Him to the best of your ability? This guy was completely turned off by these Christians that sent their Godly chain emails and talked about God at work and then completely went off of the deep end in the way that they lived or treated him. It isn’t just big things but small things that matter as well and the hardest part is I look at this and feel that I don’t know that I could have done much better. This person is in eternity without God or any resemblance of Him. Without God I cannot imagine that anything nice would be there or even some things that would be unpleasant to remind us of nice things. If hell is eternity without God then that would mean everything God created would not be there either right? ( I am just thinking outloud) Just thinking about that we could go on to include that the beauty of the world around us would not be there. (trees, the stars in the sky, the grass on the ground, water, beautiful life all around us) What about this one? We wouldn’t have these relationships with family because we would be separated and friendships would be lost as we are alone. I can’t imagine the torment and the psychological things that happen in hell either. So with that why are we such idiots as Christians and relax in our comfortable lives there at our house watching, “The Biggest Loser” or some tv show that makes us entertained or even emotional? Aren’t we concerned? Don’t we see the craziness of it all. As believers we have the key to life and can share it….so how can we keep it in and live a life of comfort or even of sin and damn those to hell that should have a chance just like we do to meet Jesus face to face. What separates us and them? We all suck and should be in Hell, it’s only because of God showing us through the Holy Spirit about Repentance and a Righteous King that is Ruler of our lives once we turn our life over to Him that we even have a life to live. We were all once dead to sin, but now free in righteousness. If we have this freedom shouldn’t it be to live for Christ? Someone is in Hell because he couldn’t get the picture painted of Christ because of the fact that the Christians acted no different than he did. Doesn’t the word christian mean that we profess His name and actions? With that out of the way I have to say I have failed to live this sort of life and I cannot sit idly by and watch this happen. If your heart does not feel the same then maybe you need a check to see if you are Jesus true follower in the first place. Our job as a believer is to let other people know about the Love and care that Jesus has for us and all the while He still is the Righteous God, Messiah, Savior that demands our worship and praise through the actions in our life and our words. To Be Continued...

I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It....

So I was reading a blog of one of my former profs at Criswell, Dr. Burk and really enjoyed it. Take the time to check it out if you can. There is a great sermon on there as well...

http://www.dennyburk.com/?p=3770

"Head"

So I am reading a book that so far is amazing and I recommend it...but not if you aren't ready to hear an amazing life altering story of someone that was dead that God has given life. Check it out...


as always there may be some stuff you can lose but most of it is amazing

Redeemed

I am part of a church choir and for those of you who think that "church choir" is old fashioned and not cool, come see us. I am not saying, "Hey come see us perform or do a show." I am simply saying that from experience with what is going on I am so happy to be a part of a core set of believers that is trying to make their walk and their love for Christ show in the way they worship. Our music ministers name is Eric and he constantly reminds us that when we sing on Sundays it is not the time to be showing our praise at the start of the week but a time to reflect how we have done it all week and outpour that into the service so that other people can see and feel how real Jesus is. The music that we read is usually a little different than what we sing and often it is said, "Your music is only a guide," meaning that Eric is taking us to a new place and to just go with him. haha. It is fun to sing and make music that glorifies God but there is so much more.

Every week we come in and, though it takes up a lot of time out of rehearsal, we give praise and prayer requests. We will sit there for a while and share stories of what God is doing and how we need prayer or praise God for what He has done. This is honestly my favorite part of choir. There have been many times that you sit down and can see the hand of God moving through someone or a situation. I have gotten tears before because of this. Tears of joy and tears of emotion for someone that is going through some tough issues. Sometimes Eric will pray and then sometimes he will split it up so others can, and then sometimes we break into groups and pray. Beyond that there is more.

The people in Redeemed are the most genuine, loving, caring people you will ever meet. Whenever I got to the lowest point in my life where I could not make it another minute without God reassuring me, people from the choir stepped in and prayed and took me to dinner and loved on me. Whenever I had my wreck I was on my way to sing with everyone and praise God's name. The first people to check on me and to pray for me were the people in redeemed. The hardest part of my life was passed through by the grace of God showing and pulling me through and with the Almighty placing those people in my life. Since then I have built relationships with people that I never hope go away. I have bonds with both guys and girls in there that are unique and amazing beyond what I can imagine. The stories of those around me and the possibility of taking ministry further with a couple of them puts a joy in my heart. This obviously is only a God thing and for Him I give the glory. When I miss choir on Wednesday nights it throws me off. When I don't get to sing with them on Sundays however I am blessed because I can hear them and know that I am part of a group that is striving to show worship to the most High Creator of the Universe. What is better than that? I don't really know. I love me some Redeemed though and I am just going to leave it with that.