Inside Out

Solitary Place

2008-04-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in youth we talked about prayer, and Joanna spoke on the importance of being alone with God. We had stations set up with different ways of spending alone time with God, and for 45 mins 35 youth and adults were in silence.

All of this was based off of the verse Mark 1:35 "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."

I know for me, being in a solitary place with God is a bit scary. It is not that I think that God is going to smite me or anything like that because I know God is love. It is more because i know that God knows me, Inside out. He knows my heart and where I have succeeded and struggle, and to spend solitary time with Him means I have to be real. It means I have to be honest. I have to be truthful. I have to be me, with all the baggage that brings.

I think that I our lives right now, we have gotten to a point where we feel like "me" isn't good enough. Because of this, we take on different hats that make us act like those around us at the time. The problem with doing this is that we never real act like... well.... us.

So my challenge to myself, and anyone else is to take time, go to a solitary place, and be yourself with God. I believe that this is why Jesus was able to be as loving and bold as he was because he knew who he was. He was loved and created by God to love and save the world.

So go, find out who you really are by sitting down with your creator...

WHY?

2008-03-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

There are things that happen in life that we can only ask why? There are situations and horrible events that leave us with this one question; times in our lives where we feel there are no words but why?

This weeks events were such a time as this. With a fire that takes both parents of two daughters, there are simply no words, but why?

Sometimes in a time like this you hear things like "everything happens for a reason." I believe this to be a terrible answer, and I also don't even believe it to be true. I don't think that God makes things like this happen. I don't believe that God, who is referred to in the Bible as "Love", would hurt His creation which He loves. I do believe that God can take any situation, no matter how terrible and have good come out of it, but I don't think that everything happens for a reason.

Another common attempt is to say that whoever was involved in the event was being punished for a bad life. THIS IS JUST WRONG! The fact that some people feel when you become a Christian that life becomes worldly great is just well...wrong! Now I do believe that when we become a Christian and invite Christ into our hearts that we are given a PEACE and HOPE.

PEACE that we are never alone, and that even though things suck sometimes, God is with us, loving us, always. HOPE that in the end, God does have control, and that He sees a much bigger picture then we will ever know. HOPE that this life, here on earth, is not the end; HOPE that we will meet again...

Each of us, at one time or another, have been through something that to us seemed like our world was over. Each of us have gotten to a point where all we could say was why? Each of us may still be holding on to that moment and have never let it go. May you do that now... May you share your story, and find that you are not only not alone because God is with you, but you are not alone because we each can relate and either are there, were there, or will be there.

Please use this as a safe place to share your "Why" moment(s). Just click add comment and add your story, if you want you can leave your first name (no last names please)

MAY YOU KNOW THAT IN THESE "WHY" MOMENTS THAT GOD LOVES YOU, RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW... AND THAT YOU ARE NO ALONE.... AND KNOW IT IS OK TO SAY "WHY"

So go ahead, add your story and be a part of a community of healing...

Heaven on Earth...

2008-02-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

Our verse this week is Matthew 6:10
"Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven."

I picked this verse to begin our new series on PRAYER, and since this is the part of the Lord's Prayer, and when Jesus was teaching on how to pray, I thought this would be a good place to start.... well God wanted to teach me more...

This past Sunday Night at church we hosted a Neighborhood Fellowship, this included our congregations, our Hispanic congregation, and the folks from the run down hotel across the parking lot. I must say that I was really excited about this concept because I feel like churches don't usually do a good job of reaching out to others, but this was a great example of us being willing to do it!

Well, we had planned for the youth to set up everything at 5pm while the rest were bringing food and setting up the buffet. So around 4pm, the Hispanic church was finished with their service and were playing soccer as they do in the gym, and it was so much fun for our youth and congregation to see part of their culture.
After a while we set up for the meal and the Hispanic congregation went on through the line, and then right after that the people from across the parking lot came and then our youth went through the line while others from our congregation helped clean and serve!

As time went on, the separate groups came to be one. It was no longer three groups, but one. One group of people brought together by Christ's love being shared! Our youth did a great job of meeting the kids and adults they did not know and playing with the kids, and after about an hour and a half, it was clear that no one wanted to leave. In fact there were even a few families that stayed until we had almost cleaned everything up and were just standing around!

Everyone was grateful, including the hosts! God was with us! It was as if God's kingdom had come, and his will done, on earth as it was in Heaven!
Even for this one night, which we are already planning to do many more times, Heaven on Earth was shared by all!

?????Doubts?????

2008-02-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

This coming week, we are preparing for a "Doubt Night." This is going to be a time where the youth volunteers and I will become an adult panel and address several questions that our youth have been asking on cards and putting in the doubt box.

Here are a few questions that have mad thier way int the box:
Which religion is right? Is it ok to have friends that are not Christian? Are you ever really forgiven?

I am so excited about this! Not because I have all the answers, because I don't, but because I want them to understand that it is, not just ok, but I believe nessecary to question "Why do I believe this?" about everything. This is not to make them give up on faith, but to strengthen it.

A couple of weeks ago in Sunday School, we were discussing the question: "When does faith become yours?" or essentially when does the faith that you have grown up with, when do you take it as your own?

What was great is that they worked themselves to the answer that at the point that they no longer just accept what people say as true and right, but they start questioning if it is true and seeking others and God for answers. They felt that at this point your faith starts to become thier own.

What was also interesting was that several felt that faith can never fully become your own because faith MUST be a communal thing. They felt some things must be a group issue or group belief.

I am still questioning this myself, but I think that I believe this to be true.

It is questions, in my opion, that help us truely understand our beliefs and why we believe them. I have much more to talk about with this, but I will save it for another day...

Another one of Ed's deep thoughts...

2008-02-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Click here to read one of Ed's postings

Follow me...

2008-02-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

Luke 9:23:Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

The only way to follow someone is to know where they have been and where they are going...
Maybe some of the ways for us to know this about Christ is through prayer, scripture, experiences, and stories from other people.

Who are you following?

Daily...

2008-02-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

Luke 9:23:Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Daily.

This is not a weekly one hour thing. This is not a when I get around to it thing. This is not even a most of the time thing. It is a DAILY thing. Being a Christian is not about being in a nice building and sit happy in our pews, it is about loving God with everything we've got and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Mark 12:30-31

What are you doing Daily? What cross are you picking up daily?

Take up your cross...

2008-02-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

Now for the next part
Luke 9:23:Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Take up your cross daily.

This thought is simple, but very important: What are you willing to die for? What are you so passionate about doing you would give everything, even your life?

Now, take up your cross...

Yet another view point...

2008-02-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

Here is what my fiancee Joanna wrote

Deny Yourself...another view point

2008-01-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

Click here to go to a blog of Ed, one of my good friends, who bloged about this same meditation

Deny yourself...

2008-01-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

This week's meditation verse is Luke 9:23:
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

It has really challenged me to think about what it means to follow Christ. Today, let's take the first part, "he must deny himself."

What does this mean? What does this look like? How can I live this?

I think that maybe this is about our will verse God's. In order to truly follow Christ we must put down our desires and follow God's desires for us. I believe that this part has become especially hard for my generation. With the iPod, iHome, MySpace, iPhone, My Sweet 16 TV show; everything has become about "ME." That is why this first part is so important, the only way to follow Christ is for us to stop worrying about ourselves, if we are going to have a better house or car or cell phone, and start finding out about God's heart. It is so crucially for us to do this first because without doing it first, the rest of the verse will not happen.

What do I need to change or do or stop doing to deny myself?

I think that for me maybe I need to stop trying to make everyone see from my point of view, I need to realize that even if my ideas are good they may not be the best. I need to realize that I am not the end all say all on anything, and God is on everything!
I need to deny my pride, humble myself to God that I might live the greatest life that He has for me!

What do I need to change or do or stop doing to deny myself?

Teach with your life!

2008-01-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

One of the things that we have been focusing on in youth group is how can we live out the scriptures. So each week we take a verse and try to take it deeper and understand it more, and then live it out.

This weeks verse is 1Timothy 4:12 - as posted earlier.

Yesterday, we as a youth group we able to really live this verse out!
Across the parking lot of our church there is a hotel/motel, the Village Inn. This is a place where those who pretty much can't afford anywhere else, go. Of course there are those who you would think that live at a place like this, but there are also many families that live there as well...

One of our church members owns the Village Inn, and has given us a room there that we can renevate for a kids and youth room for those that live there. As you can imagine I was very excited, but we were instructed that a different group at the church was going to fix it up.

Three months had past, and nothing had happened, so I was given the go ahead to organize the youth to go over and paint it. So yesterday that is what we did! The room was a mess, but with a fresh coat of paint it looks a lot better. There is still so much to do, but every youth that helped I know got a new way of looking at this scripture.

We were able to set an example with our lives!
Click here is you would like to see some of the pictures of before and after

Another Post about this verse!

2008-01-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

My fiancee, Joanna, is also a huge part of the youth group I work with. And she is also a great writer so here is one of her posts.

http://part-of-something.blogspot.com/2008/01/instructions-to-timothy.html

Teach with your life...Day 1

2008-01-22T06:15:00.000-08:00

We are starting our second week with our new meditation.
If you would like to join us, please do, here is the like to the web page that will describe how to do it.
http://www.crossvillefumc.net/This%20Week/ThisWeek.htm

This weeks verse is 1 Timothy 4:12
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

I believe that this verse along with many others is used all the time for youth and young adults in ministry, but I don't know if I have ever really studied what Paul was going for when he wrote it to young Timothy. When I have and hear this verse used, it is almost always by an older adult to a younger person, almost in a demeaning way. That by quoting it you make the youth feel the lesser because you are calling them young.

I, as a young adult in youth ministry in a church, would like to use it to encourage and challenge those who are called "young" where ever you are. Use this verse as a challenge to live out what Christ has lived out. Use this verse to be challenged to set an example with your life. Instead of trying to fight back verbally, or even fight back at all, why not live out what you believe to be what we are called to be as Christians? Why not feed the hungry? Why not clothe the naked? Why not visit the imprisoned? Why not help those that are oppressed? Why not speak up for those who have no voice? Why not step up and do something?

I believe that if we can take this challenge, we can actually literally change the world!

More on this later...

Love your neighbor . . Day 4-6

2008-01-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

So I have to admit, when we started this new meditation about living out scripture and applying it to our lives, I really thought that I would have these great stories to share that would encourage and maybe even challenge. God had other ideas.

Within this week, I have posted a few times about stories for the day, but what God has really done this week is teach me more about what this love is that it talks about in our verse looks like.

This love has nothing to do with romantic feelings,
this love has nothing to do with making myself look better,
this love has nothing to do with being even or fair,
this love has nothing to do with what I want,
this love has nothing to do with what anyone wants,

This love has no motive save for love,
this love gives glory to God alone,
this love meets the deep and essential needs of everyone,
this love heals physically, spiritually, and mentally,
this love is one of self-sacrifice,
this love gives, not expecting anything in return,
this love gives hope,
this love is about responding to the love already shared with us in Christ,
this love is the only thing we are called to be and do and share!

So, how do I respond? What can I do? What if I fail? What if I fail over and over and over?
What if I misrepresent Christ?

I think that all these questions are what plague Christians and paralyze missions and change and the church. What if we are asking the wrong questions? Turn them insideout.

Maybe these should be our questions:
What if I don't respond? What if I don't do? What if I don't even try? What if I don't fail? What if I try do represent Christ the best I know how?

I don't know where these will take me, youth group, church, or everything else. But I can't wait to find out!

Love your neighbor . . Day 3

2008-01-17T07:53:00.001-08:00

I'm back! And after my last post I have had a chance to ponder this love some more.

This love I talked about in the pervious post, this self-sacrificing love, was truly exemplified by Christ, when he laid down his life for ours. Of course most of us have heard this over and over, but have we really thought about it?

Jesus, Son of God, knew why he had to die. He knew it was to be the ultimate sacrifice, which sounds like it was and easy choice, but I don't think so.

Think about it:
Jesus knew that everyone he was dong this for could not ever live up to his example. Everyone he did this for he knew would not all thank him or even acknowledge that he did it. Everyone he did this for he knew would mess up over and over and over. Even though he knew this and knew that even you and I would struggle with loving others, he still did it. He knew that it was a love that he could share that no one else could. He knew that is was his calling for his life only. He knew that life was not about him and what he wanted and what he could do, but it was about what God wanted to do.

Jesus could have taken all of his gifts, and taken over the world, but he laid it all down for us! This love is what we are called to do! A love that no matter what the cost, live out God's calling! A love that gives, not expecting a "thank you" or even a return favor, but a love given because if the love that has already been shared with us.

What are we going to do, in response to this love?

Love your neighbor. . Day 2

2008-01-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

First off, sorry it has been a couple days, but I am going to post reflecting on the last couple days.

During day two, I was kinda of bummed out because I had no great story of doing a love act, but through this struggle I realized that it is not about doing something everyday because then I fall into the trap of feeling guilty when all I really am called to do it love God with everything I've got and love my neighbor as myself.

Maybe sometimes it is not about doing but understanding. During my meditation, I realized that in order to really understand what this "love" looks like and how to live it out, we must understand God more fully.

Upon reflecting on this love, I really feel that love must involve sacrifice. So many times wee feel like we did a god deed when it was so easy for us to do, and probably didn't change our day or situation at all. This Love that God and Jesus are talking about is one of self-sacrifice. This means that you are willing to lay down your plans and time in order to help those who God puts in your life.

I think that when we, as Christians, really pick up on the fact that life is not about us, it is about laying down our life and picking up the cross of Christ. Luke 9:23

Love Your Neighbor - Day 1

2008-01-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

So, today was the first day of my new adventure described in the previous post.

I actually felt like I failed this new meditation by day one because I felt I had not done anything out of the ordinary. And prayed for God to show me what to do, and He brought a name to my mind, Cassie.

She is a new friend who has also recently moved to this town of Crossville, TN. Well to make a short story long, Cassie has been overwhelmed at her work for this past week, and this week looked to be heading the same direction. All of this was found out about yesterday, but today God brought her name back to my attention.

Not that I have great problem solving skills, and I certainly cannot help her with her job seeing as she does something I don't know enough about, but I thought back to this verse Mark 12:30-31, and what does it look like to love your neighbor as yourself.

Immediately I thought well, maybe I can call and figure out her favorite comfort food and run it over to her. Come to find out we share a desire for Reese's Cups, and that she literally live about 30 seconds down the street! Needless to say, I ran the cups over and gave her a break from her work (Exactly what I would want someone to do for me.)

I don't know if she appreciated it, but I pray that even this small gesture showed God's love to her. She is a great girl and solid in her faith, and I know that it is very easy to feel that we are alone in this pursuit, so I wanted her to know she is not alone.

I hope that this post does not sound like bragging about "How good I am" because it is not about that at all, it is about taking my scripture to the week, and trying to live it out.

I must say I am excited and a little scared to see what God has in store for me tomorrow!

New Adventure....

2008-01-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Last night I posed to the Youth Group, which I am the youth minister of, the idea maybe the reason why we feel that Scripture is out of date, doesn't relate to us, and is boring and pretty much worthless is that we are doing it wring. I know this sounds weird, but maybe we can try to even look at Scripture from the inside out.

Maybe the reason we feel this way about scripture is because we are making choices in our lives and then trying to see how scripture fits within it. Maybe we can turn this inside out and take scripture and try to live our lives out of it.

Here is an example:
Say you read Mark 12:28-31
" 28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

This is commonly referred to as the "greatest commandment." My struggle is that I have read this way over 100 times, but I don't think I have ever really sat down and tried to live out what this would look like. How can I love my neighbor as myself? Does it mean literally $1 for $1? I spend a dollar on myself I spend a dollar on someone else. Does it mean that ever minute I spend trying to get a head on life, I spend one minute trying to help someone else get a head?

And what about the first part? How can I love God with well basically "everything I've got?"
I don't know what this looks like? Can I really do this?

I think that the church would benefit greatly from looking at scripture in this way. As Christians, and I include myself in this, we sometimes get so caught up in reading the most scripture or having the longest devotional time, but my new goal is to get caught up in the effectiveness of my devotion. Does it change my life? Does it change how I interact with others? Does it change how I rely on God? Does it change me, so that I might change the world?

Within all of these struggles, I found that maybe concentrating on a verse for a longer period of time would help me focus on what it would look like to live out a verse.
My fiancee (I can't remember if the guy or girl has two "e"s) and I sat down and worked out a meditation for an entire week based on a verse. This is posted on our youth website at http://www.crossvillefumc.net/This%20Week/ThisWeek.htm
Feel free to check it out and even join us in trying this new adventure, trying to live out scripture in our live today.

I will keep you updated on how this goes...

Expectations out the window...

2007-11-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

From the previous post "Preconceived beliefs about people..."

"I believe that one of the greatest problems with communication is that we each come into certain relationships with particular expectations and preconceived beliefs. I find that usually these expectations and preconceived beliefs about people are not shared or left at the door."

The biggest difference between my previous post and this one is that Preconceived Beliefs are put upon people who we do not know, and Expectations are put upon people we do.

Here are my thoughts on the latter:
I believe that so many times we feel that our friends in life let us down. We think that they know exactly what we are going through and they will just know to call or write, and well they don't know because we have not told them. ( I don't know about you but I have not learned to read minds yet.) Our friends are friends because they have been with us along our journey of life and faith and they probably really do care, they just need to know what is going. We cannot expect people to read minds or call when we are feeling bad, they might, but it won't happen every time.

I think the best thing is to just make time to talk, not just about the weather or the last game, but about real life. Talk about struggles, joys, and everything in between. If we do this our expectations will change because we will know our friends better and they will know each other better, and through this we will learn how each other work.

What if the reason you feel you have bad friends is because you don't let them know what you need?

What if the person you have put expectations on is God?
What if the reason God has disappointed you is because of your expectations and not because of Him?

Preconceived beliefs about people...

2007-11-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

I believe that one of the greatest problems with communication is that we each come into certain relationships with particular expectations and preconceived beliefs. I find that usually these expectations and preconceived beliefs about people are not shared or left at the door.

First let us tackle the preconceived beliefs about people:
I know, personally, that due to my background and experiences that there are certain quick judgements that I make all the time about people I don't even know. I have also found that the quick judgements, right or wrong, make me approach new relationships with certain biases; and it is these biases that can hinder me from truly getting to know the individual person.
I really struggle with this because I truly believe that God has created each of us for a unique purpose and not only that no any two people have the same relationships and experiences. So why can't I, one who really believes this (I think), throw out all these biases?
Maybe because there is not one moment in life where you and I are not bombarded by different judgements and prejudices. I have found that the only way to attempt to avoid this problem is by knowing that we are doing it and make intentional steps to move beyond it. This could be done by make intentional point to get to know someone, everyone better, from the INSIDE OUT. By intentionally getting to know everyone better, we will find it easier to move beyond these biases.

Next to come, Expectations out the window...

The Next 500 years...

2007-11-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was at the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta, GA. There were 5,500 youth ministers, and amazing speakers, bands, worship leaders, and so much more.

My title to this post refers to one of the main speakers of the weekend: Phillis Tickle. This older lady, her words not mine, came and gave a history lesson on the Church. She explained in many more words than this that every 500 years, the Church has had to undergo a huge "shift." One example was the Protestant reformation, an important part of Church history (kinda).

Anyway, she talked about all the examples at length and then she shared that we are now starting to go through a NEW shift. She explained that each of the divisions of the Church were now starting to talk, at "water coolers" or in my generation coffee shops, and share about beliefs and church practices and lifes answers and question, and even starting to come closer together.

Her ploy to us was that within this new shift of the Church, "we" the collective of church leaders, are setting the course of the Church for the next 500 years; whatever that might be. But she warned not to get so excited about this new change that we forget about where we have come from, our history and our traditions.

It made me think about what we; maybe just me; do as youth ministers. We typically will forget about traditions and history, in order to be "relevant." The problem is that when we forget where we came from, we can stray so far from the goal and purpose of the Church that we lose all credibility.

I think that struggle within all this is
HOW CAN WE HOLD ON AND EMBRACE TRADITION AND HISTORY, WITHOUT BEING HELD BACK BY IT?

I believe, maybe, that in embracing where we are and have been that we might find where we should go. . .

Where will we end up? What will this great shift be?
I don't know, but I am so excited about being a part of it!

Sorry....

2007-11-19T18:52:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been forever since my last post.

I think that most of the reason is that I have had trouble putting into words my thoughts and what God was teaching me. Well, I still am but I at least have an idea of the topics to come:
WHO AM I?
Youth Ministry 3.o
This Next Year
Expectations out the window
The Next 500 Years

well, my head hurts from everything said at National Youth Ministry Convention in Atl. So I need to take a breather and I will be back (sooner then later) with thoughts, struggles, youth ministry etc...

May God bless you with LOVE, HOPE, DREAMS, PEACE, and great friendships

what you practice IS what you preach

2007-09-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

There is a thought that I have been struggling with, and a commercial was on right when I was thinking about it that went with it,

This commercial has kids saying,
“Don’t tell us that unless you really mean it.
Because it is way too important.”
-www.Dividedwefail.org

This political commercial I believe is what the church needs to hear. Not go out there and vote for a certain politician, but don’t just say something, show me. This sort of goes back to “practice what you preach,” I would even like to change it a bit:
“What you practice IS what you preach.”

Imagine if we lived by this thought…
Maybe people would have food who don’t have food,
Maybe people would have clothes that don’t have clothes,
Maybe people would have something to drink,
Maybe people would not be left alone,

Here is what Jesus said about it:
Matthew 25:31-46 (The Message)
The Sheep and the Goats
"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'
"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because— I was hungry and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was homeless and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'
"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'
"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

It seems to me that God could care less what we know, but maybe God is concerned about our Faith and what we do about it.

James 1:19-26 (New International Version)
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

James 2:14-26 (New International Version)
Faith and Deeds
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

I don't know exactly what this means for each person, and there certainly is no 10 or 15 step method to it, but I believe that as I seek God through scripture, song, creation, and others; He will teach me.

So if "What you practice IS what you preach" then what is your life preaching about Christ?

Prayer

2007-09-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

If we see prayer as a way of accomplishing things,
then what happens when they go unanswered?

What if we saw prayer as a way of admitting, “I know I can’t do anything, but I know God does?”

What if prayer became a way of God using us, not us trying to use God?

What if we prayed for guidance?What if we prayed to hear from God?

What if we prayed to get to know God better?

How does prayer fit within the Christian life?

Does it?

Joanna, my fiance, wrote something about praying in color
Check it out:
http://part-of-something.blogspot.com/2007/09/praying-in-color.html