A Year of Blogging

A little over a year ago, I started blogging.  At first, my blog was private and wasn’t placed on this domain (RevolutionReality.com).  I had bought the domain back in 2004 but never used it for anything productive, so I eventually migrated it over.  I started this blog on June 28, 2005.

Recently, I’ve been trying to advertise this site on more blog related sites.  Hopefully I can boost up my readers as that’s one of the reasons I post.

That’s the update for today.  To “celebrate” a year of blogging, I leave you with my personal favorite blog posts of all time.

Random Thoughts

I wasn’t planning on writing anything here, but decided that I probably should since I’ve not written for a week or so (and I’m feeling a little random, but that’s beyond the point).

For some reason I couldn’t fall asleep last night until around 11 or 12.  I’ve been getting into a good sleep routine, but last night screwed it up I fear.  Maybe it didn’t — I hope, anyway.

Saturday night at 10pm is prayer night at the church. About 5 people signed up, but I’m thinking more will show (I was lame and only put five slots for some reason — I modified the later versions to include 12).  The focus is supposed to be on Isaiah 43:1-44:5 and Isaiah 62.  I’m not sure if that was made clear though, so maybe this will just be a prayer time.  Either way, it’ll be good.  Officially it doesn’t have an end time; unofficially it ends at 12. I’m ready for it!  I’m hoping that I’m NOT tired that night.

Today I had to do a little public speaking. Wasn’t much to it, really (I like public speaking, only when I write what I’m speaking about).  It was a good experience in a way though as I got to help people from literally around the world (this was International Officers).  It was a little different, but a good different.

A week or two ago I was pumping gas and an older guy came on the opposite side and started to talk about gas prices and such.  I went along at the beginning (agreeing gas prices were too high).  Until he started blaming Bush and congress about gas prices and the like.  He told me I should “watch the news” and such.  I told him I did.  Other than that, I just smiled.  One of the things I’ve learned (and still am learning) is that debating draws dividers — nothing more, nothing less.  Unless the other side gets a revelation of the truth (or vice-versa), there’s nothing much good that is going to happen — both sides will remain true to their case no matter what.  The more defensive you are, the more bitter the debate ends.  The doesn’t mean all debates are bad, but many are.  I’ve thought about something I could have said to the guy, but I’ve came to the conclusion that I’m better off how I handled it — with my mouth shut.

An interesting statistic that I heard a few weeks ago that while the divorce rate in America is, sadly, at around 50%.  That’s not that interesting though.  The interesting statistic is that of the couples who pray and read the Bible together less than 2% of them end up in divorce.  Two percent when the rest of America is 50%?  Quite a large difference.

I listened to John Bevere the other night (he spoke at New Life Church again) and it was something I probably needed to listen to.  To sum it up — if God calls you to do something and you decide not to do it He’ll move right on to someone else.  I’ve heard many stories (a LOT of stories) about pastors who where the second and third pick (meaning God had told a few other people to start churches and they didn’t — hence he had to find someone who would).  I can’t speak about it even close to as well as John Bevere put it, so it’s better to just listen to it yourself.

I got a new iPod.  It’s one of those cool video ones.  My case still hasn’t came yet though, so I’ve not really used it much because I don’t want to get it scratched (if possible).

I found some quotes for the prayer night on Sunday. Some of them are so awesome they need to be repeated, so here they are …

“People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.” — Proverbs 19:3 NLT

“When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.” — Corrie Ten Boom

“It is as true today as it was in Bible times that the man who hates his sins too much will get into trouble with those who do not hate sin enough.” — A.W. Tozer

“Pray, and let God worry.” — Martin Luther

“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” — Abraham Lincoln

This one wasn’t one I found (and isn’t for prayer night), but needs repeating as well:

“And why ask for wisdom if you ignore the Holy Spirit?” — Why by KJ-52

So with those quotes I end it.

Quick edit: I just switched from my closet server to the E-Blah servers (for speed and reliability reasons). Let me know if you see a noticable speed increase. Also, if there’s any issues with links let me know.  I transfered it over in about a total of 15 to 20 minutes so there could be some issues (although I doubt it).

New Theme

I'm not sure if I am going to stay with this theme.  If you would like it to stay, please post a comment!  If you want the old one back, let me know as well.

Prayer Night

On Sunday I sat down and wrote out a "prayer plan" for the city.  Pretty much what needs to be prayed for during a prayer time.  I have since revised it a time or two, but over all I didn't add or remove much.  It really just skims the surface of what really should happen and go on during a "prayer night" event.

Click here to download the prayer night document.

In a quick bit of other news …

I've been working and needing sleep.  I stay tired now, I think.  I've been able to actually do a few things at the shop I'm at (at work).  It's great.

Now … if I could just have an answer to this … "problem" I'm having, I'll be all set.  I think. Anywho, that's enough …

Emotions, Leadership, and Odd Stuff

The days are short, but oh so long.  The time spent complaining fills a bucket.  The point when good looks evil, the problems begin.  There’s just days when it’s so hard to add two plus two together.  Emotions lie but tell the truth.  They aren’t always lying, but they aren’t always telling the truth either.

God’s timing is perfect.  God is perfect.  God is the author and finisher of our faith.  He loves us and molds us and makes us into his image.  After years and years of knowledge, when does the knowledge become the religious?

Why aren’t anyone passionate?  Why is everyone fine with complacancy?  Is it because it means that sin can still run rampent (in some circles, anyway)?  Or is it just because it just means we never have to step out of our comfort zones?  I don’t know.  One thing I love about my church is this: the people there are passionate.  The core of my church, I can actually see in my mind passionately seeking God at every time during the day.

I love the night.  The night is when I can really connect with God in prayer and worship.  It’s so hard to do at 8 o’clock.  It’s so very hard.  I’ve not been able to figure that out.  It’s just how I’m wired.  I think there’s a lot of college aged people that fit into this category though … it’s just the church doesn’t (for the most part) do anything, so it’s used for drinking, sex, and drugs.

I have a passion for …

  • those who feel hopeless.
  • those who feel like no one is there for them.
  • those that don’t know where else to go, or who to turn to.
  • those who are broken (emotionally, spiritually, physically).

I suppose that’s just a small list, but I want to help these people.  I love helping people.  That’s what my “job” essentially is: helping people.

I want to see people whom are passionate about prayer and fasting — who we can all help push each other in.  I don’t want to lead.  Maybe I’m called to lead though.  I think why I don’t want to lead is because I’m so young, look even younger, and am quite (shy? maybe).  I just don’t have much vision of how to run things, though.  Or maybe I do, but I don’t want to jump head first in it.

That said: my passion right now would be to have a weekly corporate prayer time (not once a month, or year, but weekly) between midnight and 2am (or longer, depending on where God leads).

The basic problem with this is this: will ANYONE else catch this vision?  Will there be anyone (besides me) who would like to do this (or even maybe not, but wouldn’t mind doing it just out of love for God and the people of this city)?  Personally, I loved being challenged by others to press deeper into God — ie: fasting.  Even if it were just two or three people.  With fasting it’s hard to challenge myself.

Either way, I’m letting it be known … if I’m supposed to lead, I’ll lead.  I just want a vision, the words (please?), or something so I can move from point A to point B.  Doesn’t matter if it’s bumpy, just matters that it works — and more importantly: if lives are changed.

A Few Good Quotes

I've been reading a little A.W. Tozer again. He's a little strict on some things, but a lot of his writing is deep. Here's a few quotes I've found …

It is as true today as it was in Bible times that the man who hates his sins too much will get into trouble with those who do not hate sin enough. People resent having their friends turn away from them and by implication condemn their way of life.

– A.W. Tozer in Man – The Dwelling Place of God; True Faith is Active, Not Passive

And another …

Of all the emotions the soul is capable, love is by far the freest, the most unreasoning, the one least likely to spring up at the call of duty or obligation, and surely the one that will not come at the command of another.

– A.W. Tozer in Man – The Dwelling Place of God; True Religion is Not Feeling, but Willing

When I was reading "House" a few weeks back, I feel in love with the quotes on light and dark …

No matter what happens, remember that light ALWAYS pierces the darkness.

– Susan from "House" by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekke (emphasis added)

Then a quote that was used a few times in the book, but also a refrence to scripture is:

The light came into the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it.

John 1:5 NIV; this exact quote is from "House" by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

Those are just a few quotes I felt noteworthy enough to write about … enjoy!

Encouragements

I've been pretty silent on The Da Vinci Code debate. It honestly doesn't interest me that much. If it was historically accurate it does sound like it'd be interesting (although how can you make something that far out accurate?). Honestly, just reading 1st and 2nd Kings is some of the best reading in the world. It's awesome. That's besides the point I'm getting at though. One of the largest reasons why I do not wish to read this book is the fact that is tries to confuse fact with fiction. This is actual a great tactic for governments trying to brainwash someone. If you can confuse someone about what is good and what is evil, your job is MUCH easier. For example: say you wreck your car and it was the other persons fault. Three years later someone writes a fictional book about a situation almost identical to yours but blames it on themselves. The reader knows he was not at fault before the read, but at the end he's confused as to whether or not he was really blameless. Bad example, perhaps, but it works.

The book is number one on Facebook. Aside from the fact that this probably isn't "scientific", it does include a great majority of college students (or once college students). The Bible is number three (below Harry Potter). I'm not too sure how the whole "don't go see this movie" campaign from a large majority in the church went, but honestly it drew a lot of attention to it — good and bad. The church needs to proclaim the authenticity of the Bible (it's authentic, and there's a lot of proof to back it up). I watched something tonight that said the majority of people are ignorant to church history. I couldn't agree more. We've got to know the church history. It's incredibly interesting too. I'm think we'd be surprised at the amount of people who do not know what Protestantism is. That's not even the largest part (in modern church history, I'd say it's close to number one, if not number one). I don't know near as much church history as I'd like.

One side note on this, why isn't many people defending Leonardo Da Vinci? Talk about slander. Everyone who thinks of him now thinks of this book [of lies] as something he thought up. Not good.

I'm thankful for those who are there that give encouragement. Everyone has bad days (weeks, and months), and we all need people here to encourage us. Sometimes I feel like I'm not reaching anyone, but then I'm proven wrong. A few weeks (or months) ago I was wondering if E-Blah even reached anyone with the credits. Not too much later, I got an e-mail from a guy who said that it planted a seed. Even if it didn't do much, it led to something.

We should all be encourager's. I want to be an encouragement to people. Someway. Somehow. I love just listening to people, maybe that's some encouragement to someone. It encourages me sometimes when I've got something going on. I love just helping people. Several weeks ago we had an in class assignment that I knew and understood pretty well. I could have left 30 minutes early or so, but instead decided to stay and help the those that sat around me that did not understand it. I'm not saying that for credit, but this is what we, as Christians, should do. If we have a talent, we should use it … sometimes it causes discomfort. We are supposed to live selfless lives. Would I have really missed those 30 minutes? Not really. I would have got home that much sooner. Lame excuse for not helping someone, I think.