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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).

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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.

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Illegal Christianity

It is okay to accept the sinner and their sin? Even if they’re a professing “Christian” is it okay? It’s perfectly fine to accept the sinner (we should do this, actually). It saddens me how some would prefer others to be happy over protecting morality. When the moral is set on the same level as the immoral a deadly action occurs. These two items cannot be put on the same level — they cannot live together. It’s like a half truth — even if some of it’s true, it’s still a lie.

When we become a Christian we should be changing. It will take your entire life — but we should be changing. Am I perfect? No. I’m still changing. What I’m talking about is how when you’re in deliberate sin — such as homosexuality — and you become a Christian. You should change or be changing that way of life, if you’re in it. If you’re in the lifestyle you MUST get out. The feelings you have for the sin may take days, months, or even years to finally get rid of (and some may remain for a lifetime). Being involved in sin doesn’t mean you’re going to hell. We all fail. Remaining in sin (we know are sin) can though (Galatians 5:20, for example).

Am I saying go and judge everyone? Of course not (we should judge ourselves, though). I’ve wrote posts on judgment before. We shouldn’t be encouraging the sin at all. They must be delivered from the sin, then discipled. They shouldn’t be running back to the sin. The church must be helping and aiding in this. If there’s no prayer and fasting, it’s probably not going to work well either. Words don’t change things — prayer does.

If America (or where you live) made it illegal to be a Christian, would you still be one? Even if the punishment was death, would you still be one? We have it easy. We so often become lazy in the freedom we have. I think we’ve all became lazy in everything. I remember watching a movie (based on a true story) a few weeks back about a woman who was a Christian in Communist China. She was involved in an underground church located in an open area (in a closed area, but it was between buildings). When they sang hymns, they had to mouth the words because of fear of being heard. When the government found them, many of the people were killed (the main woman of the story escaped). It makes me sad when I take for granted being able to go to church freely.

I’ve been listening to a prayer meeting from JHOP (that’s like 2 hours), and it’s something how 4,000 unheard voices are silenced each day and yet we’re so passive about it. We’ve got to pray for them!

I was watching the History Channel today and they had something on about the civil rights period. It made me angry seeing how white men who had murdered blacks had been charged with “violating their civil rights” and not murder. Justice did not prevail. This happened a generation ago now, thought. We’ve got to move past what’s past. Never forget the past, but never hold it to the future. The Conservative ideas Martin Luther King, Jr. held onto must prevail. I love what the new voices in the black community are saying. The veil just has to fall, and quickly! Read more about the video here.

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Movie Night

I took the Jenna and Mitchell, and Jenna’s friend Ashley to a movie tonight.  Cars.  I don’t do reviews too well, so I’m not going to really try now.  The movie was hilarious.  The movie had a very good (moral) message about selfishness.  I’d love to watch it several more times before it hits DVD, which I don’t say very often.  It is rated G.  I think this is the first G rated movie I’ve saw in theaters in years.  It was very clean, also.

I voted last Tuesday in the Alabama primaries.  There was a marriage amendment for Alabama that I had to draw the little line for “Yes”.  It passed with 81.24%.  In other words, Alabama won’t be acknowledging any gay marriages anytime soon.  The rest of the nation will soon follow suit, I’m pretty sure.  This is, of course great and awesome news.  Oh while on the issue of outlawing things, legalized murder will soon no longer be tolerated either (abortion for any of the pro-slaughterers out there).  Things like that just take time.  Just gotta wait (and pray) for Bush to pick one last judge and it’s gone.  For. Good.

For anyone wondering, I, of course, voted in the Republican primaries.  No way am I ever voting for those who root for the terrorists and don’t respect Godly authority and leadership (or any minority third party as they just steal votes).

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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 …

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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.