Awesome news story

check this out

http://www.youtube.com/?v=UBYPaNc57Ik

Pictures

Here's a few pictures just for fun:

John and Melanie at Jatin's Birthday Party
The Blue Ox Crew
Merit's First Haircut

Pardon my weaponry

I was challenged in my quiet time this morning in Luke 9 where Jesus makes some pretty strong statements about following Him.
Most notably:
"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will find it."

It's not just the person who tries to save his life who will lose it, but simply the person who wishes to save his life.

Second strong statement:
"No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Not just going back... looking back
Mostly, what I was challenged by is that the war is in your mind. Wishing and looking are not real actions of rebellion, but Jesus identifies them here as being the same as rejecting Him. Pretty hard to grasp because I can often feel like there's nothing wrong with desiring things of the world, as long as I'm not pursuing them....

I followed my heart and it led me straight to Jackson

Well, I'm now the proud owner of one, "Lightyear Properties". If anyone hears of any good real estate deals give me a nod...

It was slow blogging this week. We worked in Dallas which made for long and tiring days. We've been doing a full house, interior and exterior, so luckily we got the exterior finished by Thursday before we got hit with the Arctic Blast (not to be confused with a drink at Sonic). It was a tiring week for my dad, David and I though, so I think we'll all enjoy the weekend.

I wanted to recognize some people I've been really encouraged by these last few weeks. Through little things I've seen them say or do, or their attitude, these people have been encouraging to me...
Beth Craney, Kate Leanna, Cody Watkins, Jerrod Inskeep

Thanks guys!

Needs

We had a pretty laid back weekend I suppose... didn't do a whole lot, but Debi, Merit and I spent a lot of time together.

The past few weeks I've had to make some decisions that have been tough. It's been hard for me to really hear God's voice in the midst of circumstances that seem very difficult. In reality though, I know that my perception is limited and my understanding incomplete. For me personally I've noticed God revealing needs in me that I didn't really know were there.

Tomorrow I'm meeting with Dennis to discuss starting a real estate company... I've got a lot of uneasiness and feel pretty stressed about the whole thing. I've been wrestling with whether my anxiety is coming from myself or if there's really something from the Lord I need to hear. The trouble is not being able to clearly understand. It's easy for me to want the Lord to give very clear direction, the flame and the cloud. In reality though, I know that faith is the answer... men and women who saw the flame and cloud still rebelled against God because of lack of faith.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

Funny Stuff

Check out the trailers for "Brokeback to the Future" and "Shining".... Funny

Brokeback
http://www.youtube.com/?v=zfODSPIYwpQ

Shining
http://www.youtube.com/?v=1J9ufqCoqyo

Bearing Fruit in Old Age

Debi and I rented the movie Cinderella Man last night, and it was great. I'd give it a strong recommendation, even if you don't like boxing movies.

Read this morning: Psalm 92:12-15

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

Not that I actually am old, but I do sometimes (a lot of times really) feel ineffective and out of touch in college ministry. God help me to stay fresh and green!

Ballin

Jana gave me two tickets to a Mavericks gome over the holidays, so last night Stephen and I went to see the Mavs/Lakers. The seats were awesome, we were on the first level about halfway up, just behind and to the right of the backboard. It was sweet. Being that close you can really see a lot more of what is going on on the court and what the teams are trying to do. It was a great game, I've got to write a thank you note to Jana.

I think the better thing though was being able to hang out with Stephen for a night. It's great to have a friendship with someone where you can not have seen each other for months, but when you get together it's like no time has passed at all and you can just jump back into deep conversations about any subject. It was really good to talk to him and just enjoy our friendship and have fun, and that was very refreshing. One consequence of having a pretty hard day at work, and then being out until 11:00 at a basketball game is that my sore throat is bad today. I'm staying home today to try and rest up and hope the rawness goes away...

Other Super Bowl Comments

Was it just me or were there not very many funny commercials? The only one's I realyl liked where the Ameriquest ones where the tag line was "Don't judge too quickly". The one in the first half with the doctors and the fly was pretty funny. Other than that, nothing really stood out... I didn't like the Diet Pepsi commercials at all... the Budweiser commecials were just rehashes of previous ones with the horses playing football and stuff. Overall, I'd give this years commercial crop a D+

Second pioint. The halftime show was just lame. Nothing interesting, nothing surprising, just boring. I switched over to the Simpsons for a while, and then switched back in case I missed some surprise guest or something cool... but no, it was just more of the same. Grade: D-

Steelers win

One of the better Super Bowls in recent years in my opinion... good momentum swings and a very competitive game. With Debi and Merit being sick and me starting to feel it too we just stayed here and watched the game and had a pretty low key day. I cleaned the kitchen, and now Debi's holding a sleeping Merit and watching Grey's Anatomy while I type.

I downloaded a teaching from Faithwalkers that I wanted to listen to and recorded it to CD so I could listen to it in the car, which I did yesterday. The teaching was a follow up on one I got a lot out of last year, titled "Raising Up an Army" by Tim Borseth. Anyway, in the follow up he talks about problems that you run into when you are trying to really accomplish the task of raising people up. It seems like when you are attempting something significant, the challenges get harder and harder. It was a good teaching that was very challenging to me personally as I considered his points. One of the things that was really hard hitting though was talking about God putting ministry on hold until things are worked through in the leaders life. It was really important for me to be reminded that God cares more about me than he does about the success of our ministry or my homegroup. He will allow the homegroup to struggle, flounder, and even crash, all because He cares so much about my life and seeing me grow and change. Anyway, that point was really convicting for me and what my attitude has been toward what God is doing (or what I think He isn't doing). I got some good thoughts through listing to Tim's points, and was just praising God today for how faithful He is to keep growing me and challenging me.

What brings us together

This is an interesting article on what is universal in our fractured culture...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0203/p11s01-algn.html

It's pretty remarkable really what the real things that influence our culture are, and it's somewhat sad to see the lack of anything that really points people to the Lord. (I guess you could point out Bono in the article, but I'm not sure that counts.) In previous generations, Dr. King or Billy Graham might have made the list at least... anyway, interesting article.

Super Bowl Pick

Usually in games where I have no vested emotional interest in either team, I root for the underdog. So, I will be rooting for Seattle this Sunday, hoping to see them knock off the Steelers... for my pick though I've got to go with Ben, Bettis, and company...

Pittsburg wins 27-17

Leading and Guidance

From my time with the Lord:

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

vs 14,
The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

Chuck Norris

You guys may or may not be aware of the current Chuck Norris "fact" craze on the internet... some of them are pretty funny, here's a few of my favorites:

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried

Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes ever.

A blind man once stepped on Chuck Norris' shoe. Chuck replied, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Chuck Norris!" The mere mention of his name cured this man blindness. Sadly the first, last, and only thing this man ever saw, was a fatal roundhouse delivered by Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.