A first to tell

Alright, so I most definitely have not been keeping up with this, sadly enough. I have slowly drifted from checking this blog every day, to every week, to every month, to where this has been the first time I have looked at this in about 2 months I believe...

Anyways, these pass couple of weeks have been tough, mainly because my minister resigned from her position at our church. I was sorta thrown off a little from my path. But I started thinking to myself about the "minister" I am, how I represent Christ. In fact, it seems I lost contact with him, even though he was still there. Looking upon how issues are addressed in school, my religious study, and, most importantly, the way I acted before God, I wasn't proud of myself...

About a week ago, I had an epiphany. I would like to share what happened.

"So I don't think I could have had a more blessed night. Don't believe in being blessed? Don't believe in blessings? Please read this, hopefully this will change your mind:)

So it starts to rain, right after the Aledo Homecoming Parade, and I realized I left my uniform bag on the bus. I talked to Mr. Paul with Grace, and he tells me he tried to help, but I will have to wait until tomorrow. After I sort of get over the fact I don't have my shoes, I come to see that I don't happen to have my keys, wallet, or cell phone, because they are all in my uniform bag. I see Mr. Paul again, and he says that I can maybe try the Bus Barn to see if I can get in the bus. And so it began...

I ran through the pouring rain, with everyone giving me looks of confusion, some getting some cheap laughs. Anyways, I reached the Bus Barn and banged on the door as much as I could. No answer. After about 5 minutes of trying, I gave up. I didn't know what to do, so I looked up and asked for help. I then sat on the sidewalk figuring out what to do, when I saw a man get out of a Blue Mini Cooper. I ran over and begged for help. After I explained my situation, he examined the situation, and said that Bus 1 was on the South Bus Barn. I sat with dispair, and once again didn't know what to do. He then called the south Bus area, and told me, although that no one was up there, he would help me get a ride up to the barn.
The thing was, do I trust a stranger. I didn't really think at all anything but I have no other choice, so I got in the Mini Cooper. After we got on 1187, he told me his name. Clint, it seemed peaceful, somewhat relaxing. Anyways Clint turned out to be a really nice guy. So we arrived at the Bus Barn, and all entrances were locked. Another obstacle that was in the way. While he was calling his co-workers, I saw a mechanic in the building that looked out at us. I got out of the car as soon as possible, and stood in the rain jumping and waving my hands to try and get his attention. After he saw me, he sent someone over to come unlock the gate. Just then, Ryan Golden showed up in his truck with Johnathan Bravo, also needing his cell phone. We both got inside, and they let us into our buses to get our stuff. I found my bag, as well as Grace's bag, sitting where they were left, with everything in them.
Ryan was not able to find his cell phone, so if anybody sees his cell phone, please give find Ryan. It is in his hat box.
Now back to the story. I came up to Clint, and I thanked him, as well as offered to pay him. He refused the money, and said it was not a problem. I turned to Ryan and asked if I could get a ride to the school, and he was more than happy to. 
As I arrived the school, Johnathan and Ryan made sure I had everything, and once again, I was denied the right to pay the person who helped me. I came to see that the doors were luckily unlocked, and Mr. Albin was still in the band hall. He was able to help me take care of all of the rest of my problems. I couldn't have thanked anybody more for what they did for me tonight, especially since they helped me without anything in return.
All of these people, Mr. Paul, Ryan, Johnathan, the mechanics, Mr. Albin, and especially Clint, seemed to be there to help exactly when I needed them. I without a doubt believe that these people were there not by coincidence, but by God. I couldn't be any more blessed tonight, and so I thank all that helped me, and especially God."

Monday, September 21, 2009 at 9:14pm-Facebook

After this happened I have completely renewed myself in God's image. I have started represent Christ again, and have reached out to those who need him. I am now back, and will hope to continue to be on the blog more. I couldn't think of a better way to see that God is always there, watching, and ready to be there for you. I miss you all! Stonewall brothers especially!

(P.S. : Sorry if this didn't follow the reading...) 

good christian literature

wanted to post this: can people leave comments about good christian literature? i'm thinking more christian non-fiction...for example, one that i would recommend is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's an incredible book about fully loving God and what it looks like to love Him and have a relationship with Him based on Him as a LOVER. It also addresses lukewarm Christianity and what our lives should look like if we are truly following Him.

Comment back if you'd like with your book name and a description of the book and hopefully we can reach out to one another or give each other good ideas for reading options, based on what each of us are going through or what kind of book we might be needing right now!

thanks. i love you all and i hope you have enjoyed the Thessalonians as much as i have.

thoughts

"Thoughts become words.
Words become actions.
Actions create habits.
Habits build *character*."

*Character = our overall personality/disposition; WE form our own characters, based on our thoughts, words, actions, and habits...WE decide who we want to be.

I heard this the other day, and I think it is just so cool! I've been working on "monitoring" my thoughts lately. I try really hard to think something positive about the person I'm talking to or even the person I see walking down the hall. And I've found this quote to be so true...so many times I find myself thinking negatively about a certain person or a certain situation, and before I know it, I blurt out what I'm thinking without even meaning too.

Just a little something to think about (:

You're in my prayers,
Haley

the Thessalonians faith and example

Ch. 1 Verse 3: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy write to the Thessalonians that they give thanks constantly for their "work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." Those are 3 beautiful elements...doing work of faith, laboring in love, and having steadfastness, unwaivering hope in JESUS.

work of faith = doing work of the Lord, doing work of your faith, your work being an outpouring of your faith, doing work for the sake of the name
labor of love = laboring for the sake of love, God IS love, doing labor for the sake of God, laboring in loving others and showing Christ's love
steadfastness of hope = unwaivering hope in Jesus, a hope that never fades or fails or falters, a hope that stays strong despite any circumstance

Paul & gang continue to write below, saying in verse 6-8: "And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with JOY and became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in these places, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it."

Became imitators of us and the Lord = the Thessalonians saw what was good and imitated it; they became steadfast followers of Christ and followed Paul&gang's example. They also became imitators of the LORD...meaning they took on Christ-like attributes and imitated His examples of life and love
In spite of persecution received the word with Joy: despite anything they faced or any opposition, they continued to receive the word with Joy. I have realized that instead of finding joy despite your circumstances/outside of your circumstances, I need to find joy IN my circumstances...that the persecution can be joyful! It's a hard shift to make in my mind.
Became an example to all the believers: = these people became examples of Christ to all the BELIEVERS, meaning, they led people to Christ through imitating Him and they are now called believers of Christ.
In every place your faith is known: Not that their NAME is known...but their FAITH is known. They are famous/well known because of their faith. Not who they are, but their FAITH.

Let us become known because of our faith in Christ Jesus and because of the example we follow.

Capture The Flag

Hey all! Sorry it has been so long since I have written on here. Know that I read it almost daily... and I am so encouraged by each of y'alls posts. Keep it up! So yesterday we read Acts 17... and here are my thoughts.

Here’s the context of the chapter: Paul is addressing some Greek philosophers and proclaiming the truth of God to a people who are devoted to worshiping idols. His heart was moved and he was bold in speaking truth to them.

Starting at verse 24, Paul explains that “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” Paul then talks about how we are all descendants of Adam, and how we have “allotted periods and boundaries” of our dwelling place, meaning we have a specific time period of when we are supposed to be here on this earth, submitting ourselves to God and the work of His Kingdom. Think of this: God planned for (insert your name here) to be living where you are, in Fort Worth, Texas during this exact time period. He probably thought to Himself, “Alright, I’m going to need Keri Halvorson to be here on this earth from 1988-(insert year that I will die here) so that I can use her to further My Kingdom and to tell people how much I love them and how I went to the ends of the earth to redeem my people.” SO COOL! But that’s not all…

He then goes on to say… “…that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him and find Him.“ The commentary in my ESV Study Bible says this: “‘Feel their way toward Him’ implies a kind of groping around in darkness, without really knowing how to find God, though they hoped that they would.” Think about it like the game “Capture The Flag”. Imagine yourself, adrenaline rushing, pressed for time, stealthily running around the woods, trying to find the flag. You cannot even see your hand in front of your face and you’re supposed to find a flag. You hear someone next to you say, “I think it’s over here!” So you follow the sound of his/her voice and drop to your knees, groping around in the darkness to grasp the edge of the flag. Feelings of frustration work their way to the surface, because you know you are so close, yet you cannot find it. But there is good news!

The next part says, “yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being…” When Paul says that God is not far from each one of us, he implies that God is omnipresent, and that He hears people’s prayers and knows their hearts (including the Greek philosophers he is addressing). He is all around us! He hears us, and He answers prayer. In the previous verse when Paul says, “in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him and find Him” reminds us that we all fall short of seeking God wholeheartedly and successfully; but, Paul invites us to seek Him anyway. There is a God to find, and He is not hard to find, because He reveals Himself to us multiple times daily! The ultimate way He has revealed Himself to us is through His Son, Jesus Christ. We are able to “find” God through Christ! We are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. We have been redeemed! Through Christ, we are able to grasp that flag and win the game. We are able to reach eternal life through the grace of God through Christ. It is out of nothing of our own abilities, but simply through His undeserved grace. You could not have grasped that flag on your own – you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face! But Christ puts that flag in our hand and allows us to be victorious through His death & resurrection. Are you trackin’ with me?! :]

I just think that is so cool. Praise God for His grace, and for giving us victory in Jesus! Reminds me of another verse in 1 Corinthians 15:57 – “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Celebrate that victory today. Praise God for it!

Praying for each of you.

Keri

quick quote

Hey everyone! I just read a really cool statement that I wanted to share with y'all...

"You have made us for yourself, O God, and so our hearts are restless until they rest in YOU." ~ Saint Augustine

So cool and so true! Hope everyone is having a great week. (:

-Haley

Background on 1 Thessalonians

I did some reading on the background of Thessalnians and wanted to share it with you.

We read in Acts 17 about Paul, Silas, and Timothy dropping by Thessalonica and preaching publicly on the sabbath 3 weeks in a row. Thessalonica was a port city with over 100,000 people there. It was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. Anyways, haters ended up stirring up crowds and they terrorized Jason, who was one of the dudes that housed them while they were there. So Paul and his sidekicks got out of there and moved on to the next city.

But Paul didn't forget about those who heard the message and believed during their short stay. Apparently, in chapter 4 it talks about someone who had died and commentators speculate that the Thessaolonican Christians were really having a hard time with death. They thought it was a sign of God's disapproval or something and alot of them began to question their faith. So Paul, who was very encouraged by their faith in God and how they turned away from idols (chapter 1), wrote them a letter explaining death and letting them know that no one would be left out when Christ returned for his second coming.

There is a little background for ya. Hope you enjoy this letter and I pray that God transcends his desires for you through these scriptures. Love you guys.

love.this.song

Some of you may have heard this song before, but for those of you who haven't, I really encourage you to listen to it when you get a chance...

"By Your Side" ~ Tenth Avenue North

"And I'll be by your side, WHEREVER you fall,
In the dead of night WHENEVER you call.
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you;
My hands are holding you."

Know that God is and will always be with you (wherever and whenever).
As Cameron said in his last post...May God make you strong today, tomorrow, and always. (:

-Haley

Encouragement

My friends,

The more I read of the story of the Church, the more I am encouraged to be bold in the way I live my life. Paul was persecuted constantly but he overcame again and again. May we put our full trust in God and be overcomers of our generation. May we be different in a way that is a light into this dark world. May we not be tainted by the immorality around us and let us run towards the goal Christ Jesus has set before us.

I am realizing more and more each day how imperfect I am but may God use my imperfect body to bring him glory. Let us continue to stay in his word and seek him daily. I love each and every one of you. May God make you strong today.

Phil. 3 got me through it

Philippians 3 is worthy of my praise and my attention. This chapter of the Bible got me through it all. It got me through everything and was a significant part of the turning point in my life when I was 18 years old and truly experienced a full surrender of my life to our Jesus.

My freshman year of college, I lost myself and who I was and what I stood for. I leaned so much on being "perfect" and being the perfect Christian girl who everyone liked and always did the right thing, leaned so much on my own understanding and on myself (when, really, I am nothing, NOTHING without or apart from Christ). Turns out that I am not enough (we never are nor will be) and I fell as soon as I entered into my first semester at TCU. I ran around with the wrong friends, partied and drank, kissed too many boys, never read my Bible, stopped going to church, and then one nasty event occurred at the end of my semester that did it for me. It was the lowest point of my life, the farthest I'd ever felt from God or had let myself fall away from Him. It was Philippians 3 that got me through it.

"Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in CHrist, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow i may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that i have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own."

Man. All of that wordly and earthly stuff I had obtained or gotten involved in or used to define me, i considered LOSS because of Christ and the surpassing value of knowing Him. And what is cool is that it says "not that I have already obtained this or have reached the goal..." I love this because I feel as Christians we constantly are striving towards some level of perfection, which is good, but it can be hindering in a way because we can either A) get discouraged that we will never get there and start beating ourselves up, focusing too much on what we DON'T do instead of what we DO do for the Kingdom, or B) we can think we've gotten to a good place and be complacent and stop seeking Him, getting too comfortable. It's cool that Paul, one of the most Godly men to ever walk this earth, hadn't even reached the goal yet...and it's okay...because CHRIST JESUS HAS MADE ME HIS OWN. I love love love love love that verse. My goodness what a beautiful thing.

Christ Jesus has made me His own...He's made you His own...we are His. We are the Lord's.

i love this blog

The last two weeks have been the busiest of my semester because of selections and interviews and all other kinds of non sense for a organization I am a part of, but now it is done! So, just wanted to let you guys know I will try and be on here more than I was the last two weeks. Praying for yall and hope you have a wonderful day!

My life with god

Fearless Faith and Granted Suffering

I just read Philippians 1 (I'm a little behind on the reading plan), and here's some of the things I got out of it:

Verse 14:
"...and so that the majority of the brothers, having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the world fearlessly." When I think of the world "fearless," I immediately think of Taylor Swift (her CD/one of her songs is called "Fearless," for those of you who don't know...). Even though she's just a celebrity, she is really a great role model for me (you'll see where I'm going with this in a second). So I bought this CD a long time ago, and on the little lyric book that comes with it, there's a section where she talks about what she thinks it means to be fearless. She doesn't say that being fearless is NOT having fears and NOT having doubts. Instead, she says that being fearless is "living in spite of those things that scare you to death." Right now, your probably wondering why I'm talking about a celebrity on a Christian blog, but there is a connection here, I promise! Think about the way you proclaim your belief in Christ. Have you really shared this belief with others in your community as best as you can? Have YOU acted as a light to all people? Maybe, maybe not. Or are you too afraid to stand up for you beliefs because you are scared of what other people may think of you? Be FEARLESS in your faith. Proclaim your love for Christ through your daily actions. This is something that was once quite a struggle for me...whenever someone asked me what my key stood for, I sometimes wouldn't tell them because I was afraid that they would make fun of me for wearing something like that. And yes, some of them did. Some of them would and still always just kind of smirk when I tell them the story of my key. They sometimes laugh and say, as if I was some little kid, "Oh how cute." And I even had one girl say straight to my face, "Wow, what a loser." And another just stared at me when I told her the story and didn't say anything, no facial expression at all. I don't know why, but I get weird reactions sometimes. BUT, you know why I continue to share my story and to share my faith with the people around me? It's because I'm FEARLESS in my faith. Being fearless doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will accept you as you are, but it DOES mean that God will be so, SO proud of you and the evangelization of your faith. After all, who are we really trying to impress here (impress isn't really the best word for this, but I can't think of anything else)...our community or our God? Of course, GOD. Be fearless in your faith, and NEVER give up even when you fall, because God will always be there to catch you.

Verse 21:
"For to me life is Christ, and death is gain." Enough said. I don't think words can describe how significant this verse is. Amazing amazing amazing.

Verse 29:
"For to you have been granted, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him." I want you to think about the word "granted." Throughout my life, I have been granted many things: granted the opportunity of receiving a great education, granted the chance to go to Sky Ranch, which has completely turned my life around, granted the gifts of friendship, love, and hope for the future, etc. We have been GRANTED so many gifts in life. *So, here's your challenege...treat suffering for the sake of Christ as a GIFT that God has granted you. Suffering for Christ and following His will fills my heart with the greatest JOY that I have ever known - what an amazing gift!

Dont y'all love Philippians? It would be great to hear some feedback on these verses!

You're all in my thoughts and prayers (:
-Haley

REJOICE!

so lately i've been straying from the bible-x, getting caught up in this world that doesn't matter
i went through this morning before i leave for church and read about 10 chapters i was behind in and wanted to move forward on. when i was reading Phillipians one of my "verses of the summer/lifetime" came up. it's Phillipians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. i feel like i should be singing it or typing it in caps whenever i read or write it down. it's just been my verse because i used to not know the Lord- i thought i believed but i didn't even know how to rejoice in the Lord. i just started thinking on that. do we rejoice in Him by loving Him (as we talked about earlier with our minds souls and bodies)? do we sing His praise and spread His word and His love? feedback? anyways, quoting the ESV Study Bible, The joy that Paul calls for is not a happiness that depends on circumstances, but a deep contentment that is in the Lord, based on trust in the sovereign , living God, and that therefore is available always, even in difficult times.
So, even if it's not just random happiness because of the love of God, i think we can just rejoice in Him because we KNOW that He's there loving us no matter what we do. so, i love all y'all so much and let me just proclaim REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS; AGAINST I WILL SAY, REJOICE.

Whoa, I'm Late

Hey everyone. Sorry I'm so late on posting this, but I wanted to share two of my favorite parts from Galatians 6 with all of you.

First off is Galatians 6:2 and 6:3 stick out to me. "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself." I love this because it tell me that you always have help from your Christian brothers and sisters, no matter what. But also it tells you what not to. You are never totally independent and not needing help from others, but also no one can not be obligated to helping others. We all only work like we should when we all work together for a common goal. I love hearing that so much.

Last was Galatians 6:9. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This is one of my favorite verses of all time. When we were at Sky Ranch, and all the awards were handed out, Daniel wrote this verse on mine. And I never forget it. I go back to this verse whenever I'm in a bad mood, or something is going on in my life, and the meaning of it and the memories that it brings always manage to cheer me up and let me keep going on no matter what. It constantly reminds me of, well, exactly what it says really. I know sometimes it may seem difficult to continue doing the right things, and then having no one thank you or seeing no results. But if you keep at it and continue doing the right things, then eventually you will be rewarded with it in some way. That's not saying someone will come up to you and give you money or anything. But the reward could come in any way; it might be an opportunity, or that warm fuzzy feeling you get inside that you get. But somehow, someway, you will eventually be rewarded.

Please give me some feedback on this guys. I miss all of you so much!

What Is Going On.

Hey Guys I know it has been some time since I have posted on the blog, and I'm sorry. There has just been so much going on in my life and I feel like you guys should know whats going on so your can be praying for me and holding me accountable. Here we go:

Ok so school is ok, it's school, and I have made it a goal to get all "A's" this year and my grandparents were just floored by that. They were so happy that that was my goal. So I have been trying really hard or what I think is really hard in corses that have always been especially hard for me, like science. Well right now I have all "B's" in everything, and I was so so upset about them because i knew it wasn't good enough, I knew it wasnt good enough for my grandparents, and it wasnt good enough just in general.

ok so lets take a little rewind, ok?
So in July right after, sky ranch, my sister and I did what we have putting of for years, Putting my dad's ashes in the ocean lik he always wanted, it was tough for her, but it was kinda a peaceful thing, he was finally where he wanted to be, and it was finally just done. But after that weekend my sister never talked to me, i would text and call, and she would never respond, she was done with me. but finally on my DADS BIRTHDAY! (kinda a hard day) she txts me TXT me and tells me that shes probably moving to the Cayman Islands for a year and a half. So, now i started thinking "Ok, so im not good enough to be her sister, I'm not good enough for her to even keep up a relationship or even talk to me. Heck! I'm not good enough for her to stay"

so now, lets fast forward a little bit...

My grandparents have been getting me mad at m latley for just dumb stuff, and it makes me so upset. Cuz i don't do anything wrong but they tear me down, or it feels like thy do, i just, i felt like everything I did was not good enough, it was oonly good, not too good, or bad. never good enough.

lets fast forward a little more, I now had this idea in the back of my mind that I was not good enough, I was not good enough for my grandparents, my sister, at least i was good enough for my friends right??

well i felt like i just kept getting torn down by them, anything i would do to help, or be nice, would just be told "NO! ITS NOT RIGHT" and i didn't understand, i didn't understand, why my help was good enough, why i was getting shot down, by the people who were supposed to love me when i felt like no one else did.

suddenly i just didnt feel good enough, of corse i was good, or ok, i mean i still had friends, i still had grandparents, but i just wasnt what they wanted, i wasnt GOOD ENOUGH. suddenly just this sadness and silence took over me, i was so so scared to say what was going on in my life, because i know if i told my grandparents, they would be offended, i knew if i told my sister, she push me even further away, i knew if i told my friends, they wouldnt even care.

I just I thought well man, God, I thought you loved me? I mean you already let me go through what felt like hell! and i thought it was over, i thought you had an unfailing love for me, and you would protect me? why arent you protecting me now? why arent you here now? its been one heck of a long time since I've felt joy, and your arent doing a dang thing about it buddy.

So I've been like this for two month, and the other day i started noticeing keys. like everyone startedwearing keys, for there own reasons, people i didnt even know were wearing keys, maybe its just a fashion statement. but i knew what it meant i kinda had this feeling of like "oh...well arent you just clever God" but man, it hit me hard, I started remembering why i wore the key, I wore it because God will unlock keys to my future and life, and because as a christian, i have a key to carry, it may be hevay, old, new, janky, or maybe a little silver "samsonite" necklace. but whatevr it is you carry it and you can unlock great things for your family, your friends, and even your communities and schools, you just have to know who gave you the key and why, because they beileved in you. WOW! God beileves in me, he beileves that I will overcome all the crap in my life, he beilves that I am strong enough to go through this, he beileves in me to do his work, he beileves in me so so much that he has given me a key, he has give me this beautiful key to unlock special things that are of him and that will only be between me and him, but i threw that present away, i threw it in the dirt and stomped on it and even spit on it a few times, i got so mad at God for things that he didnt even do, i got mad at him for simply BEILEVEING in me! man!!

OK! so what does all this mean??
well it means I have choices, but only two.
I can A) continue letting things that arent even important get me down and just sulk because i'm not good enough for things and people that maybe wont always be there, and wont always stay by my side.
or
B) press on! I can forget all that, pick up my key that was once so pure and so clean and so shiny , but now is covered in dirt, and shame and kinda bent because so many walked on it and so many times i stomped on it. I can pick that broken and ugly key back up and clean it and wear it with pride and let it be a small
symbol of how a KING OF KINGS beileves in me.

Guys im taking the B Train! I'm done with trying to be good enough for people, I'm done with thinking I'm not good enough. I am sick and tiered of being quiet and pretending that nothing is wrong. Something was wrong but I AM HEALED! BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED! and i want you to know that, i want everyone to know that!

So maybe you have been going through something that seems hard, maybe you have been pushed to that point where you feel like if you get pushed one more time your going to fall, and fall hard. Well i have news for you my friend, DONT STOP BEILEVEING! Dont stop beileveing because HE doesn't.

Sorry!

Hey Guys-
I'm really sorry that I haven't been posting, and I'm a little bit behind on the reading plan. I've just been super busy, and I know that isn't a reason, but yeah. I just read all the things you guys have been posting on here and it's AMAZING. Reading what you guys have to say is just awesome.
Just wondering here, but do any of you guys have prayer requests? I would be happy to pray for you guys:)

Allie

reconsideration of thought

cam-- thanks for making me think.

i do not want anyone to think that i am saying i am 100% right when i write things on here. i understand that i need to sometimes revisit what i've written and make sure that they make sense in their context, and that i have communicated what i wanted to effectively...and that i really am not anything short of a sinner, fallen but rescued by God's grace. i don't have all the answers, but i am trying to seek them out.

in response to Haley's question from her dad about why God doesn't stop bad things from happening...think about it. Why doesn't He? If He doesn't stop them, then He is allowing them. Although everything in this world is under His hands and provision, I don't think God CAUSES sin to happen. I don't believe that God points His finger and makes someone to go kill someone. God does not have any sin within Himself...so that can't be true.

But does God create a person knowing that they will, sometime in their life, murder someone? Is that something God instills within the person from the beginning, or predestines them to do?

Or, do they end up murdering someone because of the influence of this fallen world, and so it's like God knows that person will be influenced in such a way that the person will end up murdering in their life?...

there is a reason why God hardened the heart of Pharoah in ancient Egypt and had His chosen people, the Israelites, suffering in captivity and slavery. It didn't make sense at the time, did it? It doesn't make sense now. Why would God purposely create someone whose heart would be hardened? Was Pharoah doomed from birth? Or was he simply affected by the society and influences around him? I bet the Israelites as well were crying out to God to stop their suffering from happening. But God had a plan, and knew that their suffering in slavery would come to and end soon in His own timing, through Moses's direction. So was Pharoah's purpose in life predestined by God to live, be Pharoah during that time period, oppress the Israelites, be plagued and have his son killed and be washed away in the ocean, and never know or have belief in God, all to show God's wrath and power if you do not believe or coincide with His will and plan? Or did Pharoah ever really have a choice TO believe or coincide with His will and plan?

And how much was God glorified through that event in history?

Ok, so think about this. A man walking down the street kidnaps a girl and rapes her. Where was God in that? we ask. But He, giving us humanity and a free will, is at least a witness to all the bad things that happen that we do as humans. Did He plan that though? Did He ultimately know and predestine that man to rape that girl from birth? HOW IS HE GLORIFIED in that situation? That's where it all lies. God exists to glorify Himself...and we exist to glorify Him...

the classic predestination/free will debate. when i think of our lives on earth as human beings, we have the ability to make choices everyday, and there is a moral right/wrong or good/bad to each choice. "i dont want to do my homework, so i'm not." well, that's a decision i just made, instead of reading i'm typing on the blog. do i think God knew i was going to make that decision at 3:39pm on 9/15/09? yes...i do. did i know or have any idea that i would make that decision today? no. did i know or have any idea that God knew i would make that decision today? no. as humans, we continue to live and make choices and have a free will of sorts to do things, but i believe that God ultimately knows we are going to do everything that we do, knows the words on our lips before we say them, knows our rising and sitting down (psalm 139). but we can't sit around being inactive or not living our lives or making choices because we are waiting around for it to happen...does that make sense?

or do only the decisions affecting our moralistic values really matter in God's plan for us? like, God doesn't really care if I order a vanilla coke or a cherry limeade, does He? i mean, that seems like a simple decision that does not require God's hand. but i think He knew i was going to all along. because He's God and He is all-knowing, all encompassing. But what about a moral decision, like deciding to watch porn online? is that just an outpouring of a human's sinful nature and free will, or did God plan for that to happen?.....so that eventually it would be revealed to that person that it is in fact sinful and repent it to God and ask for forgiveness, and see that GOD is the better way? ...but what if they don't know God and don't care if it's wrong? what if they never stop doing it? how is God glorified in that? will it be at the end of it all when that person who does not know God will never know God and has to endure His wrath at the final judgment? and then God's power and might and rule over all things will be shown?

or is it mainly in the matter of who is going to receive salvation from God and who isn't that is the heat of the predest/free will debate? because i know where i stand on that, i know what i believe regarding salvation. i believe that we have nothing within our broken, fallen selves to even begin to choose Him, because we are sinful beings and we are depraved, nothing within us to even begin to choose the cross voluntarily without God's spirit filling us up and entering into us and His grace shed down on us first. i know people are going to disagree, but there is just too much scriptural evidence to back that up. election/chosen/predestination is mentioned over 200 times in the Bible. Romans 8 and 9, John 1, Ephesians 1:11.....so on and so forth.

ugh. my mind is seriously going going going. i know i have asked a lot of questions and didn't really write a lot of deep answers, breanna and haley and cam. but i am definitely revisting my current posting now and i think there might be a different answer, haley.

question :)

Hey quest. I have a question for you. What is the difference between predestination and foreknowledge? other than the obvious that predestination is God planning our lives out for us and foreknowledge knowing what is going to happen next...

I've heard both sides of the arguement, and honestly I dont know which one is correct. Up until about two days ago, I thought for sure that foreknowledge was the way God worked, providing us with the free will to chose him or not. I thought that God just knew the ending to whichever way we chose. Arguing that God is a God of foreknowledge also provides a great rebuttle to the arguement "why do bad things happen to good people" because it shows that God did not predetermine (or chose for us) what happened in life, he just allowed satan to send evil...but if God predetermines everyones lives ahead of time, wouldn't that make him the same one who decides who dies and who lives, the same one who determines the evil in our lives? Do we really have free will then?

So basically, two days ago...before I ran into this conversation, I thought, no way could God have our lives predestined...but now... Im doubting, just being honest with everyone here haha. So I'm asking for others opinions on this...

This is the arguement I recieved to prove that God does predetermine: How can the same God who creates, just foreknow? If the creator of our lives and the foreknower of our lives is the same being...doesn't that mean he creates what he wants...he predestines our lives? Verses:

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. " Romans 8:29-30

Also, if you have some extra time, check out Romans 9...It discusses Jacob recieving the blessing of his father rather than Esau, the oldest son. God says he hated Esau in there...and that he only shows mercy on those whom he wills. I think this applies to predestination, does God not show his mercy to all people? Does he predestine who will be saved and who wont? Now i'm not saying that predestination would be a bad thing...Who better to plan my life out than God. But I think that limits our free will...?

As you can see...Im confused. This is kind of a big topic and it really defines who God is. Sorry if not everything i said made sense, but I would love to hear yalls opinions on this :) please and thank you.

God's Sovereignty vs. our Humanity

joe: in response to your image question: http://talktruth.org/sites/default/files/6%20-%20HUMANITY.pdf

in response to Haley's question, and just in general...

The reason why God does not stop bad things from happening is because it would interfere with our free will. Even though God HAS the power to do ANYTHING...cause, let's face it, He does...God gave humans free will to live, choose, decide things, and act as they are freely willed to do. He did not create us to be little robots at His will, but rather delighted in the fact that He created us in this way. (Think about it--even Adam and Eve exercised free will by CHOOSING to NOT eat the forbidden fruit for a while!) But because of the fall, our human nature is sinful, which means that the free will we have is tainted. This causes us to create and cause the sin that is in the world, the "bad things" that happen. Satan also has a hold on this world and has quite a strong hold on non-believers, and so much of the evil that takes place is under his influence. However, I want to focus more on the fact that us, as humans, are sinful, and thus all the bad things that happen in the world are direct outpourings of that nature and because of our free will, we choose to exercise it to sometimes do the worst of things.

If God intervened anytime someone was about to do something bad, or anytime something bad was about to happen, that would mean that He would stop ALL bad things from happening, which would create a perfect, sinless world. This does not make sense because we do not live in such a world, because the world we currently live in is deserved because of the fall of man. And, even if God decided to stop only the really big bad things from happening, such as wars for example-- what if God decided to stop only the wars in Africa? What about the other ones? Why did He decide those over the other? And what if He stopped all wars...so that one bad thing is taken care of. But what about child molestation in rape? What if I thought, in my feeble human mind, that child molestation and rape was worse than war? Why did God decide to stop all wars and not the former? Thus, God cannot be "picky and choosy" about what bad things He could possibly stop from happening.

God allows us the opportunity for free will (although God is sovereign and has an ultimate unfolding plan that WILL be carried out) and we can ultimately choose whether we use that for good or for bad.

visit talktruth.org and click on "Schedule and notes." look at the lecture notes for Sovereignty; they provide lots of scripture and notes on this subject. also, if you want to check anything else out, you really should. there are lots of notes and scripture for all your main, heavy doctrines, including sin, grace and redemption, humanity, creation, salvation, election/predestination/free will, etc.

question

as some of you know, my dad is a hardcore athiest (my parents are divorced, so i don't live with him, thanfully). today, he came over to visit, and noticed my key that i always wear around my neck and asked me what it stands for. i was too scared to tell him about it the first time he asked me this question a month ago, but today i finally told him. he kind of made this disappointed face, and said, "haley, you're smart; someday, you'll learn." and then we got into this whole discussion about religion. and one of his main questions was if there is a God (these are my dad's words...of course it wasn't me who said this), and he has all of the power everyone says He has, then why does He let wars and violence and pain and suffering happen? i told my dad that God does not cause those things to happen, but that the devil and his "followers" do. but then he brought up again the fact that God should surely have the power to stop these wars, even if he's not the one that causes them. i was completly stuck, and i always hate having the feeling that he actually does have a point. i didn't know what to say. we might've already discussed this question before, but if anyone reading this can help me form a better answer to his question i would really really appreciate it. and do me a favor and keep him in your prayers?

thanks everyone.
-haley

Surrender

"He's more than the laughter, or the stars in the heavens
As close as a heartbeat, or a song on our lips
Someday we'll trust Him, and learn how to see Him
Someday He'll call us, and we will come running
And fall in His arms, the tears will fall down and we'll pray
I want to fall in love with You
I want to fall in love with You"

God is more than an almighty being in the sky. He is as close to us and as near to us as the songs we sing on our lips, as close as our heartbeats, because He dwells within us. Trusting in the Lord and being faithful to His call are two hard things for us as humans to do--but each day we continue to learn how to do that, how to get better at doing that. We need to learn how to see Him, meaning we need to pursue Him and get to know Him and dive in His word, seek His face, learn how to see Him with new eyes. See Him for the lover of our souls, see Him for the Father He is to us, see Him for the friend and constant refuge He provides for us, and even see Him for the victorious One at the end of it all.

Fall in His arms...allow yourself to surrender to Him completely. I like to picture God standing there as I collapse into His embrace, and He doesn't let me go, He doesn't let me fall.

Let us fall in love with Him.

im sorry

everybody im really sorry, im behind but i still talk to god so thats a good thing!

anyway im still reading the bible and im learning a lot about god.

Well ill be praying for all of you

LET GOD BE WITH YOU

-luke

galations.galations.galations..1:6-10

from proverbs to john to acts to james to acts to galations.
GALATIONS. wow that's nice. it sounds well. i like to say it out loud. just ... so you know....anywayss
dear quest,
lately i've been trying to talk to one of my good friends about the Lord, and what He can do and just how great He is. he's sort of been not wanting to hear it- just, like, he thinks i'm some religious goody-two-shoes. i am so in love with Jesus Christ but the way he's thinking is that he thinks the lifestyle of a Jesus-lover is bascially being a nun. i've been trying so many ways of telling him, talking to him, getting the word to him, but none seem to have worked. i've gone to others for advice and just felt really passionate about it. like, i don't know why i want him to find the Lord so bad, it's just on my heart. anyways, i prayed over it a lot. just, praying to the Lord, asking for Him to work, to give me words to change my friend's heart. i don't know, but this week was just bad. just kind a sucky in a couple aspects. i just faltered a lot. lost my step and doubted. tonight i decided to just read my bible even if it was midnight, and i kept reading past the bible-x bookmark just because i wanted answers. i wanted to know why my friend wasn't hearing what i was telling him. then i read Galations 1:6-10. "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you recieved, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." This hit me so awesomely hard. I had been straying because I wasn't finding what I wanted, wasn't getting what I wanted from prayer and was just starting to go along with whatever my friend was saying even if it wasn't right, just so I could be more relatable, so I could talk to him about our Lord. then i read this. it's gotta be HIM. dudes, i don't even know how to describe how much of a not-a-coincidence situation this is. then i went and read all y'alls posts about not always getting what we wanted, but something more glorious coming out of bad situations. now all i need is a little encouragement, prayer, and faith. i know there's an opportunity for my friend to come to the Lord. even if its not the Lord working through me, i know it will present itself to him and all i can do is pray and encourage him to take it. miss y'all bundles.
love,
evi

Quick Question...

Hey guys. This has nothing to do with the reading plan, but I had a question, or more of a thought, that I wanted to share with all of you.

Today, out of nowhere, I got this random thought. It came up at Sky Ranch, but I never really looked into it there or asked someone. I know that God created us in his image, but when I think of God, I didn't think of this really big, powerful guy sitting in all white with a long beard. And at the time we were talking about souls, and what they were. I thought that maybe instead of God creating us in his image physically, he created our souls in His image. Like, either our souls resemble ours of our souls resemble Him. I looked into it a couple days ago but I couldn't find any scripture on this, so I thought this was more of an opinion-ish kinda thing. I want to know what all of you think about this, either help me out or give your opinions. Thanks guys! I miss all of you!

Good Fight?

As we jump back over to Acts for a day to see the big meeting in Jerusalem I saw somehting that was really interesting. When Paul and Barnabas set off to revisit all of the Churches they have helped start, Barnabas wants to being John Mark, but Paul doesn't want him for last time John Mark came he ditched them when it got hard. They disagree to the extent that they can't even go together anymore. Paul took Silas and went to Syria and Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus. Out of this argument, God is proclaimed in twice as many places. Barnabas was ready to get out of Paul's shadow and God used a negative situation for his kindom and his glory.

A few weeks ago I applied to the Business school and found out that my appeal was denied. I was dissappointed but knew the Lord had something better for me. On tuesday, I stayed after class with my religion professor who is THE most incredible Christian scholar I have ever met (DTS masters, help found College of Biblical Studies, teaches religion and ethics classes at two colleges in Houston, and is finishing his dissertation for his PhD in Philosophy at A&M). Anyways he asked me to walk with him back to his office and at the end of our conversation he invtied me to coffee with him this morning. I can not believe what an opportunity this is for me to learn from someone like him. AND I would HAVE NEVER got the chance to meet him if I was in the business school. Praise God for making good things happen from what looks like a negative sittuation.

Bought with a Kiss

The beginning of James 5 is subtitled in my bible "Warning to Rich Oppressors." I was kind of like, ok, i'll read this but I don't think it's going to pertain to me at all. Until I got to verse 6, something really caught my attention.

In verses 1-6, James is warning the rich of the miseries that are coming to them because they have pursued riches and posessions and the world, basically, over pursuing God. Verse 6 reads: "You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you." When I read this, I was like, whoa. This verse is intense. James is basically saying that these rich oppressors have condemned and murdered the God and creator of the universe-- meaning, that they have called Him out, judged Him and told Him that He is wrong, and have killed Him due to their focus on worldly things. "Rich oppressor-ness" aside, consider us all, just humans, us who pursue our sinful desires and worldly things over our Lord. What right do we have to condemn God? Or to murder the Lord of Lords? None whatsoever. We are miniscule beings compared to His almighty greatness.

But then, here's the kicker: it says that God is someone "who does not resist you." Despite all of that-- us condemning Him and murdering Him, He does not resist us. WHAT? No matter what we do, God does not turn from us. He does not turn His face, He shows no partiality, He does not hold us at arm's length and make a scrunched face as He pushes us away in a form of resistance. No, God doesn't do that...He does not resist us. He does not say, "Eh, man, you have been really sinful lately...I'm resisting you and am not going to let you in my presence." No! God remains with us, in us, a part of us...He continues to stand there with open arms. He takes the blows and the hits from us as sinful humans. He watches it and witnesses it and yet allows us to still call Him Abba Father. What a great and loving God we serve.

This reminds me of the David Crowder song, that goes:
"And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even though it wasn't hit
And i don't know
What to do with a love like that
And i don't know
How to be a love like that"

Basically this is talking about Jesus and how He was betrayed with a kiss (from Judas). Thus saying, we as humans were bought with a kiss, that's how twisted yet beautiful it was. And the crazy thing is, Jesus didn't think Judas was going to kiss Him...He thought that Judas was going to strike Him on the face and hit Him. But even though Jesus thought this, He STILL turned His cheek in order to take the blow. He willingly turned His face. He loved us that much. And we as humans can't comprehend a love so divine. We don't know what to do with that...someone who, perfect and blameless in every way, lowered Himself and gave of Himself so selflessly for us, who are imperfect and to be blamed. Man. Again....what a great God we serve, what a beautiful Jesus we love.

God does not resist you...He does not forget you. No matter what we do, He remains.

Hey Guys!

Quest!-
I feel like I overpost on this blog. Sorry, I just think of something everyday to post. Haha:) I hope y'all don't mind. I think this will be a short post, it's just what's on my mind.

Alright, James 4 was amazing. I just want to tell y'all about a couple of verses that I love. James 4:9-10, "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." I know some of y'all know my testimony, but this verse kind of has to do with it. My grandfather passed away when I was in 6th grade, and at his memorial service, my grandmother wanted each of his grandchildren to read a Bible verse. At that point in my life, I had never read a Bible, I didn't really know how important it was either, so when my grandmother told me this I really didn't know what to do. I asked her to pick out a verse or two for me and she picked James 4:9-10. So, really this was the first verses I read in the Bible, which is awesome. Then the summer before seventh grade, I went to Sky Ranch and learned so much about God and I gave my life to Christ at Sky Ranch. The crazy thing was that when my counselor was reading out Bible verses when I was being saved, the first thing she read was James 4:9-10. Amazing right? So really whenever I read these verses, it really hits me hard. Just thought I would share that with you guys!

Praying for y'all,
Allie

the tongue

like allie's post below, i wanted to comment on the verse about the tongue/the mouth...it's not just the words you use or the language, but it's how you use them and what you talk about too. cursing does not mean cursing as in foul language or curse words, but rather cursing/talking badly about a brother. thus we should all evaluate often what we are using our mouths for, what kinds of things we find ourselves talking about on a daily basis. are they uplifting to the Lord? are they cursing or blessing others?

James 3!

Hey Quest!-
I read James 3 today and I just thought that I should tell y'all what I thought about it!

Ok, first, this chapter gives such a powerful message on something that we can all work on. What we say. In James 3:9-10 it says, "With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not be so." We all say bad things. Some more than others. It says in James 3:2, "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man." We are definately not perfect. I know that I can think of several different things that I have said that have been bad. But we can all work on saying better things. We should all use our words for encouragment, not for cursing. I also loved how in this chapter it gave so many metaphors to explain how our mouth controls a lot that we do. And in the end, James 3 tied in with James to, when it mentions works and partiality.

Praying for y'all,
Allie

I Love James

Dear Quest, I was a little behind so I read James 2 and 3 today. Here are my thoughts:

James 2:
how much more clearly can God say "faith without works is dead"? We as Christians like to use that term often without removing the plank from our eye first. I had to check myself after reading this because knowing something is not enough, it needs to be applied to our daily lives. believing in anything is not enough, "The demons also believe and they shudder"(James 2:19). in Hebrews 11:1 the bible defines faith as "the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is unseen" so Christians have to have faith but what good is it to stop there? We need to do works with kindness and selflessness, and works are useless if God isn't given the glory. I have an example of that from my life, I wanted to do something that was a Christian program but I was convicted about it because I didn't have the right intentions going into it. I got caught up in being a "cool christian " who does awesome things for the wrong reasons and doesn't give God the glory for it. but I finally submitted to God's will and not my own, doing things for his approval not the approval of mankind. When we let go of those things and submit to the plan he has for us God becomes greater in our lives (John 3:30) .

James 3:
Wow, this one hits me harder the more I read it. I know this is something we all struggle with and I KNOW this is something I need to work on. The tongue has so much power, life and death, and we abuse that power by doing whatever we want to with it. We are quick to anger when someone uses their tongue against us but we turn around and do the same thing. I want to encourage you to encourage people with your tongue rather than take away from them. The other day someone told me there are 2 types of people in the world, adders and subtractors, adders add onto people's lives and subtractors take away from them. I would much rather be an adder, but it is easier to be a subtractor. Also I really like James 3:13 where it goes back to works and kind of connects the two topics from James 2 and 3.

I really appreciate everyone's opinions and God has opened my eyes to new things through what y'all have written so thanks and keep writing!

Lila

acts was great

acts was great but now im on james witch is good. Cant wait to read james tonight! Well ill talk to yall later

I Really Like the Book of James...

Quest:) -
I love the book of James. SO happy that we are all reading it! I'll tell you what I think about James 2.
James 2:1- "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality." Pretty much this verse says to share your faith with EVERYONE. Not just a certain group of people. In verse 9 it says, "but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors." Partiality is a sin. God put us on the earth to be used as tools to spread His word, so just share it with everyone!

James 2:5- "Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love him?" My Bible has a little note about this verse. It says that we spend too much time in our lives building a kingdom on earth, when we have a kingdom up in heaven that is so much better and that we can have forever! So if we just love God and have faith in God we can have that kingdom.

James 2:17- "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." This verse says that with your faith in God, you must work also. In verse 15, it talks about how if you have someone in need, and you just tell them what they need, it does not help them. You must work to help them.

James 2:21-22- "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" Background on this: Abraham had a son named Isaac. God tested Abraham's appreciation to Him by asking Abraham to kill Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham didn't hesitate to kill Isaac, because his faith in the Lord was so strong. But right before he killed Isaac, the Lord stopped him and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead. See, Abraham's faith worked with his works and ended up not killing his son.

Guys, I want to challenge you all. Like it says in James 2:1, do not show partiality. Share your faith in God at school, at home, wherever. Because we all really don't realize how much it can change someone by sharing our stories and our faith. Let God use you as a tool to share His word.

Praying for y'all!
Allie

the sea of life

Ahhh, we've only read the first chapter of James, and I already love it. Here's something that really stuck out to me tonight...

James 1:5-8
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, He who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with NO doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

You know what I've realized? Our crazy world is like a sea. Sometimes, the sea is overcome with huge, frightening waves. Other times, soft, tiny waves gently rise and fall. Some of the waves are often higher than the others, depending on how strong the winds are. So many ups and downs to the sea. LIFE is like a sea. Sometimes, we are forced to face huge obstacles that seem impossible to overcome, and at other times, life seems much so easier, and the obstacles aren't quite as big. And the wind represents all things evil, all things that tempt the waves even more, pushing them higher and higher, causing even more disturbances in the once-calm sea. But through it all, the sea stays the same, no matter how many huge waves try to tear it apart...AND (in life) through it all, GOD stays the same - never changing, always there - no matter how many lost people in this world try to tear HIM apart. James 1:17: "...the Father of lights, with whom there is NO variation or shadow of turning." No matter how crazy the sea of life may seem at times, God will always be there for us, ready to lift us back up when we fall down. Ready to carry us through when the winds of temptation get too strong.

In a way, we could also connect these verses with our My Rides we made this summer...praying for you all. (:
-Haley

James!

mmm, the book of James is finally here! I used to be bitter towards James, because I thought it was proclaiming the notion that works were most important, and thought that James was a very works-oriented dude, until I realized that that was not the case.....it's more so that faith in Christ alone is our salvation, but faith without works is dead, and that if we are followers and believers in our almighty King, then we should desire to please Him and do His works...

my bible says that James was "written to Jewish Christians to remind them that faith, if it is real faith, leads to faithful living. We are to show our faith in the little acts of daily living. Church tradition says the book was written by James, the Lord's brother."

James: A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus's brother.
Written to: The 12 tribes in the Dispersion.

there is SO MUCH in this first chapter, but I will touch on a few amazing points:

Verse 2: "...whenever you face trials of ANY KIND, consider it nothing but JOY, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing."

I'm sure several of you have heard this verse before, but think about it...it relates to Acts 7, when the apostles considered it pure joy that they were flogged by the high priests and found it joy and honor to suffer for the sake of the name. No matter what trial we face, we have to consider it joy...because God is producing endurance within us and is allowing us to mature and become complete in our humanity and in the creation He has set us out to become. Without these trials or hardships in our lives, we cannot allow His plans for us as His set creation to come full circle. "Mature and complete, lacking in nothing." When we pass one day and finally see Him face to face, we will be COMPLETE because of the things we have faced on earth!

Verse 13: "No one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved."

GOD does not tempt us or cause us to sin, nor does He put sin in front of our faces and see what we do...it is by our own desires, desires implanted by Satan or this world, and when we face it and give into it, it becomes sin. The wages of sin=death...we must not be deceived thinking that it is God doing this to us, but it is our own sinful flesh and nature. Read Cameron's post in early August/maybe even July, about Hell and what it really is...this makes me think of that.

Verse 22: "But be DOERS of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves."

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.....but we must not only hear, but DO, and make the word become flesh, make the word become active and living through our own lives. We cannot let it pass through one ear and out the other, but allow it to settle and be engraved on our hearts, so that we can use it in times of trouble or need, allow it to be our strength and shield...

I'm excited for James...I can't wait to see what is to come...allow yourselves to dive into this stuff! Don't shy away from it or become complacent, but allow it to really speak to you and see what God is saying.

Goals

Hey Quest.
I just thought I'd share something with all of you. Usually, every year when school starts, I make a goal of something that I want to do that school year. Like last year, mine was to make all A's all year. Well, this whole week I was thinking really hard of what to do for a goal. And it finally popped into my head that I wanted to tell my friends at school about my love for Jesus. I want the share my story with as many people as possible. Not only with the people at school but with my parents (who are hardly christian). I want to change my parents views on God. The other day, I was telling my mom how I was really thinking about getting a new Bible and she looked at me and said, "why would you want to read the Bible?" This really changed my whole view on my family and made me so confused. But I am changing my confusion into something that I can work on in my house. I'm also really thinking about wearing a key around my neck, because I've really wanted one ever since Madi told me why she wore hers. It was so amazing.
Praying for y'all,
Allie

the light of Christ

As we all get back into the stressful routine of school, sports, and everything else in our crazy schedules, I encourage you all to truly strive to always be the light of Christ...to everyone. Recently I've realized that I should not only share my faith/talk about my faith with my religious friends, but also with my friends who don't believe in God or who aren't as close to Him as I am (thanks Whitley!). Be the light of Christ, at anytime, in any place, and to everyone. (:

"I have set you as a LIGHT to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth." ~ Acts 13:47
Pretty ironic that this is verse 47, and 47 is my lucky number, haha. (:

Praying for you all!
-Haley

Who we are Becoming

So lately my life has been a little messed up. Nothing is going according to my plan...and for once, I feel full in this emptiness...

Basically, I promised God at the beginning of this summer he could have my plans, he could destory my summer for his will. I even talked about it at Sky Ranch, about how God called Isaiah to be a prophet and he responded with "woe is me, I am unclean..." (Isaiah 6) he wasn't prepared, it hadn't been in Isaiah's plans to become a prophet. But God called him and told him he was ready.

All summer I waited for God to drastically transform my life, making plans for my future but reminding myself that God could change those plans. I spent every day this summer training to make the swim team. The school year starts and I dont make the team. Not because I'm not good enoguh, I never even got the chance to try out. My schedule messed up and I was told I would be stuck in technology. I am still very dissapointed in this, but instantly my mind started changing plans. I started trying to plan out my future again telling myself "well I can do technology this year....and then next year I can do blah blah blah..." Two days later, my schedule changes again, this time I am in floral design (random haha). Then again to technology, and back to floral where I am now...

Honestly, the schedule part doesnt matter. Really, who cares that I am in technology or floral design (its one class, its not that big of a deal, sorry if it sounds like im complaining...but thats how hard it is for me to let go of the control I want to have in every aspect of my life). The part that I have learned so much from is my response each time it happened. Every time my schedule changed, I changed plans. I can't let go of that control in my life. I obsess over organizing my life, always ready with a back-up plan. Thats not what I promised God I would do. I promised he could be in control. That he could plan ahead. And instead, whenever he tries to switch life up on me, I just keep trying to re-gain control. I have been so focused on asking God "What is your will for me? Where do you want me to serve this year?" These are great questions...yes...but not the best question. It doesn't matter where God puts me, he can use me in any class. So what I should be asking God is "Who do you want me to become." Whether God lets me pull a Burger King and have it my way or not, the only plan I need to cling on to is that there IS a plan for my life. It doesn't matter what it is, and I have to stop trying to figure it out...what college I go to, what career I want to pursue, these are all parts of my future I have been trying to determine. But wherever I go and whatever I do doesn't matter. It's who I become in the process.

Sorry if this seems a little like a rant ;) and I know it doesn't apply to acts (but trust me when I say reading acts has led to some amazing discussions about the holy spirit with my bible study group) ...but God has really laid this on my heart and I felt the need to share it so I could get some accountability from my questies. I have read about the keys you 3 lovely ladies wear...and I hope you don't mind, but that sounds like the kind of reminder I need. That God has that control over my life because I gave it to him 6 years ago. That doesn't mean I gave him just my heart, I gave him my life. And I want him to transform me to become a strong woman of the lord. So I am going to find a key...thank you so much for the encouragement in yalls posts.

quest

thanks so much for letting me catch up with GOD i was behind but now im in the same verse as you guys. Ill be praying for you guys. love you guys.

Acts 12/ Life Verses

Hi Quest!
So, I'll just start off by saying that I enjoyed reading this chapter in Acts. I think it has a powerful message and I'll just share my thoughts!
Alright, so first of all I think one of the coolest things in this is when the angel comes to break Peter out of jail. At first Peter couldn't believe his eyes, I mean, how would you feel if you saw an angel? What I think is interesting about this is that God himself sent that angel down to save Peter. He knew that Peter needed help at that time. God had a plan for Peter, like everybody else, and he knew that he couldn't fulfil that plan if he was in prison.
Then what I thought was cool was when Rhoda heard Peter through the door and was amazed that he was there. My Bible had a little section under this that explained the Rhoda had been praying for Peter, and at that moment, when she heard Peter, she knew God had answered her prayer. When she rushed in to tell the others, she left Peter standing out in the street! She was so overcome with joy that her prayer had been answered, that she forgot about actually opening the door and letting Peter in.
After that, we go back to where Herod is. When he is giving his speech while sitting in his throne, the people begin to believe that Herod was a god and not a man. Then it says almost immediately after that and angel struck him because he did not give glory to God. Then Herod died. But my favorite part in this whole read was Acts 12:24, "But the word of God grew and multiplied." This was amazing to me. After God had sent an angel to kill someone, people still believed in God and started to believe in God. Amazing.

Ok, I was thinking about this today and I want to ask you all something. What is your life verse and why? Mine is Proverbs 3:6, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. This is my life verse because usually, I don't trust a lot of people but this verse tells me that if I trust God, he will make my life right.

Praying for all of y'all,
Allie

the Big BANG?

Hi quest! I miss and love you all sooo much!
So in physics today, we were talking about this big machine called the LHC, not to go into detail, but basically, these scientists are trying to expose a particle to exist called the Higgs boson. If what they do ends up working, then they could figure out somethings about where mass originated and all this stuff- like how the universe came to be. I got a little nervous when my physics teacher started talking a tad about the beginning of the world, cause I wasn't sure what I believed about it. Now I just have no idea. I think science and Christianity can mix, but not all the time, but I'm just super confused!
So I guess my question is....what are y'alls opinions on the creation?

Help?

Hey Quest-
I'm Allie from session 6 and this is my first post. I have no excuse for not posting any earlier, but i'm going to start now!
Ok, one of the things i've always struggled with is asking for help. I like to tell myself that I don't need anyone else to help me, but me. And I have been keeping up with the daily reading and stuff, but usually I am so confused about some of the things the Bible says. It seems so easy to just ask, 'why did this happen?' and stuff, but it's just so hard for me. I'm going to start posting my questions and my thoughts on this blog, and hopefully y'all can answer my questions and just help me out.
I have been praying daily for all of you that post here, and all of the people at Sky Ranch.
Allie
P.S.- Sorry that this has nothing to do with Acts!

hey guys

can one of yall tell me what acts we are one because i lost my sheet that cameron gave.

But other hand i am on acts 5 i love it. the god is great. but in school i just wish god spend a little more time with me. Because i might need some help concentrate in my classes. So could one of yall pray for me and ill pray with you

-thanks luke!

the key to my heart and the key to life

Hey questies! I have something unbelieveable to tell y'all...so you know how Madi and Whitley wear keys around their necks all the time? For those of you who don't already know, they wear them to symbolize that God holds the key to their hearts, and that God is the key to life. After I heard this, I was inspired, and I really wanted a key of my own to wear too. But it's not like I was just going to pick up a random house key and start wearing it. What I wanted was an old-fashioned looking key, maybe a silver one too. But, of course, I didn't have a spare old-fashioned looking silver key lying around, and I'm sure most people don't either. I told myself that I would just wear a simple silver cross instead, until I found the perfect key that I could start wearing to symbolize my ever-growing relationship with God. Then...it was a Saturday when my family and I were getting ready to take my sister down to A&M (she's a freshman) for her first day of college. We were going to stay overnight in college station, so I was in my room, packing some last minute things before we left. I quickly went to my jewelry box and opened my earrings drawer...and when I say earrings drawer, it is actually a drawer that literally says "earrings" on it. So, I've never put or seen anything else in this drawer besides earrings. I opened the drawer, and the first thing I saw was a perfect little old-fashioned looking silver key! I was amazed. But, I didn't know for sure if someone in my family had somehow put a random key in my room...but it wasn't very likely. So I asked them if they had ever seen the key before, and they said they hadn't. I don't know about y'all, but it seems to me like this key was sent from God Himself! It's really unexplainable. I'm still in shock, and this happened a couple of weeks ago. Is that cool or what?!