Vulnerability

Sorry it has taken me so long to update this. Life has been real busy lately and I just haven't got the opportunity to sit down and write a new blog. A lot has been happening in my life lately and it has given me my new topic of vulnerability. As a few of you know I lead a few bible studies here on the campus of Grand Valley State University and I always want to be connected with the people I meet the most I can. I have noticed that to do this I need to make myself vulnerable and let people into my life and then they will open the door for me to come into theirs. After seeing the show on MTV called "If you really knew me" I realized how much I still needed to know about my closest friends and how I needed to be vulnerable with them. This brought some questions into my head

Does God ever make himself vulnerable?

How do we make ourselves vulnerable to others?

Well looking at the first questions the answer right there in the bible. Yes the Lord made himself vulnerable. God sent his son Jesus Christ down here to suffer through the world of sin to save each and every one of us. (John 3:16) Jesus made friends with everyone including those who were hated. He made himself just like everyone else here on earth and was not ashamed to be who he was. Obviously he is Jesus Christ and was without sin so he should not be ashamed of anything for he lives without sin but he still is using his lifestyle as a model for each and every one of us. God did make himself vulnerable by letting his son here and his vulnerability has given each and every one of us hope.

Now on to the next question: How do we make ourselves vulnerable to others? This question is different depending on the person but some things I have noticed have made a huge impact in my life with this subject. The main thing I noticed is to get others to be vulnerable with you, you need to be vulnerable yourself. I usually keep a lot of different things to myself but when doing this "if you really knew me" exercise (going around in a circle and telling one thing about yourself that others did not know) at a bible study I started things off with something very deep about myself and soon my group of six people were sharing some of the things they have struggled with in life for 20 years. This was great for me and my fellow leaders because now not only are we closer to each other but we know how we can help that person out when they are having a tough time. Now we know what to watch for with each one of them. Another example was the other night just watching the show on mtv with a few friends that I had just made a few weeks ago. We decided to go around and tell one thing about ourselves. Again I started it off because many people were nervous and my story was deep. This lead to the other people there telling us different things about them that were so deep. We left that night with such a stronger connection because of a few words. Vulnerability will give you those connections and help you show God's love to others.

Vulnerability is not easy but it is an awesome way to get into the lives of those around you. It takes a lot for people to show the true them and some people never will. But just like in Shrek when you peel back the layers of the onion you get to see something people have never seen before. Look at the real person inside and let them see the real person within you.

Being vulnerable and getting to know others all begins with each and every one of us. When people realize that you are just like them and you have your problems they have no problem letting you into their lives. I never thought telling someone something about myself would make me be so involved in others lives. I can truly say that making myself vulnerable to others has opened my eyes on so many things. There are so many people that are out there that are struggling and need to see the love of God. Are you going to be that person that shows them his love? Will you be there to let them know everything is going to be okay? How can you get to know others around you deeper? You have opportunities in this life to impact so many people so take those. Just remember this quote from the show on MTV "We do not get to choose if we affect each other, we only get to choose how we affect each other"

If you want to talk please contact me. God loves each and everyone of you.

God Bless

Change

So this blog I want to talk about change as this has been happening so much to me lately and the topic has been on my mind lately. There are probably a lot of you guy experiencing this right now with college starting. From being a freshman entering college for the first time or being a senior entering college for the fourth year (maybe fifth or sixth), you are still experiencing change. So when I think about change I have some questions that pop into my head right away.

Why is change so hard?

Is change a good thing?

Looking at the first question. Why is change so hard? Well since we are creatures of habit we have a hard time changing. What is the rule it takes 14 days to break a habit or something like that. Change is just breaking a habit. I know it is difficult to do this. Look at the fact that 1000s of years ago we got into the habit of sinning and we still can't break it. Change was not suppose to be easy it was suppose to challenge us. I know changing your life of sin into one of obedience is not necessarily the same as going to college but it provides the same lesson. For example, When I left for school this year I had a very hard time with the change of being back on my own. Yes I did love the fact that I could do what I wanted when I wanted once again but I wasn't the happiest about the change. Now give me a couple weeks once classes and what not are not so overwhelming and then I won't mind the change. It just takes time. Now in the fact of being a sinner it is not easy and never was suppose to be. Just like leaving for college, I try to rid myself of sin. No I can't tackle everyone of my sins at the same time I would be more overwhelmed then ever so instead I tackle one maybe two at a time. In the beginning it is so hard to stay away from whatever it is. Let's go with swearing. From the start I stay strong maybe slipping up once here or there but it is a huge struggle and I have to keep catching myself. As time goes on it becomes easier and easier. Change in the beginning SUCKS but as time goes on it all works out and you can handle the task in front of you.

Is Change a Good Thing?

I am not going to say change is always a good thing but over time it is. People can change for the better or worse but if God has put a change in your life it is because he knows it will draw you closer to him. For me my freshmen year God changed my life dramatically by placing me so far away from my family and having to step out in my faith (which I didn't do for a whole semester almost). That change for a long time didn't seem like anything close to a good thing and then my sophomore year I realized how good that change was. I have been able to step out in my faith in more ways then I imagined and have been able to express my love for Him to others. Change was never meant to be easy but neither was life. We sinned and we are going to have to battle with the struggles of change. But if you look at change as God helping you, you will understand what is happening and why.

Change is something that each and everyone of us will deal with on a daily basis. Instead of trying to fight it lets embrace it. Let God lead you and help you down the path that he has planned for you. In my eyes change is a good thing it may take a while to see that and when it happens it may hurt and tear at you but if you keep your eyes focused on God then it will be just a road bump. Change is going to eat at you but don't let it take you down. Just pray to God and ask him to help you through it. He has a plan for us and that plan is going to help each one of us get closer to him.

^{1 Corinthians 15:50-52}

⁵⁰I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵²in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed

Part 2: God's Words

So this is part 2 from my last blog about seeing God in your life. Well the next topic I wanted to talk about was God speaking through us. Now I am going to change up the style of this blog a bit and give you what happened to me and then answer some questions I asked myself.

Okay so that day when I was praying with the prisoners at the softball game I really saw God speak through me. Praying in these situations are always thinking on the top of your head but that day I had no clue what to say. I feel God really took over the prayer and spoke right through me. He really used me to speak to the three guys I was praying with. He spurred what I was saying in my prayer to a great conversation that we had after about God and his love.

Why is it that we don't let God speak through us?

Well this question is a hard one to answer. But like always we got the whole sin problem that stops us. And like the last blog maybe we don't take the time for him to talk through us. I really have never felt God speak through me when talking to others until that night. Since then I have felt him do it a few times. I don't know if this is because I have slowed down to look for him or if its because my faith has grown recently. But when he speaks through you he speaks with such peace and you realize how great he is. He will put words into your mouth that make you just stand their in amazement. It is truly an amazing feeling.

Please everyone take time this week to stand back and see God. Step out in your faith and talk to others and God will provide. Say a little prayer before you talk to others for God to be with you and you will be at a peace you have never felt before. Maybe the opportunity to feel God speaking through you is when you take the time to step out in your faith. When you step out God will be there to guide your hand or your words.

John 20:21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

Time

So yeah I said I would post this on Wednesday but I have been away from the computer for a while so here you guys go.

If you are facebook friends with me you got to see that Tuesday night I had a reality check. Well going off that and my last blog I have been playing on this prison softball ministry through my church. To recap we go there every Tuesday play two games with the prisoners and pray with them afterwards and talk to them a bit about God or just life. Well this week my lesson I learned was about slowing down and how I don't pay attention to the world. I know I have done a similar blog before but I feel I have a new take on it right now.

Why do we do this?

Why don't we See God in Everything?

Are we to busy with the world?

Okay so Why don't we see him in everything? There is so many reasons we don't but I can only hit a few. We let sin get in front of us on a daily basis and our eyes and ears go elsewhere. Most of the time when we see something normal we look past it but we look at the strange all the time. We do not see what we should see that God has given us. God has given us so much to look at and we just look over it. The reason I wrote this is from the beautiful sunset we all watched in the prison yard. We were all taking the time to look at this and the first thing I thought of was God. The beauty from that sunset could be from none other than the Lord. It was something that when I am not in the prison walls I do not see.

On that note Let's talk about the second question Are we to busy with the world? In my eyes yes we are. We get caught up in making more money, getting higher in the company, or being in the best physical shape we can be. We sit in front of a tv or do something that takes us away from others. Whatever it is we do not see the wonderful world God gave us. Being in that prison I saw the beauty of the sunset. Usually I have to make plans to go to the beach or something to see that but God puts it over my head every day to see. And why is it just the sunset that amazes me. Have you ever seen the sunrise? It is just as amazing or watching a storm role in? What about looking at that tree you have passed for the last 20 years of your life? For me I look at all of these things and just look up to God and see how all that he has put together here wasn't a mistake but a plan. It is so tough to see that until we are forced to look at his world we usually don't. Talking to Bob an older prisoner made me realize all this. He never realized how beautiful the sun could be until he had nothing else to look at. He has since seeing the beauty turned to God and started going to church. Why did it take being put away to see God? Do we need to make ourselves stop and look? Why can't while we are driving down the road see this? It is always there and we negate it daily. God loves us each very much and if we just take some time to look around and see his glory you will be smiling and happy for life. Maybe exactly what you wanted didn't happen but who cares when you got God. If he is willing to give us this beautiful world just think about what Heaven is going to be about. I cannot even imagine. I feel like i will fall on my knees in awe because sometimes I feel like doing that here.

Well that was a long blog. But I am so passionate about this right now. I have been seeing God in so many places since that softball game and my life has been so great. Seeing him every day has made me happier and don't worry about what is happening here but realize God loves me and will do anything for me. I ask that you just look for God and don't become a prisoner in this world and not see him. Be free and the more you see God the more you become free from the chains of the world and are able to be with God. We like to have people see the work we do, how about we acknowledge God's work. It truly is amazing.

Isiah 33:17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.

Part 2 of that day will come soon on God's presence with me that day.

Judging

Judging is something that I have been struggling with my whole life. I know we all do it. Look at when we look for a significant other. Usually the first thing we look at is looks which is just a way of judging. Okay well let's jump deeper into this topic and answer a few questions that I have.

Why do we judge?

What can judging do to us?

Okay well the first question Why do we judge? Again like every other sin it happens because we are not perfect and we are sinful. We do it because of us being imperfect humans. Well I really notice myself judging every day of my life. When I drive down the road and I think wow that is a good looking girl or when I am delivering to different areas and am worried about the people in those areas. Have those people done anything to me. NO! But that area is the not best area so I stereotype the whole area. Well my best example of Judging someone came two weeks ago when I played softball with my church. This league is played every week at the Macomb County Prison and yes we do play against the prisoners. Well two weeks ago was the first time that I have played and I was a bit nervous. After a few innings and sitting and just joking around with a few prisoners I became less tense. Well after the second game and before we left each guy from the church took 1 or 2 prisoners and prayed for them before we left. Well I was waiting for a guy to come over to me to pray and the largest African american man came to me. He was a 6'6" guy about 300 pounds and most of that was in muscle. He was given the nickname tank. I was a bit intimidated but it was such a great experience. Tank's real name was Sean and he was a first time player for the prisoners. I sat down and prayed for him and then which shocked me he turned around and wanted to pray for me. I never felt so moved when he stood in front of me and lifted me up in prayer. After the prayers me and Sean talked for a few minutes and I got to hear his story and how he has been working on correcting his ways.

That time with Sean made me really realize that yeah he could kick my butt but he is just like any of us. He was a guy that made a mistake and now he was paying for it. He was not bitter about it but was going to deal with his punishment and move on. If we just didn't look at people by who they are on the outside or the few facts we know about them then we could change the world.

The second question What can judging do to us? Well judging can do alot to us. We can miss out on meeting some of the most amazing people in the world. We hurt ourselves because we tend to say we are better than others because they "aren't good enough to be in our group". It is really tough when we judge. We don't want to admit we do it but we all do each and every day. The question here is what can judging do to us but the real question is what can judging do to others? When we judge others we do not give them a chance. Usually we stay away if they are to big or they swear to much or for other countless reasons. If we do this we could cost them that chance of hearing about God. I bring back my story about Sean ("Tank"). He was a guy I was very intimidated about but I was able to sit down and pray with him. Maybe that prayer was the first time he has heard about God or maybe he was dead in his faith and this was going to rejuvenate it.

Judging can be very dangerous for us as Christians. It is so hard not to do but we need to stop it and limit it as much as we can. Every person is special in God and has their own story. Maybe they haven't had the best life before that time you meet them but that doesn't mean that they can't still want to be saved and feel the love of God. You need to just look at everyone for the person God made them and not the person the world has made them. Each one of them is special in God's eyes and each have a heart that with some love and kindness can turn around and show that love and kindness to others.

Deut. 1:17 Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.

Be who you are

So again it has been a while since I have posted on here. My work has been busy lately and I haven't had to much time to sit down here at the computer to write to you all. I have had alot on my mind though and have come up with some ideas for blogs which I hope to have every week. Well lets get to what is on my mind today.

One thing I have been thinking about lately is being a different person in different situations. I know this is something that is easy to do, but why do we do this. I notice that depending on who is around me I am someone completely different. Why is this?

Are we conforming to society?
Are we scared to show our faith?

Well the first question are we conforming to society? I really think when I do it I am conforming. I try to live my life on a daily basis to God's will but as a sinner I fall short of his glory and make mistakes. I see this with stuff I can correct though. I noticed lately that I am one person when I am around one group and a different person when I'm around another. For example, When I was visiting school a few weeks ago I barely swore, focused on God a large part of the time, and had some great theological conversations with people. Now the person I am when I show up to my job is completely different. I have no problem saying swear words and not focusing on God much at all. I really have been trying to change this but it isn't a simple change. Sometimes I do not even realize that I am doing it until way after I have done it.

I feel in this case I am conforming to society. I am letting who I am be based on who I am around. This is terrible. God talks about this in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." I work on this everyday and try to focus on the renewing on my mind. I know I can do it but I have to understand I will slip up, since I am a sinner. I need to push on and let everyone see the Christian I am. Since usually the people I don't act like one around are those who do not know him and have the benefit of the personal relationship with him yet.

The second question here is Are we scared to show our faith? I think sometimes personally I am and I see it with others also. Just like we don't want to be the person to raise our hand in class we don't want to be the person who stands out. But why is that? We are the ones who have nothing to lose. We have God on our side and are ready to live for him. So we don't do some things our friends do but is that going to change who you are. If we act how we are suppose to as a Christian and just work on showing God's love to others, people will respect you. We get scared that as a Christian we will not be accepted but we will. The ones that seem to not be well received are those forcing God down others throats. We need to be smart and just express God's love and realize it is others choices to accept God. We cannot be scared to show our faith, we just need to be confident and know that God loves us and his love is all that matters.

Those are just some of my thoughts on Being yourself. I just feel that as a Christian we are not choosing to do it 4 days a week but 7 days a week 24 hours a day. Choosing Christ is a lifestyle and we need to live that lifestyle no matter who we are around. I need to work on this and I am on a daily basis. It is a hard battle but starting my day with God greatly helps. If you have any thoughts please let me know.

2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Seeing God

So this blog came to me the other day when I walked out of my house and just saw the sweetest clouds in the sky. I was just flabbergasted at what The Lord has made for us and started to look for God more in my daily life. So here are some questions that were in my head.

Why can't we see God everyday in our lives?

Can we see him and do we just overlook him?

So to look at the first question: Why can't we see him everyday. It is so easy to not see God in our everyday lives if we don't make sure to make him a part of our lives. It is easy to see for example your mom or dad everyday because you get to see them in flesh each day, but with God you have to have the faith that he is with you everyday (which he is). Alot of people say "Out of Sight Out of Mind" and that saying couldn't be more true. Why is that though? We might not see God in human form here everyday but look in the sky and its all him. Look at all the blessings you have received. That's all him. You cannot look at anything that happens in this world and not see God if you are looking.

A way to help seeing him everyday is make him the first thing on your mind when you wake up. Maybe that is by starting your day with a short prayer or maybe doing a devotional time. With doing this in the morning you will be focused on God and everything you see that day will help you see God more.

The other question I had was the part of us overlooking him. I think this is true to parts. I see everything God has made on a daily basis but I have just become so accustom to it that it means practically nothing to me. Its a cloud big deal, its rain big deal, or its the sun big deal. I know we get so used to everything we have in this world that we just see it as what life is suppose to be like and not as a blessing. If we look at our time on Earth as a blessing we will see God EVERYWHERE. If you looked for God in everything you do you would never see anything that he didn't have a part in. So try not to make what's in the earth just what is suppose to be there but look at it as a gift from God.

This blog was plain and simple about seeing God. It is tough but being a Christian is not the easiest thing in the world. I ask that you try to look at everything you see in the world and see it as that gift from God. He has given us blessings that we cannot even imagine and if we look at them as blessings we are in great shape. Start your day out focusing on the God and the rest will fall into place. If you can see God in your everyday life your faith will start to grow without limit and you will be excited to jump into his word on a daily basis. He is truly amazing, just look at all he is given us. I have one question for all of you:

WHERE HAVE YOU SEEN GOD TODAY?

If you want to talk please comment on the blog or email me. I would love to help you see God on a daily basis.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.

Charity

So it has been a while since I wrote last. I was having a hard time figuring out something to write about and then something started to resonate in my head yesterday. As some of you may know my mother recently broke her foot and has become handicapped. AKA Myself and other family members have needed to drive her to work on a daily basis, do more chores, run errands, and other daily things.
Well of course with doing these things for my mom it started to get under my skin. I was having to get up early almost every day. I would get home from work and would have to run her somewhere or go grocery shopping (which I hate) by myself. These acts got me thinking:

Why am I so selfish?

Why do I need a reward for what I do?

Well let's hit the first question: Why am I so selfish? That is a good question that I could go far into. The first thing is I am a sinner. I don't see what is good in life and always look at the negatives. Its not "Oh I'm happy I could help" but its more "Geez I wasn't able to work out because of this" or "Seriously I lost an extra hour of sleep." But why is this? This is my mother. The woman who carried me for 9 months, got sick because of me, and so many other things for me in 21 years of life. Why is it so hard for me to give her an extra hour or 2 a day for 6 to 8 weeks. It really is stupid I can't do this and I am trying hard to do this. But this made me start thinking about my relationship with God. Why can't I take even 10 minutes to read the bible a day, pray before I eat, or not use profanities to honor him. This man (no offense mom) did so much more than anyone ever could. I wasn't even in this world when he went up on a cross and just got destroyed for ME. I look at all he did for me and every other person in this world and just get upset we can't give him the light of day alot.

The second question to tackle is Why do I need a reward for what I do? I feel like America has made it this way but this also comes from the sinful nature of us. I have tried so hard not to think what am I going to get out of doing stuff for my mom but I have. You know what did she get every time she had to leave work to come pick me up from school when I was sick. Now I look at this on the God side and charity. So many times I go into a situation and am like should I do this for whatever reason. I barely go in with the right thoughts of I'm doing this to further God's kingdom and show people what God can do for them. And God has given us a gift we don't even need to work for (Eternal Life) so what do we need to wait for.

I just wanted to bring this all to you guys tonight and see your thoughts. I believe charity is one of the most important things we can do for others as Christians. I have had some amazing experiences with Charity but I've noticed that it usually occurs when I have my heart/head in the right place first. Charity helps to spread God's kingdom and just can bring a smile to your face and other's faces. I ask that everyone takes some time to help someone out. Maybe it is by giving some money or some time. Whatever you can do please do it and make sure your heart is in the right place. Don't do this for you, but do it to honor him. Look at all he did for you can't you take some time to honor him. I learned I am selfish this week and I am going to work on that. I'm not set that I will change that this week or this year but I pray that soon I can be selfless and think of others before myself always.

Please leave some comments/feedback. I would love to hear what your thoughts are. If you have any personal questions send me a comment and we can exchange email addresses.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Old Friends

So this is a bit of a random topic today but its on my heart so here we go. So I was looking through a scrapbook (that my mom made me) of my senior year and was just looking at all the pictures I had with all my friends in there.

It got me thinking. Why don't I talk to most of these people anymore? These people were part of my life everyday and now they are just a memory. I need pictures to remind me of them. Yes and some of them have gone onto different lifestyles from me (I can tell by facestalking haha). But one question just has been sitting with me since seeing these pictures.
Why is it not important to me to talk to them anymore?

Is it because they are not exactly like me?

I don't think that should be my reason but I have used it that's for sure. Some of them chose different directions in college but why should that change how I am with them. I have friends I have made in college that don't live their life just like me or remotely close to me but I still find time to spend with them. But I have always seen this as an opportunity to minister to them through my actions and words. And I have taken advantage of these opportunities when I could. Now why don't I still try to talk to those from high school? I really don't know. I have known them for so long and sometimes I feel I put having spiritual conversations with them as not important because they have had that Christian background. But is one person greater than another. I think not. And this is something I need to think about and work on daily. I see that person as an easier target (bad word choice but you know what I am saying) and go that way. I should look at everyone and try to tell everyone about God.

Is it because I see myself as say better than them?

I really don't know how to explain it. I am highly involved with my faith at college but that makes me no better than anyone and I realize that. I have led freshman through CRU for the past 2 years and am going to be doing it again next year and the first point I want to get through to them is that if they need anything spiritual or not is that I am there for them. Now why am I doing this for people I am just meeting but not for people that were super close to me for four years of my high school life. I can't explain that. Sometimes it is because I see these people on a weekly if not daily basis but now with tools like facebook, blogging, and twitter and all the numerous social media platforms I can contact all those people on a daily basis too. I need to be there for those people who where close to me always and if they are taking that wrong path try to help them and focus them back on Christ.

I don't know if this will make sense to any of you reading this but it just started bothering me. I just want you to look at yourself and be able to ask yourself the question Do I tell everyone about God or do I show favorites? Do I try to help everyone I meet further their relationship with God or do I just forget about them? Those are just two of millions of questions you can ask yourself. And depending on how you answer those questions you can see what you can change. I am asking myself these questions right now. I want to know when I go to sleep that I have given everyone I see a good impression of Christ and that I was able to help someone. I realized going through that scrapbook today I need to value these Christian friendships I have more and help build those up with Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

The reason I started this

So I gave you all a background about me and my testimony yesterday and wanted today to talk about the reason I decided to start a blog like this. My first thoughts of doing a blog was when I was talking to a really close friend of mine. She is the same age as me and attends a Lutheran University. I was startled when we were talking about a new guy she was talking to and was so impressed by how he could talk about his faith. She then preceded to talk about how after 3 years being at this Lutheran college he was the first guy that would actually talk about his faith.

This is when the question popped up in my head why don't (not only guys) we talk about our faith more openly. I am not saying this is everyone and I hope this isn't you, but there are way to many of us doing this. So Why is this?

Why do we keep this gift to ourselves?
Are we embarrassed by it?
Are we afraid of questions about what we say?
Are we just going through the motions?

Those are just a few of the questions that popped into my head when she was explaining this situation. And to tell you the truth I did not really talk about my faith much until a few years ago. Was I embarrassed by it? Sometimes I was. Depending on the group of people I was with I didn't want to be known as the "Christian boy" I wanted to be "cool".

Was I afraid of questions about what I said? Heck yeah and sometimes I still am. It is something that I try to get over, but I do see times where I just won't say anything. Its kinda like when your in that class and you just sit in the back and be quiet because someone may doubt your answer and you have nothing to prove it. I went to a Lutheran school for 16 years of my life and I still have problems backing topics up. I work on that everyday but I will never have all the answers and no one will. What is so wrong with saying I don't know but let me get back to you and I'll research it. We just need to be confident in what we believe and admit we are human and don't know everything.

Am I just going through the motions? Not now but I was for a large part of my life so far. It was something I did just because my family did it and when the topic of Christianity came up I would just try to change the topic as quick as I could.

Those are just a few of the questions we need to ask ourselves. And we need to learn to deal with feeling confident in our faith. When I went on a mission trip the Spring Break of '09 the speaker showed a clip of penn and teller which has always stuck with me. When I can find the clip again I will post it on here. It is amazing that Penn a very well known athiest says near the end of the clip this gift that has been given to you (Eternal life) how can you not tell others about it. I feel after watching that you as a Christian have to feel almost guilty for not speaking about your faith.

It is not hard to strike up a conversation with a person about the Red Wings game the night before but we can't talk about God. It is something I deal with everyday and a struggle I know I will prolly never get over.
I hope that all of you can go out and be confident in your faith and not be afraid to tell others about that awesome gift we have been given. We do it with everything else we get at Christmas so why not do it with the reason we even have Christmas. Just something to think about. If you have thoughts or questions on this let me know I would love to talk.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Hey

Hey Everyone, My name is Zak Kennedy and I am now officially a senior at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I am a marketing and management information double major. Well enough about my background how about my testimony.
So my testimony. Well its not one of those crazy stories that you will hear like I was a huge partier and my life flashed before my eyes. Or it isn't I was in a terrible car accident and then saw God standing there. But it is still a testimony so here we go. Well every since birth I have been raised in the Lutheran faith. I was baptized shortly after birth (you would think they would use warm water :-P), and went to a Lutheran grade school and high school. When I was going to Lutheran Schools it was a requirement for me to go to church and do certain "Christian" events so that I could meet school requirements or so that I could get funding to help pay for my schooling. Due to that fact my faith wasn't real strong. Yes, I believed that God died on the cross for my sins, but what did that really mean to me.
So my senior year in high school my grandpa passed away from a sudden heart attack 2 days before thanksgiving and I was at the hospital when he arrived. That hard day really made me step out in my faith. I was pissed at God and the world. I grew in my faith for a bit then but still was just acting. When I left for school in the fall of 2007 I went to a public university and never thought to bring God with me (even though he tagged along anyways). I knew while at school I would keep my faith but I just wouldn't act on it. I would keep my Christian morals but not practice my faith. I didn't even take a bible with me. I just didn't see the importance of staying in his word.
After almost a full semester at school I was invited to a group on campus called Campus Crusade for Christ or CRU for short. This is a small (hopefully not for long) non-denominational Christian group that meets once a week on campus. I went to one meeting and liked it but didn't pursue it to much. A few weeks later I decided to go again. Soon I was a regular and had a solid group of Christian friends around me on a daily basis (I still have most of those friends three years later now).
I decided at that point to make my faith my own and gave my life to him. I am now a leader with CRU on the GVSU campus and just want to help others see the great joy the Lord has brought me. I am excited to use this blog as a way to tell others about my faith and the questions I still have about it. I hear comments everyday that make me ponder my faith and I plan on using this platform to bring it up to others. I hope that if you ever have questions that you will please comment and we can talk more about it. I would love to help grow your faith with the Lord or maybe help you start your personal journey with him.
Well that is a lot about me today. I will post again soon (probably tomorrow) with the whole reason I started this blog.

Have a great day!
1 Timothy 4:12 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.