Giving

So today I was having a hard time of coming up with a topic that I wanted to talk about tonight. Then I remembered the news that my dad told me this weekend. My church is currently going through a large growing period and lots of new projects are getting started. As many of you know my church has a very good social outreach program lead by Dan Karlin. This man has a heart to give like nobody I have seen before. So Dan is a very connected individual and is working everyday to find a new way to help the less fortunate. He is the founder of Motown Soup (I suggest checking us out on Facebook GREAT SOUPS!) and works with many organizations within the city of Detroit. Well with this new expansion we had to add parking and this big ordeal had to be approved by the city for all the permits. Due to some code which I am not going to even try to explain the church is planning to set up a building for Dan to run a free medical clinic with. This is a great step to help so many new people.

Dan has had his struggles in our church unfortunately and has had those who have not supported every decision. But he has always pushed on. He has continued to push the envelope and develop new ways to help others. His outreach has reached hundreds of people and made an impact on so many. He uses himself and the volunteers to take these opportunities to tell others about God and show them His love. When nothing may be going right for them Dan is making sure someone is there to lift them up. For some people they do this by donating money. For others it is by purchasing the products that we sell and for others it is by donating their time. There are so many different ways to give back to the community.

With so many different ways to give back why do we not do it more. A lot of times we have these stereotypes that people in these situations abused a drug or alcohol. We see that they are lazy and are just looking for a free meal. And yes that is sometimes the case unfortunately but most of the time they have just feel on hard times and need a little help to get back on their feet. We need to use the tools we have to help them. Sometimes we are lazier than them by having a good job or supportive family and getting used to our blessings. By giving back to others it's not only following God's will but it will help our economy. By putting a little time or money into organizations that work to help others we are ultimately helping ourselves.

I challenge each one of you to find a program or company that gives back to the community and start supporting them. I challenge you to give an hour of your time a week to help someone else in the community. If that is by sitting down and talking or serving them a meal, everyone has their gifts and will give back differently. Take the time today to find out how you can give back to the community. Look for the organizations around you that you can support and in turn pour back into the local community.

Ask yourself How can I make a difference today?

2 Corinthians 8:7
But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Getting Knocked Down

Hello again everyone. Sorry for not updating this more often it is definitely something that I plan on changing right now. As many of you know I recently graduated from college and decided to move to the wonderful city of Nashville, Tennessee to pursue my dream of working in professional sports. I am currently a Sales Associate for the Nashville Predators of the NHL. It has been an amazing opportunity but has also presented me with a lot of change that I was truly never accustom to. Not only was I moving out of state but I was not just a simple drive from home. I was going to a completely new place that I had visited twice in my life and knew very little about. I knew a few people down here but not more than a handful. Let's just say my life changed drastically two months ago when I moved down here.

I noticed when I got down here I really had an opportunity for myself with my career but also my spiritual growth. I grasped the job opportunity immediately but kinda put my relationship with God on the back burner and did not work at it the way I wanted to. Well that is all changing today. And that is why I am back here on my blog. I hope to keep at the blog and give an insight that I see with God once a week. So keep following.

Well let's get to the real reason your here and let's talk about that big guy upstairs. So working with the Nashville Predators I get some cool opportunities and one of those is getting to work with the community. Since I am one of the few people in the office that knows how to skate I usually am always a volunteer for any of our hockey programs. This past week I got to work with our G.O.A.L program which stands for Get out and Learn. This program is a way to create awareness for hockey down here in the South where football is lived and breathed. (Kinda weird coming from Detroit). So this past week we had our first of a 4 week program. We welcomed to the ice 80 kids from 4-6 who had never skated before with the challenge of teaching them how to skate by the end of the month. I wish you all could of see these kids hit the ice because you couldn't help but laugh. One after another each kid stepped on the ice and their skates went in the air and they landed on their back. Twenty minutes later and with some help from me and the other coaches pushing them like they were a hockey puck we got every kid on the ice. For the next hour all the coach's worked to teach these kids the basic's of skating. I was selected as the one to help the kids who were really having a rough time. So during this time I worked with one kid trying to just get him to be able to stand on the ice. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he stood in the same spot for over 30 seconds without failing. I slowly worked with him to get him moving and the kid looks up at me and goes "This is easy!" Now remind you if he keeps moving at the pace he is going he will move 5 feet in the next hour. I can't wait to see what these kids accomplish in 4 weeks.

That kid and all the participants determination spoke to me and made me think about my life. It made me come back to my spiritual life and the stumbles I have had. With all the change down here I had forgot about some of the fundamentals and tried to move to fast. I did not think about just getting up but instead when I got knocked down I would stay down and say it was to hard. I would continually tell myself I will start tomorrow, instead of standing up right there and pushing forward. I know God was right there along with friends and family encouraging me to get up just like I encouraged the kids to get up and push on but I pushed them to the side. I thought I knew best and why start today I have already screwed that day up. I just needed to start with small steps not trying to make that huge jump. I needed to start getting into my devotionals more regularly and putting time aside for Him. I challenge you all to do that to. I know personally sometimes work and my wants to go out and do stuff will hinder my time with him but why can't I find 20 or 3o minutes to get in the Word. Today I really got up and decided to not waste anytime. I had plenty of time for his Word and had such a great day. Don't let school, work, or friends get in your way to have some time with your Best Friend, Your Father.

This whole program has been more of a build up for me than any of those kids. They have taught me a bigger lesson then I can ever teach them. I might be able to help them learn how to skate but they are the ones that are getting me back on track with God. They are the ones that showed me there is no better day to start then today. They showed me when it gets tough and you just can't stand up to keep trying. If you try hard enough nothing will keep you down especially with God on your side.

I ask you today what is keeping you down? What is not allowing you to get your time with God? Who have you chosen as your "coach" in your life to encourage you to keep pushing and to get up? Sometimes it is not as much of everyone else helping you up but your own determination that will get it done. Only you can decide how you live your life so make the choice TODAY to stand up and get back to the basics. From there you will be able to grow and be the coach for someone else!

Bible Verse:

2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Makes you Think

So I haven't wrote on here since last summer. I have been very busy with work, school and just life in general which has lead me to write this blog. As many of you know it is predicted that the rapture will occur tomorrow at 6 pm and then the world will end 5 months later. Well these predictions got me to thinking.

If this happens tomorrow am I ready?
Why does it take the threat of the world ending to make me evaluate my faith with God?

To look at the first question I think I would be. I believe that God is the one and only Savior and that he has saved me from damnation. I do know that I haven't lived the most straight or pure life and have sinned countless amounts. But even though I have lived this way I know my Lord is watching over me, providing for me, and sent his Son to die on the cross for me thousands of years ago. But just like whenever you go in front of anyone that would judge you it is nerve racking. The Lord has the ability to choose my fate and that is scary and it was meant to be that way. It is the same way if I was to go in front of my boss even though I feel confident in the job I did, I know I made mistakes and something small to me could be something huge to him. So yes I am nervous for that day in front of the Lord if it is tomorrow or 80 years down the road. I am a sinner and I have failed but I know his salvation is just that salvation for me.
Looking at all this just makes me realize that why do I wait to evaluate myself and my faith until their is speculation that it could all be over. Why am I not fearing the world continuously? My life could end any day as I have seen by friends and relatives that have died unexpectedly. Any day could be my last and become my judgement day. Why do I not realize this every day of my life and do my best to lead a God pleasing life?
This speculation has made me think about the way I live my life and how much I take for granted. One day if it is tomorrow or whenever I will face his judgement and he's not going to throw it up on a billboard for me saying "Hey, Tomorrow is YOUR Judgement Day" This day will come when we are not expecting it because everyday of our lives we should prepare to meet our Lord in person. Everything that has been talked about has made me realize that I need to make changes in my life and live everyday for Him and be an extension of the Lord since we are all as Christians a part of HIS body.
I don't know when judgement day will be for me or you but I hope and pray that when it does I will be prepared and have lived my life as close to the Lord as I can and I hope that is the same for you. Any day could be our day and we shouldn't need someone telling us it could be tomorrow to make us change our lives. We should do it everyday to honor the Lord and be an extension of him.

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.

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.