Monday, July 12, 2010
True Friendship
Emotions... We all have them, they can be empowering and sometimes debilitating. They enable and can disarm. They can prove the difference and can suffer us to hide. When faced with a challenge I have oftentimes found success comes from completely ignoring them all together. As much as possible. Callous sounding at first I am sure, however, take note. If you ignore the negative thoughts and feelings that tell you, "You can't... You're too afraid, it's impossible etc..." and just focus on the action at hand, you might find that success will be your next step. At the very least you might find that after all is said and done, because you tried, courage was the emotion you secretly carried most. That is worth the ignoring your natural and learned heart, mind and body responses of fear and inadequacy. The enemy's job is to kill, steal and destroy. Jesus came to bring abundant life. As He knelt and prayed the night before his crucifixion, his body cried out for life, his mind filled with anguish, his heart broken with pain. The Father, you and I were on his mind and despite the enemy's repeated attacks, Jesus focused on the prize, His mission, His life and His purpose. His courage overcame the world, sin and fear, thankfully we have access to those same resources. In using God's word and relying on His Spirit in situations of fear and uncertainty, even those of a moment to moment nature we can overcome the world and all of it's pitfalls and snares. The key I believe is a simple one, just do it. Let the Judge decide the rest.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
About me
From About me on my myspace...
I love my God, my savior, my family, the people of the world, my country and myself. I love gadgets, Wikipedia, getting old; sometimes I hate it, bittersweet memories, cub scouting, BSA, photography and art. Ministry, helping people. Knowing God will always love me no matter what.
He is my father I never had, my friend who will never give up on me or my life and the closest person to me on this planet. His planet. I believe He’s coming back soon.
I believe people think were crazy for loving a God of sovereignty. I wish everyone would get saved. I believe we will see His day and be redeemed.
That’s a little about me, there is a lot more.
Love is strong, solid and true love is true in all absolute senses of the word.
Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping in all things. True love bears all things, it believes all things and it hopes in light of all things, it suffers long and is patient.
It is content and yet finds joy even in adversity. Love is incredible and the power of it unexplainable.
It is effective and lively. It is tough; it is not dismayed by work or working towards a goal or objective. Perfect Love will not be struck off course. It is steadfast.
It enjoys the good and fights against the bad. It overcomes evil.
We are not perfect, but Love in its truest form is perfect. It will always prevail.
Jesus could be so strong and yet gentle. He was never afraid although sometimes drained. He was exhausted yet continued on. He was not scared of the most powerful men of his day. Nor was he afraid to face his adversaries with great restraint.
The true sense of power seems to be mercy. It was His love and mercy that made him choose the cross rather than escape. He was simply strong through His love.
Love is the greatest thing. Love is the express will of God. In one word Jesus.
I love my God, my savior, my family, the people of the world, my country and myself. I love gadgets, Wikipedia, getting old; sometimes I hate it, bittersweet memories, cub scouting, BSA, photography and art. Ministry, helping people. Knowing God will always love me no matter what.
He is my father I never had, my friend who will never give up on me or my life and the closest person to me on this planet. His planet. I believe He’s coming back soon.
I believe people think were crazy for loving a God of sovereignty. I wish everyone would get saved. I believe we will see His day and be redeemed.
That’s a little about me, there is a lot more.
Love is strong, solid and true love is true in all absolute senses of the word.
Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping in all things. True love bears all things, it believes all things and it hopes in light of all things, it suffers long and is patient.
It is content and yet finds joy even in adversity. Love is incredible and the power of it unexplainable.
It is effective and lively. It is tough; it is not dismayed by work or working towards a goal or objective. Perfect Love will not be struck off course. It is steadfast.
It enjoys the good and fights against the bad. It overcomes evil.
We are not perfect, but Love in its truest form is perfect. It will always prevail.
Jesus could be so strong and yet gentle. He was never afraid although sometimes drained. He was exhausted yet continued on. He was not scared of the most powerful men of his day. Nor was he afraid to face his adversaries with great restraint.
The true sense of power seems to be mercy. It was His love and mercy that made him choose the cross rather than escape. He was simply strong through His love.
Love is the greatest thing. Love is the express will of God. In one word Jesus.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tickets to Ride
Tickets to Ride
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
In the light of our backyard neighbors getting ready for a National Championship and all, I though it interesting to have recently visited Gainesville and the infamous Swamp while taking Daniel, my son to a SHANDS appointment.
Daniel is a patient at SHANDS and we always try and make the day a, “Daddy and Daniel day out.” We look forward to these trips as we spend some quality time together. We usually take time together at home relaxing and going out to do the everyday errands, but this event always seems to be our bonding time where we can just be boys. We eat pizza, visit a museum, drive around UF and oftentimes visit the football stadium.
If you didn’t know, the Swamp is open to the public every day of the week. The students and community members take advantage of running the staggering steps to train for athletics or their personal best. Kids and adults meander through the walkways taking in the history of “The Fighting Gators,” a history that I am privileged to have witnessed throughout my lifetime.
As we drove off from our adventure this time around, the idea came to me. During the regular weekdays at the Swamp, you are fine to let yourself in and make yourself at home, for the most part so to speak… But come game day it is a different story.
Indeed.
Imagine that scene in Rudy where the main character can’t get into the game, he walks off discouraged hoping for a brighter day. His passions are temporarily dashed.
Getting into any stadium on game day can be hard. It requires money, connections, tickets and preparations. That’s how it’s like with heaven.
Right now the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus is available for all whom would believe. However, there is coming a game day when a seat in that celestial stadium will require the redemption of a ticket. You cannot just walk into the stadium on that day and enjoy the eternal benefits of the big event.
You’ll need a ticket to ride the bus tram to the stadium and a ticket to enter those pearly gates. God’s Holy Spirit has guaranteed us a spot on the bus ride up to the stadium. Jesus is the ticket to get in. The Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance and Jesus has provided access to the Father to be with Him forever. If you’re a believer you have connections and the ultimate price has been paid.
The thing about earth? Well imagine it is like a faint reflection of The Swamp on game day. It is similar in the way it looks however, very different altogether.
On game day the excitement at the Swamp is electric, it cuts through the air like a knife. You might see a lot of your friends there and everyone generally seems to have an attitude of unity.
Of course compared with The Swamp on game day, heaven’s celestial stadium is very different and much better. Better excitement, expectation, satisfaction and no opposing team trying to mess up your winning season. Everyone is kind, holy, joyful and Godly.
The primary thing is right now we have the chance to be sure we have our tickets and our seat reserved at the game. We have the resources to be prepared and prepare the way for others to go too.
In this game there is more at stake than a national title. It is the eternal value of your very own soul and the souls of all your family and friends, even your enemies, aka, the opposing team here on earth. Your soul is the very essence of your character, your “you part of you.”
Jesus wants to see you on game day and has given you free tickets to the biggest game of all time. Really, it is the celebration of many peoples’ victories and triumphs! It is the chance to worship God eternally for his abounding grace and mercy through Jesus. A monolithic climax so vast it last forever.
Jesus wants you to invite everyone you know and meet to this big event. You have the opportunity to give them the experience of a lifetime. He has enough tickets for everybody too so, “no worries.”
The important thing is that we invite, invite, invite. Go gettem’ and fight, fight, fight. Do your job and work as a team. Don’t get down when things look bad, give it your best effort and keep on fighting for the win.
Right now in this stadium on earth we can let ourselves in and make ourselves at home so to speak, but come game day we are going to need our “tickets to ride” and leave this faint reflection behind.
Have you got your tickets to ride? Why don’t you bring a friend or two? I hear the after game party is a blast.
Ephesians 1:14
This Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive our inheritance. We have this guarantee until we are set free to belong to him. God receives praise and glory for this.
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
In the light of our backyard neighbors getting ready for a National Championship and all, I though it interesting to have recently visited Gainesville and the infamous Swamp while taking Daniel, my son to a SHANDS appointment.
Daniel is a patient at SHANDS and we always try and make the day a, “Daddy and Daniel day out.” We look forward to these trips as we spend some quality time together. We usually take time together at home relaxing and going out to do the everyday errands, but this event always seems to be our bonding time where we can just be boys. We eat pizza, visit a museum, drive around UF and oftentimes visit the football stadium.
If you didn’t know, the Swamp is open to the public every day of the week. The students and community members take advantage of running the staggering steps to train for athletics or their personal best. Kids and adults meander through the walkways taking in the history of “The Fighting Gators,” a history that I am privileged to have witnessed throughout my lifetime.
As we drove off from our adventure this time around, the idea came to me. During the regular weekdays at the Swamp, you are fine to let yourself in and make yourself at home, for the most part so to speak… But come game day it is a different story.
Indeed.
Imagine that scene in Rudy where the main character can’t get into the game, he walks off discouraged hoping for a brighter day. His passions are temporarily dashed.
Getting into any stadium on game day can be hard. It requires money, connections, tickets and preparations. That’s how it’s like with heaven.
Right now the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus is available for all whom would believe. However, there is coming a game day when a seat in that celestial stadium will require the redemption of a ticket. You cannot just walk into the stadium on that day and enjoy the eternal benefits of the big event.
You’ll need a ticket to ride the bus tram to the stadium and a ticket to enter those pearly gates. God’s Holy Spirit has guaranteed us a spot on the bus ride up to the stadium. Jesus is the ticket to get in. The Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance and Jesus has provided access to the Father to be with Him forever. If you’re a believer you have connections and the ultimate price has been paid.
The thing about earth? Well imagine it is like a faint reflection of The Swamp on game day. It is similar in the way it looks however, very different altogether.
On game day the excitement at the Swamp is electric, it cuts through the air like a knife. You might see a lot of your friends there and everyone generally seems to have an attitude of unity.
Of course compared with The Swamp on game day, heaven’s celestial stadium is very different and much better. Better excitement, expectation, satisfaction and no opposing team trying to mess up your winning season. Everyone is kind, holy, joyful and Godly.
The primary thing is right now we have the chance to be sure we have our tickets and our seat reserved at the game. We have the resources to be prepared and prepare the way for others to go too.
In this game there is more at stake than a national title. It is the eternal value of your very own soul and the souls of all your family and friends, even your enemies, aka, the opposing team here on earth. Your soul is the very essence of your character, your “you part of you.”
Jesus wants to see you on game day and has given you free tickets to the biggest game of all time. Really, it is the celebration of many peoples’ victories and triumphs! It is the chance to worship God eternally for his abounding grace and mercy through Jesus. A monolithic climax so vast it last forever.
Jesus wants you to invite everyone you know and meet to this big event. You have the opportunity to give them the experience of a lifetime. He has enough tickets for everybody too so, “no worries.”
The important thing is that we invite, invite, invite. Go gettem’ and fight, fight, fight. Do your job and work as a team. Don’t get down when things look bad, give it your best effort and keep on fighting for the win.
Right now in this stadium on earth we can let ourselves in and make ourselves at home so to speak, but come game day we are going to need our “tickets to ride” and leave this faint reflection behind.
Have you got your tickets to ride? Why don’t you bring a friend or two? I hear the after game party is a blast.
Ephesians 1:14
This Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive our inheritance. We have this guarantee until we are set free to belong to him. God receives praise and glory for this.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
flag
flag
Originally uploaded by stevenarens
This picture to me tells a story as most do. It speaks of the greater days gone past, the current state of our country and our future, although sometimes uncertain.
It points towards a better tomorrow and an eternal hope.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Something to say for accuracy
Well I always use the excuse that I am not a math major, I went to art school. It’s a joke at best because we know that artists throughout the ages have been intellectuals and able of many different disciplines in life. So although I am not smart enough to figure this one out on my own, I am glad somebody was!
If you want a quick read on this check the last paragraph.
Thomas Nelson New Open Study Bible
Excerpt…
THE CHRIST OF DANIEL
Christ is the Great Stone who will crush the kingdoms of this world (2:34, 35, 44), the Son of Man who is given dominion by the Ancient of Days (7:13, 14), and the coming Messiah who will be cut off (9:25, 26). It is likely that Daniel’s vision in 10:5-9 was an appearance of Christ (cf. Rev. 1:12-16).
The vision of the sixty-nine weeks in 9:25, 26 pinpoints the coming of the Messiah. The decree of 9:25 took place on March 4, 444 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8). The sixty-nine weeks of seven years equals 483 years, or 173,880 days (using 360-day pro-phetic years). This leads to March 29, A.D. 33, the date of the Triumphal Entry. This is checked by noting that 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 is 476 years, and 476 times 365.24219 days per year equals 173,855 days. Adding twenty-five days for the difference between March 4 and March 29 gives 173,880 days.
If you want a quick read on this check the last paragraph.
Thomas Nelson New Open Study Bible
Excerpt…
THE CHRIST OF DANIEL
Christ is the Great Stone who will crush the kingdoms of this world (2:34, 35, 44), the Son of Man who is given dominion by the Ancient of Days (7:13, 14), and the coming Messiah who will be cut off (9:25, 26). It is likely that Daniel’s vision in 10:5-9 was an appearance of Christ (cf. Rev. 1:12-16).
The vision of the sixty-nine weeks in 9:25, 26 pinpoints the coming of the Messiah. The decree of 9:25 took place on March 4, 444 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8). The sixty-nine weeks of seven years equals 483 years, or 173,880 days (using 360-day pro-phetic years). This leads to March 29, A.D. 33, the date of the Triumphal Entry. This is checked by noting that 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 is 476 years, and 476 times 365.24219 days per year equals 173,855 days. Adding twenty-five days for the difference between March 4 and March 29 gives 173,880 days.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Napoleon credits Christ
This is an excerpt from Jesus Among Other Gods, a book by Ravi K. Zacharias …
Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message
By Ravi K. Zacharias
Published by Word Pub., 2000
ISBN 084991437X, 9780849914379
195 pages
Yet, in an extraordinarily staggering statement about Jesus Christ, Napoleon said something that is almost unexcelled by any political leader. I quote it at length because of its incredible insight. I only wish I had had it with me when I met with these generals. Napoleon expressed these thoughts while he was exiled on the rock of St. Helena. There, the conqueror of civilized Europe had time to reflect on the measure of his accomplishments. He called Count Montholon to his side and asked him, "Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?" The count declined to respond. Napoleon countered:
“Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. ... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man. ... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me ... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.”
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Wolrd Needs to See Us Broekn
The world needs to see us broken, gone are the days when I sold "perfect Christianity." Christianity that sells the world we are perfect or there is some way to be perfect. Because we are not and because I am not. We do not need to present a much more perfect way, a divine walk a prosperous lifestyle. We need to show them we are loved and we can lead them home. I think at base level we need to comfort, we need to forgive we need to let the world know we are forgiven. We need to let them know they are loved.
We are broken vessels, we are repaired and used by the Master's hand. We are broken and whole all at the same time. We are divorced, if not from our spouses from Jesus... before we get saved. After getting saved we are still broken, we are addicts, we are defunk, we are filled with Grace, Truth and Life. We are a contradiction.
We struggle and we need to show them that. We to need to acknowledge that we get it wrong, daily. We need to be open to see people as they really are, where they are at and meet them there. We need to realize and be willing to admit we need Jesus before the world will ever admit they need Jesus.
We live for Him, we get it wrong, He still loves us and that is the matter. We could not love Him otherwise. We need to show them we love a God who loves us. We love the good Samaritan... We love Jesus. We need to not stand in judgement and say we are better or even different. The difference is Jesus not us. CONSOLATION... Not PERFECTION - not in the sense of being sinless - Perfection in the sense of being made complete with the Father through Jesus Christ His Son.
We need to tell the world that. We need to show the world we are human. We need to show the world we struggle. Sin does not have dominion over us, how...
Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Mostly it is the blood of Jesus and His life in us the hope of glory!
We are broken vessels, we are repaired and used by the Master's hand. We are broken and whole all at the same time. We are divorced, if not from our spouses from Jesus... before we get saved. After getting saved we are still broken, we are addicts, we are defunk, we are filled with Grace, Truth and Life. We are a contradiction.
We struggle and we need to show them that. We to need to acknowledge that we get it wrong, daily. We need to be open to see people as they really are, where they are at and meet them there. We need to realize and be willing to admit we need Jesus before the world will ever admit they need Jesus.
We live for Him, we get it wrong, He still loves us and that is the matter. We could not love Him otherwise. We need to show them we love a God who loves us. We love the good Samaritan... We love Jesus. We need to not stand in judgement and say we are better or even different. The difference is Jesus not us. CONSOLATION... Not PERFECTION - not in the sense of being sinless - Perfection in the sense of being made complete with the Father through Jesus Christ His Son.
We need to tell the world that. We need to show the world we are human. We need to show the world we struggle. Sin does not have dominion over us, how...
Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Mostly it is the blood of Jesus and His life in us the hope of glory!
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