I have a blog?

So some of you have been wondering about my blog... I heard reports that it was feeling lonely, neglected, and abandoned. Well, such rumors may have some truth to them... but they aren't completely true. I've been meaning to write an update post for a while, and I'm just now getting around to typing it.

Okay, so where have I been? All over. All over what, you say? All over the Arlington Baptist ministries that is. It seems as though I've been working non-stop between the church as music director, the college as registrar, and the day school as the computer and pre-algebra teacher. All told, I've been putting in about 70 hours of work each week. Add to that my interest in having a social life (or more specifically, a social life with Kim), and I think you'll understand why I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while. Not that this is much of a post either, but at least it's something. Hope is on the horizon though... Teacher's Convention starts Thursday, Thanksgiving break is coming up, and Christmas break will be here before we know it. Hooray!!!

And just for kicks, if you ever begin to lose hope and think that you're drowning in your work, look up all the times that the word "joy" is mentioned in the Bible. I went through and did a quick study of this last week and gave part of it as a devotional. By far, the largest category seems to be that of people having joy over the circumstances around them (winning a battle in war, having plenty of food, a birth of a child, etc.). Two categories caught my attention though - those where the joy is based upon God, a specific activity which God did, or an attribute of God. This second category would include things such as rejoicing over God's protection of His own, rejoicing in the joy of our salvation, and the like. The last category of interest to me was the times that the Bible speaks of God having joy. There appear to be four times/places where this happens -
1. He had joy in bringing His people out of the land of Egypt - Psalm 105.43.
2. He had joy in enduring the cross - Hebrews 12.2.
3. He has joy in presenting us faultless before His throne - Jude 24.
4. There is fullness of joy in His presence - Psalm 16.11.
Also of interest is the passage in John 15.11 where Christ prays that His joy might be in His disciples and that their joy might be full. What a request that is! That we might have the same joy that Christ has! Wow... And after looking at the long list of specific events in life that we can be thankful for (and have joy in!), why are we sad? Why are we discouraged? Why is our soul disquieted? Hope thou in God! Let's praise Him together and find our joy in Who He is and what He has done for us!

iTunes 5.0 is here!!!

I don't know how many days it's been out, but the new iTunes 5.0 is here!!! :) Once again, Apple has made a quality product worthy of the computer world's notice. Among other things, they've improved the visual appearance of the program and added some helpful features for doing searches (and I already thought their search program was one of the best... and now it's even better, IMHO). Of course, iTunes also will allow you to download podcasts and purchase music at the Apple Music Store.

Go ahead and try it now!

don't ignore a warning!

As I was catching up on some Internet reading, I came across this quote about the people of New Orleans:

There appear to be a lot of people who didn't even try to prepare for a disaster they all had been told was coming for a generation (then were told, point blank, 24 hours in advance, was now imminent) because they imagined that FEMA or the State of Louisiana had magical powers to save them, and it just doesn't work like that.

As I was reading the article, I began thinking ahead to another day... For over 2000 years, there has been a prediction of an even worse day than the day of Katrina, and it will come suddenly and catch all men by surprise, like a thief in the night. The Day of the Lord will come, and it is as certain as the sun rising in the east each morning. Christ WILL come back to claim His bride, the church, and we must be ready for it. What's more... the day of judgment will come too - the day in which those whose names were not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. For over 2000 years, the warning has been sounded, first by Old Testament prophets, then by Christ, by the 12 Apostles, and now through pastors and teachers the world over - "These are the last days!" The warning is there... Heed it, and choose Christ as your Savior now! You may not get another chance! This isn't just "religious paraphanilia" as some might call it - it is as certain as as the sun rising in the morning. There IS a day of judgment - those who have taken appropriate action (trusting in Christ alone for salvation) will be saved, and those who were too lazy or complacent to do anything... well, they are headed for eternal destruction in the lake of fire. Scripture is so incredibly clear about this. Please be ready, folks! The warning has been sent out, and the time for action is NOW!

Poor me....

Okay, so I know that about 90% of the bloggers in the US have already commented on the high gas prices, but now it's my turn. I had 1/4 tank left 2 days, and I was hoping against hope that I could make it last long enough for the prices to start falling again. But such hope was not to last. After making a quick trip to Walmart and the teacher supply store, there was the little gas light on my dashboard, blinking for all it was worth. Rats... the first time I need to get gas in my new car, and it has to be at a time like this!

What will be even funnier (ten years from now) is the thought that crossed my mind while I was filling up. My first thought was to only get $5 worth of gas. I know I'm not THAT old... but I remember when $5 would hold you for a couple days. Nope. It got me just over 1 1/2 gallons. A day or two maybe, depending on how many errands I needed to run or how desperate we were for a "coffee" break during our classroom prep time at school. "Just enough to hold me" is gonna cost you $10 or $15 now... or maybe even $20 if you have a gas-guzzling Escalade. (Fortunately, I have an Element, not an Escalade!) Yuk!

Maybe I should have waited another 3 years to buy a new car, so I could pay another $10K just to get one of those gas-electric hybrid Accords with 50 miles to the gallon...

Perfect Peace

Has it really been almost three weeks since I posted an update on my blog?! Wow... time flies when you're - um, what's that saying again? - having fun?

Well, fun or not, the school year is here. In between my last post and today, I had one more week of working at summer camp, one wonderful week of mostly vacation (some church music work required, but nothing major... which allowed Kim and I to spend a whole bunch of time together that week... big smiles all around!), and then this week - the week of Teacher Orientation for this next school year. Yup, it's here, folks. Two days down; two more to go. I've gotten very little done so far due to all the meetings that we've had. The sad part is that there's still many more meetings to go in the two remaining days. There's no way everything is going to get done that needs to be done...

• I just finished ordering curriculum today. It's a long story about why that waited so long, but let it suffice to say that it's not completely my fault - people being on vacation means that's it's hard to get approval for things over the summer. Okay, so it's probably mostly my fault, but at least a little bit of it isn't.
  
• I haven't touched lesson plans for any of my classes.
• I haven't even considered what I'm putting up for bulletin boards, except that it might just be some posters that were "handed down" to me.
• I've got evening activities scheduled each night this week beginning at 4:45 (except Wednesday... that's 6:30). College registration and Wednesday night church both will run into the 8:15-8:30 range.
• I have a lot of work still to do for the music program at the church too... special music schedules, bulletin preparation for Sunday, choosing new choir music, finalizing some goals for the music program this year, and even Christmas programs.

Seems pretty depressing, doesn't it? I feel like all I'm doing is spinning my wheels and not getting anything done. What's worse is that I don't even get to see my girlfriend for much of this... we work just one or two hundred feet away from each other, but our paths will rarely cross this school year... and that's already started. :(

But you know what? God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good. As I've thought about things tonight and how busy I am, two distinct memories have come back to me. The first is that of last year at this time. I had NO IDEA what I was doing last year during Teacher Orientation week. I very happy to report that I've been in both my computer labs both days so far (last year, I didn't get to the High School lab until Wednesday, and I didn't get to order books until Thursday... I'm actually 2 days ahead this year!). Last year, I had no idea how to write good lesson plans or anything else. But God was good... and He helped me through it. The year ended up going pretty well in spite of all the mistakes I made at the beginning and the horribleness of that Teacher Orientation week. My second memory that came back today was of grad school. Talk about late nights and long hours... Ugh! I really don't have any desire to go back to that crazy and hectic lifestyle. But you know, a few extra hours here and there won't kill me. It's not like I'm looking at staying up until 2 AM routinely just to get my basic work done. [At least, I don't think that's what I'm looking at... Shhhh!!!] God was there, overseeing everything I did in grad school... and He's still there.

Isaiah 26.3 reads, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Ah... peace comes when we trust in God. Better yet, perfect peace comes when I trust in God. Only when my focus is correct can the rest of my life fall into place. I have no hope of succeeding without His help, and He is sitting there just waiting for me to ask. Think of Jeremiah 33.3 - "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." God, who knows everything, asks us to petition Him to answer our needs. He knows exactly how to answer each situation and often uses ways that are initially hidden to our eyes. Trust Him, because His answer is infinitely better than yours!

Okay, at this point, I need to log off and go home. I'm tired, and I've been here since 8:00 this morning (it's now 11:00 PM). But the good news? I'm NOT the last one leaving this place tonight. (Yes, Mom and Dad, that's right... I'm NOT the only one here right now!) There are others who are still here and may be here for another hour or more tonight. But what's even better news than that is that God cares. He's there to help me, and He's always good all the time. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You." What a great thought to end tonight on...

On Life, and How It Has Been Lived...

Time to give all of you blog-readers another short update on my life as I've been living it... My work with the summer camp here is mostly over, and for that I am very happy. Two weeks ago (not last week, but the week before) was my last full week of camp. Last week was a quasi-vacation week for me. My parents stopped for three days by as they were driving up I-95, en route from picking up my sister at college. It was nice to see them again, and we enjoyed spending time relaxing here in the area - something that we've not had a chance to do as a family even though I moved here almost a year ago. Actually it will be a year ago, this coming Sunday, that I moved here. Anyways, they were here for church services on Sunday, met a number of my friends (including Kim) over Sunday lunch at Old Country Buffet, went to the National Archives Museum and the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington D.C. on Monday, spent Tuesday relaxing and visiting a railroad museum, and had a nice meal at the Crab Shanty on Tuesday night. Kim came out to eat with us twice in addition to the large group that ate together for Sunday lunch, and I can tell that she and my sister are going to get along great (my parents too, but especially my sister). The rest of last week I spent catching up on some stuff for the church's music program... and I spent a fair amount of time being "pleasantly distracted" by a certain young lady. :)

Speaking of that certain young lady, I'm very happy to say that as of last night (Tuesday) Kim and I are officially dating. Things have gone well this last month as we started to really get to know each other, and I'm thankful to God for what He has allowed us to become. You know, I have to say that the way God works in people's lives is rather interesting. I really wasn't expecting any of this to happen between Kim and me... at least, not expecting it in the way it actually happened... but it's intriguing to see how God has worked things out for us so that we can now take this 2nd step together (the 1st step being the trying-to-really-get-to-know-you step). As Isaiah 55.8-9 (ESV) reads, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." I don't know about you who read this post or this blog, but I know I'm glad that He is the one who arranges the events in history and not me. Truly, we serve a great and omniscient God! And, as I've said before, to Him alone belongs any and all glory for what He has allowed Kim and I to become.

Do ____(what?)____ unto others...

Ah, yes. One of the more commonly known verses in the New Testament:

Matthew 7.12: So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

I came across this in my Bible reading the other day. At first, I was just going to somewhat gloss over it: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know this verse. How many times have I quoted it to the elementary students at my school this year?" But then I read the next two verses and stopped...

Matthew 7.13-14: Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

What is it that Christ was trying to say here? Just that we need to be nice to others if we expect them to be nice to us - a kind of utopian motivation for good behavior? As I began to think about it, I realized that perhaps we're taking verse 12 out of context... Is Matthew 7 just a series of independent thoughts? Or are they all related? The more I think about it (note: I haven't studied this out in any commentaries yet...), the more I'm becoming convinced that all of Matthew 7 is referring to a call for salvation. It starts with some verses on judging other's shortcomings (sins?), moves into four verses about God's great kindness to those who ask for it (perhaps the gifts of mercy, faith, and salvation?), the Golden Rule, two more verses with very plain teaching about the ways to destruction and to life, a discussion on judging trees by their fruits, and then three verses about those that thought they had the fruit but really didn't and are now headed for eternal destruction.

So what is the Golden Rule doing in the middle of a chapter on salvation? Is chapter 7 just a bunch of random lessons? I really think that answer is a "no." Then what is it that Christ is asking us to do here? Perhaps we need to think on a higher plane... could it be that he is asking us to tell others of His call to salvation, just as we would want others to tell us of His call? This may well be the essence of what He was trying to convey here. Tell others, because you would want them to tell you if the situation were reversed! What a powerful thought, not to mention just one more reason to go and tell the world of His open call. This is reason to go out into the harvest fields and witness, even if you were a seven-point Calvinist who believed that God has already saved those who will be saved... because even those who will be saved would want to know sooner rather than later about their salvation! Wouldn't you?!

So, go... and witness unto the others as you would want them to do for you!

Update to the Exciting News

Well, I think it's time for a brief update to the Exciting News post from 2 weeks ago, and I'm very happy to say that things are going well. At the moment Kim and I have agreed to classify ourselves as being "more than just friends, but not [yet] dating"... acknowledging that there is something there between us but at the same time recognizing that we're still in the process of just getting to know each other better. It's been really neat to learn how the Lord has been working in both of our lives over the last month or two, not only to bring us to the point where we are today but also in other spiritual matters. I'm excited about what the Lord has done, and I look forward to whatever He chooses to do in the future...

Finally, as I said in my previous post: to God alone be any and all glory.

I am a statistic...

I am a statistic... Isn't that just the best feeling in the world?! I know that most of my readers either blog and have probably already taken the survey or you don't blog and therefore don't need to take the survey, but I thought the slogan was catchy so that's why I posted it. :)

BTW... you can see random results from the survey here: http://blogsurvey.media.mit.edu/results

Simple but Profound...

Just a simple but profound truth for today:

God is good - all the time...
And all the time - God is good.

Don't we serve a great God?

Exciting news...

Well, I feel that by writing this on a blog where everyone can see it, I'm making a big jump. So far, I've only mentioned this to my parents, my sister, and one of my closest friends... now I'm about to write it out for the world to see. It's also unique in that I haven't been in a situation like this for many years... in fact, something like this hasn't happened to me since high school (partly by choice, partly because of God's will). It's also unique in that this is a very personal post, unlike the others here which have been biographical or spiritual in nature. Well, not that this one isn't biographical or spiritual, but the focus is much more personal than my previous posts have been.

Anyways, the news is this... there's a certain young female who's been my friend for several months. In fact, we've been friends since we both moved here last August. Over the course of the last year, we've gradually moved from being acquaintances (September) to being friends (October) to being good friends (March) to, well, something more than just friends (July 3). I'm not exactly sure what that "something more" is, but we'll find out soon enough. To set the stage a little more, I probably should mention that on June 9 (the next-to-last day of school), I had a little talk with her about our friendship since we had been in several awkward moments just before that and since we had never clarified that we were "just friends" or anything. Well, we walked away from that conversation pretty much on the same page that we walked into that conversation on - we both came and left as "friends." I sort of just put the whole thing in the back of my mind and was just going to let it go for the time being. I mean, look at what was coming in the future: the school year was about to be over (she's a teacher like I am) and we wouldn't be hanging around during lunch time or after school... while we were both working here at summer camp our hours were completely different (6 AM - 12 PM and 12 PM - 6 PM)... we had been living in the same apartment building (church-owned) but she was moving out soon to another apartment in the area... she was going on a 2-week vacation in the summer... and next year was promising to be a very busy year for both of us (e.g., no time for a social life) not to mention the fact that we would be working in completely different buildings in the school (unlike this year). So I was just going to not worry about it anymore. Case closed, and her going on vacation last week and this week would be a good time to start making that break. Or so I thought...

Last Sunday afternoon (3:57 PM to be exact), I get a phone call from her. I saw her name on my caller ID, and I was like "oh, okay. that's cool..." We said hi, and then she asks a question that would inspire both fear and hope in every man: "Do you remember how we had that talk a little while ago?" Um, yeah... How could I forget? What is this - a call to say that you want to be "only friends" for a while more? I mean, that's basically the assumption that I've operated on for the last month. Anyway... "Do you still feel the same way?" Um, well... (I began tripping all over my words) Well, yeah, I kind of do, but so I would know exactly how to put it, I asked her why... "Well, I've been thinking about it, and maybe being away from it all on vacation helped me think it through better, but I wouldn't mind spending more time getting to know you." Wow! I was on the proverbial Cloud Nine almost instantly! :) I'm not sure that I can recall most of the rest of the conversation, but that one sentence was enough for me. I know I suggested waiting until she got back here before we got into any serious talks, but the rest of it is just a blur in my memory. I could say much more, but let me move on...

As I said, she's been on vacation this week, so we really haven't talked at all since that phone call on Sunday. We have emailed quite a bit though for us (1 or 2 per day) and even started to set up our first date for when she gets back. Except for that phone call, I'd be seriously wondering if this was all just a dream or a bad joke. I mean, seriously, when was the last time that I invited a girl somewhere (just the two of us) and that girl wanted it to be just the two of us too but wasn't sure that I meant it that way and asked me to clarify? This has to be just a dream... or is it? :)

Well, I'll find out soon enough. She flies in late Friday night, Lord willing. She's flying out from Pensecola, Florida, so she might get caught in some hurricane weather, but I'm hoping not. I can't wait to see her now... this week has been pretty awesome, but 5-6 days is a long time when you're eagerly waiting to see a girl who might just become your girlfriend once you sit down and have that first serious talk. (You know, I hope she doesn't mind my calling her that before we've actually talked about us being a couple, but I'm pretty certain she won't mind.) :) Still, the amazing thing to me is that she was actually thinking about it so much that she had to call me on Sunday instead of waiting until she gets back to talk to me! Okay, so maybe this isn't that much to some of you who are reading my blog, but that doesn't usually happen to me. As I said above, that hasn't happened to me since high school - partly because I chose it and partly because God designed it that way.

As I sit here and type all of this though, I know that all of this happiness I now feel may be only temporary. I'm very aware of the fact that God's will for us may be that we stay as friends. It may be for us to be "something more" but it doesn't have be that. I can't see into the future any more than she can (or you, for that matter). There are many things that we need to talk about now, things which as friends I might be willing to overlook or not take seriously but that as "more than friends" I do need to seriously consider. We need to talk about standards, about the Lord's leading for future ministry, about... you name it. For my fellow believers, please pray for us that we both seek God's will during this time. We've both been praying about it for the last month, and now I'm asking for you to join us in that prayer. It's not only a great privilege and opportunity that I have before me but a great responsibility as well, and I know that I can't possibly succeed without guidance from my omniscient God. He alone is deserving of any glory...

Oh, and in case you're wondering... her name is Kim. :)

What makes a great country?

This somewhat random thought came to me as I was sitting in church today:

We often speak of America as being the greatest country in the world, and there have been many reasons in the last 229 years for saying that. Perhaps the most common reason has been because of the variety and extent of the freedoms afforded to the citizens of this country. As a Christian, one of the freedoms I hold dearest is the freedom of religion... the freedom to believe what I want without fear of governmental persecution. At the surface level, we decry the persecution of the Ethiopian, Chinese, and Russian churches in the last 50 years, and it is indeed a terrible thing.

But back to my thought: what defines a great country? Is it the freedom to do, act, think, believe, and speak what we want? No. As a Christian, I am compelled to answer that a great country is one in which the Christians are most Christ-like, one in which a Christian's faith is real. It is a sad commentary on our "great" country that the "Christians" here give in to everything the world has to offer us. They are pseudo-Christians because their faith isn't real. They see Christianity as a hobby... a Sunday morning activity... a social club. A few see it as a crutch to get their ever-hectic lives. But all of these people miss the point, and most of them (dare I say it?) aren't really Christians. They name the name of Christ, but they lack the salvation and redeemed nature that Christ so freely offers to all. They are, for all practical purposes, pseudo-Christians.

So do we live in a great country? It depends. If your definition of greatness is merely a long list of freedoms, then yes, America is a great country and perhaps even the greatest country. But my definition of national greatness is different. Perhaps Communist Russia could be considered a great country because the Christians there were willing to die for their faith. How many house churches have been closed down and pastors imprisoned in Communist China? How many Christians in Ethiopia have been murdered because of their belief in Christ? Those 3 countries may have had few freedoms, but the Christians there knew what it was to be a Christian and to believe in Christ above all else. Those Christians can have the satisfaction of knowing that they didn't fall for just another religion... they died for the Gospel... they died as a testimony of the great redeeming power of Christ to save each individual from their sins if each one would only believe.

Greatness in a country can come from military might or from freedoms. But greatness in God's eyes comes from the commitment and dedication of His servants to His causes. May God have mercy on our country and allow us to be truly "great" once again...

Long-Overdue Update... take 2.

Okay... it's defintely time for long-overdue update #2. maybe you don't see this as humorous, but it kind of strikes me as being a little funny... here I am, claiming a desire to have a balanced blog, and apparently my definition of "balance" means not blogging. Hmm...

Well, that wasn't exactly the thought I wanted to convey in creating this blog. Sorry, folks. I've been really busy (again). May was here and gone before I knew it, and June has too. We had 28 seniors graduate from my school on June 9th (19 seniors from the day school; 9 from our home school program). Dr. Bob Jones III spoke at our Baccalaureate service the day before. I'm currently working in the summer program for kids here at the school (think of it as a day camp, but we're not calling it a camp because of all the legalities required when using the term "camp"). I just recently got my CDL learner's permit so that I can (eventually) drive the church buses for camp and for the school's sports teams. Getting a CDL is harder than you might think! The tests required some fairly intensive study, but fortunately I passed the first time and didn't have to retake anything. :)

As far as what's coming up... our music director's last Sunday is July 3rd. After that, I'm it. Maybe I've just forgotten a lot since I did my church music internship back in the summer of 2001, but you have to do a fair amount of work in this job if you're going to do it right! It's not just choosing hymns 5 minutes before a service and then waving your arms while singing. :) I mean, I knew it was more work than that, but the amount of work still kind of comes as a bit of a surprise to me.

Well, I don't know if there's anything else that I need to say in this update. Again, I hope to write more often. :)

Long-Overdue Update...

Wow... the month of April didn't exist. The month of May is about to not exist either. Where have I been? Absolutely everywhere, even though I never left the area. It's been really busy with many different things happening here at school and at our church. Let's see... April started with a nightmare called taxes. Two of my three W-2 forms were incorrectly printed... one W-2 reported the same income to two different states... Maryland and Massachusetts were fighting over interest. It was awful (and that coming from someone who used to really want to be an accountant!). What else happened? We had a fine arts competition here at the school. We hosted a regional elementary competition and competed several other competitions; our intermediate choir (grades 4-6) took first place in the state competitions. We also just had our high school's spring concert tonight, and the HS choir sounds awesome. It wouldn't surprise me if they really started to go places in the next couple years. :)

This month isn't going to be much better... I've got many requirements of my job bearing down on me. Find new curriculum for about 5-8 computer classes for next year (this year's curriculum is extremely poor, especially the Computer II one). Write an exam for the seniors. Write regular exams by this Monday. Create PowerPoint slide shows for the Sports Banquet next Saturday and for the Kindergarten graduation the following week. Get things ready for the Bible College tomorrow night.

On top of all that, the Lord provided a great opportunity for me - the music director at the church just announced that he'll be leaving at the end of the summer, and I have been asked to work into the position as the interim. From what I understand, the church is looking for someone with more experience than I have to offer, but I'm grateful for this opportunity. This Sunday is the first big test - Sunday morning, evening, and the choir. It's a big responsibility, but I'm happy to have the opportunity. There's just something really powerful about leading others in worshipping God; it's an awesome responsibility and a great challenge.

So, yeah, I've been busy. :) I hope to be back to posting a little more frequently in the days ahead. Just 18 more days of school! After that I'll be working in the summer program here at the school. I'll be taking a college class too at the Bible College here - Introduction to Missions. So that's life in these parts. Busy. But exciting. And the fact that God is sovereign and in control of it all just makes it so much better. He's got a great plan for me, and if I wait patiently, He'll show it to me. What a great God we serve!

Thoughts about Death

Death. The word is never easy to discuss. It brings shame and guilt to some. To others, it means regret. To a few, it means freedom from the cares of living in this sin-wrecked world.

But what is death? Is it an end in and of itself? or is it merely a transition to a life hereafter? and if a transition, to what kind of life? These are things which must be researched and discovered here and now. To wait until later may mean that you wait too long and that death will conquer you before you know what it is. It is much, much better to be prepared for it than to be surprised by it!

And how should we prepare for it? The answer is simple: look to the Book which speaks about it the most! What Book is that? The Bible. There IS a life after death, and it is vitally important that we prepare for it. Scripture speaks very plainly that there is a heaven - a place of endless worship before God - and that there is a hell - a place of torment far worse than we can imagine.

So, whether your my grandma (d. 3/13/05) or the Pope, the choice is there. The deciding factor is simple - accept Christ as your Savior and Lord. The time to choose is now.

What will you choose?

What is worship?

So this morning I had to give a devotional to the high school teachers here at the school where I work. I came home from church last night tired and exhausted. After a little bit of downtime (think CSI:NY), I gathered some things and began trying to decide what I should speak on today. I started by going through several books of ideas that usually get me going into some line of thought appropriate for a devotional, but nothing was coming. I tried a few more books... but nothing. Eventually I just sat there looking at my bookshelf, staring at the books, and hoping for a source of "inspiration."

But nothing came.

Then, my eyes happened to fall upon a new book that I just picked up this last Sunday - True Worship by Ward and Whitcomb. Now, I've barely even opened the cover to the book, but it got me thinking. Worship happens to be a topic that has interested me in the last year or so, and with the adjective "true" in front of it, it started me thinking. What is true worship? As I began thinking through Scripture, my mind landed on the idea for my worship devotional - personal encounters with God and their results. I present a brief synopsis of it here for your edification:

Exodus 3. The burning bush incident. Moses is instructed to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground.
Exodus 19.16-25. God appears to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. Moses is instructed to establish a boundary around the mount so that none of the people get too close to God's holiness.
Exodus 33.18-23 and 34.29-35. Moses sees the back of God's glory. Moses' face requires a veil whenever he is in the presence of other people because his face is shining too brightly.
Isaiah 6. Isaiah sees the Lord "high and lifted up." He is immediately struck by his own sin and his nation's unworthiness.
Matthew 17. Peter, James, and John see the Christ transfigured before them. Peter's initial response (however incorrect it might be) is to build a place of worship there on the mountain.
Revelation 1.7. Christ will return someday. Every one on earth will see Him, and all tribes of earth will wail (mourn).
Revelation 1.12-17. John sees one like a Son of Man standing in the middle of the seven golden lampstands. John falls at His feet as if dead.

Now, this list is by no means exhaustive. There may be other passages that should have been included in this listing, but due to lack of time I've not yet spent time looking for them. (Feel free to add them as a comment, if you want!) However, in every one of these instances, seeing God for Who He is makes a noticeable and normally physical change in the life of the one viewing Him.

The thought for today then is this: How often do you truly see God for Who He is? We talk so much about "worship" today, but do we really have true worship? Do we see the God of the Bible or a god of our reasoning and imagination? When was the last time you were physically affected by worshipping God?

What about those "worship services"? When was the last time you walked out of church changed because of Who God is? If God isn't worshipped, please don't blame the music director... the musicians... the preacher... the other members... or even the congregation at large. If God isn't worshipped, it's usually because you and I weren't looking for Him. We don't want to worship Him... because true worship will change us.

So... when was the last time you truly worshipped?

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Well, my blog isn't even 24 hours old, and there's already a significant event in the life of one of my family members. My "little" sister turns 21 today! Hope you have a great day, sis! :)

Introducing... ME!

Okay, so I'm relatively brand-new to this whole blogging thing. In fact, I only started reading blogs in the last, oh, 6-8 weeks. What a surprise I was in for! I've quickly come to appreciate the genre and hope to continue the trend for my own thoughts and life history.

I really wish I could say something prolific or great or memorable in this, my first post, but usually that kind of thing escapes me. The goal here though is not to be memorable... not to be significant... not even to be unique. The goal is to keep the Main Thing the main thing. For those of you who've stumbled across my blog on accident and for those who have come here on purpose, let me explain. The Main Thing in life is God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Without Him and a personal knowledge of His redemptive work on Calvary, life has no purpose. Life wanders all around with no goal... no structure... no end... no balance.

So that is why this blog was started. I hope to provide a balanced viewpoint on life. I don't want to get off on tangents. I want put Christ first and foremost in this blog. All else is useless if Christ is not first.

And with that introduction, let me welcome my friends. I hope you find the discussions here to be profitable. I hope that you find the personal updates to be useful (and a lot better than the mass e-mails every six months). I hope above all else that Christ is exalted and that God is pleased.

Finally, let me close this introduction with a few of my favorite verses:

Romans 1.16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes...
1 Corinthians 10.31: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Philippians 3.8-9: I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him...