ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM WRITING THIS IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT IS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO YOU THE READER.  I WILL NO LONGER BE HERE AT WORDPRESS.  I HAVE OFFICIALLY MADE BOUGHT MY OWN NAME, SET UP A NEW BLOG, AND MADE THE SWITCH.  I CAN ONLY ASK THAT YOU HELP MAKE THIS A SMOOTH TRANSITION AND COME WITH ME.  ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT NOTE, IF YOU FOLLOW ME IN A READER PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEW ONE (OBVIOUSLY) AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT…..IF YOU LINK TO ME FROM YOUR PAGE, WHETHER IN A BLOGROLL OR IN A POST, PLEASE RELINK TO MY NEW PAGE.  I THANK YOU FOR YOU UNDERSTANDING AND CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL AT CAMPFIREANTHEMS.COM.

frog: fully rely on god

thats the titles of today’s devotion.  frog.  its a concept that most christians would not find outlandish, but i dare say that most either forget to do that or just don’t have the faith to do it.  i see a lot of people that will say, “god, help me with my kids…but i can handle my finances.”  “god, let things work out in my just but i can do my marriage on my own.”  it also talks about how, instead of going to god, we more often than not seek counsel in our mortal friends (who just like us screw up a lot, don’t know everything, aren’t divine, and so on) because they have been in similar situations.

i think as humans we have a hard time grasping the concept that god can help us in whatever situation we are in because he is this divinity that lives in the cosmos.  how can god understand what we are going through.  thats the beauty of jesus.  fully god…fully human, jesus went through the same things we do.  ok enough rambling.  i haven’t even told you the scripture yet.  it was 2 chronicles 16:7-9, i guess i got a little ahead of myself this morning.  i think a striking verse within today’s message was that “not relying on god will result in one round of war after another.”  i don’t know about you but war isn’t the way i want to surround my life.  sure, its easy to say that you have undying faith and can give god control over every single situation that comes up in life – but to live it truly remarkable.  i guess any of us can talk the talk.

simply awesome

I just wanted to say that Bob Ross, you know – the guy that paints on PBS, is just awesome.  Anyone with a fro like that, and sick painting skills has to be the man.  I bet he can paint a mean duck, don’t you think Travis?

any thoughts?

Today’s devotion was really odd to me. The passage was from 2 Chronicles 6:12-18. It was about how Solomon, after completion of the temple, dedicated all his hard work to God in front of a full house. Ok. Whats so special about this verse? I’m sure its easy to dedicate a temple built for God, to God. One of the questions the book asks is what aspects of my life do I need to solely set aside for the Lord to have glory. Thats honestly a tough question. I guess really it would only be my marriage. I don’t think anything else I have done is really God sized enough that people would know that it was something He did and not me. I need to do something God sized. I’ll let you know when I figure out what that is.

fat camp begins

letting go

So its day two with the devotional gimmick and getting up was slightly easier. Today’s message was 1 Chronicles 29:12-19. It spoke about David giving blessings to God. This is something I may not always be open about, but I know that God has his hands in my life. I also know that most of the things that I can do or accomplish are because of this. Giving back to God was something I struggled with for so long, especially tithing. Its seems now, however, that I couldn’t comfortably live without giving back that portion. That gift I give is multiplied back to me in a way that I really can’t understand…seeing as how the math doesn’t add up.

It also talked about how our lives are “shadows,” and that everything is actually only borrowed from God anyways. All of us tend to hold on to something (material, relational) too tightly, either because we worship it or we think it will last forever. So today, my goal is to back away from my guitars a little bit. I think sometimes I tend to get a little crazy over them. But hey, they say admitting the problem is the first step. Do you have anything you grasp too tightly?

so it begins

I got up early today, in order to start my new programs. You know, the daily devotional and Fat Camp. Getting up early is the most fulfilling and exhilarating experience sucks, plain and simple. But I did it. I read the passage for today and studied the questions, and its really funny how the topic on the first day I’m doing this addressed one of the things I struggle the most with. The passage snippet was 1 Chronicles 16:23-29. It talks about how you should sing God’s praise. Tell everything and everyone how great He is each day, and proclaim His glory to all the godless nations. It goes on to say that you should do this because God is worth it for all that he has done for us. I totally agree with what I read this morning, but like I said, its something I struggle with. I’m not good when it comes to talking about God. Its not that I feel embarrassed or anything, its just that to me I feel like my faith and beliefs are a private matter that no one wants to hear about. And when I put it like that, I guess it really doesn’t matter if they want to hear about it or not. I suppose its party of my Christian-ly responsibility. What it all boils down to is that I’m a closet Christian and I need to start living it more openly. So today’s goal is to talk to one person about God, whether its something cool he has done in my life, or telling them about who He is. I wonder if tomorrow’s devotional will be this challenging.

Check back later tonight with the first installment of Fat Camp. It should be pretty entertaining.

pat on the back

So I’m a pretty proud advertiser/graphic designer today. My very first full color ad in a international publication hit the new stand today. How cool is that? It makes me feel like I’ve really made it in the advertising industry. Oh yeah, the publication is the duPont Registry: A Buyer’s Gallery of Fine Homes. I remember when I was growing up I would always look at the duPont magazines for homes and for cars. I never thought that one day I would have an ad in it. Pretty neat stuff.

oh the thievery

The photo above is my new Starbucks coffee mug. The reason I chose to use the word “thievery” is because it was stolen. Yes, I in fact blatantly stole this mug right from under the nose of its owner. But now I am the current owner. So now let me justify myself. This mug was given to Emily (my lovely, beautiful wife) for Christmas. So I still seem like a stealing jerk huh? Ok, lets dive in further. It has sat in a basket, underneath a blanket, in front of the Bowflex since December 26th. Out of sight, out of mind right? The absolute beauty of this scenario is that she can not get the least bit mad at me or ask for it back, since it sat there unused for so long. So heres to Emily’s, I mean my new Starbucks coffee mug.

self help…

So I have been contemplating a couple of things for a while now and think I’m finally ready to take the plunge. Are you ready? As of Monday, February 18, 2008, I am going to begin doing the two things I really need to work on, an you are going to be the ones to hold be accountable. So what are these 2 things you ask? Well they both have to do with growth. First of all, I feel like I have hit a glass ceiling with my spiritual growth. Emily has started this new daily devotional called Solo, its by the author of the Message. Each day I am going to purposefully wake up early and spend time doing the daily devotion out of Solo. Then, I am going to blog each day about what the passage talked about and how that is relevant in my life. Pretty big stuff huh? Ok, the other growth problem I am having is my belly. I have a Bowflex and 2 good legs for running, so on Sundays each week I am going to give you a workout/weight loss update. This update will include how many times during the week I worked out on the Bowflex and how many miles I ran. I will also give you a week to week update on how much I weigh. Now get ready for this…I’m going to do my special Sunday blog via video for a fitness series I will be calling “fat camp.” Well there it is, my plans for a better me. I’ll see you guys on Monday and you can see what I’m really about.