I'm Dreaming of a Stormy Christmas?

At this posting, a storm is raging here in Milledgeville. Rain is pouring like water through a sift, and the thunder is rolling in and shaking the house. Actually, it's kinda good to hear that sound again. Are there any other thunderstorm fans out there?

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I love you all, and may God bless you as we near the start of 2006. Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. In fact, He is the reason for our existence in the first place. I proclaim on this day (the celebration of the birth of the child and the giving of the Son) that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and He is worthy of all of our worship, honor, and praise!

"For unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given..." Isaiah 9:6

The Micah Mandate

"He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Have you ever wanted to know what God's will is for your life? Well, Micah lays it out for you very clearly. Reflect on what it means to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Today, commit the Micah Mandate to memory.

Suggestions for Prayer: 1. Ask God to show you ways to put the Micah Mandate into practice. 2. Ask God to help you to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.

What I've Been Up To

This is a list of the things I've been doing since I got home yesterday.

• Played with Marcus.
• Went out to eat with my family.
• Worked on a sermon.
• Read some of Evidence That Demand's a Verdict.
• Went to work for my dad.
• Went grocery shopping with my mom.
• Laughed with my sisters.
• Helped my mom cook poppy seed chicken.
• Saw Taylor and Teddy at church last night.
• Spoke with Lance, Ben, Austin, Cameron, and Tonia on the phone (not all at once).
• Ate at Zaxby's (was told that Zaxby's should be in Texas next year).
• Played my piano.
• Read blogs.
• Updated my blog.

Well, that's enough for now. I've done even more than that, but it will take too long to list everything. Plus, I'm being called back into the kitchen to help my mom. Peace out!

Do You Have A Healthy Diet?

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."'" Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV)

In this life we are going to face trials and temptations of many kinds, but we must endure until the end. Jesus was led to the desert to be tested. Do you sometimes feel like your life is in a "desert" without any water to soothe your thirst? Then perhaps you should heed the wisdom of Jesus, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." If Jesus put so much emphasis on the Word of God, then we should do the same. Get involved in a Bible study. Attend Sunday School. Memorize Scripture. Read the Bible! I am constantly amazed at people who claim to be Christians and don't read the Word. There was even a girl in my seminary class this semester that admitted that she had never read the whole Bible. Astounding indeed! Many of the sermons I hear these days are lacking in Scriptural content, and people wonder why the Body of Christ appears to be sick in our present culture. Ephesians 6:17 tells us that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. We can do the kingdom of God no good unless we put God's Word into our hearts and put it into action. James tells us to be doers of the Word.

Suggestions for Prayer: 1. Pray that God will give you the desire to study His Word. 2. Pray that God will give you wisdom and understanding when you read His Word. 3. Pray that God will help you deal with temptations and resist Satan. 4. Pray for our pastors and those who preach the Word.

Children of God

"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12

Did you know that when you trust Jesus as Lord and Savior, you rightfully become children of God? That means that God becomes your Father, and there is no better father than God. He takes care of His children. He loves His children. 1 John 3:1 says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" Are you a child of God? Have you trusted your life to Christ?

Suggestions for Prayer: 1. Ask God to help you be an obedient child to His will. 2. Pray that God will help you to get along with your brothers and sisters in Christ. 3. Ask God to help you in understanding what true love is.

No Condemnation

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 (NIV)

Read that verse again. It says that now, for us that are in Christ, there is no condemnation. Jesus paid our price. He suffered the penalty. He died for our sins (for the Glory of God). What that means for us now is that when God looks at us, He doesn't see ugly sinner. What He sees is the precious blood of Jesus covering you, making you clean. This verse brings so much joy and peace. If you are in Christ, then you are eternally secure in His hands.

Suggestions for Prayer: 1. Thank Jesus for dying for you and your sins (for the Glory of God). 2. Thank God for His love.

For Narnia and For Aslan!

If you haven't seen The Chornicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe yet, go! What are you waiting for? Go right now! Okay, maybe you can't get to it right now, but do try to go soon. I saw it earlier, and it was absolutely fabulous. Wonderful movie! The film contained a little bit of everything: drama, action, adventure, love, humor, joy, sadness, etc. There were even a couple times during the movie that I almost wept. When they were talking about Edmund being a traitor, I realized that I was once a traitor; but praise be to God, Jesus Christ redeemed me from my condemnation. Just as Aslan took Edmund's place, Jesus took my place. He paid the penalty required by the Deep Magic and the Stone Table (the Law), and He died taking on the sins of the world. Just as Aslan came back to life because of the Deeper Magic, Jesus rose again by the power of God Almighty. Thank You, Jesus, my Lord and Savior, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!

Texas Country Church

You might be in a Texas country church if …

1. The doors are never locked.
2. The Call to Worship is “Y’all come on in!”
3. People grumble about Noah letting coyotes on the Ark.
4. The Preacher says, “I’d like to ask Bubba to help take up the offering” and five guys stand up.
5. The restrooms are outside.
6. Opening day of deer hunting season is recognized as an official church holiday.
7. A member requests to be buried in his four-wheel drive truck because, “I ain’t ever been in a hole it couldn’t get me out of.”
8. In the annual stewardship drive there is at least one pledge of “two calves.”
9. Never in its entire 100-year history has one of its pastors had to buy any meat or vegetables.
10. When it rains, everybody’s smiling.
11. Prayers regarding the weather are a standard part of every worship service.
12. A singing group is known as the “OK Chorale.”
13. The church directory doesn’t have last names.
14. The pastor wears boots.
15. Four generations of one family sit together in worship every Sunday.
16. The only time people lock their cars in the parking lot is during the summer and then only so their neighbors can’t leave them a bag of squash.
17. There is no such thing as a “secret” sin.
18. Baptism is referred to as “branding.”
19. There is a special fund-raiser for a new septic tank.
20. Finding and returning lost sheep is not just a parable.
21. You miss worship one Sunday morning and by 2 O’clock that afternoon you have had a dozen calls inquiring about your health.
22. High notes on the organ sets dogs in the parking lot to howling.
23. People wonder when Jesus fed the 5,000 whether the two fish were bass or catfish.
24. People think “Rapture” is what happens when you lift something too heavy.
25. The cemetery is in such barren ground that people are buriedwith a sack of fertilizer to help them rise on Judgment Day.
26. It’s not heaven, but you can see heaven from there.
27. The final words of the benediction are, “Y’all come on back now, ya hear.”

Author Unknown

A Parable in the Key of ‘F’

Feeling footloose and frisky, a foolish fellow forced his father to fork over his fourth of the family farthings and flew far to a foreign field where he fast frittered his fathers fortune feasting foolishly with faithless friends. Fleeced by his fellows and folly, and facing famine he found himself a feed flinger in a filthy farm. Flushed and fairly famished he fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from farm fodder.

“My father’s flunkies fair far finer.” The frazzled fugitive forlornly fumbled. Frustrated and filled with forboding, he fled forthwith to his father. Falling to his father’s feet he forlornly fumbled, “Father, I have flunked and frugalessly forfeited family favor.” The fugitive’s, faultfinding brother frowned on fickle forgiveness, but the faithful father figure filled with fidelity, cried, “The fugitive is found. What forbids further festivities. Let the flags unfurl and the fanfares flare.” Father flagged a flunky who fetched a fatling from the flock and fixed a feast.

The moral of the story is: The father’s forgiveness formed a foundation for the fugitive’s future fortitude.

Author Unknown

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Well, finals are over (praise God!), the dorm is quiet, and I'm packing up to go home for three weeks. For those of you who don't know yet, I'm from Milledgeville, Georgia. I'll be driving for about 15 hours so please pray for traveling mercies. I think I'm going to go see The Chronicles of Narnia tonight, so my last night in Fort Worth for a while will be a fun one.

I'm looking forward to catching up with family and friends during my three week break. It's only a three week break (instead of four) because I'm taking an I-term class that starts on January 3rd. To all of my friends who are staying in the DFW area (or who already live here anyway), have a great time without me. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Behave! And if you can't behave, be careful! Hahaha!!!

Punny

I was reading my friend Jacob's blog and came across a very humerous joke that he posted today. It's called Something Humorous on the Night Before my Last Final of the Semester to Keep Me Sane, and I think you should check it out.

Hace muy frio!

That's right, it is extremely cold outside! And I hear it's supposed to be 25 degrees tonight. All of the cars outside have icecicles hanging from them. The sidewalks and steps are slippery. All of the offices at school have been closed, and the last finals scheduled for today have been canceled and postponed to a later date and time.

I've been chatting with Kristen about squirrels in the cold. What do they do? I just saw one scampering across the lawn. Kristen suggested that they wrap their tails around themselves. What if I could do that? What if I were a wee little Bob with a bushy tail to wrap around myself when it gets cold. Oh, silly me!

It just started sleeting again. I'm glad I'm inside in my warm dorm room. I'm also glad they remembered to turn on the heat. Well, I guess that's all for now. Chill to the next episode!

Finals Week

It's that time again...time for finals. Studying is so much fun (not really). It's really just a matter of relearning what we have learned during the semester. By the way, I really don't like essay tests, but teachers sure do love them. I have good news and bad news, though. The good news is that I only have two finals. The bad news is that they are both on the same day. My first one, The Bible and Moral Issues, will be at 8am; and my second one, Philosophy of Religion, will commence at 1pm. I can't wait to be done! Please pray for me and my fellow students as we endure finals week.

Top 10 Recommended Reading

Of the 44+ books that I have read this year, I wanted to provide a list of the top ten that I recommend to others. The decisions were not easy, but here are the ten I chose.

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
2. Cash: the Autobiography of Johnny Cash
3. Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel - Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror
4. Love Your God With All Your Mind - J. P. Moreland
5. The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
6. The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman
7. Foxe's Book of Martyrs
8. Animal Farm - George Orwell
9. The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy
10. Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky