going to Nicaragua in about 4 hours... wow

Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from sin.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Hebrews 12

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

"My son, do nto make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is nto disciplined by his father?

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Genesis 3: 6-7 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

How can we be so different and feel so much alike?
How can we be so different and be so much alike?
- I Am Sam

There are no little events in life. Those we think of no consequence might be full of fate.
-Amelia Barr

The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

I need to start believing in that.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

13-16 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

10:32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Dear God,
I'm sick of trying to do things my way instead of waiting for you, having some faith, and doing your will. I make a mess out of everything when it's only me because I need you. I need you and that is something that somehow I need to be constantly reminded of. I'm sorry for messing up, not listening to you, being willful instead of willing. Show me what to do, give me the strength to do what is right, instill yourself in my life once more because I can't do anything without you. Thank you so much for this great obscure church you somehow led me to. Bless this church. Bless our mission team please. Bless Pastor Che as he goes up north. Bless my family Lord. Teach me what it is to truly love unconditionally. Teach me to forgive, have patience. Grow my heart, keep me teachable. Instead of all these requests, most of all Father, I ask for patience that I might listen for once and learn and become wise in your ways. Keep me accountable so that I might not fall into the trap that the world sets for me once again. Keep me pure. Refine me through your fire. I am a vessel, fill me with your spirit...

Sometimes I feel as though I were born in a circus, come out of my mother's womb like a man from a cannon, pitched toward the ceiling of the tent, all the doctors and nurses clapping in delight from the grandstands, the band going great gun in trombones and drums. I unfold and find flight hundreds of feet above the center ring, the smell of popcorn in the air, the clowns gather below, amazed at my grace, and all the people chanting my name as my arms come out like wings and I move swan-like toward the apex, where I draw my arms in, collapse my torso to my legs, roll over in perfection, then slowly give in to gravity. My body falls back toward earth, the ground coming up quick, the center ring growing enormous beneath my falling weight.
And this is precisely when it occurs to me that there is no net. And I wonder, What is the use of a circus? and Why should a man bother to be shot out of a cannon? and Why is the crowd's applause so fleeting? and... Who is going to rescue me?

- Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.


Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked miserable past
I must have had a moment of truth

For here you are
Standing there
Loving me
Whether or not you should

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good
-Sound of Music

happy birthday.

Psalm 62:5-8

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O People;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.


All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin;
I talk of love-a scholar's parrot may talk Greek-
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

-C.S. Lewis

"I wanted to hold happiness in reserve, like a bottle of champagne. I postponed it because I was afraid, because I overvalued it, and because I didn't want to use it up, because what do you wish for then? That possibility, that I was intimidated by getting what I wanted, is the hardest one for me to consider, which might mean it is the likeliest."

"I sometimes remember driving back from the Brewers game, how I believed I would never love anyone more than I loved Henry. In a sense, I may have been right: I can't imagine ever again feeling that infatuated and free of doubt. I think Henry may have been the first and last person about whom I believed, If I can get him to love me, then everything else will be all right. That I am no longer that naive is both a loss and a gain."

- The Man of My Dreams, Curtis Sittenfield

"Remember what is important to you."

Christianity without discipleship is Christianity without Jesus Christ." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. -Eleanor Roosevelt
We are the choices we have made - Meryl Streep
In the long run, we only hit what we aim at. -Thoreau

No man can concentrate his attention upon evil, or even upon the idea of evil, and remain unaffected. To be more against the devil than for God is exceedingly dangerous. Every crusader is apt to go mad. He is daunted by the wickedness which he attributes to his enemies; it becomes in some sort a part of him.

The resolution of this dilemma is a paradox. The path of love is a dynamic balance of ooposites, a painful creative tension of courses of action. Consider the raising of a child. To reject all its misbehavior is unloving. To tolerate all its misbehavior is unloving. We must somehow be both tolerant and intolerant, accepting and demanding, strict and flexible. An almost godlike compassion is required.
One minister described such compassion of God for man by putting the following words into God's mouth:

I know you. I created you. I have loved you from your mother's womb. You have fled-as you now know-from my love, but I love you nevertheless and not-the-less however far you flee. It is I who sustains your very power of fleeing, and I will never finally let you go. I accept you as you are. You are forgiven. I know all your sufferings. I have always known them. Far beyond your understanding, when you suffer, I suffer. I also know all the little tricks by which you try to hide the ugliness you have made of your life from yourself and others. But you are beautiful. You are beautiful more deeply within than you can see. You are beautiful because you yourself, in the unique person that only you are, reflect already something of the beauty of my holiness in a way which shall never end. You are beautiful also because I, and I alone, see the beauty you shall become. Through the transforming power of my love which is made perfect in weakness you shall become perfectly beautiful. You shall become perfectly beautiful in a uniquely irreplaceable way, which neither you nor I will work out alone, for we shall work it out together.

- People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck, M.D.

Psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul; how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon-from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" MY bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?' Why are youy downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

im gonna miss pastor che. :(

i think more than i realize. i try not to think too hard about sad stuff, so maybe i havent really processed it all the way... and then its gonna hit me like a ton of bricks when he does leave

Romans 8:26 We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us.

Romans 7:14-25
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, that evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law: but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Psalm 63:1-51
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Our Father, Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive our transgressions
Even as we have forgiven our enemies.
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the
glory forever. Amen.

.... It struck me that what Jesus was doing when He gave this speech was not so much teaching people to pray as He was reminding them of what they had forgotten in the Scriptures, that we can relate to God in a personal way. I know that sounds like the same thing, but I'm wondering if I wasn't limiting Jesus' teaching by thinking it was just about behavior, and not about perspective. Jesus was saying they should stop jumping through legalistic hoops, or for that matter rambling on and on as though they could manipulate God. Instead, they should relate to God as He has always related to them, as their Father.
....And what's more, Jesus was telling us this relationship with the Father was supposed to be sincere and intimate. The people hearing Jesus must have been somewhat surprised. Their Father was not afraid to be close.
The first thing God seemed to want, in terms of our relating to Him as a father, was for us to submit to Him... in asking us to submit, it seemed to me Jesus was saying, Look, you are going to want to do things your way, but your way isn't the best for you. Trust me, I know what you need... If God was fathering me, and He knew exactly what I needed then when I didn't get something I wanted, I could trust God didn't give it to me because it was not something I needed... He says that God is going to provide, that we can trust Him to provide what we need, even down to the basics of food. To me, that seems to build on what Jesus had just said about trusting God to give us what we need for maturity rather than what we want... an acknowledgment of God's ability to provide security... He wants us to depend on Him, to lean on Him, to realize our smallness in the reality of His bigness. Our provision comes from God... and in our asking we are realizing the love He displays in His willingness to provide.... it seemed beautiful that God would want us to get along, to forgive each other and accept forgiveness... that God wasn't just my Father, concerned with my maturity, but He was our Father, concerned with the unity and health of the whole family.... ,'God, you are great big. You are bigger than everything, and that is amazing. You are the one with the power, and You always will be.'
- To Own a Dragon, Donald Miller

NOAH!

Beloved

Under the apple tree I roused

you;

there your mother

conceived you,

there she who was in labor

gave you birth.

Place me like a seal over your

heart,

like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy unyielding as

the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench

love;

rivers cannot wash it away.

If one were to give

all the wealth of his house

for love,

it would be utterly

scorned.

Song of songs 8:...5-7

James 1:2-8 (NIV) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is likie a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

(The Message)2-5 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

Renuevame, Senor Jesus,
Ya no quiero ser igual,
Renuevame, Senor Jesus,
Pon en mi tu corazon

Porque todo lo que hay dentro de mi,
Necesita ser cambiado Senor,
Porque todo lo que hay dentro de mi corazon
Necesita mas de it

1 Corinthians 13:4-10 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

noah was such a cute baby

Colossians 1:9-14 fOR THIS REASON, SINCE THE DAY WE HEARD ABOUT YOU, WE HAVE NOT STOPPED PRAYING FOR YOU AND ASKING gOD TO FILL YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL THROUGH ALL SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. aND WE PRAY THIS IN ORDER THAT YOU MAY LIVE A LIFE WORTHY OF THE lORD AND MAY PLEASE HIM IN EVERY WAY; BEARING FRUIT IN EVERY GOOD WORK, GROWING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF gOD, BEING STRENGTHENED WITH ALL POWER ACCORDING TO HIS GLORIOUS MIGHT SO THAT YOU MAY HAVE GREAT ENDURANCE AND PATIENCE, AND JOYFULLY GIVING THANKS TO THE fATHER, WHO HAS QUALIFIED YUO TO SHARE IN THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS IN THE KINGDOM OF LIGHTS. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought in unto the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

oh great. i caps locked most of it but its sall good.

Shane&Shane - Yearn

Holy design
This place in time
That I might seek and find my God

Lord, I want to yearn for You
I want to burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I want to yearn for You
I want to burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I want to yearn

Your joy is mine
Yet why am I fine
With all my singing and bringing grain
In light of Him
Oh, You give life and breath
In You we live and move
That’s why I sing

Whispers
The man whispered, "God, speak to me" and a meadowlark sang.
But, the man did not hear. So the man yelled, "God, speak to me" and the thunder rolled across the sky. But, the man did not listen. The man looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star shined brightly. But the man did not see. And, the man shouted, "God show me a miracle." And, a life was born. But, the man did not notice. So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here." Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man . But, the man brushed the butterfly away . and walked on.
I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us in the little and simple things that we take for granted ... even in our electronic age. So I would like to add one more: The man cried, "God, I need your help!" And an e-mail arrived reaching out with good news and encouragement. But, the man deleted it and continued crying . Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.

Inside of Love

watching terrible tv

it kills all thought

getting spacier than an astronaut

making out with people I hardly know or like

I can't believe what I do late at night.

I wanna know what it's like

on the inside of love.

I'm standing at the gates

I see the beauty above

only when we get to see the aerial view

will the patterns show

we'll know what to do

I know the last page so well I can't read

the first, so I just don't start

it's getting worse

I wanna know what it's like

on the inside of love

I can't find my way in

I try again and again

I'm on the outside of love

always under or above

must be a different view

to be a me with a you

I wanna know what it's like

on the inside of love

of course I'll be alright

I just had a bad night

I just had a bad night.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity...

noah now. he's almost a year old. grown up so fast.

baby noah!

"I'm so excited about the possibilities ahead - but I'm also scared as hell. I get sad and confused and question who I am and feel unsure about what I should do. But those are just growing pains, and something good will come out of them. As painful as those feelings of uncertainity and self-doubt are, if you can get excited about what they could lead to, everything will turn out okay." - Hilary Duff

John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. :)

Psalm 31:19-24
How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.
Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.
In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.
Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

Psalm 139
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Psalm 27
The Lord is my light and my salvation-
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life-
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling:
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts
of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Hear my voice when I call, O Lord:
be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
Teach me your way, O Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my
foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
I am still confiden of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

1. When we try to use our spiritual gifts we must be certain that God is leading us and that we do it His way, not ours.
2. We must always keep a balance in our lifes of service and adoration-- we cannot truly serve God unless we are walking in fellowship with Him.
3. We must be careful to submit to God's will for us and not try to "order Him around" in our ignorance.
4. God's will for us is that we grow spiritually and He will bring learning opportunities into our lives to accomplish that end.

1 John 3:18- Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

From the Inside Out - Hillsong United

A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd
I shall not be in want
he makes me lie down in green pastures
he leads me beside quiet waters
he restores my soul
he guides me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake
as i walk through the valley of the shadow of death
i will fear no evil
for you are with me
your rod and your staff
they comfort me
you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
my cup overflows
surely goodness and love will follow all the days of my life
and i will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.