Goose Bumps, Tears and Sensations

Coming down the mountain was always the hardest part of going to church camp. It was so hard that the speakers and directors starting preparing us for the shock from the very beginning of the services. It was easy to be a Christian and be a young adult at the same time at camp. There was nothing but people similar to you, who shared your beliefs all immersed in the presence of God for the duration of the time at camp. You felt God all around you, especially in the services and study times. When you went down the mountain back to your normal life, you managed to keep that feeling for a little while, maybe even a few days, but it started to diminish quickly and it was hard to maintain. Didn't God exist at the bottom of the mountain? Or did the higher elevation keep me closer to Him and therefore His presence stronger all around me? Or the real question--was I chasing a feeling or longing for the same experience I had at camp. I wasn't looking for God, I was looking for how I thought God made me feel. I was chasing the experience I thought was God in my life.

It is funny, not really funny but peculiar how some will say that everything is fine when they are in church, that they fell like they are sitting in the presence of God then when they leave the sanctuary they don't feel that way anymore. We sing a few songs, maybe even raise our hands, listen to a preacher challenge our lives with the word of God and then we are done. We think we have met God because we went to church. We feel like we met God because we got some goose bumps as we were singing. We met God because we started crying during worship or it seemed like the pastor wrote that sermon for my life. If that is the case we are not going to church because we want to meet God, we are going to church so we can have an experience. If we are basing the presence of God on goose bumps or tears then we have seriously missed the mark. If we go to church and leave saying that we just didn't "feel it" today and use that to gauge the presence of God, then we are in more dire straits than we can ever imagine.

Only when we get to know God, know Him intimately, desire to know what is on His heart, can we begin to understand that feelings, sensation and experiences have nothing to do with His presence. It is about our willingness to not only seek the power of His hand, but to desire to know what is on His heart and what He has to say to us. When we quiet down and stop murmuring our requests and issues to Him long enough to hear what He has to say then we will know what the presence of God feels like. When we get out of our own way or take the God out of the box we have put Him in then we will know what the presence of God is all about. It is then we will see Him move the way He wants to move to accomplish what He has purposed to accomplish. He might even see fit to use us, if we will only listen long enough to let Him.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Hand or Heart

My frustration with Christians seem to rise again today. I feel like I just want to find the highest mountain and shout "What are you doing?!" I was listening to people talk yesterday and all it was is "God I need..., God is going to give me..., God needs to...," It almost made me nauseous. Is that all we know God for, the benefits? Is that all we have taught people He is? A get out of jail free card, a back up plan, an ATM? The best part of God we seem to be utilizing, the only part so many want to know is His hand--what He can get us, what He can do for us. We should be desiring to see Him face to face. We should be seeking to know what is on His heart. Our time alone with Him, should spent in praise and worship, or with a silent mouth and wide open heart. We should spend time with Him not just asking and listing our needs, but asking Him what is heavy on His heart and how we can be of service.

Lord I pray that I am able to see You face to face and that I will never be content until I do.

Bless You Lord for the Blessing that You are.
Mike

Invisible Lines, Obvious Divisions

I was recently in the hospital with my mom. (She is well thanks.) For some reason my awareness of the divisions in society were heightened. I have always been conscious of the dividers that exist in our communities, but to me this time they were highlighted and impossible of just being a passing thought. We did not go to the regular hospital my mom goes to when she decides to go to the emergency room. The paramedics took us to a hospital that was closer to our house and more of a trauma center that offers service my mom might have need of. It was rough for me. We were taken out of our upper middle class bubble and taken to a place where we saw some things we would have never seen in at the hospital we ususally go to. On one side of my moms bed there was a woman in a bed that had tried to commit suicide because she "just wanted the pain to stop." On the other side a young kid about 20 was dropped off at the hospital dripping in blood after he had been stabbed 3 times in the chest and stomach. That is not to say that these things don't happen at the hospital she ususally goes to, rather it is to say that we don't see them there and it is not too commonplace. The interesting part of this we are in the middle of the 2 hospitals. One is a city east of us and the other is west of us. Even driving to the hospital, passing through a school zone the divisions were obvious. The african american women were waiting across the street in a group together, the hispanic cholo looking guys were on the other side across the street waiting but not talking to each other, and the older women and caucasian moms were all standing in front of the school or parked in their mini vans waiting for their kids to come out of school.
My heart broke because of all of this. How many people are in the world that would rather die than feel the pain of their life? How many people are surrounded by people when they are in need of help but don't have anyone that cares enough to wait with them through that tragedy? How long will it be before we realize we are surrounded by people who do the same thing we day day after before we engage them in conversation, before we see the bodies in front of us as a life worth knowing? Are we as the hands, mouths and hearts of Christ showing the love that we are called to show? Or do we help perpetuate the dividing lines by shuffling people into the categories of sinner and saint? Love, Love, LOVE!!!!!!!!!!! That is what we need to do. Love God's people and the people who don't know His love yet, blindly, without judgement and unconditionally. Do you have approve of everyone's actions? No. Does someone's actions disqualify them from deserving to be loved? Absolutely not! Love, cheesy to say, but it is what the world needs now.

Be Loved and Be Loving!
Mike

Sterile Blogging

So wireless connections are great. I have used them in hotels, coffe shops and houses. One place I never thought I would use it is a hospital. And that is exactly where I am blogging from right now. In fact from here:

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. We had a good day yesterday. My sister came over with her family and brought some BBQ from Nick's Taste of Texas. Their food is the best I have had in a while as far as BBQ goes. It could just be the fact that I have been on Nutrisystem for almost a month now. So anyway back to the hospital story. My mom felt weak on one side and her blood pressure was crazy low so after a fight with her we finally decided to call the ambulance. They are still running tests to see what the deal is and I have officially been up for more than 24 hours--I am cranky as all heck right now. Just pray with us for a speedy recovery.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

Memorial Day Post & Homesick

I am not one to be very political or very patriotic. This Memorial Day seems to be different though. I heard this song on the radio on my way to starbucks and it really hit me. There are so many families that are truly observing this as a Memorial Day because one of their loved ones is never coming home again. I don't necessarily agree with the politics behind the war, and I am not one to be able to offer any kind of solution that would become policy, but I think the troops and the their familes need to be on the forefront of the minds of those that can affect policy. They should flood their houses and offices with the pictures of those serving and with those of the troops that we have lost so that they are always reminded the policy they are making has faces and has names. I have lost a few a couple of close people in my life, but they were taken through natural causes. I remember how much it hurt then. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would feel like to lose someone in a foreign country to the senseless acts of another person. To the familes of the troops who have lost a loved one, my heart truly is broken for you. To the familes that still have troops serving overseas, my prayers are joined with yours that there will be an end quickly to this military action and they will be home safely soon. To the troops serving, Thank You! I pray that God will cover you and protect you. I pray you will be home soon, safely!

This song said so much to me today.



Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Mike

Commando Chinese Babies & Crotchless Pants

This was too much! And kinda too weird!

"I wonder how babies in China feel in the wintertime. I mean, they must experience some severe crotch frost considering the built-in air-conditioning their clothing has! This no-nonsense approach to raising not-yet-potty-trained children has me both baffled and amused.

Here in China, children under the age of approximately 4 years old wear pants that are crotchless. In other words, their pants do not have any crotch, just an open space where the crotch should be. At a Pride Day parade, this style would be called "chaps"! Here in China, they're just regular kids' clothes."

Read the rest here . . .

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

A Collective Tear From All Spiderman Fans....

I didn't know Spidey was such a groover!














Let's Superman hasn't let the tights affect him this much!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Mike

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

There is nothing more that I cannot stand than a person telling someone they are a not a good role model for someone else because they are not perfect in every way. Maybe if people are looking for perfection in other people they should start with the person they see in the mirror. If people are so concerned about what their children are seeing in other people thatr makes them want to idolize them then they should provide what they do want for their children in their own homes and give their children something to measure by. People like this really annoy me:



Be Blessed and Be Who You Are.
Mike

Consecrated to the Call

"When you consecrate yourself to fulfill the call of God, you will become the place where Heaven's blessing meets Earth's greatest need. You'll become a vessel of power, walking forth to do the will of God." Kenneth Hagin Jr.
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Mike

Unconditional Love and the Lost

There was an awesome post on one the blogs I follow today that really touched my heart. Not so much in a good way, but in a way that was a confirmation of some of the things God has put on my heart. A lot of time we get so involved in programs, direction, and "being church" that we lose sight of what we are called to do in terms of reaching those that don't know Christ intimately like we do. The methods of reaching the goal become more elaborate and complicated than what we are trying to accomplish. Back to basics--LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY. You can find the post that I mentioned here. I hope it gets you to start thinking too.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Mike

Coming Down the Mountain

I remember when I used to go to youth camp when I was in high school there was a phrase we heard all weekend long--"When you go down the mountain..." Meaning that it was easy to be a christian and live a Godly life when you were going to three services a day and surrounded by nothing but christians your own age, but life at the bottom of the mountain was very different. Not everyone subscribes to your beliefs and being who you are in Christ would be taking a stand as opposed to being the norm like it was in camp. Yesterday I went down the mountain. I had been basking in the presence of God and in worship and yesterday was just a crappy day. I wasn't in the Word or in worship I just felt horrible. I now know what it is to be on the bottom of the mountain. You have to be in the presence of God--in communion with Him, talking to Him, listening to him--or else the world takes the opportunity to bombard you from all sides. The thing that brought me out of it was a CD. It was actually a praise and worship CD I got when I was in high school at camp. I am not sure how I found it or whatit was even doing in my car. I am not even sure why it played in the scratched up condition it is in. I was 14 or 15 when I got it so it is almost 20 years old. It took me back there, to the top of the mountain when all I had to do was praise God and be in His word. One of the songs is called Let This Be the Generation. That is still my prayer. I want to be a part of the generation that helps accomplish God's will here on earth.

It Finally Happened...

After years of working in the retail industry as a manager, I have finally become the customer I always said I would never turn into. Yesterday I went into the largest retailer to pick up a prescription for my mother. Should have been a 20 minute trip there and back. I was in the store for over an hour. I picked up the prescription and thought it was funny that I didn't have to pay for it, there is usually a co-pay. Well it turns out the prescription got paid with their quick pay system where it gets billed to a credit card. The problem was that I have never signed up for that system so someone else paid for the prescription. I went to have this fixed and wouldn't you know no one in the building could fix it. Two hourly supervisors and a pharmacist later plus 45 mins of waiting, I asked to see a manager. The manager was too busy to come see me so I got the brush off on their walkie talkie. Wrong thing to do at that moment. The least they could have done was apologize for my time. I, nicely, asked for the manager's name and the district manager's telephone number. That is when it happened--a rude little supervisor came up to me and gave me the 800 number. I said I wanted the number to talk to the district manager and she said I gave you the telephone number. That is the only number that they have. Then I had to shock her and tell her I used to be a manager for the company and I know that was not the truth. She then said she just didn't have it and didn't have access to it. What was going to be a cordial call to help him identify some customer service issues in one of his stores is now going to be a complaint call. I am a stock holder in the company and am very upset that this is how we are treating our customers. I used to think that many customers were just looking for something free when they complained, but I now feel otherwise, they just wanted service they were paying for. It shouldn't matter if they got it at a discount.

Be Blessed and Be Nice to Customers!

Mike

Send Money Quick!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to do a little repenting today (ok a little more than usual). The thing is I really don't think it was my fault--I was provoked. I know big ministries need money. Little ministries need money. Heck I need money. I know that sometimes we need to ask for it. I subscribe to a lot of big ministries that never ask for money but seem to be in great financial shape. Then there are others that are out there all the time with their hands out. I won't mention who they because there is no sense in that I will tell you though today they made me mad. I give when I have it or when I am told to. But it just seems like there are always more emails and letters saying they need more money. 2 or 3 a week easily from the same ministry. Today they topped themselves. I received three emails from the same ministry asking for money detailing all the great things they are doing and how if I want them to continue I needed to sow my best seed. Three emails! Maybe if they have that much going on that I needed to be sent three emails there needs to be some downsize in their attempts and an increase in the focus of the ministry. I am gonna stop here because I am gonna need to repent again.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.

Mike

Newest South Park Character!

One of the cool blogs I subscribe to pointed me here where you can design your own South Park character. I used to love South Park! My frat bros and I used to plan our meetings to end at just the right time so we could make it back to the pad to enjoy some collegial, adult themed beverages and watch it on TV. So here is South Park Mike:


I am so glad the character I resembled the most doesn't have to be Cartman anymore!

Bx4!
Mike

Wisdom? Maybe Not So Much...

I like Starbucks. In fact I love it. I dig the coffee, the atmosphere, the wireless; I even thought the little The Way I See It quotes on the cups were cool. Quick little thoughts, something to get you thinking; maybe even a conversation starter for later. THEN I saw this where quote number really set someone off. I can see why:

The Way I See It #247 Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure. -- Bill Scheel Starbucks customer from London, Ontario. He describes himself as a "modern day nobody."

So I did a little Google Search and saw this too:

The Way I See It #230 Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell. -- Joel Stein Columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

When I see things like this or hear these kinds of words coming from someone's mouth, it just reaffirms for me that, as disciples of Christ we have a lot of ground to cover. Mr. Scheel was right about something, I am strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure. He was even right about the fact that when I am in trouble I do reach down within myself for the power to overcome. I do that because that is where my power, My God, lives--deep down inside my soul.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Mike

Wisdom From a Cup

The Way I See It #248

Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. Wikis give us a place where anyone who is kind, thoughtful and intelligent can come and join us in building a better and more rational world.

-- Jimmy Wales
Founder of Wikipedia and Wikia.com.

Wouldn't be great if all the people offering their knowledge were kind, thoughtful and intelligent?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing (with your knowledge).

Mike

I've Decided...

AMERICAN IDOL SUCKS!!!! I should have quit watching when they got rid of some of my earlier favorites. That way I wouldn't be so pissed right now. I think I am actually pissed that I am pissed about American Idol to begin with. Melinda was my favorite--she should have been a star a long time ago! Here are a few of my favorite Melinda Moments:

Life Mapped Out

I was with my oldest niece today in the car waiting for my other two nieces to get out of school. I was keeping up to date with current events on my blackberry and she pulled out some homework. I casually glanced over at her paper she was writing on and saw the title--Dreams. It was an essay brainstorm sheet that asked her to think about what her dreams for her future were. I didn't ask her about it because I didn't want to stifle her creative process and I didn't want her to know that I was looking at her paper so I had to bust out my high school cheating skills and look without being caught. I won't tell you what I saw on the paper because those are her dreams to share. I will say however that she impressed me. This generation of kids in our family is being raised very differently that my generation was. I have often wondered how they will turn out. I was happy to see that some of the values that I had growing up, in terms of keeping the things that were important to me close to me as I grew up, were on her paper. She knew what she wanted to be when she was older, she knew where she wanted to be and she knew who she wanted in her life. She added some new things along the way and still managed to keep some constants.

Its nice to think about things like the future and have them all mapped out. I had that at one time. It seems lately the only thing I can count on is not being able to count on anything. That is not a bad thing by any means. I mean to say that I live what is in front of me while it is here and let God worry about my tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. It is good to have goals. I have just learned to put God at the top of my goal list to remind me that everything else under Him on the list is all dependent on His will for my life.

Sad Songs...

Spinner.com just put out a list of the 25 saddest songs ever. I knew some of them, but only a couple would I say are sad enough to move a stoic rock like myself.

Number 9--Martina McBride's Concrete Angel


Number 8--Luther Vandross' Dance With My Father



And my pick for the saddest song-Wynonna's Is It Over Yet

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Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

In It, Not of It, Not Afraid of It

It's ok to be vocal about what you believe in. Its even ok to be steadfast in what you believe. We can look back to the book of Daniel and see that his dedication to his beliefs is what helped him to persevere through all that he had to walk through. He made a decision to not be defiled and walked towards that decision. I don't think it is ok though to alienate, to incite hatred or to push away people who need to be reached. Reverend Jerry Falwell passed away today. I am sorry for his family and for all those who held him dear and I pray God sends the comforter to keep them. He did some good things in terms of mobilizing the people of God in the political realm and can be credited with infusing politics with a hint of morality by affecting candidates platforms. I do think, however, that he used his pulpit to alienate some instead of attracting them into the Kingdom of God through the love that attracted us all who are saved. I wrote something a while ago about this and it still lays heavy on my heart. I think we should all be open to loving the sinner and hating the sin. If God ever calls me to a pulpit permanently (please God NO!) I want the majority of the people attending to be the people the church sees as sinners--they are the ones who need the gospel. The brothers and sisters who are already saved should be the ones on the outside bringing them in--not sitting in the pews hiding from the world. We need to be infecting the world with the change that transformed our lives not hoarding it to ourselves. While we can celebrate the what the reverend did for christianity in terms of recognizing us an important political constituent, I fell we need to learn from some of his alienating practices and as the new generation of evangelists move in a direction that reminds us we are in the world, ministering to it but not of it but definitely not afraid of it.

Note to Self...

There are times when I feel my faith being challenged. I find myself questioning what I actually believe. I find myself speaking what I claim to believe all the time. Sometimes I have been forced to actually reconcile my words with my actions. You have heard people tell the same fictional story so many times that they actually forget the fact that it is not true. I speak of the wonderful things of God and of all His miraculous abilities, yet when it comes down to it, do I still believe in what I say? I pray for people to be healed, yet deep down do I believe that they will be? Am I a worthy enough vessel for God to work through? Is there someone else that could have a better result, because of their character or their faith? If it were someone else who had been captured from the king of Judah’s court and not Daniel and his friends would there have been a different outcome in the story in chapter 2?

I know I believe in healing, I have seen my mother healed several times, and recover when she should have died. I have seen ways made in people’s lives where there should have been no way to be found. I do believe in His miracles and furthermore I believe we are called to do even greater miracles than He did while He walked the earth—I count on that! I believe that God uses every situation that we walk through for our benefit or for someone else’s like he did in both Philemon and Daniel. I believe in the faithfulness of a God that says He will be faithful to complete the work he began in me. While I am no where close to being the man I was when I started my discipleship walk, I am no where near the man I will be when I go see my God or when He comes to get me. I am ok with that.

A work in progress,
Mike

BoobTube Confession

Ok so I have taken quite a bit of time off of work lately while the doctors are trying to figure out what in the world is wrong with my body. Naturally I have found ways to fill in my time. I have picked up an addiction to Heroes, American Idol, House and CSI. Those are just the top four. I have a variety of shows that I watch late at night when I am studied out or the pain just won't let me sleep. So I am laying in my room last night and something was just not right. I tried hard to figure it out and I just couldn't nail it down. I finally discovered the reason the oddity in my room--my stereo was on and my tv was not. I tried to find my remote to my tv and I couldn't. Then I noticed it, the strange calm that was over me. The tv was off and I was not freaked out about it. I was actually enjoying the noise of the stereo but not looking for the hourlong drama or sitcom fix. Then I thought about it, I had actually not watched tv all weekend. It actually felt good. But alas it muct come to an end--Heroes is on tonight. "SAVE THE CHEERLEADER, SAVE THE WORLD!"

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Relationship Triangle

I have no idea what the deal is with me hearing so much on making a relationship successful. I certainly hope the Big Guy in the sky is not trying to prep me for something. He said He would give me the desires of my heart not the opposite..."yea though I walk through the valley of relationships, I will fear no committment..." Any way here is something that I heard the other night that really made sense to me. I called it the relationship triangle.

Basically the way it works is the people in the relationship are Persons A&B obviously. Individually they decide in their relationship to get closer to God. As they get closer to God traveling up the triangle, they are ultimately getting closer to each other since the distance between them is getting smaller as well. It just made sense to me and looked even clearer when I made it a picture. I really hope I am not hearing this stuff for me. If you are reading this please pray that Almighty God will spare me from a realtionship! =)

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

Dude Where's My Car?!?

Check it . . .


Boost Car Remote With Skull - video powered by Metacafe

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!!
Mike

10 (well 14) Rules That Should Be Posted In Every School

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.

From Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add by Charles J. Sykes.

10 Things I Hate About You...

I have some things that really irk me--like people who chew ice, or pop their gum or chew with their mouths open. Pretty much any noise that you make with your mouth irritates me and just grates on my nerves. I heard an interesting way to deal with things that bother you tonight. It was actually geared towards people who are in realtionships. The advice was to go and make a list of all the things that bug you about a person or just bug you in general. Then instead of confronting the person with the list so they can work on it, you keep the list yourself and work on not being bothered by those things. Instead of starting a confrontation and asking a person to change themselves for your benefit, you look inward and change the only person you have control over--Yourself! Good bit of advice =)

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Don't Miss the Boat!

I was reading in the first chapter of Daniel today, How the Jews were overcome by the King of Babylon. God had sent prophets to them warning them of the sin and calling them to repentance. They continued to ignore God’s call and God brought judgment down on them. It reminded me of the joke about the man in the storm who refuses boat after boat offering to rescue him, each time saying that he knows his God will save him. After he finally drowns He asked God in heaven why He didn’t save him. God replies “Who do you think sent the boats?!” It just got me to thinking …I am going through stuff and I am calling out to God to deliver me, but have I ignored anything because it wasn’t obvious or it wasn’t the way I was expecting to be delivered? I have to repent again for trying to tell God how to be God! I pray that I haven’t missed the boat. Don’t miss yours either!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Day 3

Just completed day 3 on my Nutrisystem Journey. I have lost 5 pounds so far. Nice!
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

The Turning Point

I have been a big boy for just about all of my life. My weight has been something that has been one of my biggest issues when it came to my self confidence. I have had to find ways to overcompensate for the way I felt about myself. I have tried just about everything and have had a lot of success in years past. There has been some serious changes in my life over the past year and I have recently found myself at my highest weigth ever. I was in bed one night thinking about this and came to the realization that changed my whole persepctive--I am worth whatever it takes for me to be happy with me! I need to lose weight to be healthy, to be comfortable and to look like the man I feel like inside. Before I even knew it I was on the phone and talking to a representative at Nutrisystem. I have been on the program for 2days so far. I started it when I got back from Arizona. In those two days I have already lost 3 pounds. It is gonna be a while before I can post a before picture up. I'm looking forward to the after picture though. =) I thank God for the motivation and for the self worth He has given me. If He can love me knowing me better than myself, then who am I to not love myself too. I am worth it!

Homeward Bound and Shopping Round II

We made it home safely by the grace of God. We had such a good time. My mom and I almost hit that rough spot where we get through with each other for a little bit but we made it through. We hit one of my favorite stops on the way home—The Cabazon outlets and the Desert Hills Premium Outlets. I did some damage in Gap, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, and Coach for mom. (Aww what a good son! =) ) We had to split up because there were so many of them and we all wanted to hit certain ones but didn’t want to wait for each other to get done before we went to the next one. All I have to say is my credit cards are smokin!! God was great this weekend and blessed us with some rest and relaxation in His presence. We all needed some of that. Glad to be home and glad to be refreshed and excited to see what God is gonna do in my life and my family’s lives next.

Buffet, Shopping, Ministry and Beef

Today started out with a great breakfast and the Old Country Buffet (Hometown Buffet here in Cali). Food was not really bad. It was actually good. They have these cinnamon doughnut holes that were to die for. (Spoken like a true diabetic!) After we were full to the brim with food, we headed out in search of some distraction. So we ended up at the mall. Not just any mall but a three story, 4 wing mall. You name the store and they had it and then some. It was like a combination of a Brea Mall with South Coast Plaza. Loved it!! My niece loved it even more because with her Nana in tow she got the hookup. After we were shopped out we went back to the hotel for a quick rest then off to the meeting. Again we got the nicest reception and we were in store for a great meeting. God told me tonight that three doors were going to be opened to me to minister. That’s awesome. I have just been waiting for the green light. He also told me that He was going to speak to me through the book of Daniel. I am not too fond of the old testament because I often get lost, but I trust that He will show me what He wants me to see. We capped off the night with some take out from the Lonestar Steakhouse. I have never eaten there before, but steak is one of my staples. This place was very reasonably priced considering the size of the steak and the quality. Definitely going back there! Praise God for His faithfulness and for meeting us wherever we are at!

Genuine, Transparent, Faithful

The trip today was great. My mom slept most of the way and my niece (who my mom wanted to join us) was listening to her Ipod in the back seat. We ate a nice dinner at the Olive Garden and then went to the meeting. It is always such a nice feeling to join our friends out of town. We are always received well. Their ministry is so genuine. They are out on the road a lot but it is nice to know that they are praying for us. They have kept my mom in prayer all this time and when they tell us that, you just have to know they are telling the truth. These people are completely transparent. God told my mom tonight that she was not through on this earth—that is exactly what I hear when I pray for my mom. God is Good!!

Travel Into the Unknown

Tomorrow I am going to Arizona with my mom. It is going to be her Mother’s Day present. We are going to see some friends of ours minister over there. Their ministry is great because there is always a fresh anointing of God there and you leave like you just ate the Lord’s Table. So that part I am looking forward to. There is part that I am not so looking forward to—my mom and I traveling together. We love each other to death but can’t seem to be in the same room together for super extended periods of time. I have to admit that the past couple of times that we have traveled together it has been great. But more often than not we get home and swear we are never traveling together ever again! I am just glad that she feels like traveling and as sick as she has been lately I would take her anywhere she asked me to! Aww what a good son I am! =) We’ll see how it goes…