First was the tragedy of cruise ship that hit a rock and “sank”.  Instantly, the media, those watching, etc had to know why it happened and who’s fault it was. Of course blame has been put on the captain of the ship. (Side rant: People need to get off the guys back.  If any of were in his situation, and the chaos of a sinking ship was happening, who’s to say that we wouldn’t have acted in a similar way.  The guy’s human. Who cares if he was eating? Is he not supposed to eat for a who week while piloting the ship?) For whatever reason, we need to find someone to blame.

The second news stories were the NFL Conference Championship games that were played last week.  Both were great games. All teams made mistakes.  Any team could have won. But it comes down to the final plays and that’s where we are driven to place the blame. Why is it the kicker’s fault?  Why is it the kick returners fault? The team put those players in those positions. If the rest of team would have played better, they wouldn’t have lost either, but because they were the last guy on the field to make a mistake, we out an entire season of football on their shoulders and blame them. (Side rant again: The people that were threatening the life of the S.F. player are ridiculous! I love football, but it’s still a GAME! Get over it.  I don’t see you out there playing…)

We have the need to blame somebody or something. If a natural disaster leaves a town or country devastated, we need to find someone to blame. If our family member gets cancer and dies, we need someone to blame. If we hit a streak of unfortunate events in our lives, we need someone to blame.  More often than not, the blame is giving to God.  I can still remember the months following 9/11 and the months following Katrina. People were asking the question:

Why would God let this happen?

It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? Is it really His fault, or do we just need someone to blame when a natural disaster destroys something? We don’t like the idea of life being random, and nature determining who lives and dies. (Unless we are trying to prove Evolution to someone) We need someone to blame. And too often that ends up being God. And most of the people that blame God are the people that don’t even believe He exists.

The reality is this: We Are To Blame for these things.  God made us in His image and gave us everything we needed in a beautiful garden, then we screwed it up. There was no cancer, no murder, no terrorists, no natural disasters, until we sinned.  And we continued to sin, but blame God. We ignore God until we need something, or need someone to blame.

I’m not sure exactly what my point is with this post, but it has been on my mind recently. I would love to hear your feedback in the comments below. (keep it civilized)

It makes me sad.  It makes me angry.  It offends me.  It makes me think. It made me pray for my FB friend and the 9 people that have liked it so far. 

But what am I to do.  I know that if I were to start a debate on this persons wall, it would lead to a bunch of smart comments from both sides of the spectrum, but it wouldn’t get down to the actual issue that is at hand.  Debate in my experience, whether religious, political, or over your favorite restaurant, doesn’t solve any problems, it only causes the chasm between the two sides to be divided even more.

The thing about it is, if this was a straight shot at our spouse, or our kid, or even our favorite sports team, we would be upset, and we would take action defending what has been insulted.  This is where I am at, my Lord, my Savior is being laughed at, being dissed beyond measure and I don’t know what I should do about it.

So I throw the question to you?  What am I supposed to do?  Ignoring this isn’t working because I keep thinking about it through out my day.  Starting an argument is out of the question.  Comment on the picture and tell them how creative they are? De-friend them, and forget it ever happened?  What to do, what to do?

Your turn, what would your response to this have been?  Help me out here!!

AFC East                                NFC East
NY Jets 11-5                         Philadelphia 12-4
New England 11-5              Dallas 11-5
Miami 4-12                            NY Giants 9-7
Buffalo 2-14                           Washington 6-10

AFC North                             NFC North
Baltimore 13-3                    Green Bay 13-3
Pittsburgh 10-6                   Detroit 11-5
Cleveland 9-7                      Chicago 9-7
Cincinnati 4-12                   Minnesota 4-12

AFC South                              NFC South
Houston 13-3                       Atlanta 12-4
Indianapolis 11-5               New Orleans 11-5
Jacksonville 4-12               Tampa Bay 8-8
Tennessee 3-13                   Carolina 4-12

AFC West                               NFC West
San Diego 12-4                    St. Louis 11-5
Kansas City 11-5                Arizona 6-10
Denver 6-10                        Seattle 2-14
Oakland 4-12                      San Francisco 2-14

Up next, my Playoff Predictions

Of course this story is about my family.  My wife and I, and our princess baby Zoey.  It’s a moment I will probably never forget.  It’s a moment I think about often and have wanted to share for quite some time now. She knew my voice and it instantly calmed her down.  She knew my voice when she had only been in this world for 2 days.  A mere 48 hours.  But she had been listening for much longer.  I had talked to her many times as she grew inside her mom’s belly, and she recognized that. 

Every time I recall this moment in time, it makes me think.  I think about my precious little girl, and my wonderful wife.  But it makes me think about my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  It makes me wonder how much I recognize His voice in my life.  I pray for His guidance and direction, but do I ever wait and listen for his voice in my life?  And if I do hear His voice, does it calm me down as a familiar, comforting voice? or does it scare me, because of what I have done? 

How do you hear God’s voice in your life?  When you are in the midst of a crisis, does God’s voice calm you down, or does it cause you to stress out more? 

To this day, my Zoey Bear will hear my voice, and instantly begin to search for me.  When she finds me, she gets the biggest grin on her face, and of course I melt right away.  Is this the type of relationship you have with you Heavenly Father?  Are you looking for Him, or hiding from Him?  Would you know His voice in your life if you heard it?  He’s calling out to you with arms wide open, and I guarantee He’s hoping you will turn to Him and smiile!!

“Feels so good being bad, There’s no way I’m turning back”

and then the chorus…

“Cause I may be bad, But I’m perfectly good at it”

These lyrics caught me off guard.  They were easily stuck in my head, but the message was so off.  Shortly after hearing that song, I read this article about her newest music video and the controversy behind it.  As much as I agree that the messages behind these songs are wrong, I don’t really blame Rihanna.  The purpose of my writing isn’t to drag her through the mud.  She has the right to free speech, she has the right to express herself through music.  It’s part of our Constitution. 

What it got me thinking about was how important it was for parents to be involved in their children’s music selection.  Many parents, I’m sure, don’t even know these songs., but chances are their teenage or pre-teen kids do.  And chances are, they could even sing along with them when they come on the radio.  So who’s fault is it?  The kids, the parents, or the artists?

I believe it is the parents responsibility to be in the know about today’s pop culture.  To know what is out there and be able to talk to your kids about it, instead of banning all secular music because of a few songs that are really bad.  It’s a lot of work to stay up on all the music, movies, books, fashion, etc that is out there today, but as a parent I think it is huge to gain that perspective into your child’s culture/life so that you can have the important conversations that need to happen. 

It’s easy to completely ban all secular music from your house, but is that fixing the problem, or just creating opportunities for your kids to disobey you and do it anyway.  Your thoughts??

DON’T READ THIS BOOK!!

David Platt’s book, "Radical", is truly a book that will change your perspective of life.  The best advice I can give you about this book is not to read it unless your ready for your life to get uncomfortable.  Platt has a knack for story telling, and he does it in a great way.  He uses many personal stories, and some from others to stir in your heart a desire to do Christ’s work.  Platt even goes as far as to convict himself and his church for the money and time they have wasted on pleasure and comforts instead of spending on things that matter to God.

This book challenged me in so many ways, and I can’t wait to go back through it and organize all the sections I highlighted throughout it’s pages. Chapter six, "How Much Is Enough?", is the chapter that challenged me the most in the book.  The author spends the chapter discussing our need to keep up with the American Dream, and how that contrasts with keeping up with God’s dream for humanity.

I love the last chapter as Platt lays out a one year challenge for everyone to get involved in.  He calls it "The Radical Experiment", and asks everyone to do four things over the next year, and see how God changes their way of life for the better.  Like I said at the beginning, if you like the way your life is now, DON’T READ THIS BOOK!!  If your ready for God to do some great things through you to help His people, pick up a copy today and get ready for a radically changed life!!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review through their Blogging for Books website.

Check out Chris Tomlin’s new song titled, “Our God” on YouTube, iTunes or Amazon MP3.

The song has inspired me to live out the story you are reading right now.  Please take five minutes and listen to it and let it change you!!

While in Jamaica, I had the amazing opportunity to speak at a Frome Technical High School which was located right next to our mission house. Dave told me about this opportunity, and I have to admit, I was terrified at first. Imagine, 500 Jamaica high school students staring at you. I spent a couple weeks struggling with God and my fear. I know your probably thinking, “You’re a youth pastor; you shouldn’t be having these thoughts.” I am still human though!

Thankful despite our fears and doubts, God still uses us. I was reminded of a verse in Romans that broke through my fear, and gave me the confidence in God that I should have always had.

Romans 8:31b – If God is for us, who can be against us.

This message didn’t just change my outlook of my experience at the high school, but it changed my approach to the entire mission trip. If God is for us, it doesn’t matter who’s against us. I shared this message with the students in Jamaica, and illustrated it with the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer in 1 Samuel 14. (Take a few minutes today to read that amazing story of God’s favor)

Life Application:
If we take the time to apply this truth to our lives, how would our lives change? I believe that this is how God wants us to live our lives. Not in fear, but in the confidence of knowing that if He is for us, than who can stand against us? The answer is no one that is stronger, greater, higher, or more powerful than my God. I pray that all of us would start to believe that truth in our everyday lives. Imagine the impact we would have!!

My purpose of this post is to give people some direction in prayer as we are away. I know God has some great things planned for us and the Jamaica people we will meet. He has revealed so much to me in the weeks preceding this trip.

Here are some things that you could be praying for o we the next two weeks:

1. Safety – Jamaica is for the most part safe, but one of the main religions does seed a hatred for white people. Pray that God will protect us. Note: I pray that keeps us physically safe, but not spiritually safe. The goal of this trip is to let God use us in new ways and stretch us beyond our limits, to His.

2. God’s favor – We have the opportunity to change people’s eternity while we are there. God’s favor will go so far in creating opportunities for us to tell people a out him. There is a good chance that we will get a opportunity to speak at a high school while we are there and we are searching for God’s direction in this endeavor.

3. Protection for our families – although we are the ones leaving, our families are going to be without us for two weeks. That includes two pregnant wife’s, many children and spouses, and our church family. Please pray for them too.

Thank you for thinking of us on our trip. You can keep updated on Facebook about what is happening in Jamaica over the next two weeks!

If God is for us, who can be against us!!

See everyone soon!!

In this world that we live in, beautiful is something that all women are chasing after.  Even those that are models, actors, performers.  Our society has made it nearly impossible to become beautiful, but every women is trying.

The reality is, you are already beautiful.  God has made that clear all the time.

Pslam 45:11 – Let the King be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for He is your Lord.

My prayer is that my wife and daughter would always know this and never be caught up in the world’s beauty contest.  My prayer is that everyone women would realize their worth from the One who created them.  My prayer is that God would help me to be the encouragement in my wife and daughter’s lives and never let them down.

Listen to this song and be encouraged.

P.S. – Men, we are to be the encouragers to the women around us.  Stop trying to make the women in your life become something you want them to be and encourage them to be there beautiful person they already are!!

We did something for the first time since we have been married.  No not that.  We bought all of our Christmas gifts without a credit card!!  What a great feeling it is entering the new year to know that we haven’t created any new debt that we have to work to pay off before we can enjoy the money we earn.  Does this mean that we bought inexpensive gifts or homemade gifts.  No.  We didn’t change how much we spent on gifts, we changed how we prepared to buy these gifts.

We have been on a quest for the past year to get out of debt ASAP.  God has blessed Liz and I tremendously on this journey.  I believe it’s only because of Him and His blessings that we are where we are now.  The tool I am using for this process is called a money merge account created  by the United First Financial.  You can get all the info by clicking here.This year was different for us  because we planned for upcoming known expenses.  Christmas comes every year, and every year we buy gifts.  So why is that we don’t plan for this expense until December.  A wise person once said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  It’s so true in any areas of life, and definitely in money.

Some other things that we have planned for: birthday gifts, doctor bills, car repairs, vacations, etc.  People get sick and cars break down, it’s a fact of life, so why not plan for those things instead of living to your financial edge and hoping things don’t break down.

We are still on our quest for debt freedom, but we know it doesn’t happen overnight.  But the first step is not to create new debt, which might mean making sacrifices on things we want but don’t need right away.