Romans 8:28

"As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things." (Ecclesiastes 11:5)

I cannot help but to think about this verse a lot. It seems like, for a lot of people, things take interesting turns in their life, some good and some bad, and sometimes it's hard to remember that we do not understand everything that happens to us. For instance, I knew that buying a house would cause some challenges, but I never expected there to be so many obstacles in the way of seemingly what other people go through as a smooth process.

But, despite the challenges and seemingly "death-defying" risk we seem to be taking, Ivis and me put an offer on a house in Independence on Friday. Whether it is meant to be or not will be revealed in the near future, but for right now, we just have to keep Praying that God's will be done in our lives, and the place that we are supposed to be at will not pass us by because we had a lapse of faith.

More updates on this coming soon...

Have a Good Week!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

I will Rise

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"

-Words from "I will Rise" by Chris Tomlin
I hope everyone had a happy Easter!

God is Able

Wow, what a crazy weekend it has been, My prayers are still with everyone affected by the tornado and those who are helping to clean up. I feel blessed to have been able to help out.
Yesterday, (Saturday), me and Colby Carrig went to Crittenden to provide some help. It didn't take me long to realize that God was in that place. This is why. There was a moment where Crittenden's fire dept. was completely packed and we quickly realized that. Of the 75 people who were in Crittenden's fire department waiting for an assignment, Me and Colby were the only two people in the building being paid to be there. What a testimony. People just poured out kindness and compassion and came and said "What needs to be done? I have tools, I have a truck, let's go." Overwhelming response from the community. God is Able.
Today, I got the oppurtunity to operate on one of the chainsaw crews that Lakeside sent down to Piner headed up by Rob Moyer. Same type of Volunteer response, including some of my fellow employees. The response was also overwhelimg. But here was the part that hit me the most. They had to stop accepting donations for food and clothes because too much had come in. There were so many donations brought to Piner Baptist Church that the ENTIRE LOWER LEVEL was completely full in only two days. They had to stop accepting donations because they had TOO MUCH. Talk about a community stepping up. GOD IS ABLE.
God is working through people everywhere. All you have to do is look!
"Lifted up, he defeated the grave.
Raised to life, our God is able!
In his name, we overcome
For the Lord our God is Able!"

Realms?

So here's the thing. The idea of Universalism has been thrown around too much lately. In other words, people keep saying that all roads lead to heaven. And moreso than that, people keep saying that Jesus Christ is one of the most exclusive ideas on the planet, even though the Bible clearly states that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Therefore, they make up some whacky idea about the "true meaning of life." I overheard a conversation between six people on campus when I went to College talk about the "end times" and more specifically "What happens to you when you die."

Here is one of the answers I heard...

"Well, I believe that when this world passes away, we will move from this realm into another realm, and it will be similar to this realm, because there will be people and video games and stuff, but this realm will pass away and a new realm will form..."

Are you lost yet? Ask them, however, about the Lord and Jesus and Creation and you get something to the effect of...

"@#$% that @#$% man. That can't be true because they don't like it when I cuss or smoke pot. That can't POSSIBLY be true. How could you be so closed minded. How can you believe in something so far fetched?"

Stop. Jesus is far fetched, but the earth moving realms and something about video games makes sense? I'm very lost now...

Why is that? Why do people believe that way? How can people believe in some kind of cooked up nonsense and think Jesus is far fetched. And why do people believe that Christianity is so Exclusive when it is actually one of the most inclusive ideas?

Comment at will, I'll post more on Sunday!

Catch me if you can!

Reds get a much needed win today on Getaway day. They have fallen short as of late and need the momentum as they enter what could very well be the most important road trip that they've played all year.

Camp is fast approaching and this year I will be bringing the message on Tuesday night. Hopefully I will be able to get everything prepared early on, because all of this is happening in the midst of S&R week as well as picking up some extra hours at work. There will be very little time to play around this week but I'm definitely looking forward to camp and the vacation time coming up. It's just another thing that makes summer awesome. Nevertheless, I may be in a little over my head this week with everything that has to be done.

On the other side of camp I hope to get back to playing some golf and being able to relax a bit more once the house is cleaned and in order. I have not been out in a while because of other things going on and the need to save money. Hopefully Ivis will find out some good news about teaching on the other side of camp. Camp has always been a tremendous turning point in the summer. I mean, I understand it's all about the kids and helping them becoming closer to God, but it's interesting how the camp staff are always as moved by camp week as the campers are. It's amazing how being a mentor can get you spiritually pumped up. Not to mention hanging out with the all-star staff that goes every year to help put this awesome week on.

But I have to somehow survive this coming week. All I can say is catch me if you can, because I probably won't be sitting down for a minute this entire week!


Have a good week!

"Sin is Crouching at Your Door; It Desires to Have You, But You Must Master It.”

These are the notes from my Jr/Sr High Sermon today...

Nothing makes a good sermon quite like a good story. When I think back to some of the most memorable messages that I listened to or some of the best speeches I heard in college, it’s not the three points that I remember or all of the words on the screen. It’s the stories. Our real God working in the real lives of real people. Some of the most revealing points made about God’s majesty, love and grace are found right smack in the middle of these stories.

We all learned the story of Noah as children. I heard about the story of Noah in Bible School, in Sunday School, in pictures and posters that I see around the churches. We sang songs about Noah in my kindergarten class. It probably is one of the best known stories in the bible. Even if you ask non-Christians to tell you the story of Noah, they can.

If you ask them about Ruth or Esther or tell you about David, or John the Baptist or the Story of Paul, many of them probably won’t know what you are talking about, but they can get the story of Noah Pretty close. And many people believe that Noah has his own book in the bible, which is not true. The whole story of Noah is really told over the course of 4 chapters in the book of Genesis, there’s no book of Noah. The story is found in literally the fifth chapter of the Bible.

To really start looking at the story of Noah, though, you really need to look back a couple of chapters to the story of Cain and Abel. Now, I could write a whole sermon on the story of Cain and Abel, even though it is really only one chapter, but for the purposes that I’m telling it I’ll just give you the spark notes version. See, They were the children of Adam and Eve...

-Cain worked as a farmer growing vegetables and Abel tended to flocks

-Both of them brought a burnt offering to the lord, but the difference was Abel brought the very best he had, and Cain brought basically what he had lying around. Good looked pleasingly on Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s, which makes Cain pretty mad. 

-So God shows up to Cain and says in Genesis 4:7 “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.”

-And even after this direct conversation with God himself, without missing a beat, Cain takes Abel into the field and Kills him.

I tell this story because this pretty much sets the scene for the story of Noah. In chapter 6 the bible says that God shows up on the scene and pretty much sees the story of Cain and Abel over and over again. We get to Genesis chapter 6:5 where it says: “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

I can’t imagine how God felt in this moment. I mean, God laid out his expectations back in Genesis 4, and we know by the way that verse is written that this is not a new concept for them. Yet, everyone thought they could get by without God. Without missing a beat, people were stealing from each other, killing each other, and just doing whatever they pleased. Everyone, that is, except for Noah.

And you know the story. God shows up to Noah, who the bible tells us was “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” It doesn’t say Noah was sinless, but it says that he walked with God.

"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.”

Noah understood this concept and walked with the Lord. He was not free with the bondage of sin, but he had enough control over it to understand what the will of the Lord is, and he found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

So, towards the end of Chapter 6, God gave Noah his instructions starting in Verse 14

¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening 18 inches all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

So we’ll just stop here for a minute, and if your Noah, what is running through your head at the moment? Is it surprise? Is it fear? I mean, after all, every single thing around so that you know is about to be destroyed. Is it relief? Did Noah kinda know that this was coming. Was he sick of a world filled with violence and anguish, and people living like they would as soon kill you as to look at you? Was he stuck in awe by the wonder and the majesty of his God at that moment or was he thinking practically about his strategy to accomplish such a task on his own? We never find out the answer for sure, and here’s why:

¹⁸ “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”  And without missing a beat in the very next verse:
 ²² “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”

I’m sure he faced persecution from people around him while building the ark.
I’m sure he faced ridicule even from his own family.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters came on the earth, so for a task that size I’ll bet it was grueling hard work. However, Noah took God seriously. He understood that a life without God would be a life that comes to an end. He understood that he needed to listen to God.   

And so the Ark was finished, and Noah and his family along with all the animals entered the Ark and God shut the door and sealed it. Some bible scholars speculate that 45,000 animals may have fit on the Ark. Can you just imagine the fear that must have come over him and his family at that very moment?

The waters increased on the earth for 40 days, and the waters remained on the earth for 150 days until the Ark came to rest on a Ararat. After 40 more days Noah sent out a Dove to see what the status of the receding was, but it returned with nothing. A week later he sent it out again and it returned with an olive leaf, and the next week when he sent it out, it didn’t return.

And when the waters finally dried up God told Noah and the animals to come out of the Ark, and be fruitful and fill the earth. And without missing a beat, without a second thought, Noah built an altar to the lord and prepared a burnt offering for him. Noah immediately placed God first, and showed it with his actions. And then Noah looked up in the clouds, and you know the story from here, he saw a gorgeous rainbow. God said to Noah that this was the first and the last time I will ever destroy the earth because of sin, and this rainbow is a covenant of that truth. And Noah lived 350 more years after the flood until he died at the age of 950. And he basically became a legend. Noah, the only man of God in his time. You go all the way to Hebrews and he is referenced:

Hebrews 11:7 :  ⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

The Tower of Babel:
Now we know that Noah had three sons. Their names were Shem, Ham, and Japeth, and it was from these sons that the earth was filled. And chapter 10 in Genesis goes on to talk about these descendants and who they were, and then you get to Chapter 11. Chapter 11 in Genesis is the story of the Tower of Babel.
It’s interesting that we stop here because whether you know it or not, there is a lot of foreshadowing in the connection between the story of the flood and the tower of Babel. This seems to be the start of a theme throughout the old testament of the bible.  
Here’s what I mean, In the beginning of the story of the tower of Babel, things are going good. The bible does not say that there was ramped violence or sin amongst this group of people, however they did have a specific instruction. Chapter 9:1 in Genesis “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.”
Well, the Bible says that at these descendents were moving along they landed in a place called Shinar. Here, they decide to stop and build a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens. Now you would think at this point that this is not a bad plan at all. So far it seems as though no sin is being committed. However, this is not what God instructed them to do.
Now God shows up again and sees their plan which they believe is to honor him. But what does God think about this?
Genesis 11:6: The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

In other words, God says I know how this is going to end, because I know their hearts. In this very place, in the comfort of the city they have made, they will develop the impression that life is good without me. They will get the impression that they can make it through life on their own, and they’ll forget that verse that “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.” So in order to fix this, God scattered them all over the earth and confused their language…

Have a Good Week! 

"Lord, May Your Wonders Never Cease"

Nothing in the world improves your mood quite like the summertime. I mean come on, what is really so great about winter aside from Christmas? Nothing. "Oh, let's play in the snow!! Then we can come inside and get some pneumonia!!!" FAIL! Summertime is where it's at. Time to play softball and golf, go swimming, grill, and do all of those things that you talk about doing in the dread of winter. Nothing feels better than jumping into a pool on a hot summer's day, or scoring the first birdie of the year, or grilling simple meats into a work of art, or sitting on the porch late at night with your new neighbors.

Have you ever been to an art museum or seen a work of art? Ever created a work of art? Usually at the bottom of that artwork you will see a signature from the artist. And no, it's usually not the same signature they sign checks with. This is an authentic signature, usually flowered up as to where no one can reproduce it even if they tried. It's the certificate that it's their work, and they are proud of it. I'll bet if you look closely at the world around, you will see God's signature. Every blade of grass, every drop of water, every beacon of light, every bird in the air...God is written in the bottom left hand corner.

Here's the problem. Today we stress our achievements as being authentically ours.  See, we can build some of the most breathtaking buildings, awesome amusement parks, lightning fast cars, and other amazing wonders. However, we forget so quickly that God made every element of those. It's like when you buy a jigsaw puzzle. You did not draw the picture, or cut the pieces. The same is true with the world around us. God is the creator, we've just gotten good at putting together the pieces.

In today's sermon, Jamie mentioned Hemingway's story in which he only used 6 words to tell an entire story. I think that if you were given a challenge to tell the story of the world in 6 words how would it go? Post a comment here on the Blog

I think it goes something like this...

"Lord, may your wonders never cease."

Have a good week!

Romans 8:28

Yes, this past week I did work a 25 hour shift. Yes, I am crazy. Yes, my body hurt. No, I did not "Make Bank" because of where I work. They do not offer 'Making Bank". I could not make piggybank where I work. Nonetheless, I did survive, despite my truck trying to burn me to death. Sounds pleasant, I know...

Ivis graduated from college this past Sunday. She has done an awesome job over the past years and I'm sure she will make a great teacher. Her party is this Sunday, and we will be planning something special for her that day. 

The Reds swept the Cardinals this weekend, despite Chapman laying an entire nest of eggs and Molina mouthing off 87 times.

I'm really stubborn sometimes. Here's the thing, right. I don't know what I'm good at. You can blame it on anything that you want. An obviously absent self esteem. My failure at identifying a career, my never ending bad habits, blah blah blah. Here's the obvious truth, though. God has blessed me with some really awesome friends. I'm not talking about the kinds of people who call me a friend like I've had in the past who are my friend solely so they won't have to feel guilty that I'm not seemingly included. I had those friends before, and unfortunately got burned. A friend doesn't conveniently forget about you when there's enough people around to keep them occupied. A true friend doesn't start rumors behind your back. No, these friends I have now that are truly in tune with God, many times much more so than I. Why can't I be a better listener??

Satan...he is an absolute terror to the mind. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says:

"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." In context it was written it may not apply fully to what I'm talking about, but as a standalone verse it applies directly to me. Satan has a habit and a luxury of sneaking into my thoughts.

Why do I bring all of this up? Why is this significant to the end of my story? It's because I've been asking God for a while what his will is for my life, but I haven't been listening for the answer thanks to the turkey mentioned in the previous paragraph. God happened to show up tonight. After my friends trying to get my attention and me being the stubborn mule that I can be tried to not listen just like Jonah, God showed up and just asked me one simple question. "What is your dream job?" I thought about it for a few seconds and rattled off a few answers. Funny thing about God is...he knows when you are full of it.

God allowed me (made me) sit through College Graduation twice now...and I'm sure I'll get to sit through a few more. But both times Jimmy V. spoke about dreamers. I am a dreamer, whether I will admit it or not. He said that not believing that your dreams are achievable is Nonsense. Everyone that I consider close to me in my life thinks I'm good for the trade. What am I waiting for...I guess I don't really have an answer.

This road will not be easy, but then again what in life is really good that you don't have to work for? Only one thing...salvation. Jesus did ALL the work there, and it's a good thing because I wouldn't even come close. I mean, even if what Jesus did is par for the course then I'm a double par give up...and trust me he is more than that. Romans 8:28:  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Here's the thing...people are going to read this and smile. "Carver finally took the hint" they will say. I laugh because it's true. BUT...am I the only one God needed to speak with about this???

To be continued...

Have a good week!

The entire course was a giant water hazard, and I don't miss any of those on normal days!

So, Osama Bin Laden is dead. That's definitely good news. I just got over being sick last week, and yesterday was Kidstuf, meaning there was no time to write an entry. There's not much to report on this week. Ivis is graduating this coming Sunday, so I will definitely be throwing pictures of that up on here. The Reds are back to better momentum, Chad Johnson thinks Marvin is "Mean", and the NFL lockout is back on because Millions of Dollars is not enough Salary for anyone to live on apparently.  

I packed all the essentials for golfing this weekend. Clubs, drinks, golf BOAT...it was so wet that I'm pretty sure my shoes are still ruined. Also, hitting the ball was near impossible considering the entire course was a giant water hazard, and I don't miss any of those on normal days!

Guys night was Saturday night to celebrate Owsley getting his book published, which came as quite a surprise. I'm not saying it's not a good book, I'm just saying that the news came out of nowhere. I must say that Little Ceasers is one of God's great gifts to us. They have awesome pizza that only costs $5 and there's a drive through. Now if they could just get one near the house, I'd eat it more often. There is still some Deer meat in Nease's fridge that needs to make it to my grill at some point...along with that Golf scorecard from this week.

We have had some bad storms lately, causing our game to be rained out once again. However, a pretty cool looking rainbow formed over the area because of it.

I'm sure I'll have more to report on next Sunday. Have a Good Week!

So...the real world

 Happy Easter everyone. Service this morning was absolutely amazing. Whoever came up with the cardboard testimony idea was a genius, and the fact that we packed the house for 2 out of 3 services made it such an effective testimony.  I'm still trying to figure out how on earth I got DRENCHED directing traffic with a RAINCOAT ON!!?!?!?! Seriously though I was happy to be part of a Sunday Morning that hopefully touched a lot of people's hearts.

Dude...Reds...get it together! I'm glad that we are back above .500 now but geez...we have completely lost our rhythm and stride. There needs to be a winning streak put together and fast. I was offered to go play golf for free later this week, and I do believe I will partake hopefully on Friday. I just need to make sure I grab all the necessities: My golf clubs (duh), my Easter basket from my wife containing 45 GOLF BALLS (shows how much confidence she has in me not losing them haha) and my CANOE considering everything is UNDERWATER!

So...the real world. I hate that phrase. What on earth is the real world? I'm not talking about the terrible TV show either. I'm talking about that phrase that older people use to describe their world as opposed to that of someone younger. For instance you would be sitting in math class and a teacher would say: "when you get in the real world...".

What is the real world? As opposed to a Fake World? Is it a place with real problems? Trust me, when I was in High School I had some problems. Some of the things I did/Habits I started/decisions I made in Jr. High are effecting me NOW, someone who is married in their twenties. Will a decision to do drugs not effect someone who is in high school later because they are not living in a real world yet? Is teenage pregnancy less devastating because they haven't crossed into the real world yet?

I am not saying that this phrase is said with any of those messages intended, but it's certainly the message received sometimes. More often than not when a teen decides they no longer want to follow Jesus it is because they do not believe that Jesus fits into "their" world. And to be honest, it's a world that some of them have no intention of entering. Because we as the mentors portray this separation of worlds with "real" problems, "real" jobs, "real" emotions, "real" pain...then why on earth would they want to step out of their world into ours? It doesn't sound appealing when they already have problems, jobs, emotions, and pain that is just as real to them as ours is to us no matter how much society tries to rank our problems. When you lose a friend it hurts just as much. When you lose a family member, it hurts just as much. When you feel like a failure, it hurts just as much. When you are rejected time after time after countless time...it hurts just as much. Why would you want any part of a world that includes more pain and harder suffering?

I'm asked a lot about the secret to getting through to Jr. High students mainly I guess because I do choose to mentor that age group. To be honest, I don't have the answer. I just realize some simple truths and it's some good things to keep in mind. I'm a sinner (I'm sure you are surprised) and I would be labeled by that were it not for being a Christian...and so would they. The answer for their lives is the same as mine. Their emotions about things are just as strong, and their struggles are just as tough. Whether you are marching in the band and turning in homework, or assigning the homework, transporting a patient, training workers at weird hours, welcoming someone to a restaurant, pulling cables through a ceiling at the levee or whatever it is, it's the same world. And on this day we celebrate the one man who could and the one man that did bring hope to this fallen world. Don't lose your focus, Don't just let this day pass you by. Spend some time figuring out what God's plan for you is, and make sure everyone knows you are a christian this week by the way you act. It's important, no matter how old you are.

Have a good week!

Like Some Jungle Penguin Mezmorized by a Glowing Back Porch Bug Zapper...

Traditionally I would post Blogs on Sundays back when I did them. I have decided to keep that tradition with the exception of today considering I was not home. So now, upon request, this is the beginning of Carver's Corner.

This weekend was Tiffany's birthday weekend and I was away from the house from 730am to 11pm. It was a fun weekend indeed. I threw up some pictures from our trip to the creation muesum yesterday. The Reds are off to at least a decent start with some pitching Blunders along the way.

All is well, blah blah blah...BUT

HERE is my concern this week...

I was approached by a gentleman this week at church whom I know decently and whom I very much respect. Having said that, I feel like an idiot...

He walked up to me and shook my hand in between services and said "I believe congratulations are in order for you sir!"

I stood there for a minute like some Jungle Penguin mezmorized by a glowing back porch bug zapper...thank the Lord he finally clarified:

"Didn't you get married recently sir?"
"OOOO (Like a dunce I said) Yeah hahaha thank you sir"

Which brings me to my point...
Everyone's new favorite question to ask me know is "How's the married life?" Now to immeadiately clarify for the sake of life and health, married life is awesome. It's not that. It's simply that I'm identified as a newlywed everywhere I go. So, at what point is being married no longer "news"? Something to think about right?

Have a Good Week!