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!