One of my favorite books is The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. So many good quotes in this book it's overwhelming. He explains how the life of a Christian should be barbaric or be lived at a barbaric point of view. We as Christians are described as aliens because our way of living is unheard of. The way we give. The way we talk. The way we live. It's different. McManus explains this throughout the book providing examples throughout scripture and Jesus's teachings.
"God's will for us is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance." Brilliant right? When we decide to become followers, we decide to leave our lives of comfort. We model our lives after the life of Jesus and his did not scream "comftorable". And I love the way he explains that God wouldn't choose safety for us at the cost of significance. Where would we be if people played it safe? I realize that sounds incredibly "original" but that doesn't make it any less true. Who wants to play it safe when you can have an adventure. That's the call of a disciple! "To be filled with the Spirit of God is to be filled with dreams and visions that are too compelling to ignore."
Ok here's a scenario. You're at your local Walmart and you hear of a person asking for money so they can get a ride home (feel free to input a different means of them asking for money). You decide you're going to help them out. So, you give them a $20. Nay, you're feeling generous. You give them $30. They thank you and they use it for its intended purpose.
Now, same scenario, different outcome. Instead of giving them $30, you take out your wallet/clip/treasure chest, or whatever the heck you keep your presidents in, and give them everything. Yeah, that's what I said. EVERYTHING. For sake of argument lets throw out some real numbers....$160. Not cheap but ultimately not a lot either. Whichever way you look at it, quite a bit of money given the circumstance. And all you say is, "Here, get yourself a ride home and use the rest to bless someone with." or something of the sort. That'd be ridiculous would it not? In fact, that'd be barbaric. But my how that person would think about that afterwards.
That's what I'm talking about. To live a life of a radical. A Barbarian. To live a life of adventure and excitement for our Christ is a life worth living. For "to live is Christ and to die is gain." And I know, would it be comftorable? Probably not. Would it be safe? Not always. But the fact you're living your life as a disciple...
what a rush.
Apealing? Maybe not to some. But I say bring it on.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Someone Get Me Some Miracle Grow
I feel myself growing, and I love it.
I love being pushed to exceed expectations.
I love being pulled into something to make me a better person.
I feel myself growing, and I love it.
I love being pushed to exceed expectations.
I love being pulled into something to make me a better person.
I feel myself growing, and I love it.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Overload
Ever have those days where, for some reason, you feel overwhelmed at how many thoughts you have? Or even what they're about? It's the same amount, or same kind, of thoughts that keep you lying awake at night because for some reason...
You
Just
Can't
Shake
Them.
Today's one of those days.
My mind is racing with so many questions and thoughts and worries that I just don't know where to start or even what to do with them. Worst part is that there's no reason I should be thinking about these things let alone worried about them. And as if to cause a chain reaction, these days tend to make me a little depressed and impatient. I feel it's a test God is giving me to test my patience and faith so that I may be given the chance to perservere and grow. I believe that when you ask God for things, more specifically qualities, he gives you the opportunity to work on those qualities. Which makes sense giving the fact I've been praying for a patient heart. With circumstances like these, it's always helpful to have someone to talk to. Let me rephrase that, someone you trust that you can talk to.
Someone wise.
Somone who listens.
Someone you trust will look at you the same after the conversation. People like this are hard to find. It seems that you have to go to certain people with different subjects to avoid arguments, cynicism, or bad advice because of today's society. For instance, you don't go to a prideful person when dealing with a humble subject/situation. All your doing is creating problems. And if you don't have somone to go to, you end up fighting with yourself. You wrestle with your own struggles behind closed doors and begin to become unhealthy
Physically
Emotionally
And spiritually.
The background on my phone definitely helps though. "...present your requests to God. And the peace of God....will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Mostly when times like these strike, I pick up my acoustic and play til my fingers bleed (not literally obviously) but currently, while I'm writing this, I am at work. Which ultimately doesn't help matters but since I need the money complaining does me no good. Kind of a "get over it" attitude, if you will. I realize this comes off as a pessimistic post but, as much as it pains me to admit this, blogging helps with struggles since it's now "out in the open".
You
Just
Can't
Shake
Them.
Today's one of those days.
My mind is racing with so many questions and thoughts and worries that I just don't know where to start or even what to do with them. Worst part is that there's no reason I should be thinking about these things let alone worried about them. And as if to cause a chain reaction, these days tend to make me a little depressed and impatient. I feel it's a test God is giving me to test my patience and faith so that I may be given the chance to perservere and grow. I believe that when you ask God for things, more specifically qualities, he gives you the opportunity to work on those qualities. Which makes sense giving the fact I've been praying for a patient heart. With circumstances like these, it's always helpful to have someone to talk to. Let me rephrase that, someone you trust that you can talk to.
Someone wise.
Somone who listens.
Someone you trust will look at you the same after the conversation. People like this are hard to find. It seems that you have to go to certain people with different subjects to avoid arguments, cynicism, or bad advice because of today's society. For instance, you don't go to a prideful person when dealing with a humble subject/situation. All your doing is creating problems. And if you don't have somone to go to, you end up fighting with yourself. You wrestle with your own struggles behind closed doors and begin to become unhealthy
Physically
Emotionally
And spiritually.
The background on my phone definitely helps though. "...present your requests to God. And the peace of God....will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Mostly when times like these strike, I pick up my acoustic and play til my fingers bleed (not literally obviously) but currently, while I'm writing this, I am at work. Which ultimately doesn't help matters but since I need the money complaining does me no good. Kind of a "get over it" attitude, if you will. I realize this comes off as a pessimistic post but, as much as it pains me to admit this, blogging helps with struggles since it's now "out in the open".
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
30 Favorite Things to Do
A list of 30 favorite things to do:
1) Relax
2) Watch good movies
3) Play Call of Duty
4) Read a good book
5) Go camping
6) Campfires and roasting over campfires
7) Campfire talks
8) Deep talks/Spiritual talks
9) Teaching
10) Designing
11) Filming
12) Basketball
13) Ultimate Frisbee
14) People watching
15) Working out
16) Meditating
17) Naps
18) Window shopping
19) Hanging out with friends
20) Road trips
21) Rollercoasters
22) Amusement parks
23) LIVE football games
24) Random nice gestures
25) Pranks
26) Walks
27) Tennis
28) Mini Golf
29) Sledding
30) Cliff Jumping
1) Relax
2) Watch good movies
3) Play Call of Duty
4) Read a good book
5) Go camping
6) Campfires and roasting over campfires
7) Campfire talks
8) Deep talks/Spiritual talks
9) Teaching
10) Designing
11) Filming
12) Basketball
13) Ultimate Frisbee
14) People watching
15) Working out
16) Meditating
17) Naps
18) Window shopping
19) Hanging out with friends
20) Road trips
21) Rollercoasters
22) Amusement parks
23) LIVE football games
24) Random nice gestures
25) Pranks
26) Walks
27) Tennis
28) Mini Golf
29) Sledding
30) Cliff Jumping
10 Year Plan
At one point in anyone's life, they're bound to be asked, or think about, they're 10 year plan. What they'll be doing, if they'll be married, if so will they have kids and how many, where they're living...so on and so forth. Sometimes when I think about it, I'd like to skip all the stuff in between and jump straight into 10 years from now. Immediately be in my career, have a wife, kids, house, etc. But then again you learn a lot from going through the "in-betweens". Our experience through certain situations we go through and encounter is what grows us and makes us more mature and wise. So I actually can wait and somewhat look forward to what I will experience between then and now. Plus, time travel is impossible until Doc Brown shares the intelligence of the flux compasitor with the rest of mankind. So, ultimately, I don't really have a choice.
But that's neither here nor there. In 10 years, I'll nearly be 31 years old. Ooooo.....reality check. By that time I hope to have a wife, 2 or MAYBE 3 kids (depending on when I get married and the opinions/decisions of my wife that will surely be overriden by mine), a house for sure (don't like the idea of throwing my money away on an apartment), and a steady career in videography and design. As far as where I'm living, kind of undecided. Someone explained to me that they'd like to live in a small town that's about 30 minutes away from a big city. Immediately I loved that idea. I'm pretty simplistic, for the most part, and would like to live fairly simple without the chaos of a big city but have the leisure of multiple stores/restaurants/services at my fingertips. I also want to have plenty of "playtime" with my family. Nothing like creating memories by having barbecues, playing baseball, running through sprinklers, or anything else you can do in your backyard or at your house.
All in all, really nothing that exciting. Pretty basic answer for a basic question. However a satisfied life for a simplistic person.
But that's neither here nor there. In 10 years, I'll nearly be 31 years old. Ooooo.....reality check. By that time I hope to have a wife, 2 or MAYBE 3 kids (depending on when I get married and the opinions/decisions of my wife that will surely be overriden by mine), a house for sure (don't like the idea of throwing my money away on an apartment), and a steady career in videography and design. As far as where I'm living, kind of undecided. Someone explained to me that they'd like to live in a small town that's about 30 minutes away from a big city. Immediately I loved that idea. I'm pretty simplistic, for the most part, and would like to live fairly simple without the chaos of a big city but have the leisure of multiple stores/restaurants/services at my fingertips. I also want to have plenty of "playtime" with my family. Nothing like creating memories by having barbecues, playing baseball, running through sprinklers, or anything else you can do in your backyard or at your house.
All in all, really nothing that exciting. Pretty basic answer for a basic question. However a satisfied life for a simplistic person.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
My Buried Life
Before I go into this post, I love how they named that show "The Buried Life". I love that it has a double meaning where on one side they're describing your deepest desires of what you want to do before you die, where as the other side is describing death and how most lives are buried after they pass on. Gotta love subtleties.
Anyways, the term "bucket list" has come up in conversation a lot lately making me think about mine. I have never made a bucket list, per se, but I have always kept in mind what I would like to do before I kick the can. As I began thinking about it, there is only 1 thing I'd really like to do before I die.
Before I expose that however, let me build a foundation. I love helping people. Let me be more specific. I love helping people with they're dreams. If I ever get the chance to hear someone say, "I'd like to...." and you can fill in the blank, I get inspired. I guess you could somehow relate it to the movie Hitch but obviously replace "girls" with "dreams". I start researching, looking for anything and anybody I can find to help out. Typically I can setup a good structure for that person to go off of and they can go from there. Cause ultimately they're gonna have to follow through with it. I get a kind of rush from helping them out because I know that this could potentially be the start of something awesome for that person.
With all this in mind, the only thing on my bucket list is helping her out with hers. "Her" being my wife if that came across confusing. You could say the pressure's on because on anybody else's list you can accomplish some while not accomplishing others. So really, you still get some satisfaction in crossing something out. However, on mine, it's a pass or fail. But I'm fine with that. I want to help her live the most amazing life possible so she can look back with no regrets knowing she tried to live life to the fullest. I realize this sounds really un-satisfying for some and maybe even "chick-flick" but nothing could be more satisfying. For me anyways.
And I know what you're thinking. "What if she doesn't have a bucket list?" ....Well....I guess I'll start with skydiving.
Anyways, the term "bucket list" has come up in conversation a lot lately making me think about mine. I have never made a bucket list, per se, but I have always kept in mind what I would like to do before I kick the can. As I began thinking about it, there is only 1 thing I'd really like to do before I die.
Before I expose that however, let me build a foundation. I love helping people. Let me be more specific. I love helping people with they're dreams. If I ever get the chance to hear someone say, "I'd like to...." and you can fill in the blank, I get inspired. I guess you could somehow relate it to the movie Hitch but obviously replace "girls" with "dreams". I start researching, looking for anything and anybody I can find to help out. Typically I can setup a good structure for that person to go off of and they can go from there. Cause ultimately they're gonna have to follow through with it. I get a kind of rush from helping them out because I know that this could potentially be the start of something awesome for that person.
With all this in mind, the only thing on my bucket list is helping her out with hers. "Her" being my wife if that came across confusing. You could say the pressure's on because on anybody else's list you can accomplish some while not accomplishing others. So really, you still get some satisfaction in crossing something out. However, on mine, it's a pass or fail. But I'm fine with that. I want to help her live the most amazing life possible so she can look back with no regrets knowing she tried to live life to the fullest. I realize this sounds really un-satisfying for some and maybe even "chick-flick" but nothing could be more satisfying. For me anyways.
And I know what you're thinking. "What if she doesn't have a bucket list?" ....Well....I guess I'll start with skydiving.
Friday, November 26, 2010
A Mentor to Remember
A few years back my Nannie, dad's mom, passed away. She died of cancer. She had cancer prior to this time but was healed. Then I guess cancer decided to sneak back into her life.
Before I go into depth of why I'm writing about her, I feel like certain things need to be known about her. My Nannie was the best influence a person could be. She was a prayer warrior. She would get up at 4 o'clock everyday to pray for her family and friends along with other specific prayer requests. She was very involved in the church and was the single most giving person I have ever met, even to this day. She would always take my cousins, brother, and myself out to eat, on vacation trips and even shopping trips to tulsa or muskogee. As a kid I loved that because I loved shopping for toys.
But since I've grown up I can't remember a single toy or item that was purchased from those trips. All I remember was her taking her time and money to spend with her grandchildren. And I know what you're thinking. Every grandparent does that or something similar to it. The thing that she did different though was how she always mentored us on the ways of the Spirit. She always instilled in us how important it is to have a relationship with our Christ and to fuel that relationship we needed to meditate on scripture. She prayed with us. She prayed for us. She cared for us to a point of where I didn't think I deserved it. Making me fully realize what Grace was and how God shows grace to us.
Fast forward to when she found out she had cancer again, she began going through treatment. She took more pills than anyone should take in a day along with carrot juice/smoothies and other nasty ingredients that were supposed to help her tobe diagnosed. She realized though, from scripture, that God was telling her she only had a few months to live and that she should make the most of it. If you've ever read Tuesday's with Morrie it was something similar to that. She planned out her funeral. She started eating things she actually wanted to eat. She spent massive amounts of time with her family. As time progressed she began to get worse. Losing massive amounts of weight and getting weaker and weaker. I'll never forget walking into her bedroom and seeing her on a hospital bed with the hospice. I almost immediately burst into tears and had to look down at the floor to keep composure. She had tubes hooked to her wrists and nose while her eyes were closed and mouth open, looking like she was in enormous pain. It still makes me hurt just thinking about it.
A couple weeks later she passed on, which gave us all a sense of peace. At her funeral she had all her grandchildren on stage singing Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God". The funeral service was more of a celebration for our Lord Jesus. And I love that. Because we should be celebrating. She's in a better place beyond our comprehension and she knew her passing wasn't as important as celebrating the resurection of Christ who bridged the gap. But before she died she wrote every grandchild a letter. That letter has been hanging on my bulletin board ever since and I didn't read it for a long time until 2 nights ago. Since then, I keep it in my wallet as a reminder of a greater influence and how I need to let her legacy live on. It reads:
"Dear Nick,
Time has passed so very fast, you now being a Senior, getting ready to step out into a new season of life. It seems that only yesterday that I was offering you a baby cookie and you indicated to all of us about your intolerance of food. Through the years you have made me very proud of your faith and your life in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is most wonderful to have a grandson that you don't worry about straying down the wrong road. I have been proud of the many achievements that you have received from schools and the leadership roles that you have played in the lives of other children. I have loved the way that you have let me pull you aside and give you a kiss even when it might have been emberrassing for you. You have made me very special by writing and playing a song just for me. I know that God has had His hand on your life and will continue to guide you to a bright future. That future can only be bright if you grow to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your sould and all of your mind."
Love you Nannie. Tell Jesus I said hey.
Before I go into depth of why I'm writing about her, I feel like certain things need to be known about her. My Nannie was the best influence a person could be. She was a prayer warrior. She would get up at 4 o'clock everyday to pray for her family and friends along with other specific prayer requests. She was very involved in the church and was the single most giving person I have ever met, even to this day. She would always take my cousins, brother, and myself out to eat, on vacation trips and even shopping trips to tulsa or muskogee. As a kid I loved that because I loved shopping for toys.
But since I've grown up I can't remember a single toy or item that was purchased from those trips. All I remember was her taking her time and money to spend with her grandchildren. And I know what you're thinking. Every grandparent does that or something similar to it. The thing that she did different though was how she always mentored us on the ways of the Spirit. She always instilled in us how important it is to have a relationship with our Christ and to fuel that relationship we needed to meditate on scripture. She prayed with us. She prayed for us. She cared for us to a point of where I didn't think I deserved it. Making me fully realize what Grace was and how God shows grace to us.
Fast forward to when she found out she had cancer again, she began going through treatment. She took more pills than anyone should take in a day along with carrot juice/smoothies and other nasty ingredients that were supposed to help her tobe diagnosed. She realized though, from scripture, that God was telling her she only had a few months to live and that she should make the most of it. If you've ever read Tuesday's with Morrie it was something similar to that. She planned out her funeral. She started eating things she actually wanted to eat. She spent massive amounts of time with her family. As time progressed she began to get worse. Losing massive amounts of weight and getting weaker and weaker. I'll never forget walking into her bedroom and seeing her on a hospital bed with the hospice. I almost immediately burst into tears and had to look down at the floor to keep composure. She had tubes hooked to her wrists and nose while her eyes were closed and mouth open, looking like she was in enormous pain. It still makes me hurt just thinking about it.
A couple weeks later she passed on, which gave us all a sense of peace. At her funeral she had all her grandchildren on stage singing Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God". The funeral service was more of a celebration for our Lord Jesus. And I love that. Because we should be celebrating. She's in a better place beyond our comprehension and she knew her passing wasn't as important as celebrating the resurection of Christ who bridged the gap. But before she died she wrote every grandchild a letter. That letter has been hanging on my bulletin board ever since and I didn't read it for a long time until 2 nights ago. Since then, I keep it in my wallet as a reminder of a greater influence and how I need to let her legacy live on. It reads:
"Dear Nick,
Time has passed so very fast, you now being a Senior, getting ready to step out into a new season of life. It seems that only yesterday that I was offering you a baby cookie and you indicated to all of us about your intolerance of food. Through the years you have made me very proud of your faith and your life in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is most wonderful to have a grandson that you don't worry about straying down the wrong road. I have been proud of the many achievements that you have received from schools and the leadership roles that you have played in the lives of other children. I have loved the way that you have let me pull you aside and give you a kiss even when it might have been emberrassing for you. You have made me very special by writing and playing a song just for me. I know that God has had His hand on your life and will continue to guide you to a bright future. That future can only be bright if you grow to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your sould and all of your mind."
Love you Nannie. Tell Jesus I said hey.
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