today has been an amazing day, i cant really say why......im just happy......i absolutely love days like this, the sun is shining, the sky is sooo blue, i had lunch with great friends.......at times like this i think that being happy without a reason is probably the truest form of joy! ........so on the amazing day, i find myself in this really cool part of down town in a wonderful little coffee shop, its got all the required coffee shop criteria....u know, leather couches, aged brick walls, free wifi!! theres even some local artwork hanging on said walls.......looking at this art makes me think of a story i heard about a lady from louisiana that grew up in absolute poverty.......living her life with something like a third grade education, late in life her only means of income was the simple art work she could sell in a historic down town, not unlike the one that im currently blogging from......paintings on old glass bottles, hubcaps, even old boards.....ive been told they looked like the doodles of a small child........but to make a long story short what looked like junk, or mistakes, or trash to other people after this simple lady passed away was noticed by the right person and became a folk art craze......painting that once sold for a quarter are now worth thousands.....isnt that just like life?? we all make mistakes, in living and trying to survive, there are time that we produce what looks like junk to some people, but i have to come to believe that in all our pasts lie treasaures.....yes, thats right, even the mistakes are valuable...you see when we make a mistake we have something valuable to learn from, so from now on when you mess up, think of it not as a mistake, but a ministry....yes A MINISTRY!! i can guarantee that at some point you know will make that same mistake and who better qualified to help that person out than the artist who painted that picture in the first place.......

ROMANS 3:23....FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.....

1:24 a.m. and i cant sleep.....to top it off, i needa be up in three hours.......the thing that keeps me up at times like this is that my mind will not shut down.....it runs on and on, thinking about every thing under the sun.....and theres nothing i can do to stop it....among the thousand topics on my mind tonight.....the cosby show, church websites, sandwiches, my upcoming trip to mississippi, music (as always), the way life work, and among a million other things, vocabulary.......pretty diverse right? ........well interestingly enough theres a reason behind everyone of these topics....take vocabulary for instance, it and grammar seemed to be a trending topic throughout my whole weekend.....saturday while hanging out with some really amazing people, the subject of grammar came up between myself and a friend....this particular friend happens to have a masters in english and also happens to be a world class arguer......afore mentioned friend was reading this blog and pointed out my misuse of the word "too"......who can figure that one out anyway.......then on sunday then wonderful minister delivering the message at our service again broached the topic of english.....it seems that he, like myself, tends to make up words, or use them wrong, or whatever....so as i sit here in the dark thinking of grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and all things related, i begin to wonder why we say and do the things we say and do......like when we pray, why is it that we immediately begin to speak in old english? ....are we afraid that God doesnt understand our slang? i like to think that if he understood the greeks and hebrews and romans, and every nation and tongue since the beginning of time, then he can probably get what i have to say.........i guess the point im making is that prayer is just talking to God, you dont have to learn a special language, just say what ya need to say.....whenever you needa say it....call on his name and he'll be there.....yea, pray before that test, thats ok....call on Jesus when you almost have that wreck, he likes that, pray when your sick, give thanks when you have a good day, ask for help when you have a bad day.......i know its crazy, but sometimes after you talk to him, pause for a second and let him talk to you, pray all day, in your head, or out loud, however your comfortable.......i promise you wont regret it....

......The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.....James 5:16

this week ive been helping get ready for some special services at my home church....its been terribly busy, but i can honestly say that theres nothing i enjoy more than working at around or for the church........even it is scrubbing bathroom floors (welcome to ministry).........but enough of that....this being my one day off started me thinking.....where is my favorite place to relax???? ya know, that place where you can just hang out, unwind, do nothing, etc..............i considered coffee shops (love em!).....music stores (could waste years in em!)......the park (to much pollen).....but in all honesty, for pure relaxation, theres no where id rather be than a bookstore.....yes!!! I AM A NERD! ....... i cant think of a cooler hang out than the book store, sitting in a big leather chair, cup of coffee in hand, reading anything i want.....learning, looking, just being me.....now, that in mind.....you can imagine how this next little thought affected me......for the past couple of years, ive been obsessed with religious books...i love em....my favorite of these being authors who think outside the box....i mean people who have new ideas, thoughts and concepts......writers who can phrase things in way ive never considered.....so earlier this year little thought (referenced earlier) hit me......these authors....the ones who wrote the books i love so much, read the bible for themselves!!!! ....what im saying is, they read the book and then came up with the little tidbit that blew my mind...so why cant i do that?!?! ...i can!! but to grasp the word for myself, i must read the word for myself.....i must study, pray about what ive studied, then repeat...and then and only then, will new understanding be made manifest in my life.....and this understanding will be personal and directly related to my life, and my relationship with my savior....so every now and then, lets put the books down, turn off the tv, log off facebook, stop texting, and see what GOD is trying to say to us.....

II timothy 2:15......

study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth..............

its been sometime since ive blogged, not that ive been that busy just havent felt like writing, im gonna do better....over the past few months its been my privilege to make connections with some really cool people....as a matter of fact id say one of the coolest things about traveling is meeting all these wonderful people, there are so many things that can be learned from the people we meet everyday....a great lesson that ive been taught over the last few years is that there is no stereotype for a dreamer, all over the world, this very moment, people of all ages are thinking of things theyd like to do, be, or participate in....young, old, big, little, ignorant, intelligent...we all have dreams, everyone has goals they want to meet and exceed....this is not only true for world, its true for christians...there are more believers that are absolutely psycho about doing something truly great than you can even begin to imagine.....with that in mind, i offer you a concern...this concern is that everywhere i go, when people begin to share dreams with me, before i can even encourage them, they without fail, start the same tired monologue "ill do (insert your own great thing here) when God opens the door.....now i believe in staying in the will of the man upstairs as much as anyone....but i think somewhere along the way we've forgotten that the will of God is not as much about the choices we make, but the way we live!! let me explain...if you are truly living holy, then you wont make terrible, sinful decisions, therefore, if you only make Godly choices then you put him in a place to bless whatever decision you should choose to make.....still dont get it?!?! its like this...in matthew 7:7 we find doors referenced in this statement; knock, and it shall be opened unto you...this leads me to believe that doors open, when we knock on them....furthermore theres no rule against knocking more than once....if you needed sugar and went to your neighbors to borrow some, but they didnt answer the door, would you never eat sugar again??? or never visit your neighbor again?? no!! youd come back when they were home.....case and point?? pursue those dreams with your whole heart....live for God,knock on the doors you want to open, if they dont.... pray, fast, live for him and knock again..no answer?? REPEAT

John 10:9....I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

...for the last few days, my thoughts have been running toward my parents, i cant really say why but ive really been thinking, about what awesome influences theyve been over my life...it could be the reason theyve been on my mind is that i heard a story the other day about this guy who landed on the beach at normandy...this man had such a moving story, but the one thing that stood out to me is that the detail which he remembered best was that there were young men dying all over that beach, and everyone of them was asking for their mother, not a girlfriend or sister, but without fail, these boys needed mom.......such an interesting account to me....and so for the last few days, my parents have commandeered most of my thinking...you see, my parents are probably the best folks on earth....i mean naturally, theyve always taken care of me and done their very best to see that i had what i needed as a child, and even as an adult......but more than that, mom and dad have always been able to understand what im going thru....theyve always cared enough to listen to whatever problem i have and give genuine help that comes from genuine love....and yet theyve done all this without ever relenting and just saying what i wanna hear, or just trying to be a friend and say what makes me happy......i guess what im saying is they always relate to me, but never so much that they give in to my immaturity and let said immaturity have influence over them.......i think that the church could learn a lesson from my sweet folks.......there is a world full of dying people out there that are crying for the mother that is the church, our love is the only thing that can comfort them..... i constantly hear people talking about being relevant, and i can agree with them..... but we dont need to be relevant to what these people are dying from, it is our duty to be relevant enough to understand the problems of a dying world, and to help them....but never should the church ever become relevant to sin or the product of a sinful nature.....the true church offers change from the pain of a life of sin and the hope of a new tomorrow.......that being said i will always be relevant to win a soul

I corinthians 9:22.. I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

so im still in the desert...been here for thirty days now and to be honest, im not sure how this place passes the desert test, thats right!!!, the desert test...i mean to be a desert u gotta get less than like 10 inches of precipitation a year....its rained 3 times since i arrived and snowed twice....and when i was here in july.... rained every day.....now all that considered, i still believe that im in the desert, because no matter how much these fine citizens say they need rain, when it falls they dont know how to deal, i mean, take the streets for instance, .3 inches of water from the sky and there are tidal waves rolling over the hood of my vehicle....theres no drainage in the city....in the mind of a simple person such as myself, that seems like water wasted....but when you think about it, its kinda the same in our lives, JESUS came to earth and made the ultimate sacrifice for us, and essentially gave us oceans of grace, but many christians just let it lay in waste....see, grace is a beautiful, amazing, nurturing, life giving, substance..... but without daily repentance, that same grace becomes a gift that lays ignored, dormant, and unopened.....as the apostle paul said, we must "die daily"...this means prayer, or talking to God every day....try it and tell me you dont feel better, its amazing what how much difference grace put to proper use will make.....

romans 8:1...There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit........

music....a five letter word.....but my oh my what a controversial little five letter word it is.....as of late, ive witnessed more confrontation over music than any other thing in the church world...phrases like "all that guitar reminds me of the jimi hendrix era and thats a problem for me", make me wanna say "well sir, youve been pastoring for forty years if hendrix still makes u wanna do drugs, the guitar MIGHT not be the problem"......but anyway, the latest trend seems to be people saying "lets sing a Jesus is my boyfriend song" (thick sarcasm inflected in the voice).......these sweet people are referring to a style of song writing that has become more and more popular in praise and worship music, that is basically a love song to Jesus.....now if you feel that Jesus isnt your boyfriend, im ok with that, but by all means let others sing their love song to Jesus til the cows come home (or he comes back)....i mean he did liken himself to a bridegroom, it seems that dating is a prerequisite to marriage....if hes the father, the friend that sticks closer than a brother, the alpha, the omega, the rose of sharon, the lilly of the valley, the author and the finisher, the lamb, the lion, the king, the shepherd, the almighty, the way, the truth, the life, the creator, the light, the savior, the rock.....and wait for it........LOVE(God is love)....then why is boyfriend such a stretch......agree or disagree, it really doesnt matter, because in reality its not the song, but the praise of his people which God chooses to inhabit...so just keep praising

p.s. i wonder how much lower the rate of teenage pregnancy would be of Jesus were more peoples boyfriend???