Thanksgiving

As thanksgiving ends and I am stuffed with yummy food I can not help but think of how I am so thankful for everything in my life. God, the one that gives us everything, has blessed me so much this year. I am thankful for:
My lovely wife who with out her I would be so lonely
My wonderful daughter a true miracle
My dogs who bring me such laughter and tons of poop
My job which brings me joy and money
My house which gives my family a place to live
My parents cause they made me the man I am today
Everyone else including friends and others I know because you add flavor to my life
And of course God who made me and gave his son for us so We can have a relationship with him!
I am so thankful and can't wait to see what happens next year and to see what God blesses me with next.

First blog in a while

I don't really blog because I'm busy with school, work, and family. Now since I have an iPad and an iPhone and finding this blog app I am thinking I will be more frequent. However, I do believe that no one reads my blog do it is pointless but I will still do it cause I like getting my thoughts out. Plus I might even put something thought provoking. So now as I end this blog everyone who reads this will be in suspense until next time. Lol!

Where have I been?

I say this blog post is where have I been because I have been so busy it seems like. Starting a new semester of school of my masters have definitely kept me busy. I am taking an Old Testament class which is not all that difficult just a lot of reading and watching video lectures. This takes up a lot of time. My attitude towards this class is just pass. I am learning some stuff, but there is so much info in an 8 week class it all gets lost. Plus looking at my overall goal for school don't really think this class or the next one I'm taking going to help. Here's wish the best.
Work is been fun but busy too. I am learning new information about the church and the relationship it needs to have with parents. I have a deep passion for this and I want to help parents out. So I am starting to do things to make this happen. One way is through an open house during KFC. Parents can come in, listen to what I have to say, and then I get to answer some questions. Another way is by teaching a parenting class. Since I have no kids yet, I am not teaching it but rather reading discussion questions and pressing play on a DVD player. I am so excited about doing this class starting in April for six weeks. Hopefully this will start a catalyst effect with in the church. I am know realizing something I heard someone say at a conference I went to. Don't focus on what you don't have or what you can't do, rather focus on what you do have and what you can do. Understanding that I feel like If I want something done, I need to do it. I have a feeling that Work will keep me busy with that attitude. One last thing is make sure to check out all my crazy videos on my youtube channel. Another passion I have and I love doing videos. With all that said I will check you out later.

http://www.youtube.com/user/wildjr24

Faith in the Next Generation

The Barna Group in 2004 did a survey of 922 Christians. The question they got asked was what age were they when they got "saved." Here is the results of the survey:
43% saved before the age of 13
16% saved between the ages of 14-17
18% saved between the ages of 18-21
23% saved from the age of 22 and beyond
With this information we can develop a trend with the ages of when a person receives Jesus in their heart. To make the assumption that children are more likely to accept Jesus then an adult would be correct. It is said that a person's moral foundations are developed by the time they reach the age of 9. After this development takes place the harder it is to get someone to change their beliefs. So what does one do with this information? The church needs to look at the numbers and make some changes. The changes need to be made in the focus and energy at reaching the younger generation, kids and students. The earlier a church can develop these groups of people the less likely they will walk away from the church by the time they reach adulthood. The problem is that most churches are focused not on these age groups but reaching adults. Reaching adults does make sense because that is the second highest percentage, but that includes such a wide range of ages. So what should the church do? The church needs to start ministering to this generation. There is a flow chart that needs to be followed:

The church needs to reach first the younger generation. In turn they will bring in their parents and then the church must minister to the parents. Lastly the parents will minister to their children. Reaching or ministering to adults is not wrong. A parent must first have a relationship with God before they can teach their children. Ministering to adults is important, but not as important as today's churches are focusing on.
Bible verse that support this claim:
Duet. 6
Psalm 78
Ephesians 6
Mt. 19:14

Fallen

I can't stand it when someone falls away from God, especially people who were once strong believers. Those people in the past would never be caught dead doing that type of behavior. Lately, I have been thinking about this and asking myself a question of why. After thinking about it I came up with an answer. Equally yoked is the reason why. 2 Corinthians 6:14 talks about how Christians should not be around unbelievers. I think this verse is so true. Now completely not being around unbelievers is ridicules because how will the lost be saved. But when nonbelievers are around then we must be really careful. If someone starts to hang out with a nonbeliever and they are a believer, the world with in the nonbeliever can rub off on the believer. The world is the reason why people fall away from God. Satan uses the temptations of the World as a way to get people to fall away from Him. Satan uses the nonbeliever as a tool. The more time we spend with the nonbeliever the more like them we will be. This principle is not just biblical but also physiological. It is proven we become like the people we spend the most time with. There is away to spend tons of time with nonbelievers and not be equally yoked. Have a solid, firm foundation in God is the key. Have a firm foundation will repel the world because knowing God intimately will always win out. If someone is a believer and has fallen away this is most likely why. So how do they come back to God? Start spending time with believers again. If you are around the world 247 you are in the world 247. If you are around God 247 you are just out of this world!

P.S. Praying always and reading the Bible will help too!

Christmas Lights

Todays is the day I get to start putting up Christmas Lights. I am so excited this year to do so. In the past I only got to put up lights on our patio because we lived in an apartment and a condo. Now we live in a duplex and the owner said its ok to put up lights. Of course being in a duplex I want the whole house to look even, so I will decorate their side too. If you live in the area you have to check it out when it is all done. Thinking I will be done by the end of the week. Also at work I have to decorate the stage in the CHASM. I go all out for this because it is fun but for the kids. I hang tons of lights and I have a box that makes the lights dance to music. Its really cool and a must see. So if you are at Woodland this weekend they will be all up dancing. Lets just say I have a lot of lights and decorating to do this week. But I still have to do my usual work stuff and school stuff. I have two papers due this week at school, both long and I'm not feeling doing either. Christmas season I just want to just relax and do christmas stuff. Hopefully I can get all this stuff done and my lights up. Well there is no hopefully because if I have a goal in mind I just go out and do it, but I might be tired by the end of the week.

DW

DW stands for Do Work. This week of Thanksgiving that is exactly what I have been doing. This week for work it is only a two day work week. I could have come in on Monday, but stated in my previous blog NO. So I have two days to get ready for the weekend. I had to do a weeks worth of prep in two days to make the weekend the same quality. The word DW is appropriate for that! I got focused and did it and now the weekend will be great. By the way this Saturday night will be the first ever Children's Church on the playground! Going to be great. For school I had to DW as well. I had to do two test (One essay) and a paper. I wanted to get it done by thanksgiving so I don't have to worry about it. The professor did give us a day extension due to the holiday, but I want it done now. So I buckled down and DW. I got both my test done on Monday and I finished my paper today. Everything is turned in this week and I can enjoy my break! Crazy what I can get accomplished if I just DW. It makes me wonder however how much time I waste in a week at work or with school work. But I wont think about that, I will just enjoy the accomplishments of doing some hard work.