CHRISTIAN WOMAN IN PLAYBOY???

Yesterday I had the chance to talk with Heidi Montag who is a reality star from the Hills on MTV and also "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". Heidi is also a recording artist and now she can add Playboy to her resume. Heidi and her husband Spencer are known for being very open about being christians and have said many times in many different interviews that they are disciples of Jesus Christ. Let me say this? It is not my place to say they are not christians because only Jesus knows there hearts. But the word of God does say that we can tell if someone is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Their mannerisms and attitude should reflect that. They should be respectful, modest, not quick to anger, truthful and genuine.
If I see a brother or sister in Christ sinning then it is my job to call them out on it and that is what I did with Heidi Montag. I asked her why she is doing playboy if she is a Christian. Heidi said, "Because I feel like personally, and you can feel different about it being a christian that we all have our own variation, but I feel like God created the body. I feel like it is not something I am ashamed of. I feel like it is very beautiful and I think I did it very tastefully. You see more naked people on the beach in a bathing suit then you see in my parts of playboy.I then asked her if she read the bible and if she picked and choose what she wanted out of the bible to fit her life. Heidi responded, "yes I do read the bible and i don't pick and choose what I want in the bible. She also said, "I don't see anywhere in the bible that says we are to be ashamed of our bodies and don't show things".My response was for her to keep on reading because it is in there.
Matthew 18:6-7
6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
Is heidi being a stubbling block for other Christians? I believe she is. As a celebrity there are millions of people that are watching her and look up to her as a role model including christians. If Heidi would read her bible she would find that it says in MATTHEW 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.I know when I used to buy playboy magazine it wasn't for the articles. I was lusting after those woman. The only person that should be lusting over Heidi is her husband Spencer. Heidi is using the excuse that God gave her a beautiful body so she should be able to flont it off because there are woman at the beach that are just as naked as she is at the beach. If Heidi read her bible she would understand that she isn't supposed to be like those other woman at the beach.

As Christians, we always have to stay on top of this part of our walk with the Lord. Jesus Himself has made it as clear and as plain as day as to how we are to look at this life and interact with it. We are to stay "in" the world. We have a holy mission and a holy calling direct from the Lord on what it is He wants us to accomplish and get done in this life before we depart to be with Him for all of eternity.

The goal of each Christian's life should be to accomplish, to the best of our abilities, God the Father's perfect will for our lives. Our goal should be to serve God and do what He wants us to do in this life - not to chase after the world and all the wealth and possessions of this world, which will do nothing but rot and perish the minute we leave and depart from this life.

We have to keep our priorities straight, and our number one priority should be to want to serve God and accomplish His perfect will for our lives. If we make that our number one goal and aspiration in this life, then God will appropriately reward each one of us once we enter into heaven. And those heavenly rewards will far surpass and far exceed any of the material wealth and possessions that we could have gained down here on this earth.


Ephesians 5:8-10 (The Message)

8-10You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

Philippians 1:10-11 (The Message)

9-11So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Is Heidi making Jesus Christ attractive to all by posing for playboy? Is Heidi being a stumbling block for men and woman? Does the bible give a clear view on how we are to live as Christians? After reading this blog I hope this helps you answer those questions.

I just got back from Juarez, Mexico on Sunday afternoon and allot of people have been asking me, "What is Juarez like right now?" A War Zone! The crazy thing is that it is right in the back door of the U.S. In fact if you are on the freeway, downtown, or the border highway on the Texas side, you can catch glimpses of Hummers, or trucks full of armed soldiers complete with mask, bullet proof vest and AK-47's, trucks with mounted machine guns, and men with guns, shields, and camouflage just about everywhere you look. Along with them you will spot many more Federal es than you would imagine. When you see the local police they are usually accompanied by a couple soldiers to help protect them and keep them honest! Yet the drug cartels continue their battle for power and the local criminals continue to ride their shirt tails. Everyone is afraid, even families that live on both sides of the border are split. It used to be that the lines at the border were very long on the weekends with family from El Paso crossing to spend the weekend with family in Juarez. Now they don't go and urge anyone that still crosses to reconsider, including us. The lines continue to be long, but now it is due to more thorough searching. The biggest concern is the Cholo's (local criminals) who know that people are so afraid they won't speak out and are using that to their benefit. They are robbing, stealing, killing and extorting money. Most do not know if they are connected to the cartel or not and are unwilling to report these crimes since it would mean sure death for them and possibly their family There are stray bullets like the one that killed an El Paso 14 yr old while she was at her cousins birthday party. The torture type killings have slowed down, but we still read about them daily in the local newspaper. More people were killed this year per month than last year and many fear as soon as the military leaves it will continue as it was before they came, until one cartel leader is king of this area.
Keep praying for the people of Juarez and for those that are apart of the drug cartels. Pray that there heart's would open up and realize the evil and damage they are causing and that they would receive Jesus Christ as there personal Lord and Savior. My trip this past weekend was amazing! We had no trouble and lots of great times. The church is almost done and Pastor Juan and his family are really getting excited to move in. I had the privilege of meeting a young man by the name of Peppee. He is married with two children. Peppee has been hooked on heavy drugs for years and had lost his wife and his children and his family because of the drugs. One year ago God sent Pastor Juan out into the city and he ran into Peppee. Peppee at the time was trying everything to get his wife and kids back but he just couldn't kick the drugs. Until one day he invited Jesus Christ into his life. His life has never been the same. Peppee went from losing everything to now having his wife and kids back. And Pastor Juan and his family moved into the church so they gave Peppee and his family there old house to live in. I remember after Peppee had shared his testimony with me he grabbed his backpack and he told me, "Whenever I used to grab my backpack I used to always pull out the drugs but now I pull out my bible!" And that is what he did. His face was glowing. I will never forget that moment. And when he tells you his story he gives all the credit to God. It's so amazing to see a guy that had lost everything, now have meaning and purpose in his life. I could sit here for hours and hours just sharing amazing testimonies with you but I will leave that for another time. God has truly blessed my wife and I with the opportunity to be apart of this amazing mission in Juarez. Please continue to pray for the students down there and for Nolan and Marie.
God is moving in Juarez! Praise Jesus!!

FEAR AND WORRY

My oldest son Kaleb who is going to be 8 years old in October has been dealing with allot of fear lately. Fear of losing his mom and me. A fear of us forgetting about him. We know that this fear can only come from one place and that's from our enemy the devil. I have been sitting down with him the past few weeks to really talk with him about what he is scared about. I've been giving him scripture to memorize so when that fear starts to sink in again he can quote the word of God and know that the fear he is feeling is not from God and that it's not real. One of the verses I gave to him to memorize was 2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. Kaleb starts 2nd grade today and I am so proud of him. I know God is going to take him under his wing and I have nothing to fear or worry about. That is what I want to write to you today about. Today I leave for Juarez, Mexico. If you don't know what's been going on down there then just google Juarez Mexico News and you can read about it. It's an all out war between the military and the drug Lords. Thousands of people are being killed and many are tortured and being held for ransom. Now let me share with you some writing from the apostle Paul....
Rejoicing Together
12-13What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
14-16Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing.

17-18Even if I am executed here and now, I'll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ's altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout's fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don't feel sorry for me.

If you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior then I am here to tell you that you have this amazing Power that lives inside of you. The Holy Spirit. God ALMIGHTY lives inside of you. We should never fear or worry about anything. People all the time even Christian's tell me, "Don't Go!!" and then my heart hurts. Are we not called as disciples of Jesus Christ to go into the world? Are we not supposed to share the Gospel with the world? Are we not supposed to love, love, love and love some more. We are called to meet the needs of others that are suffering. If are brother's and sister's need something then we meet that need. We are called to be the light in this dark world. We are called to a life that is so rewarding and so fulfilling. My God holds me in the palm of His hand and nothing can happen to me unless He allows it. If something does happen to me then Praise God. I will hold strong to the end. I will die and I will suffer if it brings glory and honor to my God. I will die and I will suffer if it means that I will save one soul from going to hell. My friends, that is not me but the power of God almighty that lives inside of me. There is no way I can do what I do without Jesus. He gives me strength and He gives me power and He gives me self-control.
I will write about my trip when when I get back on monday but if this is the last time I write to you, know that I love you all and I pray that you would surrender your life to the only one and true God. The God or Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ.

It's all because of Jesus that I am alive

Joseph Aron Toth "Dex"

My Sweet Escape

What is your favorite thing to do? Think about the place where you love to go or that thing you love to do. I'm sure it's something that just makes you feel good. It's something that blows everything out of the water. Nothing can even come close to it. For me it's following God. It's talking about God with my wife and my kids or my friends and family. I could talk about Jesus every second. As you can tell I even love writing about God. I am not the best at it but that's when I feel so close to Him. I feel so close to Him when I am talking about Him or writing about Him or serving Him. When my wife and I get to go down and serve in Mexico there is nothing like it. Getting to be the hands and feet of Jesus. What an amazing privilege. I feel so close to Him. Not only do I want to think about Him and talk about Him but I want to know what He wants from me. If you look at Isaiah 58 I think we can get a clear view of what God wants and expects from us.

Isaiah 58 (The Message)
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
13-14"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
Yes! God says so!


So I encourage you today to pray that God would change your heart. Pray That He would open your eyes and your heart to the poor and to those who need. If somebody needs something don't turn away, help them. Give them clothes. If you know somebody that is struggling then help them. Spend time with your family and take care of them. If somebody asks for something don't expect it back. You should give, give and give some more. I promise you when you give there is nothing that feels better then to give. We are so blessed and so comfortable in America. We need to stand up and start giving back to others that are in desperate need right now. Pray about it and let God lead you to where He wants you.
God bless you today,

Dex

This is not Home

Psalm 63
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

As I sit here and meditate on this Psalm of David many things are going on in my head. The first thing David says, "O God, you are my God" The question I need to ask, who is your God? Is it the tv? The computer? A person? Your kids or your family? Is it money? Your Job? What is it in your life that you put before the only one true and awesome God? The God that formed the heavens and the earth. The God that formed and created you. The God that came to earth and died for you. Does your soul just long for something more? Do you ask yourself everyday, "Man, there's got to be more than this?" I've said it before and I will say it again. I am not sure if living in America is a blessing or a curse. We are to comfortable. We lose sight of God to easy in America. Many times we don't need God until something bad happens in our life then we run to God. I don't ever want to do that. God is to amazing and to awesome to ever do that to. I want to seek Him everyday of my life. My body ackes for Him. My soul thirsts for Him. I want to know everything about my God. Do you ever just stop and look up into the sky and just praise Him for His amazing Glory? A few years ago I remember I couldn't imagine my life without radio. Oh man, my radio career has been so fun and so awesome. It has hardly ever felt like a job. I used to ask myself, "what if God asked me to leave radio?" That question scared me to death. What would I do? I remember I used to convince myself that I would walk away from radio if God asked me to but deep down inside I knew I couldn't do it. Today as I write this I know in my heart of hearts that I would walk away from radio in a second if God called me to something else. If I got fired today I would praise God with all of my heart for the amazing job that he gave me and my family. I have finally realized that this is not my home. THe house I own is not my home. Living on this earth should never feel like home. Home is when I am finally kneeling before my Father in heaven. Today, may we fall on our knees and ask God to forgive us for not making Him the greatest in our life. I pray that we would go out into our jobs today and work as hard as we can as if we were working for the Lord. I also pray that we would love our neighbors and we would seek God with everything we have. With all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. He is worthy and He is Good. Who knows this could be the day that I finally get to see my Father.

I love you Father with all of my heart!

TEARS IN A BOTTLE

At Church yesterday Todd brought up a verse that I have never heard before.

Psalm 56:8

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.

Man, that verse just blew me away. Our minds are so small. To try and figure out God is impossible. God's love is so amazing and so awesome to try and understand God's love or just how big and powerful He is would be impossible. Our minds can't do it. To think that He keeps track of ALL my sorrows and collects ALL my tears in a bottle and then records each tear in His book. WOW!!! We should never ever feel alone. In (Deuteronomy 31:8), The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. In (Psalm 139:7-10), Where can i go from Your Spirit? Where can i flee from Your presence? If i go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
(Proverbs 5:21), For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths. Whatever you might be going threw in your life right now, just know that God is right there with you and He will never leave you. I found this awesome blog that somebody else wrote. I would love to share it with you. It's pretty amazing!

Tears In A Bottle
Aren’t tears a mysterious part of what it means to be human? It is strange that we have the capacity to cry—to expel water from our eyes when we are sad. It seems to serve no real purpose—although science can explain the physiological “why” and mental health experts can explain the psychological “why”.

That still leaves the question of “why” tears—why were we created with that capacity?

Perhaps this psalm provides a clue. Maybe they are to remind us that God cares about the things that make us sad enough to shed tears. So much does he bear our sorrow that he collects our tears in a bottle, as the New Living Translation says, or as other versions put it, “he records them in his ledger.” In other words, God takes note—implying that he is not only aware of our sadness, but he will not forget it.

What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over?

It is likely that no one truly knows the depth of what you are feeling right now. Maybe no one will ever see those tears that have rolled down your cheek—and the intense hurt that caused them. Even if they do see your tears, how sad it is that long before your pain is healed, people will forget and move on.

But there is One who sees…and One who cares…and One who never forgets…and One who will never move on! And He wants you to know that, my friend. And that One, your Heavenly Father, simply asks you to take comfort in His compassion for you
(Psalm 103:13, and to place your trust in him. In fact, so strongly does he desire your trust, that he extends the invitation twice just to make sure you really know his heart for you. (Psalm 56:4,10-11)
I hope you will do that. Entrust those tears to God. And let the very next tear that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

God vs. Capital Punishment

On the show this morning Buck started talking about the paper he is writing in school about Capital punishment and if it's right in the eyes of God. I havn't studied this subject before and I really didn't know how to answer it at the time. Well, the best way we can find out about what is right and wrong in God's eyes is to open up the word of God and see what it has to say.

The commandment that we find in the bible, "Thou shall not murder" Murder is taking someone's life in a selfish, unrighteous sort of way. There is also the idea of taking life in a righteous way, which is not frowned upon in scripture but is actually commended in scripture. In the book of ROMANS 13:1-4
1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. THERE IS NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT FROM GOD. SINCE HE ALONE IS THE SOVEREIGN RULER OF THE UNIVERSE, HE HAS INSTITUTED 4 AUTHORITIES ON EARTH. 1.(THE GOVERNMENT OVER ALL CITIZENS. 2.(THE CHURCH OVER ALL BELIEVERS. 3.(THE PARENTS OVER ALL CHILDREN. 4.(THE MASTERS OVER ALL EMPLOYEES. HUMAN GOVERNMENTS AUTHORITY DERIVES FROM AND IS DEFINED BY GOD. HE INSTITUTED HUMAN GOVERNMENT TO REWARD GOOD AND TO RESTRAIN SIN IN AN EVIL, FALLEN WORLD. SINCE ALL GOVERNMENT IS GOD-ORDAINED, DISOBEDIENCE IS REBELLION AGAINST GOD. NOT GOD'S JUDGEMENT, BUT PUNISHMENT FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR BREAKING THE LAW.


The death penalty was first instituted by God Himself in Genesis 9:6: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."Man is the highest form of life on this earth, created in God's own image, and crowned with glory and honor (Psa. 8:5). God has given man the MORAL DUTY to execute those who choose to take the lives of others.



Another question we had this morning was "Can a christian serve in the armed forces?" When John the Baptist started his ministry there were a number of groups of individuals that came to him, that wanted to know what God required of them. And some of the individuals that came to him were soldiers. When they came to John the baptist they had this question for him. Luke 3:10-14 What should we do then?" the crowd asked. 11John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" 13"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. 14Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay." John didn't tell the soldiers, "You evil men, you do violent things, drop your sword and start growing daises." He didn't say that. He said do your job and don't abuse your position and don't grumble about your pay all the time. We are to follow Christ as we serve in whatever He has for us to do.



Exodus 21:12 says, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death."
Someone says, "Well, that's just the Old Testament law. The New Testament doesn't support the death penalty." Read Acts 25:11? Have you read Roman 13:1-4? What about Revelation 13:10? God has never changed His law of Capital Punishment for murderers!


In Acts 25:11 the apostle Paul says, "For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. Paul admitted that some things were "worthy of death," and that he was willing to "die" if he was guilty of such an offense. If the death penalty is not for today, then why didn't Paul tell us?


Those in authority are ordained by God (just as in Genesis 9:6) to "execute" wrath upon evil doers. Paul said, "...he beareth not the sword in vain..."A sword is used for one thing: KILLING! Killers are to be killed, and God's will has not been fulfilled until our governing bodies have executed wrath upon those who have killed others.

This is what I found in the word of God "The Bible" about God's view on capital punishment. If anyone would like to respond to what I found in the bible I would love that. I am going to take what I found and send it over to some people that know more about the bible than I do. I will let you all know if I find anything else.

Dex

MARKED BY THE CROSS

MARKED BY THE CROSS
Philippians 2: 12

SHINING AS STARSTherefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed— not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence— continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
Its saying I am not going to blend into darkness but I am going to shine the light of God in the midst of darkness. All of us are going to be marked by something. Some of you have a tattoo and you have a mark on your body but all of us are going to be marked by something. All of our lives we are going to be marked by something. So I am throwing the question out there, "What is your life going to be marked by? What are you going to be known for? When people see you and they get the snap shot of you whats there conclusion going to be?"

I GET THIS QUESTION ALL THE TIME. IS IT WRONG TO GET A TATTOO?


Galatians 6:14


14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

What Paul is saying is "look be circumcised , big deal. You could even say, "Look get a tattoo, fine, don't get a tattoo, fine. It's not whats important, it's not what you should be spending alot of your energy on. Paul is saying being circumsised or uncircumsised doesn't me anthing. What's important and what you need to be thinking about is a new creation. Here's the thing. It's not about externals anymore. It's about whether or not somthing has happened in your heart. It's not about what church you go to. It's not about what small group you are apart of. It's not about what conference you have gone to. The question on the table that is going to start shifting everything in your life, "IS THERE SOMETHING HAPPENING IN YOUR HEART?" Is there an internal transformation that is happening? A new creation through Christ on the inside. Paul is saying, that is what matters in life. Should you get a tattoo? I can't answer that for you. I think before you get a tattoo you should spend some time with Jesus. Talk to Him about it. Be patient. Really pray about it. Will the tattoo bring glory to God almighty?

sweetly broken

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3
Stand in Awe of God
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.

That passage of scripture has totally floored me! The past few days I havn't been able to talk to God. Before I was so quick to just babble off words to God that sometimes mean nothing. Really think about this. When we pray we should try and imagine ourselves coming before God almighty. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In Revelation 4 John's spirit is taken up to heaven and He gets to see the Throne Room of Heaven. John describes what he saw. One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. John sees flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder coming out of the throne. You have to give John credit because he tries so hard to describe what it was like but I am sure the words he is using doesn't even come close to describing what he really saw. John continues to describe what is around the throne. Twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones he saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatrues full of eyes in front and behind. He says the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."

This is all going down this very second in heaven. This amazing worship with these amazing creatures and a hundred million angels just worshiping and worshiping and worshiping God. It is so humbling. When it says in Ecclesiastes 5Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. I don't know about you but I have been doing it all wrong. My view of God has been all wrong. I am sure most of you have seen Passion of the Christ. Do you remember how you felt after watching that? I was not only broken but I was just in AWE of God. I had no words to describe what I saw and what I felt. It saddens me to think that people really do see God as this old man sitting on clouds in heaven with these angels that are playing harps. How is it that man came up with that description of God? Because after reading what the bible says God is like, I see this amazing BEING that is so awesome that words can't even describe what He is like. When I see what Jesus did while He was on this earth it just brings me to my knees. So the next time we come before this AMAZING, HOLY, GOD. May we come before Him in complete AWE.

So the past couple of nights for me I havn't been able to sleep well. I have been waking up in the middle of the night just wide awake frustrated and sad. I find myself in the middle of the night just praying for people in my life that God has put on my heart. I lay in my bed thinking about the children out there that are being sold into slavery. If you don't know this, right now there about 27 million human slaves and most of those are kids. And when I say slaves I am not just talking about labor, I am talking about children being forced to do things that are so disgusting. Then to think about the poor. The families that are suffering. The families that are starving to death. The people out there who are dieing of a disease that is cureable with medicine that we can buy at the grocery store. Or how about this one. How about the millions and millions of people that are dieing everyday that don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. So I am sitting here going, "Lord, what is it in this world that you would have me do???" I know my life wasn't created just to entertain a few people in the morning. Even as I write this letter to you I am hurting inside. Ya I know going down to Juarez is great and I am so honered and blessed to be apart of something amazing like that but there is so much more going on in the world and I am just struggling with what my part is. Ya know what it is? I am just so sick of talking and talking and talking and I just want to do! I just want to do something. I heard about this woman in thailand who would sneak into these places where they would keep these children that were sold into slavery. She would sneak into these homes were all these kids were in the middle of the night and grab as many as she could and just run! She would grab and carry as many as she could and run as fast as she could so that she could try and save these kids. Well they found out who she was and the word got back to her that they were going to find her and they were going to kill her and the children. So then she started running for her life with these kids getting them to safety. And Now she is in Northern Thialand with these kids she has rescued. A hundred and 25 kids that she rescued. 125 kids!! Man I am looking at that and I am going, "THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO!!!" "I WANT TO DO SOMETHING!!" I bet you that is a woman who is alive. I bet you that is a woman who is fullfilled. Try and imagine yourself waking up and looking out and seeing 125 kids that you rescued. Can you imagine how fullfilling your life would be? I mean how much more fullfilling would it be to see 125 kids in my living room then to see a giant living room with nothing in it. God designed us to LOVE. That is how He made us. It is so fullfilling to LOVE. Think about how unfullfilling it is to always think about my needs. What do I need? What can you do for me today? I mean really!!!! IT is so sad. I am like that most of the time. It really is so disgusting. God is trying to show us and trying to tell us that we will LOVE to LOVE. That we can have a fullfilled life by living out the fruit of the Spirit. To have Love, Joy, Peace, Pacience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Gentleness and self control. Can you imagine if all of those things just flowed out of you.
Please pray for me. I just want God to use me and my family. I want to do nothing but God's will for my life. I pray that you would look at your life and take a step back. Are you only worried about you? Are you sick to death of talking and talking and hearing other people talk about what we should do. Lets stop talking and let's start Doing!

In Jesus Name
Amen

Dex

That has never been God!!

What do you think of when you look at your bible? Or look at a bible? What comes into your mind? So many people have this book wrong. They think it's just a bunch of rules and a bunch of does or dont's. They think the bible is a religion. Some system of works where you can earn your way into God's love or earn your way into heaven. Man, that's just disgusting!! That has never been God!!! Some people believe that the God of the New Testament is all love and no wrath. And the God of the Old Testament is this wrathful God. NOT TRUE! God is the same today just as He was thousands of years ago. God Has never changed. Understand that this bible that you see or own has always been about this love relationship between us and this amazing creator God. This Amazing creator God who is just filled with nothing but Love and He points at you and says, "I want you!" What is the greatest Command God gives to us? LOVE ME with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength. Direct everything you have towards Me and lets just be in love. And don't turn it into anything else. Jeremiah 2 talks about God's love for the people of Israel. God says I remember when you were young. I remember your devotion to me. God was saying, you would follow me anywhere. Remember those days when you were in love with me and you would do anything for me. And God goes, I would do anything for you. If anybody tried to devore you, I would destroy them. I was your protector. If anybody even tried to hurt you I would throw plagues at them, I would kill them because we were in love. But then He says in verse 5. What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. God goes, "So why did you leave me? I thought we had a thing going here? Remember you used to follow me and love me. You would take care of my needs and I would take care of you and protect you. What did I do that was so bad that you would walk away from me and start following these other idols?"

I think about my life. I think about all of the things in my life that I put before my awesome God that loves me and just wants to have this Love relationship with Him. My oldest son Kaleb and I were talking today about some of the things that tempt us and take us away from God. My son Kaleb mentioned food and tv. It is so true. We eat and eat and eat. We never have to worry about food. As the rest of the world starves we have a fast food restruant on every corner. As we sit home in our comfortable house eating and watching tv, there are millions and millions of people dieing of starvation and disease. How pathetic I am sometimes. We are so stinking rich it's pathetic. For the past month I have had this unbelievable hunger for not food but to do something to help those in need. Whether thats here in Albuquerque or it's in Africa or India. I can't just sit by and act like it isn't happening. I have to do something! I am sick of hearing from people that you can't save the whole world. I don't ever want to hear that again. What I do want to hear is that we can do something. We can make a difference. We can change the world. We can stop being so selfish and we can reach out and help others. So what is the first thing we have to do? Love God!! Go after Him with everything we Got. Run to Him and lay everything out before Him. If we seek Him first then everything else will fall into place. He will give us the courage and the drive and the wisdom we need to love others and to make a difference in the world. He is the one who can change us from being selfish little rich snots to people that our loving and want to give and help those in need. May we all fall on our faces and ask God to forgive us.

You are faithful and Holy God! I love you! May this letter touch the heart of your people Lord.

Dex

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THIS THOUGHT??

Have you ever had this thought? I am this little itty bitty person on this planet earth, just hanging out in this huge universe and here I am trying to explain God to you. What arrogance. Man I think about the arrogance I have had in the past when I talked about Him or wrote about Him. As if I understand God. Me. Itty bitty me. I have excisted on this earth for just a few years as a human being on this tiny tiny little planet and I am going to sit here and tell you what He is like??? As though I understand Him!!! Think about it for a second. That is so arrogant! Man I don't even understand my wife. And I am going to try and explain God! How can somebody like me or you explain this Holy Eternal God who made the universe that we are living in?
Let me just say this....I do not understand God. In DEUTERONOMY 29:29 The bible says there are secret things that belong to God. But then it says that there are things that have been revealed. And those things belong to us. So there are certain things that God lets us know about Him. And that is all we want to talk about. I mean think about this for a second. They used to never say Gods name. There were followers of Him that couldn't even say the name of God. People that thought they had no right as a human being to speak a name that was so sacred. Think about how many times you use God's name a day? God's name. Every breath you take God has allowed you to take. I heard a story the other day about a 33 yr old guy who was married and had a family. He died in his sleep. He was 33 yrs old and died in his sleep. When they found him he was in the bed of the girl he was having an affair with. Man! When I heard about that all I could picture was that man going to sleep and then waking up in front of Jesus.


How many times have I gone to bed mad at my wife or someone. How many times have I used the name of God in vain. How many times have I sat down to write a blog and not just be in complete awe of God. Please forgive me God. I pray right now and I hope you pray this prayer as well. Father, our Father in Heaven. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord ALMIGHTY! Father I ask that you would not let any words or thoughts come out of my mouth or head that are not true about You Father. May we realize how careful we should be when we speak of YOU. Who are we Father that you would be so good to us. Everything we know of you Father is so amazing and fascinating. Fill us with your knowledge Lord. Protect us Father from false teaching. Because we never want to be little you. Please forgive us for the times we have. In Jesus Name. Amen.

I can't wait to share about the amazing things God has been showing me and telling me. May we all go out today and love and serve this Amazing God will all of our Heart, mind, soul and strength. And Love our neighbors as ourselves.

Dex

That was me fishing when I was a little kid. As I was reading in Psalms this morning I came upon this.....

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, a]" class="footnote">[a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to b]" class="footnote">[b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

I encourage you to read that passage again and again. It blows me away just how awesome and big God is. How Loving and how amazing He is. Listen there is nothing that you could ever do on this earth that would make God love you any less. If you have been running from God, He is still right there watching you. He is with you Wherever you go. You can't get away from God. Maybe in your mind you can say to yourself "He is not there and I want nothing to do with Him." But in reality God is still there watching you and loving you. You can say all you want "How can a loving God send good people to Hell?" and God's love for you never changes. You can spit in His face and curse His name and God still loves you the same. You can do the most evil thing in the world and guess what? God still loves you the same. Stop running! It's pointless. Because God is with you and He is running along with you. He loves you and wants a relationship with you. I can't wrap my brain around why you wouldn't want that!!! The maker of this universe wants to have a loving awesome relationship with you.

I hope this encouraged you today. When I am feeling down and need a pick me up. I think about my amazing God in Heaven. Who is watching my every move. Who knows how many hairs I have on my head right now. Who gives me that breath and that breath and that breath and that breath and that breath and that breath.....

I love you Father!

Have an awesome day
dex

Why I believe

If you have a belief or a faith, have you ever taken the time to find out why you believe in what you believe in. It hit me a few years back. I asked myself the question. I have been a Christian my whole life. Why do I believe in what I believe in. Where is the proof? So that is when I started investigating the truth. I am going to give 5 peaces of evidence, why I believe in this amazing God the bible talks about.

First piece of evidence if I am going to make a case for the reliability of Gods word. It would be manuscript evidence. If you were interested in College in ancient manuscripts and you took a class and studied ancient manuscripts you would know from your studies that there are certain types of papyrus certain types of paper certain types of manuscripts and if you were educated in ancient manuscripts you would have the ability to tell me when a manuscript was written between 25 to 50 years when it was written. So we can figure out how far back they date. We have unearthed many ancient manuscripts so far. Let me give you a few stats. We have right now unearthed 7 different manuscripts from Plato. There was a roman historian his name was Levy we have found 10 different manuscripts of his writings. Homer has the most by far right now with 643 manuscripts. Now what's interesting about all of these ancient manuscripts that we have found so far is this. We have never found an original. We have never found an original manuscript from any of these guys. They have all been manuscripts that have gone down the line and yet know one doubts that Plato ever lived. Aristotle. The earliest manuscript we have of Aristotle is 1,450 years older than the time he lived. 1,450 years went by before we found a manuscript of Aristotle and yet you will never find anyone in a class room say Aristotle never lived. So here is the question. When it comes to the bible how much time went by from when the originals were written to what we have in our hands today. In the case of the Old Testament for a long time it was 1,300 years. And because it was such a long period of time people make the assumption that there is know way that what we have in our hands today is reliable and accurate to what the original authors wrote under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit. Now something dramatic happened in 1947. There was a Shepard boy that was walking around by the dead seas. And he saw some caves by the dead seas and he began to look through the caves and he found some clay jar pots and he looked inside and found some ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament. Because of the findings which we now call the Dead Sea scrolls, now the earliest manuscript that we have of the Old Testament is only 600 years from the time it was written. So it went from 1,300 years down to 600 years. And what was so significant of the Dead Sea scroll findings was it had the entire book of Isaiah in it. Isaiah was written right around 750 b.c. The earliest manuscript before the Dead Sea scrolls was a manuscript from the book of Isaiah from 900 a.d. some 1,600 years later. So when the Dead Sea scrolls were found they dated those books back to 150 b.c. just 600 years difference from the time it was written. Now think about this. We have a manuscript at 150 b.c. And we have another manuscript at 900 a.d. Skeptics said there is no way when we put those two manuscripts side by side that they will even match up. Over a thousand years has gone by from the time that this one was written. There's no way there even going to look similar. So guess what we did? We lade them down next to each other. Side by side. Guess what we found? Not one single word was different. Are you ready for this? Not one single punctuation was different. So right now you are probably saying to yourself "How in the world could this be?" Let me explain something to you. Back then people took the word of God very, very seriously. They preserved it. They lived for it. They died to keep it going. And if you had the privilege of being the transcriber of the word of God you didn't take your job lightly. You took it very seriously. You see back in the Old Testament time, they didn't feel worthy enough to write down the words of God. But they did to preserve it. So this is what a transcriber would do. Before he would sit down he would bathe. Because he didn't feel worthy to enter into this holiness. Then he would begin to write and as a transcriber you weren't aloud to ad-lib. You weren't aloud to write from memory. Your job was take what was written and transfer it over. To take it from one spot to the other spot. These transcribers took this so seriously that every time they came up on the word "God" they had to bathe again. Because they didn't even feel worth to write down God's name. When they were done with the manuscript they would pass it on to some independent people who would check the manuscript and this is how they would check it. They would check it line by line from beginning to end. They would count the number of characters and the number of syllables and the number of punctuation, from the end to the beginning, then they would take it from the middle, then they would go from one side to the other side. If they found 2 errors on a manuscript they said they could fix those. If they found 3 errors on a manuscript they considered the manuscript condemned and it was disposed of. What is the time period from the Old Testament to the originals from what we have today, its 600 years? How about for the New Testament. Are you ready for this! It's only 25 years. 25 years from the originals. And out of curiosity how many manuscripts have we unearthed so far through archaeology, we said 643 for Homer, that's an awful lot! Well the bible only has 24,000 manuscripts. And every single one says the exact same thing. Over and over and over again. That is evidence number 1.
Evidence number 2. Archaeological evidence. Archaeologists have dug down to find out what went on before us and one of the things that concerned archaeologists for many years is that the bible talks about a large civilization called the Hittites. And archaeologists and scientists have said that we have never found any evidence for the Hittites civilization so obviously that part of the bible that talks about the Hittites isn't accurate because we haven't found anything with this population of people and the bible clames that there was a huge population a huge empire so obviously the Hittites were a myth a fable a lie, that portion of scripture isn't accurate. Then something happened in 1906. It happened that an archaeologist unearthed the capital city of the Hittite nation. And he just so happened to find a map that helped him unearth 40 more cities of the Hittite nation. You have now studied in school about the Hittites. And the bible said all along that they were there we just had to find the remains that they were there. Let me throw another one at you. For a long time people believed that Daniel wasn't an accurate book. At least the skeptics did. And the reason they didn't believe that the book of Daniel wasn't accurate it because the bible talks about this king by the name of Balthazar. And all the little tablets and all the little stones things that we have of the Babylonian kings Balthazar aren't listed as a king. So all the skeptics think there is no way the book of Daniel can be accurate because Daniel clamed there was a king by the name of Balthazar. Then 1956 an archaeologist unearth 3 stone tablets and on those 3 stone tablets explained what happened during this time period. Turns out the king of Babylon at that time decided to go on an extended campaign to wage war in far away nations. And he left his son in charge of the kingdom whose name just happened to be Balthazar. Who just happened to be reigning at the same time Daniel said he was in Babylon who just happened to be there at the time when Daniel wrote the book of Daniel. They have just found at the red sea the one passage point were the children of Israel could cross where God parted the waters so they could cross the red sea. And they have unearthed under the water in the red sea large Roman chariot wheels. How do you explain that? We have the archaeological evidence that it did happen. Archaeologists have unearthed millions and millions of artifacts and have yet to find one thing that disproves the bible.
#3. Scientific accuracy. So let me just say first, the bible isn't a science book. Now I am just going to list the top 4 and there is like 30 or more of these. So scientist through out the centuries has said that this is the way the world is. And the bible says no it's this way and it turns out that the bible was right. For example. The bible says that the earth is round. Scientists believed it was flat. How about this one. The number of stars. The bible says that there are billions of stars in the sky. Did you know that for along time those scientists only thought there were 1,100 stars in the sky? Well we know now that the bible was right. There are billions and billions of stars. The bible says that the wind blows like a cyclone. Scientists for many many years believed that the wind blew straight. You watch the weather channel lately. They say the wind blows like a cyclone. The bible says that blood is the source of life and of healing. For a long time we thought if somebody was sick they needed to bled. They would drill holes into people's skulls to bleed them out. Well what did we find out about blood? The blood is the source of life and of healing. Again the bible isn't a science book. But when the bible speaks of science it has yet to be disproven.
#4. Prophetic evidence. The Old Testament makes some incredible and some very specific predictions about who the messiah is going to be. Some of those predictions were written some 1,400 years before Jesus was born. And these prophecies from the Old Testament are very specific. They talk about where he is going to be born, when he is going to be born, what is going to appear when he is born. It talks about how he is going to live and how he is going to die. There are 332 prophecies concerning the Messiah. It's as if God was saying "Listen, I don't want you to miss the messiah when he comes, so I am going to give you 332 clues. The person who fulfills all 332 prophecies that is the messiah." So how many prophecies did Jesus fulfill? 332. All of them. And the skeptics say "well of course he did" He was very young, probably went to the temple allot and read the manuscripts read all the things that he needed to read to fulfill all of the prophecies. Well let me just say that person doesn't know much about prophecy. For example. The prophet said where the messiah would be born. That he would be born in Bethlehem. That he would come from the house and line of David. Those wise men would come and bring him gifts and that babies in the surrounding areas would be slaughtered because of his birth. Now those prophecies are pretty hard to do when you are just a baby in a manger. If you have a bible I want you to turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is a beautiful description of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Now remember Isaiah was written right around 750 b.c. 750 years before Jesus came on the scene. It talks about all the things that the Messiah would go through. Now get this. This was written before crucifixion was any form of punishment. Hadn't even been invented yet and yet in Isaiah he was able to tell us with great detail what it would look like. Now look over at verse 9 of Isaiah 53. It says "He was assigned a grave with the wicked." Ok so when Jesus died he was assigned a grave with the wicked. Here is what they would do with criminals that died on crosses. They would dump there bodies in Gahanna. Which was the city dump? When Jesus talked about hell he talked about Gahanna. Gahanna was a place of wild dogs that were looking for something to eat. It was a place where the fire never went out. Well Jesus died as a criminal. So what they would do is once a criminal would die on the cross they would dump the bodies at the city dump. Now imagine if Jesus would have been buried out in the city dump. There would be nothing left of Him. The dogs would have eaten him up. But then if you keep reading in Isaiah it says this...and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Joseph of Arimathea comes on the scene and gives Jesus a Kings burial. Joseph had a tomb that had never been used. So answer this question. How do you fulfill a prophecy when you're already dead? I could go on and on and on and on. You just have to study the evidence. It's all there. There is proof. Documented proof.
Let me give you one more and then I am done for now. #5. The evidence of changed lives. I truly believe that most people don't want to read the bible because they are scared what it might say to them. Millions and millions of people. Rich and poor. Regardless of the color of there skin or social status. Kings and poppers who have read this book have found a God who loves them and forgives them. A God who sent His only Son to die for our sin. There is hope in the words of these pages. There is forgiveness in the words of these pages. There is a second chance in the words of these pages. When you read the pages of the bible they find meaning and purpose in there lives and they would give up there life to the point of death to protect this book.

BACK FROM THE DEAD

Being a Father is hard work! Most of the time i don't feel like I am doing enough for them. Or most of the time it seems like I am getting onto them for something they are doing wrong then enjoying them or having fun with them. As I am writing these words Landon my youngest son had been crying for something to eat. So I made him a burrito. As I sat down he dropped it on the floor and Lola the bulldog ate it "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

Last year I remember going through a time at the radio station where I felt like I wasn't doing enough for the Lord. It was very frustrating. You see I want to make my mark on this world. I want to live the life that God gave to me to the fullest. Not my will but God's will for me. When I take my last breath on this earth I want to be able to look back with no regrets. I want to build the Kingdom of God. I want God to recieve all the Glory and Honor for what ever I do while I am on this earth. I remember coming into work one morning and just pouring out my heart to God.
I told God to take me out of being at the Edge if I wasn't supposed to be there. That very morning baxter began his Shizel report and starting reading about this woman who had died and had been dead for 17 hours and then came back to life. When we called the number that was listed on the news story the woman's son answered the phone and began telling us what happened. click on the interview....





After the interview it was as if God was telling me "I am in complete control, Trust Me, I have you exactly where I want you." Friends this was just one of the many times God has show me His amazing supernatural power. The God I serve and worship is worthy of all praise and worship. He is the only one true God. He conquered death and has the power to bring back any one He wants from the dead. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!!
His name is Jesus!

dexblog May 2

DEX BLOG APRIL 30

PLAYING IT SAFE

It's Thursday morning and I just got done preparing for the morning show. My wife and I leave today for Juarez, Mexico. We have been there many times but this will be the first time we lead a team down. As I sit here and think about just how crazy that is, I get excited. I mean just look at me. I am a 29 year old kid from Montana who doesn't know spanish or much about building and I am leading a team down to Juarez Mexico to help build a church. That blows me away. I don't understand. There is nothing special about me but when I say those words my Awesome God tells me, "Oh no you are not just special, I created you. I created you with a purpose. A purpose to follow out My will. A purpose to love Me. A purpose to serve me and to serve others. I created you because I want to love you and take care of you all the days of your life." When I talk to people about my trips down to Juarez it brakes my heart to hear them say "Don't go!" If I didn't go it would be sin. To sit back and live that comfortable American life would be sin. Last time I checked my God created the universe and everything in it and He has the power to protect me if that is what He wants to do. If I am to die serving Him then Praise Him! I am ready Lord! What ever He wants is fine with me. I am sorry and this might offend some of you but I am done living that comfortable life. I think we have been doing it wrong. I remember always wanting that comfortable life growing up. I always wanted to have enough money so that I didn't have to worry. As Americans we don't face the hard times like most of the world. I get that we have hard times but not like the rest of the world. You see if I get to comfortable I forget about my God. I don't need my God when everything is great. My relationship seems to die when I don't need him. I am sick of playing it safe. I mean if you are truely going to live for God what does that mean to you? Ask yourself that question? Would you really give up everything for God if it came down to that? Because last time I checked that is what my bible told me I had to do.

MARK 8:34 And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Col 3:3-7 (Phi) For, as far as this world is concerned, you are already dead, and your true life is a hidden one in God, through Christ. One day, Christ who is your life, will show himself openly, and you will all share in that magnificent revelation. Consider yourselves dead to worldly contacts: have nothing to do with sexual immorality, dirty mindedness, uncontrolled passion, evil desire, and the lusts for other people's goods, which amounts to idolatry. It is because of these very things that the holy anger of God falls upon those who refuse to obey him. And never forget that you had your part in those dreadful things when you lived that old life.

When I get to the end of my life I want to look back at the race I started with a life that left a mark for my King. I want to live my life for an audience of one. When I die and stand before my King I want to see a smile on my Lords face. I want Him to be proud of me. Man I have wasted to much time in my short life already. This life is short. The bible says that this life is but a vapor. Please don't miss it!! I pray that all of you that read this examine your life. Examine your heart. What is your heart beating for? Is it beating for the things that Gods heart is beating for?

Dex