Test it! its that easy!

Long time since I posted? Yes. Busy? Yes. Anyways. This whole Osama bin Laden has really caused a stir amongst many people. Some of these people are rejoicing over bin Laden's death while others are mourning this man. I can't help but feel pity for him for being a wanted man for so long and not being able to show his face just anywyere for so long! However, many have made comments that cause people to question what justice is. This in itself isn't bad, however some people take it so far as to say maybe since Osama's "justice" might have been killing all those people. I have become more and more enamored with the Bible recently and have realized its strength and potency as a tool and rule as how to live. I find myself constantly thinking I should look in my concordance and see what the Bible says about this. As these comments keep popping up, I keep finding more need to do so. After much thought throughout the day, I have come to an extremely shaky conclusion that the Lord does not delight in the death of a human being (this part is not shaky) however he did mourn for the loss of so many people in 9/11 thus he saw what bin Laden did. I do know that he loves this man despite his misdeeds against Him and what He says in His Word the Bible. I also know however that the Lord's Justice is Mercy and Love. We must love Osama bin Laden and not celebrate his death since that is God's Justice despite bin Laden's massecre of thousands which to him was justice. I also know that we do not go on pure thought and reflection to learn what right and wrong are. I do know that God gave us His word the Bible to guide our lives so we can live with a clue of his standards. however, this is an extremely grey area because we are talking of the field of death which only God is an expert in. Thus, I believe one may be saved on his or her deathbed so Osama bin Laden may have comitted himself to the Lord before he died which leaves him in heaven despite all of the people dead and I do believe God would welcome him with open arms into heaven had the commitment been sincere.

On to what I've been noticing. Throughout the course of a couple months, especially during these last two days since Osama bin Laden's death, I've noticed that many people make unfounded opinions based upon their own strength and not God's. I've seen this in friends and some well known pastors. They will say something like the whole justice issue I mentioned earlier and other things also. I am constantly wondering why some of these things matter and other I am realizing these unfounded opinions can cause huge damage. however, I do not want to be a pharisee and declaim something true. So I've been testing more and more of what I've heard with the Bible. In Mark 4:24,25 the passage says: "Consider carefuly what you hear," He continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you -- and even more. Whoever has will be given more ; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. My take on this is that we should be careful of what we hear. To not automatically accept it and just be happy campers for the rest of our lives.

I'd love to hear (or read) thoughts!

Wash Me Over and Over Again

okay first of all I haven't posted in ages but what can I say? are you people surprised??? I didn't think so. Anyways so I've had this song idea for a while now and I finally found a Psalm that pretty much sums up what I've been thinking. Its Psalm 51 and its about when David was confronted by Nathan the prophet of that time about his whole Bathsheba ordeal. The reason I relate to this and want to write a song about it is because sometimes I do some things that are really stupid-like lying to get out of trouble. I do it alot and I don't even flinch about it anymore (I know thats horrible) but than when I go and tell God I'm sorry and ask Him for forgiveness for lying to my mom about telling my brother he's a brat, its so pointless if I'm not intending to stop myself the next time...when you apologize its like telling someone "I'm gonna stop doing this from now on." With me I always seem to forget that I told God I'm sorry and just remember that I've been forgiven. I know David only sinned with Bathsheba once, but I have some things that I just keep doing over and over and over again. The chorus that I've written is right out of Psalm 51.

Wash me
and cleanse my life
Shape me
from the chaos and the strife
Tune me
to your wonderful songs
Keep me
from where I don't belong

For me its a plea to God saying "Lord wash me and help me to stop doing the things I do over and over and over again. Lord shape me and make me everything You want me to be amidst the junk that there is in me. Lord tune me so that I can sing your praises and not be ashamed. Lord Keep me away from all the things I used to do, don't let me fall back into those traps." And so I find myself saying with my actions "Lord wash me and prepare to keep washing me over and over again." This is a really hard battle for me. I don't know about you, but the more I keep doing that one sin over and over again, the harder it is to stop.

P.S. I'll show you the finished song when I have it.

Using What I've Been Given

Okay I've totally been negligent with posting again I know no surprise.  But on Memorial Day my dad and I were running a couple errands for my mom and we got to talking about Jesus' parable of the talents.  I narrated it to him so we could both refresh our memories and then we discussed it.  It was really cool to be able to talk so openly about God's word with my dad.  Anyways I got to thinking about how Jesus' parable applies to our lives and came up with the partial answer that the talents that God have given us are things we need to use for His will.  And then I remembered that when the Master came back after entrusting the various amounts of money to all three of his servants, the servants that used their money and doubled it were richly rewarded and put in charge of much.  and then the third servant that buried his master's money was reprimanded because he didn't use his talents to multiply what the Master had.  I was thinking about this and wondered.  Am I using what God has given me--my time, my resources, my talents--for God's will?  What about you guys? 

My dog

Hey guys I just took some pictures of my dog with my cheap sunglasses.  You can check them out to the right.

Band Name

Well I'm actually able to consistently post again for a while hopefully until things start picking up for the summer.  Anyways I'm in a band and we're trying to find a really good, really meaningful name that is easy to remember.  So I'm asking you guys to either search the Bible or just think about good band names.  If one of you guys name our band, the person who names our band will receive a great prize that I'm still trying to think of.  As you come up with band names just leave a comment under this post no matter how long ago it is and even if I haven't posted in a while because I'll check that first when I get on my blogger.  Thanks and happy band naming!!!

I've Failed Again

Again I've failed to post for the longest time on earth. What can I say I absolutely stink at posting consistently. Anyways, I've been reading this book called Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Rob Bell is the pastor of a church called Mars Hill in Grandville, Michigan. He's a great guy and I would highly recommend his book. He also helps to clarify the scriptures by taking key words in some of our favorite verses and going back to the Hebrew, Greek, or Latin word for it and defining those words with more precision. In this book he gives great food for thought and helps clear up some of the confusing things that we as Christians do just because the generation before us did so. He also helps me to probe everything I hear and do currently and check it to find the truth in all of it. Rob Bell definitely gets me thinking about many things.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!  Oh man okay so on Friday, I watched The Passion for the very first time and wow that movie is intense!  But it was really good and it really showed me how much God really loves me.  Before, I knew that God did love me and I knew that I couldn't even imagine how much he loved me to do that for me but I really didn't have any grasp at all of how much Jesus really does love me.  Even though this movie is rated R, I still would recommend this movie to give you more of a picture of how much Jesus really did suffer and how much he really loves you!

Critic vs Master

Okay so my church has been doing this series and the last two sermons have been about what a master does and a critic does.  During the first sermon I first though to myself "Oh I'm closer to a master than a critic"  but little did I know I was far from right.  Throughout the second sermon, I finally had a wake up call and realized that I had been a complete moron during the last service.  I am a critic!  that was the conclusion that I came to.  The difference between a critic and a master is kinda like this.  Brett Favre is a master.  He plays the game of football with such expertise and everyone admires him.  Whereas a critic is someone who reads books and does everything short of playing professional football and then points out the things that Brett Favre has done wrong.  I'd say I'm more of a critic but I'm a critic of masters of life not just of football.  I'm constantly critiquing something that someone has done wrong and feeding off of that saying to myself "Oh I wouldn't have made that decision!  I wouldn't have done that." How do I get from critic to master?  I know where I am but how do I get to being a master?

Don't Just Swallow What I'm Saying

Hey I just thought of something.  When I put this stuff out on my blog I don't want you guys to just agree because it sounds sensible.  I want you to use God's Word to test it and probe it to make sure I'm not making erroneous blog posts.  If I'm wrong, then I'd like to know so I can take that blog post off my blog I want it to be true to The Word.  And although most of the time I make sure my blog posts are true, I'm extremely human and I make many stupid mistakes!  So don't just swallow what I'm saying.  Comment on the stuff I've left out and stuff I'm just plain wrong on.

Regulations

Okay guys what do you guys thing I should be looking for in people to help with Travels of a Teen?  I mean sure I could ask any old person but then this blog would become something totally stupid that no one would want to read.  what should the regulations be???

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  That's the way my life's been for the last I don't know how long.  Anyways I'm sooooooo sorry that I haven't blogged forever even after I promised to blog again!  Like I said I've been really busy and most of the time I don't even think about blogger at all.  but I think I'll be able to bring it back if I can form a team to do the upkeep and help brainstorm ideas to blog about.  I have no idea who the team's members are going to be but I know I need some help!

Sorry for not posting in ages

I'm soooo sorry for not posting in almost a year I've just been so busy its not even real. So I decided to post today. I'd also like to invite Bekah from The Word Crafter to help me with my blog. My reasoning behind that is that I need someone who will help me remember to post and so I don't have to do all the upkeep that I don't enjoy as much as just posting. I do not have as many widgits, maybe add a nav bar and some other things that have to do with html to my blog like bekah and hannah do and so I decided I needed someone to either teach me or do it for me and I decided to have someone do it for me :)

Nothing's Impossible with God

Hey guys I was thinking... you know how we're growing up and maturing and stuff. Well it occurred to me that God has really been doing a lot of stuff in me and all that stuff I'm doing is forcing me to realize what I'm good at and what I'm not so good at. Part of it is I've realized that I have a passion for farming and farm work. I also to play isnstruments and I hope to get a band started with some of my friends soon. Its been quite an eventful summer this year so I was wondering...what about you? What did God do in you this summer? I was talking with my friends mom and she said to write down everything that God has done for you and to treasure it. Then when you need God you can look back on the other things and remember that nothing is impossible with God.

Writing Songs

Hey you guys. I just wanted to tell you that I wrote a song earlier this week and I think it turned out great! I can't wait to publish it in an album with my band! In case you don't know how to write a song and you want to, I read an article that said to start with the title and write it down on a piece of paper. Then think of things that remind you of that title it could be anything from policemen to gratitude. Next figure out what things really remind you of the title and circle those. then you write the lyrics keeping those things in mind. Afterwards you could change the title to something that means the same thing but sounds better. This method has worked out extremely well for me, I've wrote sevral songs by those guidelines and they turned out great.

Big Red Button

The Big Red Button... if you think about it is kinda like sin. We see it and our friends tell us that is sooo cool and so maybe we want to try it but the Holy Spirit sends up red flags all over the place. We can't resist doing it and we end up wasting part of our life and in real life sin against God. Just like the Big Red Button tempts us to push it satan makes sin look pretty cool by getting our friends to tell us its cool and stuff. While being tempted isn't sin giving in to temptation is so listen to the Holy Spirit. What sin is Satan tempting you to do?

Wait and See Part 2

Okay so its been a few days and I know I'm not going to the farm because I called them and left a message and they didn't call back. But I'm okay with it because I gave it to God and He has provided stuff for me to do to keep my mind off it. I seriously don't know what I would be doing without him. The last day of waiting I just bummed around and didn't do much other than the work that my mom needed me to get done around the house. I was really somber even though I should've been happy that I had a chance to go and help out on a farm for two days, but I wasn't it was almost as if I had a small case of depression. Now I'm enjoying myself, hanging with friends. God kinda' healed me in a way.

Wait and See

Wait and see. Thats what God's teaching me. Sure I can wait and see if my laundry will do itself or if my mom will unload the dishwasher for me, but waiting for an answer from my parents about something thats really important to me is something I can't wait for. When God started to teach me to wait and see was this past week when I particapated in an intermediate day camp at Roselawn Stables. Roselawn Stables is a 60 acre horse ranch with about 45 horses on it. Before then I had helped out as a farm hand during my brother's basic camp. I was invited to stay up there for the week after my camp. I was ecstatic I couldn't believe it that was sooo exciting. They have a son and daughter that are my friends too so I would get to hang out with them and help out on a farm. I don't know if any of you know this but I'd love to be a farmer someday. I was really excited and I couldn't wait 'til I could tell my parents about it! At two 'o clock when my mom picked me, my sister and my friend Jake from camp that day I could wait to tell her so I just burst out and said, "Mom I got invited to stay at Roselawn for all of next week!" I was extremely happy. My mom told me that my sister was having a bday party this week so it wouldn't work out for the whole week but maybe Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday would work out. I couldn't believe it was accually working out for the most part! I told my dad and kept hounding both my parents to try to get an answer frome them but the needed time to think.Then on Sunday morning we got up and went to church. I didn't have any more contacts and I didn't know where my glasses were so I went to the sermon instead of youth group. The pastor talked about how Jesus would've been the worst drive thru person saying that he would say something like can I take your order okay you can pull around to the next window and I'm gonna have to ask you to pull over and wait because the person behind you might need your meal more than you. He said that our culture is a busy drive thru one where we expect what we want when we want it. I thought maybe God was talking to me but I still kept hounding them about it until later in the afternoon my mom got mad and said that if I asked one more time I wouldn't go at all! She also said that it was probably a no anyways because of all my hounding. I really wanted to go but I knew better than to keep hounding so I just tried to tell her that I was sorry and try to excuse it. My mom got annoyed and told me to just leave it up to God and that He'd take care of it. I got kinda upset and so my mom prayed for me and then I went outside to help my dad with an outside project the entire time thinking about that verse in the Bible saying, "Let not your heart be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me." My parents ended up saying I could only go for one night but at least they said yes. I've been talking to my instructor and she told me she needed to wait and see now because she wasn't so sure that she had something for me to do so I'm back to more waiting... Although its still hard to wait for herto call back, it gets easier as I go along.

Thanks

Okay thanks for telling me what you struggle with now will you tell me what you think most teens that are not christian.

What Would Happen

Do you ever wonder why its so hard to be obedient? Like when your mom asks you to take out the garbage or your dad tells you to get off the computer and go to bed. I struggle with those daily I either just ignore it or I might try to obey at first but then kinda get distracted. My cousins go to a church that has a virtue every month. This month it was obedience and the definition for it was Trusting those who lead you by doing what you're asked to do. In the Bible God says That made me think that maybe being disobedient is expressing distrust to the people who lead us. For example our mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, youth group leaders, teachers, ect. What if we stopped being disobedient and obey? Not just obeying because we have to or because of this post but because God says in Ephesians 6:1 Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is good. What would that do if we followed this command og the Lord? Would our leaders trust us more? Would we get more privelages? Would God trust us more?!

Placing Our Livelihood In God's Hands

We've talked about the widow giving all she had to God. She literally placed her life in God's hands (Amazing!). What would it look like if we followed her example if we placed our life into God's hands! I'm confident that God will bless us richly but are you willing to trust God in the big things? He's extremely reliable but are you willing to rely on Him?