Happy Birthday Grammie

Grammie, you’re awesome. You’re a great teacher. You’re a source of courage. You’re a better bicycler than I ever will be.
Enjoy your first birthday celebration with Jesus! We love you.

Loving

In the church body we attend, there’s a girl that stands in the area between the front row and the stage during the songs. I’m not sure if there’s something mentally wrong with her of what the case is. What I do know is that instead of the elders or someone else asking her to step back and “behave properly”, she is let be. Instead of being told she is a distraction, she is free to worship the King.

The Cost

Our cost for choosing to follow:

Having to take two weeks off from work for our internship’s trip.
Not being able to see family as much because of this.
Not being able to travel to friends weddings and other life events because of this.

But guess what? It’s worth it. He’s worth it.

Luke 14:25-33

PACT Internship

Few things:

10 hours a week, approximately.

4 teammates (6 on the team if you include us, plus 1 team guide.)

Tentatively going on our trip Aug 4-16.

In other news, Rosetta Stone came today.

No More Facebook

More than a few people have asked why I’m getting rid of my Facebook. I’m going to first explain what are not the reasons, and then explain what are the reasons. 

First:

It is not to be smug or arrogant about leaving it. Honestly, I’d rather stay 

It is not to be secretive. I will try to be as open on here and on our main update blog (Reisen Karls) as I was on there (albeit with a lot less links to articles.)

However:

It is to reduce my time wasting. I have deleted my Google+ profile for the same reason.

It is because I dislike the Timeline feature. Jesus has saved me and is sanctifying me. The memories in my head are enough reminders of from what I have been saved.

It is because I abhor the games and apps and everything of that sort. As if Facebook does not consume enough time as it is.

It is because I want to protect my marriage and ministry. One less temptation to be used by Satan.

With that said, I do not hold it against you if you remain on Facebook. As for me, these are my convictions to which I will hold.

Prayer

Have you ever struggled with prayer?
No, not struggling to pray. I mean struggle with it. With the concept.
What it’s purpose is, I mean.
I acknowledge God as sovereign. As such, I don’t understand why we ask Him to do things.
Yet I still pray.
I’ve come to see it like I see talking to my friend Yeshua. (Ironic, I know.)
Yeshua is across the country right now. I have no idea when I’ll next see him. Yet I talk to him. We call each other at least once every other week, if not more often than that. It’s because we’re best friends.
Likewise, I pray because I am in relationship with God. I need to talk to Him, and to see what He thinks about my crazy ideas.
He also teaches me more about Himself.
Sometimes to learn things, you have to just verbalize them. Once you do that, it clicks. Hence, the countless times you are asking someone a question, then say “Oh wait, never mind. I got it.”
I think prayer is like that as well.

Unity of Food

I love cooking and baking. I think I want to show people the love of Jesus through food. Not necessarily a soup kitchen, though I am not opposed to that. I just think that food is one of the few things that unites all humanity, and in the moment of a meal, all walls come down.
One time this summer, I was at the Salvation Army food tent, helping with tornado clean up. There was a man eating by himself, so I sat by him. He told me how his wife had kicked him out of the house and now he had nowhere to go, and she was taking the insurance money. He was open in that moment of our meal. He let me pray for him. Sadly, I do not remember his name. Yet the fact remains: the meal brings us together, and opens us up. I want to use this for the greatest good: to help feed the soul of man, and to enlarge the Kingdom.

No Longer a Christian

I’m no longer a Christian. Actually, I’m not sure when I last was a Christian. However, due to a few lectures that I attended recently by Carl Medearis, I have realized this is the case, but never knew how to articulate it. Now, I still believe in Jesus. I still follow Jesus. I will never abandon Jesus. But this is the point. We are not told to convert people to our religion, to Christianity. Rather, we are to make disciples. Of Jesus.

In light of this, if you read my blog(s) and find something to the contrary, I apologize. I thought about going back through all my posts, but two things went through my head: 1)This is going to take forever. 2)No, just leave it. It can help show how Jesus, my leader, king, and saviour, has shaped me.

In addition, if I have ever placed focus on Christianity, rather than Jesus, in my conversations with you, I apologize as well.

Let’s stick with Jesus.

Giving it Over to God

Lately, my grammie has been having a lot of very serious health issues. Obviously, this is not easy to deal with, especially since Casey and I live 750 miles away from Albuquerque. I love my grandma, and hate knowing things aren’t right. In the end, though, all we can do from our distance is to pray and ask for prayer. Thankfully, we have and serve a mighty God who is in control of everything, no matter how wrong things seem to be. Therefore, we give it all to him.

Edit: Just a few hours after writing this, God took her home.

Death of a Blog

Since I primarily use the blogspot still, I think I might end the use of this blog. Thoughts? Comments from anyone who reads it?