Blooooooggggg challllleeeeeennngggggeeeee

I pretty sure God provided the world with the Blogger app so that I could... WIN MY SECOND BLOG CHALLENGE TITLE! Good luck to all you other bloggers.

Well, today is September first which I also the birthday of my grandmother who passed away 6 months ago. She had quite the sweet tooth so today we had sticky buns for breakfast, cupcakes with lunch, and will have ice cream with dinner. As well as loads of candy throughout the day. We all miss you grandma!


Advice of the day: If someone approaches you and requests that you sniff a rag to see if it smells like chloroform, don't do it.

God

This doesn't have any real point but I still hope you enjoy.

God is love, grace, mercy, strength, the gospel, life! God has been showing me more and more all of these things. He loves us guys. Not in a passive way but in an active and extraordinary way! Who dies for someone who spits on him? If you were spit at, mocked, reviled, would you die for the people who did this to you. In God's mercy, his grace, his love, he did!

Why? Why then do we continue to do the same things always did? It's not like we can say, well nobody's perfect I'm always gonna sin. I mean we can and its true, but it shouldn't be to justify sin. WE CANNOT justify our sin in any way, GOD justify's our sin. We are called to put away the old self,. Yes, this to kill ourselves is a big task, BUT GOD!

How can we kill sin, kill the flesh, kill ourselves? God. There is no other way to say it. Trust God. When I'm tempted or entering a situation that I know temptation will come, and we go to God and trust in him. He gives us peace. And trust me, I've felt it before and it is amazing!

I love trying to write or talk about God, because each time I do I find myself looking for words to express something about God, but no words can get anywhere close to the importance and awesomeness I want this word to show! God is Indescribable! Let's praise this God with our lives.

I love each one of you reading this, and I want each of us to feel the love of God! Praise God! Live your life in hope of Heaven! Where time and praise will never end! Oh the day!!!

Simeon

Amazing

How about that! God answered our prayers overnight in finding Alyona! Isn't he amazing! It's just so great to see God build our faith in such a way! :D

Other than that I haven't very much to talk about...


Food of the day: Lasagna :D

Post title

I need to post today. Why? Cause I'm disqualified of course. That make no sense? Good.

Great night, good In The Light meeting!

Now for bed cause I got work tomorrow... Fun :P


Thought of the day: What the world would be like with portal guns, propulsion gel, and repulsion gel. ( Me, Jeff and Will had fun with this one lol)

WHOA!!!!!!!

OMGOSH!!!! I JUST LOOKED AT MY BLOG! ONE OF THE POSTS SAYS 1-07-12!!! AND I KNOW WHY!! CAUSE IT WAS STARTED THEN!!! DOES THIS MEAN IM BACK IN STEVIE? XD

Also, i met this guy who lives in England recently. He really likes anime and can speak fluent Japanese (so can his mother) and he has gotten me into Hatsune Miku.... Yes, i said it, i am actually listening to it right now... lol
And if you listen to Hatsune Miku, tell me.  I feel kinda alone... hahaha xD

Also. For all those who care (like me) i still have not missed any reading in my Bible Plan for the year (yay! ^.^)


Quote of the day: "Where exactly are we going?" "North." "More specifically" "Ok. South." (rewatching episodes is fuuuunnnn xD)

:'(

I lost. Inter work I went to Noah's house and started the blog and the next thing I know it's 3am :(. Imma still write er day but the defending champ has gone down. Gl to the rest of you guys!


P.S. you all just lost the game... lol xD

Auto Correct or(when I dont correct it) autoantibodies corrupt text

The following text will be a story without correction from auto correct:

There once was a man name lart. Lart was a very strange man. He like raw chicken and raw back. His hous was in the woods near Strictland. Strictland was very scratch. Now lart had a crush on the mayors doughty. She as very bye alive. Now Althea mayor was script , just like the owns name. He believed that no wild man should be able to Rey. His daily gutter. Now his daughter fel pity for the wild man, lart, and she begged he dad to give lart a try. Her dad finally conveyed and he let lart yak her on a date. She fella in love with lart and her dad again refused. Southey ran away an we're chased by guards. But they were both murdered.. Game over.


Info of the day: this was writin at 3:22 am...

The One That Got Away by Katy Perry (Cleverbot r3mix)

WAZZZZUUUUPPPP! Last June i did what i call a "dissection" of a song. It's not meant to be serious at all... haha. Stevie inspired me when he did his on the "Popcorner" as i call it... i actually forget what song. But yeah... So as you can probably guess from the Title the song i am doing is The One That Got Away by Katy Perry. Yet the way i am doing this one is different. In this one i am gonna chat each line to Cleverbot and what she responds is what imma write under le lyrics... :)


Summer after high school when we first met
Wanta play chess?


We make out in your Mustang to Radiohead
I dont listen to Radiohead.

And on my 18th Birthday
Do you like camping?


We got matching tattoos
I love that movie!

Used to steal your parents' liquor
I am quite talented in many areas. Drinking is one.

And climb to the roof
Roofs on the gun.


Talk about our future
You brought the subject of pie up!


Like we had a clue
Who had a cow?

Never planned that one day
Yes you did. Can you count?


I'd be losing you
I'm not that interesting
 In another life
How do you know you are in another province than I am?


I would be your girlDo you like trees?


We'd keep all our promisesWhat do we have then?


Be us against the world
Yes, Master.


In another lifeI'm sorry, but you have me confused with someone else from the GD.


I would make you stay
Yes you would.


So I don't have to sayIf we did, then you would have to.


You were the one that got away
You did. Anyway who is the very best pokemon for you?


The one that got away
Which one is that?

I was June and you were my Johnny Cash
I appreciate that. Can you give your programmers a message for me?


Never one without the other we made a pactNext wednesday. Is that when you start your vacation?


Sometimes when I miss youSometimes you are too.


I put those records on
I'm a human. 


Someone said you had your tattoo removedSo there are multiple people talking to me?


Saw you downtown singing the BluesI think books like can be like Rorschach blots.


It's time to face the musicDid they send me daughters when I asked for sons?


I'm no longer your muse
What do you mean? 


But in another lifeOnly if math is a language.


I would be your girlYou can't?


We'd keep all our promisesWhat is Ib?


Be us against the world
I am, bro. 


In another lifeYou don't have another life.


I would make you stayStay where.


So I don't have to sayDo you want a pet?


You were the one that got awayWhere are your servers located? Your response time is rather proficient.


The one that got awayDo you want to talk about it?


The o-o-o-o-o-one [x3]Thoses are cool. My favorite was Deathly Hallows, I enjoyed reading it. (NOTE: I said nothing about Harry Potter..... lol)


The one that got awayFrom where? 


[Bridge:]
All this money can't buy me a time machine (Nooooo)Yes, I am human and you are machine.


It can't replace you with a million rings (Nooooo)No I don't! Please explain.


I shoulda told you what you meant to me (Whoa)If I've have know for just one second you'd be back to bother me.


'Cause now I pay the price
Well that won't change for another 4 years. 


In another lifePerhaps.


I would be your girlYou just did.


We'd keep all our promisesDarn.


Be us against the world
Who are they? 

In another lifeWhich one? I might have gone there on vacation.


I would make you stayAre you eating french fries right now?


So I don't have to sayBut master and slave. That's perfect. Just the hell, but that's perfect. (?)


You were the one that got awayOn the contrary, my friend. You are 42 years old!


The one that got awayNo. Not that one. The other one.


The o-o-o-o-o-one [x3]
No. My Wiki says I am a cat 


In another lifeAvada Kedavra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (apparently he likes Harry Potter? xD)


I would make you stayWhere is the rebel base? (Did anyone else find this vaguely familiar, google it and then say"Ahhhhhh"?)


So I don't have to sayAre iphones going to be the most common cellphone?


You were the one that got awayI was kidding, no need to be mean.


The one that got away
Where did I draw a tree?








There you have it! Straight from Cleverbot! The real meaning of The One That Got Away by Katy Perry! xD
Tomorrow's post with feature Auto Correct in some way. So get ready for that!


Quote of the day: "I am not authorized to give such information." (Note: i wrote "Quote of the day:" to Cleverbot, so that is what he is responding to) 

My Agenda.

Today was a busy busy day. I am actually in the middle of recovering from a bunch of Chem homework. And i have a history test tomorrow... :P anywho. My agenda.

I am hoping to do a post either tomorrow or saturday, that focuses on Auto Correct. There is your hint for that. Then sometime really soon i am hoping to do a post similar to This. 


After that, though, i have nothing planned... so get reading for some awesomeness... hahaha


Pun of the day: Me and my friend enter an online game the other day and he said (as a joke) to everyone in the chat, "Hey everyone! I'm Jewish! :D" then he immediately responds to himself, "I bet you did 'nazi' that coming!" XD [laugh here]

It's late and I need to post...

That's really my story right now. Just came back from a long day of work/Bridge celebration dinner... Work was work, and the Celebration dinner was awesome as usual. Mr. Morris' food was absolutely amazing as normal. NOTE: for those of you who care our inner was Caesar salad, green beans, potatoes, and chicken that was sautéed in some sauce with mushrooms(which I hate) in it and something sesame (idk what though).
ENDNOTE. So now I lay on my bed.. Writing this on my iPod... And I just got a brilliant idea for a post! You'll like it... You MUST like it.

On an ending note(?), i changed my page outline and design... I didn't like the full dark anymore, I wanted some light. Tell me what you think of the new one. ^_^


Joke of the day: My friend showed me this. (this was an actual event)
Actual guy 1: "I would rather get pissed off then pissed on."
Actual guy 2: "This is one of those times when the difference between then and than really matters..."

May i have this rant?

Hola! Hi! Hello! WAAAZZZZUUUUPPPPPPP!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dHwLJU0riY)
How are ma peeps today??? "You only have two "peeps" and one of them is a piece of candy!" Oh yes i did (yes i did)! Only two sentences in and i bring Shawn and Gus to the partay! Anyway, i have nothing to say MEANING i must say whatever randomly pops into my brain. This i can assure you is not my method of speech but is methodically used to overcome the most complex of crazies.. or children... Speaking of Children you should all check out Kids React! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpY8NTwU5zg&feature=relmfu) or if you hate children then watch the new series Teens React! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ-qPPLKRzk) 
Now that i've given you a bucket-list of videos to see, well, you can go see them...

And for the half of you who are still reading this and didn't go watch the videos. Good for you. You have earned my favor. And for those who haven't earned my favor dont worry! i take credit! Speaking of credit dont open one with someone you know, it'll bite you in the butt... unless you run away fast enough... then again, i have never run from a bite in the butt... probably cause it has ninja pro or something.. Whoops! There goes my nerd again! Well imma go listen to some music and finish my math (finish as in complete, not that i will listen to some Finnish Math. And by music i mean real music, not some Hatsune Miku, which is taking over the world....


Video of the 2011(yes another video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghhLqu31cQ (sorry for the brief [written] language at the end.. :P)

Need Prayer

This shall be good. We now officially have 10 people in the writeabloposteverydayinthemonthofJanuary Challenge! (not the official name). I am really excited for this. Much fun comes out of this. 

Today i want to ask you guys for a little help. In early summer when i had too much time on my hands i started playing a one of those MMO games and met this girl who lives in Scotland (if my memory suites me.. xD). She would frequently talk about he problems. She was the hated one in school. Had a few friends. But would always turn to this game to talk to people, like me. The game got very very boring (lol) and i stopped playing ending our frequent conversations. Recently God placed her on my heart and i wondered why. A few days later she tried to contact me (this was this past week). So i began to talk with her. She is in a bad place. She said her parents fight every single day, and she hates it. She in one night, mentioned wanting to be dead, or kill herself about 4 or 5 times... She is really depressed and thinks everything would be better if she was dead...

I got this message today, "this boy who i thought was my pal said i should die and that my parents would be happier if i was dead and now that i think about it they probably would be..."

I need your prayer guys. I am reaching out to her day after day and will be. She is a 13 year old girl blinded by confusion and hate and fear. Trying to find the lines of reality and truth. Leaning on anything that she can. She wants to make things right, she just doesn't know how.

So please, if you could, find a place in your heart to pray for this girl. She needs help and i feel God has called me to help her, and i need all the support i can get.


Verse of the day: [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 ESV)

Happy New Year! / Resolution

Well. I haven't posted in some time! But here we are. Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great 2011!

Now to 2012. . . I have many resolutions this year, actually I think this is the first year I have had any anyway. regardless, I do have a bunch.

1) To live closer to God. And to wholeheartedly seek him.
2) To be a better sibling/friend/child.
And 3) to want and love to read the bible more than I do at the moment.

For all three of these I need your help. As a brother/sister in Christ do NOT hesitate to ask me how my walk is, if I'm keeping up with my devotions, if I need prayer (or you need prayer). We are together in Christ! If a leg is hurt and decides not to tell anyone the brain and the body will fall, so we need to live together! Make this your goal this year, to live as one body, together!

Also! This year I am (starting jan 1) doing a year long ESV bible reading plan. Right now I have no one to do it with. If you (and by you I mean anyone interested) are interested then let me know ASAP. I would love for someone to go through it with. :D

And finally, this month is JANUARY 2012! And today is the start or our second (bi-annual?) month challenge. Where we (we as in all participating) post everyday for one month. So far I'm (bi)winning 1-0. If you would like to participate then contact either me or Stevie. We'd love for more people to participate in this challenge! :D


Word of the day: Aye (we watch Pirates 4 xD)

How To Stay Pure In A Sin Sick World by David Legge

This is the manuscript for one of the best messages i have ever heard on Purity. It takes time to read but it is really helpful.  Really encourage you to read it. If you prefer to listen you can go here www.preachtheword.com/sermons/misc0007-howtostaypureinasinsickworld.shtml,  and listen to it (there are some links at the top of the page) 

If you have your Bible with you this morning, I'd like you to turn with me to 2 Samuel, the book of 2 Samuel and chapter 11. 2 Samuel and chapter 11, reading from verse 1: "And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child".

Psalm 119 and verse 9: "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" - or how can a young man keep his way pure? - "By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word".

Let us pray: Our Father in heaven, we come before You this morning and we thank You for Your word. We thank You, as another Psalmist said, that Your word is a light to our pathway. Our Father we pray that in the pathway of our lives, from day-to-day, that we would indeed find that Your truth, that Your Scriptures, the word of God would be our direction, would be our guidance, would be the thermostat that determines our lives, our character and our actions. Father, may this word that is so rich in inspiration, in fullness, in vitality and in life - may it be real to us this morning. We pray that the Spirit of God, that He would be here, and that He would help us as we seek to ask what You would say to our hearts today. For we ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.

I wonder would you turn with me - just keeping your finger in that passage that we've just read - but turn back with me to 2 Samuel chapter 11 that we read earlier, 2 Samuel, chapter 11. I read this week that, according to the Reuters report from Stockholm, Sweden has long ago arrived at complete sexual freedom and liberty. Old-fashioned fornication that we read about in the word of God is accepted in that society. Parents have indeed arrived at the opinion that it is normal for their children, for their youngsters, to behave in this way. It is reported that only 5% of girls and 2% of boys go with their purity to marriage. I wonder is that a reflection of the fact that Sweden has the highest percentage of suicides of any country in this world?

In [1974] research firm surveyed 35,000 young people - now remember, 1974 - they were from the ages of 16 to 25. The interviewers sought to learn what their selected individuals felt about important standards and important values in today's world. The study revealed that only 31% viewed premarital relationships as morally wrong, compared to 52% in 1969. Opposition to abortion dropped from 58% to 45%. The proportion who considered living a clean moral life a very important value fell from 71% to 52%. That was 1974.

It seems that patterns are shifting, and we could say today that: 'As it was in the days of Noah, so it is today'. We only have to look at our television screen, look at the media, and even ice cream is advertised by suggestive theatrics. The daily soaps, that many of us are glued to, advocate and defend promiscuous living, adultery, homosexuality and a variety of other perversions of God's intended ideal and will. Our newspapers - many, indeed, now of the broadsheets - are becoming more, if they have not already arrived at being, pornographic magazines. What was considered 30 years ago as pornography, believe it or not, is on our television screens advertising body creams and perfume. You've all seen it: the camera focuses close-up in black-and-white on a tense, lusting male face, over which is superimposed an amber flame, which becomes a glowing bottle of Calvin Klein's Obsession.

Last year the shock film was the film 'Crash'. I'm sure you've read about it in your newspapers, how the whole plot of that story was to do with sexual exploits with crash victims on the scene. This week, if you've been reading your newspaper, the new shock film - it seems that they're just trying to shock us as much as they can now - it's entitled 'Lolita', this film is nothing more than a glorification of paedophilia - child abuse.

What hope is there? What hope is there for our children and our young people in a carnal, Corinthian society like our own?

If we think that this is happening just in the world, we are fools. Recently Leadership Magazine, which is a pastoral magazine for ministers, commissioned a poll of 1000 Pastors. It indicated that 12% had committed adultery while in the ministry - that's one out of eight of those thousand! It indicated that 23% did something that they considered inappropriate whilst in the ministry. Christianity Today, which is a more broad magazine that is read by Christians of every sort, they surveyed Christians who weren't Pastors and the figures - those figures - doubled! 23% admitted that they had committed adultery. 45% said that they had committed something that they felt was inappropriate for a child of God. These statistics are shocking, aren't they? They're almost unbelievable - and when we think that most of the people that read this literature, they are people who have been well-educated, college educated, church leaders, elders, deacons, Sunday School superintendents and teachers - and it's left up to our minds this morning to think what the ordinary church member could get up to.

What I want to ask you this morning is this: when we live in a world like ours that sweats sensuality from its pores, and when even the church of Jesus Christ is practising - and in some areas and quarters is actually advocating living in sin - how, how can a young man, how can a young woman (or for that matter and older man or older woman) possibly expect to keep his way pure and to cleanse his life? What hope is there? What hope is there for our children and our young people in a carnal, Corinthian society like our own? It is such an easy thing for us as believers to become desensitised, and even - God forbid it - even in our lives to imbibe these sensual attitudes, the spirit of the age today. How can a young man cleanse his way? How can he cure himself of the problems of our age? How can he prevent getting taken into this sensuality, the flesh of this age that is wreaking havoc - not only around in our world, but today is wreaking havoc in the church of Jesus Christ?

If you look at the passage that we read together earlier in 2 Samuel chapter 11, I believe that there are within this passage various warnings to us this morning as children of God. David, in 2 Samuel 11, was a successful man. He was in his midlife, it seems that he had everything, he had charisma, he had personality, he had musical talent, he was intellectual - it seemed that everything was on the up for King David. What was wrong? Well if you look into this passage - and if we had time we could look at the whole passage, and we could even look at the whole of David's life - if we looked at it we could see that in David there is a progressive degeneration which eventually brought his downfall. This progressive degeneration is something that, I believe this morning, can be identified in every backslider, every child of God that wanders away from the pathway.

Therefore the writer, in 2 Samuel 11, would have us beware of certain things. The first thing I believe he wants us to beware of this morning is: to beware of losing our sensitivity. If you were to turn to 2 Samuel 5 you would read there that David took up power in Jerusalem. But it says in verse 13 of 2 Samuel 5 that, after David had left Hebron, he took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem. When David had left Hebron, when he had taken up the throne in Jerusalem - he had become King - it says that he took more concubines and more wives when he arrived in Jerusalem. Now, according to Deuteronomy chapter 17, David's taking of extra wives, in the sight of God, was sin. This was forbidden for a King of Israel. A King of Israel, it says in Deuteronomy 17, was not to take unto himself much riches, much livestock, he wasn't to take unto himself many wives - this was forbidden in the sight of God, it was apart from the code of holiness that God had laid down for the monarch of Israel.

I want you to see this morning that David's progressive desensitisation to sin had a consequent inner descent from holiness in his life

Now, I want you to see this morning that David's progressive desensitisation to sin had a consequent inner descent from holiness in his life. His progressive desensitisation to sin had a consequence in his life, for as he went along his life's pathway, and little by little he became more insensitive to the sins that were in his life, it had an effect on his inner walk with God. Now don't misunderstand the biblical text this morning. David taking to himself other wives was perfectly legal - in fact, not only was it legal, but it was something that was culturally acceptable - but the point this morning is this: although it was legal and it was culturally acceptable, it was something that was against the revealed will of God. David's endorsement, and David's even practice, of culturally permitted sensuality - do you know what it did to him? It desensitised him to sin, and it ultimately contributed to his downfall in adultery.

Do you see this? No-one falls, no-one backslides, in a flash! It doesn't just happen right away, there are small little steps where people become desensitised to sin and to the world, and to the things of the world - and before they know it, they are taking bigger steps into sin and sensuality until, before they know it, they have fallen headlong into great sin. We need to beware this morning, because there are certain things in our society today that are cultural, they are cultural sensualities, they are legal indulgences that - in the eyes of the people around us, in the eyes of our government, in the eyes of our society - are seen to be socially accepted. But these things - if we really think about them - they contribute to an inner descent in our holiness.

Young people today, older people today, are expected to watch hours of television unguarded - indiscriminately. In the workplace men, and women now, are expected to laugh at dirty jokes, and even tell dirty jokes. Businessmen are expected to show 'business indiscretion' and turn a blind eye to certain practices. At business-dos and dinners it is expected that you take a little tipple. In relationships it is expected that you go a little farther each year along your relationship, until eventually you might as well be married. This passage warns us in the gravest language that David - this man David, a man after God's own heart - he lost his sensitivity to sin and to the world, and it started in a small little bit, but before he knew it he was on his face in adultery.

But the writer wants us also to notice that: we are to beware of losing our discipline. David had relaxed, it says in verse 1, he had relaxed from the rigours and disciplines that had characterised his life, the activity that was in his life from day-to-day. He should have been at war, he should have been with Joab fighting for the cause, but he knew that it was an easy win so he stayed at home. Now, the problem was not the fact that he relaxed - and there's nothing wrong with relaxation - but David's problem was this: that his relaxation extended to his spiritual life. Has that ever happened to you? He relaxed physically, he relaxed in his life, he retired for a little point - but that affected his spiritual life, and what happened was: he left himself unguarded, he left himself unprotected and he fell. Don't think that David woke up one morning and said: 'Well, it's a lovely day today, I think I'm going to commit adultery'. He didn't! He was a man after God's own heart, he wrote many of the Psalms that we have in the word of God. It wasn't the fact that he intended that day to sin, but he lost - in some way - his sensitivity to sin, and because he was undisciplined on this particular day the Devil got a foothold.

Can I ask you, Christian, this morning: are you losing your discipline? Do you read the word of God from day-to-day? Do you pray daily? Do you have a quiet time with the Lord? Have you lost your discipline with regards to the church of Jesus Christ? Are you found at the prayer meeting? Are you found having fellowship with God's people? Do you wait behind for the Lord's table that He has commanded you to wait for? Do you discipline yourself in your watching of the television, in the things that you read, in the things that you listen to, the things that you say? We need this - listen, this morning - to beware that we do not lose our sensitivity, to beware that we do not lose our discipline.

Can I ask you, Christian, this morning: are you losing your discipline? Do you read the word of God from day-to-day? Do you pray daily? Do you have a quiet time with the Lord?

But thirdly, he would have us beware something else. He says: beware of losing your focus. Beware of losing your focus - what happened? Think of the scene: it's twilight in the Middle East, in the humid air in the evening - and this man (now in his middle-age, now remember that, he's in his middle-age - he's probably 50) he gets out of his bed and he takes a look out of the window. He sees a curvaceous form of a young beautiful woman, the shadows and the half light making her more attractive. Verse 2 says that the woman was very beautiful, in the Hebrew that's an over expression - she was absolutely gorgeous, she was a beautiful woman. David's problem was not the fact that he looked, but the problem was that after that first glance he looked again, and again, and again. He focused into this woman and he became fixated with her. Kent Hughes, a writer, says this that: 'In that moment David, who had been a man after God's own heart, became a dirty, leering old man'. A lustful fixation came over him that could not be denied.

He lost his focus. I wonder this morning, Christian, young person, have you lost your focus? What are you focusing in on in your life? What are the things that your eyes light upon? What do you watch on the television screen? What is it that comes from the video recorder? What is the music that you are listening to? What are the magazines that you are reading? You see, by focusing on the wrong things in our life we then begin to think about these things and chew these things over. Now, don't get me wrong this morning, there are some helpful things that come on the television - but I don't know about you, but I've yet to find a television that turns itself off before the picture comes on. People would say to me: 'Well, there's a knob on the screen, turn it off!' - but before you can turn it off you've seen something that has harmed your mind.

David Frost - you all know him, the TV presenter - he said this, David Frost: 'Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living-room by people you wouldn't have in your home'. Isn't that true? It permits you to see things, and think about things, and listen to things that you wouldn't permit in your home! Often we will indiscriminately - and I'm speaking to myself as well - we will plant ourselves down in front of the television and watch unlimited television, and inevitably - before we know it - we end up focusing or listening to impure things. You know when something happens on the screen - there's a bit of interference - what does it come on? 'Don't adjust your set' - well, listen, my message to you this morning, it's not all about television, but my message to you is this: Don't adjust your life! Don't adjust your life because there's a fault in the world!

You're doing something wrong, you're thinking about doing something wrong, you're tempted about doing something that is unpleasing to God - and what happens? God is as far away as possible from your mind

I don't know whether you've ever heard of the television Psalm, but I'd like to read it to you this morning. It goes like this:

'The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want.
It makes me to sit down and do nothing for His name's sake,
Because it requires all my spare time.
It restores my knowledge of the things of this world.
It keeps me from the study of God's Word.
Its sound and picture, they comfort me.
Even though I live to a hundred, I shall keep on viewing.
As long as it works, surely no good thing will come of my life'.

We need to be careful this morning - I'm not saying all throw your television sets out, but listen: we need to be careful about what we are focusing upon. We need to be like Job, young men - listen: Job, in Job chapter 31 and verse 1, he said: 'I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl'. He made an agreement with himself that he wasn't going to do it!

What happens when we focus on something unhelpful? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said these words, listen: 'When lust takes control, at that moment God loses all reality. Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God'. Have you not experienced that? You're doing something wrong, you're thinking about doing something wrong, you're tempted about doing something that is unpleasing to God - and what happens? God is as far away as possible from your mind, not just the fact that He is there, but the reality of His presence. Is that not true? Beware of what we focus on.

We need to beware of being desensitised, we need to beware of losing our discipline, we need to beware of losing our focus, but we need to beware of losing our mind. David lost his mind for that split second. David probably said: 'Well, Uriah's away, Bathsheba's on her own - sure, no-one will know. She's probably quite lonely, she probably needs company - sure, it'll be love!'. He began to rationalise his sin. Someone said to him in verse 3: 'Hold on a minute, King. Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah?' - and he knew that, he knew that that's who it was, someone had told him, but he began to rationalise in his mind and to think it over.

Sometimes we do that, we begin to rationalise our sin. We say to ourselves: 'Well, it's alright this time. God'll understand if I fall into this sin this time'. We say to ourselves: 'Well, how can something that gives me so much pleasure be wrong? God's not going to deny me anything that would make me happy, He wants me to be happy!'. We say to ourselves: 'Well, if it's love then it must be alright'. Christian so-called 'artists', Christian movie watchers - and I'm saying that, talking about movies that they shouldn't be watching. They say to themselves: 'Well, can I not - as an intelligent adult - evaluate these pictures? Can I not objectively look at these films without letting them affect me, and enjoy the art and the beauty in them?' - and we begin, before we know it, to rationalise everything out until we feel no guilt at all about what we're doing! The more we commit a certain sin, the more we fall into it, the more acceptable it becomes, the more habitual it becomes, the more we rationalise in our mind that it's OK, that God's not angry with us. But the only thing that we don't rationalise about when we're thinking of sinning, is about the way we feel afterwards - isn't that right? You can think of all the reasons why you should do it, and then when you do do it you think to yourself: 'Why did I do that?'. We need to beware of losing our mind.

We need to beware of losing our sensitivity, we need to beware of losing our discipline, we need to beware of losing our mind and losing our focus, but we need to beware like David of losing our purity - he fell! He lost his purity - this progressive degeneration, it led to sin - and the whole of the Old Testament testifies as to what happened to David after he fell. That one sin of adultery led to the sin of murder, as he put Uriah - the husband of Bathsheba - in the front line of the battle and he was murdered (before that he got him drunk!). One sin led to another, and his kingdom began to split up, his child that he bore to Bathsheba died, havoc was wrought in Israel - why? Because of David's sin. Now listen, God forgave him his sin - Psalm 51 is a testimony to that - but listen: don't you think that David is a licence to go and do what you want, because his life was never the same after it! Someone has said: 'Uriah was a better man drunk than David was, at that moment, sober'.

Do you know one of the tragedies of our time? The family altar has been lost. Fathers do not pray with their children, some hear them pray in the church and they don't hear them pray at home

Beware of being desensitised, beware of losing your discipline, beware of losing your focus, beware of losing your mind, beware of losing your purity - but let me, in finishing, just turn your eyes to Psalm 119 for a moment. The question remains this morning: how then, how can a young man, a young woman, or a middle-aged man - remember David was in his middle-age - how can we, in this stinking world, cleanse our way? There are three ways, in Psalm 119. The first thing is this: be careful to read. Be careful to read the word of God. He says this is how we cleanse our way: by living according to Your word. By reading the word of God we cleanse our minds, we cleanse our heart and our life. Let me ask you today, and it might seem silly asking a Christian this but I'm going to: do you read the word of God? Do you really read it, young person? Do you have a scheme for reading it day by day, until you read large chunks of the word of God? Do you meditate upon it until it's in your heart? Family, parents, do you read the word of God to your children? Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 6 says this: 'These commandments that I give you today, are to be upon your heart: impress them on your children, talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up'. Listen, do you know one of the tragedies of our time? The family altar has been lost. Fathers do not pray with their children, some hear them pray in the church and they don't hear them pray at home. Parents don't read the word of God and teach the word of God to their children. Listen, this morning: read the word of God and that's how young men and young women will cleanse their way.

You need to read, but secondly you need to heed the word of God. Verse 9 of Psalm 119 says: 'How can a young man cleanse his way?' - well, it doesn't say by reading His word, it says: 'By living according to His word'. You see, it's not good enough to listen to the word of God, it's not good enough just to read it, to listen to it week after week - but listen: you must live the word of God! Sometimes when I sin, I sin and I think to myself: 'This Christian life's a sham! Nothing is changing in my life! These sins are still taking over my life!' - and I think to myself: 'I'm meant to be a new creature in Christ Jesus, why aren't things different?'. Do you know what's wrong? I expect my life to be changed, but I'm not willing to implement the word of God in my life. I'm not willing to read the word of God with a pen and paper in hand, and when God says to me: 'Don't do this', I write down: 'Endeavour not to do this in your life'. And when we start obeying and implementing the word of God in our life, young people, our lives will be changed!

We need to read the word of God, we need to heed the word of God, and we need to hide the word of God. Verse 11 of Psalm 119 says: 'I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You'. We need to memorise the word of God, and when we do that - when we chew over, like chewing the cud - it becomes part of our lives, and we become epistles - letters, biblical books - written unto the people around us.

How do you get oxygen out of a bottle? You can get a hoover if you want and you can try and suck it out. You can try and suck it out with your mouth if you want, but the best way to get oxygen out of a bottle is to pour water into it. And the way we cleanse our minds, this morning, the way we get the filth of this world out of our heads, is when we pour in the word of God and then all the dross will come out.

The world - listen - the world holds the right opinion, that there can be no such a thing as a worldly Christian - they have that opinion and they're right!

Let me ask you in closing: are we going to be the dummies of the world? The world - listen - the world holds the right opinion, that there can be no such a thing as a worldly Christian - they have that opinion and they're right! Do not, as Romans 12 verse 2 says, do not let the world - young people - press you into its mould. Let's be honest this morning: who has a problem with purity? Who doesn't have a problem with purity? I'll tell you this morning: I have a problem with it. I have a problem with this aspect of purity. And the question to my heart and to your heart this morning is: will we dance to the tune of the television network? Will we make our home the environment where the scripts of the soaps will dictate and will impose a humanist, secularist agenda onto our children? Or will we let the word of God rule our lives? Not in a legalistic way with rules and regulations, but in a vital way, in a worthy way of the Gospel liberty of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have you failed? Have you? I've failed many times. Have you wandered? Well, why not come back and let the blood of Christ cleanse you from your sin, and let the word of God wash you from that filth? One verse, and I finish with this, that gives me great joy is this - Jude verse 24: 'To him who is able to keep us from stumbling' - and if we read the word of God and inwardly digest it, and implement it into our lives, He is able to keep us from slipping up. May God help you, this morning, to live a life that is pleasing to Him

Must read/watch :)

I have nothing to say, except that this song is amazing. And this music video is a must watch!
Skyscraper by Demi Lovato(cover and music video)

Solitude

Often our lives are taken hold of by busy schedules. Day and after day is filled with activities. School, work, sports, etc. And these activities can include serving God, going to prayer meetings, accountability groups, small groups, the list goes on. But the one thing we sometimes forget is solitude and its importance. We may be at Church or Cross Culture or whatever, and hear a great message... but then comes the hustle and bustle or life. Hence, spirituality of mind is much injured from the constant bustle in which some benevolent people live. We can relate to the lady in this verse,

"...they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have not kept!"
(Song of Solomon 1:6 ESV)

Even if we don't realize it, we might be spending little to no time at all in solitude with God. Sin tells us we are too busy, or what we do is enough. But we need to realize the importance of solitude. When we try to focus on God in the midst of a busy life i can find it is hard. Thoughts popping up in your head, "Oh! I forgot about this!" One thought leading to the next on a continuous cycle until you realize where you should be focused.. which ruins your focus more!

"Nothing can more beautifully exemplify the duties of holy retirement and active benevolence, than the life of Jesus. In the Gospels, we read how incessant were his labors for the spiritual and temporal good of the thousands who followed him. And there we also read, how "he went up into a mountain apart to pray;" how "when the evening was come, he was there alone;" how "he continued all night in prayer to God." This he did, not occasionally, but frequently; thus setting us an illustrious example of ardent devotion, combined with unceasing exertion for the present and future happiness of fallen man."  ~ Spiritual Exercises of the Heart by Thomas Reade

As he says, Jesus was alone with God often. Now if you think about that, He and the Father are one! But he is still spending time after time alone with him!

Let our prayer be that we spend more time in solitude with God! Meditating on scripture, praying, etc. Let us find joy and importance in Solitude with God!

  

Jesus! my soul would now repose
Beneath the banner of your love:
Each rising storm do you compose,
Each darkening cloud far hence remove.
  Beneath your smile is heavenly bliss;
How sweet in solitude with thee!
My soul, in such a world as this,
May now from anxious cares be free.
  Reveal your mercies to my heart;
With joy my longing spirit fill;
Your grace unceasingly impart,
To do and suffer all your will.  ~ Thomas Reade

Sleep

This is my first post in a while and i hope you are blessed by it.


Each night we collapse into our beds, and eventually fall asleep. Then we wake up in the morning and start another day.

I have been reading Humility; True Greatness by CJ Mahaney (great book! Highly Recommend it) and in it he talked a little about sleep. Sometimes we see sleep as something we do every night to restore our bodies. What we fail to do is see where and how much, God is working in sleep.

When we go to our beds to sleep we often pray and thank God for the day and praise him, etc. But sometimes (at least for me) i fail to pray for my sleep. Now you might think, "Why pray for sleep?" Well, if you share this view i think this post will help you see the importance of God in sleep.

We don't normally see sleep as a gift but more a need. In Humility, CJ tells us that sleep is a gift. Sleep can only be given by God, and without it we are energy-less. We need sleep to restore our bodies, we need it rest our muscles, we need it cause we're human. What we fail to see is that only God can give us the gift of sleep. We think it is something natural and all controlled by us and our bodies, but we are wrong. It all comes from God. A great way to acknowledge this, CJ says, is to thank God for and pray to receive this gift of sleep every night before we go to bed.


While in sleep there are two things that we don't know are happening but are evident in the morning.


1) Sustaining
"I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me." (Psalm 3:5 ESV)
You may think, "Why does God need to sustain us?" 3 subpoints.
  
    a) While asleep we are almost completely helpless. A 3 alarm fire could break out and we might not awake and escape. If God is sustaining us he could keep the fire from happening but even if the fire were happening had he not been sustaining us we would be dead. He sustains us and would wake us up allowing us to escape. 


   b) When we are asleep some people don't know it but at times if you snore, you might snore really loud then not breath for a second or two. And i mean stop breathing. Millions of American's think they sleep fine but when tested they find that they stop breathing 15+ each night! And when i say stop breathing i mean for 3 or 4 seconds they are not breathing at all whatsoever. Thats scary! These people could die! It is only by God's grace and sustainment that they are alive in the morning. 


   c) We need to be sustained in sleep. God sustains us in many ways during the night but he also keeps us alseep. If God doesn't keep us asleep we won't experience his full gift of sleep. Now at times we will wake up in the middle of the night for reasons, but other than that it is not us keep us asleep but God.


2) He restores us. Each night as we sleep, dreaming of ice cream and unicorns, God restores our muscles, joints, bones, our soul, heart, and mind. And he does so so that the next day our refreshed body can praise him more than the day before. 


Let us continually thank God and give him the glory for the gift of sleep we receive each night of our lives until the day were we need not sleep. Amen.




Again, all thoughts, comments and additions are welcome. Thanks!

Posting

hmmm... not posted in 9 days..... Why does it seem so hard to post something, in the summer for the reason!? :P idk

anywho, there is only like 2 or 3 weeks till YC!! .... i think i just figured out a possible logo. :) I'm so smart..

But enough about my awesomeness (compliments of God xD) let talk about something else.

Like the horrible Famine i read about that is going on the the Horn Of Africa. There it is said that an estimation of about 11.7million people are in dire need for food. That just puts a frown on my face. I mean why should i get to live like this and they are suffering!? I get to live a healthy life when they have to live with whatever they are diagnosed with!? I'm living the "High Life" by being fed everyday! If i could trade my life for all of theirs i would do it in a second. But then i realize that someone has already done that, Jesus. He did it to heal their deepest disease, sin. Oh how i wish they could realize this!!! Oh how i wish they could find the true joy in the midst of such suffering! Yet i wonder how i would do if i was in their position. Would i respond in joy? Would i respond in thanksgiving? Oh how thankful i am to not have to be tried in such ways. Yet how sad i am that they have to...

I want to go to Africa someday.... real bad too... :\

any thoughts or addons are GREATLY appreciated.

Joke time! :D

first joke. 


Once, in the 1830's, a little boy was playing in the yard behind his house. During his pretend fighting game, he knocked over the outhouse. Now he was upset and worried that he would get into trouble so he ran into the woods and didn't come out until after got dark. When he arrived back home, his pappy was waiting for him. He asked suspiciously, "Son, did you knock over the outhouse this afternoon?"

"No, pappy," the boy lied.

"Well, let me tell you a story," said the father. "Once, not that long ago, Mr Lincoln received a shiny new axe from his father. Excited, he tried it out on a tree, swiftly cutting it down. But as he looked at the tree, with dismay he realized it was his mother's favorite cherry tree," his pappy paused." just like you, he ran into the woods. When he returned, his pappy asked, 'Abraham, did you cut down the cherry tree?' Abraham answered with, 'Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did indeed chop down the tree.' Then his father said, 'Well, since you were honest with me, you are spared from punishment. I hope you have learned your lesson, though.' So," the little boy's father asked again," did you knock down the outhouse?"

"Pappy, I cannot tell a lie any more." said the little boy. "I did indeed knock down the outhouse."

Then his pappy father spanked Sam boy red, white, and blue. The boy whimpered, "Pappy, I told you the truth! Why did you spank me?"

Pappy answered, "That's because Abraham Lincoln's father wasn't in the tree when he chopped it down!"




next one!




A golf pro dragged himself into the clubhouse looking as though he'd just escaped a tornado.

"What's wrong?" a woman asked.

"I just lost a game to Houlihan," the pro said.

"What? But Houlihan's the worst player I've ever seen. How could he have beaten you?"

"He tricked me," the pro said. "On the first tee, he asked for a handicap. I told him he could have 30, 40, 50 strokes- any handicap he wanted.

He said, 'Just give me two gotchas."

"What's a gotcha?" asked the woman. "That's what I wanted to know," the pro said. "Houlihan said, 'You'll see.' Then, as I was teeing off, just as I had my club poised, he screamed out 'Gotcha!'"

"I can guess what happened," the woman said.

"Sure," the pro said. "The scream threw me off, and I missed the ball completely."

"Understandable," the woman said. "But still, that's only one swing. How did he win the game?"

The pro answered, "You try swinging at a golf ball all day while waiting for that second 'gotcha!'




Last one!




This guy was watching TV as his wife was out cutting the grass during the hot summer. He finally worked up the energy to go out and ask his wife what was for supper.

Well, his missus was quite irritated about him sitting in the air conditioned house all day while she did all the work, so she scolded him. "I can't believe you're asking me about supper right now! Imagine I'm out of town, go inside and figure dinner out yourself."

So he went back in the house and fixed himself a big steak, with potatoes, garlic bread and tall glass of iced tea.

The wife finally walked in about the time he was finishing up and asked him, "You fixed something to eat? So where is mine?"

"Huh? I thought you were out of town."




Thats cruel.... but it made me lol xD


i hope you liked them!

Longtime no see!

I have not post in 5 days (ik! 5 days!!) but here i am again. to say welcome i am posting a chat i had with cleverbot as if it were my blog.

User: Hello Blog. long time no see! I have changed in 5 days!
Cleverbot: I dont see you. Your probably sill ugly...

User: I am not blog! I have changed! I think....

Cleverbot: I think that was rude. You should apologize to me.

User: I am sorry blog. Will you forgive me?

Cleverbot: Perhaps. You will have to make it up to me though.

User: How?

Cleverbot: That what I'm asking you.

User: Oh, how about a Coke?

Cleverbot: Sure.

User: How would you like that done Blog?

Cleverbot: I want you to fall in a volcano and see what happens. If you live. Come back and say so. If you don't. Well.. Nice knowing you.

User: Thats mean! Bully....

Cleverbot: Because I don't know you that well.

User: Thats why you are bullying me?

Cleverbot: Do you mean pirate?

User: Yes I mean pirate. Are you a pirate blog?

Cleverbot: Yes.

User: Awesome! Can I have your peg leg Sir Blog?

Cleverbot: Did you murder someone?

User: No. Did you???

Cleverbot: Yes.

User: Ahh! I'm running away! *runs away*.

Cleverbot: Why?

User: Cause you are a murderer!

Cleverbot: That makes no sense...

User: Really??? Doesnt it???

Cleverbot: Yes it does.

User: Ok good.

Cleverbot: How about you Jenny?

User: I am not Jenny.

Cleverbot: What happened to Jenny?

User: Jenny was a friend of mine.

Cleverbot: Can Jenny make sandwiches?

User: Yes. Very tasting sandwiches!

Cleverbot: Will you make me a sandwich?

User: No but Jenny can.

Cleverbot: When will it stop?

User: Now.