Yesterday's morning sermon - Dr. Blackwood

Mark 3 - "Jesus Called 12 to be with him"

6 Characteristics that must be evident in the life of a disciple / requirements to be a disciple.
1. A kind of person who does what Simon, Andrew, James, etc. had already done – leaving their occupation to follow Jesus. Their skills were still necessary. Mt. 6:33 Seek the kingdom first
2. He continues to listen to the teachings of Christ, Personal study of Scripture, memorization, John 8:31 Don’t let anything distract from God’s word
3. He has a consistent relationship/fellowship with God – Prays daily for others
4. A disciple is a person who just loves to be around other believers. 2 Cor 5:17 – all men will know you are a disciple because of the love you demonstrate to others
5. One who openly identifies with Jesus Christ. Others will want to know that same Jesus that you know. “so shall you be my disciples”
6. One who lays down his life for Jesus Christ. “hate his mother, father, siblings, otherwise you can’t be a disciple.” Not one who just knows the will of God, but does the will of God.
Challenge: Will you be one of his Disciples? Will you participate in his “long range plan for evangelizing the world?”

If yesterday was wierd, today was even worse!

....one wacky day folows after another.....
So today I went into work at 8 this morning and was a cashier supposedly until 1p.m. They decided however, that they would rather me get off at 11 and come back in again and work 6-10 as a bagger (the late bagger called in for some reason and there would have been no one after 8:30). The result was that I worked 3 hours this morning, and another 4 hours tonight - a total of 7 hours and I was only scheduled for 5! Two extra hours, horay!
When I got home (the first time) I ate lunch and then went outside (it was such a beautiful day, even if it was a little bit cold). I started by cleaning up some stuff in the barn, and then cleaned all the dead stuff out of the garden. I then tilled most of the garden and re-planted a whole bunch of Iris plants that I have growing (if you want some I'll give them to you for FREE). By that time, it was time to get ready for work again! It's really weird going in to work 2 times in the same day!
So when I got to work, I started by cleaning the restrooms [Fun!], and then collected the trash from a whole bunch of trash cans throughout the store. I then took a break and when I got back, I was the only one for the rest of the night.
Probably the most fun I have ever had at work in my whole time there, is something that Mr. Kiser had me do. He had me take down the sales advertisments in the front windows, and then put new ones up! What made it so fun was that the top of the windows is about 8-9 feet high, and to get to it, you have to climb over the lines of carts and balance on a 4" ledge! It was a blast! Once I had finished, it was already 10 and I got to go home, for the second time in a day!
Before I left Jaci, who was also working tonight, called Marsh to have them ask me to drop her coat by her house on my way home. I was more than willing to do that. :) I won't say anything about her being good at forgetting things.... This is only the second time (and counting) that I've brought something to her that she left behind at work! It's cool living so close to work, and so close to someone who also works there. :-)
That's about the extent of my wacky day!!

Now I'm off to bed.
~Brian~

P.S. Did anyone notice that I spelled my name wrong on the last post? (yes I did it on purpose, just to see if anyone would notice it) :-)

What a weird day

So after I find out I'm not working, I spend the rest of my day working on all sorts of different things. About 4:30, I get a call from MARSH - "Do you want to work 5-9?" I said "Sure!"
So on a day when I was lamenting loosing hours, they give them right back to me!
What coincidence! Hey it's things like that that make life interesting, and you can look at it and kinda laugh a little bit! :-)
Well I should get to bed so I can get to work on time tomorrow, assuming that they don't cut me tomorrow :-)

~Brain~

P.S. How come no one's commenting? I must have gotten really boring all of a sudden!

I'm So excited!

I'm finally getting my money from EBAY that I lost in an auction in August!!
I won a camera for $250 and sent the money, but the seller never sent the camera. I filed a complaint and all that stuff, and tonight when I got home from work, I read my email and one of them was from EBAY!!!

I won't get the full amount, but anything (in this case $175) is better than nothing!

Praise the Lord that this was finally resolved!!

I like my employer but...

For two days in a row, they have called and told me to not come in.

Yesterday they just told me that they didn't need me to cover an extra part of someone's shift, but I still got to work my originally scheduled shift.

Today's a different story - I was supposed to work from 1pm-5pm and they called me at 8:30 this morning, telling me that they don't want me to come in at all today!

Ok, I know I'm selfish, I like my hours. Why did they have to cut me? Sure I have other things I can do, but that's irrelevant. There are people who are working that haven't been there even a month and I have been with the company for 3.5 years! Surely I have a little bit of seniority?

They said they had to cut hours because they were over budget on hours or something. Forget the budget! Oh well, life goes on. Besides it’s only 4 hours! You think I can deal with that? I hope so.

Please don’t start a pity party, but do pray that they will give me more hours. (Next week I’m scheduled for 31 hours! Yay!)

End of Rant.

May the rest of my day go better……

~Brian~

I was just doing my Bible Study...

Today I skimmed the book of Hebrews and one question asks me to give phrases of how the writer encourages those to whom he was writing who were in hard times.
So next, the study asks:
"When you are discouraged because of difficult cirmcumstances, what could others do to encourage you most?"

So I ask the same to you. What encourages you the most? Why?

~Brian

P.S. After you all answer, I'll post my answer. :-)

For the fun of it....

PERSONAL
1) Single or Taken: Single, and I will be untill / if God changes that.
2) Sex: Male
3) Birthday: November 5th 1984
4) Sign: I don't care.
5) Siblings: 2 older brothers, 2 younger sisters, 3 younger brothers. (total = 2 sis, 5 bro)
6) Hair colour: Blonde
7) Eye color: Blue
8) Shoe size : 14 B (narrow = very hard to find, but thanks to New Balance, I can get shoes in my size!)
9) Height: ~6'

FASHION STUFF
1) Where is your favorite place to shop: Like I really shop anywhere?
2) Favorite outfit: Anything that fits and looks good. (definitely not my work uniform) :-)

THE EXTRA STUFF
1) Do you do drugs: NO way!
2) What are you most scared of: I try not to be scared of anything, but that's only because I know God is in charge.
3) What car do you wish to have: Well, I'm happy with any car that runs without having to be in the shop all the time, but a Honda Accord would be really cool.
4) Where do you want to get married: Probably a church...
5) How many messenger buddies do you have on right now: ~80
6) If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be: Actually I'm pretty thankful for the way God made me!

FAVORITE.
1) Subject in school?: I'm supposed to have a favorite? Science, Piano and PT are good :-)
2) Animals?: Dogs I guess.
3) Color? Blue and yellow

HAVE YOU EVER
1) Given anyone a bath? Yup, my sibs a bunch of times.
2) Smoked? Never!
3) Bungee jumped? I wish.
4) Fought the law? Nope
5) Made yourself throw-up? Yuck!
6) Gone skinny-dipping? Again... no.

FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND
1) Red: The blood that Jesus paid for my sins with.
2) Cow: Lunch?
3) Socks: Shoes?
4) Greenland: Cold

HAVE YOU EVER
1) Been so drunk you blacked out: Never drank, and don't plan to anytime soon, reguardless of when I turn 21!
2) Put a body part on fire for amusement? That would be stupid.
3) Been in a car accident? Yes, once. Make that twice. I was driving only in one of those, and it was not my fault.
4) Been hurt emotionally? Who hasn't?
5) Kept a secret from everyone: Of course!
6) Had an imaginary friend: Not that I remember
7) Wanted to hook up with a friend: Actually....Yes
8) Cried during a movie? Yes
9) Had a crush on a teacher? No, that would be gross! (my teacher has always been my mom - homeschool)
10) Ever thought an animae character was hot? No.

MORE FAVORITES
1) Shampoo: Head and Shoulders
2) Hair Colour: Blonde / Brown
3) Day/Night: Night, but it depends.
4) Summer/Winter: Summer!! Bring on the sun!
5) Fave Films: Lord of the Rings!
6) Fave Ice Cream: Chocolate chip cookie dough.

RIGHT NOW, WHAT ARE YOU
1) Wearing: Do, I have to say?....my work uniform - tan pants and a white MARSH polo with a blue MARSH sweatshirt on top.
2) Thinking about: Just that I should be going to bed soon, I have a short night before I have to be at work.
3) Listening to: Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but iTunes is on random...

IN THE LAST 24 HRS, HAVE YOU
1) cried: No
2) ate: Absolutely!
3) slept: Yes, thankfully!
3) Cleaned your room: No, but as a whole, my room doesn't need cleaning up.
4) Done laundry: Nope.
5) Driven a car: Yes.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN
1) Yourself: Uh, I guess so.
2) Friends: Sure.
3) Santa Claus: No, never did either.
4) Destiny/Fate: No, I believe on the providence of God.
5) Angels: Yes!
6) Ghosts: No!

Ok, so that was a little longer than I thought it would be, and no, you don't have to do this on your site too. :-)
Off to bed...
~Brian~

Leaves, class and cake!

This morning I got up at about 10. Johanna, Sterling and I went over to the Chabs (elderly neighbor) for 2 hours raking up leaves and bagging them up. We raked almost the whole back yard and part of the front, ending up with about 22 garbage bags full of leaves! When I got home, I took a quick shower then Kevin and I were off to History class. At class, Dr. Blackwood gave a lecture about the 7 cities in Revelation and then gave an overview of the Gospel(s). While we were there, a really nice lady who is also taking the class, gave us some of the best chili or soup (it was even better because I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast or lunch)!
When we got home, I cut Sterling and Adriel’s hair (only the 2^nd time in my life to cut someone’s hair!) and then Mom cut mine. I'm sooo glad my hair is finally short again - the way i like it. It's so much easier! :-)
After a quick shower (to get the hair off - no I don't make a habit of taking 2 showers in a day), we finally got to eat dinner at 8 pm! We were doing my birthday for dinner (yay! that means I get to pick what we have!). We had "pounded chicken", brussel sprouts, and spinach salad, oh, can’t forget the cake and Ice cream! I got a couple books and some money from my Grandparents (thank you so much!), and Michael gave me a pitch key!
Afterwards, I was finally was able to check my email - it's been 2 days since the Internet stopped working - and read blogs and update mine!
So I'm off to bed now!

~Brian~

P.S. I really don’t feel any older, but I guess I am!

Yay! I'm 20! Now what?

I have this weird feeling, you really don't feel any older, but yet, you are. I'm no longer a teenager and well, It's kinda cool to look back over my "long" life and see how God has brought me from where I was, all the way to where I am now! Be that through Church, Friends, Sabbath School, Teachers, 8 mission trips, and well there's so many more things in my life that make me who I am now, but it's ALL because of GOD! Praise the Lord!
For my birthday, we really didn't do anything because I worked from 8 am - 4:30 (at least I was supposed to be there at 8! I accidently slept in and didn't get there till 10!) I don't know why I worked on my birthday, but oh well, I need as many hours as I can get. After work, I came home for a little while before going to the Bright's house for a CYA (Covenanter Young Adult - College age) activity. We watched a movie called "Amadaeus" about Mozart. The main point of the movie is that this other composer who lived at the same time, didn't like Mozart because God had given Mozart more tallent than he received. Basically what it comes down to is the other guy is fighting against God, who is represented in Mozart, and in the end he looses (duh). I had invited Jaci from work, and I'm really glad she was able to make it, and she enjoyed it and said she's interested in coming to future CYA events too. :-) I finally got home about midnight and went to bed!

Pray for: Jaci and her family -- going to CA for a wedding this weekend, please pray for safety and a good time. Me -- that I would live this next year to God's glory in all I do. Josh -- Continued healing for his ankle.

I get the feeling i'm tired....

Ok, so procrastination does not pay off!
I got up at about 10am on Wednessday, and did some school stuff and worked at MARSH from 2-10pm. Once i got home I set out to finish all the assignments due for Mr. Pulliam's writing class Thurday morning at 11am. I had 3 fairly large papers to write (2 500 word papers, and 7 journals that equaled about 2000 words) on top of that i had to read the book i was supposed to write one of the reports on. The result was that i got to sleep for about 45 minutes before class! after class, I cleaned Mr. Chab's (elderly couple that is a neighbor of mine) gutters and then i went in to work at 330. I worked untill about 10pm and i'm finally home and I think I'm going to go to bed and get some sleep! Being up for 40 hours straight is not exactly good for your wellbeing!!

~Brian~

PS Being tired doesn't help my type or spell any better either! Sorry for the typos!

Lunch, elections....

Ok, so after all your wonderful suggestions, I decided to go to Carabbas (Italian restraunt) but it didn't open till 4 p.m. So instead we went to Maccaroni Grill (also Italian) that was right across the street. The food was really good! Since it was my "birthday" they gave me this really good huge piece of chocolate cake with chocolate iceing, it was delicious! On the way home from lunch, we stopped at the place for me to vote. I did my duty and came home. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
For the rest of the day, I watched the results of the election as they started to come in. Finally at about 1:30 am, I found out that Bush was almost guaranteed to win, so then I could go to bed in peace!! Not only did BUSH win, but Daniels won the governor's race too! Now the US House, Senate and President are Republican, as are the Indiana House, Senate and Governor!! It's wonderful news!
I have so much stuff to finish for writing class on Thursday, so I better stop there! :)

~Brian~

PS Happy 18th Birthday Anjali - since you couldn't vote, probably the one biggest present you could get is that BUSH and DANIELS won the election, even though you couldn't vote! :-)

Where to?

Ok, my birthday is on Friday and my grandparents are going to take me out to lunch. (this is something they have done with my family for a really long time for our birthdays) I can go anywhere I want within reason. I have no idea where to go though!

So, does anyone have any suggestions?
Some place with good food would be ideal. :)

That's scary weird

I was just checking my blog here really quick to see if there were any new comments, and I checked the counter and it was at 911.
Isn't it weird how as a result of "something", just seeing those numbers sends shivers up your spine?

Recital, hayride...

All right, I don't have too much time, but I'm going to post anyway. :)

The piano recital that I had yesterday went great, even though I stumbled a little bit in the middle part, I was amazingly able to keep going! Even with that mess up, that was probably one of the best times I've played that piece - Chopin Waltz in D flat, Op. 64 #1.

After the recital, we (my family, Jaclyn Ames - friend from work and neighbor, and I) came home and got ready for our church hayride. When we got to the farm that was holding the hayride, we were just in time for dinner. After a nice meal, we sat by the fire and talked for a while until there was space on a hay wagon. After going on two wonderful rides, we decided that was enough. Since it was somewhat cold out, we figured one good way to warm up was to play some games. We played link tag, sharks and minnows, and cat and mouse. Well that was about the end of that and poeple started going home. There was a homeschool family that we know that was there and after talking to them for about a half an hour, we came home.
I had a lot of fun and I'm especially thankful that the Koss family was willing to host it!

Driving

OK, since you all started the debate, what are your opinions about driving and avoiding getting cought by the cops?
Do you drive the speed limit?
Do you go as fast as you want and slow down when you see a cop?
Do you get caught and just manage to make it out with only a warning?
What about radar dectors?

So, what are the differing opinions?


Also, though it's hard to believe, I only need 150 more hits to my blog and I'll have a thousand since September 10! Amazing!

Annother interesting fact, I'll be 20 a week from tomorrow!!

A cool thing that my brother found

Well it's a website/plugin for iTunes so that what you play gets posted to the web, it's kind cool. The home page of the site is here.
My page that shows what I've played is here.

Let me know what you think, I think its really cool!
I'd tell you more about it, but I have to go to work.
~later

I don't have much to say....

Hm, I guess I'll start with what I did yesterday.
I somehow managed to sleep in until about noon, when I got up, and madly got ready to go. I showered, ate breakfast/lunch, packed a dinner, and got all my stuff ready for class this afternoon and work tonight.
At class (Ancient Church History) Mr. Pulliam gave a really neat presentation about the kings of Judah in the Old Testament times. They are great examples and can be redily compared to the people in politics today. Their lives have a lot of ideas and examples that we would be ashamed to admit we don't do. That was a great challenge to me and I'm very glad he shared. For the next hour or so, Mr. Calkins gave an overview of how to do research on the internet for information needed for biographies, reports etc. Since I'm by no means computer iliterate, I followed him all the way through. After class, I got in the car and drove to work. Somehow I managed to drive a standard transmission and eat at the same time. It wasn't easly done. :-)
I worked from 6-10 p.m. and as always on a Saturday night, it was slow. I hate it when it's slow, especially when I'm working as a cashier. There's nothing to do and you can't go home, so you kind of just stand around and wait for customers. Oh, and the time drags on and on and on.... If it's busy, the time flys by, and in no time, it's time to go home! Oh well!

Today, we had an interesting run-in with the authorities on the way to church.... Dad was driving, there's this big hill we drive down, and there was a "friendly" trooper sitting right at the bottom. He clocked us at 62 in a 45 mph zone. Yes, we were speeding, but comon! We were going downhill, in a 12 passenger van, and no sooner do you go down, then you have to go back up the other side, so you would slow down then... Oh well, at least I wasn't driving! (But if I was, I wouldn't have been going 62 either.)
The sermon by James Faris was great. He began a new series on Mark, starting with chapter 1 (duh) and he explained the basics of the book, for example: Mark focuses on 2 main questions throughout the whole book: Who is Jesus? What did he come to do? He also talked about how John the Baptist was sent to proclaim the comming of Jesus Christ.
Well I gotta go to choir practice...so I guess I'll stop there.

For all you with high speed internet

I just finished uploading a whole bunch of pictures to my picture gallery. There are pictures from all sorts of events over the last year or so. Everything from ECHO, Covfamikoi, and Nicaragua to ALERT pictures. Too bad everyone can't see them. :-(
(I guess everyone can see them, if they have the patience!)

So have fun looking at them, and let me know what you think!

Cramming is so much fun....

Ok, so I'm like the expert in procrastination. I have this writing class that meets every other Thursday. Class was this morning, and I really didnt start working on the assignments until Monday...
So with a lot of stuff to do, how do you get it done? You stay up till it's done - so much fun. The result of all this is that I went to bed this morning at about 6 a.m. and had to be up in time to be at class at 11!
Oh, well I'll get over it...

Oh well.

Sorry guys. I just got a little post happy. :-)

But since you are all faithful readers, I know you will read every single word (right?). Some of the posts are even hidden down a ways (hint the first one is on October 7th). Have fun finding and reading all of them!

Just in case you were wondering, I didn't just type all this up for the fun of it, most of it's for a writing class that I'm in. Posting it here simply makes a second use out of the same words!

A challenge to us all

Proverbs 10:9

“The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.”

This verse walks hand in hand with Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”

If a man expects to be secure on his path of life, he must put all his trust on the Lord. By living a life of dependence on the Lord, that man will become one of integrity, bringing glory to God in all that he does. Matthew 5:16 says: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” The man who walks uprightly brings honor to God by his godly actions. By reading and knowing the Scripture, God will direct the steps to take in life, and even illuminate the path as Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

The man of malice and evil will surely be punished for his sin against men. A theme in Deuteronomy is to “purge the evil from among you.” As a man’s sins are found out, there will be people looking for his life. Proverbs 12:13 “An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble.” The more lies and sins the man weaves, the easier and sooner the righteous will catch him for what he has said or done. God punishes those who take crooked paths, for he is a just God and they have walked on the path of the sinner.

This is a very convicting passage that really makes me think about what I do. Is it pleasing to God? Am I walking as one of integrity on the straight path? God alone knows. I am constantly working to make sure that my actions display Godly character so that others may be impacted by my example to them. I pray that God will use me in teaching people to walk in integrity, both in my family and at work.

10-19-04 Tuesday

In the mail yesterday, I received some information that I had intended to give to Belcezar at the meeting last night. Unfortunately the mail had not yet arrived when I had to leave. Since Belcezar left to go back home today, I was left with the only option of getting up early. I took the information to him at 7:30 a.m., gave a brief description of what it was, and said one final goodbye. I was immediately off to work, since I had to be there at 8. I did get there right on time, which is amazing considering the drive that I had to take to get back to work. I was working an 8 to 2 shift in Customer service. Like most mornings, it was very slow. I was able to get everything done in the first hour or so that I was there. After that, I was limited to standing around waiting for customers to come, needing assistance. I did a lot of returns today, in addition to selling many lottery tickets. When I got off at 2, I came home and started to work on the multitude of assignments that I have not as yet finished for Thursday writing class. The biggest project was to find a fellow classmate to write a profile about. After calling almost everyone in the class, I was finally able to get a hold of Savanna Edwards. No one was previously going to write on her, but now I am. I just have to get together with her and get all the information that I need.

10-18-04 Monday

Oh how much work I have to do! If only we could sleep while we were doing something else! I got up sometime late in the morning, I’m not sure exactly when, and worked on a few assignments. Then it was time to pick Kevin up from school because the weather was bad. I brought him home where he changed his clothes and got ready to leave. We then drove to his 1:30 p.m. class at BRANCH, the home school group in which most of our family is involved. I came home, took my shower, and ate my lunch. For the rest of the afternoon I worked on some of the many assignments for class on Thursday. At about 6 p.m., I left for the monthly NRN (Nicaragua Resource Network) Belcezar Committee meeting. NRN is the organization that I have gone to Nicaragua with four times in the past. They have a commitment to supporting four different pastors and their various ministries in Nicaragua. The Belcezar Committee oversees the needs of Pastor Belcezar who has eighteen daughter churches mostly in the western end of Nicaragua. Tonight was a very special time because Belcezar was here in Indiana for the week and came to the meeting! He started by going over needs of most of his churches. Some need as much as the land purchased and the building built, others need as little as windows or doors on the existing building. Next he gave an overview of the needs of the pastors at the churches. Some of the pastors are so poverty stricken that their children are not even able to go to school. There are so many needs, but we must look to God for guidance. The meeting ended with a wonderful time of prayer for Belcezar, his family, and the ministry in Nicaragua.

40th Anniversary!

Today is a unique day in the life of the church. It is the 40th anniversary of the beginning of this congregation. To start off the day, during the Bible School hour, there was a slideshow featuring the ministry of the church in its young days. Next we held a time to honor the 5 elder Elders serving the church. These five men were Dr. Blackwood, Bob Heimberger, Ken Thompson (no longer living), Carl Stoicheff, and Don Fulk. They have been serving the church from anywhere near 30 years all the way up to 40 years!

In the morning worship service, Ken Smith, a guest preacher, spoke on “The Next 40 Years in Christ at 2nd RPC … Together.” His main focus was how as a church, we must work together as a body to remain strong for the next 40 years to be successful.

The evening service contained Ken Smith preaching again. This time his topic was “The Next 40 years in Christ at 2nd RPC … Alone.” The subject of this sermon was that each of us makes choices individually that affect the church. Choices that I make today and tonight will affect the path my life takes in the future. I must take control of my life, under Jesus Christ. What will be the testimony of my life in 40 years?

Following the evening service there was a wonderful reception downstairs including a “museum” of old pictures and memories. These pictures cover the whole of the 40 years of the ministry of Second Reformed Presbyterian Church – 1964 to today.

The memorial services....

I really should try to have something a little bit more interesting and uplifting on here, but I'm going to say one more thing about Elder Thompson.
The Memorial service was held at the church where I go, the same as the one Elder Ken Thompson served. It began about 11 a.m. on Thursday the 14th of October. To start it off, we sang a few Psalms - 90, 91, and 23. Then Pastor Johnston gave a breif biography - Born 1924, served in the navy during WW2, married and had 3 children, had sucess in buisness, became an active member of the church - elder and later moderator of the presbytery, died 2004 october 11. He was an avid fisherman and Master Gardener and used these talents to God's glory and to build lasting relationships with many around him. He frequently worked on the church grounds helping it become beautiful, eye-pleasing and most importantly glorifying to God. "Ken's Crew" to this day still maintains the church grounds. Next the grandchildren came up and shared a bunch of their best memories of Grandpa. After singing Psalm 127, my Grandfather, who was Mr. Thompson's personal best friend read a poem and shared memories of their wonderful times togeter. Pastor Johnston and Blackwood respectively then shared the testimony from the church and Scripture of Ken's Life, Death, and Eternal Life. Lastly we sang from Psalm 84 and 72 as a doxology.
The graveside service was even more touching, and led to realization that it's over. After a few comments from the pastors, a couple Navy guys played the bugle song that they play to honor those who have died, then they folded and presented to Mrs. Thompson the flag that had been on the casket. That was the most dificult part, realizing he really was gone. Then it was over, we all left.
He will be missed by a great many people, and I'm no exception. God greatly used him in my life to develop a love for gardening, fishing, and the LORD. He was a great example to all of us of what a Godly man can accomplish. It's hard to see him go, but that was God's providence, and now I have one more great reason to look forward to going to Heaven.

Will I have people that say the same things about me when I die? I sure hope so!

Give it some thought, what will people say about you when you die? Will it be good things? How will you have impacted other people's lives for good?

More info regarding Elder Ken Thompson

Details about the arrangements:

Elder Ken Thompson went home to be with his Lord, Monday morning October 11, 2004. We praise God for Ken's life, witness and service in the church. He will be deeply missed. Please pray for Christ's comfort for the family. The viewing will be Wednesday, October 13. The funeral will be Thursday, October 14.


Feel free to contact me for any more information...

Sabbath Morning Service

Dr. Blackwood - "For Whom Will You Vote?"

There are 6 essential qualities that we must look for in any candidate that is running for public office – Jesus Christ is the perfect example of all these.

1. Respectability / Dignity
We need men in office that we can be proud and not embarrassed by.

2. Near Relationship

3. Wisdom
Have a good grasp on current events, and on history.

4. Power
Daniel 2:20 “…Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:” Operate on a minimum of organizations, but gets things done.

5. High moral excellence
He must be morally pure. Wise laws, good motives and just dealings can not make up for unmoral conduct. A nation with a corrupt leader will soon destroy itself.

6. A person who genuinely loves people.


Commit to evaluate the character of anyone that you vote for, comparing him to God’s standards in the Bible.
God’s standards are the absolutes.
How can you believe a book of physics / politics / any school book, but not believe every word of the Scriptures the same?



What do you think? Let me know.

Sabbath Evening Sermon

“Now concerning the Collection for the Saints” – 1 Corinthians 16 – Pastor Johnston

Be concerned for the wellbeing of Christians. Not only RP Christians, but all Christians around the world. This should deeply concern me and be a part of my prayer time. Have a heightened concern for the rest of the Christian community. There are things we can do, even though there is a limit.
1 Corinthians 16:1 “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him …”


Be ready to go to help, and at least sending help, and at the very least, pray for them.
1 Corinthians 16:12 “As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.”


Verse 13 is a very good description of elders and masculinity – what it is to be a man.
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.”


Verses 22-24 are probably one of the most passionate, loving ends to any one of Paul’s Epistles.
22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.


In your daily and weekly walk, consider how to help those in the church – financially, by encouragement, through prayer...

10-11-04 Monday

It came as a shock to me, but I should have been expecting it any day. Elder Kenneth Thompson died this morning at about 9:15 a.m. He went home to be with his Lord in Heaven. He has been in the hospital for the last month or two fighting infection and stomach cancer. It seemed to those who were present that Mr. Thompson was waiting for his family to gather around him and say goodbye. Pastor Johnston prayed and quoted from Psalm 23 as Mr. Thompson breathed his last. Dr. Blackwood was also present and he reminded the family to “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” – John 14:1-2. We praise God greatly for all that Ken accomplished throughout his life. The long list of his ministries include his witness and service to the Church, to young people, and to his own family. Ken Thompson will be dearly missed by all who knew him. Continue to pray for strength for the family.

To the memory of Ken Thompson...

This is an email I just received this morning concerning one of the elders in the church. He has been in the hospital for at least a month and I / we will dearly miss him. :(

~Brian~
------------------------------
Dear Friends,

The Psalms tell us, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”

At about 9:15 a.m. the Lord took our friend, Elder Ken Thompson, home to be with Himself. It was as if Ken waited for his dear wife, Ann, and the children to gather at his bedside to say good-bye. Pastor Johnston prayed and quoted Psalm 23, as Ken breathed his last and quietly went home to be with His Lord. Later, Dr. Blackwood reminded the family of Jesus' promise, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:1-2. Pastor Johnston read II Peter 1, which Ken often quoted and was recently on his mind. His son, Joe prayed a closing prayer.

We all praise God for Ken’s life, witness and service in the church. He will be deeply missed. Please pray for Christ’s comfort for the family and that the Lord would be exalted in Ken’s funeral. Arrangements are pending. We will let you know when details become available.

Thank you for praying.

Sincerely,

Pastor Rich Johnston

One Month

So, its been one month since I put a counter on my page......and I have over 500 visits! That just goes to prove that people really do read my blog! That's cool!

10-9-04 Saturday

Even though I have a lot of homework to do, I decided it was worth my time to go to workday at the church. Michael (my older brother) and I arrived about 1 p.m. Michael went right to work trying to repair and adjust several problems on the sanctuary sound system. I decided to go outside and help Carrie, the main person who has taken over caring for the church property. I helped with several odd jobs that included pruning several trees, bushes and flowers. After about 3 hours, Michael and I left to go to Josh Bright’s house for a time of fellowship, dinner and to watch a few movies. Initially we had planned on going to his house in Lafayette, but earlier this week he broke his ankle in an accident. He was riding his bicycle and ran into a car. God protected him and all that was injured was his ankle. After surgery, his parents decided he should come home for the rest of the week. Josh was very glad to have some of his friends over to visit. Dinner was great and then we watched two wonderful movies – Behind Enemy Lines and The Italian Job. Josh appreciated us taking our time to visit with him, especially because of his injured ankle, which is rapidly getting better.

10-7-04 Thursday

Originally I was somehow scheduled to work this morning, but I had other things I had to do. First of all I had an appointment with Dr. Jay Hughes, my orthodontist. He examined the progress on the movement of my teeth and changed a few things on the wire. There was not much he had to do today and he said to make the next three appointments. At the third appointment, December 22, I will get my braces off! I’ve had them for more than two years now and I will be very glad to have them removed! The other big thing I had this morning was writing class with Mr. Pulliam. It was one of the better classes I have had because I did amazingly well on the tests today. I got 105% on the Dante: The Inferno test! Also I got 100% on the spelling test! When class was over, he gave an assignment that will take a lot of time. We have the usual journals, reading, report on the book, and memory verse. In addition, we have a profile on a fellow student and a profile of a political race in Indiana! All those assignments will take quite a bit of time over the next two weeks! After class, I came home and began working on some of the new assignments in addition to some of the other homework I have.

Annother lovely assignment

Dante – The Divine Comedy: Hell

“Midway this way of life we’re bound upon, / I woke to find myself in a dark wood, / Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.”
This expertly written book begins with the author, a character in the story, walking along a road. The time period is 1300 on the morning of Good Friday. A leopard, lion and she-wolf each prevent him from traveling the road any further. Virgil, who has been brought out of limbo at the request of Beatrice, meets Dante along the road. Virgil becomes his guide, and they begin the path on a different road toward Hell. This allegory says in part, that human reason can guide him back to faith – up to a point.

When they arrive at the gates of Hell, they read the inscription on its lintel. “Through me the road to the city of desolation, / Through me the road to sorrows diuturnal, / Through me the road among the lost creation. … Lay down all hope, you that go in by me.” This is, in short, a description of the whole of Hell. After the two poets pass through the first circle, they are now at the feet of Minos who sits as judge, sentencing each spirit to a different circle for their different sins. Once they are in the second circle, they are in Hell proper. As they continue through each of the nine circles in hell, they come across many people that Dante recognizes from Florence, his home.

Through out the whole of this masterpiece, Dante fills it with the minutest of details. Canto 13 is one of the most detailed and is thus a great example of the many facets of Dante’s work. In the midst of circle VII are those who acted violently against themselves, primarily in committing suicide. The spirits who “are turned to trees were human once,” but due to their violence to themselves, they are forever confined to grow as a tree in this forest. Virgil goes as far as to have Dante break off a small branch to get the tree to talk. The tree, which is much personified, tells Dante the story of how he came to be growing here. Each spirit is like a seed that “Minos dispatches … down to the seventh ditch.” “It falls in the wood; … and where it falls, it sprouts like a corn of wheat…” All spirits who are confined to the forest are “Borne on the thorn of its own self-slaughtering shade” and remains there forever.

Though I started reading this book with the idea that it would be boring, I have amazingly come to enjoy and learn from it. Dante was such a great writer, even though his life was over 700 years ago. His brilliant description of Hell was so enlightening that I now have the desire to read the rest of his Divine Comedy. Dante clearly had a wonderful insight into the topic of Hell. It is a mind-enlightening tale that I never would have read under normal circumstances. Once Dante and Virgil in their travel through Hell get to the center, “He first, I following; till my straining sense / Glimpsed the bright burden of the heavenly cars / Through a round hole; by this we climbed, and thence / Came forth, to look once more upon the stars.” They had reached the end of Hell and now began their ascent up towards Heaven.

The most life changing experience over the summer

Sorry this is so long... but its an assignment I decided to post. Not that I'm any good at writing or anything. :)


To pick one single event that occurred over the course of the summer that was the most life changing is a difficult task. I could start with my time in Basic Training at ALERT (Air Land Emergency Resource Team) from February to April, my first car accident on June 24^th or the many hours I have worked over the summer. Or I could begin with the bike trip from Indianapolis to Calvin, the Reformed Presbyterian International conference and Ted Donnelly’s wonderful sermons or Matthew Toppers challenge to young men. I have grown so much during this year. God has certainly used this year to help to mature me into the man he desires me to be.

Making it a little simpler, I will keep it to the RP International Conference in July. It began for me with a 300 mile bicycle ride over the course of four days. God graciously allowed all 35 riders to make it to the end, but not without plenty of sore muscles. The conference began on Saturday night, July 24^th, and continued until the morning of Friday the 30^th. This week long conference was packed full of wonderful things to learn and do. The most influential activities were the daily sermons on the Callings of Christ given by Ted Donnelly of Ireland.

The topics ranged from Called by Grace to Living out our Calling and Called to Glory. Each of these great sermons went directly to the heart and demanded application into my life. Many of the applications include self examination and require continual recollection to entirely sink in. I need to understand that no matter what I do; God is always working to make me holy. How often do I look for chips in the armor of my brothers in Christ? The weaker I become, the more clearly I will see Christ holding my hand; leading me to the end and closer to Heaven. When I get to Heaven will I be able to honestly say that I fulfilled my calling?

Now as I go on in life since that wonderful conference, I realize that it is hard to apply these great principles to daily life. I must rely on Christ to do it in me. 1 Peter 5:10 says “after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” I am thankful that God does not expect me to do it on my own, but I must constantly remember these truths that I have learned. As a result, my life will be more full and better pleasing to God.

Proverbs 15:13

Proverbs 15:13 “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

Luke 6:45 – a good parallel verse – “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

The meanings of these verses are very obvious. If you have peace in your heart, your life will give evidence to that. If your heart is in an uproar, you will have conflicts with others and God.

The attitude of one person is contagious. Many times, I have been around people with a gloomy outlook on the future. I am a Christian so I have the hope of going to Heaven when I die. People see that hope in my smile and character and they wonder what is different about me. If only it was that easy to explain to them!

As a side note to everything else....

Somehow it feels weird knowing that in one month from today, I will no longer be a teenager. It's not that anything will really change, it never does. But I'll be 20, what a weird thought. I wonder what this next year holds for me?
Also the president for the next 4 years will have been elected. Wow it's all coming up fast! Next is Thanksgiving and Christmas!

10-5-04 Tuesday

To continue a trend that I started last week, I got up at about 7 this morning. Not only did I get up because I had to be at work at 8, but also because I have seen that I get more accomplished in the morning. After a quick shower, I uncovered the zucchini plants that I had covered last night to protect them from the frost. They seemed to be doing just fine. I also uncovered the chrysanthemum that I had sheltered just in case. By that time I had to eat my breakfast really fast and run out the door to get to work. As scheduled, I worked from 8 until noon in Customer Service. Afterwards Mr. Kiser, the grocery manager, asked me to help him stock some things with him. Staying another 2 hours, I stocked a lot of 6 ounce yoghurt and filled the milk and eggs. I usually call when I am just about ready to leave to see if I need to get anything, but today the phone was busy. When I got home, I found out that I needed to go back and buy some carrots and potatoes for dinner. Finally when I got home again, I was able to start on my school assignments for the day, especially that which is due on Thursday.

10-3-04 Sabbath

Today was another one of those rare days when we actually got to Sabbath school on time! For one thing, it was because I was responsible to run the sound system. Pastor Ed Blackwood from Southside Reformed Presbyterian church led the class on the topic of “what is a church?” The most interesting thing I learned is how the church is not the building, but the people who meet there.

For the morning service, James Faris spoke using the topic “Of Him they will ask the more” from Luke 12:35-48. He gave many convicting points, but the biggest thing that hit me was to contemplate what kind of return I am giving for the investment God has made in my life. Am I living up to my name as a Christian? Here in the United States, I have been blessed with much more than many people in other countries. How am I using the abilities I have been given? I pray that as I go about my daily responsibilities that God’s glory will shine brightly through me. This is one way that I can bring a good return for God’s vast investment in me.

10-2-04 Saturday

Even though I went to bed pretty early last night, I slept in quite late today as well. Getting up at about 11 a.m, I ate some breakfast and showered before I left for Dr. Blackwood’s Ancient Church History class. Kevin and I got to class on time at 1:30 p.m. and then started on the quiz. The quiz covered the material that was taught in class last week. I am sad to say it, but I did not do too well on the quiz. Next time I think I will spend a bit more time studying. After class, Kevin and I drove home and then ate dinner. After a while, Michael, Kevin and I watched Mission Impossible: 2, a movie that Michael had checked out from the library. I do not think I will watch it again. The main character, Ethan Hunt, who was played by Tom Cruise, made a great use of technology. The antagonist also used a lot of high-tech gear and they managed to confront each other quite a bit through out the duration of the movie. Towards the end, Ethan is required to make a decision between what he knows is right and protecting the heroine. In the end he is able to save the heroine’s life, as a result of his self sacrifice.

10-1-04 Friday

When I finally got up between 11 and noon, I had somehow contracted a cold. Colds somehow manage to make you more sleepy than normal. Considering I had planned on being up at about 8, I blew a majority of my day sleeping. Unfortunately sleeping is not an optional commodity. The best thing you can do to recover from a cold, even though I don’t have extra time, is to sleep. After I ate some breakfast or lunch, I had about an hour to work on my piano. After a rewarding practice time, I got ready for work. I was able to work even though I had a stuffy nose. Towards the end of my shift at about 8 p.m, I started to feel pretty bad. I knew I was the only one available to close the front office, so I was able to stick it out until I got off at 10. When I finally got home, I went to bed very quickly.

9-30-04 Thursday

After working a long shift from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m, I came home and ate dinner. In a little while, I decided it would be a great idea to watch the presidential debate. So at 8 p.m. when it started, I turned on the TV, a rare occurrence in our house. By the time the hour and a half debate had finished, I had a new perspective on Kerry. Though many people say that he won the debate, I now know why I disagree with him on so many points. And to make it worse, during the debate he changed his views on multiple important issues. I do not understand how anyone could vote for a candidate with such unreliable positions. President Bush did look tired, but the content of what they each said was drastically different. Bush stayed very strongly on what he has said in the past and is a man of integrity. I do not have to think very long to decide who to vote for in the Presidential race. However, the gubernatorial race is not so clear cut.

9-29-04 Wednesday

So far this week, I have tried my best to get up about 7 a.m. I find that by doing this I can start the day off with my quiet time and then go on to other things. Going to bed earlier at night is not easy, but getting up in the morning is even harder. I still get about the same amount of sleep, but I find that I am much more productive.

After lunch, I took Kevin to the Davies house for his math class. While I was waiting, I went just down the street to our church building and worked for about 2 hours cleaning up the property. I trimmed two trees, picked up trash along the street and blew leaves off the parking lot. By that time, I had to go pick him up and we went home.

From 6 to 8 p.m. I was at the Marion County Master Gardener Associations’ monthly meeting. This was the first evening meeting they had and it was a trial to see how great the interest was. There was a very good turn out and it will likely be done again. After getting some nibble food, I looked at the many displays that were set up detailing the numerous volunteer opportunities available to Master Gardeners. For the last hour, they had a speaker who talked about pleasure gardening. He described the many different landscaping plants he uses; almost all are tropical and do not live through the winter. Since he has to replant every year, he has the chance to have a new design every year. The many pictures that he showed were very helpful for giving ideas that I may use in my own landscaping. I hope to be able to go to the next meeting in October, since this one was as helpful as it was.

For what this is worth...

Heart of Gold


What is Your Heart REALLY Made of?
brought to you by Quizilla

This could be dangerous...

Ask me 3 questions. Any three, and I have to answer them honestly. Of course if it's too personal, I won't answer.
Then post this message on your blog. I'll answer the Q's in an upcoming post.

I want EVERYONE WHO READS THIS TO LEAVE ME QUESTIONS then do this on your site. It'll be more fun.

Cool listing of Indiana blogs!

My brother found this really cool website. It's a list of Indiana blogs, and will eventually include a map of where people are. It's free to list your blog there too.

~Brian

There's plenty of space to continue...

For those who may not have noticed, on one of my posts, there has been a lengthy discussion about salvation - who may receive it and how. I feel that it is a very important topic so please make any continuing comments here on this post.

~Brian

The best book I have read in the past year.

During the course of the last year, I have read several books. It is very hard to choose which one is the best. The two books that made it into the final round are:

· Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris and

· High Calling: The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband by Evelyn Husband

Both books are very well written, but Boy Meets Girl is more applicable to where I am at right now. Boy Meets Girl is the sequel to I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Joshua Harris wrote his first book at age 21, urging young Christians to give up worldly dating practices and to focus on serving God instead.

Boy meets Girl is the continuing of his life story. Following the principles he established in his first book, Josh commits to focus his life on God. After giving up the dating game, God allowed him to get to know Shannon, his future wife. He tells of his struggles to keep God as his focus all the way through the relationship. The book is about how they met, became friends, courted, and were then married. It is filled with many examples of couples and their experience with dating or courtship. Josh focuses especially on how God allowed it to turn out in the end.

I believe that this quote sums up the main point of the whole book -- “For your relationship to be strong, love for God must be the common passion of your hearts.” Personally, I was challenged to do several things as a result of reading this book. First, I must have my focus totally on God. Second, I need to rely on God to provide a wife in his due time; if that is His plan. Third, there is no reason to worry about who or when. Instead I should pray that God will be working to prepare me for the future he has in store me. I very highly recommend this book to be read by all, especially teenagers.

(This was an English assignment I decided to post)

Work...

I had every intention of getting up and getting a lot done this morning. However, I didn’t get up until about 11:30! After taking a quick shower and eating some food, there was not much time left. I had to leave at 12:45 in order to be at work on time. Work is a whole story by itself. When I got there, there were customers all over the place. I could barely keep up with all the refunds and Western Unions. Not to mention cashing paychecks and selling all the cigarettes and lottery tickets that I did! To keep it short, it was very busy at Customer Service today! I got off at 6, and it really was showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Certainly, today I was very glad I only had a short shift!

Long day

I had an early start today because I had my monthly appointment with Dr. Hughes. He did not do much today, but told me to continue wearing all three rubber bands as I have been. My next appointment is only in another two weeks, and I should be getting my braces off very soon! For most of the morning after I got home, I worked on B. S. F. questions. I then went to lunch with the Gilberts at Bahama Breeze. The food was excellent, though I’m not sure I’ll go there again. With $100 to spend because Mr. Gilbert had won a contest at his work, we were able to get just abut anything we wanted. When I home I only had an hour or two before I headed out to work at 3:30 p.m. I got off at 10, and now I'm headed to bed.

An RP church in the Philippines?

During the evening service, came the biggest highlight of the day. Pastor York and Magill both shared about their recent trip to the Philippines. The trip was very productive and consisted mainly of a 3 day seminar given by Pastor York and Magill. They also spent much time talking to Ojie Bicaldo, the main contact the RP church has in the Philippines. He and two assistants are praying that God would open the door for a presbytery and a seminary in the Philippines.
*Item for prayer*

Great sermon this morning

James Faris – “What is your End?”

1 Timothy 6:1-21

Verse 8 after having food and clothing – the basics of life - we do not need anything else. Instead be like Paul who was able to be content in his circumstances, regardless. It’s not how much you have or don’t have, but how you are content with what you have.

Verse 15-16 you will see who it is that has kept the Word of God perfectly, to him be honor (Philippians 2) Jesus was the exact opposite of the man in verses 1-5. He could have brought everything he wanted to into the world, but he decided to be equal with men who do not have an option to bring anything into the world. (Isaiah 53) Christ bore the sins of those who love money (and everything else too) so that I do not have to fear my end. Jesus makes the FDIC look puny. Don’t come to church thinking “what am I going to gain?”

Verse 19 by giving you will lay up a good foundation against the time to come, grasping onto eternal life and not letting go. You may not be rich in the time on earth, but by giving, not to the point of poverty on your part, but as God blesses you. By doing this you will lay up in heaven your treasure.

A waste of the morning....

Time, being as precious as it is, I do not know haw I can sleep until 11 a.m. Somehow I did anyway! After a really fast shower and some food, I went to work. After a fairly busy day, I got off at 4 p.m. and went home for a couple hours. At 6:30, I went to Pat Jarboe’s house for the monthly Belcezar committee meeting. This is a meeting at which we discuss the prayer and financial needs of pastor Belcezar, whose ministry is in Nicaragua. The meeting began at 6:30 p.m., and by the time 9 came around, we had covered a lot of important topics. Now I have all kinds of things to pray for him and his ministry.

Whew, a day for the record books!

As far as your average day goes, today was way out of the ordinary. To start off, I left our house at 7:30 a.m. I took Johanna, my sister, to church because she was going to help prepare and serve at the Mother / Son Brunch. My mom and two of my brothers met me at church around 8:30. All four of us got our picture taken and then we were seated for the program to begin. The meal started off with a delicious fruit salad. Then we went through the buffet line that included baked oatmeal, waffles, breakfast pizza, Canadian bacon, and home made coffee cake. All the food was wonderfully prepared by Todd Brown, who is a professional chef. Following the meal Senator Kruse, of the Indiana State Senate, gave a wonderful talk about living your Christian life with integrity. Once the brunch was done, I had about 2 hours to work on a few things I had brought with me. Then it was time for the first class of Dr. Blackwood’s Ancient Church History class. This ran for the majority of the afternoon, beginning at 1:30 p.m. and ending at 5:30. Immediately after class was done, I had to leave to go to work at 6. I finally got home after I got off work at 11 p.m. What a long day!

John 3:14-18, 20-21, 36

14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.

This is a great chapter about those that are saved and those that are not. Also it's about why Christ even came to the world at all. Being one who believes in Christ and what he did for me on the cross giving me salvation, I stand as one who is not condemned before God. As I seek to live by the truth, I will be examined thoroughly by both God and men to see if what I did was done for God and his glory alone. As John said “That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”(John 3:29-30) As I mature, things I do will be done more for God and because of the ability he gives me, not for any credit that I may receive.

No work today...

Time is one of the most precious things that I have been given in my life. God seeks for me to always use time to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, times like today, when I slept in really late don’t help me make the best use of the time I have. Anyhow when I did manage to get up, I was able to get quite a lot done in the short amount of time I had available. I took Kevin over to Grandma and Grandpa’s to cut their grass. Then I had a very productive time of practice on the piano for the recital in October. Overall since I didn’t have to work today (which is nice in a while), I got a lot done.

The wonderful life

Nothing really out of the ordinary happened today. However, I did go to the first class of Mr. Pulliam’s writing class at church. There are about 12 people in this class which meets for one and a half hours every other week. I took a semester worth of this class last fall and by far that class has improved my writing better than anything has before. God certainly puts opportunities in front of me, and I must make the best of them. One of the assignments due in 2 weeks is a short paper on what I expect to learn from this class and why I think that writing better is essential. Another assignment is to write 7 days worth of journals during the next 2 weeks, so I’m likely to update my blog a bit more frequently now. After I got home from class, I had a little time, then I went to work! Some days it’s really busy at work, but today was certainly not one of those days. Instead, it was rather slow and I was able to get off very close to 10:00 p.m.

Now I’m off to bed.

Hebrews 12 is an awesome chapter!

Hebrews 12:1-3
¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

...and that's only the begining of the chapter. In life there is not only a physical "race", but also a spiritual "race" as well. There are many distractions around us, but we must continually focus on the goal, the endpoint, to judge weather what we are doing is necessary. Christ desires to be the central focus of both our physical and spiritual race, so that I may see his wonderful example and follow him and not get discouraged.
I must continually ask myself:
How do the things I do today help me to get successfully to the end of life and to Heaven to fellowship with my creator?
How about you?

~Brian

Wow it's been 3 busy days

To start Monday off, (now I don't even remember what I did!) .... well I worked in the evening from 4-10 pm and then came home and tried to get to bed, which didn’t happen until about midnight. (Now the biggest bummer of the week) - I had to get up at 5 a.m. on Tuesday so I could be at work at 6 a.m.! Now, if you know me at all, you would know that I really don't like getting up any earlier than I have to, but I was finally able to drag myself out of my warm and comfy bed. Once I got to work, I brought in a ton of carts (101 to be exact, by the end of the day it was a total of about 175) which were outside so the floor under where they are stored normally could be cleaned. Then I went around to all 15 or so trash cans and emptied them, taking all the garbage to the dumpster in the back. Next I inspected and cleaned up each of the 4 bathrooms (lots of fun!). Finally I was able to go back up front and bag groceries like I was supposed to be doing. I eventually got off at about 3:40 p.m. So, to say the least that was a really long day. Today I had to get up "early" again because today, I had to be at work at 8 a.m. I worked a much more normal shift today with the exception that there were not enough cashiers scheduled to compensate for the amount of customers, so I got to be a cashier for a good part of the day. The rest of the day I was in Customer Service which I like better than anything else. Finally I got off at 4 and I came home!

I feel like I have been working a bit these last 3 days. I wonder why? It’s not like I haven’t worked 23 hours in the last 3 days! Oh well, off to bed…

~later~

Work etc...

I can't believe it's been over a week since I have posted anything at all, but here's an update on what's going on.

Not much has changed since my last update post but to keep you all up to speed, here goes.

Work at MARSH is still occupying a majority of my time considering I’m working an average of about 30 hours every week. This week I’ll have about 32. The biggest “problem” with working so much is making time in the rest of my day for the multitude of other things I (want to / am supposed to do / need to do /) have to be doing. However at work I am daily presented with opportunities to minister or witness (usually only by my attitude/actions) to those I come in contact with. The other thing I see a lot at work is just the sin of the world and that’s not necessarily a good thing to see, but it certainly is an eye opener.

The time I’m at home is spent mostly trying to finish a couple subjects that I’ve been to lazy to finish from high school, gardening and landscaping the yard, and making an attempt at cleaning up some of the clutter I have on my desk. In about a week and a half, I’ll begin a writing class with Mr. Pulliam. This class is a continuation of the class that I took a semester of last fall, and since I’m hoping to go back to ALERT in January, I’ll only be taking one semester this fall as well. He is an excellent teacher, but one of the hardest things is all the reading he assigns – usually a book every 2 weeks, and normally I don’t read that fast. The other thing I’m startingis Dr. Blackwood’s ancient church history class. I have taken his Reformation church history class, so I anticipate this one will be a lot like that one – learning all sorts of really neat stuff about the Bible, the Church, and my history as an R.P.er. That should pretty sum up what I’ll be doing this fall.

Some prayer requests that I would:
1 Make use of the opportunities to witness verbally at work.
2 Wisely plan each day so that I can accomplish the most out of the time i have.
3 Be able to learn all that God is trying to teach me by those classes and circumstances of this fall.
4 Be able to go back to ALERT in January, if that is God’s will.

That’s all for now.
In Christ,
Brian

Verses of the day

<> Hebrews 3:1, 12-13
¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.
¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

The State Fair!

This wonderful day, I got up at a lovely 9 a.m. After about an hour or two, I had to get ready for work and eat lunch. Work started at noon and went until 4:30 p.m. Once I got off, I came home, changed my clothes and took Kevin down to the State Fair where Michael met us. Unfortunately Kevin and I forgot the free tickets that we got out of the newspapers, so Michael went back home to pick them up. We finally were able to start looking around the fair at about 6:30. One of the first things we did was to eat dinner. For dinner we ate a lamb-burger sandwich, fried Oreos, and a fried Twinkie. Both the Twinkie and Oreo were certainly different, but they were pretty good! Following dinner, we wondered around, going through several different buildings looking at the different exhibits. One of the buildings we visited was the 4-H building which has been totally re-done since last year; it looks great! By the time we finished there, it was time for Michael to leave and go to work, but Kevin and I stayed for a while longer. We were able to see and talk to some friends that we haven’t seen for quite a while. So, besides spending about $25 (which isn't really too bad), we had an excellent time.

Sleeping in....

Today I slept in much beyond when I usually get up – I didn’t get up until noon! By the time I was ready to do the things I needed to do; it was already 1:30! The day goes by incredibly fast, and only goes faster when you sleep away half of it! This afternoon I was able to fix up my calendar – I got all the dates of things in the future put on it. So now I know what’s going on ahead of me. I got busy working on my calendar and talking with mom and soon I realized it was 5:30 and I had to be at work in 30 minutes. To keep it short, I got ready for work and by then I didn’t have time to eat anything. The result of not eating is that you get hungry, and not getting my break at work until after 9pm didn’t help any! So now that I’m off and home again, I can eat something then go to bed!

Quick post

Wow what a great sermon this morning. One thing that makes it really interesting is that I just started doing 1st Timothy in my Quiet Times last week, and now they're preaching on it! What an amazing coincidence.
Today Pastor Faris preached on 1st Timothy 2 which talks a lot about prayer. As a man of God I must take responsibility to be a leader in prayer. Prayer for those over me in governemt, church, and family. When I come before God I must be pure in heart or there will be a barrier between him and me. To save ourselves from shipwreck, we must pray! Prayer is the focus of our lives, not for ourselves, but for those in authority over us.

Some stuff about me that you might not know...

A survey thing that I found on a friend's blog that I just feel like doing. I hate the usual kind, the questions are so pointless. This one however, has a bit more meaning behind the questions, and it even makes you think!

THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT:
Something important on your desk: my Bible and computer
When you sleep you wear: pijamas :-) a t-shirt and shorts, nothing special
If you could afford it at the moment, you would buy: this sounds so weird, but a trip to Nicaragua to see all the friends I have down there, and to serve Christ however I can.
Something you don't have a lot of: Time, money.
If your house was burning and you could only save 3 items what would they be: That's hard, I guess my Bible, notebook/journal whatever you want to call it, computer, and my family and pets of course are first on the list.

MORALS
If there were no side effects, you would enjoy being addicted to: Singing all day long, expecially the Psalms.
A time when you purposly hurt someone emotionally: none that I can think of
A time you accidentally hurt someone emotionally: I've done that many more times than I would want to admit to, not to mention that I cant' think of any which is probably a good thing.
One person you have killed in your thoughts: no one, why would I want to get rid of anyone? Sure my little brothers may be annoying at times, but it could be a lot worse, besides we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourself.

FRIENDS:
Three traits you look for in a friend: someone who will listen to anything i want to say or ask, being willing to give time to spend with me, Godliness...
Who makes you laugh most often: I don't know; I make myself laugh quite a bit
A friend who you can tell anything: Rut, Kevin, I don't know who else.
A friend you can go to for advice: Rut Etheridge, Eric Filson, Brad Johnston...
The best piece of advice you had been given: that I should trust God for my salvation
The friend who uses most of your energy: I have no idea

EGO
Your 3 best qualities: do I seem that egotistical? I guess my servant's attitude, desire to help others, general humility
Your 3 worst qualities: I don't usually think about my bad qualities.... maybe bad use of time, lack of self motivation and my propensity to sin
Describe your Ideal self: besides the fact that being ideal is imposible, having a really, really close relationship with God would be at the top of the list, in second place would probably be a better memory
You are embarassed when: maybe when people I know act really dumb in front of other people
The greatest physical pain you ever endured: that would have to be reserved for while I was at ALERT during Basic Training, we went on a really tough 2 day hike, at the end of one of the days, we went up a mountain on a trail that switched back and forth all 3 kilometers up, to make it worse, we had our "multi-day" packs on which weighed at least 50 lbs! Either that hike or at the end of a 12 hour hike, and there was no slowing down all day long, only a couple breaks, and lunch. My legs wouldn't have gone much farther even if my life depended on it!
The greatest emotional pain you ever endured: I don't have any idea. Maybe sometimes when I have had to admit things to my parents, or God. Or maybe while I was at ALERT.
Moment you are most ashamed of: No idea.
Your best physical feature: I really can't say, God has given me a great body. I do have a good tallent for singing though, if that counts.
Who/What makes you happy: God and knowing that I can come to him anytime I want, there are no restrictions.
Who/what makes you sad: Knowing that there are so many people on the Earth that do not know Jesus as their savior, and that they will be going to Hell for eternity.

EMOTIONS
Emotion you hide most: either anger, or true, genuine, Godly love
The emotion you tend to experience most: excitement, and understanding
The emotion you are feeling most lately: is tired an emotion? otherwise slightly overwhelmed "There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul." Arnold Bennett (1867-1931)
You have a huge amount of guilt regarding: I don't know
When you are angry you need: time alone
When you are sentimental you need: somebody else for support/comfort...
When you are in love you need: since I've not been in love... I don't have a clue.

MEMORIES
One of your most peaceful memories: Nicaragua in 2002, the city we were building a church in was on the beach and one morning I got up really early, went to the beach and just watched as the sun came up, it was truly amazing!
One of your most tragic memories: when my first pet died - a guinea pig, of which I have had a total of about 15 to date counting moms, dads, and babies
One of your angriest memories: probably sometime with one of my brothers
A memory that makes you laugh: I can't seem to remember any in specific
A memory that makes you happy: I have too many of those to count
Something someone can say or do that you find extremely attractive: have a good relationship with Jesus Christ
Something someone can say or do that you find extremely unnatractive: using words that are not appropriate, hurting others
A personality trait you find appealing: outoging
Your secret passion: do I have to have one?
What do you enjoy most about having a committed relationship: How would I know? I'll answer that after I'm in one, like after I'm married (if that even happens)

FINALLY
If you had more time alone you would: spend it reading God's Word, studying it, memorizing it, praying, writing, sleeping...
If you had more patience you would: loose the race to the snail
If you could change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be: I really wouldn't want to change anything, I am thankful for the way God has made me, and that's just fine.
If you had no committments what would you be doing: Sleeping, reading...
If you could have one super power what would it be: The ability to teleport from place to place
If you could start all over: Why would I want to do that? I'm happy with my life the way it has been, of course there are a few things here and there that I could change, but that wouldn't warrent re-living my whole 19.75 years!
THE END :)

~Brian

An update on life and the future

I have come to the realization that many of you really have no idea what I'm doing or where I'm going, so I figured I might as well fill you all in!

Where I've been:
So far this year, I have been at ALERT from February until April, when I was promoted out of Basic Training. Since I've been home I have primarily been working at my job (MARSH) about 20-30 hours every week. Also I have done assorted landscaping type jobs around home - gardening and weeding :). Plus some miscellaneous school stuff.

Where I'm going in the future:
This fall I'm planning on working about the same amount; ~30 hours per week, possibly getting a second job (probably a night job at UPS if I do). Primarily this money is for either college or ALERT. I'm also going to be taking a semester of Mr. Pulliam's writing class, and maybe Dr. Blackwood's Ancient Church History class as well. In January, I'm hoping to go back to ALERT for another 10-20 weeks. If I'm there only 10 weeks it will be for Emergency Response Training, which includes: counseling, chainsaw use, basic fire fighting, CPR, basic first aid, basic high angle rescue, a 2 week deployment, search and rescue, 2 weeks of diving, and "rescue systems one". The second 10 weeks, if I stay for it, would be for "EMT-Basic" (Emergency Medical Training). When I get back from ALERT I plan to work until the fall (2005) when I hope to take a year at IUPUI taking classes such as math, English, biology and chemistry that are transferable to main campus Purdue for the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. At which point I will have 3-3.5 years at Purdue and I hope to graduate with a bachelors in International Agronomy. This I will then use as an intern at ECHO (Lord Willing) for a year or as long as God calls me to be there. From there, I hope to become a full time missionary in Central or South America. So that's the basic plan for about the next 10 years or so...

Of course marriage and a family may come along sometime in that timeframe too, I'll never know! If that all doesn't blow your mind, great! That's just the vision God has given me for my future! Pretty amazing! Well, that's about all for now.

If you want something to pray for, you could pray:
1. That I would be consistent in my daily QT and prayer time.
2. That I would make wise use of the time that God gives every day.

1 Timothy 4:7-8
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales, rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

ALERT Cadet Challenge!!

After the training session yesterday, several ALERT (Air Land Emergency Resource Team) guys and I met at the Convention center downtown to help lead an ALERT Cadet Challenge here in Indianapolis for about 350 cadets. By the mere fact that other ALERT men are here, means that I got to see some people that I know and to develop new friendships.
As the Cadets arrived, they marched out in groups of about 20 to the park where the event is taking place. Once we were all there, the cadets were divided up into their respective teams, and introduced to their squad leaders. I was selected to be an assistant for the obstacle course, helping Lieutenant Thornton to get all the cadets through in a reasonable time period and without injury. This was done for 2 separate units over the course of the afternoon. At about 4:30 p.m. everyone assembled and the cadets were then marched back over to the Convention center where their parents picked them up. I stayed to help clean up the equipment and headed toward home at about 5:30. It was a great day, and I get to do it again tomorrow!

First Timothy 2:8

What a verse! And soo much a challenge to fulfill. The Worldwide English translation says it best - "So I want men in every place to talk to God. They must have clean lives when they lift up their hands to talk to God. They must not be angry. They must have faith in God." If only i could live up to that every single day!!

Basketball

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Singing the Psalms with 1,499 other RP Christians - a truly awesome experience

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Volleyball

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8 of 9 members of the Prayer/Accountability group I'm in.

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A New Song concert.

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RP conference - Is it over all ready?

So much for a week long conference, it's over! I can't believe that it went by so fast! Here I am a week after it started and I can not even begin to describe all that went on there, but I'll still give it a shot.
To begin with, me and 34 others rode our bikes the 300 miles up to Grand Rapids, MI and Calvin College where the Reformed Presbyterian International Conference was held. Starting it all off was a session to kick off the Conference. Following that, the college age group (which I'm in) met in their room for a time of games and fellowship to get to know people. Starting Sabbath morning and every other morning after that, Ted Donnelly, a preacher from Ireland, spoke on the callings of Christians to service to the LORD. The titles of his sermons were: Called by Grace, Called to be Saints, Called to Freedom, Living out our Calling, Called to Glory. These messages were the highlight of the week for me just because of the enourmous amount of information that was presented and the many things I personally learned. After lunch was a time for recreation - biking, basketball, ultimate frisbee... then it was dinner time. After dinner each day was some sort of entertainment, weather it was a tallent show, a concert by New Song, annother message, or IRISH DANCING! (That was a total blast!!) By the time all was over, it was a good idea to go to bed, though not many did right away.
I'm not sure how I almost missed it, but after the morning message each day, there was someone that came and taked to the college group about how God had brought them to serve Him where they are currently. These testimonies are a close second to Ted Donnelly's sermons - every one was a great encouragement and challenge in some way. One evening just the guys had a special message from Matthew Topper on fidelity. That was probably the single best message, just because of it's incredible relevence to both me, and to everyone else there.
God really used this conference in my life to renew my relationships with friends, but even more so to deepen my relationship with Him. I pray that I will continue to apply things that I learned from this experience for the rest of my life.
I could keep on talking for hours, but at this point, I think I'll sign off for now. :)