Your mission, if you choose to accept it...

I've been reading the Purpose Driven Life lately and have really had my eyes opened to how much God can do through one person. I read the stories in the Bible about a single man changing a nation (Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, David, the list goes on and on) and yet I have a disbelief that I could be one of those people. But you know what? I can be one of those people. If I give my life to God and let Him work through me there's no limit to what can be accomplished. So that got me thinking...

How do I find out what my mission is? There is a lot of work to be done in America, we are a depraved nation. Where does one start if the goal is to change America? Applying what I've read, I believe there's a few things to keep in mind:

1. I need to change myself. If I'm not “hopelessly devoted” to God and His work, then I'm useless. If I'm holding out or I don't have the faith necessary to accomplish what He's set out for me to do then I'll never get it done. God uses men in their weaknesses so that He can get the glory and not the mortal man; but to use us He has to control us.


2. Doubt has no place in the heart of the great men. David had no doubt that he was to kill Goliath, Joshua had no doubt he was going to take the Promised Land and Ezra had no doubt he was going to rebuild Israel.


3. Great things never get completed without others getting hurt. This is a touchy subject, but while I was reviewing the stories of the great men in the Scripture, people against God's will always got hurt. Egyptians drowned, the habitants of the Promised Land were slaughtered and Goliath died. Not to say death is always the result of God changing a nation, but there are those who don't want to see change and they will get hurt – and it may be people close to you that you're hurting. To accomplish the great, you may have to distance yourself from those you're close to so you can complete the task laid out before you.


4. With a great power comes a great responsibility. The people chosen to do God's work were given a great responsibility and, I believe, carried a greater burden. Changing a person takes a lot of work and lot of heartache – imagine the kind of struggle one goes through to change a nation!

Can America be saved?

God Only Uses Strong People

...or so I thought. Right now I am in a spiritually weak place so I was under the assumption God couldn't use me right now, I'd have to "get better" first. Well it just so happened I was reading "Purpose-Driven Life" on the train-ride to work and I was reading the chapter titled "God's Power in Your Weakness." I didn't think too much of the subject matter as I was reading it, I was trying to get the most out of the reading as I could. Well, before I got off the train the guy sitting next to me asked "So ya gettin' a lot out of that Purpose Driven book?" and we started talking about the meaning of life. I'll spare you the details of my sad attempt at witnessing, but I could tell my words touched him and hopefully got him thinking. In the chapter, Rick quoted a section of this passage:

1 Corinthians 1:27-29:
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

I was reminiscing about my past and when I felt most used by God, and everytime I've been used in a significant way (or felt like I was being used, one can be used by God without knowing it) I have felt like I must lean on Him. I knew everytime something powerful happened that it wasn't through my power or because of my greatness, but through His. Anything great or meaningful I accomplish can't come as a result of my own strengths or wisdom but from God, for what could the created possibly do that the Creator didn't design Him to do?

I Enter The Abyss of My Mind

Marriage is great; there are a lot of sacrifices you have to make (like dying to yourself, which isn't as traumatic or negative as it sounds) but they are all worth the countless rewards. In my experience, a lot I thought would be easy has turned out to be difficult and most of the things I thought would be difficult are easy; which goes to show I didn't know what to expect from marriage! :P

While I'm disappointed by the election results, I'm looking forward to watching the Democrats' circus act as they try and run things - it's already looking to be quite the show!

I wish politicians would spend more time worrying about alternative energy solutions and getting the homeless off the streets than bogus issues like flag burning amendments and the elections two years from now. If they spent as much time working to improve our security and quality of life as they currently do campaigning, they wouldn't have to campaign!

I respect an extremist who lives what they preach more than a "mainstream" citizen who doesn't do anything. Extremists who don't practice what they preach are easily ignored and usually mocked (Al Gore anyone?).

Sex is better than I could have imagined but not as important in life as I thought it'd be.

Now that they've come out with studies and videos showing fetuses experience pain after 20 weeks, it's time to criminalize abortion at least after that point (I support outlawing abortion outright but that wouldn't fly right now). I whole-heartedly think that a ballot initiative banning abortion after twenty weeks with exceptions for rape and incest would pass in California...am I crazy?

There's too much significance placed in the words of an entertainer; and way too much attention paid to the mundane details of these people's lives. So why do I click on the stories about them?

I've come to the conclusion that not only do you become your friends, but you become what you hate.

Dying to yourself could be a good thing if you were selfish to begin with. Letting your dreams die would be a shame, don't let anyone get in the way of your dreams because settling for less won't make anyone happy.

If your significant other wants to leave, let them. If your relationship is as good as you think it is or your love as powerful as you say, they'll be back.

Sometimes you need to release your grip completely so your bond can get stronger.

There's a lot of things about God that I intellectually understand but emotionally don't like, for example I don't like all the pain and suffering the world but I realize it's completely necessary.

That's all for now! Oh, we're moving back to Cali in January (depending on me finding a job out there).

California Here We Come...sometime

Me and Kathy have decided to accelerate our plans to move back to California. We are going to be looking for jobs out there for both of us, and as soon as we feel the time is right we're moving back. That could be in January, it could be in March, it could be in June like we originally planned.

Why are we looking to move so soon? We were staying in Chicago for two reasons; the first is so Kath can have a slow, gradual withdrawal from her community out here and the second was money - we're both making good money out here. However, Kathy's friends have all grown busy and just don't have time for her anymore so the withdrawal process has already begun. Kathy came to me this weekend and said "I'm ready to move back if you are." I was willing to wait until June to move back to California, I did not want to rush Kathy out of her adopted hometown before she was ready to leave.

Please pray for us to find jobs out in California; and not just any job but a job where we can grow and enjoy going to work (at least most of the time).

Oh and yes, the March wedding is still on! :)