Birthday Blessings

       On July 2nd, I celebrated my 21st birthday.  In my family, we go all-out for birthdays.  Here are some photos...

Putting the grill together.

 Gifts are great, but little sisters are better!

 For dinner, we had veggies, chips, grilled sandwiches, and Oreo ice-cream.  Mmm!

 Somebody burned the sandwich...

 Picking off the "burnt" part!

 This is a great book!

I think Rebecca enjoyed the gifts even more than I did!

 Applesauce and rubber bands (In the bus, rubber bands are the currency of choice, as well as the weapon of choice!)

 

 Dark chocolate.  Ahhh!!!

 

 I love getting clothes for my birthday, because then I don't have to buy as many!

       If only a good ball glove would translate to a good ball player.... 

       Needless to say, I had a great day.  However, even if we couldn't afford gifts, I still would have the best family in the whole world!

Independence Day

       As I write this, I am with my family, driving through British Columbia on the Alaskan Highway.  It feels a little odd to spend Independence Day in Canada, but yet, even here, I am reminded of the great price that was paid for our freedom.  You see, during World War II, the Americans were afraid that the Japanese would invade Alaska.  The Americans needed a way to transport troops and supplies to Alaska, so they built  the Alaskan Highway in 1942.  The road begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and covers approximately 1200 miles by the time it reaches Alaska.  In spite of cold weather, lack of food, and extremely difficult terrain, the road was finished in about nine months.  The spirit shown by the men who built this road is the spirit of the American people, a spirit that, against all odds, inspires us to fight for freedom.  

       It is the same spirit that made our forefathers fight to make this country free, and also to keep it free.  It is the spirit that says, with Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”  It is the spirit that inspires us to fight to keep this country free from tyranny, and it is the spirit that makes us declare that we are still “One nation under God.”

       If you are an American, you are blessed to live in the greatest country on the face of the earth.  So while you watch fireworks and eat watermelon, remember those who gave their lives for our freedom.  And most of all, remember the One who gave his life so that, regardless of where we live, we can be free forever (John 3:16)!

How We Can Limit God- Part Three

       Several weeks ago I started a three-part series about ways we limit God.  One of the ways we limit God is by having a lack of faith; another way is by having un-confessed sin in our lives.  This week, I am going to address a third way that we can limit God.

       In addition to the two ways mentioned above, we also can limit God through ineffectual prayer.  James 5:16b says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."  If this is true, then the opposite must also be true; ineffectual prayer availeth little.  So how can we know that our prayers are making a difference?  I would like us to take a look at three words in this verse.

       First, lets look at the word "effectual."  According to this dictionary, the word "effectual" means, "Producing an effect, or the effect desired or intended; or having adequate power or force to produce the effect. The means employed were effectual."  How can we know that our prayers will have enough power to be effectual?  First, let me explain something about how prayer works.  As humans, we have all sinned, and thus cannot approach God.  However, I John 2:1b says, "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"  Jesus is our advocate, meaning that Jesus  approaches God for us.  Thus, Jesus is the one who gives power to our prayers, so our prayers won't be effectual unless we are connected to Jesus.  This brings us to the second word, "righteous."  

       According to the same dictionary , the word "righteous" means, "Just; accordant to the divine law. Applied to persons, it denotes one who is holy in heart, and observant of the divine commands in practice; as a righteous man."  If we are not living righteous lives, we cannot be having fellowship with Jesus, and therefore our prayers won't make much difference.  Now, by "righteous lives," I don't mean that we will never sin.  Everyone sins, but Proverbs 24:16a says, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again."  When a righteous man sins, he doesn't give up; he gets up and keeps going!

       Lastly, lets look at the meaning of the word "fervent."  According to the same source, the word "fervent" means, "to be hot, to boil, to glow."  Are you hot, or just lukewarm?  Fervency has nothing to do with how loud you pray with your mouth, but rather how loud you pray with your heart.  In other words, a fervent prayer isn't measured by the tone of the mouth, but by the temperature of the heart.  The more a person wants his prayer to be answered, the more fervently he will pray.  If you find yourself indifferent as to whether or not your prayers are answered, ask God to change your heart and make you passionate about the things that He is passionate about.

       In summary, if you are connected to Jesus, you will live righteously, which will lead to effectual prayers.  And when you are in fellowship with the Maker of the universe, your spiritual temperature will rise, leading to fervent prayers.  When these things happen, God's un-limited power is suddenly unleashed!

Men's Camping Trip

    
       I am deviating from the series I am doing on how we limit God, but I will finish it.  For now, though, I am going to do a post about camping trips.  Men's camping trips, that is.  I recently went on an overnight camping trip with my five brothers, and that resulted in some ideas for a blog post.  So here goes.....

       Things you must take on a men's camping trip-
1.  Guns.  It wouldn't be a "men's" camping trip without them.  We took our 22's and a BB gun; just take your gun of choice.  (On longer trips, you may need a bigger gun and some dynamite.)
2.  Ammo.  Obviously.
3.  Knives (such as pocket knives, hunting knives, etc).  Pocket knives can double as butcher knives and table-knives and can even work as a fork in a pinch (but only on a "men's" camping trip).  This thought may sound gross to some people, but seriously, if you can use a knife for raw meat, then why not for cooked?
4.  Sleeping bags.
5.  Men.  Preferably younger brothers, at least if you have them.  If not, call me about renting mine.
Brothers can come in handy, serving as cooks, fire-starters, wood-collectors, etc.

       Things that aren't necessary, but are handy.
1.  Flashlights.  Let me explain.  If your brothers are like mine, they will take a flashlight along, and you can borrow it!  This is seriously what happened on our trip.  Two of my brothers brought flashlights, and the rest of us didn't.  Well, while getting ready for bed, we just shared the flashlights, and that worked fine until the two with flashlights left the tent to get something, at the same time!  Now, before you think that we had an argument about it, we didn't.  After all, real men don't argue.  They settle disagreements with fist-fights! (JUST KIDDING!!)

2.  Food.  This is really handy, but you can always get your own grub in the woods.  (No, marshmallows don't grow on trees, but you should be able to get by with some small game and fish.)

3.  A tent.  If you don't have one, you can always sleep under the stars.

       What not to take on a men's camping trip-
1.  Cellphones.  Okay, you can take one if it's absolutely necessary, but don't use it more than you have to.  I mean, what if Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett walked out of the woods and saw you sitting at your campfire texting?  Just be a man, stay off your phone, and enjoy the woods.

2.  Alarm clocks.  If your brothers are like mine, they will wake up at dawn anyways.  And trust me, when my brothers wake up, my sleep is OVER!

       So, with the weather warming up, get out of the house and spend some time in the woods.  And if you are interested in renting any of my brothers for a weekend, give me a call.  And make sure you remember to ask about the bulk rate.  (I give discounts if you take all five!)



DISCLAIMER- This article has NOT been approved or sanctioned by the FDA, EPA, or PITA.  The opinions stated are solely those of the writer.  The writer is not responsible for any calamities suffered by anyone who actually takes his advice.  Do NOT try this at home; only at the campsite!

How We Can Limit God- Part Two

       Recently, I started a three part series dealing with the ways we limit God.  In my last post, I wrote about how our lack of faith limits God.  This week, I am going to address the second way that we limit God.

       In addition to limiting God through our lack of faith, we also limit God by our sin.  Think for a minute of the children of Israel.  God wanted to give them the land of Caanan, but instead of taking the land, they "rebelled against the commandment of the Lord" (Deut. 1:26)  What was the result of their unbelief and rebellion?  None of the men from age 20 on up (except Joshua and Caleb) were allowed to enter Caanan.  Our sin ALWAYS brings consequences.  The good news is, God does forgive.  However, if we as Christians live day-by-day with unconfessed sin and un-believing hearts, God won't do any great works through us.  He simply can't.  I Corinthians 6:14c says, "And what communion hath light with darkness?"  God is the Father of light, and Satan is the father of darkness.  If we have unconfessed sin in our lives, then we aren't in total harmony with God.  And John 15:5 tells us that we can do nothing without God.  Therefore, our sin limits God.

How We Can Limit God (Part One)

       Wow, some of you are probably wondering if I dropped of the face of the earth!  Well, I didn't! (Obviously, or else I wouldn't be writing this!)  Anyways, I won't make excuses for not posting the last month; I simply didn't make time for it.  However, now that I am sitting down to write again, I am going to be doing a three-part series on "How We Can Limit God." (Much of what I will be writing is not original with me; it's based on sermons from my pastor, Joseph Brown.)

       First of all, it may shock some of you to hear that we can limit God.  You may be asking, "What do you mean by saying that we can limit God, and how can we do that?"  Well, thank-you for asking, and this week I will be covering the first way that we can limit God.  Before I get to that, however, we need to understand that the Bible specifically speaks of our ability to limit God.

       Psalm 78:41 (speaking of the Israelites) says this, "Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel."  I don't know about you, but this verse scares me!  Just think, we have the ability to limit the power of God in our lives!  That thought should give us some fear of the Lord! 

       So, how can we limit God?  One way is having a lack of faith.  Here are some references which give accounts of how Jesus worked while He was on this earth. All of these verses specifically mention the faith of a person- Luke 7:9, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, and Luke 18:42.  This list is by no means exclusive; these are simply verses I found while paging through the book of Luke!  Now, contrast these verses with Luke 9:41, in which Jesus said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?"  Jesus said this after his disciples failed to cast a devil out of a boy.  Clearly, God only works when faith is present.!
    
       Hebrews eleven is known as the "Hall of Faith."  Verse six says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him (speaking of God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."  If it is impossible to be saved without faith, we surely can't expect God to work in our lives if we don't have faith!

       Now, the good news is that we don't need an enormous amount of faith in order to see God work in our lives.  One of my favorite verses on faith is Mark 9:24, which says this, "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."  In the very next verse, Jesus cast a devil out of the man's son.  This man didn't have a great amount of faith; he simply believed!

       God wants to do the impossible in, and through, His children.  II Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."  The question is, "Will we have faith?"
      

Home!

       Wow!!!  After being gone for so long, I almost forgot how good it is to be home!!!  From sleeping in my own bed, to being able to work on the farm, and everything in between, home is just really amazing after a long trip.  You know, if this is what it's like here on earth, our Heavenly home-going is gonna be un-imaginable!  However, we really did have a great trip; it is so rewarding to see people's hearts turned towards God, and to realize that He is still doing a great work in America.

       Also, thank-you so much to everyone who has prayed for us; your prayers have been felt!  God has has really blessed us these last three months, and has protected us in our travels.  Here are a few of the ways that we have really felt God's hand of protection-

       #1.  Since we left home, none of us have been what I would call "sick" (i.e. throwing up, etc), except for Rebecca!  Health is such a blessing, because it just isn't much fun to sing when you are sick (and also because we travel in a forty-five foot bus, so when people get the flu, well, you get the idea!)

       #2.  While traveling in Northern Georgia one night, we crossed some mountains on the Appalachian Trail, which we later found out is nick-named "The Dragons Tail"!  (and appropriately so, since this twenty-four mile stretch of road has lots of hairpin curves!)  Well, we were all sleeping except for our faithful bus-driver (my dad), and the snow was just beginning to fall, when the bus started its trek up the mountain. After pain-stakingly working his way around curve after curve, dad finally guided the bus to the top of the mountain and looked down...... but wait, where was the bottom?  Was it actually those lights waaaaay down below?  Needless to say, we crept along as we made our descent, and eventually DID make it the whole way down.  We later told some friends who are First Responders and live near there, about our traveling the Appalachian Trail; they were shocked!  They said that motercyclists ride that road in the summer, and, well, some of them never make it the whole way through!  God was definitely taking good care of us that night!  So thank-you all for your prayers; we definitely felt them!

       Well, this is just a brief synopsis of our trip; for more highlights, check out our family's blog or my sister Chelsy's blog.  And for now, it's home, sweet, home for me!!!