Merry Christmas

I love this time of year. I love celebrating and giving gifts. I love the emphasis on family and love. I know the main focus of Christmas is Jesus yet for me as a gift giver (love language) this time of year is awesome.
I also have this weird tradition of really decorating the inside of my house on Christmas Eve. Some of you have never seen pictures of ever heard of this fine tradition so I wanted to share some videos with you that might help you understand what exactly my family gets to experience in just a couple of hours (maybe I should be getting some sleep and not posting these videos...oh well)

My Mom Gives The Best Gifts

So my mom has this incredible ability to give Angie some of the best gifts ever. This year she decided to get her a Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree. Angie loved seeing this while she lived in Japan. We received the tree today and needless to say it made Angie cry when sh realized what it was. I have uploaded a few pictures into a slide show.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season.

Some Random Thoughts.

So it seems like it has been forever since I have posted anything. I mean it has been nearly 2 whole weeks. I have considered writing on a variety of different topics but nothing ever seem to come together in an intelligible format. So I have finally decided to write some random thoughts for you.

So have you ever considered what your purpose is in life? Have you ever asked God His purpose for you? What did you find out? If you have never taken the time to do this I would encourage you to as soon as you can.

Our reactions to the terrible events in our lives have an incredible impact on our relationship with God. I know one young man who was in a terrible accident and nearly died. He has chosen to view this as some sort of attack by God on Him. He looks at this as God abandoning Him. This has lead Him to conclude that God does not really exist. This is contrast to viewing the accident in light of God protecting Him from death. The bottom line is that if God had wanted him dead he would be dead right now. How do you usually react to adversity?

I love snow. I love watching my boys play in the snow. Anthony is still getting used to it but Aiden loved throwing snow balls at me. We all loved the snow ice cream. It was yummie!

Well those are some of the thoughts bouncing around in my head. Hope maybe you have gotten something out of all of this. :)

Sins of the Fathers

Have you ever thought about how your sins and choices will affect your children or even their children?

While God's grace and mercy can break any of the cycles of sins there is something to be said for the impact of our decisions on our children. In 2 Kings 5 we see how Gehazi's greed caused his descendants to have leprosy of some sort. At some level this does not seem fair to later generations. Why must they be punished for something they had not control over? I think this is where God's mercy and grace and our obedience comes in to play. If make the choice the follow God then we can be the ones to break the cycle.

I know for me this puts a greater significance on all of the decisions I make. So what decisions do you to make that could impact your kids (even if you don't have any yet)? Are you seeking out God's wisdom on your decisions? Do you seek to honor God in all that you do?

I hope so. I know I try and while I know that I fail on many different things, to do try. I rest on God's grace to overlook those times when I fail Him and others.

Fearful of God's Path or Plan

Have you ever known God's plan for you but have been scared to do what you know He is wanting you to do?

I have. In fact, I am in that place right now. I hope to be able to share more about the details of this plan in the near future. For now I think it will be best for everyone to say that God has been dealing with me on my own sermon from last Sunday. I have some people that I need to reconcile with. It is my hope that these issues will be resolved no later than the end of this coming week.

I am not sure I have ever been in a place like this. I have been nervous about doing something but I have never been this scared. I am not sure what the fear is about. I know in my head that it is Satan trying to prevent me from following God's path. Have you ever been in this kind of place? If so I would love to hear about it.

Division and Unity in the Church

I was wanting to put an outline of my sermon here but since I never made one and God changed things as I was preaching, I cannot put one here. However, you can listen to sermon here.

The Power of a Man of God

Do you realize the incredible power that a man or woman of God posses?

If you have accepted Christ as your Savior do you realize that the Holy Spirit lives within you? Do you understand what that means?

Do others around you see the power of God in your life?

In 2 Kings 1 we see what can happen when Christians truly live as though the have the power of God flowing through their veins. In this opening chapter of 2 Kings we read about how fire came down and consumed the enemies (the 2 captains) of Elijah the prophet. The King had sent these 2 captains to summon Elijah down from the Hill. These two men essentially attempted to order Elijah of of the hill. When the 3rd captain arrived he had learned from the mistakes of the first 2. He had a much different attitude when he approached the prophet. He humbled himself before Elijah and acknowledged that he was a "Man of God" and that because of this he had great power. Because of this change in attitude this captain's life and the lives of the 50 men with him were spared (unlike the 1st two groups).

So do people see the power of God in your life? If not, why not?

Is it because you are not living like the Holy Spirit lives in you or is it because the Holy Spirit does not live in you?

It is something to ponder on! :)