*Post three of my Nicaragua2012 Posts.*
*This
is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all
so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*
At this point, you may be thinking, "Wait. He's already at the end! How can he have a third post??"
Well, this post is just for a few stories that I've thought of. So let the stories begin!
1. Imma start out with a good one.You may know Nathan Arndt. You probably don't. Regardless, this story is amazing. Picture this:
It's day four. It's 6:30 in the morning. I'm still in bed, half asleep and honestly I'm amazed I have any recollection of this. Riley Robbins is walking around. He cringes, and says something about the painful blister on his foot. Nathan, out of the blue, says "Hey, you want me to pray for it?" Riley says sure, so right then and there, at 6:30 in the morning, Nathan kneels down, and says a prayer of healing on Riley's foot.
Moment of honesty, I doubted. I thought, why would God spend His time, just so Riley could get out of a little pain? But later, Riley's is asked about it, and he says "I haven't felt it all day......but in a good way!"
2. This is gonna seem really shallow after that one, but whatever.
Thing is, down there, they don't get the luxury of lawnmowers, weed whackers, or anything of the sort. But they still need to keep a little bit of landscaping! So how do they do it??
Machetes.
They sent four of us guys out, to see what we could do. We couldn't. I actually thought we were doing decent! It only took like 15 swipes to get a tiny patch of weeds down! Then a Nicaraguan lady comes out to show us how it's done. With a piece of bread and a cup full of juice in one hand, she takes a Machete, and in THREE SWIPES gets what it took us twenty to get. Talk about an ego buster!
We were even less adept when they started throwing them. Yes, you read that right. They grabbed a few machetes, and started throwing them and getting them to stick into trees. I actually got the most out of any of us Americans! Which was two. But neither of them was as impressive as theirs! And they did it over...and over...and over again!
3. Obviously, there are people who live at the place we stayed. They prepared food, and cleaned our rooms while we were gone. Similar to a hotel. Except the food was FLIPPING INCREDIBLE! I would live there just for the food!!!
Anyway, one day we get back, and there are two piles of clothes in the middle of the rooms. I realize after look for a few seconds, that it is a bunch of our clothes! A few seconds later, I realize that its the stuff I already wore, and got all dirty! That's right. Those ladies, out of their own free will, hand washed all of our dirty clothes. Shirts, socks, and even underwear! I wouldn't even do that for myself!
Once again, I just wanna thank anyone who supported me, through either money or prayer! You don't know what a blessing you were!
So there you have it. That's the end. Until next year that is!
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2012
Nicaragua2012 (Part 2)
*Post two of my Nicaragua2012 Posts.*
*This is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*
OK. So you may remember, when we left off, I had come back from the beach. The next four days were our designated "work days". I'll begin there...
If you want the most basic overview, "We built two houses."
For a more detailed description, I'll just write what I wrote in my journal after day 3:
"It's been a ton of fun. You never get overworked, because there's not enough work for everyone, so you can easily take breaks. But don't think it's easy! I wake up every day more tired, and super sore!
People are so helpful! Sammy spends the entire time giving herself to all the little Nicaraguan children, and also is constantly offering to bring people their waters bottles! Everyday, Tara goes out of her way to cover all of the backpacks, so the when it rains, (which it does everyday here) none of our stuff will be ruined! No other specifics, but everyone gets whatever you need, and if you need a break, they jump at the chance to get back to work!
At some points throughout the day, I just spend some time with the little boys. We just run, fight, growl, and tickle (Yes. I did say tickle.) Even though we aren't doing anything, they still have so much fun, and the glee on their faces is amazing to watch!
I also love watching the teenage Nicaraguans. I can't understand much of what they say, but i feel a connection. We're just a few teenage guys, out here building to help some people out!"
So there you have it. That was my play-by-play, in the midst of the action.
On Thursday night, we went to Church. The preacher was another visitor, and he had a ton of great stuff to say about worship.
Here's some of my notes:
Ephesians 2:10
God designed us to worship Him through good works.EVERYONE WORSHIPS SOMETHING
What do you worship?
What is worship?
Singing?
Praying?
Praising?
All three of these, but more! Worship is doing what the the Holy Spirit leads us to do, and its from
your heart!
Whatever you do, do it for God!
Romans 3:23
Worshiping is reflecting the glory of the Master.
Love like He loved, Grace like He graced, and Forgive like He forgave.
God is most Glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him!
You have to KEEP your heart close to God.
You don't plan to fall out of love. It comes from not continually coming to Him.
Worship: an outward expression of your inner love.
Do you know Him? If not, you can't truly worship Him.
Psalm 139:14
You will never be able to worship God if you think He made a mistake in you.
And that's the conclusion! Now on to post numero tres!
*This is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*
OK. So you may remember, when we left off, I had come back from the beach. The next four days were our designated "work days". I'll begin there...
If you want the most basic overview, "We built two houses."
 | |||||
| They started lifting before I could get to the side... |
"It's been a ton of fun. You never get overworked, because there's not enough work for everyone, so you can easily take breaks. But don't think it's easy! I wake up every day more tired, and super sore!
People are so helpful! Sammy spends the entire time giving herself to all the little Nicaraguan children, and also is constantly offering to bring people their waters bottles! Everyday, Tara goes out of her way to cover all of the backpacks, so the when it rains, (which it does everyday here) none of our stuff will be ruined! No other specifics, but everyone gets whatever you need, and if you need a break, they jump at the chance to get back to work!
 |
| Putting in the floor boards |
I also love watching the teenage Nicaraguans. I can't understand much of what they say, but i feel a connection. We're just a few teenage guys, out here building to help some people out!"
So there you have it. That was my play-by-play, in the midst of the action.
On Thursday night, we went to Church. The preacher was another visitor, and he had a ton of great stuff to say about worship.
Here's some of my notes:
Ephesians 2:10
God designed us to worship Him through good works.EVERYONE WORSHIPS SOMETHING
What do you worship?
What is worship?
Singing?
Praying?
Praising?
All three of these, but more! Worship is doing what the the Holy Spirit leads us to do, and its from
your heart!
Whatever you do, do it for God!
Romans 3:23
Worshiping is reflecting the glory of the Master.
Love like He loved, Grace like He graced, and Forgive like He forgave.
God is most Glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him!
You have to KEEP your heart close to God.
You don't plan to fall out of love. It comes from not continually coming to Him.
Worship: an outward expression of your inner love.
Do you know Him? If not, you can't truly worship Him.
Psalm 139:14
You will never be able to worship God if you think He made a mistake in you.
And that's the conclusion! Now on to post numero tres!
Nicaragua2012 (Part 1)
*Post one of my Nicaragua2012 Posts. For the rest of the story read the next few posts!*
*This is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*
If you didn't know, I went to Nicaragua (in Central America) a few weeks ago!
It was an incredible experience, I learned a lot, and I will for sure be going next year!
We first got started back in January/February, when we got to know who all was going, and then we had 3 other meetings between that and the trip. I had so much help from people paying for the trip. I had to raise $2100 dollars (if you include my Chicago trip), and I got it completely paid for by peoples fabulous donations!
So the day of the trip arrives. We have our packing party, go over final details, and head home for a few hours before we leave. Some people slept, I on the other hand watch The Batman movies, and an episode of The Walking Dead. :D
Then we head back, take the 2 hour drive to Chicago, and fly from there to Miami, and then to Managua, Nicaragua. (That's fun to say!) We spend the night in a hotel there. It consists of tons of pizza, even more pool-dunking, an hour long talk with Riley and Jeffrey about awesome movies, and my headphones disappearing overnight. Then we take a smaller propeller plane (a 46-seater) to Puerta (Port) Cabezas. Surprisingly that was my favorite flight! I sat next to Austin, and played solitaire, war, and chess. And then we were there.
The night we got there, all we did was play with the kids. Me and Brennan were chasing around a little boy and girl, letting them go chasing them some more...and so on. We also sat around for a bit, and learned this weird hand pounding rhythm thingy. (I forgot that one, but I learned another one later which I remember!)
Day 2:
We went to Church this day! It was a flipping awesome experience! There were three different languages being sung, but even if they were singing in one of the other languages, I could still understand, and connect in my own. It just really showed how Jesus isn't American. He is universal. We so often think of Him as our own, and this was just awesome to see how much He did in the lives of people who wouldn't understand a word of our English bible, but have there own way of sharing the Good News. And then we got to hear a great message from our very own John Keim, in English, and translated to Spanish. Their services are long! Johny even had a short message, and the service was still two hours long! But I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world!
After church, we took all of the kids to the beach. It's Nicaragua, so of course it started raining as soon as we got there. But after the initial ten seconds of disappointment, (and after I covered Katie and I's bags with my poncho) everyone started having even more fun! Some people were playing beach-rain-soccer, others were building sand castles, and others (me) were having an all out war, dunking, throwing sand, etc. No casualties though! One little girl kept throwing sand at me, so i would scare her, or throw sand at her or something. At the end we shook hands, which I thought meant we were cool. But then she threw sand at me again!! What a jerk...haha
Gotta love those children...(but boy are they tiring!)
Well, I'd say thats a good place to end this one. You can find the next one here:
*This is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*
If you didn't know, I went to Nicaragua (in Central America) a few weeks ago!
It was an incredible experience, I learned a lot, and I will for sure be going next year!
We first got started back in January/February, when we got to know who all was going, and then we had 3 other meetings between that and the trip. I had so much help from people paying for the trip. I had to raise $2100 dollars (if you include my Chicago trip), and I got it completely paid for by peoples fabulous donations!
So the day of the trip arrives. We have our packing party, go over final details, and head home for a few hours before we leave. Some people slept, I on the other hand watch The Batman movies, and an episode of The Walking Dead. :D
Then we head back, take the 2 hour drive to Chicago, and fly from there to Miami, and then to Managua, Nicaragua. (That's fun to say!) We spend the night in a hotel there. It consists of tons of pizza, even more pool-dunking, an hour long talk with Riley and Jeffrey about awesome movies, and my headphones disappearing overnight. Then we take a smaller propeller plane (a 46-seater) to Puerta (Port) Cabezas. Surprisingly that was my favorite flight! I sat next to Austin, and played solitaire, war, and chess. And then we were there.
The night we got there, all we did was play with the kids. Me and Brennan were chasing around a little boy and girl, letting them go chasing them some more...and so on. We also sat around for a bit, and learned this weird hand pounding rhythm thingy. (I forgot that one, but I learned another one later which I remember!)
Day 2:
We went to Church this day! It was a flipping awesome experience! There were three different languages being sung, but even if they were singing in one of the other languages, I could still understand, and connect in my own. It just really showed how Jesus isn't American. He is universal. We so often think of Him as our own, and this was just awesome to see how much He did in the lives of people who wouldn't understand a word of our English bible, but have there own way of sharing the Good News. And then we got to hear a great message from our very own John Keim, in English, and translated to Spanish. Their services are long! Johny even had a short message, and the service was still two hours long! But I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world!
After church, we took all of the kids to the beach. It's Nicaragua, so of course it started raining as soon as we got there. But after the initial ten seconds of disappointment, (and after I covered Katie and I's bags with my poncho) everyone started having even more fun! Some people were playing beach-rain-soccer, others were building sand castles, and others (me) were having an all out war, dunking, throwing sand, etc. No casualties though! One little girl kept throwing sand at me, so i would scare her, or throw sand at her or something. At the end we shook hands, which I thought meant we were cool. But then she threw sand at me again!! What a jerk...haha
Gotta love those children...(but boy are they tiring!)
Well, I'd say thats a good place to end this one. You can find the next one here:
Monday, May 28, 2012
The Bible is Wrong
Okay, so the title might be a bit misleading. I still believe the bible. But I'm beginning to believe it differently. You may know I am in a biology class at school, which means we learn about evolution, and a bit of the big bang theory. Now, a year ago I would've said that both were wrong without a second thought. However, I've also been talking, no, debating Christianity in things called "communities" on an app I got. (Shout out to all mis amigos out there!) Both of these combined got me thinking.
There is a lot of evidence out there for both Evolution and the Big Bang theory. Obviously, without a time machine, we can't say for sure. It would be like trying to prove that there isn't any God. You can't ever say for sure. But anyway, My point is, these theories are looking less and less like theories, and more like fact.
So here is my theory. God created nature right? So he created the laws of nature. So it's only logical that he would follow His own laws, right? The Hebrew word for day, "yom", can also mean an age, not just a twenty four hour day. Therefore the six "days" of creation could be...oh I don't know....4.5 billion years? So picture this:
God makes an atom. Then He explodes it. BOOM. Big Bang. He then causes a chain reaction that starts creating stars, and galaxies. He keeps it going, and eventually brings into being one specific planet. (Which He's been planning to use all along.) Then He mixes all the right molecules together to make DNA and RNA and all that fun stuff, which, long story short, creates life. After that, over billions of years he (with His own hand) uses evolution to form what he had in mind all along. And when humanity is ready, He gives us the final part of "His image". A soul. I believe the rest of the story is written down somewhere....
Keep in mind this is just a theory. It has it's flaws. But it currently makes sense to me, so say something about it to rip it into shreds.
Thanks!
Adios.
There is a lot of evidence out there for both Evolution and the Big Bang theory. Obviously, without a time machine, we can't say for sure. It would be like trying to prove that there isn't any God. You can't ever say for sure. But anyway, My point is, these theories are looking less and less like theories, and more like fact.
So here is my theory. God created nature right? So he created the laws of nature. So it's only logical that he would follow His own laws, right? The Hebrew word for day, "yom", can also mean an age, not just a twenty four hour day. Therefore the six "days" of creation could be...oh I don't know....4.5 billion years? So picture this:
God makes an atom. Then He explodes it. BOOM. Big Bang. He then causes a chain reaction that starts creating stars, and galaxies. He keeps it going, and eventually brings into being one specific planet. (Which He's been planning to use all along.) Then He mixes all the right molecules together to make DNA and RNA and all that fun stuff, which, long story short, creates life. After that, over billions of years he (with His own hand) uses evolution to form what he had in mind all along. And when humanity is ready, He gives us the final part of "His image". A soul. I believe the rest of the story is written down somewhere....
Keep in mind this is just a theory. It has it's flaws. But it currently makes sense to me, so say something about it to rip it into shreds.
Thanks!
Adios.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Key to Freedom
Sad as it is, the truth is every person you have more than 3 conversations with will lie to you at least once. You probably get lied to 50 times a day. That's 350 times a week. 18250 times a year. So how are you supposed to know whats true? There's a book for that. it's called the Holy Bible. I've got a couple truths from there, but as Herbert Agar says, "the truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." So I pray your eyes are opened just a crack, to get you out of comfort and into freedom.
1. Lets start with a big one. The devil. I'm assuming you just thought of a red guy with horns who sits in a lava pit and tries to get people to jump down with him. That's wrong. Yeah he wants people to come into hell, (that's the next one), but the lie is the middle part. First, the devil is not in hell! He is "the prince of this world" (John 14:30). And he isn't sitting! The bible says he is "prowling like a lion" (1 Peter 5:8) and that he comes "to kill and destroy" (John 10:10). So never let your guard down, because as soon as you do he'll be attacking you!2. I'll get straight to it, when you die, you will either go to heaven or hell. I'm going to heaven. Are you? Have you truly put your life in God's hands, and trusted His son as your savior? If so, you are going to heaven no matter what. If not, please at least talk to someone about it! I'd be willing to talk, or a pastor, anyone who will accurately portray Him! But if you are a Christian, can you really live with keeping quiet? I once heard an atheist say, "if you truly believe that anyone who doesn't trust in Jesus will go to hell, how much to you have to hate them to not do everything to get them to see Him? Because if you don't, you are letting them sentence themselves to eternal torment.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
-John 8:32
1. Lets start with a big one. The devil. I'm assuming you just thought of a red guy with horns who sits in a lava pit and tries to get people to jump down with him. That's wrong. Yeah he wants people to come into hell, (that's the next one), but the lie is the middle part. First, the devil is not in hell! He is "the prince of this world" (John 14:30). And he isn't sitting! The bible says he is "prowling like a lion" (1 Peter 5:8) and that he comes "to kill and destroy" (John 10:10). So never let your guard down, because as soon as you do he'll be attacking you!2. I'll get straight to it, when you die, you will either go to heaven or hell. I'm going to heaven. Are you? Have you truly put your life in God's hands, and trusted His son as your savior? If so, you are going to heaven no matter what. If not, please at least talk to someone about it! I'd be willing to talk, or a pastor, anyone who will accurately portray Him! But if you are a Christian, can you really live with keeping quiet? I once heard an atheist say, "if you truly believe that anyone who doesn't trust in Jesus will go to hell, how much to you have to hate them to not do everything to get them to see Him? Because if you don't, you are letting them sentence themselves to eternal torment.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
-John 8:32
Thursday, December 1, 2011
F***ING PRAISE THE LORD!
Anyone else take offense from that title? I know I did, and I;m the one who wrote it!! How dare I put a cuss word in the same phrase as "the LORD"! Just terrible. But for some reason it's not a big deal to curse with the same mouth we use to praise the LOR Almighty. THink about it: we pray in the morning, and then go to school or work and star throwing in those words. And yes, Facebook counts. Are your 'statuses' consistent? Does one say "Praise the LORD!! Psalm 38:4" and the next say "F*** school. im done."? Pick one or the other! Representing the One who made the universe isnt a part time job!!
Another thing, These: * dont make it any better. I did it for an example and a clever title, but really, "What the heck?" or "What in the world?" work just as well as what it could be. For the record, OMG, gosh, and jeez are all using the name of the LORD in vain. OMG is pretty obvious, but gosh and jeez are alternates for God and Jesus. Look it up. That's ten commandments stuff. Number three to be exact. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD you God, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses His name." (Exodous 20:7) That's serious stuff. But it goes beyond these single words you use. What about those perverted jokes you make? or the racism? Or the drugs you take? you may think it's all on you, but it hurts Him more than you, in more ways than one. So please. Either use your mouth for good, or for evil. Don't mix.
Another thing, These: * dont make it any better. I did it for an example and a clever title, but really, "What the heck?" or "What in the world?" work just as well as what it could be. For the record, OMG, gosh, and jeez are all using the name of the LORD in vain. OMG is pretty obvious, but gosh and jeez are alternates for God and Jesus. Look it up. That's ten commandments stuff. Number three to be exact. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD you God, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses His name." (Exodous 20:7) That's serious stuff. But it goes beyond these single words you use. What about those perverted jokes you make? or the racism? Or the drugs you take? you may think it's all on you, but it hurts Him more than you, in more ways than one. So please. Either use your mouth for good, or for evil. Don't mix.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thank You
I think since Turkey Day was a few days ago, its only right I make a list of some things I'm thankful for:(Not in Order)
- God- He's the reason for all of this! i dont always listen to him, but he keeps loving methrough all of it, and I'm soo glad he's mine.
- Family- We have a few issuses, but we're like a diamond with a few scratches, compared to a lump of coal!
- House/Yard- Sometimes I feel like my yard isn't very cool, but then i'll see others' and know how im blessed!
- Best Friends- Jake, Luke, and Chase. I'm sure these guys would stick by me through anything from gayness to attempted suicide. (not that either of those are gonna happen!!)
- Friends- They all just add joy to my life! And I have soo many! I'm so blessed!
- iPod/Electronics- I use these for so much, from games, to reminders, to the bible!
- Bible- speaking of! It's crazy to think that this book, which I take for granted, can get you arrested in other countries!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Song of Songs
Wow. Its only my second time writing and I'm already writing about this. Love. As Davey Jones says, A dreadful bond." But according to Christian from Moulin Rouge, "Love is a many- splendored thing, Love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is Love!"And really, if the 'song of [all] songs' is all about Love, it must be pretty important. God is Love; Love is the most beautiful, powerful force in the universe!But Satan found a loophole. He discovered that love can be twisted. Just as an Orc is the dark side of on Elf, (LOTR right there), the most beautiful creature, Love can be corrupted also. It's called lust. It, along with pride, is one of the most powerful tools of the devil. You could seperate yourself from all humanity and still struggle with it. I dont know about girls, but I know every guy in the world has a problem with it. And it's not helped by the fact that it's so easy to see things these days! We've got porn, low-cut shirts, even everday TV shows portray pre-marriage sex, and skimpy clothes as a good thing!
Disney Channel even, you see them checking out girls as they walk past! We wern't made for that! "A man will be united with his wife." (Genesis 2:24a) This unification comes through sex! Notice it doesn't say girlfriend, or even fiance, and definitely not 2nd, 5th, 12th, and 17th girlfriends! It actually goes on to say "and they will becomeone flesh." Flesh isn't meant to be separated, and niether are man and wife! Think about it this way: would you want some guy/girl lusting after, or even having sex with your future wife or husband??
Disney Channel even, you see them checking out girls as they walk past! We wern't made for that! "A man will be united with his wife." (Genesis 2:24a) This unification comes through sex! Notice it doesn't say girlfriend, or even fiance, and definitely not 2nd, 5th, 12th, and 17th girlfriends! It actually goes on to say "and they will becomeone flesh." Flesh isn't meant to be separated, and niether are man and wife! Think about it this way: would you want some guy/girl lusting after, or even having sex with your future wife or husband??
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