day 2 of 21

So I hear it takes 21 days to make a habit.  I am on Day 2 of that 21 in getting up early in the morning to work out.  Today was fairly easy to my surprise.  It might have had something to do with the fact that I slept about 15 hours yesterday, just maybe.  I do feel a lot better and have a tons more energy during the day it seems.  I have no goal of being "the hulk" but I do want to shape up!  They installed tvs on each of the machines so that's a good way to get my mind off the fact that it's 6AM and I'm working out.  We'll see. 

thoughts

I have always been amazed at the story of Billy Graham. I love the way he started out and just the history of his life and how many people have come to know the Lord because of him. Here is my wanderings today...I've listened to a few interviews lately by Graham on Larry King Live and his latest article in Newsweek. Read this excerpt and tell me what you think. It's tough for me to read because I feel that there is a huge confusion among Christians of today as to whether Jesus really is the gateway to heaven and the only way. This is a truth that our faith hinges on and if there are other ways then what Jesus did might have been crazy. The excerpt below was taken out of Newsweek and the whole article can be found here. Mark Cahill also wrote an article about this in his latest newsletter and he brings out some good points also.

"A unifying theme of Graham's new thinking is humility. He is sure and certain of his faith in Jesus as the way to salvation. When asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, though, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have." Such an ecumenical spirit may upset some Christian hard-liners, but in Graham's view, only God knows who is going to be saved: "As an evangelist for more than six decades, Mr. Graham has faithfully proclaimed the Bible's Gospel message that Jesus is the only way to Heaven," says Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross. "However, salvation is the work of Almighty God, and only he knows what is in each human heart."

working hard...

You know, I bought some equipment to start recording voiceovers for radio, tv, etc.  They say it's a lot like acting, some people spend a long time and go to many auditions before they get their first job.  I come home everyday almost and work a few hours.  I sit in my walk in closet that has been converted to a mini-recording studio.  It looks pretty funny if you have never seen it.   I've just now sent in my 100th demo.  whew!!!  Please pray that something would happen :)  I guess I'll stay in the closet until something happens :)

It's been fun either way and I have a few fun projects going on the side that some of you will benefit from :)

somewhere to go

So it was an interesting week in El Paso, the food was good, but I do not want Mexican food for a long time, okay, I'll settle for eating it on Wednesday :). I like to go to new places and eat all different types of food that I can't get in my own town, I never like to go to chain places, boooo. I was glad to get back on Friday but so TIRED! Of course, I should have taken a day off to rest, but no, I woke up early in the morning and went dirtbiking in GA. I realized something when I was driving over to a friends house. It's a lot easier to put gas in your vehicle, motorcycle, etc when you know where you are going. Basically, when you have a goal that you will enjoy. Like, it's a lot easier putting gas in my dirtbike when I know I'm going somewhere fun. It's a lot easier putting gas in my Jeep when there is a cool trip planned and you're not just putting expensive gas to get back and forth to work. I feel like it's a lot like our relationship with the Lord. It just seems so much easier to read the Word and pray when we have a "path" to go on. When we have some type of idea where our life is heading etc. Sometimes maybe God doesn't want us to have that, sometimes He does, I just know it's a lot easier when we know where we are going and are excited about it.

As you can see from the picture here, I made a few falls that were quite fun. It's just a rush to jump hills and not really know where you will land. In this picture, I almost took a stump out, that would have really been quite painful and probably would have broken a few bones. Thankfully, I slid in right before the stump :) One of my friends came to take pictures of this event, how nice.

Hola, Que Tal!

So I am in El Paso this week teaching some classes.  The last time I was here, I hopped across the border into Mexico and it was the funniest thing.  One gringo among about 400 Mexicans, making our way, legally, across the border.  The agents at the border see thousands a people a day and this guy recongnized me, mainly because the day before I was, again, 1 gringo among 400 Mexicans.  Since then, I have discovered that what I did was very dangerous and I was an idiot.  I will not be going to Juarez this time around :) 

In other news, the weird things cease to stop happening to me.  Sept. 11th has always been a special day in my mind, for years before 09-11 I would have weird occurances that made me think of 9-11 and after 9-11 happened, it made it even weirder.  Yesterday, this guy called me out the blue to tell me his salvation story and some things that were going on in his life and some of the people we both know.  Just really random, but I learned a lot from the call and was glad to talk to him.  I am not complaining about these "different" things that are happening, I am starting to like them :)

Now I'm off to find some Mexican food, NOT.

Pretty Mouth

So usually every 2-3 weeks, I make my way to my local Great Clips. I've been going there since it opened about 6 years ago and a few of the same girls have been cutting my hair(s) for all these years. I always like going into Great Clips because we always have good conversations. It's neat because one of the girls will talk about church etc. and it's a good way to let the time pass and everyone in the store ends up listening. (Eph. 4:29) It's fun. We laugh, joke, and I always have a good time in there. Well last Friday was a little different story. I went in around 6 or so as I usually do and sat down. I waited for about 30 minutes and still no haircut, but hey, no problem, I'm a patient guy. Around 15 minutes into my waiting, a co-worker comes in and we begin to talk. Around this same time, another guy walks in, we shall call him "big dude." Well Big Dude was not really into the waiting thing, he gets up after he had waited a long time and makes it known to the stylist that he is not happy with the service. He didn't do it in a way that was very nice. I just pretended that I didn't hear him and kept chatting with my co-worker. Well, my name is called. It's so fun when they call your name, because I know my buzz cut will be done in about 15 minutes. A girl that has cut my hair(s) before takes me back. She was a little upset that the Big Dude was so upset. She made it clear that she would "hook him up" if he sat in her chair. I responded, "ahh, nah you wouldn't do that, you are too good for that." She laughed. Well we chatted about the service industry, restaurants, and serving people. After this we talked about Clemson, where we liked to eat, and just general stuff. Well she finished cutting my hair(s) and I got up to walk up and pay. As I get up front, I hear someone say in a loud voice, "You've got a pretty mouth!" I look up to the left of me and see this big dude standing there looking at me. I look him in shock and say "excuse me?" He says, "you've got a pretty mouth!" At this point I should have thanked him for his kind compliment to my parents' genes and my Lord who formed me in the womb, but I chose not to. I pretty much say something to the effect of "dude what are you talking about." He then says something to the effect of *$#*$#(*$#(*$#(*$#(*$*%(#*%* and I'll *#(*(*#(%*#(%*#%*. I look at him kindly and say, "we were talking about chinese restaurants." I then sign my receipt and then the story gets interesting. He then looks at me and says, "If you ever come up to the *it*y bar, I will let you #*$#(*$#($*#*#(". Well let's just say that I can't write it on my blog. I think it was a gesture of apology for him making a fool of himself, but I am not sure. The stylist apologized to me and gave me a "sorry" card from Great Clips that gives you a discount on your next haircut. Ha. Ya know, I prayed a long time ago that God would give me stories to share Him with others. I prayed for crazy stories. I am getting to a point where crazy things are starting to happen to me but I am usually so shocked that I haven't quite made the transition to the spiritual. I am working on it.

Another man grabbed me last weekend out of nowhere and asked me if I was experiencing spiritual warfare. This man was probably in his 60's and had a long white beard. He told me that if I was not, I would eventually face it. So weird. We talked for a few minutes and he ended up being a nice guy, we had a nice chat. I feel like I have a sign on me that attracts "different" types of people. I'm not complaining, I actually kinda like it. :)

On another note, I went wakeboarding with Ed and Julie on Saturday. We had a good time and Ed finally hit a backflip for me to see. I had heard he could do it, but hadn't seen it. Well in the process, I did get some nice footage of all his falls and hardwork. I share it with you here.

Be Prepared

I found this video through Way of the Master radio and was created by the Great News Network I do believe. This is one of the most unique and amazingly convicting videos I have seen in a long time. The punchline is at the end of the video, man.

On another note, this brings up a talk I heard recently on the same program. John MacArthur had given a message on using the church as a tool to entertain people and then evangelize. He talks about bringing tares in with the wheat. The believers are supposed to go out and the heart of evangelism is not bringing people to church. The problem today seems to be that most Christians believe this to be evangelism. Jesus did not put a sign on the upper room and ask people to be there at 7:30. We would never be Christians today if that were the case. He went out into the highways and biways. How can we change the focus of evangelism from "invite people to church" to teaching people to evangelize? They say that 95% of the church has never led someone to Christ...is there something wrong with this?

I hope you enjoy the video.

Yes, I did this

I usually don't like to do these sorts of things but Ed did it, and he saw that Lee did it, and Lee copied that stripper he met...wait, that last part is not true :)


I love Jesus
I like people
I love speaking about Jesus to large groups of people
I like big parties with lots of strangers
I like burgers at big parties
I also like oysters at big parties
I like Mike Rowe in "Dirty Jobs"
I like Johnny Cash and his story and his deep voice
I like people who are friendly to drive-through workers
I love theology
I love motorcycles
I do not like raw onions
I like cooked onions
I like riding dirtbikes and motorcycles
I like to talk geek with Stunningman
I do not like getting lost
I rarely lose my temper, I can count 3 times in my life that I've somewhat lost it
I am very patient
I like computers
I am not a big fan of camping when it rains a lot
I like doc martens, big soles, and wide.
I like Jeep Wranglers.
I do not like waking up early in the morning
I like staying up late
I worry very little
I am very easy going
I like picking up hitch-hikers
I like wakeboarding with Ed
I like practicing voice overs and being a radio guy.
I like doing impersonations.
I do not like spandex
I would like a few kids and maybe adopt 1
I probably need a wife first
I do not like math
I currently work as an application engineer (hmm)
I love evangelism and teaching it
I like Ray Comfort
I can be a hopeless romantic (did I just confess that)
I like "Lost"
I like Jack Bauer in "24"
I still do not like getting lost
I like to ski but don't have snow
I enjoy being nice to people
I love to meet strangers
I want to have some type of "unique" ministry someday
I have 3 worldy dreams
1-Sky Dive , check
2-Rent Crazily Nice Car in cool city, check
3-I can't quite share #3 yet.
I don't like hurting people's feelings
I am confrontational
I like sitting in my closet/recording thingy and making funny voices
I am sensitive
I love studying apologetics
I once dated someone, broke up, and she got engaged about 3 weeks later
I like playing guitar but I am not good
I love to sing but not in front of people
I, so okay, I liked "The Notebook"
I hope to one day work for myself and have time to do things that mean something
I like my Black & Decker Blower, I use it once a week
I like to take things apart
I enjoy naps on Sundays when there is lots of rain, a blanket, and a comfy couch.
I like sectional couches
I want to fly planes one day
I do not like sand
I like to pressure wash
I do not like poison ivy...
I like dreaming and thinking of inventions but am not good at putting them together
I think blogging is fun
I love sleeping by the river in the mountains, w/o rain of course
I love to eat at new places that nobody knows about and then tell everyone
I do not like when puppies poop on the floor
I like when puppies poop outside
I enjoy making strangers feel comfortable
I like discussions with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses
I like having a huge group of random friends
I must become less, He must become greater