My Finger is on the Button

I am ready to activate this weekend at Winter Camp!! It should be a blessing to retreat from the world and then go straight back to work. :( lol

I'll see you in the mountains!

Digital Media Project 1

Since Allison posted her art projects I'm gonna post mine too!!

Our first project was to create a movie from still pictures, a stop-motion film. So me, Josh and Karen went to In-N-Out by Ontario Mills and filmed this.



I got an A. :)

All Things

This blog is a follow-up blog to my older blog, Scheduling Scare.

So I reported earlier that I got dropped from my math class that I needed to get one of my AAs. So the only option (other than retaking the 1st math class in summer and/or the 2nd in the fall) However, there was another option that I asked a counselor about, and that was retaking the placement test to see if I could place into another math.

I took that class Monday after work and not only did I place well, but I placed beyond where I needed to place! That means I don't have to take any maths to get my AA :)

I'm so stoked! (Rom 8:28) RJ ;)

The Importance of Faith

January 27

"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."
-Mark 11:23

Did Jesus tell us to pray that the problem, obstacle, or mountain which looms menacingly before us might be removed? No. Did He tell us to study the Word that it might be removed? No. He said, ‘Say to the mountain Be thou removed, and it will be cast into the sea.’

We often hear that prayer changes things. But that’s not entirely true. Faith changes things. Prayer changes us. Jesus didn’t say, ’If you encounter a mountain, pray that it might be gone.’ No, He said, ‘Have faith in God and then verbally, audibly tell the mountain to be removed. Speak faith.’

Why is verbalization so important? Why did Jesus tell us to speak aloud to the mountain? Why does Paul tell us to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10)? Why does the writer of Hebrews tell us that when a promise is given to us we are to boldly speak it out (Hebrews 13:5)?

Because that’s when faith kicks in. It’s easy for me to think quietly or pray inwardly for the mountain to be moved because then if it doesn’t move, no one will know I prayed otherwise. There’s no step of faith, no risk involved if I don’t speak.

What mountain is it which intimidates you? Fear concerning an unsaved child? Depression over a business about to go under? Worry about a diseased body or a broken heart?

Jesus tells you and me to go on record in the ears of our kids, our parents, our peers, our co-workers and to say, ‘Be gone.’ After all, it was as Jesus did so Himself in the ears of His disciples that the stage was set for them to believe (Mark 11:14).

Maybe you’re praying intensely and hoping passionately that a certain problem or a certain situation will somehow be solved. But the fact is, Jesus said it’s not enough to simply hope or even to pray. Rather, to whatever mountain intimidates or discourages you, you must say in faith verbally, ‘Be gone. Be removed. Be cast into the sea.’ And then watch what happens.

This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Days Journey" by Pastor Jon. "A Days Journey" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the New Testatment.

Amen!

Let My People Think

So earlier this Friday KC, Michelle, John and Aaron and myself had the blessing to go see Ravi Zacharias. There are only a few people in the Christian circles that I really look up to and Ravi Zacharias is one of them. He has a radio broadcast called "Let my People Think" and is available for download from iTunes for your listening edification.

So Friday I was very excited to see him in person and hear him teach. The topic of his message was "Need God? What if I don't?" He never opened his Bible but there wasn't anything he said that I remember doubting that it had its roots in right doctrine.

He also had some great quotes, for example:

"The New Atheists are better at smelling rotten eggs than laying good ones."

"Jesus answered the man's question, "Who's image is on the coin?" They replied 'Caesar's.' Jesus said give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. (Matt 22) What image is on you?" (Imago Dei)

"This generation listens with their eyes and thinks with their hearts."

Such a blessing to hear this man speak with such fervor and tenacity. He was kind enough to let KC and I take pictures with him without getting a book signed. :)

Scheduling Scare

Okay so in one of my last blogs entitled "Semester Fenal" I cataloged what my schedule was for this Spring semester that has just started. But something has skewed that.

I went to my math class to find out I'm not on the roster. So I sit through class and go to admissions and find out my prerequisite wasn't met. D: So now I am in another class called Intro to Multimedia where I get to make videos! That's actually one of the things I really, really like to do but haven't had a chance to do because of the expensive cost of that hobby (video camera, computer, software.)

I'm excited.

Argument against Literal Communion Elements

So I was spending time with the Lord this morning and I opened up today's entry to Jon Courson's devotional A Day's Journey and he made a really good argument against the Catholic belief surrounding communion.

According to the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiaion the bread and the wine actually transform into the actual material blood and body of Christ. Personally I do not believe this and I think there are a number of great arguments against it. However, in this blog I will detail only one of them.

This isn't the only time people have confused Christ's words for something material when they were supposed to be spiritual. Jon Courson writes:

In John 3, Jesus said, "You must be born again."

"How does a man enter into his mother's womb the second time?" asked Nicodemus. Jesus was speaking spiritually, but Nicodemus was trying to figure it out physically.

In John 4, Jesus said, "I have water to give you which if you drink you shall never thirst again."

"Give me this water," said the woman at the well, "so I won't have to keep drawing water from the well." She was thinking materially, but Jesus was speaking about the water of the Spirit internally.

In John 6, Jesus said, "Unless you eat of My body and drink of My blood, you can have no part of Me."

The crowds, thinking He was talking about cannabalism, began to turn away from Him. Again, He was speaking of the spiritual realm, but the people couldn't see past the material realm.

This seems to be our nature to generally not comprehend what Jesus is talking about unless the Holy Spirit tells us.

Semester Fenal

Yes it is the final semester for me. At Chaffey at least.

This semester is going to be a doozy! Me and Liz already talked very briefly about how wack this next semester is going to be. One thing is different already is that I'm taking Tuesday/Thursday classes instead of my normal Monday/Wednesday classes. I have a full load of classes which include:

Tue/Thur
Elementary Algebra - 410
Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communication
Intro to Eastern Philosophy
Sat
Self-Defense/Personal Safety (.5 Units)
Online
Using the Internet

So this semester I will really need to lock down and focus. Ministry might suffer a bit now, but that's so it can flourish in the future. Also, my Philosophy teacher is requiring that we get 5 books. 5!!! He also recommended 5 others. That class is going to be intense.

Also Thursday nights my Eastern Philosophy class @ Chaffey Rancho ends at 7pm which is a problem because I have to be in Orangecrest at 7pm to make it to this Greek class that Dr. Burdett is providing us for basically free. Our first class was last night, I might post another blog detailing how hard my brain hurts.

Prospects of a New Year

So I haven't posted a blog since before Christmas, I didn't want to make a Christmasy one. While I am not fond of what Christmas has become I am fond of new beginnings and that's why I like the New Year.

The New Year is always another chance to get things right and do things they are supposed to be done. Now I don't expect for 2009 to be the year I live sinless, I don't expect that anytime soon! But for me its going to be a new beginning of a focal point in my life where I will try to live a holy life.

I'm just glad I don't have to do it on my own. We are promised in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." I love this fact that we are regenerated and made perfect in Christ's image from the Father's perspective.

Now its time to practically become like Christ in this 2009.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10