Interesting Evening

Wednesday night is our game night with the guys!!  I always have a good time hanging out and ratting on each other while we play Xbox.  Midway through the night I heard a knock on my door.  I yelled "COME IN".  No one came in.  Another knock, "COME IN".  Normally if it's someone I know they will just come in.  Finally I heard a "Hello".  I walked down stairs and saw a kid about 12 years old covered in snow.  I asked him what he needed.  He said he needed to call his dad to come and pick him up. He said they got in a fight and he ran out of the house.  I let him use my phone to call his dad.  He told his dad where he was and left. 

Ok, back to game night...............

5 minutes later............ Knock, Knock.

Same kid.  "I need to call my dad again because he drove right past me".  He called his dad again and as he walked away he said thanks and God Bless.

I thought to myself, I hope his dad finds him. 

So we went back to playing Xbox.  8:30 came and we wrapped things up.  The guys left and I relaxed on the couch until I got my normal text from Stacey that she is on her way home from youth.  That always makes me happy.  About 5 minutes before she got home my friend Brent, who was at my house for game night, called me and said that his wife was at their Wednesday night activities at church (Antioch Alliance just down the road from me) and a kid was dropped off by his foster parents.  When everyone went downstairs, he decided to take off because he was mad that he doesn't get to see his dad. He said that I should probably call the sheriff because they are out looking for him. 

So I called the sheriff and they stopped by.  I gave them the cell phone number of the kids dad and talked with the officer for a few minutes.  He left and I headed to bed. 

Needless to say it was a very interesting evening.

I hope that things got worked out and they finally found the kid and got him back with his foster parents.

Have a good end of the week and keep striving towards living for the kingdom.

Grace and Peace
Ben

Mid Week

Here we are again.  Mid Week!  We have pushed through the rough part of the week and now it's all down hill from here.  I'm kinda without words today.  It's one of those mornings that you are just thankful to have a job, a house, a wife and most of all a loving heavenly father who is ALWAYS there for me.  I find a lot of comfort in that.  For me it's easy to grasp and loving heavenly father because I have a loving earthly father who has always been there for me as well.  You may not realize it now, but loving someone unconditionally can really have a large impact on their future views of a heavenly father so THANKS DAD!!

I pray that we love unconditionally or at least make an attempt to show people love.  If we are to be living a life that reflects God, God is Love. Please don't claim one thing with your mouth and void that with your actions!

Have a Holy Spirit filled rest of the week!

Grace and Peace
Ben

Small Group

I love every other Monday night.  That is when our small group meets.  We are going through a book called Forgotten God by Francis Chan. 

Francis Chan contends that we’ve ignored the Spirit for far too long, and that without Him, we operate in our own strength, only accomplishing human-sized results. It’s time for the beloved church of Jesus Christ to reverse the trend of neglect. Let’s pursue the Spirit-filled life of effectiveness God desires and we desire.

We have had some of the best conversations in our small group so far over this book.  I have seen some lives already starting to change as the Holy Spirit is working through them.  We previously went through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan and said last night that we think it's better to go through this book first before Crazy Love.  Just some thoughts if your looking at the two books.

I hope you are all having a wonderful spirit filled week so far. 

Grace and Peace
Ben

It's a new day, It's a new day.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and a festive time with friends for the super bowl.  I know my wife and I did.  There is something about having good quality friends to hang out and fellowship with.  I am looking forward to this week.  Taking it one day at a time and really trying to focus on God and what he has in store for me.  Trying not to get taken in by the world and all the negativity that is around. 

We started a series on the Holy Spirit at church and I am know that it will be life changing even to a person who has been a christian most of their life. At times you can almost get in a mundane type of living and worshiping and miss out on everything that the Holy Spirit is trying to accomplish through you.  I am so grateful to have a pastor that teaches from the bible and is lead by the Holy Spirit to deliver a relevant message that we can apply to our life practically and then in turn take to the world.

-I hope that if you have not accepted Christ and your personal Savior that you take a step in that direction and give your life to a God who loves you more that anything, who died on a cross to give you an eternal life with Him and who wants only the best for you life and who will walk beside you through it all.  You just have to let Him in!

-If you are a christian, I pray that you will not get set on cruise control and miss out of what God has planned for you. Dig into his word and challenge yourself to be a better person.  You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  The world needs to see that everyday. 

I know I am going to try harder!!!

Grace and Peace
Ben

At Peace

There is nothing like being at peace with everything.  It's such a wonderful feeling to know that whatever happens, happens for a reason.  God has my life, current and future, in His hands. I can't imagine a person trying to have peace without God.  You have to rely on your own confidence and abilities to try and figure out how things will turn out.  I know that whatever happens, I don't have to worry about my future.  I know that whatever happens, God has allowed it so I can grow in my faith and/or rejoice in who He is.  When my time comes to leave my earthly dwelling, I know I will be living an eternity with the one who created me!  I have said it's not good to focus on tomorrow and miss out on what God has for you today but when you are talking about the future in the Kingdom it's a healthy "looking forward to" when it keeps your current perspective in check.

It's a good feeling having on a Friday.  Its makes the weekend feel brighter and gives you hope for the future.

End the week on a good note and thank God for walking beside you this week.

Grace and Peace
Ben

Day Off

Well I took a day off work to spend it with my wife. Time with her is so precious so I just wanted to drop in and say that God cherishes every minute you spend with Him. He loves to hear how your day is going and wants to work through your struggles with you!

Take some time with God today. He made something unique when He made you and wants to hear how your life is going!

Grace and Peace
Ben


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Tuesday (3 days till the weekend!!)

I'm unfortunately falling into the early week drone.  It's me being human and just trying to get through another day to get to the weekend.  Why do we get in these moods?  We serve a God that has amazing plans for our lives and has given us a life with Him to look forward to.  He has given us minds and mouths to speak His word into peoples lives so that they can experience the same peace we have in knowing that this is not all there is.  I wish we were all passionate the minute we wake up to the moment we lay our heads down to put an end to another day. 

Humanness!!!  That's our problem.  That's my problem.

I so want to have the passion outside of church or after a time of a spiritual enlightenment to worship with an unstoppable force.  I have those moments, but life seeps back in and makes me take on my humanness again.

Am I making excuses and just calling it humanness? 

Maybe satan is using our humanness to keep us in this lukewarm type of attitude.

Why do we say maybe?

I know all scripture is truth, so I should not have any doubt that it's not the way God wants me to live therefore it is satan working against me. We try and make things sound as if they are not that big of a deal.  We say:

"Well that's just my humanness coming out again.  God made me that way so I guess I'll just keep pressing on....... blah blah blah...........

I don't believe God made you that way. If you read in scripture, which I believe is ALL truth it is very clear on this issue.  God doesn't want lukewarm worshipers so why would He make you lukewarm.  He even says that because you are lukewarm, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.  I don't know about you but I don't want to be any part of God's spit.  Talk about an insult that will stick with you forever. 
 
Have you ever been around someone with a bad attitude? Makes you kinda feel grumpy right?

Isn't it a breath of fresh air to be around a person with a positive attitude on things? Makes you relaxed and at ease with whatever the situation is. 

Why would we then, not want to walk as close as we can to the God who knows all and made all and has our best interest in mind. To have that peace that everything will work out that way it's supposed to.
 I think a constant state of prayer and thanksgiving is the way to begin to break our humanness and live a life of praise and worship to the God of the universe.

I don't know about you but I feel better after putting things down on paper or a blog this time to see what is really going on in my life.  I am thankful that I serve a God who forgives us of our humanness and still wants to walk with us every day and lead us in the life He has laid out for us. 

So today don't make excuses anymore for your attitude or blame it on something or someone else.  Man up and be truthful to yourself and know that only you, with the help of God, can change the way you live.

I hope this has helped you or at least put some reminders or indicators out there for you!

Grace and Peace
Ben