Onething

So, it's been awhile, again... Anyway, I am preparing to leave for the Onething conference and this has been a very anticipated event for me and for many others attending. It's almost surreal. I will be trying to blog while I am down there and share with you all of the good stuff that will be going on. 

Also, Onething will be having a free video webcast streaming of the whole event so if you want to check that out just go to the website (link is in first "Onething")

misleading

Let's see... blogger says my last post was about a month and a half ago. Yes, that is far too long but maybe I wasn't quite qualified to post anything during that time. I don't think there is an actual qualification out there for posting blogs, but I don't think that I could have posted anything worth reading or that would have benefitted anyone but maybe myself. 

So, now I am going to attempt to post something slightly meaningful or entertaining, possibly both.

I think I have figured out a very accurate way for seeing how well I am growing in God and what is actually changing in me and in my walk with Him. You see, a lot of the time we can convince ourselves that we have really done a lot in the last week concerning prayer or worship or the bible or whatever it may be that we are striving for. I find, however, that we can quite often mislead ourselves into thinking that it was a very productive week while in reality we did very little except please our pride. I know that there are, of course, those times where we actually did grow tremendously or we had some type of profound revelation or something of that sort, but I find that, more often than not, we are still very close to the place where we started.

Why is this? Is it because God is a lier and he does not bring us from glory to glory? That is hardly the case because I know, for a fact, that He is true in all of His words and what He says He will do. What I think happens is that we start to get it. We start to get into a groove and start to grow but then somehow we find a very subtle way to preoccupy ourselves. A lot of the times it will even be something that isn't directly bad but isn't what God is calling us to do at that moment to help us get where He is calling us to go. This seems to happen all the time but how often do I catch myself doing it? It could be months wasted before I realize the time I have essentially wasted. 

I need to be consistently checking myself to make sure this doesn't happen. I find that if we ask ourselves on a regular bases,"What am I experiencing in God, now? What is different in me now than before? What is He trying to do in me? Where is he calling me? What is new?" If we can ask ourselves these questions and honestly give ourselves answers than I think we will see rapid growth and expansion in our knowledge and desire to know Him. 

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." 

processing

So, my friend Lex gave me this link to what I thought was some simple graphic/video design software...

It's not. It is a java script/html/IDE editor program for beginners and pros alike. This may not make much sense to you (it didn't to me for a while) but basically, it's a free version of Adobe Flash without all of the babying that comes along with Adobe's version. 

It's an awesome software that not only is free but also comes along with an entire website that has tutorials for beginners and pros. Also, they have made a "flickr"ish website for developers to post their creations in java. 

I highly recommend this software to anyone who has a desire to or already knows how to program html/java script. 

processing

apologies

My apologies to my fellow Blogger, Alexis. 

I realized that my last post was very similar to yours and the title was almost the same.

I did read her blog before I posted but I am going through some of the same things. So, when I finished writing mine and looked back at hers, I realized how much they were alike. Maybe it's the Holy Spirit confirming some things or maybe I was just regurgitating what I had just read. Either way I felt it necessary to give her the credit for the originality of that post. 

fight

I am sitting here at my computer. I'm looking at my last post and realize that it has been over a month since I last put my thoughts to paper. I want to write something meaningful but I am not sure if I can. 

I have learned things in the past month. Actually I have learned things in the past days, hours, even minutes. The main thing I have learned, and I believe you can only learn it through a type of trial and error, is this: There is a real fight for our rights and our places in the kingdom of heaven and we need to take immediate action. 

Everyday I wake up I am attacked with thoughts telling me that I could blend in; that I could just sit back and let my life roll by without taking action. Everyday there are struggles in my inner man that I must fight against and rebuke. When Matthew says that the, "violent will take it by force...", he actually meant it... 

I know that most of this stuff must seem very "christian 101" but lack of revelation in this will lead us into apathy. If we don't start to fight for our heavenly rights than we will quickly lose sight of what God has made ours. If we don't wake up every morning ready to fight for the kingdom, then what will we fight for?

slightly mistaken

Ok, so I realized that I was slightly mistaken with the lyrics to the Misty Edwards song on my previous post. The lyrics are actually, "How far will You let me go? How abandoned will You let me be?" 

Still this is a very powerful statement when you start to meditate on it and what is meant by it. 

Also, I still agree with my last post, I just had a misinterpretation of the lyrics. 

how much better

I was listening to a Misty Edwards song called Always On My Mind. There is a very powerful part in the song where she starts singing, "how far will You let me go, how better will You let me be?" I was in work singing it to God (and myself) and I realized... a lot of it is, how much better will I let myself be. I get so caught up in the things of this world that a lot of the times I hold myself back because I am afraid to lose some kind of "status" that I think I have achieved according to the world's standards.

How long will I keep on living, judging and comparing myself to the world's standards? When will I begin to see myself as He sees me?