An Unexpected Arrival

I don't usually use stories to illustrate ideas, but this past week I heard a true story from some people I met and God began to speak to me through that story so I am gonna share it with you all. So this past week the local coffee shop and local Church Youth Groups brought in a band named Silverline. As I was hanging out with the band a little bit they told me what had happened to them the day before. They had been booked to do a show in a town about 3 hours away. They said as they showed up and called their contact person that he acted almost surprised that they had shown up, even though he had booked them. He then began to tell them that he hadn't really promoted the show that much and also that there were now some scheduling conflicts and that they wouldn't be able do the show that night. They also said that they wouldn't be able to compensate them any for traveling expenses or anything like that. Some of you might be already thinking, wow that's pretty poor on that churches part for not honoring their booking of a band and even worse on their part for not compensating them for their travel expenses! I would completely agree with you! I was brought up and raised to have the mindset of, if you commit to something you stay committed and you finish what you started. I was thinking of this story yesterday when God pressed this message on my heart, "How many times have you invited Me into your life, but when I show up you are surprised I showed up and even more than that you come up with some excuse why you don't want Me to work in your life?" How true is that for your life? For my life sadly its so true. I have prayed and asked God to be active in my life and for Him to move in my life, and when He shows up to Do Work for some reason I am surprised that He actually showed up. I then proceed to try and figure out some reason why this isn't a good time, and try to brush Him out the door before He starts moving things around in my life. Because I know that if He does start to work it's gonna cost me, not in money value but things will have to change and many times I am not willing to pay the price of change because where I am is so comfortable. For so long I have lived a life like this. A safe life where God is kept out of the areas of my life that most need His change most. A safe life that keeps me in a comfort zone where my Christian faith costs me nothing more than an hour or two during the week. A safe life that is powerless and keeps God away from the controls of my life. I want to live a life that matters! A life that isn't safe. A life that longs for God to show up and Do Work! A life that expects and longs for God's presence and for His life giving change that comes with His presence! I think that's all I have to say on this subject today. Pray for me as I pray for you to find the passion that God so desires us to have about our faith!

tired of just ok,
sg

What consumes my life?

Over the last week or so God has really been pressing a bunch of things on my heart. I could probably right a small novel on what I feel He has been speaking into my life (which I probably should do in my handy dandy journal, but will save you all the painful reading of disjointed thoughts and ideas); but I will give you a small glimpse into a few of the things. The first came in the way of a pod cast from Matt Chandler I listened to on the way out to Catalyst '09 while riding in the van with my good friends James and Penny. It was a challenge to make prayer a larger focal point in our lives. (Something I have struggled with off an on throughout my Christian walk). This is also something that over the last 4 months God has really been pressing in on my heart to live a prayer centered life. So I heard this message and like most messages I thought to myself that's good, but at the very moment there wasn't much change in my life. A couple days later during the Catalyst conference Matt Chandler was also one of the presenting speakers/pastors. He talked about how if God is calling you to anything there is a hitch on your part from following through with what God is calling you to, that is sin and that you need to repent and act on what God is calling you to. That hit me square in the face. So looking back over the last 4-5 months, and possible longer I see that I have been living in disobedience to God, I have been living in unresolved sin because I know God is calling me to something but yet I am unwilling to listen to His beckoning calling me to lead a life centered on prayer. So, last night on the way back from the Bible Study I go to on Monday's I listened to a podcast by Mark Driscoll on the book of proverbs focusing on how we organize our lives. I felt convicted on what and how my life is centered! If you know me well a good portion of my time is spent being well connected with the people around me as well as those around the world via facebook, twitter, etc. So, not only am I not obeying God in some of the things He is calling me to, I have also arranged my life where it is often hard for me to connect with God because I am so connected to the things around me that there is no space, no room for any more connections, no room for the God of the Universe to speak into my heart. (btw, most of the times God has pressed these things on my heart has been in times when I have been disconnected from all or part of the world) So, today I tried something new. I will get to that in a bit but I want to give you a glimpse into what a normal day for me at work looks like this. I go into work. If I am not too busy I chat a little with others in the office to see how their days are going and such, and then I sit down at my desk and then proceed to check my email, facebook, and look at all of my friends most current tweets to see if there is anything I have missed out on. (the email is somewhat essential to my job, but facebook, and twitter?? really? should that be a priority in my daily work schedule?) I then proceed to keep my email, facebook, and tweet page up for the rest of the day just incase there is something I cant do without hearing for a few hours. These three things often cause distractions as well as a open door to hours wasted while at work. So, like I said, today I tried something new. I got to work, visited a little (I think it's essential for working relationships), checked my email, then I proceeded to not even open up my facebook or tweet pages. Now some of you this may be a no big deal type of thing, but for me in my world it was a first step towards aiming my life towards more of what God has called/is calling me to. You see we are so easily distracted by the things around us. It is so easy for us to become consumed by irrelevant and insignificant things. My life, without me even being truly aware is being stolen from me before my eyes without me even putting up much of a fight for it, by things that in the bigger picture of God's story have no eternal significance. So, I would ask for your prayers for my life. That I would be conscience of what is consuming my life. That I would be conscience of what God is speaking into my life, and even more than that, that I would be obedient to what God is calling me to because He is truly what my life should be consumed by! I think that's all for now..

striving towards obedience.
sg

WOW! What A Day!!

I cant begin to explain how good today was! I heard so many good messages and the Word of God preached!! I would write a more detailed description of everything but I am kinda tired tonight but I will give a short over view of some things that really stuck out to me. Andy Stanley talked about not being a leader in authority but being a leader under authority and also about allowing God to properly position your life in order that He may make His mark on the world using you. Malcom Gladwell said that incompetence can irritate you, but that over-confidence is a scary thing. Shane Hipps' message challenged me! He talked on how the ever changing Gospel never changes. (that just by itself doesnt full capture the fullness of the message delivered, it was good though!) Rob Bell encouraged us that no matter how large or small you may view your ministry that it is significant! Also said there is a big difference between walking a hard road and carrying a heavy burden. (The road we walk may be hard, but there is no use in carrying a un-needed heavy burden!) Tony Dungy encouraged us saying that we as pastors are needed! Reggie Joiner reminded us of what was at stake in our lives, and what we are fighting for! Matt Chandler talked to us about God beckoning us to obedience and when we have catches to that beckon we have to recognize it as sin and repent so that we may grow stronger and deeper in our faith! Then Francis Chan topped the day off by reminding us of our salvation through the reading of the scripture and then probably close to 12,000 people taking communion together! A pretty amazing experience!! I cant fully explain or process all I heard today but am praying that God continues to work in my life, growing me in my faith, and rooting me in my trust of Him! Thats all for tonight, be blessed!

resting in my Salvation,
sg

Fat Matt's BBQ!!

We ate at Fat Matt's tonight! It was quite amazing! Here are some pics I took!
I have no idea how I got the fat matt's sign to reflect and invert like that, but it turned out to be a sweet pic!!

My plate! A half rack and coleslaw and bread!!

Perry the tourist taking a pic of the menu! I was tryin to take one as well but his head got in the way!!

A Drive Through the Mountains

Well today on the way back from Las Cruces I stopped along the way to take some pictures in the mountains! It was a lil foggy so it made for some cool shots!

enjoy!
sg

Pics of Cross Country

I got a new lens on Wednesday and got to put it to use a lil today!! Also edited them a lil on Photoshop putting a gradiant or two on them. Enjoy.

Start of the race

Run Chris Run!

Alex and Kory racing towards the finish!

Yay for new toys!! Maybe I will get to take some good stuff on my road trip next week!!
Blessings!
sg