Pain

Pain is a part of life. Everyone goes through some kind of pain in life. Be it emotional or physical pain. Loved ones can warn you about things that cause pain but most times it takes us individually to figure it out. Sports can cause pain, girls, food, gas, light, relationships, drugs, cars, doctors, animals, money. Anything can really cause us some sort of pain.
No matter what the pain comes from or the form it comes in we must learn to endure it, until it is over. We can come up with a number of things to get over the pain that is affecting us at the current moment.
I sit here writing this as I am experiencing a little pain. Not as much as I was told to expect after having surgery on my knee, which is good. But it got me thinking on how we deal with pain and the role it plays in our lives.
It most definitely plays a big part in our lives.
It doesn't fail us.
It sometimes doesn't stop.
It sometimes includes blood.
It sometimes includes other people.

No matter what pain feels like to us, no matter how much of it there is, pain will strengthen us. It will teach us more about ourselves thn we ever knew. It will bring us to a place of life experience.

Most importantly the pain we go through is nothing compared to the pain God must have felt when he crucified His Son for US!
The pain he must felt when he punished his son for something he didnt deserve but that we did.

Pain is one of the most just things in the world. It comes as an effect only when needed.

God justly poured out his pain on Christ for us.

So pain is just weakness leaving the body as a t-shirt might read.

But pain is a reminder of Gods love.

Ok

Ok so. Im up here in Boston working on my summer internship. Im loving it! Doing my lifes calling. what could be better? Well maybe one thing. To have Kristen Marie Schnoor. Come up here with me. This would be my girlfriend. She is amazing! Super amazing! We have been together for a few months now, my best friend basically. We can talk about everything together. Blunt honesty with each other at moments. Flirtatious also. We are getting along really well. God has blessed me so much with this woman. She even talks to God. That is new for me. jk. jk. any way. I have been seeing life in a different light since then. See we usually see things in our finite mind. Instead of how God sees things which would be infinite. So I had this amazing moment of thinking after we started dating, well probable not amazing. but any way. I have always had it in my mind of what the perfect girl for me would be like, her looks , personality, laugh, everything. And then God says, "Hey Chris watch this," and he flips everything that I had in mind off the table. He then replaces those things with a heart after him, personality with character, and laugh with well... he gave me the laugh I think. Anyway he took my finite thinking and replaced it with his infinite plan, that being Kristen. Everythng I could have ever wanted or could want. I love her so much, I cannot believe how close she has drawn me to my Saviour.
So this is what we should set our eyes on. God's infinte vision. God is bigger than anything. Our problems, dreams, and anything else. So I urge you dont ask God want you want done or to come true. Ask God to do what is right and pleaseing to Him. For when He is pleased we are blessed.

I want to scream to the heavens!

Have you ever felt like screaming?
Well I have sometimes for joy, sometimes in anger, sometimes in frustration, and sometimes just for the heck of making myself heard. To who you may ask well I guess its for my own benefit. Have you ever felt like you cant hear God or He cannot hear you? Well I have and therefore feel like screaming or I guess shouting. Saying, "HEY GOD! YEAH YOU UP THERE. DO YOU HEAR ME? I DONT KNOW IF I AM HEARING YOU." Right now I am presently frustrated at myself. For what reason I am is because I feel like I have no desire to continue with school sometimes. I just want to "start life." I know I am not ready yet. By a long shot. But I still just want to take the jump.

Dont get me wrong please. I am loving life right now. I am doing ok in school actually. I am excited about my future after school. I am running after God. Having the chance to witness to my Dad in little ways. God has place a wonderful, amazing woman in my life who is so passionate about Himself. But as all of this is happening I feel like God is testing me on my faith. After all that is what I asked God to do to me this year. Stupid as is sounds. I did ask for a test in my faith.
Questions come up like: How am I going to pay for school bills when they start? Where will I find a job? Will my dad find a job? Why is all of this happening right now? When will some of my family and friends start to believe in Christ?
I find these are true questions of having faith in God.

So I think I am trying to say that even when life is good. It can be a test to see where your faith lies.
I know that God is Holy and that I shall pursue that Holiness. God Make us more and more in your likeness. May we run after you with a steadfast pace.

Okay, that was just a thought I would share.
May God be with you and bless you and continue to challenge you in your faith of Him.

Oh What a Life!

So the past few weeks have been amazing. Starting with my birthday on the 26th. I went out with some friends to celebrate that Friday night. It was really great we went to Olive Garden and then books-a-million, followed by going to the movies to see "Doubt". It wasn't the best movie I have seen but it was good. Mostly because I got to sit next to my friend Kristen and throw sarcastic jokes out and not have to worry about her taking it wrong.
So during this whole night I had been very sarcastic like I usually am lol. I was especially sarcastic towards Kristen due to the fact that I thought she was cute. Its a bad idea to be a jerk to the girl you like because it doesn't make the best impression of you. Anyway at the end of the night she found out that I liked her through me calling her and asking her out. lol. lame I know. Her response was, "I will think about it," I was like well thats a no. Dang it! Over the weekend our group continued to hang out and I cooked all weekend it was so much fun. Plus I was trying to impress her. Well we ended up talking over the weekend and she let me know that she just wanted to get to know me better before she decided anything. So the past two weeks almost we have had conversation after conversation, most of them hours and hours on end. We have talked about anything and everything. Our past, future and present. I have never been able to talk so easily to anyone.We have been very open and honest about our hopes and fears with a relationship and just in life.
I digress. As of the other she agreed to give me a chance on a date. Wooooohoooooooo!!!!! So Saturday night when I get back to school from break. I am taking her out to... Oh wait she might read this so I cant say. It's a surprise. haha. She probably thought she had it. She has been trying to figure it out since I told her it would be a surprise.
Well I am praying that God will direct this relationship from the get-go. I want us to be going solely after him before eachother.
Well that has been the last few weeks in a nut shell. Im so excited for life right now.

Thursday 2/19

Well its been a little bit since I have been on here.
Life is going by at an incredible pace right now. I get involved in one thing and I add another and another and it seems like I can lose focus of the more important commitments like school. lol. I found a church that I love down here. God is doing something special, I cn feel it every time I step inside the church. I have been able to help the pastor with media stuff because they are a little behind of what he would like so I said I could give it a shot. I love the new oppurtunities that have openned up for me.
This semester has been a better semester by far except I just need to focus more with school related work. Last night I took my T.V. out of my room so that I wouldn't be distracted so much. I have definitely had a better relationship with God this semester. I find myself wanting a deeper relationship still though which is good. I hve been reding the minor prophets and they seem to be all the same but after those are knocked out its on to the Torah(first five book of the OT) Prayer with God is becoming a thing I cannot live without everyday and if I miss it or dont do it I definitely tell.
I am so excited for this summer I know God is going to do awesome things as I go back up to Boston. My church family up there is amazing and loving and very genuine. I am going to be working with a new church plant in Beverly, MA. Hopefully doing quite a bit of youth and family outreach. I have been praying that this is where God takes me back to after I am done with school. I feel so at peace up there and at home. But I dont want to put God in a box if he has something better for than by all means do it GOD! Please.
I find myself finally content with not having a girlfriend or trying to find a girlfriend. Not saying that having one would be bad. IT WOULD BE AMAZING! But I am totally cool right now to just relax and have good friends and enjoy my weekends full of sports. playing and watching mind you. I have been also doing pretty good eating healthy and staying active. That has been part of my goals for the semester.
To say that I am loving life right now would be an understatement. I am indescribably in love with what God is doing with me and how he is changing me into a better man of God every day.

The next step...

Have you ever came to the point where you are trying to way the options of what to do next? Either thing will not go against the goal your striving for. But at the same time your not sure which is the better choice. Does God want you to go down one path and not the other? Or does he really not care which path we choose when in the end we will achieve the same goal? One might give you a little more experience or knowledge but the other path is a little more stress free and cheaper. lol. What would we choose to lose just to stay comfortable? and outside off your zone? Even as I write this I am realizing that I need to choose the opportunity I have to have an experience of a life time. Sometimes we are scared of letting God grow us in our faith in him I think. It's almost like, are we really ready to trust God that much. To let him bring us to another level in our walk with him.
If we were to let God take us to where he wanted to take us to I think our minds would blow. He would stretch our faith and comfort zone so much we probably wouldn't even be able to explain it. Well those are my thoughts today.

Grace, Mercy, and Peace

1/20/09 A day in the History Books!

Well if you got by this day January 20th 2009 without hearing about the historically significance of the actions that took place today I applaud you. As we have all read or watched or listened. Today was the first time in our great nation that an African American was given the chance to take the oath of office of the President of the United States of America. Wow what a great milestone to reach within all the chaos that this country is going through.
Although some Americans believe that President Obama is the wrong choice for leading our country, we must remember that he is our leader now. God has put him in this position for such a time as this. So I say that we stop getting upset that the candidate one wanted to win didn't. Big Deal! It happens only one person can win. So we must now like always pray for those who lead this country, that includes the president, the senate, congress and supreme court, along with state govn't. I don't want to sound like I think we need to pray now just because of Obama. Because even though he wasn't my choice I still think he will do a good job or at least hope he will do his best job to help this country recover.
Sometimes people get so prayer happy I will call when the things they didn't want to happen happen because that must mean it wasn't God's will if it wasn't what they wanted. Since they are so close to God and all that. Maybe it is the will of God to wake this country up. To get us on the edge of our seats, ready for the next move of God. So I am praying that as this country struggles to stay united we find time to pray for God to move in a mighty way. That his spirit will move throughout this country freely and people will awaken to the truth that they have been sleeping through.
In His Sincere Love.

Boldness

Yesterday I was given the chance to preach the word of God at my home church. I along with my friend Dave and our youth pastor Paul spoke on having a New Years Revolution. I spoke on family and having good connections with them and what that takes. I mostly spoke on my experience with my family and the lack of connection i have with my dad due to divorce. I spoke with passion in my heart because this has effected me greatly. With God's help I was able to relay the fact that we as families can only have good relationships when we have a good relationship with God first. I believe that God used me greatly last night. After the speaking was over the senior pastor, Pastor Jeff went up onto the stage and started to say that God was stirring in his heart. I felt a tug in my heart when he said those words. He then proceeded to call me up next to him. He then began to speak words of encouragement into my life. I started to ball like a baby simply. He then sad that he was proud of me. And for me to hear that after the week I had just had was unbearable for me and I started to cry even more. That was one of the first times I had ever heard that from a male figure in my life. I couldn't take it any more and turned and gave him a huge hug.
So I say all that to say this. We are all put through things in life: trials, and everything else that causes pain for one simple reason. That is so we can bear witness to God's Glory, his Righteousness, and Amazing Grace. I was able to boast last night in how good God has been through all that I have been through in my short life. So when you go through pain or struggle just remember Suffering produces perseverance, Perseverance produces character, and Character produces hope.

And with hope all things are possible.