Gypsy Faith

here we go again.

following him into the wide open.

resigned today, effective end of Feb.

who knows what lies ahead. i know who lies ahead. that is all that matters.

leather up, fuel up, hang on for the ride.

does not matter where. all i know is that the road is calling.

Schwetty Balls

I don't care who you are...
Alec Baldwin on SNL is hilarious!

looking ahead while remembering what is behind.

while i ride, i keep a sharp eye in my rear view mirror. having some one sneak up and catch you off guard is dangerous. i pay attention. if i don't, things can go wrong. look ahead and look behind.

each week i speak to a group of Middle school Students. it is not the easiest thing i do as a student ministries pastor. my strengths tend to be more evident when dealing with HS and college students.

ms (middle school) students have changed over the years. more defiant, more arrogant, more apathetic to the things of faith. this is the worst i have seen it in 13 years of student ministry. theay are the direct representation of the coming culture change.

don't mis-understand what i am going to say here. i love these kids and enjoy what i do, but the situation is more and more dire.

there has never been a group where the lack of true parental concern and involvement than the middle school students in this country.

why?

we are reaping what we are sowing.

meaning. we are obsessed with sex as a nation. every commercial break there is advertising for drugs for erectile dis function. and we wonder why our children are pregnant and having sex at such an early age. the fact they go to church makes no difference. sadly, christian marriages are no better off statistically than those who are outside the church. so commitment is a major issue.

respect for the things of God are fading in children because they fade in their parents.
passion for faith fades in children because their parents have no passion.
parents have no concern for the gospel and they pass this on to their kids. not by what they say, but by what they do not do.

we as a people better get hold of this situation.
we are raising a generation of people who have no concern and no clue about the ramifications of arrogance and immorality on the culture in which we live.
it is not the world that need wake from its slumber but the church of the living God.

there is hope because we are the church. we are the message of change and life.
there is hope because there are guys like nate and bobby who have given their lives to teach these kids. people like anna who have decided it is important that these kids know jesus and make him known.

is it difficult? hell yes.

it is worth it? heavens yes.

are we in crisis? hell yes.

should we give up? heavens no.

unleashed

i think about the highway a lot these days. seems as though it calls my name.

i often wonder if it echos in my soul so i can get away.

away from band wagons about movies. Christians are so quick to condemn movies. makes us look like idiots. yea, i want to get away from that.

away from 2 faced believers who say one thing and live another.

away from religion.

away from typical.

away from static.

away from the building.

not sure why i feel the need to look down the road. not sure why it is so inviting. maybe it is because of fences. i hate fences.

not sure why the road has become intoxicating.

maybe i have lost the will to fight. maybe i have been fighting the wrong battle.

not sure why i am drawn there. but i am.

i feel unleashed when i ride, set free. probably because i am going toward something. not sure what, but each time it becomes more and more exhilarating.

we all are like sheep...lost our way, wandering around with less passion than before, less hope, less...

This is how we roll...

This is how we give thanks...

1"When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it,

2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.

3And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.'

4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.
5"And you shall make response before the LORD your God, 'A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.

6And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor.

7Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

8And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders.

9And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.' And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God.

11And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

Deut 26:1-11