About two thousand and nine years ago a King was born in a place where dirt and the smell of animals was abundant. In the cold of winter with no way of keeping warm except a small blanket, he came into this world. This King is not King of just a country or even the entire world, this is a King who rules over everything, what we can see and what we cannot see, physical and spiritual. You know of whom I am talking about, it is Jesus.
But why a stable? Why would the God of such glory that we cannot even imagine, choose to enter this world through such a lowly place? Why not a palace? Or even just a normal house? God is not a God of earthly wealth or of earthly palaces. He is not interested in these things, he is interested in the only thing that is of real worth, himself. God did not choose to be born in an earthly palace because to him they are of no more worth to him than the stable. He is worth far more than any palace, therefore he chose not to show his greatness through wealth or huge palaces, he chose to show his greatness and worth by himself, for everything else fades away compared to him.
There are two reasons a king gathers riches for himself. One, for pleasure, two, to show his power and his greatness. God did not come to this world to enjoy it's pleasures, and does not need it's wealth to show his power, he is great in himself.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Pro Life Petitions
December 10(tomorrow), Pro-Life groups are presenting their petitions to end abortion, help in this cause to save innocent lives and click here to sign the AbortAware.com petition. It will take only a second.
Thank you!
-cj
Thank you!
-cj
Saturday, December 6, 2008
A Quick Thank You, and a Prayer Request
I've been thinking about the last nine months I've been blogging, and how it has been so beneficial to my soul in many ways. The main reason being the way you guys have encouraged, exhorted and even once or twice corrected me. I thank God for you, it's been a blessing having you pray for me when I ask, and taking the time to spur me on to good works.
Now I'd like to ask you to pray for me and my family, my dad is about to leave for Iraq for a job he got there. He'll be gone for about a year, maybe getting to visit us once. I realize this is going to be hard, and I am asking God to help us through this time.
I regret I cannot give any further info on what my dad will be doing there for his job.
Merry Christmas!
-cj
Now I'd like to ask you to pray for me and my family, my dad is about to leave for Iraq for a job he got there. He'll be gone for about a year, maybe getting to visit us once. I realize this is going to be hard, and I am asking God to help us through this time.
I regret I cannot give any further info on what my dad will be doing there for his job.
Merry Christmas!
-cj
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Reasons for Suffering, and the Reasons for Blessings
I've noticed that, often when someone is suffering. People seem to think that because they are suffering, God must be punishing them for a certain sin. This is not so, even though all suffering is a result of the fall of man, all our suffering is not always a punishment for a particular sin. Suffering has more purposes in our lives than just punishing our sin. Lets look at what James has to say.
James 1:2"Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For we know that the the testing of our faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have it's full effect, that you may perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
From this passage it is obvious to us that there are more reasons for suffering than just for punishing sin, as many people tend to think.
If you read the book of Job, you will find that just because we are suffering doesn't mean that we are being punished for a particular sin, as Job's friends thought. The Bible says that Job was a righteous man, not perfect, but he was righteous. And from the conversation God has with Satan, it is obvious that he was not punishing him. Therefore, we know that God uses suffering to do many things, not just punish sin.
God may use suffering in our lives to teach us to trust him more, to test our faith or maybe he his doing it for a reason he does not want to reveal to us.
Now let's look at the opposite side of this. What if we are being blessed by God? Does that mean that we are being rewarded because of a good deed that we preformed? This can be the reason, but to say that our good deeds are the only reason for our blessings would be sort of placing credit where credit isn't due. The only reason we are even able to do good is because of God's Grace. We are blessed because the goodness of God's heart, not ours.
James 1:2"Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For we know that the the testing of our faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have it's full effect, that you may perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
From this passage it is obvious to us that there are more reasons for suffering than just for punishing sin, as many people tend to think.
If you read the book of Job, you will find that just because we are suffering doesn't mean that we are being punished for a particular sin, as Job's friends thought. The Bible says that Job was a righteous man, not perfect, but he was righteous. And from the conversation God has with Satan, it is obvious that he was not punishing him. Therefore, we know that God uses suffering to do many things, not just punish sin.
God may use suffering in our lives to teach us to trust him more, to test our faith or maybe he his doing it for a reason he does not want to reveal to us.
Now let's look at the opposite side of this. What if we are being blessed by God? Does that mean that we are being rewarded because of a good deed that we preformed? This can be the reason, but to say that our good deeds are the only reason for our blessings would be sort of placing credit where credit isn't due. The only reason we are even able to do good is because of God's Grace. We are blessed because the goodness of God's heart, not ours.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
My Facebook Experience
Well, I've officially been on "Facebook" for five days now. And you know what? It's not quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be, I mean if you stick with the right friends it can actually be a good way to keep in touch with one another(this isn't an official endorsment, I'm just giving you my take on it). I've also found several people who I have not seen in years, and it has been great to talk to them again.
However, a lot of people have been telling me to be careful not to get addicted to Facebook, well I admit I was addicted for the first two days, and I couldn't stop checking for updates. But now after a little while longer I find that I am completely bored of it! It seems almost pointless now, I guess I'm just not the Facebook type. But then again since it is the only way I can keep in touch with family and friends back in San Diego, and there are a few other fun things to do there(i.e. Live Chat with buddies that I know from abortaware.com). I guess I'll keep my account up and running.
In Christ Alone
-cj
However, a lot of people have been telling me to be careful not to get addicted to Facebook, well I admit I was addicted for the first two days, and I couldn't stop checking for updates. But now after a little while longer I find that I am completely bored of it! It seems almost pointless now, I guess I'm just not the Facebook type. But then again since it is the only way I can keep in touch with family and friends back in San Diego, and there are a few other fun things to do there(i.e. Live Chat with buddies that I know from abortaware.com). I guess I'll keep my account up and running.
In Christ Alone
-cj
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Freedom of Choice Act
Please pass this on to everyone you know.
"Mr. Obama has indicated he will be signing the Freedom of Choice Act as soon as he gets into office which pretty much obliterates any steps that have been gained by people who are pro-Life – please consider signing the petition
against FOCA by following the website below.
- The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide.
- FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
- FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
- FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.
Tagged: Six Things I Have Learned This Year
I've been tagged by Penn Tomossatti from the blog "All of Grace," to tell you six things I've learned this year(outside of school). Well, here they are!
1. The art of fence building, I've been building a lot of fence in the past few months.
2. How to use a number of different saws(skill saw, chain saw, etc.)
3. I have learned so much of God's love and greatness.
4. Some HTML and a little CSS code.
5. Over the past year my dad has been looking for a job, and with such a bad economy, I've had to do without a few things. So I guess what I have learned from that is to be content with very little(my dad has a pretty good job now, and were going to need a lot of prayer, I'll explain that in a later post).
6. Lately I've gotten very interested in politics, so I've learned a lot about that too.
I won't be tagging anyone but if you would like to do this, you are completely welcome:)
-cj
1. The art of fence building, I've been building a lot of fence in the past few months.
2. How to use a number of different saws(skill saw, chain saw, etc.)
3. I have learned so much of God's love and greatness.
4. Some HTML and a little CSS code.
5. Over the past year my dad has been looking for a job, and with such a bad economy, I've had to do without a few things. So I guess what I have learned from that is to be content with very little(my dad has a pretty good job now, and were going to need a lot of prayer, I'll explain that in a later post).
6. Lately I've gotten very interested in politics, so I've learned a lot about that too.
I won't be tagging anyone but if you would like to do this, you are completely welcome:)
-cj
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
How Long do We Have?(This is a Must Read)
This an email a friend sent me. It's interesting to see how our nation is slowly becoming a place so unlike the 'God fearing free country that it once was.'
"About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'
'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'
'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'
'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'
'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. from dependence back into bondage'
Some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:
Number of States won by: Democrats: 19, Republicans: 29
Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000, Republicans: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million, Republicans: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2, Republicans: 2.1
In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Some believe the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy and ignorance is the greatest danger to our freedom.
WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE."
"About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'
'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'
'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'
'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'
'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. from dependence back into bondage'
Some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:
Number of States won by: Democrats: 19, Republicans: 29
Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000, Republicans: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million, Republicans: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2, Republicans: 2.1
In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Some believe the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy and ignorance is the greatest danger to our freedom.
WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE."
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