Merry Christmas!

"For God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life"

-John 3:16 NLT

This verse in scripture is probably the most quoted verse of the Bible. Almost anyone who has either visited church a couple times in their life or have been raised in church and have attended for a very long time can most likely quote this very verse to you and tell you exactly where it is in the Bible. The most amazing part is that no matter how many times we hear this verse, we can still take from it and apply it to our everyday lives. What is mind blowing about this particular verse is how it so eloquently states the condition of Gods love for us. God has given His son to be sacrificed for our sins. God did not give up His Son for those He knew would accept Him but for everyone. The sacrifice was made for the most moral of people to the person who committed the most heinous crime. This might rub some people the wrong way but if you look at the fact that Jesus died for someone like Mother Theresa and in the same way died for Adolf Hitler, that shows powerful love and mercy. I am in no way condoning the acts of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany by any means but I just wanted to simply paint a picture of God and His great love for us. I think it is nothing short of amazing how God could know people would reject Him but still went through all the pain of an agonizing death. God has just as much love for the judgemental, selfish Christian that I am to the most oppressed and neglected child living on the streets. It makes me feel so small but delighted when I think about how God doesn't see my imperfections but visualizes the potential He sees in me. He knows I will be a work in progress till the day He returns to take me home. No matter how many times that I think I have my life figured out, He will always be there to kindly let me know that I don't. His love covers a multitude of sins. God loves me just as much as the agnostic or the athiest and accepts us for who we are. No matter what race, ethnicity, lifestyle, or religion; God has a special love for you no matter what "church people" may say. You would think by the way some Christians act that they were working for the Devil with how much hate language is spewed out of their mouths. Life is too short to get caught up in the details but to understand that God loves you for who you are. This is what Christmas time should be about but sadly we have many people who get caught up in spending so much money on family and friends(myself included) and we forget about what this time of the year is truly in remembrance of. We shouldn't celebrate this attitude once a year but every single day. We should be giving of our time and helping out the less fortunate whenever we can. We need to make Christmas about Christ and remember the love that He has for us.

Living for Christ

Many changes have been taking place in my life since my last blog. I have come to a realization that I really need to start caring about what God would have me do with my life. For a while I have been content with my spiritual walk. What I discovered is that you should never be content or comfortable with your spiritual growth. If you look at the human body or life in general, you will notice that both of them never stop changing. If we grow weary and decide to rest, we will not be doing the will of God and this will lead to God not receiving the glory that He so righteously deserves. Don't get me wrong, God will give you rest but what I am talking about is continually making sure that we do not grow stale but to stay fresh in hearing God and doing His will. It is so important for us to know what God would have us do with our lives. Ultimately how He will be glorified. Recently, I have decided to write Christian music instead of trying to write songs about girls or relationships. I am not saying that songs about those sort of things are bad or shouldn't be heard but I just feel in my life that I should use my talents to write about God and my relationship with Him. Music is a powerful tool that can be used to draw people closer to Him. I feel closer to God when I sing to Him and sing about what He has done in my life. For me, it is a time that I can spend with God other than in prayers when I might feel like I am just talking to Him hoping that He hears my prayer. I just want to live my life for God by loving others and being selfless. I want to be a light unto others where people can see the reality of Jesus in my everyday life.

Life is funny sometimes..

It's interesting how often we go through life waiting for something to happen and we put ourselves through so much worry and stress at the time but when it actually happens we almost expect it. I'm learning right now to just allow different events in my life to just happen. I figure that whether I worry or not, I will ultimately yield the same results. In the end, we are all human and it is in our nature to want the best in our lives even though many times we become desparate and take the first thing that comes our way rather than waiting for what we truly desire. I wish I could train myself to not be so anxious and see things through with a clear mind. I will be attending the University of West Florida this Spring and I am pretty excited about the possibilities. I am ready to complete my classes and get my degree finished so I can get out into the real world and begin my career. As I wrote the previous sentence, I think in my mind "But when I get to that point, what next?". I feel like my life is full of those questions lately. What will be my next move and what kind of fulfillment will I gain from it. I think too often we conjure up a glamorous picture of what the future holds but we don't think beyond that. We don't think about the fact that life often doesn't go exactly the way that we plan. We shouldn't place all of our eggs in one basket so to speak. I guess this blog has proven how human I am in that I tell myself not to worry but I constantly wear my mind out with questions of what will happen now and in the future. I always wonder if I will always be around this town, close to my family or off somewhere in another city or country for that matter. I have tried to keep a central theme throughout this blog but essentially I am writing about many of my thoughts and ideas that I have had recently. I apologize if I have found myself traveling along a rabbit trail but this is where I am in my life. I feel like I am at a crossroads so to speak even though I know what general direction I should be going in. I know I need to take classes, try to make good grades, and finish school so that I can show future employers how qualified I am with a simple piece of paper. I guess we will just have to see what happens next.

I know it's been quite a while since my last blog but I was inspired to let you guys peak into my life as of late. It has been about a month and a half since my bilateral hernia surgery and everything has gotten back to feeling normal again. I am still thankful to God every single day that I am alive and healthy and have been blessed with all of my friends and family who are so incredible. I feel so horrible at times of how much I take advantage of how good I truly have it. My parents love me so much and allow me to live at home still so I can save money and not worry about financial stresses. I have friends who are there when I need them. I consider myself to be the luckiest guy in the world much of the time. I think the only thing that could make it better would be the right girl to come into my life. I get so discouraged much of the time because I get impatient and I am so used to getting things when I want and I know that I can't force finding the right person for me. I know that people say that you will find the right person in Gods right time but it gets hard from time to time. I know that I shouldn't feel like I "need" someone to make me more complete. I just need to let nature run its course and focus on what God would have me do in the mean time. I have much to look forward to in the Spring with UWF and focusing in on college and finishing my degree. I also want to be able to concentrate on sharpening my craft in music by practicing guitar, voice, and songwriting. Im ready for an increase in my talents and abilities. Ultimately, I want to continue living a fulfilling life that constantly challenges me to grow as a human being and a child of God.

Coming back to normal

I am not exactly sure how long it has been since I last blogged but I had my hernia surgery last week. Through this whole experience, it has made me realize how much I shouldn't take for granted. A lot of us might get caught up on the fact that we dont have the best car or the most money and think that if we have better things then it will make us a better person or more whole as a human being. This thought process simply does not work. I am simply thankful that I am alive even though I wasn't close to dying. I am just so appreciative of the life I have and I am very content with the fact that I don't have illness or have to be in the hospital all the time. It makes me think of when life isn't going so well and people will say "at least you have your health". It is so important that we have our health because without it, life becomes a lot more difficult. I would much rather have my health and be healthy than to have a great deal of money or many material things. This whole ordeal has made me feel like crap at the way I have treated God who is supposed to be the most important part of my life. I have often put Jesus on the back burner because of how content I have been with the way I live my life. My life is so much bigger than I am. What I want to explain in my previous statement is the fact that other people and other things should be more important than me. I just want to become a lot less selfish. I want to spend time with others and work on my relationships with people rather than keeping to myself. I need others in my life to keep me grounded and humble. I want to spend time with others because everyone needs somebody to talk to and be with. I want to spend more time in prayer knowing what God wants me to do with my life and spend time praying for others. I just want to thank all of those who prayed for me and for all of those people in my life who have affected me in some way or another. I just want to become more like Christ but in general a better person who puts the needs of others before himself.

My week thus far..

I do have an update for you guys from my previous post. Verushka and I are no longer together as a couple. This saddens me but I believe it was for the best. There were many things in the relationship that kept us from being able to function healthily(sp?) as a couple. One of the big things was the fact that she will be signing up for the Air Force soon. I felt almost like both of us would be emotionally investing into something that would soon come to an end when she left for the military. It was hard for me because I care deeply for her but didn't want to keep her from pursuing her many goals that she has set in life. It also really bothered me that she had much emotional baggage in her life that it seemed to come between us. I felt in many ways that she had trust issues in me because of the fact that she had such a shitty past with guys. It sucks because I know she is a quality girl with many great things to offer but I just don't feel that she is ready for a serious, commited relationship. Who knows, there might be a future for us down the road or it may be time to move along and find people who are more compatible with what we both want.

Lately, my dad has been driving me loco with this whole brand new carpet thing. We have basically had to stop our lives to pack up stuff in boxes, move furniture, and buy various items for the house before the carpet is installed. I am exhausted and my parents are exhausted. Everything has just been a stressful project with one thing after the other.

Last night, I had the opportunity to go on a ride along with a cop friend of mine and I had such a blast. We were constantly busy most of the night with calls of domestic disputes among other things. The sad case was of a guy and his little girl who we got a call on who had some illegal substances on him. The worst part was that his little girl was four and she was balling her little eyes out. She was asking the police officers if her daddy was going to jail as tears streamed down her face. She continued saying "Daddy, I love you" and "Can I go be with my dad?". She was such an adorable little girl. She told me about what she did at school on the playground, throwing a ball around and running after it. She was the most adorable little girl I had ever seen or been around. Thankfully, her mom came to rescue her and pick her up to take her home. The dad was arrested and sent to jail. Throughout the night, we would meet up with other officers and have conversations about life and hobbies. I really enjoyed the tight knit, close family feel of the officers. Everyone was very accepting of each other. No one looked down on anyone. It made you feel equal and not set apart from everyone else.

Life is wonderful.. :)

I will start off by apologizing for my recent departure from blogging. I have been staying busy with a relationship, church, work, and figuring out what I will do with the rest of my life. Lately, I have been considering a degree in communications to do public relations/advertising. Everything has been going well with the girlfriend except for the fact that I was an idiot and dropped the "I think I am falling in love with you" bomb. If you would have asked me before a couple days ago "what would you take back and make different if you could go back in time" then I would definitely have worded it differently. My only problem was that suddenly I was hit with these overwhelming feelings for this incredible girl and my choices were to either keep it bottled up or tell her how I feel. If I could go back, I would have told her that I have strong feelings for her and that I hope that we can continue our relationship long term. A huge part of me is not wanting her to join the military but at the same time I realize that this could be a really amazing opportunity for her to find a career direction and progress with her life in a positive direction. All I know is that I am always wanting things to go as perfectly as possible even though I know things aren't always going to be a smooth and easy ride. I just want to make her happy and not scare her away because I can be an idiot and say things that I shouldn't always say. I enjoy each and every moment I am with her. I get this overwhelming feeling when I kiss her and I just dont want to stop. She is beautiful and I love so many things about her. I will update you guys as soon as I figure out how much shit I am in :).

Imagine

As of late, I have recently been working on my repertoire of songs I am using to perform at a friends coffee shop. I have wanted to do a few oldies and some new songs that people would recognize and hopefully sing along with. I have been working towards doing a few songs by The Beatles and have come across "Imagine". I have always known this song to be a great song but never really paid attention much to the lyrics all that indepth. At first glance, one could say that John Lennon or The Beatles were very anti-God or anti-Christianity but some of the lyrics. In actuality, I think John Lennon just wasn't all that fond of religion. He speaks of the world being without many of the religious ideals that we have. It seems as though we have lost much progress in humanity by getting caught up on the idea of people who drink alcohol are bad people or people who dress a certain way or act a certain way are not Christians or good people. I think John Lennon was revealing how backwards our society is. It is easy for us to look at someone who drinks and smokes and tell them that they aren't loved by God but have no problem paying our mega church pastors huge salaries. Don't get me wrong, I think pastors have huge responsibilities and should be paid decently but if you are making more than most of your congregation does on average then that is a problem. With alcohol use for example, Jesus used wine to feast with when he turned water to wine. Jesus uses wine to represent his very blood at the last supper. When did Jesus ever ask for money? When did He ever tell people to go around asking for money to buy nice, flashy gifts and clothes? As I remember, Jesus pushed over tables of merchants and money changers who were making money in His temple. I think it is sad and depressing how the church becomes so backwards from the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Somehow we have taken the teachings of Christ and perverted them into winning a war on terrorism, gaining political status, and making tons of money for our own selfish needs.

Damn, it's late at night....

I know I haven't been with you guys recently but I have some new developments in my life which are pretty exciting. I have been doing a lot more with song writing and learning cover songs to play at a friend of mines coffee place they have opened. I've enjoyed playing there and getting to know people who come by to listen to the music. Thanks for all who were able to come out and if you weren't able to then it is perfectly alright. I will have plenty of opportunities to present you all with my good graces. 

The purpose behind this specific blog is simply a realization. I have romanced the idea lately over this whole "probably won't marry but have many loves throughout my life" deal. I soon realized that this would only complicate my life and probably lead to being unhappy. In a way, it was a plot and scheme to just not have commitment in my life. I guess I tend to grow weary and tired of waiting for different things in my life and that was a thought and idea to run away from it. 

Recently, I have met a really cool girl who is a friend of friend. We have been hanging out the past week and she is just everything cool in a girl that you'd want if you were a guy. I guess I am saying the previous sentence as more for my own personal opinion because she might not be what every single guy is looking for. What saddens me is that she is a beautiful girl both physically as well as personality. She is extremely outgoing which is a huge attraction to me. Ultimately, she can bring me out of my shell and make me feel comfortable. I feel silly because I have only known of her for the past week but have had the opportunity to get to know her. It also infuriates me that you will have these amazing girls who fall for the charming, fake, and immature assholes who only want to take advantage of a very beautiful girl. So many guys have forgotten about values, chivalry, and being an all-around gentleman. Too many guys are concerned with "hooking-up" with a girl and making them another notch on their bed post.

What really sickens me is that I used to have this mentality that you find a pretty girl and see what happens physically whether there is an emotional or stable relationship blooming. Every guy seems to want to be casanova and not wait for the person they will be in love with. I just don't think it is right and I am very sad that I was so wrong. I am just glad I didn't do anything stupid that I would soon regret. 

I will keep you all updated on the girl situation. For now, I must retire myself to get about four hours of sleep :(

-Will

Learning something every day

It seems like it has been forever since the last time I blogged so I am hoping this time will be a profound blog. Religion in our lives can tend to be a funny thing. It seems like we get so worked up and pissed off about what other people think and believe. Religious arguments tend to remind me of school children arguing over whether or not pizza is better or just as good as ice cream. It is important to the school children at the time but in the grand scheme of things they are going to stand by what they like. Now we take religion on the other hand and although it is very different from the school children question, it can be very trivial at times with the questions we get worked up about. What bothers me is the people who are on the evolution versus creation side. Could it be possible that we serve a God who can use both processes to bring about life? Could God have used certain aspects of evolution to create? I am simply wanting to leave it out in the open and think outside of the box. Too much of the time we have people who think they have figured it all out and the truth is that no one has figured out science or religion. No one knows beyond this life or what lies ahead in the near future. Preachers can talk about the end times and talk about Jesus coming soon but in reality we don't know if He will come back or what exactly will happen until it occurs. I am believing with my faith that we will see Jesus come back and rescue us from ourselves but for now anything is in the realm of possibility. I am also entertained by those who wrestle God with logic. People will say that it doesn't make sense that this and that happened. For those people, I would say to not worry about it. I have a brilliant humanities teacher who I just ended a class with and he would use some awesome words of a man from ancient Greece and Rome. Basically, a man of logic from Greece was telling a man of faith that what he believed was illogical. The man of faith replied with "What does Greece have to do with Israel"(or something to that affect)? The man was saying "What does the world of logic have to do with world of religion or God?". I just find it amusing when you take two separate and different worlds and try to explain one with the other. Nothing will get accomplished and it only makes things more difficult and complicated and unresolved. 

Fred Phelps

There are probably many Christians who may or may not know this name. There are probably many in the gay community who despise this man. Fred Phelps is a pastor located in Topeka, Kansas who translates the Bible to his own manipulation. He has many sites known as "godhatesfags.com" and "godhatessweden.com". I recently watched a documentary about Fred Phelps. His church is known as "Westboro Baptist Church". The church is practically made up of his family members who are radically fundamental. They have rallies at the funerals of fallen soldiers who have died and gay people who have passed away. The Fred Phelps clan basically makes a mockery of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Westboro gang is basically spoon fed manipulation and mistranslation from their radical, fundamentalist pastor. It truly breaks my heart to see these people and what they stand for. Fred Phelps is filled with so much hatred and lacks much happiness in his life. If you were filled with the love of Jesus, you wouldn't hate others and have protests and picket signs. Jesus never talked about hating anyone when he was on the earth. Jesus was accepting of all people and wanted them to see the love that he had in his heart for everyone. Fred Phelps lacks compassion and joy in his heart. Fred Phelps is filled with bitter hatred for those he should have love for. 

I would recommend watching "Fall from grace". It is the name of the documentary. It will truly open your eyes.

Hey gang! It's that time again..

I know it has been a while since I last spoke in a blog format and I deeply apologize. I must say everything in my life has been going very well. I seem to be making decent grades even though I cannot for the life of me understand my biology lab professor. He is hard to understand because of his African accent. Other than that, school is good but I am oh so ready for it to end. I am excited about saving some money for some DJ speakers in order to hopefully book some paid DJ gigs. I am hoping to have some parties, formals, and possibly wedding receptions lined up in the coming months. I am considering the thought of a second job at another restraunt for better pay to help with my DJ fund and my car payments.

Now that my current status has been stated, I will continue with what happened at work tonight. For the most part, Friday night went well. We tend to have maybe one of two orders that do not come out perfect but aside from that we do really awesome. The scenario that occurred tonight infuriated me pretty bad. I was on the register taking orders while there was a line of people. Working at the register can be stressful because you are talking and dealing with the customer, making sure you are getting their order exactly the way they like it. Generally, customers like to talk very quick and I sometimes have to get them to repeat but most of the time they don't have to. Meanwhile, in the background you have people with their arms crossed with looks of "hurry up already" written all over their faces. I am also responsible for ringing up call in orders on the same register so I am responsible for writing paid on the order tickets. To top off all that had been going on, at the end of the mighty rush of business, a guy came up and told me that I needed to "try and keep up". At first I thought "what do I need to keep up with?". Would I need to keep up with call in orders or getting the orders quickly entered in so that people dont have to stand around? What the man didn't understand was when I have people who are not telling me very quickly what they want or want to carry on conversation while there is a long line of people, it doesn't help orders to be sent and made more quickly. Another point I want to bring up is the fact that much of the time customers don't understand that other people are ordering food and maybe their food is behind or in front of another order. If we have ten tickets up and your number is five then we have to make 4 or 5 tickets worth of food before we get to yours. People can be so self-centered that it drives me mad. Some of them are like "what about me? what about me?". I just want to tell them a few choice words and tell them to sit and wait quietly for their order to be prepared. Customers want to get pissed off at me for something that is out of my hands. I think if I ever left Santino's, it would be over a bad night worth of customers. People can make you feel so small and insignificant at times. I am tired of the arrogance and inconsiderate behavior of some that ruin it for the majority.

I have to go get myself in bed now. I have another long day at Santino's to look forward to. I'm probably looking at a fourteen hour day on about four hours of sleep. I'm looking forward to that! Take care and hope to speak with you guys soon enough!

The new dating situation

I have a brand new update for you guys. I recently started talking to a girl who I met through the match dating service. She seems pretty cool and funny. She has a good personality. The only dilemma(sp?) I have is simply not knowing if I am wanting a committed relationship. I think it is hard to tell if you want to be committed to someone you hardly know. I have also been enjoying my newfound freedom as a single guy. I have the freedom to talk to any girl I want and hang out with any girl without anything being said or anyone being pissed off. If I do meet a girl, I want to hang out and be friends with them for a while before anything officially starts to occur. I enjoy being able to go out and talk to girls without feeling the guilt that I have a girlfriend who is going to be mad or upset that I was hanging out with other girls. I want to give this girl a chance because she could be a lot of things I am looking for in a future relationship. I guess I am scared of disappointing but you really have to do what is right for yourself. You can't live your life worrying if you are going to hurt someone's feelings over a situation. I am sure the right thing will come of it. I will update you guys as soon as I am able to on the situation. 

 

I've learned so much..

The subject behind my blog today is the beautiful realization I have made in concern to the opposite sex. For so long I have only felt content with the fact that if I found a girl to get in a relationship with, it would be then that I felt "complete" and "stable". I have learned that it isn't about being dependent on someone else for the way you feel. You shouldn't invest your life into someone else to simply make yourself feel secure. I have learned that when I do meet women, I don't have to feel an obligation to that person but to just let it be. If something happens to steer it in a meaningful direction(relationship) then that would be great. If a relationship or friendship doesn't occur, it was nice knowing that person. Guys and girls alike tend to overanalyze different situations with the opposite sex. We want to think about the future more than the present situation. We have to live in the now and not in the tomorrow. Many get their heart involved in various situations and think about "what if she/he is the one". I would say that it is much better to just have a few drinks and share some intelligent conversation over creating "what if situations" in your mind about others. If you really want to meet people, the best way is to keep it cool and be comfortable in your own skin. No one wants to talk to a person who is trying too hard to be someone that they aren't. I have just now realized that this blog is turning into a "how to pick up people" blog and it really isn't. I guess I am trying to stress that so many people are wrapped up in all the things that don't really matter until later on down the road when those situations are presented. If you ever see a beautiful guy or girl and you are wondering why they are with the type of person they are with, you should either feel pity for them because they haven't realized who they are with or they just aren't worth your time anyway. There are still quality people out in the world which is something I forget much of the time. If you are reading this and are already married then it probably doesn't apply to you. You could probably identify with this at one point in your life or know someone who is dealing with this situation. I just felt like I should empty this out of my thought process so that I can move on with my life. Hopefully this blog helped someone. I will return soon with yet another insightful blog in the future.

One of those days..

Today was much like most of my Saturdays. I usually spend the day working 12 to 14 hours making food, greeting customers, sweeping, mopping, and all the other exciting duties that go into the food service industry. I love working with the people at Santino's most of the time but there are times like tonight when I just want to leave and move on to something new and exciting. I have been working at Santino's for five years, I haven't seen a raise in a long time, i'm a hard worker, and I deal from time to time with crap from other co-workers. Today, for instance, there is a girl that I get a long with most of the time but she was busting my balls all day. She was nagging me about how I am not doing this the right way or I need to do this before I do that. I am so over the bossy headstrong bullshit that occurs from her. She is my manager's girlfriend and you can't help but play favorites. She wants to look good in front of her boyfriend/manager so that she can score some brownie points and boost herself up. This in actuality might not be completely the case but it seems like it is. I am so tired of being the nice guy that gets pushed around and taken advantage of. I am tired of being the guy who doesn't get acknowledged for the good he does and is constantly critisized because "I don't do my job a certain, special way". I think I am a non-conformist by heart. I am tired of playing the hamster in the cage who is spinning on the money wheel thinking I can survive on the fast food industry. I am ready for change and a new direction. I am ready for something soon.    

Relationships

I have recently discovered that I have a dilemma. I suck at getting into relationships with girls. What usually occurs in my pursuit is that I become attracted to a girl, I get overly zealous about the future possibilities with that girl, and then disappoint myself because she wasn't everything I thought she would be. I guess I have a perfect image and idea of what I want my future wife to be and I try to make myself think that I will find it in a particular girl. I usually end up disappointed that she wasn't it and get discouraged. I don't know how to just let fate and destiny work together to continue my path in life. I seem to always get in the middle and wonder about when and where it will happen and with who it will be. I really want to find my soul mate but have the fear that I might settle for less than her to satisfy my desire of being with someone and not being alone. I think out of everything in my life, I always seem to overanalyze my thoughts and ideas of love and who I will fall in love with. My biggest fear is that the only product I will receive from my pursuit of love is insanity. 

Church Community

Tonight I had the amazing privelage that I receive every Sunday to be apart of my home church community known as The River. For the first time in quite some time, I felt God. My experience wasn't in being "slain in the spirit" or a warm fuzzy emotional experience but it was an authentic encompassing of God and his rich love for his people. It may seem simple and unextraordinary but tonight after our gathering, we went over to Pastor Sam's house. It seems weird to say "Pastor Sam" because I see him as more of a great friend/mentor than a person in high authority who sets standards impossible for me to grasp. In my background, I am used to pastors who put on one mask and speak the "church" talk while they are in service but then outside of service they are completely different. I have finally found a church that I feel God smiles upon not only in my life but in all the lives involved in The River. Tonight, I saw God in kids laughter and crying as they played and interacted with one another in their pajamas. I saw God in cheerful anticipation of the Arizona Cardinals running down the field for a touchdown.
I felt God in the atmosphere of everyone having harmony with one another rather than dischord. These precious moments in our lives are easily taken for granted. We are learning in our gatherings about being so distracted by the noise in our lives that we ignore what really matters. We allow school, work, and other activities to take priority over so many important things in our lives. If you get the chance, just take a moment to be still and listen to creation outside or the suttle sounds late at night in your house. Take time to breathe in what God is doing around you at any given moment. Be quiet and listen to what God might be trying to instill or communicate to you.

Losing my religion(but not really)

I know it has been quite some time since I have blogged. I have felt like today would be a great time to blog and let the therapeutic flow come over me. I led worship the other morning for a church I usually lead worship for on Sundays. I am hired as a part-time worship leader for a church in downtown Pensacola. I really love the people there and feel like most of them have a heart for God but seem to miss the point from time to time. I went to one of their Sunday school classes and we watched videos on different religions. The particular religion that we looked at was the Hindu religion. The video told you a little bit about the Hindu religion and the differences between Hindu and Christianity. Our discussion basically gravitated around how sad it is that the Hindu people believe in what they believe in and not Christianity. I think it is so sad and pathetic when we get so caught up in our beliefs and perceptions of religion to think that we have it figured out over another religion. There are incredibly intelligent and passionate people of all religions. Just because my religion is different from theirs doesn't give me the right to say "aww..the poor Hindu people have it all wrong". What I believe could be wrong as well because I don't know for sure and I wont know till the day I die. I believe in a God who created the heavens and the earth and a man who lived and breathed to die on a cross for my sins. This is where my faith lies. All these people of different religions are fighting and killing one another when they could very well be serving the same God. A God who loves each and every person. The higher power I look to as God could be the same deity as Muhammad or any of the other gods discussed in other religions. I can get so aggravated over religion sometimes.