Yeah, so I had to go to a debate this weekend, and I definately missed the greatest post-homecoming-pre-halloween-costume-extravaganza ever. GOO!!!!!!!

There is a great speech at the end of the LOTR: Return of the King. In it Viggo Mortenson is fortunate enough to deliver the great monologue that many of the readers of this blog are familiar with. It goes something like this:

Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!

This battle cry reached from the movie screen to the hearts of the audience. I hope too that this blog will reach the hearts of the readers.

Just as Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door on that infamous October day in Wittenberg, Germany, I pray that the Lord God of Hosts will so impress on our hearts the need for the reformation of the lives of Christians in America. However, as Luther's Theses divided the church, I pray that the reformation started in our hearts would unify our hearts together for the cause of Jesus Christ. That it would go beyond denominational walls and doctrinal issues, and it would fuse together our hearts under the banner of the Glory of Christ Jesus, to whom all praise, honor, and glory is due.

It is only in America, where a person can go to church, tithe, sing about the mercy and grace of God, be stirred by a sermon; and then continue on to a restaurant and be absolutely uncouth to their server and not think twice. It is only here in America where it is comfortable to be a Christian. Where it costs nothing to most people to follow Christ. Instead, it is nothing more than fulfilling an expected ritual whose concept of religion is completely opposite of the original intent of Christianity. It is only in the nation established Under God that Christians will ignore the open attacks against the Creator of the Universe and the Savior of our Souls because of our careful attention not to impede on anyone's right of free speech. All the while forfeiting our right to stand up and defend the one who purchased us with His blood. The one who destroyed sin and the grave at the price of His own life. And yet, we stand aside and allow the world to curse Him and call Him a fool. May God forgive us of our indifference.

What I propose is the reformation of the hearts of American Christians. May we begin to stand in the promise of the freedom of Christ our Lord. When will we begin to listen to James when he says, "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." We have forgotten that Christ has called us to "take up our cross" and follow Him. We have the luxury of meeting in open freedom to worship and discuss, with uninhibited passion or lack there of, of the glory of God. Have we forgotten the time when the Church had to hide for risk of death? Have we forgotten the death of the martyrs who would rather face the sting of mortality than the shame of denying the cross? May it not be so!

I say to my brothers and sisters that today is the day for our stand. Now is the time that we begin to live what is preached from the pulpit. The life that Paul described as, "worthy of the Lord." That it would begin with us, the simple few. That we would begin to "SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS". That we would begin to seek the gift GIVER and not the gifts. Will today mark the end of our slumber of apathy? Or will it instead mark the end of our confident boasting of Christ and Him crucified? By no means! I tell you that the day of our sterilization has not come! There may be a day when our children will hide in fear of reproach because of their faith, but it is not this day. Christians, I call you into action. Stand with me now without quiver.  May today be the day that is reckoned as the awakening of the American Christian!

-Jeff

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Mood: very angry

I was typing up a blog on Zephaniah 3:17 and had alot of things down. I felt as if I had alot of good stuff written too. Then, as I was about to finish, something horrible happened. I was holding down the shift key and my figer slipt and ran across the scroll wheel on the mouse. Well, that went through like 18 pages before I knew what happened. I tried to go back and recover what I had written, but to no avail. Wow, I am upset. (that's an understatement) Well, I guess the only thing to do now is to go to bed and sleep it off. Who knows, maybe I'll try it again tomorrow.

-Jeff

I don't know if I'm the only one, but all of my professors have decided to give me a break and not have their mid-terms this week. Instead, they are ALL having theirs on Wed. So, every teacher who was doin me a favor, in turn cancels out every other favor. Anybody else have this problem?
-Jeff

yeah, so the whole book of psalms is incredible. here's a good'en.... psalms 27
1The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the LORD will take care of me.

11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.

14 Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Yeah, so it seems that an ever so prevalent theme occurs in so many different profiles. It seems to transcend all website barriers from phusebox, to myspace, to facebook, even to the false security offered in pornagraphic sites that are all too prevelant in our culture. The topic of relationships. (Now, in no way am I equating the thought of pornagraphic materials with the true meaning of relationships. However, it must be noted that such examples exist because of the attack on God's perfect plan by a whimsicle attempt to recreate an alternative by Satan while completely failing and only adding hurt and pain to those incapsulated by his cunning trap of deception.) With such a pressence in our generation's culture, I felt compelled to write about it.

Am I in a relationship? No. Am I looking for one? Not really. So, I write this from a single perspective that has aged and evolved for the last 21years, with the exception of 7 months of my sr. year of HS. I don't know if my conclusions (if any) are correct, however I neither claim nor believe that I have a frim grasp on the concept. Like many things on the ever-so-wonderful internet, this is an ill-thought out observation from a small player in the grand scheme of things. I'm not even sure where I want to go with this blog. Oh well, here goes...

So I look around all over campus, and I see the overwhelming phenomenom of college relationships. I see not only the obvious hand holding and occasional making out on the knoll, but also the ramifications of relationships after they are over. And through all of this, I continually see the need for a complete and total reformation of the way that we see relationships. I have no idea how or what we should do to initiate such a restructuring, but I believe whole-heartedly that it has something to do with seeing our relationships through the eyes of the purest of all loves, the Love of God. I see so many relationships that are a fleating attempt to fill the holes and voids in the lives of the participants that it makes me weary to want to be apart of one.

Nevertheless, I find myself yearning for one of my own. One that is focused on the only one worthy of my love and adoration. Of course, that love is for my savior Jesus Christ, the one whom has loved me and my incessant short-comings from the beginning of time. However, I hunger for someone here on Earth who God has set apart for me to help me foster this relationship with my maker. To know someone who is completely in love with another man (Jesus) and I am second to her love for Him. But not only that. I long for a girl who feels the same way about my love for the Lord. A woman, in every since of the word, who understands that her place in my heart is not on the throne, but instead on her knees in constant worship of the King. Right by my side in humble adoration of the ruler of our hearts.

And through all of this, I am reminded of God's grace. Though my heart wants such an earthly companion, I am continually reminded of my dependency on the Lord. I do not contend that I am not like everyother guy. I get lonely just like next guy, and I understand what it is to be single just about better than anybody else. However, I am content with being single, and waiting on the Lord. Which is another blog for another time. If you've gotten this far, then I would like to take the time to thank you for reading one man's, nay boy's, rambling.

In the Shadow of the Cross,
Jeff

You are Romans.


Which book of the Bible are you?
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Ok, so heres a side of me that not too many people see. I really do like poetry, and I enjoy writing it as well. I'm not the best at it, but I enjoy it all the same. Here is a little diddy that goes something like this:

To My Great King Eternal
I lift this my heart's cry
Waging this battle internal
As the nights seeps slowly by

My trail of sin
Now laid bear for you to see
Has destroyed all within
And so I yearn and cry for thee

Thine own hand use to mend
That which I, myself, have torn
My soul and honor now defend
Your glory in mine heart now reborn

My pride and stuborness prevail
But to you, O god, will they fall
In the pressence of you, they will fail
For your name, "Worthy", only shall they call

Unleash not your wrath upon me
O Lord, your servant I ask would spare
For how good thine mercy twil be
To those who you no longer remember e're.

How great is your love and compassion, O God
And terrible is your vengance on the wicked
Strike down the arrogant with your mighty rod
And free the humble from unjust thickett

Redeemer of my soul and lifter of my head
Your peace and joy I seek
From the counsol of the wicked I have fled
Into your arms, now broken and meek

To my Great King Eternal
I lift this my heart's cry
Now safe from this battle internal
Your love no man can deny.

Well, hope you enjoyed it..... let me know what u thought.
-Jeff