Long time overdue

My Thoughts on
Getting Yelled at for not posting

Well its been awhile and I haven't posted. Whoops my fault. I really wish for this reason and IM reason that I still had internet access at home, but all for the better good.

Decision Making and the Will of God

I have started reading this book and it has blown me away. The first chapter started perculating with me about 2 or more months ago when I read it at Neil's. I finally bought the book yesterday and am a few chapters in and it is amazing. It challenges the traditional view on God's will for our lives.

But what it has impressed upon me over and over again is my need to look at decisions from a eternal perspective. That God is and will use all things to strengthen me and to prepare me more for my calling, glorifying Him. And this has helped me look at how I react to situations. If I respond to success by saying something like "Yah me. I am good." Then I am not where I should be. If I respond to failure with the "Poor me" bologna that can so permiate us, then I am also not where I should be. "He has done great things, all glory to Him," or "How does the Lord want to use this in my life?" seem to be more important and relevant.

I am so thankful for what the Lord has done in the community He has provided, with friends mostly from my small group that are able to grow and encourage me in ways I can not understand.

Sorry for the short update, at work now. Hope I will publish more often. Love you all

In Him

Jared K.

Old Post from the Hub

My Thoughts:
Me and Christ

This is just a repost of something I posted on WSU Campus Crusade for Christ's Hub.

While at work I decided to pop on the hub and I was refreshed to bring up this forum and read through your thoughts. My thought on this issued turned to what it always does when I think of sin and the Cross. If I was the only other person in the world, obviously impossible given physiology (but not impossible with God), Christ would of still died for me. Which means I would of been the person He showed His miracles to, I would of been the one He healed and I would of been His disciple. I also would of been the one who called Him a blasphmer, the one who beat Him and the one that nailed Him to the Cross. After all of that I still would of been the one He showed Himself to after His resurrection, the one He commissioned to the world and the one He sent His Holy Spirit to to guide. Obviously there is so much more there but just those thoughts really is both refreshing, in the thoughts of His mercy and grace, and convicting, since I was the one to nail Him to the Cross and etc... Thank you all for bringing light to this today, God so used you:)

So those are just some of my thoughts on that subject, its something I need to return to on a regular basis, and felt compelled to share. Any response to this would be appreciated.

Just my thoughts

My Thoughts On...

Blogging:
I am excited to start this blogging. Not because I think I have anything special to share with any one, but more so for the possibilities that may come from any of your responses to my random thinking. I hope to be able to learn more about the most important thing in life, my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. From that lens all learning that occurs will be prosperous for me. I thank any of you for taking time to read through these posts, as random or far apart as they may be. But my heart is always worried that with more technology we have less relationships. I long for a time when a older man takes a younger man to coffee to build into him and to tell him stories, this thing seems to been replaced by online chats, blogs, typed or MP3 sermons, or group get togethers, Silence of Adam book really speaks to me on this.

Suffering/Pain:
Its amazing to me that we as the Bride of Christ have the awesome ability, or sometimes lack thereof, to have a eternal perspective on life or death for that matter. When events happen to a non-believer, ie me a little over 4 years ago, I was unable to understand its purpose beyond the event itself. I am overjoyed and amazed constantly that the Lord gives meaning to every single event. Whether its 9/11, the tsunami or the old guy in front of me going 25 in a 45 mile an hour speed zone, all of these are used for His Will. My prayer is not that suffering of His people goes away but that we have proper perspective on things that happen.

My Computer:
I have decided to prioritize my life. One of the outcomes from this is taking apart my computer at home and putting it in a closet. (Curious people would ask, Jared how are you typing this? Work provides a small time for me to use a computer to put down thoughts that I may write in my journal or just type from the grace the Lord provides.) My concern when the Lord convicted me of this, both specifically this Sunday, or generally over the last few months, is my lack of ability to communicate with those I care about. But just as I wrote above I long for better more personal relationships, ones where people call to check on people, instead of away message stalking them to know whats going on with the person's life. In such I will be able to check my email, at least the basics through my cell as well as recieve any phone calls from anyone interested in whats going on.

Neil's Departure:
Words do not do justice to what the Lord has done for me through him and through the Body represented in Apex. Neil's leaving for a few weeks leads me to many emotions; sadness, appreciation, fear, anxiety, love and the whole gamut of feelings. I am so thankful for what the Lord has allowed in my life. I will miss my accountablity in person with him, but I know that while my brother is gone and when my brother returns that as always, there is no excuses for anything.

No Excuses:
A new brother in small group told me two days after he met me that with my story of salvation I had no exccuse to not have faith in the Lord. I was both blown away and challenged. I see in Exodus that after Israel was rescued from Egypt, with so many awesome and apparent miracles, that they chose to build a golden calf instead of following the One who saved them. They were also hoping to return to their place of slavery and bondage as opposed to serving in the mystery of what the Lord promised, even given the past proof of His faithfulness, they wanted the comfort of what they knew. Reading this we tend to think of the Israelites as kinda ignorant, but if we look at the story God wrote in our life through Jesus Christ and our salvation story as well, are we similar to them, looking for comfort, easy things (even praying for an easy life?), bondage, of a past life the Lord saved us from, because of the fear of the mystery of the Lord's calling. My new brother was right, but not just for me, but for all brothers and sisters. There is no excuse for lack of faith. There is no excuse for not sharing the most important thing in our lives and in the world. There is no excuse for not worshiping the Lord in our thoughts, words and actions. There is no excuse for not moving towards are brothers and sisters in love, both in their celebrations and in their struggles.

Just my thoughts