Is Anyone There?

As I read more and more about our states government, I cant help but wonder... Is there anyone going to be there when I get back?

I have heard about the new State Police facility, that we dont need, that the State Police agree we dont need, and that MSU didnt ask for back. So whats up with that?

Will the lights still be on? Thoughts?

We Made It

Well we have arrived. The weather out here is great, cool in the morning and evenings, and then its warm to the 80's in the afternoon. We have been able to walk around the hotel, Caesar's Palace, and down the strip a little bit.

Caesar's Palace is HUGE! This place is definitely bigger than my neck of the woods. Its amazing the number of statues and fountains that are all over the place, outside and inside. There is a place called "The Forum Shops" which is an area of shops that is crazy. You feel like your walking outside because the ceiling is painted like the sky. Top end shops all over the place, like Tiffany's, Harry Winston, and many more.

We have made it out to see the Bellagio, which is my favorite thus far. We strolled through that hotel and I was in shock. To me, it has the feel of the Grand Hotel in Mackinac, but the colors match, and there is way more elegance. The fountains were cool too, I didnt know that they went that high in the air. (like 10 stories) The conservatory that is there was sweet too. I was surprised to see that all the flowers were real, and the pumpkins too. I know I should have taken pictures, but we are horrible with the camera and never use it.

We also went to see the Mirage, the volcano was cool. It was neat to see, but it sucked waiting for it. It happens every hour, and we must have just missed it. We walked inside and went down to the Dolphine Habitat, but it was closed, it also would have cost $15.00 per person, so we marked that off the list. They also had a wildlife habitat inside, which we walked around. That pretty much sucked. It would have been more appropriate to call it a duck pond with bridge. Wait, maybe that was at the Flamingo, nope, Amy just confirmed it was at the Mirage.

I still want to go to Treasure Island to watch the Sirens, and the Rio for the Masquerade show, and MGM.

OH! We did make it to Paris Las Vegas, that was kinda cool. At night its all lite up and looks cool, however I wasn't that impressed with the inside. For those that dont know, they have rebuilt a mini Eiffel Tower and then a casino under it. Its a cool idea, however I think it was a bad idea to make the roof non-see-through. I mean, here you have this casino with an Eiffel tower over it, and you look up and they paint the ceiling to look like the sky... and then you have the four feet of the tower in the casino.I'm just saying it would have been way cooler to make the ceiling glass or something.

We have been able to find places to save cash on food, which is good, cause most things are really $$. For example, I talked to a guy on Monday that paid $5.00 for a 20oz. Soda!! The sad thing was, that I looked around and the best I could find was one for $2.00.

Anyway, so yah, money is tight, but we are hacking it.

Out of Town

For the next 8-9 days I will be out of town. I dont know if I will be posting or not, depends on whether or not there is an available WiFi connection in Vegas. I am sure that there is somewhere, however I am a bit worried about who might be watching.

I leave in the morning, please pray for our safe travels.

-Layne

Can God use you?

An interesting devotion I read today, that covered a verse from Judges 7. As I read the verse, it sounded familiar to me, so I went back to read the chapter. No doubt, I had heard this before. Its the story of Gideon, and his army of 300.

You may recall that Gideon started out with an entire army (32,000) before God told him there were too many. So God tells Gideon, "Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained."(Judges 7:3) Gideon goes from 32,000 down to 10,000 in a second.

But wait! theres more! So 10,000 men is still too many for God. So God calls down to Gideon again, and tells him: "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." (verse 4) By the time that God is done, Gideon has 300 men in his army. 32,000 men, down to 300... That is a significant decrease.

Gideon must be getting some crazy looks at this point in time. Imagine what his peers are saying about him. So God reassures him saying He will use the 300 men, and Gideon will conquer the camp of Midianites, which of course, He does.

Take a step back from this story, and lets take another look. What was it that God needed? What kind of men did God use? Well, the first thing that God removed, was men with fear. (Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?") So if we want God to use us, we must first have faith that He has our best interest. We must put away any fear we might have.

them on the tablet of your Then God needed something else. He needed men that knew what they were doing. The men that reached their hand down to drink were prepared for an enemy attack. The men that drank upon their knees would not be ready. For God to use us, we must be mentally prepared. (Proverbs 3:3 "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write heart.)

God used men that were knowledgeable and unafraid. Likewise, today God wants people who are willing to trust in Him, that are not afraid of what the world thinks or says. God wants people that have learned His words, and can use them. God isn't looking for someone who is weak or lukewarm in their faith, He needs someone who prays, who seeks knowledge, who has a strong faith, and is willing to listen to Gods direction.

Preventing Dissolution

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

There are two items a Christian must live by to be a real Christian: Have a life full of faith, and have a walk of faith.

To have a life of faith, we must accept Christ as our savior. We must recognize His perfect life, and his defeat over death. This part can become hard for some people who insist the Bible is not 100% truth, or water down its message.

The second part is the hard part, walking in the Spirit. A walk of faith is hard because we face not only external attacks, but also internal. The devil hunts each one of us, seeks to destroy us. On top of that we have our sinful human nature trying to convince us to sin. To justify it all.

By walking in faith, we must turn from our evil ways. We must stop sinning and seek righteousness. We must not promote sin in our culture, in our families, or in our lifes. We must confront sinful nature, and use our spiritual gifts to fight for Christ.

To continue from my last post, in what ways do society attack us? I know that is becoming politically incorrect to defend Christ and His life. I know we are being subjected to compromise with other religions. Society tells us we must become tolerant to immorality. In this entire process we have lost our increased sensitivity, and allow sin to come into our homes and lives.

A suggestion was made on my last post, provide an alternative. I thought about this for a while, trying to come up with such an idea. As I thought, I realized that, we do not need an alternative. We need to realize what is important to us, our faith in Christ, and our walk in faith. We do not need an alternative, our lives should be that alternative.

I used to smoke about 2 packs a day. When I was trying to quit, I tried a few different avenues. From the gum to lollipops to eating carrots nonstop. The problem with that was, I was merely swapping out the fixation. It might have been better to my health, but it didnt stop the cravings. I finally stopped, cold turkey. I knew that the nicotine was out of my system in three days, and that the rest was just a mental battle.

Thats what we face today. A mental battle. If we are too weak to stop watching immoral shows, I would suggest cooking shows, home improvement shows and the news.

Letting Weeds Grow

This last week has been amazing. The college campus I attend had all the school clubs out advertising what they do, and accepting new members. There were also some local businesses that had tables too. I am the VP for the College Republicans on campus, so I was out to promote our group. The table they set us up next to was for a group called"The Union".

The Union is a Saturday night alternative. Basically its a place where young people can go hang out. The cool thing for me, was that it is held at my church. So I had heard about it from a post card sent to me in the mail. So I got talking to the guy at the table and decided that my wife and I should check it out.

We went, and had a great time. Some friends from our church group went with us. We played pool, some foosball and played some euchre. It was a great time. There was no catch to it either. It was free (always a bonus), but there was no message. It wasn't like they tried to draw people in and then made you sit and watch a sermon, or a movie. It was sweet.

Anyway, I ran into the guy I meet at the college table. He is on staff at the church, so he knew my wife, who sings in the praise team. Anyway, as we left I wanted to say goodbye to him, and in the farewell he invited me to a Bible study on Sunday morning. He mentioned they talked about scripture and ideology and stuff, right up my alley, so I told him I would check it out, and I did.

I told you that story to tell you this one. At the group, a topic arose that I felt I had to disagree with. (Go figure...) It seems that people thought it was alright to watch things that didnt really follow "Christian belief or moral", as long as it did not influence them. The kicker was that people would then say how messed up our society is, and how we have become insensitive to immoral behaviors. At this point I had to mention that by watching these shows and movies, you are supporting this lack of morals. I tried to say this as graceful as possible, being new and all. I think i made some people upset.

The response I got was pretty much, just because it may be a weed in your garden, doesn't make it a weed in someone else's. Very true, we don't all struggle with the same thing, however my point was that if your going to say how horrible society is, and your watching the same crap that everyone else is, your a two faced hypocrite. You cant act the same as society AND complain how corrupt they are. You have to set yourself apart from the world. I don't feel a person can claim to be an adult in their faith if they continue to live the same life as they did before.

So my question to you, the reader, is, do you think that watching immoral shows is okay for Christians? (by immoral I do not mean to say porn, but shows or movies that disregard Christian values)

Provoking a Lion

I remember going to the zoo as a kid, and teasing the monkeys with a sucker. I would hold it out there for them to grab, but when they got close I would pull it back in. I thought it was great because I got to see the monkey's up close, never realizing how it would make them feel. Now imagine doing that to a lion, but not just any lion, a dangerous lion. This lion is powerful and mighty, the Lion of Judah.

As Christians, our sins provoke the Lord our God almighty. We must be careful then, to learn of our sins (as if we don't already know what they are), and to stop sinning. We are to turn from our evil ways, stop wearing our dirty clothes, and become renewed in our spirit. We read in Duet. many occasions when the Israelites provoked God to anger. How stupid! I mean, why would anyone ever do such a thing? On multiple occasions they provoke God to anger. Now I do get a kick out of God, they way He teaches them, us. This is how it goes:

Israel has revolted against God. I doubt this was the first time, and we read that it was not the last. However, i use this example because it clearly states how it made God angry.

Deut 32:22-25
" For a fire has been kindled by my wrath,
one that burns to the realm of death below.
It will devour the earth and its harvests
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.

'I will heap calamities upon them
and spend my arrows against them.

I will send wasting famine against them,
consuming pestilence and deadly plague;
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,
the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terror will reign.
Young men and young women will perish,
infants and gray-haired men.'"

When I read about how the Israelites provoked God, it seems on many occasions that they were worshiping other gods or demons ("They made him jealous with their foreign gods
and angered him with their detestable idols." Deut. 32:16). In Isaiah 3, we read that "because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD" they provoked Him. Basically, its easy to provoke God, if you don't follow His directions.

Now I believe our God is an understanding God, I believe that He is not provoked if we earnestly work to control our sin. I believe He is provoked when we seek sin, or are acting in sin without regard to punishment. We must know that our actions will be judged, but we must know that God punishes us because we are wrong, but because He wants us to learn.

Hebrews 12: 5&6
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Of all the people in the world, why do we provoke the Creator of all things? How often do we look at our sin as the reason God becomes angry? How often do we recognize that my sin put Jesus Christ on that cross?

I believe that if we remembered this more, we would sin less. When we remember what makes someone angry, we tend to find a new path, a path less traveled.

Caught in the Act

Dont you hate it when you get caught in the act of doing something wrong? Whats even worse is when you catch yourself doing it, and your mind (human nature) tells you, "you already started, might as well finish". Now, by nature, I would like to clarify I am not talking about my last post, however this topic would apply to that also.

Yesterday I told myself I would try fasting so that I would gain control over my physical urges. Now here is the catch: I never said that I was going to do it today, however this morning I started my day off as if I were going to. So to me, this says, "You were going to fast today".

TIP: Never go grocery shopping when your trying to fast. You buy things not on your list, and you get home and eat them.

So I did just that. I went to the store and picked up a few things. Milk, bread and a few good deals. When I get home I cant help but feel the hunger in my stomach. So I put the food away and walk away. I forgot that I was going to clean the celery so its ready for lunches. Somewhere in this time period I start warming up leftovers and eating some chips. The leftovers, still in the microwave, a the first chip still in my hand and heading towards my mouth I hear the Spirit "WAIT!". I follow the instructions and listen. This is what follows.

Holy Spirit - "Arent you fasting today?"
Me - Yes
Holy Spirit - "Arent you trying to control your physical urges, so you can defeat your addiction to pornography?"
Me - Yes
Nature - "Its already been dipped the chip, you might as well eat it, its just one chip"
Holy Spirit - "You made a promise to God, it would be wise not to break that"
Nature - "You didnt REALLY make a promise, you never said, 'I'm going to fast Friday'"
Holy Spirit - "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no."
Nature - "Bah! your hungry, it smells good, your hungry"

Im eating the chip. The microwave timer goes off, time to dig in. Transferring the food out of the dish and into a bowl I hear:

Holy Spirit - "Your breaking your promise to God"
Nature - "Too late, you already did it, might as well say screw it for today"
Holy Spirit - "If your wife was on the edge of having sex with another man, would you want her to stop after one kiss, or say screw it I already messed up, might as well finish the act"
Me - "Ouch. Holy Crap I would be pissed! In fact that is the only way God allows for divorce.. maybe I should stop"
Nature - "at least finish your lunch"
Holy Spirit - "At least let your wife finish it this one time, she wouldnt do it again..."
Me - "this sucks, but what a great blog post"

So hear I am, laying it all out. As I look at it in hind sight, God not only tried to stop me, each time, but even provided a way out of the kitchen. What an Amazing God we have. What an evil human nature. Every time I sided with the Holy Spirit, nature would make a new offer, "just a little bit, just a little, it wont hurt, you already started, you already screwed up might as well finish it now, cause your screwed anyway."

Dont let me fool you, I am not trying to say I am holy n stuff, I ate my lunch and feel horrible. Lost this battle, but I have learned. I need to be clear with myself on when I will fast. I will be clear on what I am fasting from, and what I am fasting for. How long I am fasting, and prepare for such attacks. Have juice and drink available, as well as things to do with my time. And I will NOT go grocery shopping when I fast.

My Struggle

I am fighting an addiction to pornography. I have had this addiction since AOL sent out 3 1/2 inch floppy drives in the snail mail. In fact, the reason I know so much about computers and the internet, is because I had to learn how to cover my tracks on my parents computer, when I was a kid. Amazing how God can use our sin to better us as a person.

I have decided to focus on this sin, and ridding my life of it. The big problem with this is that I am very literate with computers. It is pretty hard to lock down your internet with a filter, when you know how to disable it. This evening I talked to my wife about it. She, of course, was more than willing to help. We are searching out answers for this problem.

I have decided to try fasting from solid foods for a day. I know this sounds like a new topic, however I am hoping it will teach me how to control my urges, and to conquer them. In the meantime, if this is something that you are struggling with, or have previously struggled with, please let me know what you have done to put it behind you.

Distracted from Duty

The best intentions mean nothing if left alone. I woke up this morning with the best intentions of saying my morning prayers. I woke up in a hurry, as I heard the dogs outside running after something. I had to jump out of bed to holler at them so they would stop and come back. I laid back down after that, when my list of things to do before I head into class, ran through my mind. I got back up, jumped in the shower. Again, the list grew. I quickly got dressed and ran out to check the oil in it because I think its leaking (I have to carefully watch the levels). So while I was outside I remembered it was trash day, and we missed it last week. So i had to get the trash around and take it out to the road.

After that was done, I had to move my car, which was parked behind my wifes. I had to move it as she leaves before I do. So then I have to take the dogs out because they didnt have time to go.... too busy chasing something. So they go out and do their "business". I get back inside and its time to make coffee for me, and tea for my wife. While in the kitchen I might as well make some toast. Shortly after the lady of the house has to leave. Kiss goodbye, love yah, drive safe, out she goes.

So now I have a moment for my devotions, but did I remember that? No. I jump online to check my email, when I realize I left a window up from last night. A buddy on facebook linked an article I was half through. Check email, start to glance over article and BAM! "Are you going to have time for me this morning?"

Stop everything, I am on borrowed time. Now to the present, share this dilemma with friends so they also remember the importance of time with our Father. (find a funny picture to bring it all home with)

The Disciples are for Me.

The way I write for my blog is pretty simple. I choose a topic I want to learn more about, and then I do a little research. As I read through many verses and commentaries and books, I start forming my opinions and ideas I plan to write about. I save all these ideas and such in a regular Word document on my computer. After I have finished what might be called a section (like those for Prayer) I post it online.

As my regular readers know, thanks to the few readers I have, I am learning about the 12 Disciples. I wrote a post informing the readers I plan to cover certain aspects, and then created the first part in what I hoped to be a small series. It has come to my attention that this study isn't exactly meant for me to post. I believe that this series is for me. What I mean by that is, I feel this was a way for God to tell me how to be more like them. I am learning how Christ trained these men. In the process, that normally small Word document has become rather long. It has also started to take more shape of small book, instead of a blog post.

I have always wanted to write a book. I have always tossed the idea around, but could never really distinguish what to write about. When I was young, I wrote a kids book. When I hit adolescence, I wanted to write about life, and my personal experiences. Until shortly I thought about writing about my short military career and exposing true Navy life. This last week, God seems to be leading me to write about His great Word.

Throughout my life, I have always had a feeling I was a great warrior in God's military. I would vision myself leading from atop a horse, slaughtering demons and Christ's enemies. I am a firm believer in the unseen, and have had personal experiences with them, some friendly, some not. While researching the disciples, I have also been researching spiritual gifts. In my prayer series I learned how to pray, which is also something I have learned the disciples needed to do. I now put on the armor of God in the morning, and pray for wisdom and honor through humility (Proverbs).

So to pull this all together, I have decided to follow the Holy Spirit and write down what I feel He is telling me. What it has turned out to be thus far is a book about a True Believers ability to be a Warrior. The how-to type thing. I know it sounds quirky, but I do believe it is a necessity for todays believers. I plan to continue writing until it is finished, I have no idea when that may be, I am sure Christ will let me know.

Any ideas about what you feel is important to battle the devil is appreciated. I am not sure that is all I will write about, but that seems to be a core right now.

Never Forget

Today, while we do what we do, please take a moment to thank God for what He has blessed us with. Let us also pray for our leaders of this great nation, and for the up coming election, not that our will is done, but that God's will is done.

Through the Fire

I decided to post an occasional song that I truly enjoy. This is one that I really like to listen to, and the words remind me that Christ is never late to our rescue, be patient, be still, listen, He is there.

So many times I’ve questioned certain circumstances

Or things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
And my frustrations get so out of hand
It’s then I am reminded I’ve never been forsaken
I’ve never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories, the Spirit rises up in me
It’s through the fire my weakness is made strong

And He never promised the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to climb
He never offered victory without fighting but He said help would always come in time
Just remember when you’re standing in the valley of decision and the adversary says give in
Just hold on, our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again

I know within myself that I would surely perish
But if I trust the hand of God, He’ll shield the flames again

And He never promised the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to climb
Just hold on, our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again
Just hold on, our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again

I decided to post an occasional song that I truly enjoy. This is one that I really like to listen to, and the words remind me that Christ is never late to our rescue, be patient, be still, listen, He is there.

Disciples - Why these 12?

John 1:29-51 is the moment when the first disciples were called, but why these men? As I search out this topic, I notice it is a bit difficult to follow who is who. I mean, when you look at a list of the 12 disciples, you wont normally see Matthew, Mark, Luke, you will probably see something more like, Simon, Simon Peter, James, James, James, and Judas the traitor.

So keeping names straight is much harder than it seems. If you know a good way to remember who is who, please email it to me, as I still struggle with this.

Moving on the the selection of the disciples. Jesus was kind of forced to choose these "Lower class" men. If Jesus, or rather when, explained who He was to the "Upper class" pharisees, they didnt believe Him. Others were too proud to be associated with a Nazarene. Many others in the common class had a superficial faith, much like many today. This is why I believe Christ choose people based on their hearts. Christ was somewhat limited in His selection, and, as if He walked the earth today for the first time, He found only a very few in the church with true spiritual belief.

Jesus chose men who were awaiting for His arrival, like John the Baptist; Men who were ready for a new adventure, James and John sons of Zebedee. He wanted men who were solid, with great integrity, like that of Simon Peter. Christ choose characteristics that would not only benefit His needs, but those of our needs also.

When we look at these men in more depth, we see that some of them did nothing more than serve as a witness to the last years of Christs life. It is from these accounts that we have the Word of God today. This was no small task, yet how often today do we see that job of a secretary taking notes diminished in the public eye. Simon the Zealot would also been a very good asset for a disciple. He was similar to a lobbyist, fighting against Roman taxes. He would have been someone with a lot of energy, and able to spread the word of Christ in a way that would not only reach many, but tell the story with great enthusiasm. (Think about it like a book. You may never have read the stories by Tolkein, but I am sure you saw one of the movies. That movie is just someone telling you about the story. It was a big hit because it was told well.)

When we look at the Bible, it is interesting to me that only a few men actually wrote down what they witnessed. In those cases, we only hear about those who could be called "the main characters". Is that to suggest that others did not participate? Not at all! Christ choose twelve for a reason, and I am sure that each one had a great impact on Christianity.

Another interesting point to remember while trying to learn about these men, is the fact they weren't there to write about themselves. Their mission as a disciple, was to bear witness to Christ our Lord.

This reminds me of a story my pastor told yesterday. A woman was filling out an application for college, when she was stuck on a question. That question was: "Are you a Leader?". Her honest answer was no, yet she thought if she answered that way, she might not get accepted. She decided to be honest and checked the box for No. Two weeks later she received an envelope from the college. The letter said that they received, 1453 applications all of which were leaders, however they would accept her application as well because those 1453 leaders needed someone to follow them. (I forget the real numbers, but you get the gist of the story).

In the same way, not all the disciples were meant to become the cornerstone of the church. It is also important to remember this today.

While my thoughts in this post seem to be jumbled, I would like to suggest that you discover your Spiritual Gifts, so that you may use them effectively. Keeping that in mind, it would be a good idea to have a friend or spouse sit with you while you answer. Someone that knows you well might be able to help you define your answers more acurately than if you did it by yourself.

Here is a free online questionaire. When I first took it, my secondairy spiritual gifts were different, than when my wife helped me answer some questions better. For example, I find it hard to say I am weak in an area, when I can answer that I am average, or just below. So it was nice for her to say, "Honey, your being a little too generous on this one."

Anyway, when I finished, I have learned my Primary Spiritual Gift is "Exhorter".

The Disciples

I am going to do some searching into the disciples. Probably not how most would do it though. I want to take a bit of a different approach, like I do with most things, however I am not sure how this is all going to play out.

Let me start by saying I am interested in why Christ chose the people He did. I find it interesting that people believe that there were only 12 people that followed Christ. I believe that there were many more than that, however its only the 12 that were allowed into this inner circle.

Roughly three years was the amount of time that Jesus our Lord had, to transform these men into the men that they had become. Christ had to break down and build up each one of them. To at least one, He had to convince him He was the Son of God.

What was it about these men that set them apart from every other man? This is a very important question, and I believe it is often overlooked. We hear messages about the disciples, but rarely the wonderful story about their call. After their call, they are developed by Jesus to become the Apostles, how did they change?

These are a few topics I plan to look into and share within the following posts.

Go Huckabee Go!

Classes Started

Forgive me for not posting much recently. This weekend, the cable service has been down. This week my classes have started, and I am applying for a new job.

Please stop by later for my more regular posting.