Tithing? 2009/02/19

So this will probably be a short blog, but I’m feeling pretty straight forward today.

I will be the first to tell you that tithing is not something that I have done of thought about doing in recent years, but since Michael has been doing the bailout series i’ve thinking about it a lot. So I decided to start tithing. I decided to show God that I trust him with everything that I have. I thought it would be hard, but I’ve been doing it for a couple of weeks, and I feel better about my relationship with God and I feel more secure with 90% than I ever did with 100.

I know…I know 2009/02/17

I admit it…I’m a horrible blogger. I get on with something in mind to write about and then in up playing on twitter and myspace. But let’s not waste this space by complaining about my blogging habits. I was watching a show the other day and a quote has kind of stuck with me. “They might say wow that sucks, but at least they’ll say wow.”

At first I laughed because the quote fits perfectly into the dude’s character. Then it dawned on me that we live this way as Christians. I think we go through phases where as long as people say that we are Christians, we don’t really have to fully live up to it. We don’t have to tithe, we don’t have to go to church every Sunday, we don’t have to read our Bible’s every day…the list could be and probably is endless, but you get the point. Then, there’s the other side, where we go through the motions of being a christian, but we don’t feel it. So we keep doing it because we are supposed to and it was the way we were raised.

So how do we get through the tough time, and get seriously involved with what God wants us to do? I think the answer is easy. We have to find the gifts that God has given us and use them to glorify him. Use it as your job, use it as the spot you volunteer for, use it to teach people, use it to lead people, use it to help people.

I’m Rich….who’d've thunk it? 2009/02/02

I am in the top 13% of the richest people in the world…that’s is some seriously ridiculous stuff to think about. (You can check out how rich you are at the global rich list.) We started a new series at Oak Leaf called Bailout, and Michael talked about how we have rich people problems. How seriously true is this?

Besides finding out that I am actually rich, something that really stuck me was when Michael said that most people in the world only have one shirt. I could go for at least three weeks without wearing the same shirt, although I never do. By the way, let me back up and explain what a rich person problem is. When the air in your car goes out, that’s a rich person problem. When your 401k takes a hit, that’s a rich person problem. When your phone breaks…Rich person problem. Most people in the world don’t have cars, let alone a 401k.

Now I know that there are plenty of people in this country who don’t have rich people problems, but I have been blessed enough to have rich people problems, even though I seem to be struggling most of the time. But honestly, how bad do I really have it? I have a house…two if you really think about it, I have a job, I have a phone, I have a computer, I have an education, I have a savings account. Sounds like somebody…namely me…needs to seriously stop complaining and suck it up.  It’s not like I am living on the streets, or have no food, or one shirt to wear.

Twitter Style…yeah that’s how I roll 2009/01/27

1. my phone had to be rebooted this morning…one of the down sides to the iphone.

2. i was an hour late to class today because i put it into my ical at the wrong time. Good thing that I have a nice teacher.

3. I am going to stop procrastinating on homework…at least until my research paper is done.

4. Thinking about driving to the beach when tax money gets here. I love the beach…I love quiet time on the beach.

5. Finally decided to go to wal-mart and get groceries. Im so stinkin hungry…Icould eat a cow…ok ok…not a cow, but at least a steak.

When ‘Thank You’ is all you have… 2009/01/23

…but it just doesn’t seem to be sufficient.

This is a very powerful statement that I heard today while watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I’ve been thinking about it all day. I can’t help but feel this way about God sometimes. What do I have to offer God when the day is over; when He has given me the strength to get through another day? Of course, I believe that every person should use the gifts they have been given by God. I believe that every person should praise God, and give him all of the glory that he deserves. But at the very end, before my eyes close and my day officially ends…all that’s left is a thank you.

Somehow, in that moment, right after I say thank you, I feel I’ve given God everything that I have and it has become everything that God has ever wanted from me.

It’s time for a change 2009/01/20

WOW…I’ve finally got myself switched over to wordpress…blogger got kind of boring, plus I needed something to do while it is so insanely cold outside and the only thing on television is the inauguration. I know it’s a historical day and all, but do they honestly have to show it on every single channel? I hope President Obama can do as good of a job as President Bush did as keeping our country protected since 9/11. Here’s a good letter to President Bush from the pastor at my absolute favorite place to be on Sunday mornings.

THIS is why I love the Leaf! 2009/01/20

When I was eating dinner Friday night with my mom, grandparents and some of their friends, the topic of the conversation became about the church that one of the other couples went to. the big story…someone had sat in their seats. Apparently they have been sitting there, in the same spot, for a very long time. Upon this couple sitting there, my grandmother’s friends sat in the row behind them. So, for the last two months, these two couple have been racing each other to the service every Sunday so they could have these two seats. Their entire Sunday’s have been consumed by two seats! This has gotten so bad that at their Christmas party, the pastor had to say something.

I am so thankful for Oak Leaf. I can’t possibly thank God for letting me a part of this church. I have never once been mad when someone sat in the seat I sat in the week before, and I have never the entire time I have been at Oak Leaf heard any of the pastors say anything about something so petty. I am so proud that Oak Leaf will do anything to help people become closer to God. I am so proud that I can be a part of the church that will do anything to reach people that other churches see as unreachable. I am so proud that I am part of a church that welcomes everyone with open arms. I am so proud to be part of a church where teenagers will give up a seat to sit on the floor when an adult gets there after the theater is packed.

This is why I love Oak Leaf. This is why no matter how many times my grandmother refuses to give the church a chance, that I still continue to ask her to go. This is why no matter how much smack people talk that I will forever defend this church and what God is doing there. This is why no matter how many times people look at me and wonder why in the world I could go to “that church” I will tell them that I am closer to God than I have ever been before.