The Greatest Love Story ever told...

Last week at Young Life Club I left the kids with some Horrible, yet Freeing News! I told them that there was nothing (absolutely Nuthin'!) that we could do in and of ourselves to get to heaven. The Misconception is that as long as our Good outweighs the Bad when we die, we are good to go. Or that All Roads lead to Heaven. Obey the 10 Commandments. Good luck with that one... Those are Misconceptions! You are MISsing the CONCEPT.

We need help. It doesn't take a genius to look around and realize that something is wrong. Really out of whack! Well, you are right. Correct-a-mundo!!!

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told! In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobey God. In their feeble attempt to make right what they made wrong, they sow fig leaves together to cover up their shame. We do this today. It's called putting on a 'Mask.' Putting on a 'Front.' We sow fig leaves on us every single day. But then God makes the first animal sacrifice and blood is shed for Adam and Eve and God makes animal skins for them. Blood is the key. We see blood all throughout Scripture...

In Exodus 11 & 12, God is ending the 10 Plagues with the Plague of the Firstborn. God is going to kill the firstborn of every family, both man and animal. BUT, there is a way to get out of this Plague. You must make a Sacrifice. The animal must be male. The animal must be perfect. And you must put this animals blood on the doorposts of your home. Then God will Passover (hence the name of the Feast / Festival of Passover) your home if he sees the Blood on your doorposts. God commanded the Jews to celebrate / commemorate this Passover Festival every year...

1500 years later when Jesus comes on the scene, his cousin John the Baptist (no he did not go to a Baptist Church) see Jesus coming and he proclaims, 'Behold, the LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world!' That's kind of a weird title for a man.

For 3 years or so, Jesus made waves within the Religious Community. He ruffled feathers. Lots of feather. And they finally had enough! Their goal was to kill him... Well, 'oddly' enough, the time that the Jews have decided to kill Jesus is during the Feast of Passover. What were the requirements for an animal sacrifice? Male. Perfect. Firstborn. That's strange! Jesus fits every one of those requirements. Do you see it? DO YOU SEE IT? Jesus is the Perfect Sacrifice!!! That is why He is called the LAMB of God.

Jesus came to die. To save us from ourselves. To save us from our sIn. 'I' is in the middle of sIn.

So when we die, God will Passover. And He will be looking for the Blood. The Blood of the Lamb. Is it on My Heart? Is it on YOUR Heart? This is where Salvation is found! If we have the Blood on our hearts, we spend eternity with Him. If not, we spend eternity SEPARATED from Him. And that is Hell enough...

Romans 6:23 says, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus!' It's FREE. All we have to do is Accept it. What are YOU waiting for?

Here are some pics of kids from last night. Enjoy...

On a personal note, I killed me a doe this weekend to fill our freezer with meat. Mine is the top doe. I hit her in the belly. Gut Shots are never good. I had to track her for 20 yards or so. I am getting hamburger, links and breakfast sausage made. Yum Yum...

Thanks for stopping by today and reading our blog. It is a joy to have you be engaged in our lives. Thanks for praying for us.

Taylor is getting her 4 Wisdom Tooths (yes, I said Tooths!) pulled tomorrow morning. I am praying against Dry Sockets...

My peace I give you...

I was reading in John yesterday and I found really great comfort in these verses. I hope you do the same...

John 14:26-27
'The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.' - Jesus

I like several things in those verses. First off, Jesus promises us his Holy Spirit. When we are born again Believers, The Holy Spirit actually comes to LIVE INSIDE of us! God. INSIDE OF ME! Our Sovereign Lord ... living INSIDE OF ME! Holiness. Perfection. Unity. LOVE. LIVING INSIDE OF ME! God's Word LIVING INSIDE OF ME! It's simply INCREDIBLE!

Peace. Jesus knew Peace (not so much with the Religious folks, but rather with the 'commoners' and His Father!). And we can know Peace as well. It is very evident that our world LONGS for PEACE! I saw this bumper sticker or sign once that read:
No Jesus
No Peace
Know Jesus
Know Peace

I like that. It is true. We can search the whole world over looking for the things that we think will fill our hearts and our souls. They don't. In my short 32 years on this planet, let me help you out. The answer is Jesus. He is what your heart is LONGING for. He is what your soul is YEARNING for. It is true.

Jesus also says that He does not give to us like the world gives to us. And for that I am thankful. How does Jesus give to y0u? Do you experience Jesus for yourself? Or are you living on your wife's faith? Or your Granny's faith? The difference between a Scribe and a Prophet is this: a Scribe writes / talks about what he has heard and a Prophet writes / talks about what he has EXPERIENCED! God Himself is waiting for you to Experience Him! Today. Now. Right Now.

Jesus ends by telling us to not let our hearts be troubled or afraid. The writer of The Shack says, 'When I am fearful I ask myself, 'What is it about God's Love that I don't understand right now?' Why are we troubled? Why are we afraid? And of what? Know Jesus. Know Peace.

It's here today for the taking...

a couple thoughts...

I am always blown away by how our God moves. And quite frankly, how he allows the enemy to move as well.

I was asked by the EHS girls basketball coach to lead the Varsity team in some team building activities and to talk to the about Jesus. 'Heaven knows these girls need Jesus!' I love it when there are Believers inside the walls of our government institutions!

Anyhow, I did lead the time and the girls really loved it. So much that the coach said that they wanted to do it once a month and wanted to know if I was willing to help out! WoWsers... Got Paycheck? It was a real treat to be able to do this with this team. They are fun girls and the coaches are really great!

At the end of the time, I did get to talk about Jesus for about 12 minutes or so. I started with Adam and Eve and ended with you and me. We went from Creation to Sin to the Cross to Redemption to what it looks like to walk with Jesus today! I told them about a special day in my life ten months ago. I showed up at the church with my friends and family. Taylor did the same. Our pastors were there along with the musicians. I went into church that day an UNmarried man and I left the church an UNmarried man. The reason was because it was just the REHEARSAL!!! We were just going through the motions. It was not the real thing! As is it with Life. Many people 'play' Church. Or 'play' Christianity! Many people are just going through the Motions! The following day, we showed back up at the church and did the exact same thing, but this time Taylor and I MADE A COMMITMENT! This is what made it REAL! I challenged the girls to make a commitment to Christ... They listened so very well.

I call this the Spider Game. There is a ring in the center with strings going out on each side. A tennis ball rests on the ring. The object is to drop the tennis ball in the cup...

Silly Faces...

The Human Knot...

Ahhhhhhh, smiley faces!

On another note:

I don't know what to say about this. Coming soon to a Washington D.C. bus stop near you!

Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do...

The enemy is at work!

Blowin' It Up...

Club on Mondays is still blowin' UP! It is really fun to watch. We had about 12 new kids at club. If there was a bad day to come to YL, it was this past Monday. Kids got to hear some really bad news... To some it was really bad, but for others it brought much Freedom. I told kids that there is nothing they can do to get into Heaven on their own. They can't do enough good things. They can't not be bad. Nothing. Nada. We cannot earn our way into Heaven. We ALL have gone astray. For the WAGES of SIN is DEATH! We are stuck...

And I left them with that to chew on for a week. I told them that they are HELPLESS, but not HOPELESS! I get to tell them about the HOPE that we have next week.

I also came out as a new skit character named PayPa (think PAPER) Plate! The kids loved him. I taught them how to dance by playing a game with Plungers. Kids'll do anything! They twirled the ball around the plunger without any hands. It was a RIOT! Kids are INCREDIBLE...

PayPa Plate...


Prepping the Game...


Jesse and Berry in action...

The VICTORIOUS! Roo Roo...

Group pic...


Worth It!

Capture the Pumpkin...

To hold true to YL CenTex Tradition, we had our annual Capture the Pumpkin Showdown at Conder Park in Killeen...

Enjoy the pics!

Because High Schoolers are WELL Worth It...

Halloween and a day off...

So, how do I feel about Halloween? That is a good question...

I grew up Trick or Treatin'! I loved it. And I still do! I had no idea about the meaning of Halloween way back when. I guess I was naive. I don't know.

I think most people swing way to far to one side. Either they pay no attention to the meaning, history or whatnot at all or they pay ALL their attention to those things. I know people today that fit both of those molds.

I fall in the dead center. I figure there is nothing wrong with dressing up in a costume. Taylor and I will be dressing our daughters up in Princess dresses and our boys up as Ninjas rather than Ghosts and Ghouls. I do know that! The reality is, is that each of us put on some sort of 'mask' each and every day when we leave our homes. We tell the world that we have it altogether, that our ducks are in a nice lil' row and all is well with us. The chances of that being true are very slim. We all have problems! And not many of us like to let others know about them. And ... if you happen to be of the female gender, you put on a physical mask every day called make-up! You 'make-up' your face to something it is not. That's why it's called MAKE-UP! Was that harsh? Sorry if it was. But that's how I feel.

If some folks are using Halloween as an evil holiday, then I want to stick some Jesus in there to rebuke the Darkness and throw in some Light! How often do we get 25, 50 or so kids coming to our homes asking us for stuff? Well, this is a moment that I seize to put in each of the bags a lil' bit of Jesus! I put a 'track' in each kids bag and tell them to read it before they go to bed. A 'track' is a short lil' story, usually from a movie (i.e. Transformers, Bug's Life, etc...) that talks about the movie and then talks about Jesus and what he did for us on the Cross and how we need Him today! What better opportunity to distribute God's Word than having tons of kids coming to you asking for it? It's PERFECT!

I think it's important for folks to be informed. I think it's important for folks to be educated. I also think Communication is the KEY! Why do we do what we do? Churches fail at this everyday. Schools fail at this everyday. Families fail at this everyday! We have got to educate, inform and communicate our folks about everything in life.

We are not running from Halloween. If anything, Halloween needs to be running from US! Light ALWAYS overtakes Darkness. Always! It is impossible for Darkness to overtake Light!!!

On another note ... Taylor and I both took off last Friday and enjoyed the day on the road. I surprised her with a fun treat. I borrowed a friends 1975 Corvette Stingray and we went for a drive last week. We drove down to Llano to eat at Cooper's Bar-B-Que. Yum. Yum. YUM!!!! It is Wonderful BBQ! Then we drove east on Highway 29 to a friends new vet clinic. Actually, it's more like a Vet RESORT! This place is INCREDIBLE! Check it out ... http://zootpets.com/

My brother in law is gonna be working at ZOOT as a vet starting in January once he finishes up at that little school in Closet Station, Texas. Or maybe it's College Station. I am not sure...

Then we finished up our Friday drive by 'popping' in to Salado for a lil' bit of shopping. And that was our day...

Enjoy the pics of this SWEET car and my very attractive Bride!