I REFUSE TO MISS TUFER TUESDAY AGAIN!

ummmmm sooooo ....

1. I love firehouse house dressing on my firehouse steak fries.

2. I love the FIREHOUSE. I never thought I would love working at firehouse but I do!

Dr. John Piper- Understanding Suffering

When I was at Passion I had the privilege of hearing John Piper speak... He made some incredible observations about the suffering of Christ and suffering in our own lives:

1. Suffering is Essential- Jesus had to experience suffering to overcome it.
2. The son of God's suffering was planned before the foundation of the world... So God could adopt us. "Worthy is the Lamb that was Slain"
3. God permitted sin into the world to be followed by Suffering... to show the Greatness of the Glory of the Grace of God.
4. What Satan meant for Evil... God meant for Good.
5. When sin entered the world... Atrocities, Tragedies, Horrible Things entered the world with it.

Affliction comes... NOT FROM HIS HEART... but from a Painful Means to the Center of his Heart.

1. Christ absorbed the Wrath of God by suffering.
2. A perfect righteousness, adopted by us because of Suffering.
3. Christ overcame Death by suffering Death.
4. Christ disarmed Satan... by suffering.
5. Christ gives us a Perfect Final Healing because of suffering.
6. Christ brings us to God by suffering.

The Ultimate display of love in the Universe... Christ's Suffering.

Our sole purpose in the universe is to Praise the GREATNESS of the GLORY of the GRACE of GOD which is most evident in the Suffering of Christ, where he defeated death, so we could be adopted by God, he adopted us to Glorify Himself.

Wow.... just looking at my notes again from this sermon knocks me back. John Piper really helped me start to grasp the Suffering of Christ. (This was only the first part of the sermon)

Part Two- He began by talking about the Miner Tragedy and the miscommunication to the families and to the Nation. Here are something’s that he said that are neat to sit and ponder on.

· Will you join the Son in Suffering?
· No one will praise a Prosperity Jesus.
· Christianity is not supposed to be “The Good Life”
· Paul says, “We are to be pitied if we have only hoped in Christ for this life.”
· Most Christians live “A Mediocre Life”
· Paul made risky choices, “I am in Peril every hour, I die everyday.”
· Paul wouldn’t have chosen this life if it he didn’t believe it was true.
· Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
· What is lacking in Christ’s suffering? Nothing!
· Paul meant his mission is not to add to the Atonement, but add to the Extension of the Gospel.

John Piper closed by saying I am summoning you to a painful life. Then Louie Giglio followed him up by saying, we don’t suffer just because we are Christians. Everyone Suffers, but those that walk with Christ are rewarded in their sufferings. The car accident made me remember these sessions at Passion. These two sermons had a huge impact on me. I am not sure that I can even come close to getting the point across that Dr. Piper did but I thought I would try. I found out a couple of weeks ago that Dr. Piper was diagnosed with Cancer before we came to Passion this year. That makes his talk that much more sincere. I know that no one will respond to this because it is serious but I wanted to write it anyways.

I cried..

7 children killed in Florida multi-vehicle crash Kids had all been adopted by one family; 15-year-old was driving illegally

LAKE BUTLER, Fla. - Seven children who had been adopted by a single family were killed Wednesday in a fiery crash when their car was crushed between a truck and a stopped school bus in rural northern Florida. The children, ranging in age from 15 years to 21 months, were headed toward their home about two miles north of the crash site. The truck hit them from behind, pushing their car into the bus and causing the car to burst into flames, police said. Everyone in the car was killed, including the 15-year-old girl who was driving illegally. All of the youngsters had been adopted by the same family and lived together, police said. It was unclear why the children were unaccompanied. Evidence from the scene showed that the truck, which was carrying bottled water, did not brake before hitting the car on the two-lane road, said Lt. Mike Burroughs of the Florida Highway Patrol. The bus ended up 200 feet from where the car struck it, and the cab of the truck lay overturned near the scene, Burroughs said. The bus was at an approved bus stop, but it was not immediately clear whether children were getting on or off. “It’s a very chaotic scene,” Burroughs said. “It’s just a mangled, charred mess.” The car was driven by 15-year-old Nicki Mann, who was with siblings Elizabeth Mann, 15; Johnny Mann, 13; Heaven Mann, 3; Ashley Kenn, 13; Miranda Finn, who was either 8 or 9 years old; and Anthony Lamb, who was almost two years old. Lamb was in the process of being adopted, Burroughs said.
Tragedy... it surrounds us. What would you do if that tragedy was your reality? Ultimately, I think tragedy is our reality.....I think we live in a tragic, depraved, painful world... I can not imagine living without the hope of Christ. Without it we would just have this world, I am so thankful that we are living for another world.

Not So X-treme Sports?

Okay... so... I won't lie... I HAD A BLAST ON LUKE'S MOTORCYCLE YESTERDAY!!!

Who knew that a mini mx bike would be so much fun? I did accidentally break a small plastic piece off the handle when I attempted to pop a wheelie but Tim didn't freak out. I hope that I will be brave enough to ride Tim's one day I mean if he would ever let me. : )

My sisters and I had two go-carts at my house growing up and a huge back yard we made into a track. It was one of my favorite experiences as a kid. I always loved to go ride my go-cart after it rained and we would be covered from head to toe in thick mud. I really wanted a dirt bike but a go-cart was the only thing my Dad could get my Mom to agree with. I tried to convince my mom that I could ride my dirt bike to school instead of walking and it would be really cheap on gas (which would have def come in handy nowadays) but my mom would never budge.

Instead… I got a Jeep at 14 so I really didn't mind about the dirt bike. The jeep was my dream car and it still is. I will drive that thing till the wheels fall off. I will never forget the first time I drove to Riot in the tenth grade; all the leaders were like NO ONE RIDES WITH AMBER haha. Its funny they kept saying until I was a senior. One day, on my way to riot from Pal's, I got my second speeding ticket ever… a month after my first one and a pass to driving school. I remember crying to Steve in fear that my mom was going to beat me. I also learned to drive a stick in the church parking lot. One time, after a game of ultimate, I got in trouble for taking Jon David’s truck "4-wheeling" up into the field behind the church and ripping up a bunch of grass. I remember JP telling me that I would have to go to Randy Hamilton and plant grass seed for him to fix what I had messed up. lol that never happened. Funtimes… : )

Why do I watch Football?

After the Colts defeat today I began to question why I spend so much time watching something that leaves me so hurt and disappointed. I wish that I wasn't such a wimp … I wish I could say that I didn’t cry over Peyton's loss today, but I did. But really why do I care? The 2004-2005 College and NFL football seasons have been by far the most disappointing ones I have ever witnessed. On some (most) Saturdays this Fall I was physically and emotionally drained after watching Football games. I just give it so much emotion... why do I pour so much of myself into something that has no rewards for me what so ever. Let's say my team does win... I am Happy... satisfied ... until next week when they get the crap kicked out of them. And how does the win or loss of a team really effect me, I mean I am not getting paid… I don’t have anything riding on the game not money, not a career… so why do I care? I am seriously thinking about giving up this sport, that I dearly love, altogether.
Think about this …if I only spend 10 hours a week watching football (which is really unrealistic because that is only three games not counting Gameday and Sportscenter) and there are roughly 24 weeks of football that is aprox. 240 hours of football a season and 10 days of my life a year wasted on the stupid sport. If I did that for the next 36 years that would mean I spent a whole year of my life watching football and nothing else.
In football's defense (no pun intended) it has been a great time for fun and fellowship in my life. Especially with my family, at times a victory or just "football talk" over dinner has brought us closer together, and that is very important to me. I will always cherish the time spent with my family watching football; I probably wouldn’t have seen my grandparents this fall if it weren’t for football. But Gosh... It is so emotionally draining for me...I was so nervous watching today's game that I began to feel sick. I don’t think it is quite natural to be so passionate about something like that, but I get it honest.
It hurts when your team disappoints you or lets you down at a crucial moment… But oh… the feeling... when your team gets the interception and runs it back for 6, or the field goal to win in the last seconds of the game, when the defense really turns it on and the games goes into triple or quadruple OT, when your quarterback throws an incredible pass under pressure and your wide receiver makes the completion with one hand and drags both feet in the endzone when the rest of his body even the ball is out of bounds. Ha, what was I thinking I couldn’t give that up if I tried… how could I abandon the sport that has given me so much joy (and pain) over the years. : )
I don’t understand my love for it, but I feel it… maybe this is a phase and one day I will grow out of it but as for now I will wait til next season when my teams have another chance. And as for this season I will pick the biggest underdog to win, because all the teams I care about are out. : (

I got to wear my Chaco's today!!!!!

It was 70 degrees today in Johnson City, TN. I wore a t-shirt, jeans, and chaco' s and felt so liberated it wasn't even funny. Now I am prepared for it to be 20 degrees and miserable in a few days. I haven't checked the weather I am just assuming because thats how the weather usually goes here in Johnson City. : )

Two Things...

1. PLEASE do not ever see the movie Hostel!...
It is definitely Quentin Tarentino at his absolute worst ( just think about the creator of Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction co-directing a "Horror" movie- I didn't know that he had anything to do with this movie before I went to see it- I would have known better). It is by far the worst... Most offensive movie I have ever seen... I would consider it a Porn before I would call it a Horror movie, but I hear it gets worse-Not scary worse but Gory worse. At least that's what the Carmike employee told us as we asked for our refund tickets. My friends and I walked out 25 minutes into the movie. We were outraged from the beginning but kept hoping for some sort of plot or redemptive quality to save the movie, but no such redemption came for "Hostel". Every scene was worse than the last. What angers me most is that there was an AP article in the Johnson City press about the movie that mentioned that the movie was gory but failed to mention the illicit sex, drug use, language, and nudity in every scene. I have seen offensive movies but this one takes the cake. I am so sad that it beat out Narnia as the Number One movie in America. ; ) that makes me want to cry. Narnia was so amazing and now a Porno takes its place on the Charts. I think I am going to use my refund ticket to go see King Kong.
2. TV is the debbole...
Since we are kind of on the subject... How oppressive is TV these days. In the last few weeks I have not been watching that much "T.V." You know between Bowl games and NFL playoffs there is not much channel surfing time available. As I found myself flipping through the channels the other day I felt my Heart being attacked. I just happened to be catching up with the latest hollywood gossip on E and how skinny so & so is. I started telling myself how good I would look if I looked like her and dressed like her. Hey I mean what if I lived like her... money, parties, everyone adores you. Then with a sad heart I snapped back in to reality and prayed a quick prayer asking God to remind me who I was in him. Even after watching a little bit of that movie last night .. I felt so oppressed and depressed... just watching a lifestyle that glorifes sin on TV or in a movie brings me down spiritually. Now I am not saying lets stop watching TV... (i would probably be the first to break if we had a contest on who could go the longest with out it) Let's evaulate what we are watching... ask yourself what is this TV show/movie telling me, what lies are Satan presenting as truths, what biblical institution is being attacked, what sort of political agendas are being pushed on me. I am not very good at that, I tend to absorb what I watch, so I think I will stick to ESPN and Fox News for a while... maybe throw in a little Andy Griffith or a John Wayne movie here or there.

i miss the rains down in Africa...

I spent 3 weeks in Africa at the beggining of this past summer, and it was absolutely incredible!!! Going to Africa ...was not like a retreat, or a conference, or a camp, It was real. Not to say that those things aren’t real, just a different kind of real. I witnessed real pain, real suffering, real poverty, and real people who desperately love the Lord because he is literally all they have. I returned from Kenya with an authentic desperation for God in my life, I came back with a real desire and a real need for him. It was like he whispered a secret in my ear, and now that I know, I would be cheating myself to live any other way. I am learning that living a life apart from God, isn’t really living at all. There is no point, no purpose in a life not lived for the glory of Christ. Those were things that I had heard but not really grasped until I went to Kenya. Jesus died so that I might live. I want to live the life God gave me, the life he died for, to the full. I don’t want to waste time doing anything else. God is also teaching me that I am human, that I am going to make mistakes. But he is telling me that when I do, he will be there to wrap me up in his extravagant love, mercy, and grace, and he will carry me through the valley. This has been an incredible summer, I am so excited about life. I can’t wait to see the plan God has for me unfold.