Redneck

It has been a fun filled extended weekend of good hot work.  I with many others helped out to put in a new playground at our Church.

Along with the equipment there was a huge pile of mulch that had to be spread out also.

After doing this kind of work for two days I have now got my redneck on for the year!  I love it.

Go here to check out many more photographs:  Cornerstone’s Flickr Photo Stream

Most of these pictures were taken by my good buddy over at The Damascus Blog

Blog Neglect

Yes I have negelected my blog this week.  I have been pretty busy gearing up for a big promotion release tomorrow at work.  There is going to be a massive flood of users all at once logging into our web portal to check their scores to see if they got promoted or not.  A co-worker of mine and myself have been tunning the systems and planning for the sudden surge of users tomorrow morning at 8 am.  It is going to be so much fun.  This will be our first promotion release on our new WebSphere servers.  The good news is after tomorrow morning it’s over.

We’re all in the same sinking boat.

Go to Vagabondrun’s blog to get all of the details and join in.

Have you ever sat at church and thought to yourself that person over there really gets this and they follow all of the rules.  How could I ever reach the level they’re at?  On the other hand have you ever looked down on someone and thought man they are a bad sinner.  I don’t sin that much or I would never do that.  Well I have had all of these thoughts before and I am sorry.  Reading the below passage puts these thoughts into perspective for me.  I want to just kick myself and say hey “There is no one righteous not even one.”  I can’t do enough good stuff to be right with God.  Neither can the person two rows away either.

The sins that I do God see’s as vile and detestable.  He compares our throats to an open grave.  Rotting flesh has to be one of the most vile things ever.  There are also some other references to the mouth much like James.  The words that come out of our mouth is compared to poison.

To follow God’s law is not enough to be declared righteous.  The laws are there so we are conscious of our sins.  We can not save ourselves by following all of the rules.  All men except Jesus Christ have come up short of being perfect.  God’s law is also there to show us how to please him.

This is all stuff I have heard before but this time while reading Romans 3 for this post it has sunk in a little deeper than it ever has before.  I’m not the best writer so my thoughts and sentences are choppy but there is no denying the scripture below.  It’s all that really needs to be said.  Read the scripture and decide for yourself.

Romans 3:9-20 (New International Version)

No One is Righteous

9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Tags: God, Jesus, righteous, Romans, sin

Father’s Love

The other day I was driving down the road and I heard a song that I haven’t heard in a long time.  It’s a song that I loved at the time because I was a father.  This was before I became a christian and knew anything about how big God’s love is.  I have heard this song hundreds of times before but this time while driving down the road it had a whole new meaning to me.  I started to cry like a baby,  well not really but I felt a deep wave of emotion come over me and I got a little choked up when I heard this verse.

Last night I dreamed I’d died and stood outside those pearly gates
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake
If they know half the things I’ve done, they’ll never let me in
Then somewhere from the other side, I heard these words again

let me tell you a secret about a father’s love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us
He said daddies don’t just love their children every now and then
It’s a love without end, amen
It’s a love without end, amen

“Love Without End, Amen” by George Strait

Amen!

Momma I’m Coming Home

I take off bright and early in the morning to pickup the kids from summer camp. I hope they want to come home. I imagine after being in an action packed fun filled environment like camp.  Coming home is a little lack luster. The kid’s probably don’t realize how excited I am to see them again. I’m going to give them the biggest hug when I see them. Then after we get back to the house I have a list of chores that need to get done. HaHa just kidding. The house has been pretty clean since they have been gone so there isn’t much for them to do except unpack.

First Impressions Team

The First Impression Team (FIT) at Cornerstone has a new blog make over. I like the layout and it finally has some new posts. Looks great Jack! All of these wonderful people have a servants heart and I’m not saying that because I’m on there. The people I serve with are the best. Thank you all for your hearts. Come join us some time it’s a lot of fun. It looks like work but it never really is.

Go here to see the new FIT blog.

Iowa Flooding

My heart and prayers go out tonight to all of those families affected by the flooding going on. The damage done by this flood is going to be huge. I have read several stories about people reaching out already to these areas. Thank you volunteers. Even though this is a great loss to many there is a lesson to be had here.

Matthew 6:19-21

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Here are just a couple of links for information on the flooding.

Google News Feed

State of Iowa site

Check these out and let me know what’s stirring inside of you.

Tags: flooding, iowa