Thoughts of the Grant Persuasion

That's My King!

2006-10-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

I've always loved this:

My bible says my king is a seven way king: He's the king of the Jews, that's a racial king. He's the king of Israel, that's a national king. He's the king of righteousness. He's the king of the ages. He's the king of heaven. He's the king of glory. He's the king of kings, and He's the Lord of Lords - that's my king! Well - I wonder - do you know Him? David said: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork". My king is a sovereign king; no means of measure can define His limitless love. No farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful. Do you know Him? He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He is God's Son. He's the sinner's Saviour. He's the centerpiece of civilization. He stands in the solitude of Himself. He's august and He's unique. He's unparalleled and He's unprecedented. He's the loftiest idea in literature. He is the highest personality in philosophy. He is the supreme problem in higher criticism. He is the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He is the core and necessity for spiritual religion. He is the miracle of the ages - He is... He is... He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He is the only One qualified to be an all-sufficient Saviour. I wonder if you know Him today. He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He strengthens and sustains. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick, He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. I wonder if you know Him. Well, this is my king. He is the key - He is the key to knowledge. He is the wellspring of wisdom. He is the doorway of deliverance. He is the pathway of peace. He is the roadway of righteousness. He is the highway of holiness. He is the gateway of glory. Do you know Him? Well, His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His life is matchless. His goodness ist limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous and His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you! But He is indescribable... He is indescribable! But He is your God. Yes He is indescribable... He is incomprehensible. He is invincible. He is irresistible. Well, you can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off your hand. You can't outlive Him, and you can't live without Him. Well, the Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him. Yeeiihh... THAT'S MY KING! That's my king! - And thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever... how long is that? - and ever and ever... and when you get through all of the evers... then - amen!

http://www.ignitermedia.com/thatsmykingdvd.asp for a video

GRANT

Exciting!!!!

2006-09-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've gotta say that I'm incredibly excited! Our Going Deep class (class on deep spirituality) is just fantastic! The people are participating like crazy and just eating it up. We've got a new person in our church (Blake) who is just on fire. He's absorbing the Christian life stuff just like all of you guys who were new to it did in CORE.

Last week was pretty thick with frustration, actually. Ralph and I were pretty bummed out about some of the attitudes that we were seeing in the congregation, so he decided he needed to bring it with The Life that Wins for his sermons. Last Sunday was from chapter 1 which is majorly hard core--do you guys remember how Melissa reacted to chapter 1? lol. But the response was very good and Going Deep class couldn't have gone any better last night, so I'm feeling pretty confident that we're about to see some BIG spiritual growth in the church.

Also, Ralph might have me start doing a Saturday Night service which we'll try to fill in whith new people. That would be pretty cool, but pray for Ralph and me to know what God's will is in it.

Love you guys lots! Congratz on the puppy My Kanadrian!

GRANT

A couple of clarifications

2006-08-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

I just was reading my last couple of blogs and saw a couple of things I need to clarify. I don't want to give the impression that decisions made to take care of our physical bodies are sinful. Obviously it isn't sinful to decide to eat lunch because you're hungry (unless the Spirit is leading you not to eat lunch that day, see Jesus' temptation in the wilderness). The problem comes when our apparent physical needs and desires trump the leading of the Spirit, or when our apparent physical needs and desires dominate our thinking. I hope that makes sense.

Also, I want to make it clear that at times it is important to make decisions to limit our liberty or to do other things in order to build fellowship or opportunity to minister to those who need our ministry. For example: Paul's decision to circumcise Timothy in order for him to gain an audience with Jews for him to be able to preach the gospel to them. The difference is that Paul did not make that decision so that the big-wigs in the Church or the people with the deep pockets will smile on him. He made that decision out of love for the people who needed his gospel. He recognized their hard hearts and responded with sacrifice of liberty in order to soften them. I don't consider that a political decision at all, but a spiritual one.

Totally unrelated: Jeez Mel :o(

Anyways, I love you guys! Keep seeking and pursuing Him with all He's given you! And pray for me, we're going to be making some big pushes for evangelism and deeper spirituality at church, and I know our enemy is going to be wanting to tear me away from my Lord to keep that from going on. If I fall into sin, I'm blaming you for not praying! (just kidding) Love you guys.
GRANT

Politics in the Church

2006-07-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about doing this blog for a little while now, and it's a little bit of a rant. The theme: Church politics just ain't right.

There should be no politics in a church, whatsoever. I don't mean that people shouldn't have opinions about national politics, that's a totally seperate issue. I'm talking about the idea of "I need to pander to this person because I need his support" or "I don't want to do anything to make this person mad because he'll make waves if I do" or even, "I need to serve in this way so that the church leadership will trust me enough to support my ministry." None of it is genuine.

We should just simply walk in the Spirit and let the love flow out to everyone as the Spirit leads. If the Spirit leads us to tough love, then we love with toughness without fear. If the Spirit leads to love sheep by standing up to wolves, then that's what we should do--again without fear. And we should only serve in a specific function if that's what the Spirit leads us to do. In a church full of politics, when there's an issue between brothers how can you sit down and have an open restorative conversation?

I once had a man whom I admire as much as anyone else alive encourage me to make a big decision based on helping others have a good perception of me (This person is not someone who reads my blog, btw). God was leading me differently, and that is the one time where I am thankful that I did not follow his advice. I would much rather just simply serve as God calls me to and let my ministry speak for itself. If that results in praise from men, or if that results in persecution and rejection, I really don't give a rip.

One thing which should characterize the church should be openness. The example of Paul in 2 Corinthians is amazing. In no other book in the Bible is pastoral love so obviously expressed, and it represents the exact opposite of playing politics. We should have a genuine heart of love laid open, without anything to hide. And it should all be Spirit-directed, not directed by concerns over money or attendance numbers.

I'm thankful that I am working with a church that has very little politics going on. I've seen the opposite, and that's something I never want to be involved in again. Love is genuine, politics aren't.

GRANT

Flesh and Spirit

2006-07-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's so easy to get all bent out of shape looking inward to discern, "is this from the flesh or from the Spirit?" But it's really a simple thing. This is actually something that God's been showing me only lately, but only my own weakness keeps me from being surprised I didn't see it earlier. If we ask ourselves questions like, "is this desire based on satisfying any of my personal desires other than obeying the will of God?" I think that will sift out a lot of fleshly decisions. How many times do we make decisions based on how it will make us feel, or how it will lift such and such a burden (financial, emotional, or otherwise). These decisions are always in the flesh because the things they're based on are fleshly.

On the other hand, if we would just trust God to take care of our burdens and make decisions based solely on a dogged pusuit of God's will, not minding our own feelings, we won't be able to make decisions in the flesh because we'll be too terrified of having to handle that situation on our own. That fosters even more trust in God. It's a lot harder to trust in God when we keep ahold of our crutches.

Saying all this is one thing, putting it into practice is another. The only way make this a reality is to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice totally and constantly. But isn't this really the only way to live?

GRANT

Busy, Busy, Busy

2006-07-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy lately! Ralph (our pastor) was gone for a couple of weeks, so I had to take care of things at the church. It was a great experience, but I guess I'm a bit wiped. I was hoping to get some good stuff done today, but really didn't get anything done besides learn about what's going on in Israel, play a little warcraft, and take a nap. I guess that's okay though, haven't had much rest lately.

Sunday went pretty well though (Ralph got back on saturday, but I still preached), I think both of my sermons were received well. I have to say, though, that one person asked me a question after Sunday school that kindof broke my heart. It suggested that she didn't really embrace the idea that she didn't have anything to do with her salvation. I know if you asked her theologically what she believes, she would say that she's saved by grace alone through faith alone, but (I just dropped my laptop and caught it with my feet! Close call!) somehow I need to help her see that none of us deserve to be saved so that she can see the greatness of the gift of eternal life. I might need to spend some more time on the topic of grace, but the person who asked me that question was well past the age of quick change, so it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of prayer.

But the heartache there was balanced by a ton of encouragement. I've been spending a lot of time with Aaron (Ralph's 14 year old son), and the Lord is working on his heart so much! He's a great kid, but in a lot of ways he's a typical teenager. He didn't used to have much concern for responsibility, and he had a bit of the typical attitude. But yesterday morning I talked to him on the phone about 15 minutes before Sunday school and he said he'd be there. Then his dad shows up without him. I was like, "where's Aaron, I talked to him like 15 minutes ago and he said he'd be here" So, Ralph left to go get him and he got about two blocks and saw Aaron riding his bike to church! It was only 9:00 but it was already about as hot as Hades and he lives a couple of miles away. Aaron said to me, "I just told you I was going to be there, I wasn't going to not show." It was really encouraging and it showed a lot of growth.

Also, i'm really excited about Vicki and her growth in Christ. She has always been a happy type of person, but lately you can just see a deep joy in her and she's been trying to take every opportunity she can to soak up the Word.

I love ALL of you guys! I hope you know that.

GRANT

Judging

2006-07-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

God has really been laying on my heart the principle that we should never judge our brothers and sisters under any circumstances (Matt 7:1). The reason God gives us this command is because 1) we have no right to judge because we are not righteous ourselves, 2) the only thing it ever accomplishes is to destroy precious relationships, 3) we never know the whole story. Usually we hear about what happened through someone else and it gets schewed at that point, sometimes enough to give a totally different impression on what happened. But even if we experience the thing first-hand, we do not know the whole story.

We don't know if it was just simply a miscommunication. We don't know that person's motives. Often we don't realize that Satan is giving us unrighteous emotions about it which can distort our view of the situation. We don't know what's going on in that person's spiritual life. We don't know what God may be teaching that person at that time. We don't know if God is wanting to deal with that particular sin in that person at this time. Our ways are not God's ways and our timing is not God's timing, especially when we're talking about other people's lives. There is value in correcting our brothers(2 Tim 2:24-26), but it should never be out of anything but love for that person, it should always be in gentleness (Gal 6:1f), and we should never look down on that person about the issue. Are we able to correct someone with gentleness and not forget that we should esteem that person as better than ourselves (Phil 2:3)?

I love this passage from Watchman Nee's Twelve Baskets Full, "We should be very righteous towards ourselves, but very forgiving towards others. We must never be careless and fail to give others what is rightfully theirs; this is righteousness. But we should never demand that they do their duty; this is forgiveness. A Christian ought to be righteous but should not demand righteousness from others. If we do not practice this, our loss will be great! Moreover, this is the way that the Lord will gain those who will reign with Him."

I confess that I have not always lived this way, but that is how I want to live now, and by His grace I can thank Him that He will bring it about.

I love all you guys, and I miss those of you who are far away

GRANT

Congrats to the Heat

2006-06-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

Nothing spiritual in this post, just a bit of fleshy frustration about basketball of all things. So, the Miami heat beat the Mavs in 6. There's always next year. I would love to go on a rant about the series, but I won't. I'll just say one thing: Game 5 was probably the worst officiating I have ever seen in professional sports. Anyways, this guy already said about everything that I think about it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060620

Isn't it weird how you can go through a ton of heartache over something and be so incredibly frustrated about how the deck is stacked unfairly, and you still just can't wait till next year so you can watch some more?

All that being said, I'm in awe of Dewayne Wade. I haven't seen anyone play like that since Jordan, and I don't say that lightly. He's not up there with Jordan yet, but he's only been in the league for 3 years and I think He's every bit as good as Jordan was at the same age. It seemed like he hit almost 100% of his shots, even when he was double-teamed, and especially when they were important. I'm so excited about seeing his career unfold. And it was really cool that after his win the first thing he said to the reporter chick who asked him yet another question that really meant "I want to have your baby" was "First of all I want to thank my Lord. All the credit goes to God for answering our prayers" or something like that. As long as the Heat aren't playing the Mavericks, I'm rooting for them.

GRANT

Unity

2006-05-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

So, I taught my first Sunday school since being back from Oregon, and I think it went really well. A decent group came and they participated a lot. We talked about the body of Christ, and how as members of it, we all are each significant in our own way, how we all need each other and how we need to make sure we help each other when they're struggling so that they can each fulfill their roll as well.

That's been something that's really important to me lately. We cannot have a proper walk with the Lord when we separate ourselves from others and are focused on our own lives rather than focused on how we can serve the Body. That's the biggest reason, I think, that God made us all different, so that we will stop being so self-absorbed, so we could lean on and prop up others instead of just saying, "I don't care about you guys, I'm doing my own thing and I don't need you." My prayer is that each of us in the Body can see ourselves for who we are and recognize our role as a small but significant part of a greater whole. I really think that the wonderful people in Grace Church have embraced that and I can't wait to see what the Lord will do.

A passage on my heart lately: 1 Corintians 12

GRANT

Wow!

2006-05-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

God is so good! He's brought us back to a wonderful home in the great state of Texas. And he's put us in a ministry with a church that's full of encouragement, opportunity, and potential. I spent the day moving into my new office, and talking and praying with Ralph about what God is doing with Grace Church, and just exactly what He wants us to do. It was pretty awesome. I'm starting sunday school next week and over the next few weeks we're going to talk about unity in the Church, and how we all have a roll to play in Christ's Body. Also sometime soon we're going to start a Wednesday night study where we'll be talking about depth in the spiritual life. I'm really excited to minister here.

That being said, I really miss you guys! It would be so awesome to have you guys here ministering with us, and I can't wait till we get to see you all again.

GRANT

God's will

2006-05-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

"Do all things without complaining and disputing" Phil 2:14.

It seems like a pretty straitforward command, but we need to realize that this is supposed to reflect a heart condition. God does not ask us to give him a reluctant "not my will but Yours," He wants that phrase to be our driving force in life. In other words, God's will should be our only desire. In the book I'm reading, The Spiritual Man, the author points out that Lot's wife, Baalam, and the Exodus generation were all following God's will but God was not pleased with any of them because their heart was full of desire to do their own will. It's easy to say, "I'll follow God's will even if He takes away all of these things which matter to me" but it is a much different thing to say, "None of these things matter to me, I only care for God's will." Have we reached that point? Can we truly say that in the deepest part of our heart, God's will alone is precious?

GRANT

My baby is sick

2006-05-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Not much to blog today guys! Please pray for Tamara, she's a bit sick :o(

GRANT

love the hard way

2006-05-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I'm still on my journey to understand all the workings of emotion and how it relates to our spiritual life. And the more I meditate on it, the more I see how important it is to find victory over the power of emotion in our life. Even pleasant emotions can be destructive. How many times have each of us compromised our obedience to God because of our affection towards a person? And even if it is not that we compromise our obedience, how many times have we ignored things that need to be taken care of because of that same affection? If we are living like our affections demand, we'd rather our loved ones be happy than be right with God, but that's not how we're called to love. What this all comes down to is that we may need to deny our affection it's place in order to really love someone. Affection always seeks to please, but real love sometimes hurts. This is something that is hard to put into practice with the people we care about most, but whether it's our wife, our best friend, or our own mother, sometimes we need to lay aside our affection, roll up our sleeves, and love them the hard way.

GRANT

Emotion

2006-05-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Emotion--what a loaded word. There's such a varied assortment of feelings associated with that one word. Love, hate, joy, bitterness, kindness and wrath are such a small part of the emotional spectrum. Lately I've been learning more about God's purpose for our emotions and it's been a trial by fire (but praise Him for sustaining me through it all). What does God demand of us in regards to our emotion? The demand is simple, we are not to allow our emotions to run wild, or to let them control our behavior. How can we "turn the other cheek" when an explosion of emotions erupts when we're struck? John 14:1 makes God's demand very clear, "Let not your heart be troubled." We also have Phil 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing," and there is a priciple found throughout the Bible that our emotions arise from our flesh and are deceitful. This is not to say that we should be dry emotionally, far from it, but our emotions should not be hot, they should be completely under the control of our spirit and that in subjection to the Holy Spirit. It's hard not to let hot emotions run wild, because they are so powerful, but we can't let that happen--ever. Letting our emotions get out of hand can cause us to do and say a lot of things that are hurtful towards people who God commands us to love, not to mention that powerful emotions are strong enough to destroy some of the most important things in our lives. Do we want that kind of power in the hands of something so deceptive? All this is to say that it is so essential that we hand our emotional life up to God to let Him give us a heart full of peace, love, and joy.

I love you guys, thanks for stopping in to read my blog.

GRANT

Spiritual work and liberty

2006-04-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, 3 blogs in 3 days! Not like anyone reads them, but it keeps me busy while I'm waiting for calls to come in at work.
Okay, so I'm about to go and help pastor a church which has a lot of old people, they're awesome old people, but old people nonetheless. The reason why this is significant is because it is a big temptation for a lot of elderly people to feel a desire to keep the status-quo. The problem is, Grace Church needs to grow and I know that the Lord is laying it on my heart that he wants to grow the church, and that's going to take some changes.
So I was thinking about the passage in Romans 14 where Paul instructs us not to put a stumbling block or a hindrance in front of our brothers. And it occurred to me exactly what he meant by a hindrance. The Lord commissions each of us to do certain tasks, and often those tasks don't seem to jive with our own desires, especially when it requires changes that effect us all, but it is essential that we don't prevent the Lord from accomplishing work in others. It is a liberty issue, and it gets down to the heart of the freedom we have in Christ. It's a freedom to do the Lord's work, and not tripping His servants up while He works in them is what it means to not put a hindrance in our brother's way.
I know that the members of Grace Church have had liberty preached at them for a long time. The Lord has worked on their hearts in wonderful ways including in their experience of freedom, and it will be a fun challenge to help the members understand this particular aspect of Christian liberty (as they are really tested over this same thing) and see all the great things He's going to do in the church. I just know that not only will they have a heart open to change, that they'll get on board and help with the legwork. The members there feel very connected to that sweet little church and they love it just as much as I do. I know they'll be just as excited as me to see it flourish. I can wait to get to work there!

GRANT

thoughts on judgment

2006-04-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but with lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." --Philippians 2:3
Why do we so often forget this principle? It's really too often when Children of God look around finding things to judge everyone about, and I think we do it without even realizing it half the time. I don't really care if someone smells bad, or has an annoying voice, or is overweight, or wears funny clothes. Jesus probably didn't smell that good nor was he apparently the most attractive person in the world. Also some of the best people I have known have one or more of those things "wrong" with them. Can we find something good to say about them? Or better yet, is there a way that we can show them Christ's love?
On the other side of things, I know that at uLife we've talked about not judging each other about liberty issues, but i think it's important that under most circumstances we don't judge Christians who are sinning either. We are all at different places in our walk and we are all to live according to, #1 our understanding of the Bible, #2 how the Lord lays things on our conscience. And the simple fact is, we don't always know if our brother/sister who is sinning even knows any better. Dale told a story once of an unmarried couple who was living together sinfully, but they were new Christians and did not know it was wrong. They were sitting in church one day and the pastor mentioned that fornication is sin, and they were like "oops"! So they immediately got married. Now it was good to point out to them that it is sin to fornicate, but is there any reason to shun them or make them feel bad about it when they didn't know it was even wrong? Of course not, just let them know in love what God says in His word and let the Spirit work. I'm constantly finding out that things that I'm doing aren't really God's ideal, but I am living according to what I understand in the Bible and what God lays on my conscience, so I need grace on other things. I know we're all in the same boat here.
Anyways, these are just some thoughts I had.

GRANT

Isn't He Lovely? Isn't He Wonderful?

2006-04-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

I was reading Joshua and thinking about how it must have seemed so strange when the Lord asked the Israelites to walk around Jericho a bunch of times and shout. Isn't that a bit ridiculous? Why did God choose to use such silly means to deliver Jericho to His people? A common answer, I think, would be, "to test their faith," but I don't think that's exactly it. I think it was not to test their faith but to build their faith. And he does the same things to us, or should I say for us. Sometimes what He does doesn't exactly make sense until we arrive on the other side of the valley He brings us through and we find that we're just so much closer to Him. And through this we learn to trust Him, no matter what. He gives and takes away, He builds up and tears down, He directs and then re-directs. But in all of it, He's being the loving shepherd we are so thankful for, leading us away from dangers that we either don't see or think we can handle on our own (He knows better).

My prayer right now: "Lord keep us all close in the fold and don't let us wander from You and the rest of the sheep. Don't let us stubbornly dismiss Your gentle guidance. Be relentless. And when You call us to act, let us act with boldness, knowing that we have nothing of real value to lose by doing anything and everything in obedience to You. We need You, Lord. Make Yourself known to us."

GRANT

2006-04-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm finally writing a blog. I know that I've been an unblogger, and I don't feel bad about it. I have decided that I need to blog based on a grace system instead of a law system. In other words, I'll blog when the Spirit moves me to. :o)
So a lot has been going on lately. Ralph asked me to come on as an associate pastor at Grace Church in Richardson, TX, and Tamara and I have decided to go. So we're going back to Texas! I'm really going to miss the people who have been such huge parts of my life here, but I know it's God's will for us to go and I'm really excited to be able to pour myself out in helping Grace Church. I really love those people.

I'm also looking forward to the growth that the Lord is going to bring me through. Ralph is a great pastor, and everytime I have spent even a little bit of time with him I've been encouraged and grown in Christ. I wish everyone could have a pastor like that. I hope someday I can be a pastor like that, God willing. That's one of the biggest reasons we're going, I need to learn how to pastor. Even if I don't become a pastor of a church, I still need to know how to pastor. Being able to understand and communicate God's truth is such a small part of what ministry is about, and I don't want to be one of those preachers or teachers who don't know how to shepherd the people they minister to, understanding their needs and showing them how Christ and His Body can meet those needs.

Dr. Radmacher always talks about the Church as the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12-14), and that divinely inspired comparison is something that we can't ever forget. In Christ, we are all one and just like our physical bodies can't function properly if one of those members is hurting (try to go through a day with a massive toothache), we should never allow a member of the Body to go on hurting without soothing their hurt. That might mean something uncomfortable (like a root canal), but it's essential if we're going to function properly as the Body of our Lord.
That's the kind of stuff that I need to learn how to do. And I'm so excited to see what the Lord brings.

Lots of love,

GRANT

God is Good!

2006-01-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hey All! God is always good. It's amazing how much he loves us, even though we don't deserve it. He poured out a tremendous blessing on Tamara and I this week by getting me a great job. I was looking for anything, and was willing to take a job flipping burgers for minimum wage if I couldn't find anything else, but lo and behold (I'm not really sure what that phrase means, but it seems appropriate), God dropps a job selling new Chevys into my lap and I've got the potential to make a lot more than I would make at the very best jobs I was applying for.

Plus, all the concerns I had about the dirty way the car-selling industry is run all melted away when I talked to the General manager of the store, a Christian and one of many who work there. I told him that I was not willing to be deceptive in order to sell cars and that's exactly what they were looking for. He said, "that's good because we don't do that kind of thing here." So big praises to God.

A side note: I'm reading Eragon this weekend, and am really excited about it, it's tons of fun so far.

GRANT

Jobsearch etc.

2006-01-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

Hey all you Smart Fellers!

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. Things have been a little hectic lately.

I'm searching for a job pretty hard these days, but it isn't proving easy. I know that if I could just talk to a person, I could get hired, but it seems like everywhere I go they just do some weird computer questionairre that asks a bunch of questions, gives you a bunch of less than ideal answers to choose from, and really doesn't take into account the things that you can only find out about a person in person. I'm applying pretty much everywhere I can think of, so hopefully I can get something soon. But since they all seem to ask the same questions, I think I'll probably either hear back from all of them or from none of them.

I'm really excited about our CORE group starting up again. It was great to sit around and talk about the Bible and spiritual things together last night.

Anyways, I'm going to run but please pray for me to find a job soon! Love you guys!

GRANT

Cough, Cough, Sneeze, Sneeze

2006-01-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sick. =( I think I have the flu or something like that. I've been playing my new Xbox game a lot and I want to continue doing that. Doing nothing except playing the game, watching tv, taking drugs and keeping my mind off how bad I feel. I'm excited that everyone is back from the holidays and we can all start hanging out again, of course I might need to refrain from that a little so I don't get anyone else sick. But I still really want to be involoved in our "French Christmas." Would that be ok, if I am really good about not touching or breathing on anyone? Please don't cast me out of Christmas society! I really love you guys and I hope to see you soon, but please be patient with me since I'm sick.

GRANT

Spoiled!

2005-12-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

I'm spoiled! I got so much nice stuff this Christmas! Tamara's parents even ordered the chairs to match our dining set for us. Christmas was nice, but we've now played poker three times and I didn't win once. We didn't finish the last game, and I had a good chance in that one, but I'm at least 0 for 2.

It's even warmer in New Braunfels, the forecast is for 82 tomorrow when we get there. I didn't bring the right clothes! Anyways, I've got to go! Love you all!

GRANT

I Love Texas

2005-12-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

I love Texas! I've been having such a good time here, but I kindof wish I had some shorts. It was 77 today at noon. One weird thing though was that we went to a church today in the area and when Tamara and I opened the doors, the wind gusted and blew both of our doors open and we hit the cars on either side and scratched them both pretty bad. We left notes but we haven't had any angry callers yet. I am being beckoned so I have to go.

Lots of love, miss you guys!

GRANT

74 Degrees on Dec 23rd

2005-12-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

So we arrived in Texas today and it was 74 degrees when we landed. Tamara's sister is wearing sandals and a sleeveless shirt. I know some people love a white Christmas, but give me 74 degrees any day!

It's good to be here in DFW, it feels like home. There are lots of people here that I love tons and I'm going to be happy to see them. I'll keep everybody posted on the happennings!

GRANT

Thank God for Friends

2005-12-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say how thankful I am for our friends. All you guys who read my blog, and a few people who don't, I'm really thankful for all of you. You guys make this life interesting, and you make every day a blessing. I'm so glad that I'll be with so many of you for years and years to come.

GRANT

A Weekend With My Baby...

2005-12-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

Mike and Adrian had a great idea to take a little vacation as their Christmas present to each other and we are stealing it. Tamara and i are getting ready to go and spend the next couple of days in Vancouver, WA. We're going to go ice skating (if they have skates big enough, I've ran into that problem before), watch King Kong, and a few other fun things.

Anyways, love you all and am looking forward to a great night of worship at Life_Link Sunday night!

GRANT

It's been awhile

2005-12-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile, I know. But I'm back.

Right now we're trying to figure out where (geographically) our ministry (uLife) is headed. And I've gotta say, though I am open, I would love to head back to Richardson Grace Church in Richardson, TX. The pastor there (Ralph) is probably the godliest person I know, and that is saying a lot, I know some pretty amazing people. I've only known him for a little over three short years, but from the beginning he's been a huge encouragement and a wonderful and truly wise mentor. He's taught me what it is to truly love Christ and to love our brothers and sisters like Christ loved us. He walks in freedom and love and he deeply respects the freedom others have in Christ. He's a man that I could learn a lot from, who I have learned a lot from.

And one of the best things is, he's 100% behind uLife. I used to teach at that church, and he would help encourage and guide me as I go, but he stood behind my teaching and every sunday from the pulpit, he encouraged people to come to my class. Any time I felt led to minister in some way, he would do everything he could to facilitate it, even when it meant personal sacrifice for him. And it doesn't hurt that he's a close friend and even after I've been gone for almost a year, he often cuts a couple hours out of his very busy week to talk to me and to give me guidance.

Please pray for us to know what God desires for us. We're seeking lots of godly wisdom on this, and we're praying hard and looking at every option carefully. But we could use all of your prayers too.

Also, please pray for Dr. Radmacher. He had heart surgery last week and is recovering, but that's never an easy thing to go through. He's very important to the church, and we need him strong. Plus we love him lots.

The plan is for this to be the first of many in a new streak of bloggage! Lots of love to everyone!

GRANT

The Unseen

2005-10-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why it is that we don't realize the importance of staying in the Spirit at all times, but I do realize that at least as far as I'm concerned a big paradigm shift is needed. It is so easy to just see the world for what we see, but it is truly what is unseen that matters. I think if we all realized this we wouldn't worry about silly, unimportant things. We truly could (only in Christ of course) "rejoice when all manner of evil is spoken of us for Christ." We could avoid the pitfalls that Satan sets for us, and we would be so much more dilligent to cling to and depend completely on Christ. How strange is it to be a soldier engaged in war and to not have your mind on the battle, even for a short while?

A lot of crazy stuff is going on that I can't really talk about, that's a big part of why I haven't blogged in a while, but whatever comes of it, I know God is actively at work. I want only what He wants and I really don't want anything else. Come what may. But the only thing I ask is that I grow to know Him more and to depend on Him for every breath. The glory is His.

GRANT

Missin my baby, and praise for Christ in FGA

2005-09-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm missin' my baby. She's home all by herself and I wish I could give her a big hug and a smooch. Sorry I'm away for so long, Honey!

God has been so wonderful and so faithful (isn't He always?) this week. The FGA conference has been such a blessing. We were able to raise some support, develop some relationships, we have some opportunities come up for expanding uLife later on, and we were really welcomed by some really godly men into FGA as a ministry. There were a lot of people there who were passionate about grace, not only in justification, but in sanctification; and it showed. I needed some refreshing and encouragement and I was so encouraged here. It's funny, FGA's motto is "Connect and Encourage" and that's exactly what the conference accomplished for uLife.

I'm so thankful to see that Christ is alive and working all over the place. He is so amazing.

GRANT

empower Thy weakling

2005-09-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

Thy love, broad, high, deep, endless, is truly without measure,
For only so could such a sinner as I be thus abundantly
blessed.
My Lord paid a cruel price to buy me back and make me His.
I can but carry His cross with gladness and follow Him steadfastly to the
end.
All else I relinguish since Christ is now my goal.
Come life, come death, what can it matter? Why should I look back with
regret?
Satan, the world, the flesh, seek if possible to confound me.
O Lord, empower Thy weakling lest I disgrace Thy name.
--Watchman Nee

I've been meditating a lot on this poem lately, especially that last line and that has been my fervent prayer. "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells" (Rom 7:18), and if left to myself I will become a huge embarrassment to the Lord and people will mock His great name because of me. So, I fall on His grace, begging for what He has already given freely, that He would empower me in His Son.

Lord, if my will is strong, break it. If my heart is covetous, show me the riches You offer. If my mind is stubborn, make plain my ignorance. Place in me a desire for only You.

GRANT

I got a good woman... got a good... lu-vin

2005-09-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say how much I love love teriyaki my wife. I was missing her so much today while she was at work. She's been so amazing from the day I met her, but she's getting more amazing all the time. She's the bizombiggitydiggityschmiggity. I love you, Baby.

My God and my Tamara are way more than enough to make me happy for the rest of my life.

Ministry is going great, but it's keeping me really busy. I need to slow down a bit and spend a lot more time in prayer. I'm really looking forward to that, I'm seriously needing it and I've been longing for some deep and intimate prayer time for a few days now.

I'm trowin up a duce. Duuuuuuce!

GRANT

a little gosplidge

2005-09-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how so many Christians are so put off by the pure and simple gospel. Everyone wants to have something to do with their salvation, they want to feel like they've earned it. They aren't meaning to disrespect Christ, but that's what happens. I was talking to someone who is a student in a conservative Bible college and after quoting John 6:47, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life," I asked him, "so, is there any way someone could believe in Jesus and not have everlasting life?" and he said, "sure there is." I just didn't know what to say to that.

It's hard to know what attitude to take towards that. (I'm thinking out-loud... or... out...typing) I don't want to cause too much waves but I don't want to be a sissy either. Jesus isn't a sissy. Neither was Paul, that's for dang sure. The whole thing comes down to the balance between needing to not be too overbold and not overlooking sinful attitudes in my brothers and sisters in Christ. I suppose I was mostly unbold in this last encounter, and that's probably best for now because I know that's what my church leadership would want. But down the road, I'm not sure. Obviously gentleness is always needed, but gentleness doesn't always mean not being bold (see Gal 5:22-23, contrasted with Gal 1:6-9 and 5:12).

Anyways, I've got massive writing to do (a Life_Link lesson, at least a couple more booklets, and always more), so I'd better make like a carpal tunnel victim and quit typing.

GRANT

Live Free

2005-08-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Just finished printing up the first edition of a little booklet I wrote called Live Free. It's about knowing grace and liberty in the Christian life--something which few people experience. I'm pretty excited about it, cause I think this sort of booklet was really needed. I hope it blesses a lot of people. I only printed 50 copies, because I want to see how they go first, and possibly make a new cover design (which will be Vin's job) for it next. The design is pretty simple, but we printed it on a pearly card-stock, so I think it looks pretty cool. They cost about $1.33 each to make, and we need to figure out a way to bring that down a bit. Hopefully under $1.00 apiece. I think I can do that if we print about 250 copies or more. But we'll see.

I really miss Vin. Not only does it suck having my best bud gone, but we have a tough time without him with uLife, especially at Life_Link. But only 2 more days till he gets back! I'm so excited for him, and I only hope he has plenty of time for his CD, so he won't have to stay extra time or whatever.

Anyways, that's about the it here. Sorry for the lame bloggage.

GRANT

Diggin' the Doilie <-----it's just better not to ask

2005-08-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

So I've had a lot of comments from "Anonymous" recently, and I appreciate the comments, but it sorta seems like you're just trying to advertise your sites. If this is the case, please stop. Nufwithat.

It's 5:42 a.m. here and church is at 9:00, but I woke up at 4 with tons on my heart and needed to get to prayer and work on curriculum. I guess God doesn't always move us on our normal time schedule.

I realize that I've been fooling around in the Christian life too long and it's time to get down n' dirty. There can't be any more slack or compromise, too much is at stake. Even though I've known my utter helplessness, I've tried to man-handle too much. And I've spent a lot of time in prayer lately, but too much of it has been surfacy. I want to know God. I need to know God.

I don't really know why I'm writing all of this down for everyone to read. I guess the main reason is I want to be able to look back at this post and remember how much God has accomplished "since then".

I just wanted to give a little bit of props to Mike. The glory is all Christ's, but boy has He been working through Mike. He's now our official "Ministry Coordinator" for uLife, and he's already stepping up and being a big help. God put that on his heart just in time, because I don't know how we would go into this school year without him and expect to be able to do all the stuff we need to do. Thanks, Mike! And thanks God for Your work in him.

GRANT

No more link privileges

2005-08-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Travis has lost his link privileges. Sorry friend, but three months without a blog is a bit excessive. May 16th, dude! As the rules go, to reinstate your link, you must post three times on different days over the course of less than two weeks. At that point you are on a probationary status so that you must post at least twice per month to remain linked. So let me know when you post.

So I finished the rough draft of the curriculum, and it's been a long process. That's why no bloggie, Vin. I've been reading and writing like a mad man. It still needs a lot of work, but the bulk of it is done and it is at least close to usable (except that it needs questions).

We miss you, Vin, and we're excited for your CD. It's gonna rock the show!

GRANT

Not much to say

2005-08-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say today. I've been real busy writing curriculum for CORE groups and haven't really been doing much else. Vin is leaving on Monday for Ontario to record and we're all really excited about his CD, but we're going to miss him (especially Kesha).

Curriculum is coming along well, and I've only got a few lessons to go, but I think I need to go through and rewrite a few of them if we're looking to publish. Plus I think there's one theme I need to work through all the lessons a little more to tie it together better. But I know this is boring, so I'll not keep you.

I just wanted to say, "hi" to everyone and say sorry for not posting in a while. I'll post again whenever something interesting happens. There's some stuff that we're praying about, and some things that might be happening soon, but can't really talk about it much yet.

Lots of love to everyone!

GRANT

Thankful

2005-08-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful for my wife. There are a lot of things going on that are exciting, but some of it has been a bit frustrating. I can have joy and peace in Christ through whatever circumstances, but sometimes you just need someone to hug you--someone you can confide in. She's been so loving to me through this time of trial (see last entry). I realize that not everyone has that. If you don't, please be encouraged that God will sustain you. He loves you so much!

I also need to say that I'm so thankful for Ralph. Those of you who don't know, he was my pastor in Texas and is on our adivsoryboard at uLife. There are only really a handful of older men that have been shown to me to be so faithful, spiritually minded, and in such submission to God's will and he's one of them. But not only that, but he is always open to me to talk to, sometimes for hours and I always leave encouraged.

For Vin and Kesha. They have been such amazing friends for Tamara and I, and I'm so thankful to be in ministry with them. Vin is a soldier, and on top of being a great friend, he's about the best ministry partner I could hope for.

GRANT

Testing of Faith

2005-07-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, that the testing of your faith, which is much more precious than of gold which perishes, though it be proved by fire, be found to praise and glory and honour in the revelation of Jesus Christ"

It's great to have your faith tested, even when it sure doesn't seem like it. For months now we've been working in ministry without financial support. It's been difficult, but God is faithful. He's just been testing our faith so that it will be stronger when future trials come. So that's better than having all the perishable money in the world.

Am I saying that I don't want to be supported? No. That needs to happen for the sake of our ministry. But what I am saying is that God has taken care of us so far, and I'm thankful for this time where God is bringing us closer to Him and preparing us for later trials which will surely come.

Thank You Lord!

GRANT

Whatever

2005-07-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Whatever.... that's where my heart needs to be. Meaning that I don't care where God takes me or what He does with me. A lot of exciting things are still happening, and I think we're just coming around a bend where we'll be able to see a lot more of what God is, is going to, and has been doing.

I've been trying to write a blog for a while now and every time I get on to write, something weird happens that either delays me or stops me. I think Satan's being a trickster again.

It's a blessing and a half to be involved in everything God's doing here in us. I almost feel like I can't even dream big enough, because He's got something beyond my wildest dreams in mind.

Got to go.

GRANT

Big Big Life Changes

2005-07-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

Everything changes in this world, what is important in our lives in one minute is gone the next. And though everything in this world changes, our God is unchanging and He remains with us forever.

Lots of big stuff going on that I wish I could talk about, but it's a bit premature for some of it. One thing I can mention is that I am going to be transferring out of Oregon Theological Seminary and into, most likely, the Grace Evangelical School of Theology. The program will be much more practical for me for many reasons, not the least of which is theological agreement. It makes a lot more sense for me and my lovely wife to make the switch.

When things become more solid on the rest of the stuff, I will be able to fill you in. But it just really isn't time for that yet. But please be in prayer for all of us, because it's absolutely critical that we can discern the will of the Lord in our lives in the next few days/weeks/months (I'm not really sure which).

Thanks for the prayer!

GRANT

Plan in pencil

2005-07-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how God always has something better in mind. About 6 1/2 months ago I grabbed my new wife and drove 2500 miles to our new home in Oregon in order to go to seminary. That's not why God brought us here. I'm not even sure if God wants me to continue with it. He brought us here to put us together with Vin and Kesha and to get uLife up and running. That was His will for us, and I'm sure He's got more planned, but it sure seems like seminary was way down the list of His plans. I'm learning now more than ever--plan in pencil.

And it's sure a learning experience. I wish I could say that my learning didn't mostly come from making mistakes. Wait.... who am I kidding? I know that making mistakes is the only way I'll really learn, so I'm thankful for them.

I've got CORE training again tonight, so I'll probably have something really cool on my heart after I go spend time with those awesome people talking about life in the Spirit and grace. There are some great thinkers in that group, and they're full of honesty so it makes for some great discussion.

Big love from our Big God for everyone

GRANT

uLife

2005-07-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about uLife that it kinda makes my stomach nauseous, but in a good way. It's like butterflies. Vin and I have been talking a lot about our future plans and it just seems like it could be the best thing I could possibly hope to be involved in this mortal body. If God has chosen to bless us in this way I will be extatic but I know He's got something even better planned. I love Him so much (by His grace)!

We got a chance to explain very clearly the Christian life in one of our classes today and I almost wet my pants from how exciting it was, and that's what I will get to do for my whole life (one way or another)! Wow!

I long for Christ's return, but I'm also excited to be able to see Him work mighty works even in this feeble tent. His power is so abundant.

Ephesians 1:15-23

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

GRANT

God rocks more than a little bit

2005-07-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

So anyways, life is a little bit more than exciting right now. My beautiful wife and I are growing closer together all the time (I LOVE HER!), ULife is going great and a lot of our relationships are developing very well, I'm seeing people grow in Christ, Vin's album is coming together really well (I am so sticking excited about it), and it looks like our finances are going to be better soon; Dr. Radmacher has been helping us get in touch with potential supporters (thank You God for Dr. R, he's a huge encouragement).

We got to go to a private Jason Mraz concert last night which was super cool! How often do you get to go to something so cool for free? He's like this huge, super-talented superstar and he was playing for our tiny group and interacting with the audience and everything. It was a treat.

Lots of love to everyone!

GRANT

Bumpee dump bum bum beep boodeedoopeedoo...

2005-07-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Three guesses about what song that is... anyone care to try? It's stuck in my head.

I know my blog is usually, as far as emotions go, uplifting but I've got to admit that I'm a little bit upset. Maybe disappointed or let down is a better way to describe it. Just to comfort you all: the offender(s) <-----for ambiguity's sake, do(es)n't read my blog, so it's none of you. I expect a certain level of clarity of purpose, spiritual maturity, and obedience to Scripture from certain people and it is really disappointing when one or several of them get caught up in worldly thinking. When this happens it make you wonder if you made a big mistake in trusting them.

I'm not upset with God, or discontented about circumstances, I just feel like my trust was violated. And I also feel a bit helpless. What do you do when you have a responsibility to trust someone's direction and they show themselves untrustworthy? I had a similar feeling when I was selling insurance and I found out that my general agent (my trainer and kindof like a boss) was dishonest. What do you do then? I quit the business then but that doesn't apply to me today. This isn't really a situation that I have the right to just bail on.

This is a really random thought, but I'm sitting here and there's a little flying bug hovering over there and it's just going in circles. I wonder if he's playing (like trying to get dizzy or something) or if he think's he's somehow being productive.

Also I think I probably made one of my best friends cry today. She's getting married in 19 days and I just let her know that I won't be able to make it to her wedding. We've been good friends for a long time and I know it was important to her, but it just isn't possible. I really wish I could be there.

GRANT

CORE training rocks the show!

2005-06-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! CORE training rocks the show. The last couple of weeks we've met on Tuesday nights with the people who want to lead a CORE group next school year and it's been awesome! I know that if it weren't for time constraints we could go on talking about Life in Christ and Grace all night long. It's so great to see such passion for the truth, and commitment in people who are going to be working with us at ULife. I know that God is going to bless lots of people through them, and I can't wait to see it.

Also, here's a couple pics of my nephew, Conrad. Isn't he awesome?!?!

I can't and I won't, God can and He will.

2005-06-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a little public praise to God. It's so awesome to know that I am completely unable to overcome, and to give up all hope in myself. But only because I know that God can overcome in me and that I can trust that He has and will continue to overcome. Praise God that I, Grant Hawley, am completely corrupt. And praise God that He has given me His Son Jesus Christ.

GRANT

Excitement

2005-06-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys! Sorry it's been so long since I posted, but I just got back from Kansas the other day and I didn't get on the net for a while.

Anyways, my bro is married now! That's why I was in Kansas, for his wedding. I got to be best man, which was really cool. I'm so excited for him, because he's got a great wife. I know they'll be happy together. And being there, watching them get married just reminded me about my wedding, and about how blessed I am to have Tamara. She's amazing.

Also, I'm an uncle again! My stepbrother Dustin and his wife Laurie just had a baby boy yesterday. His name is Hayden Ryan Bailey. I also love Adam's boy Conrad. He's two and a half now and he prays for his Uncle Grant and Aunt Tamara every night.

Last night was the kickoff of leadership training for CORE. It was awesome! We had so much great interaction, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer. It will be such a great time.

Lots of love to everyone!

GRANT

I love my wife!

2005-06-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share with you how awesome my wife is. I am so blessed to have her.

She is so full of mercy and love. I know that lots of marriages are tough for people because they either don't respect their spouse or they respect them because of an unrealistic picture they have of them. I am so thankful that my wife knows me for who I am--a sinner growing in Christ's grace. She sees me as her hero, but she knows I'm not perfect. She respects me, but it isn't based on a false ideal.

And she's so sexy, so loving, so cute, and so pleasant to be around. I can't get enough of her, and I'm so glad that I have the rest of my life with her.

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from YHWH" Prov 18:22

GRANT

Patience

2005-06-03T02:55:00.000-07:00

"Patience is a virtue". I know we hear that pretty often, and even if the Bible didn't tell us so, I think we'd know it. The truth is, growing in Christ is a slow process, and we need to wait on God at times longer than we would want to in our flesh. It seems funny to think that wanting to grow in grace could be a fleshly desire, but at times it can be and we end up trying to "tough it out for Jesus" (which I think we all know, doesn't work).

The funny thing is, waiting on God sometimes really means waiting on ourselves to let go of something. I'm looking forward to forty years from now when I'll either be glorified and hanging out with Jesus, or I'll have another forty years of growing with Christ. Lord let me find my patience in You!

"I will wait on the God of my salvation; my Lord will hear me" Micah 7:7b

GRANT

Whew!

2005-06-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Whew! Greek exam is done! Ive been studying so much for about a week and a half that I have developed a MASSIVE knot in my back. I think it must have been tied by an eagle scout with all kinds of merit badges in knots. But, God is good, and He's working even in the knot in my back.

So I've had a chance for a lot of the stuff that I was learning a couple of months ago to sink in. Not that it's all in practice, but I understand how to live like that now and it feels a lot more normal to do so. So now it's time to take steps that I've never approached yet. I am ready to know God in a way that I never have before. We'll see how it goes, but I'm excited!

But let God's will be done, no matter what that means.

Life_Link was awesome tonight! Vin gave the message and he talked about a lot of the stuff that I've been trying express. It was great to hear Vin talk about it, because he said things in different ways so that it sinks in better. And once again, we had great questions from the group. I can't wait till next week when we do our Q&A. It will be tons of fun.

Lots of love to everybody, thanks for reading my blog.

GRANT

Say Sa-da-tay and Feel OK

2005-05-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

We can always trust God. Sometimes you can't see how things will work out, and things seem to be dire, but they never are because our God is here. He is truly sovereign.

Lately, it's been tough for Tamara and I financially, but God has always pulled us through and this will be no exception. God is already working to meet our needs. Our friends have stepped up to help us, and so many other little things that are hard to explain.

I know this is a shortie, but that's about all I wanted to say. Sa-da-tay.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in all things, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4"6-7

GRANT

University Life Salem

2005-05-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about University Life! Last night was amazing! Vin is still in Israel, and Matt has been leading worship for us. Last night he brought some of his friends with him and we had a whole band going. We had a drummer, a basser, a guitarer/singer, and a backup singer. And they are really good. It was so stinkin cool! And the best part is, they really dug what we're about as a ministry and they want to keep playing for us. It will be so great when Vin gets back and we'll have a whole band to go with him.

Another cool thing is we had more people there than ever before! We're going to run out of space at Sip pretty soon if we keep growing like this. Mwahahahaha! Mwahahahahahaha! That might sound like an evil laugh, but really it's just a joyful one.

I've been talking about Christian Liberty the last couple of weeks and people have been so responsive. It's amazing to see how much people's perspective changes on the Christian life when they realize that they are free in Christ and stop living legalistically. God has been blessing ULife so much, and I am so humbled that He's using me in it.

THANK YOU JESUS!

Oh, and let me also say that Revenge of the Sith was AMAZING! It was sooooo intense! For pretty much the whole movie you're having trouble breathing, or you're about to cry, or you're just pretty much in shock. They make you feel the pain that Anikin feels as he goes to the dark side. It was by far the most intense of the Star Wars movies, but to be fair to the others, I think I'll have to see it a lot more times before I can say if it's the best one. But I stinking loved it! Between that and Life_Link last night, I couldn't sleep. Too much excitement for one night.

GRANT

I Miss Vin

2005-05-16T01:14:00.000-07:00

I miss Vin. Since not long after we moved up here, we've been spending all of our free time and a lot of time we didn't have with Vin because we just love him so much. It's weird not having him around (don't worry, Travis, I miss you too, but that's not a new thing).

It's so cool though that he's in Israel. I'm really excited for him. So I don't know if you can read this, but we all miss you a ton and can't wait to see you again...

BTW, I was at 212.5 about 4 days ago, but I picked up 1.5 since then, so it looks like you're gonna win.

We're praying for you.

GRANT

God is Good, All the Time

2005-05-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

God is so awesome! I just look back on how He is working, and I just can't say enough. He is always working, even when we don't see it at the time. I'm super excited about how God has been working in me. I really believe that I just started understanding the Christian life in a practical way a few months ago.

And let me just say how much of a blessing it is to be able to teach about walking with the Lord twice a week. It's got to be one of the most amazing experiences I've had the priviledge of going through. And it's even better when I get to see growth in my beloved brothers and sisters who come to Life_Link and Sunday school. I've prayed a lot for one specific person who comes faithfully and I am seeing her grow so much in Christ. Praise God for His works.

Also, the way He's worked to bring Vin and Kesha together is amazing. It's such a blessing to see Vin and Kesha walking so faithfully in the Lord. I know that not everyone understands what they're doing, but they are so obviously walking in complete submission to Christ and in total faith that I can't imagine not supporting them. For one thing I think they should be married because they obviously belong together, but with their evident faith I would support them if they decided to move to Zimbabwe and open up a used car dealership. I would know that God must be directing them that way.

So anyways, I know that some people might get annoyed that I'm so overly smiley all the time, but I'm just so excited about what God is doing. He's always good.

GRANT

Theology and Life

2005-05-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've been really struggling to understand the place of theological study in my life, and I haven't really figured it out (I use that term loosely) yet. I guess it's an important thing for me to learn because I'm a seminary student and all.

I have come to a new understanding of men (and especially myself) that makes it plainly clear that nothing that is of our old self can be pleasing to God. I also know that my mind is part of my old self. So, then, if my purpose for studying theology is to figure things out with my mind, then I am falling short of God's standard.

But what's more is that I cannot expect that learning these truths with my mind will result in me acting in such a way to meet God's standard.

I must come to a point where I receive these truths in my spirit (not my mind). So that when I learn of God's holiness, I must learn it in experience. When I learn of God's sovereignty, I must learn it in such a way that I experience it in my spirit, through His Spirit.

So what does that mean for my studies? I don't know. I know there is value in it, but I know that I must also make sure I don't turn it into an activity of the flesh, and make something holy (the Bible, true theology) into something that is accuresed and at war with Him.

"For the mind of the flesh is enmity [at war with] with God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed is it able to be" (Romans 8:7).

GRANT

My Wife and ULife Stuff

2005-04-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to throw out how much I love my wife. She is a blessing like I can't even explain. Last night I was troubled in my spirit, and she gave me so much affection and encouragement.

As all of you know, I have been going through a spiritual transformation lately and my wife has been right there with me the whole time, going through it with me. I'm so excited about where we're going in Him together.

I just wanted to share that with y'all.

Okay, so about ULife stuff... We met with the deacons from our church tonight. It was a biggie, because it was about how we're going to both promote our ministry and be supported financially. We don't know yet what kind of decisions they're going to make, but they were very receptive and I think we explained what we're doing as well as we could have in the time we had.

So that's a big praise, 'cause we've been waiting for that meeting for a long time, and it went as well as we hoped for.

Be praying that God will move in their hearts to help meet our financial needs.

I'll keep ya posted.

GRANT

Prayer

2005-04-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've been going through a real spiritual transformation lately, and it's hard to explain how this relates to my prayer struggle that I mentioned a few days ago but I'll try.

I spent a long time thinking I was spiritual because I was theological and because I loved Jesus, but I've recently realized that spirituality is not in the mind or the heart/emotion (which are in the soul), but in a deeper part of us, our spirit (which is connected with the Holy Spirit). Spirituality is experiencing an intimate life connection with Jesus Christ through which we no longer live but He lives in us. Denying ourselves is more than just denying our natural desires, it is denying (through faith) the very self-life principle that we have in exchange for the Christ-life (Galatians 2:20). This is what it means to be "filled with the Holy Spirit".

So anyways, where I'm at is that I've learned, at least in part, how to apply this in life, but how do I "pray in the Spirit" as we're commanded in Eph 6:18?

I'm not sure how this is done, but I know I'm not there because half the time when I pray I start thinking about what I'm going to have for lunch or something my wife said or whatever. I'm convinced that these are a sign that I am praying from my own strength, which is the last thing I want.

I'm certain that God is bringing me through an amazing time right now, and I'm thankful; but I can't hardly wait to get to the other side and know God like I've never known Him before.

GRANT

ULife

2005-04-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

So anyways [my traditional introductory salutation], here's what I think is, from a practical standpoint, the worst thing about the Reformed doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints.

Now, those of you who are not up on the debate, when I say "Perseverance of the Saints," I don't mean eternal security. Eternal security is a true biblical doctrine that states that once a person is saved, he cannot be unsaved (Romans 11:29). What I am talking about is Perseverance of the Saints, which means that all true believers will become progressively holier until the end of their life. It also says that if you don't persevere, you were never saved to begin with. I've got big beef with this view.

The doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints destroys assurance. We cannot know if we will persevere or not, therefore, under this assumption, we cannot know we are saved. We cannot know if we have the Holy Spirit Living inside us. We cannot know if we died with Christ. We cannot know if we have been freed from sin.

Thank God that this view is not true!

If we can't know if we are one with Christ, we cannot reckon ourselves dead to sin, we cannot walk in connection to Christ if He may or may not be living in us. In Romans, Paul bases his whole argument on walking in the Spirit upon the assumption that all those reading know they are saved. If Perseverance of the Saints were true, Paul could not have written Romans 5:12-chapter 8. Assurance of salvation is absolutely necessary to live a godly life, unless we are inconsistent in our beliefs.

I had a professor recently say, "I don't believe you can know you are saved." It was because he believes in this reformed doctrine.

Why can't human beings just rest in God's GRACE? Until we can do that, we won't know God's life to the fullest.

GRANT

Vin's Winshield Repair

2005-04-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

So anyways, Vin and I bought a kit today so that we can start fixing windshields that have rock chips in them. I think that it will work out really well, cause most of the cost is already done and from now on we've got a pretty good profit margin. I think that I'll be able to make some good income without having to take too much of my time away from ULife.

I hate talking about money, so I'm done with that.

I'm so excited about Life_Link on wednesday. I sent a transcript of my lesson to a few of my friends who live elsewhere and they said that God used it to really minister to them, so I'm excited to see how God will minster then. I've recently been given a whole new outlook on the purpose of ministry and I'm really pumped about it (this seems like it's unrelated, but it's not).

Also, I've realized lately that I really don't know how to pray. I'm going to be seeking God's will for prayer, and I'll be sharing what I find with you. It should be fun.

GRANT

Whew!

2005-04-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

So anyways, I found out that we have until the end of June to do all our work for Ancient Church History, so that's a big help! I can focus on curriculum for University Life first then and do that work after. I wasn't sure how I was going to get it all done!

But onto more important things...

God has been teaching me so stinkin' much lately. I can't believe how much my perspective on life has changed. I'm still in the process of learning it, especially on an experimental level, but God's at work.

For those of you who come to Life_Link and Sunday School, you'll hear some of what I've been learning. I hope you're as excited as me, 'cause God won't fail to accomplish what He's doing here, and it's something really cool.

Lots of love to everybody,

GRANT

Nothing I have is mine, everything is God's.

Busy, busy, busy

2005-04-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy, I'm so darn busy.

I'm not usually big on over-committing but I did and I'm a bit stuck with it now. I think I'm going to need to be a recluse for a little while and get all my reading done for Seminary and then I'll be at a normal pace again. I really wanted to drop my Ancient Church History class, but Dr. House didn't want me to, so I stayed in. It's turning out to be a lot more work than I expected, so I've gotta be dilligent.

I'll try really hard to keep posting regularly, but just for the next few days, if I don't, be merciful with me.

Lots of love to everyone who visits my page!

GRANT

Not much to say

2005-04-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say today, but Life_Link went really well tonight. I'm looking forward to next week.

Please pray for Dr. R, Pastor Bull, and Joe Lombardi as they are going to be having a meeting with the guys from Conservative Baptist NW to try to keep the organization from adopting a lordship doctrinal statement.

"Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life"--Jesus on the true gospel.

GRANT

God wants everything

2005-04-12T00:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing.

Have you ever known something for a long time and not really realized what it means? We'll I've sortof gone through that lately and I'm really starting to get it.

God wants everything for Himself. He wants all of me.

Do you know those people who actually think that you're crazy if you want to give up your whole life to God? They think that God is pleased with a tenth. This is why we must reject the law of tithing (giving a tenth) as being something for another people of another time. In the Old Testament, God was satisfied with a tenth, now He wants absolutely everything. None of my money is mine. Neither is my time mine. Neither is my energy mine. Neither are my thoughts mine. Nor my emotions. My will is not mine. Neither is my wife mine or anyone or anything else I love, family, friends or whatever. Neither is my own very life mine. My soul is not mine. Nothing belongs to me, but all belongs to God. All must be laid upon the alter as a willing and joyful sacrifice. God can do with it as He wills.

My own vain ambtions, even those that are based on Christian service must go. A screwdriver does not get to choose what the Carpenter does with it. This is the way we should think of our lives. We are tools of the Lord, here to be used as He wills. And if God chooses to use me to scrape up some ambiguous but smelly substance on the floor of His garage, then so be it.

If God wants everything for Himself, I need to want everything for Him and hold nothing as my own. This is the meaning of Matt 16:24, "...He who desires to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me"

Lord, I bear my cross willingly, and am glad to be on Your alter. Live Your life in me, Your servant.

"Lord, I want nothing for myself; I want all for You. I will what You will, and I want to have nothing outside Your will."--Watchman Nee

GRANT

Church today

2005-04-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

Church today was awesome! Vin got to lead worship for the whole congregation and he did such a great job. He sounded great, but the focus was completely on the Lord. All the girls were crying like big criers.

What else is cool is that he got to do a plug for University Life and we got some good response.

What else is cool is that Vin, and I are both feeling like we're venturing into completely new territory spiritually, and that we're beginning to experience a life like we've never known before. I know that Tamara is also going through the same sort of crossroads. We are all so excited, and though Kesh hasn't talked with us about this, I know she's headed where we're headed.

So anyways, I can't divulge more info right now, but I'll be writing!

GRANT

My best bud, Travis.

2005-04-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Travis is my best bud, and I miss him tons.

I remember when I first moved to Denton, TX and I liked this girl named Shannon who happened to be Travis' ex-girlfriend. So naturally we hated each other. But when we had an art class together, it didn't take long for me to see how ginuine and fun he was.

Over the years several friends have come and gone. Lots of people turned out to be different people than they led on, but Travis has just constantly proved himself to be a good friend. We've been through a lot of tough things together, but he's always stayed true.

He and I used to always talk about going to seminary together and I'm still holding out for that. Especially now that we're starting University Life. I would love so much to have him on our team. Travis, if you're reading, there's a position on staff for you if you want it.

So anyways, all that to say that I love Travis dearly and wish he wasn't so far away.

"I'm gonna need a hacksaw" --Jack Bauer (I'm not allowed to give context for this because Kesh hasn't seen this season yet)

GRANT

I can't believe I almost forgot

2005-04-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that my mom is a professor at the University of Missouri. Well, anyways, big props to her, she won the Kemper award for being the top teacher on campus! There are thousands of teachers and she was named the very top one. How cool is that????

GRANT

Not a ton to say today

2005-04-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

I don't have a ton to say today, but I thought I'd better write in my blog anyhow.

So anyways, last night I was working on stuff for Universtiy Life and I just couldn't stop writing so I ended up staying up unil almost 7:00 am! It was cool, though, because I got almost four whole lessons done for Sunday school and Life_Link.

I slept until 3:00 this afternoon, but I don't care because I am way ahead now on my lessons and will have a lot more time in the next couple of weeks to work on curriculum for core.

That's not the most exciting part about it though. Through studying for my lessons I have learned so much in the past week about walking with the Lord. I can't really explain it here because it is complicated, but I realized that while I had understood some very important steps toward freedom and experienced real victory in my life, I had stopped short of the goal. In short, I had experienced freedom from the tyranny of the old man, I was living part of my life in my soul (the seat of self) instead of my spirit (the seat of communion with God). When I learned about these truths, I saw how fervently Jesus denied His human soul and I just fell that much more in love with Him.

If we only knew the holiness of the Lord, I think our outlook on a lot of things would be different.

"He shouldn't have been playing with the adults" --Jack Bauer after snapping a man's ancle like a twig.

GRANT

Bobe must have moved to Chicago

2005-04-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

So anyways, I'm sitting here at Sip with Vin and Tamaramaramara getting ready to start Life_Link and Kesh has disappeared. We think she must have moved to Chicago in the last half-hour.

This just in... Kesh did not move to Chicago, she just went home real quick.

But anyways, I can't really express it here, but I am so excited about how God is working in my life and even more so in Tamara's. She has come to a great place spiritually and I can't wait to see where God takes her in the next few weeks.

That's about it, I know it's a short blog, but I've only got about half an hour before Life_Link starts and I need to get going.

"You probably don't think that I can force this towel down your throat. But trust me, I can. All the way. Except I'd hold onto this one little bit at the end. When your stomach starts to digest it, I pull it out. Taking your stomach lining with it. For most people it would take about a week to die. It's very painful." --Jack Bauer

GRANT

University Life Salem Kickoff

2005-03-31T15:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, so last night was the kickoff of University Life Salem, and praise God, it was great! We had a small turnout, but of those that came, many of them expressed an interest in serving with ULS, and I think everyone said they had a good time and wanted to come back.

So I thought it went over really well. I'm real excited about it, but I've got tons of work to do. We're still working on raising support, we need to be spreading the word about ULS, I've got lessons to teach and curriculum to write and we're learning the 3rd Declinsion and Participles in greek class this week (some of the hardest stuff to learn). I'd better get busy!

"I have killed two people since midnight. I haven't slept in over 24 hours. So maybe you should be a little more afraid of me than you are now." -- Jack Bauer

GRANT

Life_Link kickoff tomorrow

2005-03-30T02:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry that it's been 11 days since my last blog. I know, I'm Lamey McLamerson. But it's been spring break and I just didn't feel like keeping up with it.

But Life_Link, the weekly large group meeting for Universtiy Life Salem is starting tomorrow! This is awesome! I'm so excited and not nervous at all, which is cool for me. I just can't wait to get moving on the ministry. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but it's just such a dream to be able to share Christ for my job.

There's something that is a little bit (grossly understated) lame that's going on in the Conservative Baptist movement right now. They brought an issue to vote on and the vote went the wrong way. It was about a "covenant" for the group that included a pretty specific doctrinal statement, including Lordship Salvation. It just makes me sick to see another good Christian movement turn to crap, because, the way I see it, with whatever you do for the Lord, if you don't have grace, it's all in vain. So now our church is waiting to see how pushy they're going to be about every Conservative Baptist church adopting the covenant, and then they've got to decide what they're going to do about it. Because let me tell you, our church and especially our pastor is not going to allow that. He's all about grace.

This kind of stuff is one of the big reasons why University Life is staying independent.

GRANT

God is so stinkin good

2005-03-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

So anyways, today I got a little disappointing news, but in the midst of getting the news, God was bringing to mind that He is in total control and that His work will get done no matter what. His soverign love is so comforting.

God has done a lot to let us know that He is going to make our ministry work, no matter what the world throws our way, and I'm thankful that while everyone in this world has the capacity to disappoint, I have a heavenly Father that will never let me down even a little bit.

And, oh yeah! Big praise! Everyone who reads my blog already knows this, but Kesha, who was planning on moving to Chicago in less than a month has decided to stay here in Salem and work with University Life! How cool is that! SHe's a godly girl and I'm thankful not only for her service in the ministry, but for her friendship. My wife needs a good girlfriend and she's excited too.

Big praises to the ultimate love of my life, Jesus Christ (I didn't forget you honey, I love you too)

GRANT

The fleshy Grant

2005-03-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

Do you ever take a look back at something you did, or the way you were being, and think "Jeesh, where did that come from?" and then get a bit embarrassed? I do, and sometimes I just can't believe myself. But the thing is, if I didn't put any confidence in the flesh, I wouldn't be so surprised. When we get out of the Spirit, we can't behave in any other way. Here's one of, I think, the most poignent phrases in the Bible "Apart from Me you can do nothing" - Jesus in John 15:5.

As I mature in my walk, it becomes less and less often that I get out of the Spirit (That's, I think, what maturity is), but my actions when out of the Spirit are no different than they were years ago. "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25).

The Christian life is not about making the flesh less fleshy, it's about, through faith, staying in the Spirit, abiding in Christ more and more.

"Thank You, Jesus, that we can't do anything on our own, but that we must trust in You for everything, and that when we do, You do not disappoint. Let us learn quickly the futility of life in the flesh so that we may avoid life in the flesh the same way we would avoid hitting ourself in the kneecap with a hammer. And, Lord, we confess our sins, and thank You that through Your blood we have forgiveness."

GRANT

Salem ain't so lame to me

2005-03-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody, I just wanted to give a shout out and let everyone from Salem know that I appreciate you. You're some of my favorite people! I sure hope none of ya'll leave any time soon (cough, cough, Kesh, cough) sorry I had something in my throat.

BTW, I just sent out my first batch of support letters, so be praying for me plz!

And a big praise! Tamara got a job at Sip, a coffee shop downtown in Salem that is owned by a cool Christian girl named Angie. Sip is also where we're going to start out having our Life_Link meetings (starting March 30th).

So big praises!

HwHUT, Yayuh, and Uhghhhhhhhhh!

GRANT

What's the most important thing for a Christian to know?

2005-03-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

I was asked that question today, and I wasn't sure how to answer, but the guy who asked me (Ralph) was pretty confident. And, you know, I think he was absolutely right.

When he asked me, my first instinct was to say, "Grace" (talking about Free Grace soteriology), but that's not it at all. I think that's important, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it's number one. Obviously we need a basic understanding of grace, because we have to be Christians before we can look for the most important thing for a Christian to learn. And if someone's out and out Lordship, I don't think they can really get the most important thing.

This is an important question for me right now, because I am working on developing a three-year curriculum for CORE, a ministry of University Life, and I (with the help of others) need to decide what comes first.

I know I've kept you hanging for awhile, so I'll come out with it. I believe that the most important thing for a Christian is to understand the concept of the experience of oneness with Christ through a faith walk. It is difficult to express in just a few words because every Christian uses the same words to mean something different. I'm talking about the kind of dependence on Him that a newborn has on his parents. Knowing we are completely helpless without Him, and that we are completely provided for and taken care of with Him.

I remember when I first learned to ride a bike. My dad held onto my bike and ran alongside me. I was doing something new and it was scary, but I knew that as long as he held on, I was OK. The first time he let go, I rode my bike directly into a thornbush. I was so cut up (and in bad places) that I couldn't play for a couple of days. Life is a little like constantly learning to ride a bike for the first time, except we are supposed to cling to our Dad, and every time we let go, a thornbush awaits. That's the most important thing for a Christian to know.

I know a guy who has great theology, almost unreproachable, but I don't think he has ever truly tasted the bliss of complete (mind, emotion, and will) dependence on Christ for his life walk. So what good does his theology do? He's clinically depressed.

Good theology is vital for a mature Christian walk, and especially vital for those that will teach others, but without that sweet taste of applied eternal life, it's all in vain.

So, I think we'll begin our curriculum with that.

"I have been crucified with Christ; so that it is no longer I who live but Christ lives through me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20).

GRANT

My first Blog!

2005-03-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm supposed to be studying for my Greek final, but I find myself procrastinating yet again. I think I'm as big of a procrastinator as anyone except maybe Vin.

So the reason I procrastinate is because I worry. I know that seems weird, but when I have big mountains in my path, I tend to just want to think or talk or play a game or whatever instead of getting to work on stuff.

So what are my mountains? Well, Vin, my wife, and I are starting up a new college ministry and I'm the director. That's about as big of a responsibility as I can reasonably imagine having at this stage of my life and it's a little scary. God is big though, and He'll pull it off.

I really wish I could just focus on working it though. Right now, the church isn't ready to pull us on staff yet and pay us from the church funds, so we've got to raise support. I know that God will take care of us, but when you've got a wife to provide for and the money is running out, it isn't always easy. Have you ever heard of the expression, "I need some love with some skin on it"? It's about when we know God is there for us but we feel lonely. Well, that expression doesn't really apply right now, but I think the expression, "I need some security with some dollar signs in front of it" kind of does. But who am I kidding, I know that God will give us enough to get by, so I guess that is probably just an excuse for weak faith.

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:6-7).

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matt 6:25ff)

Well, I guess it's time to get back to work.

www.universitylife.org/salem