the miracle blog

Follow Me wherever I lead without worrying about how it will all turn out. Think of your life as an adventure, with Me as your Guide and Companion. Live in the now, concentrating on staying in step with Me. When our path leads to a cliff, be willing to climb it with My help, When we come to a resting place, take time to be refreshed in My Presence. Enjoy the rhythm of life lived close to Me.

You already know the ultimate destination of your journey: your entrance into heaven. So keep your focus on the path just before you, leaving outcomes up to Me.

via - Our Daily Bread

The History of New Year’s Resolutions

The tradition of the New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn’t begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year’s Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year’s gifts.

In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year’s Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.

The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars. Some cultures have lunar calendars, however. A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon. The Chinese use a lunar calendar. Their new year begins at the time of the first full moon (over the Far East) after the sun enters Aquarius- sometime between January 19 and February 21.

Although the date for New Year’s Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.

so, now that things are starting to calm down, i’m gonna try to get back in the swing of this blogging thing. there will be many pictures, videos, and thoughts written here to come.

stay tuned….

The idea of home is one that constantly intrigues me. I love the thought of it, the idea of it, and the hope for it. I usually use the phrase “I’m just a kid trying to make it home” when people ask how I’m doing and more importantly, when they ask about my spiritual life. I kinda wear it out and sometimes people get annoyed with me saying that but, oh well.

It just makes sense to me to have a home, whatever that may be, that’s bigger then us. One that has to do with more then us, but one that we are a part of it. Ill explain a little more in the next paragraph. You see, ultimatley, I consider heaven my home. Hence, I’m just a kid trying to make it home but, I think there is more to it here on this dreadful earth.

Going back to explaining what i meant about home being bigger then us but including us, this is what i meant. When you finally find that job or career you want, that’s a little bit of home. When you finally meet that person that you know you can’t live without, that’s a little bit of home. When you realize that the very air you are breathing right now is a gift, that’s a little bit of home. It’s bits and pieces of this life that come together to create a place that I call home.

There is so much that makes up the idea of home, at least in my head. Like Paul said, “I’ve learned what it looks like to have a lot and to have a little but whatever, I’m content”. I believe that Paul was home, here on this earth. Making due until he hit his ultimate home in heaven. So, what does that look like for me, right now?

I have no idea, I’m still a kid trying to find it, but I do have a peace that I will. I have a peace that somewhere down the road we’ll all find that place where we belong. That place where we become complete, a place that holds all of our dreams and desires. a place that we are lucky enough to call our home.

For me, I’m getting a closer and closer each day but not there yet. It’s a fun journey, a painful one though, but fun and necessary none the less.

Anyways, I’m going home now, I’ll post more later.

So, many of you have asked me when I will be posting my thoughts on myspace and facebook. More specific, why I have deleted each of mine. So, here I go…

It’s actually quit simple why I have decided to delete my accounts. There are actually two reasons. 1- because those two sites are very dangerous for a young Christian guy. Now, I wasn’t doing anything wrong but I know im not above falling. I tried to slow it down for a while by not accepting many of the comments that were left but then I would just get emails and messages from people asking why I deleted their comments. It just wasn’t worth the hassel. 2 - I have deleted my accounts out of respect. Out of respect to my family and my future wife. I want to make sure with everything I can control that I don’t make people question me or doubt anything about me regarding charactor and integrity.

That’s really it. For me, it’s an action I needed to take to remain above reproach. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t see anything wrong with these things. But, if your right hand is causing you to stumble, or could cause you to stumble, then cut it off. That’s all I did. I have removed that temptation from my life.

That’s it and that’s all. Judge me if you want. Make fun of me if you want. I can take it.

i grew up in a baptist church in rockledge florida and anytime the Holy Spirit would move in our church that would mean that we would stand on the third verse of some old hymn and then sit down quickly afterwards. sometimes, we would stand for the whole song but that was just for easter, or christmas, or potluck dinner, you know? because of that, i guess i just never quit grasped what it meant for the Holy Spirit to move until i was a little bit older. now, i’m not talking about the speaking in tongues, faoming at the mouth, and shaking all over the place kinda movement but…if thats your thing, then knock yourself out.

i’m talking about those moments when it feels like He is inches away from your face. those moments that are so intense that you’re afraid to move. the moments that are so intense that a part of you thinks if you say or sing or do anything at all, you just might mess it up. those moments that are so intense that we have no choice but to be changed.

my prayer is that you and i can find one of those moments very, very soon. and that you would have a moment like that for no other reason then the simple fact that you have called on His name and He is faithful to show up.

you see, its pretty important that you can realize right now, whether you know Christ or not, wherever it is you are standing, sitting or laying, you are in the presence of a Holy God. and that should blow your stinkin mind.

so, since i know how much you all love my late night dance off’s (dont correct me, i’m just trying to make myself feel better), i thought i would do a mid-day one with my soon to be ghetto thug dancer nephew, joe joe…

so it is now 3:21am and here it is, the long awaited sequel. if you have a request for the next late night dance off, leave a comment and your suggestion will be considered. enjoy…

also, dont judge and YES, my christmas tree is spinning.

during this trip home to florida i have had some great quality time with my family, and my sister and her family. i always love being home spending time with them but this trip home, i have learned a little something.

i’ve learned all about a stage that all kids go through. a stage we call, the terrible twos. i have a little nephew who is turning 3 in february and he got me thinking about this terrible two stage and why kids go through it.

could it be because at the ages of 2 and 3 kids grow into the sinful nature we were all born into? because kids ages 2 and 3 cannot fully understand Jesus and the cross? so often i found myself getting mad at joe joe for the dumbest things when all the while he is acting the same way i would be if i didn’t know Jesus. selfish, talking back, throwing things, not sharing, screaming, running wild…everything. normal things that everyone would do if we didn’t have something / Someone inside of us to tell us not to. its hard because all that joey has heard from me these days is, “joey no” “joey sit still” “joey calm down” joey not that close” “joey, nice nice” he only hears everything that he does wrong and that breaks my heart. like any little kid, joey has no bad intentions, he’s just a kid, and 9 times out of 10 there is nothing wrong with that and i am the one to blame for always being on his case.

i dont really have a purpose in this post other then, my heart has moved from wanting to always say “no” to joe joe to wanting to say “Jesus loves you joe joe”.

dont get me wrong here. i am not saying dont discipline your children. i am a strong advocate of that. i am just saying, we need to find that fine line of knowing when your child is acting terrible two and when your child is living lost (without Jesus). i believe there is a clear distinction. i think parents try to teach there kids manners and how to behave as a mature kid before they teach there kids about Christ. again, in my opinion there is a fine line as well. kids need to be taught for sure, but they need just as many Jesus lessons as life lessons.

now, i’m not a parent so ultimately i really know nothing about this. its just an observation. an observation i’m happy i’m learning before i have kids. now, i love my nephew joe joe and cannot wait to sit back and see the man of God he grows up to be. i’m looking at him right now as he is playing with his play-doh and he is making play-doh fish and so excited about what he is doing. my dad, who is playing with him just said, “you’re the fish maker aren’t you joe?” joe joe said, “yup”. i cannot wait to see him in 20 years out in this world being a fisher of men, changing this world everyday for the cause of Christ.

go get’m joe joe!

here is a pic of joey and his play-doh fish…

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this season, join me in attempting to be creative (i’m not the best at that). despite what everyone else is doing and what everyone wants, i am doing everything in my power to not lose sight of what this season was meant to look like from the very beginning. i’m not saying that what people are doing is wrong, i dont believe that is true, but, i do believe that by what people do, they can easily lose sight of what is really happening during the next four weeks.

what i mean by all of this is, it is heart breaking to me that we spend these four weeks leading up to christmas doing nothing but shopping and trying to figure out what we want for christmas, and what we can get other people for christmas. again, i am not saying this is wrong, its just something i want to attempt to stay away from this year. this is a period of time that we call the “holiday season”, but a period of time that was originally called the “season of advent”. its funny / heartbreaking how things change so much over time.

my goal this christmas season is to take myself to a spiritual place. putting myself, as best i can, in the shoes of someone who was alive during the very first advent season. and i believe that by doing that, i will catch a greater glimpse of what all this is really supposed to look like.

instead of shopping for gadgets and gifts, i want to dwell on the haystack palace and the manger throne. to think about the hush that fell on that little town of David on the night of Jesus’ birth. so this year, instead of shopping, start thinking. start reading. start praying in a way that you’ve never prayed before. and in the meantime, instead of buying gifts this year for family and friends that they probably dont want or need anyways, get creative and make something for them from your heart. be a kid again and break out the paper and crayons. lets give gifts that can be kept forever, a gift that has a higher price then anything you could buy from a store.

there will be more blogs to come about my thoughts on the birth of Christ, but right now i’m just throwing the thought out there to make this advent season a season of being less of a consumer and more of a sojourner. someone who takes a temporary break from what the usual is and sits back, gets creative, and falls into the presence of the Holy Spirit in a way that we never knew was possible.

here is a video of what many church’s in the US are doing this advent season…

check it…

i recently ran across an bumper sticker that said…

“God loves you just the way you are, and way to much to leave you that way”

this thanksgiving, i am thankful for a God who loves me enough to embrace me right now and yet loves me way to much to keep me this way. you see, i’ve recently been reminded that there is always something more to be done. i am reminded of the beast of a man named Paul who said, “i dont claim to have it all together” and who said, “you must press on toward the prize”. i am reminded of Paul because this is a man who had so much figured out yet, kept going. i am reminded of Moses in the book of Exodus who literally used the fact that he knew God as an excuse for knowing Him more. more recently, i am reminded of Billy Graham who, when asked if he had any regrets in this life said, “i wish i would have known God more”. these are great men of God and men that we all look up to and read about and strive to live up to in many ways, yet wanted more. these are men who have never been content with where they are at in their relationship with the Lord, and that is inspiring. 

you see, i dont think its a coincident that these men still pursued Christ with everything they had, even with so much figured out. its like i said in my tab above about Gods glory, i believe thats the way we were created. we were created with a void in the central most part of our being that can only be filled by Christ Himself. 

with this thought, i am led to a verse in the Bible that speaks to the heart of such a thought. its a letter that was written by, who other then Paul. a letter to the thessalonians who were a great people of God and lived life according to the law of the Holy Spirit but the verse goes a little something like this…

Finally, brothers, we have instructed you how to live to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 
1 Thessalonians 4:1

so, this thanksgiving, i am thankful for where i am at right now in my walk with the Lord, but not content with it. i want more and more. i’m not above moses, paul, billy graham or anyone else by a long shot. but i am above being stagnant. i am above being ok with status quo. i am above the ordinary. 

this thanksgiving, to the ordinary, i say thank you but….goodbye. 

happy thanksgiving…what are you thankful for?

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
 Secretary of State

so, obviously i am pretty excited about tomorrow. i am excited about eating a lot of food and spending some great quality time with the family. but, as i have had some time off and able to sit back and think a bit, it has made me think about how things move from beginning to end. something like…

that is a beautiful picture of what our God created as a beautiful animal. as a turkey is born and out in the wild living its life they are amazing. i have seen many wild turkeys and love taking a moment to sit back and watch them scurry about. then, we decided one day that it would be awesome to take such a beautiful piece of creation and turn it into something like…

something delicious. ah yes, the thanksgiving feast that we all look forward to once a year. thinking about this transition and how it goes from the birth of a turkey, to the adulthood of a turkey, to the death of a turkey, to consuming of turkey from the outside in, it makes me wonder of the beautiful circle of life. i am excited about tomorrow and what it has in store for us. and i will be thanking my God for every awesome bite that i take. 

but, it does make me think of other things as well. 

from beginning to end, something amazing happens. something beautiful. think about some things in life that have a beautiful beginning, a tragic ending, and a consuming. but this time, not a consuming from the outside in like a turkey, but from the inside out…

  like a Savior. .

think about it. stay tuned for tomorrows thanksgiving day post!

so, we made a pit stop after lunch to wawa’s office (my mom) and joey had to get a couple things done real quick.

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so, i had a plane ticket to fly home to florida for thanksgiving to be with my family. problem was, with my work schedule and the price of the tickets i was not going to be able to fly home until thanksgiving day. my family was just planning on celebrating (eating a lot) on friday instead of thursday this year because of this. now, a couple days ago, my boss called me and told me that i was off all of next week. i was mad because now i just had to sit there for a week and wait for thanksgiving day so i could fly home. so, what did i do? i hopped in my truck and started driving. i didn’t tell my family and i arrived at m parents house last night and surprise them all. if you have 10 minutes to spare, watch the video. if you dont have 10 minutes to spare….find them and watch the video.

so, i was up late tonight, 2:33am to be exact. with all kinds of energy in the world, so what better to do to blow of some energy then to get your grove on. enjoy…

I had some delicious Macaroni Grill tonight paid for by my good friend nick brophy, aka, The Legend. Our waiters name was Mike. He wrote upside as all macaroni waiters do. Good times. I am currently waiting for my delicious scaloppine de pollo! Also, we made a Christmas tree out of our food.

so recently the band auditioned for a worship band position at a church in coppell texas. this church is doing something really outside of the box in that they are not simply looking for a worship leader to step in and become a staff member, they are looking for a traveling worship band to step in and on the sundays that they are in town, lead worship at the church. the church is offering a stable home base for the band they decide on and an annual salary to help get the band off of the ground. its kind of an amazing gig for the band that gets the offer. 

now, this is where my human nature steps in and i realize that i have nothing left to do nothing short of hitting my knees. you see, our “audition sunday” was this past sunday and the church is making a decision by the end of the month. so, we are just left to wait on the phone call that gives us a yes or a no. 

BUT, there is something painfully beautiful in the waiting process if you can find it. its something i don’t know that i have ever sat back and sought out before in any other decision i have made. its the moment that you have an encounter with the Lord that makes you ask the question, “is this what You want for me?” for so long in my life when i run across situations that i need make a decision on or i am forced to wait for a decision to be made, if that decision ever went in my favor i automatically said “yes”. my thinking was, “why would God give me the opportunity to do something else for Him if He didn’t want me to do it?”…was my mentality. this time around, i am taking a different approach. i am taking the approach of seeking Him first in this decision and not waiting for another man to do the searching and decision making for me. i am crying out asking the Lord to reveal that beautiful spot in my future where my plans match up with His plans and creates something from it. 

what this looks like is this…as i wait for the decision making call that i should be getting in the next two weeks, i am spending a lot of time in prayer and in scripture. really just trying to ask God to give me direction and for Him to place on my heart whether or not He wants me to take the offer, if it is even there. you see, i only want to move if i feel Him leading me and pushing me. i know that He is in control and His will, will be done regardless of what i decide but i want to make sure that i am not to quick to jump on any ole thing anymore that is “cool” or “new”. 

basically, there is a song called crazy that my good friends of mercyme wrote that says this:

i have not been called, to the wisdom of this world
but to a God, who’s calling out to me.
and even though the world may think, i’m losing touch with reality,
it would be crazy, to chose this world, over eternity.

to listen to the whole song click this: crazy

the point of that is this, i have settled for too long with the “wisdom of this world” that i have so often overlooked the God who is calling out to me. well, not this time. i am running to the God that is calling out to me as crazy as that may be to some people. but i am 100% willing and open to saying no to something that could be a great opportunity. because really, why would i chose this world, over eternity?

last night at the show. these are a couple live pictures with a couple great reminders. there are more pictures under the galleries tab.

hey guys, this is the latest song we have recorded. there are others on our myspace. (you can listen to those by clicking our band pic on the right)

everyday-life

throw some comments or wall posts on your right and let me know what you think.

let me explain my poll question in the sidebar. you see, i am taking an english class right now online through the community college here in louisville.

we are graded on a points scale, meaning you get a certain amount of points for everything you do and you add up all your points as you go and you reach different grade levels. now, with this class, i have 797 points. in order to get a B, all you need is 796 points. so, i have a B already. even if i dont do another thing in this class, i will end up with a B.

with that being said, we do have a couple other assignments due before the semester is up and regardless, EVEN if i get the full amount of points on every remaining assignment, there are not enough available points to get me to A status.

regardless of what i do from here on out, or how many more points i get, i will have a B in the class. So, with this knowledge, please answer the question on the right…thank you for participating!

we just lead worship at First Baptist Church Coppell Texas, this is our original song, Who Is This King?

she is dumb. she thinks ping pong ball equals giant peanut.

so, this morning i had the opportunity to speak at a public school seminar in lapeer michigan. it was a seminar that was made up of 65 students from each of the 4 high schools in the area and the theme was Lights Camera Action. the tag line was, “how to make the world a better place then it was when you came into it”. now, when i got the call for this opportunity i jumped at the chance because i love speaking to students whenever i can. after a couple days passed it hit me. “what did i get myself into?” i am a Christ follower who loves the Lord with all of my heart. i have been in full time ministry to students for the past 8 years speaking to students about Jesus on a weekly basis. now, back to the whole “what did i get myself into” thing, i realized after i started planning for this talk that it was a public school event. i mean, i knew it from the beginning but it didn’t sink in. 

whats the difference you ask? the difference is, it is not ok to talk about God in any public setting in the school system. basically, i had to talk to these students about how they can change the world and i had to leave out the whole factor of Jesus Christ. i had to talk to them on how to change their lives for the better and yet leave out the person who brings the change about. 

as i was driving down the road about a week ago, praying and asking the Lord what he wanted me to say to these students and wrestling with my convictions, all the way to the point of almost calling and saying i could not do it because i could not figure out how to NOT talk about Jesus…it hit me! 

1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

i have to talk to these students about love. basically, i stood up in front of these students this morning and talked to them about love as a person and how they need it. i simply replaced the word “God” with the word “Love” and let Him speak through me. 

so, even though i could not directly say His name, He was there in that place this morning and was evident. please join me in praying that these students will ask questions to a leader about what i was talking about. may God be spoken of once again in the public school system…through love!

this is what day 5 had in store for TTV…

Here is a little video of some of the things we did on day 3 of recording.

Hey guys, we have been doing a daily video of us in the studio which you can see on our Myspace, www.myspace.com/thisthinveneer under the blog section. A piece of day 3’s video is a challenge to you, the fan, check it out and see if you got what it take…

here is what someone once said and ever since i have heard this i have been so angry and upset within that i have no choice but to let it out on this here blog of mine. i heard that a pastor once said, “go where the money is because God is everywhere”. thats right, a pastor said this. now, to his defense i did not hear him say this i just heard it through the grapevine so i cannot with a pure heart be angry at this man for saying it, just in case he in fact did not but….i am still angry that the thought of that statement coming out of anyones mouth would actually happen.

here is my beef, i do not understand pastors of churches or church leaders in general who decide that they want to go and minister at another church. (this is the thought that led the above pastor to make the comment he made, because he was offered a better position at a bigger church, that is, if it is true). i hear of pastors all of the time all over the country who leave their jobs at one church to go work for another. does this make sense? it does not to me. dont get me wrong, i know that pastors leave churches to do many other things but in my opinion there is only one reason why a pastor should leave his church, and that is because in humility, he realizes that he has taken his flock as far as he can and he steps down because there is someone better for the job. this is most pastor hopping pastors justification for leaving.

the problem, and i dont know to many pastors who have left churches but 100% of the pastors i do know that have left churches it has been because of a better opportunity. what can be better, as a pastor, then a congregation of lost hungry people? oh, i know, money. the root of all evil. 

i pray that i will never be rich, always be content with little, and never leave a hungry people that i can feed. my dream job and goal in life is to one day plant a church. where? i have no idea, how? i have no idea but thats my heart. i want to plant a community where people can come in as weak, wounded, and broken as they may be and be ushered into the throne room of Christ. and i promise this, here and now, i will not leave that place until my work is done and my God calls me Home. 

so often we all sit around and say the all to typical Lords prayer in our church services or at different christian events. we did it this morning at the united methodist church we played at. as i was on stage quoting the prayer along with the rest of the congregation i started really thinking about the words. the cry as i felt it this morning. i dont think the Lord was confused in any way when He said when you pray, pray like this…

our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever…amen!

the part that stuck out to me this morning was, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. i know that my God is the king of heaven and i know that there is an eternity where He will reign as King and we will live forever. i know that i have family members and friends awaiting me in heaven that i cannot wait to see one day. i know that my God is sitting on his throne right now in all of His glory and majesty and the angels are around Him singing holy holy holy and people are worshipping Him with everything they are every second of the , time! thats Jesus’ will, to be glorified in and through everything and thats why i think its not a mistake that He tells us, in this prayer of how to pray, to let His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 

He wants our everything, our every thought, word, and action. here is something i know about my God and this may offend some of you and upset some of you but my God does not need us. not for one second. long after our sorry selves are gone i know that my God will still be reigning on His sovereign throne, so i know that He does not need us. now, the difference is, He desires us with all of His heart. He desires a relationship with us with everything He has and wants us to live this life through Him. 

anyways, the thought of God desiring His will to be done on this earth as it is in heaven is solely up to us, His children. are we up for the challenge? are we ready to sell out to God and live a life of worship for Him? if so, that one line in all of the bible will be fulfilled and it will be fulfilled because of a group of His children are not content with not living up to what He has for us. join me in this fight, this journey to bring the kingdom of heaven on this earth, after all, eternity is not for then, its for now! 

so, i thought i would give a little 12 second tv plug in my blog here today. today’s challenge was to name the band in history that rocks the hardest, this was my answer…

12 challenge: What band rocks the hardest? Bonus points for examples. on 12seconds.tv

we are having a great time during our recording process. we are trying to do as many videos as we can for our fans to be able to track the updates and know everything that we are doing and when we are doing it. so…here is day 2…

so, when we all get together and start recording a song, life is kinda put on hold. recording consumes our lives and its all we do for days at a time. our jobs, school, friends, family…everything is put on hold. 

for instance, yesterday was day 1 of recording the EP and we were working from 10am to 2am. then back at it this morning starting at 9:30am. 

i am currently taking a break and watching the Gators play the Wildcats on ABC. Then, i get to head to work for the day until 9pm tonight. then, when i get home my bass will be waiting for me to lay down some more tracks. 

so, for the next couple of weeks. all the blog will be getting is random videos from our time in the studio. 

enjoy…

anyways, i got nothing else to say. bye.

Day 1 of recording…

so, we were all ready to go to the gym yesterday but nick decided he didn’t want to wake up from his nap. well, that is…until i came into the room.

so, having a pet squirrel is amazing. even outside of the randomness of owning one she cracks us up all the time. recently, she just learned that when we take her out she can run to her big bag of food that we got her. she also learned that she is the perfect size to be able to get into the bag through the pour hole we cut out. check out the video, it will explain a lot better then i just did.

so, i am officially terrible at blogging regularly. BUT, i plan on posting some videos now and will be posting so much now you will get annoyed with me. anyways, there will many a video and blogging to come. hope you enjoy!

so, my heart is broken. i am currently watching the 25th annual video music awards. hosted by British man, Russell Brand. During his first act on the show he bashed God, religion, and morals for Christianity. he begged america to vote for barack obama and ripped on the jonas brothers for what they stand for. on top of all of that, its the worst production of any award show i have ever seen. 

basically, my heart is so broken because millions of people tune into this show every year to watch good performances and see quality productions. instead they see blasphemy and terrible performances that promote anything but what is good and moral. this is what america is turning into and its killing me. 

i said in previous posts about my 12 second tv video and people responding to their belief in God and it is getting more and more obvious that the end is near. people think its so funny and normal to blast God, i am desperate for Him to return. i am so ready to get out of here before things get….well….worse? can they?

yes they can…if barack gets into office. haha, i am just pissed off right now and am venting. BUT, i have made my decision to vote for McCain and Palin. watching so much of both of the conventions and have deduced that barack obama scares me to death, i will even go out on a limb and say that he fits every bill that the Bible warns us about as far as the anti-christ goes. he is such a wordsmith, so intelligent, and such a charismatic leader that everyone is dropping everything to follow him. 

on the other hand, McCain who is a terrible, absolutely terrible comunicator has one of the biggest hearts of any nominee i’ve ever seen. apart from anything he wants to “change” about anything, i will follow him. 

ok, i will write more later. i am going to continue watching the VMA’s. as heart breaking as it is, its good for christians to watch this stuff to hear what the “world” is being fed so we can be ready to fight!

so, ladies and gentlemen, i have an announcement to make. in earlier posts i talked about college football and where i was going to hold my allegiance this season. i was debating between 3 teams, the florida gators, the michigan wolverines, and louisville cardinals. 

i have made my decision. after watching week 1 and being embarrassed to all get out over two of the teams the decision was clear and all but made for me. some may attempt to criticize me for this decision by saying i am a band wagon guy but that is simply not in any way the case. i can say that because i have always been a gator fan but i was going to attempt to give michigan a shot because i lived there last year and louisville a shot because i live there now but, roots are roots. 

GATOR NATION!~

ok, so i just made a post about 12 second tv, what it is and how it works. i thought i would share a little bit about todays question that was posed. the question was this,

“Do you believe in God? (its ok to say, “I dont know”)

i was so excited about this question for a couple reasons. 1, because i knew i was going to post about this question, and 2, i couldn’t wait to read what everyone else had to say. 

after watching 46, 12sec.tv.’s i was left sitting at my desk, starring at the computer screen all but in tears over what i just watched. out of the 46 videos i watched that people responded to about believing in God, 6 of them said yes. 

answers went all the way from “NO” to “HELL NO” to “I would never believe in that man”. 

christians listen to me. we need to be out there in this world. i had no idea what my post was going to say after i watched all of those but i knew i had to post one just to get more of Christ out there into this world as soon as possible. 

now more then ever we need to put to practice the old cheesy sayin, “we have to be in the world but not of it”. thats right, but often christians live a life of hidding in the world and trying not to be of it. how can others know Christ if we are to lazy to get out there and talk about Him? 

Christians arise. nows the time. get on your armor and go to battle. best part about it….victory is ours! 

check out my post on the above question… http://12seconds.tv/channel/thegarymiracle/23390

so, i am a part of the interweb program called 12 second television. its awesome and i am having a blast doing it and watching other peoples. 

for those of you who do not know what this is, its a web-site that lets you post 12 second video blogs. why only 12 seconds you ask? in their answer they say, “because after 12 seconds, nobody cares what you have to say. haha. its great. 

one cool thing that they do to make sure that people make a post regularly is ask a daily question. can choose not to answer it but some of them are just fun. whats your favorite movie? what was your favorite childhood toy? so on and so forth. also, the creators of 12sec.tv reveiw everyones posts on the questions and they have a daily winner. it means nothing but its fun when people go to your site and see that you have won a 12 second award. 

anyways, the link to my site is posted on the right under links, along with everything else of mine. you should check it out.

does it get any better?

one of the best creations i can think of in my lifetime right now is the creation of high definition television. i often say while i am watching a show that the picture is better then your eyes. i believe that. the hi def tv makes everything you are looking at look so brilliant and amazing. 

i have watched many things on HD and i have my favorite but i have to say i love watching football. depending on the channel and type of field the game is played on, you can literally sometimes count the blades of grass on the field. its like you are there at the game, maybe even playing in, all the while sitting on your couch. 

anyways, i am currently watching missouri play right now. the great chase daniels is back on the field for another impressive year. its gonna be fun to watch. so…if you do not have an HD TV, i suggest a 42″ Sony Bravia 1080p. i just do not think it gets any better then this.

college game day begins

so, i am sitting here on this beautiful saturday afternoon, sun shinning, cool breeze…couldn’t ask for a better day outside. so, what do i do to take advantage of it? sit inside and watch college football. today is the first day of college football game day on espn preceding a mess load of games. about every single team plays today. there are games on from about noon thirty until about midnight tonight. welcome to my every saturday until december.

watching these games sometimes makes me regret never going straight to college. i see the students in the stands all coming together above everything else they have going on in their lives to unite under cheering on their team. its a beautiful picture of camaraderie. 

right now, i am watching the florida gators. i have not yet decided this season who i am going to be routing for. i have always been a michigan fan, i have always watched the gators growing up in florida, but now i live in louisville kentucky. right down the street from the U of L cardinals. as of right now, my allegiance is up in the air but a decision will be made soon. probably after this weekend. florida and michigan play today and louisville plays tomorrow.

in the meantime, i am just going to sit here and enjoy the whole college football atmosphere. its a good time of year…

i tell you, there is no better feeling to have throughout your day then the feeling you get when things are clean. i say this because i just did a hardcore clean of my kitchen here at the house. it went from a 4 man bachelor bad of dishes stacked so high you couldn’t see the sink, to mold growing out of your milk carton, to floors so sticky and dirty you had to wear shoes. thats right, being on the road all summer did not do well for the cleanliness of our house when we returned. 

but, 1 hour of hard work for two guys (me and nick) we now have dirty free kitchen, probably for the first time since we have moved in. but this time, we intend to keep it this way. we all now know the rules. put all your dishes into the dishwasher as soon as you are done and when its full, start it. which, with 4 guys is on a daily basis when we all eat in. 

taking a step back at the finished clean product just made me feel good. it gave me the feeling of satisfaction and the desire to keep it clean from now on. i feel the same when i clean my room, wash my truck, take a shower, etc.

you know, i’m not gonna lie, i am constantly thinking about normal things that we do on a daily basis and try to find some sort of life application for them. something that will make me think and something that i can associate different things with. 

now, i know what you are thinking. he is going to take the feeling of being clean and apply it to living a clean pure life and feeling good about it. well, possibly…

you see, i just finished reading, once again, the pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (incredible by the way) and he mentioned in chapter one of his book a little something about a man named Moses, ever heard of him? 

he said this, “Moses used the fact that he knew God, to know Him more”. wow, what a man. it just shows, we can never know enough. we / i get so stagnant in our walk with the Lord and then you hear something like that. there is no reason i am not completely surrendering all day, everyday. i also just recently read an artical about billy graham where he was asked about his life, if he had any regrets and he said yes. he said he wishes he knew God more. he wishes he would have started sooner and gained more knowledge then he has. ok, really billy? you’re gonna say that? he made me feel like the undeserving sinner that i am. 

basically, the thought of falling in love with the Lord and using the fact that i know Him to know Him more, is something i am ready for. 

all of this to say, clean your house!

the decision.

so, i have spent a lot of time over the past week watching the democratic convention. i have to say, what i saw, i liked. i am really torn in this decision over who to vote for as president in the upcoming election. i think this is the first year it has not been cut and dry for me (typically, straight republican). i like a lot of what both mccain and obama have to say and where they stand on many different issues. 

i mean, obviously, there are things in each persons platform that i do not like as well. mccain will stay in war, obama will raise taxes. selfishly this is an easy decision to make. the war doesn’t literally affect me so lets go mccain. on the other hand you have the issue of abortion. i have been getting mixed reviews as to what mccain thinks and where he stands on this so if anyone can or would be willing to help me out that would be great.

you see, i am a republican at heart. i love this country as cheesy as that may seem to say. more importantly i love the Lord. its so hard to see so many things going on in and around our lives and not have influence over them. but the person who we elect as president will. so, i am really looking and waiting to see the hearts of these two men. along with their running mates (which one of them is a lady), go mccain! 

anyways, i am torn and i wanted to say something about it. i will hopefully be learning more about all of this in the coming weeks. i am really looking forward to the republican convention in the upcoming week, hopefully it will tell me everything i need to know and give me a peace about a decision. 

until then, i will be praying that these men will rise to be the men the Lord has for this country.