52 hrs and counting

In 52 hours I will be legally joined in Holy Matrimony to Heidi Ann Pfaffmann.

We will be joined in Christ for as long as we both shall live.

Here begins the rest of our lives.

I'm thankful Christ is faithful.

All praise, honor, and glory forever be to Him!

Need a reason?

Here's just one more compelling reason to switch to Gmail if you haven't yet.

Not only did they drive the movement to huge amounts of free storage in your email, but now they're upping the maximum attachment size. Check out the article above. If you want an invite, let me know.

It's at least worth your time to check out the features that makes Gmail different than the rest. Click here to take the tour.

Today is the 21st of May, 2007

And 6 days from now I will no longer be classified among the ranks of the single. I will be forever bound to a Godly, beautiful, funny, sweet, caring, and gentle woman named Heidi. That may sound sappy to some of you, but it really is an amazing gift that God gives to us to help us understand how the Father loves us.

I look at Heidi now and I see right past her imperfections. All I see is the perfect woman for me. I desire her love. I want a deeper closer relationship.

I imagine it's something like how God looks at us once we've been covered by Jesus' shed blood. He looks at us and doesn't see our sin anymore. We've been reconciled. All there is to see is Christ's perfect robe of righteousness.

I'm thankful.

I hope to see some of you readers at my wedding!

Greensburg, Kansas: Disaster Relief

On May 5, 2007, a tornado with 205 mph winds destroyed 95% of Greensburg, Kansas and devastated the entire community of 1,400 people. I believe the final toll was 12 dead. It would've been much worse if not for the 20 minute warning the town had due to the tornado sirens. Much help is needed. 961 single-family dwellings were destroyed, and 105 had major damage. Among businesses, 110 suffered heavy damage and 24 had minor damage. There is no power, water, or sewer in the entire town. The closest motels are 35 miles away.

For more information on how you can help, click here. There is contact information on that site to get in touch with coordinators for the relief effort.

There are more pictures of the devastation here

I really can't wrap my mind around something like that. It kinda puts "wedding plan stress" in perspective.

Logistics of the Exodus

Does the story of the exodus still inspire awe in you? Have you ever stopped to think about what exactly it was that God did during this movement of His people?Moses and the people were in the desert, but what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 2 to 3 million people requires a lot of food.

The people needed 2,000 tons -- four million pounds -- of food each day.

To bring that much food each day, would require three freight trains each a mile long!

In the desert they needed firewood to cook and keep warm. Each day this would take 4,000 tons -- eight million pounds -- of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long.

Of course, they needed water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11 million gallons each day, and a freight train with tank cars 1,800 miles long, just to bring water!

And then another thing: They had to get across the Red Sea in one night. If they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights to get through.

So, there had to be an opening in the Red Sea, 3 miles long so that they could walk 5,000 abreast to get over in one night.

Each time they camped at the end of the day, they needed a campground two-thirds the size of the State of Rhode Island, about 750 square miles.

They journeyed in the desert forty years.

Do you think Moses worked all this out before he left Egypt?

Moses put his trust in God.
God handled things every day for 40 years.

If you think God can't handle your problems . . .from http://www.messianicseder.com/logistics.html
I have not verified any of these stats.

"Busy"ness

Yeah, life's been busy. My roommates moving out was the beginning of my "transition period". My mom has been an absolute God-send these past couple of weeks. She's been shampooing carpets, washing windows, painting walls, helping my dad install cupboards in our laundry closet, helping dad and me put together our bedroom set, doing laundry, and I'm sure I still missed some stuff she's done!

She's done most of that while I haven't been home.

Yeah, she's a jewel.

Friday Heidi and I went and got our marriage license at the courthouse in Pekin. One more step in making it all official. :-) We also switched Heidi onto my cell plan and got her a new phone.

We found out that a few of our workslips that we put in with invitations went to the wrong people, so hopefully we have enough help come our wedding day. :-) oops!

My bachelor party was Saturday afternoon/evening. BIG thank you to Joe K. and Tony E. for pulling it off. I had a great time. We played about 4 1/2 hrs worth of volleyball. Joe grill some amazing shish-ka-bobs that his mom prepared. Later on in the evening we ate ice-cream with toppings and sat around and shared memories. Good times. I've been incredibly blessed with some amazing friends.

God is good.

Peace in the Storm

Finding Peace in Times of Distress
Kay Arthur
Precepts for Life

When the hour is dark, when the situation is desperate, when we are humbled and brought very low, we finally begin looking and longing for God’s peace. Trembling, we grope through the darkness, longing to know that all will be well.

When the angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon (Judges 6), he was crouching in the dark confines of a winepress, threshing wheat in secret to protect it — and himself — from the Midianite invaders. This was not a new way to thresh grain, it was cowardice. Listen to how the angel of the Lord addresses Gideon.

The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? …the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:12-14)

At first Gideon questioned this angel of the Lord and complained about his circumstances. How could God really love Israel? How could God really care about Gideon when they were all in such distress, danger, and poverty?

Gideon did not yet know to Whom he was speaking. This angel spoke as Jehovah Himself, and when Gideon finally realized he’d been discussing politics and religion with God — face to face — he was rightfully terrified:

“Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” The LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. (Judges 6:22-24)

When do we first encounter the name Jehovah-shalom? Where does God first reveal His name as The Lord is Peace?

In the presence of a man who is desperately afraid… a man who is literally walled in by circumstances… a man who is worried and discouraged and has no peace in his heart.

When Gideon’s eyes were at last opened to see that the Lord had taken a personal interest in his situation, that God was present with him in the midst of all this darkness and fear, he worshiped the Lord by a new name — Jehovah-shalom, The Lord is Peace.

In the days to come, the Lord was going to put Gideon in some very unpeaceful situations. In some ways Gideon would face more stresses and challenges than he had ever faced in his young life. Learning this business of being a “valiant warrior” wasn’t going to be easy.

But no matter what happened from this point on, Gideon could look back to an altar. He could look back at a moment in time when Jehovah-shalom said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear.”

Beloved, do you ever feel as if you’re trying to thresh wheat in a winepress? Surrounded by an enemy who presses in on you and tries to steal every grain of peace and gladness out of your life? Do you ever begin to wonder where your God is in the midst of your hurt and worry?

How rightly Gideon named that altar, The Lord is Peace. True peace cannot be found in any other place than in a right relationship with God.

We cannot base our peace in the circumstances and situations of life.We must not let our peace be centered in another man or woman — no matter how dear they are to us.

We dare not allow peace to depend on sunny skies, a full stomach, a balanced checkbook, a healthy body, or a harmonious home. I believe the Lord sometimes allows situations that strip away the shallow, surface peace on which we have come to depend. He allows us to be distressed and in turmoil and unable to find the answers we need from our husbands, wives, friends, or counselors.

In those times, as with Gideon, we need to discover that God is Jehovah-shalom.
As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). Once you really understand this and worship God as Jehovah-shalom, you can have peace no matter what storms sweep over the horizon.

Jesus told His disciples this very thing in the last few hours before the Cross. These men were in terrible turmoil, and things were about to get much worse. Here is Jesus’ promise:

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27)

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Where do you run when you need peace? Is your first response to go looking for a person or to pick up the phone?

Before you do, Beloved, run into the shelter of His name. When you find Him, you will find peace because…

He is Peace.

Kay Arthur has touched literally thousands of lives through her writing and teaching ministry. A well-known conference speaker and author of more than 100 books and Bible studies, she has a unique ability to reach people in an exciting, effective way — challenging them to change and equipping them to be used in the furtherance of the kingdom of God.

Hmm...wanna think?

Interesting points made eh?


You'll want to know what "Reddit" is before you read the article

Illusion

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink. If you stare at the black + in the center, the moving dot turns to green. Now, concentrate on the
black + in the center of the picture. After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating if you're lucky! It's amazing how our brain works.
There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear. This should be proof enough, we don't always see what we think we see.

Another Great Bill Bright Message

You should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT).

Dear friends:

Sometime ago I was talking to a close friend about a mutual friend of ours, and I asked, "Has he made a commitment to Christ?"

He replied, "He knows all the right words, but he doesn't have the right music."

All over the world there are what we call evangelical, orthodox, fundamental, born-again Christians who have the right words but do not have the right music.

The first-century church was so powerful that it turned the wicked Roman Empire upside down. Yet today, in this country, with more than 60 million adults professing to be born again, we as Christians have had negligible influence on our decaying society. Why?

I believe there are two main reasons.

First, we have not learned to love the way we should. If the love of Christ were to suddenly begin shining through every born-again Christian in America, masses would be running to Him. The churches would be overflowing. There would be revolutionary changes in our society. For example, if Christian husbands began to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25), the Christian divorce rate would drop to near zero.

Second, too few Christians know about and rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit. If we want first-century results in our present century, we should go back and study the book of Acts to better understand what happened.

Paul said, "Follow my example and do as I do" (1 Corinthians 4:16, NLT). If we followed Paul's example, we would see Paul's results. He had the same Holy Spirit as we have. He also said, "You should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's" (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT).

Peter said, "Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps. He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly" (1 Peter 2:21-23, NLT). Jesus was always under the complete control of the Holy Spirit.

Remember that in the book of Acts there was great emphasis on the Holy Spirit, who is rarely mentioned in many churches today except in liturgies.

When we begin to love as Jesus loved, and when we begin to imitate Him and the first-century apostles, relying on the Holy Spirit's power instead of our own, we will see an explosion of revival in our world.

Let us hasten that day by our own faith and obedience.

Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

High FPS + Slow Motion

Very cool slow motion video compilation.