Great Book!

I read one of the best books I've read in a while this week. It was Epic: The Story God is Telling by John Eldredge. I encourage you to read it. This book takes you out of your little world and describes the "big picture" from a view I never really thought about. It's only 100 or so pages, so it can be easily read in one sitting. If you've ever wondered what God really is up to, or what your place is in God's plan, this is an awesome book. Any book by John Eldrege is going to be good, but this one really did change my view on life. It just barely gives you the smallest glimpse of maybe what God is doing. It really is a love story.

I'm also excited about Friday Night Live. It's a new Bible study my college and career class started on Friday nights. It will be our second time to meet tonight and I'm looking forward to a great time. Tonight we're looking at being a servant from the life of Jesus.

Have you read a great book recently? Let me know...tell me a little bit about it.

Over the Hump

Midterms are over for me and I have a lot to be thankful for--all A's in all of my classes so far. God is good to me! I didn't know how my Physics/Chemistry class would go, but I got a 94 on that midterm; 94.5 on Sociology; 94 in Media Writing; and the rest: A's in Psychology, Communications, and Media Writing Lab.

So I'm over the hump and in the final stretch. Hopefully I can keep doing this well. Maybe they'll give me an academic scholarship...I could see that working out very nicely.

It's About To Be...

One of the best weekends of my life! Here's why:

1. Elisa comes home tomorrow night and I get to go pick here up from the airport!

2. Fall break begins wednesday!

3. All of thursday is Elisa time...topped off at Hudson's BBQ with the moms.

4. Friday we're going to the fair with bunches of friends!

5. Saturday we go to the mountains and the weather looks to be gorgeous!

6. Sunday she'll be with me and get to hear me sing in church with Paul L.

7. I get to take her back to the airport on Sunday afternoon. :''(

Sounds like a party to me! Lots of pictures to come soon! We're going to carve pumpkins, play football, tropical smoothie, run the dam, go on walks in the woods, stargaze...and other jim/elisa stuff. Can't wait!

Random Rants

1. Why are we spending millions of dollars to blow up the moon to find water up there, when our economy is in the tank, jobless rates are at an all time high, and we're losing two wars overseas? Seems like we'd want to...I don't know...maybe "play it safe" these days instead of "shootin' the moon."

2. Why did President Obama win a Nobel Peace Prize? What has he accomplished in his first year that would earn him that? Nothing! What has he accomplished in his first year, period? Nothing! (not that it's a bad thing...) Oh, wait, that's right...he's been traveling the world apologizing for America bullying people around, that must be it!

3. Why are just now debating our strategy in Afghanistan? Kinda late to be talking about taking a different focus, don't you think? "Well, only hundreds of dead soldiers later, we've decided we've had it all wrong the whole time..." And by the way, if the general says he needs more troops...give him troops...period.

4. Why all the hubub about getting the H1N1 vaccination? 90% of what's out there is the common, seasonal flu. Has it ever occurred to you that this "outbreak epidemic" of the pig flu has been entirely media created! And besides, the only time I got a flu shot I got really sick. Nope, not me, not doin' it.

5. Why are the South Carolina Gamecocks going to absolutely dominate Kentucky tomorrow on national TV? Because they're so rockin' awesome! GO COCKS! Have a great weekend, and watch the game!

The Ultimate Adventure

Sorry to disappoint you, but this blog is not what you think it is about...I haven't done something incredibly awesome that you're going to be sooo jealous of. In a way, I wish it was...maybe next week.

Honestly, this blog is about faith; specifically in God's will. I think one of the greatest misnomers in Christianity today is the propagation of the erroneous idea, "finding God's will for one's life." In case I've lost some of you already, "propagation" means "the spreading or advertising of something," and "erroneous" means "flawed, faulty, false." So we're talking about the spreading around of a false idea....good, now we're all on the same page.

It's really common for Christian people my age and younger to be wondering or concerned about finding the will of God for their lives. I think that this idea may be shaping our thinking in the wrong direction...I know it has for me. Do you realize that God's will is not up to you to find? It isn't! Before you start calling me heretical, let me explain my logic on this. I think a lot of us think of God's will as some buried treasure that we're all desperately searching for. We're using our college, our classes, our parent's opinion, and our natural talents as a sort of "treasure map" to lead us in the right direction. We are just hoping that one random day we will wake up and, "WOW....there it is! I've 'found' God's will!" Then we proceed to change ourselves in order to measure up to this manufactured idea of God's "perfect" will--another misnomer, but I'll save that for another day. This "treasure chest" idea is how I grew up thinking of God's will. Guess what? Doesn't work that way...bummer...maybe you've had it all wrong as I have in the past. But there's hope.

As I said in the previous paragraph, God's will is not up for you to find! Maybe this is a shocker to you, but just think about how that way of thinking paints God. If He knows (and He does) exactly what He would have us to be/do in life, why would he hide that from us? Why would He make it some elusive thing we spend half of our lives trying to "dig up?" That paints God as some tricky, elusive, secretive, crooked pirate! News flash: God's will is not something you have to worry about! Sometimes we just get overwhelmed by trying to figure out what we're supposed to do in life, but we don't need to. Do you think God is up there in Heaven nervously biting His nails thinking, "Oh no...I just don't know what I want Jim to do with his life...Oh, I'm so confused and overwhelmed right now! Oh dear, what was it I had him doing?" NO! He knows exactly, perfectly what He has in store for you. In fact, God's will is about 99% His responsibility!

Now that we've got that down, what's that 1% part that is up to us? Are you ready......? Faith. That's it. No worrying, no searching, no hidden treasures. Don't you feel relieved? I do. What we're commanded in Scripture to do is to first and foremost love God, then trust Him, then ask Him daily for wisdom to make right choices...the rest is up to Him. One of the most simple yet profound statements I've heard on the will of God was from Dr. Bill Rice. He said, "Do you want to know God's will for you life....brush your teeth." That was it. In other words, just do today what you know is right, because God knows we can't handle much else.

Do you want in on the adventure of a lifetime, an adventure wilder that your dreams could possibly imagine? Try faith. And by the way, it is an adventure of a lifetime because God's will is not a one time answer. It is a life-long process to be conformed to the image of His Son; it's a journey all about faith.

Jim's Newsflash

I'm loving my media writing class. We're writing radio scripts, tv scripts, and my favorite: commercials. Now, I find myself critiquing every commercial these days. I have to stop myself sometimes.

I miss Elisa very much.

The Gamecocks play tomorrow! I'm a huge fan of Garcia, DiMarco, and Moe Brown...anxious to see which running back will emerge as the best. Hopefully that will happen on Saturday since we should have a pretty effective running game.

Got up at 8:10 this morning and made it to Newberry at 8:50--record breaking time. I even took a shower, brushed my teeth, and fed my dog. Very impressive if you know me.

I'm loving this fall weather even though I know it will be short lived. Next week is back into the upper 80's.

I'm thankful my mom went to the grocery store last night...I needed milk badly. And I'm wondering what I must have eaten the last couple nights that has stimulated these crazy dreams that I've been having.

My sociology class and my psychology class have been cancelled today due to some kind of meeting. That's fine with me!

I'm going to run the dam this afternoon before work...it's my new favorite activity especially with the beautiful weather. Although, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to the gym also since I haven't been yet this week...ooops.

I have my first paper of the semester to write this weekend...do I even know how to write still? It's been so long!

And that'll be all for today. Have a great weekend and GO GAMECOCKS!

So you think you can fake it?

Well I don't; neither does God.

I'm getting tired of those who claim to be believers, put on this fake spirituality junk. They sort of pick and choose what parts of the Bible and what parts of God they want to believe. I guess they're just trying to ease their conscience...I don't know. What I can tell you is that easing your conscience is no excuse for just being right/doing right to the best of your ability.

You ask these people what their deal is, and nine times out of ten they'll say something like, "Well, I'm sick of being a hypocrite and watching hypocrites in the church." That's funny, because I'm pretty sure you don't realize that you are being the bigger hypocrite! Being a Christian and pretending not to be, is a lot worse than being a Christian and trying to live like one.