True Love

"If the word hate is so strong, then how come you throw around the word love like it's nothing?"

How true this is today. Love obviously has a completely thinned out meaning from the deep meaning of it's previous states.

Unfortunately, English only has one word for love. This was not so for the Greek; they had a word for the way God love you, a word for the way you love God, a word for the way people love people, and a few others.

What is said in the quote above is seen a lot today in many places, but a specific one is Facebook. Almost Every time I get on Facebook, I see where girls have commented on a friends status, "Love ya girl!", "I love you so much, you are my best friend", "Hey darling, can't wait to see you tonight, love ya". You know what I'm talking about, most of you see it every day. You hop on to Facebook or Twitter when you get home from work or school, and it's right there in front of you: "@hannahcarson96 is the coolest person in the world, I love her so much!"

The reason I pick on teenage girls is because they are the worst at this. You know it's true; there are some that aren't into that, but for the most part, it's true. It also happens between girlfriend and boyfriends. "thinking about u today, love you sweety" and in reply the other will say "awwww, <3 you 2!!!!!!!!"

We seem to have forgotten what love really is. It's not what a boy and a girl think they feel for each other, it's not what teenage girls think of there friends. Love is the fact that the Lord, our God, sent his one and only Son to die for us all on the cross!!! Please don't forget that.

This was not meant to offend anyone, especially those who are married; I know two people really can be in love, I just think all this could be a lot simpler if we just had more then one word for love because I really hope you care about God more then you do your dog or that cupcake you just ate...

There Is a Way by NewWorldSon is a song that somewhat relates to the main theme of this post check it out on YouTube.

Our God is Greater...

I leaned against the leather interior of my brother's car as we made our daily commute to school. The static of Way FM began to engulf the station.

It usually hit right about here, somewhere around three fourths of the way to school. On most occasions Blake would reach over and change the station a sports talk show or something of the sorts, but today he didn't. I was glad because I'd rather listen to nothing then a sports talk show.

We reached a point where another station began to interrupt during the middle of a song. I found out, after a few minutes, that it was a news station. They were talking about the recent hurricane that goes by the name Earl. I didn't really pay much attention, I was more frustrated that Way FM had a terrible signal there.

The song Our God by Chris Tomlin came on. The other station began to compare hurricane Earl to Katrina. I couldn't make out much of either station, but I did make out something like this: "Our God is Greater..." "...hurricane Katrina was a catastrophe..." "...od is stronger, God you are higher then any other!" "Hurricane Earl is coming..." "...Awesome in power, our God, our God..."

I think the way that happened was more then a coincidence. God is greater then hurricanes, tornadoes, and everything else life throws our way.

Facebook

I'm thinking about rejoining Facebook. For those of you who know me and still read my blog, you probably know that I deleted my Facebook at the beginning of the Summer. I sent a message out saying it had become a huge distraction from God and my 'real' friends. Well, since then I have gained self-control and think I can keep my Facebooking to a minimum. The reason I am thinking about joining is because I think it can be a great tool to minister to people. Some people will have a conversation with you on Facebook but not in person because they're shy or something. So, Facebook can be a way to start a conversation that you could later finish in person, and one conversation can lead to some great things and change in someones life. Please share your thoughts with me in the comments or if you don't have an account you can email me at sugerrush@gmail.com. And also, I was wondering if anyone still reads my blog because I have no way of knowing if you visit this site, so please comment or email me just saying "I read your blog" or something along those lines because if no ones reading my blog then I may find another way to minister and spend my time (not like I devote a lot of my time toward this blog, I only post every month or so.).

God doesn't take sides, He only helps the ones in need.

The Language of Love

As some of you know, I recently got back from a mission trip I took to the Dominican Republic. I have taken one other mission trip to Arlington, Texas. They are obviously completely different places, one is all concrete and apartment complexes (Which is Arlington) and one is made up of trees and tin houses (Sad, isn't it?). There is one difference I'd like to point, that being the languages, Arlington being mainly English and the Dominican being Spanish.

I was pretty worried about the language barrier in the Dominican. There were one or two kids in our backyard Bible club we did in Arlington, and that was hard enough, but we, also, didn't have the translators that we had in the Dominican.

Once we arrived at the work site on the first day, I headed up and started working. We were building the second story to a church my group had built a few years ago. In the morning half of churches group did VBS with the kids while the other half worked on the church. My half of the group had the kids on the second and fourth day, so that night I heard all the good stories about the kids from the other group. It may me a little less anxious, but I was still a little worried. I'm not good with kids that speak English, so them speaking Spanish didn't help.

After the first day my group had the kids, I had basically decided that I liked the work better then the VBS. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that I necessarily liked is better, it was just easier.
One of the most tiring things I did all week was playing with those kids. Don't take that wrong, I loved hanging out with those kids, it was just exhausting.

I'm not going into too much details in this post because the emotions of the kids would take pages and pages to explain, if explanation is even possible.

Anyways, what I'm getting to, is that after a week with those kids, I have learned one main thing (along with thousands of little things) and that is: everyone in the entire world has one language in common, the language of Love.

Facebook

For those of you who know me, you probably know that I deleted my Facebook account. I have a few different reasons for taking this action, but the main one being that it became a time waster. When I got bored I would get on Facebook, when I should have been doing homework I got on Facebook. This is a problem for a lot of people. It can be a distraction from lot of things, people, God, a social life. That's right, I said Facebook is a distraction from a social life. If you have a lot of friends on Facebook, you aren't considered connected by default. You could have one thousand friends and not be connected. Facebook is not a leap forward in socializing, it's a leap back. My youth pastor explained this much better on his blog. You can read his thoughts here. Bill Gates father, Bill Gates Sr., was asked what his thoughts were on Facebook, Twitter, etc. He said "I'm really embarrassed. I'm just not into that." He was embarrassed because he wasn't into Facebook. We should be the ones embarrassed for being into Facebook. Now, Facebook can be useful at times, but I still don't like it. It's a change for the worse. You may like it and find it useful to help you connect to people, but I think this could eventually ruin true social lives. If you have different thoughts please tell me in comments.

Just Create

I have another blog that I post my drawings on here. Please check it out. Sorry for the more blurry pictures, I took them with my phone.

UPDATE: I have changed the name to Just Create, but nothing's really new about the blog. Same URL, I may just post more then drawings.

Words of Wisdom

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe."
-Abraham Lincoln

HTL: The Generous Mr. Lovewell

Well, there is not a single line in this song that I couldn't write an entire post about. This song is so incredible that I just want you to listen to the entire song, please! Listen to the words, then think: are you a Mr. Lovewell? Listen to the song here.

Running in Your Walk

I was having a conversation through Facebook with one of my good friends in my youth group. We were talking about how much we had matured in our walk with Christ in the past year. She said something that was really cool. That was "...It reminds me that I have I have not walked, I have ran through my walk." Referring to her walk with God, of course. I began to wonder whether I was running or walking. I decided that what I should be doing is sprinting, not walking or running, sprinting. Why not? When you want to get somewhere fast you sprint, don't you? I know you drive most places, but in a race you want to go as fast as you possibly can. And, no, your walk with God is not a race, but I want to mature as fast as I can, so I'll be more willing to sacrifice all I have for Him. So, are you sprinting on your walk with God?

Plato and The Cave

Plato was a very wise man. He had a philosophy. In your life you were standing in a cave, behind you there was a fire. You see, on the wall, shadows bouncing around. You don't know what is making the shadows, they are just there. Take from this what you will, but he is saying that there is something greater that is making your life, or the shadows in this case. Until someone stands up and turns around, no one knows why the shadows are there. We as Christians should be the ones to stand up and see what is making the shadows. You don's see everything from God's perspective. He sees everything that's happening. You must step back and see the big picture before you start with the "my life sucks" and "why would God do this to me if he loves me?" Just take the time to get up and see what is making the shadow before you make any assumptions.

The way I said this may be a little confusing because I combined a few ideas. I have done this on purpose, I want you to think, not me just tell you something. We don't have enough thinking today. With all the technology now, you could live a regular life without thinking any. It's sad.

God's Plan

For those of you that live in middle Tennessee, you know of the storms and floods that took place on May 1st 2010. As you can see, I am posting this on May 1st, so the worst may still be yet to come. I don't know how many lives were lost, and many more may be lost as the day goes on, but most of us act as if God just felt mean today and decided to kill a few people. NO!!! That is not how life works! God has a plan. Every single event that takes place, in your life or someone else's, is all part of a master plan. If you lose your car to floods or a wreck, it's part of God's plan. If you lose you house in a tornado, that's part of God's plan. If you lose your ENTIRE family, that, too, is part of God's plan!

"No! That can't be! Logan is just making this up!" Nope, EVERYTHING that happens is part of God's master plan! I know it's hard to believe for some of you, but it is true.

Maybe no one really close to you has died, maybe you haven't been through hard times, so you can pretty easily say "I know it's all God's plan." But just wait. Most likely, you will face hard times in your life. Just see what you think then. "My God wouldn't do this to me! I thought He loved me!" He does, more then you can imagine. It's hard for us to see the big picture, but there is one, and it's absolutely phenomenal.

I've been referring to bad things that happen, and not to turn from God or get angry with Him, but what about the good times? Most of us will turn to God in our times of need, but what about when things are going great? Do you thank God for your life? A lot of us couldn't say that we do. Why is that?

"Oh, but God is there to help me, I don't need Him now, I can do it alone for now cause everything's going great! I'll pray and go to church when I need some help." Now, you may not say it or think it exactly that way, but that is your general idea. It's so easy for us to turn to God in our time of need, but somewhere in there we get the idea that we can get through life on our own as long as things are going well.

So, do you look to God all the time or only in your time of need, and in hard times do you look at the big picture or the troubles taking place now?

Just Something Interesting- A Steve Jobs Quote

In 2005 Steve Jobs gave a speech at a college commencement. I was reading this speech and one paragraph really stuck with me, and I thought you might enjoy it as much as I did:

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Hope this will impact you as much as it does to me.

Our Lives in His Hands

I was having a conversation over Facebook with a good friend in my youth group, and we got to talking about why everyone cares so much about what other people think. We both said that we thought the fear of other's judgments was the main thing keeping us from handing ourselves completely over to God. I brought up how stupid the things are that people do just to fit in! Why do we care how many friends we have, or what group of people we hang out in? I sent her a message saying:

"It's pretty dumb if you think about it. Why should we care what other people think? Why can't we all just realize that the judgment from earthly beings is nothing compared to how God sees you? It's so hard to comprehend how large God is, and I think that was His intention. If we all understood His magnificence then so many more people would be on their hands and knees before Him, but He wants us to make the decision ourselves, that we are willing to sacrifice everything we have for Him, even if we can't begin to imagine His holiness. People are destroying their own lives every day just so they can be part of a certain group! People do the stupidest things just to get their classmates to like them! It's crazy!"

She replied with:

"It is crazy. And the more time that passes the more I'm starting to see how stupid it is to want to give my life for earthly things and I'm starting to just let go of everything and give it to God. I want everything that is going on to be his, and I want my life in His hands."

That last line, "I want everything that is going on to be his, and I want my life in His hands.", stuck to my mind after I read it.

We rely so much on other people and earthly items to keep us safe when the safest place is in His hands. Is your life in his hands or wandering and lost in earthly bonds?

Ripples in the Water

I was having dinner at a friend's house a few nights ago, and I looked down at one of the water glasses as the water in it rippled. I glanced at everyone sitting at the table, and no one seemed to bump the table. I later realized it was the small things that no one noticed that shook the water. Things like putting your elbow on the table or tapping the table's supports with your foot.

In our lives we do some things every once in awhile and realize the effect they have on other people, whether good or bad. We also do things that we do without thinking that can still effect other people. We may compliment someone and not realize how happy it made them, or we may just be messing around with someone and hurt their feelings. Make sure you watch for the small things, the bad ones at least, because the effects can be far worse/better than we intended. This is mainly for the bad things we may do/say to people. Make sure the point is made that you were only joking. I struggle with this all the time. I've found it a lot easier to avoid these unclear comments rather than go through the explanation to whoever it may be. So, watch your words, for the tongue is very dangerous.

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends upon

a red wheel barrow

glazed with rain water

beside the white chickens.

I sat in the Gordon-Smith library, located at my school, reading poetry. Every year we must choose a poem to recite for commencement, so we picked this day to read from poetry books for about two hours. if we found a poem we enjoyed, we stood up and read it to the rest of the class. My teacher stood up and read the poem above by the title of "The Red Wheelbarrow". After he read this poem, he sat back down and said nothing.

Afterwards many of the students in my class kept saying things along the lines of "What the heck was the point of that poem?" Well, I think I have an idea of what it might be.

Our lives depend upon Jesus Christ, our Savior (line 1). He died on the cross for us, shedding red blood (line 2). They pierced His side as he hung, dead. Water (and blood) poured from the wound (line 3). By dying on the cross for our sins, Jesus cleansed us white as snow (line 4). Jesus is the red wheelbarrow that all our lives depend on, He was dead but rose again; therefore, cleansing us white as snow and saving us from our sin.

Just Something Interesting- Holy God

I was messing with Scrabble pieces to get the new profile picture for this blog's Facebook fan page picture and came across this. The Holy God sent his son to die on a cross for our sins. This is awesome! Feel free to use the picture.

You noticed the title is "Just Something Interesting." I may name many post that, just whenever I have something quick to share.

HTL-Catchafire by:Toby Mac

In the song "Catchafire" by Toby Mac, he says "...I'm feelin' luke warm like the water in my tub..."

My youth pastor has been preaching off of the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, and it talks about being lukewarm in most of the chapters. Mark Smith (my youth pastor) continued asking us the question "are you lukewarm?" It was followed by a long silence, on most occasions. Revelations 3:16 reads "So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth." I wish I could say I try my hardest to keep myself from being lukewarm, but I don't. For most of us, we are lukewarm for a majority of our lives. I always picture God spitting me out onto the floor. I don't know if you've ever had a lukewarm drink, but they are pretty terrible. So ask yourself "am I lukewarm?"

Hear the Lyrics

I'm going to start posting, once a week or so, something called "Hear the Lyrics", and I'll basically just point out the lyrics to a specific song. The title will include "HTL" (Hear the Lyrics), so you will know which post they are.

Sometimes you sit there and you sing a song you hear on the radio and you sing and sing and sing. You call it your favorite song; you tell all your friends to buy it. It's almost always stuck in your head, but if I walked up to you and said "What is the meaning of that song anyway?" You may be able to tell me because, of course, the title mentions it! It's OK to listens to songs and just sing them, but next time a song comes on the radio, listen to it like you were listening to a story. I've had friends sing a song for weeks then realize it has an inappropriate meaning. On Christians songs, which is what I listen to most of the time, the meanings can be pretty, well, meaningful. Big surprise! Just take the time to hear the words of the song.

The Rushing Waters

The other day my class headed to the creek across a field from my school. A few weeks ago my principal found a beaver dam in the creek, and this was a surprise because he didn't even know there were beavers. A few weeks after he found the dam he found a dead beaver; someone had shot it! Well my principal wanted to know if there were more beavers left, so he decided we would tear a hole in the dam and see if they rebuilt it.

Well, we headed down there and my principal/teacher, a few other guys, and I started to tear a hole in the massive beaver dam. We pulled off a few smaller limbs then began pulling clumps of leaves and mud. The water began pouring over the dam, because the water was about a foot or two higher on the other side.

A kid in my class slipped on a rock and fell and was soaked from head to toe. After that three more people jumped in, keep in mind that we're all in our clothes. I was the third or fourth person in, and within five or ten minutes all but three or four people were drenched.

One of the things we were doing was letting ourselves "go with the flow" and be ripped down the water fall where the hole in the beaver dam was. The current was so fast that when we did this we wouldn't even be able to get back back up until you were a few yards down the river. This was annoying because the farther you went down the river the more you were scratched up. It wasn't too bad, but a few yards down stream the rocks became sharper and you could get scratched a little worse.

Another thing we were doing was sitting right where the hole in the dam was. This was pretty difficult because all the water was trying to rush out at this point.

When we were all letting ourselves "go with the flow" a kid in my class named Gray was standing on the shallow side of the dam and one time I went down and right as I was about to hit the place with sharper rocks, he reached down and grabbed my arm and stopped me and helped me up.

This is when I get to the biblical side of this story. When we were letting the tide carry us this relates to following the crowd. We knew we would get scratched up, but we enjoyed it anyway. When we were sitting right where the tide was, we were doing what we all do in our everyday lives, getting as close as we can to sinning but not going all the way. It's kind of like telling God "I won't disobey you, I'll just get as close as I possibly can then turn back." We may say this, but sometimes we still slip like I actually did, but Jesus is always there to stop us from going any farther, like when Gray reached out and stopped me from hitting the sharp rocks.

I love how almost everything in our daily lives can relate back to God. Think about it.

His Story

I was sitting in class on Monday and my teacher wrote "History" on the chalkboard. Someone in my class blurted out "Hey! History looks like his story!" There were a few "Oh ya, that's cool," but I didn't say a word.

I could tell by the way he said "his story", he meant 'his' story, but thought of it more as 'His' story. If you think about it, history really isn't anything except God's story. He planned (and still plans) everything that happened. All the wars, battles, and discoveries that have ever taken place were all part of God's plan.

If you open up to my history section in my school notebook, it's labeled "His story". I go to a private school, so this doesn't, but for you 'public-schoolers' next time your history teacher brings up evolution just remember this: None of that is part of His story.

The Complexity of Simplicity

I was sitting in class yesterday and my teacher said "I'm going to show you all the parts of a flower."

I thought "A flower! This should be easy," but as he began to write all of them on the board I realized I was wrong. You see I was thinking roots, stem, and petals, but I had forgotten about the sepals and pistil and stamen etc. That doesn't even include all the more complicated things that each species of flower has.

This got me thinking. I realized how complicated the simple can be. As I looked farther into this, I realized God made it all perfect so that everything could work in unison. It is a truly amazing thing, and a flower is what we humans think of as something simple. And that is the complexity of simplicity.