Well I finally decided to make the blog official. I guess that is what you can call this, but really all I did was purchase a real domain name for my blog. Now you can go to godwrestler.org and get to the blog. No more -’s or .blogspots needed. However if you do go to god-wrestler.blogspot.com you still will get here. I am excited because this will help make it quick and easy to get to the blog and I feel like I really own the blog now.
So I am officially introducing …
My cousins got some sweet Christmas gifts this year. Something that I always dreamed of when I was little. I remember watching Commando starring The Arnold. He was an ex commando trying to save his daughter and took out hundreds of men carrying this chain gun around. I would act out the scenes with my Nerf guns always wishing I could really do the chain gun thing. Well now my cousins can live my glory out if the so choose too.
Nerf always amazes me. Every year they get better and better. This gun comes with a reloadable chain that holds 75 Nerf darts and you can buy extra chains. The chain is stored in that side box and exits out the other side like a real gun.
This video here shows some guys who modified the gun to shoot the equivilant to 50 rounds a sec. Crazy Awesome!
Go on and buy one or two… you know you want it… think about playing Nerf Wars with this on your side. 
The Pursuit of God
By: A. W. Tozer
I received this book as a gift for graduating from college last year. When I got it I will admit that no excitement crossed my face. It has been on my bookshelf since then and almost daily it would catch my eye. So I decided to give it a try.
The pace was a change for me because many of the last few books I have read have been by modern day pastors and theologians. Once I slowed down and started to take it seriously I began to connect with Tozer’s thoughts and passion right away. I did not want to put it down.
In The Pursuit of God, Tozer address’ the never ending cycle of men searching for God. He describes our search as a type of bankruptcy or void that we so long to fill. He goes on in an eloquent manner through scripture describing how our search does not have to be so hard if we realized that God is here.
“The Universal Presence is a fact. God is here. The whole universe is alive with His life. And he is no strange or foreign God, but the familiar Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose love has for these thousands of years enfolded the sinful race of men. And always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures. (And this we call pursuing God!) We will know Him in increasing degree as our receptivity becomes more perfect by faith and love and practice.” Tozer, The Pursuit of God, pg 67
I love this! It was so refreshing to hear. God is pursuing us! He is calling to us more than we have ever called to him. If only we could take the time from the stress and speed of our lives that we whine about so much every day our search could be over. Why, because we will not have to search anywhere but right here and God will find us. Oh! How simple this seems yet I can’t even imagine how I will do this. I’ve heard it said so many times that God is near and that He calls to us, but never as Tozer puts it.
I highly reccomend this book. It may have an older tone to it, but the passion and ideas of it are so true for the world we live in.
Here is one last quote;
“God Wants the whole person and He will not rest till He gets us in entirety. No part of the man will do.” Tozer, The Pursuit of God, pg 101
Go and search for God by letting Him find you!
I was watching TV last night and the show I was watching closed with this song. “Someone to Watch Over Me” done by Frank Sinatra. Now I have heard this song so many times for some reason this time I actually got the lyrics to it. I just loved it.
I’d like to add her initials to my monogram
Tell me where’s the shepherd for this lost lamb
There’s a somebody I’m longing to see
I hope that she turns out to be
Someone to watch over me
I’m a little lamb who’s lost in a wood
I know I could always be good
To one who’ll watch over me
Although I may not be the man some girls think of
As handsome
Won’t you tell her please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh how I need
Someone to watch over me
Someone to watch over me
I Am Not, but I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God
By: Louie Giglio
Louie Giglio is the guy who helped bring me my most favorite band ever, David Crowder Band, and many other great artist like Chris Tomlin. He has spent a lot of time investing in young adults in the world of college. I have heard that Louie is a great speaker and usually has some interesting things to say. This book, I Am Not, but I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God, I found to be very disapointing.
Lets start with the fact that it was just boring. Nothing really grabbed my attention or seemed profound to me. Maybe it was his delivery but it just didn’t keep my attention very well. The premis of the book is to help you realize your place with God and that God is the Great I Am, everything is him and he is everything. I was amazed that he could draw this topic out for so long.
The book never really picked up and seemed disorganized. I found it hard to keep relating his thoughts to what his point was. His examples and illustrations were lacking. Now don’t let this stop you from reading the book I could be very wrong and this is all a personal opinion.
There were some good things in the book. It does a great job addressing how God is the Great I Am. Beyond that it doesn’t say much else.
So give this book a read and let me know what you think. Am I wrong? Should I read it again?
Back to the Basics of Young Life
By: John Miller
The ministry of Young Life has been effectively reaching teenagers for Christ for many decades now. John Miller was there almost right from the begining of Young Life’s journey into figuring out just how to become so entrenched among the lives of so many teenagers. Back to the Basics is John’s account of this faith testing start and how the minsitry shaped his family and so many others.
John recalls his first interactions with Jim Rayburn the founder of Young Life and how he heard his call into the uncharted waters of the Young Life ministry. He explains the sacrafice and faith that went into following the call of God into this new profession. Along the way John discusses the underlying theology and ideaology of why Young Life is the way it is.
If you are in Young Life now you need to read this book. It will give a glimpse of the big picture that you are apart of and just how important your role is to the ministry. For those of you who have never done anything with Young Life, I highly suggest giving this book a read over. I believe once you are done with it there will be no way you won’t want to get involved with Young Life and it’s simply radical ideaology for reaching youth for Christ.
Messy Spirituality: God’s Annoying Love for Imperfect People
By: Mike Yaconelli
If you feel like you just suck at your spiritual life or Christianity in general then this book will be a breath of fresh air for you. Mike Yaconelli lays it down plain and simple that there is room for us to be screw ups within the Gospel of Christ. This book helped me to really ask myself if I truly experience freedom in Christ and allow real grace into my life.
Mike Yaconelli lived a somewhat radical and uncoventual life but he knew how to relate God’s amazing love to the things we go through in this life. Messy Spirituality by no means says we are free to sin and live as we please but it assures us that when we do experience times when our faith is small God’s grace and love can still reach us.
I say go ahead give this book a chance, it may surprise you.
Here is my reflections on what I am thankful for:
1. The relentless, all forgiving, always there when I need it; Love from God
2. My friends, I honestly don’t know how I am so blessed with so many good friends. I really don’t know where I would be with out them.
3. My family, that they love me so much and support me in all I do.
4. Young Life, that I get to share in the ministry and how it made a difference in my life.
5. My pets, they love me so much, the can always make me smile and I never feel alone with them.
6. My toys, keeps me busy and gives me things to do.
This weekend is our fall weekend trip for Taylor Young Life. I love fall weekend, I mean it’s the best weekend of the fall! This weekend every year is nothing but absolute fun, building relationships, and Christ. This weekend is completely bathed in Love. You can’t help but to feel the presence of God at a Young Life fall Weekend. Maybe I have a little biased few considering that I first met Christ at fall weekend, but I know for many this weekend will be there first encounter with Christ.
I feel slightly overwhelmed about this weekend. For one I’m older and no where near in the shape I used to be in, and all the games and football are gonna tire me out. Second, we have a lot of guys coming. I am so used to like 5 or 7 guys between Mike and I but there is gonna be more than that this time and I don’t know how I’m going to keep up with them.
Friends, please pray for our weekend. We have a few guys who don’t know the Love of Christ and I pray that they will find that this weekend. We also have a group of girls who will encounter Christ for the first time this weekend. Please pray that we can have good, deep, and meaningful conversations. That we don’t get tired and stay strong. That we can ask the questions that no one else will. That we will be real and unconditional with our friends. Pray that God is there in a big way!
Thank you all!
