And I thought to myself......self what happens when you don't know when to walk away? What happens when you forget when you should run? What happens if you "accidently" start counting your money at the table. What if you are so busy you don't have time to wait 'til the dealers done?
These are questions one should feel an inner peace about before pulling another person's index finger, when prompted........

Happy B-day!!

I just want to wish a Happy 24th Birthday to my lovely wife!!!!

Bible Study!

So here is something crazy.....God has really blessed us here in Winona with about a month off...it was good to gain perspective back to where we are going and what the main goal is......When I was told that they thought it was a good idea to move the Thursday I was right with them....it was best for everyone. I was stoked that we had at least one more person coming on board, Caitlin who moved here to go to W.S.U. (Who by the way has turned into a total blessing and has hit the ground running....pray for her) So I knew that there were going to be at least 5 Jesus Freaks hitting up the Thursday Bible Study. So as I sit back and I am praying about the study I asked God what he wanted us to do with campus because it has kind of fizzled out and it seemed he was leading us away from campus....or so I thought. I was asked what I thought about doing the study on campus....I thought we can do it a couple of times see if anyone shows up if not we can always move it. The girls came up with the idea to chalk for the study....these are things that we have done in the past nothing different........but that was in Ryan's timing......not God's......

So we started the study last week I expected it just to be the solid quintet, but low and behold we sat down and we had a lot of people pop in on the study.....we had seven new people.....so I asked, How did you find out about the study? They replied," the chalkings" how sweet is that. So we ventured through Colossians Chapter 2 tonight, we had three of the same faces and a new one....so God blessed us again.....how cool is that? I would ask that for your prayers that I would continue to teach solid Bible Studies and pray for some of the Bible Study attendees because they are getting smacked around a bit......however Paul does talk a little about that in Romans 5:3-5. " We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. 4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. 5 And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love"

I know that a lot of you fervently pray for us......I just want to thank you for your prayers.

........Kitty! that'all I have to say for now.......

Some of you might know this by now and if don't know you betta ax somebodeeee! I bought a Geo Metro.....this is very fun for me.....I basically strap four wheels to my butt and get 45-49 MPG nhwo awesome is that? Through an internet seardh I have found many of strange things on geo metros' Here is one that I find funny .....

Mind altering thoughts found here?

I am on a mission to find some mind altering/numbing thoughts.....thoughts that make you go what!? Here are some things that make you go hmmm....

Kraken!!

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water!!!

Monkey with a deathwish

I know I do this more than blog, but this hilarious. It is a monkey that swings down and taunts these two young tigers by punching them in the face, pulling on their ears andtails. Check it out

Things that you don't know about monkeys.....

I found this and would like to share this because I think that it is funny.....funny that they say that we come from these things......

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water. After awhile, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, if another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, turn off the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm. Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not? Because that is the way it has always been.

Wow! Yes, it is a real post....

Have you ever just walked away from a Bible Study to say that rocked? Mike and I just went through James Chapter 4 down here in the jail, I was teaching. We usually have anywhere between 3-8 guys, tonight 5. It was awesome, the teaching went well, but the best part was how everyone spoke about stuff and added in to the study. It was like just couple of brothers sitting down and talking about how good God is and what he's done for them.....this was happening in JAMES!!!!

Lately that has been the feel for the study, where I am teaching and it is a natural discussion and it has been a total blessing to me. My style of teaching has totally changed. My conviction, as a teacher has gone from," I wonder what I can pick out of here to really bring home to these guys so they can be convicted and move forward in a relationship." Which was very stressful to me, if you notice there were alot of I's and a me, and it left doubting my ability as a teacher and if I was called at all. Now, I just study and do my part and relax....it has nothing to do with me. It isn't my job to convict and set people on the path to a closer walk with Christ......that is God's responsiblity. It is so freeing to come to that understanding and it has only taken me 6 years of teaching through the Bible....Many people have spoken of this, " just relax and let God take care of it." In my mind I was like," That's what I am doing you know it all jerk." But, it took me going through my mind, humbling myself and letting God take control that now I can relax and talk about how God good is.....and that he is good enough to do his own work.....in me and other people. Good is good.....all the time!


P.S. Please pray for us we might be building a new county jail. The one we have, ask Mike, makes Pepin look like the Taj Mahal. We still have the Andy Griffith bars and cells. We would really thank you for your prayers for the jail and the ministry, Thanks

Not again.....YES AGAIN, HA HAHA

I will not continue to post this kind of stuff all the time.....however deep thoughts are funny......

So What happened at C-Stone!?

Calling all bloggers......at least those who ran off to the National (let's throw rocks at the rangers) Park in Colorado and those who came back from C-stone. Sooooo how'd it go!? Nobody's blogged anything so that leads me to believe that you either fell away( stopped blogging) or you died when the trailer lost a bearing... I'm just kidding but it would be nice to know for those of us who didn't get to go.....that and it will be cool to hear how different everybody's experiance was......ta ta fa na......

My wife and I

This my favorite picture of Carrie and I so I thought that I would share it with you all. If you look above our heads it says "We just moved" this was taken when we were travelling with some friends downtown Minneapolis right before we made the trek to Winona.....

The little girl giant

Check this out! I have made puppets before and I can't even imagine the time involved here...

Gold Nuggets......

Since the team has left for the Philippines I am really blessed by the teaching......You might laugh at this but I don't remember what was really taught......I am one of those gold nugget people. I listen to someone teaching, but only take home a thought or a passage of scripture. But asked what a year from now what they taught I wouldn't know however, I could tell you what I walked away with......
God so hit, for me, two of my biggest down falls. The golden nugget that I take home Yohannesburg's teaching was the definition of insanity........doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Basically, God loved me so much to jack me up and let me know that the way that I am trying to live my Christian life is insane! "You do these things over and over again knowing that they don't bring glory to me, but that doesn't stop you from doing them over and over again in my name." We all know these things.....it is basic. But, I think this is why Peter says, four times in his epistles. "I bring these to your remembrance," here is the one that I was thinking about specifically. I Peter 1:10-12," Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth."

Then we hit Stevo's study......which is awesome because a brother and I heard the same messege. but God spoke to us individually on it......God spoke to me from the Book of Nehemiah about worrying about my section of the wall.....don't worry about what everyone else is doing......this has been a problem with me....Namely with Street Level, I have always been a part of Street Level baking, Coffehouse shifts, filling in when needed for people, concerts, W.O.T.S., fliers, and all of the cool jazz that God let's Street Level do.....But now, Jesus has me working on a different part of the wall. It is equal in importance, but Stevo's study really showed my how much I missed Street Level,( which it is good that I miss Street Level)
But I have to keep my eye's on the part of the wall that God has given me to take care of.
God is so good at speaking to us through his word, I am blessed to be called one of his kids.........peace out......

Who woulda knew?

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!" You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up. If only your routine didn't always bomb! You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Muppet Personality Test

But Mom, everyone else is doing it!

Your Theme Song is Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf

"I like smoke and lightning Heavy metal thunder Racin' with the wind And the feelin' that I'm under" A total independent spirit, you can't be held down or fenced in. You crave the feeling of wind on your face... and totally freedom. You Are 36% Cynical Generally you give people the benefit of the doubt. But there are exceptions. You buy into many of the things that mainstream society believes, but you're not anybody's fool. You Are Wolverine Small but fierce, you're a great fighter. Watch out! You are often you're own greatest enemy. Powers: Adamantium claws, keen senses, the ability to heal quickly You Are Cookie Monster Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE! I am 65% Sketchy Whats your Religious Philosphy? I am a Believer Your Quirk Factor: 69% You're so quirky, it's hard for you to tell the difference between quirky and normal. No doubt about it, there's little about you that's "normal" or "average."

How Quirky Are You?

You Are Greg Brady
Outta sight! Suave and all American, you tend to be clean cut and upstanding.
You're friendly with most people and a huge flirt (sometimes even with family members!).

What Brady Are You?

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic
Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few.
But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky.

Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

You Are Not Scary
Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

You Are 28 Years Old( Scary close I'm 29)
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

Things that make you go Hmmm....

I know that most of you might be looking for the lyrics to the hit song of the 90's by C+C Music Factory, but I am going to post something different.
So, over the past week I have really had some time to think about things and do some " soul searching." Coming off of hearing about putting on our Jesus clothes, to learning about locusts and the side effects that come with refusal to put your Jesus clothes on, and the week will end with JFB-Winona covering on the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6. These are the things that make you go hmmm... So as I sat down to study Ephesians I picked up a commentary by Theodore Epp and he said something that was really profound about many Christians forget about...or at least I do. I will paraphrase what he said. He spoke of how we know that we are in a spiritual battle and there is a battle that is going on beyond the naked eye. What caught my eye the most was this," we fight this spirtual battle as though as we still have to obtain a victory, but we already have victory through Jesus Christ." I sat there and thought to myself, wow....that would really change the way that a person leads their life. Yes it would, in would be the difference of being a nominal Christian and a sold out, victorious Christian. I'm pretty sure that this is the difference Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliot, D.L. Moody, and the Charles Spurgeons' of the world and a person that is just fulfilling a requirement. God is so good to us, not only did he come and die for us so that we could be with him forever, but he also gave us the tools and the power to live a victorious Christian life...... If you ever get a chance to check out the book " They found the Secret." This is just something that God is talking to me about. And I have the blog and you don't so you will listen to every word I have to say/type!

Retreat Weekend

Yeah, the summer's Discipleship Retreat is finally here. I am pretty excited to be able to fellowship with people that I only get a blurp of a moment to see and hang with. I'm looking forward to see what God is going to do over the weekend as we dip into Colossians. For me God has really been speaking to me about a personal relationship.
Right now, every now is probably thinkin' blah, blah, blah. It is pretty easy to hear personal relationship and tune out the rest because you automatically think (if you are a Christian) I already have a personal relationship with him, I'm a Christian. What God is speaking to me about is having a real relationship with him. Not a while I'm in the public's eye relationship, not a while I'm serving relationship, but an honest to goodness, he calls the shots all the time, personal relationship. You know the kind of relationship that you read about the greats like Corrie Tenboom, George Mueller, Andrew Murray, James the Lord's brother, Paul, and Hudson Taylor had with the Lord. Where some of them literally lived minute by minute in prayer. Where they were in the harshest environments, crazy postions, with great opposition, but they didn't care because they had Christ in their corner and were in the center of God's will. This what God is speaking to me about and I know that this will be a time of growing and preparing for the next battle. A staging for the next battle if you will, as Theodin said before the big battle at Helm's Deep," The breathe before the deep plunge." I want to leave a legacy......God bless...

Blogs....

I just noticed how I fall short in the blog area. I just spent the last 15-20 minutes checking out people's blogs that I don't know....talk about weird. I saw blogs that were online for the past year taking the identity of Pickard from Star Trek to a woman that has posed as Padme and talks about Obi and Anakin. I have seen a guy that is a bouncer at a club and 30 second clips of popular movies reenacted by bunnies. If only I too could up with an alter ego or a crazy way of living....
I know what I can be....I can be a crazy goggle wearing person that goes to church campouts, discipleship retreats, sings praise music at the top of my lungs, pretend like I am pilgrim, that this isn't my home and I am just passing through. But until then I will just have to be a humble goggle wearing goof.....until I get the memo that it is time for me to come home.......until then my fellow aliens......

The Da Vinci Code

I know...I know... I know... everybody is so sick of hearing of the media that goes with this. I am the kind of guy that purposely ignores the going ons with this kind of stuff. I phased out The Da Vinci Code until now.....

The other day I was listening to one of the two good( I'm being generous with good) radio stations here in Winona, and a D.J. went to the theater to see the movie and what all the hub-bub was about. After the movie he returned to his car to find a flyer underneath a windshield wiper. Picking up the wiper, he started to read the flyer, it was deposited by a local church telling him that was going to burn in hell for seeing the movie.....I was immediatly angry.....chapter and verse please....my Bible says that not knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior is what keeps from spending the rest of eternity with Christ. The church should be ashamed for all the protesting and all of the different tactics that "Church People" use when this stuff comes down the pike.
The best way that I have seen this handled was by a priest, from LaCrosse, on the television. He said,"One thing have to remember that when we are getting bent out of shape on this Book and movie is that it is in the fiction section." We are supposed to be spreading the good news of Jesus's death and rescurrection and that if we believe in him and trust and what he did on the cross you can spend eternity with him. NOT putting flyers on people's windshields telling them they are going to hell for watching a movie. If you don't like the movie don't go.....of you don't like the book don't read it.....it's just that simple....

I am Franz!!!

So yesterday, as my wife soon will post, if she hasn't already,joined a gym. This will be the first time that I have ever really lifted weights or ran for long periods of time on my own accord. I am Looking forward getting into shape so I can walk/run from the bottom part of "The Munchies" to the offices without breathing like a walrus. It's pretty cool because the Lord has been laying this on my heart for a long time convicting me about taking care of my body. I know that when my time is up my time is up, but it will be nice to have more energy and actually be healthy for my stay here. This will also be be benefit for when I am playing supevisor/bouncer on the overnights at P-Kins. HAHAHAHAHAH......huh?

Second Chance at a Blog

Here is my second chance at a blog this time will be different!.......I hope......