Time to "Part-ay!"

Aloha and Salutations!

My little sis, Abigail, is hosting a blog party this week and I thought it looked like a fun way to get a little more active in the community! Make sure to click over to Abigail's blog and link up. Oh, and just to clarify, this party is BYOB (bring your own blog.)

1. What's your favorite time of the day, and why?

I pretty much love every part of the day... However, to avoid being vague and uninteresting, I'll say from 7:00 PM to about 12:30 AM. These five hours are spent chilling with my family, eating awesome food, watching Star Trek and The Office and drinking loads of coffee!'

2. If health wasn't an issue, what food could you live off of?

That's easy. PIZZA! Oh, and don't forget coffee... It's a drink, so it doesn't count as a second food item.

3. If you could have one wish granted (besides wishing for more wishes), what would it be?

*Tugs at collar and gulps* Whew, heavy question! If I'm answering honestly (bearing all things in mind) I'd have to say the salvation of every human being. If I'm answering without thinking too much... I'd say a massive studio and all of the best film score gigs.

4. What's one thing that you get teased about a lot?

I'm extremely literal. I've probably fallen for every lame joke that's ever existed.

5. If you could choose one movie, book, or TV show to spend your life in, which would you pick? What type of character would you be?

If, in fact, the technology existed to transport me to one of these alternate realities... I would tweak the machine for repeated use. I would go running with Rocky, have a cranberry juice with Nicholas Angel from "Hot Fuzz," get into mischief with Mr. Bean and rescue the princess with Chon Wang and Roy O' Bannon. After I was finished with all of that, I'd join the crew of the Federation Starship Voyager and explore the Delta Quadrant! I could spend centuries hopping from movie to movie. : )

6. If you could have one talent that you don't already have, what would it be?

Extreme acting skills would be pretty awesome. : ) Some secret agent skills would be pretty awesome too.

7.If money were no object, where would you go on vacation?

California... for like a month. I'd go hang with Brian Tyler or Hans Zimmer and try to catch the "ownage" bug. Italy would also be pretty cool...

8. If you were an awesome singer, which genre would you sing?

A mixture of alternative rock (Coldplay/Danyew), hard rock (Red/Chevelle) and metalcore (August Burns Red/Underoath.) Jazz would also be an awesome genre to sing, although I'm a bigger fan of the female voice in that particular category.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what would it be?

Best Buy! I'd spend it in less than an hour.

10. If you could live in any point in time, when would it be?

I'm a 21st century dude... all the way. Heated living/gym space, televisions, comfortable vehicles, computers, Xbox... Oh yeah!

11. If every outfit in your wardrobe had to be one color, what would it be?

Probably just whatever is Starfleet issue at the time.

12. If you were one of the seven dwarves, which one would you be?
(Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Happy, or Dopey)

I'd like to answer your question with... CHUCK NORRIS!

13. What's the last album you listened to?
"Thrill Seeker"-August Burns Red

14. What's something we'd be surprised to know about you?

I like taking afternoon naps with "Abba" on in the background. Probably one of my favorite feelings in the world is waking up after a two hour snooze and smelling dinner in the oven.

Well, I guess that pretty much sums it up! Am I as weird and freaky as you were hoping I wasn't? : )

God Bless You All! (and I'm looking forward to reading your answers.)

Jared

Together...

Hey Everyone!

I come to you from mom's computer station (the dining room) where I'm sitting alone with Christian themed music serenading me in the background, a mug of lemon water by my side and the burstings of the Lord in my heart. I'm home from Church this morning with a headache (and some minor/misc. discomforts.)

Normally when I'm home alone from church, I read a couple chapters of the Bible, pray and then stick a movie or something on. However, today, something very huge was placed on my heart. I felt the inescapable need to connect with/admonish my brothers and sisters in Christ. I thought for a while about my family (and my church family) and I all of the sudden felt incredibly thankful for them... but that's not how my morning started. (God forbid I ever come to the right place in my heart the easy way.) Allow me to take you back...

I awakened this morning with a headache, sleepy eyes, some stomach discomfort and the attitude of a bear being pelted with rocks during hibernation. I sat up in bed, and (literally) the first thing that popped into my head was "eww, I have to go to church today." How's that for brutally honest? I took what is perhaps our most precious freedom in America, our most blessed right, our most wonderful gift as Christians... and flushed it down the drain like so much crud. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with staying home from church if you're not feeling good (in fact, it's wise!) However, I took it to the next level and somehow begrudged Sunday morning.

Ten minutes later found me downstairs in the kitchen with my parents. Dad was cooking french toast and Mom was preparing soup and fruit salad for communion service. I explained to them (more tastefully than honest) how I was feeling, and they eyed me quizzically. "Ok," I began again, "I woke up feeling like punching something."

That seemed to do the trick. Both Mom and Dad immediately understood how I was feeling... and their responses were straight from Heaven. Dad gave me a big hug, offered me coffee (hugs and coffee are two of my favorite things... don't judge me!) and suggested I have some french toast. I did, and while I still felt gross physically, my spirit soared. After breakfast, Mom struck up a conversation with me about the Christian walk and how it always seems to take an extra dose of effort to truly reap the blessings and gifts that God has for us. This hit home, and once again... my spirit soared. Dad and Mom had both just given me an incredible gift... Love, understanding and admonishment.

Long story short, the fam left for Church, and I was once again left with my own thoughts. I put on one of my favorite worship albums ("Kingdom of Comfort" by Delirious) and proceeded to worship my heart out to the Lord. (Some of my words matched the album's, the ones I didn't know, I made up.) While I was in the midst of this, a profound feeling invaded my being... Not self gratifying... but desperately thankful! I thought of the body of Christ (both literally and symbolically as represented by his followers) and I felt at once filthy and blessed beyond words. I thought of Dad and Mom (infinitely busier than I this morning) and their open arms and swift encouragement. I thought of my siblings (much younger than I) with their genuine joy and infectious youth. I thought of my church family that meets for the express purpose of worship and edification... and last (but not least) this group of bloggers who embrace God's calling in their lives and shares their insight with others.

Sure, most of us have never met each other (and some of us would probably fight like cats and dogs given the right subject to "discuss") but that doesn't make us any less of a family... All who have chosen to dedicate their lives to following Jesus are related in a way far deeper than DNA. We are covered in the blood of Jesus, and that bloodline bonds us in ways more profound than we can even imagine. I can't put into words exactly what I want to say this morning.... but I do want to make a declaration:

I love you all, I love my heavenly father, and I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters in Christ. We (the redeemed) are SO blessed to have a common Abba, a common love and countless opportunities to hold each other up in encouragement. The book of Acts recounts Paul's efforts to encourage his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul sailed across stormy seas, survived a deadly snake bite, worked through multiple imprisonments and was eventually put to death... for what? So that the gospel of love would be spread and so he could admonish the Church in love. We can do all of that with a few keystrokes and the click of mouse... We can do it even better face to face... Best of all, we can do it all the time.

Exploding Potatoes, Salt in the Sinuses and Other Random Hilarity

Hello Everyone!

Well, I promised a more active blog a while back, and I hope to deliver on that this year. I'm going to be starting off 2010, however, with a less serious post. This post will be random, strange, and hopefully amusing (even if it is at my own expense.)

Now comes the part where you hit play on the video below: (Be sure to keep reading as the song plays.)

Our first stop brings us to Saturday afternoon as I innocently set out to heat up some mashed potatoes on the stove. I pulled the (*cough*) pyrex from the refrigerator and put it on the burner. I stirred it affectionately for what seemed like an hour, and then... at long last... I stuck the serving spoon into the potatoes and began scooping them into my bowl.

BANG

The entire dish of potatoes literally EXPLODED over the entire stove top (even onto the kitchen floor in spots.) I replied with

the classic one liner,

"I guess that dish wasn't stovetop safe after all."

It wasn't until we were cleaning the glass and potatoes off of everything that the gravity of the situation truly hit me... The bowl I was HOLDING was covered in shards of glass. I might have died. I excused myself to go sit down for a moment and ponder life. My good friend Timothy facebook-ed me and told me he was glad that I wasn't a human cactus. This made me laugh, but I was glad too.

The rest of Saturday consisted of watching the great Jackie Chan in the not entirely great "Spy Next Door." It made me wish for "Rush Hour 4", but at least there wasn't any exploding pyrex in the movie. (Oh, and for the record, if you're a Jackie Chan fan, I still recommend seeing the movie just to watch the master of physical comedy outclass everything else.) : )

Our next stop brings us to Sunday afternoon, where I once again found my life threatened by an evil Neti Pot full of warm salt water. Now, don't get me wrong... I have a great affection for the Neti Pot (even more than for Pyrex cookware) so I had no pre-disposition against the act of pouring salt water through my sinus passages. I finished pouring water up one of my nostrils when,

BURN

My head felt like it was on fire. I had been burnt in the sinuses by salt water before, but this HURT. I promptly leaned over the sink and began making noises like a sick cow. Mom came in from the other room and asked,

"Was the water too hot... too cold?"

"NO!" I replied (too loudly I might add)

"It feels like I'm having a brain aneurysm!"

I could tell from the look on Mom's face that she knew I was being dramatic... but she was very sympathetic anyways.

For what seemed like an eternity, my nerves burnt like fire... I thought I was going to go crazy. Mom suggested that I might not have stirred the salt into the water long enough, and that I perhaps had a clump of it stuck on some raw nerve inside of my face. That idea made sense (and horrified me sadistically as I thought of pouring more water up my nose to clear the salt out.)

Fortunately, Mom was right. After one last (agonizing) clearing of my sinuses, I was much better and fit for duty. (Call of Duty that is!) Hey, it was Sunday afternoon...

Well, there you have it! A comical tour de force of eruption, pain and the fragility of life. If you never got a chance to read this, it's probably because I got electrocuted trying to plug in my cell pho....

....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

...Did I get you? No, I think I'll plan on stickin' around for a while at least. : ) If nothing else, this week was a silly, thought provoking incentive to keep on keepin' on, because you never know when you might have a crucial artery severed by a renegade chicken with a motive... (Or not...)

God Bless You All! (and please, don't run with scissors or other pointy objects. It's all fine and good until somebody looses an eye!)

Signing Off,

Jared

PS

Now's the time where you take a few minutes to explain to the people in the house what on earth that strange music was... Be sure to tell them that you were not (in fact) listening to anything. I promise it'll be funny to watch them wonder around with weird looks on their faces.

Resolution! I Declare, Abandon! Beckons He...

As 2009 draws to a close... I find myself once again in "that" state of mind. "That" which begs the mind to plan plan plan! "That" which begs the body to move move move! "That" which begs for more and more of that that that!

Personally, I find annual commencement refreshing. Knowing that I get to experience the rush of setting out on the wings of a new year always gives me a bursting sense of purpose. "Sure" I think, "2009 was fantastic, but 2010 will be the stuff of legend!" So what do I do? I plan some more, dream a little, grab a cup of coffee, rinse and repeat.

... but wait! ....

Didn't I do this very thing last year? Where are my ripped abs? Where is my healthy career? Where is that newfound confidence? Where is that perfect tan? Why is that stack of unread books even larger than it was last year?

Epiphany upon epiphany caves in upon itself and I'm left to reckon with the fact that I didn't accomplish half of what I planned to accomplish. Suddenly, In place of resolution, I'm bed mates with shame. Inside the cool, clear pools of ambition run the imperfect strains of insecurity. In the absence of security... fear makes a house call. Something has gone very wrong.

If you are an oxygen breathing homo sapien from planet earth, I'm willing to bet that you've gone through this same process. Perhaps (sadly) every year runs the same course. Perhaps (regrettably) you write off an entire year as the year you didn't complete what you set out to... "Next year will be my redemption! Next year I will make my mark."

Is there an easy solution to this problem? I would answer this question with another question... "Do you know anyone who's going into 2010 with a list full of check-marks?" Whether or not there is an easy solution really doesn't matter, because the fact is... it's a classic struggle of human nature vs. the ambition of the soul. Is there an easy solution to sin? Is there an easy way to lose weight? Is there an easy way to quit that habit? Yes! ...and no.

Mark 14:38 says "Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

What's this verse really talking about? Well, one of the most obvious things is the sin of lust (although really anything "fleshly" can fit into this). It's extremely easy to fall into the temptation of sexual sin, and it has a direct correlation to the weakness of the body... but what else is to be found here? Is temptation symbolically indicative of all flesh traps?

There are scriptures throughout the entire Bible that speak of the selfish intents of the heart and the consuming fire of the flesh. Our humanity is beautiful, but it is also sinful. Our hearts are full of love, but they also betray... Christ is the spotless lamb, and yet He endured the filthy death of a criminal so that we could be saved. Paradox after paradox tells the story of our humanity.

We thirst for purity and yet drown in our good intentions. We seek completion yet exude procrastination. We seek to give, and end up taking... Where is the sense? Where is the order?

1 Peter 1:3-5 declares, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

Perhaps mankind was never meant to create order and purpose... Perhaps mankind was meant to find purpose. What if instead of resolution, we pursued abandon. "Abandon?" you may ask, "laziness? listlessness? lifelessness?"

No.

When I speak of abandon, I speak of complete surrender to the reason. I speak of total reliance on THE Purpose.

I speak of love and belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ, and I speak of complete faith in the living power of the Holy Scriptures.

If we strive for total abandon in our Maker, who is our flesh to tell us what we have failed in? If we strive for total surrender to God's will, who are we to say what must be accomplished? If we are on fire with the passion of the universe, who are we to burn in the kindling of our own ambition?

This year, I make one resolution: To live with the passion, desire, wisdom, faith and love that comes from losing myself in the Spirit that created me. Am I a drone? Of course not. I am an empty, gifted, adored shell that needs to remember my life spark.

2010, get ready for the Christ Followers!

Signing off,

Jared

PS

On a random side note... I've composed a new orchestral piece for my website. It's entitled "Fighting for Love."

If you're interested in hearing it, hop over to my website and click on the "media" tab. Once the player pops up, click on the bottom song.

Thanks! (and New Design!)

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to say thanks for all of the wonderful comments on my last post. I'm so, so encouraged that my petty thoughts were able to encourage! God is truly amazing. It seems that many of us suffer from that ever illusive element of pride that causes us to lose sight of what's important... and I think identifying it was definitely a huge step for me. Who knows what that kind of pride can lead to? Perhaps depression, perhaps loss of joy, perhaps even an extreme backsliding in our faith! Anyways, thanks for being so supportive and taking the time to comment on what I had to say. You're all great.

On another note... I have a new blog design now! Thanks to my little sis Abigail, I now have a spiffy and shiny page that is much easier on the eyes than my previous (generic) one. It's cool to have a sister with that kind of expertise. (I confess, I have absolutely NO clue how she does it.)

Well, In closing, I just want to say thanks to everyone for making my last post such a success. There are many posts in my head, fighting to get out, so keep an eye out for a much more productive blog in the near future! I know God is able to do mighty things through the world of blogging, and I want to be in on it!

Because He Lives,

Jared

Pride is for the Weak (Confessions of a Cappuccino Man)

My name is Jared Kraft, I’m 19 years old. I’ve scored six films this year, I teach piano to seven bright kids, workout daily, spend loads of quality time with my family, play piano in church every week and make it my life’s pursuit to serve God with my whole heart in everything!

My name is Jared Kraft, I’m 19 years old. I’ve never taken an ACT or SAT because, quite frankly, I’ve never been an “academic” sort. I don’t work a regular job, go to college or pay my own bills (yet.) I spend most of my income on DVD’s and CD’s and I’m rarely busy enough to even justify that word’s existence in my vocabulary.

My name is Jared Kraft. I’m happy, completely content in every way and I enjoy my life (in all of it’s simple purposes) to the fullest. I’m young, wet behind the ears and ambitious! I have a great life ahead of me, a loving family to back me up, and a perfect God to guide my way.

I am Jared Kraft’s pride, and I want to ruin it all. I live inside of Jared’s heart. I twist contentment into contempt. I turn ambition into doubt. I replace Jared’s simple faith with a burning desire to succeed. I am the something Jared hates in everything he experiences. I am the fear in failure and the shame in simplicity. I am the desperation within the drive and the critic behind the art…

I am Jared Kraft, and I’m here to expose pride.

Every morning, I awaken at around 8:00 to the sun streaming in through my window. I reach over to my bed-stand, grab my cell phone and check my e-mail. It takes me around forty seconds to read some “Facebook” updates before I get out of bed, pull some casual clothes on and head to the bathroom to clean up for the morning.

After brushing my teeth, fixing my hair into proper spikes and splashing some water and soap on my face, I make my way downstairs. Upon entering the kitchen, I mix up a glass of Barley-Green, take a couple teaspoons of Elderberry Juice and fix a simple breakfast.

Breakfast eaten, supplementation completed, I turn my attention to the stainless steel perfection of the family cappuccino maker. Do you know what I think?

Maybe: “Ah! What a beautiful morning, this coffee will make it even more beautiful!”

Perhaps: “Thank you Lord, for the luxury of this beautiful (highly efficient) espresso machine!

Even… “Time for coffee!”

…would be better than… “Now I have to go spend twenty minutes making two coffees. Why can’t Abigail just learn to make her own?”

To make matters worse, I even surprise myself when my mind thinks:

“What kind of college aged man spends this much time making coffee in the morning? I should be out in the world… preferably miserable and worn out.”

My silent monologue continues…

“Heck, I should be updating my Facebook status right now! It should read, “I woke up exhausted this morning, but I have more studying to do! Oh, and I’ll be working a twelve hour shift after class.”

You may be wondering,

“All of this from just a cup of coffee?”

It only gets worse.

Early afternoons always find me in the gym. I’m a cardio addict and can’t stand to be away from my precious elliptical machine for more than twenty-four hours at a time. Towards the thirty-minute (or halfway) mark of my workout session, my mind begins to work me over again.

“Jared, do you really think your college aged friends have an entire hour a day to devote to working out? You’re spoiled and selfish… Pampered, suckled and tucked into bed.”

The list goes on. Several times a day (for however brief a time) I find myself consumed by the shame and counter-productivity that pride seeks to infuse into my life.

Pride is often thought of as a feeling of superiority or “uppity-ness.” While that definitely is an element of pride, I believe there is another sort that goes unnoticed, and it is perhaps the most dangerous to our lives as Christians. It is subtle!

The pride I’m talking about is found in the sinful will to “measure up” to those around us. It is a feeling of shame built around the foundational idea that if our lives don’t look exactly like the lives of our peers, we are condemned to be losers.

The Bible has a lot to say about pride. “Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up… cast all of your care upon Him, for HE cares for you… God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble…”

All over scripture we see that God rewards humility and casts down the proud. I believe scripture speaks of pride so often, because it is one of the most versatile and illusive sins. If pride can’t get you to stick your nose in the air, it’ll rub your face in the dirt. If pride can’t cause you to seek popularity with lots of people, pride will seek to isolate you. Pride is like a living, sentient virus that knows our weaknesses and seeks to cripple us with them.

Pride is evil.

How then does one battle pride? Well, this is a question that every Christian knows the answer to, but is (typically) hidden beneath layers of petrified pride. I, for one, have failed miserably time and time again… but you know something…? It feels great to proclaim the solution. No matter how weak or sinful I am, there is always a way out.

I believe that the only way out of pride’s addictive snare is the will to constantly seek God’s will for us and to live in complete contentment. Instead of complaining in my heart by thinking,

“I’ll never be as busy, productive or nobly exhausted as my peers!”

I should instead be taking the hundreds of opportunities that pass me by every day to praise God for everything he has given me… and make the most of it! God has given me a great territory to be faithful in, and I have failed Him…. but it’s not over! I heretofore devote my all to the killing of this ugly pride. I vow to seek God’s will daily. Most of all, I vow to make the most of everything God has given me, and use it to the max to serve Him!

(So yes, this means I'll be making as many cappuccinos as I can from now on... Do you know why? Because, even in some small way, my cappuccinos bring my loved ones joy... and bringing joy to others is something that is always worth the time and effort.)

Effort is to Result as Oxygen is to Life

Ephesians-6:11-Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Philippians-2:13-For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

2 Timothy 4:7-I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith

James 2:22-You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

1 John 2:17-The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever...

We all know (according to the scriptures) that grace through faith is the path to redemption. The day Jesus Christ died for us, the sins of the world were mixed with His blood. The day he rose again, those sins were erased, and we were given the opportunity of a lifetime (in fact, the opportunity of eternity.) Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, whoever believes and asks the Lord to live in their heart will be saved. When I say saved, I don't mean "kind of" saved... or "well, now I can join the republican/fans of Chuck Norris club!" When I say saved, I mean bona fide, eternal life, one hundred percent, never looking back SAVED! I mean, "Hell no longer has a hold on me... I have a place in heaven with the master of the universe and creator of the world" type of saved... and that type of saved is certainly not conditional or uncertain.

That being said, (and absolutely true) I have some things I want to point out with this post. The first one takes me back to when I first got saved (at the fresh young age of 4!) Although I was extremely young, I'd wager just about every new Christian experiences what I'm about to relate to you.

Admittedly, the day I accepted Jesus is slightly fuzzy in my memory (it was fifteen years ago after all!) but certain details have stayed with me. I remember bowing my head, uncertain of what I was about to do. I remember thinking that something great was about to happen... but I just didn't know what. I had heard stories and sermons about Jesus and Christianity my entire life, but this moment was different. I remember uttering the prayer of salvation, and suddenly not only did I know I was saved, I understood what it meant! I felt a burst of joy like none I had experienced in my young life, I felt loved and completed and reconciled... But do you know what I remember as the single most potent and intense detail of my experience? An overwhelming sense of gratitude, love and resolve.

Reason being? Well gratitude is the obvious reaction "hey, I just got saved from hell!" Love is the inevitable follow up to intense gratitude... But what of resolve? Where did this intense desire to suddenly do anything and everything I could for Jesus come from? Suddenly (in my own little kid brain) cleaning my bedroom seemed entirely appropriate. Doing the dishes was a treat as it helped to quench my ravenous appetite to do and accomplish.

Why the sudden hyperactivity? Well, I believe it's something the Holy Spirit uses to remind us of his pure and perfect will for our lives. Surely the will of the Holy Spirit is an overwhelming and powerful thing, reaching out from out hearts to the very tips of our fingers and toes. Before becoming a Christian, a man simply wanders about accomplishing what he sees fit... After his conversion, a man can now know in his heart his reason and his purpose. God's purpose. Take a few minutes to read a couple scriptures I've found on the will of the Holy Spirit and how it relates to us.

John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

So, obviously, the Spirit's (God's) main goal for our lives is to make disciples of all the nations... but what exactly does that mean? Should we all don suit coats and become global megaministers? Should we all join a mission group and head off to the jungle? Should we invent new and exotic forms of conservatism and "not of this world-ness?" Well many have done this, and a lot of good is being done because of it (well, the first two... I'm not so sure about the third!) So, sure... those are good things. However, my thought on the subject is as follows:

What better way to show the world Who lives inside of us, than by succeeding at everything we set out to accomplish? Obviously, nobody is perfect (we're all pretty much kaput in that regard) but what if instead of trying to make everything in our lives a Biblical activity, we instead made LIFE a Christian affair? Because we are the Christians, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts... and that is cause to work, accomplish and surrender.

If you're a runner, put that extra mile in and declare God's glory because of it. If you cook, experiment with that extra ingredient until your work finally pays off and declare God's glory because of it! If you're an author, pray about that needed twist or plot change in your book, and declare God's glory because of it! The world may begin to hate us (after all, we'll be accomplishing and rising above!) but God will give us more ground, more faith and eventually the unsaved will begin to long for what we have!

We are just humans (flawed, sinful and once damned to hell) but now we are Christians, and it's time to show the world what we're made of. Love, surrender, steel and flame. RESOLVE.

Effort is to result as oxygen is to life, and God is to both as He is to our very existence...