You say this is what?

John the Baptist Finger:

I know what you are thinking, I said the same thing. The was take this past summer at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City. What this is suppose to be is a golden reliquaries. A reliquary is a container for relics or objects of religious veneration. In the center you will see a bone standing end on end. This bone is said to be the finger of Saint John the Baptist. I have no idea how they came upon getting this. In fact I really don't want to know. So we'll just keep this under our hats okay. I think what just fascinates me about this is the fact that, whether it is or not, it is just more than a mind full to think that this finger just might have touched the head of Jesus.

Peace out...later on.

Deep thoughts by Big Mac...

NO PICTURE?

Today I couldn't find a picture worthy enough of placing on my blog. So today I would like to talk about some things and hopefully start people thinking...Now before I do let me state here for the record that I am not a bible scholar. I just do the best I can and follow what I believe to be the true will of God.

Today was chapel and our speaker was the youth pastor from our church. One of the things that he talked about was the concept of "Pre-destination". This one topic has spawned more debate than anything. And thinking about it myself I can come to both conclusions very easily. First the against side: If you were against "Pre-destination", you would say that there is no way God knows everything about our future, whose going to heaven and who doesn't because that takes away "free will". Free will is something that is talked about several times in the bible. How can a God that wants us to choose Him have "pre-destination" in mind. You eliminate any choice on the human part which in turns makes us sort of like robots. Now if you believe in "pre-destination" you would counter that by saying that you are putting limits on what God can know. A God that knows how many hairs are on my head, a God that knows us so well that He knew us before we were born. How can you say that an all knowing God, who is Alpha, Omega, beginning and end, doesn't know the future.

Can you understand my confusion. I had a Christian Beliefs prof at Mid America Nazarene University once pose the question..."If you were walking along the street would God know if you were going to kick a stone" At this point I was very much in the belief that God knew me so well that He knew that I was going to. The pro retorted that why would God even waste His time worrying about that. Maybe not in those words but it got me to think which was probably the whole point of the example. Matthew 6 :25-27 says: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not like more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds or the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. I really took a look at this...if God knows us birds that well and He takes care of them. How much more important are we His children.

I worked in a snack shop in college and the guy I worked with, he and I would talk about this kind of thing a lot. (he was a bible major) His feelings on this kind of made sense and I thought I would share them with you. He said that God is the author of the book of our life. He wrote it so he knows how it is going to end, He holds the book so He is can also turn to any page at any time, but He is also rereading the book like He has no idea what is going to happen. Not knowing but CAN knowing are two different things. This concept might be hard to wrap around, but as I was also once told, A fish will never know what snow is, there are some things that we as humans aren't suppose to know. That is the best that my little brain can come up with at this point...I hope that I was able to really throw you into a state of confusion right along with me.

Peace out...later on.

Just a quick follow up

SIZE AGAIN

This is a picture of our Histroy teacher Mr. Mooney. We are sitting on metal slides that shoot people down the side of a mountain. We were not going to get down the hill very fast since it should have taken us like two slides to make it work. We would race and Koreans would beat us down the hill on the same track that we were on, that was made for one. Fun day. The ride down took about three hours and the ride up the hill was usually double that time.

Anyway I wanted to get out some more names and correct a place where one of my friends went. Please keep the following in your thoughts and prayers... Simon Bandung, Indonesia, Joel & Karina Belem, Brazil, Kyle who is in Lima, Peru. Peter and Pellen in Singapore. Kristen, Rachel, Lisa and Kara who are in LaPaz, Bolivia. Kara decided to stay in the states but please keep her in your prayers. Sam & Noelle I previously stated were in Germany however I was mistaken and they are actually in Singapore. Daniel who recently got his visa and has been in Brasilia, Brazil for a while now.

These are new friends that I met at my training in Memphis. I really enjoyed it and sometime I'll go into some of the happenings there. It was two of the funest weeks I have had in a while. 140 people all training to go out and do what I have been doing for two years.

Just short sweet and around to the point. Take care all and I'll be checking in with you later.

peace out...later on.

Is he cool or what? Oh and then there's me...

TOURISM

This picture is of me and a palace guard. I would actually love to know what he is thinking. "Here is a 6'6" guy coming over to take a picture with me." "I think I might have to go a wet myself" Just kidding of course. This was taken at a palace in Seoul. It is called the Namdaemun Palace. It is actually the place where the Amazing Race ended one of it's legs of its race. Kind of cool to be able to do things that I know that a lot of my friends and family will not get to see. Not saying that I don't wish any of you guys were here. I love all of you.

God has really been doing some amazing things in my life and I thought I might share a few of them with you. This year at school I was seriously thinking about not coming back for this year. The reason behind this was because of my 9th graders this year. Last year they were really hard to deal with. There were a few students that just brought me down mentally each day...This year it is, how can I say, amazing but times 50? The students that I thought would be a problem are actually the ones that have helped out the most. I still can't believe that this is the same class. Classes are going really well. I really enjoy going to school everyday. Sometimes it can get really hot outside and the students do their whining, but they also respect me enough to know that I love them and only want the very best for them.

I also have been finally getting into reading the bible on a regular basis, to the point that I never have before. I usually get scared off from doing that because I'm not sure that my mind is wrapping around what the bible might actually be trying to tell me. This usually happens when I make a comment about something and another person would tell me that I'm totally wrong. I get discouraged but not this time. I bought a bible last year that is a sports devotional bible that has a different passage and devotion for every day of the week and so I am about four weeks into it and now I can't put it down. Only by God's grace have I been able to do this. I have my new gym that has been two years in the making. Still can't believe that I have this new place to do p.e. God really does answer prayers and I am here to tell you that things in the personal world can also be a little confusing sometimes. But through God's love and grace, everything will work out to His will. I'll talk more about that later.

Okay real quick I wanted to shout out some names that I want to hold up in prayer. These are my new friends that are all over the world now, doing the same thing that I am doing right now... Jan, Debra, Katie, Karen, Ryan who are all in Kabul, Afghanistan. Curt who is in Kunming, China. Trisha who is still on her way to Rio, Ryan and Krista that are in Suriname. Jenny, Kara, Aimee, and other in Seoul. Jamie and his fiance in Uijongbu, Korea. Sam and his new wife Noelle in Germany. I will write more names later, but please keep all of these new friends in your thoughts and prayers. The teachers in Kabul, I can't even imagine the things they are going through.

Well this is all for now...if you have and thoughts or prayer requests please write them in the comment section and I will be praying for you. Take care until next time.

Peace out...later on.