Only the good die young July 9, 2009
Posted by andrewhayes in Uncategorized.Tags: wisdom, youth
add a comment
I love being young. Most people would tell you that being young is hard, because your not established at all, your not sure of anything really. I disagree, being a younger guy has been a blast, not to say that sometimes it’s hard, but I see things through fresh eyes, I am not hindered by past experiences that would change my perception on issues, and I love it. I am not much of a puzzle solver, Sudoku is the devil, word scrambles are impossible, and I would rather choke on a marble then play scrabble, but for some reason the adventure of becoming who I was created to be excites me. It is a puzzle everyday, and as much as I can’t stand puzzles, my life interests me. I am not tied down to any one specific way, I have no relationship to consider when making life choices, I am not married to my minimum wage retail job, I am free. So right now I am not worried about the future, but not being worried does not mean I don’t soberly consider my future endeavors, because I do; what I mean is that I have people in my life that will and do give me wisdom that they have acquired along their life’s journey. I have learned to cherish the wiser and not to despise them like most of my generation has, and I have learned so much from them.
I choose to keep moving forward, and not let myself stay where I am in life. I can’t do that on my own, I have people with more wisdom and experience coaching me and mentoring me through my beginning steps as an adult. There are a few steps that I believe we should take in our youth, so when we become old, they will not be a hassle to achieve. First, we in our youth should learn to be servants, to serve anywhere and everywhere, instill servant-hood now and it will stay with you for life. Second we need to heed the words of the old, there experiential knowledge will help us through our walk in life. And lastly, we need to learn to be quick forgivers. Forgive and let it go, don’t let it grate on you.
Youth is an amazing thing, use it wisely and accomplish a lot!
Quick Thought April 13, 2009
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Blackberry, communication, community, gadgets, Iphone, Ipod, texting
2 comments
I’ve just started a new job, and one thing that I notice, is whenever you make eye contact with someone you don’t know, they get really uncomfortable. What’s up with that? Why do people get fidgety if you look at them in the eyes? Maybe it is true! Maybe you are stealing there soul..oh wait..that’s if you take a picture. Any kind of contact that requires two people to look at each other, or God forbid talk to each other, makes us incredibly uncomfortable. I have this happen to me all the time, someone will say ” give so and so a call” and I’ll retort with a ” I just sent them a text” which no matter what most people say, it is usually quicker to make a call then to wait 20 minutes for a response from some text. We have lost the art of communication. Blackberry, Smart Phones, Iphones, Ipods..the list of things that separates us is endless. And believe it or not, it does effect your spiritual life. I have actually had the thought, I wish God would just text me, why do I have to sit down and have a time consuming conversation with God? I am a busy person, doesn’t He know that? OF COURSE HE KNOWS THAT! God created us to be people who thrive with community, and we have lost what community is in the last 20 years, because gadgets have separated us. Don’t get my wrong, I love texting, and listening to my Ipod, but there are sometimes when we need to put our distractions away, and focus on our ability to communicate with each other and with God. -Quick thought
Why Can’t We Be Friends? March 31, 2009
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Church, God, offense, Pride, Tower of Babel, Unity
2 comments
At one time the whole world spoke a single language and used the same words. As the people migrated eastward, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began to talk about construction projects. “Come,” they said, “let’s make great piles of burnt brick and collect natural asphalt to use as mortar. Let’s build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies–a monument to our greatness! This will bring us together and keep us from scattering all over the world.” But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and give them different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. Genesis 11.1-8 (new living translation)
The infamous Tower of Babel!!! People got together in unity, and of one mind, to build something in honor of their greatness. They wanted to build a tower into the heavens, they were so proud of themselves that they could accomplish something so great….who cares, who really gives a rats backside that a bunch of people thousands of years ago got together to build a building…Well it seems to me that God cared. God even said “If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them!”
Wow! A bunch of heathen tower builders got together to build a tower, and it caught God’s attention. But why is it that we as Christians can’t seem to work together long enough to vacuum the church together? We have become so small minded that the littlest things seem to offend us, or throw us out of wack. How can we become so united that we can accomplish something big like that? Well I so happen to have the key to that locked question..let me open it up for you…the secret to unity is…GET OVER YOURSELVES. Even the Godless heathen thousands of years ago understood this concept. If we want to accomplish something, we need to first realize that this something is bigger than we are.
The one huge road block to acquiring unity in the church is offense. We so often are offended by what people say to us our about us, or how they say something…Really? Come on people, we have way more potential then that. But we still seem to be set back by each other. The tower of Babel grew in size because the builders could physically see that this was a bigger then they were. We as the church fail to see that. I have worked secular jobs before, and more often than not, people won’t get offended with you, and a business can be built because they realize that it is bigger than themselves.
Another reason that the tower of Babel was such a success was that everybody involved knew the final goal, and were trying to achieve it together. In today’s church we can’t seem to get a grip on that . We understand that our goal is to win souls, but we can not seem to work together , because quite honestly pride gets in the way. ” I want to be recognized for what I did”, ” I want people to know how much work I put into this project” Wow, pride is so rampant, that sometimes we are blind to it. It does not say that the Babalonians each required attention and applause for what they did. they just did it. We need to be like Nike and “Just Do It”.
Along with pride comes the need for a title. I know how ridiculous it sounds, but having a title in the Church is such a big deal to Christians. ” I am head of the bathroom cleaners” and that person will walk around chest out, almost needing a badge of honor. Get real, titles other than biblical ones are only to appease the people that have them, and this really does cause dis-unity, only because it causes a false sense of hierarchy. for example: “I am the official door opener of the church, therefore Thou shall listen to me(I love when people like that feel more powerful using the Kings language)” . NO you are a greeter, and you are a servant in the house of God, you are a nobody, and that should be OK with you. The builders were nobodies, there are no names mentioned, there are no titles mentioned, and they still seemed to make a pretty huge tower.
Ok, so what did we learn today church? #1 Get over yourselves. #2 It’s not about you #3 Be humble, unity is bigger than you are.
Giving March 27, 2009
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Giving, Ipod, Love 146, Rob Bell, Smile Train, Stewardship
add a comment
We are so rich, I am rich. I recently watched a Rob Bell video called rich, and he talks about all the ways that we as Americans are rich. He states that 8% of the people in the world own a car, so right off the bat I’m in the top 8%. I have a job, I have a roof over my head, I am going to school, I have food, I have more than one pair of shoes, I have an entire wardrobe. I am so stinking rich. But, we see people that have a nicer car, a bigger house, newer clothes, more pairs of shoes, and we see them as rich, not us. I have been to places like Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Ghana, Dominican Republic, these places are poor. I have been to orphanages in Africa, I have seen naked begging children on the border of Cambodia and Thailand, and when I come back to my beaten up car, I see that I am rich, I see that I am blessed.
The Christians in my generation are very good at giving. My church had a theme this past Christmas called “Advent Conspiracy” where we looked outside our own personal life, to a more global perspective. We gave tens of thousands of dollars to organizations such as Love 146, whose goal is the abolition of child sex slavery, and we gave to Smile Train, who helps repair cleft palettes on children in third world nations, we gave to local charities too, and the lives of people around the world were changed. Americans are very good at giving, we are the most generous people in the world. But so often we give to the latest causes, and in a sense “pay off our convictions”, we drop a check in the offering, and I’m off the hook, but giving is so much more than that,it’s such a deeper issue.
We are good at giving, but we are not givers. To be a giver is a consistent lifestyleof giving. So often the thought is, “How little do I have to give so I can spend what I want?” when in reality, it should be ” Who little can I live on to give more?” . This is the thought of a true giver, and I’ll be the first to say that I am not there either.
Spending less should be our first thought. Do I really need that new Ipod? Do I really need those new Nike shorts? Do I reallyneed that Big Mac (for some of you that is a big no! especially middle-schoolers, if you don’t like acne, then learn not to like fast food)? More than the thought of spending less is coming to the realization that we are indeed stewards of the money that God has given us. Essentially, we are accountants for God. He gives us money, and if we spend it where we are not supposed to, He(being God) could stop giving us money. The Biblesays that a cattle on a thousand hills are his, God owns it all! Stewardship is so important!
Give more, well that is so much easier said than done. The truth is that we really have to come to a point where we give until it hurts. ( Oh and tithing does not count, my favorite author Craig Groeschel says it this way: “Tithing is for beginners”, so giving until it hurts is beyond the the tithe.) If you are an athlete or know an athlete, you know that when they do a work out or they go running, they are going to be in pain the next day, and for any athlete, they know that that means progress. same with Christians and giving, if you are giving, and you don’t feel it, you are not improving, you are not “maturing” in a sense. pain=gain.
Giving is so gratifying. it just feels good. I think that it is very important to always remember that God is the one who gives to us so we can give to others. Worshiping God is so important. God has provided for all of us in one way or another..if you can’t think any, I’ll give you a few examples: you are breathing..God, you have food…God, roof…God, car…God, Steak…God( Cattle on a thousand hills, aka steak..thank you Jesus!!)
Spend less, you are a steward of God’s money. Give more, God set a great example of giving by sending His son, it must be important to Him. And lastly, worship Him for all that He has done, and is doing for you!
Don’t Give…Be Givers
While in Cambodia February 5, 2009
Posted by andrewhayes in Uncategorized.Tags: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, eternity, John 3:16, ruins
add a comment
OK, I have offically been in the county or Cambodia for about 36 hours..the heat, the humidity…it’s great! You would think that blonde haired, light skinned, blue eyed fellow such as myself would hate being in the sun, well think again my friends, the sun and I might not be best friends, but we get along pretty well.
Today, while in Cambodia, I went to one of the worlds most renown ruins, Angkor Wat. Incredible, these structures were built hundreds of years ago, and the bit that is left standing, and the intricate work that was done on them is amazing! I was walking through the ruins thinking to myself, “This is like a teenage guys dream”, there are structures that are three and four and five stories high, and you have to climb some very small stairs to get up them. I was climbing all over (at least the places I was allowed to, I decided that it was best to obey the law and not be thrown into a Cambodian prison), and I was loving it.
While looking over these ancient ruins, I began to think: when these were built the were the most high tech most amazing buidings of it’s time, and hundreds of years later, here they lie in ruin. Aren’t our lives like that, we put so much time and energy into building our lives and building things that help us, things that will not last things that will eventually end in ruin. Instead, we should build into eternal things, and make it last forever.
How do we do that? Well let’s first ask what lasts forever? Well, God does, and those that believe in Him have eternal life (John 3:16), so if we are to build things that will last more than our life times, and more than our earthly kingdoms, we need to invest and build into God’s kingdom. Evangalize, the Bible says go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
Today’s Goal: Help those around you, be a light in there life, and build with eternity in mind!
Can’t do It December 29, 2008
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Anorexia, Bible, Food, Temptation
add a comment
Ever been tempted to do something that you know you shouldn’t do?
Ever done it anyway even though you know that it was wrong?
NO! NEVER! You know friends that have, but never you, right?
OK, to make your sorry self feel better we will hypothetically say that your friend is struggling with something like drinking…Internet porn…the opposite sex…food…throwing up their food…cutting themselves…the list is endless. Their reason is that there is no way that they could fight temptation, it just was impossible. OK, this is where you go home and open your Bible and start to read in 1 Corinthians 10, in verse 13 it begins to dissect the thought of “I can’t do it”.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear [it].
Cracker say what?! NO WAY God doesn’t allow your friend to be tempted beyond what he or she can handle? That’s what the Good Book says. Think about that next time your friend is sitting in front of the computer when no one is home, or when your friend(who maybe a tad bit overweight ) sees that last piece of chocolate cake on the kitchen table, or when your friend is all alone in his or her room and really depressed, and searching for their knife, I want you to reassure them that there is no temptation that has been put in front of them, that God has not made an avenue out for.
I CAN’T DO IT…Without God
Religion December 16, 2008
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Christmas, Hail Mary, James 1:27, Our Father, Religion
add a comment
When we hear the word Religion what do we think of? We think of things like “Our Father’s” and “Hail Mary’s”, we think of sitting in a silent room having a monologue with the wall and calling it prayer. Over time charismatic churches have grown to dislike what religion has become so much so that we have phrases like :Christianity is a relationship not religion, which isn’t entirely true.
James 1:27 says: Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Religion is not a monologue in an empty sanctuary, True religion is getting out there and being Jesus to somebody, Is being proactive when seeing a need, is being the light in somebodies darkness.
Why is it that we have made Christianity all about not doing bad? In all reality that is nothing like Christ. Jesus’ whole ministry was focused on doing good, and helping the needy, the widow, the orphan, the neighbor next door who doesn’t have enough money to get ther kids anything for Christmas, the child sold into slavery…Jesus was focused on doing the Fathers will, Jesus was not worried about doing no bad, He was obsessed with doing all the good He could.
Religion:Visit the hurt. Help the Hurt. Go be religious to somebody this Christmas.
Wait November 27, 2008
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Isaiah, Rest, Thanksgiving
add a comment
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
Over Thanksgiving break, I get a chance to stop and rest, I get a chance to quiet myself, and just find some peace. When times like this comes, I find it easier to sit back and relax and worry about my own interests, and not worry about anybody but me. But this verse really puts rest in perspective for me. Vacation is a time to find rest, but I’m learning that that vacation can be so much more then that, it can be a time where I just wait on the Lord, I just seek His face, and to try to cultivate my relationship with Him.
In finding time to rest and seek God, He promises to renew our strength, to renew our strength more then we can do on our own. We will walk and not grow faint, I love these promises, I love that God cares enough about our strength and our weakness!.
So on vacation, when your planning on sitting in front of the tv, or sleeping in really late, rethink it, get up early to wait on the Lord, let Him renew your strength, be refreshed in all that He has for you.
Salvation November 20, 2008
Posted by andrewhayes in small group.Tags: God, Grace, Jesus, Romans, Salvation
1 comment so far
Salvation, one of the most basic parts of Christianity, but it often surprises me how little people really know about it. If you ask most people how they are saved, they will pull out the one bible verse that they have up in there head, dust it off, and recite it, that’s right, John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. OK,So we got the part that God sent his son Jesus to save me, but how does that really work? It says in Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace we have been saved through faith,and that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We are saved by the grace of God, He had enough mercy and grace on such a sinful world, that He sent His son to die on the cross for us. And the only way to accept His grace is through faith, faith that he really did this for us.
So we are saved, saved from what? Why is it so important? In Romans 6:23 it says: for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of sin is death, but even greater then death is eternal separation from God, and from the life that He gives. The Bible also says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that is why salvation is so very important- because all have sinned, there is none that are excluded from that list except Christ himself. We need salvation!
Now that we are saved, and we have made Jesus the Lord of our life, we don’t have to worry, we can just keep on livin’, we can do what we have always done, it doesn’t matter anymore… right?…WRONG!!! Romans 6:1 says: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who have died to sin live any longer in it? God’s salvation is a continual process of renewal, and restoration in our lives. Our goal is to be more like Christ. We will fall, and we will stumble, but the Bible says that His mercies are new every morning!
God did give His own son to die on the cross, Jesus payed the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. So by having faith in the fact that God had enough grace and mercy to give His son for our sins, we are saved, It is a good day. No matter what problems that you maybe facing today, you have the opportunity to choose to spend eternity with God, the Creator of the universe, The King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords! It is a good day!
Random November 19, 2008
Posted by andrewhayes in intern thoughts.Tags: Random
1 comment so far
One of my favorite things in this world is random facts, so I thought that I would share some really good ones with you
The Year that they were introduced, Volkswagen only sold two Beetles in the United States
A U.S. standard passport contains 24 pages
Q: if you had a million dollars in $100 bills, how much would it weigh? A:20.41 lbs
According to his “official biography,” Popeye is 34 years old, 5′6″tall, and 154lbs.
In Japan, when a man turns 60, he is considered free of the responsibilities of being an adult
Plastic bottles were fisrt used for soft drinks in 1970
More babies are born on Tuesday then any other day of the week.
Theses are just a few that I thought I would share with you…I hoped you enjoyed them
