God is an Investor

And He changes the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Daniel 2:21 KJV

I gave this advice twice this past weekend, once to a fellow announcer at a high school band show and once to a fellow blogger-Be yourself.

You cannot do your best when you use other people's talents.

All too often we envy others for their talents while making excuses about why we aren't all we could be for the Lord. God didn't give me your talent because he has a different ministry for me.

We are responsible for using the tools God has given us for the up building of His kingdom.

God invests in us, and He is a wise investor. If we use these talents the value of our "stock" go up, and God will give us more. If we don't use our talents, they will be taken away from us.

God wants the best for His children but he wants us to use the best for His glory.

I Smile

Great song with some very neat pictures.

Dual Posts:Thankful Thursday

I'm sure that some of you noticed that I didn't post anything in either blog yesterday. That was because I was not up to it emotionally. I did contact one of my best friends via email about it and was sent some real encouragement back.

I figure if I didn't post today, some would get concerned since I have some real super friends who stop by here. So as I was showering this morning, I come up with the idea, actually I ripped it off, I mean borrowed it, from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, of Thankful Thursday. I am starting this at 4am my time, and hope to have it posted during my morning break so it will be up before my regular readers take their strolls through the "bloggerhood". And it will be on both blogs.

First, I am thankful that I have good friends who read these blogs, those who have been with me from the start, in August, 2006, to those who who have started reading recently. Your comments brighten my day.

I am also thankful for the job I have even though it's not my dream job and it's 46 miles from my house.

But I'm also thankful that I have reliable transportation to get me there, even if it is a two toned(blue and rust) 1989 Toyota.

I'm thankful that I have a home to go to at night.

I'm thankful that over the years I have always had enough food to eat, to the point I need to lose weight.

I'm thankful that I have those at home who care about me.

I'm thankful that we had enough extra money to eat out yesterday, even if it was Wendys.

Because I am thankful that an old friend of the family followed us in just to say "hi".

I'm thankful that the weekend is coming up, and Rittman has their homecoming game on Friday, and that we have a show to go to Saturday.

I'm thankful God gave a big booming voice and that I can use it to help 44 student musicians.

And that the Rittman Marching Band gives me a good product that makes it easy for me to yell about.

I'm thankful that I have some singing ability, because due to some people not being in church this past Sunday I was asked to lead the singing.

Remember the Bible says that there is power in praise. Start your own "Thankful Thursday" list. It's a very easy post to do because once you start the ideas flow freely.

God is Good - Don Moen

That's so true!!!

Iron Sharpening Iron

As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Proverbs 27:17 NJKV

One thing that's amazed me in the past few weeks is how many friends I have made through the Internet. First it was Liquid. Then off her blog, I was introduced to Pilgrim. Last week I was introduced to Frasypoo, and through her blog I was introduced to Kathy's Klavier. And before all this I had known through the Cleveland.com message boards a gentleman known as WZZP.

All these good people have taught me a thing or two about living the Christian life. WZZP was there for me when I was going through depression last winter. Liquid has done a great job in making me feel me about my blogging and has been a fantastic friend behind the scenes.

The first post I commented about on Pilgrim's Scrawl, was about Pilgrim being a serial intercessor. By the way, I was just at Pilgrim's Scrawl and Pilgrim has posted that he will be away from the blogosphere for 1-1/2 weeks, and he wants us to pray for him. He and I have had some contact through email, and we also have become good friends.

Another introduced to me by Liquid is Frasypoo. Frasypoo originally is from India, but now hails from Georgia. Frasypoo is very frank about her religious and political views, but will also let you know if you are doing a good job blogging. She is a very committed Christian.

Kathy(not Mrs74WIXYgrad) came here this week, having discovered me through Frasypoo. I've taken a look at her blog and am impressed. She seems to be a relatively young Christian, but has her feet firmly planted Check out her blog, Kathy's Klavier.

Let me tie this all together. Why have I told you about all these good folks? Because we all need each other. These people have all been working on sharpening me and I hope I have been able to help sharpen them.

It's been said that no man's an island and we aren't. We need contact one with another. God created man in order to have someone to fellowship with. He expects his greatest creation to have fellowship one with another. We can learn from others. We can teach others. Jesus told the disciples to Go therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. We need to learn from some before we can teach others.

If We Are The Body

Explanation of Posting Above.

The idea that I had for posting this video was inspired by a post by Frasypoo in her excellent blog, This and That, where she laments about people being on their best behavior on Sunday. During the week they were just another part of the world. I will take it another step since I was the fat kid from the other side of the tracks. Yes I like the songs with more of a beat, but I also like to listen to Christian songs with a message.

Let the music speak to you.