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JoshRogers
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Name: Josh
Metro:
Birthday: 4/1/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: I have alot of interest but are any of them interesting? You decide...
Hobbies: singing, playing my Taylor guitar, sports of all kinds I'll try anything once, skiing (which I don't get to do in Ohio), collecting old records (also known as the Viynl, LPs, or big black CDs), and traveling (4 countinents down 3 to go- yes that includes Antartica)
Music: David Crowder Band, United Live, Switchfoot, Athlete, Cold Play, U2, LA Symphony, Dave Matthews Band, Josh Groban, Andrea Bochelli, Frank Sinatra and all the Crooners of Years gone by (but they sound better on Viynl). So in review if its Rock of any kind, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Country, HipHop, or select kinds of Rap I listen depending on my mood.
Books: The Heavenly Man, The Gutter, Wild at Heart (but any of John Eldridge's books are worth a read), Every Man's Battle, and Blue Like Jazz!
Countries: Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, Monoco, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Equador, New Zealand, Australia, and more to come.
Expertise: Inserting Foot into Mouth
Occupation: Consulting
Industry: Business
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  JJRCC2004
Member Since:
1/18/2006
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| I was listening to the following song earlier tonight and I guess this says it best:
Lord I'm tired
So tired from walking
And Lord I'm so alone
And Lord the dark
Is creeping in
Creeping up
To swallow me
I think I'll stop
Rest here a while
And didn't You see me cry'n?
And didn't You hear me call Your name?
Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?
I wish You'd remember
Where you sat it down
And this is all that I can say right now
And this is all that I can give
I didn't notice You were standing here
I didn't know that
That was You holding me
I didn't notice You were cry'n too
I didn't know that
That was You washing my feet | | |
| My thoughts...
Still processing...but I know God will not waste this hurt as long as I seek to be obedient to Him! | | |
| My thoughts...
Regardless of our individual thoughts and feelings it is discouraging that as I sit in my living rooms each night I continue to see broadcasts out to the entire Miami Valley revealing just how ugly this has become.
As Christians we are called to go out into the world and further the gospel. Our calling is to life a life worthy of the gospel. As we continue to talk about what should or should not have happened and what truth was told or not told, I am left with one question ringing in my mind: how does this enable us to further the gospel?
Please don't misunderstand me to say that we need not talk about this because we do. My previous question is more to the whole process by which we arrived at our current situation.
I paraphrase as I say: God is God and I am not, His ways are not my ways and his thoughts are not my thoughts! In our quest for righteousness have we been blinded by our own zeal? Have we allowed the resolution we desire to justify our means? Have we put ourselves in a position where regardless of outcome we have rendered our testimony as Christians ineffective because of the example we have set forth?
I have said this to all of you on different occasions. I think that the entire situation was handled poorly! No one understood what the others were asking for! This created hurt feelings on both "sides" and resulted in actions being interpreted as deliberately "Ungodly" and "Wrong" on accounts of all parties involved.
Could this situation been resolved in a better way? My initial reaction is YES but that is my logic. Only God knows the answer to that.
I do know that God never wastes a hurt! I know my wife and I have been driven to a level of dependence on God I personally have not experienced since my parents divorced. I know of countless stories of people who have come to know the Lord and others who have taken larger steps toward maturing in their faith through service in a time of need.
Over the past months I can't help but think about the following from Philippians:
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being
found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a
cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of lifein order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
What would the Apostle Paul think about all of this and how we have so eerily reverted back to many of the arguments that the church had in the early days of its formation? In the end Paul makes it clear by saying that regardless of our thoughts, opinions, preferences, convictions, etc. we need to act in a way that will honor Christ:
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
I apologize that this entry is so long. I guess my heart has jut been longing for an outlet where I could stop, think, organize, and put my thoughts into words. I know that a long road still lies ahead of me. Where will it leads my wife and I? At this point I do not know. All I can say is that as I seek the Lords face He WILL reveal himself!
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| A long road lies ahead.
Where does it lead? I do not know!
My thoughts are jumbled and confused.
Lead me on Jesus! | | |
| defeat (d-ft)
Failure to win
A coming to naught; frustration
We all have times in our lives when we feel defeated, discouraged, confused, and disappointed. No matter what happens nothing seems to go right. Times when you throw your hands up in the air and just scream at the top of your lungs, "ENOUGH! I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE!" Then no sooner has the last bit of air left your lips when the still small voice of God says, "Good now I can go to work. But hold on because you haven't seen anything yet."
Medal is put to the fire and heated till impurities are burnt off, but not all the impurities are completely removed after one heating. It is a process that is repeated many times often till the medal reaches an almost molten state where it can be molded and shaped. It takes skilled tradesmen hours of hard labor to create a purified precious medal.
I don't mean to sound cliche but I think that God uses that same process to wake us up and move us to a deeper relationship with himself. If we are obedient and follow after him all we can do is hold on for the ride. One of my favorite passages is in Corinthians where Paul writes "No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it."
What a wonderful reminder, my life is so much more than a single moment in time, it is part of the story and promise of all those before me and those yet to come. A story to which the ending is already written.
My eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; in You I take refuge! (Psalm 148:8) | | |
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