Running the Race - Are you comfortable with the finish?

Hello again. When I originally started this blog, I had a few followers. Given that I have not made an entry in the past few years, I doubt anyone is still checking in. However, I’ve proposed to myself based upon the notion of both accountability and general self-enlightenment to begin blogging again. It brought a sense of satisfaction to put thoughts down on paper (in this case, 1s and 0s thanks to the nature of WYSIWYG).

At this point in my life, I sense that I have distanced myself from the Father. I pray sparingly and read more sparsely. I consider 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

So I ask you, any who by chance have stumbled upon this random mixture of thoughts, “what drives you?” What keeps you focused? What keeps you on the path of the straight and narrow? How do you know much more than a page and feel the warm embrace? When thinking of this life as a race with respect to the teachings of the Lord’s humble servant Paul, how do we strive for success under the righteousness that has been given so freely to us in order to glorify our Lord? If you read this, please use this as a starting point for conversation with yourself, me, or others. I would love to hear what you have to say.

God Bless,

James

Jesus Is Your Way

Today I am in the opening day of my new study called Experiencing God. Day 1 is entitled, "Jesus Is Your Way". All too often we find ourselves, and I know I do this myself particularly, seeking God's will. This is a beautiful thing. There could be issues in seeking God's will. Obviously I am not here to tell you that the issue itself is seeking God's will. I rather want to pose the question of how are we seeking God's will.

There are two ways to ask this question:

1. Lord, what do you want me to do? When do You want me to do it? How shall I do it? Where shall I do it? Whom do you want me to involve along the way? And please tell me what the outcome will be?

2. Lord, as You go with me, tell me what to do one step at a time. I will do it.

Let's dive into the Word to justify our decisions in how we seek God's will to follow him.

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life". When we get to a place in our life where we trust Jesus to guide us one step at a time, we experience tremendous freedom! Further, we know this about Abraham, "The LORD had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."

Where did God tell him to go? Did he say what would happen" Well, yes, that he would make him into a great nation and bless him. Solid. But God essentially said to follow him. He didn't point out all that Abraham would face, but simply said follow me. Jesus did this to his disciples and he does this for us today. He doesn't say, "If you follow me, x-y-z will happen." In fact, his commandment had very little context to those who initially served Him. They simply were told to follow him.

Matthew 6:33-34 states, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.".

Beautiful. I love it when scripture just rocks my world. Jesus said do not worry about tomorrow. But God, what about the trials at work? Don't worry about tomorrow. Ok, then what about my journey with you in the future? Is it your will that I stay where I am or to do something else? DON'T WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

Last night as I was opening up my bible to spend some time with the Father, I felt the desire to open up to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I love Ephesians. First it starts out with the acknowledgement that long before we were born, we were elected through grace by our Heavenly Father to worship Him for all of eternity.

We then get to a verse that really got me - A Prayer for Spiritual Strength. I wanted to put it on here, but I have changed the words to reflect as if this were coming from you or myself rather than in letter form from Paul. Please pray this with me:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory may he grant me to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith - that I, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comeprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in te church and in christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Radical Christian Sacrifice

Let us pray together. Father we together now renounce and do pray that these friends would do this with me. We renounce all self reliance, all vain glory, pride, greed, envy, cowardness and fear of man, lust that threatens to sweep our brains away, anxiety about what's going on at home and ask for freedom. We renounce sinful anger and bitterness, satan and all his works and ways, and together now submit to Christ and submit to your word, and we ask for the Holy Spirit to brood over these thousands that something extraordinary will happen for the glory of Christ and the reaching of the nations.

My desire and prayer to God is that your life and your ministry will have a radical flavor. A gutsy, counter-cultural, war time flavor that makes average American people in your church uncomfortable. A strange mixture of tenderness and toughness that keeps people a little bit off balance. A pervasive summons to something more, something hazardess, something wonderful, a saltyness and a brightness about your life and about your church. Something like Jesus. Salt and Light are joyful embrace of suffering. That's what the world is waiting for.

I don't come here for nothing, I want something, I want you to do something. I want this world to be rocked by your lives. Where are the young men and women of this generation that will hold their lives cheap and be faithful until death. Who will lose their lives for Christ, flinging them away for the love of Him. Where are those who will live dangerously and be reckless in His service? Where are the men of prayer? Where are the the men who count God's Word more important to them than their daily food? Where are the men like Moses of old commune with God face-to-face? Where are God's men in this day of God's power?

They are not impressed with us. Prosperous, weathly, safe, middle class, do what everybody else does. Don't build a church like that. It will cost you your life to build a church that doesn't live like the rest of the world. You've got to live like that. You've got to have a flavor about your life that is risky and radical and different.

The only people who are of any earthly good are those that are so radically heavenly minded that they are free from this world. Free from stuff. Stuff is killing us. Houses are killing us. Books are killing us. Carpet is killing us. Cars are killing us. Computers are killing us. What creates this craziness, what creates this radical, risk taking, sacrificial life is the reward that is coming, and it is everything to me.

We treasure our future reward vastly more than we treasure this world. Christ supreme, glorious, magnificant, and precious, is that reward. He is God's final revelation. He is the heir of all things. He is the creator of the world. He is the radiance of God's glory. He is the exact inprint of God's nature. He upholds the universe by the word of His power. He made purification for sins. He sits at the right hand of the majesty. He is God enthroned forever with the septer of uprightness. He is worshipped by angels. His rule will have no end. His joy is above all other things in the universe. He took on human flesh. He was crowned with glory and honor because of his suffering. He was the founder of our salvation. He was made perfect in all of his obedience by his suffering. He destroyed the one that has the power of death. He delivered us from the bondage of fear. He is a merciful and faithful high priest. He made propitation for sins. He is sympathetic because of his own trials. He never sinned. He offered up loud cries and tears with reverent fear and God heard him. He became the source of eternal salvation. He holds his priesthood by virtue of an indestructable life. He appears in the presense of God on our behalf. He will come a second time to save those that are eagerly waiting for him. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Therefore, let us go to Him, and bear the reproach He endured.

(I did not write this, but wanted to put these words into text)

Mission Trips

I wanted to pose a question to anyone that reads this blog. I would like to start going on mission trips. However, those are typically a little too expensive. Any ideas on how to raise funds for mission trips?

Humbled

It is always an amazing moment when you experience the Glory of God. I find it humbling in that this glorification is much beyond my personal realm of possibility and achievement. We tried hard in our efforts to serve the Master. Each specified time period of action starts so strong, but we lose steam. We justify sin, because let's face it, we lose sight at times that He is always in the room with us.

Despite our shortfalls though, He choses to glorify Himself in our work. Praise the Lord of his might and grace. No matter what shape or form we take, our Lord wants us to be the moon that reflects his Son. Think of it this way. Does the moon generate any of its own light? Does anything revolve around the moon? No. What does the moon do for us here on Earth? It provides light! But wait, I just said that it doesn't generate its own light. Alas, it reflects the light of the sun, which generates the light of the universe. From millions and millions of miles away, it gives us the light of day, and crashes through the darkness of light by reflecting off of the moon.

Just like the moon, we can not generate our own light. From a distance, we appear to be smooth, symmetrical, out of this world (ha, had to). Up close, we are cratered, dismal, volatile. When you are around the moon, is 280 degrees in the sunlight. In the shade, it can be as cold as -400 degrees in darkness. In the darkness of night, when we look up at the moon that is perfectly round and reflecting the sun back to us, it is beautiful.

Similar to the moon, our love and ability to crashes through darkness and cold at levels. When we are not reflecting the Son, we are cold. The choice is ours. Are we going to show the world the light of Christ or are we going to give the no-added-value of darkness?


I woke up to another day,
another day to celebrate.
Your beauty and your mystery,
is more than any eye can see.
I'm not the man I was before,
to you my life is so much more.
Break the chains and open doors,
to a world I can't ignore.

Lord let me shine
Shine like moon.
A reflection of you
in all that I do
Lord let me be
a light for your truth
Light of the world I want to be used
to shine for you.

Stage Stuck Christians

What is the deal with us? Why do we let ourselves get stuck in various stages? How many times have you asked the Lord to open the eyes of your heart that you may stop committing a particular act in your life that is a sin against the Father? How many times have you said, "Ok God, I'll stop", "Oh wait, now I'm serious", or "Ok, this time, I really mean it".

Of course, I'm guilty of this. Remember Romans 12:1-2. Repentence is not just simply asking for forgiveness after we have committed a sin. Repentence is not doing it anymore.

Sacrifice for the Lord that gave His life for you. Move forward from your comfort zone.

How Can I Keep From Singing Your Praise!?!?

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring
And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

How can I keep from singing your praise?
How can I ever say enough, how amazing is your love?
How can I keep from shouting your name?
I know I am loved by the King,
and it makes my heart want to sing

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down againI can sing 'cause
You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

How can I keep from singing your praise?
How can I ever say enough, how amazing is your love?
How can I keep from shouting your name?
I know I am loved by the King,
and it makes my heart want to sing

The Week That Saved Our Lives

I sit and think about the week I have ahead on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. My day has consisted of church, cleaning the pool, cleaning the house, and doing laundry. When I think about my week, I start creating a list of things that have to get done: 1) complete a subsidiary audit so we can issue our opinion, work on planning for the 2010 audit, and general preparation for our Q1 Review of the client's financials. In general, not much going on within this standard week.

I start to think about what was happening near or around this day about 2,000 years ago (yes, closer to 1,980). Our Lord, Jesus Christ, would probably have been praying with this disciples. He would have been teaching them. He would have been loving them. To the disciples, this would have been just any other Sunday. However, to our Lord, the end was coming. He would soon be preparing for his arrival to Jerusalem, preparing for his betrayal by man, and preparing for his death.

This week marks the greatest week of our own lives. It is because of the passion of our Lord that we no longer fear death. We will no longer face the wrath of God, because that wrath was satisfied by the sacrifice of his son. When people ask me crazy questions that begin with phrases such as, "If God is so loving..." or "If God was so great...", I think to myself that there is no question how loving our God is all of us. I'm yet to be married or with children, but I know that the idea of giving the world my son to sacrifice isn't an option. I would go down swinging like Peter in protection of him. I can not even wrap my mind around the depth of the sacrifice that our God and Lord Jesus Christ made during this week.

My Lord, my prayer to you is that eyes are opened this week. I pray that those actions and addictions that we we should be refraining from are put into perspective this week. If your son could go through a terrible death for the sake of our salvation, how could we possibly continue to disobey you. Father, we love you and are forever greatful for your mercy and compassion.

Radical Christian Sacrifice

There are many things I have been struggling with as of lately, and I think they all could be solved if I were to do what I was supposed to be doing (obviously).

1) Salary

Last week, I got into an aweful state of mind regarding our salaries. In summary, I found out that my level in the firm was "worth" a certain amount more, and I was filled with greed an envy. God quickly reminded me that my mortgage is paid for, I am clothed, and I eat. What more could I possibly need?

2) Entertainment

For whatever reason, I find myself addicted to entertainment. I have to have a movie on to fall asleep at night. When I am home, I have been watching movies and TV. In the car, I have the radio on. What would live be like if instead I turned the television off and prayed? I am not doing myself any favors by filling my mind with the images of TV. TV and movies will tell me I need more money, I need sex and alcohol, and depending on the channel, the new Tampax (unrelated, but seriously, they tell me I need this all the time and I don't know why).

3) Stuff

I typically want to add "stuff" to my house. New countertops in the bathroom, flowers outside by the pool, clothes, sport coats, more shoes, etc. I have everything I need! Why am I still living with this desire to build up so much worldy "stuff".

I feel I am still living a double life.

Yes, I have surrendered my life to Christ.
Yes, by grace alone, I have been given everything I will ever need.
Yes, I know what I am supposed to do.
Yes, I continue to pray the prayer of repentence, but getting tired of apologizing and asking for forgiveness for the SAME STUFF OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Yes, we have the ability to do what we are supposed to do.

While the old me is supposed to have been dead and gone away, why am I still fighting him?

I have been watching videos of John Piper quite a bit lately. I wanted to share this video regarding Radical Christian Sacrifice. I am sure many of you have seen it, but if you have not, please click the link below.

John Piper - Radical Christian Sacrifice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZUQA-4icSk

-MOC

It Is Finished

After 59 days straight of work and 85 billable hours each week, we issued our opinion on my clients annual report. I always enjoy the last few months of an audit, because it places individuals in an improbable situation for which failure and greatness can be achieved on the spectrum of outcome. More importantly, it is when corporate missionaries have the opportunity to truly witness and exhibit the qualities that immitate Christ.

One praise outside of having an outstanding performance provided by the blessings of God alone, I had about an hour or two conversation with a colleague about Christ. In one of the Saturday night extravaganzas, we ordered our dinner and were consumming the greasy greatness that was more than likely brewing underneath a heat lamp in preparation for our arrival.

As I bit into my nurishment, my friend asks me about God. He is one that grew up to know Christ. His questions were difficult. He asked the questions for which there is not a pretty, sugar-coated answer. It is easy to tell someone that they will have power in Christ. It is easy to tell someone that there will be a day in which we will not hurt. He asked, bluntly, how can a God be so loving, and send people to hell. He also questioned the general process (i.e. deathbed confessions).

As we were discussing, I was constantly praying for answers. In the end, there is a light that in burning inside of my friend. Please pray with me that he answers the calling of God.

Change in Understanding of the Game Plan

Well, sure enough, spring failed before it started. I decided against even trying. Then it dawned on me. Now is just not the time. Will there be a time? I do not know. Isn't that one of the great benefits of being in Christ? I don't have to plan! I just have to walk.

Instead of thinking to myself, "What else could I be doing to help people instead of spending 90 hours a week here at the office?", why not think, "Since I am here and this is where it appears God wants me to be, what can I do for the people around me since I am spending 90 hours a week here at the office?"

Don't you love it when you get out of God's way? I don't see anything wrong with what I was trying to accomplish. This past summer, it was somewhat evident that I needed to step up my game and enter the battle of savings souls. What was eluding my fragile mind was that I was already neck deep in the war.

Please continue to pray for my family in Costa Rica.

We lift our hands in praise to You
We lift in our hearts in worship to You, Lord
We lift our voice to You and sing
Our greatest love will ever be You, Lord
You, Lord

Glorious
Over us
You shall reign
Glorious

There is a King that we adore
With humble hearts we bow before You, Lord
There is a place we long to be
Face to face we long to see You, Lord
You, Lord

Majesty and power
Are Yours alone forever

What all happened?

It has been awhile. I have probably had one of the most busy few months in my life. I was promoted, sent to a new client within a new industry back in August and have been running at full speed ever since. Since I am working from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm most week days and here and there on the weekends, I experienced epic failure in seminary.

I dropped both of the classes I signed up for. Not sure if it was a matter of giving up or that I actually did not have the time. However, let's try round two, shall we?

I looked at the class schedule for the spring, and they only have part two of the classes I was taking. That being said, I am going to try only ONE class this time. The course is Background to Life/Times of Jesus. A study of the geography, history, and archaeology of the biblical world intended to provide a cultural and chronological framework of the life and times of Jesus Christ. Emphasis is placed on the background data that is crucial for proper understanding of the Gospels.

Questioning

Have you ever been so certain that decisions you were making were so right, only to look back and wonder if you are doing the right thing?

Correct Discussion Topic!

I obviously wasn't paying attention when I posted previously. We actually were given a topic!

Here is my "on topic" discussions.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp portrays, in a very extreme way, the values that we as Christians should have at the forefront of all of our thoughts. Christ died for me, and I have been commanded to go into the world to tell others about his name. This text takes it to the point of laying one's life down in order to save another.

What bothers me about Polycarp is the parallel that is drawn. Polycarp went away to pray at a home, Jesus prayed in a garden. The people were astonished with Polycarp's docile submission to the authorities for God's will, while Jesus equally embraced it under the terms of God's will. Polycarp was placed on a mule to enter into the city, and of course, Jesus did the same (granted the timeline is different). It then eventually goes into the part where Polycarp's allegiance was brought into question, whereas the same situation occurred for Christ being God himself.

This thought process leads me to the idea of if I am to be like Christ, am I to die like him? I'd have to say this is a terrible concept! James and Polycarp are just mere men. It also implies that Peter in denying Christ, escaping from prisons like the other apostles, and many other events were not correct. Had this occurred, we would not have the writings we have today! In death, Peter would have been somewhat worthless to the church.

To hold a martyr up above our shoulders, in my humble opinion, is to hold the wrong person up. Due to the grace of God, we do not have to die for our sins. As such, to seek glory, albeit in the name of God, seems to be rather self-righteous. It is definitely clear why this would be a non-canonical text. After reading, I walk away with the feeling that the writing was more about the greatness and praise of Polycarp. This is unlike when I read about Paul, for instance, who clearly points out that he is just a sinner who's only redeeming factor is that he is saved by grace through Jesus Christ.

Week One Discussion Post

On a weekly basis, we are required to submit discussion to the class message board regarding the current week topic. This is my post:

Once I went through the first few sections of the Didache, I noticed that the document became very legalistic. For example, the writer discussed how the baptism process should occur (i.e., the appropriate fasting, timing, method, and alternatives based upon certain events) As I was reading, I started to ask myself "why?". What could have been the context that would call for the need for the step by step procedure?

I then thought about the ancient cultures such as the Greeks. One could argue that the formation of their deity system was derived from explaining the unknown. Those individuals did not have the knowledge that we have today. Therefore, if the wind blows, we can explain it with a wind god. If there is a sun that shines upon us and allows us to be fruitful, then there must be a sun god. As elementary as it sounds, I can see how this could be a definite way to explain worldly processes to those that lacked knowledge.

That is the thought that brought me to a potential answer to my question above. Why did the church feel required to set forth the guidelines? Specifically, why did the church become compelled to tell people what and how to pray? In my limited knowledge at this point, could I propose that the reason that the church was so legalistic was because of the intelligence/knowledge level of its members?

In the United States, the ability to read is essentially a requirement. There are some circumstances that cause some individuals to grow up and not have that ability, but for the most part, we can all read. That being said, we have the ability to read the Bible and form our relationship with Christ. We have our own FAQ that at anytime we can open the Word and get our answers.

However, I can see how this would be a big problem in the earlier societies. So at this point, my thoughts are that maybe the church could have needed to be more legalistic in the past. Maybe in order to avoid heretic thoughts and actions, the church leaders would "help" out their church members in saying what to pray, how to pray, when to be baptized, etc. As we can "read" in the New Testament, the walk with Christ is calls more of a relationship rather than a set of rules (Yes, the rules are implied in that relationship). Yet this also makes me think of my job. At my firm, we have the new guys have a look at prior year workpapers in order to help guide them in completing the current year audit. They lack the knowledge to complete the tasks at first, so having the benchmarks helps them grow in the manner that we want them to grow.

I probably went a little long here, and I apologize!

The Didache

The Didache, pronounced did-uh-kee, was originally in Greek but later translated by Roswell d. Hitchcock in 1884. The word didache comes from the Greek word related to doctrine, didactic, teaching, etc. It was discovered in a monastery in Constantinople.

It is a non-canonical book, which is from my understanding a divisional line drawn by the original church councils when deciding which writings would from the Bible. As such, it is a writing that obviously did not make it into the Bible.

The Didache is considered a writing on the teaching of the Lord to the nations through the twelve apostles. Since it is a non-canonical writing, it is not authoritative such as the Gospel, but I really enjoyed reading it. I will note that in my quick research of the text, the Catholic Church placed the text as a part of Apostolic Fathers along with the Martyrdom of Polycarp, which is another text I read today.

The Didache opens with the two ways of living, life and dead. Within this section, it talks the of the life through Christ as well as summarizing the acts of those that live in death outside of Christ. Through these sections, I see many agreements to the gospel and writings of the apostles. The next section is where it loses the parallel.

In talking about baptism, the text goes as far to describe how to baptism (temperature of water, what to do when there is no running water, timing, fasting requirement surrounding baptism, as well as the number of times to say the Lord's prayer. Legalist! It makes sense why the Catholic church held on to the writing, eh? The only thing I can see that would be missing is a diagram describing the appropriate stand-sit-kneel choreography that I remember from my days of attending the episcopal church in my youth.

The Diache ends with discussion of what I would call the "end of times".

Overall, a good text to read, but clearly not an authoritative literature. This is just opinion, but I imagine that texts were written like this that have what to pray, when to pray, how to pray, etc in order to provide help to the uneducated. Our generations are all educated to an extent. As such, maybe that is how all the rules on how to do things came across? Just a thought. Kind of like how the Greek gods were formed. Science was primitive, so if the wind blows, there must be a wind god. If the sea produces great harvest, it must clearly be the work of the seas god.

In Christ,

MOC

The Rules of Seminary

Today was a lot of fun. I went to orientation this morning at 8:00. One of the professors went over the ground rules for seminary. One of the rules that really stuck out was that you are not to be in possession or consume alchohol while attending Southwestern. He then went on to say that there would be no debate regarding what the bible says about drinking. It was policy, so not it was strictly an ethical decision on our part rather than a theological debate. I love that guy!

He also went over items such as, "Guys, if I see you walking down the hall with your hand in one of these ladies' back pocket, I'm gonna pull you aside and ask you what you think you are doing. If I see you in Chapel so close to one of these ladies that I can't stick a file folder between you, I'm gonna pull you aside and ask you what you think you are doing." Are you starting to get the vibe here?

But ya, that was the most interesting part of my day. That is what made orientation fun. It was mostly me sitting around all day!

In Christ,

MOC

Urgent Prayer!

I'm not sure how many people read this blog, but I need everyone to pray for the IMB missionaries. If you can, we need to actually give to the IMB. The website to do this is www.imb.org.

Due to the economic recession we are currently facing, approximately 70 full time missionary candidates have been put on hold. In addition to that, 350 short term missionaries have been turned away.

I want to paint a picture of what this means. When my family was going through the process, it was completely by faith. They had sold their house and possessions before they were even appointed. The families that have been established have to get going on that process before they can begin. This often times means they have quit their jobs. That's right, they quit their jobs in the middle of an economic recession.

Let's even step back away from the people themselves. In fact, they wouldn't even want this post to be about them. They do not like it that we, the american church, call them our heros. However, they are. How many people are suffering in the world right now that need to hear the name of Christ? At the very minimum, please pray that these individuals can be sent to tell the world. You and I have everything. Everything we own could disappear tomorrow and it wouldn't matter. We have Christ. Our world is bright with the Shining Son, yet the lost has a world of total darkness.

Thank you for reading, praying, and if you can, giving.

In Christ,

MOC

First Week!

This week marks the commencement of my next stage in following Christ. I have orientation on Tuesday, and after that the engines will be roaring. One thing God has always blessed me with is endurance. If anything, I embrace the challenge that is unfolding in front of me. I had thoughts about dropping one of my classes, but then I remember the teachings of the Bible. David did not wait for a smaller opponent. Gideon defeated the Midianites, and the list goes on and on. If we want God to do something amazing through us, we have to be up for the challenge to follow Him.

I've started my studies as I did in my earlier studies. I took the syllabus for each of my classes and consolidated them into one syllabus. I will probably start studying tomorrow to try to get ahead. After the first few classes, I hope to have a good grasp on the two research papers so I can go ahead and get started on those. I have never written in the Terabian style. In both undergrad and grad school for accounting, we wrote in MLA format. I want to make sure I have plenty of time for proper editing for format. Heck, I spend most of my work time making sure things are properly formatted, so I am excited about that transfer of skills.

I have been bad about posting, but mainly because I haven't had much to write about. I still hope you are all praying for my family in Costa Rica. If you are new, please pray for them as they continue in following Christ to tell the world about Him.

What is this love given to us
That saved my life
through selfless sacrifice
Although we fail the cross prevails
Forgiveness stands
You take me back again

You’ve shown me life
You’ve opened my eyes
So I give You my praise
Yeah I give You my all
You’ve shown me life
You’ve opened my eyes
To the truth that there’s no greater love

Now in the darkness God’s light shines
Christ forever glorified
So come on come on sing out to God
Now with all we’ve got
We live for You our God

Salvation’s strong in Christ alone
The Saviour King alone in victory
I step aside give You my life
For You to move do what You want to do

I can’t imagine a life without You without You
‘Cause it’s all for You
Yeah it’s all for YouGod

I'm ready for the ride.

I stand Amazed,

MOC