Blue Like Jazz: Official Trailer

Come to me

Come To Me:

Come to Me, When you are tired;

 Tired, exhausted of giving all you have. Tired of pouring out day after day. Tired of feeling like you never make progress. Tired of feeling like you aren’t good enough in anyone’s eyes. Tired of being afraid, alone, confused, rejected, isolated, embittered, stressed out, or unloved. Tired of doing good and feeling like it doesn’t make a difference. Tired of sinning like you have no control. Tired of feeling like the people in your life aren’t really your friends. Tired of the highlight of your day being a computer screen. Tired of feeling like God is just so far away. Tired of feeling like you just don’t have enough time. Tired of…..being tired.

Come To Me.

Come To Me, When you are overwhelmed with burdens;

Overwhelmed with the weight of living up to other peoples goals for you. Overwhelmed with feeling like you have to be the responsible one. Overwhelmed with feeling like you fallen so far that you can never be more than your failures. Overwhelmed with the concept that life is moving faster. Overwhelmed with knowing that one day this life will end. Overwhelmed with losing loved ones. Overwhelmed with the effort it takes to actually love people. Overwhelmed knowing that there are people who don’t like you. Overwhelmed with self imposed goals. Overwhelmed by not knowing what to do with your life. Overwhelmed with the reality that being overwhelmed is your standard. Overwhelmed that life has become more burden…..than joy.

Come To Me.

I’m calling out to you, come to me. Not just out of some vague religious command. Not out of some idolistic need for glory. Not because I’m selfish and want your attention. Not because I like to pull your strings. Not because I want you to feel inadequate. I’m calling out for you to come to me, because I know you are utterly exhausted, because I know the weight of the world is crushing. I’m calling to you because I want to give you rest.

Rest, take a moment and think about that word…..Rest….breathe it in deep. Do you remember what rest is?

I know you take breaks, I know you cease to work sometimes, but that alone isn’t rest. Rest is being able to stop, to be at peace, to be still and yet perfectly content regardless of whatever is around you. Rest isn’t just an option, God established rest as a commandment. If you don’t take time to rest, then you can never enjoy the life that I’ve gone through so much to give you. I want you to have life abundantly, but abundant life doesn’t mean like on the go, non-stop. Abundant life is life to the fullest, and for it to be full, it must also include rest. I call you to come to me, because I can give you rest. I can give it to you because I’ve been where you are, I have been there, endured it, overcome it, and redeem it. I can give you the rest you need. If you are tired and overwhelmed and don’t take the time to rest, it will crush you. It will take the joy out of the life you have been blessed with. Just like everything else in this world, if you try to rest alone, without me that is, you won’t be able to do it. It will never live up to what it’s meant to be. Please, I’m calling out to you. I want you to thrive in this life, but I need you to rest. Come to me please, let me help you to be still, to allow my love and peace to pour over you, to refresh you and renew you. Think about it, I’m the guy who managed to take a nap in the middle of a hurricane. I can help. I ask you again, come to me, and let me give you the rest you need.

-     Jesus

(Matt 11:28, John 15:5, Matt 8:24, Psalm 46:10)

Look Dad....

So today i was home with Bella, i realized i had been in front of too many screens for too long so Jayne and i went out into the yard, i worked on a project and Bella adventured around tthe yard. So as Bella climbed up and down the stairs, jumped off the porch, fell in the bushes etc etc. Every few seconds she  was yelling out "Look Dad!!!" It was cute at first, and then a few minutes later it got old fast. The longer it went on, the more i thought about how in her world me stopping for just a second to look at her meant everything. She really felt like she needed to to approve of her to make what she was doing special, or worth while. It made me think of we all feel that same desperation to have other's approve of us. Half of what we do in our lives is overshadowed by the desire to have approval of those around us. What we wear, what we say, what we write, how we act, we have this desire to just have approval, like we aren't good enough where we stand unless someone can look at as and say "good job", or as i replied each time to Bella Jayne "I see you baby." We usually have that "one" person who's approval we seek the most. Sometimes it's a spouse, a mentor, an employer, sometimes it's even someone who we know really doesn't like us. Just like with Jayne though, it didn't matter how often i looked over and gave her approval, she still needed more. No amount of approval we recieve will ever give us enough that we are satisfied, until we are completely assured in who we are, nothing is ever enough. Even more than seeking the approval of others, deep down we are seeking God's approval. The angst of this situation is all the more amplified when we aren't aware of it, deny it, or run from it. We think that by being moral, charitable, karma-rific, or whatever else eases the angst, but it doesnt. When we are aware of it we try hard, with more focus, but then we spend so much of our spiritual time/effort into religious action, and then the very relationship and worship of God that He desires/we hunger for is quelched by our own misguided efforts. Take comfort in this your position in this world isn't based on other's approval, regardless of how it feels, and God's love, acceptance, and approval has no basis on your actions. You were loved, valued, approved of, and valuable before you ever took a breath. When you catch yourself doing something that is subconciously or consciencly trying to validate yourself with any other's approval, that God sees you, and he wants you to understand that you already have all the approval you  could ever hope for.




Ephesians 2:1-10, Galatians 1:10, Romans 5:8 

About Time

There are 31,173 verses in the Bible. If you read the Bible straight through it takes 76 hours.

So over the course of a year I spent 76 hours reading the Bible, that sounds pretty good, until I actually evaluate how much time I’ve spent doing other things.

Going back through my Netflix, xbox, comic orders, and rental profile. These are the numbers I came up with on how I spent the rest of my time throughout the year.

172 hours of Battle Star Galactica

39 Hours of Sons of Anarchy

33 Hours of Breaking Bad

42 Hours of American Pickers

60 Hours of Buffy The Vampire Slayer

30 Hours of Big Bang Theory

52 Hours of Mad Men

260 Hours of Movies

275 Comic Books

25 Video Games = Approximately 328 Hours

30,000 + Miles Driven

There are

168 Hours in week, 8 765.8 Hours in a year. What would your life look like if you blocked out how you spent the last year of your time? So often we do stuff to waste time, and that’s just what is happening, we are wasting the time we have.

Ephesians 5:15-16 ¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

TowardsPsalm 90:12
¹² Teach us to number our days,
   that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

We need to be aware that

 (1) Life on earth is brief and temporary

 James 4:14¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

 (2) The Eternal Outweighs The Temporal 

Romans 13:11

 ¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

2 Corinthians 4:18

¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

 (3) Our time is owned by God

Psalm 31:15
¹⁵ My times are in your hands;
   deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
   from those who pursue me.

Psalm 139:13-16

 ¹³ For you created my inmost being; 
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
   your works are wonderful, 
   I know that full well. 
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you 
   when I was made in the secret place, 
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body; 
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book 
   before one of them came to be.

(4) We need to be sensitive to what God wants from our time

 Ecclesiastes 8:5

 ⁵ Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
   and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.

Colossians 4:5

⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

 (5) Our use of time shows our heart

Matthew 6:19-21

    ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.