Reach It

The sun shines brightly now I can see clearly the path ahead of me. My feet pound the ground it's a thunderous noise that resounds and carries on. The wind at my back it guides me from place to place whispering encouragements in my ear that light up my face. Failure is not an option, the obstacles ahead of me are merely 

obsta-TOOLS to elevate me to where I need to be. The path is rot with paroles that claim the weak and the weary. However the end is littered with wonders for those who reach its glory. Thus I move on forward, I push I toil. My goal of the end shall not be foiled. My muscles quake they tremble...yes. Yet I am determined to reach it. I shall make my quest! 

I Want More

I constantly find myself yearning for more. Not more things or more money. But for more impact! I not only want to see more meaningful life altering impact but I want to leave more of an impact. I want to leave behind a legacy and not just a memory that will quickly fade as time passes. I hear of so many injustices all around me and I silently cry asking myself "Why were you not there? What could you have done to prevent that? What will you do to prevent that from happening again?" If I merely walk through this life and turn a blind eye to the wrongs I see what is the purpose of my time here on this planet. We were meant for more then just traversing a solitary moment in time and doing nothing to leave a mark on that period we existed. Crimes happen, Loved ones are hurt, physically, mentally and spiritually. What are we doing to satiate the need for justice. Are we stepping into our potential and leaving a lasting impact of Love, Caring, Support and Kindness. Or are we smothering that burning inside of us. That energy that inside that wants to be released so that it can make a difference...a lasting difference.

You see there comes a point when we can either say "enough is enough" and stand up and fight. Or we can say "that's a really horrible thing that happened, but someone else will address it.I'll leave it for them to take care of". Now don't get me wrong I am fully aware that there are two sides to one coin. I can sit here and say I want to do good but I also know that there is evil out there. You cant have a Superman without a Lex Luther or a Batman without a Joker. However I find myself wanting a more meaning full legacy due to the Luthers and Jokers we constantly hear about. Perhaps it is just me. Perhaps I stand alone when it come to the desire for deeper impact. Perhaps I place to much faith on those around me. No. I know its not just me. I know I am not the only one out there that want to stand, that want to fight, that wants to leave behind something to be admired. Not for pride, not for family recognition, not for elevated status. Rather for the betterment of our fellow man. For the betterment our our present. For the betterment of our future and our children's and grandchildren future. I am 100% certain that I could not be a superhero with superhuman qualities. For if I did have them my human nature would take over and many people would be hurt or worse for their atrocities. However although I may not have superhuman powers or abilities. I do possess the ability to tap into that inner potential, to stand for what I believe in and to leave legacy worth remember. As I stated before, I constantly find myself yearning for more. Not more things or more money. But for more impact!



I don't know how many how many of you feel as I do. There is a burning inside you for to leave something behind greater then mere material possessions. I encourage you to seek that you, look inside yourself and find that place that makes you feel "at home" that place where you say "I can really do something here.". And once you've found that, do your best to leave an Impact that future generations will look upon and smile.

Beauty of the Night

When I was a child and growing up I was terrified of the dark. I hated being in the dark. I shuttered thinking about going into the dark.  And I never wanted to be outside alone at night.   I know to most that may have been an irrational fear I had. But I believe we are all born with an inherent fear of darkness, some just more t n others. For some it's the lack of visibility, and unclear direction. For others it's the uncertainty of what may waiting in the darkness, or who. And for others yet it is simply the inherent evil that is associated with the night. For me it was all of the above (isn't that great). But as I recently discovered there are plenty of endearing qualities of darkness. As I jogged/walked home last night at midnight and came face to face with my childhood foe, I was able to see the beauty of the night. I was able to enjoy the star filled sky (even seeing a satellite at one point.). If not for the darkness then these celestial bodies wound be visible. Buildings have a different ambiance about them when lite in the darkness, giving them an almost altered personality. There are points in our lives where we feel like we are in utter darkness. We are uncertain where we are going. We are afraid to move forward because we don't know what dangers may lye ahead. But if we do not move forward in the darkness we may miss out on the beauty created by the light in the night. Whether it be something as small as the stars in the sky or something as profound as a different perspective of something. I believe that we are implanted with a fear of darkness during creation. Some of us more then others. However we must learn to embrace the darkness. Not as much as the inherent "evil" that is attributed to it. Rather in the sense of the other world that can be see, the beauty of the Night.

As the Night Shines: HOPE

As the Night shines,
my eyes whine for they want to see the Light.
It seems that the Darkness is growing... gaining strength,
but my eyes still yearn for the sweet release that the Light brings.
I fight and struggle to find my way,
yet I can find nothing.
Are my efforts in vain, do I struggle and search for a mere figment of my imagination?
My mind begins to war within me with my heart.
My Mind tells me to embrace the Darkness, it says it's always going to be there.
But my Heart tells me to keep pushing forward, don't give up "seek and you shall find".
Truly it is hard to see hope, when physical sight is not a attribute I seem to be able to obtain.
But I keep searching...I keep feeling through the Night... Searching for that hope......

As I search and feel, wondering if this darkness will ever reveal
the key to my freedom. My mind tells me that this HOPE I search for isn't real.
Yet my heart charges me, keep moving forward don't just stand still, lack of motion breads a loss of Will. Loss of Will brings complacency and complacency turns you over to the Darkness.
I can feel it stalking me, following me as I search the Light that I fail to see. 
When suddenly I feel a warmth radiating from inside......could this be the Light? 
The Light that will guide me through the Night. This warmth grows stronger with every passing moment and as it strengthens I begin to question whether this is real or fiction. My nerve rise as I ponder the possibilities of allowing this warmth to overwhelm me. My mind tells me to suppress this happening yet my heart bids me LET GO. I feel as if this internal war will never cease. I drop to my knees with nothing else to loose. I choose to turn over to the warmth. My fear is on a rampage as I feel it clothing every part of me. What was happening? What was coming next? As the warmth consumes my very essence I through my face to the ground in fear and confusion. 

Then in an instant it was gone and I was left laying face in the ground. The seconds that followed only nourished my confusion and fear. What had happened, what was that? I was still in the Darkness left to continue my search. Is this it? Has the Night won?..............Suddenly........my eyes catch something. A glimmer? A shine? I rub my eyes to find that I had found Light! The Light that I so yearned for. The Light that my heart told me to HOPE for. No, I hadn't found the Light, it found me. As my eyes adjusted to this newly obtained sight, I quickly realized why the Light had consumed me. I clearly saw where the Light was guiding me.  I had search through the Darkness, through the Night feeling alone and abandoned for so long. But it was all clear to me know. As the Light radiated around me I could finally see! I was never alone! As far as my vision permitted me I could see others. Others searching through the Darkness. Others fighting with the Night. I understood then what I must do! 

Mishaps and Mistakes

Life never quite goes the way we planned sometimes. Sometimes we think we are smooth sailing yet we do not see what's hidden beneath the boat. As we enjoy the beautiful sights that our journey brings our way, we have no idea of the dangers that lay in obscurity. Worse yet there are times that we can see that which heads our way but for some reason we naively decide that drastic preventative measures should be taken. Either way our ship is in danger. Its in these moments (sadly), when everything is lost and our lives are changed forever, that we find who we truly are. When we find ourselves drowning and fighting to stay alive, it's these moments whether physically, emotionally, spiritually or financially that we are forced to either become a survivor or let life take us over. It pains me to say that my wife and I have been separated for a few months now and are in the process of going through a divorce. It has been a hard, stressful and painful time for the both of us. I do not wish to place blame on either of us, but in reality I shall. You see I believe that any marriage (especially in a Jesus following marriage)if it fails that is is he husbands fault. That is in the sense that is is the mans duty to be everything for his wife. Provider, Protector, Leader, Friend, etc... With that said, I can not move on till I apologize to my Wife for not being all of those things and more. I want to say sorry to Pastor Joe and Jill Harrison for putting all that hard work and counseling into our marriage (I personally feel like I have failed you guys). I thank Centro for making us feel at home when we were so far from our families. I ask that if any of you guys (and anyone else) reads this that you pray and continue praying for Sam that God would comfort her in this process. Sometimes we can get distracted by all the things going by us and the wonder of what we are seeing. Sometimes we get caught up in the operation and maintenance of the boat we are in that we forget to realize that there are others in the boat with us. And if we don't protect them from any danger then we have indeed failed. I pray that God will forgive me for my mishaps and mistakes during this part of my journey. And what ever the future may hold for me, I will strive to release that potential that dwells inside. But I could not go forward until I atoned (however small it may be) for the mishaps and mistakes I've made to this point. I pray that the next chapter of this life holds lots of wonder and whimsy. But above all, I pray that I can learn to see the dangers, recognize the dangers and properly prepare to avoid most and make it through the rest.

Less is More?!?!

"How much money is enough money? Just a little bit more!"

How much technology is enough technology? Just a little bit more.

How much is enough? JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE!!!




What we have is never enough. We always want more. More money, more clothes, more shoes, more games, more fame, more whatever! Yet it seems the more we GET the more we WANT. We increasingly acquire what we want and yet the gratification is momentary. Regardless of how much we have we are never truly satisfied. For some of us we have all these contraptions to occupy our time and mind and still we feel lonely. Some of us have all the latest things (shoes, cars, phones with lightning quick 4G coverage) but we still don't feel truly successful. We get more and more and more and feel less and less and less satisfaction.

Perhaps it is due to the fact that as created beings, we were never intended to gain satisfaction from OUR creations but instead from our CREATOR! There is only one thing that can truly satify that craving for more! Only one thing we should be searching after. Everything we need is found in the Power, the Love and the Grace of our resurrected savior Jesus Christ!

We don't need more money, we need more Jesus.
We don't need more technology, we need more Jesus.
We don't need more of OUR creation, we need more of our CREATOR!

We have all these things that are meant to satisfy us but at the end of.the day all they do is take up room and time. We don't need alot of things, we only need ONE!
JESUS CHRIST the son of God, who came to this world and sacrificed himself on our behalf! JESUS CHRIST who after giving His life for us took it back up and resurrected in Glory and Power! The more CHRIST is in our lives, the things we will need!

I want your BLOOD

The other day I had a pretty sad experience at work (Well at least I thought it was sad). I was in the break-room microwaving my weight watchers popcorn (which I didn't know was weight watchers at the time, but that's irrelevant) when I heard a group of 40+ married women with children arguing about which vampire from Vampire Diaries was sexier, Stephan or Damen, and I don't care if their names are spelled wrong.....THEY ARENT REAL PEOPLE!!! Anyway, I stood there for the 2 minute popping period listening to these women, and it got me thinking about this whole vampire craze that is going on. I mean even when I was little I spent a lot of days wanting to be a vampire. I would quote the famous line "I want to suck your blood!" that I didn't even know where it came from, I just knew it had to do with this creature I wanted to turn into. And even now we see the vampire obsession continueing with shows like Vampire Diaries, True Blood and Movies like Twilight (and I tentatively put that movie in there.......Glittering Vampires......come on.....really!!!). I would think to myself how crazy it is that vampirism is constant part of culture no matter how much culture has changed. I mean there are stories of blood sucking, flesh eating creatures dating all the way back to ancient Greece. Yet no matter how culture changes, no matter how society develops and evolves vampires are always there ready to take to on the popular cultural diversities of the time.
It was amazing to me......that is until I started thinking about the main features/attributes of vampires that intrigue people the most. The IMMORALITY that comes with the vampridic condition and the constant thirst for BLOOD to survive. I began thinking about these attributes and then as if a light bulb turned on in my head, I thought to myself: "Oh, Your are a clever one!" And no I wasn't referring to myself, I was referring to the great twister (not the dance...and not the highly suggestive "party" game either). I'm talking about the one that is constantly taking the Word of God and twisting it to distract us from the Truth.
Wait, what......what do vampires and the Bible have to do with each other? Well I myself found it interesting how the two most glorified aspects of the vampire are the fact that they have eternal life, but only if they have a daily, hourly (whateverly) intake of blood. And as followers of Christ Jesus we believe that it is through the blood shed on the cross of calvary that we obtain eternal life with the Father. Now I'm not saying that vampires are an evil ploy to undermine the cross, but I am writing it. You see from the beginning of time immortality has always been something man kind has sought after. And I believe it is do to the fact that when God created Adam and Eve He intended for them to live forever. He gave them the tree of Life and allowed them free access to it. But once sin entered the world through our ancient parents, God demonstrated his love and kicked them out of the garden and away from said tree. If he hadn't they would have lived in there sin forever. Ever since our parents where exiled man has been earning for and trying to obtain that immortality that was once freely and easily obtainable. But with the introduction of Sin into the world that immortality was a only a fading memory along with the relationship man (by a man I also include woman) had the Creator. Now no longer was it as easy as picking a fruit from a tree and walking with the Creator and talking with him. Now blood had to be shed. Now the only way to life was through the death and offering of a sacrifice.
Fast forward into the future and now Jesus is on the scene. Man is still trying to obtain immortality man is still trying to regain life. Jesus shows up and becomes the ultimate sacrifice, sheds the ultimate blood. And through His sacrifice we can once again gain that eternal life we once had in the garden, through His sacrifice we can once again have the relationship with the Creator we had in the garden. Now it is once again as easy as picking a fruit from a tree and walking and talking with our Father.
But like I said, the great Twister is quit the clever one. You see Satan can not create anything new, so all he can do is take what God has done and twist it to deceive and distract us from what Christ did on the cross. So now instead of putting our focus on Christ, the masses are infatuated with these mythological creature that for some reason or another have acquired the ability to live forever. Now here is the truth in all of it, they need BLOOD to do so. Just as the blood Jesus shed on the cross grants to all who believe redemption and eternal life, regular consumption of blood sustains vampires forever. The truth is Blood, the lie is that you don't need Jesus.
In reality without Jesus there is no redemptive blood shed. Without the redemptive blood shed there is no forgiveness of sins and without the forgiveness of sins there is no eternal life with the Father. Jesus is the bedrock on which we place our faith. And anything the enemy can do to distract us from the fact that without Jesus we have no hope, we have no fulfillment, we have no life he will do. Anything the enemy can do to keep us from realizing we need to be redeemed and look to Christ and say "I want your BLOOD, your cleansing, justifying, redeeming blood. I want you Jesus!" He will do. After all, he is the great twister (again no not the dance and no not the highly suggestive "party" game either).


Two verses to read if you like to read and stuff:

Romans 5:8-10

1 Peter 1:18-20