I dare you to read this.

Trying to fully describe The Creator is impossible. All the languages in all the world are not descriptive enough to fully depict how big, how awesome, how immensely loving, and merciful He truly is.

Take a second and look around you. If you're inside look out the window, if you're outside look up. Do you ever stop and think how amazing the Earth is? How amazing our whole existence is? That we are flying around the Sun right now at around 107,000 kilometer an hour? Which is fast enough to cover the planet's diameter (about 12,600 km) in seven minutes, and the distance to the Moon (384,000 km) in four hours. That's nuts! Or the fact that in one acre of the Amazon rain forest there are around 1000 different types of trees? Or that one Elm tree alone has somewhere around 6 million leaves! Did you know that if you were to mark off one square yard of the sun it would be giving off 70,000 horsepower of energy continuously?

How about lightning? The average lightning bolt carries about 30,000 amps of charge, has 100 million volts of electric potential, and is hot, hot, hot at about 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightning heats the it's immediate vicinity to around 32,000 degrees Celsius, three times the temperature of the Sun.   That much power contained in about a half inch! Science can not even come close to creating that kind of electricity in one shot. Yet lightning strikes around 44 times a second, estimated to be a 1.4 billion times a year!


"I am not so much of a farmer as some people claim." said Hon. W. J. Bryan in his lecture on "The Price of Peace." but I have observed the watermelon seed. It has the power of drawing from the ground and through itself 200,000 times its weight, and when you can tell me how it takes this material and out of it colors an outside surface beyond the imitation of art, and then forms inside of it a white rind and within again a red heart, thickly inlaid with black seeds, each one of which in turn is capable of drawing through itself 200,000 times its weight--when you can explain to me the mystery of a watermelon, you can ask me to explain the mystery of God."

Do you realize the work your body does every day? Think about this: In a 24 hour period your body does the following-
Your heart beats 103,689 times.
Your blood travels 168,000,000 miles.
You breathe 23,040 times,
You inhale 438 cubic feet of air.
You eat 3.25 pounds of food.
You drink 2.9 quarts of liquids.
You lose 7/8 pound of waste.
You speak 4,800 words, including some unnecessary ones.
You move 750 muscles.
Your nails grow .000046 inch.
Your hair grows .01714 inch.
You exercise 7,000,000 brain cells.
Feel tired?

Listen now, and listen close. You need to look around you, if you think this whole world is random I truly truly pity you. You are missing out on the beauty of it all. You are missing out on Him, who loves us fully and regardless. For the parents out there imagine the love you have for your children, how much joy they bring you, God's love is infinitely larger than this. His love for you, for me, for your neighbor, for your worst enemy, and your best friend. He leaves you with no reason for doubt, as if He the creator of all things needed to prove to YOU that HE exists!

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
 .
You need to realize that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
The commandments that he gives us are not for his benefit but for ours.
Thou shall not murder: yeah He thinks that the world would be a better place if we didn't kill each other.
Thou shall not lie: honesty, pure honesty, how much hurt have you caused or been a victim of due to a lie?
Thou shall not commit adultery: have you ever been cheated on? If so you understand the hurt that is causes.

Want me to prove his love to you in scripture? Right after the fall of man (This is in Genesis 3 by the way) God cursed man to work the earth, women with the desire for their husband and placed him to rule over them (disagree with this if you want, who are you to disagree with God?) and the pains of childbirth. Do you know what God did immediately after this?
Genesis 3:21-
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin and clothed them.
They screw up utopia, a place of purity, free of pain, hunger, thirst, desire, and evil where they are constantly in the presence of the Creator and He gives them clothes! Think about that. Before He found them in the garden do you know what He was doing?
Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the Garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
God comes down to see Adam, He wants to talk to him, wants to hear how his day is, what's on his mind. He wants to be your friend, your guide, the father figure or mother figure you've never had. Do you ever feel like you are missing something in your life? This is it, He is IT. Christianity isn't about going to church, it isn't about all the rules. It is about having a personal relationship with God, knowing Him fully and letting Him know you. And in return trying to love Him as much as He loves you, in doing this loving everyone with that same love. Not that fake "I love you sooooo much" people tell each other, really truly loving. Caring about those around you, trying to help everyone not just the people you are close to. Being nice, saying kind things, being gentle, lifting and building each other up. Obviously we will fall short again and again, but the longer you know Him  and the more you immerse yourself in His Word (The Bible, God's literal love letter to humanity) the more He will change you. The better your outlook will become, the more you will care, the less you will worry, and the more you will love.

Smiling is contagious right? It's hard not to smile at someone who smiles at you. You know that feeling, the warmth, the change it immediately brings. Smile right now, can you describe that feeling in words? This is how we are meant to feel, this is how we aught to feel, this is what God wants us to feel.

You think that is love? Picture the person that matters most to you. Got it?
Now imagine them spit on, beat with whips, mocked by entire crowds who loved them only a few days before. Then imagine them getting nine inch nails drove through their hands and feet. Left to hang with no water in the Sun on top of a hill with thousands watching. Mocked still, being told "save Yourself, and come down from the cross!" (Mark 15:30). When they cry "I Thirst!" (John 19:28) they are given a sponge of vinegar. Finally they cry out "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34, Matt 27:46)

Jesus is, was, and will always be perfect. He is the literal Son of God, the full-filler of all of the Old Testament prophecies (60 by my knowledge), and the teacher of the ways of God. The ways of love, peace, kindness, charity, hope, and joy.

These prophecies were written up to 700 years before Christ's birth.
The probability that Jesus The Christ could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 10¹⁷. That's 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.
That many silver dollars would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep. Now I've been to Texas. Texas is a very very big state. Who in his right mind would suppose that a blindfolded man, heading out of Dallas by foot in any direction, would be able, on his very first attempt, to pick up one specifically marked silver dollar out of 100,000,000,000,000,000?

People can try to deny God, they put Him in the back of their mind, try to believe that it's all random and focus on things of this world we live in. Here it is, laid out perfectly in front of you. God is real, Jesus along everything He said is true, and you are without excuse. So why are you focusing on your job, on your girlfriend, on SportsCenter highlights, what Betty Lou is wearing today, and what Mary-Beth said about you?  

It doesn't matter. 200 years from now no one will know, no one will care. You'll be lucky if your Great Great Grand-kids even know your name. All your hard work, all your money, all your achievements are for nothing. The only thing that matters in this life is whether or not you do the work that God Himself has planned for you. Yeah that's right, God, Creator of EVERYTHING, has a plan just for you. He has a job for you to do, you don't have to be perfect, you just have to give it your everything.
Jeremiah 29:10-12
For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
He loves you, He wants to know you, He wants you to know Him and love Him in return. He is knocking at the door, you only have to answer; for as it is written:

Matt 7:7-8 
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who ask receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." 

What's holding you back? Why the apprehension? You read this much? Came this far and you are still scared, still doubting? There must be something that is compelling you deep deep inside, something making you crave for more. That my friends, my brothers, my sisters, is Christ working in your hearts. He's real, this isn't a joke, this isn't superstition, this isn't something that you can turn back from and think about more tomorrow. We are not guaranteed such luxuries. You drive down the road at 50 miles per hour every day; a mere foot from oncoming traffic. A little slip of the wheel, a little drifting because the other driver finds it more important to text than to drive and BOOM, you're done. Plain and simple. The time is now, pick your side. Don't ride the fence

Matt 6:24

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

Revelation 3:16

So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

This isn't just for the one's who don't know the Lord. Truly I mourn for the ones who say they know Him but live for everything but Him!  You are the ones who know the teachings, the ones who should be telling all your friends, co-workers, strangers, and enemies about the Gospel and the love and teachings of Christ. What excuse will you have? God will judge us all equally by His own perfect standards, but you think that you will be able to makes excuses to Him? You think that just because you said the Sinners Prayer at a youth gathering in the seventh grade that that is it? That's all you had to do? Church on Christmas and Easter is good enough? We are not saved by works, there is nothing that we can do on our own that will ever get us in to heaven, but your faith and relationship with Him should show in your life. We shouldn't have to explain that we are Christians, people should see His light radiating from inside of us. People are drawn to that, they crave it, they want what we are meant to have. When was the last time you dusted of your Bible and read it? When was the last time you talked to God? Truly you shouldn't have to think about the answer to that if you consider yourself saved. You should know well what Jesus says about this-

Matt 7:21&23

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"

So I beg of you, ask yourself this question. When you die where will you go? There is no middle ground, no waiting place. Death is it, Heaven or Hell. Simple as that. 

I am not writing this to scare you into belief, I am writing this plainly so that you may know the truth. If you were living such as you were called there would be no fear. Heaven would be evident to you. I write for your own good, so you know, so you have no excuse, so that I do not have the bear the burden of not sharing the greatest news ever with as many people as I could: 

God is real

He loves you

He knows you now, He knew you yesterday, He knew you before you were born

He wants you to know Him and He wants you to love Him

Don't hesitate, jump. Take that leap of faith, rid yourself of your inhibitions and talk to God.

I love you and I pray that you come to know peace, joy, and eternal happiness in Jesus Christ. Along with the love that God has for you, me, and all mankind. That you may know without a shred of doubt that Jesus is real and He died for your sake. Giving you the gift of salvation at no cost to you.

Amen

-Blake Anderson

This isn't all random, this is real. This is love.

John 3:16-21

16"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 
17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 
18He who believes in Him is not condemned; be he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the begotten Son of God. 
19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
20But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

Have you ever really read the Bible? Then how can you say you do not believe in something you do not know?

call it what you wanna call it, I'm an alcoholic

Jeez-o-peez-o,
I have been sooo off track this summer. I was blessed with a week of solitude out in the woods just past Heber. It was incredible to spend some time with the Lord on his turf, enjoying his creation how he intended us to. I got to climb rocks, explore mountains, chase animals, and breathe in His clarity. I finally realized how short I've been falling. I've been doing things my way rather than His way in certain aspects of my life. I thank God for showing me my faults with a rod and staff (Psalm 23:4). I don't always do these things on a conscious level but I sure do fall into the old addict mentality of justification and rationalization.


A little side note for you.
Hi, I'm Blake, I'm an alcoholic.
Boom just like that, I know it, people who have known me for a while know it. The only people that seem to struggle with it is the people who want to drink with me. I was fortunate enough to lose my job (one of many), cheat on a girl I care so deeply about and lose her for good, and destroy the majority of my personal relationships outside of my closest friends and family. I say thankful because at nineteen, before I could legally even drink I hit my personal rock bottom and started following His plans instead of my own (which had got me to where I was). I finally swallowed my pride and went to AA for the first time. Yes it is just like on TV, no I don't think you're an alcoholic; only you can decide that, yes it works if you work it. Any more questions? AA can quite aptly be described as "A Sunny Place for Shady People"; trust me, I know. Alcoholism, as well as addiction, is a disease which can only be truly cured by a spiritual transformation by God Himself. Once again; trust me, I know. Before I got sober my life was in a personal hell, I ran from place to place, free loaded person to person, and lived bottle to bottle. It's hard to put into words how alcohol make me feel, even thinking about it now. So I'm going to throw some experiences and thoughts that run through an alcoholics mind out there in a Bill Engville "here's your sign" sort of fashion.


1) If you've ever decided to use the last of your change to buy whiskey instead of gas- you might be an alcoholic
2) If you ever got so drunk before taking a roadtrip home(by yourself) that you drove to Mesa instead of Show Low- you might be an alcoholic
3) If you've ever had to call your girlfriend crying your eyes out whiskey drunk to ask her "how do I get my keys out of my ignition?"- you might be an alcoholic
4) If you ever had to pray, please God, we f---ed up, don't let us get a DUI- you might be an alcoholic(and you better thank God every waking moment that He's into fixing the broken, healing the sick, and helping the spiritually blind to see)
5) If you EVER have had to make rules or set limits on when it is okay and when it is not okay to drink or use- you might be an alcoholic and I suggest you strongly think about getting help. It only gets worse, trust me.


Now, just to clarify, I'm a dry drunk. For those of you who don't know what that means; I'm an alcoholic, I just don't drink. I still catch myself in these loops of justifying and rationalizing the things I do. Not that I'm some psycho-serial-killer-baby-napping-bank-robber, but I have these fleeting thoughts from my past. Steal this, sleep with her, drink this, pop that, I wonder if that would mess me up. That sort of stuff, things I like to think that most people don't have pass through their heads. Before anyone rushes to judgment, I am who I am, I don't do these things anymore, and we all have our demons and burdens to bear. I personally am thankful for the terrible things I have done (while sorrowful at the same time) because it allows me to be more humble in the sight of God, to relate to the fallen, and to think of myself as worse off than you. I'm encouraged by the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15- "..Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
-
We should all think of ourselves as the worst, in doing so we are helping to spare judgment towards others and ourselves of the righteous judgment of God


We should all be sure to remember the words of Jesus and to live them every moment of every day
-
Matt. 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
This doesn't mean you have to condone someone's activity, just don't hate on them for it or talk bad about them.And if it bothers you to the point that you need to confront them do so, have that courage, but be sure to do it out of love. Let them know the ways and commandments of the Lord through LOVE, because all sin is equal in God's eyes. You so much as thinking about lying is just as bad as killing a man. I know that's hard to comprehend until you realize that God is: perfect, holy, and just. Simple as that. All sin tarnishes you in His eyes, which brings us to
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Matt. 7:5 "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."
Man this one hits home, how often do we sit there an judge some one for the smallest indiscretions while we ignore faults in our own lives! It is so much easier to point out the shortcomings of another than to acknowledge the fact that we're not and never will be perfect. 
Our aim should be to emulate Christ in all our ways. In love, joy, gentleness, mercy, and strength. It will amaze you as it amazes me, how in your walk with the Lord after you get rid of the biggg sin you uncover more you didn't know existed. It could be described as finding a pile of trash that fills your room, first you get the heroin mattress out of there, then the old tires, and so on and so forth. It's the same way with sin, you get rid of the sex, drugs, lies that bog you down. Then you realize the way you judge people, the way you don't treat everyone the same, and you are nowhere near the life of love and peace that has been set forth for you. We are simply vessels being constantly molded by God as He sees fit. Neat huh? 
Back on to judgment, besides the fact that when you judge you are being a hypocrite because you are no where near perfect and that God and only God has the right to judgment; YOU ARE CONDEMNING YOURSELF!
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Matt. 7:2 "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
Woah now, hey, heavy stuff here. Please take a moment to read this and think about what it really means. How you judge others, to whatever extent that is, God judges you by that same measure. Thus in calling a girl a slut or a gossip you are now condemning yourself to judgment by the same measure you judged her. You better be dang sure that you are not as far gone as the one you put down. Bearing in mind that God just doesn't only know your actions, but your words, thoughts, and desires of your heart. He knows how many hairs are on your head (Luke 12:7) and the hearts of all men (Job 42:2, Psalm 44:21, 1 John 3:20). Please, for your own sake, do not judge others, rather love one another. If nothing else; isn't your life complicated enough without worrying about somebody else's?
1 John 4:7 
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"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.."

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous. 
Do not be frightened, 
and do not be dismayed, 
for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.


Take these words, the literal Word of God from the Holy Bible itself (a compilation of 66 books by 40 authors spanning 1,800 years) which is in fact the love letter from God to you. Cherish it, read it constantly, treasure it, and protect it. It'll change your life. Go forth this week and do not judge anyone but yourself. Live a life of love; sit and talk with someone who is eating alone. Call an old friend and make a new friend. Tell everyone in your life that you love them because every relationship has a last sight; you are not guaranteed tomorrow and neither are they. So be sure that a legacy of love, laughter, and faith.
Find your faults, ask for forgiveness, correct your behavior.
I love you and have a wonderful day.
-Blake

Overview

Over the next few weeks (months, years depending on how poky I am) I'm going to be studying the book of Romans in depth. I just want to share my thoughts and inspirations on here. Even if no one reads this atleast I'll have my thoughts down in writing. Wish me luck

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepard
I shall not want

Money, get away Get a good job with more pay and you're okay

I've been think quite a bit about human nature lately. We are a dirty, evil, pleasure-driven, covetous lot aren't we? People (especially in the U.S. and other developed nations) get caught in these loops of need for more. We get a car so we can drive to work to pay for our car? We work at these jobs enabling us to buy things that in turn makes us keep working to pay for them. We have this constant lust for more more more and it is sickening to see the levels of excess desired in our times.

I work at a private country club and all day long I talk to members and many of them I get to know on a pretty personal level. Many have claimed to have faith and be "Christians" but in my eyes (not that it is my place to judge, I leave that to God) I struggle to see how a person could be given sooooo much and not be more thankful for it. Those who are thankful could, instead of buying a new beamer or paying 350 every month to golf eight weekends out of the year, spend their money helping others. I won't give examples because that would restrict the thoughts of where money could be used.

It's a challenge trying to explain to people how the "American Dream" and true Christian faith do not run parallel with each other. We have been commanded to: "visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27) Jesus himself said,  "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24) Now it can be argued that how can one properly define wealth? Some might say it is when your money makes you enough money to live but that is an inaccurate portrayal of wealth in my eyes due to extremes in living standards. A man in Somalia would be wealthy if he made $10,000 dollars a year. Here in the states ten grand is far, far below the poverty line. Even the poor here have cable and a cell phone. Here is how Jesus looks at it-

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." ¹⁴But he said to him,  "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?" ¹⁵And he said to them,  "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully,¹⁷and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'¹⁸And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' ²⁰But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' ²¹So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
(Luke 12: 13-21)

I'll leave this to you for contemplation but I'll finish with the words of Tony Campolo-

"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."