Old Orchard Beach

OOB woot, woot!!! I got a chance to go to Old Orchard Beach yesterday (Phil should be happy for me). We didn’t have a normal morning meeting because everyone was on vacation and the burr’s had to go to OOB so we went there with them. The New York Staff Band was on schedule to perform and they were absolutely awesome. I think they were my favorite part of the meeting. It made me miss marching band. There was a lady who was led by the holy Spirit to pray, Major Janet Munn performed a Scripture monologue(Revelation 4:2-8), The New York Staff band performed I’m In His Hands by Phil Laeger (USA south woot, woot), and Commissioner Bill Francis was the Key speaker for the meeting. It was a really awesome time. The Holy Spirit was definitely present (as he always is) and able to use the speakers to his advantage. The commissioner spoke on Psalm1 (Tara already has laid claims to that blog though). It was a very exciting time. I don’t know why but I have been getting excited when I see someone here that I haven’t seen in just a few days. I was excited to see Doug and Deb and it had only been Thursday since I saw them. I was also excited to see Danny (Bangor lead intercessor) and I hadn’t seen him since Wednesday. That’s really weird to me. I don’t know exactly what God is doing to me but I like it. After the meeting we went to Sam’s grandmother house and had our own little pick-nick and then off to the beach. Clarice suggested burying someone in the sand…I volunteered my self. Word of advice always take money wallet and everything else you have in your pockets out before you get buried in the sand. I lost $1.65 in change to the sand. We dug around for it and all I could recover was one quarter. My pockets were full of sand and as well as my wallet. Luckily I got all of it out before I got on the van…I think. Aurora took over the driving duties on the way back (we had to turn around four times because she missed our turn off to get back). I played around in the back with my digital camera taking pictures of Charlie’s tongue and Sam’s nostrils…don’t ask it was an odd ride. I took over in the last hour and half because Aurora was too tired but I started to get tired as well which was weird because ten minutes earlier I was wide awake, but I stuck U2 into the Cd player put the AC vent right in my face and kept on truckin…while everyone else slept. It was cool beans and I’d do it again if I had the chance. But I wont because I’m leaving…and that stinks…a lot.

My apologies, Peaks Kenny, I don't want to leave

After my in depth blog yesterday I was shot down by Tara and called a blog thief. So I nned to recant a statement made yesterday. I said in my blog that she had the same idea as me, which was to blog our responses the question posed to her about Hebrews 4:6. She had the idea first so all the credit goes to her. She had her blog posted first and started typing first, but more importantly she had the idea to go to The handbook of Doctrine for an answer. She also has a shorter blog so you probably want to read that one rather than mine. So I am not a blog thief. My apologies...

I also need to do something that I don’t do yesterday. I remembered after Powerhouse that it was Chris’s Birthday. When I count to three every one should sing Happy Birthday to Chris. 1…2…3 Happy Birthday to you!! Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday…you get the idea. Chris turned 16 yesterday and soon can legally drive alone. Two points for Chris!!!

Okay, today some guys from powerhouse and some volunteers took a second trip to Peaks Kenny National Park (all organized by Charlie Liu WOOT WOOT!!). It was again a barrel of laughs and excitement. We ate more hot dogs, hamburgers, Cheez-It’s and chips than you could shake a stick at. No we weren’t gluttonous pigs we just had large appetites. The lake was really different form the last time I went there. Rather than there being cold and warm spots throughout the lake it was really warm today everywhere. We played with the Frisbee and we all dunked Nick eighty times. We also got a game of Ultimate Frisbee going. It didn’t work too well because the wind at the lake was pretty brutal but we still had fun. I said it before and I’ll say it again; Ultimate Frisbee has got to be absolutely best game in the world nothing can compare. It should be an Olympic sport. It was a mad crazy party and everybody had a blast. When all was said and done we came back to the corps and I realized that this was the last time I would see a couple of the volunteers from Powerhouse. I think I might cry. The back that I only have six days left has just really hit me. I really don’t want to leave but I know I must. I need to follow through with God’s path and not my own and if I don’t go back the Bangor Corps will have just wasted a couple hundred dollars on a plane ticket that I didn’t use….Doug would kill me. I really am going to miss everybody here. I feel like I’m leaving camp for the summer all over again (blahhhh). You would think I’d be used to it by, having been moved around every few years with my parents, but I think leaving friends is something you never really get comfortable with…I like that. It’s a good thing. Wow if I hate leaving Bangor so much I’m going to be a wreck when graduation comes around. Bummer.

Salvation maintained and Backsliding

Do not attempt to read this unless your in for the long haul. To the many blog fans that I have who are reading this blog expecting to read a joke at any minute and expecting to be almost wetting your pants at the end of this blog like you always are because my blogs are so funny I am sad to say that is not the case today. This is a zero funny blog.
Backsliding is more of a serious matter than I could ever have imagined. A question was posed to Tara in an E-mail about Hebrews 6:4-6: “For if the case of those who have been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and to powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves and put him to open shame.” He said this seems to say that once someone has backslidden they can’t be brought to repentance again they’re hopeless. He said he knows this isn’t rue but he was struggling with it. I have decided to answer this question on my blog. Tara has the same idea apparently. First of all it is true. Every word written in the book is true. Secondly we need to look at the definition of backsliding from the Hand book of Doctrine. Seriously I have the book in front of me. Italics are words from the book.

Chapter 8 section III—Backsliding and rejection.
I. Backsliding is a scriptural word which describes the falling away of the soul from God after having been saved.
That makes sense right. It then gives two parts of backsliding the process and the state of being a backslidden Christian.
(b) The word backsliding is a twofold sense to describe
(i) An ultimate experience, when a soul has entirely departed from God and lost all Spiritual life
(ii) The process by which this state is reached.
Backsliding is often secret at first being known only to the soul itself; later it becomes open being seen in the outward life.
I think most of us get that. We probably know someone who is or has backslidden.
(c) Backsliding is an expression of unresponsiveness or opposition to the will of God.
(d) This arises in the backslider’s own heart and will. He begins to decline where as a seeker he began to advance in his personal response to the call of God. At some point in his experience where formerly he said yes he now says no to the divine will. A wrong act itself is not backsliding; the all important attitude of the heart which accompanies and follows the sinful actions. If there is penitence, then forgiveness can be sought and obtained, but if backsliding continues then an increasing measure of separation from God inevitably follows.
2. The cause of failure can be either in the backslider’s faith or in his obedience.
(a) There can be a decline in faith—a ceasing to trust in Christ as saviour
(i) By relying on some other ground of faith
(ii) By abandoning all trust in the gospel message, and making a shipwreck of faith
3. At what point can backsliding be said to be entire? There are two main answers to this question, for the cause can be either a crisis decision or a process of spiritual neglect
Isn’t it interesting how the crisis and process format can lead to holiness, but it can also be used in backsliding.
(a) Backsliding is entire when a man consciously reverses his committal to Christ.
(i) He rejects the demands of Christian discipleship--disobedience
(ii) He consciously rejects Christ as saviour—unbelief
(b) Backsliding is entire when all conscious spiritual dealings with God have ceased.
This state can be reached with out any apostasy, and with out any open separation from Christian profession. So we can start to backslide and not even mean to or realize it?
The Bible speaks of backsliders in heart who still profess allegiance to Christ and his church. Of them it was said, “Though you have name for being alive, you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). This is the backsliding that results from continued neglect to maintain the spiritual life.
In contrast to open apostasy such backsliders may be unaware of their true condition, especially when their decline has not been accompanied by any particular expression of wrongdoing.
Now I want someone to correct me if I’m wrong (not really) but that seems to be saying that a person sitting at church who says they are a Christian but is spiritually dead because of lack of food has backslidden and therefore is subject to “the fury if fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews10:27). So our churches could be full of people who have backslidden with out even knowing it and they are going to hell. When given the choice of Jesus or Hell they say Jesus but that door is shut. Wow!! How much does that suck?
4. The back slider who persists in opposition to the will of God will forfeit both present and final salvation.

So a person who is backsliding can come to repentance and receive the grace of Christ by repentance and faith. So once a person has hit rock bottom and denies the knowledge of Christ and will not acknowledge him in any way can not and most likely won’t renew their repentance and enter into the kingdom of heaven. We need to catch the people who are on that downward spiral. The ones who know they are and don’t. We need to get to them before it is too late. There are thousands of people sitting in our congregations on Sunday’s who have backslidden and don’t even know it. Rather than looking outside our walls we should be looking on the inside; a change needs to happen there before anything can be done to change the outside.

Catchin up on the days events. Woot Woot!!!

I’m catching up…
Tuesday:
I saw Garfield today. I had wanted to see this movie for forever. It was the one movie I wanted to see last summer but I didn’t. I saw Napoleon Dynamite, I Robot, and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. I wasn’t really impressed. It was a good movie but it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be. I also ate a t a place called the Whig and Currier. They make really good Philly Steak and Cheese sandwiches but they must take a drive down to Philadelphia to get them. It took them forever to get our food out. I thought it would be time for me to go back to Vancouver by the time they got it out. We also had our second consecutive planned and normal cell meeting. Complete with an authentic vegan meal (Pad Thai). Tara is an expert chef. Brandon on the other hand is a BUM. He didn’t show up it was at his own house ands he wasn’t there. I wanted to tie him up, put him on a cow, and make him start running. I want to do it anyway cause I think it be hilarious. If you knew Brandon you would think it’s funny too. Doug and I also watched The Tampa bay Devil Rays kill the Boston Red Sox. I was very excited. It took extra innings but it’s still another point in the win section.

Wednesday:
I watched A Few Good Men. A very good movie. A wonderful line in the movie “…our job is to protect those who are weaker then everyone else”. That’s sort of our job as Christian soldiers. To protect those who don’t know the truth and can’t protect themselves because they don’t know the real danger that they are in or they don’t know how to get out of it. Our job is to get them into a place where they can protect themselves. “I want the truth” is always a popular line too. We should always speak the truth. It’s called integrity. Let our yes be yes and our no be no. That’s my deep thought for the day.

I want everyone to give Phillip Adams money to pay his TWC tuition. He has a good bit of it but he still needs some more. I think I got a good number of people to read this blog so if we all give him ten bucks he’ll be like one hundred dollars closer to that goal. Every Holy Terror student will have a blast next year. He is one of the funniest guys in the world. Him and Craig together at TWC will make for an interesting year. So everyone should send him money…lots of money. This is Keith Green speaking you should listen to me.

Hardcore Extreme prophets

Elijah and Elisha are the most hardcore prophets in the Bible. It seems both were sent to confront rather than comfort. I would go as far to say that they( seperatley) preformed more miracles than any old Testamnet prophet. Elijah represents God in a showdown between Baal and God. (hardcore) He taunted them and told them to shout louder. He called on God and fire came down and consumed the offering and the water around it. He then had all the prophets of Ball killed. He didn’t wait for them to come to repentance and turn there hearts to God he just had them executed (hardcore). He saw a storm coming before it was there, and he ran off ahead of the storm. He ran over 200 miles and he beat the storm. That’s really fast (hardcore)!! He got to eat cake prepared by God which isn’t hard core but it is very cool. He called fire down form heaven to consume two captains and one hundred men from Moab. He cursed a king with a disease that would cause his bowels to fall out. It worked. He parted the Jordan river with his cloak. He was taken up top heaven by God in a Chariot of fire. He talked to Jesus with Moses after e had been dead for several hundred years. Elijah is hardcore.

Elisha is also very hardcore. Elisha also parted the Jordan river his (Elijah’s) cloak. He called two bears to come and kill forty two kids because they called him Mr. Clean (baldhead) that’s hardcore. He purified a spring in Jericho. He changed the poison herb in stew so that no one died form it. He multiplied food but Jesus did that too. Naaman was healed of Leprosy and it give to Gehazi because he accepted payment from Naaman (he also lied to get the money and clothes) (hardcore). He also caused an ax head to float. He blinded the Arameans that were sent to capture him and he led them to Samaria (hardcore) and hilarious. His dry bones were still filled with holy Spirit power and they brought a man back to life when only touched the bones. They weren’t even trying to heal him. That’s hardcore. Thats almost as funny as Smith Wigglesworth telling a guy with no legs to put his nubs in some shoe and having legs grow on him. These guys are true extreme prophets. I just thought I would share that with you guys. I know it’s kind of pointless but I had fun. Does anyone else but me think the whole bear thing was really harsh? I will never make fun of Mr. Clean or Patrick Stewart (Capt. Pickard in Star Trek next generation) again. Either i'll stop or just look out for bears.

Tim Horton's has been found

I went to music camp at camp Sebago with one purpose to talk to Alberta, Ryan, and Olivia. Okay maybe that's three. Alberta was the only person I saw. I couldn’t find Olivia or Ryan. I figured Olivia was probably cleaning here cabin but I thought for sure I would see Ryan somewhere at the camp. I didn’t. I couldn’t find him at all. So I watched about 200 kids do a presentation on Noah’s Ark. It was a play filled with terrible jokes and funky costumes. On the way home Aurora and I decided it was a good idea to feed the kids rather than let them starve for the two hour ride home. We stopped at Wendy’s and to our astonishment (Aurora was more amazed than I was) there was a Tim Horton’s right across the street. How weird is that? We need to go to a little podunk town to find a Tim Horton’s? I bet they don’t have a Starbuck’s though. Anyway we (by we I mean Aurora) couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a Tim Horton’s Iced coffee and I fell asleep. I have fallen onto the trap again. Doug has got me hooked onto another TV show. I am now engrossed with Battle Star Galactica. That’s three shows he has gotten me hooked onto since I’ve been here. That’s three shows I won’t be able to catch up on when I go back to Vancouver/Charlotte. How does he do it? Hmmm I’m hungry.

Dodge ball, Powerhouse, a canadian??

I have never been so hot and sweaty in my life. Actually I’m lying I have been this hot and sweaty before. Sometimes it’s worse, but this is the fist time in Maine. I just got done with powerhouse and I played dodge ball till I thought my arms would fall off and legs would give up. I think the basket ball games are getting shorter and the dodge ball games are getting a lot longer. Usually dodge ball starts at eight o’clock. Tonight it started at 7:15ish. I never knew that nearly two hours of throwing balls at people could be so exhausting. Man is stink really bad right now. I don’t even think Lysol wipes would help me out now.
I think I may have Canadian blood in my family. Since I have been hear I have beaten almost everyone at air hockey. Even the one person who said he was better than everyone else (Ryan) because he won the Air hockey tournament here that was held a while ago. I wonder if that could be the sign of some Canadian blood coming through me. When I get back to Canada I will gladly challenge anyone to a game of air hockey. I am very confident that I can beat anyone. Lets do the Stephen Court stakes. If I win by more than five points (a shut out is very, very difficult) the looser buys milkshakes. I could so be Canadian. It’s a possibility. How cool would that be? I don’t know if cool would be the best term to use, maybe weird or funny but it could also be cool. There is the strong argument that’s a load of crap because Canada is way too cold for me. I was in possibly one of the warmest parts of Canada, for the winter, and it was stupid cold!!! I almost couldn’t stand it. I did love the snow though. Which is odd considering I’m form Florida. Ba ha ha ha who am I kidding I’m not Canadian. I’m too American to be Canadian. I think I’m 100% pure Southern American…or just an American.

Fort Knox isn't really locked up that much

Fort Knox, an old fort filled with history legends stories and not much else. The Kids of Summer took a trip to Fort Knox yesterday. I felt a bit un prepared because I couldn’t find my sunglasses in the morning I thought maybe they were eaten by my hair, but they were actually in my room, under my pants I wore yesterday. Maybe that means I should wash my clothes. Anyway, wh y do people say something s locked up like Fort Knox? It isn't really locked up anymore. I enjoyed the time walking through the long dark corridors of Fort Knox. If you can’t guess what I got to do in the long dark hallways you don’t know me well. Both Tara and I scared the crap out of people as they went by. Tara had the idea first so I got to give the credit to her. I got to see all the old dungeons and the officers quarters (a.k.a. CO’s house, ha ha ha, whether you think I’m referring to the dungeons or the officers quarters is for you to decide). I stuck my head in every hole it would fit in...maybe not the best idea looking back, and I went in every door that would open and one that probably shouldn’t have. I got a chance to stand on top of an enormous cannon. There were supposed to be like eighty more cannons but they were all taken away for World War II stuff. There were only two left, but I was disappointed because I couldn’t stick my head in those. Just being in the Fort and imagining what it was like way back in the day. Having a post at this fort that seemed impenetrable. Fighting off everyone that tried to take it down. Firing cannons and guns. Throwing out every piece of ammunition you have and when the smoke clears the you and the Fort are still standing and the enemies are lying dead on the ground there ship is burning as it slowly sinks into the ocean (sounds like fun). Oh wait that’s already happening. Victory!! Hallelujah!! I wish they had a tour guide there who could give us some insight and stories about the Fort. I thought maybe it would be like the Tower of London having a story for almost every building and room. No crown jewels no suits of armor, no stories of historical significance that we heard. Just the Fort. There were some plaques around the area that gave a bit of information but you can only wrote so much on those things. They weren’t very exciting either. It was still fun. Just walking around in an old place like that can be made into something exciting. I still want to know what originally went in those holes that I stuck my head in…maybe not, but still they were there for a good reason other than just for people like me. Lunch was good too. We had a picnic with bologna and cheese sandwiches and chips. Not the most exotic lunch in the world but it was good. I watched Brandon eat his Subway Sub (he was smart he set out early)as I tried to be happy as I ate my bologna sandwich. I then saw a movie called Hangman’s Curse. It was an okay movie, the acting was terrible and I think they totally missed a huge opportunity to show how real and dangerous the power of the devil is and they messed it up. This movie was set up so that everyone thought that this group of kids were cursing people by calling on the spirit of this other kid who hung himself in the school. It turned out to be one of the nerds using spiders to attack all the kids that were being targeted by the witches. I was very disappointed. Why is it that Christian made movies have such bad actors?? I couldn’t believe how terrible the acting was. A gimp armadillo could do better than what some of these people did. That’s not what is important though. So if you want to see a bad example of a Christian movie trying to get a point across see that one.

Right as in r-i-g-h-t

Today I had some more fun on the truck but that’s peanuts compared to later tonight…about ten minutes ago. I have just seen one of the best movies ever made. The Fantastic Four was absolutely awesome and funny. I loved every minute of it. I think it might be worth seeing again in the theatre. It was great. I know Marvel has found a way to go from comic to movie without making them Crash and Burn. I think it could be one of my new favorite movies. Ghostbusters is still number one, but The Fantastic Four is hard to beat. I don’t really see any quotable sermon type lines but it was really good. If I watch it again, since the shock factor is over, maybe I’ll notice some. The movie was really funny but the funniest part of the night was a comment by Sam. Doug and I were taking Sam and Jerrica home and we are driving down a road we had never been down before. We got into a discussion about turning right and Sam said, “I meant right as in the r-i-g-h-t right.” There is no difference in the spelling the way we were talking about it. Turn right (direction) here and turn right (time) here. There is no difference. I don’t know if anyone is laughing as hysterically as I was, maybe you had to be there. It was hilarious she didn’t realize what she had said until I pointed it out. It was funny stuff. Trust me. Seriously it was funny you should be on the floor laughing right now. That was like icing on the cake for the night. But we didn’t end there. Doug and I went to Gifford’s and I hate to say it (Jaime and Gabe don’t hate me please) but I think I may have found a place that makes ice cream just as good if not better than Braums. I know it’s hard to believe but this ice cream was awesome. I maybe be saying this because I have forgotten how good it is. It’s easy to forget tastes after four years but I know this ice cream was amazing. Deer tracks and moose tracks ice cream. Absolutely wonderful. Maybe I just need to test it out. Do some taste tests and decide. Anyone willing to donate money to help in this cause that must be figured out send it to me.

Dougy's back We have a working cell...finally

Doug is back. Deb is gone. I start to wonder if they evr forget what each other looks like. I should ask oh wait they read my blogs. They know it lost the humor factor if I ask it now. Doug is back from BTI plus one extra week. The fact that he’s back is not what is important though; what is important is the fact that we had an absolutely awesome cell time. It wasn’t like anyone got saved we just finally had something that seemed like a cell rather than all of us flailing around trying to figure out what to do when the cell time came. I think the fact that we had dinner helped out a lot. Food is the new universal language. We had vegan tacos…we had veggie tacos (for Nicole). If we kept the cheese off they would have been vegan. I couldn’t tell the difference between those and real tacos though. They tasted the same. We didn’t tell anyone about the fake meat until they had already eaten a taco. No one cared though it was great. I pulled out one Aaron White’s cell talks and used that. It seemed like everyone had some input and we rally had an amazing conversation with them. I also asked them all “if you could have any one super power in the what would it be?” I got a lot of different responses (Scott changed his mind eight times) but they all were very interesting…if only I could remember them. Oh well. The point is everything was great. It stinks that it took us this long to get things sorted out and moving along but now that we overcame confusion and apathy (as far as the cell goes) there’s no stopping us now!!

Lakes lakes and more lakes

How many lakes does the sate of Maine have? Does anyone know? Seriously, I want to know. I’ve seen four lakes so far and I went for a swim in two of them. I had to drive out to Pushaw lake today on the Family Store truck to pick up a couch. It’s the fourth lake I’ve seen since I’ve been here. It would be number five if I had found Alswallowamoose or Alstickagoose lake. I’ve been to lake Sebago I wouldn’t have gone swimming if it hadn’t been for Danielle. It was 51 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius). I talked about it more in depth in a previous blog. I went swimming in Sebec Lake at Peeks Kenny National park last Saturday. I caught a glimpse of Branch Lake when I drove Chris out there about a month ago, and I saw Pushaw Lake earlier today while driving a beast of a truck down a narrow dirt road. Whoever named Minnesota the Land of a Thousand Lakes has never been to Maine. I think Maine probably beat them. I’ve never been to Minnesota though so I could be very wrong. Maybe I’ll make a visit to both states and count them up. Summer assignment next year Minnesota. 614 St. Paul that would be awesome. There are a good number of lakes in Florida but I don’t think there near as big or as many as these. I did have a funny experience yesterday when I finally found the house I was looking for. Lugi (the helping me on the truck) forgot the keys to open the lock on the truck so we spent ten minutes with a hammer and a crow bar trying to break this lock. We finally succeed. Unfortunately we broke the hammer. It was tough little lock. Luckily it wasn’t a master lock or we may have never gotten it off without the key. I think those pictures are funny Master Lock has on there packages. A bullet hole in the lock yet it still is locking whatever door it’s on. That’s hilarious. It makes me want to try to shoot one to see if it really works It sort of reminds me of the movie Hulk, he’s constantly getting shot but he keeps going just like the Energizer bunny. Today was the first time I saw the movie. Does anyone think that at the end of the movie Bruce Banner (the Hulk) looks like me now? He did have a lot of hair on the end. Maybe I’m really the Hulk in disguise, and nobody knows it but me. That would be awesome. Maybe I should make myself really angry. I'll just watch The Miami Dolphins loose over and over and over again, that'll do it.

Not just another Sunday in Bangor,Maine

Sunday is always a good experience here in Bangor. The worship is always an exciting time and the speaker’s words are always anointed (even when he ends with a Forest Gump ending…like me). Today’s anointed speaker was Aurora Atell. We sang “His Love Endures Forever” during praise and Worship, we heard Michael W. Smith sing “His Love Endures Forever” for an offertory, and we read Psalm 136 (read it and you’ll see a trend happening…if you haven’t already). It was a very loving atmosphere. Her preach was about recognizing and obeying God’s call for our lives. We even had Sword Drills I hadn’t done those since Jamie Smith did them in class one day. Previous to that I hadn’t done them in like twelve years. That’s a long time. I then was invited to Mary MacKay’s house for Lunch since if I was at home it would be me and Winfield. It was good. Barbeque Pork and Potato Salad (what is taters precious?). I learned to play a game called Ziggity. I’m almost sure that’s what it’s called. Aurora taught me and I won three out of our five game tournament. I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been focused on results a lot lately…is that a bad thing?? I’m just curious. I seriously want some input on that. The real interesting part of the day was fifteen minutes ago in Bible Study. Gene is a well of information that is constantly pouring out when he gets a chance. There were things that I thought I had straightened out in my minds and he would bring something up and throw my ideas into another tailspin and they would crash and burn. It’s funny how the Holy Spirit seems to want you to wrestle with stuff rather than figure it out and sit on it that way. I also saw a very fiery and tenacious side of Tara tonight. I apparently wasn’t the only one arguing with stuff in my head. Some of her remarks seemed to have an edge to them. It wasn’t a bad thing but it made the atmosphere different. Rather than sitting at the table listening to Gene pour out his info and have these dead pan bland expressions on our face we actually had fun we made jokes and laughed at stuff when we started running ion circles over issues. It was very exciting. I almost can’t wait for next week. I’m not really sure how it came about but we did get into a discussion on holiness. The discussiopn lingered on and finally we prayed and petitioned for Holiness. It was good stuff. Holiness is what I want and what I need!!!

Fun at the park

Aurora and I went to Peeks Kenny National Park today with Charlie and a bunch of volunteers form Powerhouse. That was cool. We went into the lake there. It was fun going into a lake that you couldn’t see the bottom of without having to worry about what was there. No gators in Maine I guess. Yesterday I was saying to myself I don’t want o go I want to stay at home and do nothing. Why would I want to do that? That would have been so boring. I had a blast. I almost wish I would have stayed longer. I had Cheez-Its, Gatorade, ad sunscreen what more do you need? I was ready for anything. I found some cool rocks too. They also had a lifeguard there. That must be a boring job watching people have fun in a twenty by twenty foot swimming area. The deepest part was like 6 ½ feet. No sharks and no gators just make sure everyone is swimming. We tried to do a hike through he woods but that didn’t work. All we found were camping grounds and people looking at us like we didn’t know where we were going…because we really didn’t know where we were going. That makes sense. We pulled out a Frisbee and threw is around a bit after our short trek. I wanted to play a game of Ultimate Frisbee but no one else was up for it. We had fun playing Marco Polo though. It was an awesome time. How great is this summer assignment? I get to hang out in Bangor, have fun, build relationships, and try to start a cell. You can’t beat it. I love this place. I can’t get enough of it. I feel like I don’t want to close my eyes and I don’t want to fall asleep ‘cause I’d miss you Bangor and I don’t wanna miss a thing. I feel like I could write a song with those words. I bet it would be a hit if I did it. Josh you’re not permitted to steal my idea. Those are my words and I have the blog to prove it. Score!!

Dodge ball and Ultimate Frisbee

Friday night’s at powerhouse. Hey, that sounds a lot like the movie Friday Night Lights. I haven’t seen it yet but I want to. Dodge ball is probably the funnest games in the entire world. I love it. I would play it all the time if I could. I think it should be an Olympic sport along with Ultimate Frisbee. I’d compete in it. I think I’d do a good job too. So along with getting a police officer saved I want to petition to make Dodge Ball and Ultimate Frisbee Olympic sports. Is anyone with me? Anybody…Bueller… anybody Bueller. I’ll do it myself then. Hmmm…this is a very short blog. Has anyone ese herad the song by Relient K and John Rueben Nuisance? It’s a great song if you haven’t heard it yet listen for it. It’s good stuff.

I love Pool party's I hate Sunburn

Pool Party’s are so much fun. Rather than crashing the pool party I decided to have a pool party of my own. It was planned for Kids of Summer (a youth program we started Tuesday or whenever w can fit it in). I had hot dogs, chips, ice cream, and a sunburn…again. Every thing you need for a great pool party. I don’t know why I’m getting burnt so much. I blame Canada. I saw the movie The Punisher today. That is not a good movie. I was unimpressed. It was all about revenge and unjust justice. Very not good. I'm catching up a lot on movies that I've missed I noticed. I also found out the NHL will be back next year for sure. It is official now. I’m very excited. I get to see the Tampa Bay Lightning take home The Stanley Cup again. I don’t care if more than half the players are Canadian they’re winning and I like it. That’s all the news for today. I am going to get some Starbucks.
I get Canadian Starbucks again in three weeks. SCORE!!

Hindsight's 20/20

I realized today that I have to re think some things that I enjoyed before I went to The War College. I went to Charlie and Ashley’s house last night. Aurora and I had bought some smore stuff and so had Charlie and Ashley, so there was a plethora of smores stuff. It was good. We played a few games of pool; I did well in the first game then I got progressively worse. I don’t know why. I thought I was doing everything the same I still had fun though. After I had gotten to the point of terrible pool where I couldn’t go anywhere else but up we stopped to do the smores. We stoked up a fire and roasted some mallows. It was wonderful. We talked about all our musical endeavors and other random stuff it was fun. Then we watched the movie Identity. I had seen this movie once before while I was in Florida. That was before my TWC transformation. I liked this movie at one point in my life. It’s in the “psychological thriller” category. After I watched it again I wasn’t quite sure what was so thrilling about it. I couldn’t deal with all the death and gruesomeness of it all. I was not a fan. I had this huge disgust for the movie after it was over. It has a unique twist at the end but the rest of the movie is stupidly (is that a word?) gross absolutely. I guess it’s something I should have seen coming but I sometimes don’t think about stuff until it happens. Then it seems so clear. Hindsight’s always 20/20. Maybe that could be my superpower to be able to see the results of stuff before it happens. I have the power of hindsight. That could be fun. I still like the force field idea though (read my blog from July 8th if you’re not sure what I’m talking about). I’m now curious about what other things I might have this disgust for. I will let you guys know. Has this happened to anyone else or am I a little slow on the pick-up?

Yesterday was the first day I was not on the truck. The work I did at the store was just as hard thought I had to move at least six couches around and tones of tables, cabinets and entertainment centers. Wow!! That was brutal. Chris and I had the hardest time with one couch. I never have had to move a couch that was that heavy in my entire life. It was ridiculous. It should be illegal to make couches that heavy. I never want to have to move that beast again. I also realized I’ve got a tan on my legs. I’m very excited. I was taking shower after I got back form the Family Store I took my socks off and thought my legs were really dirty but it’s a tan line either that or the dirt jus t won’t wash off. I’m almost back to my old Florida standards. That’s cool beans.

Crash a party

I had a blast today. I went to crash a pool party. Brandon and Sam were at Mary’s house swimming so Aurora, Jericca and I went over and decided to join in the fun. They left like two minutes after we got there though. So I spent the entire time swimming with Michael and trying to stop Aurora and Jericca form dunking me. It worked I was the undefeated dunk Champion. WOOHOO!! I should get a prize…or not. I am also getting a tan again. I’m so happy. So rather than being a pale pasty white boy, I can be a mildly tan white boy. I’m just trying not get sunburned. That seems to happen to me a lot. Chris got first place at his Paintball tournament. Everyone should cheer for that. He got a ton of paintball gear so he can save a lot of money. I can’t really think of much else to say so I’m done. This is a very short blog.

Sunday breakthrough!!!! Praise GOD!!!!

Sunday was good. I didn’t wake up on time but that’s okay. I wasn’t very prepared for the young adult Sunday school discussion we had, but it turned out all right. I was feeling weird all day until lunch. I was invited to Mary’s house for lunch and it was good. I got to sit talk and eat (all good things). I laughed at stories told someone else's stories(not my own) and laughed some more it was good. I then took a short nap on the couch. Not good. Aurora and Tara got some scissors and I woke up hearing Aurora’s giggle and was appalled because they were cutting a small bit of hair form my beard. I was so furious (and still half asleep). I couldn’t believe it. Danielle asks Tara to do something and she pulls Aurora into it and they become Delilah. AGHHHHHH!!!!! I will not be overcome. They will not win. Danielle’s plan will fail. The rest of the day was good. I watched Brianna eat most of a banana like corn on the cob. Funny. It was also Fred’s birthday. I didn’t know so I couldn’t get him anything. I wouldn’t be able to if I did know; my wallet was and still is empty. I always thought my parents were joking (or stupid/careless) when they said money doesn’t last long. They were right. It stinks. Anyway I had some ice cream cake which was wonderful. Then off to Sonday Nite Live. That was awesome. You may remember me saying I couldn’t figure out how to get a hunger in the youth for the word of God. I just had to present it in a different way. I had to figure out a way to reach this post-modern generation. I am sorry Aaron I will review your notes tonight. Deb figured it out. We watched a movie. Coach Carter (awesome movie) then brought up critical thinking points half way through. We made it a time when they wouldn’t shut there brains down for a two hours during the movie. We had them watch for quotes or places that pulled out emotions. Principals in the movie that were good or not. And ideas of how it related to life form a Christian view. I was so thrilled when I realized what was happening. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it earlier. I have like ten blogs talking about preaching point and quotable lines in movies. It makes sense. Now I know. Good note for whoever comes hear next year. Everyone in The Holy Terror session of The War College, who is reading this, refer the student going to Bangor to this specific blog. It will be helpful. Just kidding, but seriously do it.

Ten months of hair and still going strong. Two song quotes for it.
No compromise—OC Supertones
I won’t back down—Tom Petty

A cool beans day

Satan starts on me right when I wake up this morning. It was easy though; I took him out with no problem (I simply said go). Aurora and I were asked to go over to Charlie’s house to spend the day hanging out playing pool and watching some movies. At first I was like I really don’t want to I really just want to stay at the house and do nothing. Then I thought how much does that suck. GO!! He’s the guy you want to get saved; how is that going to happen if you stay at home and miss this opportunity to be with him. DUH!!!!! So off we went. We got to his house through the rain after being there for about half an hour I realized I’m terrible at pool. I always thought I was pretty good. When you haven’t played in about a year (on a good table) it shows. I was terrible. Then we decided to have a tournament. That’s when I realized I lost (or never had) my touch. Three games of cut throat. I lost mine and lost for another guy (I took his place since he left early). So that’s two games, in a row, I lost. They go on with the tournament. Jessica wins. Then we decide to have a loser’s battle. Aurora, Rickey, and I are competing. Rickey and I both lost two games. So were doing what we can to get a record three in a row. We actually didn’t want Aurora to win at all. The game lasted forever (notice how it’s underlined). That had to be the longest game in the world. I would say it lasted just over an hour. We scratched so many times (most were non-intentional) so we kept bringing other balls up. Just when everyone thought it was almost over bam, bam, bam, three scratches in a row; the table is full again, and it’s anybody’s game. I couldn’t believe how long it was. It eventually ended up me and Aurora facing off. I missed an easy shot and she sunk my last ball. I was hoping for a scratch but no such luck. So Rickey and I both lost three consecutive games. How cool are we.
We went to get some pizza and rent some movies. The pizza we got was enormous twenty-seven inches. Yes we were gluttonous pigs. I think we wanted to have enough for everyone to get there fill. We had our fill and more with the chips added to the mix. We then watched The Village and The Jacket. As Keanu Reeves would say “Whoa.” Those movies were so weird. I thought my head would explode because they confused me so much. I understood them but they were just…too strange for me. I usually love psychological thrillers but these two were just odd. The Jacket was okay. I like it. It was a good movie. The Village was just too slow and really weird for me. They had a colony with beliefs and lives built on fear and deceit. I didn’t like that and the girl really had nothing to fear while she was in the woods, so it wasn’t that exciting. I personally was unimpressed. We were also planning on watching Hostage, but after the first two movies it was too late. Maybe another time I can ponder through that one. It was an awesome day. I wouldn’t trade it for any another. It was cool beans.

You can have one super power What is it

My blog now allows anonymous comments. Everyone comments now.
This question was posed to me a few months ago by Aaron (Ziploc) White. If I could have any one super power in the world what would it be? I’ve given it careful thought and I have come to a definite decision. I know I would want something that I could help someone with. What good would a superpower be if I couldn’t help anyone but myself? When I first thought I said transportation (a.k.a. phasing). I thought that would be cool I could be in a airport in a second and not have to wake up early and drive there. I could go from Florida and Vancouver and Charlotte, North Carolina without going on a plane. I could go into the vault of a bank and no one would know. Temptation not good. I then thought that it would just make me lazy. I would be phasing everywhere, and I’d get lazy and apathetic. Not good. Then I thought about pyro-kenesis. I thought that would be awesome to have fire come out of my hand and burn stuff. I like fire. Then I thought what good could I do with that? I could roast marshmallows in the blink of an eye. Oh no dinner’s not ready and you have to cook for twenty people. Don’t worry I can cook it in two minutes. What if I had a dream about fire and I woke up in the middle the night and my room in burning not good at all. That wouldn’t be very helpful. Then I thought about X-ray vision. NO!! Not helpful in anyway shape or form. Unless someone has a broken bone. I would never need to go to the doctors office again for my ankle, but again not very practical unless I had a medical degree. Then I thought what about flying? Aaron made a good point though it’s not very useful unless you have super strength or something else to compliment that ability. Then I thought about ESP, but I think it would just be weird for someone to hear my voice in there head. I would be telling them telling them a ridiculous joke while there in an important meeting, or (even worse) they might mistake me for an evil Spirit talking to them, and that wouldn’t turn out good( breaking me off in Jeus name is not good for business). I may also not want to know what other people are thinking at times. So then I thought. What does the world need? Food? (no) money? (no) Protection? (YES) Hurricanes, storms, earthquakes, tsunami’s, disaster. The world Needs protection. A force field!! That’s it. I wan to be able to make a force field I could save hundreds of people form death. I could put a force field around a person so they can’t inject with a needle. I could put a force filed around people so they won’t get shot, or I could protect everyone in Cuba right now so Hurricane Denis won’t kill anyone. That would be awesome. I wouldn’t save everyone though. That would be over kill…or over doing it. I would definitely have to be asking God if it is okay to protect certain people. Although roasting marshmallows instantaneously and flying would be cool and transporting from Australia to faster and cheaper than Phil could. I want to be in the business of saving lives…oh wait I already am. BA ha ha ha. Right now though I’m focusing on walking on water. Maybe I’ll work on the force field after I take a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The instant smores will just have to wait. Everyone else your thoughts??
I could be a Hero in more ways than one.
What’s your superpower?

Good News

In the mind of Michael Collins I think this would qualify as Good News. Check it out your thoughts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4083676.stm

By the way does anyone know if he has a blog?

Wednesday What Can I say?

No seriously what can I say? It's Wednesday. It's like every other Wednesday. I was on the truck at the Family Store like I am every Wednesday. It was a lot easier than it has been in the past though. The pick ups were actually relatively small (Praise the Lord). I also realized that the Family Store could save a ton of money if, rather than taking all the stuff that is falling apart and broken and un useable and just have a bonfire with it, it would save them so much money on trips to the dump. They have so much wood from entertainment centers that are falling apart, nasty mattress', books, and other random wood stuff we get that's broken, bent and otherwise destroyed. It would be fun we could have the bonfire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows and have smores. That would be awesome!! They had so much stuff they can't sell and need to get rid of that the truck was full and there was still stuff left over to be thrown away. It's ridiculous. I say burn it all and get some use out of it to roast the mallows. No one ever gets tired of smores. It could be the employee/volunteer appreciation party, once a month, it'll last all night long. I think I'm going to pitch it to the manager next time I see them. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. I played Halo2 and talked to Chris. The highlight was the ribs that Debbie made. Oh my the were so good. I cold have eaten them all night long and never gotten sick of them. I loved every finger lickin bite (I never really liked that cliche. Why did I just use it?). After I picked up Chris from friends house we almost had a ten o'clock basketball game. Where he beats me 10-3 and I laugh and make jokes because I'm so bad. He was hungry though so it didn't happen but it will, and I will blog about it. I think I'm getting better though. I've been playing by myself in the gym at the corps when I have some free time. Everyone seems better when there by themselves though, so I may still be really bad. I will let everyone know.

Ice Cream makes everything good

We had our fourth young adult cell today. We’re still struggling to make it a natural thing that happens and we get to meet people now it seems like an awkward program and that makes it hard to have fun at times. We did go out and have some waffle fries with cheese and cheese sticks and quesadillas…wow we had a lot of cheese. Then we topped it off with some ice cream. I loved every minute of it. You can't go wrong woth Ice Cream. Ryan also joined our group on his day off from camp. It was good seeing him again and hearing of his camp exploits; his pranks (I hope the DYS doesn’t read my blog) and other amazing camp stuff. It almost makes me miss the camp in Florida. Here’s a shout out to all my CAMP KEYSTONE PEEPS!! I should write them a letter. That would be fun (I’m thinking out loud now, but I’ll get back to blogging in a minute). They would probably like to hear from me since this my first summer not there in like four years…I’m sure everyone misses me even the people who don’t know me. Okay, I’m done thinking. We got to talk with Scott as well; he was just recently accepted as a Free Mason Shriner. So he is one of the guys that will be helping to but a good face on the free masons. That is so not cool. We got a chance to pray for him (but not about the free mason stuff) he’s got some things he’s trying to work through. We made TWC pitch to him. He said he’s thought about it. I think it would be an awesome opportunity and a great way for him to get keep going with what he’s already accomplished…I should probably be telling him this and not you guys. I think I’ve run out of things to blog about so I guess I’m done.

Last Few days update. Our Independence Day!!

Okay so this is going to be a blog to cover the last few days…
July 2: I hope everyone had a wonderful Canada day. Doug is back. Wahoo. Seriously that’s all that happened that day. Uh…no it isn’t…I lied I got a call form my parents. They are no longer homeless. They have a condo in Naples Florida which gives them a view of the lake and pool (God has blessed Florida and the USA South). So they now begin there one year of assisting the COs in Naples until the building in wherever is finished. I also got a call form my older sister who is going to sign me up for Survivor. She says I have the goofy personality that people look for. Apparently they like goofy people with lots of hair.
July 3: Doug is leaving. Blahhhh. Nicole (Our Youth Pastor) and Doug are going to BTI. Where they will be immensely blessed and get a truck load of Holy Spirit energy and revitalization and then they can bring it in to Bangor and share the wealth. I want a piece a dat. Woot Woot!! So Tara, Aurora, and I drove them to Portland to meet with some other officer dude. Then we left and Tara started to drill me with some questions (mostly so we didn’t ride in silence) to get an insight into my mind. Praise God she didn’t get lost in my hair while getting insight. That was good times.
July 4: I went to an island (I don’t remember what it was called) for a cook out and a parade. That was fun. I ate and ate and ate and just when I was going to stop dessert came out so I ate some more. Hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken (every vegetarian hates me now) with pasta salad and chips (the chips were low fat so I’m not fat don’t worry). Then we had strawberry pie for dessert, brownies, and cookies, and it was good. Then we played Ultimate Frisbee. I had a blast. We lost seven to five but it was good times I enjoyed every minute of it. I also cut my hand. But I kept playing. Just like in Rugby playing while injured. Except in Rugby I would probably need to learn how to play while I was dead. It wasn’t that bad at all. I also got sunburn on my arms. It’s Canada’s fault. I blame them. But you can’t be upset when you get a sunburn when you’re with friends. I will be going to see a fireworks display tonight with Aurora. And Debbie gets back tonight. Hooray someone will be here who will be in charge again. I will have fun.
Happy 4th of July, Happy Independence Day!! (even if you’re not American)

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare (cymbal Crash), the bombs bursting in air, (cymbal Crash!!) Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. (trumpet Cresendo to Fortisimo!!) O say, does that Star - Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

God Bless America and humble us. May there be more of you and less of us.

Canada Day

Happy Canada Day Everyone!!!! (even if you're not canadian)


O Canada!Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.