Hope for Michigan: Three things you can do to help our state.

I was listening to Michigan Radio when I heard them announce that they were going to start a week long series featuring people who gave their opinions on the top three things people can do to turn Michigan "around." In other words, three things that will bring hope to Michigan.
2009 has been a very rough year for Michigan's economy. Many thousands of people are without jobs, homes, or food. When you look at the overall picture of our state, it looks pretty darn hopeless.

I was thinking about these things when I heard a sermon this evening on Psalm 27. The sermon was about facing adversity and having hope in the midst of it. Hope for Michigan is not going to come from some theory, some new company moving in, or the words of wisdom from some politician. Hope for Michigan is going to come from God and God alone. If God is on our side all things are possible. As the the Psalm says, even when enemies attack (trails, hardships, etc.), they will stumble and fall. The Lord will protect those who trust in Him. Even when all hope seems to be gone, we can still percivere and be at peace because when God makes a promise, it's a promise. Period.

Read the verses below with Michigan in mind, or your own personal trial. The three things we can do to help our state are pray, trust and wait upon the Lord. Be at peace of of good cheer, the Lord will take care of us.

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

2 When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.

4 The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.

5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

6 Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.
7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me!

8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation!

10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.

11 Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.

12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.

13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.
14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Noah's Ark Found?

NOTE: Due to a comment from a viewer, I'm not sure how much of this is true. I will have to do more research. Please comment and let me know what you know. Thanks!

Start watching at about 2 minutes. Be patient and watch it all the way through. The other day I was playing around Google Maps and I decided to look up the location of where the Ark was supposed to have landed. When I was searching for this information, I came across the above video. This video shows overwelming evidence for the discover of Noahs Ark in the mountians of Ararat. The Turkish government recognizes the find as the actual Ark and they even created a national park that is named after the Ark.

For the best information, it would be best to watch the video for yourself, but if you don't have time to watch the whole video, I'll give you a brief summary. The video is only 35 minutes. If this information were ture, it wouldn't be surprising, it would be just something else in the Bible that has been proven to be true. Most people don't really believe the story of Noah's ark. If the information presented in this video were true it could change a few peoples minds.

Ofcourse, people choose to believe what they want too, and if they don't want to believe that there is a God, they will find some reason to discount this evidence.

Claimed Noahs Ark Discovery Evidence:

1. The finding is in the shape of a boat.
2. The dimensions of the shape are the exact dimensions that are mentioned in the bible. The Ark is exactly 300 Egyptian cubits or 515 feet.
3. It rests on the mountains of Ararat exactly as the Bible says. Ararat used to be a region or a country in biblical times. For a long time people thought the ark rested on the mountain called Mount Ararat, but this isn't the case. The Ark rests on another mountain that used to be part of the region of Ararat.
4. The shape contains petrified wood and aluminum. Aluminum cannot be found naturally in nature. It is a man made substance. It also contains another man made metal, Titanium.
5. The structure has vertical support beams that are evenly spaced on the deck of Noahs Ark.
6. A pottery shard was found near the ark with name Noah engraved on it.
7. Noahs Ark is recognized by the turkish government being the actual ark. They even built a visitors center at the discovery site. This center has various artifacts that were either part of the ark or where found around the ark discovery location.
8. Huge anchor stones were found near the ark. These stones were used to steady the ark during it's journey.
9. Radar scans show a regular pattern of timbers inside the arks interior. The scans also reveal keels, keelson, gunnels, bulkheads, animal chambers, a ramp system, a door in the right front, and an open area for the air to flow through all levels.
10. A drilling into the ark revealed petrified animal dung and cat hair.

Here is a google map that has satellite photos of the landing site and the locations of various artifacts that were found around the ark. Click on the various points shown in the map to get details on what was found at the location. This google maps mashup was made in 2007. The zoom feature on the map doesn't work that well, so try looking around the top red marker in the map. Zoom slowly towards it and you will be able to see the outline of the ark.


View The Landing of Noah's Ark in a larger map

Beyond Complacency to Making a Difference as a Christian

Let me take you back to a place in time we will not soon forget. Let us pretend for a minute that you are there, your family is there, and your home is there – everything you know and love – is there. You are sitting in scared silence, with your lights out and your blinds drawn – as if not to attract attention to yourself. You are a Jew and you are going to be killed. As you hear the screams of your neighbors and then the powerful gun shots getting closer and closer, you are thinking to yourself, “Why didn’t somebody do something?” Then the truck stops, the boots stomp, and the fists pound. Your father is grabbed violently and thrown from your apartment balcony, only to hit the cobblestone street three stories below a second later. A soldier pulls a gun out and your mother is shot, your brother is shot, your sister is shot, and then the gun turns to you. The trigger is pulled back, and it’s over.

To this day the question you asked is still pondered and pondered some more. In the mean time similar events still take place. Bombs still go off in Iraq, guns still kill in the Sudan, and our inner cities still continue to fall to despair and ruin. While most are left to ponder and perhaps revere in there wisdom of what someone could have done, a few are out there doing it. They are being that somebody and doing that something. They have defied the strongholds of complacency and apathy and stepped into the danger zone. They have heeded the call of their leader with utmost abandon and a strange delight, and there is no going back. Of course they fall and fail and when they are done failing, they fail again. But amongst the failure are the successes that make the pain of failure worth it all.

When you take a step back (assuming that we’ve stopped pretending) and examine this group, you realize that these people are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They are different from the rest because of one reason; they have stopped asking “Why doesn’t somebody do something?” and instead have asked themselves, “Why don’t I do something?” In so doing, they have become today’s heroes.

You ask them why and how they can do these things and they tell you something you’ve heard before, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Then you make another realization - that you can and should do it too.

- Inspired by God, written by Joe

Frustrated! How do I overcome complacency??

I'm frustrated. I'm in a trap and I can't get out. Let me tell you about it. See, I want to make a difference in this world... I would love to make a BIG difference, but I'd be content in knowing I was at least making SOME difference. And I guess maybe at times I do, but most of the time I'm pretty darn sure I don't.

Why? because, I, like most people (I'm mostly referring to Christians here) have become complacent. Most people in the US at least. From what I understand, people in countries where things aren't going so well are a little more on "fire" about there faith than we here in the US. Funny how that works. Things start going well and we forget about God.

Well, maybe that's how it goes for me. Let me give you an example. I needed a job. I was leaning on my own understanding and in all my ways not following God for awhile. So yeah, needless to say things weren't going so hot. And what do I do? Turn to God. How nice of me, I know! *sarcasm*. I ask for help, and I get it. Abundantly so, God came through in miraculous ways (I'll probably talk about that more in an upcoming entry).

I was all excited about starting my new job and being a witness for Jesus Christ. I was convinced that my purpose there was to show my boss and coworkers(quite a few of them) the love of God.

But remember what happens when things go well? We forget about God and we become complacent. We're happy with were we are at and don't like making much extra effort. We forget to pray and read our Bibles more and more.

And that's kinda were I'm at with my job right now. I don't take the stands that I should. I don't try to show God's love the way that I should and I get lazy about doing my work "as unto the Lord." I've, once again, gotten into the horrible trap of complacency. I would like to get out and get out for good. sometimes that seems impossible. I been in this trap countless times. Every time I escape, I'm quickly pulled back in, and sometimes it feels like I've never been out of it.

So here I am. FRUSTRATED! I've created this blog to document my attempted escapes and hopefully to hear from others with similar experiences. Until laters, so long!

-joe

Dear Lord help be go Beyond Complacency!