Friday, November 21, 2014

Thanksgiving

Haven't posted in awhile, not sure anyone reads these things anyways............


But since it is Thanksgiving time, and I have an enormous amount of things to be thankful for, I thought why not be cliche and do a thanksgiving blog post.

However, in keeping with the 'rock n roll" attitude of Righteous Rock Radio, this post of thanksgivings will be specifically about Righteous Rock Radio.

This internet radio station that I call Righteous Rock Radio has been a blessing to me in so many ways, it has been unbelievable what has grown from operating this station. So here we go, my many thanks as they relate to Righteous Rock Radio.

First off, the Christian Rock 20. This show was the first syndicated show that we we're approved to air. Paul Gibson does a fantastic job, it's entertaining and always full of great music. The interview segments are always cool, and hey how can you go wrong with a guy that is such a huge Steve Taylor fan. Paul has gone the extra mile for us on more than one occasion, providing us with bio information for our new DJ page, cutting Christmas greetings, and promo spots. We are thankful for the Christian Rock 20.

DJ Redman and the Blues Show - DJ Redman IS the blues, if I was going to "create" a dj to host a blues show he would sound exactly like DJ Redman. He is awesome. His show is always an enjoyable show to listen to, it may be blues, but you never "get the blues" while listening, oh no, on the contrary, it's kind of uplifting actually.  DJ Redman also sends us the Eternal Cross show and occasionally a church service for our Sunday morning random church broadcast, but to us DJ Redman IS THE BLUES, and we are thankful for him and his show.

Dez Childs - some may consider this show a bit of a misfit for our rock n roll station, as yes she will play mostly pop/worship type music, but it works. It's a great Saturday morning show, and her interview segments are always super cool. She gets some pretty interesting folks to chat with her (cue Tommy James) and always has a positive message to share during the show. We are thankful to have the Dez Childs show as part of our programming.

Resurrection Metal Radio show.  This show is all over the internet and can be heard as a podcast as well, so while it may never be a top rated show around these parts, we feel is serves a great purpose. From my experience in the bar business, metal guys and rockers hang out late on Thursday nights, and they like to rock, so we placed this show on Thursdays at midnight hoping we might catch some of these listeners. Were thankful to be able to offer this show to our listeners, and those that may find us by accident.

Jay Heilman and the Kingdom Builder Podcasts - Jay sends us great in depth interviews to broadcast from time to time. This year alone he's brought us Michael Sweet, Kevin Young, and David Ellefson (Megadeth) to name a few. It's not a weekly, or even a monthly show, but we are thankful that he shares his work and efforts with us.

Todd Friel and Wretched Radio - Not even sure Todd knows we still do these broadcasts as it was long ago that we reached out for permission to air them. He has probably forgotten about us, but that's OK we are thankful for his ministry and what he does. A true "street preacher" that just happens to be on the radio and TV, Todd's programs are very to the point and sometimes might sting a little, but hey that's all part of what rock n roll is about.

First Heavy Metal Church Of Christ - It can be an odd experience when searching for a "message" program, there is alot of whacked out crazy teaching going on out there. But Brian and Rachel "get it". Their just a bunch of wild and crazy sinners that fell in love with God, and do whatever they can to relay that message to everyone. And besides a "heavy metal" church? Cmon! That's ROCK N ROLL! Messages that are named after metal songs? Yep, that RAWKS as well! We've had more positive feedback on their broadcast than any of the "message" shows that we air. We are thankful for the FHMCC and for them allowing us to broadcast their message of hope to the world.

Frontline - A record label aksing us to broadcast their show? Hmmm.........not gonna lie, that one got me feeling all good about myself...........but after I calmed down, I quickly gave thanks for the 3R station being able to be a part of the Frontline Rewind series.

Z Radio Show - thankful for the crazy bunch of guys that keep me up to date on the "rap" music, that rock a little, and always give a great and grounded message at the end of their show. Plus their Righteous Rock Radio shout outs are AWWWWEEEESSSSOOOMMMEEEE!  We've moved these guys around more than any show and they stayed patient with us, finally Friday's at 11 seem to be a good home for them, as it has become common for it to be a top weekly show.

Phil Brand and the Old Stuff Show - When listening to the Old Stuff show you would think his music library takes up mulitple rooms in his house. I thought I knew alot about classic Christian music, then Phil showed up. Wow! His professionalism is way beyond his pay grade...haha........and he is such a great addition to the station. Phil was the missing link that made throwback Thursday's a day long thing, rather than just a show. We are thankful for Phil Brand and the Old Stuff show.


TJ Servant and Righteous Rock TV - This brother is so fired up that I would assume people get hot just standing next to him, which probably explains why he gets confronted so much. TJ has become a friend. Righteous Rock TV and Righteous Rock Radio have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other, one was started by a guy in Vegas in 2010, the other by me in east TN in 2013. I stole the name from Larry Norman, he thought I stole it from him, and so we met..........but then God stepped in, and what a blessing he has been to the station and to me personally. Yes God used the internet radio station to bring a friend into my life that keeps me focused and fires me up when I need it. God is great, and TJ is a great friend. I am thankful for TJ and Righteous Rock TV. Oh and I can't forget to mention he sponsors the Holy Hair show on Friday nights at 8pm eastern time.

Rob and McKenzie from the Anvil - they've become great "virtual" friends and I love their heart. We dearly miss the Anvil, but moreso we miss hearing Rob, and seeing McKenzie's posts about the Anvil. We hope they return soon, but no matter we are thankful for the both of them and for them being a part of the 3R Radio family.

The Bands - are you kidding me? Without the music we are "dead air". I have met so many wonderful, God loving, fired up folks through this station and many of them are playing rock n roll for God. They may say that rock is dead, but we know different around here. The way you guys promote the station, share the station, mention us in your concert events, and send us the music. It's crazy amazing. We are not worthy, but please know that we/I are super thankful. I purposely did not mention any by name, as I don't want to forget anyone or cause this post to be even longer than it is, so if you would like to know about these bands and the people in them that are so awesome, go visit this page http://www.3r-radio.com/indie.html  

and finally............My wife. She not only does the bluegrass show. She not only does voice overs for some of the crazy ideas I come up with. She not only cooks dinner for many bands that we host. She not only listens in so that I know how the levels are. She not only deals with the endless hours that I spend working on the station. She not only allows me to do this without expectations. But, she is also a great person who I am honored to call my wife. Righteous Rock Radio only exists because of God, and my wife. Seriously without her love and support we aren't here. I am so thankful for her.


There's so much more to be thankful for. I've met Jeff Searcy because of this station. Paul Orr, Jeff Adams, and so many others.............the other shows that I didnt mention we are also thankful for like the Activate show, and their 60 second segments, the Streets Of Gold show (love the classics), the Servant Warrior Radio show (can't wait for live shows), The Reconstruction (let's all dance), Preacher Ray's messages, and the CCM Classic.com show. We are truly thankful for everyone that is part of our line up, and the station.

Thank you for your support this year. Thank you for the love and prayers. Thank you bands for the music.  We hope to be able to make this post again in 2015.  Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Righteous Rock Radio.


Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Missed The Mark

When the music is about the event, or the entertainment: we've missed the mark.

When church is about the memberships, or the head counts: we've missed the mark.

When our efforts are about self fulfillment: we've missed the mark.

When the altar call is about the number of respondents: we've missed the mark.

When the donation is about the tax write off: we've missed the mark.

When the tithe is about the percentage: we've missed the mark.

When the belief is about being "right": we've missed the mark.

When the truth is about the ego: we've missed the mark.

When the prayer is about the want: we've missed the mark.

When the study is about the doctorine: we've missed the mark.

When the love is about the reward: we've missed the mark.

When the life is about the dream: we've missed the mark.


Load, aim, fire: but remember it only takes a slight shake of the hand and ..........you've missed the mark.


Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Noah: The follow up

It's been a while since I have posted. My last post was on the movie Noah, and here we go again. Many told me that I should not form an opinion about something that I had not seen. Some said that I was wrong to urge people to stay away, that they have their own choices to make. I even had a national "Christian" based organization tell me that I was wrong for speaking out against the movie, and then proceeded to send me video clips of many well know "preachers" or "speakers" telling us all how good the movie was.

Well I finally saw the movie. Let me give you the setting so you understand what has truly happened with this movie.  I watched the movie with a couple of family members that are "young" Christians and don't know the bible real well, although they are learning and growing daily. It was an evening without major distraction in the comfort and privacy of my home. I did not contribute any money to the movie, or it's distributors.

As we are watching the movie I start to make comments about the biblical errors, I soon found myself talking so often that I was asked to be quiet and let everyone "just watch" the movie, then we could discuss it later. This proved to be a good idea, as if I had continued to point out biblical errors, I would have not shut up even once during the entire movie.

There is nothing biblical about the movie Noah, except the names of Noah and his three sons.  Sorry follks but please read your bibles. Noah wasnt saving the animals, HE and HIS FAMILY were being saved by GOD. Noah wasn't ashamed of man, Noah preached to men to try to get them to repent and join him on the boat. Noah's grandfather isn't even mentioned during the times that the ark is being built, much less being a "wizard" of some sorts. Noah's sons, werent young, they were 100 years old or older. There were no babies born on the ark during the flood. No one snuck onto the ark and killed animals. Ham did not have twins. Oh, and it didn't start raining until Noah and his family were in the ark and GOD sealed it himself.  OK, so now you have just some of the major lies that this movie tells.

Now let's talk about the message of the movie. This movie is an atheistic view of the world, and it's main purpose is not hard to understand - remove God and especially Jesus from the world view. A nice little evolution sequence is even thrown in during Noah's explanation of the creation to his family. Man against man, with no peace. Save the animals but kill the babies (hmm, that one sounds familiar in this world today does it not). I disagree with you my father so I'm just going to leave (modern view of alot of kids today). Twin babies which totally disrupts the biblical explanation of the beginning of tribes of the world. God is never once called God, only the creator. This movie as I had feared was a movie made by a devout atheist that had an agenda to promote the atheistic agenda, and do so by fooling so called Christians into funding it for him. The most discouraging situation surrounding the entire film, is how Christians companies and ministers/speakers/preachers jumped on board to promote this movie. If you think the anti-christ is coming as some super evil dude to harm the world, think again, he's coming just like this movie came at you, in a cloak of light with darkness at the core. I urge you as a believer to search God, his word, and the truth, and do not follow men, it doesn't matter how publicly respected they may be.

I also experienced an ironic moment over the weekend that is not related to the movie, but it truly drives home the point I am trying to make here. A friend of mine was telling me that his Pastor began teaching in the book of Exodus. After a couple of lessons, this friend was having conversation with one of his friends, and that person suggested that the Pastor had left out alot of information about Moses and the Jews in Egypt. After further discussion it was understood that the parts the Pastor had left out were the parts from the movie (10 Commandments), and NOT anything from the bible. I love the movie the 10 Commandments, it is very close to the bible, and the extras it adds in are storyline extra's -  wherein those scenes tell the story that is surrounding the main events that the bible tells us. They don't change the bible, or the message, they give background information based on historical evidence. HOWEVER, this evidence is NOT int he bible, yet a brother believes that a Pastor left out part of the bible. Now ask yourself, how dangerous can a movie be when it is nothing but one big lie with an atheistic agenda? Ask yourself if perhaps when we are told to guard our hearts, it is for this reason.

For an atheist to spend 125 million dollars on something he doesn't believe in............just think about that. Back when we all had common sense, that statement alone would of been enough to keep followers of the truth, - God's people - away from the movie.

Yes the choice is yours to support the movie or not, so make an informed decision. I say let's not support this movie with our money and our time, let's question the Heaven Is Real movie for it's biblical truth, let's inform Hollywood that it's not OK to leave out key points of Jesus' life in the Son Of God movie, let's remember to read our bibles, to pray, to search for truth, to seek God, and to love one another.

My final thoughts on this are: What we allow into our minds can influence us, and can actually be a danger to us. When the bible speaks of even the "elect" being deceived, I worry. I worry for my brothers and sisters that believe in God but do nothing with it, and then become deceived. I worry for my brothers and sisters that don't get good root in their faith and then stumble across someone or something like a movie that is well thought out and carefully designed to deceive, without anyone knowing they are being deceived. I don't want to see anyone blindsided by the lies of the world and not know who Jesus is, and how much God loves them.  Please understand I'm not "knocking a movie", I am trying to shed some light in a dark world and remind you all to follow God, read the bible, and be the difference for truth.


The Noah story begins at Gensis 5:32
125 million reasons we know there is a God = 125 million dollars to prove something doesn't exit.  hmmm...

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Noah

Tomorrow the world changes once again. Tomorrow the movie Noah will be released. Tomorrow millions of people will line up to buy their tickets and popcorn, sit in their seats and donate two hours of their time to a silver screen. I fear tomorrow.

Am I being over-dramatic? Perhaps I am. Hopefully I am. However, I just don't think so.

This movie was directed by Darren Aronofsky who made the popular movies Black Swan and The Wrestler. I have not seen either of those movies, so I'm not basing these thoughts on his previous work. I am however taking into consideration that Mr. Aronofsky is of Jewish decent and is a self proclaimed atheist.  Not sure how one creates a movie about something he doesn't believe in. I am also basing my thoughts partially on this quote from Mr. Aronofsky "this is the least biblical film ever made".

You see atheists love to argue how "impossible" a global flood is, and how the bible is in error when speaking of it, or how the bible supposedly stole the idea from other religious writings. It's one of their strongest points of argument. So for an atheist to make a movie out of an idea that is not supported or believed in by their peers, what angle must one take?

From what I've read this movie is about "saving the animals". Well that's pretty popular these days. It's about the struggle between good and evil. That's great, except where does the absolutes of good come from if one doesn't believe in the giver of all that is good. It's about standing up for what you believe in even if you go against popular opinion. That sounds like a good theme too, however it's exactly the argument that the gay agenda uses to get religion removed from every aspect of society that doesn't agree with their stance. So without seeing the movie, I can understand the "agenda" of the movie. Trailers, and reviews for the movie support this.

All of those ideas behind what this movie might stand for is not what actually scares me though. What scares me is how the "Christian" community is PROMOTING this movie. Not just supporting it, or even the idea of it, but actually PROMOTING it. The money machine has been turned on, and their all falling for it. You see if all Christians boycott this movie, that would cost millions of dollars, and if that were to happen some people with suits and ties would be very unhappy. So let's market this to the Christians, they will fall for it, they don't really know what they believe or why anyways. (another great point that atheists make).

Some folks don't spend two hours a week reading their bible, but they will pay money to sit in a seat and watch this film for two hours. Some folks don't  really know the story of Noah, or how it is a foreshadow of Jesus. God's judgment is going to be very harsh, but his mercy is quite grand. Will this movie explain that? Not sure how it can when the word "God" isn't even spoken in the movie.

The young will see this movie and develop an idea in their minds that this is what the Noah story is really about, or worse, that this is how it happened. When music videos first became very popular, some of the larger music groups refused to make them, they didn't want the song to be so specific, they wanted people to be able to keep the idea of the meaning of the song in their heart, instead of in their head based on what their eyes saw. This to me is just one of the large problems with this movie. Now instead of allowing God to speak to us of what it might have been like, or what message he wants us to learn, we now have the visual, and our mind will re-program accordingly.

If this movie makes money, there will be more. Heck, there already have been. The Son Of God movie was just released a few weeks ago. And I can't leave out the incredibly  insane idea of the rapture movies. Hollywood is working on redoing those rapture movies, Moses is due to hit the big screen very soon. It won't be long until you can watch a movie about everything in the bible, which means you won't have to even read the bible anymore. But it also means that now your ideas are based on what you saw, not what God showed you. You see there's a difference between viewing something and really seeing something. As this unfolds, the young will watch, the young will grow up, the young will share the stories based on what they know and remember, what they know and remember will be heavily influenced by these movies. These movies aren't biblically accurate, therefore their understanding of the bible lessons will not be biblically accurate.  It's a dangerous game were playing with our young, and it's not a level playing field by any means.

You may argue that many Christians are supporting this movie. I will say I know, and it breaks my heart. You may argue that it at least brings the bible to people that don't know the bible. I will say that is OUR job. I will also ask, is it really the bible they are bringing to people? You may say that it's just entertainment. I would say yes it is, until it becomes something more than that, and this movie has already started a debate that makes it much more than just entertainment. You may say I've gone off the deep end and I'm making something out of nothing. I would say that there were only 8 people on the ark.

Tomorrow  many will go see the movie. Tomorrow many will thank God for such a film. Tomorrow many will spend more time in a movie theatre than they do with their bible. Tomorrow many will think they have learned something. Tomorrow some will be disappointed. Tomorrow some will just stay home. Tomorrow some will protest with anger and signs outside of movie theatres. Tomorrow someone will make a lot of money. Tomorrow our world changes once again.  Tomorrow we become one step closer to a society that is similar to the society of the days of Noah.


The Noah Story begins at Genesis 5:32.

Monday, January 13, 2014

21 Days

I have learned of a fast that is called the "Daniel Fast". Some folks at my church, including our two Pastors have decided to keep the Daniel Fast these last 21 days of January and challenged us to do the same.  I decided to give it a try. Yes I said a "try", because well that is what I decided to do when I commited to this, was to "try" to do it. I suppose until the end of the 21 days, and the fast is completed, we are all "ONLY" trying, but that's not what I meant to myself when I approached this as something I would try.  Well, I am 3 days in and I have learned a lot already, so I am going to "journal" this experience as I go along.


DAY 1 - Not so difficult today as we had to work on the projector at the church and then had a show later that night. Typically on show days, when I am working most of the day I eat very little anyways. I did seem to miss my "after show" meal which is usually a form of relaxation after a show. But so far so good.

Tidbit - This fast consists of only foods that come from the ground. Water to drink. I'm not a veggie fan, really I'm not. Other than potatoe's, tomato's, corn, and green beans (in bacon grease) there aren't alot of veggies that I enjoy.

DAY 2 - Sunday. Church day. OK, so the morning wasn't a problem as I don't usually eat before church. My wife made me a fruit smoothie to drink during church and that took care of the morning, but boy was I craving some crazy food after church was over. A nap helped with this craving.

Tidbit - I am realizing how fortunate I am to be able to eat what I want whenever I want. I don't have a weight problem, no weight illness that requires me to watch my diet. So today's lesson, was to be thankful that I can eat without many issues, and that when this fast is over to not take advantage of that and be more careful as to what I eat.

DAY 3 - Monday. Back to the routine. A little light headed today. Stay busy, and keep my mind off it. I just remind myself when I have a craving that I am doing this as a commitment to God, and not for any other reason. This helps me with my "try", it's becoming more of a mission. It's only day 3, but I really want to see this through.

DAY 4 - Tuesday. Wife made some soup beans and potato's. Almost felt guilty eating that as I love soup beans and potato's. Only having water reminded me that I was fasting.

Tidbit - Watched some bible study video's today and learned a lot. For example, who knew that one of the judgements of God is to leave us to our desires. He eventually quits calling and let's us alone. Thank God that I wasn't quite to that point in my life, and that the teachings of my youth kept coming back to me. It did make me ponder about our country however, and the way our laws are being written today and the things that we are doing, perhaps judgement in America has started and God is giving us exactly what we want.

DAY 5 - Sold my car today. That took a lot of time. Church at night. Didn't really have time to think about the idea of fasting, however I did hold true to the fast, and only ate "fast" food.

Tidbit - At church our Pastor spoke on exactly what I learned last night. It was funny because as he was teaching Proverbs I spoke up about a few verses in Romans, he cut me off and said that's funny Dave, cuz that is in my notes for later, so let's go there now. God always teaches me things 2 and 3 times, because I'm just that hard headed.

DAY 6 - Getting used to just being hungry and being OK with it. I do notice that I get tired earlier in the evenings though. I used to be the 2a.m. guy, but whew about 11pm and ready for the bed.

DAY 7 - Friday. It's been a week. I didn't think I'd make it this far when I started out, but here we are. The smoking thing isn't going quite as well, although I'm down to about 7 a day. We hosted the Rich Mullins movie RAGAMUFFIN at our church tonite, so it was another "show" night which kept me from thinking about food like a show night always does.

Tidbit - What a movie that Ragamuffin is. God has blessed that. There are so many story lines in that movie. Our relationship with God, with our parents, with our friends, a story line about the sad state of Christian music (and this was 20 years ago), a story line about money and how it can destroy some people. This movie has a lot to offer. I hope it gets picked up for major distribution, because everyone should see this movie. I'm sure it would upset some, but it still should be seen. David gave 3R radio an interview after the movie and we took questions from the audience, that was very cool. God has truly blessed this week for me.

DAY 8 - Saturday. Weird to not have anything to do today. Very relaxing day. The fast went well.

DAY 9 - Sunday again. Smoothing before church, and an amazing church service. There are about 20 some folks participating in the Daniel Fast at our church, and if today is any indication, God is blessing us already for what we are doing. I am proud of the fact that I have made it 9 days.

Tidbit - Funny tidbit. Our church had a dinner for the new folks that have been coming lately, now I just want to know what kind of church has a spaghetti dinner with cake, and pudding during a fast?  Haha......only at ours, that's why I call it the "unchurch"

DAY 10 - Monday. My son has decided to jump in and fast with us for the remaining 14 days. I don't see him a lot so today since he was home I noticed that he is holding to it. Having "fast" food for lunch and dinner. I never even thought of doing a fast when I was 20 years old. I pray God blesses him for this.

DAY 11 - Tuesday. Starting to settle in, and get used to the food that is acceptable for this fast. My wife has come up with some pretty neat recipes. I've picked my favorite 3 so far and asked her to make them the final 3 days in order to make the end of the fast as "flavorable" as possible. (smile)

DAY 12 - Wednesday. Church today. Good to see others that are fasting. Helps to have the support.

DAY 13 - 8 days remain. Many say I have lost weight, however I wouldn't know. I was weighing myself the first few days but then our scale stopped working. I said, OK God, I get it, this isn't a diet, this is a fast.

DAY 14 - Friday again. Show day. Silencing Stones with Dustin Green. So honored that an entire youth group showed up for this show. So disappointed that no one from our church showed up. I went into this looking for direction, and I feel more confused now than ever.

DAY 15 - Saturday. Cold. A perfect day to set in the chair, watch TV and eat junk food. So.........Fred and I decided to go look at buildings that we may use as a venue. Last night has me thinking more and more that we need to take the concert ministry OUT of the church venues. Part of me says that costs money that I don't have. Either way it was good to not set home all day. Had a visit from a brother that plays drums in a local band, he stopped by to share a lesson that God has shown him. It was quite the honor to think he thinks enough of Fred and I to share this with us.

DAY 16 - Sunday. Church today. Got very light headed and dizzy while setting up the worship team for the service. Honestly thought I was going to pass out. Already had it in mind that I would eat some candy if I had to as I thought my sugar was low. But, after finishing my smoothy I felt much better and made it through another day.

DAY 17 - Monday. Another show today. Metal bands. First hardcore show we've done. Attendance was very lacking again, but at least this time I was expecting it to be, not to mention we had a threat of some very bad weather. Show days are the easiest. I stay busy and don't miss food so much, as even when not fasting I don't eat much on show days as I'm running around a lot. Very blessed by the bands that played. One was from Maryland (the state) and they were heading home right after the show, even with the weather threat. I was fortunate enough that I could bless them with some gas money.

Tidbit - Spoke at length with my Pastor today. He really wants to get the video ministry up and running. This will require ALOT of time if we do. Perhaps this is the direction I've been looking for.

DAY 18 - Tuesday. Cold, cold, and snow. In the house all day. Snacking wasn't an option, so today was a bit tough. Oh boy how I wanted some snacks while having cabin fever. I held firm though. Only 3 days to go. I think I might be able to do this.

DAY 19 - Had an inspection to do today, so while in Knoxville I picked up a new computer for the church. Fred and I later in the day went to the church and cleaned from Monday's show, then I set up the computer and moved the Mac into our associate Pastor's office and got it all set up. Good to stay busy. Even better to get out of the house and feel like I accomplished something.

Tidbit - Got a call today from a guy that wants us to help him promote metal concerts at a venue that holds up to 1000 folks. WOW. Another answer to prayer. Another venue. Was a great conversation. I hope to meet with him next Monday night and see where this goes. Looks like the direction I was looking for is starting to come together. This fast has taught me a lot. I will post final thoughts at the end. Only 2 days to go.

DAY 20 - Thursday again. I'm writing this a week later, after the fact, but looking back I remember it well. The lessons of this fast will stay with me, that is for sure. Thursday wasn't so hard as I knew the end was in sight. Similar to running a long distance race, when you see the end, and you've trained, you find something inside of you that pushes you to the end. Well I could see the end, and I for the first time realize that I CAN do this. Not to mention the eating has kind of become habitual, my wife says we will eat better from this point on. I think this is good, I must stay disciplined in this aspect as well, I don't always like to admit this, but I'm not getting any younger............

DAY 21 - Friday. Well this is it. My wife made the "Daniel Fast" spaghetti so that made this day quite easy to get through, as I loved the spaghetti that is Daniel Fast approved. We planned this out, so that we'd be able to handle the last day a bit easier, and as sort of a reward for making it this far. At midnight a couple of our friends came over, and we hung out til midnight, then we ate pizza and had (as they in the south) some coke. I had the Mt Dew flavored coke....haha.  Half a can of the Dew and I felt a sugar rush that made me almost feel drunk, very strange indeed. The pizza tasted oh so good, but it sat in my gut like a pound of grease, very heavy, and very odd feeling. But, we made it. I just completed the first fast of my life. When I started this out, I was fired up, towards the middle, I wasn't sure I'd make it, now that I have, I am very grateful that I did. The shows really helped, it took like four days out of the 21 and made them "normal". God truly uses this music ministry in a lot of ways, and though it may be a bit selfish, the music helped me get through this fast. Jesus did so much more for me, those words helped keep me going too. I'm not a very religious person, actually I cannot stand religion, and I used to think of "fasting" as just another religious ritual, and perhaps in some ways it is, but sometimes you get out of something what you put into it. This was the case for me and this fast, I looked at it as an effort to serve God in a way that I had never attempted before, not as a religious activity, and in return I walk out of this feeling like I am closer to God, and in a strange way I feel like he is chuckling at me and my small efforts, but also realizing that to him it is as precious as a child in kindergarten bringing home his "Picasso" for Mom and Dad.  If you've never fasted in any way, I would recommend it , but you have to do it in truth, and with a full heart, otherwise it's just a religious ritual. Not sure I'll do this again next year, can't even say, but I also cannot say I won't. Actually I hope to do some sort of fast every month this year, whether it's a day, or only simply giving something up for a period of time, I want to "feel" like I'm challenging myself, it's in my make up to do that, and I have now found a way to this biblically and relate it to my walk with God.

Tidbits - I've already stated a lot, however I will share what I asked God for when I went into this fast. Yes, it's personal, but you know when they took the roof off the place to lower the sick guy down into the room where Jesus was, they sure weren't shy about letting the world know they needed a touch from Jesus, so I will share. This blog was an attempt for me to remember this fast, and the life experience that it was as I go farther along, therefore by sharing my requests of my Father, I will also be able to look back and see how he worked in this fast, and afterwards.

I asked God for direction. I could go on about direction in my life for a long time, maybe that will be another blog, but I really want to do something for God, and I just want his direction. I have realized that we are ALL called, I also realize that God gives us talents that we should use for him. I also realize that God won't call a person into something that he is not capable of doing. I "think" God will use us in areas that we like, or that we enjoy doing............maybe...........some don't agree with that line of thinking............maybe I'm not capable of self sacrifice to the point that I would go out and do something for God that is uncomfortable - something that I don't like to do, but have to do. This is where I get in my own way, I want to do certain things for God, I have goals, but are they mine, or his? Are these my passions, or are they passions that God gave me because he wants me to go do this, and because he wants to use this? I do not know, so I asked God for direction during this fast. At this point I would say that what started out as a blindfold, now is more like blurred vision that I can almost see, but I'm just not quite there.

I also asked God for a touch in my parents life. God that is such a mess, and it's a mess that involves 2 (and more) people that KNOW God's word, say they believe in him, but just really screwed things up. I can hope for healing, but even more than that I PRAY earnestly for their eternal souls. God please break this situation down to whatever level is necessary to bring them back to you.

And finally I asked for God's touch on my son's life. 20 years old, and here comes the world. If anybody needs God it's todays young people, they have so much garbage shoved down their throats, I pray for my son to be able to puke out the garbage, and hide the truth in his heart. If we lose this generation, their kids will not even be told about God, I call it the return to the dark ages.

If you've read this, or any portions of it, I want to thank you. I hope to be able to post blogs that share the results of this fast, and my prayers, but God's timing is his timing, so it may be tomorrow, or it may be a long time from now. All I know for fact is that I feel closer to God than I think I ever have. My passions are burning hotter, and my understanding of just how much God loves me is deeper than ever. If that's what this was all about, I thank God, for the idea of being a child of the almighty creator of everything is sometimes mind blowing.