Our son Nathaniel was born last Wednesday the 23rd of January at 5:56 a.m. He was seven pounds 15 ounces heavy and 21 and 1/8 inches long. He's wonderful!
I can 
honestly say it was extremely moving to see him born. It gives me some perspective, if only a little, about how much God loves us. My hope is to be a great father- please pray for me I know I'll need alot of help from God.
One thing is for sure. Nathaniel lives up to his name already. He is a true gift from God.
this guy rocks! He loves Jesus and loves people well. check out his stuff at jaesonma.com
I got to see a great man of God preach in San Jose about a year ago. He said something that rolls around in my mind from time to time. He was talking about truth. He was talking about what a biblically accurate representation of truth looks like in real life.
He said, “We may have just a small piece of truth in Mexico, but the truth we have we walk in.”
He was not making a point about relativism. He was not saying, “I know there’s a lot of ways to look at stuff and we’re just one of those ways so take your pick.” If anything he was talking about the opposite of relativism.
He was talking about something rampant in American church culture today. That is, the accumulation of knowledge about spiritual things without experiential revelation. In other words, talking the talk not walking the walk.
My contention is that knowledge is only useful so far as it becomes experiential revelation. Otherwise, it is useless. Knowledge is like potential, it is good only in so far as it is realized. Until it’s realized, it’s merely potential.
Most church people can talk a good game about any number of subjects, but few live what they talk about. Take God’s love for instance. Is that a concept to you or an experiential reality that you live in, move in, and have your being in?
I think that if we valued reality over talk we would talk and squabble a lot less. We have endless debates about things that we know nothing about. One, just one, real encounter with the resurrected Lord, the real Person, the Divine would solve a whole host of issues- that is until you met someone who had not encountered Him.
Wasn’t that Paul’s greatest problem? Wasn’t that Moses’ problem? Peter’s problem? They actually knew God through personal encounter, but they encountered so many who thought they knew God and those people disagreed with them, though in reality those people did not know Him.
Paul asks a stunning question in the twenty sixth Chapter of Acts verse 8, “Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” Doesn’t that someone offend you? Paul is basically saying, “what’s the big deal about God raising the dead, why can you not believe something that’s so simple for Him? Why do you struggle with that?”
He obviously knew God differently than we know Him. Maybe, Paul knew God for who He really is.
My hope is to provoke me and you to truly seek God and get to know Him. If you are not really seeking to know Him, stop arguing about things you don’t have a clue about and lock yourself in your room and cry out to the God of heaven to show you what vexes you. Don’t be quick to assume that just because preacher so and so said such and such that God would agree. Ask Him. He is more than willing to answer though, if you earnestly ask, He will most likely surprise you with all His answers.
May we be people who walk in the truth we have, so that it is manifestly true, and not those who merely talk about what we think truth is. May we encounter Truth and walk in Him.
Have you ever started reading a book only to put it down and not pick it up again for many months? It might even be in the back of your mind to read it, but you just don't. Then after sometime you get around to starting to read the book again, but by the time you've restarted the book you don't remember what you initially read! You really have to start over to get the full impact of the book- and this time you can't stop or else the same thing will happen!
I think it's like that with prayer-we start and stop too easily and then end up feeling like we are starting all over again.
just persevere until what you are asking for is completed by God. Than you will not have to feel like you are starting over when you start praying again.
My husband Mark is the most amazing man in the whole world. Thus I have snuck onto his blog to tell the whole world that I am the happiest woman in all the earth- because of him.
Let me just start by saying that Mark Slezinger is my Hero. There are many reasons why....
...To start, he has such a strong desire to work hard and to achieve what God has called him to do. And he is such a success at all his pursuits. He is a conqueror. I settle into routine, comfort and complacency easily, but not Mark. He is always reaching to become more, to always be the best he can, to always have the best God has freely given us. I admire that in him so much. It is because of him that I am constantly challenged to reach new heights in my personal growth.
...He is an amazing provider. He makes me feel so safe, taken care of, and protected. He is such a responsible man, and I know that he would do whatever it takes to provide for me and our baby on the way, and that if called upon he would do whatever it took to protect me and our family. That is truly an overwhelming, mind boggling reality to me. I sure know I don't have that kind of courage! But he does, and I know he'd willingly give up his life in a second, without even thinking about it. That's because he's a man of honor and I deeply respect that about him.
...He is SUCH an amazing leader. I don't think he even sees it. But when I look at him, I see a man who will lead countless people one day...because he is so trustworthy with leading his family and the others God has given him to lead right now. Mark diligently takes every decision before the Lord, and seeks out His opinion. He cares about making the right decisions and I really look up to him for that. He is such an amaizng leader for our family and I deeply trust his leadership capabilities. He is such a strong leader. I lean upon his strength and want to follow him as He follows God all the days of my life.
...Mark has such an amazing analytical mind and he can solve situations that literally send me snowballing into stress. Or these days, a total breakdown, completed by throwing myself onto the couch or bed and bawling my eyes out! :) See...I really do need his strength, God knew what he was doing when he made "man" and "wife"- no household could bear up under TWO pregnant women! Thank God for men. ANYWAY, I can literally bring Mark a situation that has been vexing my very brains out the entire day, and he will have it solved in 5 minutes. For example, I might come to him and say- "I need to do this and this and this and this and this, and I can't figure out how to fit it all into X time frame." He will think about it for a moment, and then put all the pieces of the puzzle together! I can't tell you how many times this strength he possesses has completely saved my sanity, and I so respect this about him. It makes me SO happy to know that I can rely on him to have insight and counsel into situations that seem impossible to me.
...I like him more than anyone else in the whole world. And I like being with him more than anyone else in the whole world. From the first time I met him, it was so easy to be with him. I always felt like he was home to me, and I always will. I can literally say there has never been an awkard moment for me with him. He is so much fun to be with- he makes me laugh, he keeps me from being boring and acting like I'm 40, he is so stirring to sit and talk with for hours and hours, and he is just amazing to simply BE with...even when we're not talking. I so enjoy just being at his side and doing things with him, whether it's watching movies together or riding in the car together, or just being in the house together- or even watching him kick butt the random times I get to see him play Halo. I just enjoy being at his side- and being with the man I like most out of anyone on the planet.
...He has eyes only for me and he treats me like his princess. He cherishes me and loves me passionately. I so respect how he loves with all his heart- no holding back. He takes such good care of me and dotes on me. This week I have been sick since Monday, and he has done everything he can to help me and to make me feel better. I mean, I haven't cooked a thing since Monday, and the dishes have just piled higher and higher, and he did them all for me just to help. He has told me over and over he is so sorry I am sick, and he lets me cuddle with him when I am feeling especially bad. :) And in the midst of it all, he keeps telling me I am his beauty and so beautiful to him...when I haven't had any makeup on all week and my eyes are bloodshot from not sleeping for three nights. AND to top it all off- he went and did all the grocery shopping for me even though he has had a crazy weekend and he is tired, and not only did he come home with all the groceries, but he came home with FLOWERS! HELLO! And by the way, the previous blog you read that he wrote, "Why I Love My Wife"- you know how it ended with telling me to check under my pillow? There was a brand new 4 gb Ipod Nano under there along with a note! All I know is, Chris, you were right, he is the man. (See Chris' comment on previous blog.)
So these are just a few reasons why I have the best husband in all the world...my list will be ever growing because he is just simply amazing. I admire him with all my heart, adore and respect him, and look him to him more every day. I can't believe I got to marry my Knight in Shining Armor- he really is that to me. Thank you my Love for being all you are to me... I will be your biggest fan forever.
I love my wife so much. She is incredibly beautiful and quite the hottie in my eyes.
She's also a serious gift from God to me. She reminds me daily that He is gracious and He doesn't give me according to what I deserve, but He gives to me according to His goodness. She reminds me of that because I don't deserve her. She is so amazing and lovely, gracious, and kind. God gave me her, he gave me a true princess and that is amazing!
I am reminded of this one time (I hope she doesn't mind me telling this story) that she decided to sell her ipod because we were short on money for something. She said that God told her that He would give her another one. That meant a lot to me that she would do that. If you are reading this Cath I want you to know that I appreciate your sacrifice so much. I was thinking about that today.
I love her so much and sometimes I just can't stop thinking about her. She is just so wonderful truly the love of my life. I only have eyes for you princess.
P.S
Cath if you are reading this go check underneath your pillow. I love you!
Ok here’s the deal about my views on healing.
It’s pretty simple when it comes right down to it. This is what I believe:
God is good.
God never changes.
God is Father.
God loves people.
God can’t give people what He doesn’t have.
God can only give people what He does have.
God wants to give people what He does have.
God-on-earth healed all sick that asked Him.
God-on-earth is God.
Jesus told us to pray for heaven on earth not excuse our responsibility to counteract the hell on earth that we see under clever arguments about God’s sovereignty.
He meant that how things are in heaven is how we should pray for them to be on earth. There is nothing, but indescribable goodness, life, and love in heaven. Pray for that. Believe it will happen. Take responsibility to trust God. That, in my opinion, is the essence of what He meant when He told us to pray for heaven on earth.
Jesus never once brought up God’s sovereignty when people asked Him to heal them. He just healed them. He is my model not some theologian’s view about Him. A disciple does what Jesus did.
God doesn’t give scorpions to those who ask for bread. He gives only what He has to give. He gives life, He gives love, He gives healing, He gives mercy, He gives hope- He gives what He has.
He cannot give disease, sickness, death, bitterness, sorrow, pain- He doesn’t have those things to give. He is described with three absolute statements in the New Testament. He is love, He is light, He is life. He gives what He is to people.
May we take responsibility to live lives worthy of such a great and good God. Let us not excuse what we see as wrong by subtly attributing to God things that have no business being ascribed to Him under the auspices of appreciating His “sovereignty”. He is quite sovereign enough to ordain that those, who trust Him would see heaven come to earth.
I realize that this is not a very pastoral position, but the reality is that I get to see a lot of people touched by God’s power precisely because I believe in God this way. The fruit reveals the tree.
This is a scary position, I believe, because if you follow its logic the bulk of responsibility for seeing people healed is on us. I am well aware of that. So some will ultimately question, “are you saying if I would have prayed and fasted more and trusted God this would have turned out differently?”
I love this story about Bill Johnson. He is a pastor in Redding, CA and believes in God’s healing power and desire to heal and sees unusually awesome miracles on a daily basis. His father also died of cancer though Pastor Bill expected his full recovery. After his dad died of cancer Pastor Bill declared his city to be a “cancer free zone”. There is not a day that goes by that people aren’t praying for cancer to be healed in the church at Redding and out at the hospitals praying for patients to be made well. Unexplainably, for the medical community in that city, cancer rates in Redding have dropped by 50% over the last five years.
My answer: read what Pastor Bill did and do that.
God is good.
God loves people.
God loves you.
My coworker Brandon has me all geeked up about doing the blogging thing- he's pretty good at motivating me to do random stuff and making me feel like its the coolest thing I could ever do- I wonder if that's an abuse of spiritual gifts? Just kidding-
Well this should be fun.....
