Ok, so here's the deal. For those of you who don't know, that is if anyone reads this haha, I have transferred to Bethel College. So my view of ministry has taken a shift back to the Missionary style and away from the Wesleyan views. I am excited to fill my head with some very invigorating information about the Word, The Bible, and Ministry. Now on to what I was intending this post to be :)
I have a lot of, well I shouldn't say a lot because that is false, time on Tuesday's and Thursday's... SO, I am going to try to start blogging again and, I know I have said that before BUT, I want to talk about things that I have been learning in my T.A.W.G. (Time Alone With God) and different things I have read or we have talked about in my classes.
I am really hoping to get posts in more often than once in a solar eclipse haha! :) well now off to finish my homework... aka reading haha :) ByeBye and God Bless!!!
-Carter Bob
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Revamping of Carter Bob Blogging.
So I have decided it is really silly for me to have a ton of blogging pages when I can barely remember to update my main one. So I decided, about five minutes ago, that I am going to condense my Blog down to one or two pages and then have different sections in my main about movies, music, and sports. I have a feeling that this will be a little better. I also want to start blogging more so I can express my words through this haha. So we'll see what's on my new blogging agenda for the very near future.
I would love to bring back thought provoking Thursdays. I would also like to start doing more posts on world news, which would be hard for me because I don't pay a ton of attention to news in general. And, for the rest of the summer, I would like to put up my Graphic of the week. :) I have high aspirations for myself, let's see if I can follow through with them. Until next time blogging friends! :) ByeBye and God Bless!!!
-Carter Bob
I would love to bring back thought provoking Thursdays. I would also like to start doing more posts on world news, which would be hard for me because I don't pay a ton of attention to news in general. And, for the rest of the summer, I would like to put up my Graphic of the week. :) I have high aspirations for myself, let's see if I can follow through with them. Until next time blogging friends! :) ByeBye and God Bless!!!
-Carter Bob
Sunday, February 7, 2010
God = Love
-1 Corinthians 13-
"1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
For so long I have been living life as if I truly knew what "Love" was... Boy was I wrong! God has recently opened my eyes up to what TRUE Love is! It all started with Cheerleading. Last week I was preparing devotions for the team and I was so confused on what God was wanting me to do them on, but then God gave it to me! 1 Corinthians 13, is what God gave me, the well known passage about Love. We went through the passage before the game that night and little did I know that our team Bible study, after the game, would be about the same passage.
After the game we went through the same passage on a different level than I brought for devotionals. We hit the verses 5-8 hard, with emphasis on the beginning of verse 8.
We talked about how God is Love and how God never fails us, in the team Bible study. And the saying Love never fails kept burning its way into my brain! Love never fails! Love never fails! Love never fails! It made me think of times when I thought that Love failed. This made me think of failure too. So I had two thoughts running through my head. Let's hit the first one when Love failed.
The way that God hit me with this whole thing first was with 1 John 4:18, one of my favorite verses that applies to this. It says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made in perfect love." Perfect love drives out fear. If God is Perfect Love, then we should have no fear... and if we have no fear of failure all we have is love and that is all we need, love. Because, again, Love = God. God Blew my mind to pieces in how to Love Him. This is just part of the story though; the next part takes place at the Winter Retreat.
When I was going through my Time Alone With God this weekend at The Effect Winter Retreat, I was reading a book called Soul Cravings. In the 3rd entry, it says this, "When you give up on Love, everything else seems to go with it- joy, hope, forgiveness, compassion- they're all interconnected." Joy, hope, forgiveness, and compassion are all characteristics of God. So I took this as, if we don't have Love, we don't God. (Also 1 John 4:8 says that whoever doesn't know God, doesn't know love.) But perfect Love is God, so our love is for the one who created love, God. (Sorry if I confused you with that!) Also in Soul Cravings, it says, "It's as if we've been purposefully designed with a factory defect that keeps us searching... for love." This concept blew my mind!!! God created us with a purposeful defect that has us searching for love, but not any love, God's love. We have been created to seek Him and to seek love in and through Him! It's so simple, but yet so complex! And I couldn't be more happy to have a defect!! :)
So God has shown me what TRUE love is! It is something more than just a feeling, something more than just a word, and something that is conveyed between two people who are married. God is love, and when we love others, we are showing them God. But when God isn't in the picture and the word love is being used, that is a distorted view of love. When it is said between two people and God isn't the focus, it is just infatuation, so it is fake love. When a person says that they are loving their neighbor, but is mean to them and hurts them. That is fake love too. So the true meaning of Love is God. And now that I know this, I can better know how to love those around me and deepen the love for my family and friends.
This, my
Clear View of Love.
-Carter Bob
LOVE
"1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For so long I have been living life as if I truly knew what "Love" was... Boy was I wrong! God has recently opened my eyes up to what TRUE Love is! It all started with Cheerleading. Last week I was preparing devotions for the team and I was so confused on what God was wanting me to do them on, but then God gave it to me! 1 Corinthians 13, is what God gave me, the well known passage about Love. We went through the passage before the game that night and little did I know that our team Bible study, after the game, would be about the same passage.
After the game we went through the same passage on a different level than I brought for devotionals. We hit the verses 5-8 hard, with emphasis on the beginning of verse 8.
"5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."
We talked about how God is Love and how God never fails us, in the team Bible study. And the saying Love never fails kept burning its way into my brain! Love never fails! Love never fails! Love never fails! It made me think of times when I thought that Love failed. This made me think of failure too. So I had two thoughts running through my head. Let's hit the first one when Love failed.
- Love failed... I bet we can all think of a time when we feel like Love has failed us. But what does that even mean? How can Love fail if it is just an emotion? Well let's get down to the root of. There are 14 definitions for Love under the contexts of a noun, and 6 as a verb. For this we will use the second definition of Love, as a noun, " a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend." So how can a "feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection for a 'being'" fail? Think about it... can a feeling fail? No. The actions that are motivated by the feeling can fail, but the actual feeling itself can not fail. So how can we say that Love has failed us? In this we have to look at failure.
- Failure is a noun that is defined in 7 ways. The one we will use is, "an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success." In today if we are afraid of failing because we do not want to be look down upon for messing up or not succeeding. Why are we so afraid of failure? Self-image? Monetary gain?
The way that God hit me with this whole thing first was with 1 John 4:18, one of my favorite verses that applies to this. It says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made in perfect love." Perfect love drives out fear. If God is Perfect Love, then we should have no fear... and if we have no fear of failure all we have is love and that is all we need, love. Because, again, Love = God. God Blew my mind to pieces in how to Love Him. This is just part of the story though; the next part takes place at the Winter Retreat.
When I was going through my Time Alone With God this weekend at The Effect Winter Retreat, I was reading a book called Soul Cravings. In the 3rd entry, it says this, "When you give up on Love, everything else seems to go with it- joy, hope, forgiveness, compassion- they're all interconnected." Joy, hope, forgiveness, and compassion are all characteristics of God. So I took this as, if we don't have Love, we don't God. (Also 1 John 4:8 says that whoever doesn't know God, doesn't know love.) But perfect Love is God, so our love is for the one who created love, God. (Sorry if I confused you with that!) Also in Soul Cravings, it says, "It's as if we've been purposefully designed with a factory defect that keeps us searching... for love." This concept blew my mind!!! God created us with a purposeful defect that has us searching for love, but not any love, God's love. We have been created to seek Him and to seek love in and through Him! It's so simple, but yet so complex! And I couldn't be more happy to have a defect!! :)
So God has shown me what TRUE love is! It is something more than just a feeling, something more than just a word, and something that is conveyed between two people who are married. God is love, and when we love others, we are showing them God. But when God isn't in the picture and the word love is being used, that is a distorted view of love. When it is said between two people and God isn't the focus, it is just infatuation, so it is fake love. When a person says that they are loving their neighbor, but is mean to them and hurts them. That is fake love too. So the true meaning of Love is God. And now that I know this, I can better know how to love those around me and deepen the love for my family and friends.
This was my view of Love before God transformed my view of Love from:
Disillusion of Love
to...
Disillusion of Love
to...
This, my
Clear View of Love.
God has been moving through me and teaching me a new way to love and what TRUE love is and I am excited to see what God has in store for me next in my walk with Him! :) God Bless you all and I will post y'all later! ByeBye!
-Carter Bob
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Design Oriented Life [never posted orginally posted 1/26/10]
I have issues...
Okay, *sarcastic* ha ha, I know I have lots of issues, but this seems to be a reoccurring one.
My issue is excessive designs and creative ideas rushing through my Cerebral Cortex like the Nile River. Last semester alone we rearranged our dorm room more than three times... Some were to increase the space, others were just because I had an idea and wanted to see what it actually looked like... it has started this semester as well. We rearranged our room last night/ early this morning from 1 A.M. to 4 A.M. Yeah I know, it took a long time, but the sad part is that we changed it after moving it once to a different way. There are times when I have projects, papers, assignments due or a test the next day but all I can think of are design layouts, architecture, art, sweet logo designs for things, or multiple other things. I know this may be a problem to others or an inconvenience to others, but I welcome the thought of the creativity that God has blessed me with! I think I would be devastated if God did not give me these ideas and designs... I love the way that God works in and through people and I can only hope that someday that my talents that God has given me will help further the Kingdom!
Because of my love for architecture... I may end up, someday, getting a degree in architecture or design because that is something that I am passionate about and I have always thought it would be awesome to design a church!
Okay, *sarcastic* ha ha, I know I have lots of issues, but this seems to be a reoccurring one.
My issue is excessive designs and creative ideas rushing through my Cerebral Cortex like the Nile River. Last semester alone we rearranged our dorm room more than three times... Some were to increase the space, others were just because I had an idea and wanted to see what it actually looked like... it has started this semester as well. We rearranged our room last night/ early this morning from 1 A.M. to 4 A.M. Yeah I know, it took a long time, but the sad part is that we changed it after moving it once to a different way. There are times when I have projects, papers, assignments due or a test the next day but all I can think of are design layouts, architecture, art, sweet logo designs for things, or multiple other things. I know this may be a problem to others or an inconvenience to others, but I welcome the thought of the creativity that God has blessed me with! I think I would be devastated if God did not give me these ideas and designs... I love the way that God works in and through people and I can only hope that someday that my talents that God has given me will help further the Kingdom!
Because of my love for architecture... I may end up, someday, getting a degree in architecture or design because that is something that I am passionate about and I have always thought it would be awesome to design a church!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Start to a Life- Long Ministry
When I first had the Calling to be a Pastor, I was skeptic... I thought that it was just me telling myself that this is what I am supposed to do... but then God confirmed it!
I was in New York City for NYGO, New York Gospel Outreach, and it was the day that we did some street ministry and we set a prayer booth up in front of the New York Public Library. I walked up to a man to ask if I could pray for him and he blew up at me and cursed me out and cursed out God. He was filled with hatred and this broke my heart. I told him that I would pray for him anyways and he told me to "bad words" off.
From that day on my heart was broken for those who have that view of God. Later when we were in the hotel room I felt that God was telling me that He wanted me to do His work. I was going to go to school for Architecture and Interior Design... so this kinda came as a shock to me, but I was ready to do anything that God called me into!
Now it is close to 3 years later and I have never been more passionate about vocational ministry! I have no doubt in my mind that God has called me to be a Pastor!!! I love my ministry classes at IWU and I am learning so much about God, Ministry, the Bible, but most of all myself!! I am excited to learn more and more every day!!! I plan on Blogging more often now that I have entered into a new season of classes, ones that I like and also my ministry classes, so I "HOPE" to blog more! :P we'll see how that goes :P haha but until next time, God Bless!!!!
Carter Bob
I was in New York City for NYGO, New York Gospel Outreach, and it was the day that we did some street ministry and we set a prayer booth up in front of the New York Public Library. I walked up to a man to ask if I could pray for him and he blew up at me and cursed me out and cursed out God. He was filled with hatred and this broke my heart. I told him that I would pray for him anyways and he told me to "bad words" off.
From that day on my heart was broken for those who have that view of God. Later when we were in the hotel room I felt that God was telling me that He wanted me to do His work. I was going to go to school for Architecture and Interior Design... so this kinda came as a shock to me, but I was ready to do anything that God called me into!
Now it is close to 3 years later and I have never been more passionate about vocational ministry! I have no doubt in my mind that God has called me to be a Pastor!!! I love my ministry classes at IWU and I am learning so much about God, Ministry, the Bible, but most of all myself!! I am excited to learn more and more every day!!! I plan on Blogging more often now that I have entered into a new season of classes, ones that I like and also my ministry classes, so I "HOPE" to blog more! :P we'll see how that goes :P haha but until next time, God Bless!!!!
Carter Bob
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