It's all about the baby

As you can tell by the title, this post is entirely about Malikai (our baby).

I'll give a moment for all the excitement from family members to calm down......

Okay, let's begin.

Malikai is quickly learning some new skills. One of these skills is how to pull himself up on things. This is not a good thing for a baby to do since all it will mean is messing with mommy and daddy's stuff, along with possibly hurting himself.

Of course, being the son of a geek, Malikai loves to go for any fancy looking electronics. He has even learned how to turn on the Playstation and Xbox (although he doesn't realize he is doing it yet).

So the chase begins, I'm not going to full myself into thinking that this will be the worst of the chasing, but just the brutal beginning. Every time I turn around I have to see what Malikai is trying to climb up on.

It was funny a couple of days ago, Malikai was underneath my computer desk trying to stand up against the wall (like you see him doing in the photo above) but the back part of my desk comes halfway down the wall. So as Malikai is bracing himself against the wall, he tries to push himself up only to hit his head on the bottom of the desk. He doesn't do it hard so it doesn't hurt him, but he doesn't learn, so he keeps trying until he finally gets so frustrated that he started to cry, and still he was trying to stand up, only to be held down by a computer desk... It was funny to watch him do until we felt sorry for him and picked him up (after laughing for awhile).

Speaking of Malikai climbing, today I walked into his bedroom and Malikai was standing inside his crib, braced on the edge. I knew this day would come, I have been meaning to lower the crib mattress for awhile now, but never really got to it. After seeing Malikai standing up like that it quickly motivated me to get it done. So today I adjusted his crib and put together the hi-chair that we bought for him last week, or the week before, can't remember which.

Some good news is that Malikai doesn't do that high pitched squealing noise anymore, but he has learned the art of annoying his parents with crying though. It's a good thing we have plenty of places to keep him when he is acting like this. We have a swing, play pen, and a play center that all keep him occupied. So when he gets really cranky we pick one of the three and leave him be. Even still though, he is still the worlds cutest baby!

Last week Malikai turned 8 months old! Besides that there really isn't anything new in our lives. We have just been doing the same old same old, playing games, cleaning house, taking care of Malikai, and grilling out. Today we grilled out some burgers and man, they were good. We need to do that more often! We also grilled up some chicken for tomorrow night before I go to work.

Speaking of work, it's 4:40 am and I have to get up in 8 hours to get ready for work, so I will end this with just one last note.

New pictures of Malikai are up on Malikai's website! Visit http://malikai.zssites.net to view them! (had to save the best for last, didn't I?)

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Spurgeon Gold

I am reading a book right now written by Ray Comfort called "Spurgeon Gold". The book makes quotes and comments about many of the great sermons that Charles Spurgeon gave. If you like the sayings in this post, PLEASE pick up the book. There are so many things being left out of this post that are absolutely invaluable pieces of wisdom.


Charles Spurgeon says about his ministry "My main business is the saving of souls. This one thing I do." Ray Comfort states "I hope this publication advances Spurgeon's main business; that its words will not just delight your taste buds. May they energize you to reach out to the lost. God forbid that they should add fat to the theological obesity of many...Time will take you and me into eternity. If we are trusting in Jesus Christ, we have a moral obligation to reach out to the unsaved while there is still time. This was Spurgeon's great passion, and I pray that it is yours. This gold is not meant to sit on the shelf of a rich man. If it does, then it becomes worthless. Its real value will be seen in its being spent on the cause of the Kingdom."

So sit back and enjoy some of these pure pieces of spiritual gold that will hopefully encourage you to have a heart for those around us that are lost and for serving our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

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To try to win a soul to Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavor to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with bird-line, or to lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gopsel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow can peirce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest would. Preach it, and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men; those your Master has given you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine enough to hold the little ones. Spread those nets and no others, and you need not fear the fullfillment of His Word, "I will make you fishers of men."

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The Reason Sinners Live


Read the Ten Commandments, pause at each one, and confess that you have broken it in either thought or word or deed. Remember that by a glance, we may commit adultery; by a thought, we may be guildy of murder; by a desire, we may steal. Sin is any want of conformity to perfect holiness, and that want of conformity is justly chargeable upon every one of us. Yet the Lord does not, under the gospel dispensation, deal with us according to Law. He does not now sit on the throne of judgment, but He looks down upon us from the throne of grace. ... Instead of destroying offending man from off the face of the earth, the Lord comes near to us in loving condescension, and pleads with us by His Spirit, saying, "You have sinned, but my Son has died. In Him, I am prepared to deal with you in a way of pure mercy and unmingled grace."


O sinner, the fact that you are alive proves that God is not dealing with you according to strict justice, but in patienct forbearance; every moment you live is another instance of omnipotent long-suffering. It is the sacrifice of Christ that arrests the axe of justice, which else must execute you.

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A Plea to the Lost

Remember, last of all, that the Law, which is so sharp and terrible to men when it only deals with them for their good, will, if you and I die withouth being brought to Christ, be much more terrible to us in eternity, when it deals with us in justice for our punishment. ... He will be at once the Lawgiver, the Judge, and the Savior; and you that have despised Him as the Savior will have to appear before Him as your judge. No such judge as He, His justice will be clear and undiluted now that His mercy has been scorned. Oil is soft, but set it on fire, and see how it burns! ... If you turn the Lamb of Zion into the Lion of the tribe of Judah, beware, for He will tear you in pieces, and there shall be none to deliver. Rejected love will change its hand. The pierced hand was outstretched with invitations of mercy, but if these be rejected - O sirs, I am telling you solemn truth, and hear it, I pray you, ere I send you away - if from that hand that was pierced you will not take the perfect salvation, which He is prepared to give to all who confess their guilt, you will have to receive from the selfsame hand that blows of that iron rod, which shall break you into pieces as a potter's vessel. Fly now, and kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way while His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him! Amen.


**Ray Comfort: "It is amazing that we hesitate to talk about the wrath of God, for fear of making sinners feel fearful. The fear they fell this side of the grave will be nothing compared to the fear that they feel when they stand before Almighty God." **

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Hatred of Goodness


For which of his good works, for which of his generous words, for which of his holy deeds will they fasten His hands to the wood, and His feet to the tree? With unreasonable hatred, with senseless curelty, they only answer to the question of Pilate, "Why, what evil has he done?" "Let Him be crucified! Let Him be crucified!" The true reason for their hate, no doubt, lay in the natural hatred of all men to perfect goodness. Man feels that the presence of goodness is a silent witness against his own sin, and therefore he longs to get rid of it. To be too holy in the judgment of men is a great crime, for it rebukes their sin. If the holy man has not the power of words, yet his life is one loud witness-bearing for God against the sins of his creatures.

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A plea to the Unsaved


There are some of you standing in these aisles and sitting in these pews, who I feel in my soul will never have another invitation, and if this be rejected today, I feel a solemn motion in my soul-I think it is of the Holy Ghost- that you will never hear another faithful sermon, but you shall go down to Hell impenitent, unsaved, except you trust in Jesus now. I speak not as a man, but I speak as God's ambassador to your souls, and I command you, in God's name, trust Jesus, trust now. At your peril, reject the voice that speaks from Heaven, for "he that believeth not shall be damned." How shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation? When it comes right home to you, when it thrusts itself in your way, oh, if you will neglect it, how can you escape? With tears, I would invite you, and, if I could, would compel you to come in. Why will you not? O souls, if you will be damned, if you make up your mind that no mercy shall ever woo you, and no warnings shall ever move you, then, sirs, what chains of vengeance must you feel that slight these bonds of love. You have deserved the deepest Hell, for you slight the joys above. God save you. He will save you, if you trust in Jesus. God help you to trust Him even now, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Finding the Right Church


If you wait for a perfect church, you must wait until you get to Heaven; and even if you could find a perfect assembly on earth, I am sure they would not admit you to their fellowship, for you are not perfect yourself. Find out those people who are nearest to the Scriptures, who hold the truth in doctrine and in ordinance, and are most like the apostolic church, and then cast in your lot with them, and you will be blessed in the deed.

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Prayer for the Unsaved


If you really desire that men should be saved, pray for them. It is an empty wish, a mere formality, if you do not turn it into prayer. ... Oh, for more prayer! Let us cry to God in secret, and in the family, and in all our assemblies, that God would save the sons of men.

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The Necessity of Preaching


Suppose that we do not preach the gospel and warn the wickend man, so that he turns not from his iniquity. What then? Hear this voice: "He shall perish, but his blood will I require at thine hand." What will my Lord say to me if I am unfaithful to you? "Where is the blood of those people who gathered at Newington Butts? Where is the blood of that crowd that came together to hear you speak, and you did not preach the gopsel to them?" Oh, it where better for me that I had never been born than that I should not preach the gospel! "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel" of Christ, for men perish where there is not the Word of God!

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Genuine Conversion


If we labor for souls, we must not be content unless souls are really saved, for the apostle says, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God." Well, does not that satisfy you, Paul? They are zealous for God. They are red-hot. "No," says he, "not unless it is in the right way. They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." We feel very thankful when we see tears stream down the cheek, but you know, people cry at the theatre, and there is not much in it. Pray God it may not end in a shower of tears; but that the heart may bleed as well as the eyes weep. It may happen that we have induced our hearers to give up some outward sins. So far, so good. But it is written, "You must be born again;" and if this vital change is not experienced, all outward reformation will land them short of Heaven.

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The Crucifixion


Cowardice! cowardice! cowardice, craven, base lies at your door, O humanity! The Christ who was like a sheep-harmless and defenseless- was treated as if He had been one of the wild beasts of the forest. Who could have had the heart to smite Him who gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to those who plucked off the hair? O humanity! If I stand at the bar to impeach you, I scarce know where to commence the indictment, and, having commenced it, I know not where to close it. How fallen, dishonored, infamous are you, O humanity! Low, depraved, heinous, indeed, have you become that you could put the Messiah Himself to death, and crucify the Lord of Glory.

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False Converts


Who was it that added Judas, and Ananias and Sapphire, and Simon Magus, and Demas to the church? Who was it that stole forth by night and spread tares among the wheat? That evil spirit is not dead, he is still busy enough in this department, and continually adds to the church each as are not saved. His are the mixed multitude that infest the camp of Israel, and are the first to fall a lusting; his the Achane who bring a curse upon the tribes; his are those of whom Jude says, "Certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation." These adulterate the church, and by so doing, they weaken and defile it, and bring it much grief and dishonor.

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The Purpose of the Law


The business of the Law is first to teach us our obligations to God. Let us ask ourselves if we have ever heard the Law teaching us in that way. Brethren, read the Law of Ten Commandments, and study each separate precept, and you will find that in those ten short precepts you have all the moral virtues, the frull compass of your accountability to God, and of your relationship to your fellowmen. It is a wonderful condensation of morals. The essence of all just decrees and statustes lies there. Perfection is there photographed, and holiness mapped out. No one has ever been able to add to it without creating an excrescence, not a word could be taken from it without causing a serious omission. It is the perfect Law of God, and tells us exactly what we ought to be; if we are in any degree deficient, we are to that extent guilty before God. Now, when the Law comes to a man's conscience, it reveals to him the divine standard of right -holds it up before him - makes him look at it - and apprises him that the Commandments do not merely refer to acts and deeds, but with equal force to the words and thoughts from whence they proceed.


**Note from Ray Comfort: "It is a Perfect Law (see Psalm 19:7) of a perfect God that demands moral perfection. That is what we are commanded to warn every man, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

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I think that's enough for now, take these words to heart and pick up this book "Spurgeon Gold" by Ray Comfort.


May God bless you as you seek to save the lost!

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Overall a good weekend

Another week has come and gone, but this time there are actually things that have happened!

1) My work schedule will be changing for awhile. In order to accommodate several people at work they need volunteers to work on the midnight shift for a couple of months. There are good and bad things to this decision, but I decided to do it anyway. The bad thing is that it's just hard to be working on a midnight shift, you get tired because your body wants to be asleep. The only way that I can handle it is to keep the same schedule on my days off. This makes it hard to spend time with Danae and Malikai though, since I'm sleeping in until after noon most days. The advantage to me taking this schedule is mainly for consistency. Having the same time to work will help out with a lot of things, including the school that I will be starting soon and the Truth Project Bible study.

2) Speaking of the Truth Project, I called the only member that was to show up to our Bible study on Friday, and he was coming back from Denver on a job so he couldn't make it on time, so we decided to just postpone the lessons for a couple of weeks until his wife gets back, that way she could come too. I think this is a great idea and will give us another friend in the area.

3) Today we all (Danae, Malikai and I) went to a baby shower for someone at work. I actually had more fun than I thought I would have, which is always good news. And Danae and I ended up winning a good amount of prizes as well. It was a fun party. Malikai enjoyed being held by multiple people, for awhile that is, then he started to get fussy. We went to feed him and we realized that we had bottles, water, and formula, but no nipples for the bottle! Luckily the hostess for the party had some apple sauce and a small spoon handy.

I don't really know what else to write... everything else with us is pretty much the same. We are still playing World of Warcraft, and while we are at it we are creating a Christian guild so we have other believers to hang out with. Don't know how popular it will be, but it should be fun to try anyway.

Hopefully I will start writing more often, with more interesting things and especially some Bible passages that I have been reading that I would really like to share with you all.

Please stay tuned for the next blog.

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Weekend Adventures

This weekend was a full weekend for me. It started off with me getting off work early on Friday for a dentist appointment (got a crown, yay...), and then preparing for The Truth Project Bible study planned for that night. After all the preperation, printing out handouts, and all the cleaning that we did to prepare, making snacks, and guess what.... nobody showed up. So that was a big bummer and a bad start to the weekend.

So after waiting a bit Friday night for potential late arriavals, Danae, Malikai and I went to Best Buy to buy something for the computer. While we were there Malikai decided to make as much noise as he could and started crying, which was really embarassing. And later that night I had computer problems and had to make another trip to Best Buy, making mistakes mainly because I was in too big of a hurry to examine the problem throughally. So I was also embarassed that night to call myself a Computer Tech...

Oh well, I learned new things about computers and mainly learned that I should slow down instead of trying to rush buying a part and getting it to work before Best Buy closes.

Saturday I spent some time shopping for Malikai. We had to buy a high chair (which I still have not setup) and a gate to put on our stairs to keep him from crawling down them. We also bought normal minor things like formula and stuff.

Beyond all the shopping, we went for a couple of hikes this weekend. One hike we got to hear a bunch of coyotes howling, that was pretty cool. I didn't bring my camera since we went at night and my camera doesn't take good night pictures anyway. So no pictures this time, but hopefully I can post some pictures the next time we go on a day time hike.

This weekend I also went to see a movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. A really good movie in the series, for more information check out my last blog about the movie. Danae and I also spent more time playing our game World of Warcraft, and even made contact with some old friends that we found out played this game. If you play, contact me so maybe we can meet up in the game some time! If you don't play and want to try it, contact me and I can get you a 10 day free trial.

So this weekend was full of going to the dentist, preparing for Bible study that didn't happen, playing games, going on hikes, shopping for Malikai, going to the movies, and sleeping in so late on Sunday that we missed church...(I hate doing that!!!!). Overall it was a good weekend.

Now I'm working a midnight shift while covering for someone on vacation. Normally I like midnight shift, but since I am only covering for someone else, I have to just do it for a single night and then switch back to a day schedule again. I hate trying to change schedules, but oh well.

Well, I think that is about all I have to say about my weekend. How was your weekend? Let me know!

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Movie: The Bourne Ultimatum

So I went to see The Bourne Ultimatum today... and here is what I though about it

I will start out by saying, this is an awesome movie, and if you have watched the other movies in the Bourne series, this is a must see. I don't recommend that you see this movie until you have seen the others, since it is heavily driven by the previous story line.

First, what I didn't like about this movie. The lack of a tripod. Come on, in this day and age in the movie making industry, you do not have to hold the camera in your hand when filming. They have this thing called a tripod. Yes, this simple, inexpensive (I bought one for $15!) device, would improve this movie greatly. Most of the action sequences I had a hard time seeing what was going on, who was doing what or who was winning. A lot of it was blurry and hard to follow, especially on the big screen.

Pretty much every fight scene in a movie is heavily choreographed to make it intense and realistic, but with this camera method, of everything being shaky, it's pretty pointless. Having an up close and shaky shot, is an okay method to use sometimes, but not all the time! Some movies are so bad that it is not watchable, it gives people headaches and makes them motion sick even. This new method of making movies needs to be turned down a bit, and not used as the standard.

That being said, here are the good points of the movie.

The action sequences are exciting, edge of your seat type. If you like James Bond or other action movies, add this movie to your list. Lots of car chase scenes, car wrecks, shotting, fighting, and pretty much anything else they could throw in there to add to the excitement.

The story line is excellent; it isn't just a story line that focuses on action (like The Marine.. dumb movie) but instead the story line is thought provoking and intriguing. They do a good job of tying the other movies together and adding closure. Although you are not told exactly what happens to Bourne, there is enough closure that it makes the movie series feel complete. Another positive aspect of the story line is that it is not entirely predictable. There isn't a lot of twisting plot lines (where you don't know who is good or bad) but there are several scenes where you don't know how it's going to end up until close to the end. Personally I like movies that are not entirely predictable.

There were plenty of different landscapes in the film, from New York City to Spain, and other countries.

Well, I don't want to say too much to give away the story, so I will just end it here.

Overview:
Great movie, great action scenes, and a great, mostly unpredictable story line, adding closure to the series. The only downside is the shaky, tripod-less camera work. So if you are not the type of person to get motion sick easily, go see it! And if you are the type that gets motion sick, wait until it comes out on DVD, then see it.

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Off to Another World

I have not been posting messages as often as I thought I would, then again, I haven't been doing much of anything that I thought I would be doing. The reason, I have been off visiting another world.

No, I haven't been to space to see another planet (although that would be awesome!), Danae and I have been stuck in the virtual world, entrapped by the addicting and fun world of Warcraft. It is a video game that you play with other people all around the world. So yeah, that has taken up a lot of our time.

But not all of it. Today I managed to mail out the last documents required for attendance at Calvary Chapel Bible College. I can't wait to get started! There is so much information that I will be learning about the Bible, it will be great. Also today we released another podcast on the ETM Podcast from Ravi Zacharias. It is a fascinating sermon on the uniqueness of Christ in history. If you get a chance, listen to it. You can find it at http://podcast.eternaltruthministry.com so listen to it if you get a chance to.

Let's see, what else would people possibly want to know? Malikai is doing great. Getting bigger and moving around a lot more. The other day I caught him crawling into the bathroom and trying to sneak into the storage area of our basement. It is going to take a lot more of our attention now. There are no new pictures on Malikai's website yet, but there will be before too long. And possibly even a video... but that's a secret. First I will need to take the time to copy all my videos to the computer and then edit them and stuff. It is not an easy or quick process.

Well, that is enough for the night. Stay tuned to this blog and the ETM podcast. There are a couple of interesting sermons that I will be publishing through the podcast, and possibly putting some notes on my blog. The subject matter of who is Christ and also one dealing with the way that mature Christians differ from young Christians, and how mature Christians should act and should stay away from slander. So stay tuned!

I shall leave you with an encouraging verse:
Luke 12:6-7
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

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Following Jesus

Do you ever wonder why so many people are hostile to Christians, when Christians lay down their lives to help others? It is because we claim to be followers of Christ and the world hates Jesus Christ.

Why does the world hate Jesus? Jesus tells us why in the eye witness account of John:

John 7:7
"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil."

For those who want to believe that they are good people and evil is not a result of themselves but of others, then this would be an offensive statement. People love their sin too much, and they do not want those sins pointed out as being wrong. This is why people hate Jesus so much, not because Jesus was a bad person (because He was perfect!) but because they don't want to think that they are bad people.

If you are not a Christian and you are reading this, God does say that you are a sinner, but He doesn't just accuse and condem you. Jesus provided a way for us to be forgiven of our sins. Follow Jesus, repenting of your sins. Realize that you have wronged God and ask for forgiveness then follow Jesus, who was given to us by God, confirmed by many prophecies, miracles, and being raised from the dead.

If you are a Christian, turn away from your sins! Jesus told us to live in the light and repent from our sins.

Romans 6:22
By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

1 John 3:6
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

If you follow Jesus, then you will produce good fruit. Analyze your life to see if you are producing that fruit, to see if you are following Jesus, and to make sure that you are not living in a lifestyle of sin.

John 15:4-8
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

If you follow Jesus, then give up your sinful lifestyle and follow Jesus. Read the Word of God and apply it to your life. Know the love that God has for you, and for others, and the forgivness and grace that God has paid the price to extend to you.

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