Wow, it's been a long time since I posted on here.  Christmas was good and the first two months of the New Year have gone well.  Both of my jobs are going well.  I'm in the market to start looking for a new job though.  Subbing is great, but I would like to work doing something else.  I've got a few jobs that I'm looking at, but I need a little more prayer and guidance before I'm positive about them.  I guess we'll see what God has in store.

I recently finished a five book series called The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.  In Taran Wanderer, the fourth book of the series, a character named King Smoit says, "A king's strength lies in the wills of those he rules." 

I started thinking about how historically true that is.  Looking back throughout human history, we can see all of the different rebellions and revolutions throughout many countries across the world started when the common people were upset with the king/queen/ruling class.  Even our own American Revolution was about fighting against the government of King George III of the British Empire. 

I also thought about how true that is from a religious standpoint.  Throughout the history of the Church, the strength of the Church on earth has been determined by the wills of the people who claim to be part of the body. 

During the 1st Century Church, the apostles and their followers had their hearts on fire for God and the teaching of Jesus.  They approached their spiritual journeys and hardships like men going off to battle.  They were preparing themselves for anything and everything that Satan could throw at them and, just as important, they were preparing for those things together.  Even though the people were scattered across the Roman Empire, they were united as one Church, praying for each other daily. 

Do we, as Christians, continue to follow in the footsteps of the 1st Century Church?  Has the passion and the fire in their hearts been transferred to ours?  I really don't think it has.  But why not?  Why aren't we preparing ourselves for what Satan has to throw at us? 

Is it because the fact we live in America where we're free to believe in anything without fear of personal persecution? 

Is it because we haven't experienced the miracles of Jesus?  We've never seen a blind man see?  A deaf man hear?  Or is it because we now see those as medical monotony that happens everyday? 

However, if you look at the "less fortunate" countries of the world who do not live with religious freedom, you can see the Church growing exponently.  Why is that?  Why is it when religious freedom is taken away that people turn to Jesus and not before?  Is there anything that will bring us back to having our hearts on fire for God?  What would it take? 

Well, I'm kinda new to this whole blogging thing, but I figured that I would try it out. 

A few weeks ago, over Fall Break, I went back down to visit some friends of mine down at my old college, Milligan in Tennessee.  I couldn't have imagined how great that trip would be.  I didn't realize before how much I missed the pace of life there.  It is so much slower than here in Indianapolis.  The people are friendlier there and it's just such a great place to live.  I really want to go back and live there one day. 

While I was down there, I was able to visit several of my old friends.  I stayed with two of my old roommates, Justin and Llama.  It was great to see them again.  I really enjoyed hanging out with Llama and watching some movies, including Transformers, about which he complained that there wasn't enough about the robots and too many freaking humans in the movie.  (That was my fourth time seeing it, his first.)  I also played Rampage with Llama as well.  Unfortunately, I didn't get much time to spend with Justin.  He had a big midterm to study for while I was there.  It was for his master's degree from ETSU.  We did get to chat a little while having lunch on the day I left. 

Of course, the absolute highlight of the entire weekend was the time I got to spend with one of the closest friends that I have.  Her name is Julie Simerly.  She is an absolutely amazing person!  We first really met while we were taking Economics together during my senior year.  She had the unfortunate experience of having to sit next to me in class.  Since then, she has become one of my closest friends.  I can't believe how gracious God is for putting her in my life.  I got to see her on Thursday.  We went and had a late lunch/early dinner and then spent the rest of the evening at her house.  We watched a Transformers (My fifth time now, but her first), Smallville, The Office, Finding Nemo, and Batman (the Michael Keaton/Jack Nicholson one).  Batman went off at about 12:30 that morning and we then sat around her house talking until 6:30 the next morning.  The conversation was absolutely fantastic!  I couldn't believe that in six hours, we never ran out of things to talk about!  It was amazing!  I am truly blessed to have a friend like her!