Tuesday, December 25, 2012

How to make yourself mad - Numero Uno.

So...  The title begs for an explanation.  :D  And I'll tell you the first way to make yourself mad - just think about something that bugs you.  It's really that simple...  Once it bugs you, if you start thinking about it - it'll make you mad eventually.  But it's what we do with that anger that determines what type of person we are.  ;)  Going about fixing things takes guts...  Yep, the things in your inmost body that are the difference between really caring or just wanting to help.  If you really care about something - you try with your whole brain/body to perfect it (sometimes this requires a lot of fixing up - sometimes it just takes a little tweaks).

And that goes right into what I was going to talk about - politics.  Yep!  You correctly guessed about 1 second ago that politics make me mad!!!!!!!!!  So...  How do you fix it?  I mean, a lot of us get really caught up in trying to change it and it pains us to the core to think about where we are headed, but why don't our political efforts change anything?  And how can we make society realize the need for a savior?


Here are my thoughts...  And this is what made me mad, and what I drew from my thoughts.


So.  The point arises, should we try and change the politics of our nation and take back the law?  Or should we try and change our society and culture and hope the politics will follow?

There are three things that I am going to try and talk about...  Politics, Culture, and Society.  I will define them in my own words so that you can figure out what I'm talking about when I say it (I know, I know, it's not the best idea to make your own definitions for things, but I'm sticking to what they really are - just in my own words to make it concise).  So...

Politics - The Laws.
Culture - The Things.
Society - The People.

The laws affect you, the things influence you, the people live with you.  


Bear with me as I try and follow the logical path of these three areas.  I'll assume, for the sake of the argument, that you'll be working to fix the other areas as well, but will be focusing on that one area.


Fix Politics:  The political system gets a total overhaul - young leaders come into power from the homeschool movement.  They shake things up and make Godlier laws than even the founding fathers had.  Good!  But...  There are still books out their that teach falsehoods and music that still defies God and art forms that degrade human beings (culture), and there are people who are made to live with these laws, but they really don't like them, they're just forced to follow them, and there are some who actively try to put them down (society).  In the end, once the lawmakers die off, and their children take their stead - well, their children were raised in the society and around the culture that their parents didn't care to fix (just regulate).  So they probably make good politicians, but even they start to lose a little ground...


Fix Culture:  Take over the arts!!!!!!!!  I mean, if people are only listening to Christian music all the time, and they never see a bad photograph - they'll grow up and change things for better, right?  Nope...  Those kids are still evil at heart.  There will be some rebels (granted) who will just go against anything that you try to change, but for the most part, these kids will still have terrible leaders in office, and they will just see that a certain group of people are just trying really hard to influence people in a certain area (and succeeding, perhaps).  But they won't have anything to do with it.  This will hardly fix any problem at all and won't last as long as even fixing our political woes.


(Now, just to be honest here, I'll lay out my bias on the table - you can debate it all you want, but it's what I believe, and what I say will follow my knowledge...  But.  I believe that "fixing" society is the right way to have an impact on our generation [and any generation] - so my analysis of what will happen is sorta biased, but tell me if I err in any of it!  ...I might not recant, but I am not so close-minded that I am not open to looking at what others have to say.  ;D)


Fix Society:  Fix the people!  Spend time developing relationships with the terrible people of the world, spend time with the unwanted, and spend time with your responsibilities (Fathers - that means your wives and children.  Pastors - that means your flock as well).  Let people see Christ in you.  Be a good example for others to see!  Those people who you lived your life for, they will change and come to Christ as He draws them to Himself.  He never says that your life will be wasted here on earth, so know that you weren't made just to save yourself - you're a lifeline for others!  God is the one ultimately tugging them in, but He uses us, the outcasts of the world, to reach them.  These people will get to know God and they'll teach their children if they truly believe.  And God blesses the people who love him and keep his commandments.  (You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. ~ Exodus 20:5,6).  See...  Jesus said to His disciples that "IF you love Me, you will follow my commandments" (John 14:15) - Because if you TRULY believe in Christ and love Him, then you will naturally want to do all in your power to follow Him and keep His commands...  And that means that you'll follow His commands for politics and culture.

Yes.  Take it in - if you change someone, they will WANT to do the right things.  You can force it on them all you want!  It doesn't matter, if their heart is not changed, then their hearts will still be in the same depraved place that they started out in, cursing God!

But seriously, we can change the place we live in, it just takes faith in a just God, perseverance against the Devil, Truth on your side, and setting an example.


I have been talking with a man who's not a Christian recently (through my work), and I just recently started to talk about theology, worldviews and politics with him, and it's sad to see where he's at right now - but I wish more Christians would see everything the way he sees it.  And I seriously mean that.  He told me that the reason he doesn't go to church (among multiple other reasons - which I agreed with him on all of them), is because the churchgoers live a different life on Sunday than they do the rest of the week.  Now tell me, if you (not personally, but we - the Church) want soooooooooooo desperately to get non-believers to come to church to listen to what you have to say, then tell me - were you being a good example for this man?  I don't think any of us can say that we live perfect lives, but you don't have to go to church on Sunday to be spiritual - it's living it out in front of everyone all the time!  It's taking the time to talk with these guys to help them, it's walking what you talk on Sundays, it's influencing the people around you that God has placed in your life to be a LIGHT to!  This man only saw a bunch of flickering candles and didn't want anything to do with something that's failing!


In conclusion, (and if you can't tell, this is something that I am really passionate about) - to change the "system", you have to change hearts - YOU can't change hearts, God does it, but He chooses us as His method to reach others.  You can't be used if you're trying to fix something else on your own, it's like proverbially trying to fix the symptoms but not the cause of the disease.  I think God uses us as examples for others.  We need to step up to the plate and allow the Holy Spirit to guide our actions day in and day out.  We'll fail on our own.  But with Him, all things are possible!  People can be changed.  You can be used.


Will you live a life full of yourself?  Don't live for politics, art, science, work, don't be a family man if all that means is that you don't have an impact on anyone else, but you do it for yourself.  Instead, deny all else and take up your cross daily!  Be a light to a dark world - raise up a family dedicated to being a force out there and keeping the fire aflame.  Be a child of God.


I seriously just wrote this post up as it came to me (which meant many interruptions, seeing as it's Christmas day here already), so after a long day, I have finally let all my steam out.  And I'm better now.  :)  I think I'll title the next post on how to make yourself happy.  ;)


I hope that if you've read this far, you either have some 1. Correction for me - whatever you disagree with me on, I'm open for discussion.  Or  2. Encouragement for me - because I truly do enjoy seeing that there are people out there who make my rants their rants.


:D


MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!!  :D  :D  :D


I hope you have a wonderful day!

~Jay

P.S.  In Ephesians after it tells us to put on the whole armor of God, it then says that we should pray for all the saints.  I'll be praying for you, and I would ask you to pray for me as well (especially as I try and be an example not only to the guy I know from work, but to everyone else as well).  :)


P.P.S.  Here's Psalm 112 for you.  You wish this to be you (if you're a man seeking to follow the Lord), but do you wish this to be others as well?  I hope that I'll meet many men who are like this because God used me to get to their hearts.  :)  And another note - doesn't it look a lot like this man has influence?  He's a GREAT example to others!


Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who greatly delights in His commandments.
His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
Light arises in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.
It is well with the man who is gracious and lends;
He will maintain his cause in judgment.
For he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be remembered forever.
He will not fear evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is upheld, he will not fear,
Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.
He has given freely to the poor,
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted in honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be vexed,
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked will perish.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Life. ...Is full of everything! Questions... Leave a comment too!

So...  How many people actually still read this blog???  Just curious.  ;)

As most of you know, I'm going through a rough stage in my life.  Rough in many ways.  Mostly, I'm at that stage of life where something hits you like a brick and you know you need to change, or you'll never reach the goal that God calls you to reach.

I asked my manager at work tonight - "What can I do to get better, to get to the next level?"  And he replied - "The biggest thing for you is maturity."

That pretty much says it all right there...  I've heard that many different times, by many different people, and many different ways in the past couple months.  And I've been making some changes.

It's weird how emotionally connected we get to things though.  :(  I'm having a hard time giving up things I know I should give up, and doing things I know I should do.  But the best motivation I have right now is this
-
I look down the road a few years from now and I see my family.  No faces, just grey outlines of my wife and kiddos.  I don't know whom God is going to say "Start a family with her" about, but I know He'll pick the best for me.  And I don't know what my kids are going to act like, but I know He'll give me the wisdom to deal with them.  And I don't know how hard this year and the next are going to be, but I'm praying that He'll give me the strength to see it through while giving 100%!

And then I look at Christ.  He saved me.  That is enough motivation for ANYONE!  You don't need more than that to live life expecting to be a help to others and to glorify Him through your life!  I see all this, and I realize that having a family is just one goal that God is calling me to.  I look at my career.  A goal.  But both of these - and any other area we're called to be in - are just tools for us to use in glorifying God!  Men need to lead.  I can lead my family and help them, I can lead my coworkers at work and help them as well!  I can lead at Friday Frisbee, and help my friends!

It's funny how you can look at things.  I can either choose to view the world as my own little place - walking around and doing what I want to do, because I only feel what's good for myself, or I can view it as an opportunity for more - doing things for others because I realize that I'm not the only one that matters.

When you start looking at the world as an opportunity, not as a place of indulgence, then you realize that most of your "goals" are in fact just tools to help you in your mission.  Mission:  Glorify God through your calling.

And thus my ramble ends.  I hope this helps you as well.  :)

Sorry about the upcoming contest too!  :-/  It was an idea, and it never got enough steam to move forward with.  :(  But I will make it happen if we get enough steam.  ;)

I'll finish by saying that my parents had let me do Google+, and I was enjoying that, and they let me keep up this blog, but I'm going to be coming less to the online world and focusing more on what God has in front of me.  So yeah, I hope to be more personable when I see you face-to-face, even if it's tomorrow, next year, or in 1,000 years (I'm still going to be alive then.  ;).  I will still keep both of these, but it won't be a main part of my life like it has been.  I'm just going to use it as the tool that it is if you use it right.

So goodnight you guys!  My email is dontpillsburyjay@gmail.com.  Contact me there if you want to talk, catch up, or just plain want to say something!  My ears are always open to friends.  :)

For Christ's glory!
Jay

Thursday, March 29, 2012

I'm typing this on....

My new laptop!!!!  :)

Yep, I got one yesterday, and sometime soon I'm going to get an Ipod touch.   - Splurging I am (although gift cards do help).  :)  So my new buddy's name is - Tuck!  Tuck is an acronym....  What for?  I'm going to see if any of you guys can guess.  ;)

What with college starting up next week, this was a necessary (ahem) purchase.  :)  It will help out tremendously though, of that I am sure.  Plus it's my very own.  I like that feeling of buying your own stuff (although I'm sure dad knows how much I still don't pay for...).  ;)

Tata!  I have to get some sleep before I wake up at 4:15am, work, go home and clean, play Frisbee, and then go to bed somewhere around morning (I think some people refer to this time as the "ungodly hours")

~Jay

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

CollegePlus

As far as the busy scale goes, yesterday saw a jump by about 2 points (towards the busy side).

That's right, as you can probably guess by the title, I signed up for CollegePlus and I'll be starting with them on April 2nd (not the first, although that would've been cool.... :).

I'm 2/3 of my way done with my first week as part of the Day Crew, and so far - so good.  :)  I'm looking forward to developing under new leaders (I switched stores and went to Kedron from 54), and learning more of the responsibilities that everyone has there.

So I have College and work, and Frisbee starts in 9 days!!!!!!!!!  I'm sorta busy.  :)  But it's a good busy.  I'm going to take tomorrow as a resting day and play Airsoft with some friends all day.  Should be fun.  Then back to work and this and that and everything.

:)

~Jay

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

When change comes, it comes fast and without warning....

So, Blog readers, I'm going to tell you something from my life (not Frisbee this time), and this something just happened....

I moved from Night Crew to Day Crew this week!  :|

I have mixed emotions about it.  I'll really miss my pals on Night Crew, especially my two best friends.  But I'll see them occasionally, because I'll still work one night out of the week (Saturday).

As for the good, I'm really excited to push myself in a new direction, and expand my area of expertise to include running Boards in the morning.  Then I'll be (theoretically, when I move back to NC) one of the best guys for Saturday morning and I'll continue my quest to become supervisor/manager.

It's a change and I'm dealing with big confidence issues.  One thing I'm trying to remember is that God works all things out for the good of those who love Him, and that I should work as onto the Lord and not to please men.  (Romans 8:28, and Ephesians 6:5-8)

So...  Hello Day Crew,  :)  ....Goodbye Night Crew.  :(

~Jay

Monday, February 27, 2012

Who does this kind of thing?!?!

I mean, um, I......

I'm going a little out of the way to gain "publicity" for this, but a Blog post that says what this says....  Has anyone ever done this???

Let me explain.

Alright. Last year we had a Frisbee Commercial Contest.... This year we're doing a contest that's a little different (To be announced later). But you have the chance to pick who gets what...  :)

Sound good?

Basically I have a few things that I'm going to give out at the end of the contest to the top X finishers.  That's right....  I'm not picking how many people get prizes...  YOU ARE!  :)

Anyways here's how it works.  Pick any of the things below and number them (which finisher will get that item [anywhere from 1st to 6th...  ;)] ), and then comment and tell me what you picked.

1 *Regular Frisbee.
1 *Light up Frisbee.
2 *Pairs of wristbands.
2 *Frisbee T-Shirts.

This is an example pick - ("1st place: Light up Frisbee, and a T-shirt...  2nd place: Regular Frisbee and pair of wristbands....  3rd place: T-shirt and pair of wristbands.)

Mix & Match time!  Btw, tell your friends about it - ANYONE can enter when we start the competition!!!!!!!!!  :)

~Frisbeeman

P.S.  You MUST vote before the 16th of March!  ...It's a secret what the competition is - so that no one gets greedy (if they're sure they can get first or second based on the category.... ;).  I'll post about the prize order and what the competition is after I figure out the votes.  :)

P.P.S.  I have still another secret to be revealed in the due course of time...  :D

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Frisbee 2012 - what's new?

Well, well.  Last year we had a couple new things for Frisbee (I did a post that year on the new things), like lights around the field, new rules, and even a different time for playing in the Spring and Fall!

Well, you may be asking what is new for Frisbee in 2012?

I'll tell you!  (Warning: there might not be something "new" every year.  There just happens to be something new this year.)

Frisbee Girl and I took mom out to Fayetteville (yes, I drove. :), and went to Hobby Lobby to get these!




Bandanas for 2012.  Orange, Green, Yellow, and Pink.


These are for the teams to wear during Frisbee.  The captains will each have a bag (up to 4 captains), and there are enough for 15 on a team!  If you don't want to do the math, that's a total of 60 poeple!  :)


The guy at the register asked us if it was "National Bandana Day".....  When we asked him why he asked, he said that that was the second time that day that he'd checked out a lot of bandanas in the same order.  :)

Well, that's what's new!  Frisbee Girl, me, and a couple others have been brainstorming on picking strategies and orders - so I hope this year we won't have as many people upset about the picking process.

More news would be the fact that we finally have a date to start Frisbee in 2012 - March 16th!  :)  Mark your calendars for that day and the two Fridays in March after that.  I'll keep you updated in the email and on the side bar of this Blog (also on Google+, where you can find the group at https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=mX#100388386636458088034/posts).

See you there!
~Frisbeeman

Friday, January 27, 2012

Oh, and by the way....

Since I'm going to try and keep "y'all" (4+ years of living in GA and I still put qoutation marks when I write that online... :P ) updated with a little of my life when I have time, let me tell you one of the higlights of last year (it's one of the highlights of my whole life, actually).

Anyways, I got up one Saturday morning (I worked that day, but later - at 3pm) sometime around 4ish and dad drove the two of us out to a friends place that's out in the woods of Georgia, and I walked through a dark, eerie forest, crossed a stream in my waterproof boots (still in the dark), tramped up a hill, and climbed into a treestand and watched as everything began to take form - trees became distinguishable, birds started flying around - and I waited and waited....  Squirrels would mess up my concentration, there was a flock (?) of crows that were extremely annoying, but around 9am, I saw one - That elusive creature called the Whitetail Deer.
So I picked up my rifle and got it in my scope....  But it was turned and walking away from me and into the woods on the left.  another missed opportunity on my part to capitalize on a shot at one.  But wait!  No sooner had I let go of that one then another and another popped out of the woods to my right!  I looked them over at a glance and went for the better shot - which also happened to be the bigger one.  The next is history to be told by word of mouth and not written down for the world to see on the internet.  :D

Here's the Vic Pic ~



Me with my trusty Marlin and promise of meat in the freezer.



~Hunterman

Friday, January 20, 2012

Do you have a protege? (Frisbee Tip, plus more)

So this is a Frisbee Blog, but I've been learning a lot of things by working at CFA recently.  Leadership stuff...  Some of it not said, but implied, some of it clear as anything I've ever been told...  But all of it something you have to learn.

One thing that leaders do is train, or "develop" people.  Simply said, leaders have a lot of proteges.  And that goes for everything we do.

First,  let me define 'Protege'

"Protege: a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in his or her career or welfare." ~ Dictionary.com
 
So, in Frisbee....  (Frisbee tip here) the guys who know the most about the game aren't really doing any good with it if they don't teach someone else what they know.  And that goes for anyone!  Suppose you've played a few times, and then you come to Friday Frisbee and there's someone new who doesn't have a clue about the game....  YOU CAN HELP THEM!  I've helped many guys see a different aspect of the game (I'm not the best with beginners, but I'm good at helping the intermediate guys), and those guys use what I've taught them.  The people you help will use what you teach them, so be wise in what you say!  And don't load them down with too much information.
 
This is one big plus about knowing your own capabilities - you know what you're good at and what you can teach others.  See, it wouldn't be good for me to teach a college football player how to throw the football better.  But I can, and do, help others play Frisbee better.
 
One thing that you can do to get better (Frisbee or not), is to come up with a list of stuff you don't know (eg.  1. how to throw a hammer. 2. how to play zone on defense...  etc.), and then set out on a journey to ask others, who know how to do that stuff, if they can teach you (or by careful observation, you can teach yourself).
 
IknowIknowIknow.....  I'm not posting a lot on here, and I'm about to plunge into the busiest time of my life (commonly known as college), but if you check here every-now-and-then, I'll make sure to post every-once-in-a-while.  :)
 
Frisbeeman