7holycrap Holy Crap

Expensive Broken Glass is Just…Broken Glass

Bellagio Lobby

I remember a few years ago taking a trip to Las Vegas. We don’t gamble but there are so many other things to do there that are awesome like seeing the lobby of a few select high-end hotels like the Bellagio. When we walked into the lobby for the first time I about lost me breath. They have a glass exhibit called “Fiori di Como,” that is located in the ceiling of the lobby and it is astounding. It is the creation of famous artist Dale Chihuly. Between 15,000 and 20,000 people see the art piece EVERY DAY. A blog I found mentioned this about the construction and maintenance of the piece.

“The sculpture consists of 2,000 hand-blown glass blossoms that weigh about 40,000 pounds. They are supported by a 10,000-pound steel armature. Every morning between 2 and 5 a.m., a team of eight to 10 engineers cleans and maintains the sculpture.”

I was super excited when one of his exhibits came to the Denver Botanical Garden. It was a sprawling exhibit with multiple pieces located in about every part of the grounds but his creation at the Bellagio is just absolutely mind bending.

About 3 weeks after Yolanda and I walked through the Botanical garden we heard that they had a massive hailstorm and a few of amazing and irreplaceable pieces we had seen in the Botanical Garden had BROKE during the storm! Knowing the level of intricacy that goes into a craft like glasswork my mind immediately made an observation about fine glass like the Chihuly exhibit; expensive glass that cracks or breaks just becomes broken glass and has no value. When it goes from a finely constructed and perfectly formed piece of art, one crack or broken appendage renders it of no value. Not able to be “glued” back together because of the micro level of construction of each piece. I suppose the only way to fix something like that is to redo it.

Then I thought of people who have made mistakes in life and felt like their life was shattered and broken into a bunch of unfixable pieces. They look at everything that THEY have built and think of the time it took to put those things together. Some slip into depression and even go so far as to take their life because of the insurmountable thought of starting over.

I can assure you, that is where Jesus does his best work. When we come to him with brokenness, no other options and even depressed where our life has digressed he gives us a chance to exchange our mess for his perfection. People that have options when they come to Jesus normally end up making him “just another thing they try and fit into their lives” instead of seeing him as a supernatural friend that takes our brokenness and makes something brand new!

Today, you may be broken in life but you can be a new creation by asking Jesus to remake the life you thought you had with even more beauty than you could ever imagine. It is as simple as exchanging your brokenness for his beauty AND it doesn’t matter how broken things are in life. You have a second chance to have happiness that you could never find on this earth. Praying for you today.

7holycrap Holy Crap, Life Lessons, Love of Jesus

The ONLY Reason Why I Didn’t Kill Myself

jesus-reaching-down
Who would have thought that a simple kid from Montana, who grew up in church all his life and went to Bible College to became a pastor, would ever have thoughts of suicide and killing himself. Well, that was the situation I found myself in when I got sick with an eye disease that the doctors knew I had but could not find the root cause. I can say that there are not many things that I am afraid of in this life but blindness is certainly one of them. When I started to have vision problems my whole world shut down and I felt like I was drowning in my own skin. It was like I was suffocating from the inside and no matter where I went I was overwhelmed with grief and despair. This led to thoughts of suicide and wanting to end my life because I didn’t see a way out and was not willing to even consider a life shift like going blind.

I am now on the other side of my eye episode and I can say that I appreciate everything I learned emotionally from what I dealt with for over four years. All the people that God put in my life and the times of being at the end of myself when I would find hope in so many ways that I believe God provided for me.

I was listening to a song by Hillsong Young and Free called “Passion” last week and I just started to cry uncontrollably because I had a FULL realization of why I never went through with my thoughts to kill myself. It was Jesus. Him alone. Not positive thoughts from people, not kind words, or money people gave us so we would not lose our house. Even though ALL those things were great and had a part in me making it, without JESUS I would be dead. I am not trying to make people that only believe in positive thoughts mad, but I know that the good intentions and positive thoughts of others is not what brought me out of my cold, dark, lonely and suffocating spiral. I found God in a way that church could not encourage me to believe and school could not teach me to understand. In fact, for all the things that I learned in school and the love I feel even at church today, without a revelation of God’s passionate love for me, those things would be out of reach in my mind. Even listening to that song right now as I type this in a coffee shop in Denver I am tearing up because I FOUND Jesus. Here are the words to the song below. I typed them all because the whole song is such a great illustration.

Passion (Hillsong Young and Free – Youth Revival)
In the grove, when your cup seemed too much
With the worst yet to come
I was on your mind
On the cross, as the crowds cursed your name
Heaven’s eyes turned away
Still you thought of me

I know you love me so

Through it all, you were thinking of me
Even death couldn’t keep all your love for me
But you died, so that I could have life
There’s no greater love than this

I know you love me so [x2]

Your love is still the same
Beginning and forever
I sing of all your passion won for me
I sing of all your love first done in me

Your love will never change
Beginning and forever
I sing of all your passion won for me
I sing of all your love first done in me

I found you [x6]

You’re brighter than the sun
Risen from the shadows
Seated on the throne of majesty
Higher than the skies and all the sea

I found you [x6]
I love you [x6]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/youth-revival-live/id1081955392

The devil wanted me to kill myself so I would not have a voice in people’s life of encouragement and joy. I am more determined now than ever to be the man of God I need to be for this hurt, lost and dying world.

I can tell you today that kind words, positive thoughts and “good vibrations” will not carry you through the darkest days of your life. I will NEVER apologize for my relationship to Jesus and KNOW that He is the only answer. If you cry out to him, he will hear you and answer you. If you need help, please message me and reach out. Love you all and pray that Jesus reveals himself to you today in a new way!

Don’t Quit. Don’t Stop. Don’t resist the love of Jesus.

7holycrap Holy Crap, Life Lessons

I Serve a Pushy God…And I Like It

psalms-23-blog

I had a conversation with Ken, one of our team members at work, and we were talking about God taking care of us as we walk through life. We specifically were talking about Psalms 23 because it is such a great example of God telling us what he will do for us in pretty much all seasons of life.

I mentioned something to him and when I said it, I knew it came from God so I want to share it with you today. It has to do with the first three verses of chapter 23 and there are three terms that I want to emphasize because it says a lot about what God knows we will need in this life we live.

1     The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right path for his name’s sake.

It is amazing to think that when God created us he knew we would need to be “made, led and guided” in this crazy life that we live. We are naturally stubborn and want to do our own thing, walk our own path and then just deal with the consequences of those decisions. When I read or listen to the Bible I get a better revelation of the principles in there that are wrapped around and answer the issues I am either dealing with or will deal with the longer I am alive.

It is further proof that God is FOR us and not AGAINST us and offers to help in three different ways as stated in Psalms 23. He will make us rest when we feel like we are running a thousand miles an hour, lead us beside quiet waters when our natural bend is to try and dance around raging rivers and guide us along the right path of life IF we will allow him. The key is getting the Bible in you and allowing it to permeate every part of your thinking, which in turn, will lead to a life that follows after God and brings peace.

Maybe some of you are in a place to not understand this peace that God offers and don’t know why reading a simple book could change your life in such a drastic way. Think of it this way; if life is really a struggle right now for you and you are running out of options, what do you have to lose?

Praying that you will be have hope in despair, wisdom where there is confusion and love where you feel hate. Have a great day!

7holycrap Orphanage Update

Nepal Orphanage UPDATE! Stories of SUPERNATURAL protection and provision!

Update_1I wanted to officially update everyone on the orphanage in Nepal and what has been going on. It has been AMAZING the love, prayer and financial support we have received from people everywhere. We know that this will be a time of rebuilding and also listening to the Holy Spirit to see what new relationships we can make in the community of Kathmandu and our orphanage by spreading the love of Jesus in a practical and needed way. 
I had a call this morning with our orphanage manager and from all the reports of destruction I have some great testimonies to share and God’s amazing protection in the midst of the chaos. First, and most importantly, all the kids, families and their extended families are safe. This is amazing considering we have 36 people in our orphanage (with kids, families and the managers and their kids) and four kids as well that are older and have moved out of the home and THEIR families. We do have some older grandparents that are dealing with health issues but not related to the earthquake and could use our prayers. Of all the horror stories we are hearing coming from Nepal, they are all safe which is a testament of God’s protection.
They have food and water but are still in need of tents for everyone because of the rains that happen this time of year. There is also some structural damage to the boys home and we want to keep all the kids and families together for safety as well as all the aftershocks that have been occurring. We think the manager’s house and the girl’s home are safe with no apparent structural damage which is another testament to God’s protection when we see the condition of many buildings that have fallen or are ready to collapse.
The orphanage is well connected to a church there and we are looking for additional opportunities to reach out to people in the area affected by the quake. 
Our orphanage managers are organizing trips into the areas of destruction to get the older kids out and helping other people. They have an amazing heart to see the kids not just concerned and thinking about their own preservation (which can happen with orphans) but the importance of being “Jesus with skin on” to the community. Our heart is that we don’t treat the kids as “orphans” but as young men and women that have awesome God-given destinies and a second chance at life to make a difference in their world.
The country of Nepal is only 2% Christian and I believe that God can open opportunities for us to influence the country for Jesus after this disaster with the pure awesome and relentless power of the LOVE of Jesus. 
We are going to be getting a better estimate of the cost of tents, blankets and other essential items in the next couple of days but please continue to pray and if you can give that would be awesome. We will continue to accept donations at RockyMountainCTN.com on the home page not only for our kids and orphanage but also for opportunities to show the love of Jesus in the community.
EVERY penny you give to the orphanage for the relief efforts goes to our kids and people in need. There are NO operational costs or other things attached to the money so you know that 100% of your giving is getting to the people who need it. Thanks and I will give another update as soon as I hear more information.