Tonights mussings (sp?)

I am to lazy to look up how to spell it correctly and I am paranoid about misspelling something. I know this comment will come back to haunt me someday.

So generational sins, ever thought about them? Is it true? Do the sins of the father really pass down to the third and fourth generations?

Tonight we were pondering passages from Ezekiel 18:1-4 and Exodus 34

My stance is that everyone is responsible for their own sins. That does not mean that you won't reap what you sow and it might be that the way you nurture and raise your kids the ramifications of your sins might continue in their lives as well, but our parents did not have to teach us how to sin, we do a great job of that on our own.

There does how ever seem to be a trend. Things run in the family. What you see your father or mother involved in alot of times you find the kids invovled in as well, sometimes even several generations.

The responsibility always falls on each individual, are they going to stop the sin patern. Are they going to be a curve in the generational patterns?

We then looked at Daniel 9: 3-5

Own the sin Dan 9:5
Confess the sin I John 1:9
Repent the sin Rev 2:5
Renew your mind Rom 12:2

That last step is critical and I think that is where I fall short. For if I do not replace what is in mind, if I do not change my thinking paterns, my worldview, then I will return to my old ways for I have nothing to keep me from going back. Just like the demons which are driven out and nothing is put in its place they come right back. So it is if we neglect to renew our minds. This can be a very difficult cocoon time which we must face. The amazing thing is that this is what Christ does in our lives. The testimony of a changed life by the power of Christ changing us from the inside out.

Being a Disciple of Christ

" In the modern world it seems so difficult to walk with absolute certainty in the narrow way of ecclesiastical decision and yet remain in the broad open spaces of the universal love of Christ, of the patience, mercy, and the ungodly. Yet somehow or other we must combine the two, or else we shall follow the paths of men. May God grant us jow as we strive earnstly to follow the way of discipleship. May we be enabled to say NO to sin and YES to the sinner. May we withstand our foes, and yet hold our to them the Word of the gospel which woos and wins the souls of men."

This is take from The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Draw near to God

http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/sermons
Listen to the sermon from 10-12-2008
Sermon by Todd Nighswonger
This is a sermon from Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley California. This church is pastored by Francis Chan. This sermon is from one of the pastors on the staff at Cornerstone.

October

So the pictures above are from the mens retreat that I went on this last weekend. It was a great time we had thirty guys go. We had a great time of getting in the word and talking. It was great because there were men who actually talked and converse about real life issues. Rather than the normal sports or work conversations. It was a great setting on one of the lakes at the base of Mt Fuji. There weather was incredible , so since we were right across the street from the lake I had to make sure I went for a swim. Those of you who know , understand that i like to go in every body of water that i get near.

The Passion Conference in Yokyo was amazing. It was great to be able to see 2000 people come out with probably 2/3 of those people being asian ( Japanees, Korean, Chineese, and more).

It was great to be able to help serve and help make it happen. If you look at the bottom picture my door was the one on the right and we were doing bag checks. There was no food or liquids allowed in and you should see how many bottles we had to dispose of.

Well that talks about a few of the big events which have happened in the last week. I am getting excited now to be going home in two weeks. I need to finish strong here but also need to start to plan my time back home.