Only in Montana

Today I had nothing to blog about and I was kind of bumbed about that. However living in the wonderful state of Montana. Opportunities for blogging topics just happen to end up at your front door! While sitting at my desk I heard a police siren briefly sound. I thought to myself that my kids are skating in the middle of the road and are getting busted by the police. Then all of the sudden all the neighbor hood kids start sprinting up to our front door.

I figured they were trying to out run the police and hide at my house. I was not to happy that I was going to have to talk to the police because the kids ran. I was sweaty from working out and was not presentable to anyone at that time. However when the kids came inside they said the police were chasing a bear down the street right towards them. I think the bear took off towards Idaho St. So there should be a pretty interesting story on local news tonight. This also explains why the huge city garbage can outside keeps getting knocked over.

I love Montana and all that comes with living here. From climbing majestic peaks to watching cops chase bears down your street. I love every bit of this state. I hope they have a Montana in heaven cause thats where I want to go when I die!

Check this out!

You can read article here.....

The Jerusalem Post

Begining Matthew 4

I'm starting the Study of Matthew 4 today for the skate ministry. It is about the temptations of Jesus in the dessert. Where Satan tries to tempt Christ while Christ is at a weak point in his life. As a kid I used to be afraid that Satan would do the same to me and I wouldn't know scripture to help me fight off the temptations presented to me. Little did I know how valid a fear that was. It was so valid that I never saw that I was falling prey to those temptations.

You see we are in that dessert daily with temptations being hurled at us every second of the day. The world is the dessert and reading the bible gives us the armor we need to fend off the temptations. I love how Jesus uses scripture to fend off Satan. In doing so we see the armor of God in action. If you want to know more about the armor of God read the book of Ephesians it is all about how to use and apply it to our lives.

Satan loves to use our weakened state to get a grip on our lives. If we let him he uses our weakness to make us stumble and fall so that our light is put out. However with what is learned in Ephesians and other scriptures we are able to fend off his attempts to keep us smothered in the dark. God however turns our weakness into great strength! Just look at David and Goliath or Mosses and the Pharaoh of Egypt! It was because those two were faithful and used the armor of God that they prevailed through God. Satan wants you to think you are weak and can't tackle that mountain or giant before you.

Matthew 17:20

Jesus says;“I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”*

With faith in God and knowledge of scripture we can overcome those massive problems or temptations that stand in our way. David knew this and slayed the Giant before him and brought Glory to God and Israel all with a small stone and a sling shot.

Reading the bible is extremely important not only physically but spiritually as well. Just like the body needs food to survive, so does our Spirit. Our physical lives will reflect how healthy we are spiritually. Now which of the two is more important to you? Body or Spirit? Both are important however there is one that will determin where both will endure for eternity. If you starve the spirit both destined for death.

While being tempted by Satan in the dessert.

Jesus states in the beginning of Matthew 4

1 Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. 3 Then the Devil* came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People need more than bread for their life;
they must feed on every word of God.’* ”

In reading this it is clear to me that reading the bible is far more important then even the food we eat daily. If that is the case then why do most people leave their dusty bible on the shelf? If we were hungry we surely wouldn't leave a plate of good food on the counter only for it to cool so we had to through it away? We wouldn't waste any time rushing over to grab that plate and scarf it down.

So if feeding the spirit is more important then feeding the body, why do people continue to starve what is most important? I encourage you who aren't reading the bible daily to start doing so. You eat daily and so should you read the bible daily. Don't neglect your spirit who hungers for the word of God. You might not notice how hungry your spirit is but, once you start reading the bible you will realize how hungry your spirit is. Try reading the book of John for starters and then I encourage you to read the bible straight through. Really read it and you'll see the desire to read it will increase.

Make it as routine as brushing your teeth. It isn't too hard to do. The hardest part for me was to start. I always found something else I wanted to do. I had to put aside time in the morning just for reading the bible. Find some time just for reading the bible and maybe even read with your wife or kids. You'll find great happiness in doing so. Start doing it right now! You took the time to read this blog so you have time to read the bible after you are done here.

Now I've seen everything!

Having trouble finding a Halloween costume? What about one for your dog? Yep they actually make them! Above is a Wonder Woman costume for your little friend. I saw this and had to laugh at how rediculous it was but yet so cute? I had to ask my self why would anyone do this to their poor little dog? I had to YouTube this topic and found these two dogs who don't look too happy.

New addition to my blog.....

I've decided to add a section to my blog titled From The Heart. In this section I will post what I am feeling strong about at the time. I will change it when I have an urge to do so. I figured I may be sarchastic in my posts but at the same time have something really weighing on my heart at the same time. This way I can kill two birds with one stone.

"The Most Disgusting Thing EVER!!!"

Do not read if you have a weak stomach. My son Trevor has an abscess tooth. I've never had a cavity before in my life so this is all new to me. He went to the dentists and they did some work on him. So everything is good except for the worst thing I've ever seen on ones mouth! My wife asked me to get a towel for her as she had my sons mouth proped open. I made the mistake and looked at what horror lurked in my sons mouth!

Puss seaping through gums is something no one should ever see! Let alone happen in their mouth. I don't usually get sick easy but this did the trick. So brush and floss unless you want gross things happening in your mouth. I'd take a picture and post it for you but you would totally puke!

Music Without Words

I have been a long time fan of musical scores from movies. Ever since I was a kid (This is going to show how old I am)listening to classical music on an old transistor radio my grandad gave me. I loved classical music. From Mozart to Bach I'd listen to all them as I fell asleep on my little transistor radio. I then moved to musical scores from movies. I have always had a great memory when it came to remembering tunes. So I'd hear a tune I heard 10 years ago and know exactly what movie and what scene it was played in and during. I was talking with a couple friends about musical scores and realized I haven't bought one since The Lord Of The Rings! That was years ago and I don't even know some of the new composers out there.

I used to play a game with a friend who loved musical scores as much as I. We'd go to a movie and guess who composed the score before the name of the composer popped up on the credits. We usually did this with ease. Once you get used to a composers style it is easy to recognize one from the other. Unless one duplicates an others style. I figured I'd share a link to this composer I found on myspace. He sounds much like Hans Zimmer or Trevor Rabin. I like his music and wanted to share it with those who like this kind of music also.

Here is a link to his music. I suggest listening to Birca I think it is my favorite.

Glen Gabriel

Let me know what you think even if you hate it. My goal for this year is to buy a few more soundtracks for listening pleasure. It has been a while since I've listened to one.

Girls can skate too!

Here is that video of last night I promised. So pop a couple motion sickness pills cause your going to need them. We are on a restricted budget and couldn't afford a professional to do the video recording or commentary. So thanks to the kids in the skate ministry we have video of last night. Commentary by Trevor Harvey. It is so cool to be able to share these moments with you all. These are moments these kids will never forget. Stacey and I are so blessed to have the opportunity to do this. I wanted to give props to Stacey for all the hard work that she has put into this ministry. She has been putting hours into it and providing dinners for everyone as well. She has amazed me at how hard she has been working for this. So next time you all see her. Give her a high five.

Happy Birthday Sabriand!

Looks like some sort of Satanic ritual with the guy holding a knife and illuminated skulls hanging on the wall for atmosphere. No that is not brain matter clinging to the 13" blade in Sabriand's hand. It is birthday cake and he is serving his guests cake. We enjoyed spending time with others from church to celebrate this event at McKenzie River Pizza. The service was great as well as the pizza. I think we filled the entire rear portion of the restaurant. You should have heard the choir of voices singing happy birthday it was awesome! Happy birthday bro!!! I hope this year is an awesome one for you!

Tonight Rocked!!!!

Tonight was completely awesome! I think we may have a girl skate team in the making! All the girls dropped in tonight and were extremely brave! I was so impressed with them fighting through the fear. We started out holding both of their hands while they practice dropping in. Then we took it a step further by only holding one hand. After that we ran behind them to catch them if they fell. Step by step they all ended up dropping in by themselves at the end of the night. Andrew did an awesome job bringing the word. It was Matthew 14:22-36 about Jesus walking on water. It was the perfect part of scripture to go with dropping in for the first time.

Peter had to have a ton of faith to step out of the boat into the violent weather to meet Jesus as they both walked on water. The moment Peters faith wavered he began to sink. I told the kids it is much the same with dropping in. I told them I was behind them to catch them if they fall. However once they let fear take hold they would fall but I was there to catch them. Just like Jesus was when he reached in and pulled Peter back out of the water when he began to sink due to wavering faith.

Tonight was one that not only showed progress in the kids ability to skate, but also one in a lesson on how faith works and can be applied in scary situations. Tonight was one blessing after another. I hope we have many more like it. We have some cool video of tonight. I will post it later so you can see how awesome the kids did!

Screaming Preacher

This brought laughter that brought tears.



Every time he speaks the name of God he screams it like a muppet. To make things even more bizarre. He sells "blood of Christ hankerchiefs" that he claims they hold healing power. I can't believe people buy into this stuff. However funny it sounds it is truely sad that people in need are taken advantage of in this way. This is why Christians are looked at as freaks.

Getting Old

I jumped on a skateboard and rode it around Hedges School playground a bit today. I am glad to state I didn't hurt myself. I actually could ride it with out incident. I got thrown a couple of times when I hit a rock or two, but I did pretty good for an old dude! I don't think I am prepared to drop in anytime soon but there is still a lot of time for me to change my mind on that this winter. When cabin fever has fully set in I may loose all faculties and just do it due to lack of restraint and rational thinking. If I could only be 8 again so I could take the punishment of smashing against the pavement. I could get up with a smile on my face!

Punished due to lazyness.

I am drinking Folgers coffee right now. Why would anyone on Earth be moved to drink such a horrible thing as that? The reason being is that I hit snooze more times that I should have. So I am forced to drink coffee that taste like I put cat litter in the coffee pot instead of coffee. Instead of grinding good coffee instead of Cravens. I was too tired so I went for the fast fix. If you haven't learned this lesson in life. Fast fixes are usually the cause of much trouble down the road. So this was not the wisest of decisions I have made even if it is very early in the day.

However with that said, it is caffeine and caffeine is what I need! The horrible taste is covered by what is called Non-dairy creamer from Coffee Mate. What it is exactly if it isn't real cream who knows? All I know is that it makes Folgers bearable to swallow for a caffeine fix. Tomorrow I will get up earlier in order to accomplish the grinding of my Craven coffee. Or I could use the program button so when I wake the beans are ground and coffee is waiting for me?

That is another blog topic. Why go out of the way for a feature like that if you aren't going to use it? I still get up and make it like there is no preprogramed timer on my coffee pot? I guess I should have saved the money and just got a 10 dollar Mr. Coffee pot from a garage sale!

Cooking

I just had to blog about something that occurred the other day. My wife picked up this cooking game called "Order Up" for the Nintendo Wii. In it you are a restaurant chef and have to prepare orders for the restaurant patrons. Pretty much it is a cooking simulator. From slicing tomato's to breading chicken you do it all. You can hire help that will cook along side you so you are able to keep up with the demand of the clientele.

The point of this story is, my wife played the cooking game all day long. When I say all day long I mean from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. However when dinner rolled around she didn't want to cook! What is up with that? She continued to cook on the Wii but didn't want to cook in real life? I thought that was funny and had to laugh and give her a hard time about it. That left me to the cooking and I broke out the frozen pizza and we were good to go!

I still find it extremely strange that there is a cooking video game. I have no desire to play it. They also have an eating competition game on the Wii. If you eat too fast you puke and loose points? Japanese video game developers are very strange! Here is the trailer for the order up game for those of you who are curious.

Fun In Glacier Park

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Today we ventured up to Glacier Park before they shut the road down for the year. We were in good company which always makes for a great day. We had a picnic and hiked into Baring falls with the kids and had a blast! Above is a picture of the kids with the falls in the background. From left to right....

Emma, Trevor, Nathan, and Jake

On the way down from Logan's pass we happened to see a few more friends who decided to ride their mountain bikes up from the loop. They were taking a breather and then going to head up to the summit. Then ride down in the moon lit night! How awesome would that be!!! We ended up giving them some left overs from the picnic because they were starved. In fact they are probably on the way down as I type this. So I must say God speed Garren and Ryan!! I hope you packed enough clothes cause that ride down is going to be frigid!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The people I have met at church are awesome!!! They are as close to me as family and I feel that they are indeed that. I am tired and ready for bed so I am off to count sheep. Where did that figure of speech come from anyway? Did it come from the line of Shepard work. They'd get so bored counting sheep they'd fall asleep? I gotta Google it sometime to find the answer. That will be another day, I need rest!

On Going Tragedy In India

2nd Skate Night

I prepared my message for Matthew 2. I really enjoyed doing the research on it. Doing this skate ministry really has forced me to study deeper into the bible. Tonight a ton of kids are coming so I am really stoked!!! This will be a lot of fun and so rewarding!!! Well I gotta run the kids are calling.

Living and dying for Christ

My 5 year plan......

I love Haagen-Dazs!!! I just ate a pint and could go for another. I figured if I ate a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream every day. I might be able to put on enough weight to retire from working. You might be wondering how that could be. You see I have a genius idea! I could gain enough weight to be the largest living man in Montana and possibly the world by having my fill of Haagen-Dazs daily. By doing so I could charge admission to tourists and school field trips that come to see the oddity of my size as I mow down another pint. I could do this from the comfort of my own living room!

So when you ask where I will be in 5 years, there you have it. I am starting today and as long as the mad Euro scientists don't blow us all up trying to reproduce the big bang. I should be there by next summer. Maybe I could get Haagen-Dazs to sponsor me in this endeavor. I bet I could get Oprah to come visit too! Ahhhh....chasing the American dream one beautiful bite at a time!

You think I'm crazy check out this story about mad scientists trying to recreate the big bang!!! Key words that say duh to such an experiment.......BIG BANG! Oh yeah don't forget about the possible mini black holes that could suck our world out of existance. I don't see anything but a huge explosion taking place and taking out some brilliant people with no common sense. Click here for story

In Loving Memory

This picture was taken 3 months before she passed

Today is the day my mom passed away to be with our Lord in heaven. Every year when this day comes I look back on how she was a rock in my life. Even when I didn't see that in her. Her faith in God is what gave me faith. Her teaching me as a kid put me on the right path. It was 6 years ago today that she had passed. She had a minor case of skin cancer and was treated with a heavy dose of chemotherapy to wipe it out quick. Instead it wiped her weak heart out. She had diabetes since she was 5 and wasn't supposed to live past 8 years old. She also survived two kidney transplants and a fight with breast cancer. She was one tough cookie some would say.

I say she had faith in God. She lived by this verse in Matthew. She brought it up many times and used it to comfort me in my struggles in life.

Matthew 17:20

“I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”*

She not only believed that she lived that. Her life is proof that even a little bit of faith can get you through large hurdles in your life. That verse has sustained me through much all of my life. Especially when it comes to her passing as well as all the loved ones who have gone before me. I know they are all in heaven anxiously awaiting the day we can all be together again. I Can't wait till that day!

Every September 8th my regrets of leaving her in the hospital haunts me. You see she was on deaths door step for about 2 weeks and was coming out of it. They were going to move her to a nursing home until she got back on her feet. So I decided to go to Idaho for a week. The family and I were planning on moving out there and I wanted to check it out.

The last time I saw my mom was in her hospital bed. I told her I would see her later kissed her and gave her a hug. I left that hospital room thinking I'd see her in a week. Little did I know it wouldn't be until I met her in heaven. A week later I got a call from my wife stating that my mom had passed away. I was floored and couldn't believe it. She always got better and beat the odds. She was getting ready to be moved from the hospital to assisted living. There is no way this could be happening!

My regret is that I wasn't there with her during her last week. I could have given her more kisses and hugs before she left. I will never get that week with her back. I know I shouldn't regret that but I do. The day I meet her in heaven will be glorious and awesome! What relief that will be to my heavy heart. Faith is what sustains me now. I know there are hardships that face me that are unseen. As long as I have that faith that can move mountains. I know I can face each one and over come them as my mom did.

Until the day the Lord calls me home. I will continue the race and get up when I stumble. So that I may make it home and the Lord will say. Good job my good and faithful servant.

Baptism

The whole family got baptized today! First Jacob and I went out together and got baptized and then Stacey,Trevor,and Ashley did. I was bumbed to find out we could have all went out together and got baptized at the same time. All is good however because the choice to get batized was made and they did it. It was awesome to see it and also to see others being baptized as well. I have been wanting to rededicate myself publicly for a while now. I had many friends who were there on that beach and I have been blessed to meet them. I have met so many awesome people in the last 7 months that it blows my mind.

Serving with them at church and out in the field really is an amazing thing that I wish I would have done long ago. I can't wait to grow more in the Lord. I have a long way to go, but I have faith that I will not be led astray by following the Lords lead. I will post pictures of the baptisim when they are posted on our church website.

First SK8 Night!

It was fun and the kids got better as the night progressed! My message was horrible because I kramed all my study in on in 3 hours before I had to give it. Not only that but it started with the geneology of Jesus, from Abraham to Jesus. Not too fun to listen to when your a kid. However very important when it comes to Gods promise and character when it comes to his promises. I am glad to move to Matthew 2 this week. It should be more interesting for the kids. I also plan on studying all week on this one. I have never felt so fullfilled in my life. I feel as if I am actually makeing a difference that is a positive one in my community. This is proof prayer does work. My prayers for over the last few years have been answered in the form of this skate ministry.Here are picks of our skate ministry in action!

Crazy

I've been working later then normal at work the last two weeks. I usually have a fair amount of time in the evenings for hobbies like blogging or just doing Church things. I got home too late to make it to chruch last night so I settled for the live podcast. I'd rather be there so I can visit with friends a bit, but it was nice just chillin at home in pajamas watching the service. Tonight is our interface group game night. It should be pretty fun and crazy! I am looking forward to that. Also right after that My bro is going to be playing live at Reds. So I figured I'd show up and show him support. They will be recording him and playing what they record on local radio. So he is pretty excited about tonight.

I am tired tonight because of a long day yesturday and a cereal sale today. I could just plop in bed and call it a night. However I must refrain from being lazy and make my appointments tonight. I hope you all are having a great week! Oh Stacey got a book keeping job for a high end resteraunt here in town. So that lifts a huge burden off of our shoulders. It will be part time and perfect for running our skate ministry also. Which reminds me that I must finish studying for Saturday night! Too much to do so little time!

MMMMM! Cinnamon Rolls!

Just had to share that I am eating fresh baked Rosauers cinnamon rolls and they are awesome!!! I know they aren't the healthiest thing to eat but they sure are good! Who ever invented the cinnamon roll......I love you!