failure or just an excuse to push harder?

so yesterday the internet did what it felt like doing and wasn't totally working in my house. because of that i didn't get to post. if you're wondering if i think i failed. the answer is no. yes. i failed to make a post. this is just the physical representation of the relationship that i have made with God. i blog for the world to have the opportunity to see what i'm thinking about. what i believe about certain 'hot topics'. so in my mind i didn't fail because i still had my 'God time' yesterday. i think this compares to when you lose a game. the next day you just have to shake it off. right? you keep pushing and just make a stronger effort to beat them next time. you run harder. you do ten more push-up. you work harder every second. because you know when the time comes to get back on the field you'll be ready. that's what this blog is about. strengthening my relationship with God so when the time comes to for the time of the final verdict i'll be a winner. i'll have that final victory. the buzzer shot.

quote of the day:

'my heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.' - psalm 38:9-11

joke of the day:

TOP TEN THINGS YOU NEVER HEAR IN CHURCH...

10. Hey! It's my turn to sit in the front pew.

9. I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time.

8. Personally I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf.

7. I've decided to give our church the $500 a month I used to send to TV evangelists.

6. I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the Junior High Sunday School class.

5. Forget the denominational minimum salary, let's pay our pastor so he can live like we do.

4. I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!

3. Since we're all here, let's start the service early.

2. Pastor, we'd like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Bahamas.

1. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign

dfihioashdfiog much love and peace, dmaloney

the perks of choice

accidents. we're usually afraid when we hear that. accidents. scary. our accidents usually are mistake-based. right? like this:

just a little bit of a problem.

but do we ever think of happy accidents. accidents that help us. or change us for the better. or do you not believe in accidents. i have my own personal opinions about predestination and free-will. and my own beliefs are what i like to call a multiple choice test. and this is one of the things that i love about the united methodist church. i'm not forced into believing. i'm allow to make my own decisions about faith that can be scary. but in the end i believe that when we push ourselves to decide on our beliefs about life. and a whole long list of things. we strength our faith. we become better 'evangelists'. when you finish reading this you'll understand the whole 'multiple choice test' and why i believe that. but i think that if you asked a person who practices under a denomination with forced beliefs their responses would be different. when we can decide things for ourselves we become incapable of just about everything.

but now back to the 'multiple choice test' concept. i believe in the idea that God has a set plan for us. but in a different way than predestination. see i believe that God has allowed us the freedom (or free-will) to pick the options set for us. and the different ways have different plans. i'm still deciding on the path that i'll take, but i'm pretty sure that God has the options set. and none of them lead to failure. my life is in his best interest. and i'd like to think that i've put him in mine too.

quote of the day:

'whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.'

-colossians 3:23

joke of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTZ1QL1fllo&feature=related

oh! my nose!

have a great sunday! much love and peace, dmaloney

what does your church sign say?

what message do church signs like this send? does it welcome you?

to me it feels like church signs like this say 'hey, loser come here so you can stick out like a sore thumb. we go to church and that makes it okay to shout oh, god.' it is lame and it's one of the things that i cannot stand for. a message like this is not welcome. inviting. it is plain. old. in your face you sinner!

going to church on sunday doesn't make you 'holy'. and cooperate worship, in my opinion, can sometimes hinder you're experience and relationship with God. why can't our signs be like this:

maybe that's a little too 'churchy', but i like it so much more than signs that don't welcome people. yes, it's true that we all need to repent, but no one even wants to enter the building when the sign says 'go to church. or go to hell.'

i thought churches weren't suppose to lie. church won't save you on the day of judgement. and church won't give you an intimate and close relationship with God.

quote of the day:

'to love what you do and fell that it matters--how could anything be more fun?' -katherine graham

joke of the day:

'the reason that there are two senators from each state is so that one can be the designated driver.'

-jay leno

photo of the day:

try God at church and on your own. to the church signs: be bold, yet inviting! much love and peace, dmaloney

it's called a sacrifice for a reason

here's a link to a church cartoon blog, some fun, truths about the church in cartoon form so it's pretty cool. to the left is one of his cartoons. and the link is below

http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/

lent continues to be a topic of interest in my mind and in my house. and i hope my post on ash wednesday was not miss interpreted, and the more i think about it. i maybe completely contradict what i said.

after much more considerations and prayer i've realized that i should sacrifice something for God. i've been give up a plethora of bad habits in the past couple weeks. and it someways i think that it has changed me. i'm more jovial. but i still feel that God wants something more from me. i feel that God is the usher standing with his outstretched arm, holding the offering plate that 'everyone' has contributed to. and in a way i feel that i shouldn't fall into the pressure of lent. change my own opinion of lent. but the other side of me says "jesus, gave his life on a cross. he had nails driven into his hands and feet. worn a crown of thorns. and all you can promise to do is blog for forty days. lame." the purpose of all of this is sacrifice. what am i sacrificing to feel maybe only one-billionth of what jesus sacrificed on the cross.

so i've thought about fasting. i've thought about technology. i've thought about reading more. i've thought about a bunch of things. our lives revolve around time and technology. am i wrong? we wake up run to school/church/work. then to some much we barely sit for more than twenty minutes at a time. and through all of this we're facebooking, tweeting, blogging, texting, calling (you get the picture). and then we repeat.

we do all of this without even thinking if maybe all we need is some silence. time to sort things out, but we're so absorbed in all of lifes distractions that your prayer can be interrupted by a call.

so i think this lent i'm going to do my best to blog to you for forty days+. and i'm going to spend time in silence. what i like to call jesus time.

quote of the day:

“dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”- 1 john 4:11-12

quote of the day:



What do you call a country where everyone drives a red car?





A red carnation.





photo of the day:

what sacrifice will you choose this lent? much love and peace, dmaloney

it's the little things

today marks the beginning of lent. and maybe you're wondering what i'm "giving up". well, i'm not "giving up" sweets. meats. or beets. (sorry, i just wanted a rhyme) i'm not really a believer in "giving up" things. i like to resolve to do things. make a commitment. so why don't i really believe in "giving up" material possessions? well i believe in continuing your resolution or promise even after easter is over. to me it's like going to church for the month of december and stopping after christmas. is that what God wants? no. like the other day i said God wants all of you all the time. he wants your love. mind. strength. soul. i'm not saying that whatever you've resolved to stay away from is the wrong decision. i just have my own reservations about lent. but since it's lent i would challenge you to resolve to do something for more than just the purpose that's lent. do it for God. do it for good friday. do it out of love.

heres a link for a video on lenten thought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMUJ2_nUyQI&feature=related. just give it a try..

today after school i was standing in the hallway when i looked down to see a post-it.

i don't know who wrote it. who it was for. or anything else about it. but it seemed to be a sign. or God-sighting to just be content. to be pleased with life. just to smile and love life. be happy. so this is the...

quote of the day:

"you are beautiful! so put down the eyeliner, & smile.">

joke of the day:

for those of you who were on june project or know the anger management story check out this http://www.youtube.com/user/failblog#p/u/5/OFu1HYhQOWA

photo of the day:

so which path do you choose this lent? much love and peace, dmaloney

find your own way...

this post took me a little bit of thought to come up with, but i think it something that is often just over looked in today's church. to be an active follower of anything you must participate corporately and individually. so in terms of church i'm talking about attending services on your day of worship and then, on your own time, find your own connection. a way that works for you. for some it's through praying out loud. yelling at the top of their lungs. others it's just through observations. others through song. for me it's in silence and in meditation. and when i say meditation i don't me i sit somewhere say "ohmmmmm". like this...

my meditation is a time to still in silence and just listen. what do you want God. if every christian could find their own way things would be different. so maybe today i'm asking you to find your own way to individualize your worship. break the mold. lite a candle. worship in silence. worship without lights. but just do it.

quote of the day:

"prayer at its best is the expression of the total life, for all things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives." - a.w. tozer

joke of the day:

A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages.

"Momma, look what I found," the boy called out.

"What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked.

With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered: "I think it's Adam's suit!"

photo of the day:

this is a photo from eastern university. which i visited monday. cool, small, christian college. future home? quite possibly!

through the eyes of a child

when i think about faith. i can't help but think of the innocence of young children. their naive nature. there inability to worry. last night was one of those times. my brother is eight years old. and last night we were updating the youth board at church and as we were finishing up he said "do you think brian will be proud of you?" and i replied "yeah, i guess bud." he then said "ya know, he's lucky he got sent here." i find the mind of of child interesting. their thoughts. their cares. and their worry-free attitude. kids aren't afraid of roller coasters. driving fast. swinging higher than the sky. or running until they can't breathe. i wish we could all live like that. live without worries. care-free and without doubt. though the reality of that isn't always possible it's a nice idea to entertain. some of us think that being carefree would look like this..

but living out faith out like children is described wonderfully in one of my favorite songs "like a child" by jars of clay. it's about the faith of a child and that the child believes he can climb mountians. he can do anything. that's how we have to live. believing that with our faith we can do anything. we won't fall. we won't cower. and we won't have doubt. doubt is scary. it clouds our judgement. it puts a clear wall between you and God. you can see him but you can't get any closer. his words are faint. so what can we do? well, we can start by living our faith actively and with innocence. doubt-free. give it a try. take a lesson from the children you know. look at their faith. their faith is pure. undisturbed. try looking like this...

curious of what the future can bring, yet perfectly content with you life. not rushing the future.

Quote of the Day:

"a three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of

swings as it does out of finding a small green worm." -bill vaughn

Joke of the Day:

this is a clip from community, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryb2WawuV4g

seize the day. and love. much love and peace, dmaloney