Jon Nungester-Living from the Inside Out

Just thought I would post something today.  The clouds are out and I feel really sleepy.  Lots of stuff to do, but wanted to write a little about the day.  That’s all.

The American Dream is all about someone with little gaining a lot and being wealthy and secure in the work that they do.  The American Dream is owning a home and growing old in it with grandkids running around.  The American Dream is about bettering oneself and making more with what you have.This seems to be backwards from what Paul teaches about being led by the Spirit.  Do we really believe that God would want us to have more just so we can keep it to ourselves?  Do we really believe that He wants us to have homes that are too big for us to clean that we need to hire others to come in and clean it for us.  Does this seem backwards to anyone else?   

Have you ever seen a little kid eat ice cream? The wonder and excitement that they have when they receive this forbidden treat! The first taste that they take and the upper lip covered by the delicious cream. They get so much joy from this experience. They take their time with each bite and may take bites that are too big for them to fit into their mouths.

I recently took my 2 year old daughter to Golden Spoon and got her a strawberry frozen yogurt. She LOVED it! I got a vanilla frozen yogurt with some fudge on it! Yummy! But, as far as I could tell, Katie seemed to enjoy her ice cream much more than me! Mine was good, but I didn’t squeal with excitement! Why was this? Was it because Strawberry is superior to vanilla? Was it that mine had fudge and somehow diluted the taste and enjoyment of the ice cream? Or was it that my senses have been diluted over the years and that the trip to the ice cream shop no longer has the “experience” factor that goes along with it?

I believe it to be the latter. I think we treat church like this sometimes. When I was five I was so excited about church that I told my pastor that I wanted to be like him someday. Wow, those were the days. Do we get up on Sunday mornings and head to church with excitement or has it become a weekly ritual that leaves you wanting more? Many of us blame the pastor or the worship for not making us “feel good.” But, maybe it is our hearts that we need to examine and see if church has become as common as vanilla with fudge.

Do you ever look at your desk and you ask yourself, “Where do I begin?”  Well, that is where I am at right now.  I am so thankful that God didn’t look at the void in front of Him (Genesis 1) and ask the same thing!

so today i am hanging out with my daughter.  she is actually sitting next to me, thus the no capitalization on this post.  there is so much excitement in her life.  she gets excited about every noise she hears: sirens, horns, trash trucks, etc..  she wants to know everything about the world around her.  shouldn’t we have the same desire and awe when it comes to our faith? shouldn’t every new thing we here or read absolutely amaze us?  i want that desire more than anything, but sometimes i feel like i know it all when it comes to my faith, but my faith should never be something that is stagnant.  just like a workout, you can never get fast enough or strong enough.  so with our spiritual lives we need to be more like children and search to find out new things about our faith until we are strong in our awe of the almighty. 

Have you ever been so excited about knowing God personally that you jump up and down for joy because you cannot contain yourself?  Well, I know it sounds a little strange, but I think that is how we are to respond each and every day that we wake up to His amazing sunrise that He created just for you and me!  How cool is that?  I think we get caught up in life and the struggles and don’t realize how fortunate we are to KNOW THE CREATOR of the universe!!!  So today, think about your relationship with God and begin to understand that God is thinking about YOU and KNOWS you personally!!!  Craziness!

I saw this link today and it made me smile.  This is a picture of a crater on Mars.  The article has all of the info on it.  I hope you enjoy the amazing creativity that our Creator has.

Does anyone else out there have the same dizzying experience when they look at technology?  I am leading my church in updating their web site and finding so many useful applications and widgets that friends are telling me about, but it all seems a little complicated.  There are blogs, wikis, twitter, flicker, readers, RSS, buckets, widgets, gadgets, and thing-a-ma-bobs!  I can’t keep them all straight.  They seem to be about helping communicate.  The world seems to be running a sprint with technology and I can’t seem to keep up.  Now I am a pretty savvy guy and can handle techspeak, but somethings tend to fly over my head.  I hope I catch up!

So, I decided to take this little personality test and found out that I am an ENTJ- The Chief!  I am a born leader!!!  Pretty cool stuff.  I think there should be a section on this site for others to answer the questions for me.  Take it and see what you are. 

Have you ever wondered why certain words in the english language are appropriate to say and others are not?  Who came up with these list of words that are not to be spoken in public?  Society?  Isn’t society the one that uses these words the most?  I know I seem to consistently here words that are deemed “unmentionable.”  However, words like poopy, darn, fire and brimstone, and sex are ok to say in public.  What gives the word its power?