Well let me start off with I live in Idaho. Yes, If your keeping track that is the fifth state I’ve lived in. However something tells me my family and I are here for quite awhile. Oh also to my readers who don’t know me personally we added a little one to our family. Ava Grace Hanson was born on December 23, 2010 sometime after or before lunch. I don’t remember I am a guy after all. Anyways a daughter is the best gift anyone could ever receive. I say daughter because don’t have a son so verdict is still out on that one. I also say gift because my wife and I recognize that heavenly father is the true giver and everything we have is a gift from above. Ok, now we’re getting to sentimental. But in all honesty God has blessed my family and yours I bet exponentially. The question is do we recognize it as his blessings?

A little more about our move and how God has been faithful to my family. Immediately upon arrival i had job interviews waiting for me which is practically unheard of in this economy.
I had numerous interviews and one that I had the job till they realized they made some clerical errors. I was bummed and frustrated, had been out of work for two weeks which isn’t long but felt like a lifetime for someone who loves to work. So after this job fell through to cheer me up. Shannon took me to artic circle and I was throwing myself a pity party I was inviting everyone to my pity party. But no one was interested in joining. Let me tell you here is how the lord works mysteriously. While in my sulking moments waiting in the drive through there was a sign that said allied mental health. Since I was trying to get into counseling and there was a number I called it. It was one those moments of a drunk text or just a moment you wish you could take back because you feel like a moron afterwards. Anyways I leave this desperation message sounding pathetic as ever because I called during my pity party. My wife said the message I left must of been 4 minutes long. We went to the park with our food and I continued to wallow. Next day I was having regrets about calling and was going to call back an apologize for calling in the first place (swingers moment rent movie swingers if don’t know what I’m talking about). As I was thinking bout calling them, phone rings. It’s them telling me to submit my resume. Long story short I work for allied mental health. It’s amazing how God uses what we believe our failures as part of his plan. Something to remember our failures are just another step in Gods plans because He never lets it end with failure.

Thinking about this move it is incredible how amazing God had blessed us. Here are just a few.

- we now live closer to family and the family we don’t live by was able to fly Shannon and ava out to see them.

- we have an awesome neighbor who helps teaches me how to fix things because I am not a real man:). Same neighbor invites us over for BBQ all the time.

- Shannon found a well connected mops (mother of preschoolers) group and has been invited out numerous time.

- we found a great church and small group that we connect with and our building relationships.

- rented a house sight unseen before rented and it actually is very functional.

- Chinese food galore only three blocks away as well as my work which is only 5 blocks away and many more.

It is truly incredible how God has provided a job that he uniquely gifted me for. Then again might not be incredible because God wants to bless us. The real question is do we let him? That’s a question I have been asking myself lately. Do i believe God truly want to bless us. Shallowly we say yes, but do we live like that? Or our we living as if we our on our own and God isn’t willing to participate in our lives. Or worse we feel we don’t need him. My friends God wants to bless us it may not look how we want it but nevertheless he wants to bless us daily. How many times do we wake up and we miss the fact that waking up each day is a blessing or being able to see or hear. Now I want you all to know that working as a chaplain taught me that. Nothing like being in a nursing home daily not knowing what the next day is going to look like but being ok with that, simply because residents trust and know who holds the next day. Our hope needs to be in Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. Keep chasing after him. Remember Jesus set the example by showing us what love is.

In His Grips
Chad

Romans 6-8
6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

This week at The Shift (Jr High youth group) we talked about the Tower of Babel as it’s mention in Genesis 11 now for those of you who don’t know the story here it is:

Genesis 11: 1-8

Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

¹ At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. ²As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia^[a] and settled there.

³ They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! ⁷ Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

⁸ In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. ⁹That is why the city was called Babel, ^[b]because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

Now some of the youth were curious and I was too when rereading and studying this passage they asked why would God care that their united? (Verse 6)?  I mean after all isn’t unity a good thing what is God doing why did he care? After reviewing the passage again and speaking with some people about this passage.  I believe the issue of unity isn’t the problem but rather the topic of self-sustainment is.  Think about what the world would be like if everyone spoke the same language.  Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin. Etc…  How can that be bad right?  Think about it there would be fewer wars, maybe less hate crimes, no one being passed over a job because of language or background.  Everything would be great. EXCEPT… Where would God fit into the picture then, if we all spoke the same language came from the same background because the Lord wouldn’t have scattered us.  There be no persecution, be no struggles, and be no faith.  We would think there is no need for God because we would believe that we could do everything on our own and we miss out on the huge opportunity to know God as our friend.  Maybe were actually more unified since God divided us

Just my thoughts… what do you think

Happy Friday!  It is Valentine’s weekend, and so for that reason, I decided to write a blog that had to do with relationships. Whether you are married, engaged, dating, or simply friends with someone, it is likely that from time to time that person will wrong you, or you will do something to upset them.  It’s inevitable.  So then what happens?  Well, you can go on like nothing happened and harbor a deep resentment, or you can go through the sometimes painful process of apologies and forgiveness.   Now, I’ve tried my hand at both, and I would definitely have to say that the latter is much more beneficial.  There is a freeing power in forgiveness that cannot be found through any other type of resolution or coping strategy.

The other day I was driving along listening to KLOVE, a nation-wide Christian radio station, and I heard this article mentioned: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2010/lambert.cfm. I decided to check it out, and it is pretty to the point, so rather than summarizing, I will just post it for you.

Prayer Increases Forgiveness

We have all been guilty of a transgression at one time or another. That’s because we’re not perfect. We all commit hurtful acts, violate trust, and hope for forgiveness.

That’s simply a fact, and here’s another one: Nine out of 10 Americans say that they pray—at least on occasion. Florida State University psychologist Nathaniel Lambert put these two facts together and came up with an idea: Why not take all that prayer and direct it at the people who have wronged us? Is it possible that directed prayer might spark forgiveness in those doing the praying—and in the process preserve relationships?

Lambert and his colleagues decided to test this scientifically in two experiments appearing in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. In the first, they had a group of men and women pray one single prayer for their romantic partner’s well being. Others—the experimental controls—they simply described their partner, speaking into a tape recorder.

Then they measured forgiveness. The scientists defined forgiveness as the diminishing of the initial negative feelings that arise when you’ve been wronged. Their results showed that those who had prayed for their partner harbored fewer vengeful thoughts and emotions: They were more ready to forgive and move on.

If one single prayer can cause such a striking difference in feelings, then what could prayer over a period of time do for a relationship? In a second study, the researchers had a group of men and women pray for a close friend every day for four weeks. Others simply reflected on the relationship, thinking positive thoughts but not praying for their friend’s well-being. They also added another dimension. They used a scale to measure selfless concern for others—not any particular person but other people generally. They speculated that prayer would increase selfless concern, which in turn would boost forgiveness.

And that’s just what they found. But why? How does this common spiritual practice exert its healing effects? The psychological scientists have an idea: Most of the time, couples profess and believe in shared goals, but when they hit a rough patch, they often switch to adversarial goals like retribution and resentment. These adversarial goals shift cognitive focus to the self, and it can be tough to shake that self-focus. Prayer appears to shift attention from the self back to others, which allows the resentments to fade.

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What a powerful article!  It can be very difficult to pray for your enemies, or even for the people you love who have upset you.  Matthew 5:44 says, “But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you.”  Now, I know that we should treat everyone the way we want to be treated, but it is the last part of that verse that stands out to me – we are told to PRAY for those who spitefully use us and persecute us.  Have you tried this?  At times it can seem impossible.  We want to tell God about how our own feelings were hurt, not pray for the one who wronged us.  But perhaps at that moment, the other person could need prayer even more than you do.  When praying for the person, God will likely open your eyes to the struggles that the other person is facing, which could help to explain their hurtful behavior.

Another part of the article that interested me was that simply talking about the person, even if thoughts were only positive, did not encourage forgiveness.  Often times, forgiving someone does not come naturally to us.  Especially in our self-centered society, we are more likely to focus on our own feelings than those of people we are upset with.  That is why it is essential to pray about the situation and invite God to help you do something that you likely could not do on your own – truly forgive.

So, the next time you get in a fight with a friend or significant other, try to take a step back and talk to God about the situation.  Forgiveness and healing might be just around the corner.

Please share your thoughts and comments, and have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Good Morning!  Here’s an update for those who are curious about how the ministry is going here in Nebraska.  Last night we had about 40 kids total – it was pretty exciting to see how God is already beginning to work in this ministry. Next week we split high school and middle school, so your continued prayer is greatly appreciated.

Today I was reading another blog and I thought everyone else should read it too, so without further ado:

“We had a great team of people show up for Atlanta Gay Pride Event. We are going to post stories and recaps here…Stay tuned:

Standing in our vendor booth at the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival caused a commotion of compassion.  Rarely, was there a minute that went by that we were not able to give a white bracelet to the attenders that simply said, “We’re Sorry” and pink bracelets that said, “It’s True, He does.”   The first, begged the question, “Sorry for what?”  For Craig and I, this last stop on the Jesus Loves You This I Know book tour, offered us an opportunity to apologize to the gay community for the way many Christians, Evangelicals, and Fundamentalist have made the gay community their punching bag over the last three decades.  The second reiterated the truth that we have shared is more than a cliché, “Jesus Loves You.”

Beyond the vendor area and along the parade route, we were able to hand out more than 1000 bottles of water wrapped with the aged old truth, Jesus Loves You This I Know.  In the midst of such a diverse culture, we realized that the traction our book has found created the opportunity for a new conversation that starts with spirituality rather than sexuality.

The book is an easy read to take back the message of Jesus that has been high-jacked by zealots and hate mongers who claim to be God’s spoke persons.  At Atlanta Pride, we had hundreds of conversations, one person at a time, that helped close the gap that has created polarizing propaganda on both sides.  For us, it’s simple, Jesus’ love is available for anyone.”

Jason and Craig

Check out the videos, but even more read the book Jesus Loves You This I Know by Craig Gross and Jason Harper.

http://www.jesuslovesyou.net/blogs/news/atlantagaypridevolunteerinfo.html#content

Thoughts and comments?

Good morning!  Last weekend was enjoyable; I went to Lincoln to watch a couple teens play indoor soccer.  Then Sunday Shannon and two of the youth preformed a great skit at church.  But my favorite part came Saturday night where I received an unsavory comment.

The comment was based on the changes that are being made to the church and the things that the person doesn’t like.  The person feels that I am ruining the church to the point that they can’t come anymore.

 Now, some would take a comment that was made towards them and dwell on it and take it as a complete insult.  I, on the other hand, take it as a compliment.  A compliment?   Well, in the Bible it says, “Do not be surprised if the world hates you for my sake.  For it hated me first”.  Now, I am not saying that this person is of the world, but sometimes we get so comfortable it’s like we are in the world.  

But truthfully, change is refreshing and gets out of our comfort zone.  I have a prime example of this.  A year ago, my mom could not text, Facebook, and could barely use a computer (no offense mom).  But with a little effort, she now has a cell phone that she uses to text often and she updates her Facebook status more than I do.  Change keeps us from staying in our comfort level. Change is necessary in order to adapt with the times.  Churches and youth ministry, doctors, hospitals, and other business all have to adapt and change with the culture.

Therefore, in my eyes a negative comment, even delivered as a rude insult, is a compliment because it means that you are rocking the boat and making changes.  Keep this in mind next time you feel insulted – sometimes insults are the best indicators that you are making difference.

Thoughts and comments?

To my followers, I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping up with Frosted Flakes.  The internet connection in my new office has been sporadic, but I do believe it is fixed now.  Well, let’s jump right in.

Two nights ago, I went to a movie by myself.  This isn’t particularly surprising, since Shannon and I don’t have the same taste in movies.  So what did I see?  I went and saw “The Book of Eli”.  Now, if you have not heard of this epic flick, let me enlighten you. It’s about a man name Eli.  Eli’s world is a dry and weary one. There’s no water, and he walks through the ash of a jagged place, where men eat men and the sky’s torn in two.

Godforsaken, many would call this dystopian earth. But God is not gone, nor forgotten. For Eli carries, along with his gloves and guns and cruel, broad blade, something special. Something sacred.

A book. The Book.

In the age gone by, Bibles were burned by the bushel. They caused the war that tore a hole through the sky, the people said. It’s a book of evil, the people said. It must be destroyed—wiped from the face of the earth.

But they didn’t burn them all. Eli found one—or it found him—and for the last 31 years he’s carried the thing, protecting it by day, reading it by night. He carries it west, always west, where the sun comes down from heaven and seems to set upon the ground. The rest you will have to see I don’t want to ruin it for you.

This movie is rated R; there is no sex and only some language, but considerable violence.   After all, Eli protects this book with his life.

You may be thinking, Chad, it’s a Hollywood movie, so big deal, they have a Bible in it.  My friends, I promise you – see this movie and you won’t regret it!  I walked away inspired.  For 30 years, this man has been walking to an unknown destination led only by faith, and every night, he reads his Bible.  Without giving away the ending, all I am going to say is that it’s inspiring and powerful to see a man protect, cherish, love, dedicate, and endure all things for this Bible.

To think, I probably have 15-20 Bibles, and sadly to say, sometimes a day or two will go by when I don’t read from a single one. Eli made his Bible seem as essential as water or air.  He would do anything to keep it, to protect it, and to honor it.  In biblical times, that’s how it was with the Ten Commandments; they were guarded and protected, carried through wars, and sealed in back of the temple.  What happened to the honor and privilege of having a Bible?  Why don’t we read it and recognize its power like people once did?  I wish I knew that answer.

Please share your thoughts and comments.

See this movie, hide your eyes through the violence, but open your eyes to see Hollywood portray the Bible so accurately.  It doesn’t happen often.

Folks, it’s been awhile, but “Frosted Flakes” is finally back.  It took a while, but now I’m here. Where did I go? Well, for those who don’t know, I am now the new youth director at Norfolk Presbyterian Church.  Our four day drive went well – we had some interesting stops, but those stories are for another time.

Truthfully, I have been so busy that I haven’t had a quiet moment to think. So give me a second…

So, the winter Olympics are fast approaching.  When I think of winter Olympics I think of athletes in training.  Much like an athlete prepares for a race, we have to continue to race with the end in mind.  My sister, who is an amazing swimmer, has often told me how she visualizes the finish; how she sees herself taking each stroke and each kick.  She sees every stroke into the water and out of the water. I believe this is what makes her so great.   

It is important to remember this same technique in our faith.  2 Timothy 4:7 says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  We have to continue to train, to push, to persevere; because if we don’t have the end in mind, at times it seems like such an arduous journey that we can’t make it.  It is at those times when we lean on the strength of others and of God to pull us through. But we must continue to train so we are prepared when the road gets tough.  It would be so easy for a sprinter to throw in the towel if he trips, or a swimmer to quit because their goggles fell off.  It’s just as easy to get tripped up in life if unexpected things take place, such as divorce, death, cancer, illness, miscarriage, depression, etc.  That’s why it is even more important to train.  This means taking time to know and read our Bibles, and making every effort to be connected with God.  That way, when turmoil strikes, we are trained to overcome.

Thoughts?