When you’re strong and high
and your spirit soars
I can’t not smile
and wish you more…

When the tables turn
and your heart is torn
I can’t not hurt
or cry or mourn

If you walk and talk
but the walk is a farce
I can’t not admonish
that you mind your heart

If my heart is stirred
and your life will be bettered
I can’t not utter
what the spirit has shared

If I love you I love you
and you cannot escape it
I can’t not be there for you
when you can no longer take it

you may not care now
and you may not care ever
but I can’t not speak
and abandon you never

If you know my heart true
and your honor I’ve earned
then measure me grace
and my counsel don’t spurn

I measure my words
so often with care
but I can’t not speak up
as if I’m not there

If your are my friend
and I call you so…
I can’t not care
and let things go

all rights reserved copyright 2010 jason carroll/ JTBG

http://jasonthebaldguy.com

So many of my friends have been under intense pressure lately. Financial stress, loneliness, anger, frustration, spiritual dryness, and fear, are crippling their efforts as they fight just to keep their heads above water. All of these friends have stood by me in my hard times and have cried out for me and assisted where they could.

As I think of the spiritual battle raging around me for the souls of men, I see my friends wounded and battle scarred, some despairing as we continue the fight surrounded and separated from our battle group. This is truly war! Something inside me thrills though.. a clarity that I have never had before. I had fought my own battles until now, but this battle… this is THE battle. The warriors by my side are my friends, the wounded are my friends, the fallen… are my friends.

Almost a year ago the Lord gave me the image of a warrior planting his foot in the city of Gardner, the dust rushed away from his foot like a shock-wave, and the ground shook.

Today I planted my foot and roared to the enemy! “You will advance no further! I will no longer defend my position but will advance on you with a swiftness and fury that causes you to freeze in terror! I… WILL… NO… LONGER…FEAR! I will mow you down like a sickle that clears a field and there will be none standing my path that will not fall! your fallen will outnumber ours by ten-thousand to one!”

I plead with you today, Plant your foot, roar to the enemy! Let us bring to him the battle that he has for so long brought to us! let his forces feel the weakness of defeat as the Army of the KING OF GLORY rises to defeat him!
~blessings

JASONTHEBALDGUY

“Thanks and all. Well, I’ll talk to you. His I love you and I love you, huh. Hi, Hey Hi Mary, Good bye bye. Okay, bye bye alright. ”

Kimberly and Kalleigh in "Hi I love you"

Kaydence, Kalleigh, Collin and Aidan

I talk about a lot of different topics here,  I realized recently when reading my posts that I have neglected to share something with you that is one of the most important parts of my life!  My Family!

To me Family is part of my heartbeat, I am a man that loves his wife and kids passionately!  So it is only fit that I share them with you…

Kalleigh, Kimberly, Kaydence, Jason, Aidan

Kimberly:  My wife and soul mate!  honestly I have no idea what I would do without her… she keeps me sane, inspired, driven and organized.

Aidan: This little guy is one of a kind… Aidan is autistic and takes 200% of my attention… and I have ADD so it is a lot of work! If there is toilet paper spread around the house in streamers…. if there is a weird smell in the house… or if it sounds like someone threw a toddler bed down the stairs… the familiar refrain… “AIDAN!!!”  is always not far behind!

Collin:  Collin is my first born… we have gone through a lot together… He has weathered my divorce from my first wife, and an adoption by his step-dad.  Needless to say he has had more than his share of drama in his life.  Our relationship is definitely one that requires constant effort and patience on both of our parts… I love him more than anything and one day we will figure out what to do with each other.

Kaydence: Kaydence is my first girl… I have to say it is really strange trying to figure out how to raise little girls… they get their feelings hurt by EVERYTHING!! I am beginning to become an expert at asking nicely for them to be good girls… Kaydence is as sweet as they come and just as hard headed (she gets it from her mom) She is also a brilliant artist with lots of creativity… and a good eye for detail…

Kalleigh: Kalliegh is a little fireball… she has no fear… and is the youngest of our clan… she knows how to hold her own and pretty much keeps her siblings in line with a well placed screech of disagreement when somebody crosses her.   She loves to watch “Signing Times” and is learning new signs every day there is nothing cuter than watching her sing along with the video and do her signs.

http://www.cherryunleashed.com/

Once in a while I find stuff that just doesn’t get the recognition it deserves… like The Orange.I think “Cherry Unleashed” a blog by missionary Justin Cherry in New Zealand,  deserves some recognition.  The thing I like about this blog is that Justin is great at translating his thoughts in short meaningful tidbits that challenge the status quo; Something that I tend to like… ALOT!   I like his introdution…

Too often we try to be something we are not and too seldom we try to be who we were made to be.  I am a coward, I am a fake, I am a messed up follower of Christ.  This is me unleashed, untamed and not quite dangerous…yet!

So stop by and visit him at http://www.cherryunleashed.com/ and just drop him a comment to let him know you appreciate what he does!

God doesn't need to test us to prove our loyalty...

Why God Why!?   How many times have we asked that question?
even Job asked God what he had done wrong to deserve such treatment.

We often get the wrong idea about personal trials… For some reason we truly believe God wants us to prove how serious we are about serving him… that we are truly committed and not just flakes holding on to an easy out.   But when the trials get seriously difficult we begin to wonder if we are being punished somehow and we begin to question God’s purpose.   Why is it that after ages of reading of the love of the Father for his children and how he wants to bless us and give us abundant lives… we still stoop to the tribal, primitive and downright heathen beliefs that God is a “Man in the sky” that rains down destruction, judgement, and “tests” of our faithfulness.

God knows our hearts inside and out… he doesn’t need to test us to prove our loyalty. But as a loving Father he wants to test us to expose who we really are to ourselves.

We often build up images of ourselves that are quite favorable and help us have great self-worth but what value is our self-worth if we establish it based on lies?  God wants us to discover our true value from his perspective… the trials we endure are for our own good… and they make us stronger and more dependent on him.  So if you find yourself in a tough place begin to look for what your situation is bringing out in you… what it is exposing… and deal with it… the sooner you do, the sooner you will move on and you will see the glory of God being revealed in your life!

So what about you?  have your found the strength to be radical in your life? Have you sacrificed any earthly comforts or amenities to reap spiritual or lifestyle benefits?

1. I have yet to use it in everyday conversation
2. it is extraordinarily long and hard to say… thus hard to ignore or miss.
3. I was at a loss to figure out a proper safe word.

There is one unforseen side effect of using Supercalafragalisticexpialidotious as a safe word…. it sabotages arguments!  no matter how mad you are or frustrated or not listening…. when someone blurts out Supercalafragalisticexpialidotious  it is impossible to keep a straight face… much less fall out laughing on the floor… try it! let me know how long your arguments last!

Excessive Internet use is linked to depression

People who spend a lot of time browsing the net are more likely to show depressive symptoms, according to the first large-scale study of its kind in the West by University of Leeds psychologists.

To me this is a serious wake up call because I spend an incredible amount of time on the internet… (like right now writing this post!)  The reality is that we are slowly trading the personal interactions of the real world for the sterile transactions of the virtual world… No matter how we polish it,  the internet is slowly disconnecting us from the reality of our lives.    As we further disconnect from reality our morals and ethics become less important or even relevant to us because … after all … its not real! right?

In my head it feels like I have somehow looked into the face of advancing technology and seen too far… too far for comfort at least… and all I want to do is walk away… partly because I am beginning to recognize the intrinsic value of  life… inconvenience… and even Oranges… and partly because I have a very real feeling that in the not too far distant future possibly within in the next generation… that we will be struggling to retain our humanity as we become less connected to the physical world around us and more connected to more interesting “virtual” realities.

Getting back to the subject… statistics show that a good majority of our country is clinically depressed and rather than going after the key causes of depression we often choose to continue our lifestyles and sidestep the issue with medication.  I am not condemning the use of medication for the treatment of depression. I actually took Lexapro for a year myself for depression/anxiety.  My point is more that we cannot ignore the drivers that are creating the condition of depression in so many people!

• How do we move forward as Christians in an increasingly disconnected society where social interaction is so sterile?
• How can we deal with technology like the internet that is so addictive?

What do you think about this?