Action

Action: https://youtu.be/95IoXMOr4ZA

What is grace?

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be graceful.  When I think of being graceful, I tend to think of something like a ballerina performance.  More specifically, I think of my 5-year-old daughter dancing like a ballerina in the living room while I’m playing music from our stereo or my guitar.  She’ll start dancing, twirling, plie’ing, jete’ing, and at the end, a curtsy.  All I can do is smile, clap, and tell her how wonderful it was.  Then, she shoots me a huge smile and comes running up to me to dig her face in my lap as her bashfulness starts to come out.

I think that we can all agree that Jesus loves us and He also gave Himself up for us.  During His 3 years of ministry Jesus didn’t just show us what grace looked like, He WAS grace.

Every miracle

Every conversation

Every sermon

He was showing what grace looks like.  Even when He went into the Temple and became angered towards the selling of things, He showed them grace.  You have to remember, this is the guy that caused the creation of the world by His efforts alone.  The authority and power that He has is overwhelming to our minds and hearts.  With just a few words, He could have ended what was happening in the Temple.

But He didn’t.

He chose to use those moments to teach us.  He chose to show them AND us grace.

To me, Jesus wasn’t just showing us what grace looked like.  He IS grace.   He is the definition of what grace is.  Once we acknowledge and accept Him (faith), He comes into our lives, literally.  That is when we become covered in His love and grace.  When He comes into our lives we are saved.

This is the grace of God.

If Jesus is grace, then Ephesians 5:1-2 should bring a whole different meaning to how we approach people.  Here’s what it says:

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Paul is telling us to imitate God in the way our children imitate our actions.  In verse 2, Paul shows us what that looks like. If Jesus is grace and Jesus is also God and we also have Ephesians 5:1-2 telling us to be imitators of God, then we should look like grace, right?

I don’t mean that we should drop everything, find a robe, grow out a beard, and walk around the world in sandals (if God is calling you to that, more power to you), what I’m saying is, that our lives should resemble Jesus.

1 John 4:12 says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

With that said, grace should be pouring out of our lives and people should be able to see grace through us.  For some people, the grace they see in us is the only way they will ever see God.  To them, we are Jesus.  1 John 4:17 shares this idea, “In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.”

WE

ARE

LIKE

HIM.

When we start to look like Jesus we will naturally start caring for people the way He did.  Grace doesn’t give up on people.  Grace is there for people when they don’t deserve it.  Grace forgives over and over and over and over.

This world that we live in doesn’t really understand grace and that’s because grace doesn’t follow the typical rules of society.  That’s why Jesus didn’t “fit in” with the world.  That’s why the story of Jesus looks messy at times.

Grace is messy.  Grace is simple, but we make it messy.

If you’re a believer, God is calling you to be like grace to the world.  How that looks is different for every person, but one thing you can count on is that if you show grace to this world, your children will see that and imitate that.

After all, isn’t that the job of a parent?

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” –Proverbs 22:6

So may you be the grace of God to those who desperately need it.

Including our children.

Ever feel like people judge you without really knowing you?  Ever feel like you have something amazing in you and you just don't get the chance to show it?  I know that feeling all to well.

Here's a little video that hopefully is an inspiration to you.  I know that it was to me.

May you remember that you were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).  You were created with awe, wonder, love, and in the likeness of the ultimate definition of creativity and mystery.

You are unique and loved.

Don't be afraid to show it.

Dark horses

So I've been listening to this song by switchfoot called dark horses and it's been making me think. Mostly about my faith and about the burden that God has put on my heart for the next generation of Christians. 

I still haven't been able to put all of my thoughts together yet on the subject

BUT

the song is definitely worth listening too and figuring out.

Here's a clue.
It's more than just about horses that are dark.

Thoughts?

People helping people

So I came across this soap today.  My wife has a job with whole foods and a company came in to give samples away of their product. They are a bath and body company. The reason why they caught my attention is because they hire homeless folks to make and package their products. Inside there products there is a note from one of the employees telling their story and how they are making a change. The company provides classes and seminars on different subjects that will help the individual find a job and clean themselves up. Totally worth purchasing a bar of soap to help a fellow human being. Check out there website to find out more about them and how they help people. You can also look at there product.

http://justbbjust.com

Back in action

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.  Blogger has won the battle. Let's get Rollin!

an end to blogger

not using this one anymore. tryin out wordpress. You can find me at

www.adamwithane.wordpress.com

The Day I Caused My Mother Pain

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!! (imagine me singing that and doing a little shimmy)







That is all.

::Change of Plans::

ITS A GIRL!!!

Wow...they told us that it was a 75% chance that it was going to be a boy a couple of months ago. Then we had another ultra-sound...

and ITS A GIRL!!!

I'm so stoked about it. Seriously, a little girl. How awesome is that?!?! Her name is going to be...ready? Her name is going to be:

Chloe Samantha Adame

Jack Baur would be proud. :)

A Call From God

Before I get into this story, I have to tell a pre-story. Last Sunday was my last Sunday at The Rock Eternal. There are a ton of great people there. It was hard knowing that we probably won't see some of those people for awhile if ever. When Liz and I got home, in my head and for the past week, I started to question whether our decision was the right decision or not. Whether or not God was really telling us that this is what He wants from us. That's pretty hard to think about right now, since my wife is pregnant and finances are going to be a lot harder than they already were.

So...about two days ago today, I was at Wal-mart shopping for a few things for my pregnant wife. I was at the self check out checking out when my phone rings. No...it wasn't God. It was a Pastor from a church in Nevada. He started asking me questions about myself and I was completely taken off guard. I had no idea he was calling.

After I got off the phone with him, I started thinking about that phone call. That phone call, really meant a lot for me. The Pastor was saying that he thinks I should keep pursuing this position, which was great for me to hear because I was already questioning if what we did was right. I took that phone call as a phone call from God saying that we were doing the right thing.

I couldn't do anything else, but thank God for that encouragment. I have no idea what I'm doing with these interviews and all that good stuff, but I do know that God is behind us...

...and that's enough for me.

So true. Take it or leave it.

Mad Go-Kart Skills

So the other day I was driving Liz (my beautiful wife) to the doctor's. She has an ear infection. On the way there something crazy happened. We were driving down Ocotillio (which is a two lane road where we live) and this car pulled out right in front of us turning left into the other lane!!! Seriously, I thought we were going to die.

I slammed my breaks and it wasn't slowing us down quick enough. Literally in a manner of split seconds, I realized that we weren't going to slow down in time so I decided to fish tail it around the car. I swerved to the right, then immediatly turned my steering wheel the other direction to fish tail around this stupid car that was blocking the whole entire road now. We ended up half on the road and half on the dirt shoulder, but alive and with no accident.

Liz then said, "Wow."

Then I said to her, "That's my mad go-kart skills."

The End.

one of the greatest things ever

Matthew 5:43-48

Love for Enemies

43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

So I've been reading through Matthew lately, and as I was reading through the sermon on the mount, I started to wonder why Jesus had said "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

I asked my wife her opinion and I gave her mine, but I was curious to figure out what other people might think.

If you have a minute, let me know.

fear

tonight was the first night that I really felt afraid of what's in store for my future. maybe its because now I'm in charge of a family. Before it was just me and decisions like this were a little easier because it only affected me.

not any more.

the thing is...as afraid as I am, I know God has great things planned. As long as we are making decisions based on what God has put on our hearts or have said to us, we'll be great. This morning, I just preached to the 5th and 6th grade that we should be humble people. Man...is that hard. What I mean is...I could sit here and give a ton of reasons as to why I should just get a regular job with benifits and great (or just good) pay, but I know that's not what God has put on our (Liz and I) hearts. We have a calling that we can't deny.

I'm also afraid because of my lack of a degree at this point. I'm afraid that people will look at that and think less of me because I don't have it completed YET. The thing is...I didn't finish because I felt God saying that it wasn't time yet; that He wanted me elsewhere, which was Queen Creek. For that, I am completely humbled and thankful for. If He didn't put that on my heart, man...my life would be different. Probably no Liz. Probably no...lots of things. :) So if I know that it was God sending me away from school at this time, who am I to think that He isn't bigger then a degree?

I guess what sums this up is...at this point, God is taking my world apart...in a good way.

Exciting, yet scary.

A Morning To Remember

So this morning...I was on my way to my second job working at Aztec Paper Inc. and I was driving on a road in the country. So I'm driving along this road when all of the sudden, the hood of my truck flies up into my windshield and bashes my windshield in on the passenger side (well more like made a bunch of cracks like a spider-web) and blocked my site of the road! So i stuck my head out of my window so I could see the road and tried to pull over onto the shoulder, but I couldn't! I couldn't pull over because there were contruction barriers on the shoulder that were blocking it for the construction that was going on about a mile down the road. So I ended up driving with my hood up and my head out of the window for about a 1/4 mile until there was a spot where I could pull over. I ended up pulling into a drive-way and checked out the damage. My windshield was pretty much busted, my hood was dented in many different ways, and part of the plastic connecting my windshield and hood was cracked...

man...what a morning...I'm done for the day i think...

A Quote to chew on

What are your thoughts about this quote:

"We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it."

What about this quote?

"Jesus never says to the poor, 'Come find the Church,' but he says to those of us in the church, 'Go into the world and find the poor, hungry, homeless, imprisoned,' Jesus in disguises."

So...what are your thoughts?

I've been re-thinking my view on the Church as a whole.

Success

So this past weekend we took the Jr. High and High School Youth groups up to Payson to a camp called Tonto Rim Camp. We took about a total of 37 people up there and it was awesome.

This camp was the first camp I have ever planned myself. I can't really say that I planned it all myself. My volunteer staff helped come up with ideas and put things together too, but it was the first camp that REY put together by itself with no other churches.

One of the reasons why it was awesome was because I didn't really have to do too much! I didn't have to do much because I had someone be the camp director for me so i didn't have to mess with too much. We put everything together before camp and all i had to do was show the camp director what we wanted and told him how to do it and gave him the stuff to do it and had the volunteers ready for him to pretty much make it run. The camp director i had was Allan Firman. I love that guy. Seriously, i do. I consider him a dad to me and his family is my family.

The camp theme was "Unashamed" and the rec theme was Military. It was such a simple camp, but so much fun. The speaker was great and the students got alot out of him. There wasn't really a "come up to the front" salvation message. He basically put it out there and let them chew on it and he built on that for the rest of the weekend. I'm so excited for next year's REY trip.

It was a great, first time planning our own camp, camp.

The Waiting Game

You ever have one of those moments where things don't go the way you plan? Well I think I just had one of those realizations a few days ago.

My wife and I are completely excited and sold out on mission work overseas and that being what we do with our lives...or so i thought.

::::enter my realization::::

I don't know if many people read this, actually I kind of doubt anyone really reads this. I dont think anyone really knows about it. Anyways...one thing that we (Liz and I) had planned on doing in our future was going overseas to live our lives.

I had thought that we had found a place where God had wanted us. When we first found it and thought/prayed about it, we were both excited about it. Now, i'm not completely sure where she's at with it. I know that she is still completely sold on overseas mission work, but just not where I had thought that God was leading us to.

So now here we are, still looking/waiting/praying for God to let us know what He wants us to do. For all I know, it could be doing Youth Ministry in the States for the rest of our lives.

As for right now...Liz and I know that where we are right now, is where we're supposed to be.

So now, we wait...who knows...it could be where we first thought.

The waiting game...oh boy...

Miracle on Dexter Way

So Liz and I were talkin the other day and realizing that we weren't making our budget...go figure. We were stressin about it and didn't really know what to do. I thought about getting a third job to try and make more $$$ for us. I even thought about backing away from working for the church as much and get a full-time job doing something else and work for the church voluntarily. I knew that wasn't really what God wanted from me. You know that feeling you get when you want to do something and God doesn't want you to go that way? Well that's how i felt about both ideas. Liz was shocked that i would even come up with the idea to back away from the church and she didn't want me to get a third job, that would kill us!!! I really didn't think that's what God wanted me to do either so i talked to Brent (my senior Pastor) and he asked, "so about how much do you think that you guys would need a month to make it?"

I said to him, "well about $500 give or take."

Now that conversation happened about a few weeks ago. Liz and I have also been talking about her transferring closer and an opportunity came up where she could, so she looked into it.

Here's the good part. Not only did she get the transfer (that would save us a ton on gas because she drives an hour to and from work every day), but they also gave her a raise!!!

Guess how much the raise was?

Just a little under $500!!!!

God is frickin amazing!!!

All I have to say is...have faith the size of a mustard seed.