Disqus - Latest Comments for JohnCalebGrenn

Re: The Necessity of Change

JohnCalebGrenn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:10:30 -0000

I just want to say thanks to jkwalker, that's one of the coolest things i've ever heard!

Re: Finding Your Passion

JohnCalebGrenn — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:42:58 -0000

I'm enthusiastic about a few things. I feel enthusiastic when I run well. God's given me an ability to run like Eric Liddel (not nearly that good, but still) and when I'm running well, I feel closer to God. When I run bad, it's ok because I know God is with me when I fail. I believe my running is solely for his purposes, and he'll have me as fast as he wants me when he wants me, if I continue to work hard in practice. Also, I am enthusiastic about my friends. I have a few very close friends with whom I can share anything going on in my life that will encourage me and be enthusiastic about the same thing with me! I ask God to make me as good of a friend as the ones He has blessed me with because I'm not even close. Although my purpose is not fully known to me yet, I know that my purpose as is everyone else's purpose in life is to breathe each breath of air God has given to us, remember that he DID give it to us, and use the oxygen from it to fuel our blood to keep us alive, and exhale the carbon dioxide in the form of words of encouragement, love, and gospel.

Re: Be Who You Are!

JohnCalebGrenn — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:32:02 -0000

The plan God has for me is so unique I can't even grasp it yet! Trying to figure it out is something that excites me enough. I have been given a passion to speak on stage in front of people, i know that much. I've also been given a passion for learning new things, by reading, and I'd love to travel the world both to learn and to speak in encouragement to followers of Christ. If anyone reads this, please pray for me to be patient in developing my passions and waiting for God to put them into play.

Re: The Art of Conversation

JohnCalebGrenn — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:12:09 -0000

Being the average teenager, my thumbs have become indescribably fast as they click away at the big illumated numbers on the device that has enfused itself into my palm. Text messages really get under my skin, but I haven't been able to be creative enough to get around them. Used to, people talked on the phone - no big deal, and that was the problem our culture dealt with! It gave us a way to lazily talk to someone else, therefore losing that 80% of what we REALLY need to say to him. Now, we don't even hear the other's voice. We read their thoughts, usually limited to the few words "cool, sweet, awesome, random, wierd, awkward, lol, haha, what's up, and gotta go." I need a way to escape the degrading communication of my culture before it's too late! I need time to spend with others face to face to avoid miscommunication. I ask God today to help me manage my priorities (which is what I've been thinking about for this whole series) so that I have more time for what really matters.

Re: Finding the Power to Forgive

JohnCalebGrenn — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:42:42 -0000

Mississippi author William Faulkner once said that the only story worth reading was one about the human heart in conflict with itself. I've come to realize he could have just written a book about forgiveness, and it would have been the perfect story. He would have had the whole element of a man wanting to remain stubborn and bitter, but at the same time desiring very much to forgive because of that release it brings! However, Faulkner must have known that the story of Jesus Christ's demonstration of God's forgiveness for us has to be the greatest story worth reading because it showed the human body in conflict with God's own will as Christ wished the cup would pass him by as he went to the cross in order to show us how amazing God's grace and forgiveness really is. When we look at how much it required to forgive us, to kill the son of the living God, we have to look at ourselves and realize how petty our situations are and immediately go and forgive as we were forgiven.

Re: Dare to Dream

JohnCalebGrenn — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:57:59 -0000

My dream seems to have something added to it every day. God has called me to do something in this world that I cannot do, and I seem to be in that waiting room asking God to keep revealing more to me. I want to go around the world! I want to start churches! I want to tell people about an unfailing love that they can hold on to in their kardia forever. I want to talk to God's greatest creation about standing firm in their faith and not shrinking back from greatness in God's eyes. I want a revolution of love and hope to spread over every continent and into everyone's minds and lives. I want to see everyone on Earth holding a Bible and reading it daily and comprehending it! I want my dream to be something that's aimed so high it can't be done, just so God can show off while he does it.

Re: Risk Taking

JohnCalebGrenn — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:33:40 -0000

In the old Theban play Oedipus Rex, a character named Creon makes a statement saying that "any man would be foolish to give up a life of privilege, honor, and safety for a life of responsibility, power, and danger." Our English class had an open discussion about response to this quote, and I had a hard time coming up with my reasons for which I did not agree with the statement. So many incredible people in my class agreed, and I tried my hardest to explain why we cannot live in safety, because that's not living at all! This devotion is exactly what I was trying to say.

Re: Connecting to the Source

JohnCalebGrenn — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:23:02 -0000

This devotion has been relevant to my life every day! Thank you Pastor Jeff for taking time to write these--they're great!

Re: Spending Time

JohnCalebGrenn — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:54:41 -0000

Life for me at the moment seems to be a rush of excitement that comes with realizing that God has got things for me to do! I've prayed for years that he would use me totally up in this lifetime (however long that may be) for his service (whatever that may mean) and for Him to have the entire world - even universe a different place after doing so. For me to accept and honor this season of my life means to accept it, be patient in waiting for it to begin to come true, and dto work hard in all I do while making it the number one priority to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself.

Re: Thrill Seekers

JohnCalebGrenn — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:28:22 -0000

Being a Senior in High School, it's hard not to always be focused on the future! Today I ask God that he'd keep my mind in the present so I'll begin to enjoy life now at 17 and more importantly serve him better without the worries of tomorrow or the worries of this world. Ecclesiastes 11 says to throw off the anxieties and troubles of the body because youth and vigor are meaningless! But also, I have to live in THIS day while I'm young and do what I'm to do without focusing on tomorrow or next year or next decade, but on the rest of eternity as a whole by focusing on NOW.

Re: The Dash

JohnCalebGrenn — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:16:56 -0000

I'm spending all my dash at the moment rushing around doing a million different things like every one else does, being selfish and unintentionally rude to the people I love. However, because I don't want to be like "everyone else," and no Christian should, I pray that by the end of this month my life would shift toward ALWAYS loving those around me, toward finding at least one thing that I can do or think about that will bring me closer to God every single day, and that I will always bless the name of the Lord, when I'm up and when I'm down, so that the people around me will learn to do the same.