"I am a serial thriller, I am a boring killer, I wanna pick my own grave stone... "

Recently, I saw this truck (2012 Chevy Silverado) commercial where one guy is talking to another guy who has just moved into the neighborhood. Of course he asks the new guy the one question that we all ask... WHAT DO YOU DO?

Well, recently I have been "let go" of my job. I was a litigation paralegal for a law firm (personal injury). I can tell you all you need to know about the laws of Maryland and how the Court system works. What to say and what to stay away from.

Well, since I have been "let go" I have been increasingly more and more aware that I can't really answer that question. At least not the way that most men can answer that question. I want to start answering that question this way.... "Oh I am a lover of God, OH I am worshiper of Jesus, Oh I am a dad, husband, brother, and mentor..." There is a tag line at the end of the commercial that says "for those who live life for a living the 2012 Chevy Silverado" Kinda, my line of thinking... I want to live my life for a living (it doesn't pay as much though). But when I pass I don't want my gravestone to read "Justin D. Heim a paralegal"

I want it to say: A loving Husband, Father, (Grandfather if time willing) and liver of life... In the last couple of days I have had the opportunity to hang out my children more and I am realizing that they are what my life is suppose to be about not punching a time card in and out...

There is a song by Jason Upton called "Between the Graveyard and the Garden" and one of the lines in the song says:

"I am a serial thriller, I am a boring killer, I wanna pick my own grave stone... "

I am not sure that I could have said any better than this... I have no idea when I am going to get a job (sooner rather than later) or what that job is going to look like. But what I do is not who I am any longer...

Here are some pictures of my boy for you...

If you would like to watch the commercial please visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpzvsQAtkaY

Forgiveness

The other day I had a former youth group kid asked me to look up a few verses about self-forgiveness or being able to forgive yourself.

I thought about it and did some "googling" only to realize that the Bible never actually speaks to forgiving yourself. The Bible speaks too two levels of forgiveness: horizontal and vertical.

So here is a little bit of my message to the former youth group kid...

Forgiveness in the Bible is vertical (between you and God) and horizontal (between you and another person). No where in the Bible does it speak about internal forgiveness.I believe that is because if God has forgiven you then you are forgiven. Any, bad feelings or regret that you may feel is the work the Devil.

Consider this verse:
1 John 1:9 ESV.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

So, here the Bible says that if we confess what we have done wrong God is faithful to forgive. We don't need to pay anything or do anything other than confess our sin. Here is another verse for you.

Roman 8:1-4
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."

I know that verse is mouthful but let me break it down a little bit...
Basically, the Bible is saying here that if you have been saved (asked Christ to forgive you and are developing a relationship with Jesus), then you are saved. You are forgiven! The old way (killing animals to gain God's forgiveness) wasn't enough. What Jesus did for you and me was enough. God has forgiven you because of the work of Jesus. When we guilty or condemned that is Satan trying to hold us in our sin so we can move forward in Christ.

Final verse for you:
Psalm 103:8-12
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Here is something amazing about God. Have you ever noticed that if you were take your finger on a globe and start traveling North that eventually you will be traveling South? Once you get past the North pole you are traveling south. BUT if you try the same thing with going East you NEVER end up traveling West. That is how amazing God is about our sin East to West is not measurable. God, casts our sin away forever!

So if God is able to forgive us, who are we to say that Jesus' death wasn't good enough? That is what we are saying when we can't forgive ourselves. We say Jesus, your death may have been good enough for me to be forgiven in God's eyes but it is not good enough for me.

One last observation... The Cross is symbol of forgiveness. It travels east and west and north and south. Or it shows forgiveness going vertical (between you and God) and horizontal (between you and another person). But not inward!

Well, I hope that you find this blog helpful... If you have any thoughts or questions regarding what I have written please feel free to comment (even if you don't agree with my point of view).

Wow... It has been a while!!!

I was just thinking today "man, I haven't blogged in forever". So, here you go! Under the category of new things (& people) for me and my family...

1. OH BOY... Jackson Robert Arrived 8/23/11 about 8 hours after my birthday!!!!

(Jackson meeting Jack for the first time)

He is named after his great grandfather (Jack) and his grandfather (Robert).

2. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of walking around the

WWII Memorial with my grandfather in law for the first time.
(pictures below)

The trip was paid for by a company that is attempting to get as many WWII vets to see the memorial as possible. I was amazed to listen to Jack tell stories of the war. Stories of his arrival, where the slept, and different challenges that every solider faced.

The most amazing part of the morning was to watch random strangers walk up to my grandfather, shake his hand and say thank you.

I realized that I need to do a better job of thanking the vets that I know.

Not just on memorial day, or other national holidays,
but everyday!!! They gave so much... I should say thank you more often! So Jack, Thank you!
Thank you for your life, service, sacrifice, and for this opportunity to honor you.

Sunrise or Sunset?

" Early in the morning I'd like to rise and spend a little time in quiet, creeping through the shutters falling on my wife, the sun is calling me to shine... Early in the morning, time still flies. Minutes, hours, lost as treasures. My tiny baby's breathing deeper every day, soon she'll leave her crib forever." (Early in the Morning by Andrew Osenga)

When I was a freshmen in Bible College a couple friends of mine and I got up early in the morning to watch the sunrise and we spent the rest of the cold upstate NY spring day, playing and not having a care in the world. We ended the day watching the sunset. Honestly, it was one the best days of my life. I will never forget it!

Well, this past Friday night and Saturday morning I was able to do it again expect it was backwards. First the sunset and the sunrise... This kinda got me thinking about a couple questions. Am I a sunrise or sunset kinda person? Not am I night owl or morning dove. That is easy... I am completely 100% a night owl.

What I mean is...

with a sunrise comes this kinda of expectancy or hope of God doing something great. Almost like you are looking forward to amazing things that God is going to do throughout the day. I kinda think sunrises are full of hope.

with a sunset comes an opportunity to see God's faithfulness, how and where He came through. I kinda think sunsets are full of faith or for reinsurance of our faith.

In the song that I quoted... The author ends the song with these beautiful words...

"so let us not take this granted, let us not waste the second hand.
But let your love rage like a lion and let your heart break like a lamb"

I know that I should be both full of Hope and Faith... God, please help me!

I hope you enjoy these photos. I took them of St. Mary's Lake on University of Notre Dame Campus...

I know it is just a Home run Derby...

Last night, I was watching to home run derby and more importantly as a life long Yankee fan I was watching Robinson Cano (NY Yankees second basemen). Let me give you a little background on how this derby works. There are 8 different batters 4 from each league (Nation and American league). As a batter you allowed to pick the person to throw pitches for you to hit.

photo taken from

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/12/sportsline/main20078666.shtml

I was extremely touched last night to watch Robinson Cano pick his father to throw "batting practice" and Mr. Cano was all business last night. He didn't even crack a smile last night during the competition. Once, Robinson won the home run derby (walkoff style) I teared up while watching Robinson jumping in his father's arms.

I was thinking about all the times that my dad coached my little league teams. I played little league baseball for close to 8 years and every season my dad was the coach. I remember trying to always impress my dad. I wasn't very good though! That never mattered to my dad, whether we won or lost it never seemed to matter very much. Actually, the only think that really mattered to him was if we tried our best and if the Umpire didn't stink. My dad got thrown out of his fair share of games... I remember one time he was talking to an umpire and kept offering the ump his glasses. Yeah, the argument didn't last long for my dad that day.

Last night I was also thinking how great it is going to be playing ball with my son!!! I just need to patient...

A True Leader and an Amazing Wife!

Last night I had the pleasure to watch the love of my life care for my 2 precious daughters plus carry my expected baby boy (8 months along) and she was the first woman to preach at Transforming Life Church.

I know that I am bias and I am suppose to gush over her and all she does... But please just indulge me for a minute.

Last night, I witnessed a woman who I have known for 10 years know deliver God's word with conviction, power, honestly and clarity. I watched her talk about our life, marriage, some of our failures (most of which were my fault) and our successes.

Rebecca's sermon was titled "Following GPS (God's Plan and Strategy) For Your Life". She didn't have 7 godly steps, or 5 faith points or anything like that. Instead Rebecca, made the sermon about life and how simple it really is to follow God.

It comes down to a choice either we follow God (with Faith and Patience) or we don't! When we don't well that is like running a red lights the first couple of times you maybe able to get through the intersection without something happening but eventually the law of averages will come into play and you're going to run over by a Mack truck.

Once we get hit by the truck will really show our character though: 1. We accept that we caused this accident or 2. we blame God, or the truck driver or anything but ourselves.

Far to often this is what we has human beings do. Nobody, likes to admit that they are to blame. However, if we can and then submit our lives to God again... (In words of my wife) God's GPS will say "Re-calculating!" You will find yourself on the right track again!

Well, thanks for allowing to gush about my AWESOME, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, PRECIOUS WIFE! I love you Sweetheart!

Bunk Beds for All

My wife and her sisters went on a two week vacation out west. They flew to Las Vagas and then proceed to Lake Tahoe, then further north to Seattle, from there they went south onto San Diego. They finished their trip off at the Grand Canon.

While that was happening I was home taking care of the house and dogs (the girls were in New York with my mom for one week and Rebecca's mom for the second week). So I thought of an idea that would be a good idea to build the girls' bunk beds.

While, I can say that I learned a couple of things

one: bunk bed building is not a one man job.
two: the girls love their beds.

three: my life is never going to be the same!!!!