For your viewing pleasure....
I'm but a squiggle!
Pray for peace and joy. Blessed are the penniless, blessed are the runover, blessed are the sick, blessed are the hurt... they are happy for they have a friend.
Bollman
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Band News
Hey friends,
I need a break. I just can't handle all of these pressures at once. I am stepping away from this website and who knows what else. I just need some time in the Word and some alone time with God.
Pray for me. Pray for our ministry and our mission. I just am tired.
Bollman
I need a break. I just can't handle all of these pressures at once. I am stepping away from this website and who knows what else. I just need some time in the Word and some alone time with God.
Pray for me. Pray for our ministry and our mission. I just am tired.
Bollman
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Reaching for God
I have said many times before that we are always in a state of motion. We are either moving towards or away from God. We seek Him and His righteousness. We move within his grasp. We turn our eyes to worldly pursuits and the false idols of money and power and we slip away.
Jesus said:
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Luke 16:13
The world mocks and taunts those who try to live for higher things. They are square, they aren't cool... or they because fringe figures, radicals. Jesus himself encountered this.
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
Luke 16:14, 15
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him
Genesis 1: 27
The focal point of Michelangelo's the Creation of man, part of the magnificent Sistine Chapel, is the contact between the fingers of the Creator and those of Adam, through which the breath of life is transmitted. God, supported by angels in flight and wrapped in a mantle, leans towards Adam, shown as a resting athlete, whose beauty seems to confirm the words of the Old Testament, according to which man was created to the image and likeness of God.
This image is one of the most indelible images in the history of art. Why? What makes it so amazing? The image holds your attention. There is a tension in the picture. The fingers aren't touching... they are about to touch. But there is a gap, a tiny space in between the finger of God and the finger of man. That little space... that allusive little separation is what keeps us from Him... its so much the same with our lives.
In the Creation of Man we see the story of our own relationship with the Father God. We don't see whether they are growing closer, closing the gap, or if Adam is slipping away.
We are always moving. Which way are you going? Towards truth and towards light? Or into the shadows? Let us drop what pulls us back and move ever forward towards Him, towards His greatness.
Jesus said:
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Luke 16:13
The world mocks and taunts those who try to live for higher things. They are square, they aren't cool... or they because fringe figures, radicals. Jesus himself encountered this.
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
Luke 16:14, 15
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him
Genesis 1: 27
The focal point of Michelangelo's the Creation of man, part of the magnificent Sistine Chapel, is the contact between the fingers of the Creator and those of Adam, through which the breath of life is transmitted. God, supported by angels in flight and wrapped in a mantle, leans towards Adam, shown as a resting athlete, whose beauty seems to confirm the words of the Old Testament, according to which man was created to the image and likeness of God.
This image is one of the most indelible images in the history of art. Why? What makes it so amazing? The image holds your attention. There is a tension in the picture. The fingers aren't touching... they are about to touch. But there is a gap, a tiny space in between the finger of God and the finger of man. That little space... that allusive little separation is what keeps us from Him... its so much the same with our lives.
In the Creation of Man we see the story of our own relationship with the Father God. We don't see whether they are growing closer, closing the gap, or if Adam is slipping away.
We are always moving. Which way are you going? Towards truth and towards light? Or into the shadows? Let us drop what pulls us back and move ever forward towards Him, towards His greatness.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Money
Chasing the possibilities
We spend our life in circles
Running around and around again
chasing the possibilities
We run and run again
We chase a promise
a picture of silver and gold
richly lined pockets
things to have and hold
we huff and puff
running till we run low
slaves to our possessions
sacrificed to dough
when we pout and preach our morals
the truth is easily seen
when you stab us in the heart
we only bleed green
We are servants of money
chasers of dimes
lovers of possessions
burning our time
We we run and run again
until our dying day
chasing the possibilities
Until to dust we fade away
We spend our life in circles
Running around and around again
chasing the possibilities
We run and run again
We chase a promise
a picture of silver and gold
richly lined pockets
things to have and hold
we huff and puff
running till we run low
slaves to our possessions
sacrificed to dough
when we pout and preach our morals
the truth is easily seen
when you stab us in the heart
we only bleed green
We are servants of money
chasers of dimes
lovers of possessions
burning our time
We we run and run again
until our dying day
chasing the possibilities
Until to dust we fade away
Sunday, January 21, 2007
New Switchfoot CD
I have a new favorite cd. Check it out folks. Switchfoot has raised the bar. Buy it... listen to it... let it change your life.
"Why can't we keep it together?" "Oh! Gravity"
"We've always used music as a vehicle to explore our own questions and frustrations," says Switchfoot singer/songwriter/guitarist Jon Foreman of the band's new album, Oh! Gravity. Oh! Gravity. is Switchfoot's sixth studio album, their third for Columbia Records. After 2003's double-platinum selling, The Beautiful Letdown, and another two gold selling albums, Nothing Is Sound and Learning To Breathe, Foreman sums it all up by saying, "I'm in therapy and I write songs. It's all an attempt to try to come to terms with reality."
The San Diego-based band has often combined a spiritual bent with a critique of some of modern society's hypocrisies on songs like the Top 5 singles "Dare You to Move" and "Meant to Live" as well as such tracks as "Politicians" and "Happy is a Yuppie Word" from their last album, 2005's Nothing is Sound.
Produced by U.K. vet Tim Palmer (Tin Machine, Pearl Jam, The Cure, Mother Love Bone, U2), Oh! Gravity. expands Switchfoot's sonic palette while at the same time dealing with social issues on songs like the alt-country blues of the song, "Dirty Second Hands," in which Foreman sings of the dehumanization that comes with technology ("With an army of me/We invent our own enemies/Man versus machine").
"Although it ends up pointing the finger at us, rather than the iPod or the combustion engine," laughs Jon.
Other politically motivated tracks include the title track's generational appeal for love, peace and understanding ("Sons of my enemies/Why can't we seem to keep it together?"), "American Dream," with its biting truth, "When success is equated with excess/The ambition for excess wrecks us" and "Awakening," about trying to recover the innocence of a child in the midst of an ever-harsher reality. Their A&R exec, Grammy-winning producer Steve Lillywhite, helped the band achieve the song's Police-like world beat and epic, wide-screen scope.
"I feel like I get born-again a lot," says Foreman about the song. "I feel like I can easily drift into being dead as well. There's a crusty shell we get as we get older that shuts us off from being blissfully oblivious. We've all been hurt. It's a way of portraying the thing we often try to protect and hide—our innocence—as a strength."
The group was founded in 1996 by Jon and his brother Tim, along with Chad on drums as Chin Up. After only a handful of shows, they were signed by Charlie Peacock to re:think Records as "Switchfoot," a surfing term meaning to shift your feet on the board to take a new stance facing the opposite direction.
The band released three independent albums, The Legend of Chin ('97), New Way to Be Human ('99) and Learning to Breathe (2000), which turned out to be their first gold album, selling 500,000 copies. The band was signed by Columbia Records, which put out 2003's The Beautiful Letdown, selling two million albums in the U.S. alone and producing two Top 10 pop and Modern Rock singles, "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move." Last year, the band put out Nothing is Sound, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, and promptly went gold, yielding the radio hit "Stars."
Coming off three hit records in a row, the band approached their new album, Oh! Gravity., with a quiet confidence and a desire for musical growth. Their first move was hooking up with veteran U.K. producer Tim Palmer.
"He was just a great person to come along and assist us with the goal we were attempting to achieve," says Jon. "A good producer doesn't project his dreams upon you. He's a good listener more than anything else, and that was what Tim brought to the sessions."
Switchfoot's expanding musical scope can be heard on the sawing alt-country of "Head Over Heels," the exotic instrumentation and Middle Eastern flavor of "Circles," the REM-esque pulse of "4:12," the lush Brit-pop melodies of "Yesterdays," the Echo and the Bunnymen/Smiths influenced "Burn Out Bright" and Motown sound of "Amateur Lovers."
"We were listening to a lot of Motown Records at the time," explains Jon. "I guess whenever white guys try to play soul music; it comes out sounding like the Stones."
After all the success and the rewards, Foreman insists he's not feeling any pressure to top his band's superb track record, but is coolly confident about the new album.
"It can kill the art worrying about how a record's going to do," he says. "For us, success is making music that is gratifying to you. The break-even point for the record that my band made back in high school was selling 300 copies. To us, that was success."
With new songs like "Faust" and "4:12," which question the world's material obsessions, Foreman admits rock stardom is a double-edged sword with which he's still grappling: "It's that mixed drink you have to pour out so you can start with the pure stuff. And go back to the reason you loved music to begin with. We took a chance on this record, not to sound selfish, but to make something for ourselves. What other people think can't change our minds about these songs. And that's a good feeling. Because either you believe in it or you don't."
Oh! Gravity. is good enough to make a true believer of anyone.
From Switchfoot.com
"Why can't we keep it together?" "Oh! Gravity"
"We've always used music as a vehicle to explore our own questions and frustrations," says Switchfoot singer/songwriter/guitarist Jon Foreman of the band's new album, Oh! Gravity. Oh! Gravity. is Switchfoot's sixth studio album, their third for Columbia Records. After 2003's double-platinum selling, The Beautiful Letdown, and another two gold selling albums, Nothing Is Sound and Learning To Breathe, Foreman sums it all up by saying, "I'm in therapy and I write songs. It's all an attempt to try to come to terms with reality."
The San Diego-based band has often combined a spiritual bent with a critique of some of modern society's hypocrisies on songs like the Top 5 singles "Dare You to Move" and "Meant to Live" as well as such tracks as "Politicians" and "Happy is a Yuppie Word" from their last album, 2005's Nothing is Sound.
Produced by U.K. vet Tim Palmer (Tin Machine, Pearl Jam, The Cure, Mother Love Bone, U2), Oh! Gravity. expands Switchfoot's sonic palette while at the same time dealing with social issues on songs like the alt-country blues of the song, "Dirty Second Hands," in which Foreman sings of the dehumanization that comes with technology ("With an army of me/We invent our own enemies/Man versus machine").
"Although it ends up pointing the finger at us, rather than the iPod or the combustion engine," laughs Jon.
Other politically motivated tracks include the title track's generational appeal for love, peace and understanding ("Sons of my enemies/Why can't we seem to keep it together?"), "American Dream," with its biting truth, "When success is equated with excess/The ambition for excess wrecks us" and "Awakening," about trying to recover the innocence of a child in the midst of an ever-harsher reality. Their A&R exec, Grammy-winning producer Steve Lillywhite, helped the band achieve the song's Police-like world beat and epic, wide-screen scope.
"I feel like I get born-again a lot," says Foreman about the song. "I feel like I can easily drift into being dead as well. There's a crusty shell we get as we get older that shuts us off from being blissfully oblivious. We've all been hurt. It's a way of portraying the thing we often try to protect and hide—our innocence—as a strength."
The group was founded in 1996 by Jon and his brother Tim, along with Chad on drums as Chin Up. After only a handful of shows, they were signed by Charlie Peacock to re:think Records as "Switchfoot," a surfing term meaning to shift your feet on the board to take a new stance facing the opposite direction.
The band released three independent albums, The Legend of Chin ('97), New Way to Be Human ('99) and Learning to Breathe (2000), which turned out to be their first gold album, selling 500,000 copies. The band was signed by Columbia Records, which put out 2003's The Beautiful Letdown, selling two million albums in the U.S. alone and producing two Top 10 pop and Modern Rock singles, "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move." Last year, the band put out Nothing is Sound, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, and promptly went gold, yielding the radio hit "Stars."
Coming off three hit records in a row, the band approached their new album, Oh! Gravity., with a quiet confidence and a desire for musical growth. Their first move was hooking up with veteran U.K. producer Tim Palmer.
"He was just a great person to come along and assist us with the goal we were attempting to achieve," says Jon. "A good producer doesn't project his dreams upon you. He's a good listener more than anything else, and that was what Tim brought to the sessions."
Switchfoot's expanding musical scope can be heard on the sawing alt-country of "Head Over Heels," the exotic instrumentation and Middle Eastern flavor of "Circles," the REM-esque pulse of "4:12," the lush Brit-pop melodies of "Yesterdays," the Echo and the Bunnymen/Smiths influenced "Burn Out Bright" and Motown sound of "Amateur Lovers."
"We were listening to a lot of Motown Records at the time," explains Jon. "I guess whenever white guys try to play soul music; it comes out sounding like the Stones."
After all the success and the rewards, Foreman insists he's not feeling any pressure to top his band's superb track record, but is coolly confident about the new album.
"It can kill the art worrying about how a record's going to do," he says. "For us, success is making music that is gratifying to you. The break-even point for the record that my band made back in high school was selling 300 copies. To us, that was success."
With new songs like "Faust" and "4:12," which question the world's material obsessions, Foreman admits rock stardom is a double-edged sword with which he's still grappling: "It's that mixed drink you have to pour out so you can start with the pure stuff. And go back to the reason you loved music to begin with. We took a chance on this record, not to sound selfish, but to make something for ourselves. What other people think can't change our minds about these songs. And that's a good feeling. Because either you believe in it or you don't."
Oh! Gravity. is good enough to make a true believer of anyone.
From Switchfoot.com
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Band Pix
Behold!!!
More band pix coming soon. I am working on a big gallery of our shows. It's in the works folks but just one of many side projects.
More to come soon!!!
Grace and Peace,
Bollman
More band pix coming soon. I am working on a big gallery of our shows. It's in the works folks but just one of many side projects.
More to come soon!!!
Grace and Peace,
Bollman
Oh! Gravity
There is a myth that us Christians have it all balanced and all together. We have no problems. The outward evidence of our salvation is that fact that we have picture perfect lives. This sounds great. But somewhere behind the facade of picket fences and little pink houses the truth is that we never find perfection on this earth.
This earth presents a mirage of success. The enemy dangles it out before us like a carrot before a horse. Success equals a big time job, a fancy car, a big house and status in the community. In order to climb that success ladder we have to feed time to our occupation like a snake eating its own tail. But as our friends in Switchfoot reminds us in their new song, "OH! Gravity", this is all hype, a bag of lies spun by a snake oil salesman called the devil. And behind the smoke and mirrors of success is emptiness. The emptiness hits home when the snake finally devours itself.
Life finds real meaning when we stop chasing the illusion of worldly success and start seeking peace in bigger and brighter things.
Friday, January 19, 2007
February G-squared
Friends,
February G-squared is Sunday February 11th, 7:00pm. We will celebrate
Valentines Day!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1
We need volunteers for reading, food, drink and special music. Email if you
want to help.
Invite friends. Help get word out in Atlantic, Exira, Audubon. Pray...
Pray... Pray...
Peace, Grace and Love,
Thrown
February G-squared is Sunday February 11th, 7:00pm. We will celebrate
Valentines Day!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1
We need volunteers for reading, food, drink and special music. Email if you
want to help.
Invite friends. Help get word out in Atlantic, Exira, Audubon. Pray...
Pray... Pray...
Peace, Grace and Love,
Thrown
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Lazarus Come Out
I have been painting a lot lately. I am working in mostly black and white gauche. I am getting a really cool gun metal gray tone that washes through the images. They all have the same feel- like images in a pool of mercury. I have painted spiritual leaders as well as many self portraits but mainly I make images of Jesus.
I decided to immortalize the changes going on in my life with some ink the other day. So I picked one of my paintings and took it to Jeff, my artist at Lil Bros Tattoo and Body Piercing in Council Bluffs. After a few hours, I have a big reminder that I was trapped before Jesus came and set me free.
We are pulled down on this crazy spinning rock we call earth. We can't get away from it. No matter how hard we try to escape the pull of it, gravity sucks us back down to the dirt. We live in a filthy, sin-laden world. We cannot escape it... I am no different. I am drawn back down to matter how hard I try to jump up and escape it. I leap up but I always fall back down. I am a man. I am a sinner. I am dead... walking dead by the grip of sin. On my own I cannot break free from this disease.
In many ways we are all like that dead man Lazarus. We are locked in a tomb of this world... On our own we would be rotting in the stench of our own decay... but the story isn't over there. Jesus comes along and calls to us... down into the darkworld of sin... He says, "Hey DEAD MAN! RISE AND COME OUT!" He tells us of a special way to escape that rotting, filthy hole... He says, "I am the resurrection and the way!"
He is our escape, our fix... our escape! Jesus is calling today. Don't delay. Jump up, crawl out of the grave and live for him.
I decided to immortalize the changes going on in my life with some ink the other day. So I picked one of my paintings and took it to Jeff, my artist at Lil Bros Tattoo and Body Piercing in Council Bluffs. After a few hours, I have a big reminder that I was trapped before Jesus came and set me free.
We are pulled down on this crazy spinning rock we call earth. We can't get away from it. No matter how hard we try to escape the pull of it, gravity sucks us back down to the dirt. We live in a filthy, sin-laden world. We cannot escape it... I am no different. I am drawn back down to matter how hard I try to jump up and escape it. I leap up but I always fall back down. I am a man. I am a sinner. I am dead... walking dead by the grip of sin. On my own I cannot break free from this disease.
In many ways we are all like that dead man Lazarus. We are locked in a tomb of this world... On our own we would be rotting in the stench of our own decay... but the story isn't over there. Jesus comes along and calls to us... down into the darkworld of sin... He says, "Hey DEAD MAN! RISE AND COME OUT!" He tells us of a special way to escape that rotting, filthy hole... He says, "I am the resurrection and the way!"
He is our escape, our fix... our escape! Jesus is calling today. Don't delay. Jump up, crawl out of the grave and live for him.
Monday, January 15, 2007
MLK
MLK Day doesn't get enough pub here in Iowa. We have school like any other day. Sure the banks and post offices are closed but that is about the only sign of the holiday.
But as Christ-followers, what can we take from the life and sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? If we are to truly life as Jesus did, take on the appearance of the Christ, how better to live than he? He brought others out of oppression by preaching a message of nonviolence. He lead a march, a movement that swept across the land and changed everything. He even died in the name of love.
But as Christ-followers, what can we take from the life and sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? If we are to truly life as Jesus did, take on the appearance of the Christ, how better to live than he? He brought others out of oppression by preaching a message of nonviolence. He lead a march, a movement that swept across the land and changed everything. He even died in the name of love.
Pride
U2
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...
We should all strive to live like MLK. We should serve the Lord with all our hearts and give up ourselves as living sacrifices for His purpose. I want my life to be a celebration of Martin Luther King.
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...
We should all strive to live like MLK. We should serve the Lord with all our hearts and give up ourselves as living sacrifices for His purpose. I want my life to be a celebration of Martin Luther King.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Adison Drumming
My Son Adison Playing Drums
My son loves music. He will sit and listen to my new Incubus cd for hours. He doesn't do anything but sit and listen. He loves to pound on his trap set while he listens to my music. He prefers hard rock like his old man. Decypher Down, Incubus, Casting Pearls are a few of his favorites. The other day he was playing a CD and I came in the room and turned it down a bit and he snapped, "NO!!! Play it LOUD!" That is very very cool. To have a little rocker is awesome.
Addy loves me and wants to me like me. He draws and plays computer games and plays the guitar. He sings at the top of his lungs and makes up songs all day. He is special. My favorite thing to do with him is to talk about Jesus. Addy can tell me all about his best friend Jesus. He even said the other day, "Big Jesus chases the bullies away. Big Jesus is as big as Travis!!!"
There is a simple beauty in the Gospel. It is big and powerful yet a four year old can explain it. Jesus is BIG. He's bigger than we know. He's ever reaching through time, through the world, through our hardened walls we build around ourselves. He is our best friend. He will help us when everything else fails. He does chase away the bullies, the things that threaten to crush us and take our safety away. Jesus is my protector and He's my best friend.
Thank you God for Addy, his little drum set and his simple understanding of Jesus. AMEN!
My son loves music. He will sit and listen to my new Incubus cd for hours. He doesn't do anything but sit and listen. He loves to pound on his trap set while he listens to my music. He prefers hard rock like his old man. Decypher Down, Incubus, Casting Pearls are a few of his favorites. The other day he was playing a CD and I came in the room and turned it down a bit and he snapped, "NO!!! Play it LOUD!" That is very very cool. To have a little rocker is awesome.
Addy loves me and wants to me like me. He draws and plays computer games and plays the guitar. He sings at the top of his lungs and makes up songs all day. He is special. My favorite thing to do with him is to talk about Jesus. Addy can tell me all about his best friend Jesus. He even said the other day, "Big Jesus chases the bullies away. Big Jesus is as big as Travis!!!"
There is a simple beauty in the Gospel. It is big and powerful yet a four year old can explain it. Jesus is BIG. He's bigger than we know. He's ever reaching through time, through the world, through our hardened walls we build around ourselves. He is our best friend. He will help us when everything else fails. He does chase away the bullies, the things that threaten to crush us and take our safety away. Jesus is my protector and He's my best friend.
Thank you God for Addy, his little drum set and his simple understanding of Jesus. AMEN!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Thrown-Up Spotlight: Toodles
Allison Rolf
Favorite Bible Verses
John 3:16
Favorite Bible Story
The Christmas Story!
Musical Influences (Non-Christian)
Nelly Furtado, AC/DC, Switchfoot, Montgomery gentry, Kenny Chesney, tim McGraw, and anything with a good dance beat to it
Muscial Influences (Christian)
Jars of Clay, Point of Grace, Michael W. Smith, Steven
Curtis Chapman, and about anything on 100.7 or 88.1
Favorite Quote
from song: "This is the Great Adventure"
Where have you seen God
Where has god been in my life? God has been at work overtime in my life. When I first met Cody, you could technically say that I was becoming Atheist...but everyday, between Cody and Amanda, and the rest of the band....oh...and Rhonda!!.... my love for the Lord grows and my bond with him strengthens everyday! I have a friend and when she was down over Christmas break, I began to speak to her and the words that I had heard from the Lord speaking through Bollman or Joel or anyone for that matter came out and I amazed and her, as well as myself, of my growth for Him!
Tattoos: I have a HUGE tribal tattoo on my lower back that doesn't really represent anything that has to do with the Lord besides the fact that I wanted one and Cody picked it out! lol It looks like the Emperor from Mulan....to be honest with you. I have a smaller one that doesn't really get to see sunlight unless it's summer. That one is significant because I feel it represents my life and my walk with the Lord!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Gospel of Cody's Armpit Stink
I've been down a lot this holiday time. I have spent many days alone with no one to keep me company except my cell phone, my new Incubus CD and Flannery O'Connor. It turns that texting is no substitute for human interaction and my loneliness evolved into a pit of despair.
I prayed, prayed a lot during the two weeks of my solitude. I prayed for Jesus to be all I need. But it turns out that while He fills that gaping hole in my chest like only He can, He made this world perfect for us... and he made it filled with other people to share it with. God saw Adam was alone in the Garden and made him a partner. He has people here for us in this world to take the loneliness away.
The band got together on Sunday for a G-squared. Before hand, Cody, Chris and I tried unsuccessfully to assemble the new ping-pong table I bought. We ended up in a big wrestling match on the floor. Somehow I ended up under Cody's massive belly with his stinky pit right in my face. We laughed and laughed. I don't know if I have ever felt so good!
They say that one laugh equals to 3 TBS oat bran. Laughter cures so much. It makes us know we are alive. It picks us up and makes our spirits soar. I truly believe that the devil hates laughter. It's human beings at our best, enjoying God's gift of life.
If you are down, take some time to get with your friends and just goof around. That will get you back on track.
Thank you God for Cody's armpit stink! AMEN
I prayed, prayed a lot during the two weeks of my solitude. I prayed for Jesus to be all I need. But it turns out that while He fills that gaping hole in my chest like only He can, He made this world perfect for us... and he made it filled with other people to share it with. God saw Adam was alone in the Garden and made him a partner. He has people here for us in this world to take the loneliness away.
The band got together on Sunday for a G-squared. Before hand, Cody, Chris and I tried unsuccessfully to assemble the new ping-pong table I bought. We ended up in a big wrestling match on the floor. Somehow I ended up under Cody's massive belly with his stinky pit right in my face. We laughed and laughed. I don't know if I have ever felt so good!
They say that one laugh equals to 3 TBS oat bran. Laughter cures so much. It makes us know we are alive. It picks us up and makes our spirits soar. I truly believe that the devil hates laughter. It's human beings at our best, enjoying God's gift of life.
If you are down, take some time to get with your friends and just goof around. That will get you back on track.
Thank you God for Cody's armpit stink! AMEN
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Big Decisions
Friends,
I have been doing a lot of thinking and even more painting the past week. These activities have taken me away from my computer. Hence I have not blogged as much as I normally do. I apologize to my regular readers.
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I plan on making some major changes in my life over the next few months. In the near future I intend on submitting official notice to my employers stating that I will not renew my contract at the end of this school year. I plan on relocating to a city and trying some urban living for a while. I want to focus on my art and music. I may also seek employment as a web designer or graphic artist.
What does this mean for this webpage? I will continue my ministry in Thrown. Top on my list of priorities is my band, our G-squared ministry and the hungry people in western Iowa. I will not abandon this cause. Stay tuned to this website to learn more of my plans as things unfold.
Rock the Gospel,
Bollman
I have been doing a lot of thinking and even more painting the past week. These activities have taken me away from my computer. Hence I have not blogged as much as I normally do. I apologize to my regular readers.
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I plan on making some major changes in my life over the next few months. In the near future I intend on submitting official notice to my employers stating that I will not renew my contract at the end of this school year. I plan on relocating to a city and trying some urban living for a while. I want to focus on my art and music. I may also seek employment as a web designer or graphic artist.
What does this mean for this webpage? I will continue my ministry in Thrown. Top on my list of priorities is my band, our G-squared ministry and the hungry people in western Iowa. I will not abandon this cause. Stay tuned to this website to learn more of my plans as things unfold.
Rock the Gospel,
Bollman
Monday, January 08, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Acceptance
Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.
When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation-
Some fact of my life-unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment,
Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake.
Unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy.
I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.
-Source Unknown
When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation-
Some fact of my life-unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment,
Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake.
Unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy.
I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.
-Source Unknown
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The professor
Here is a good message I got the other day. Read it and share it with others.
This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at USC. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic.Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him because of his reputation.
At the end of every semester on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!" In twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "Because anyone who believes in God is a fool".
If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove that He is God, and yet He can't do it." And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All of the students would do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the students thought that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.
Well, a few years ago there was a freshman who happened to enroll. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about his professor. He was required to take the class for his major, and he was afraid. But for three months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said, or what the class thought.
Nothing they said could ever shatter his faith...he hoped.
Finally, the day came. The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!" The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom.
The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!!
If God existed, he would keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"
He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away unbroken. The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man, and then ran out of the lecture hall.
The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour. 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of His power through Jesus.
Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Isn't it funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Isn't it funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says. Or is it scary?
Isn't it funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan
(who, by the way, also "believes" in God ).
Isn't it funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.
Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.
This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at USC. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic.Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him because of his reputation.
At the end of every semester on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!" In twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "Because anyone who believes in God is a fool".
If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove that He is God, and yet He can't do it." And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All of the students would do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the students thought that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.
Well, a few years ago there was a freshman who happened to enroll. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about his professor. He was required to take the class for his major, and he was afraid. But for three months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said, or what the class thought.
Nothing they said could ever shatter his faith...he hoped.
Finally, the day came. The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!" The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom.
The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!!
If God existed, he would keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"
He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away unbroken. The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man, and then ran out of the lecture hall.
The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour. 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of His power through Jesus.
Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Isn't it funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Isn't it funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says. Or is it scary?
Isn't it funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan
(who, by the way, also "believes" in God ).
Isn't it funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.
Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.
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