Up in Flames

Ok, I don't want to be the guy who's a nervous freak and thinks everything is going to kill him, but just watch the video and plan accordingly.

Safety first everyone!

-Patrick John

Miller's Ale House shut down after drug busts

This stuff happens here?

I really liked that place too...

-Patrick John

My Fiancee is A+

Sarah got me a Taylor T5 for Graduation! She's Amazing.

She has been the biggest help to me over the past few weeks while I've been swamped with school work. It's so great to know that when ever I'm under pressure at school or work, Sarah will always be there to help bring me through.

I'm Blessed!

-Patrick John

Someone who loves the Library more than I

Poor Guy...

Save the Libraries!!

-Patrick John

For my little brother

“When War Comes”

Remember when, we were younger,
And they couldn’t keep us apart?
Bunk beds, football, fishing, and fighting.
One didn’t do anything, without the other.

My first day in kindergarten.
You were with me when I stepped on that bus.
You sat at the bus stop all day,
Waiting for me to get back home.

We’re getting older now,
And becoming men.
You in the military, I in the ministry,
Who would have thought.

I think about the future,
The wars you will fight.
You fighting without me,
I miss the way it was.

You’ll leave on a plane or boat one day
Heading over that sea.
I’ll be sitting here,
Waiting for you to get back home.

When war comes,
I’ll be praying for you.
When war comes,
Be sure to come back.

-Patrick Bell (March 2007)

Fw: Everythings Amazing, Nobody's Happy

So I saw this video first on another bloggers page..www.ragamuffinsoul.com ... I thought it had some important topics to think about.

How does this apply to you?

-Patrick John

Home Stretch

First five hours of the day will be devoted to writing research papers. Work from 1pm - 5pm. Then I have a class project event this evening until 8 or 9. I can't wait to finish my BA! It's been a long road, I've learned so much, ready for the next big step.

-Patrick John

Christian Horror Movie? Check it out

HOUSE came out on Nov 7th. It's an R rated horror flick with a faith-based theme. If you're interested check out the movies web page @ www.housethemovie.net
For an interview with Ted Dekker visit RELEVANT

-Patrick John

Sarah Clip

Ok so I thought I'd share with you how cute and adorable my fiance is.
In this clip we were just playing around with photobooth on my computer.
She loves to just stare at herself.. just watch.

-Patrick John

Free Food!

Voted Yesterday.. got my FREE Shane's Rib Shack meal..
Chicken Tenders
Side of baked beans
Drink













Do I have a fish mouth?

Deployment

I just found out today that my brother, Jeff, is leaving for Afghanistan on the Wednesday. He didn't leave yet and already I can't wait for him to come home. Keep him in your prayers. Here are a few pics of us from the past few years.
The two of us with Grandpa and Grandma
He's the Front Man with the blue pants.

Dacing with the STARS!!

Did you miss this one??

Jeff

So my Brother was on leave this weekend. He flew in at 2am on Saturday morning. Saturday night we had a cookout at Moms and then on Sunday my Dad, brother, and I went out to lunch and to the movies together.
This was the only quick picture I got of him this weekend. He was actually getting ready to leave to go back to base and then he's going to Afghanistan in 2 weeks. He will be in Afghanistan while Sarah and I get married. Originally we pushed the wedding back so that he could be the Best Man. Then his deployment was pushed back even further past the wedding again. I talked with him this weekend and we are having our wedding on April 18th, and he will remain the best man even though he won't be there.
I'm glad I got to spend time with him this weekend. I know that it will be probably another 6-8 months before I get to see him again.


If you have any family or friends in the military now.. let us know.

-Patrick Bell

Letter from Honduras

I received a letter from Mavericks Dad in the mail this week. Maverick is a child that I'm sponsoring through Compassion International. The picture is some of Mavericks artwork that was done on the back of his Dad's letter. His Dad told me that Maverick is having so much fun in school and that Maverick just got back from a short camping trip with one of his classes.
This little guy is awesome and I can't wait to send him a something soon.

To visit the first post about Maverick go here.

Do you sponsor a child? Tell us

-Patrick John

I need a Break!!

So lots of stuff has gone down, is going down, and will go down within the present few weeks.
1. Ever present stress with the numerous group projects for school
2. Last night Sarah left her purse at subway. We went back to get it and found out that some other woman had already been there to pick it up. We are guessing that she saw someone give the subway worker a purse that they found and decided that she could claim it later.. It worked. She made some purchases before we were able to cancel all the cards. (see Sarah's blog for more)
3. Huge group presentation in front of a possible 500 people tomorrow night.
4. Struggling to maintain my focus and prayer to God in the middle of everything.

If you pray.... remember me please... Thanks

-Patrick John

Give me something to pray about.

Metro Live!!

Ok so those who know me know that I used to play in a worship band for a College ministry called Metro Cross Seekers. Well my good friend Gerald Malloy, who is the worship leader, has made it possible to watch Metro Live! So, every Wednesday night at 8:30 you can watch.
Just go here to www.mogulus.com/themindofmalloy
You MUST go and check it out!

-Patrick Bell

"The Exodus is about the oppressed-slaves-being rescued. Less than two hundred years ago in our country, people in churches owned slaves. Exodus would have been an awkward story to tell in those settings, because after all, the Pharoah character is the bad guy. Needy people talk about Exodus. Jesus said it. It’s hard to enter the kingdom of heaven when you’re content with the kingdom you already have. If we aren’t talking about Exodus it’s because we aren’t looking for one." - Rob Bell

Read the rest of the article HERE ....

Do you talk about Exodus? Should we be talking about it? Are you too content with your own kingdom?

What does this part mean to you?

-Patrick John

Chuck

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse-kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

Chuck fact I read today.. it made me laugh

-Patrick John

Something Fresh

David Berkeley.
I've been listening to his music for a few weeks..
You can check out more of his stuff at www.davidberkeley.com

Book - The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point is a book that I have finished for one of my classes. The Author is Malcolm Gladwell. If you're someone who is always trying to do things that impact your community, trying to evoke change, start trends, or even just getting a word out, this is an awesome read. The Tipping Point focuses and explains those key elements, the tipping points, that turn small things into HUGE things. Learn and Apply.

-Patrick John

Antoine Dofour

I play guitar and love watching others create on the guitar. This guy is pretty sweet awesome if you ask me. I've watched this video probably 30 times over the past few years. You can check out Candy Rat Records @ www.candyrat.com for more of his music.

-Patrick John

Friday Night!!

Sarah and I spent almost 4 hours in bed bath and beyond! Normally that would have killed me, but we were registering for the wedding and for some reason picking out gifts didn't bother me that much. I was actually surprised how helpful the staff were.
We were told to have between 250-300 items on our list. After almost 4 hours.. we had 29. Why only 29 items? ... I have a problem choosing an item when I have a choice of many similar items. But for me, that only applies to food. I'm always the last one to order at the restaurant, I spend 15 minutes in the gas station trying to decide what kind of snack I want, and people hate being behind me at vending machines. Sarah is pretty quick at choosing food because she always picks the same thing every time. BUT, when it comes to things like silverware or shower curtains... Sarah takes HOURS. She usually doesn't know exactly what she likes or wants until I give my opinion. I hardly ever make the final choice, but I choose a few things that I like and Sarah will pick from those, unless she finds something she absolutely loves.. then there's no stopping her. Overall, Sarah and I had a fun night.
We also saw Ghost Town at Regal.... Good Movie

-Patrick John

They said WHAT?!

Ok, so I'm sure many of us watched the Vice Presidential Debate last night. We all heard a lot of big numbers and voting records all thrown around and I think I have a website that can help sort it all out. FactCheck.org seems to be a pretty good source of info that critically checks everything the VP nominies have said. They also have a great list of sources that you can check yourself if you want to learn more. So go find out the facts!

www.factcheck.org

-Patrick John

Thursday Morning Thoughts

purpose |ˈpərpəs|
noun

• the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists
  

• a person's sense of resolve or determination

Purpose is the cognitive awareness in cause and effect linking for achieving a goal in a given system, whether human or machine. Its most general sense is the anticipated result which guides decision making in choosing appropriate actions within a range of strategies in the process (a conceptual scheme) based on varying degrees of ambiguity about the knowledge that creates the contextualisation for the action. Purpose serves to change the state of conditions in a given environment, usually to one with a perceived better set of conditions or parameters from the previous state. This change is the motivation that serves the locus of control and goal orientation. - Taken from Wikipedia. Rest of the article here


This Thursday, what is your purpose? When you wake up in the morning, what is your purpose? What do you see as the overall purpose of life? Are you motivated?

Great question to ask yourself once in a while. You can use it on any scale. What is my purpose in life, work, my relationships, friends, kids, at the gym... pretty much anything you do.

Tell us your purpose as you see it.

In order to reach our goals, there MUST be ACTION.

ARE YOU HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?

Bored @ Work

So I got to work pretty early today. I couldn't clock in yet and I was alone in the phone room so guess what..... Photo Shoot!!

Which one do you like best?

- Patrick John

Do I know you?

If anyone checking out my blog does not know me personally, why don't you leave a comment and let me know who you are. Let me know if you have your own blogs or websites that I can check out myself.

Go Comment HERE

-Patrick John

Sac State Grad Selling Her Virginity For Tuition

I'm sure most of everyone has heard about this girl. Her name is Natalie Dylan. She wants to get her masters degree, so she thinks the best way to raise the money to do that would be to auction off her virginity. WOW! Pretty crazy idea right?
So I heard an idea on the radio. Before you read the idea, think about the effects. How would this idea effect the Church's image. How would this effect this young woman's life? If this actually happened... What would be your reaction?

Ok.. so here it is.

What would happen if a Church or a Christian Organization won the auction?
Setting her free and paying for her school.

What are your thoughts?

Onemillioncan

Check out onemillioncan.com

It's a ministry of Chris Tomlin. In his own words "The site asks what $1 million can do and how it can help support the poor. You'll see eight different causes on there that I'm part of—different places in the world where I've seen a need. It's a challenge for students and for people at our concerts to get involved. Everybody doing a little can change a lot—that's kind of the general idea. It's not asking a few people to give $1 million, but more looking at what [many people] can do to change a people's whole world." Check out the rest of the interview at Christianity Today Here

Imortant People

I believe that sometimes God will allow people in your life to motivate, strengthen, stretch, push, and pull you closer to who He created you to be. Gerald Malloy is one of these people in my life. He has been used to grow me in areas of ministry and integrity. Either by pushing me to always go bigger or better, or going deep with spiritual life lessons, Gerald has always been there to encourage and build me up. I'm blessed to have a friend who feels the need and importance to pour what Christ has taught him in his life out into others.

- Patrick John

Built Together

"19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Eph 2:19-22 (TNIV)

So I was reading Ephesians this morning. In chapter 2 of the letter Paul is talking about being Alive in Christ and being made One in Christ. Verse 22 got me thinking about being "One" with other believers. We are supposed to be this one dwelling for the spirit to live. How do you feel about our "one-ness"? I know in some areas of the united states churches, pastors, worship leaders all know each other and work together with focus on "The Kingdom" . In other parts there are very distinct separations. Like our very own nature, a church can slip into a state of selfishness and self-absorption, preoccupied with its own congregation without further advancement outside the building. I don't mean to make it sound like those churches don't care, but maybe somewhere they fell off course. We all have to start somewhere. Maybe that somewhere is a phone call to a pastor or worship leader... We're all on the same team.

Is your church building together outside of its walls? Are you personally building outside YOUR walls? Think about it

-Patrick John

Sunday Night Worship LifeShare

Last night I took part in a worship service with about 175 other people that happen to be ONLINE! I had no idea what to expect. Carlos Whittaker was the worship leader. It turned out to be one of the most powerful worship experiences I've ever been apart of. Go to Carlos Whittaker's Blog to find out more. www.ragamuffinsoul.com

-Patrick John

Sarah's Blog

Check out Sarah's blog on the Blog Roll

- Patrick John

The Love

This is Sarah, the love of my life! We will be married sometime this summer. I know I know... "How did you pull that off?" Well I don't know what she sees in me.. but whatever I did.. It worked!
She was telling me yesterday that she is thinking about starting her own Blog.. so be ready for that info when it comes.

-Patrick John

Weightloss Jesus?

Really??

SleepOver

Ok so... here's the low down for the past few days.
I made a mistake, a $110 mistake. That isn't a whole lot of money for some people, but when you have $180 to last you for two weeks, that's a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY! What happened was I over drafted my checking account about 4 times..... yeah, 4 times. Listen, it happens ok.
So what do I do?! I have to go to school (FGCU) every day of the week, and I commute from Port Charlotte (which is about 45 minutes away). If you are thinking about this problem then you probably already did the math. $180 - $110 = $70. $70 will not pay for two weeks of gas! That's a problem! So I've decided to do the obvious solution, live on campus... in my car!
It isn't as bad as it sounds I promise. All I really have to do is sleep in my car. The campus is open until 12 midnight and I take showers at the fitness center locker room. Not bad huh? So I figure I'll be saving about $80 a week in gas with this plan. There will be updates... maybe some video..

-Patrick John

Back To School

So, I'm back at FGCU for my last semester! I'll be taking a heavy 18 credit hours this semester too.. which sounds tough, and probably will be. Can't wait to GRADUATE!

-Patrick John