Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in Hazardous Pedestrians' LiveJournal:

Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
11:59 am	More than a Mouthful Two days ago in the Wal Mart parking lot I saw a squirrel dragging around about a half a loaf of French bread in his mouth. His meal was at least twice his size and it was obvious that he was having some trouble transporting it to...well...wherever squirrels transport things of that nature. I thought it was rather funny and thought nothing more of it until this morning when I read this scripture in Luke: "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones." Luke 16:10 As faithful Christians I think we tend to try and reach the world while ignoring the people in our everyday lives. (sort of biting off more than we could chew...or should be chewing at this point in time) We sort of blow over the small potatoes and look to make a difference on a larger scale. And maybe things don't work out on that larger scale no matter how hard we try to make a difference. Maybe you're trying to set up a mission's trip to go to the other end of the country to rebuild houses when you know the elderly man down the street needs his roof fixed. Or you're saving up mounds of cash to go to another country and teach kids to read when the youth center two blocks from your house is short of volunteer staff to teach underprivileged kids. Sometimes we ignore the "small matters" mentioned in Luke and go straight for the large ones. As a band sometimes we get caught up in the "big picture" of "making it" so to speak. Somewhere in my mind I'm thinking...get on a label, get a larger exposure, reach more people with the music. Sure the intentions may be good but maybe God wants us to finish what's on our plate first. Maybe we're not handling those "small matters" like he wants us too, or maybe we're not handling them at all. And that's something I'm really going to start focusing on. (FYI: i got no beef with missions trips! I think they're great. I've been to another country (Romania) and to the other side of the country (Habitat For Humanity) so I’m not bashing them! It's just interesting to think about.) (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 2nd, 2005
10:13 am	You vs. The World I've been out of town for about the last week and far away from the World Wide Web (that's why this update is coming late). But being out of technology's grasp can help you to resort to more primitive sources of entertainment....yes reading! I started reading a new book called "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge. Chris let me read another one of his books "Wild at Heart" which i enjoyed very much so i had to pick this one up too. The book deals a lot with biblical refrences to the heart and who has control over your heart. About thirty pages into the book i came across at sentence that gave me chills: "The story of your life is the story of a long and brutal assault on you heart by the one who knows what you could be and fears it." John is obviously talking about satan. I think it's intresting how we can believe in the Lord with all our hearts and so often ignore the opposing force. In his other book mentioned above, John tells his reader to try and pray every morning or write in a prayer journal every night to see what happens. He says you won't be able to do it. Something will always come up to pry you away from it. He credits those distractions to the Devil. IN church we constantly hear about sin pulling us away from God (which it does) but who puts those baracades in your richous path? you think it's just chance that negative influences wonder into your life? You think it's chance that somedays one bad thing happens after another causing you to lose your temper and hurt the ones you love? I've actually found it helpful in avoiding sinfull things by crediting them to the devil. It kinda gives you a face to picture in your mind and say "nice try but i don't think so" Keep that in mind for the next few days and make mental notes of times when you think the devil could be gunning for you and you have to make a choice between what is right and what is wrong. You'll be shocked at what you see. That's it for today...please post back! ~Scott (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 23rd, 2004
12:13 pm	Me Me Me! "For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ...everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." COLOSSIANS 1:16 As humans we are born with the selfish desire to "get what's ours". Survival of the fittest: how can we better ourselves. We're always out to improve our own lives and see how we can benefit from each situation. But why? To get into that great school? To get that perfect job? To finally be able to afford that dream vacation? Maybe you just want the perfect guy or girlfriend or the right friends. Too often we try to make up our own purpose in life instead of letting God do it. He already knows each and every one of our purposes even though we have no clue. We need to stop trying to steer our lives in a direction that's pleasing to us and instead let God steer it in a direction that is pleasing to him. What are some things in your life that you've been trying so hard to control that you should be putting in God's hands? -Scott (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 21st, 2004
3:30 pm	Empty Promises Well here it is, 3:30 in the afternoon on December 21st. I'm ashamed to even look back at the last post any of us even made. It's amazing how fast a passionate desire to do something good and faithful can become less and less important with each passing day until it finally dies out and becomes that thing you use to want to do but never really found the time. I'm referring to the HP devotional Live Journal...or lack there of, but also I'm referring to me and you and our desire to please the Lord but never really following through. Not that we shove our faith into the backs of our minds intentionally. Most of the time it creeps back there over the course of a month or so until it gets fully hidden behind the other things on your mind that have slowly become more important. And as humans we were blessed (well cursed really) with the remarkable talent of making up excuses. As much as I hate to quote DC Talk they once had a lyric, "I'm the king of excuses, I've got one for every selfish thing I do" And aint that the truth! If I spent half the energy glorifying God that I do in making excuses of why I don't have time to, this live journal entry would be number 130. What are some things you've been putting off and letting grow less and less important? Is it a struggling relationship, calling or visiting a friend that needs you? Is it your faith walk? When it comes to my faith walk, often times I find myself travling down it at the speed of a 400 pound man with asthma. I spend so much time at a stand still that it should be called a faith rest or a faith crawl. In striving for encouragment to do more (or ateast something!) I came across the story in Luke about the centurion who sent for Jesus to heal his sick slave. The centurion felt so unworthy that he sent his friends to stop Jesus before he reached his home saying that he was not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof but asked him to just say the word so that his slave may be healed. Upon hearing this Jesus said, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith" Wouldn't it be great if we could make Jesus say that on a day to day basis? ~Scott (Comment on this)
Monday, April 19th, 2004
10:54 am	A Fallen Friend "Two are better than one, because they have good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" ~Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." ~James 5:19-20 As brothers and sisters in Christ we need to ban together and keep each other strong. If you see a friend of yours straying from the path don't be afraid to say something to them. I think that in this day in age too many people are worried about offending each other and never really say what they need to say. As Christians we can build each other up by sharing our struggles and helping those who are struggling. "Encouragement among believers is so important--just calling someone out on something or just talking about things you're thinking about. It makes you realize what God's doing in your own life that you really don't even notice, and it helps you stay stronger." ~Dave Douglas of Relient K I'm very thankful for my true friends who will "call me out" when I'm acting up. And I really do pity anyone who is without such friends. ~Scott (Comment on this)