Who REALLY Needs Sleep Anyway??

So, I thought that I was going to be pulling an all-nighter with my homework tonight, but as it turns out, I didn't have as much homework as I thought I did. That means that I drank 2 HUGE cups of coffee for not reason. My body won't stop moving for no reason and mt heart is having palpitations for no reason!! haha!! Well, the good news is that I got my homework done and I will actually be able to get some sleep.

2:11am... Oh geez... and I have to be up in 3 and a half hours!! :)

I do have a couple more assignments to do but I am going to wake up at 6 tomorrow so I can finish them. Unless of course Murphy decides to interfere. That jerk has gotten me some bad grades... Maybe I SHOULD finish my work right now.. in case something DOES come up... Uhhh... Be expecting another post in an hour or so...

Another Bad Decision

Going to the CBU Library to do homework for multiple hours and not bringing any food or money to buy food is a bad decision. haha So here I am with an empty tummy and loads of work to do. I'll be here forever!! Guess this is a good time to lose a few pounds? ;) (That was a joke FYI.) :)

I Am Not The Sun In The Solar System.

Surprise!!!!!

No, it's not someone's birthday, and no, I am not going to give you all some insanely shocking news. Today I had a revelation. Life is NOT about me. Did you know that? Because I seemed to have been oblivious to that fact until this morning. I am not meant to live my life to the fullest having as much fun as I can and being as happy as I can possibly be. No, I am meant to live for MORE! I am meant to live for Jesus. To follow Him and to bring Him glory! What does that mean though? What does it mean to "bring Him glory"?

Glory is wealth, treasure, and honor. Now if you put those words into the sentence it will say "To bring Him wealth, treasure, and honor." God has a plan for everyone and when we choose to live in His plan (follow Him) we will bring Him wealth, treasure, and honor (glory). The way to bring Him glory is by following Him; its by doing His will. If God has called us to do something and we follow through with it, we bring Him glory. When we do something in the name of Jesus, we bring Him glory. When we live our lives in perfect oneness with His Spirit, we bring Him glory in everything we do.


The bible says "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:20,21)
and
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23-24)
When we do everything "heartily as unto the Lord", we not only bring Him glory but store up more treasure in heaven as our reward. Jesus has promised good to us! We receive a reward when we live in the will of God and serve Him, but that shouldn't be our motive to serve Him. We should want to serve Him for the simple reason that He is God and that He is WORTHY of our service and praise!!

So, surprise to me; life does NOT revolve around me, and I am so thankful for that.

Gross!!

I made a huge mistake today. I wish that I would have NEVER done it. It's such a simple mistake... And my conclusion is that... Chocolate chip cookies washed down by a Diet Coke is a horrible combination. ;)

Only 15 Blogs?!?!?!?

If you read my blog regularly, you might have noticed that I deleted just over half of the blogs I have posted on here. Here is why. First, it's on the world-wide Internet. ANYONE can read it. Second, I have decided to only post "here's how my day went" and "this is what I am passionate about" blogs. No more personal blogs. :) Jesus is Lord!! :D

He's coming back soon!!!!

Becoming April

When we are little, we recognize certain people as our role models. People who we look up to and aspire to be like one day. People who will be an example of how to live life. However, there is a point in our lives where we need to stop trying to be like them, and start trying to find ourselves and live our own lives. I believe that at that point, life’s toughest obstacles are thrown at us. Some may see it as a set back, but you can't look at it that way. The obstacles are there to build us up in faith and personality. We cannot become our own person if we continue to live someone else’s life. We must experience, for ourselves, life’s ups and downs and learn how to face them in our own way. Those role models we had as a child weren’t born with their personality, nor was it earned easily, they too had to experience obstacles and hardships to get to where they are. So, if we look at it from an entirely different perspective, we find that we need to look, not to who they are, but to how they got that way, still keeping in mind that we too need to find our own ways to becoming an individual. Seeing how they overcame their obstacles as an example of how to become our own person, not seeing who they are as an example of who to be.

I Don't Understand...

Honor Killings.

I don't know everything there is to know about them; I can't tell you exactly why they happen or inform you on the different killings that occur. I can only really say that my heart is broken for those who have been, or are in danger of being, attacked. Most attacks occur to Muslim women for things as simple as talking to a man who is not in their family. And the attackers are usually men in the woman's family. The women have brought "dishonor" on their families in some way so they are killed to restore honor to their family. But I am puzzled as to how this brings the family "honor." I have seen footage of these killings happening and the women in them are brought into the streets and kicked and stoned. Not only is that a horrible way to die, but it is even more horrible when your family's the one committing the murder. These women are killed for talking to someone. Some are even killed for being raped. It's not even their fault, but they have to pay the ultimate price for it. How is that honorable? In what way does killing your niece, cousin, or daughter, make you heroic and not psychotic? These women live in fear every moment. The governement in Muslim countries do nothing to stop these killings. These women have no hope. No Jesus.

Lord, I don't understand...

OH MAN!!!!!!

So, like I said earlier. I am sick. I woke up feeling great, but as the day started going on, I started to feel dizzy and then I felt queasy and then, it came!! I threw up my pear and bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. I was sick.. :( I still felt bad after that and about 20 minutes later, I threw up again.

I checked my temp and it said 100 F. No fun!!

I am feeling better now, but still a little sick.

I threw up today!

TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Michelle...

Your Word is Majestic

God is so great. I am so in love with my King Jesus. A verse I thought I would share:

"Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is filled with majesty."
-- Psalm 29:2-4

Just read those verse and meditate on them. See the beauty of the Lord!!

Just Think About It

"Sound the Call to Worship"-- Joshua Thompson

Sound the call to worship
Come before the King
Bring your songs of praise to Him
Life your voice and sing

Sound the call to worship
Come before the King
Bring your songs of praise to Him
Lift your voice and sing

Let our God be magnified
Let our God be magnified
And let all who love Thy salvation
And let all who love Thy salvation
And let all who love Thy salvation
Sing "God be magnified"
Sing "God be magnified"





Ponder on those lyrics.

The Newspapers Continue to Come!

I was sitting in my room at my computer today and my dogs were in the living room barking like, well, dogs. I have a very low tolerance sometimes when it comes to noises when I am trying to concentrate so I went into the living room to tell them to be quiet and to try and see what they were barking at. It turned out that the mail had come so I went outside to get it. And to my pleasant surprise, I got a large envelope from California Baptist University. I knew right away what the the envelope held inside. It was The Banner. That's right, I am talking about the Cal Baptist student run newspaper. The first issue of this year! Needless to say, I was thrilled!

I ran inside and tossed the other mail onto the table and immediately opened the package. I pulled out the paper and the first thing I did was turn to page 9 to see who was on staff. Great line-up! I am very happy that my subscription to the Banner is continued into this school year. Just one more thing to motivate me for next year!! :)

Foul Dilemmas

Within the past few minutes, I have been doing studies on a rapidly growing epidemic. Where does it happen? Everywhere. Who does it affect? Everyone. How can it be stopped? By informing people of it's many dangers. The epidemic I am talking about is none other than Body Oder Intoxication (BOI). It is a serious matter. Millions of people suffer from it every day.

BOI is the breathing in or smelling of one person's unpleasant body odor, resulting in disgust, nausea, horrified faces, and what is most commonly known as "running away in fear." When you sense an odor that isn't pleasant and then suddenly see someone with their arms raised high above their head, it is suggested that you hold your breath and run to the nearest rose bush or perfume store to relieve the effects of the intoxication. If you yourself suffer from body odor, it is commanded that you go to the nearest drug store and buy what is called "Underarm Deodorant." The brand most recommended for women is Secret and for men is Old Spice. Apply product to both underarms liberally. This is a serious problem and if you or someone you know has been exposed to Body Oder in the last 24 hours, please contact your local potpourri store to immediately begin the relieving treatment.

How are you going to help change this? Start by buying deodorant for those in your class, neighborhood, work place, or even the bums in the street, that you may not ever see, but you smell as you walk by. Don't be quiet about this epidemic. Do something to stop it now!

Something to think about....

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know." Ernest Hemingway

I am not exactly sure why I like this quote by Ernest Hemingway so much. It gives me the same feeling that I get when I hear the word "Embrace" or "Brilliance". There is a hidden beauty about it that I am perfectly content with not finding because with every reading of it, I seem to allow just a little more beauty into my life and I fear that if I found it's secret out, it would lose all of it's mysterious significance.

My soul can sing a new song!!

He's doing it. He is using this for His glory!! God has a plan in my mother's death and He is using every bit of it to glorify Himself!! I am not going to cease praising Him. He is truly worthy to receive every ounce of worship and praise that I have to give. Everything I want to be is in You, Jesus!!!!

I'm April McLean and I approve this message.

I have an addiction... Now, before your mind wanders off and starts to try and guess what sort of addiction it is, let me point out that it is not drug or alcohol related, nor is it sports or music related. No, what I am so infatuated with is much more scandalous; something that most people go to extreme lengths to avoid discussing in a conversation. "What is it?" You ask? I say it loud and I say it proud, my obsession is Politics!!!


My daily routine always includes my morning dose of the FoxNews channel, and my mid-morning dose, and my noon, and mid-noon, and my after noon, and my evening, and my night, and my late night and well, you get the picture. Morning, noon, and night I am constantly watching to see new polls on which presidential nominee is most likely to win the election this November, or what new information has surfaced about where they stand on certain issues. Politics is something that a lot of people don't want to get into, most of the time, because they don't understand it. But the thing is, the majority of those people don't even take the time to try and understand what politicians are standing for. All they do is follow what their friends believe and that is why we need to eliminate ignorance in this election.


So many people, as I have experienced them say, like Obama because he promotes "Change". But do they know what kind of changes he is talking about? Do they really know what change he stands for? I doubt it. His campaign is trying to reach out to the youths of America and is telling them about all of the change and peace that he plans to establish once he is elected, and many people are falling into it and believing that he can make a huge difference. But what young people don't see from their optimistic minds is that he can not realistically make that big of a difference. What he says in his speeches now are things that many politicians before him have said in order to win elections. It is campaigning. McCain is praomising many things as well, but know what he is promising you. I really want to encourage you to know where you stand on the issues that we face as a country and then do some research to see where Obama and McCain stand. Don't just vote for the one who you think is the most charismatic, or who you think would live to see the 2012 elections. Know who you are voting for and be certain that he, whoever he may be, is the one who you want to be running our country for the next 4 years.

A Chance to Die

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." Modern Christians seem to have forgotten that part of salvation. The message of the gospel that is most often given today is "Jesus died for you. If you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and confess it with your mouth, then you will be saved." If you read that statement and see nothing wrong with it, then re-read it until you figure it out. There is something missing that is key to being truly saved; that is repentance.

Repentance, in the religious form of the word, is a complete surrendering of your life into the hands of the Lord and a willingness to follow every task that He has commanded us to do; leaving your old life behind and starting over new with the Lord. If that is the case, why do we find so many proclaimed Christians to be making the same lifestyle choices (sex outside of marriage, stealing, cussing, etc.) they did before they came to "know Jesus?" The answer is as simple as, they never really knew Him to begin with. They heard a false gospel message. I say that because any gospel that does not tell the whole truth is not truth at all. Leaving repentance out of the gospel message of Jesus Christ is like leaving sugar out of a sugar cookie. You have to have every ingredient in order for the cookie to turn out correctly, just like you have to have every element of the gospel message communicated in order for people to rightly comprehend and respond to it.

Most of the time, the people who don't change are the ones who were told nothing about having to change the way they lived in order to glorify God. They were never properly encouraged to read the bible that tells us in what ways we need to alter our lives in order to satisfy God and bring Him the most honor. People are being told that they can keep living the way they do and that it glorifes God and they are still promised eternal life because they said they believed in God. But the bible says otherwise in Luke 9:23-26 "Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.." We are not to continue living lives that help us gain the whole world because we will ultimately forfeit our souls to it. If the gospel message that exempts repentance tells us not to change who we are, then it is going against what Jesus Himself told us to do, and that is to deny ourselves and follow Him. He who never got drunk or had sex, who never murdered someone or stole; that perfect, sinless Man, called us to follow Him. God did die for our sins and He does offer us eternal life, but we cannot obtain it unless we believe that He is real, confess that He is God, and most importantly, repent of our sinful lives. We must die to ourselves in order to live for Christ. Nothing can change the truth in that.