The Story of a Man Named Nick

There is a man I know by the name of Nick. And Nick is a man that as soon as you meet him you come to realize that this is a guy with true joy in his heart and when he smiles you see that his smile is true he truly is a man that is completely happy with everything God has given him and everything that he has in this world. You see Nick is a special guy for his career he travels the world to spread the message of Jesus Christ he goes from university to university to spread the good news this is a man that is truly being the hands and feet of God!!!! Except there is a problem with nick you see it’s not that he is addicted to drugs and it’s not that secretly he has a problem with sexual purity you see Nick was born with a rare medical condition for no apparent reason and it has left him with No fingers and No toes with No wrist and No ankles No forearm and No shin as a matter of fact he has No arms and No legs what so ever … but the thing here is that I’m not trying to get you to look at him and say “Wow I’m lucky I don’t have that maybe I should be thankful for what I have” that’s not it at all what I want you to see here is that A MAN WITH NO ARMS AND NO LEGS IS BEING THE HANDS AND FEET OF JESUS CHRIST and we people that have nothing wrong with us are doing the complete opposite of that to be honest most of the people that call themselves Christians are “Nothing but extra weight on the back of Jesus weighing him down”  we often come up with EXCUSES for why we can’t do something for the body of Christ well Nick gave me a very good definition of the word EXCUSE he said to me  “ A EXCUSE is a skin of reason stuffed with LIES!”  He also said “If you think I have a disability, the biggest disability is FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) but FAITH (Full Assurance in the Heart) of knowing 3 things 1. Who you are 2. Why you’re here and 4. Where you are going when you are not here if you don’t know 100% the answers to those 3 questions I TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE MORE PARALIZED THAN ME YOU ARE MORE DISABLED THAN ME! You see the word Disable means unable to do something but with God all things are possible!”  you know I have a lot of respect for this man and if you ever have the chance to meet him I strongly suggest you make an effort to go hear him his message is powerful! I guess the only I want to say tonight is that with God all things are possible so just because you think you can’t do something doesn’t mean you can’t you Can with God on your side!

I hope you take Nicks story and try to feel encouraged by it God Bless you all!!

MUCH LOVE -LDW

Already there.

       So just today I was told this story by a man named mark this story got me thinking and I thought it would be good to share with you... he said.  “When I was a kid one of the highlights of our year was mom and dad taking my family to the Christmas parade and we would go for 1 reason only and that was SANTA! but the problem was that back then I was a little squirt if ya know what I mean and it was kinda hard to see because there was adults everywhere pressing in and it always seemed that my head was shoved between 2 torsos of people and I could only see 1 float at a time! And our city parades were not as dazzling as the ones you would see on TV we had the ones where it would just be an old man sitting on the back of a convertible and as a kid I had no clue why those people were even in the parade was this man the king of the parade? Then the shriners’ would come though and once again I would be confused as to why this happens every year after all the only reason I was here was to see SANTA! Seeing these floats 1 at a time I was losing my mind! So I thought to myself if I could only get to the top of one of the buildings looking down at the parade I would be able to see where Santa is I would be able to know ok we have only 4 dumb floats left and then the good stuff I would be able to see the whole parade in one shot!! I would be able to see Santa and know that that was him and where he is at all times this would change my whole look on the city parades!”

You know there is a guy named Paul and in Philippians he is writing about Joy to the church and he is writing it from PRISION! Ok? The same idea here I’m trying to see how he can be in prison being beat up for his faith and still have Joy? It’s as though he could see the whole Parade! And maybe he couldn’t … BUT HIS GOD COULD!!!! RIGHT??? And the closer I get to God and the more time I start spending  time with him the more I start understanding that  although things seem totally random totally out of control and like they just popped up into the world right now and I need to go let God know right now … What’s really happening is God is looking at my whole parade and he understands … Landon I know here is the shriners and the old man and the terrible band and I know you don’t know what’s going on and I know none of it makes any sense right now but Santa is on the way bro and I need you to go through this right now because we have stuff to do later ! IT ALL MAKES SENSE FROM UP TOP!

Now from up top the building I could see the parade coming from a mile away! I could count the floats to Santa! … if your goal is to honor God with your life  he is not going to steer you off a cliff …God is already sitting on the porch with you and your wife watching your grandchildren play in the yard you know why? Because God is not governed by time he is already at the end of the parade looking back so where ever we are in our lives as random and out of control as everything seems just know that at the end of my story Jesus is Already there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUESTIONS

_{So I have been thinking a lot the past few days, and there is a few things I would like to share with you although I want to go ahead and forewarn you that these things are coming from the thought and mind of Landon Wells so they might be a bit askew for some people to understand so grab a big tall glass of sweet tea buckle your seats and get ready for an adventure though the eyes of me, Landon Wells....}

_{First thing I want to bring up is this on Thursday I was asked a question by my speech teacher that really had no right answer. at least it didn’t in my mind I thought of this question as more of an opinion question a question that if you ask yourself you will find your mind go back and for worth between answers caught in this question of yes and no I began to break it apart a bit my look at both sides but before I tell you what I was thinking I think I should first tell you the question he?..... the question was ... Mark Bauerlein  internet, iPods, clocks, airplanes, cars ) EVERYTHING that you know of that could be considered technology just stopped working all together it no longer worked and there was no way to fix it could we survive as a human race? Could we plant our own food? Live without power? Could we as humans survive when the sun sets? this is how I have come to answer the question my professor  asked me I think that ( as a whole ) we are the dumbest generation to the older folks in this great nation in the since of living off the land like back in the good old days and not having to rely on other people to survive BUT on the flip side old folks now days can survive here but they are considered the dumbest people on the earth for the technology world we have today so it’s a growing world and people are going to change with the environment and find a way to live. Every generation from here on out I believe is going to call the one before it the dumbest so this is a lose lose situation}

_{Secondly I want to tell you and I would love to have your feedback on this for I could be wrong but in my mind  makes sense ok here we go ... people  that call them self’s Christians these day are so sketchy to me I don’t really understand how they can call themselves Christians when they have never read the bible for them self’s they go to hear sermons but as soon as they leave it’s like they were never there it’s like these people go around claiming to believe in Christianity but don’t profess his name in every aspect of their life its almost like they want the badge that says I’m a Christian but I don’t act like it ?  I don’t understand it at all today after bible I stayed back after class to talk with my professor who has challenged me every day of his class asked the tough questions and made me think real hard about things to tell him that by one of his assignment I now have a million questions to ask him I also told him that I am not a Christian... he stopped for a second and looked back at me with this WHAT!!?!?!? kind of look on his face before I gave him a chance to respond I told him this I said how can I claim to be a Christian when until this class I have never read an entire chapter in any book of the bible? how can I claim to be a Christ follower when the only thing I know about god and his teachings is what other people have told me through sermons and classes such as yours I said I’m sure everything the preacher says is true and I know the versus come from where he says they do because I can look those up myself but how can I do what god says in Matthew: 16 15-16}

_{15 He said to them, “Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.}

_{how can I " go and preach" when I myself do not know anything when I have such little knowledge about  Christianity itself  I could be teaching wrong things and not even know it! I said I believe everything I have been taught by preachers and I believe that the text we have is the inspired word of god but I am not a Christian  because I cannot do what I know is God's will without more knowledge . his response was not what I was expecting him to say he said this to me  Landon, it’s clear to me that God himself is going to direct you on the right path" he said "I think that you now understand something that most people in this class don’t and I respect that keep on keeping on!" "you will learn a lot if you keep it up" we shared a few more words before it was clear that his time was up and he needed to move on to his next class and before I walked out he told me " oh and Landon any of those questions that you have be sure to write them down so we can get together and I can help you understand them" I left feeling better about things knowing I was on the right path and that he would help any way that he could. Do you agree with the way I was thinking?}

Death by Smoke...

For it was today that I learned that when people are trapped in a burning building with no way of escape that it’s not the fire that kills them first it’s the smoke it’s the smoke that burns their eyes it’s the smoke that burns their noses it’s the smoke that goes into their body that disrupts the repertory system leaving them DEAD it’s not the fire that kills them in fact it’s the smoke it doesn’t take the devil himself to kill you it just takes some smoke it just take insecurities of the world some fear some loneliness to create this blinding black haze that leads us to death don’t let the world around you fill with smoke there is a way out there is a breath of fresh air even when you are laying there with your face to the ground inhaling the last bit of oxygen there is a way out you see because ever since the beginning God has wanted to get a little closer first he would only speak to men but that wasn’t enough he wanted to come even closer so then he instructed to build a tabernacle but even then that wasn’t enough he decide to come down from the heavens and dwell among us still even then it wasn’t enough so god left us with the holy spirit to live IN us …it doesn’t matter what your smoke is because in the end as God comes closer the smoke dissipates as God enters us the smoke disappears don’t let the smoke of fear rule your life allow the fresh air to enter your life … when people are trapped in a burning building it’s not the fire that fist kills them it’s the smoke…

So Fresh, So Clean!

Well today I started my first day at Harding University, and my thoughts were running wild as I took it all in, trying to get my first impression. Starting off with people that are so happy, I'm talking the most happy people in the entire world, it was to a point were I couldn’t decide if I wanted to slap these people or just accept the fact that someone can be so cheerful. I got hit with a test right off the bat. Given that the test was only to see where I stand in reading comprehension it was tough not like any high school test I have taken before. Moving in was a fun experience, if you know me you know either I have VERY good luck or I have VERY BAD luck there is no in between in that retrospect. When I found out that I was on the 3rd floor of my dorm room I expected it to be one of those BAD luck times but I got up to my room and met my new roommate and my expectations changed dramatically here is one of the coolest guys I could have ever lucked out in rooming with, plays football for the school has a good attitude I couldn’t have asked for any better so far I must say I love my experience here. 

There is something else I would like to reflect on for just a moment. As I was taking the 8 hour drive down here, I found myself switching over from music to talk shows on the radio. As I often get tired of listening to music and I love to listen to talk shows for the simple fact that I get to hear others opinions on any subject matter. And out of 8 hours of music and talk shows there is only a 5 min segment that I remember from that whole trip (pretty sad that only 1 thing stuck with me out of that whole time) 

It felt like this man was speaking directly to me when he said this, he said there are those athletes out there that train hard all year long for 1 race, 1 fight, 1 gold medal, runners are a good example here weather you are running for the Olympics or you are running for a local race there is always only 1 winner that winner is the first person to run though the finish line tape first the is no arguing  who wins only rule is run the best you can to cross that tape first and this is how I always have seen it the only person that matters in that race is who can cross that finish line first he is the only person that is recognized the only person congratulated publicly the only person to get the medal or the prize but what is often overlooked by many is not the fact that a very healthy person who has the ability to win that race  wins that’s expected! but what’s overlooked is the fact that there is some people in that same race that have actually tried harder accomplished more of their own goals and are more happy with their performance than the gold medal even though they don’t get the praise that they won first place or even top ten it doesn’t matter to them they did the best they could. I can remember a time when I was running cross country when I ran with a kid from another school who was handicapped I mean her could barley run at all but he wanted nothing more than to be ruining anyway even though he always came in last place he still showed up every race and ran anyway he didn’t care that people were going to make fun of him talk smack about him the only thing he cared about was beating his previous time from the race before this inspired me and I got to thinking that maybe it’s not about winning the gold and getting all the glory with it maybe it’s just the fact that we try we put our best foot forward and TRIED weather we win or not does not matter we still gave it our best and I think that’s all god asks for.

You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally.

Please watch this video as it remindes me of this story i heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L0AwASILbo

Do they stamp us with failure ?

It’s been told to us that if you have separated parents you are 90% more likely to get divorced at least once in your life compared to someone whose parents are still together. when a kid gets on stage for the first time and does a terrible job you automatically put a stamp on him saying that he will never succeed in that career field. I just want to take a second and shed some light on the fact that this is not true I have done some research and this is 100% true facts:

1.      Lucille Ball was dismissed from drama school with a note that said she was too shy to put her best foot forward.

2.      The Beatles turned down by the DECA Recording Company who said we don’t like your sound and guitar music is on the way out.

3.      Ulysses S. Grant a failed solider, farmer and real estate agent at 38 years old went to work for his father as a handyman.

4.      Michael Jordan Cut from his high school basket ball team he went home locked his self in his room and cried.

5.      Thomas Edison Teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything and he should go into a field where he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality.

6.      Walt Disney Fired from a news paper because he lacked imagination and had no original ideas.

7.      Abraham Lincoln his fiancé died he failed in business twice he had a nervous break down and was defeated in 8 elections.

My theory behind all of this labeling is just because something has happened to you in your past or the history you come from anyone can be better than any of those situations

IF YOU HAVE NEVER FAILED YOU HAVE NEVER LIVED!

LIFE = RISK

Worth it?

sometimes we are faced with
big decisions and bigger questions
should we stay or should we go?
how bout here? how bout NO!
is it time? or are we late?
is HE real or is HE fake?
worth the pain? worth the trouble
worth my time, worth my struggle

can we choose a single path?
make a choice do tha math
or are we pawns? in this game...
worth our pain, worth our struggle
worth our time or worth our trouble?
should we even play?

you seemed pushed in a corner
you backs against the wall
its what you got in your hands
go ahead and kick that can
will it even matter?
cuz if your not in control
then its already planned...

can we choose a single path?
make a choice do tha math
or are we pawns? in this game...
worth our pain, worth our struggle
worth our time or worth our trouble?
should we even play?

shes the one, you somehow found her
the love is Strong its never been better
but theres only one problem
she seams to have some trouble
and some days its worse than ever
should i stay or should i go?
she thinks its destiny

can we choose a single path?
make a choice do tha math
or are we pawns? in this game...
worth our pain, worth our struggle
worth our time or worth our trouble?
should we even play?