Zac's Blog

Bridges

Zac — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:12:29 +0000

Bridges

Image taken from construtips.sw.com.mx

It's funny how every day we take for granted something that can have such a huge impact on our lives once it's gone. Lives have been lost (thank God it happened so late at night, otherwise many more lives would have been lost.) Traffic is worse than ever, and it will take months in order for it to get any better (Rome this bridge wasn't built in a day.)

I drove past it a few days ago, and it's so strange to see the gaping hole where the bridge once was. I started to think to myself, "how does this happen?"

How does a bridge just fall, taking lives and our comfort in an instant? How did it get to the point of disrepair (or why was it not strong enough) that a swollen river was able to take a huge portion of the bridge? I noticed that it's the same in our lives. How can we be doing fine, living life, helping others, being successful, and doing a million other (apparently) healthy activities, and suddenly have it destroyed by the first storm that comes our way?

We stop repairing the cracks.

The wear and tear of this life starts creating cracks in our lives, but we're too busy to fix them. When other people start noticing them, we assure them that "there's nothing to worry about, it's no big deal."

But sooner or later, it'll be a big deal. You won't be able to hide the cracks anymore.

We've got to do something different. We can't let our lives/heart/relationships/work/school get into this situation. We need to take a step back every now and then examine our lives, and ask the Master Builder to fill in the cracks, both seen and unseen.

"The Spirit of the Lord is with me. He has anointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin and the restoring of sight to the blind, to forgive those who have been shattered by sin," -- Luke 4:18

An Untitled Psalm

Zac — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:12:42 +0000

God is good,
God is love,
Patient,
Powerful,
God is here.

When I wake, I want more of You;
Your words are richer than any exquisite delight,
Your loving whispers more precious than any treasure.

When I rest, I still want more of You;
Show me Your face,
Speak to me once more.
I never tire of hearing Your voice,
For it gives me new life.

Teach me, oh God,
How to follow You better;
When I fall,
Pick me up again.

You are faithful like the stars,
Always You are there.
Never will I understand Your infinity.

The Planter

Zac — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:46:13 +0000

Ezekiel 17:22-24 (The Message)

22-24 "'God, the Master, says, I personally will take a shoot from the top of the towering cedar, a cutting from the crown of the tree, and plant it on a high and towering mountain, on the high mountain of Israel. It will grow, putting out branches and fruit—a majestic cedar. Birds of every sort and kind will live under it. They'll build nests in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will recognize that I, God, made the great tree small and the small tree great, made the green tree turn dry and the dry tree sprout green branches. I, God, said it—and I did it.'"

I was doing my devotional at Vanguardia today, and I was just talking to God, and telling Him and I didn't understand His plan. God took me from Canada, for whatever reason, to Bucerias. He then had me live there for almost 6 years exactly, only to send me to Tepic to a 100% Spanish school for Christian leaders.

WHY? Why God, why did you send me here? I mean, I know You have a plan, but still, this makes no sense. Why am I seperated from my family? Why do I need to go to this Spanish school when there are so many good English ones? Why?

Don't get me wrong God, I trust You 100%, because of You, my life has a purpose far greater than I could have ever imagined. Because of You, I've experience a quality of life that many people spend their entire lives searching for. And I am SO thankful for it! Actually, just let me stop for a second to say thanks again, I really am glad You're here with me. But still, what's up with this? Why Tepic? Why Mexico? Why me? I just don't understand.

So after this one-sided dialogue, I let God speak to me. I randomly opened my Bible to Ezekiel 17, and the first part starts out pretty intense, and weird. It talks about this big eagle, and this tip of a cedar that turns into a vine. Not quite what I was looking for!! But then I got to verse 22. It took me a second to get past the image of a giant eagle breaking off the top of a pine tree (I don't know why, but when it said cedar, I read pine,) but then I got it.

Ohhhhh.

So, you took me from that comfy tree (let's call it Canada. Or Bucerias. Or home. Or family.) But You say you have a purpose? Well, that's better I guess. You want to use me as a refuge for people who have no where to go? You want me to give shade to people weary from being in the desert? I guess I can do that, it actually sounds really rewarding. But I have to be here? I couldn't do that in Canada? That doesn't make quite as much sense, but you're The Planter, not me. I'm just the small shoot, I'm not the Planter who has a perfect spot for me, so I guess trusting You makes a lot more sense than not trusting You.

Thank you God, I really hope to hear from You soon, I think I could get used to hearing from You everyday.

Heading out soon!

Zac — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:41:52 +0000

I'm heading off to Tepic in less than 72 hours! I'm nervous, scared, excited - but mostly excited. I'll be up there for 9 months, learning about God, and how to serve HIM! I'll still be on my blog, but probably not as much as I used to be, however I will try to blog about my day to day life more than I have been.

In other news, I like taking apart keyboards!! One Way by ~lazermoose on deviantART

Pray for me, keep talking to me, email me! I love emails

Love,
Zac

StarGate Universe!

Zac — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:33:49 +0000

I honestly don't think I can stay true to myself without posting something about this... so here goes
STARGATE UNIVERSE is coming out!!!! October 2nd, I will have another amazing TV show to watch (that I can't because of Tepic) but hey, it'll still be amazing! It looks a lot like BattleStar Galactica (the new series) because of the seemingly more mature content (kissing :O) as well as the fact that they're all stuck on some crazy runaway ship built by the Ancients. All I know is that you should definitely watch the trailer.

A Bus Poem For God

Zac — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:54:10 +0000

I was on the bus and wrote this in my phone. It's completely unedited, the words came, and I wrote them.

I may post a more edited version of this one day, who knows?

A Bus Poem To God

You took me from the gutter
My heart gave a flutter
When your hand grabbed mine
I knew I'd be fine

Thank you God, for meeting me here
Thank you God, for taking my fear.

I know that you love me, that's enough
Especially when the going gets tough.

Why do you love me
When I do the things I do?
All I can say is I'm glad I'm not you.

Will you stay here, to wipe these tears?
Will you hold me, to quiet these fears?

Vision 800 – Year 3 – Video 2 (RALLY!!!)

Zac — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:10:08 +0000

Sometimes, you've got to get down and dirty for God!
This was an AMAZING rally. It was hard, it hurt, it was cold (seriously, probably 10-14 degrees, while being sprayed with ice cold water, is pretty freezing coming from Vallarta.) It tested our patience (standing bare foot on rocks, while having coke and water sprayed on us, and getting smacked in the face with face paint) and it challenged us physically as well. Each part of the rally had a special teaching designed for us campers, and I doubt few will forget this rally.

Vision 800 – Year 3 – Video 1

Zac — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:07:30 +0000

Grupo Dei - Vision 800 Camp - Year 3

You Found Me

Zac — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:00:47 +0000

Chorus of "Your Found Me" by The Fray

Lost and insecure

You found me, you found me

Lying on the floor

Surrounded, surrounded

Why’d you have to wait?

Where were you, where were you?

Just a little late

You found me, You found me

Love this song! It talks about being "found" by God. It also talks about the pain of breakups, but that's not why I'm writing this song, and that's why I just am putting the chorus here. How many times have you felt "lost and insecure" or "surrounded"? I know I have, but I also know that God is there in the midst of it! He sometimes seems like a million miles away, but just because I don't see Him doesn't mean He's not here with me!

In the midst of pain and suffering, of being "lost and insecure" or "surrounded", don't give up! Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that "all things work together for the good of those who love God." That's a promise! Sometimes I don't understand how suffering is working towards my good, but then I remember all the times I've gone through garbage, and have always come out stronger for it!

Below is a short article I just found.

Paul tells us: "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength but with your testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Over time that promise has become abbreviated to "God will never give you more than you can handle."

Like many others, I've derived comfort from these words, though I know God does not "give" me loss, pain and grief.Like most bumper-sticker theology, this promise appeals to my concerns about myself and my well-being. If I take Paul's words and God's faithfulness seriously, I must also look beyond my self-centeredness to the pain and severe testing others endure. What of the hungry, the abused, the victims of racism? What of the people of the world who have known no other life than a daily existence of war and terror? Could it be that God could use me to provide a "way out" for the hopeless? Could I help others handle life?

A better bumper sticker might be: "God is faithful."

Source:

http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=4779

2009

Zac — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:00:53 +0000

(Originally posted on www.zacharyforget.com Dec. 30th, 2008)

It's almost 2009.

That's one year away from 2010.

Which is 10 years after the year 2000.

It's a little overwhelming to think of how much life has changed, both for me, and for the world. Just 5 years ago, I was living in Canada. Two years ago, I started a relationship with my first girlfriend (and as I'm sure anyone reading this knows, my only gf xP) Just last year, I was part of a leadership team in a youth group for the first time.

And think about the world. 9 years ago, everyone was worried that the computers that run our lives would crash, they weren't sure they'd be able to handle the 0's in 2000 (which sounds sort of funny if you think about it.) Just a few months ago, the world started going a little crazier. Just last month, the U.S. elected its first black president. Right now, most of the world is slowing going down the drain as banks declare bankruptcy and people talk about a depression.

Honestly, the more I think about it, it looks reeeaally bad outside, there's so much bad stuff going on. Sometimes I stop to think about it, and get worried, but most of the time I can't. I'm too busy taking care of my own stuff, worrying about my own stuff, and (most importantly) enjoying life and living it for God! I truly believe that holding onto Him will get me through whatever is coming in the months and years to come, and as this new year begins, I really want to grab ahold of Him and not let go!

This next year is so exciting to me, I'm going to start going to a Seminary here in Vallarta once a month for this semester, I'll finally graduate high school (darn GED) and I'll hopefully go on a YWAM sometime this summer! Plus, I'm involved with two awesome youth groups, and I'm surrounded by amazing people!

And now I'll talk about what happened tonight at church

The Pastors said that tonight was going to be special, about restoration.

I got there early for band practice (by the way, my fingers hurt... if anyone cares) When it was time to actually play, the Pastor let everyone in who had been waiting outside, and we just started to make NOISE! (I really felt like we were at the beginning of some huge concert, it was so cool!!)

After we finished playing, Pastor Antonio started talking about the Prodigal son, and how everyone talks about him, and how he left home, then hit rock bottom, then finally came back. Pastor talked about how both brothers had problems, because the older one was jealous, and didn't realize the blessings he had, his heart was hurt by the way he felt he was treated by his father

And then after he finished (he didn't talk for a long time) they handed out these looong peices of cardboard-paper, and they asked us to write down all the things that happened this year that hurt us, or the things that were going on that we didn't like (I cried while I was writing! It was really emotional.)

I'm not sure if it was sadness, God, shame (but probably a mix of the three) Later, as we were writing, Pastor told us that with those loooong peices of paper, we were going to put them on his son, Alan (who was sitting on a chair)

As we finished writing all the things that had hurt us, we would go and put them on Alan, the pastor's son. And Pastor talked about how God sent His Son to do that very thing, but not take peices of paper, but our actual sins, and pain, so we didn't need to bear them anymore

And then after everyone put them on Alan, we were told to take one off, and then put it in the fire (and they had a metal pot where we'd put the stuff into the fire.) It was really emotional for me, because as I reflected on the past year, I saw all the good, but I really noticed all the bad that just gets shoved under the rug, and I realized how much I had been hurting!

My prayer for everyone who reads this (and even my friends who don't -I forgive you-) is that you learn to let go of your hurt, give it to Jesus, and start this new year fresh!