Something to Think About

Saturday, December 12, 2009 0 comments

"If there existed only one man or woman who did not love the Savior, and if that person lived among the wilds of Siberia, and if it were necessary that all the millions of believers on the face of the earth should journey there, and every one of them plead with him to come to Jesus before he could be converted, it would be well worth all the zeal, labor, and expense. If we had to preach to thousands year after year, and never rescued but one soul, that one soul would be full reward for all our labor, for a soul is of countless price."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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I Gotta Say Something

Sunday, November 29, 2009 0 comments

HEY EVERYONE!


It's been quite a while since I've posted something on this old blog site. ;) I'm still psyched from the Botswana Trip and I've been making some changes in my life based on what I've learned.
One of the amazing experiences I had on this trip was learning from Pastor on his exposition of scripture. Man, Pastor comes up with so so many good questions. I really want to learn to develop questions as he has learned to do. I'm starting a book here which is about learning the art of asking questions. Pastor taught us that the way to keep our attention on something is to ask questions. Questions are what keep the mind engaged to want to know more. Oh, and the book which I told ya'll I was reading about Adoniram Judson is just about finished. I got a lot of it read in Africa and I have really really enjoyed reading it.
As far as my return trip to America goes. I've been enjoying the friendly cheerful hellos of all my church family asking me about the trip and what I learned. It was a blessing to hear from those who had been following my email posts and were praying for the people I was working with daily. On the work side of things, Thankfully I still have my job :) Christ did a great job for me and I received a boatload of work upon my arrival :) which is a good thing and a bad thing... A good thing that the pay is very good, and a bad thing as in every project I was told to rush and get it done asap, so it took me a bite of time out of my day and I already had less time because I've been taking care of some of Chris and John's church projects since Chris is on vacation and John is Botswana. Fun stuff :)

I'm just going to leave this post as a short one for now, but I just wanted to post ya'll with an update since I've been silent for so long. Have a Great Day!!!

Rejoicing in the Lord!
BenH

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Following the Trip

Friday, October 30, 2009 0 comments

If you would like to follow the trip here please email my mother at jghall09@gmail.com I will be sending my updates to her so she can forward them on to those who are interested.


BenH =)

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I'm Here, Safe and Sound =)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 1 comments

Hi Everyone,
WE MADE IT.... hehe. After many hours of flying and riding and pacing
in the airport we arrived in Africa. It has been a wonderful
experience so far. It's like a hands on Bible Course and I love it. I
slept really good last night like normal. I believe I inherited my
grandfathers ability to sleep almost anywhere. =) I stayed up later
once I arrived and was able to thankfully get on the internet :D So I
was able to catch up on my emails and send out updates for my iPhone
applications. Unfortunately I was not able to complete them before I
left because of some technical difficulties. But, I was extremely
pleased with their results because what they told me would for sure
take almost 2 weeks they found it didn't take as long and they got it
done in a few days. I got a team that works for me in India and a lady
that does some graphic work for my in Italy and so it makes it really
fun with them being on different time zones and it makes it even more
interesting when I start flying to other countries like Thailand and
now on the African continent.
Sooo, okay today I woke up around 6:30 Bot Time and realized it is
not possible to take a shower without a towel, well I guess it's
possible, but it would make me rather uncomfortable for the rest of
the day. So I was able to do my devotions etc. and then find out where
the towels were later. Then throughout the morning all us guys
filtered through the shower and then had a breakfast of eggs and
toast. Great stuff. Pastor then had a group devotional and showed us
the method he uses for developing plans for the the day, the week, or
even your life. Great stuff. My brother Titus was pretty awed by
everything taught also and is quite excited that he could come.
There was also a number of people who wanted to meet with us and so
we met and had a great time talking. The people here are very
friendly. Thank you for all who have told me that they are praying for
me. It was such a HUGE blessing to hear from sooo many of you and know
that you were concerned for the work. Prayer makes great things happen!

BenH

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Flying to Botswana.. TODAY!!!

Monday, October 26, 2009 1 comments

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Mom's Surprise Birthday DVD

Friday, October 9, 2009 0 comments

This is the video which I put together for my Mother's Surprise Birthday =)

Have a Great Day!

BenH

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The Seven Step - Part 1,2,3

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 1 comments

Well I heard some of you have figured out already that you can simply go to www.lvbaptist.org and listen to the past sermons and don't need to wait for me to eventually post them :) But, in case you have been patiently waiting here are the three parts of my Pastor's Series "Seven Steps to Getting to the Marriage Altar"

These messages have been so good. I hope they are a challenge and a blessing to you all!

ALSO, in case you are wondering who is playing the beautiful harp music and singing at the beginning of the message of Part Three... That would be my wonderful sisters Nina and Selena =)

Have a Great Day!
BenH



























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Surprise Birthday for my Mother

Saturday, October 3, 2009 0 comments

Here is a link to a video I took with my iPhone of my moms surprise
B'day... It was a really special day for my mom. It was quite a busy
day for us :) We were able to have a few ladies and our grandparents
to the house and when my mom got back from a trip at the beach with my
dad she was completely shocked to see us all waiting inside. I'll put
the video online tomorrow which my sisters and I made for my mom. It
was a very nice day :D and very special to her.

BenH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_sIiWMXRHA

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Botswana and Birthdays

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 1 comments

I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but I am :) I am actually going to Botswana.... and I'm not the only one going. Titus will also be going with me. The decision for Titus to go was only made this past Sunday and wow, I needed to get going then on planning plane tickets and organizing some projects Titus has been helping me on. I just bought the tickets today so now it's official.


On top of this I am also working on a couple iPhone projects as an investment since my other iPhone app is going very well. I am trying to wrap those applications up and have them live before I leave. It's been quite busy needless to say. I just praise the Lord that he is helping me keep my head above water and enjoy the ride :)

Also, I am moving right along with my book about Adoniram Judson and I gotta say it's really keeping my attention and I'm learning a lot about him.

Also, my Thai friend Berm has a Birthday today and so I just wanted to shout out or blog out a special Happy Birthday to him :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERM!!! =)

BenH

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Energyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy =)

Sunday, September 27, 2009 0 comments

As I've said in previous blog posts, I have recently begun to preach for Children's Church. As you all know I really enjoy working with kids and this has been a great opportunity for me to begin preaching practice. Well, Today the energy level had to be recorded at an all time high for my teaching experience. Seriously, I am so exhausted. One kid was bouncing up and down before class and I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Wellll, Today I don't have a soccer game because it's raining so I'm getting all my energy out now!" The way most of the boys were going I would have guess the same was true about all of them :)

On top of that the songs and special music went longer than planned and then my Pastor who usually goes overtime went shorter, so I had to quickly finish the story, lay out my points, sing a choir song and run them out the door. lol :)
It would take too much writing to describe the antics the kids had, but thankfully every children's church was not like this morning. I think I'll try starting the message earlier. At least most all the kids are very good with taking notes during the message. I think that will really help them grow in their christian life as they move into the adult services and take notes there also.

Though there are the crazy times like today with the kids, I think the kids have a fabulous future being raised in a church like this. Or rather to explain myself , they will have a fabulous future in heaven because the way things are looking I don't know how fabulous this life will be on earth for christians :) I'll be praying that the parents are teaching these Bible lessons at home because much much much depends on what is taught in the home by the parents. Parents have the awesome responsibility to build upon what is taught in the preaching or they can easily tear down the preacher and the teachings. It's a big responsibility because their children's future depends on it.

Have a Great Day!!!
BenH

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How to Wash Your Earbuds!

Friday, September 25, 2009 1 comments

I advise you to use caution when proceeding with this cleaning procedure. Side effects could result in ripped or mangled earbuds or soggy speakers. Possibility of survival: Slim.

Well, my normal procedure when putting my clothes from my hamper into the clothes piles is to feel the pockets on all my clothes. I have had many "near death" experiences for certain items. I recall one particular experience which began this tradition and that was when my $50 bluetooth headset went through the wash cycle and was found DOA in my room. Yes, sad memories. BUT a good one because it has started this ritual which was been very successful until yesterday....

The one factor which is hard to keep an eye on is when someone else generously offers their assistance in taking your clothes up for you without your notice. Well, I think it didn't take much thought on your behalf to understand that is exactly what happened. I got these cool earbuds which came with my new iPhone 3Gs and if I bought them separately the retail price is $30. Yes, $30! I personally think that is quite a bit to pay for headphones, but I gotta say I really like these ones. Yes, so as I was saying, these headphones were neatly tucked in my pocket and went for a spin in the washer, then the dryer and I just picked them up a few minutes ago from my stairs with my clothes (nicely washed)

ANNNNDDD The Verdict is: CLEAN. Yes, my bloggy friends thought they were knotted into a ball of wire and are as curly as a girls hair after it's been curled they still work. (Hmm, maybe I should try a straightener, LOL)

Just for kicks I thought I would take a picture of these curly cue headphones. I really do praise the Lord that they work, because I was really bummed when I realized what had probably happened and ran upstairs and started digging in the clothes only to realize that those pants were presently in the washer... :)


Have a Great Day Ya'll!
BenH

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Start Laughing

Thursday, September 24, 2009 1 comments

If This Doesn't get you laughing this morning then I don't know what will =)



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Here is a funny video my sister recorded when Hudson was in the shower. He likes to play tapes while he is in the shower, and recently he's been singing. It is quite cute :)

BenH


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Evaluating the Culture Part 2

Monday, September 21, 2009 0 comments

Here is Part 2 of Evaluating the Culture










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New Blog Look

Sunday, September 20, 2009 2 comments

I know most of ya'll use blog readers so you wouldn't notice the change on the blog. It's not like it will revolutionize your look on creativity or something, but hey I thought I would point out the obvious.


Thanks for following my blog =)
BenH

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I will be putting part three of the getting to the marriage altar message. I just have been a little busy recently and haven't got a copy of the message yet :) Maybe I will post it tomorrow.


Last year Bro. Ronnie (our Assistant Pastor) started the church on a memorization program which really took off. This year my partner has been Mr. Forro. I've got to say he has been really encouraging with his faithfulness in keeping me accountable and also staying on track and ahead of the verses himself. Tonight he just quoted to me the next verse which is due in two weeks :) and after he quoted it to me we both got into a great discussion about how the word of God is so powerful and important in our life. We started talking about the message and how the Word has been used in our own life. I haven't really got to know Mr. Forro very much until this time and I've got to say since he has been saved (which wasn't that long ago) he has been a new man. Praise the Lord for how he works in us sinners.

That is my blessing for today. I hope that you all find an accountability partner (if you haven't already) and encourage him or her today in the Word, memorize the Word together, and exhort one another to be prepared for the Lord's return.

Praising the Lord,
BenH

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Giving All

Saturday, September 19, 2009 1 comments

As I said before I am reading the book called, "To the Golden Shore". It is about the life of Adoniram Judson. In this chapter Adoniram has about a week or so left before he gets on the long boat to Calcutta India and then to Burma. Adoniram got married during this week (Feb 5, 1812) The preacher, Pastor Allen, married them and the words he concluded the wedding with were to the parents and couple. "My dear children, you are now engaged in the best of causes. It is that cause for which Jesus the Son of God came into the world and suffered and died. You literally forsake father and mother, brothers and sisters, for the sake of Christ and the promotion of His Kingdom." With his voice breaking he said, "To the care of the great Head of the church I now commit them. To His grave I also resign you all. May He gather you together in one. And may you all return and come to Zion with a song, and with shouts of everlasting glory."


This was the end of the service except for the hymn before the benediction, which Parson Allen had composed especially for the occasion. People wept unashamedly as they sang:

Go, ye heralds of salvation;
Go, and preach in heathen lands;
Publish loud to every nation,
What the Lord of life commands.
Go, ye sisters, their companions,
Soothe their cares, and wipe their tears,
Angels shall in bright battalions
Guard your steps and guard your fears.

Landed safe in distant regions,
Tell the Burmans Jesus died;
Tell them Satan and his legions,
Bow to him they crucified.
Far beyond the mighty Ganges,
When vast floods beyond us roll,
Think how widely Jesus ranges
Nations wide from pole to pole.

While form heathen nations blended
Light and peace within shall rise;
When your days on earth are ended,
Christ receive you to the skies.
To his grace we now resign you,
To him only you belong;
You with every christian Hindoo,
Join at last the angelic throng.


Not your normal wedding songs and preaching is it. These four missionary couples had full expectation that the amount of people they would win for Christ would be few and the cost would be their life, but they were more than willing to give all to demonstrate their love for Christ. Right before the wedding Adoniram said goodbye to his eighteen year old brothers and he would only see him one more time later in his life.

Benjamin

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Interesting Drink

Thursday, September 17, 2009 0 comments

I've been blessed to have some great people to work for this past year and one company I work for goes to different conventions and interview people about natural foods and the benefits and then other questions related to the food industry. I do have to say quite a few of their videos are interesting to watch. This video I did today I thought was rather cool. Some of you may have heard of Stevia because it is a good replacement for sugar because it is actually good for you. The only thing is that it could give a bad after taste if not used correctly. This drink uses stevia to replace sugar and and they get it all within the cap.....


Check out the video (no comment on the haircut :)



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Emmaus Heritage Day

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 1 comments

During the Emmaus Heritage Day my family got to play some music and it attracted some people over. Some people wanted to know the church we were from so we pointed them to the next tent beside us, lol. It was great, Here are two videos I took on my iPhone.


Video#1


Video #2


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The book "To the Golden Shore" is great. I love to read about the ambition that Judson had to reach those that were lost. It is so great to see how God worked on his life and in the lives of his friends who also wanted to go to the Orient. In the chapters I read this morning I read about Adoniram's call and when the Lord laid it on his heart. He came back to his parents and he didn't want to share his calling just yet because he knew that it would be hard for them to take. He didn't realize how hard it would be until they revealed their secret to him a couple days after his return. His parents were so excited to tell him that he was asked to be the assistant Pastor of one of the largest churches and his mother added that he would also be close to home. The book said that his Dad had hopes that Adoniram would be the pastor of the Largest church and be like other great preachers of that time. The pressure on Adoniram was so heavy as he shared with them his secret how he felt that the Lord had called him not to be a preacher of a large church, but a missionary, and not just a missionary to a nearby area, but across the world (to Burma) where no missionaries he knew of had gone.

Though his mother, sister and father were greatly disappointed in this new revelation he knew God had led him to that decision and he set his course. As I continued to read God continued to open the doors...

The book is really exciting to me =)

BenH

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I mentioned my Pastor's blog in this video. This is the Link to his blog.
Have a Great Day!
BenH

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I'm glad to hear that this message has been a blessing to quite a few of you. Here is the most recent message which my Pastor preached this past Sunday Night. It was a powerful message and the picture of Christ's bride was so awesome! It'll send ya chills :D hehe













Thank you for your interest!
BenH

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Audio Issues

Saturday, September 5, 2009 0 comments

I hear that there were some difficulties with playing the audio from my previous post so here are two options. 1. You can play it with the embedded flash player below or you can right click on the link above the audio and "save as" to your computer.











Thank you for your interest!
BenH

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Preparing for a Mate

Friday, September 4, 2009 0 comments

My Pastor just preached this past Sunday Night on "The Surest Way to Destroy Your Future Marriage". Though the sermon was quite longer than most the interest was very high. In fact after the message was over, more than 30 people signed up for a copy or more than one copy of the message. I don't think I have to go into any detail at all to explain that marrying the right person is important, so this message was very much a challenge to me, because I want to follow God's will for my life because He knows best. For so many of the choices in life I remind myself of the classic example of Samuel going to choose a King and he thought surely he was looking at the Lord's chosen one, but it wasn't. David's Father and the man of God in their own minds thought that Eliab would be the one. However, God reminded them that men look on the outside and make their decisions that way, but GOD looks right through that all and sees the heart.


I neeeeeed to make sure that I am seeking God's leading because many times God's way isn't mans. So if ya'll think of me from time to time, please keep me in your prayers regarding this particular area of seeking God's wisdom and not my own. Thanks!

Okay, I know there are a handful of you that don't go to my church so I wanted to make this message available to ya'll also. Here is the link: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/735608063/ac09f1e4907eb765365b3bbd8adf684c

If the link doesn't work for some reason please comment or send me an email and I'll fix it up and get a new one out there.

Here is another message which I just listened to recently. It's by Bro. S.M. Davis on the same topic. https://rcpt.yousendit.com/735665987/c8bf39ebac071c74998fb2f85a17ca42

Thank you for following my blog everyone!
BenH

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Very Good Food

Thursday, September 3, 2009 0 comments

Has anyone out there at this stuff? I really really like it. It's
called Supremely Spicy Hummus. After eating Thai food I wouldn't
really call it supremely spicy, but it does have some spice to it. It
tastes great with Blue Chips or these veggie crisps I'm having with it
right now. Definitely try it out :D Have a Great Day!

BenH

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My First Video/Blog Post =)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 0 comments

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Morning Dedication

Thursday, August 27, 2009 0 comments

From the Book "Puritan Prayers"


ALMIGHTY GOD,
As I cross the threshold of this day
I commit myself, soul, body, affairs, friends, to thy care;
Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.
Incline my heart to thy ways;
Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms clay;
May my lips be a well-tuned harp to sound thy praise;
Let those around me see me living by thy Spirit,
trampling the world underfoot
unconformed to lying vanities
transformed by a renewed mind
clad in the entire armour of God,
shining as a never-dimmed light,
showing holiness in all my doings.
Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands.
May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.
In needful transactions let my affection be in heaven,
and my love soar upwards in flames of fire,
my gaze fixed on unseen things,
my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility,
mockery of earth and it's vanities.
May I view all things in the mirror of eternity,
waiting for the coming of the Lord,
listening for the last trumpet call,
hastening unto the new heaven and earth
Order this day all my communications according to thy wisdom,
and to the gain of mutual good.
Forbid that I should not by profited or made profitable
May I speak each word as if my last word,
and walk each step as my final one.
If my life should end today, let this be my best day

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The Choice to Live for Christ

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 0 comments


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Family Blessings

Friday, August 21, 2009 0 comments

It's the last night in Tennessee. It's been great being together with my family again. Here is a picture of the last sunset and our family devotions from tonight. I think we were singing a song there. :) We then watched a video of some family that has four girls and two guys and the parents trained them to live a godly life. Good story, nice family. Well, I need to get my bags packed now because we are heading back to PA in the morning. Have a Good Day Everyone!

BenH

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I've noticed this command from Christ often this past month as I've been reading the Bible in my devotions. God wants his followers to be active in moving ourselves out of what we are currently doing and moving or going ourselves to those who need to hear the gospel message. The love which Jesus has shown to us is unbelievable and Christ simply wants us to also give up ourselves as he did and give everyone the opportunity to be saved. Don't think I'm just pointing the finger at you, but what actions have you been taking to speak to someone who needs to be saved. Do you have the Love for others as the Love which Christ showed for us on the cross?
Also, to add to this, God may have not led you specifically to go to another country to preach, but there is a task which everyone can be apart of and that is praying to the Lord of the Harvest that he will send forth more laborers into his harvest. So today, Go, and pray for others to go.

BenH

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Are you Alert?

Thursday, August 20, 2009 1 comments

Well, I'm back, and alive, breathing and hmmm, yup all the above. After my flight back to the states I had an entire day and a half to unpack and then repack to leave for family vacation. We left on Thursday night at 3AM. Yup, bright and early. Since I was already used to being up at that time of night from being in Thailand I was able to put in some driving hours, but then I started getting tired and needed to hand the driving back over to my dad.
The plane flight was great. I had the opportunity to talk to two different people on my way over about the Bible. There was another guy who I would've tried to talk to, but he was an older Chinese guy and he didn't know much English, in fact I needed to help interpret some of his English to the Stewardess which was quite funny. AND YOU KNOW WHAT. There wasn't ANY crying babies on that flight, I don't even think I heard a wimper. I still couldn't sleep, but hey at least it was quiet. Don't get me wrong, I like kids and babies, but being on a very very long plane flight with them is not my most desired experience.... Just being honest
In my devotions this morning I was reading the verse in Matthew 26:41... It says, "Watch and Pray, that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." I don't know about the rest of you who read this blog, but as for me, my hearts desire is to follow exactly what the Lord wants me to do and to not fail. Unfortunately, like the disciples here I feel like a failure. The christian life sounds simple enough. God laid it out in his word, but I have this stinkin flesh to contend with and it gets me of course at times. I've made enough decisions that were dumb and by this time I wish I had a list to follow each day that told me the decisions to make. I know that may sound boring, but I sometimes think that way because then I wouldn't make mistakes. *Sigh* I know thats not going to happen, so in order to make the right decisions I really need to follow this verse and "Watch and Pray". I agree my spirit is willing, but also my flesh is weak.
So bottom line here, Be watchful, be alert, don't go to sleep because it's when your letting your mind waft through space that the devil has the opportunity to put his thoughts in your mind. Take each thought into captivity and pray about it. Watch to see what the Lord's will is, be alert, attentive and Pray always. Challenging thought, well at least for me it is. I know ya'll are little angels out there, lol J/K

As some of you know I made an iPhone App called "My Prayer Lists" and the Lord has been faithfully selling my app and taking care of my needs. I think more special to me though has been the compliments I've received from it. I can't share them all, but I'll just share the one I received yesterday morning:

"I just want to say that your Prayer Lists program has revolutionized my spiritual walk with God. I have never been so consistent, intentional and specific in my prayers, and I feel closer to God that I ever have before. I show all of my friends, and I can't stop talking about it!"

It was quite a blessing to read that. Well, I apologize for the long post, but I hope that it was a blessing to ya'll. Have a Great Day!

Bye!
Ben

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Blogging from Hong Kong

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 0 comments

It's hard to believe it's been a month. A MONTH! The time sure went
fast. The Lord has been so kind to have given me this trip. Going on
this trip has encouraged the burden the Lord has put on my heart to be
a missionary. Nat and Bro. Tom have been a blessing to me as I've had
some good Biblical conversations with them. It is always a blessing to
me to be able to spiritual conversations with people who I know have a
priority to walk with the Lord. This past Sunday 'by accident' I ended
up going with Bro. Lange, David and some other guys to a Nepalese
church. I was able to play the guitar with Nat and Bro. Nadaskay and
then Bro. Lange preached a salvation message. I am looking forward to
seeing what is going to happen with their desire to see a church
started.
I'm on the plane to Hong Kong now and the Lord has given me a good
flight so far. Just had a good cup of coffee and am enjoying a very
nice seat. I can see first class right through the curtain :) hehe.
Nooooo, I'm not jealous, I'm just being thankful I am toward the front
of the plane and not all the way in the back. :) It surprised me when
I got on the plane that I only had to walk a few steps and then my
seat was smack in front of me.
It was sad to see my friends see me off. It was really sweet of them
all to give up a few hours in order to see me off. Bro. Tom has been
an excellent example of giving of his time. He didn't have to do
anything for me, but he willingly drove me around to any place I
needed to get to and believe me, it is not easy or quick getting
through Bangkok. Bro. Tom said he hasn't had to drive through New
York. I haven't driven through Bangkok or New York, but to me the
traffic and driving in Bangkok would be so much harder to deal with
than NY. Bro. Gaudet
Well, I just heard the announcement that I need to packup my laptop
because we will be landing soon. I look forward to seeing my family
soon and also seeing my church family. Thank you to everyone that has
been praying for me because your prayers mean sooooo much to me and
the only reason this trip was so successful was because of the prayers
everyone

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It's Friday

Friday, August 7, 2009 0 comments

Hello my wonderful Family!
It is Friday night! I can't believe it's the end of the week again!
It is hard to believe that I will fly out this upcoming Tuesday. The
time goes so quick. Nat and I are working fervently over the video
project :) There is a bit to do, so please pray we can get it finished
up. I went into town tonight with Nat, Anne, Pookie, Carolyn, Mr. &
Mrs. Gaudet. The main reason we went into town was because I needed to
get my suit checked out to make sure it was good to go. The guys there
were very helpful with helping me make decisions on what to get. As I
said before, it is hard for me to picture what a suit or shirt will
look like when it is just a sheet of cloth. I had basically the same
measurements as last time so that made things easier.
You've probably already heard, but Bro. Nadaskay is in town. Did you
send him in to check on me? LOL J/K . Ya, so it was good to see him
again and Monday night we will be having a singspiration since we've
got quite a few LVBCers here.
I'm not sure if I said this already, but I was at the border again
this week to unload the truck with all the boxes of literature. We
finished the work in about an hour. It was a very intense hour though.
It felt like multiple hours because of the work involved. Nat, Noah
and I were completely soaked in sweat by the time we were finished.
You may have seen some of the pictures on facebook. The boxes went all
the way to the top of the ceiling. We had to keep showing the guys how
to stack the boxes in a way so they don't fall over as they are
pulled off. Two of the guys did catch on and so we kept running boxes
all over and trying to keep everything organized. As we re-evaluated
the amounts of certain boxes we had to move some piles to other places
or add certain piles to others all the while trying to work with some
guys that didn't speak any English. We kept Noah busy translating for
us.
Well, I am back safe now and am in Bangkok running full speed :) Oh,
while we were in town today we stopped at a Mexican restaurant and the
food was excellent. We had a very good time talking and joking around.

I'm just about out of battery so I'm going to plug in my laptop and go
to bed here. Have a good night. I love you all!
Benjamin

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I'm Exhausted

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 2 comments

Today has been a very wearisome day. I doubt I spelled that word right, but I think you may have guessed that I was trying to say I am tired. I want to write more, but my eyes are closing as I write this. Just check out Nats blog because from what I've seen has been doing a great job at posting updates. The internet was down yesterday and I was travelling and video taping almost the entire other day, so that is my lame excuse for my lack of writing (again) ;)

Thanks for checking out the blog,
cya
Benjamin

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It's Saturday

Friday, July 31, 2009 0 comments

Hello Family,
As I'm sure you've heard by now, Nat has arrived and he is in one
piece :). He got up quite early this morning so I think his body is
confused as mine was what time it actually is. There is a missionary
family that is nearby and she was about to have her fifth kid so
Pookie and Anne went to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning to pick up
the kids with the taxi and bring them back to Anne's house. The girls
watched the kids and then right before picking up Nat at the airport
Bro. Tom took us to the hospital to drop them off. Their last name was
Woods, so Mrs. Woods had a little girl yesterday morning as far as I
know all went well. It's been busy around here with doing the video
projects so thats the reason for the lack of emails. It won't be
possible for me to write about it all, so let me think of something
that may be interesting... hmm, oh well I'll guess I'll stick with the
travel theme. Aaron and Heather flew back to Ohio two days ago, they
were great guys. Goodbye's are always bummers. Aaron was really funny
to the moment he left.
Hmm I hear a kid singing really loud next door, I think it's Gracie,
Jon has been counting down the days till Nat was too arrive and now he
is officially here and he is with the kids next door probably playing
with Jon's airplanes. Jon doesn't miss a thing as Nat and I passed by
the door to go to 7-11 he some how spotted us and immediately ran out
the door and started calling us.
OHHHH thank you so much for the sweet note Mom and also the bags of
licorice. I really do like that stuff. We started eating the apple
flavored ones first. Noah's question was, "Are these made by Apple" :)
hehe, anyhow we had a good laugh out of that. Well, I think I'm going
to stop by the Lange's, though I've been here for so long I've only
been over to the Lange's about 2-3 times. I don't really have any
plans for the day. Anne said something about Future Park, but who
knows we all slept in really like because we were tired (beside Nat,
lol :)

Have a Great Day! Stay Sweet! :P

BenH

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God is Wonderful

Monday, July 27, 2009 0 comments

Hello Mom, Dad, Nina, Selena, Titus, and Hudson!!!
The Lord has been very good to me. Right now I just feel so
overwhelmed about how great the Lord has been to me. I just had a
great meal with Berm and Aaron at Future Park and the day though
filled with many problems was successful in my eyes. I got my laptop
working with the server. I located and imported all the footage I've
recorded the last few days and got my hair cut and the lady didn't
butcher it like poor Aaron, lol. I was nervous for a second because
when I was explaining how I wanted my hair cut I told Berm that the
guy who cuts my hair buzzes the sides and he said, "Oh, you want a
buzz" Ahhh, right now I no desire for a buzz. Thankfully we got things
worked out so I came out of the house with hair still in tact. It was
funny going in this ladies front door to get my hair cut cause there
was lady next to me getting her hair hydrated or something because she
had this thing over her and steam was coming out. :) I have no clue,
but whatever, I guess those big things work. Thankfully guys don't
need that done because it looks so crazy.
Oh my word, mom once again I see why animals aren't your thing. :)
I'm not sure if I mentioned in any of my other emails, but David has
two baby bunnies, Joshua and Anna. Well, there is only one now because
Joshua died two days ago. Anyhow, Anna has been bouncing around the
room because she has figured out how to jump out of the box. She's
been using the bathroom all over the room and last night she decided
that my pants on the floor were a great hotel. I mean I guess you have
to look at it from her perspective, the air conditioning was blowing
there, the pants are nicely laid out and softer than tile. Well,
needless to say she thought her hotel came with bathroom facilities
and she soiled my pants like really bad. I was a little bummed to find
my pants looking like that in the morning. Thankfully David has
banished Anna to the downstairs and is planning on getting her a cage
so she doesn't always have free roam of our dorm.
Anyhow as I was saying, I am rejoicing in a great day, my office area
is cleared off and ready to begin some creative projects. Oh, ya gotta
pray for Bro. Tom because he kinda had a rough day and is resetting
the server tonight because to be honest it was a bit of a pain this
morning and right now we can't connect to the printer.
Oh Titus, you would love the buffett here, you can eat so much at
this Japanese buffett for a really good price. We had all sorts of
meat and squid, haha. Honestly it wasn't bad, a little on the chewy
side. I wouldn't make it a diet, but it was good to try out. We get to
cook everything on a coal heated grill and so we just kept asking for
rice and more meat and noodles and we kept the coals going. There was
also icecream there so that was pretty cool. Us guys really got our
money worth from that place =) .
The Lord has been taking care of all my needs also, my new "Bible
Plan" app has been selling fairly well as well as "My Prayer Lists"
and so far it seems that every day all the expenses I've paid out
everyday have been covered with each days sales. Hey it ain't much,
but to me it's just cool to see God taking care of me each day. The
Pastor at Lat Prou (or however you spell that) preached about
depending on God for each days needs and the passage he used was about
when God took care of his people by giving them manna and they weren't
to take more than they needed.
Oh, I feel like I have more to write, but I'm not sure how to sum up
my day in a letter like this. Too much typing. :) hehe, anyhow, oh oh,
I just remembered to tell ya mom that I did practice my piano :) *
wink *wink. There are two guys at the church here which are the
Pastor's sons, they are Billy and Bay. They both play the piano and
loved the music books I brought over. I told them they could photocopy
them because they don't have any of that music in Thailand and beside
everything in Thailand is illegal anyhow so I don't think whoever was
the writer of the music will have a cow that there music is being used
to worship the Lord in a country that can't get their music. Oh, also
I got to sing in the choir was pretty cool. They did sing english for
us :) hehe, ya I think I would pretty much butcher the song if it was
in Thai. I can hardly use English properly :)
Well, I can go on and on with stories, so I better stop. Thanks for
reading my ramblings. ;) Love ya, Miss ya, and Praying for ya :D

cya!
BenH

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Just About Got It

Sunday, May 31, 2009 0 comments

Hey Everyone,

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I got really ambitious tonight and decided to create an entire website from scratch. Reason being by windows laptop died =( and on top of that all the files for the old website www.themusichalls.com were on there and then along with that my mother reminded me that she just sent an email out to the church list that our new CD is out and they will soon be able to hear the samples of it on the website. Well, having no files I decided to start the website again with this other program I was thinking of using. The purchase buttons and iTunes links aren't on there just yet and there a couple other things which are missing, but basically it all came together and I'm going to give all my blog readers a sneak peak :D If you go to www.themusichalls.com you will see the old one, but if you go to www.themusichalls.com/new then you can check out what the new site will look like and you can hear the samples to the new CD. Hopefully I can get the site finished tomorrow afternoon and then share the link with the rest of the church family and others. 

The new CD came out really really nice. I think my sisters sound so good on their harp duets. Also, I did the CD cover again and I really like the pictures and simple layout. =)

Have a Good Night!
BenH


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Presenting Us Faultless

Monday, May 25, 2009 0 comments

To complete New Testament Survey 2 I needed to read through the New Testament as one of the assignments to pass. I've read through the New Testament who knows how many times, I never how been bored of it and it's amazing that each time I always have something that pops out to me. Now I'm only listing one verse in this blog, but really there's probably over a billion things I could write. 

  In the book of Jude, Jude concludes the passage by saying "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy..." That verse just get's me excited that Jesus with joy, exceeding joy will present me faultless. We all know that we will stand before God to give account of the works in our body. But, Praise the Lord, Jesus Christ will present those that believe on God's Son and the work which he did on the cross to provide a way of salvation will presented as faultless. I can't imagine the number of times I've been found at fault against God, however with joy Jesus Christ will present me faultless. 

    The plan of salvation is miraculous.... now the action we need to take on this verse is to make sure that we are in Christ.... He desires us to not be trapped in the wicked lifestyle of the world, but to be like him. He is able to keep us from falling, and if we look in the scriptures we can see what we need to do in order to keep from falling. Don't use the excuse that Christ will present you faultless and you can live anyway you wish, Paul wrote clearly that we are not to live like that. 

Live for Him because you Love Him!
BenH

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This is a really neat story...

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Some Cool Clients

Sunday, May 3, 2009 0 comments

There are two really nice guys I work for, Mark and Damian, the one lives in Florida and the other in Georgia. They run the website www.virtualdealfactory.com and a little over a week ago they had their Grand Opening. The Grand Opening was hosted at Marks house and wow his house is amazing. They invited the people that are on their website to come and visit and start making relationships and doing deals with people. Their website is really taking off, I check it every day or two and the member database is always increasing. 

I came across a link from one of the members on VDF who taped some of the house, I didn't realize how cool the house was :) 
I think Damian checks my blog every so often here so I'll make sure to put a plug in for his business and tell you that he does a fabulous job, seriously, he is a great guy. =) So if you are into real estate you gotta check out his website . 


 Have a Fabulous Day!!!
BenH

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Blowing Blessings

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 0 comments

Achoo Achoo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Yes my friends, it is that time of year again where all of a sudden normal looking people turn into red weeping snot covered gloomy faced victims of the allergy season and unfortunately I am no exception. My little brother Hudson has inherited this wonderful trait and is currently trying to find his way to his room through puffy eyes. I can actually hardly see the screen myself, so I'm not exactly sure why I chose this time at of all times to write on my blog. hmmm, I don't know.

Anyway, I just got back from church visitation and enjoyed walking with my brother and sisters from house to house breathing in the warm pollenated air. :) Actually my allergies really didn't kick in till I started driving back home.... ya, I think I scared my sisters on a couple sneezes :)

I named this blog blowing blessings for a reason, and that is because this is my blessing blog I want to look on the bright side of life, not the puffy side :) Even though the air is saturated in pollen the sky and landscape has been so full with beauty. The flowers I've seen in peoples yards look so nice and I've noticed quite a few very well kept lawns. Also, there was the most absolute beautiful sunset I have seen in a long, I've been quite awed by the beautiful settings God has created for me and others to enjoy. Also, one more thing has been the warm weather. I am sooooooooo thankful for the warm weather, I'm a big fan of it, hehe :)

To all my allergy infected friends out there, KEEP SMILING :)
BenH

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Our Little Bonus Boy

Thursday, April 16, 2009 1 comments

Today was the birthday of my little brother Hudson. We've given him a nickname which he really loves us calling him. We call him our little bonus boy because he came into our family at the tail end. I can still remember the day when I saw my after he got back early in the morning and I was able to get everyone together and my dad told us it was a boy and his name was definitely going to be Hudson. All of us kids wanted his name to be Hudson because we all thought it sounded so cool and also the fact that Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China made it a great name.

Another part about Hudson's arrival was that day when we went into school, I can still remember Mrs. Rossi asking me to announce who was born, It was exciting :) Hudson has so changed our lives and life would definitely not be the same without him. I've got a couple pictures I took today.
As a little tidbit, I think my brother is going to be an accountant kid like my dad. He is doing so very very good with numbers and he is always calculating things out and telling us how much we will save or how long something took. We all get a good laugh out of him. Today when my mother Hudson and I went into Weis to get him a cake for today my mother had her mind toward getting and icecream cake, but Hudson saw a sign that caught his attention. FREE SODA... Now that is enough to catch any little boys attention. It was a double wammy for her Hudson because it was not only soda, but free soday. He convinced my mom that though you had to buy the small cake to get the free icecream it would still be cheaper to buy two cakes and get two free liter sodas than buying one icecream cake. Since it was his birthday my mom let him make the choice. I can't describe how excited he was to have his birthday dinner. The girls had made a really special little supper which you will see in the pictures. He was giving everybody hugs tonight :) Little kids are soo cool :)

Have a Great Night Everyone!
BenH






Hudson talking with Pastor :)

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Can You Believe It!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 0 comments

Yes, you can believe your eyes. Two posts with pictures in ONE day! I
forgot to mention another blessing which came all the way from South
Carolina! The Reeders! The famiy stayed up here for a few days and Tim
had came here two weeks earlier. We had a great time. I have some
pictures of cute little Gracelyn I thought I'd post. She's grown up
and likes to talk :) Im not sure if the talking is really the new
thing, but it's a little more understandable now :)


BenH

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Here are some pictures I took on my iPhone last week. The guy
interviewing us is Nate. He was the cordinator of the events that go
on. Have a Great Day Everyone!

BenH

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Whats Up!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 2 comments

Hello Everyone,


It has been awhile since I have taken the time to write a post. A lot has been going on and I'll try to share with you some of the recent highlights of the blessings in my life :)

1. Almost a Complete House

After seven months of work on the house, we are finally getting settled back into "normal" life. The house is really beautiful, I'm really thankful that the Lord has given my parents the finances to do this project. In addition to that, you may remember when I told you about my room getting flooded and such. Well, it just came to my mind that there was a part to that story that I left out because, well, it was kind of depressing, but not it is a really cool blessing. =)
Just to jog your memory, back in December the pavement guys were working on our driveway and extending it a little further to attach to the new garage. Well, in the process they ended up clogging the pipe which came to the side of the driveway. The pipe was the one which connected to the sump pump in the basement, and as you probably guessed, that night rained poured so hard that night and the pump was unable to continue to pump the water out and stopped working.
That week as I had told you about I was working on an extremely strenuous project because the client I was working for cut the time frame they gave me in less than half and told me I needed the project done in a week. Just to give you a glimpse of the size of the project. It was ten 1 Hour DVD's that needed to be produced. Also, the guy who I subbed a portion of the work out was having a hard time keeping up with the new deadline and then called me to tell me I needed to pay him an additional $250 for the rush delivery. Understanding that you can probably imagine the feeling on Friday morning (Project due on Monday) when I got up and found my brand new apple laptop I had for five days submerged in water and found out my external hard drive for the project I was working on wouldn't open on my old laptop. Yes...

okay, so now you are up to speed. I found out a month later that the insurance would definitely take care of 100% of the Laptop!!! . That was such a blessing because, as you know, Apple laptops ain't cheap. :) So here I am three months later typing on my new laptop and finally back in my room with new carpeting. All the carpeting had to be replaced because there was so much water. Though it was nice being with my brother in his room, sleeping on an air mattress in a tiny room gets old quick. So I am quite elated being in such a nice room. That's blessing #1

#2 My Prayer List App

I was able to release a new version of my iPhone application, "My Prayer List". Though it's obviously not a hot seller like the other games out there. It seems to have been a blessing to a number of people. I've got some very kind comments from people.

#3 My Family

It has been so nice to sing and play songs with my family. We just got back from a campground and played a whole slew of songs for two senior citizens outings. The one was right in Macungie, PA and the other was in Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The first group was about 200 or so and other group was about 300 more or less. There is actually another one coming up this Thursday, and I'm not sure where that one is located :) My mother does the scheduling for these events. It is a great team effort on all of us to put together these "performances". My little brother Hudson is joining the group now and boy does he sing out nice and loud. I love it. I can't imagine what life would be like without my little munchkin. He has changed my families life so much.
I hear that some families have a hard time getting along with each other and really dislike each other. Thankfully I can say that though we do sometimes have differences :) We have all really got over it and drawn closer to each other. I can honestly say that I love ALL of my family. =D

Okay, there are a whole lot of blessings in life, but I'm going to leave it off here. I'm going to do my best to keep more up to date, because writing this blog is a blessing to me. Have a Great Day Everyone!

BenH



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"Banana Man"

Thursday, April 9, 2009 0 comments

Hello Everyone,


I am planning on continuing this blog :) :) :) Seriously, I do enjoy putting an occasional update on here, but it's been so busy. I came across a video which I thought I would share with the rest of you.

Have a Great Night and I'll be sure to post an update of my life :)
BenH

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Clean Your Screen

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 3 comments

I just saw this email today and I just had to share this with you. If you're like me I find I need to clean the outside of my screen, but I have real trouble with cleaning the inside so I found out a way how to!!! Click here to Clean Your Screen


What a blessing to have a inside screen cleaner :)

BenH

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At The Cross with Thai Flute

Saturday, March 21, 2009 1 comments

I was just studying for my Homiletics class and as I glanced across my desk I saw the flute which I bought in Thailand. I really love the sound it makes so I picked it up and started playing some hymns. I decided to record one of the songs and share it's pretty sound with you, unfortunately I made a couple mistakes like trying to find that bottom hole. It tricks me every time because that hole doesn't have to get played often and its one extra pinky finger length further in comparison to the others so I always seem to miss it :)


Here are the words to the song which I had in my mind while I played....

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
the debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
'tis all that I can do!

At the cross, at the cross,
where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away;
it was there by faith I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day!


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Is it Worth it?

Thursday, March 12, 2009 2 comments

On the long 6 hour trip to Ohio I had a whole lot of time to get some reading done. I was really glad for this opportunity because I feel like I've been so busy that I don't have time to read. During the trip I successfully completed the book "Getting Thing Done" by David Allen. That was a great book with a whole lot of good information. I'm really thankful to my Pastor and Brother Ronnie for letting me borrow that book. I've been busy trying to implement his lessons into my life.


I also got to read a short book which went over the "highlights" of Adoniram Judson's life. I put "highlights" in quotes because his life was anything but a wonderful highlighter. He endured much suffering to share the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would like to share with you the letter which he wrote to his first wife's father when he asked Ann's hand in marriage. The letter caught my attention and I want you to think about your response to receiving such a letter.

"I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the souterhn climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?"

Adoniram knew that the life he was going to face wasn't one of ease, but he knew how profitable it would be. Imagine receiving such a letter to ask you to give up someone so dear... The thought comes to my mind; is it to much to give up everything if only one person is rescued from the fires of hell. This was a willing choice which Adoniram to serve the Lord when he knew full well that it would end his life. It is amazing that an atheist man turned to God and became so convinced that he gave his life to win many Burmese to the Lord. He loved God

Consider yourself,

If you all have thoughts you can feel free to comment. Thanks! Have a Great Day!

BenH


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Another Day to Preach

Sunday, March 1, 2009 0 comments

Today I was able to go with brother Anger, Eric and my brother Titus to Bloomsburg. It was a great day and I was able to preach for the morning service. I preached on the story from Luke 7 about the woman who was a sinner and Simon the Pharisee. It was a really interesting story, one thought in particular which stood out to me was how Simon seemed to have no problem having Jesus over to his house, whereas others in the Bible felt Jesus was too great to even come to their home and then along with that the Pharisee looked down on the one person who humiliated herself in order to reverence Jesus. The application came down to asking each person to look into their heart and see if they have ever come to the place of humbling themselves before God because they see their debt they owe Christ or have they been like the Pharisee who from the passage seemed to not even think he had a debt.


The scriptures show us so clearly how we owe our whole life to Christ after how he has done so much for us. (Beside the fact that he is God) :)

Right now I am at Panera Bread on the internet here waiting till it is time to head back to church and then Brother Anger will preach the evening service and we will sing some songs and such.

Have a Great Day!
Benjamin


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Thoughts from another Blogger

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 0 comments

I've recently came across an interesting blog and have been reading it. I thought that Today's post about the "Art of Planning" was really good for me and so I thought I would share it all with the rest of you. Have a Great Day Everyone!


BenH =)

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My Sweet Valentines

Saturday, February 14, 2009 5 comments

I got something to announce to everyone... Oh yes, it's true.... and I'm going to let you all know today... I bought some sweet things for a very special person. :)... haha, okay, I won't keep you in suspense any more. LOL, I'm really bad at these suspense things :P

Okay, Okay, I actually have three special Valentines. Oh yes, be jealous :) lol My dad and I ended up going to Wegmans tonight and we got some gifts for the three special ladies in our life. Yes, that would be my mom and sisters :) Haha, seriously though. They have been amazing to me and it is such a blessing to have such great sisters and a great mom. I gotta tell ya'll they do some amazing cooking and it's really been nice having all these construction guys around the house because now their making even more cookies. It probably isn't the most healthiest thing, but hey, they sure do taste good.  I just need to keep working it off on the weight system :)


Also Nina wrote me a sweet little letter today which I thought was very nice of her. There are a lot of great things I can say, but I'll to summarize it I will just say they are the best sisters and mother anyone could ever have. :)

And I actually have pictures tonight :) Have a Great Day Everyone!
BenH






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Fireproof - So Inspiring

Friday, February 13, 2009 2 comments

I just finished watching the movie "Fireproof" with my family and I gotta say that Sherwood Baptist did a fantastic job at creating another great Christian Film. Beside the music I absolutely loved the video. OKAY, before I go any further in writing I'll just so NO I'm not having marriage problems, duh, obviously I'm not even married. I hope that wasn't a revelation for anyone. But, anywho. The whole truth of understanding what true love is so important. When you understand what Jesus Christ did for you when you were an enemy against him is so amazing. Jesus loved us before we ever even thought about loving Him back.

The Love of Christ is just so amazing. When you even begin to grasp the truth of God's love toward you, it is not possible to even begin to hate someone. The Bible from the beginning to the end shows Christ's love toward us... Some people base their unbelief on why would a loving God create hell. The real thing to focus on is why did a loving God die. Hell was created for the devil and his angels, however our rebellion against God causes us to be punished to hell unless we repent. Hell is a warning, not the focus. See that Christ loved you inspite of your sin and things will change. I Know =)

(ok, and side note here, please don't think that I have the lessons I post here on my blog down pat,,, haha ya.. that would be awesome if I did... but my goal is to keep changing so hopefully I will get some of these lessons better implemented by the end of my life :) Just wanted to tag that on so you don't think I am problemless, haha, far from that my friend, far from... God is still very busy working on me

Thanks for reading Everyone!
BenH

P.S. I SOOOOO want to create a motion film after watching the video....AHHH I would love to do that so much! =)

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