What is This? Who am I? And Welcome!!!

Welcome!!

This is my first real post of any kind to a blog.  I guess I will start by telling you a little about myself and what my intentions are.  So here goes.....

I was Born in Minnesota, and now live in rural Central Texas.  As I write this I am 33 years old, I have a beautiful wife of almost 14 years, whose name is April.  We have 4 young children at home and what a blessing they are to us.  I am a licensed master plumber in the state of Texas.  I currently work for a large local company after recently shutting down my own business of 8+ years.

Something I should mention early on is the general lack of grammatical integrity in my writing.  I often miss punctuation & capitalization in my writing mostly due to a lack of care.  I have never really been overly interested in English.  Therefore it was one of my worst subjects throughout my school years.  I certainly have a weak spot.  I understand that proper grammar leads to a greater joy and ease of reading something, so my promise to you as my reader is this, I will proofread every post before I publish it in an effort to correct problems.  I will also promise that I will mess up many times!  Prayerfully you will see improvement from post to post and find yourself benefiting from what I have to say.

I was redeemed by the blood of Christ in October of 1997 at a Promise Keepers Conference in Houston TX.  We are active members at our local church Andice Baptist Church here in Texas.  I honestly would have never guessed a Church would mean so much to me.  The people are fantastic and the Lord has laid a burden upon my heart for that church particularly, and the state of the general church.

I am certain on 2 of the gifts God has created within me for me to use in helping build his kingdom.  I have a great gift for discernment, spiritual and otherwise.  I find myself pretty capable in reading peoples mood, feelings, and intents.  I read body language and listen carefully to words often picking up on very small things that say a lot.  I am very good at reading written words and gleaming a sense of the mood and developing the intent from the author.  Little words can often change what something says so drastically.  I do this with my bible study.  I look deep into the text doing my best not to take things out of context. Instead I try to read things around the passages and listen to the spirit guide me on what is right and wrong in my interpretation. I try to find what the divine Author (God) is telling me through the writings.  I may miss the mark, or I might find something you of missed.  Let's discover this together.  I also have a natural leadership ability.  I often find that I become someone that people look to for direction and someone to follow.  I certainly did not ask for this and it often makes me feel uncomfortable and unworthy.  I have recently been becoming slightly more accepting and comfortable with this notion but still feel unworthy for the task.  Now though, I am convinced that this is from God and I am to use my gifts to honor him.

My plans are to use this blog to more or less document my own studies of the bible.  I am a very transparent person where nothing is really hidden.  Sometimes I might post about things that are not strictly about the bible or it's application to life, I might just be sharing about things happening in my life.  But really everything has a biblical application.  Everything has been allowed by our creator for the sole purpose of glorifying him and our greater good.  I am a sinner, and I am convinced I will not be free from sin in thought, word, and deed until I am no longer physically on this earth.  I will likely openly share thoughts and questions I have in my studies.  Sometimes, they may even call some doctrines into question.  I plead with you to bear with me and keep comments edifying and encouraging in the proper direction.  I will do the same for you.

Once again, I am not by any stretch of the wildest imagination a biblical scholar, but I have been getting an increasing desire to know more and to do more for the kingdom which the bible documents.  If at any point you think I challenge good sound doctrine of the Christian faith please comment on it.  I will gladly listen and reply as needed.  You may change my mind, I may change yours, or we may simply have to disagree.  I firmly believe in what Paul calls "more noble character" in Acts 17.  I believe a person should listen to teachers (such as Paul) and then search the scriptures to see if what they said is true.  We need to make a decision for ourselves as we are the ones that will be held accountable on our day of judgment.

So with all that said, I hope you will find this blog useful in your own life.  If you have not allowed the Holy Spirit to take control of your life my prayer is for you to do so.  If you do not know the Lord in a personal and loving way, if you do not feel his work upon your life, I plead with you to accept the loving act of Christ upon that cross 2000 years ago.  No matter how "bad" you have been,  no matter how "good" you are it is all the same to him.  And accepting that truth in faith is all that matters from this point all the way into forever.  May God Bless You, in your Travels Home! 

Andy Yeager