I know this doesn't really have anything to do with either me, or animation...but what can I say? I thought it was awesome! (And I guess I really do like BMWs!)

I will confess to you that over and over I am myself personally driven to do what I trust you may be led to do today. I look back on my life; and while I have spent much to thank God for, much in which to see His Spirit's hand, yet when I feel my responsibilities and my shortcomings, my heart sinks within my. When I think of my transgressions, better known to myself than to anyone else, and remember, too, that they are not known even to me as they are to God, I feel all hope swept away and my soul left in utter despair - until I come anew to the cross and think of who it was who died there, and why He died, and what designs of infinite mercy are answered by His death. It is so sweet to look up to the Crucified One again and say, "I have nothing but You, my Lord, no confidence but You. If Your are not accepted as my substitute, I must perish; if God's appointed Savior is not enough, I have no other. But I know You are the Father's well-beloved and I am accepted in You. You are all I want and all I have."

- Charles Spurgeon

Happy Easter!

In HIM,
Joseph<><

Okay everyone, I'm finally going to post a short little update before putting up my notes from church.

I'm in San Antonio, now, and am pretty much settled in to the CollegePlus!-intern apartment. I still don't quite have a full bed yet...but we're working on it. I got my drivers license (finally) last Monday, so, today was the first time I've ever gone to church by myself. If it hadn't been for the fact that nearly everyone there knew me, it would have been really difficult!

This week is actually just full of firsts. This was my first week working at CollegePlus! Doing things that I've never done before, such as video editing. Fortunately, it seems that it's turned out (that's a good sign). I'm also starting on some school related things to get me going. They're basically just essentials, designed to get me up to maximum learning speed! FUN!

Okay, that's all for now. Here's the notes from earlier...

"A Study in Genesis, part 4: Days of Creation 1-3"
By Doug Phillips

Scripture Reading: Job 38
Genesis 1:1-13

The beauty of the cosmos. We can't even begin to comprehend the absolute vastness of the galaxies. Even with all of the "scientific knowledge" and technology that we have available to us, we will still never know, nor shall we ever see all that was done. Why? Because we weren't there!

Angels were there. We know that from other passages, passages found in places like Job, Daniel and others.


Day 1: Genesis 1:1-5

God created light. What that light source was, we don't quite know for sure. But, there are many references to Jesus Christ being the "Light." We also know that he was there during the creation of the world. John 1:1 states simply, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

God also created, we believe, angels and angelic beings on this day (Job 38).

Exnihilo: latin meaning, "from nothing." Creation came from nothing but the very word of God. There was nothing before that, than there was something. What did God use during this first day? NOTHING! The very vibrations of the Lord's own voice was all that it took to form the universe.

Now, did God always use Exnihilo (creation from nothing) throughout the whole week of creation. No! For instance, on the sixth day, God made Adam "from the dust of the ground." Later, He made Eve from a rib that He removed from Adam. These two persons were created using pre-existing materials.

Do you know how important naming something really is? Well, God did it. Why? Because our God is a God of order. Therefore, after creating something, He named it. He classified it. He established a system of verbal recognition. Order.

On the first day, he named darkness, "night," and light, "day." God created, on the first day, light. Singular. On the fourth day (not discussed today), He created lights. Plural.


Day 2: Genesis 1:6-8

Firmament. Space. A vast expanse which the Lord God has created. Raqia is the Hebrew word where we derive our English translation. So, how many heavens are there? "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (Gen. 1:7)"

Okay, let's count them. First, there are two bodies of water, those above and those beneath. So, heaven #1 would be that firmament that was there before the flood. Heaven #2 is that place in the universe where God set the stars and other solar systems in motion. Heaven #3 is the heaven that we commonly think of when hearing the word, "heaven." It's the dwelling place of God and his angels.


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NOTE: Unfortunately, I'm not able to get everything that Mr. Phillips is saying. He's got a lot of information to cover, and not a lot of time to cover it in. I apologize, again, as there is also no audio companion to these humble notes.
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Day 3: Genesis 1:9-13

Grass. It's amazing how something as simple as grass could be so controversial to evolutionary scientists. According to "modern" science, grass wasn't found on the earth until after the dinosaurs. According to Scripture, though, it was the first form of plant life that God mentions creating on the third day (Gen. 1:11)!

Taxonomy: the naming and classification of life forms. Baramen ("created kind") is a new form of taxonomy being developed with an accurate, Biblical worldview.

According to many evolution theories and models, the first life form to develop was the "basic" single-celled organism. But, in the Biblical, creationist model, we find that the first life forms to come about were plants! The evolutionary mindset is backwards! They say that the last form of plants to develop were seed-producing plants, while, in Scripture, we see that these seed-producing plants were the first to be created!



We need to check our preconceived ideas, or those ideas and images that have been forced upon us by the media, against those given us by Scripture. There were no clouds, or precipitation, or rain. The plants that God created on the third day did not grow at some super-fast rate, but were spoken into being!

What an amazing God we serve!

In HIM,
Joseph<><

Well, I'm not totally happy with it...but at least I've been doing something! *wink*



A few of the things wrong with it: It's too flat. The layout is awful. The render looks 3D, which is NOT a good thing. Other than that (and more) it was fun, nonetheless, to model and create something.

Now, I know I promised to give everyone an update on my personal life, but I'm a little too busy to actually write a real post! I'll give everyone a hint/teaser, though.

I'M MOVING BACK TO SAN ANTONIO!!!! (For a year, anyways.) Okay, more to come, later.

In HIM,
Joseph<><

Wow. It's been way too long since the "regular postings." I'm really sorry, guys. Eventually, I'll actually post something on here that has to do with me and what the Lord is doing in my life! *wink*

First of all, I didn't take today's notes on my Palm. This week, I used my "new" IBM ThinkPad T41p notebook computer! YEAH!!! It was fun to take notes on this thing. It's actually what I'm using to type up this post, right now. Okay, I'll have to write some more stuff like this, later. But, for now, back to the sermon notes.

Temptation and Power
By Pastor Gary Custis

(You can listen to this message online here. )

Luke 4:1-15

The faithfulness of the Lord. You can always count on the faithfulness of God. He will faithfully carry out His word, His promises, His work. He's been faithful for our sanctification. Faithful for our salvation. He is faithful.

This passage in Luke seems to place Christ in a situation where he is alone...hungry...he's about to be tested. He's in the wilderness. After all of the miraculous events spoken of in previous chapters, we see Jesus in the wilderness. And he's hungry.

Why should the Son of God ever be hungry? Why is it that, of all human faults and weaknesses, all of them, why does Satan use hunger to tempt Christ?

This passage takes place directly following the baptism of Jesus Christ by John Baptist, and after a 40 day fast that has taken place in the wilderness of Judea.

What does Satan use to tempt us? "Does God really care about you?" "Do you think, if God really loved you, do you think He would have put you here, in all of this?" Satan uses circumstances to try to trap us and tempt us. Circumstances DO NOT define who God is. Things may seem horribly wrong all around us, but God is still faithful.

Satan can even try using Scripture to tempt us...

Luke 4:10;
"For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:"

Satan is a master at twisting things. He can take anything that is pure and holy, and somehow, he manages to warp it into something disgusting and godless. Okay, back to "circumstances."

Why would Satan choose the pinnacle of the temple to tell Jesus to throw himself down from it? Why the temple in Jerusalem? Here's why. The temple is located in the same location where Abraham was to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering. This was the place Abraham labeled "Jehovah-Jirah: The Lord will provide."

Well, if Satan's going to quote scripture, we should probably take a look at it, right?

Psalm 91:11-12;
"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
"They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."

In verse 14 of this psalm, the Lord speaks. Here is where He is making His promise...a promise that concerns the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 91:14;
"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I sell set him on high, because he hath known my name."

The thing about this scripture is that the Lord is promising to take care of Him. It's not a license to do something foolish. It's not there for Him to "tempt the Lord [His] God(!)" Again, God is faithful. He made a promise stating that no harm would come to His Son. That promise was kept. No harm befell His Son until our sins were laid upon Him.

He wasn't put to death for His sins. He didn't have any! "He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities." Jesus knew the Lord promised to care and to provide for Him. And the Lord did. He had no reason to "test" those promises.

Jesus never let His "circumstances" control either His emotions or the way He viewed His Father. He never doubted. He never tested God. Why? Because God is faithful. We need to take our "circumstances" to the Word of God.

Luke 4:13;
"And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season."

Do you really think Satan simply left Him alone?!?! Come on! Get real! Jesus didn't live without temptation. That's what makes Him who He is! He was human. He was tempted. But He never gave in to Satan! He never "fell into temptation."

How did He live like that? He interpreted life by the Word of God. He took all of those difficult circumstances to the Word of God. He lived through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit! The very same Holy Spirit who has been promised to all those who truly believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

We all know the saying, "Like father, like son." Well, that's also true with Jesus and His heavenly Father. He's faithful.

In HIM,
Joseph<><

Okay, guys. I'm finally back to taking notes on Sunday! I'm still taking them on my Palm Tungsten E2, but I've finally started titling them instead of simply saying "sunday notes." I know it's taken me a few days to actually get this up...but at least I'm getting it up. ;)

The Veracity of the Word of God
By Pastor Gary Custis

(You can listen to this message online here. )

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Verses 1-9 discuss the sinfulness of men. This is what men will be like during the "last days." It also states "...they will rest no more..." They will not be making progress.

(NOTE: These are my personal notes. Reading them back to myself, I can see their a bit hard to follow, or understand. Their simply my personal "take" on what the pastor was trying to communicate. I would strongly advise that you listen to the message as well. Thanks.)

Paul says they're not making progress, but for us, it continues to get worse and worse. He talks about persecutions that he's had to endure, and those we're to endure.

Paul never once mentions, "Well, since it's getting worse and worse, we might as well forget about it." NO! The text is very encouraging. Instead of saying we should simply crawl beneath a rock, it says not to forget the truth of God's Word.

We live in a world where truth is relative. Truth is what you make it. There is no longer a standard. This is because we have turned away from seeking the absolute truth of the Word of God.

While we live in a wold that says everyone is right, that there is no absolute truth, that you can't tell someone else what truth is because truth is different from person to person; While we live in a world without truth, we believe that there is an Almighty, and Omnipotent God, and, in order for there to be an everlasting and all-powerful Creator, there has to be an absolute truth. That truth is the Bible, our Scriptures, the very word of the Creator!

2 Timothy 3:14-16;
"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

This is why. Verse 16 says it all. This is why we believe in the Word of God. "All Scripture is inspired of God..." Literally, the text is saying that the words in scripture were spoken by God; They are "God breathed."

Many people, myself totally included, wish they could hear the audible voice of God. According to this passage, Scripture is the written word of God! It's the same thing! When you read the Scriptures, you are literally reading the words that God has spoken.

Now, am I saying that God physically wrote the Bible? Basically? That's about the size of it. Of course, being finite, I can't totally understand all of this. I can't completely comprehend the vastness of this thought, or how this could actually occur in our physical, very natural and organic world.

Once we believe this - think about this - once we believe this, we start to live differently. Once you believe that you're actually going against what God is saying and has said and not just something you read in a book...Once you begin to think this way, your life will never be the same.

Once you are reading the very Word of God, and you find that you are living in opposition to what God has said, you have now realized that you are sinning, first, against the Living God!

To give us an example of what happens when we think this way, Paul describes a number of various sins and problems we deal with, sometimes, on a day-to-day basis. He made a list. If you're lying, then STOP! And don't just stop, but start speaking the TRUTH! If you're stealing, STOP! Get a job and start GIVING! Deal with the heart issues! Why? Because the absolute truth that we believe in (like it or not) says to!

We are what we are as Christians, because of the Word of God. It equips us and completes us. It encourages us and uplifts us. It breaks us and heals us. It is "...profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

So, as we go into this new year, what is necessary for us to do? We need to be reading, memorizing, trusting, and obeying the Word of God!

In HIM,
Joseph<><

Well, for those of you who have been here before, you'll most likely notice that the site has, once again, gone through some changes. Okay, who am I kidding? I re-designed the site...again!

I simply wasn't content with the previous design. There was way too many pages, and not enough information to go on them. I had no need for such a large "portfolio" when I didn't have the time to fill it. Needless to say, the new design is much simpler. The portfolio will, now, only contain images and work that I've done that I feel need to be there.

One side note, though...

The site is still under slight construction. Unless you're viewing this page in Firefox, it looks like utter chaos! Ah, the challenges we designers must face in order to make all browsers appear equal.

Okay, that was it. Just thought I'd post a quick note before Christmas. ;D

In HIM,
Joseph<><