BLUE BEATS GREEN

Showing BLUE tonight in BILLINGS MONTANA! The event is FREE! See you there! 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNKQ-tkf-ds
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluebeatsgreen 

7:00PM Friday (10.17.14)
Holiday Inn Grand Montana 
5500 Midland Road 

Cape Coral & Sanibel Island (photo overload)

Pelicans in the Ding Darling National Reserve at Sanibel. 

Three weeks of the beach.

Amazing friends. 

The Kisers.

 The Sprouls. 

Hot weather. 

Late nights in the hot tub. 

Swimming in the pool. 

Running miles barefoot on the sand. 

Eating chips & watching movies in bed.  

Instagram. 

Walking miles with friends.  

Beach house.  

Laughing nonstop for an hour. 

Settlers of Catan. 

Youtube. 

Thankfulness. 

Watercolor painting.  

Frozen yogurt. 

Finding aquatic life.  
Jellyfish.

Long bike rides.  

Taking photos. 

Playing poker. 

Good music. 

Recalling old times. 

Relaxation. 

Laughing. 

The sound of crashing waves.  

Sunglasses.  

Grilled Scallops.  

Two thousand four hundred miles from home. 

Life. 

Looking over the horizon. 

Tropical plants.  

Loooong bike rides.

Playing Spades.  

Sleeping late.

Talking into the wee hour of the morn. 

Small things. 

Eating fresh seafood. (yum!) 

Outlet shopping. 

Siri.  

Abundance of sunshine. 

Cooking & baking. 

Wind storm & blowing sand.

Seashells found. 

Postcards sent.  

Reading the Bible together.  

Sandy feet.  

Sandy everything.   

Beauty.

 Kabob shrimp.  

Little boys.  

Frisbee. 

 Bright mornings on the patio.  

Fresh orange juice.

 Humidity. 

Spanish moss. 

Pictures taken.

The smell of salt in the breeze.  

Airplanes to catch.  

Bags to back. 

Goodbyes to be said.  

Beautiful memories made. 

 Major sunburn. 

Delaney took this with my camera for me. :)   

Twenty-Thirteen: the year of our Lord!

Twenty-Twelve. All in all, t'was a beautiful year. A full year of learning, joy, hard work, sorrows & adventures; all creating beautiful memories, that I shall hold on to through the coming years. I'm so thankful for the grace of God in my life. I'm thankful for family. For life. For friends. Chocolate. Snow. Cats. Books. F'real smoothies. For everything God has created & so abundantly blessed us with! God is so good, merciful & gracious. It's overwhelming. I'm continually struck by awe, with each coming day, by His love & grace for us; for me & my sinful wretchedness. I'm so excited to see what He has in store for us this new year, while working all things for His glory!

Resolve to keep the wonder.

A wondrous year has come and gone. 

Singing 'round a bonfire,

Well spent with our fellow man,

God has given us a faith that will prevail,

In the Infinite over-all plan;

He has given us a future bright— 

A faith in Eternal justice,

A faith in the love of God.

A beautiful year has come and gone.

Adventures well made,

Lord keep us all from strife;

Grant strength for the winding miles ahead,

Prepare us for the journeys of life,

Give us a faith to sustain, but above all, Lord, 

Give us a faith that shines— 

A faith in the love of God. 

A blessed year has come and gone. 

All things provided, 

Happiness and sadness in turn as we go;

We never know what's around the bend,

The Master Planner planned it so— 

Lord keep us safe till our day's end, 

Give us lasting faith in the love of God, 

Our King Eternal, 

Jesus.

Have a blessed 2013! 

-GB

Giving Thanks

 Robert Weir 

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;

Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,

With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;

And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;

And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!
.

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;

The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;

The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;

For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

What beautiful, beautiful words. The song above, "Now Thank We All Our God", was originally written by pastor Martin Rinkart. -You should read about him, & his story of incredible faith & perseverance, during a time of extreme hardship & heartbreak, in the year 1636. After & during the Thirty Year's War had ended. During which time, Martin was living in a world dominated by death, as he conducted funeral services for up to 50 people a day… 

Norman Rockwell

My Thanksgiving was good. The fam & I were invited over to two dear friends' houses for two huge meals. Lunch & dinner. Whewh! That's a lot of pie. :) We all have so much to be grateful for. Friends, family, food, clothing, a roof over our heads, technology & so many comforts that others don't have. The majority of Americans only set apart one day a year to be grateful, by eating lots of food, & maybe mentioning a brief something, vaguely about the pilgrims. But the reality of it is; is that sadly many people have lost the true meaning of what thanksgiving represents. 

We should be thankful & look to the Lord with praise & thanks for all things, each & every day. All things come from Him.  - the good & the bad. The Lord remains steadfast to us, our rock & anchor, through all things. He will never abandon nor forsake us, just as He preserved 50 of his pilgrims, that first hard winter on the shores of New England. 

Our friends had a copy of William Bradford's book: Of Plymouth Plantation. For Thanksgiving we read the 4th chapter - it was really good; hearing an accurate historical account of the arrival to America from a Christian perspective, was both sobering & insightful. Christianity is what our country was founded on. Christianity is why the pilgrims left England, sailed for over two months across an ocean, leaving family & loved ones behind in England. All for the love of Christ, they did what they did. Those brave men & woman stood up for their faith, promoting the Gospel & were unwilling to compromise to anything that rose up against them. Think of England & it's tyrannical government & church, in the  1600s. (Our government is so much worse now, then it was then, & the true Christians of that era didn't tolerate it.) 1608 was when the pilgrims first left for Holland- the start of their perilous journey for freedom that would last for another 12 years by the time they made it to the Americas. Many did not survive the first cold winter on American soil. Can you imagine doing something like that? Men & women, boys & girls of true grit, sacrificing nearly everything for the freedom of worshiping the true God. I would recommend the book, (though I've only heard the 4th chapter). Also online, there is some great history, if you get to reading & searching. A documentary called Monumental: The Search For America's National Treasure is an excellent film that tells the true story of America's founding people, the decline of patriotism, & Christianity. It is well made & engaging.

So look to Jesus, our Savior & King, & let us fearlessly press onwards with strength & courage through the days & years to come. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Jean-Leon Gerome 

AXED: A film project—

Okay folks. Check it out: AXED: The End of Green

Filmmaker J.D. King is creating a documentary that will tell the truth about the green movement. Axed will reveal the dark side of the green movement, the agendas behind it, as well as the consequences  from it. The film will be built upon one simple, proven historical fact: Liberty works! But, in the name of "being green," our liberties, our private property rights, & our standards of living are constantly being chopped at  & splintered away. Axed is going to document the stories of individual Americans & natural resource based companies who are being sacrificed on a green altar. The truth needs to be told! Please back this project  & help us spread the word! It's worth your time & money. But hurry, the kickstarter campaign ends in November!

On a side note, my bother, Thomas, is a musician & composer. (A few of his early works can be found here.) He composed the score for the Kickstarter trailer of Axed. Thomas also composed the cinematic score for King's first Jubilee award winning film. Crying Wolf.  Be sure to check it out!

Here's the music for Axed:

Hiking in the Mountains

  Line Lake is on top of the Beartooth Rocky Mountain range,
perched on the edge of a big precipice. (elevation 10,000 ft.)

Brightening up the earth's carpet— 
Were small & hardy flowers blooming on the spongy tundra.  

  The air was cool, views were breathtaking.

The guys built a fire. It felt wonderful. All 10 of us ended up
huddling around it. We ate lunch & fellowshipped.

It snowed & rained on us for the entire hike out. Very cold.  

*To compare size, that's a fishing rod & reel.

It was a fun memorable adventure. Even if the weather was crummy for part of the trip, I greatly enjoyed it. It's all about the people you are with anyways. There was still a good bit of snow up there. While hiking, we had to cross over a couple snowmelt creeks & trek across a huge snow-packed bank on the side of a very steep hill. I'm so thankful that the Lord kept us safe while we were out there. On the hike out, a few of us got ahead of the main group. Through the wind & sleet, I saw two grey wolves! One slipped over the hilltop quickly, & the other lingered a moment, watching us. The wolf was really big, & about 200 yards away.  

But unfortunately, my hands were so cold & numb, that I couldn't get to my camera in time. (It was actually quite alarming, by the time we reached the vehicles, I couldn't even open the car door with the key, my hands were so unresponsive. If you ever go out hiking, even in the middle of June, dress for {completely unpredictable} weather!!) We found lots of large wolf paw prints following our trail, in the snow. (That was kinda eerie, thinking the wolves had just been where we were.) *My cousin took the pic above with his phone—

-GB

Settlers Of Catan

One of the awesomest board games ever made.

Over this past winter & spring, I've played countless hours of Settlers. Friends & family will come gather 'round the kitchen table, I'll make brownies & we'll play into the wee hours of the morn. I've yet to tire of the game. (& probably never will.) No two games are alike, with an ever-changing board setup. It's literally addicting. The games involves chance, skill & strategy. Usually there's lots of lively discussion too. Sheep! Brick! Wood! Rock! Wheat! It's for 3-6 players. 

-GB