I NEED AN ANSWER!!!

Is Dallas smelling his armpits or what?


Any other suggestions??

this weekend

hey
my family is leaving this weekend so there better be a lot of stuff planned. i'll start things off by opening up my house for a movie or something. probably on saturday. since my brother is having his friends over on friday night. but yeah start planning stuff now, since it is a long weekend (for most of us anyways).

Jordan Taylor

Bouncing over Bob

And, this

Suh-weet!

Well hello everyone!
Tonight I found an email in my junk mail folder from someone ( I don't know who ) and I read the email and thought, whoa! That's pretty powerful and one phrase really stood out to me so I thought I'd share it with you.
GOD: I have made my children in such a way that when the people of the world are sitting, they would be standing, when the world is standing, they will stand out, when the world stands out, my children must be outstanding and when the devil dares the world to be outstanding, my people will be the standards to be used!
Pretty cool huh? Anyways, hope all y'all have an awesome day and keep living for Christ in a way that's outstanding to the world.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
God bless,
Andrea

Tonight

Yeah, I cannot go to youth tonight! I have February blues at campbell. Some others are going to miss youth tonight as well, so if there is any after youth event i might come. Post if you have any ideas for an after youth event and if there is going to be one!

I need some help, I'm doing my homework and my brain is totally fried.

The question is:

Where is identity? By whom?
For example, in movies, magazines, art history, etc. How do certain films protray young people, women, and men? Do these portrayals affect how you feel about yourself, how you wish to be viewed or what you want?

I need help on this question: How do certain films protray young people, women, and men?

I have to go and finish my other homework and you better comment! PLEASE!
Thanks guys

There is always something

Hello everyone,

Most of you don't know this.. but I was getting kinda' lazy spiritually.. and I was feeling like God had nothing new for me to learn or experience. I was feeling tired spiritualy. But in these last few days God showed me that even when we don't think we're in his presence we are. And when we feel that we're in a rut or just in idle God is faithful to show us that we are in control of how far we want to go spiritually. We have the choice to chase after the light, or we can choose to remain in darkness. God leaves that up to us. But I encourage those who feel that their walk with the Lord isn't what it should be to keep on chasing after a better walk with Him. He always has something new on the road ahead, and it's there for us to discover, if we choose so.

Let's not be stuck in a situation like the picture above. There is never absolutely nothing left for God to show us. He's always there. He always is.

What is going on??

So today I have been catching up on my always-an-enjoyment blog reading and I noticed that it seems some people , actually a lot of people are using the word, if you even call it that:


EEEWWW!!!


I know, really crazy obsession thingy happening. Anyway, that was just something I noticed. My brain is turning to much with these teachers that we HAVE to be submissive too. They are doing nothing for me, but anyway, I am going to go now. See you all tonight and sorry about the random post.

Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?" #6

Wow! What a week! It seems like I've been learning so much from all different areas. Along with the Care Group theme of serving, I've been learning a lot about how important a servant heart is. I've also been learning about the character quality of being disciplined. Throughout the week I have been learning a lot about God's character and how He was a humble servant. God has strengthened my faith in Him through relying on Him through struggles this week. One of these struggles was being sick. I couldn't even make it to church on Sunday. And if being sick isn't bad enough, I had spiritual attacks quite frequently, the really subtle kind that are hard to detect. Sigh...But with God's help I made it!
Well, for this week, the highlight of what I've learned runs along one of my new favorite topics again. That is, spiritual intimacy with God. I really enjoyed walking with God this week, and I am thankful that He was there with me through the struggles, sickness, and attacks. Sometimes everything in life seems to have changed leaving us disoriented and confused. I am so glad that God doesn't change, that He is the same God yesterday as He is today. I'm thrilled that He would walk with me through the new territory and the completely abnormal life I had this week.
On Sunday morning I listened an amazing sermon that I downloaded of the net. It was called "Intimacy with God" by J Oswald Sanders. When I found it I was delighted because it had a title that had become a common expression of mine. Only 37 minutes long, but it was the best sermon I've ever heard in my life!!! Right off the bat, Sanders introduces the question, "Are you satisfied with the degree of intimacy you have with God?" What a fantastic question! To answer it one must reveal the condition of their heart toward God. As with the last few blogs, you can probably guess that my answer to this question was and is, "No!" Oswald Sanders clearly and plainly shows a character in the Bible, that had a deeply intimate relationship with God, and what made their relationship with God to be so close. Oswald also showed from the Bible how people differ in their closeness with God and their desire to know Him. He explains from both testaments how God was known in increasing degrees of intimacy by different people. A fantastic quote he used was from A.W Tozer:

"God is a person who can be know in increasing degrees of intimacy as we prepare our hearts for the wonder."

That's cool! What's even cooler is when I realized that I can increase in the degree of intimacy I have with God and never run out of degrees of intimacy in my relationship with Him. In other words, it's awesome that I will never have a limit to the depth of friendship that I can have with God! Oswald refers to James 4:8 which says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." Basically, God's Word makes it clear that initiative is ours in our friendship with God. So when we draw nearer to God, then He responds and draws nearer to us. Oswald then makes an amazing statement:

Everyone of us Christians is now as close to the Lord, as intimate with the Lord as we have chosen to be.

That's a doozy! He uses the analogy of a pianist to illustrate his point. A pianist has chosen to work and put time and effort into learning the piano, and their ability to play is a result of that choice. As much as I might want to be able to play the piano like a pianist can, I have not done anything to learn. Oswald compares this to Christianity saying that many Christians long to be closer to God and have a more intimate relationship with Him, yet they aren't willing to work at it and spend time with Him. They aren't willing to pay the price or make sacrifices that are necessary to draw nearer to God, and the level of their relationship with Him is a result of that choice.

Wow what a fantastic sermon, and there is a whole bunch more in it that I learned. But let me illustrate the above point by asking you some questions:

1. Are you satisfied with the degree of intimacy you have with God?
2. Are you willing to pay the price, do the work, or invest the time you need to have an intimate relationship with God?
3. Do you spend your free time in the places where God manifests Himself? How often?
4. Do you pursue less profitable uses of your time too often?
5. Is it possible for any ordinary person to have a wonderfully deep and intimate relationship with God?
6. How do you go about seeking a more intimate relationship with God?
7. How can your character testify to the depth of your relationship with God?
8. Are you radiant with the presence of God in your life?

If you want to understand the questions and their answers better...If you want to understand more about what intimacy with God is all about...Then you'll need to sacrifice 37 minutes of your time, do a little work of your own, and listen to the sermon. : D

You can find it here: Intimacy with God

You should be able to right click and do a "Save target as..."

Enjoy and may God bless you and speak to you through this!

Jen and I were getting a little, well, how should I say it - cheeky!
Cheeky - Cheeks prominently rounded; thick, protruding: brash: or offensively bold

Spelunking

Kara jumping around the Legislature, disrepectful, honestly. :) But, ya, pretty sweet picture, I'd say. The photographer is quite talented, if I do say so myself.

...so I'm bored. And this is all I have to fill my time, plus math . . . but we all know that math just doesn't satisfy like posting hilarious pictures of your friends on the internet for the whole world to see . . . it's just not the same thrill.

Website

So i randomly decided to see if i could make a profile on purevolume and i actually figured it out. I tried to make a quick recording to put on it too, check it out if you like. I think it's kinda sketchy but whatever www.purevolume.com/lyndonschmidt (sorry there was a typo before)

Ugg.

Tonite!!

Whats everyone upto tonite? Leave a comment if anyone wants to do something

Tomorrow (Sunday)

Hey everybody,
People are welcome to come see Thomas sing with his Sojourn (touring choir) group at West-Hill Park Baptist, tomorrow (I'm assuming that's what he meant when he typed "this Sunday," but I'm gonna be double-checking that). He said that we should spread the word, so that's what I'm doing. I'm not sure about the time that it's happening at yet, but Thomas did mention that he didn't want to make us feel like he was trying to steal us away from our regular service . . . so the choice is yours to make. Well, I just wanted to let you all know about that. Now I'm off to get some work done. Have a great day!
~ Sharilyn ~

The Greatest Band In History and I am not Bragging. *cough*

Yeah, this is the launch of the Greatest Band in the worlds website...Meaning The band Ross, Andrew and Myself are in.

Go to www.servantwarned.tk

Please look at least once each so that i get 25 views to keep the URL!

Membership Ahoy!

Hello Everyone,

I am now a blog member.. hooray! This is gonna' be so sweet posting on here. Well thanks everyone. I'll make better posts during the day when i'm not so tired.

And I look forward to making some more posts in a pink font.

Others

Hey uh yeah, you should send Ross an email to get him posting stuff on this blog eh. and there was one more person that i can't remember right now.

Seize the day . . . slash night . . .

OK, so here's a proposition for all y'all. (yes Aimee, I'm totally mocking you. :) ) We should hang out tonight, because, frankly, there's no school tomorrow. and what's a good night before no-school day without some good old chillaxin action? so, let's do it up . . . suggestions? anyone?

Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?" #5

Hey guys, I know I missed last week's post but I was extremely busy, but I am back on track and have more cool stuff to share with you. This evening's post is one of the main things that I learned at Youth Alert. So here we go.
This week God revealed to me a little more about spiritual growth. Until this last weekend I've always thought that a successful walk with God overcomes or even bypasses struggles. I've always thought that it was good to be strong in my faith and steadfast. I've wanted to be able to stand solidly and thought that a healthy Christian is a Christian who isn't struggling.
Well, I have come to realize that it's quite the opposite of what I expected. I've come to believe that an absence of struggle is an indication of an absence of growth. As Christians we should constantly be going further down the path God has set out for us. Of course this path is not easy, and it's not straight. To make matters worse, it's night time and we can only see as far around as the lamp of God's Word shines in front of us. The path that we are on has many twists and turns and forks and...obstacles. These obstacles are our struggles, and as we walk down this path we will encounter these struggles. Now struggles are not a good thing in my mind but God's Word would tell us otherwise. In Hebrews 12:7 Paul says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?". Paul is basically saying that we are to endure or persevere through our hardships or struggles because they are God's discipline. Verse 6 says, "the Lord disciplines those He loves." So basically Paul is saying that God disciplines us by giving us struggles and hardships because He loves us.
This makes alot of sense because God wants us to learn to live for Him and to become more like Him so He disciplines us to teach us how to do that. And, He does it through struggles!!! So struggles are a good thing! Of course they are painful and not very fun but the growth that they bring about is very good (10).
If we grow and learn through struggles, whether big or small, then it makes sense that we should often be struggling. Think about it. If I am not struggling with anything, than I don't have a direction to grow in. I believe that if we really listen to God and surrender to Him our struggles could often be as small as "Where do I go next?", but if we are trying to live in our own strength and we ignore God then we could have very painful hardships to grow and learn in ways that could have been far less painful.
So back to the path. I'm on this path and I come to an opening where I could go in any direction. If I just stand there and do nothing, then I am not struggling at all and not growing at all. However, I don't know which way to go. What do I do? Listen and submit.
So I listen closely and God speaks through one of His many ways. He says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)" Because God is a faithful God He will always keep this promise. Next, He will show us where we need to go. Even though He won't just give us all the growth at once, He will point us in the right direction and tell us to walk.
So I am walking along and begin to struggle and encounter rugged and rough obstacles on the path that He has pointed me down. My first instinct is to say to God, "What is the deal? You told me to walk this way and it sucks and hurts and it's hard!" And then I am reminded by God, "I didn't plan for you to overcome these struggles alone. Take my hand, and I'll show you the easiest way over these obstacles."
Not only do we have to depend on God for the direction to walk in, we need to walk with Him, otherwise we'll get stuck in these hardships. At the end of each segment of our path we have grown or learned to be closer to God, but the way we learned it is from the struggles or obstacles on the path that He takes us through.
If I am not struggling, then which path am I on? What direction am I headed? How can I grow? How is God trying to shape me and mold me into His character?

Here is an example in my own life. As my last couple posts have shown, I've really been seeking a more intimate relationship with God. About a week and a half ago, I realized that I don't know how or where to look for that. So I came to God in prayer and said, "Lord, show me how to have a more intimate relationship with You." At this point I knew my previous path segment had led me to discover the idea of intimacy with God, but I didn't know what the goal of my next segment was. I didn't know what my path was to get there, or even where "there" was. So I prayed and prayed again, and I listened with all my heart. I did not want to have to struggle just for God to get my attention this time so I just gave it to Him. Within a day or two, He showed me the direction I needed to walk in. As I finished up my devotions in Romans I decided I would read through Hebrews. In the first, chapter Jesus and who He is, is the main idea. As I listened while reading through it, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, "Joshua, if you want to have a more intimate relationship with Me, then You need to seek to know Me better, to understand who I am better." It was then that I realized that if I want to know God intimately that I need to look very closely at the life of Jesus Christ and things He said, the attitudes He had, the heart He modelled for us, and the ways He served others. It was like Jesus was saying, "You want to know me? Then look in My Word. My life is recorded there so you can see who I am. My life is recorded there so you can see my heart, mind, and soul."
So I purposed to read a gospel when I finished Hebrews. Little did I know, Hebrews is loaded with who Jesus is! His character, His love, and His power are all written right there. Right now I am on the path to discover my Saviour in a more intimate way. Right now I am looking at who He is and letting His life influence mine. I'm on that path right now, and I know the goal, and now I will walk hand-in-hand with Jesus through those struggles and hardships and discipline, because it's through those things that He will show me who He really is. And an intimate relationship is a relationship in which both partners know each other really well. I want an intimate relationship with Jesus. I want to know Him really well.
Even though my struggle in this instance was as simple as not knowing how to grow, I probably saved myself alot of pain by asking God and listening. I'd hate to have to learn the hard way that I need to be seeking God and who He is through His Word. Jesus should be more to us then just an acquaintance, more than just a business partner, more than just a rescuer, more than just a fireman saving us from the Inferno. Jesus should be our closest and most intimate friend with whom we walk each day. Jesus should be our loving Father with whom we share everything with everywhere everyday. It's this kind of a relationship that Jesus Christ laid down His life for.
Let's press on to take hold of this relationship and all it's depths!

Crazy quote!

I came across this quote in a bathroom reader that I came across in my bathroom. Can anyone see why it's particularly great?

Emil, a sleepy baby, peels a lime.

The Many Faces of YA

THE face of Bradie. *shudder* Just kidding, Bradie, you're beautiful! But Lyndon's going to hate me for posting this . . . I'm not sorry!!

ONE TIM BIT PLEASE!! oh man, crazy psychos at Timmy Ho's . . .

gangsta, word.

*Hiss!*

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Hmm well apparently today is valentines day, which i just found out from Alayna. Shows how cool i am... haha Well HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to everyone and those who are like me and are "our own valentine" have an even happier valentines day! haha take that!
By the way i'm gonna be bored so something should go down tuesday aka today

Aimee being gangsta.

hey everybody! well, youth alert was a gong show. the 13 hour drive back was insane. we got back this morning at 4:oo and about 3:oo we hit the insane part of the ride home. you know when you are really, really tired then you get your second wind? yeahhh.
lesson of the weekend (at least for me) : GOD IS HUGE!!!! God has to stoop down to see the heavens and can you imagine how huge the heavens are? the crazy part is that that same God came to earth, not even a speck in the heavens, in the form of a human, to save us because he loves us SO much! gaaa! God is so full of grace and compassion!
anyway, you should ask one of us girls (the guys might have a different story) about how we sabotaged the guy's room in Edmonton and hockey-sticked them in. good story.
well, I have to go move some boxen to my garage (wink), so, I'll talk to you guys later!
kara.

Pancakes

so i've decided that i need guitar picks, because bread tabs and credit cards just aren't the same. since i still haven't bought any, and my mom didn't include any with my christmas present, i'm starting an "alayna needs guitar picks...and a guitar strap, actually...i mean, you guys don't have to get me a strap though, just an afterthought" charity. donations will go to me in the form of...um...sweet guitar playing skills...? all donations will be greatly appreciated.

Whoa...Pork and Beans!

And a random poll that I've forgotten to send out how many times in my emails....

Who is better?
- Batman
-Superman
-Spiderman
-Spongebob

Have a great day!

Andi (wait no one calls me that except my mom and grandma so scrath that!)

From Andrea

"It's all down hill from here..."

hey, just a quick post:
The leaders of ISCF (inter-school-christian-fellowship) around Regina have planned an event to put the inter back into ISCF. We're all pretty pumped so you all should come out and support ISCF!!! What it is, is sledding @ Mount Pleasent on Tuesday at 7pm. And afterwards there is going to be hot chocolate and some fellowship and such at the Reimer's house. Yes, that's about it. It'll be a blast...so come!
any questions? comment!
kara.

Learn to Fly 101 -- With Kiersten . . .

Today Kiersten tried to learn how to fly, it's typical of a Sunday afternoon, no?

Some attempts failed . . .

Finally after many attempts, Kiersten took off like Rudolph.

After a long day of flying, Kiersten had worked up an appetite . . . and in true beaver style consumed a whole tree . . .

The end . . . or is it?!?!?

Pictures takeN by that weird girl that you see sitting in trees . . .

ZONK!

NOW IT'S OVER!!

God's Voice

Hey everybody, How are you all doing? I'm fantabulistic! I've been learning so much about and from God recently, particularly about trusting in Him and following His lead. After all, He knows best. Sometimes it's just so easy to say that His ideas seem crazy and/or we don't have the right words, any strength, or enough courage to step out of our comfort zones and do what He wants. Could it be possible that He's tapping us on the shoulder and telling us to do something, but still we refuse to listen and obey? I recently saw an interesting comment posted up on one of those boards outside a Church. It said something like, "Wait in silence so you may hear God's whisper." Interestingly enough, I thought that was yet another way in which God was whispering to me as He continued, and still is continuing, to teach me. If you really want to hear someone's voice, you usually listen for it, right? Even if they're kinda quiet and shy when they do talk to you, you're still willing to not only hear but you listen closely to what they have to say. Of course, you're probably thinking that God's never spoken to you personally. Maybe He's never physically tapped you on your shoulder, and you've never had Him speak to you in your dreams or through a burning bush or anything. Although we may have never personally heard God, or physically received a tap on the shoulder from Him, we can know that His presence is still with us. He promised that to us. My Aunt recently sent me a forward which taught me even more about obeying, after listening to, God. I thought you'd find it interesting, so here you go. Have a great day and God Bless!

A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The Pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?" After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message. Several different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways. It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God...If you still speak to people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey." As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He didn't get a reply and started on toward home. But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli. "Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem like too hard a test of obedience. He could always use the milk. He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home. As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn Down that street." This is crazy he thought and drove on past the intersection. Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street. At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh Street. Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I will". He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in semi commercial area of town. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street." The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat. "Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid." Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk. Finally, he opened the door, "Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that will count for something, but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here." He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the door opened before the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. "What is it?" The young man thrust out the gallon of milk, "Here, I brought this to you." The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway. Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man began speaking and half crying, "We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk." His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to send an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?" The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming down his face. He knew that God still answers prayers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA and ADRIE!!!!

thinking . . . thinking . . .

I'm thinking that there was something semi-important going on today . . . some event, or possibly a momentous occasion . . . oh man, I just can't figure it out. oh well. couldn't have been THAT important, I guess . . .


just jokes, jordan. happy birthday.

The Superhero Car of Choice for '82

So, I have a matter of grave importance that needs a solution. As most, if not everyone, knows, I have a rather old, slightly beat up Civic hatchback. Now it's been restored somewhat, (We blasted the rust off and filled the holes with goo [aka "bodywork"]), and it is now in need of a paint job. I need/would like people's opinions on what colour to paint it. The options are as follows: Corvette yellow, Porsche red (which really isn't an option because it costs more than my car did), Omaha orange, and Aqua Metallic (basically baby blue, and not really all that metallic; just some smallish sparkles). If any other more superb colour options come to mind, I would appreciate hearing your opinion. Not that it will really change much, but I'm sure you'll feel better because of it. Thanks! :o)

Quizzing

I was just thinking about what I missed from last year that I am not doing this year and the main think I thought of was QUIZZING. I think it is a great way to learn God's word. In 1John 2:6 it says "If you say you are a Christian you must live as Christ did" To live like Jesus we must know about him and I love the idea of learning about him by memorizing his word and building relationships with christian youth from places all over Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario!

If you have questions or are interested please post!

Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?" #4

Philippians 3:7-8, 12

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

In last week's blog, I described a little of what God was teaching me about spiritual intimacy with Him. This past week God has been furthering that understanding and training me to continually pursue a more intimate relationship with Him. In a book I was reading, I just happened to come across a whole chapter about spiritual intimacy with God. What timing!!! One thing that it said really struck me hard. It was the example of Paul that the book described.
The verses above describe Paul's attitude toward knowing Christ and his relatinship with Christ. I had read these verses before but I understood something very new this time. Paul outrightly says, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Reading this again struck a completely different chord in me than it had before. I had always thought that this was an amazing statement, because it meant that God should be our first and foremost focus above all things. But for the first time, the fullness of this statement hit me. To follow Paul's example, I must consider everything a loss compared to knowing Christ. I must be willing to lose everything that would hinder me in having a deeper relationship with Him. I had to ask myself if there were things in my life that could hinder my continuing growth in intimacy with God.
There are so many ways that things can interfere with our relationship with Christ. Where we spend our time and what we devote our thoughts to is indication of where our focus is each day. To be experiencing an intimate relationship with Christ, our primary focus must be Him. It is possible to do many things for God, but it is equally possible for many things to distract us from God. I found myself with one such a thing that God revealed to me as something that could hinder and distract me in my relationship with Christ if I didn't surrender it to Him.
Although, at first it seemed like surrendering it wouldn't be the best idea. . .It was. I found my ability to focus on God renewed and my walk with God throughout my day was stronger when I placed it in His hands. I was able to have the intimacy with God that I wanted, by surrendering every area of my life to Him. In fact that's really the attitude that Paul is trying to model for us. He's telling us that he lost everything for the sake of knowing Christ. He's basically saying that he's willing to surrender everything if he can go deeper in His relationship with God.
Think about the blessings in your life. Sometimes I think we as Christians get distracted by the blessings and forget about the One who gave them to us. Look at Abraham and his son Isaac. Abraham finally gets the son he's been longing for and God asks him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham had to choose which was more important to him, the blessing, or the One who gave him the blessing. Ask yourself, "Would I be willing to give up any and all blessings in my life if it meant I could know God more intimately?" It's a difficult question. But, just as God gave us the blessings, He can take them away if we aren't willing to give them up. Even the gifts God gives should be considered a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of Jesus Christ.
My favorite part of these verses however, is verse 12. Paul says, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." I'd always thought this verse referred to pressing on to discover the purpose God set for us, or to do the work God has chosen us for. This too hit me pretty hard when I realized the context of the verse. Paul is talking about a relationship with Christ in verses 7-8. Sure Christ has taken hold of us for His purpose, His work, His plans, and because He loves us. But then I realized that Christ has taken hold of me to have a deep and wonderfully intimate relationship with Him. Paul is saying that he presses on to take hold of that wonderfully intimate relationship with God, that God took hold of him to have. He goes on to say that he has not fully taken hold of it yet, which goes to show that now matter how deeply and intimately we come to know the Father, we can always go deeper in our relationship with Him. There is no limit to how intimately we can know God because he is infinite in everything.
Are we willing to give up everything that would prevent us from be intimate with Him? Are we willing to lay aside anything that hinders us in our relationship with Christ? Are we willing to press on to take hold of the wonderfully intimate relationship that God desires with us? To do so, we need to surrender all to Him everyday as we pursue this friendship with Him, for which He gave His one and only Son - Jesus Christ.