Resume For The Afterlife (A two part series). Chapter 1:Cover Letter

Cover Letter

Heaven Inc.
7th Heaven Ave
Kingdom of, Heaven 01234


Dear God,

Recently, I completed a religious experience with a church in Northern California where I was given the responsibility of leading prayer for a large youth group. I am looking for the opportunity to perform in this capacity for Heaven Inc. I believe my background and experience will help me be an asset to the afterlife in a very short time.
I have also participated in hospital visitations as well as Nursing home visitations. I was given the responsibility of team prayer leader in these visits. I have served in the prayer ministry for some 23 years, and have written several opening prayers at funerals. My church skills are excellent and I am very in tune with the elders and their needs of the church. I have served in the choir and other church related programs.
I have gone on several mission trips. I have given several thousand dollars over my lifetime to many charities.
I am very interested in becoming a part of your Kingdom after I pass on. As you can see in my resume, I have attended several churches where I have worked for your Kingdom. I have even attended several Sunday night sessions as well as Wednesday nights. I tithe on a regular basis. I am honest, caring and an all around good person. I have several character witnesses that would stand on my behalf and acknowledge my credits and functions in the church. I can be reached at the address and phone number below. I'?ll be writing your office within ten days to inquire on the status of my application. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

John Doe
9999 Normal Life Street
Anywhere, USA 99444
(555) 555-5566

God's Country

I wrote this the other day, and somehow, it got deleted. I don't know what happened.
Anyhow. I will attempt to write it again.

This area in Virginia is so beautiful. Let me tell you about one of my latest outings. It is so beautiful, it has given me an incentive to start walking and getting some much needed exercise again. The Shenandoah River is only 1.4 miles from the house that I am staying in. So I decided to put on some warm ups, put on my walking shoes, get some bottled water, and hike to the river. The trip there was not too bad, mostly downhill. Coming back was the problem, back up the mountain. On my journey, I soaked in the luster of autumn in the old country of Virginia. The colors of the fall leaves were magnificent. I paced myself through a rainstorm of them one time or another. I saw a huge buck deer with several doe not far behind him. I took a breath of the mountain air, and it seemed to filter and purify my lungs with freshness. I passed by an old historic water mill, one that reflected some of the many paintings I've seen over my lifetime. The Shenandoah River was breath-taking. Appearing from the mountains from the west, and disappearing back into mountains to the east. Several boulders lie throughout the river that had once stood tall in the mountains. Smaller rocks in a more shallow part of the river had been strategically placed by mother nature, to allow pedestrians to cross the river to the other side. Yes, this is God's Country. Each gust of wind is full of the smell of the gracious mountains, so fresh, so pure, so clean. Everywhere I look, is a glimpse of a post-card moment. I wish the world could see through my eyes. I wish my vision could take snapshots to show the miracle of God's Country that I am seeing here.


Job Update:
I had an interview this past Monday at an industry in the area. The Human Resources Manager told me that they would select a few individuals to come back for a second interview. Even if I didn't get selected to come back, they would let me know something by Friday. Friday afternoon, she called me and wants me in on Monday for a second interview.
Also, I have another interview at a local industry on November 8. Things are looking brighter and brighter.
Keep me in your prayers.

JERICHO

My new favorite TV program.
I don't know how many of you are into the new drama TV hit series JERICHO, but I am addicted. I'm not usually a drama TV show watcher, I tend to lean towards the sitcoms, but this show is just GREAT! I anticipate the show coming on every Wednesday with passion. Interrupt me during the show, and there could be a fatality. It's a good thing the house that I'm staying at has TiVo, otherwise I might be trying to watch the show from prison.
Seriously though, what a great storyline. Yeah, there are probably some geniuses out there stating, "there's no way that could happen" and probably criticizing the show on all levels, but I don't care. I like it.... And the Morse codes just adds more to the show. Troy, (The owner of the house that I am living at), knows how to read Morse code, and he tells me what it is saying every week. Let me just update everyone on the Morse codes from the past weeks.

1st Episode - Morse code read - JERICHO
2nd Episode - Morse code read - JERICHO FALLO (The name of the episode was Fallout)
3rd Episode - Morse code read - JERICHO THREE
4th Episode - Morse code read - HE KNOWS ROB
5th Episode - Morse code read - THERE'S A FIRE

In the second episode, it was believed that Rob was able to read a Morse code over the radio that was telling him what cities had been nuked. He wrote something down on paper, and then later in the show, he was putting thumb tacks on a large map of the United States at different city locations Like Chicago, Atlanta and Denver.
The Morse code was in two parts that night, and here is what it actually said.

In the first scene: "DELTA CODE DELTA TWO MINUTE WARNING.."
In the second scene: "SCORE REMAINS SCORELESS..."

Now what that means, I really don't know. Anyhow, I can't wait for the 6th episode Wednesday. Just thought I would share this info with my fellow bloggers.


UPDATE: Last Sunday I went to a non-denominational church, that was (according to their website) a contemporary church.
and I wasn't too impressed with it.
This Sunday I went to a Traditional Baptist church, and surprisingly I was very pleased with the outcome.
I don't know where I will go this coming Sunday, but I will be checking out several churches in the area.
As far as job searching is going. Nothing yet. But I did have an interview on Monday that went rather well in my opinion. The will let me know if I qualify for a 2nd interview either by the end of the week or next Monday.

Keep me and my family in your prayers, and God Bless.
Kevin

How 'Bout Them Hogs !!!!!!!

What happened???? Arkansas is playing like a power house team. If they keep this up, they will be in a BCS bowl. Wouldn't that be great? After the loss to USC at the beginning of the season, I thought it was going to be another long year for them. They caught a couple of lucky breaks against Vanderbilt and then against Alabama. Then when they played at #2 Auburn and beat them 27-10, they looked like they could've beat any team in the nation that day. Auburn by no means is a cupcake. They are truly a power house team, and Arkansas dominated them from start to finish. Then the next week Auburn beat #2 Florida. Since the Auburn victory, Arkansas has destroyed each of the next two opponents. 63-7 , and then 38-3 over Mississippi, who has been giving some teams a run for their money.
Arkansas is now bowl eligible with 6 wins. They are 6-1 and 4-0 in the SEC west. They still have the month of November though. @ South Carolina on the 4th, then home against Tennessee on the 11th, Then @ Mississippi St on the 18th, then finishing up in Little Rock against LSU on the Friday after Thanksgiving. So some tough games lie ahead. The good thing is that the two toughest games are at home.
Can we do it this year? Can we get to a BCS bowl game? I'm pulling for them from the state of Virginia. Go Hogs Go !!!!!!!

UPDATE: I have an interview on Monday that looks to be promising. Keep up the prayers.

Election Time. Who do you Vote For? Part 2

I wanted to leave this email as a post that Rick Hales sent me. He wrote it after reading my post on "Election Time. Who do you vote for?" It is so inspiring that I asked him if he would mind me posting it, and he said go ahead. I hope it touches all of you as much as it did me. Thanks Rick.



Hi my friend.

Isn't Virginia beautiful? When I was a young Army Captain I was invited to work at
The Army Chief of Staffs office in the Pentagon. What a thrill for an ambitious
young officer from South Arkansas.

I left my very stable life in Monticello and headed for the city! Money was
everywhere. I regularly saw Colin Powell in the halls and I thought I had hit the
big time.

I sent for my family shortly afterward and they were happy to join me. We found an
apartment with a gate (that should have been a clue) and moved right in.

The first few months were great. National Zoo, Lincoln memorial, Smithsonian
Institute, picnicking on the Mall, man the weekends were unlimited. My salary was
three times what it was in Arkansas and I also got $115 a day per diem (that’s
extra).

Working in the Pentagon was intense. In and out of meetings with 1,2,3 Star
Generals and before long I was actually a key player. The team I was on had seven
people. Four were West Point Graduates, two from MIT and me. Me? I dropped out of
high school. How in the heck did I get here? What am I doing here? I began to
look at the bigger picture. My wife was still asleep when I went to work. She was
trying to keep supper warm for me when I got home. The apartment began to get
really small.

Cathy had taken her children from everything they knew and followed me to a place
where she had nothing. What a wife. Signs of wear began to show on my family. I
sought counseling to try to help us adjust to family life in the big city. It never
seemed to be the answer. We were growing apart from each other and God did not seem
to be a factor in any decision we made.

One Sunday we were out riding and sight seeing (actually we were just getting out of
the apartment) and we passed a small church. The sign out front said “We believe
God sent His only Son to die for our sins so we could have everlasting life”. I
remember thinking hey look, they believe like momma does. We went back the next
Sunday.

It felt like a family reunion. People were going in and out doing God’s work and
welcomed us right in. We found a touch of peace in a very insecure place. The
pastor and church family picked us up like lost puppies. Cathy and I made friends
and began to be part of something important, a Christian Fellowship. We actually
found a family in this church from Fordyce. The husband went to UAM when I was
there.

The remaining time went pretty fast. I could have still been there but my beautiful
wife longed for home (Praise God). At the end of my second tour I asked her if she
wanted to stay again and she said ‘Well baby, I think I’m gonna go home and get the
kids back in school. You can stay and come home when you want to’. I thought I
might oughta go with her because she is too valuable to let out of my reach again.
She was wonderful to follow me but the truth is that God has given her a wonderful
gift of discernment. I have learned she won’t battle me when she feels I am going
the wrong direction. I have to listen real hard to hear her heart but I know God is
speaking to her.
I went to work and told my boss (Col Taylor) I was going to decline another tour.
He asked what I was going to do and I said take my family home. He hugged me and
said he understood. They had a very nice going away party and made me feel like I
was the best officer in the Pentagon. It was truly a powerful experience that built
my self confidence. I found out I could function in the most demanding environment.
I was able to tell Col Taylor that I felt like God had placed me there to bring me
closer to Him. That was significant because Col Taylor was a Jehovah Witness. I
told him that when I was in Arkansas I was very secure. If I needed
anything, I could get it from friends and family. But in the big city I was on my
own. Only when I felt the full weight of life did I realize how important God
actually was to me. Peace was only felt when I sought and served Him.

We left Washington and moved to Pine Bluff. I had a friend who put me to work in a
pipe plant working graveyard. We lived in a small drafty house but it was ok. We
had to work toward a goal of getting back to Monticello. Finally I got my old job
back at Legal Services and moved back to Monticello. We went from $19,000 to
$65,000 to $19,500 per year during this little adventure. My net gain is
immeasurable.

I tell you this story for me and you. I needed to stop long enough to reflect on
God’s impact on my life. We get very busy in our day to day activities. Sometimes
we get so busy even in doing God’s work that we loose sight of Him. As you are
exploring this phase of your life I pray that you don’t take your eyes off God like
I did. But if you do, please realize that He is always near. You are saved by the
blood of Jesus and He will not forsake you. God allows us to explore this life and
seek improvements for ourselves. He is always there for you and I and forgives us
for our short comings instantly when we ask Him. His grace is limitless and His
love is unending.

Dear Lord, I thank you for Kevin, Tammie, Nick and Kristy. You have bless them with
many gifts and a precious family. I honor You for these blessings. I see that they
are going down a path of the unknown. I pray that You will pull them closer to You
and guide their every step. Please use this time to reveal yourself to every lost
person that you place in Kevin’s path. Give him the words and power through the
Holy Spirit to be bold and effective to proclaim Your majesty to everyone he meets.

I ask that you pour out your blessings on them during this journey and meet their
every need. Lord lift up Tammie and continue to give her the words of encouragement
her husband needs to hear. Help her be the vessel of love for Nick and let him
learn from watching he mother and father depend on You.

God I pray that you give this family safety and good health. Meet all their needs
Lord in Jesus name. Help me Lord to stand by my friends and be Your servant in
Monticello as Kevin is in Virginia.

Father I pray a special request for Your power in Kristy’s life. She has been
taught Your word and I pray that seed will bring fruit for Your kingdom throughout
her husbands family. I ask that You use the Holy Spirit to place a burden on her
husbands heart that he cannot bear. Lord I pray that you reveal Yourself to him and
draw him into Your family of believers. Keep his family safe Lord and add them to
Your kingdom.

God I thank You for all you have done in my life. I praise you for your word and
thank you for making it available to me. Thank you most of all for extending Grace
to us by sending Your Son how bore that burden that none of us could bear for
ourselves. I praise the name of Jesus and bring these request to you in His name.

Kevin, I love you, I admire you and respect you for the way you are striving to
provide for your family both spiritually and financially. I know that you are
seeking Gods guidance in these uncertain days. I also know we can come to God one
on one but I tell you my brother, find a church while you are there. God will guide
you to the right one. He will reveal Himself to you through the preaching of His
word and minister to you thru His believers.

Rick

Election Time. Who do you Vote For?

I sit here ashamed. Ashamed of my actions for the past couple of weeks in Virginia. First of all, I haven't displayed myself as an ambassador of Christ the way I should. Second, I have totally gotten away from my morning devotions. I've let chances and opportunities to proclaim my faith in Christ pass by. I feel that I have hit rock bottom. This morning I got back into my bible studies. But am I ready for a debate?
Let me tell you a little about the family that I am living with. Troy and Briana Kelly. Two fine people with kindness in their hearts. They've opened their house up to me and my family for anywhere from short to a very long term stay. They have a 10 year old son named Patrick. Very smart, and full of life. Troy is super smart. Someone that you can't help but get a little more wiser by spending time with him. Briana used to work with Tammie and me at Burlington several years ago. She told me in advance that they were not church going folk. In fact, Troy was a non-believer. She went on to tell me that Troy likes to debate Christians and their beliefs. She also told me that when and if we move to Virginia and get settled in a church, that she would like it if we took Patrick with us, so he could see what church and Christians were all about. That sounded great to me. Which now sends me back to my story....
The other night, Troy took me out to eat. It was just the guys, me, Patrick and Troy. Somehow or another the conversation curved into The Islam religion. I remember a few years ago at Second Baptist when Bro Shawn taught a lesson on different religions, and one of them was the Islam religion.
As Troy was talking about the Islam beliefs, one thing stuck out like a sore thumb, and I had my chance to make a statement, and blew it. So, I will blog about it. Troy stated that the God they worship and the God that Christians worship is the same God.

There is no way that is accurate.....
1 John 2:23 and John 3:5-6 backs up my statement.

1 John 2:23
23) No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

John 3:5-6
5) Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

The Islams deny Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the World, therefore they worship a different god. They worship a god who did not send a Savior to die for their sins. I've used this scripture before, but it's just right on the money. Romans 5 speaks of peace, joy, hope and love. The Islams hope is shredded to pieces by this scripture alone.

Romans 5:1-8

1) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3) Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

If they worship the same God that I worship, then they would accept this scripture as truth. They don't recognize God's true love for them. God's love is the true meaning of life!! All Christians should have that branded in their hearts and minds!!

John 3:16-18

16) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

The sad thing about this is, so many times people use this scripture reading and proclaim that they are Christians when they totally misunderstood God's love for them. We had this discussion in our home group a few weeks ago. I stated that there will be so many people that stand before God, thinking that they are headed for heaven, and God will tell them to depart from Him, that He never knew them. So many times people make a choice that really doesn't include God. It only has to do with their own desires. If I told you that you had two choices, one was hell, or the other was proclaim the moon as a god and you'll have everlasting life. You definitely would not choose hell. So many so called Christians make this choice. They chose (Not Hell). Anything but hell. Then they think that they are OK. When they really don't have a clue of what they chose. They just know what they didn't choose. Their desire was not to go to hell. So they chose the opposite. With elections at hand, it's easy to say I don't know who to vote for, I just know who I'm not voting for, so through process of elimination I vote for someone I have no clue who they are or what they stand for. God desires us to know him. To love Him. To Worship Him. The one and only choice is God's love.
I have a request from the readers of this blog. Please pray for me, for the days and weeks to come, that I can display God's love through my walk of faith. That I can demonstrate what a true ambassador of Christ represents.

My vote is in............. I choose God's Love..........

TEST THE SPIRITS

Here I am, In extreme Northeast Virginia, typing on a mac. (Jeff, I don't know how you do it) It will probably take me two hours to write this. Anyhow........I'm stepping out in faith that God will provide. My stomach is churning, I'm scared, and having anxiety attacks. Here's the only thing that is keeping me together. God is with me.
I walked out the front door of my house and got into my car to begin my journey, when I realized that I haven't done my devotional that morning yet. What an idiot, I thought to myself, how do I expect to succeed without talking to God about what is going on in my life for that day. Yes He knows already, but He desires me, He EXPECTS me to bring it all to Him everyday. Whatever it is. I get out of my car, and go back inside to do my devotion for that morning, and here is what He had in store for me that morning.

1 John 4:1-6
1) Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2) This is how you can recongize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3) but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4) You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5) They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6) We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

I feel like Abraham going on his long journeys. Staying with other kings in their kingdoms. Not really having a kingdom of my own right now, but having faith that God will reward me with a kingdom. Even if I never achieve another kingdom here on earth, I know that I am promised to reside in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Here I am, right smack dab in the middle of the world. I keep holding on to these two facts from God. #1) verse 4 says that "the one who is in me is greater than the one who is in the world," As I face the world, I always need to remind myself of that. That when I face evil in the eye, The Spirit of God will not let me back down, because what is in me is greater than what I face. and #2) Matthew 7:7 - Ask, Seek, knock.......... I have got to have faith that God wants to see me happy, and therefore, when I ask Him for things, He will provide them. But patience is a thorn in my side. I want everything to be great right now. I'm just a young child, hyper and ready to open all of my Christmas presents all at once. But I must wait for the right time. God's plan is just, and fool-proof.

Guys, I promise there are some fun blogs coming from my direction in the future. But for now.... God Bless.