paul, the workhorse of God

Romans 1:1 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God."

this is paul's description of himself and his job. this is what he wanted his "legacy" (i guess i can call it that though it isn't the best term) to be.

i want to draw your attention to one small word though, the word "for." it's in the last phrase of this sentence. this little word gave me a bit of trouble when i first read it, i first thought that it should read "by the gospel" but it doesn't, it says "for the gospel." why is that? i think and believe that paul used to word "for" here because paul knew and understand that he was being used and he knew what he was being used by. he knew that his purpose in life was the gospel. he was called out to spread the gospel and to be a servant to the gospel, the good news of God, which is, in reality, a servant of Christ. for the good new of God is that Christ came to earth to die for our sins, while we were yet sinners, and to then rise from the dead and defeat death for us and to pay and fulfill our punishment so that we may spend eternity with God. this is the gospel, this was what paul as set apart for, this was his mission. he spent his days promoting this gospel and he gave his life while spreading the gospel.

possession of God

tonight at one28, something struck me that i have heard before but this time it kinda hit a cord with me. it was the fact that we, as christians, belong to God. all of our time, thoughts, and actions now belong to God. everything that we do, we are to do for God. in our church, it seems that the things that are most stressed are the things that we are not to do and we focus so much on not doing them that we totally forget about the things that we are to do. i am totally convicted and convinced that not doing the right things is just as bad as doing the wrong things. we must turn from the bad and not stop but go. go to the good things. go to things that satisfy. go to the things that bring joy. go towards Christ. only then will you be content with your life. only then will your hole in your life be filled.
this is the only done by living on unseen things, living on the things of heaven. we must live, wrestle, struggle, fight, and die for heaven. for if we don't, we will likely go without it. without heaven, there is only eternal hell. in order to not go to hell, you must strive for heaven. you must GO! stop living in this life.

i say this to myself just as much as i say this to anyone else. i struggle with this. i am guilty of living in the now and doing the things to feel good now. i must also fight with this. i fight with this daily. whether or not to watch this or that, to read this or that book, to do one thing over another. these are the same basic things that i also must work on, but it is a good work. these are good things to struggle with for they do lead to heaven. this is a fight but it is a good and noble fight. so fight

live for heaven. live for God.

you must watch this video. stop what you are doing and watch it

imagine having this being said about you. imagine having this fortitude to keep going without knowing about anyone getting saved from what you are doing for all those years.

this is inspiring. this is why it is so good to listen to and read biographies. they keep you going and give you courage.

God is good to give us a way to remember the past so that we can look at a better future. if we would only live like the people in the past. we must live on unseen things in this life in order to make it to the next.

are you saved? if you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven?

new brother

well, today is the second day that we have had john and he is smiling and talking more than yesterday, which is good.

it was a complete miracle of God that we even got him. however, this miracle isn't the one that is most important. i know that many people have been praying for him and us that we would get him, but i beg that you do not stop praying for his soul. this is the miracle that really matters. this is what we need to pray for now. please pray for him. pray for us that we may witness to him.

please pray

for our good

i must say that i am terribly glad that God is in control of our lives because if He wasn't, i would be going completely insane right about now. there are so many things that i want to happen. yet i am so glad that i can't worry about them because God is going to make the things happen. all i have to do is love Him and serve Him and everything else will simple fall into place. oh, to be in the hands of a great, mighty God who loves us so! it is truly marvelous to have His care surround us. while i am small, God is big. to know that while i am sinful, Christ still saved me and loves me and will work a great work through me, i am honored and humbled. God is soooo Good.

SRMMX

take aways from SRMMX

- small group encouragement: this is the first time that i have really gotten to be around my small group for an extended period of time and i would have to say that i rather enjoyed it. sure, my guys are bone-heads at times but they are really a good group of guys. God has truly blessed me with the guys that i have. they make it a joy to be a leader in one28.

- the greatness of suffering: i would say that i have suffered more in my life compared to the normal person. i would also say that i do not, at all, have it bad. my life is really not that hard. the suffering that i have encountered though has been difficult to handle at times but it is good to see and reflect on all the good that has come from it. my death has greatly altered the majority of the people around me, including myself, and if i can effect the amount of people that i have effected again by suffering more, i gladly would suffer more. even just the change in my own dad has been amazing to see. there is also the change that has occurred in myself that i would not exchange for anything in the world. sure, i will probably never run again (mostly because i am to lazy to work out slowly [i'm really not patient]) i am, in fact, completely alright with that, i actually have always hated running, though i do miss soccer and bball occasionally. but God is so good, He is totally worth it.

i actually can't remember why i wrote down my next two points but i will list them even though i can't expand them like i did the other two. first, the art of breaking. second, taking care of our souls. again, i can't remember the context behind these quotes, sorry.

lastly, the easy burden of living on unseen things: this is perhaps the most contradictory statement i have ever said, which if you have been around me long, i say a lot of contradictory statements (they make people think). so, while living on unseen things is perhaps the hardest thing to imagine doing in a persons life, once you do it, it is so easy and care free. Christ says in Matthew 11:28-30 that while we may have many worries on this earth, we are to take up His burden. in order to put up His burden, we must first take off our own. when we take off our burden, the cares of this world, and put on Christ yoke, life will be easy. sure, His yoke will bring pain and suffering and persecution, but those things are so small compared to what we have set our eyes upon. we must look to heaven and the things that are unseen in this world in order to make it through this world. if we don't have a heavenly focus, then we are focusing on the crap that is around us and it will only bring us down to hell to be consumed along with it.
so i encourage you to look not at those thing which are around you but to those things that are ahead of us, look to unseen things, look to heaven, look to God.