head in the clouds

Last Post

2011-08-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm pretty sure that I don't have too many followers on this blog but to those who do follow me, this is the last post that I am going to make on this blog and it is simply to say that I have another blog that I am going to use. Blogger has been giving me trouble for a long time so I have now moved to WordPress. Feel free to follow me there if you would like
http://eyeswideopen322.wordpress.com/

To God be the Glory

2011-06-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

This is definitely not a new thought to me but this is a new application to me on this thought. I read a book almost a year ago by Jonathan Edwards called "The End for Which God Created the World." In this book, Edwards seeks to prove the meaning of all existence and I think he does a great job at it. He proves through logic and scripture that all glory should go the the Supreme Being of the universe and that Being is God. If all glory is to go to Him and He created everything, then shouldn't the purpose of everything be the glorify Him and not ourselves? I would say yes, our reason for existence and life on this earth is to bring glory to the Creator. So if we are to bring Him glory with our lives, shouldn't we be doing something worth while with our lives? I would say yes, to a point and this is where my thoughts have changed.
For the past 3 years, I have been trying to figure out a way to live my life so as to bring God the most glory and to use my giftedness to the upmost for the purpose and to waste as little time as possible. In trying, I have had seasons of great growth and of stagnation but that is also a part of life, getting into and out of funks. I was thinking today though about the purpose of life. We are to purposely bring the most glory to God but that doesn't always have to be through extravagant means. Living a simple life with simple pleasures, thanking and praising God for your simple life is more glorifying to God than living a life that causes people to look more to God by your work and yet you take credit for your work and life while slightly pointing to God. We are responsible for our own reactions and lives, we should first focus on our own glorifying of God rather than the person next to us and how they are doing with glorifying God. Praise and worship of the creator is actually infectious, if you do it, people around you are going to start to ask questions and start to also bring glory to God. God is in all creation for He created it. If we point it out to people, it may dawn on them that there is a God and that He is worthy to be praised.
I would love to see a place, people, and planet that are on fire for God. A people that love Him and want to glorify Him in everything and not just the big things. God created the tiny atom that should blow itself apart as well as the entire expanse of space that we haven't even seen yet. We should seek to glorify Him in all the little things as well as the big things. This is coming from the guy that has many big things to thanks God for and yet I have trouble enjoying the tiny, "insignificant" parts of life because they are just life. The tiny parts don't bother me, I see them as life, but they are so much more than just life, they are what make us who we are and they are things that we should be thankful to experience. There is more to life than the next big thing, the next party, the next near-death experience (in some cases), there is also all the little tiny things that make this life so much more enjoyable and unique.

What lead me to think of all these things today is that I was pondering people's lives. Could it be that we are really all the same and that there are just small differences in each life that influence us in different ways but that we are all really going in the same direction, asking the same questions and just coming up with different answers and conclusions? In order to test that I would have to examine a life and that isn't actually possible because I only life for 1 life and so I can't have an experiment based upon only 1 lifetime. Psychologists can and have looked at twins and they are the SAME person and yet twins lives are very different from each other as well as everyone else. Life isn't all the same things, there are differences. There is nothing new under the sun though and from that we know that the questions that we ask are always the same, the science might change a bit but really it is the same. It's all built upon itself and we just keep on continuing to advance and I think we always will. In our advancing though, we will always be coming back to the same basic question: why are we here? what is the meaning of life? That is something that people will always try to solve on their own and until they realize that they can't solve it on their own, they can never know the answer to the question, because the questions aren't about you even if you try your best to make it about you. The questions are really about something much bigger than you. You just have to open your eyes to the world around you and see that there isn't actually something out there. Something that does want to satisfy your desire for something more. There is more to this life. There is a God

Work in a Life

2011-05-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to read a lot of books lately because I am trying to teach myself as much as I can while I have a lot of time on my hands so as to best maximize my time. I was convicted tonight though: in all my learning, is it changing my life? With this question in mind, I'm not going to slow down my learning but I do hope that in thinking about it, praying about it, and then, Lording willing, acting upon it, I will start to see my life change and reflect all of my learning. I don't want to be a guy who can tell you a bunch of stuff but then when that stuff is compared to my life, they don't match up. I want people to see my life and then understand my life after they get to know what I know. I have much to learn in life and I have much to change in my life but I know that God is faithful and He will complete the work He has started and all I have to do is my best to do what He commands and I should turn out alright.

I just finish a book about the sovereignty of God and while I have about 40 pages left in the book, I started to think about how this topic would impact my life. The book presents some ideas but then I was trying to think of personal things for me. I came up with a few:
The sovereignty of God impacts how I make decisions. Knowing that God is sovereignly in control of everything mean that I don't have to have all the answers in life. All I have to do is to make the best decision that I can. I can make a decision because I know that God is in control so I don't have to worry about making the wrong decision because God is the one who is making all things work. That doesn't mean there is no such thing as a foolish or stupid decision but that if I am doing my best to seek counsel from God and people more wise than I am and then make a decision, God is going to use that even if it isn't in the way that I thought that He would use it.
The sovereignty of God impacts why I make decisions. Similar to the first but I do think different enough to mention separately. God is sovereign but that doesn't mean that I just do nothing. It means that in everything I do, He is working. Does this encourage me to sin? I hope not. I hope that this encourages me to think of Him in my planning and decisions more. I don't use God's sovereignty as a scapegoat but as a guide. Because God is sovereign and He has laid out His plan for the world in His Word, I know what is going to happen and why it is going to happen and so I can make my plans to further His purpose here on earth. I want to make decisions that promote the glory of God, bless those who are around me, cause me to love Him and others more, and make me into His image.
The sovereignty of God gives me hope. I like to plan and to figure out ever angle that I can and to then do those plans. My plans never tend to have gone according to plan, something always seems to change and then I make new plans. Luckily, I like to plan. I will continue to plan for the rest of my life because I think it is good to have a plan, but in my plan making, I know that God is in control and that I can't try to hold on to my plan. I have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow let alone 2 years from now or 20 years from now, but I am still going to plan for them. I want to do ministry, have a family, and impact that world for Christ. Two of those things, I am very positive will happen because I will not be content in life if I don't do them and I think I have done this up to this point in my life but I want to continue doing them and to do it better and in greater quantity. However, I have died once and I could die tomorrow and never get a family. I would be in heaven, that wouldn't bother me! If left alone, I know I will not be as productive in my life, if I live a long time, as if I had a family because a family, I have heard, makes you grow up and get serious about life. I want that. I don't want to be a kid (I don't think most would call me a kid but still, excel still more). If God blesses me with a family or not though, I don't have to worry about. All I have to do is to spend the time I have as best I can and allow God to work out the rest. This is why I can have hope in life because God is in control and sovereign. He takes care of everything and I don't have to worry about the next day. He is going to provide the things that I need, even if it isn't in the way that I think it should be. He is good. He will provide. I think I can now be excited for life to happen because I just get to ride the roller coaster and have fun along the way doing what I love to do: learning and teaching about the things of God.

Book Review: "The Sovereignty of God"

2011-05-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

So I will start off this review with this: if you have not read this book and are saved, get off your butt and read it! "The Sovereignty of God" by A.W.Pink is a book that could almost definitely change your life. Honestly, it does take a while to go through, it took a whole day longer than I had expect for me to get through it but I must encourage you to persevere through it because it is golden. If nothing else, it will challenge everything you know about how life works. At best, it will give you are great respect for God, change how you make decisions, and give you hope for this life. Pink does a very good job of using scripture in his book so he argues his points well but then he also goes after the obvious objections to his points and disproves them so that you can see they he is actually dealing with most all the major problems. He says that this is a little book that barely touches the subject, which is technically true, but it is also a great resource to read because he actually covers quite a lot for such a small book.
There is one thing that really stood out to me that I'm not sure if I agree with/understood his viewpoint and that was on why sin is in the world. I will have to do more research on that but that was the only major flag that I currently remember about the book. The rest I thought was basically good. He gives good arguments and I'm going to take what he said and compare it to scripture as I read through my bible but I think in generally he is fairly sound though may be slightly off on some of his stuff. I can't remember specifics but I do remember questioning a few things he said but again, I still think he hit the nail on the head with this book and I think you so go and read it this week. It really is very good.

How to Spend a Life

2011-05-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

In the eyes of most, and I would agree with them, I am a young man. Most would say that I need to be taught more and need to go to school and spend thousands of dollars on a degree and then I will be an adult and ready for the world. i would agree that this is a good path and that most would need to follow it. College has a good place in our society and most people aren't grown up by the time they get out of high school and they need time to grow and they have more to learn and college is a good place to that all this. I'm not saying that I have arrive and that college has no place in my life and I don't need to learn more. I have much to learn, I love to learn, and I will spend the majority of my life learning. No, my problem is not that I'm grown, my problem is that I have the gospel and it compels me to do more.
I could go to college, affect those who are around me for Christ, spend thousands of dollars, learn a lot and get a degree. I could also stay here, get a job, affect those around me, learn a lot, save money, and get no degree but meet a bunch of people and network and live out my life so that people know me by my actions and life and not by a name and title. I see two paths I could take, the first being harder at the beginning and easier at the end while the second being easier at the beginning and harder at the end. What am I to do?
I have had a unique life, one that I know of no one who has had a similar one and not done big things. This is not to say that I am marked for greatness but I do think that I'm marked for something. I don't think it will be easy, for the kind of person I am, if it could be easy, I would make it hard, but that doesn't mean that I should try to make it easier. At the end of my life, I want to say that I have worn myself out for Christ. I want to be a beaten and battered pot by the end. I don't know what this is going to look like for my life but I do know that it won't be normal. This is not to say that normal is bad or easy, I think normal is just as hard, but it will be different. I know that God has some plan for me and I am excited for that. A dear brother told me yesterday that he doesn't know why but for some reason, I needed to get ready, for what ever is to come. So I shall.
A quote that has been on my mind for 3 years is this: "I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as i can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age." Jonathan Edwards.
I think college would be a good use of my time but not the best use of my time. I think that getting a job and saving money would be a good use of my time but not the best use. I think that doing ministry right now would be a good use of my time but not the best use. The best use that I see for my time is to do all 3. I think this will be difficult and very wearing on me but I only have 1 broken body to use up and so I will use it as much as I can until God decides that it is enough.

An objection comes to my mind at this point about all that I have written. What about Ecclesiastes? Isn't there a time for everything? a time for school, work, and ministry? Yes, there is a time for everything, a few hours here and there each day for each. Life is so short. We only have a few years here on earth and if we spend our time the way that the world tells us to and not how we are compelled to through scripture, then we are not spending our time as the best we can. We will all be held accountable for how we use our time, are you using it the best way that you know how for your life? Each life is going to be very different from the next, we are all not the same which is the great thing about God and His creation, He doesn't make cookie-cutter things, we are all unique. I am not trying saying that one life spent one way is better than another. What I am trying to say is that we must all think as to how we can best use the little time that we have. I am fairly sure that I have less time than most people my age and so I want to make the most of the time that I have left. Do remember though, we each only have so much time and we don't know how much that time is. Spend each day as best you can for that is all that you can do in life is your best. Try to take every thought captive. Try to maximize each hour and minute. Don't waste meetings and times of fellowship. Live your life as if you only had a few days left because you might only have a few days left. Trust me, I know this from experience, the end comes up on you quick.

Having a Heavenly Gaze

2011-04-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

There has been much on my mind lately but a singular theme running through all the things that are on my mind is "What is the purpose of my life?" "what do I want to do with my life?" or "why am I living my life?" I am kinda at a fork in the road with my life at the moment and with my recent trip to Ethiopia, I have had many things come flying in my face making me question what I want to do with my life. Sure, I can always do what people are telling me to do and go off to college and get a degree, get married, start a family and live life from there and that is a viable option and I don't think there is anything wrong with that life (if you are doing that). I don't think that is what I want to do with my life though. Life is so short, I don't want to spend long hours in a class room listening to a guy talk to me about things that I could spend 3 days reading about and then understand it just as well. That doesn't sound like a good use of my time or money cuz college is expensive!
No, when I grow old, I want to look back on my life, at least on the years that I was a christian, and be able to say that I spent them as well as I could and that I maximized my time. I want to live so that my focus is on heaven and eternity to come and not be thinking about my grades or pay check or whatever. Life is short and if you are running with your eyes on the ground, the finish line is going to come up on you and you aren't going to realize it but you will be at the end before you know it. I want to run so that I know when the end is and that I do my best so as to not waste my time.
If we focus on the end and the finish, we will live our lives differently then if we focus on the now and try to get our life in order before serving God (which is what many people think they should do first), or we could not even be thinking about serving God and totally waste our lives. I want to live for heaven yet I feel that at this exact point in time, I'm falling and not having any traction on the course. I want to do something yet I feel that I am swimming and going no where. It is a very hard position for me to be in because I like to be doing something. I like to be accomplishing things yet I'm not really. I'm on pause when I want to be on fast forward. Oh well though, God is good and all I must do is to keep my eyes towards heaven, learn as much as I can, impact all those who are around me, and enjoy the process.

Book Review: "Culture Shift"

2011-04-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

I know a little about Al Mohler and I know that he is really, really smart. Smart people generally are not good at writing books for normal people. Honestly, this book wasn't that difficult to understand. I did have to look up a few words that he used but his writing style is very clear and he covers a huge range of topics in this short book. I would suggest this book for juniors and seniors in high school. The language will challenge them but the topics are ones that they will be facing by that time in their lives. I wish I would have read this when I got it my senior year of high school.
In the book, Mohler goes over topics that you would find in the daily new: politics, abortion, public school, evil in the world; and he takes them, analyzes them for what they are, and then gives a way to handle them in a biblical way. He quotes people from the respective fields in one chapter and then refutes them in the next. It is a little limited in it range of topics but it is a small book and I don't think is meant to be all-encompassing guide to our culture but rather an introduction, something to cover the "BIG" topics in the news. With that in mind, it is quite good. If you are up-to-date with the news and think through it biblically on a regular basis and want to learn more, I would suggest to find a bigger book. If you are a sheltered, private school kid like me, this is a good place to start, a place to get your feet wet from a guy who is trustworthy and amazingly gifted.

Book Review: "Getting Things Done"

2011-04-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is an incredibly simply book which can totally change your life and the way that you handle problems and things that come up in your life. I would recommend everyone to read this book because it makes total sense. The guys writing style is alright, he isn't painful to read though he does repeat himself a lot and goes through each step many times throughout the book. If you want to get the basics of what he says, read the first 100 pages and then skim the last 160 pages, it is pretty much all repeat after the first 100 pages. He walks you through his method and such in the second half. If you are going to do his system and work on it while you read, then you should read the whole thing but if you just want to take what he says and adapt it to yourself, just read the first half and skim how you suggests you to do it.
It is a good book though and I suggest everyone strongly to read it.

Book Review #1

2011-04-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm on a bit of a reading rage right now so I figured I might as well post reviews of the books I have read. These will not be extensive reviews because my mind doesn't work that way. They will be more summarize of the books as well as pros and cons. The first one up is "Heaven Misplaced" by Doug Wilson. Bethany recommended it to me to read to get some background that post-millennialism. I have huge respect for Doug Wilson mainly because my sister totally loves to read him and she hates to read. I've listened to some of his stuff before and I liked what I heard from him so I figured I would give this a try.
His writing style is great. He is well informed and he writes in a clear way so that most anyone can read his books, which is good because some scholars learn so much that they forget how to be simple for the sake of the people, Wilson doesn't. He uses words well and doesn't throw them away. He isn't near the artist that his son N.D. Wilson is but I won't hold that against him.
Now the content: I will say that I don't know much about the view that he is talking about in his book and so I am going to have to read other books to get a firmer grasp on the topic of post-millennialism but I would say that this book is a good introduction to the topic. He covers quite a bit of scripture but I don't feel like he explained any of it too deeply. I wouldn't hold that against him though because this is meant to be more of an introduction and not a college textbook but because I am now to this viewpoint, I don't feel like he explained it enough to convince me to change though he did a good job of making me curious. I do think that he takes some cheap shots at the pre-millennialists a few times but again, I wouldn't hold that against him because the shots he takes, are problems with many who are pre-millennialists and so the shots should be taken. I don't think he is meaning to offend with his comments, just merely to poke so as to cause irritation so that something might change.
As for the view of post-millennialism vs. pre-millennialism, I think that post solves some problems while adding others and the problems it adds aren't problems that I would prefer to have. I did find it interesting because some of the things that he harped upon are things that I totally agree with, such as Christ being in sovereign control now, and he made it sound like it was a view only taken by the post. Perhaps I am a hybrid, I don't know, I just know that I saw his view point in scripture and thought that most people believed this way. any ways, there is my brief review of the book. If anyone reads this, I hope it is helpful and if it is, please say so and I will write more reviews in the future.

So Where Do I Go From Here?

2011-04-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has been around me much since I have gotten back from Ethiopia should have noticed that I have been more reserved as of late. This is mainly due to the fact that I have a lot on my mind and one of the major things that is on my mind is what am I going to do now that I am back? I don't want this trip to have happened and to not effect me, I want it to change me and I really think that it has. I am getting a little ahead of myself though, no one has been in my mind for the past 2.5 years so no one would know where I am coming from in order to get to where I am at now. So we regress... 2.5 years ago, I started to think about what I wanted to do with my life and I realized that I wanted to do ministry. I wasn't quite sure how this was going to turn out or anything, but I knew that ministry is what I was meant to do with my life. I am not called to a simple life or a "normal" life, God wouldn't have done everything that He has done in my life just so that I can live a simple life. How many people do you know that He kills and brings back to life just so that they can go on the same way that they always have? there aren't many. So I knew I was supposed to do something and I believed it was ministry. So I started to pursue a pastor career. I did a youth ministry internship and started to study and read books, all of which I totally loved. There was something that I was missing though and that I knew I needed if i was going to continue in this career: a heart. I needed to love the people. I didn't really have a love for the people that were around me, sure, I care for them, but I had a hard time relating to them and wanting to care for them. So I started to pray. I asked God to give me a heart and a love for a people. I didn't care where they were at or who they were, just a love for them so that I knew where I was meant to go. So i started to pray, and I prayed, and prayed some more, and I saw that my love for people in generally started to grow, and I was excited. God was working in me. This was all happening over the past 2.5 years. these prayers and loves have been growing. I then went to Ethiopia. I then fell in love. I saw people who had nothing but Jesus and it was totally amazing. These people knew how to live, and they needed help. Perhaps I am not the best person for the job, I know that I am not the best person for the job or the best suited or the most gifted, but I know that I love those people and that God can use anyone who is willing to let Him use them. So this brings us up to today. I know that I love the poor, especial the kids. I absolutely love them and want to care for them. Orphans will always have a special place in my heart. Every time I see them, I want to just love on them. So with all this on my heart, I set out. I don't quite know the path that I am going to take yet but I do know the destination that I am headed for: somewhere. I want to work with poor kids in other countries that have nothing because I love them even without knowing them. I want to share Christ with them.

Now, I have a long ways and a long time before I will be there, that is where you come in; if you are reading this, I need to you pray. Pray that God will give me wisdom, a path to walk, and support. I say support but I am not talking about money (at least at the moment) I need people to encourage me with this, not false or weak encouragement but heart-felt, because they believe in me. I need prayer support. I need people who will come along side of me and who will help me with all of this. It is all new to me and I am a young guy, I need help.

So please pray and ask God to work in me

a mind is a terrible thing

2011-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

I am sorely in need of distraction from my own mind so I write this blog post. I read through Psalms a few months ago and I came across Psalm 146 as one that I need to memorize. It is truly a great psalm, especially to a person who likes to figure everything out on their own and who likes to always have a plan.
I find myself now in need of trusting in God. I want to have the answers to the questions yet it seems like I am only allowed to have the questions at the moment, which I am not enjoying. I like to have answers. My mind has been dwelling on the unknown for the past week or so and that is wrong because it has been occupying my thoughts and more or less paralyzing me because it is all that is on my mind and I am totally a one-track-mind kind of guy, I can only think of one thing at a time. While I would really love to have these answers to my questions because I kinda do need this answers in order to move forward in life; having questions isn't meant to freeze you, it is only meant to pause you.

I still can't clear my head of these thoughts though, they just won't leave me alone. I need to distract myself, I am just not sure as to how best to do that, everything seems to bring them right back to mind, it is terribly annoying. Sleep works for a time and so I will do that for now. until morning where I face another day of wonder.

epiphany

2011-04-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

So as most people know, I just got back from Ethiopia. I was on a missions trip there with 14 other people. We met some amazing brothers and sister and we all really miss them a lot now. We went there to bless them and they totally blessed us way more then we could have even imagined. While there, we did some jobs for them to help them out and such. During all the stuff we did, I started to realize that I have been foolish with my life. It isn't enough in life to simple live and to not live the best that you can. We all only have 1 life to live and we should not let that life go to waste. As such, I see that I have not optimized my life. So today, I started to work out. In the past, my physical fitness had been an idol but now I see that my neglect of it is just plain laziness. So i have started running and I will do push ups and sit ups as well. My goal is not to look better or get bigger or anything like that, but to keep my body in shape so that God may use it as He sees fit and so that my lack of disciple isn't something that holds me back from being used. I'm tired of sitting on the side lines, I want to get back out there so that I may do something with my life.

To the end of the world

2011-03-29T17:30:00.001-07:00

well, this is the last time that i will be on the computer for 2 weeks. i am leaving for Ethiopia for a missions trip. never in my life have i thought or even wanted to go to africa and yet here and i am, excited and nervous about going. I can't believe all that God has been doing through me and for this trip so far. He provided all the funds for it and I never even had to really ask for money, it just came when i needed it. i have had poor health for quite awhile now and yet God is sending me to a place that doesn't really have modern medicine. i am going to a village of lepers, that's weird and scary. i talked to a person recently and they didn't even know that leprosy was still around. it is. i am going to help an orphanage that is run by widows and i've never been married or had kids yet i'm helping them. heck, i'm still a kid myself. God uses the most unlikely people to do His work. i can tell you all that right now. i would not ever pick me to do anything for the Creator of the universe and yet He seems perfectly fine and willing to let me do it, how cool is that. i get to serve the King, the Creator, God. i feel small.

yet there is much to praise and pray for: that i am able to go, that a stinkin' huge blessing to me and hopefully to those whom i go to. i am going with a great team of people who are going to be a lot of fun. i get to go with my dad, that is crazy. most sons would never get the chance to do something like this with their dad's yet i get to and i am excited for that. please pray though. pray that God would give us all strength. we are all humans just like you going into a place that we are not used to, we need prayer more than ever now. grace, that we would love and spew out grace on one another and on those around us so that we can be a testimony to those whom we meet. and pray for the souls of the people that we get to come in contact with on this trip. pray that God would save some and that we would be the instruments that He uses to do that. pray for the lost, for the sick, for the poor, for the orphan, for the widow, for the leper. allow us to bless them and show Christ to them. help through to love God more because of this. help us to love God more through this trip.
To God Be The Glory
Living Out Unseen Things
please pray

another year comes and goes

2011-01-01T12:02:00.001-08:00

so this last year has been quite eventful for our family: we got another brother, as well as a brother-in-law, garrett graduated, kim got married, moved away, and is now expecting a kid (she thinks a girl), i got a job where i have to talk to people all the time, garrett works at nike now, john is speaking fairly good english now, i destroyed my car, my parents have changed churches and priceless granite is still in business; all in all, a pretty full year.

now to look ahead though. i worked last night and so i didn't go to any year-end parties and so when i got home, i took some time to study. my mind naturally started to wondering and i ended up thinking about the year and what i wanted to change for this next year. i think about sin, study habits, loves, and how i spend my time often but i must say that i am rather lazy. i enjoy sitting in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and just thinking about whatever comes into my head, that's enjoyable to me. i know that there is nothing wrong with thinking, many people my age need to do much more thinking and less time moving, but for me, i want to work on thinking actively, with pen in hand and thinking about things and pushing the envelope. i want to stop being complacent. this is going to be very difficult for me. this will be difficult because i get tired easy and when i get tired, i get cranky. i don't want that to be me though, i want to have joy in all of this.

so basically, i want this to be a year where i fight myself and my natural tendencies so that i can become a person whom i want to be. the person whom i am now is no good. i turn 21 this year, i think it is time to grow up.

Be Still

2010-11-28T00:51:00.000-08:00

it seems like there are tons of people around me who are going through tough times at the moment. things just seem to be going poorly for people. i wouldn't say that things are going awesome for me but i would say that i am used to things not being perfect and so when things aren't good in my life, i'm completely fine with it. this is not to brag that i handle things well but more to say that my life isn't going perfect and thus disqualify me from making the following comments. my life is generally a struggle, but a good struggle.
i was thinking about these people around me though and trying to think of something to tell them that would encourage them and help them get through these tough times. i was thinking about it and an old song that i used to sing in choir came to mind. the song is called "Be Still" and it is based off of Psalm 46:10a "Be still, and know that I am God." the verses leading up to this verse is all about the works of God and all that he can do and does, mostly in a wartime setting. verse 10 is then just kinda thrown in there almost as if to make us stop and take a double take at this verse. the author then gives the sum up and calls us back to the point that he was trying to make and the point that he introduced in the beginning, that God is our fortress, our refuge and strength.
i like the first part of verse 10 though, "Be still" our culture is all about going and moving, more coffee to keep us going, and more stuff to keep our attention from ever having to think on it's own. this verse is just telling us to stop, sit down, and KNOW that God is God. that is a chilling thing to think about. to just sit and think about the fact that God is God and we are not and that we don't have to worry about anything, God is the one who moves mountains, He is the one who causes the seas to churn, and He is the one who causes all things to happen. we don't have to figure out why or how or anything, we just have to trust, do still, and know that He is God and that He is going to take care of it. we just must be faithful. God is God. He does it all.
we can worry about life and struggle and work to make things right, but we are not called to do that. we are called to be still and know that He is God. we can then think about what we should be doing, if anything, and go from there. first though, we must be still.

to take this even further though: while being still and figuring out what we can be doing, in all this, we must also be trusting that God will take care of it all. it isn't enough to know and think that He will take care of it all, we just actually trust Him to do it and to put our faith in Him to do it. faith requires action but this faith, this action, is probably going to be not action. it is going to be a trust God thing. what are you going to do about something? oh, i'm going to let God take care of it. this is actively non-active. this isn't laying in bed, trusting that God is going to pay your bills. this is busting your butt and trusting God to provide you with work so that you can pay your bills. if there is no work, then you continue to trust God and allow Him to work and bring you work. you don't need to worry about the lack of work, you just have to worry about what you are doing in the absence of the work. you are responsible for your time on earth, not on if work comes to you. if no work, then there is more time to witness about how you trust God to bring you work and He will then bring you work, though not always in the way that you think.
if something bad happens in your life, being still would mean that you don't worry about the bad in your life, but you rather look to God and see Him and His greatness and know that He is God and that He has ordained all things for some reason. bad things do happen and will always happen on this earth, we don't have to worry about finding bad things to happen to us, they will find us. what we have to worry about is how we handle them. it is easy to get mad or angry when bad things happen to us, and that would be the wrong response. we are called here to be still and know that He is God. so even when the bad things happen, we can know that a sovereign God is doing it, a God who is our refuge and strength. how can He be our refuge when He ordains bad things to happen to us? because while they may seem like bad things, they are for the best.

i think i should write more on this but my mind has just decided to shut down and so i am going to stop here.

God saves sinners

2010-08-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

tonight we have our first "out of the box" event for a long time. as the intern, i'm kinda leading it, i guess, as such, i am going through the gospel and the things that it takes to be saved. going back to the basics is a really good thing to do. i have actually been having a hard day today and thinking through the gospel has been a great exercise for my encouragement. to think that there is a Holy God and we are sinful men and we are the ones who sinned. God then sent His only Son to die for our sins and then raised Him from the dead. all we must do it to confess that we have sinned and that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved from our sin and that He will save us and we will be saved. this is an amazing and mind blowing truth. to think that God created us and yet rebelled and instead of killing us he provided a way for us to have union with Him again. that doesn't make sense to the human mind. we get even with people who wrong us, God, instead, gives us blessings.
i don't get excited much or about much even and yet i think i am getting excited about tonight. to have an opportunity to share this great news with people should be and will be a great treat for us as believers. i am still scared, but i pray that my excitement will over throw my selfish stupidity. God is in control, so why should i fear anything, silly me, haha. we serve a big God who loves to care for us.
as the people in Ethiopia say, "God is good, all the time"

the joy of the Lord

2010-07-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

it is fun to sit and listen to our church choir sing. i actually really enjoy this. there is something that i enjoy more than this though: to watch my brother John sing and listen and smile as he hears the words and music. he really loves to sing. it's awesome to watch. to think that God worked many crazy things together so that he could be here is something even more amazing. if God hadn't worked hundreds of things together, there would have been no way for him to be here now. yet here he is, sitting next to me, listening and singing songs to God. please continue to pray for him, we are not certain of the state of his soul. he understands sin, though i'm not sure as to how much he understands atonement and Christ's work on the cross for him. he really is a great kid.

it's also great to watch my other brother Garrett sing in the choir this year. he just started in the choir but he has always loved to sing, even though it bugs me at times. he is seriously always singing. i wish that i was like that. as christian, we are always to be singing our saviors praise, he does things. he really is always singing, even in the shower at times. it is cool to watch him grow up. he is still very much a kid most of the time with his friends, but he is good at being serious when he needs to be. he just needs to learn when to be serious at certain times, because unless he is called or told to lead, he doesn't so much. he'll grow up though, he is the most disciplined person i know so i know that it is just a matter of time. i do wish i could have fun like him. my idea of fun isn't so fun, i generally just read or something, but people love him. he really is a huge leader, i just am not sure how much he realizes this. anyways, i've got off topic. it has been great to watch him sing on sundays and then also tonight at the concert.

"By this we know love..."

2010-07-06T00:12:00.000-07:00

so tonight i was closing my eyes to go to bed and my mind was kinda sleepy but i wanted to go to sleep thinking of something good so i thought about a verse that i am studying to teach this wednesday.

1 John 3:16 "By this we know love, the he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers"

the first phrase really got me thinking and after a hour of thinking and 600 words, i figured i would write down some of my thoughts here.

"By this we know love..." how amazing is it that we know what love is because of what the Father and the Son has done for us. just as children learn to live and love from their parents, so we learn to live and love from our heavenly Father. we are His sons, we are like Him and so we should live and love like Him. in Matthew, we learn the greatest commandment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strengthen, while the second greatest commandment is like it, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.
as Christ gave up His life for us, so we should give our life to Him. if we give our life to Him, then we should live our life the way that He would want us to live it.

my mind is seriously going in a million different directions a million miles per hour because of this phrase. this verse reveals a trait of God in it's entirety and it is the trait that means that most to us because this trait is what saves us from ourselves and brings us back to God.
i'm having a hard time writing my thoughts down because of how awesome this verse is and what it means to us. we get to know and see God's love for us and we also get to know how we are to live our lives. this is what it is to be Christian, to live and love as Christ.

first public day on the job

2010-06-17T00:59:00.001-07:00

a few hours ago (i would say earlier today but it is no longer the same day so yeah) i taught for the first time this summer in one28. i am very surprised as to how comfortable i was speaking. it seemed normal and i wasn't really nervous to speak though i am always nervous about the content of my messages. i would say that i could have known my passage better. i think for this next time i will spend much more time mediating on the passage before i start to read about it and then mediate on it some more after i researched some. i just need to know the passage better. i have heard positive reports as to my delivery of it though it will be interesting to hopefully hear about the students response to the message after a small group or something. i hope that the message itself will draw much conversation because it probably does hit so close to home on so many of the students. i want to see people fall radically in love with Christ and with living for Him. this was my message in a nut shell.
well, i need to get up in a few hours so i am going to bed now. there is never enough time in a day.

problems with rain

2010-06-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

well, i got up with morning and when i got out of the shower around 4, i could hear this very annoying buzzing sound but i could NOT find where it was coming from. so i just ignored it. i thought the neighbor has left some of the work equipment or something, oh well.
well, when i went outside to get a propane tank from the back so that my dad could fill it at work, i found the source of the rather annoying sound. there was a little box on the back wall of our house and when i went up and looked at it, it says TANK ALARM. hmmm.... i wonder which tank this is? so it was about 5 in the morning at this time and i had to leave and i knew my dad would be getting up any minute so i went and told him what was going on. he came out to turn off the alarm, which was a relief, and then went inside to do something or other. i then left for my morning meeting.
the ironic thing about all this is that just last night, we were talking about how we were hoping that we wouldn't have troubles with our septic tank, bam! we got a wee bit of trouble. oh well though, at least it isn't the morning of the wedding, right.

MY call

2010-06-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Psalms 24:3-6
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

so i am currently interning for one28, our church youth ministry, and one of the responsibilities i have is to teach on corporate one28 wednesday nights, so i have been studying to do so. perhaps the most annoying and amazing parts about this studying and work is the fact that you have to have a constant clear conscience before God in order to do it right. i have worked at another job this past school year and it never really matter what mood i was in at work. i could be mad, happy, or whatever and i could still polish granite to the same standard. studying and teaching God Word is not at all like this. i have to be pure. i have to have confessed and repented of everything i can think of that is sin in my life. i can't hold on to anything in this life in order to simply do my job, which is what makes this job difficult and at the same time, completely worth it. this job is not enjoyable when i want to sin or have just sinned, but it is enjoyable cuz it makes it so that i feel like i can't/shouldn't sin. i am compelled to do this job, and there is little else that i think is worth doing. i wish that i could do an easy job, i am the laziest person alive, i think. i wish i could do a job that doesn't take my whole being. yet i know that there is no other job that i can do and feel whole doing. there is nothing else that i prefer/want to do. i get to do what i want to do. are you?

great cloud of witnesses

2010-06-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

i must say that there is little better for the use of encouragement then christian fellowship and brotherly love. i started a new job this week at the church as the intern and while everyone around me is super busy with graduation and such, they are always quick to help me or offer me advice or to tell me something that i probably don't know or remember. it has been great thus far and i am excited for the rest of the summer. this is something that i could get used to, working with people who love their job, love God, and love you. it has been great.

Christology

2010-05-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

Philippians 2:1-11
"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

i want to look at verse 6-11 specifically because, as far as i know, these sum up the infinite person of Christ and His deity fairly well (haha, sum up infinity, but yeah, i said it).

first, Jesus is in the form of God meaning that He is God. then He became a man through the virgin birth. by becoming a man, he became the ultimate servant for the more power that you give up, the greater the servant you become. the creator served the creation, you can't lower yourself much more and yet Christ did. He submitted to the Father's will towards us, to serve us so that we may have life with Him. to serve us, He sacrificed Himself on the cross. since He did this, the Father has greatly exalted Him and made it so that He is the only way for us to get to the Father. He is the only one to save. only through Him do we have eternal life for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. one day, every person and thing will confess that Jesus is Lord and this is all for the glory of the Father. so the Father glorified the Son, the Son glorifies the Father, the Son glorifies the Spirit and they all work together to show each other off. they are the epitome of love, for they love each person as much as themselves, serve each other, glorifying each other, and we, mankind, get to share in this in the fact that we were created for the glory of God. we were created so that the triune God could show Himself off through and to us. we are the example to the angels for how to act and worship. what a glorious thing. we are not robots or mindless zombies, but people who have wills that we are allowed to use to glorify God with.

we only have one life, are you going to use it the way the great triune God intended us to use it, for His glory and our satisfaction?

yes, God created us so that we would be most satisfied in this life when we are most saturated with Him. what a marvelous thing. our best life is the life that we are meant to live. the best thing that we can do is also the thing that we are supposed to do.

well, i can just keep going on this topic probably for eternity for God is infinite so i will end this here this time.

looming judgement

2010-05-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

James 3:1 "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."

this verse has been in the back of my mind for awhile now and today, it is seriously looming over me. tomorrow i start my internship at the church and i have to finalize what passage i'm going to be teaching on this summer. just thinking through it all is seriously nerve racking. i feel very small, unlearned, and unqualified. "lucky" for me, i have an infinite God whom i can go do in prayer who will comfort and guide me as well as many older man around me who would love to help me if i asked. God is good to encourage we who are weak so that we can handle our small burdens of life for after He takes our burden of sin away, we have so little to worry about. all we must do is be faithful, which, in and of itself, is impossible for us, but through Christ, all things are possible.

here i stand, i can do no other

2010-05-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

with the discussion of membership and apostasy, i would like to discuss offense and where we draw the line. i know i am young, but this is how i understand it and how i believe the bible stands on the topic and how i am going to live my life till proved otherwise.

the bible clearly says that the world will hate us, but not because of us (or at least it shouldn't be because of us, they should love us) but because of our message. we are to present our message the best we can so as to win men but men will still hate us unless God calls them. it is a very bad thing if the brethren has a problem with our message because they are to help us by way of accountability. so, what if a brother has a problem with our message? we are to sit down together and reason through scripture to either be reconciled or to agree that it is a minor doctrine and that there are 2 ways to understand it and that we are to both be fully convinced in our minds so that our conscience is clear.

where is the line though? where can we stop arguing and to live and differ in peace? the bible clearly draws lines as to where we can not fudge. the doctrine of Christ and of salvation and of the Trinity. i'm sure there are a few others but they escape me at the moment.

these things though are very much linked and important. they pertain to the kingdom of heaven:
- Christ: He is the Holy Son of God who is fully God and became fully man through the virgin birth. He then died on the cross and was buried and rose again on the third day. He was then taken up to heaven at the appointed time.
- salvation: when Christ died, He died for the sins of the world, taking all that sin upon Himself. He then defeated death by rising again, thus allowing us to rise again with Him in the last day.
- Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: all separate and yet still one God. the Father is judge, the Son is the sacrifice and advocate for the elect, while the Spirit works salvation in the believer and works sanctification in him.

these things can not be altered

personal holiness, but for who's sake?

2010-05-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

i often find myself thinking about how i should be acting for my future congregation (if God gives me one) or future wife (again, if God gives me one :). i think about things like personal holiness, purity, knowing the bible, and things like these and how i need to have them in my life for their sakes, which is true, i should have them in my life for them, but truer still, i must have these sorts of things in my life for my sake and God's sake for i must desire a relationship with Him first BEFORE i can think of others.

when i say "before", so as to dispel some wrong notions, this "before" is not a measure of time but of importance. the first thing on a believer's mind should be God and how they (believer and God) are doing, and then second should be other people.

this comes back to the greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" all commandments can be summed up in this one and the next one, "Love your neighbor as yourself" if you do these things perfectly, you fulfill the whole law. what a glorious thought! this shows that God had all male disciple (at least one thing) because God summed everything up into 2 things so that we could remember them :)

all things boil down to love so compare all that you do, if it is FIRST loving towards God and then loving towards ALL men, then you should do it.

(when i say "all men" i mean all but God does give some other laws about which men we are to follow at certain time, i.e. authority)

fill your mind with unseen things

2010-05-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

of late, i have struggled upon the notion of having joy in life when there is so much sin, past and possible future, in my Mind that grieves me. How do you enjoy a person, God, when you know that you have and will continue to cause them pain?
i believe i have found a solution to beat the joy and the sin problem in my life and mind by way of a message given by SKH yesterday.
i must look at this in a logical progression.
first, how do we not sin? there is only one way that i see this could happen and that is if sin is removed from our minds. to have no sin in our thoughts would make it impossible for us to do, would it not? so then, the next question must be how do we remove sin from our mins? by replacing it with something else. so what can we put into our minds to replace the sin in our minds with something that is not sin? the only thing that is right and commanded to fill our minds (Mt. 22:34-40) is, in fact, God. He is the only one who can drive out sin and replace it with something better. but, what ho! Christ/God is also the thing that will bring us joy. by allowing Him to pervade our thoughts, we are filling our minds with what they were meant to be filled with. what a glorious and simple truth!
God created us so that He would be the greatest "thing" for us. this isn't arrogant but great, for He is infinite, eternal, and omnipotent. so He is always with us and we can't get away from Him. so to enjoy Him is good for He is always there to be enjoyed.

JUMP

2010-05-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

i was thinking about it today, why don't we have more evangelist? the most common answer that most "christians" would give you if you were to ask them is, "well, i wasn't called to be an evangelist." how the devil do you know that? did God tell you? if you are hearing from God then you should be an evangelist.
no, i don't think it is a lack of calling. i think it is a lack of listening which is produced by a quantity of fear.
fear is a great motivator. if someone is afraid of me, i can make them do all sorts of things for me as long as i don't push them to far. now, replace me with the devil. he can make you not do many things (evangelize) by filling you with fear. he stops the kingdom of God from advancing because you are too afraid to do what you should be doing. the devil realizes that he has lost you but as long as he can make you not see the need to save everyone else, he doesn't lose any more. so he fills you with fear of people and gets you to focus only on yourself (i know God is sovereign, i am merely speaking on a human level here).
however, fear has an even worst cause and this should scare us more. fear is also the by-product of lack of faith, faith in God. we don't trust Him with many things, and if we don't trust Him with everything, then we have a fear of something. this fear produces sin, or possible could be or is sin on it's own.
i see this in myself as i think about witnessing to someone. i fear the unknown. i am scared of what might happen. this is how i know that other people are the same way, for there is nothign new under the sun.
so then, what are we to do? JUMP! and pray like crazy. watch as God does crazy good things through you as you trust in Him and do what He wants you to do.
He cares for the little birds and they are not made in His image as you are. so don't worry, be happy. trust God. Pray. He'll be faithful. stop sinning and ignoring the Spirit. do what is right. trust and obey. follow Christ. pick up your cross. leave father and mother and follow after Him.

thoughts on a public ministry

2010-04-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

as many people know and to those of you who don't, i want to be a pastor. it is the only thing that i can possible do with my life that i know that i would not be wasting my life doing and i don't want to waste my life so i must be a pastor.
i have heard other pastors so that the greatest need of their congregation is their pastor's personal holiness. while i think that is needful, i would go a step further and so that the greatest thing for a pastor's soul is his personal holiness. a pastor is held responsible for the souls of his congregation. if he doesn't teach the truth to the best of his ability and do as much as he can for his flock, then it is on his soul in the end of time. so then what is the best thing for the congregation? by what means will they get the purest form of the truth? if the pastor is personally holy.
so, a pastor must seek to be holy for his congregation's sake and because of their sake, it is then for the pastor's own sake. so a teacher must first be holy for his congregation, and then for himself.
i have much work to do. i am so far away. there is so much time that i waste that i could be doing things that will help me. i must put off my childish acts so that i may be personally holy as i teach this summer and then through out my life. one thing is that i must spend way less time doing silly things on the computer, mostly on facebook and hulu. i must stop. it is fruitless. there is one thing, one book that i must know above all and that is what i must be spending my time in. at this stage in my life, i am in the desert as paul spent his 3 years in the desert. this is my time to learn all that i can so that in the days to come, i will be able to teach and not labor to study as i must now. reading and studying will always be an essential part of my life, but not near to the point that it must be now.
it's time to kill some flesh

and here we go

2010-04-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

i just finished habakkuk this morning as i am reading through the bible and it struck how these men where prophesying about the destruction of nations and how the people alway thought that they were fine and that the end was not near. then the end came and they were killed and basically all went to hell.
it is interesting to read this about something that happened 2700 years ago (i'm guess at the date, i'm not really sure how long ago it was but i should be in the ballpark for the date) and it happened back then, meaning that the destruction did come. so what of today? in the NT there are multiple references about how we are in the last days and that was over 2000 years ago, so what are we in now, the moments? so if we are in the last moments, shouldn't we be using our last moments for what really matters and what really counts? we need to step up and live like it is our last day because it could very well be our last day. we have no idea when the lord will be coming back so we should get up and do the work that we are told to do.
we must be active

who is God?

2010-04-04T04:36:00.000-07:00

i got up at my normal wake up time today so that i could get ready for church today as i do on most every sunday. today i have some extra time though because i don't have any extra sound tech work to do before church (which i just remembered in writing this that i do, so i will have to leave a few minutes early but that is fine). so because i have extra time, i thought that i would spend it in prayer for that is something that i struggle with, praying for long periods of set time. i thought that i would try to write it down to help me better stay focus, but a curious thought hit me. i enjoy writing. i like to spin words to make them sound nice or poetic or whatever. i like to write. so while thinking about writing out a prayer, i thought that if i were to do this, i would be writing and not praying. it would quickly turn into how do i want to state this rather than a conversation with God. i would be writing something nice but not sincere.
how often do we do this any ways in our normal day-to-day prayers? we talk one way in life and then we talk a different way to God, no, they should be the same. we first need to elevate our daily conversations but we also need to truthfully pray to God. it isn't good to say the "right" words and yet not even know what or possible even who you are talk to or about. we need to know the God we are praying to and we need to pray to the God that we know. we should look at our prayers and ask, "do we really believe that?" and go from there. there is also the other side, if we do believe it, does our lives show it? do we live as to the God that we pray to?
both sides of this is something that i am guilty of, which probably means that most people out there are guilty of at least half of this sin (which is really a whole sin but i won't get into that).
so then pray to the God that you know, and know the God that you pray to

the frailty of my soul

2010-04-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

while looking to this easter season that we are now coming into, i look to myself to see how i am while in this graceful season of my life. as i look into my own soul, i am scared at what i find. i see a young man who, instead of living for God, i live for myself. i follow the laws of God that are convenient at the time for me and i am scared that i am like that. i want to be a man after the heart of God, not one who pleases self.
i see the problem and i pray that God will give me the strength to do what i must. i can't live like the world. i am set apart; i am different; i am alive; i am saved, yet i live just like the world. this is not to be. i see my heart and i see filth, not Christ. what am i to do? i am so weak, there is nothing i can do. i always fail. no matter how long i stop a sin, i eventually fail. there is much fighting, much parrying and many wounds in this battle for my soul, but i see little victory, only failure. how can i cleanse my heart? there seems to be no end to the rags that are needed to cleanse my heart. i trample on the robe that i am clothed with, that Christ gave me to cover my sins.
i do not make little of Christ's sacrifice. i know i am perfectly clean in Christ. this is not the point. the point is that i am to live like Christ now that i am save and i see myself falling short here. the only reason i fail is because i choose sin over God and nothing else. the good that is worked in my i know is only of God because of how black my heart is. i need more Christ in my life, the problem is that i already have Christ and Him to the fullest for he withholds no good thing from His children. i am just so sinful. my past sins are forgiven but it is my future sins that i am worried about. i see the sin that my flesh wants to do and i am afraid that i might do it. what am i to do about a soul that is run by it's flesh, for my flesh is so weak thus making it strong.
i pray that i my surpass paul and do the things that i want to do and not do the things that i don't want to do.

jeremiah

2010-03-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

i just finished reading the book of jeremiah this morning and i have to say that this guy did not have a fun job. i, like most people, don't like to do uncomfortable things. this guys job description was uncomfortable things. God came to him when he was young and told him that he was going to bring God's Word to the people and this word was one that would predict their fall and destruction. most people don't enjoy being told how and by whom they are going to be killed by, it's not fun to know. jeremiah though goes on for 51 quite long chapters basically all saying how the people are going to die or be captured and then records their response which isn't generally good.
the thing though that gets me is the 1). jeremiah was faithful to say the words of God. he could have just left them to the destruction and said, "forget this" but he instead warns them about what is going to happen.
2). now in chapter 1, God does promise to protect jeremiah and to not let him die. now God does generally use human means to meet His goals which causes me to think that in order to protect jeremiah, he put into jeremiah a spirit of gentleness and genuine love for the people to see them as people and for him to want the people to come back to God. when jeremiah warned to people, i can't get away from the fact that he must have been trying really hard to win them for Christ even though he knew that they were going to not listen. this right here is hard for me. a guy who is speaking to people who will die, trying to win them; while i speak to people who will not die and who have a chance to be redeemed and yet i have trouble talking to them in love in order to win them. this right here does not make sense. i have been praying for a heart for the souls of man for quite some time now and i see some fruit from that, but i know that i need more of a heart for men's souls. to know that there are souls who are joyously running to hell while not knowing it and i have the means to stop them and do nothing to do so, this is sin and is the equivalent, in my mind, of manslaughter. how can i sit by by and watch men burn. this is as sick as nero who played his violin while rome burned after he lit it on fire (a theory i choose to believe :)
while my heart has been turned from stone to flesh, i need it turned to water so that it may more easily splash on others around me.

a people of praise

2010-03-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

isaiah 43:20-21 "the wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for i give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom i formed for myself that they might declare my praise."

i read this verse just now and i was convicted on how little i praise and worship God in my everyday life. i spend most of my day trying to live for God, trying to build up courage to witness, and to live out Christ but i forget the main reason that we humans are on earth. our main goal is none of those things, we were created for one reason, to worship God. yes, we worship God by and through those things, but they are secondary things to the worship of God. however, in order to worship God correctly, we must be striving to live the way that He wants us to live so that we do not only worship Him with our mouths but also with our actions. our mouths though must be there! people were said that they only worship God with their mouths in the bible but we seldom do that outside of church. i know a few people who sing on a regular basis. we should be singing, and if not singing, then talking a lot about God in our lives.

today is the day that i died

2010-03-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

today marks my 2nd deathday counting from my event. there has been much change in my life since then. most people, if they were faced with my situation would not find joy in it. much has happened in my life yet this is one of the few things that i would absolutely not change. the amount of good that has come from this is amazing.
here are some of those things: first for other people. i have seen the most growth in my dad in these last 2 years then in the rest of his life and it started at my event and God continued from there. he has gone from the leader of our family that is influenced by God to a godly leader who goes to his knees first and from there, God raises him higher then if he were to stand on his own. my event helped him to trust God more and from there, God has brought bigger obstacles, for my dad, that would cause my dad to trust God even more and more public. it's awesome to see my dad trust on unseen things to take care of all the seen things around him.
my mom has also grown a lot and the best way to put it is that she has grown up since my event. it's cool to think that God has taken a little country girl, had her marry my dad, and make her slowly in to a godly girl though she does still talk like a hick at times ;) through my event, God prepared my mom, slightly, for the life of trust and chaos that would follow. whether it be doctor bills, an engagement, or going to china to get a new brother, my mom really does handle a ton and she handles it well.
its must more difficult to say how my siblings have changed from my event but i can say that in general, we have all gotten close as a family. john has also brought us all together even more which is great. we now do stuff together all the time, or so it seems. i'm not quite used to it yet but i do think its good, though we don't really have any good board games.
it has also been good to see how people around me have responded to it. while it is still kinda embarrassing, my story makes you think about death and the fact that it could come at any second and i am in the 3% of people who survive. so what makes you think you'll have more time? if God will use this event to get people to stop thinking about the life that they are living so that they think about death so that they will think about the life that they are going to be living so that they can live for that life now, i am excited for that. i want to see that happen. that would encourage and bring joy to my heart.

my event has also effected me a lot. k, so that is a little bit of an understatement but oh well. first though, i would not wish what happened to me on anyone else. while it has been great for me, God totally prepared me for this to happen so that it would be a good thing. for this to happen to me was great, it was what i needed. there are though a lot of "tough" things though and i'm sure most people wouldn't enjoy them.
with that said though, i'm glad that i die. my death has been one of the greatest factors for me in finding out what i should do with my life. i now know that there is nothing else that i can do that i want to do and that i would enjoy to do with my life except to do ministry. i would go even farther and say public ministry, some form of teaching/evangelism (i am a coward so i would not at all be surprised if God had me do evangelism because i fear man so much). i feel compelled and convicted that i have to do this with my life, which basically means that if i do anything else, it's sin. so, i have a really short lists of jobs to narrow down, all i got to do is to foster my relationship with God and let Him do the rest (though really my fostering my relationship with God is really all God's doing so i just basically have to do nothing except what i want to do so that's quite nice because what i want to do is to please God, so it works).
also, i have even less energy than i had before i died so i have to think through on how i want to use the little energy i have. this is good for me because i have to only do the things that are most important to me. this really shows where my heart is at. i can't stay up late any more and do everything that i want, i can only do the things that are important to me which means that i have to choose between God and other things. i have seen where i will choose other things but i have also seen how God is working on making me not want those things any more so that i can spend my energy for Him. i am excited to forget the things of this world.

well, there are more things that i could write but my morning is quickly escaping me so i will end it here. but i'll end with this. i can't remember anything that happened the morning that i die. i just woke up a few days later in the hospital. so, if your heart were to go into V.Fib today and you were to pass out instantly and die and be in the 97% of people who don't survive V.Fib, would you be ready to die and would you be doing what you want to be doing when you die? i had 3 EKG and 3 echocardiograms before i die and the doctors said that i was fine. if you haven't had any of that or even if you have, your heart could give out at any second, or really any other organ could give out if God chose to do that to you, and you would die, so what would happen to you?

what to do?

2010-03-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

i am at the point in my life where i have nothing really keeping me where i am at. i have no huge responsibilities that keep me from leaving, no girl, no job that i can't leave really, a church that would support me at least with prayers, and no school. with that said, i am still wondering what i should be doing now. i know that i am called to ministry, i just don't know what ministry. i love kids, people, the lost, souls, teaching, studying, and the world; that basically covers the spectrum, so what am i to do?

i am not really worried about finding out what i am to do but i am worried that i am not spending my time the best way that i can. i do what i can to study as much as i can and i am praying that God would give me an even greater love for the Word. i do struggle much with fear of man so i am also working and praying through all of that, which is discouraging cuz i am so fearful. my prayer life is not good, i would probably call it terrible, which is also annoying. i am praying more than i every have but i am still not praying without ceasing. i am encouraged because i have seen a great part of my flesh killed which i have been struggling to kill for years and at shepherd's conference this year, i don't even remember what it was, but something caused me to realize that i need to trust God's timing with all things and i am now much more content with life in general. it is not enough though to just kill flesh but we also must pray that God would grow our souls. we must become more like Christ, not just less like the world. it takes both things.

so far, this post has been no conclusive, so what is the prognosis? well, all i can do now is to do what i feel led to do. there is one thing that really appeals to me and that is teaching and studying. i love to teach and to have the need/accountability to have to study, that is good for me. so, i am going to do what is needful for that profession. however, i know what God is good and that He can do anything he wants to do with me, so i am totally open to do whatever. i am even loose with my life. i would really have no problem dying. i have died before though it wasn't dramatic, as far as i know. i am not sure i could stand torture but i am not afraid to die. i am curious though how this view will change if God gives me a wife. so as of now, i guess i will be going to school and such though i do not really want to. i would rather just go and be like paul who went out in the wilderness for a few years and then came back and taught. why can't we do that nowadays. i do understand why we do but i wish we didn't have to do it this way. oh well though

take-aways from day two

2010-03-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

going into this conference, i was looking forward to the books that i was hopefully going to get, the singing/fellowship/worship that was going to take place, and the teaching that i would get to hear.
the conference is now 2/3 over and i must say that i am totally encouraged to get home and start living. my soul has been refreshed over this trip and i am so excited to get home and to do my own study and reading and then live it out. i do know that after awhile, some of this will wear down but i also know that if God is willing to keep me faithful in spiritual exercises, then most of this fervor will stay with me, i pray at least.
i want to come home and serve, and through my service - lead. i want to come home and study so that i may understand the person of God so that i may love Him more, so that i can then share and explain this love to other people so that they may love Him more. i want to do that. i want to see God kill sin in my life and to make me more like Him so that i may glorify Him in all that i do. i need and want to pray more so that these things may happen. i want to come home and live with people and not just around people. i want to get involved in people's lives and to allow them to get involved in my life so that we may encourage each other towards Christ and sanctification.

i'm excited, needless to say, to live out what i have learned and i am willing to do what God has placed on my heart as long as i can. now the hard part will take place soon: going home and actually doing all of this that i want to do. i know that at a retreat like this, it is easy to think of everything that we want to do, but in all reality, we can't do it all, i know that. these are just things that i want to do. i know i can't change the world or anything really, but i can, by God help, change myself, and that is the work that i will set out to do. while doing that, i also hope to influence some other people along the way towards Christ as well. this life isn't easy and then we die, but we are not called to an easy life but to a glorified life. nothing worth having is easy to get, why should eternal life be any different. it is the most glorious, great, awesome, wonderful, amazing, needful thing that we can get, so if it is the best, then shouldn't it also be the hardest, most outrageous, difficult, going-against-the-grain thing we have to work for? God is good though, He does all the work, all we have to do it serve Him with our pathetic lives.

we serve a good God.

2010-03-04T09:17:00.001-08:00

Singing this morning gave me goosebumps multiple times! It was that good

is your life worth defending?

2010-03-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

the closing session of the shepherd's conference tonight was a huge encouragement to me in an unusually way. the session was on living with and in integrity. with regards to the whole message, it was a huge kick in the butt to start to live my life the way that i should. i want to only do the things that if this were my last day on earth, these would be the things that i want to do. i am not at all there yet but i do want to do that and i think that in time, i can grow to that. so that was a kick in the pants.

however, there was something in the message that encouraged me that he didn't really say but it did come to my mind and i think that the line can be drawn from the message to this thought:
i have done many stupid and wicked sins in the past but that is just it, they are in the past. i am not judge on those any more, i have been forgiven. i must still admit those sins, but they are dealt with through Christ death on the cross for those very sins. i have been holding onto the guilt from my past sins since i have been convicted on them and i have realized tonight that this is wrong. i have been making little of Christ atonement of those sins. i will still struggle with this but i think that with prayer, God is good and will work me through this.

it is now time for bed so i won't be explaining this more, sorry if that bothers you

paul, the workhorse of God

2010-02-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-17T21:19:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-07T20:55:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

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.

family?

2010-01-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

as most people know, my parents are currently in china at the moment. this is a really cool thing cuz we are getting a brother through this all but really, us kids of quite used to our parents being gone. they have made multiple trips out of the country for a multitude of days before, so this is nothing new.

however, people always ask us if we miss our parents. i generally feel bad but i don't want to lie so i always say "no" because i really don't miss them. sure, it's quiet at home and such but it isn't that bad. i was thinking about it today though and i think i know why i have never missed them. it's because my family is still here. sure, my parents are thousands of miles away, but i have 10 other sets of parents that are a phone call and a short drive away. the community of the church is an amazing thing. i have men i can talk to about anything in my life. i have women who will treat me like their own son. while they can't take the place of my real parents, they are still here for me and my brother and sister.

this dawned on me today after i got a text from the galbreaths. without prompting, they made dinner for us kids. last night, we were invited over to the lugg's for dinner. we didn't ask for anything, they just saw a need and helped out. this is the amazingness of the church and of the work of God. if left alone, people would only look after themselves, yet with God working, they look after each other. sure, unsaved people do nice things for other people but that is only because they have the law implanted on their hearts, from God, and they are compelled to do something.

well, we are blessed for our extended family and God is good! all the time

when God is big but i am bigger

2010-01-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

i have been praying lately that God would reveal my sin to me so that i may know what to "work on." i am a afraid that i may have asked to see something that i don't want to know.

while i was cleaning and getting the house ready for one28 staff meeting this morning, i was thinking about something, i don't remember quite what, and it lead me to think about my pride. since then, i have come to the conclusion that i am perhaps the most prideful person in the world, especially considering what i have going for me. i mean, what do i have to be prideful of? i can't run, let alone show off, i can hardly remember anything that happened yesterday day any more, i look dead tired all the time, i'm a jerk, which people don't really enjoy hanging out with people who are jerks, and i'm a total sinner. so what do i have going for me personally, meaning what have i done? basically nothing worth bringing attention to, yet i act like i know and can do everything. how pathetic is that!

i'm really not happy about how i have lived my life so far, and i'm only 19. that isn't a whole lot of time to screw up, considering that the first 4 years i can't even remember and the next 8 after that are really fuzzy.

so, i have no recognized the problem, that is great, but the poison that is running through my veins isn't going to stop or help me. no, i must do something. these are a few things that i have thought up today as i was thinking about what to do. first off, pray. i must ask God to give me a higher and more thorough view of Himself and more love for other people. also, to cultivate more love for God which i plan to do by focusing on His character as i read through the bible in the next few months. lastly, which this might be the weirdest one that when i am around people to actually engage with them. i have a hard time talking to people in general so this will be a stretch for me but i also think that it will be good for me.

another thought that i had today. i was thinking about my pride and i came to realize that the thing that i loved most about public speaking is that people come and talk to you and thank you and such. it wasn't so much the study part of it, though i do really enjoy that, deadlines are good for me, but i like the spotlight. with that in mind, i have no idea what God wants me to do with my life. i can't be an effective pastor if i just live to speak on sunday and neglect the church, no, it is people work. it is life work. at the same time though, there is nothing else that i love to do, except read but that isn't really an occupation. i feel drawn to ministry, though i'm afraid it may just be my pride longing for it.

i wish i could grasp how small i really am

soli deo gloria

2010-01-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

in many christian circles, if not all, the main thing in life that is stressed is what we are not to do: don't lie, don't murder, don't lust, don't covet, and the list goes on and on. while this is needful for the christian walk, it is still missing a whole lot.

another thing that is stressed is what to do: serve the elderly, adopt orphans, give to the needy, worship, pray, read your bible, this list also goes on and on and this list also misses a whole lot.

we have the do's and don't's (if that's a word) of the christian life basically memorized but i ask "to what means?" why do we do or don't do all of these things? what is the purpose behind them? why not do them or why don't do them? what is our motive?

this is what, i believe, the real issue. why do any of these things? as the title of this post suggest (to those who don't know "soli deo gloria" means "to the glory of God alone") we are to do these things for a single reason and that reason is the glory of God. in everything that you do, you are to do it for God and His glory. any other reason is sin. doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is just as bad as doing the wrong thing (perhaps not morally but spiritually). all that we do, we are to do for the glory of the God that created us. we were put on this earth for the very purpose of bringing God pleasure and glory. all that He made, he made to show Himself off. He is the only one who can show off and He is going to show Himself off because He is worthy to be shown off. no matter how cool you think you are, you are nothing compared to God. he is the one who made the mountains, the seas, the atoms, the electrons, the quarks, the planets, the sun, the stars, the galaxies, the universe and all matter. He made it all for Himself because He could. He did it all with just His words. this is the God that we are to worship and bring glory to.

i challenge you. look at your life. in what areas can you change or do away with in order to bring God the upmost glory. do not settle for giving Him some glory, He is worthy of all glory. every minute of your existence should be spent bringing glory to God, so do it. it will consume your whole life, but it will be a life well spent. a life that is satisfying. a life worth living.

singularly addicted

2010-01-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

first off, i must say that most people who look at my life would say that i don't have much of one. i would agree, i am a rather boring person for someone who is almost 20.

though i may be boring, i would say that i am a man of addictions. i have a completely one-track mind. whatever i set my mind to, that is where my focus is at no matter where i am at. i have realized this in the past few years so i have been careful as to what i have let my mind become addicted to because this addictive nature of mine has gotten me into trouble in the past.

i started to read david brainerd's diary and journal on monday of this week and all through out it, he speaks about his sinful nature and how he falls so often. this then lead me to think about my own life and to start to examine it. i started to look at the "major" sins that our church culture so focuses on and i was doing alright with those (now i'm going to totally fall from typing this). so i prayed to ask God to reveal more sin in my life. i knew that i was still not doing what God wanted me to do, and i knew that He knew what i should be doing, so i asked Him. i got back an interesting conviction, one that will be difficult for me, though great for me (yes, God is so good to give us things to do that are good for us).

i have often prayed that God would make me into a man who is singularly addicted to Him and His Word though i was never quite ready until now (i think) to actually follow through with this. (side note: i read today numbers 25:10-15 where phinehas, because of his zeal, killed a man and woman for their sin, thus saving the israelites from a plague. i then prayed for zeal like this.)

the reason that i have never been ready to follow through with this prayer is because i have alway hung onto the little pleasures of this life and enjoyed them in my free time rather than enjoying God all the time. i have been on a media fast this past week, which media is one of my vices, and this has been great for me. it has shown me how dependent i am on the things of this world. i look to them for comfort and pleasure rather then to God. this is the thing that i seek to change. my nearly-constant prayer this week has been "God is sufficient" and He is. God is all that i really need and with Him, i'll be fine. so with this, i hope to be singularly addicted to God - His character, Word, and the person for God.

this, however, will take on a different form then i ever thought possible. it is not a life of only reading and thinking and praying to and about God. NO! that has been my great mistake. it is not that at all. it is a life that looks like God. so yes, there is much time of prayer and study, but there is so much more than that. there is also the life of reaching the lost (a thing a hugely struggle with). there is also the life of fellowship (another thing i struggle with), and there is also the life of living it out. we cannot go into this world and expect them to be open to the gospel at every turn, some will be open and so we must do that at times, but there is also the part where we live God out for all to see. when you help people for no reason, this shows God. when you are kind, this shows God. when you are patient, this shows God. and the list just goes on and on. theses are the things that we are to do. we are not to be hermits (which is what i would like to be, bad me) but we are to be in the world, though not of it. we are to be the light, we are to be the salt. we are to be the "christ" of this world.

this, i pray, will be my new life direction. God is so good.

media fast

2010-01-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

today, we of one28 heard a great message from nathaniel, from that comes this.

with snow retreat a mere week away and the need for spiritual refreshing needful, i propose this. for this next week, i will indulge in no media other than that which is glorifying to God. this means nothing that is "ok" to watch but only that which is glorifying. basically, i will listen to worship music and read books, specifically David Brainerd's diary and journal. also, for the majority of this week, i plan to get up extra early to spend extra time with God in the morning, mostly in prayer because i also read in the morning so the extra time will be for prayer.

we have so little time left to prepare ourselves for sr and we must captivate it. while most students have finals this next week, God blesses. serve Him first and He will bless you in everything else. don't reject your studies, but i only ask that you put them second rather than first in the things that you have to do.

excel still more, pursue Christ.

the power of the gospel

2010-01-13T05:20:00.000-08:00

i get the opportunity today to speak in elementary chapel at GA. this will be the youngest group i have even spoken to, though i have done chapel for them before with the SLC.
i always have a hard time picking the specific topic that i am going to speak on when ever i get the chance to speak. i was thinking about doing a missionary biographical message, then also possible about pilgrim's progress, but while both of those would have been good, these kids are young, wouldn't it be best to try and win them for Christ when they are this young, and perhaps i might have a hand in that if i were to teach on the gospel. that is why i choose this, the gospel, to speak on today. i want to play a part for winning souls for the kingdom. i now face the challenge of speaking to the kids and to keep them engaged and to then also explain it well to them. luckily for me, God is good, He is the one that saves, all i must do is my best and leave the rest to Him. i must speak and He must work. wow! as humans, we get the easy job, all we must do is to speak about the things that have saved us from damnation, which should be easy to do, and God will use these things to save others from the same destruction. yet i often find myself cowering at the thought of sharing my faith. i have on occasion, but i have also missed many opportunities, and the guys that i had the most impact on are no longer around me for they no long work with me. i have done little with the time that i had with them. i may have spoken to them a few times, but it wasn't near as many opportunities that i had to speak. i was shy. i now must pray for their souls and hope that God will call them through another person, for i have failed. God is good though, He is in control, not me, but i must do better for my own conscience and for His glory. a coward isn't pleasing to anyone.
God is good

golden calf

2010-01-12T05:30:00.000-08:00

in exodus 32, aaron makes for the people of israel a golden calf and sets it up for them to worship, saying that it is the god that delivered them from the egyptians.
there is the overview. now then, what is wrong with this? aaron didn't set up for them false gods but made something and claimed that it was the image of the real God. so the problem is not false religion. the problem is that aaron tried to set up something from earth as looking like God. first off, if aaron were to make an image of God, he should have made it in the form of a man for we were made in the image of God. however, the second commandment says to not make any graven image to bow down to. so, it doesn't matter what the image is depicting, even if it is supposed to be God, we are not to bow down to it, for we worship and serve an invisible God, one whose very face will kill any man who sees it, even moses, the only man to ever see God with his human eyes, is only allowed to see the back of God. the problem here is that there is an image, it doesn't matter what the image is, for whatever image we set is less than the glory and magnificent of God which would then make it unworthy of worship. only God is worthy of praise.

the israelites try to do the right thing in that they just want an image to put to the name, even though it is also completely wrong, but how much worst are we who put other things in front of God. anything that we put more time, thought, or money into we are setting above God in our hearts. we should make God our focus and not anything else. this is and will be a constant struggle in the life of all believers but it is a good struggle for we should want to please our God, Creator, and Savior. we will fail at this but we must not give up. this is the human life, one of failure, but also one of growth. we will fail again but pray that when we fail that it is not the same as the last time that we failed. we must strive to be better than what we were yesterday. we must strive to know God better. spurgeon said something along the lines of "better theology makes better christians for the better we know our God, the better we can follow him" (that is a terrible paraphrase but oh well, sorry spurgeon). in order to serve someone, we must know who they are and want they like and what they want. so, to serve God better, we must know Him, know His standard, and then do it. this is why spurgeon read, on average, 6 substantial theology books a week. while no one else can basically do that cuz spurgeon was a stud and a genius, we can take that idea and alter it for our lives, even if that means that it is one theology book a decade, something is better than nothing.

resovled

2010-01-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

well, last year my new year resolution didn't last too long but i still rather enjoyed doing it, what would have been blogging every day about something. so this year, i have a new resolution.
while looking at my life, i have noticed that i waste so much time on stuff that doesn't matter. i tend to watch many movies, play many video games, and spend much time watching tv and these are just to main some of the few basics. i think that this is a problem. there are plenty of good things that i can spend my time doing that i actually love to do, so this year, i hope to do that. i want to not watch media except when i am with people (which if you know me, isn't often) so that i can spend more time reading. i have plenty of good books to read that i would like to get around to reading so i'm going to make myself do that this year. also, for entertainment, i want to read biographies about old people, people who have impacted the kingdom. i want to be reading 3 books at a time: one old, one contemporary and then one biography. i know that this will be a positive thing for me to do so i am going to shoot to do this.
any one what to join me?

constrain yourself to be spiritually minded

2010-01-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

a quote from oswald chambers:
"it is possible to have a saved and sanctified experience and a stagnant mind. learn how to make your mind awake and fervid, and when once your mind is awake never let it go to sleep. the brain doesn't not need rest, it only needs change of work. the intellect works with the greatest intensity when it works continuously; the more you do, the more you can do. we must work hard to keep in trim for God. clean off the rust and keep bright by use."

sleep

2009-12-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

sleep is perhaps one of the greatest waste of time and one of the things that i enjoy the most in life and, at the same time, wish that i could do without. i enjoy sleep because it is easy, relaxing, and refreshing. yet there is a major flaw with sleep. you have to do it. i wish that i could only sleep if i wanted to so that i could stay up all night, at times, and read to my hearts content. at other times i could then sleep and be no less tired. i do concede that it is a necessary evil that is good for us and shows our dependency upon God to sustain us and that we really can't do anything on our own. it is a really lame thing to have to spend a third of our time unconscious because we were made that way, slightly ironic.

it is good to think upon all the little things that God has put into our lives to make it so that we rely upon Him. sleep being one, but then also eating, drinking, breathing. these are all things that God designed for our survive, dependance, and also enjoyment. oh that we serve a Being that love us so much so as to give us things that we would not imagine for our enjoyment so that we have yet another thing to give Him praise for. to have a God who knows us perfectly and gives us only the things that will make us more like Him in the end - if we are His children.

it is interesting and fun to think that one day, we will be like God in a more close sense, for while now we are similar to His slightly, for we are created in Him image. one day we will be perfect and that will allow us to commune with Him which will be glorious. the things of this world will pass away and be replaced with a new world where we will be serving and praise God for all eternity and that will completely satisfy us to the fullest. we will want nothing more. i'm excited, hopeful, and longing after that time that is to come. we are here for a mere moment before we pass into eternity. make this moment count for it is the only one that has any influence upon the eternity to come.

hard times

2009-11-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

while easy times are, in fact, easy. hard times are much better for the christian walk because hard times make us realize our dependency upon God. we should not get depressed in hard times as much as we should pray, for pray can move mountains while depression kills souls.

a light re-lite

2009-11-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

tonight, anne heartline passed away from a long bout with cancer. anne was my 3rd and 4th grade sunday school teacher. she has impacted hundreds of young kids for Christ through that ministry. she has also been in and out of hospitals for over 12 years (i'm not sure the count) and has impacted hundreds of people through that ministry as well. she has been encouraging and witnessing to patients and doctors the whole time. this lady lived this life in light of the next, and while she has passed away, she is now in heaven with God, which is must more glorious and where she would rather be even if she was health. this lady, anne, did not live her life for comfort, for money, or even for family, or for anything in this life. she lived this life knowing full well what is coming after this life. she lived for significance rather then success.

now then, how should we live our lives? how are you living your life? are you living to see how much stuff you can get or how many friends you can make on facebook? or do you live your life trying to impact the future? does your life have meaning? you must ask yourself this question. do not continue going through life living for yourself. you must do something more. see reason. to waste a life on things to gratify yourself when they won't even fulfill you is not a life but a depression. to look for meaning in places that will drive you everywhere but where actually meaning exist is not good but a journey that will quickly wane to the point of failure.

look to something better. anne looked to one thing and this one thing, she wanted everyone that she ever met to know about this thing because she knew that this thing could and would satisfy everyone for eternity. she knew that you would have to look not further in order to find the meaning in your life, that you could actually then live a life that is worth living. she pointed towards Christ. she lived for Him and she lived Him out. she did not merely claim Christ but she walked with Him. her life had meaning because of this. her life will be remember with this in mind. everyone who knows her will remember this about her, this is what she would want to be remember: Christ, not her. she would rather have you look at Christ then anything that she ever did. so i ask you now, look to Christ. stop living for this life and start to live for the next. live for significance and not for success. live with purpose. live with joy. live with Christ.

belief = something else

2009-10-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

acts 16:31 "believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved..."

this post will focus basically entirely on the word "believe" just so that you who are reading this will be aware.

webster's new world dictionary definition of believe: to take as true, real; to trust a statement or promise of (a person); to suppose or think; to have faith

vine's concise dictionary of the bible: greek word pisteuo meaning to believe, to be persuaded of, to place confidence in, to trust, signifies reliance upon, not mere credence.

while i would say that these definitions are similar, the english definition is slightly misleading to the point of the verse. i would truly love to unpack this word and shed some light on what i believe this verse is meaning.

i have no idea how long i have been saved and if you were to hear my testimony, you would understand why i have a hard time pin-pointing my conversion. however, i do know that i have been saved for the past year and a half and i have been putting in quite a bit of study time since then, trying to make up for wasted, lost time in my life. in the time, i have yet to read, heard, or experienced anything that is contrary to what i am thinking about this passage.
in salvation, we have something glorious, something that we should not want to give away for any reason, a thing that brings us untamable joy and assurance, a relationship with Christ.
i enjoy sitting a sipping at a nice, hot cup of coffee, i like the taste of it and i really like the caffeine that is in it that wakes me up so that i can actually function through out the day. i bring this up because, while this is simplified, Christ should be the same way for us. we should crave those quiet time with Him, He should be our sustenance for the day, that thing that gets us through a long hard day. He is always with us through prayer and meditation on scripture.
there is only one way to get through life, present and eternal, and that way is through Christ. as acts 16:31 says, all we must do it to believe on Christ. yet what does that constitute. there are no qualifiers or limiters in this verse on this phrase so that has to mean that we must believe on Christ to the fullest extent. not only that He created the world, but that He can and is the only one to save us. i think that many of us see both of those though and we can reckon with that and still live life basically the way that we want. however, Christ doesn't want us to live the life that we want, He wants us to live the life that He wants (because it is best for us but i won't get into that in this post).
God created us in His image. He created us for His glory. how do we bring glory to Him? by worshiping, praising, and living for Him, but making Him our all. this is what we are to do. when we say that we believe in Him (a believe that leads to eternal life), we are also saying that we believe that He is the only person in whom we can find enjoyment.
He must be the only thing that we find joy in. this doesn't mean that all we do is read our bibles and pray all day, but that in everything we do, we realize that it is truly from God, that we wouldn't have it unless He gave it to us, and we are enjoying it in a way that would please Him, and praise Him and thank Him for it. it is not enough to live a life that upholds the law of scripture if we do not have the attitude of scripture as well. if you up hold every outward law, yet partake in every inward law, then you are a white-washed tomb, full of dead men's bones, on the slow and easy path to eternity to hell.
wake up and smell the roses and the sweet life that could be yours in Christ. this world only looks appealing until you've tasted, chewed, and digested the goodness of Christ.

(while writing this, my mind wasn't working well, and i was slightly, completely scatter-brained so hopefully this makes sense.)

power of prayer

2009-09-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

of all the resources, books, and skills of handling literature that i have and have been taught, the most useful thing that i know when it comes to studying scripture is something that all believers have and that is the power of prayer.

when peter, the fisherman, wrote his letters that ended up in our bible, all he had was what he had been through and prayer. he was a simple and uneducated man, yet his works have lasted and will last until the end of time.

prayer is the key to unlock all the doors and gates to the scriptures. God is faithful to give to those who merely ask. ask for answers and He will be sure to give them to you. as christians, we have the Spirit of God in us who is wanting to reveal the secrets of God to you, but He is simple waiting for you to ask Him to reveal it to you.

pray and ask, God is good, He will give it

light of the world

2009-09-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

matthew 5:14-16 has been on my mind for about 3 weeks now, and i have finally decided to write something about it.

"you are the light of the world. a city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

this is speaking to christian. if you claim Christ, this should be you.
light is the one of the things in this world that we can not live without. we need light of some sort, preferably sunlight. there is very little that we can do with no light, sleep and breathing are about the only things that we could excel at in absolute darkness. in plainness, we need light.
as christians, we are that light. we should be helpers, teachers, counselors, preachers, workers, instructors, and friends in everything that we do. lights are useful and in the same way, we should be too. we should be the people that everyone wants to do the work because we do it right and fast. we should be the ones that people call for help, not oprah or dr. phil.
a light in a dark room can not be ignored, so we too should be the same way. this does not mean that we are obnoxious but bright. we should have attention on us. if people want light, they will gather towards us, and if they strive to be in darkness they will shun us, but either way, we should be noticed and a response should have to be made, we should not, and can not blend in to the crowd. there is one time that we are to be obnoxious though, and that is when we are so bright in the current situation, that all others not of the light will have to shield their eyes from you and push you away. this can happen in two situation: either the light is so bright or the darkness is so thick, either way people will not like the light.
if you are not liked though, that is ok. for as the light goes forth and pierces the darkness, it can and should cause sparks, which God can then make into a new flame, which is all the more glorious. when hit with a spark, it hurts, people don't like it. but when that spark starts a fire, it doesn't hurt but makes more of itself (that kinda breaks down but that is ok, cuz fire actually does hurt, but whatever, figure out what i'm trying to say). when a new fire is started, it not longer cares but getting hit by the spark but does in fact, love it and will love the light. this is what we want, more fire.
fire is sustained by fuel, this fuel is the Word and prayer (among other things such as fellowship, etc. ). so if our fuel is the Word and prayer, then should be reading all we can and then praying about it as much as we can. this things go together and make us better.
i have more on this but it is now time for work
go forth and be bright lights. examine your lives to see if there is anything that Christ is revealing to you that will make you even brighter lights.

and the time of death?

2009-08-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

the title of this has little reference to the actual content of this post, except for the fact that it has the words "time" and "death" in it.
so, first on time after death. since we know that God is outside of time and that time was in fact made for it's usefulness to man, i believe that when we die, it will instantly be the end time because we will then be outside of time as well. there will be no more day or night. so while time may in fact pass, it won't matter to us, it will all be the same. i have no real solid scripture for this, it's just a thought at the moment to me.
but with that, i am excited to die, not only because it means the end of this life, but mostly because it is the beginning of the next life. i am excited for the second coming and to see Christ fully glorified to the upmost. He will finally display all His glory for all man to see, believers and unbelievers and we will all bow the knee and worship Him, which will be a great and marvelous day. the sad part is that some will then be sentence to eternity in hell. which since there is not day or night for the time pieces that God had set up at the beginning are done away with, eternity will seem like one day and that day will last forever. that forever though will be either in agony or in utter rejoicing and praise to God. i look forward to singing with a good voice and learning for all of eternity about the character of God. i pity those who have not been elected to have God's pleasure bestowed upon them. however, with that, since we don't know who it is that is elect, we should be evangelizing to all of those that are around us. for if we know of the gift or curse that will coming in the end, we should be excited about it and telling everyone and wishing no one to hell for lack of telling. we should not be selfish enough to keep the glory of God to ourselves because we are afraid of what men might think. men are stupid, in generally, and it doesn't matter what they think, only God and eternity matters. we have a mere 80ish years on the earth to do what it is that we are going to do, and in that time, what we do will effect all of our eternity. don't think that you get 80 years, think and live like you will get only one more minute, and at the end of your 80 years, you will be proud of how you have lived them, never regretting but glad of how you spent them.
go out and live, for tomorrow we die :)

it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's superman

2009-07-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

as a young male, i simple love to watch a good super hero movie with some cool effects and stuff in it. i love the idea of a person fighting for what they believe in, the greater good, and using their super powers to do it. i am enthralled by it, it excites me. why do young people like it though? why do we like to sit and watch other "people" do amazing things when we know it can't happen and that we ourselves will never be able to do anything like it? it is, i believe, the little man syndrome but not the one that we normal think.
the normal little man syndrome is that a small person get big toys, basically. this one though is that a little person, i.e. a human, looks to "big people" i.e. super heroes, instead of the original big person. we all love to be friends with the biggest guy cuz we then have protection from everything, or at least everything that is smaller then the person. we long for this and we need it. we like to feel protected. we like to watch people with god-like powers because we like to feel protected or important or powerful.
God was, and is, and is to be the first and only big person. we are like this in our nature because God made us this way in order that we would be in awe of Him. we love to watch super powers because we love to be amazed. God has ever super power and more, He has all power, yet so few tend to look to Him. we might say because we can't see His power, but just watch a sun rise and you see His power in moving the sun into the correct position of the sky, providing light for us, and making it all beautiful to our eyes, all at the same time. He could have simple made light, like He did the first day, and not have given us all the beauty to go along with it. God is good though and He wants to do those things for us, so that we have even more reasons and reminders to praise Him for it. we are under and can be best friends with the God we created the world in a word, flooded the world with a word, clothed the lily in it's beauty, and who saved us from our depravity. we should be looking to Him all the more and forgetting about the people who have only imaginary powers. look to the one who has all power.

the mind of a child

2009-07-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

i went to the beach today and while sitting there in the sun, i was listening to some of the kids play around me. it was interesting to me to hear the things that these kids cared about, nothing really out of the ordinary, just the basic things but things that just don't really matter. this then caused me to compare it to an old person who is on their death bed, and the only likely and probably things that they would think on would be death and what would happen after death and the things of life after death.
so, why the change? how do we go from simple having fun to thinking only of the things of the next world? while i may only be 19, it seems to me that the closer we get to death or the time that is suspected for death to come, the more we tend to think on it. no baby thinks of death, but a 110 year old person should have it constantly on their mind.
while this may be the norm, what if it wasn't? the old are always saying how they wished they would have lived while the young are always saying how they are going to live but what if the old lived how they had wished while the young would live as they plan. much more would be accomplished if the youth embraced their youth and if the old would train to youth how to do it.
i am a 19 year old who shook hands with death then turned and came back. i would say that i am one of the few youths who are living as the elder because i now feel like the elder. with this though, even though i have made mistakes that i already regret, i now can live the life that i would have wanted to live if i had lived to an old age. the youth must start to act old when they are young so that when they are old they will then have a life that they can be proud to have. we must live the lives that we plan and not just simple plan them.

blessed? or cursed?

2009-07-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

while listening to the New Testament today at work, i heard the passage of Matthew 6:25-34 which talks about how God cares for His own. hearing this made me think back on something that i have been thinking on for the last couple of days, which is that what ever God gives to us, whether bad or good, is really for our best. even thinking of myself and my ailments, they are all perfect for me, for the have made me grow so much and have also helped me in deciding what i think God what me to do with my life. it is interesting though how if i tell a nonbeliever about my life, they instantly say, "oh, i'm sorry" while i have to quickly reply, "why? im not." the world can not make sense of people who are calm and joyful in the face of a difficult situation. it doesn't make sense to them.
also, thinking upon this more also brought to mind David in the Old Testament. in 2 Samuel 24:10-14 david got into trouble and he is faced with a choice of three punishments, one from nature, one from man, and one from God. David choose to be punished by God because he would rather put himself into the hands of a merciful God rather then into any of situation. now if david could trust God in punishment, shouldn't we also trust Him in everyday life? the answer is yes, for we do serve a merciful, loving God who wants the best for us. this does not mean that we get what we want because what we want is not generally what is best for us. we must learn to submit, wait, trust, and then to see the fruition of God's blessings, for even a "curse" can turn out to be a blessing.
a 17 year old athlete dying would seem like a curse, but a year later, no one who was effected by the boys death and resurrection would change what had happened, because we can now see that through this "curse" huge blessings came from it, whether it be learning to trust God, learning what to do with one's life, or anything else that someone else might have experience through it all. our God is good, we must learn to fully believe that, and trust that our good God will bring about good for us.

duality of man

2009-07-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

when created and put on this earth, God put into man passions that drove men to better this life. we are people of duality, having multiply passions and interests. this is perfect, for God created us this way, but only when our supreme passion is that of Christ. all other things will fall and burn, yet Christ has defeated death already, He will not fail.
with these passions, there must be a balance, with the balance tipped towards God. how are we to accomplish this if the things of this world are ever pressing, to the point that we forget the God who is ever present. a correct view of God will help us, as well as putting things that we would trip and fall over that will remind us of our great God. the greatest help to us though it prayer, for that one thing helps to strengthen us and allows us to commune with God, with no need of a priest. this is the best of blessings, to be able to call on God.

of God's faithfulness

2009-07-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

perhaps the most obvious example of how faithful God is shown through life in general. for if God ever were to not be faithful, even for a second, all would cease to exist for God is the one to hold it all together.
it is also shown more fully, however through His faithfulness to remember and fulfill all of His promises and prophesies. He is the only one who has never failed and will never fail because He tells us that He will never fail. all other beings and religions have fallen at some point, but God is perfectly faithful and has not lied yet.
He is faithful

make war

2009-07-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

man's man

2009-07-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

well, i just finished watching the disney movie "tarzan" and while this is a completely vile movie because it is laced with the evolutionary hypothesis (thanks leila) which is slowly conveyed to the children who watch the movie in a way that they love, tarzan is a man's man. he kills a leopard with a spear, which i can safely say that i will never do, and can tree surf which is pretty cool.

while watching this, i actually got sick to my stomach and had to fight tears because i wanted to be like that to my future family (if God wills). looking into tarzan's actions further though, it is not so much that he can do all that stuff that is amazing, but the fact that he is willing to try. it is not the fact that he can kill the leopard, but that he is willing to try to fight it in order to save those that he loves. while i can never even run after a guy, one thing that i am willing to do is to die for someone i care for. i know for sure that if given a choice, i would gladly give up my life for just about anyone for the simple fact that 1) i know where i am going when i die 2) that place that i am going is going to be amazing 3) i would rather leave this life then to have someone else leave it who is perhaps not ready to die or who may enjoy this life more then i would enjoy it or the fact that i could perhaps not stand to live without that person (such as my unknown future wife or current family) 4) perhaps my sacrifice could bring about the one who i saved salvation which would be worthy of dying 1000 times or more in order to save that one soul (though it is really Christ through Scripture that saves).

so, while i may not be a worldly man's man because i can do actually very little, i hope that i can say and that it can be said of me that i am a God's man, for that is all that really matters to me and all that really actually matters.

life isn't worth living if you don't have something higher to live for

check this guy out

2009-06-12T18:31:00.001-07:00

this guy is amazing at piano, look him up and listen to all of his other stuff

Of Sin

2009-05-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

looking upon my own thoughts and desires when i sin, i perceive that there can only be 3 reasons why people sin, and only 2 that can relate to me.

first, the one that doesn't pertain to me. people sin when they do not know that there is a God or when they don't know the real God. if they do not know who they sin against, there is no possible way that they can uphold the law that this one that they sin against has put into order, so they must, therefore, sin. they have no real hope or choice. with this sin, comes death. so, this is a call to evangelize, for in order for people to stop sinning, they must know what it is that they are doing wrong. once they hear the Word though, they then have a choice, which leads me to my next two points.

let us say that once the person has heard the Word, that they believe. great, awesome, wonderful. now that they have a new found love for God, they will seek to know more about Him and to grow in Him and to be like Him, which wound mean that they are not sinning. but wait, aren't there any Christians today who would profess these very things? yes, there are. then how is there still sin if they are living like Christ? well, i can only see one thing for that, and it would be that in the moment of sin, the Christian, somehow, forgets about the God that has saved him and that he now serves and in that moment, he indulges himself rather then living for his great God. a Christian who is living for Christ can only sin when he forgets that he is living for Christ, for if he were living for Christ and had that on his mind, he would not sin. while it is a great sin to even forget about our God, i fear that the last reason is far worst, and possible more prevalent in our culture. this reason however has two perspectives to it:

the first is perhaps the most common of any of them and that is that people hear the Word, and simple reject it complete. they live their lives in absolute rebellion to that of God's Word and in the end, they will be judged for this. this is incredibly sad to see though it is ever spreading to cover this earth in this belief, that people can choose the way to heaven that they want, however, the path is narrow to heaven, with many people falling away, thinking that they are going down the correct path when, in fact, they are going towards hell and the lake of fire and eternal punishment. while this scenario is terrible, the last one is much more grievous.

the last reason that man can sin is linking to the one before, but it is with a Christian rather then a nonbeliever. when temptation comes to a believer, and they then pause and think about this sin that has come to them, and scripture and prayer both come to mind, but it is not heart felt and instead of following what they know to be true in their heart, they follow what their body is telling them and they indulge in this temptation. this can only happen when a believer doesn't care that there is a God and that this God is watching them and what they are doing at this moment. this is a terrible grievous sin. it is like going up to Christ, while He is waiting to be nailed to the cross, and you taking the hammer and nail, and smiling to Him saying, "i'm doing this to you so that i may live how i like and not have to pay the price for it but to rather have you pay it for me." this is arrogant and shameful. we are not to sin so that grace may abound (Rom. 6:1-4) but we are to live like Christ did, a perfect life, so that we may show Him off in this world. we are not to indulge ourselves, but to indulge in Christ alone, for He is where our hope is found.

if you examine your life to see why you are sinning, i believe that all those times will boil down to one of these reasons. if they do, i pray that you will repent and pray to God to help you in that area so that you may live like Him. life is short, and then you die. live this life as if it is all that matters, not is if it doesn't. live for Christ, for He really is all that matters.

absent

2009-04-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

i know it has been awhile since i have posted but i was sick, then i was in europe for 2 weeks, then being jet-lagged, and then with my busy schedule at the moment, i haven't had time to blog, though i hope to start to blog every night soon, probably in about a week or so, for then my schedule is will be much more loose.

youth is wasted on the youth

2009-04-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

this is an old phrase that could not be more true. first, the time of youth is the time when one has the most free time and the most energy. children seem to always be going 100 mph but with no real direction; which is the problem. so much force with no purpose is not really force at all buy really just spent energy. this lack of direction comes from lack of thought.

not, when the youth begins to grow-up, they start to loss energy and with this loss of energy, they learn to think more. the more they think, the "better" a person they become (if they have right thinking). so now that this person is better, they now do not have the energy to carry out their new compassion's and heart desires as they would have been able to when they were young. if the youth had the mind of the old and the energy of the young, this world would be a better place. we must work to teach the youth to be like the old so that great things may be done. if this happens, then youth would not be wasted on the youth, but spent to it's fullest. this fullness would only be possible if it is totally spent of Christ.

inadequate

2009-03-15T01:13:00.000-07:00

in general, people never stop talking. they are always telling something to someone about something that happened somewhere. yet in all that talking, there is little substance, in general, and if there is substance, is it really good?

the most eloquent of writers and speakers could relate the most beautiful of messages about our great God, yet they would not come close to touching the magnitude of His great glory. they could spin the best of lines in such a way so as to stun an audience, yet it would shine as dimly as a candle compared to the sun. there is nothing that man can do or say that could ever possible hope to communicate the vastness of the power of our magnificent God.

so the next question would be, why do any of it? why talk about Him, why write about Him, why praise Him? because we are commanded to, for if we don't, the very rocks will cry out with the praises of our King. we can do Him no justice, yet we will spend all eternity trying to, and we will love doing that, and love Him for allowing us to, and in return, He will love us for He created us. oh that we have a merciful and gracious Redeemer that care for what He created, or else we would be little more then dust and ashes. glory be to God

faithful servant

2009-03-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

matthew 25:29, to those that God has given to, more shall be given if they are faithful to multiply what they already have, however, if you do nothing with what you have or dare i say squander it, then all shall be taken from you. this is a good promise to remember, cuz even if you don't have a whole lot of ability or whatever, if you use what you have, God will bless it and use it and then give you even more. though it is also a warning in that if you do not use what God has given you and do not invest time in to work and study, then you will mess up your life and God will not work things to bless you, though He may still use you to bless others and such, though you may not get the blessings from it as you would have if you would have worked for Christ instead of something else.

all is profitable

2009-03-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

in numbers 26 there is a census listed. now generally, these tend to be quite boring to read yet if you look at them as something that could lead someone to Christ, then that makes them kinda cool. to think that someone could be lead to a saving faith in Christ by the simple listing of people in the bible that all points to the birth of Christ, that is cool.

so remember that even when it could seem like they are boring, all scripture is profitable, or else God wouldn't have written in all down. so read it

be ready

2009-03-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

matthew 24:42-51 talks about how we are to be ready for when Christ will return. we must be living our lives now how we think we ought to when Christ comes back for we do not know when He will return so we should live as if He is returning now.

would you live your life the way that you are now if Christ were to come this very night? if yes, then either good job, or i'm sorry that you are going to hell. for either you are living for Christ as you should, or you don't care for Christ and will burn in hell forever.

now, if you are not living your life as you should be and you know it, then change. i know this is not as simple as it is to say, but we still must do it. we've got to. we are called to this.

go out and bear fruit and multiple the kingdom

authority

2009-03-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

our current postmodern age is one that hates all authority and would rather do without any of it. it would rather have everyone make up their own standard so that everyone can do what ever it is that they want to do. as a person of the Word, we are to be people of authority. this is actually to pastors. pastors are to teach with authority, similarly to what Christ did, though slightly different. Christ preached with His own authority, while we are to teach with his authority and not our own. we get our authority from Christ. with this authority, we must know what we are teaching and the only way to know that is to study the Word. so we must study to Word to know what it says so that we may teach with the authority of Christ. we can do nothing until we know what the Scriptures says and if we don't know, then we should say that and then get help so that we can know what it says so that we can have the authority of Christ so that we may teach those that are under us. this is no small matter. Christ condemns the scribes for this for they taught with no authority but would rather make the text of scripture say what ever it is that they wanted it to say. this is terribly wrong. however, i am sure that no one who is going to read this would dare make stuff up with scripture, so i won't say any more on this :)

study the Word, everyone, so that even if you are not teaching, you may know if the teacher is actually teaching the right stuff. teachers, study and then teach. you have a holy occupation that is of the greatest of importance and it should not be taken lightly.

steak and potatoes

2009-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

while this meal is generally referred to the heartiest of meals, what i am getting this week is better. it is just plain awesome. while this week is awesome though, what happens when i get back home? how am i going to be getting fed then? well, you might say church, but i think that you are wrong. to keep with food, church should be the coffee at the end of the meal and not the meal itself. we should all be eating throughout the week, eating good, heavy meals so that when sunday and church comes along, it is not our only meal, but our way to enjoy the meal better.

have you ever had a couple of cups of coffee after you eat a big meal? guess what it does to you? a couple of things:

first, it compliments the food. it doesn't really fill you up any more, though it does make the rest of the meal taste better. it you go to church on sunday after a good week of bible study, reading and prayer, church is just an enforcement and encouragement to your walk, something to inspire confidence as you become more like Christ.

second, coffee helps to start digestion. when you eat a big meal, your stomach kinda starts to hurt and such cuz there is so much food in there and it just isn't made to handle it all that well, coffee helps to generate some stomach acids to help with that. church is the same way, it should help us to understand scriptures all the more so that during our own time of study, we will be able to better understand what we are wrestling with, it promotes bible study.

and lastly, coffee helps to energize. after a meal, your body sends all the blood to the stomach to help with digestion, this causes some sleepiness in the person, turkey coma is a common term around thanksgiving. coffee helps with this with it's great amounts of good caffeine. this is the fellowship part of church. while we may have a hard week with work or the family or kids or school or whatever, church will be there at the end of the week to help encourage and excite you for the week to come, even though it may be the same and you know it to be the same. this came, however, only come if you are studying the word and that it is active in you. this one only comes if the other two are present. a believer who is in the word should love church and be excited to go to church and should leave even more excited and encouraged and more ready to go out in to the world and show off Christ all the more after church.

so go out and eat some good meals and then go and get the coffee, it is the way that it is meant to be and it works oh so much better cuz coffee doesn't do well on an empty stomach, it will eventually erode the stomach lining which isn't very pleasant. this might not happen with church, but it doesn't actually with coffee.

day 1

2009-03-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

well, after finishing the first day at shepherd's conference, i would have to say that it is an awesome experience that everyone should get to have at some point and to some extent in their lives. people talk a lot about the singing, the the teaching is what is really impacting me. in this, i shall try and convey some of the things that i have learned today.

session one, taught by john macarthur was called, "why every calvinist must be a 6 day creationist" his reasoning is because it is clearly in the bible in genesis 1, so just read it and it makes perfect sense. also, that we must not be enviromentalist. so, "step on grass, kill and deer, and drill for oil, now". that is actually what he said in the message. he did not stress to much about being stewards of the earth, but i think that is because we are already way to concerned about that to the point that it is hurting human life, so he didn't stress it to much, though he did mention it a little.

the next one was about how to preach the Old Testament, and that mostly just went over basic bible study techniques that are forgotten and overlooked when studying the Old Testament.

the next one was about how the church is the epicenter for our christianity. we must build the church on the correct foundation and the only way to do that is to know what that foundation is and the only way to know that is to study the Word day in and day out. we must know the truth so that we can teach it to others. there is no excuse. we need to build the church as if we are building God's temple, because the church is God's temple. each believer is where the Holy Spirit is so that is God's temple. this is no small task but one that should be taken with all seriousness. the end result of this life is all the same, everyone will the bowing down to God, praising and worshipping Him, the only difference is where we will be when we are doing this. this life is on loan from God, should we not be doing what we will be doing after our death for the rest of eternity, which is praising God? so start doing what you should be doing so that we may bring God all the more glory.

the last session was again by john macarthur and it was mostly about his life and what his thoughts about the church are. all of his thoughts about the church though come from the bible, from scripture. there are things in this life that he will not budge on, in his life and in his church. we must make up our list of things that we will not change no matter what. the thing is, that this list should not change at any point in our life. it should be the same through out, for it should all be from scripture, and since scripture doesn't change, neither should our list. so make a list from scripture and follow it.

stumbling child or falling brother

2009-03-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

well, we arrived in california today safely. it was a good trip down though quite long. during the ride, i was thinking about sin and how it grieves God. to get it so that my mind could comprehend, i dumbed it way down. i compared actually sin with the analogy of a child and brother. if a baby were to walk up to me, not knowing any better, and punched me, it wouldn't really bother me at all that he did that. however, if a brother were to come up and to do the same to me, i would be hurt and annoyed by what he did. this is not because what the brother did to me hurt more but because he did it knowing full well what he was doing. he was not ignorant and innocent like the baby.

how does this relate? well, a pagan sins because he doesn't know any better, while when the believer sins, it is completely against what God tells him not to do and he knows better then to do it. he is, in fact, hurting him Father, which is something that we should not want to do.

so, stop grieving the Father. strive to live for Him.

friends

2009-03-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

john 15:15 "no longer do I call you slaves, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."

this verse is a great comfort in that we now know what we are to do and that it is in fact what we are to do. Christ has revealed to us through Scriptures all that we are to do. all that the Father has told Christ He has told us, and since Christ and the Father are one (jn 10:30) then Christ knows all that the Father knows so He has in fact revealed to us all things. this does not mean that we can comprehend everything or that we have the capacity to know everything, but simply that all is revealed. so the more that we study Scriptures, the more we can learn, know, and apply but this can only come through the study of Scriptures for Christ reveals Himself to the believers today through Scripture.

the term "friend" also denotes closeness. we are not just mindless slaves as we once were to sin but we now have a relationship to Christ as a brother, companion, friends, leader, shepherd and mediator. He is the high priest who can sympathizes with us for He knows all that we have gone through for He has gone through it all as well. He has gone through the worst of things in life, suffered the most horrible of deaths, and was tempted in all manners without falling. He is the perfect friend to have, for He gives perfect advise for He has already gone through this life without fall. advise is best when coming from an informed source and what source is better informed then that of the source that created everything.

(i know i missed a few post which was dues to no internet. i won't be making those up though cuz i'm a little busy and tired and still kinda sick right now.)

baal

2009-02-26T23:20:00.000-08:00

although the name is no longer around, baal is still prevalent in the world today. people always go to someone or something to help them in their time of need and spend their time with who or what it is and yet it does not work. only by depending on the one true God can anything happen and work out. God will take care of us, for we are more important then the sparrows. God took care of elijah by bringing him food and protecting him from the people of the land and because of his faith in God, God also blessed a poor widow and her son because of the faith shown by elijah.

application: who knows, God could use anyone like elijah to bless those around us if we are willing to follow Him without question. we must be ready to follow Him though and we must know where we are to go. the only way to know that is to study the Word of God diligently and apply it to our lives. i would like to implement more personal bible study time into my life and i plan on doing this probably starting next week. i am going to start to go through the book of john, looking to learn more about the life of Christ and the person of the Son of God. after or during if I find that time to short, i am going to study ephesians and then probably work through all of the epistles because i like them a lot and they are very applicable, especially for young Christians.

since the creation on the world

2009-02-25T22:42:00.000-08:00

since the beginning, God has revealed attributes of Himself through creation. man has done a wonderful job of taking those attributes and worshipping them as gods through out all of history. whether it be the early pagan cultures and their gods or even right now with environmentalist and the like. they all worship the creation instead of the creator. should we not focus on the entity that created the substance rather then focus on the substance? yes, we should. romans 1 talks about the fact that nature reveals aspect of God, so we should look at nature to see God more clearly and to get to know Him better, but nature is not our only focus. scriptures should be our main focus. observations of the world around us will make us love God all the more, but only if we have a right focus on it. a focus that is on God.

grace academy

2009-02-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

tonight i helped out with the preview dessert for our school. i would have to say that i totally love my school. there isn't a school that i would rather be at. tonight i got the opportunity to help take a couple of parents on a tour of the school and now looking about on that, i would say that i should have said more, because i really do go to a great school. it is a small school, which is something that i love cuz i basically know everyone in my high school and all the teachers. the classes are generally challenging enough to hold my attention while exciting enough to catch interest. the faculty and staff genuinely care about the students that go there, often giving time to help out and advise students.

there are plenty other of things that i could say, but i am still kinda sick so i'm going to go to bed now.

the mind is a terrible thing to lose

2009-02-23T22:47:00.000-08:00

i had a migraine today and i still haven't quite gotten my mind back completely from it. everything is still a little fuzzy, especially in the whole thinking area. i can't quite focus on anything. kinda sad. oh well though. i got to have a nice relaxing day of sleeping basically all day cuz i couldn't really do anything else. i am hoping to be totally better tomorrow so that i can actually check up on some work that i missed today, but if not, then i am still going to have to check up on the work, it will just take me much longer.

well, i need to sleep now

theologians

2009-02-22T22:36:00.000-08:00

we had some baptism tonight at church and those combined with the songs that we sang got me thinking about all that Jesus does for us. just looking at my own life and how i was before i was saved. the thoughts that i had were completely revolting and yet God chose me and saved me from myself and my sins. i did nothing so there is nothing that i can brag about or show off except for Christ. Christ is the only thing in the world worth showing off and the best way to show Him off is to be more like Him, so that is what we are to strive for, to be more like Christ. the only way to be more like Christ is to get to know Him better, for it is hard to be like something or someone when you know nothing about it, and the only way to really get to know Him is through His Word, so we should be reading more and more with each passing day. we should all be theologians to some degree or another for we should all be working on getting to know Christ and God more.

snow

2009-02-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

today i went snowboarding and i would say that the weather was absolutely great and it was beautiful up there. there were clear skies most of the day and the sun was shining bright. it was great. it is amazing to see what God can do with some water and light. it was just great up there. none other can do what He does, which is why he is God and Lord and not someone else. He can do whatever He wants, that is the great thing, cuz what He wants never changes. we have an eternal God who is a rock, never changing.

rally the youth

2009-02-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

though the youth of this nation may have little say of things today, tomorrow they will be the voice of the people. so, what will that voice say? the voice will say what it has been taught, what it has seen, and what it have heard. so are the youth under a good influence that will eventually influence this world for the better? looking at my own life, i know that if God had not saved me, i would be in a very sorry state to help this country and world. i would not be the kind of person that people would look up to but one breed of the flesh and driven by the flesh. only through the saving grace of Christ has my life gotten any better, and though my health continues to "change" i am still in a better place then i was back when i was healthy; for though i am sick in this life, i am cured for my disease for the life to come. i am no longer infected by this body of flesh, though it does flare up at times, but i am a child of the most high God, the One who is greatly to be praised.

with out Christ, i would be a mess, as any one would be with out Christ. so we must try to save this world from the infectious disease of the flesh. we are so eager to help those who have health problems with money and support, but why can't we, or why don't we try to help their real need. we must be the vaccine of this world, we are the white blood cells and antibodies that God uses to cure the body. the antibodies though must be in good health themselves, or else they can't fight off disease for they are diseased and out of order themselves. so learn what you believe, and then go and and tell people, tell the whole world. infect this world with and new disease, the disease of Christ.

singularly addicted to the word of God

2009-02-19T23:47:00.000-08:00

for those of you who know me, you should know that i really enjoy reading, especially books about the reformers and puritans. william tyndale was a man who was said to be singularly addicted to the word of God, so much so that he was eventually hung and then burned for his beliefs. now that is wicked awesome, not to be burned but to have people say that you are singularly addicted to God's word. i would love for my life to be summed up like that. tyndale was the first to translate the whole bible into english. he has actually finished the first 5 books, and on his way to england, i believe, he was shipwrecked and lost all of his work. so he simply started over again. that is called dedication and addiction. i like that, i respect that.

now, how many of you who are reading this could say that you are addicted to scripture? i know that i couldn't say that, at least not yet. but this is something to shoot for, to be so in love with God and His word that you spend all your time thinking and pondering and reading what it says, that would be a good thing to shoot for in your life. it is hard to sin when you are thinking about God and all that He does, for you and for everyone and everything. so love God, spend time getting to know Him, and He will make your path straight.

done

2009-02-18T23:50:00.000-08:00

unfortunately, i am now done with my message for one 28, so it is now back to "normal" life for me, which i am going to kinda miss studying. so, to fix that, i am going to start to write a commentary on the book of john some time in the next couple of weeks. i may wait until after shepherd's conference in the hopes of getting a different commentary on john to compare mine to. i am looking forward to getting some normal hours of sleep though, i am kinda tired. i will try to pick up my other reading again too, i haven't read to much lately cuz i have been kinda busy, so i need to pick that back up again as well. there are to many good books out there to not be reading all the time, so that is something i am going to try and catch up on.

well, i am very tired now, so i am going to bed now

bug to a light

2009-02-17T23:58:00.000-08:00

earlier tonight i was reading "mortification of sin" by john owen and a new thought about mortification came to me from the book. it is that the first action in mortification is not turning from sin, but turning towards God. if we first turn to God, turning from sin will be a natural action and work of the Holy Spirit in us. the closer we are to God, the less we will sin and the more our mortification is complete.

it is like walking towards a giant light, like the sun. when we first turn towards it, we cast a huge shadow, but the closer we get to the light, the less of a shadow we cast until eventually, we are one with the light and cast no shadow for the light envelopes us.

God is the light while the shadow is the sin the still holds some hold over us.

we should pursue the light like a bug does, flying towards it out of shock and awe of it, going towards it out of obsession; though instead of meeting our death at the light, we meet our life, God and Christ Jesus and oh what a wonderful day that will be when we finally do meet Them.

the blood of bulls and goats

2009-02-16T23:28:00.001-08:00

i started to read leviticus tonight and it was shocking to read of all the animals that had to be sacrificed for the israelites sins. blood would have to be a normal thing for those people back then. reading about those sacrifices and then looking to our sacrifice, it is all the worst. our sacrifice is more removed so it is not in our minds as much when we sin, for if it were, i think that we would not sin as flippantly as we do now. it is still our sin that hangs Christ to the cross though, we are the ones who are beating Him, pounding the nails into His hands and feet, killing Him. our stomachs should churn and feel nauseated over our own sin, yet we feel fine about, even revel in it.

we should be broken and feel broken

filthiness

2009-02-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

in the first verses of psalm 38, david is talking about his own sin. david has a pretty good view of his own sin. if we see our sin, it should make us sick. yet we still revel in it. how can a man do that? they shouldn't, that is for sure, and yet we all do it. we all return back to our vomit and sins. we need reform. we need to see sin for what it is and to life a live for Christ instead of our several

other more worldly interest that simple seem to distract us from Christ.

forsake our sinful lives and turn to Christ

rest

2009-02-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

after a week that seemed like 3 weeks, i was very glad to get some rest today. i actually probably was up for enough hours this week to equal that of how many hours i stay up in a normal 3 weeks. so i was a little tired and needed some rest, which was nice. the only "work" that i did today was that i washed my car, which this was actually the first time i have ever washed my car since i have had it, so for about a year. i had no clue that the wheels were silver, i thought that they were black.

as much as i like rest though, i don't do well without a schedule. i just don't get anything done. but it doesn't happen that often, so oh well.

i tired now, so i am going to bed

jimminey cricket

2009-02-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

in acts 24, paul is speaking to felix the governor. felix soon becomes convicted and sends paul away.

now, while we may not be able to send people away, often times we simply tune out the source of our conviction. conviction is good though, it is what shows us our sins and is what tells us what is right. it is our little cricket, hence the title. as people who enjoy the things of this world to often, i believe that we dismiss our conviction and may even be encouraged to dismiss them because they aren't "relative" to us. that's crap. there is one law, one way, and one truth, and we must follow that one way.

stop living your life for yourself and live for something that is better. live for Christ; live for God and He will make life worth living. the world will seem empty until we turn to the one and only thing that can fill us, which is Christ.

this is not a partial turn though, this must be a full turn. our entire self must be turn towards and running to Christ. He deserves all of our love, passion, actions, and desires. He is worth it too.

rest

2009-02-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

reading in exodus 34 tonight, it talks about how the people of israel would not work on the sabbath, even during harvest time. while the church today doesn't observe the sabbath, but only the idea of the sabbath, i find myself at times not really even doing that. i often save my home work to do on sunday and i will stay up late sunday night and such, while one of the reasons for the idea of the sabbath is to give a day of rest. so, i am going to try and do my home work earlier so that i can rest on sunday. now resting on sunday does not constitute watching tv and sleeping all day, but i think of it as a time to read the bible and other books while spending the day in thought about and prayer to God.

slow down

2009-02-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

one of the things that i love to do is to drive fast. i love to accelerate fast, turn fast, and stop fast. whatever it is in a car, i like to do fast. no, i have thinking about this and was convicted on something. speed limits - they were put into place by the government, which means we are to obey them. obeying them doesn't mean that we do what we don't get caught for, but what is posted. so, driving 40 in a 35 because the cops won't pull you over is still wrong. it is still breaking the law, and sorry that they give us some grace and not pull everyone over who is not going exactly the speed limit, maybe they should crack down and go to within 1 mph of the speed limit to get a ticket. God has raised up governments and we, as christians, should follow them and if they say that we can only do a certain speed on a road, then that is what we are to do to the best of our abilities. this will be something that i struggle with, so i will have to go really fast and then stop accelerating right before i get to the speed limit so that i don't go over but i am going to try and do the speed limit, even though i will get tailgated the whole time.

protected by God

2009-02-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

today kim got rear-ended on her way to garrett's bball game. everyone who was in the car is fine, so that is great. it is great to see who God protected them too. the car that hit her and the car that hit the guy who hit her are in really bad shape, yet kim's car had nothing wrong with it as far as we could tell. no damage what so ever, no even scratched paint. that is an awesome thing. i am glad that my sister is alright, but it is even more great to see who caring our God is through this whole thing. we have a Great Protector who wants the best for us. it is an awesome and humbling thing, to know that we have no control, but also that we have a sovereign God who is in control and who loves His children.

glory be to God

the glory of God as seen through the human body

2009-02-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

today, i had a research paper due, so of course, i did it all last night. something really cool though, is that i have never been more awake and more alert at 2 in the morning as i was last night. when i finally finished at 2:30, i got into bed and i wasn't tired but actually sat in bed for a bit waiting to fall asleep. i am never like that, i can generally fall asleep in a matter in minutes no matter what. it was a great thing to see that i could be awake at that time.

from that, i believe that it was only because of God that i could have been as awake as i was because He gave me an interest in the topic that i was doing (the importance of personal bible study as seen through the lives of edwards, luther, and tyndale) and then from that desire, that ability for the body to do things that it normally couldn't do because of excitement and the such. i was shocked by it all last night.

we serve a great and awesome God

pray

2009-02-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

being a christian is all about being like Christ. while, i believe, most christians understand this, i know that i have been missing a huge part of it and i am sure other people have too, which is why i am choosing to post this. i totally get the whole sanctification part, doesn't mean i do it correctly, but yeah, but the huge part that i have been missing is the relationship part, mostly in the form of prayer. i hardly ever just talk with God. i have been working on praising Him more, but i still need to just spend time communing with Him. even if someone were to live a perfect life, they would not be Christ-like unless they prayed continually with the Father, for that is something that Christ did. we must have a relationship which means that communication goes both ways.