Testimony

Lately I have been doing some more thinking. I know I know, I think too much. It may be entirely true, but on the other hand I believe that my thinking is God communicating with me. To some this may not make sense, but for those who do get it, it makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? God is a lot of things to me. First he is what moves me, what allows me to breath; literally, spiritually, and physically my savior! He is my conscience. He is my insight. Anything good that comes from me, He is responsible. Though my mind takes control of me and my sinful desires overcome what I want to do, the Lord is what I truly want to follow and live like. And by the way, this is another long one, sorry!

            Here at school I have been doing quite a bit of thinking about what my actual testimony is. At first thought my mind was blank. I had no idea what my testimony was. I have heard so many stories about amazing transformations from lives of sin. One of my best friends gave his testimony Wednesday night at a church and his message was powerful. He had grown up in a Christian home and at a Christian school but never really understood Christianity, or the love and grace of Jesus. He saw Christians as the hypocrites that they were being and eventually became bitter towards Christians and even closed his heart towards hearing the Gospel. A long story made short- He hit rock bottom and God revealed himself to my friend. (I do not want to ruin his story for you because it will move you) He turned his life around and, from the song written by a friend of his, is “changing the world.”

            With his testimony I became very confused about my salvation, my “come to Jesus moment”, and my testimony. Until now my testimony has simply been about the day I got saved. I have told everyone who has asked that I became saved when I was 10 years old, which is when I first realized I was indeed a sinner in need of God’s saving grace through his son Jesus. The pastor read from the book of Matthew and explained the story of 2 gates: one leading to death and the other leading to Life. To spare you the details, and boredom, I will make my old testimony short. I accepted Jesus’ call into my heart that day and I was baptized. That is pretty much it. Not much of a transformation story is it? Exactly! I don’t think I was truly saved that day. I think my time came a few years later at a Christian camp when I accepted Christ and actually tried to follow Jesus and do His will. Though I did not remain completely faithful then, that was my first attempt at actually trying to change my life through Jesus.

            This is my real testimony. This is what really happened. Nothing is made up. Take this or leave it. I have been ashamed for a long time of what I had done, but not anymore! I came to my senses and God asked me why I was ashamed of my past when he has forgiven me. He revealed again that I should not be ashamed before men because the One I will answer to has already forgiven me. He has forgiven and forgotten, so why should I worry?  Anyway, here goes nothing…

            My entire life I have grown up in a Christian home, in church, and with a Christian family. I attended Sunday school as a child and I was involved in anything and everything a church could possibly have for me.  I was told about Jesus time and time again. My mother talked with me constantly about Jesus. My grandmother is probably the most spiritual person I know. She literally cannot have a conversation without ending it with something that the bible can relate to that subject. By the age of 8 I knew all about Jesus, how he died on the cross, how he rose on the third day, and how he died for our sins. I even knew that everyone sinned and that God was the only perfect being, along with His son Jesus. What I didn’t really understand was that salvation is a little more than just saying the prayer. Yes, Jesus forgives your sins, Yes all you have to do is ask and they will be forgiven. Does that mean you are going to Heaven? Honestly, at this time I am not 100% about the whole “faith without works” argument. One day I hope to gain an understating about that. As of right now this is what I do know. God sent his son Jesus to live a perfect life to then die for our sins on the cross. He died in advance for our sins, so technically our sins were paid for even before me were alive. We just have to ask for forgiveness. I also know that if we are truly sorry for what we have done we will do our best to keep from doing those actions again. Just as we would do for earthly people, we are to do for God. The thing is, we should be even more sorry for sinning against God. We are to be so sorry for the things we have done and so happy for the grace He has shown us that we ask for forgiveness and never turn back to those sins again. We are to remain in Him. If we remain in him we are in His love. If we are doing His will for us then we are truly saved and I have no doubt in my mind that we will go to heaven if we remain in His love and do His will. The whole last part of the paragraph I did not understand until fairly recently. You will be amazed how much you will learn by simply reading His word. I have truly found out so much that I did not know, that many preachers just “forget” to tell you. For my whole life I had known about God and I may or may not have been truly saved (I believe I was not), but the fact is I knew about God. I actually knew, not the “knew” when you just think something may be true, I actually knew that Jesus was the Lord over this world and that out of love he dies on the cross for me. But what makes that a bad thing is that I still just did whatever I wanted. I was ashamed of telling people about Him and how He made me feel and how much He is worthy of every bit of anything I could find here on this earth to give. I only once told someone I knew about Him, only once! And the only reason is because I was coming back from a “D-Now High” and the theme thing that weekend was “friends don’t let friends die and go to Hell.”  I told that to my best friend and he accepted Jesus in his heart that day but since then he has slipped away. I am completely convinced that it was my selfish actions that kept him from staying in God’s grace. (Hopefully he will read this, and for that I am sorry man-I Truly am!)

            Not sure if I properly ended the paragraph but I noticed how long the thing was getting so I cut that one off just to start another one. Anyway, so basically I knew about God but denied him any chance I got, whether it was by my lifestyle or by my words I denied to the world that I even knew His name. For some reason, which is beyond my comprehension, I did not want people to know about God. Maybe its because I was not really saved but I am not completely sure about that. If asked I would say” yes I am a Christian” but in no way, shape, or form could anyone tell. There are so many verses that describe exactly how I was acting so just look up Romans 2; verse 24 explains how I was acting, except I was 100 times worse. I never was a really bad kid. I had always been taught right from wrong and I knew the consequences of wrongdoing, here on earth. Just a side note: I want to be a pastor-possibly youth pastor- and I don’t have one of those stories about how I was high and drunk and wrecked my car into a family and spent several years in prison where a fellow inmate taught me about the Lord (I am not saying at all that there is anything wrong with that because every story has the power of God’s grace to your life, just mine isn’t that story is all I am saying). I was never a really bad kid, by the world’s standards. I did not party much. When I did party I would do things I wasn’t proud of the next day. Though I was never an alcoholic or drug addict, every sin is the same before God. The one and only, perfect God is so holy that all sin, even the sin we see as small here on earth, completely disgusts Him. I broke every one of the Ten Commandments. I didn’t realize I had at the time, but Jesus explains all the commandments and elaborates on each one. I had broken every single one of them in some form or fashion. With every Law I broke God was right there telling me it was wrong, convicting me, making my stomach ache with that feeling you get right before you are going to do something you know you aren’t suppose to do. For a while I had convinced myself that I was saved and I was going to heaven but I was not remaining in Him, I was not seeking after Him. No change had been made in my life to show that He is Lord! I convinced myself that I was a Christian but really I was just making Christians look bad. And the worst thing of all was that I actually knew He was there. I knew that He was sitting there watching me make His name less holy among men. I was the very reason that atheists will never believe in God. Why would they believe in something whose followers were not living the way they spoke and preached about? I can tell you I wouldn’t! I hate to know how many people I have caused to stumble from Christianity,

            Luckily, one day I began to seek after God. I began reading my Bible. I began finding answers and I began realizing that I was not any better than anyone who had been an addict, because I was an addict myself. I was addicted to me! I was addicted to making me look good, to trying to be popular-which I never fully succeeded at, by the way! God pulled me to my senses; He revealed to me that he was all that mattered. Not one thing here in this world matters. He tells us to not store our treasures here on earth because moths and rust will destroy everything, but not in Heaven! I was disgusted with my self because I knew all along what to do I just didn’t do it. In my eyes that is worse than living a horrible life and then having a salvation/transformation experience. At least the horrible life was before they knew God-before they fully understood everything that I knew this whole time I had been doing my own thing. Ignorance is understandable but what I did I cannot even think of any word to describe besides stupid (to the extreme). Every year I would go to a Disciple-Now weekend and hear the same stories from the same kind of preachers and they were all the same to me. I was confused because I always had this correlation in my mind between sinner and what these people were doing. I always just figured I was in the light because I wasn’t as bad as them. The thing I didn’t realize was that I knew but didn’t do anything about it. Faith without action is dead faith. You can have faith without action but what good is it doing? The action that comes with true faith is a bit hard to explain. One thing I can say about action is that faith is the action of belief. You can believe that the parachute in your backpack is going to open, but faith is actually jumping out of the plane. I thought iwas better than the ones who had done all the drugs but in reality my sin was exactly the same. If I would’ve had true faith I would have had the action that the true faith brings. I would have been living right instead of wrong (yes I realize that was quite the elementary sentence, but it sums up what I had to say nicely). We were put here on this earth to first accept God’s call into our lives and then to spread the Gospel to everyone. Our lives are to be a ministry; ministry and missions should not be our job but our lives.

            For so long I thought I knew God. Yet I was ashamed to let people know about Him. I wanted to be “cool”. Little did I know that you can’t ride the fence for long and one day you’ll have to pick sides. I picked the wrong side. I picked me instead of Him. Thankfully God set me down and showed me the error of my ways. I finally chose to listen to him. I don’t actually know the day I was truly saved because my Christian walk has been more like a rollercoaster. I have had the highs and lows, flips and turns, and even started back at the beginning a time or 2. To tell you the truth I don’t really care what day it was, the date isn’t going to matter one bit in heaven. As far as I am concerned I could say the day was today. God knows the day and I know the day came and I also know that now I am on the right path. Without a doubt in my mind I know that I am in God’s will. Through prayer and time spent in His word I have finally come to peace with God and I am more than happy that I finally quit doing what I wanted. My journey has been a long one and if God is willing it will probably be a lot longer (though I defiantly would not complain if He were to take me Home). I hope that my story has inspired you to receive God’s call into your life and stop running from His will. I wish I had not run from Him like it did. I can tell you I definitely would not have wasted a year and a half at a community college for the degree I wanted when I was running.  My blasphemous past makes me sick when I think about how I destroyed the Lord’s name the way I did. What really makes my stomach hurt is when I think of the fact that I KNEW! I KNEW about God! Please don’t be like me. If you are reading my posts its because God led you to my page. Please listen to the words he has spoken through me and accept his call. Until next time, Thanks for reading, God Bless you!

More Than Another Textbook

Well it has definitely been a while since I have sat down with the intention of writing for my audience of probably only 2 or 3 people. Either way, for you 2 or 3 people who may or may not be reading this I believe you will get at least a little something from this post today. Since I don’t really edit my writings on here, rather I just put on paper what I feel the Lord has placed on my heart, I cannot make any promises at this time whether or not this is going to be a long post or not. As it stands right now I am not planning on being long “winded” in this particular post and also do not plan on citing any bible verses. The irony of the fact that I am not citing verses comes from the topic itself. Today I have been doing a bit of thinking. Thinking about what, is what you are probably thinking. For those of you who have read my previous posts know when I have been thinking, that immediately means that I am going off on some tangent that is nowhere near the place I started. And if that is the case this time I do not apologize because I feel very strongly that when I remain in God he can, and will, use me to speak his words.

            As you may know, I attend a Baptist college and every day the Bible is used on this campus in one way or another. “One way or another?” you say! Yes, indeed. The Bible can be used in things other than its purpose. First I think it is necessary to explain to you the purpose of the Bible. The Bible was written so that we, citizens of Earth, can read and actually see God’s word. Through His word we can know Him. To know Him we have to constantly seek Him. The Bible is how God communicates to us. His word IS the Bible. Everything that the Lord wants us to know is inside of it. If I am being a little redundant than my point is being made clear! I want for people to understand this. The only way to know God is to be in His word. That is the only way we can grow closer to Him, to read His word. Maybe that got my point across and if not maybe I can get it across better later in this post.

            Here at a college centered on the Bible, sometimes we can use it in a way that is not actually its true purpose at all. Sometimes the Bible becomes just another text book that we only read before out test on our New Testament or Life of Jesus classes. Sometimes we only read it in the few minutes before class because we forgot to the night before. So many times we do things like this and think there is nothing wrong with it. Personally, I have done this my share of times and for so long thought that I was actually doing good because I was reading the Bible. I was reading it, but I wasn’t deep into it-trying to find out the true meaning.

            This is coming straight from the dictionary of me, so please don’t criticize my personal definition. My definition of a textbook would probably be something along the lines of “a book used for a course or class, that contains information about a specific topic or topics that would benefit the reader in the course.” How kind of benefits does this mean? Benefits on the test would be a good grade, which is helping you pass the class. If we are using the Bible as a textbook, here on a Christian campus, are we really using the Bible for the right reasons. In a way, we are abusing the Bible/taking it for granted. We are only using it to pass our classes and to get a good grade. If that is the only reason we are opening our Bibles are we actually here for the right reason in the first place? I am not trying to cast judgment on anyone, because I too am jut as guilty as the next, but my answer to the question would be that we are not here for the right reasons. Too many times we allow school to come between God and ourselves, even here. If we put God first then we wouldn’t even need to “cram” in the Bible before class, because it would already be in our hearts.

            With all of that said the Bible should be a textbook. But not for school! It should be a textbook for out lives. The course we are enrolled in is life. We need to read the Bible to grow closer to God so that we can really know Him. As we begin to know Him and how awesome He really is we will start to gain knowledge of how we should act in the world. We must seek God first. There is nothing that is more important than putting Him in the front of our lives.

            Though having the Bible as a textbook in a classroom is not what it was intended to be for, having It as a textbook in our hearts can benefit us more than any book we purchase for our classes. I hope I made my point clear today. If not, you know what to do! Until next time, Seek Him First!!

He is the Vine, We are the Branches

Warning: This Post Will Be Long! I taught last night on the vine and the branches and now since they have heard what I had been led to say, I will express my words to the world. I am not completely sure how the whole thing went but I must say, for the one or two people that expressed their gratitude, I am content with the words that I said because the Holy Spirit spoke through me to at least one person. With that being said I do not want to sound like I am putting myself on a pedestal; I am simply giving God the credit for the words he allowed to be spoken through me. Anytime I seem to be bragging, though sometimes I do and do not mean to, I am actually trying to give God the credit because I can do nothing without Him. Just for the Record I recommend you reading John 15:1-17.

         John chapter 15: 1-4 summed up is: Jesus is the vine, God is the gardener. For those who have never done a lick of gardening in your life, me, I did some research on how you are actually suppose to grow, prune, and keep a grapevine alive.(Jesus refers to himself in this passage as the “true grapevine”) Most videos and articles I read helped me out to spiritually understand this concept. When you think about it, Jesus knows everything and to fully understand his parable of the grapevine we must know about the earth and how it works. When we understand the earth we can grasp further the fullness of God.  The videos and articles said the best way to grow a grapevine is to have a wire running parallel to the ground above the vine for it to grasp on to for strength. After the vine reaches the wire it grows along the wire stay off of the ground. The vine has branches that branch from it, hence the name branches. The branches are you and I. We grow from the vine and, as said in the scripture, cannot grow apart from the vine.

         Lets get a mental picture going here; picture a vine growing from the earth, up to a wire, across the wire, and then branching out down toward the earth. Now picture the wire being heaven, where God “is.” The earth is still earth, the vine is still Jesus, and the branches are still us. The vine is the connection between heaven and earth, God and us. Jesus is God in the flesh, God here on earth. We are to remain in Jesus to remain in his love. I went to a summer camp this summer and one of the days’ themes was REMAIN. I did not actually fully grasp the whole concept of remain until I dove down deep into these verses. We are to remain in Him, Him being God/Jesus. How could we expect to remain in Him if we are not remaining in his word, his teaching to us. Every single thing we need to know is in the Bible and it is just sitting there for the taking. It literally wants to be read because It is the Word of God. It is one with God. God wants us to know him more, the only way we can do that is through his word.

         In the next section of the passage, Vs 5-8, we go a bit deeper. Yet still not as deep as we will by the time I conclude. Just as a reminder, Jesus- Vine, Us- branches. One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the fruit we are to be producing. I looked up the definition of fruit and got several answers but a few stuck out to me the most. Fruit- 1: Ripened, seed bearing part of the plant when fleshy and edible; 2: Fleshy material covering seeds; 3: ripened reproductive body of a seed plant. As I read these things I began to understand more and more about this “fruit” I am to produce with my life. Jesus said if we remain in him we will bear much fruit. This basically means that to benefit anything from Jesus we have to remain in him. Remaining in him is obeying his commands and staying in his word. If, and only if, we remain in Him we can bear fruit. I know by this point you are probably wondering why I haven’t really told you what fruit actually means, spiritually. I could tell you now but I think it is better saved for the end of my “sermon.” Again, in order to remain in Him we must remain in his word. His word is His communication with us. How can we expect to know Jesus if we don’t even know his word?

Remain is hammered into my mind again when this passage talks about how a branch severed from the tree cannot grow. It says that the branches that have been cut off are gathered up and thrown into a fire. Last night as I taught about this story I read part of Ezekiel 15. The first 4 verses of this chapter is talking about branches of a vine being cut off and asking what they are good for. In 4 verses the root word “use” is used 4 times in several different ways: useful, useless, used. The main point here is that the branches cut from a vine are completely useless and are not good for even fueling a fire for more than a minute or two. The branches that are cut off are our sins. God does not cut us from the vine He cuts our sin. To grow again we must start over with repentance. When you cut a dead branch from a vine, or tree for that matter, you make sure you cut all of the dead stuff off. God cutting off the branch is Him cutting off our sins, throwing our sins into the fire where they belong. Our sins are absolutely useless and God removes them when we ask for forgiveness to allow us to grow again. Still following me? I hope so! I know, I know- I told you it was going to be long, stay with me though it’ll be worth it.

So what have we learned so far? God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and the dead branches are our sin. Our sin gets cut off to allow us to grow. That’s the basics of what I have discussed. Now we will talk about the pruning. Pruning is when you cut off some of the good parts of the plant in order to yield bigger parts of the plant when harvest time comes. In other words, cutting off good stuff so that you get more good stuff. I was going to wait and see how long I could keep the meaning of fruit from you in order to tie it in at the end with a bang, but now seems like it will be a good place. Fruit is our usefulness to God. Fruit is what we do for the kingdom. Using what He gave us to further his kingdom. To get lots of fruit on a plant, sometimes you have to cut off some to get more. If I fully explain the whole process of pruning I will not only confuse you I will confuse myself, as well as make this go a lot longer than it actually should. For that matter I will just explain it like this: when you cut off some of the good stuff to get better good stuff you are really just cutting a place the plant is giving nutrients in order for it to spread the nutrients to the rest of the plant, making fruits in that part of the plant bigger. (hope that made sense)

With all that being said we are now moving on to my favorite part of the message Jesus spoke when he told about the vine and the branches, Vs 9-17.  Here Jesus drives in REMAIN more and more. I love it! He starts off by saying that He loves us as much as God loves Him. Pretty self explanatory, huh? Well just incase you don’t fully have this in your head- God loves us as much as he loves his son! I don’t have kids but I could image how much I would love them, God’s love for Jesus is infinite times more than that. And if you could come up with a number there then that is how much God loves us as well. It truly is amazing. Jesus again says to remain. He says if we obey his commandments we will remain in his love. He obeys his father’s commandments and so should we. Obedience is the key to remaining in his love. He tells us these things so that we can know how to receive his joy. This joy is beyond no other and can only be found through him.

Jesus then goes as deep into love as anyone ever could. This is when he makes his command for us to love each other.  Jesus says there is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. Think about it for a second. There is no greater love than for your friend to lay down his/her life for you. How would you feel if your best friend jumped in front of a bus or even took a bullet for you? (I hope these things never happen to you by the way) I know Jesus knew what he was doing when he worded his speech. He said that to then tell us that we are not slaves to God, but we are friends of God. A slave doesn’t know everything about its master, but God told us everything he knows-making us friends of him. When Jesus was talking about “no greater love” he was alluding to his own death. For those of you who are Christians or either simply know either Old Testament prophesies or Biblical literature, you probably know that was crucified on the cross. But, do you know why he died on the cross? Not legally why, but spiritually why? He died to save us from our sins. He was sent as the Lamb of God to die for us, HIS FRIENDS! He died for his friends, to save us from the penalty of our sins. 

Jesus told us to then go out and produce lasting fruit. What is fruit? It is usefulness to the kingdom of God. Our fruit is what plants the seeds of Christianity into the hearts of non-believers. Our fruit puts what God wants into others hearts through us. (if that even makes sense to you) Jesus said that whatever we ask in his name will be given to us. This is where some people begin to doubt faith and God al together. They see this verse and say, “well I want a new BMW”, and when they don’t get it they think God isn’t listening or simply is not there. There are two things being done the wrong way here. First, the Bible says not to test God. Second, if we are really asking for something in His name we won’t be asking for something foolish like a new luxury car. We will be asking for something to further his kingdom, because, if you haven’t found out by now, is the only thing on this earth that matters. King Solomon was talking to God one day, in 2 Chronicles 1, and God asked him what he wanted. Anything he asked for would be given to him,. Solomon asked God for wisdom and knowledge so that he could govern God’s people correctly. Solomon told God he realizes that no one on earth is actually qualified to lead God’s people, but with God’s help with wisdom and knowledge he could do it a lot better than he could on his own. God gave him what he asked for and also gave him many worldly things because he was so selfless with his wants.  We should be like Solomon and ask God for things we can use to further his kingdom, not further our pockets/closets/etc.

I know right now it probably seems like I am far from the branches and vine. Really Jesus wanted us to see much more than just the illustration of the vine. He wanted us to think about it and apply it to our lives. When we understand how gardening is done and how plants grow we begin to understand a bit more about how big and awesome God is. He knows how the plants grow that how he was able to compare our lives in Him to something as overlooked as a vine. Many times we overlook Him in the world and don’t pay much attention to Him, but regardless he is always there; always there to help us through our every need. All we have to do to receive his blessings is to remain in his love. To remain in his love we have to love each other. Loving each other is the key to remaining. He remains in us, his friends, by loving us unconditionally(all the time, no matter what!!!). If we love him we must love each other because he loves us all. So, remain in God and he will remain in you. Bottom line: remain! God Bless!

p.s.- I hope there are not many grammatical errors or anything confusing in this. If so, like every other post, you can contact me on here if you need to. 

Your Choice is Where Your Heart is

OK so in my Humanities class today we had a discussion. The discussion was centered around rules that each group in the class came up with to govern their own "school" based on Benedict's rules. (not completely sure about Benedict's rules but the point here is that we had to make rules) Each group had about 15 minutes to think of the most rules that made the most sense to govern our "school." As we made our decisions, my group tended to make decisions based on how it would benefit our lives, mainly selfishly. We made rules about how classes should not take attendance and things to that nature, because rules that lean this way benefit a more “lazy” lifestyle.  The more and more our group went on the more personal disagreements I had with them. Overall I agreed with most of the little things that we decided upon. When the class finally discussed their decisions, as a whole the topic became more of a debate than a discussion, which brings me to my sole purpose for this post today.

         One group in particular I did not agree with at all. I will say this up front: I do not have children and do not know exactly how I would react if I did have children, but based on my views now this is how I see things. The group I disagreed with was mainly making what I call “left-winged” decisions. The first point we talked about was having a required quiet time (a daily time where one spends time with the lord and nothing else). These people wanted to make quiet times mandatory and at certain times of the day. I would like to point out now that I think quiet times are very beneficial to a Christian’s walk with the lord. I do not, however, think it should be mandatory due to so many circumstances that come in to play. One instance would be about my mind and how that works, and from the people I have discussed this with today, they believe the same way. My mind works like this- if I know I need to do something, more than likely I will do it. If I do not do it then I do not benefit from that and that is all there is to it. If I am forced to do something, like sit down at 10a.m. everyday and have my quiet time, I am not going to want to do it. I will actually be bitter and not gain anything from it at all and the time set aside for that specific purpose would have been in vein.

         Another topic that this group had was about required chapel attendance (chapel here at school is not required but it is encouraged). I feel like the same principle applies here because if someone is forced to go to church and doesn’t want to go, more than likely nothing will be gained from it. Don’t quote me on this but I believe Paul teaches that if you are fasting and all you are thinking about is eating than to go ahead and eat because your fasting isn’t serving its full purpose anyway.

         I believe that we should have a choice whether or not we have a quiet time, or go to chapel, and etc. The bottom line is that God knows and we know. We know that going to chapel/corporate worship and having our quiet time can benefit us in our daily walk with God. God knows whether we are there or not and whether or nor we are there for the right reasons. When we are forced to do these things it takes the love and worship out of our motive for going. Our heart chooses what is more important to it (ties back to previous posts). As we go to Chapel and have our quiet times we should be doing that to grow closer to God, not because we are forced to. I fell when we are forced to do things we have a bitterness, which I talked about earlier, toward going and we lose our true motivation for why we are going.  We cannot be monitored at all times of the day (except my God). Basically this is my whole purpose in writing today: Choices we make affect our every move. When we try and force others to do as we think we must also think how they think. People who govern must think of those below them, the ones who are receiving the rules. If our government took those statements into consideration before making the decisions that they do the country and world would be in a lot better place. But also, if everyone knew Christ the world would be a much better place. Just something to think about until next time, God Bless!

Things to Come

Okay i definitely have been working on my next post. I am actually teaching on it on a wednesday night at my church back home. And i know that some of them actually read this so i don't want to spoil the surprise  so i will post it after i speak on it, sometime after wednesday November 3rd. I will tell you what it will be about though. I am studying on John 15:1-17 a.k.a. the vine and the branches. I am so pumped for getting to teach about the passage. This is now my new favorite passage. It is so much deeper than i would have thought. For at least 4 days i have been looking at this passage and every time i look at it God shows me more and more of what he wants me to get out of it. It is truly a wonderful feeling. This passage has been my quiet time for the past 3 days and now i look forward to getting into it again later on today. It is truly just a blessing what God is showing me and maybe after the 3rd you will understand too, i really hope so. God Bless!

P.S. if you are going to read this passage also check out Ezekiel 15:1-5. it helped me understand some things in it! Also, for those of you who read the bible, i would suggest getting a bible with a concordance. they are wonderful for relating scriptures! (any translation is fine with me, i am no bible scholar but all of the translations i have come in contact with so far seem to be fairly close)

God's Seed

     In Luke 8:4-15, Jesus gives the parable of the farmer that is sowing seeds. Many are familiar with the story but i feel like it is necessary to tell the story anyway and also tell you how i see it which i feel is how God allowed me to see it. A farmer is scattering seeds in a field as he walks. Each seed can fall in one of 4 places. Some fall on a path, some fall among rocks, some in weeds and thorns, and some fall on fertile soil. As you can already tell only one of these places sound even remotely good for a new plant. Jesus explains how each of the situations turned out.
     Since Jesus mostly spoke in parables some people did not understand, so the disciples asked him what he meant by this story. Jesus first told them he spoke in parables so that some may understand and that some cannot. Through people's faith they are aloud to understand. This all goes back to the faith discussed in pervious posts. In other words, how can you understand the word of God if you do not have faith in God? (hope that makes things clearer) Jesus then says the the seed is the word of God.
     The seeds that fell by the road get walked on my humans as well as animals, get eaten by birds, and since the ground is hard and worn, the seeds never go down into the soil to allow roots to catch. Jesus explains this by saying that the seeds that fall here are the one who have heard the word of God, but Satan comes and prevents their hearts from believing causing them to not be saved. Think about it like this. A seed falls on the path. The seed gets walked on by a mule or cow or ox and gets cracked and dries out. The seed is no longer good and will have to be replanted. Also if a bird eats the seed it is no longer there and will also have to be replanted. Satan is the one who walks on the seed and is the bird that eats it: through temptation, ignorance, hard times, or things such as those.
     The seeds that fall among the rocks will begin to grow but will die due to lack of moisture. Jesus explains this by saying that this circumstance represents those who hear the word and receive it, but because of temptation fall away. They have no roots because the rocky soil prevents roots from going very deep and traps the moisture away from the seed. In my words--If you have never been out in the wilderness you won't understand thins, but in my mind i see it a little like this. If you pick up a rock on a hot day, you will find there is moisture underneath it. Even in the desert there will be at least a small amount of moisture under a rock. Since Jesus is from the Middle East, you can assume that the moisture from a rock would prevent a plant in a dry area from getting moisture. Temptation that comes from friends and the world is the rocks. They can easily prevent someone growing in the Lord as the should. The rocks provide a cool place for the moisture to easily reside so that the seed won't reach its full potential. The seed here is still God's word but the moisture can be related to God's help. The rock, which is Satan, prevents the help of God from reaching the seed that has already been planted inside of you. (i know as of right now its a little hazy where i am going with this but at the end it will all tie together, i hope)
     Some of the seeds fell among weeds and thorns that choked the planted out before it reached its full potential. Jesus' explains it this way: these are the ones who hear the message but fall back into the world before they have a chance to grow. The thorns and weeds here are the ones people surround themselves with.. The seeds get to the ground, even possibly decent ground to grow in, but because the plants that are around the seeds are so bad, the plant never even have a chance. The people you surround yourself with can make or break your Christian walk. The word of God can be planted in decent soil but if other things are in that same soil then more than likely the plant is not going to make it. They suck up all of the moisture from the younger plant and cause it to wither and die, wasting the seed. Your friends and family can be your downfall whether you want to admit it or not. It takes a very strong person to surround themselves with ways of the world and still be faithful to God.
     The last scenario is about the seeds that fall onto good soil. These seeds grew and produced crops 100 times as great as the original seed. Even though the explanation is self explanatory, Jesus explains it just to make sure everyone can understand this: these seeds represent good hearted people who receive the word of God, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. My words may seem even more redundant than that, but because i am me, i am going to put my two-cents in. The word that falls into a good heart that is in a good place with good surroundings will prosper and make multiply. If you receive the word and keep it in your heart and surround yourself with good people you can make God's kingdom grow.
     This is where i make my attempt to pull it all in together. The seed is God's word in all situations. The location of the soil is the hearer of the word in all situations. In order for the word of God to be useful in your life you have to make your soil the good, fertile soil. you must not let the word of God to be planted and be wasted. It is up to you, the soil, to change the soil. (if that makes sense to you, hopefully it does) Satan is the one who gets everything going against the seed. Satan wants nothing more than for the seed to be planted and die and never come back. The traffic on the road, rocks, and thorns all separate you from God. These things all keep what is necessary for growth from getting to the seed. God's help is what is necessary for the seed to grow. He helps you let his word(aka Him) grow in you. without any hindrances the word can grow into the plant that should be your life. Though by now we know that no one is perfect and we all let our seeds get stepped on, or get choked out and wither. God is always there to keep us in his word. Keeping his seed growing.
     One last thing before i close. Do you remember in 1st grade when your class put a few seeds in a moist paper towel in a zip-lock bag and put it in your window? You notice that after a few days, given the circumstances, the shell of the seed begins to split open. Everyday you run in the classroom and run to the window to find your bag to see what has happened since you last saw it. You start to notice that the shell of the seed has almost all fallen off. The roots have started to grow downward and the plant itself has began growing upward. Due to the pure living conditions for this new plant the plant can grow without any concern of being choked out. Eventually the plant is separate from the shell of the seed. Not to say that the seed(God) is not there anymore, but because of the "soil" the seed was planted in the seed transformed into a full plant.  The full plant is now visible and able to produce fruit. (which gives me an idea for a post in the next few days.) The fruit is the seeds that reproduce the plant and make the 100s more Jesus talked about. The plant you grow in your heart produces fruit you are allowing God to plant seeds in other's lives. When the plant in the bag is mature enough it can be placed out into the real world where living conditions are not always perfect. If the plant is mature enough it can live among the thorns and rocks without fear of withering. The same goes for the living word inside of you. If you let the roots from Gods seed deep enough into your soil, you can be anywhere and be able to stand your ground against thorns, weeds, and rocks.
     I really hope that I have not lost you anywhere in this post. If i have in this, or any post for that matter, please contact me so we can talk. the last thing  i want is confusion.

          Okay, so it has been about a week since i posted last. This week has been a busy one for some reason. Not that much to do but a lot going on. I am sure you all have had weeks like this one. I wanted to post this yesterday but i got caught up in setting up for a camping ministry that my friends and I have been trying to put together. A few friends and I have a passion for two things. Being outside and spreading the word of God. Most of us are a rather rough looking group of guys, most of the time we are dirty due to what we have been doing out on the farm where we camp; no matter what we look like we all try to live for the Lord everyday. A local farmer has been gracious enough to let us camp in the field he keeps his cows in. Anyway, we had our first real campout last night. We invited some people, though not the turnout we expected, and cooked a big pot of chili. A few people made it out there and we had a really awesome time. A friend of mine did the bible study later on that evening and talked about keeping the faith even in times of trials. His message was really great and may even be brought up in a future post if i can remember it all. I will keep you all updated on this ministry and how things go as time goes on. Until next time, May the roots of God be deep within your heart. thanks for reading!

Patience is a Virtue

Today, like all other days I have been doing alot of thinking. For many that statement means to run as far from this blog as possible because normally you are going to be in for a long read. Today, however, I am going to keep it short. Some things stay on my mind alot and keep bugging me so I am going to metaphorically tell you a story about a time when my lack of patience ruined a good thing. This story actually happened but relates to another story almost perfectly.
     It was the first day of deer season. I was excited to pop a big buck on the first day mainly to brag to my friends about it. I was sitting in my deer stand and the day was as perfect as you can imagine. Blue sky, 80 degrees and a slight breeze. As i waited patiently for the big buck to come out i was thinking about that trophy buck hanging on my wall to show off to all of my friends. In the middle of my daydream, i catch a deer in the corner of my eye standing in the field. Not the trophy i had my eye on but still a beautiful deer in every way. Symmetrical antlers and a healthy body with beautiful fur. I was so anxious to kill a deer I started to raise my gun, completely forgetting about the trophy I really wanted. For some reason my gun strap got stuck on the deer stand and frightened the deer out of the field. This should have been where I realized i should just be patient, but for some reason the deer came right back out into the field. This time i was not messing up. I slowly raised my gun, put the deer in my scope and pulled the trigger. I had bagged the deer. At the instant I pulled the trigger, another animal ran away from in the woods. it has been standing at the edge of the field. I am even willing to bet that was the trophy I was after.
     Because of my impatience I was stuck with the choice I had made. The other deer became a rival hunter's trophy and i kicked myself for not waiting. Due to the circumstances I lost the trophy buck and am left wondering "what could have been?" The trophy buck can never be mine because of my stupidity. If i had only pursued the trophy buck and been focused on him instead of the next best thing, it would be my trophy. My deer is beautiful and I am not ashamed of it in anyway. I am proud of the deer i killed but just the same would have really liked to kill the trophy. Overall, i have learned to accept the fact that everyone makes mistakes and is impatient. I know that if God wants me to have a shot at another trophy buck he will send it my way. This time around i will not settle for the first thing that walks out. I will sit back, wait, and pursue what i really want. And when the time comes I will pull the trigger and never look back again.
     Its late, goodnight. Until next time, Remember God loves you.

Salvation is Here

The blog I posted around eleven today was actually supposed to be yesterday’s post but the internet at school mysteriously would not let anyone on any websites after about 8:30. Since that was yesterday’s I am going to post another today. Today I have been doing a lot of thinking about what my post can be about. (in case you were wondering I think an awful lot) I decided since my two previous posts were about Christianity, I would elaborate a bit on Christ’s Saving Grace. Again this post will be just a general overview and will have to be discussed in deeper detail at a later date. These posts are in no way meant to be the only knowledge you or anyone else should have regarding faith and do not fully convey the fullness of mine or many other Christians’ faith due to the briefness of these posts.

               To start off, I am a Christian- a born again believer of the Lord, God and his son Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ death on Calvary’s cross all of my sins have been forgiven. He was sent through a virgin who gave birth to baby Jesus. When Jesus was born he lived a perfect life, to ultimately forgive people of their sins through his death on the cross. After 3 days of being in a tomb, he rose from the dead. During the time He was on the earth he never sinned, even when Satan himself tried to tempt him at Jesus’ weakest moments (when he was fasting and praying separate from everyone else). Throughout his time on the earth we live in, he traveled from town to town speaking, teaching and preaching. Jesus spoke to thousands and performed countless miracles to the people who had faith in his power. All of these statements can be found in the Gospel books of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

               If you have ever read the Gospels you will probably be wondering why all of the gospels tell pretty much the same story, yet differ in their own ways. This is because each of them have different authors and were written at different times ranging 100 years apart even. Which is right, you ask? ALL OF THEM! That’s right, all of them. It will be a hard thing to wrap your mind around as a non-believer or new believer. It was difficult to understand my first time hearing that; the first time I figured out they were all different was about two years ago, after being a believer for several years. They are all correct because the Bible is God’s holy word to his people. Human author’s who were overcome by the Holy Spirit wrote them. We, being his people, are all different and the Gospels differ due to the audiences they address. Matthew is to the Jewish people (who were familiar with the Old Testament prophesy), Mark, Luke and John were more than likely all written to a gentile audience (you and me). John is probably my favorite because it differs from the rest and speaks louder to me for some reason.

               I am currently reading in Luke for the second or third time around and this time I am learning more and more about it. This time, not sure why it didn’t ‘click’ before but, I started seeing things Jesus said and now they make more sense about salvation and how one is to obtain it. Luke 5:12-23. Jesus is in a town and a man with leprosy is there. His case is more severe than most, and the man asks Jesus to heal him if He is willing. Jesus tells the man He is willing and instantly the man is healed.  After that Jesus was talking to a crowd of people in a house. Some men carried a paralyzed man on a mat to see Jesus, but the house was so crowded they could not even get in the door. They went to the roof of the house and pulled the roof apart to lower their friend down to Jesus. Seeing they had faith that He can heal the sick to go to all this trouble, Jesus said, “young man, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the Sadducees, who hated Jesus because they felt he was blaspheming the Lord, began mumbling amongst themselves. They asked each other who-He-thought-He-was to be telling people that their sins were forgiven, for that is God’s place only. Jesus asks them “is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven!’ or ‘Get up and walk?’

               It took me until yesterday reading through book to see that salvation is actually simpler than I thought. Like I stated above, Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of all our sins so that we can be saved. If you paid attention to the paragraph above, Jesus healed the people by telling them their sins were forgiven. He had not died on the cross yet, but because He is the Son of God in the flesh he has the power to do all things. Salvation is much like Jesus saying our sins are forgiven. Think about it like this, before we have accepted Jesus into our life we are dead, Romans 6:23 “for the wages of sin is death.” Sinning makes us spiritually dead and in a way is our sickness. Jesus told the men that because of their faith their sins had been forgiven. Because of my faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive me of my sins, I have been forgiven and healed by the power of His great mercy and love.  The same goes for you too! If you admit to God that you are a sinner, and you believe that Jesus is God’s son whom he sent to die on the cross to forgive us of our sins (John 3:16), all you have to do now is confess your faith to him and the world. Jesus said, “Anyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven” Matthew 10:32.

               Luke 5:27-32 tells a short story about Jesus meeting a tax collector named Levi. In those days, tax collectors were more unwanted then that they are now. People always saw tax collectors, back then, as corrupt thieves who could easily steal their money due to the lack of an advanced money and communication system between the government and the people. Pretty much what a tax collector said you owed, you had to pay, and anything that isn’t paid to the government is his to keep. People despised the tax collectors, but one day Jesus met one, Levi. He told Levi to follow him and be his disciple and Levi did. Later, Levi held a banquet at his house with Jesus as the guest of honor. Levi’s friends, who were also tax collectors, all came to this banquet. The Pharisees were there to criticize again. They complained to the disciples of Jesus, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, sick people do. I have come not to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” The story here is short but is very deep. Jesus was eating with sinners because sinners are the ones who need saving. Sinners are the sick who need healing; the dead that need resurrection. Eating with the ones who think they are perfect would have been a waste of Jesus’ time, not that Jesus couldn't do that because if he wanted to he would have, but  because those kinds of people are the ones who will never change their mind. Jesus ate with the “unclean” so that he could show the world that he has the power to make them clean again. Jesus calls everyone but only those who admit they are in need of saving can actually be saved. You must be willing to accept the call.

               Jesus’ saving grace is a marvelous thing that I will definitely come back to time and time again. My words could never fully explain it to you, for God is indescribable. Though there may not be many people at all reading this, Jesus is calling you to him. He already paid the price for your sins and you will be forgiven if only you ask. He is waiting for you to ask him to be a part of your life. During my time reading God’s word, that I try to have daily, I found something different today that I had never paid attention to before. Its not that I did not read it, its just that I hadn’t meditated on the passage before. This is why constant reading of the word is so beneficial to a Christian walk. It is so easy to get caught up in the ways of the world and to fall back into your old life.

There is only one who is perfect, Jesus Christ. No Christian is perfect and through our own power we can never be. Everyday we sin and bring down the name of the perfect God. Romans 2:24 “As it is written, the name of God is blasphemed everyday among the Gentiles because of you.” This statement is from a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the people of Rome. Mainly people of Rome at this time were people of the Jewish faith and this particular section of the letter is directed toward Jews. Paul’s words here, in this part of the letter, can be directed toward gentiles as well as Jews. The verses prior to verse 24 talk about a person who claims to be a Jew. The verses point out that the Jew claims to be a leader or teacher or something of that nature. The paragraph that contains the verse asks the “teacher” if he actually practices what he preaches, if that person really holds up to the standards he makes others live under. Then it tells about verse 24. Saying that everyday we all sin. Everyday each one of us shows that the immediate gratification of sin is worth more to us than to the God in which we say “Is our everything.” Everyday we blaspheme God by saying there is no God by our lifestyle. Sin is a way of denying God and God said that no sin will enter heaven Sin separates us from God. Thank God, literally, for sending his son Jesus to die in advance for our sins that would occur over two centuries later! “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sin.” Romans 3:23-24. It is beyond my comprehension why a God who has everything would even care to send his son, not to mention his one and only son, just to save a sinner like me. I will praise him every chance I get thanks to his amazing love and kindness he has shown to me and every other believer.

One small story before I close. A friend and I were conversing outside of our dorm one afternoon. He said the previous weekend he had been to a conference or some sort of preaching event where the speaker told a story. I do not remember the exact story but I will do the best I can with the details I remember, the more important details. The man was speaking about how an atheist was talking to a Christian. The atheist told the Christian that he could never be a Christian because every Christian he knows is a hypocrite. This Christian must have had a bit more knowledge of God’s word than the Christians the man had spoken to and declared to the atheist that Christianity is not about being perfect. We as Christians are expected to be perfect not only by the world but by our own standards. Backed by scripture he told the man that all men are sinners and fall short of God’s glory.  He then told the man that by Jesus’ grace and God the Father’s mercy we were forgiven in advance for everything we have or will ever do against the Lord. God’s knows we will never be perfect that is why he sent his Son to die for us in advance. If anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ had the ability to be perfect, then Jesus’ mission here on earth would have been in vein. Jesus was able to be perfect because he was the Incarnate God, who is one in the same with the “word” from Genesis’ “in the beginning.” (I wish I would have included that into my “In the Beginning” post but oh well). The Word is with God, the Word is God, Jesus is God in the flesh therefore Jesus is the incarnate Word as well. Jesus knew the Word because he is the Word. Jesus is perfect because his Father is perfect. He overcame sin because He is perfect and IS the perfect Word of God. My friend restated that Christianity isn’t about being perfect, its about knowing your not, and knowing Who is. And by knowing who is you also know who forgives you. He then told the man all he has to do is accept Jesus and believe Jesus died for our sins, and the sins will be forgiven, forever!

Here is where most people will fall off track. Many will disagree on the forever part and for a long time I partially did too, but for a long time ‘forever’ meant something different. Forever, for ME, meant that God wouldn’t be so cruel as to keep someone from coming to heaven based on one unforgiven sin before they died. Yes, no sin will enter into Heaven as said  in revelation 21 and explained further in chapter 22. But John 3:16 says something that I caught a while back “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” The key thing I will start off with is Believe. If you believe in Him, Jesus, and what he did for you then you will have eternal life. (Yes I know it goes much deeper than that but based on the scripture that’s what it means. Future posts will tell of this in more detail I Promise!) So now forever, in regards to ‘forgiven, forever’, means something different to me. Now it means that if I believe in what Jesus did and follow the steps to salvation, then I will always be forever forgiven. No, I do not believe someone could lose his or her salvation. Everything I believe in, that I truly believe in, I will never change my mind about. Therefore if you believe, if you truly BELIEVE, that Jesus died on the cross for your sins then you will be forever forgiven, because in my opinion if you ever “lose your salvation” or “do not believe anymore” then you never truly believed to begin with. Its all in faith. You have to have faith in order to believe.

Ok I hope I did not leave anyone hanging somewhere in the middle. I have been typing and gathering research for this since about 3pm today. My eyes are actually starting to hurt from staring at this screen for so long. If I did leave you hanging, anyone who actually finds my page, please leave me a message and I will get back on what you have questions with ASAP.  Thank you so much for reading my page and bearing with my long posts. I pray that God uses this blog to change people’s lives and that I do not misguide anyone in anyway due to any of my faults.

One last thing, I promise! All of the beliefs shared here today are my beliefs as of today based on the scripture I have read, studied and meditated on. Tomorrow God could show me a path completely different from the ideas I have taught about tonight. If it is His will, may it be done in my life. Thanks again! Until next time, to God be the glory!

'Cause I know my God saved the day

And I know His word never fails

And I know my God made a way for me

Salvation is here

Salvation is here

Salvation is here and He lives in me…

-Hillsong United

Let My Lifesong Sing

Today's post is going to be centered on worship. I will try to include verses and favorite songs, which i find my inspiration. The discussion will be very broad and will definitely need to be discussed more in depth at a later date.  Throughout today I have been doing a bit of thinking. Thinking about what, you may ask? Though there may or may not be anyone even reading this blog, I will tell anyway.

    As I walk to and from my classes throughout the day I see many things on campus. I see people sitting in the student center. I also see people outside of the student center: in the benches of the courtyard, in the gazebo, under the pavilion. Some alone and others chatting away with friends. Without really meaning to I tend to observe the people as I walk (I know it sounds creepy, but I can assure you I am no creep!). Just passing by in the few seconds I see them, I notice that they all have different habits. More than likely, on any given day one will see these people doing the same things at almost the exact same time. I am not saying these people are worshipping the things that they do, but simple habits can often lead to worship whether we want to or not. By this point most of you are thinking "there is no singing or praise to God." And you are right, God may never even be mentioned in the things that a person worships. 

     For my first point in my discussion of worship, I think it is important to tell you that worship doesn't have to be directed toward God. Worship is simply anything that you do that shows what is most important in your life. At the end of this summer a good friend of mine put together a beach retreat and the focus of the weekend was worship. I taught a small group during this weekend and I found out many things about worship while studying for the retreat. The whole lesson-plan for the weekend came out of Louie Giglio's Book Wired For a Life of Worship. (I strongly recommend reading this) As I read through the sections that my friend had taken from the book, to point out the main points in worship, I realized I had been worshipping many things. Much to my surprise those things were not God. I had been worshipping my friends, my girlfriend, my job, my cell phone and many other things. The book teaches that worship is anything that you do that shows what is important to you. By spending all of my time with the things mentioned above, instead of worshipping God, my creator, I was worshipping everything but him. And much to my surprise i realized that everything that I put in front of God became my god. God wants to be the center of our lives, and to be the center of our lives we must worship God with everything we do. Then and only then, will he be the one we are living for. 1 Cor. 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

    To kick off the weekend my friend made a wall with cardboard that had words written on them. The words were things that she had gotten the youth to write down at the beginning of the summer about things they were having trouble pushing God past in their life. The band played a song and as the song was played chaperones for the trip, one by one, took one piece of cardboard off of the wall. One by one the words sex, friends, school, clothes, cell phones, masturbation, boyfriends, girlfriends, sports, pornography all came off of the wall. Many of the kids started to see that the things that were before God in their lives were their own personal gods that they were worshipping. One of the ten commandments is "You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3. It is all too easy to worship something other than God. With the way our lives are it’s a wonder we can even know where to find God due to busy schedules. 

     The basic point I am trying to make, whether I have made it clear or not, is that we all worship something.  No matter where we are or what we are doing we worship one thing or another. Here at school I see people worshiping things every single day. Not saying this is a fact but the kid who always running and making sure he doesn't eat one ounce of fattening food before he goes to the gym for the 5th time since lunch is more than likely worshipping one of two things - either he is worshipping his body/ego, or he is worshipping the women that think the kind of body he is so desperately trying to achieve is "HOT."I am not saying that he isn't putting God first at all, I am simply saying that it is very possible that working out comes before God in his life. Probably you are thinking, this must be a guy that is jealous of the body the other guy is getting. In a way you could say yes, I am, but if he is putting that before worshipping God than that is not right at all. I do believe that you should eat healthy and stay in shape because your body is His temple. 1 Corinthians 6:19 states "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"

         By now your whole view of worship is either a bit hazy or completely blurred so bare with me as I explain. (I know I have kept you reading long enough). Worship is something you do everyday. Worship can be expressed through a song, which is most everyone’s favorite way to worship. I would encourage you to listen to Casting Crowns’ song Lifesong. The song gives examples of how we should live for God. Part of the chorus says “I wanna sign Your name at the end of this day, knowing that my heart was true. Let my Lifesong sing to You!” it is saying that he wants to bring glory to God in the day and at the end of the day he wants to feel accomplished because he worshipped the lord through his life. Letting your lifesong sing means that you are letting your life be the song that sings to God, instead of just the songs we sing on Sunday morning along with the church.

         I know this post has been more long-typed than either of us had expected. To tell you the truth worship is something I will touch on again someday because it, like creation, is much deeper than just one time to sit down and tell about. To properly convey God’s message concerning worship I will have to do a bit more studying of the word to make sure I give everything involved proper credit. I hope I have touched a few bases covering the topic today and possibly in a post in the near future I can explain a bit further.

         One last thing before I go. When I said I had been doing a lot of thinking today, it did not just mean about worship. I thought a lot today and last night about where this blog is going and what exactly it is for. I believe God has given me the ability to write decent stories and blogs so that I can convey his message to the world, one small post at a time. What does that have to do with you? Well, a lot! By me telling you about the Lord you can tell others and possibly even tell others to read my posts. I am going to start using this blog as a ministry to the world. If even one person reads my posts and has a life change, all of my work will be worth it. I wish to bring glory to God through my posts and to relay his message, the Word, to you. Until next time, God bless you.

"In the Beginning"

Well hello world of bloggers. This is my first blog and i am not 100% sure how to do this so i am just going to start typing and see where it goes. As of right now I am sitting alone in my dorm room. My roommate has gone back home for the night and will return in the morning so I am enjoying the peace and quiet that comes with temporarily having no roommate. This is my first time ever attending college away from home and I must say I thoroughly enjoy being somewhat on my own. In my future posts I will attempt to tell the world a bit about my life and also give my views and opinions on everything I believe in.
     For my first attempt at giving the world a taste of my life I am going to start off with my beliefs about this world we live in and how it came about. In the beginning of time God created everything. I know people will disagree with me on this and will even tell me I am stupid for believing this, but nonetheless, I stand firm on what I believe in. In case you are wondering, yes, I am a Christian. I one day hope to be pastor of a church where I can help lead others to Christ through the unchanging word.
     Back to the beginning. When God created the earth He also decided to make people. People did not come from monkeys, and monkeys did not come from some radioactive ooze from a pond formed from the "Big Bang." You may say, "The big bang is what started this whole process of evolution." To that I will reply, Where did all of this material come from? Other Galaxies? Where did that stuff come from? I say, if there was a "Big Bang" The Living God made it happen. He made the materials for the earth to be created. He, God, spoke and it came to be. That is all there is to it.
     A former pastor of my home church once told us a joke, or story: Two scientists one day discovered the formula for creating a human life. They were so proud of their discovery they call God and told him " God, we don't need you anymore. Thanks for everything, but we have got it from here. You see, we have figured out how to make humans." With half a grin God said "OK show me what you have come up with." The scientists then knelt down and started gathering up dirt to make the human, God said "Oh no no no! thats MY dirt!"
     Though you may or may not believe God is the creator of the universe, He is! God created everything. I have skipped around a little from where i started talking about humans so i will return to them now. Humans were made by God. When He made man, yes man was first, He named him Adam. To give Adam a companion God took one of Adam's ribs and formed Eve, the first woman. This is why women have one more rib than men. Go ahead, count them. In the garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were created, is where the first sin came about. To save time, and to get the exact details, read Genesis in the bible. In a long story made short Satan, disguised as a serpent, convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit the Lord had instructed her and Adam not to eat. It was the only fruit they were told not to eat. Eve then persuaded Adam to eat the fruit as well. God found out and the two were banned from the garden. Because of this, sin was brought about. But don't go blaming them for it because if not them it would have been you or me. I feel like this paragraph has gone too long and I am getting into something much deeper than the creation story, so I will hold the rest for a future post.
     Though this blog doesn't fully grasp the whole picture of creation, I have tried to briefly scratch the surface. In future posts I will try to come back to this and give a few more details here and there. I hope you have enjoyed this first blog and i also hope that i have not strayed anyone from my future posts, because the best is yet to come. Eventually I will give my views on Christ, the son of God. Though all of my posts may not be about God and Jesus and creation. I hope that at least one person will have an interest in what I have to say and hopefully come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. I appreciate your time and I apologize if this was in anyway boring. Until next time, may the Lord be with you.