By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me — a prayer to the God of my life.
- Psalm 42:8
God is not simply a being that exists in some far off place and is uninterested in our day-to-day lives. He is the one who created everything - all that has ever existed in the universe. That includes billions of stars and planets and things we can't even imagine. It also includes us. It includes you. God is my creator. He formed me and molded me. He has had my life in his hands every step of the way. God loves me and is always at work in my life. He is the God who loves and the one who saves. When I look at my life, I see evidence of God all along the way. I know he is still there, still moving in ways I cannot always see at the time. He is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Thank you, Jesus, for never letting me go, though I would deserve it. Thank you giving me life and love. Thank you for guiding me in this life. While I too often stray from what is right, you are always there for me, always loving me. Thank you for your sacrifice and your forgiveness. You are my salvation and my stronghold, and I know you will never let me go. I love you Jesus. Amen.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Friday, October 26, 2018
Random Verse - Psalm 16:1
Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.
- Psalm 16:1
Every day, terrible things happen. People die in car crashes or from cancer. Families and marriages crumble due to the sinful actions of one. We cannot know what tomorrow will bring. Perhaps we will be the victims of some horrible event. Whether purposeful, accidental, or natural, there are many things in the world that can cause us harm. What are we to do about it?
In a word, we need to trust. For those of us who call upon the name of the Lord, God is our refuge. He is our stronghold. He is the one who will keep us safe. It would be easy to get tripped up on this point, as it depends on your definition of safe. Yes, sometimes God will save you from a terrible situation. Sometimes God miraculously cures that cancer or prevents that drunk driver from barreling into you. Sometimes God stands in the way of the world and keeps you safe from its dangers.
But what about when He doesn't?
The greatest trust is not nearly to believe that God will keep you safe in this world. God has never promised us that bad things won't happen. He's never said that we won't have pain or suffering or have our lives cut short. Every day we live in this world is a gift from God that we should not waste. Yes, we should pray that God will keep us safe in the world. We should pray for healing and rejoice when it comes. That, however, is not the great safety that God promises us. The truth is that each of us will, someday, die. It is an inevitability of life. When that comes, is it God no longer keeping us safe? Is He no longer our refuge? Of course He is. The greatest trust is to know that no matter what happens to us in this world, no matter what pain we go through, and no matter how many years we are given to live on Earth, that God has our souls in His hand. God's primary goal is not to merely keep us safe for our lives in this world, that are here today but gone tomorrow. His primary goal is to welcome us into His kingdom to be with him for eternity. I do not fear the world or the oncoming death, for I know that God is holding me in his hands. He is my refuge, and He will keep me safe, forever and ever.
- Psalm 16:1
Every day, terrible things happen. People die in car crashes or from cancer. Families and marriages crumble due to the sinful actions of one. We cannot know what tomorrow will bring. Perhaps we will be the victims of some horrible event. Whether purposeful, accidental, or natural, there are many things in the world that can cause us harm. What are we to do about it?
In a word, we need to trust. For those of us who call upon the name of the Lord, God is our refuge. He is our stronghold. He is the one who will keep us safe. It would be easy to get tripped up on this point, as it depends on your definition of safe. Yes, sometimes God will save you from a terrible situation. Sometimes God miraculously cures that cancer or prevents that drunk driver from barreling into you. Sometimes God stands in the way of the world and keeps you safe from its dangers.
But what about when He doesn't?
The greatest trust is not nearly to believe that God will keep you safe in this world. God has never promised us that bad things won't happen. He's never said that we won't have pain or suffering or have our lives cut short. Every day we live in this world is a gift from God that we should not waste. Yes, we should pray that God will keep us safe in the world. We should pray for healing and rejoice when it comes. That, however, is not the great safety that God promises us. The truth is that each of us will, someday, die. It is an inevitability of life. When that comes, is it God no longer keeping us safe? Is He no longer our refuge? Of course He is. The greatest trust is to know that no matter what happens to us in this world, no matter what pain we go through, and no matter how many years we are given to live on Earth, that God has our souls in His hand. God's primary goal is not to merely keep us safe for our lives in this world, that are here today but gone tomorrow. His primary goal is to welcome us into His kingdom to be with him for eternity. I do not fear the world or the oncoming death, for I know that God is holding me in his hands. He is my refuge, and He will keep me safe, forever and ever.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Random Bible Verse
In an effort to increase my writing and continue to keep this blog active, I am going to try something new. I will be using the random bible verse page at DailyVerses.net to fuel future blog posts. I will take the verse and reflect on it. I will not select a new random verse if I do not like the first one provided each time. Some of these posts may be more interesting than others, but so be it. My comments may be a direct response to the verse, or it may be thoughts that the verse brings to my mind or stories it reminds me of. I look at this as a writing exercise as much as it is a content driver. I will be trying to do this a few times per week, if things go as planned. And thus, here is the first one.
Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.
Proverbs 12:16
We live in a reactive world. People allow themselves to be offended at every little thing somebody else says that doesn't match what they believe or how they live. We often see people who believe differently than us as the enemy. We insult other people with harsh words, and then throw fits when those same people insult us. We don't take time to understand the viewpoints of other people, instead assuming the worst about them. We assume that we are the only ones seeing things correctly, and that everybody else is foolish or stupid or selfish or evil. We are so easily set off by the words of people we don't even know.
It is inevitable that we will interact with people who disagree with us on many different issues. What we cannot do, however, is simply throw insults at anybody who disagrees with us. Such reactive emotions do nothing but raise tensions and sever relationships. We must all learn how to have profitable discourse instead of simply yelling at each other. When others do hurl insults at us, we must not return fire with our own harsh words. We live in a diverse society with a free exchange of words and ideas, and that should be celebrated and not weaponized. We should seek to understand one another and converse peacefully with those we disagree with. In the end, none of us is perfect and none of us have a full understanding of how life works. We need to see each other as real people of equal value instead of looking down on anybody who sees things differently.
Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.
Proverbs 12:16
We live in a reactive world. People allow themselves to be offended at every little thing somebody else says that doesn't match what they believe or how they live. We often see people who believe differently than us as the enemy. We insult other people with harsh words, and then throw fits when those same people insult us. We don't take time to understand the viewpoints of other people, instead assuming the worst about them. We assume that we are the only ones seeing things correctly, and that everybody else is foolish or stupid or selfish or evil. We are so easily set off by the words of people we don't even know.
It is inevitable that we will interact with people who disagree with us on many different issues. What we cannot do, however, is simply throw insults at anybody who disagrees with us. Such reactive emotions do nothing but raise tensions and sever relationships. We must all learn how to have profitable discourse instead of simply yelling at each other. When others do hurl insults at us, we must not return fire with our own harsh words. We live in a diverse society with a free exchange of words and ideas, and that should be celebrated and not weaponized. We should seek to understand one another and converse peacefully with those we disagree with. In the end, none of us is perfect and none of us have a full understanding of how life works. We need to see each other as real people of equal value instead of looking down on anybody who sees things differently.
Monday, October 8, 2018
Crutches
"Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business."
- Jesse Ventura
I remember when this quote was made years ago, back when Jesse Ventura was the governor of my state. It is a point of view shared by many others around the world. Many other such quotes have been made, of course, but this is the one I'm going to focus on.
Here's the kicker: I don't completely disagree with his assessment.
Just most of it.
When people say that religion is a crutch, I have this to say: they're right, and for followers of Jesus, that's the way it should be.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
- Proverbs 3: 5-6
"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 4: 19
God is our great provider, and part of surrendering our lives to Him is accepting that we need Him. The Bible does not say that we are strong enough on our own, or that we do not need anything from God in order to survive and live successful lives. No, it says to rely on Him for everything. So yes, God is our crutch, for without Him we cannot walk. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Most importantly, salvation comes to those who believe in Jesus Christ and accept His salvation for our sins. This is something we cannot acquire on our own: Jesus died for us, and only by leaning on that salvation can we enter Heaven once we die. Attempting to get to Heaven on our own is foolishness. Jesus is our crutch to get there, and accepting this truth is the only way to salvation.
When it comes to organized religion being a sham: I wouldn't stretch it that far, but I will say this: organized religion has some major problems. Why is that? Because the organization of religion is run by sinners like you and me. It is run by people with major problems, just like every religious and secular organization in the world. I do believe that Christian leaders should hold themselves up to a very high moral standard, but expecting such people to have perfect records is expecting the impossible. The only human to ever have a perfect record was Jesus Christ. The Christian church can be a wonderful thing that spreads the good news of Jesus, but it is still run by sinners in a sinful world.
Oh, and we're all sinners with major problems, by the way. I couldn't do any better.
Yet I am not a Christian because of the church. My belief in Jesus is not based on the quality of religious leadership or the inner workings of the Christian organization. I am a Christ followers for this reason: it's true. Don't let Christians turn you off from Christianity, because ultimately, for you, it's not about the rest of us. It's not about how Christians behave or how sinful they are, because we're all sinners. It's about love and salvation. It's about your eternity. It's about you and Jesus.
I have no doubt in my soul that Jesus Christ is not a fairy tale, and that there is a true God in Heaven looking down on me. I believe that there was real blood shed on a real cross by a real human, and that the death of Jesus and His resurrection on the third day is the reason that I will spend eternity in Heaven. This is not some work of fiction I enjoy, it is the truth that I follow in my life. It impacts everything I do.
On a side note, and I have posted about this before in more detail, but we are not really meant to be religious. Religion is man made and run by those pesky sinners. Religion is traditional and ritualistic. Religion is following rules for the sake of following rules. The world sees me as religious, but I try to live beyond that. I try to live as a follower of the one and only true God, and the choices I make are due to my belief that they are the right choices, not simply because a religion tells me so.
There are many around the world who think that anyone who believes in God is weak minded, which is just a politically correct way of calling someone stupid. They say we invented God because we wanted to believe there is more to this life, more than just birth, death, and a few meaningless years in between. First, it is hard to talk to anyone who thinks anyone with a differing opinion from them is "weak minded." I would never define an atheist or otherwise non-Christian person as weak minded. I may think they need Jesus, but that certainly doesn't mean they're unintelligent. Also, believing in God is not something to be done only by those who turn their brains off. To me, it is only logical that there is a God, and I cannot fathom a universe coming to existence without such a being.
Finally, Ventura is certainly right about one thing: going out and sticking their noses in other people's business. We Christians should be involved in the lives of non-believers, so that we can minister and witness to them, giving them opportunities to accept Jesus as their savior. Is this because we're nosy? No, it comes down to one truth: without Jesus, everyone on this planet will be alone for eternity. It is our duty as Christ followers to spread the gospel, not because we're trying to increase our religion's dominance or get more people to come to church. No, we do this because the love and grace of our lord Jesus Christ compels us to, because we do not want to see anyone perish. We share the gospel because it's true.
In closing, Christians are imperfect beings whom Jesus died for, just like everybody else. The difference is that we have chosen to believe it. We have chosen to accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We have accepted the fact that we need God to have a full and fulfilling life. Even if the world chides us and does not understand, Jesus is our crutch, because without Him we cannot stand.
- Jesse Ventura
I remember when this quote was made years ago, back when Jesse Ventura was the governor of my state. It is a point of view shared by many others around the world. Many other such quotes have been made, of course, but this is the one I'm going to focus on.
Here's the kicker: I don't completely disagree with his assessment.
Just most of it.
When people say that religion is a crutch, I have this to say: they're right, and for followers of Jesus, that's the way it should be.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
- Proverbs 3: 5-6
"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 4: 19
God is our great provider, and part of surrendering our lives to Him is accepting that we need Him. The Bible does not say that we are strong enough on our own, or that we do not need anything from God in order to survive and live successful lives. No, it says to rely on Him for everything. So yes, God is our crutch, for without Him we cannot walk. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Most importantly, salvation comes to those who believe in Jesus Christ and accept His salvation for our sins. This is something we cannot acquire on our own: Jesus died for us, and only by leaning on that salvation can we enter Heaven once we die. Attempting to get to Heaven on our own is foolishness. Jesus is our crutch to get there, and accepting this truth is the only way to salvation.
When it comes to organized religion being a sham: I wouldn't stretch it that far, but I will say this: organized religion has some major problems. Why is that? Because the organization of religion is run by sinners like you and me. It is run by people with major problems, just like every religious and secular organization in the world. I do believe that Christian leaders should hold themselves up to a very high moral standard, but expecting such people to have perfect records is expecting the impossible. The only human to ever have a perfect record was Jesus Christ. The Christian church can be a wonderful thing that spreads the good news of Jesus, but it is still run by sinners in a sinful world.
Oh, and we're all sinners with major problems, by the way. I couldn't do any better.
Yet I am not a Christian because of the church. My belief in Jesus is not based on the quality of religious leadership or the inner workings of the Christian organization. I am a Christ followers for this reason: it's true. Don't let Christians turn you off from Christianity, because ultimately, for you, it's not about the rest of us. It's not about how Christians behave or how sinful they are, because we're all sinners. It's about love and salvation. It's about your eternity. It's about you and Jesus.
I have no doubt in my soul that Jesus Christ is not a fairy tale, and that there is a true God in Heaven looking down on me. I believe that there was real blood shed on a real cross by a real human, and that the death of Jesus and His resurrection on the third day is the reason that I will spend eternity in Heaven. This is not some work of fiction I enjoy, it is the truth that I follow in my life. It impacts everything I do.
On a side note, and I have posted about this before in more detail, but we are not really meant to be religious. Religion is man made and run by those pesky sinners. Religion is traditional and ritualistic. Religion is following rules for the sake of following rules. The world sees me as religious, but I try to live beyond that. I try to live as a follower of the one and only true God, and the choices I make are due to my belief that they are the right choices, not simply because a religion tells me so.
There are many around the world who think that anyone who believes in God is weak minded, which is just a politically correct way of calling someone stupid. They say we invented God because we wanted to believe there is more to this life, more than just birth, death, and a few meaningless years in between. First, it is hard to talk to anyone who thinks anyone with a differing opinion from them is "weak minded." I would never define an atheist or otherwise non-Christian person as weak minded. I may think they need Jesus, but that certainly doesn't mean they're unintelligent. Also, believing in God is not something to be done only by those who turn their brains off. To me, it is only logical that there is a God, and I cannot fathom a universe coming to existence without such a being.
Finally, Ventura is certainly right about one thing: going out and sticking their noses in other people's business. We Christians should be involved in the lives of non-believers, so that we can minister and witness to them, giving them opportunities to accept Jesus as their savior. Is this because we're nosy? No, it comes down to one truth: without Jesus, everyone on this planet will be alone for eternity. It is our duty as Christ followers to spread the gospel, not because we're trying to increase our religion's dominance or get more people to come to church. No, we do this because the love and grace of our lord Jesus Christ compels us to, because we do not want to see anyone perish. We share the gospel because it's true.
In closing, Christians are imperfect beings whom Jesus died for, just like everybody else. The difference is that we have chosen to believe it. We have chosen to accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We have accepted the fact that we need God to have a full and fulfilling life. Even if the world chides us and does not understand, Jesus is our crutch, because without Him we cannot stand.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Faith Does Not Exist In A Bubble
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28: 19 - 20
As Christ followers in America, we tend to ignore the Great Commission given to us by Jesus. We go about our daily lives, scarcely giving thought to the eternal destinations of those around us. We pray and try to live righteous lives, as we should, be we neglect one of our main purposes. Yes, we are undergoing the process of sanctification and will be doing so for the rest of our lives. That, however, is not the only reason we’re still here. God is ready to use us to reach the lost of the world, because he loves each and every person he has created. We should be living our lives as a shining example of his love, treating each other with kindness and love. Even then, there are times when we should all step out of our comfort zones and actually talk about Jesus. Admittedly, this is something I find intimidating. It is something that has been sorely lacking in my life, but I have been hoping to change that. For starters, I am currently reading Good News for a Change: How to Talk to Anyone about Jesus by Matt Mikalatos. I am still early in the read, but it has been interesting so far.
The life of a Christ follower should not be lived in a bubble. We are not simply the followers of some religion whose requirements we can appease on our own. I don't particularly care for religion. I don’t care what religion you are, and neither does God. Jesus actually has a lot of criticism for “religious people.” Instead, what God wants is followers, not dogmatic people blindly and ritualistically going through the motions, but earnest followers who want to be in close fellowship with him, because they choose to be. Religion is about rules, but that's not really what God is concerned with. He is looking for relationship, and for his people to be his tools to spread the good news of Jesus to the world. This is about reconciling people to God and saving their souls. If we look at it as anything less than that, we risk minimizing our efforts and reducing our effectiveness. We need to talk about Jesus because people need to hear it. People need Jesus. We all need him. He is the son of God, sent to defeat sin and death for all time. The truth must be spread, because the cost of silence is far too great. Everybody around us is a child of God, and God is seeking to return all his lost children to him. That is what life is truly about. Anybody simply looking to “convert” people or win an argument is missing the point. It’s not about numbers. It’s about real people with real lives who need real help, who are at real risk of being separated from God forever.
We each have a faith journey that we are walking, and we are all at different points on that journey. However, we can all be used by God to further his kingdom and reach the lost. Why would we want to live in a bubble when there is so much at stake? God can do amazing things through the faith of his people, but if your faith is so limiting that it is only about you, then how powerful can it really be? God is a deeply personal god, yes, as we all have come to him on different paths, and he met us in different places and in different ways. But that doesn’t mean it’s private. In fact, if something in your life has made such a significant difference, why would you want it to be private? Is opening up the book of our life not worth the potential that other people could experience the same great changes that we did? Is our privacy worth keeping others from experiencing grace? It’s not about your rights or your privacy or your comfort. It's about Jesus. It's about love. It’s about truth.
[to be continued...]
As Christ followers in America, we tend to ignore the Great Commission given to us by Jesus. We go about our daily lives, scarcely giving thought to the eternal destinations of those around us. We pray and try to live righteous lives, as we should, be we neglect one of our main purposes. Yes, we are undergoing the process of sanctification and will be doing so for the rest of our lives. That, however, is not the only reason we’re still here. God is ready to use us to reach the lost of the world, because he loves each and every person he has created. We should be living our lives as a shining example of his love, treating each other with kindness and love. Even then, there are times when we should all step out of our comfort zones and actually talk about Jesus. Admittedly, this is something I find intimidating. It is something that has been sorely lacking in my life, but I have been hoping to change that. For starters, I am currently reading Good News for a Change: How to Talk to Anyone about Jesus by Matt Mikalatos. I am still early in the read, but it has been interesting so far.
The life of a Christ follower should not be lived in a bubble. We are not simply the followers of some religion whose requirements we can appease on our own. I don't particularly care for religion. I don’t care what religion you are, and neither does God. Jesus actually has a lot of criticism for “religious people.” Instead, what God wants is followers, not dogmatic people blindly and ritualistically going through the motions, but earnest followers who want to be in close fellowship with him, because they choose to be. Religion is about rules, but that's not really what God is concerned with. He is looking for relationship, and for his people to be his tools to spread the good news of Jesus to the world. This is about reconciling people to God and saving their souls. If we look at it as anything less than that, we risk minimizing our efforts and reducing our effectiveness. We need to talk about Jesus because people need to hear it. People need Jesus. We all need him. He is the son of God, sent to defeat sin and death for all time. The truth must be spread, because the cost of silence is far too great. Everybody around us is a child of God, and God is seeking to return all his lost children to him. That is what life is truly about. Anybody simply looking to “convert” people or win an argument is missing the point. It’s not about numbers. It’s about real people with real lives who need real help, who are at real risk of being separated from God forever.
We each have a faith journey that we are walking, and we are all at different points on that journey. However, we can all be used by God to further his kingdom and reach the lost. Why would we want to live in a bubble when there is so much at stake? God can do amazing things through the faith of his people, but if your faith is so limiting that it is only about you, then how powerful can it really be? God is a deeply personal god, yes, as we all have come to him on different paths, and he met us in different places and in different ways. But that doesn’t mean it’s private. In fact, if something in your life has made such a significant difference, why would you want it to be private? Is opening up the book of our life not worth the potential that other people could experience the same great changes that we did? Is our privacy worth keeping others from experiencing grace? It’s not about your rights or your privacy or your comfort. It's about Jesus. It's about love. It’s about truth.
[to be continued...]
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Logic
I've heard atheists say before that no rational person would believe in a God. They say theists believe in a higher power because they want to believe there is more to life than this Earth. They say that only the unwise would truly think there is a great being in the sky watching over us. They say Christians are illogical and unintelligent, for how else could they believe such foolishness? They call them delusional, senseless people.
I know I live in a world where some people look down on me for what I believe, but I don't really care. I don't believe what I believe because it makes me look a certain way to the world, nor do I believe it because it makes me feel a certain way. I don't believe it due to a desire for peace or contentment. While an atheist may read this and still think I'm delusional, I believe in a God due to something they believe Christians to be incapable of: logic. For even if I had not had "God moments" throughout my life, where God made his reality obvious to me, there would still be the underlying fact that I find the idea of this universe having no God to be completely illogical. It makes no sense.
The theory that this universe created itself is illogical. No matter how many millions and billions of years you go back, there has to be an ultimate origin. We could talk specifics of the Big Bang, evolution, and other scientific theories. Yet such things are mere details, for if this universe is merely physical, then it must have a beginning. If it has a beginning, there must have been a time when there was no universe. If there is no universe at all, there is no matter, there is nothing in existence to take its progression to the next step. It is illogical to think that the universe sprouted from nothingness into something. There must be something more, something higher, something eternal. God, by definition, is eternal, having no beginning or end. Nothing had to create God, because he always was. There is nothing that is merely physical, however, that always has been. There couldn't be. The only way that this universe came to be is if something eternal created it. I do not believe this because I want to or because I feel like it should be true, I believe it because logic forces me to do so.
I do not know all the details of how God created the universe. There are debates on the literal Genesis creation story and theistic evolution. While such debates are interesting and of some value, the truth remains that, however the universe came to be, that it was God doing the creating and not merely the physical universe bringing itself into being. If we evolved from single-celled organisms, then it was God that authored and guided that process; it did not simply happen of its own accord. Whether God created the universe in six days or gradually over billions of years, the end result is the same: the universe is God's creation.
In short, I believe what I believe because of logic, not despite logic. I know atheists will still call me foolish, but I will not change what I believe simply to fit in to the world.
I know I live in a world where some people look down on me for what I believe, but I don't really care. I don't believe what I believe because it makes me look a certain way to the world, nor do I believe it because it makes me feel a certain way. I don't believe it due to a desire for peace or contentment. While an atheist may read this and still think I'm delusional, I believe in a God due to something they believe Christians to be incapable of: logic. For even if I had not had "God moments" throughout my life, where God made his reality obvious to me, there would still be the underlying fact that I find the idea of this universe having no God to be completely illogical. It makes no sense.
The theory that this universe created itself is illogical. No matter how many millions and billions of years you go back, there has to be an ultimate origin. We could talk specifics of the Big Bang, evolution, and other scientific theories. Yet such things are mere details, for if this universe is merely physical, then it must have a beginning. If it has a beginning, there must have been a time when there was no universe. If there is no universe at all, there is no matter, there is nothing in existence to take its progression to the next step. It is illogical to think that the universe sprouted from nothingness into something. There must be something more, something higher, something eternal. God, by definition, is eternal, having no beginning or end. Nothing had to create God, because he always was. There is nothing that is merely physical, however, that always has been. There couldn't be. The only way that this universe came to be is if something eternal created it. I do not believe this because I want to or because I feel like it should be true, I believe it because logic forces me to do so.
I do not know all the details of how God created the universe. There are debates on the literal Genesis creation story and theistic evolution. While such debates are interesting and of some value, the truth remains that, however the universe came to be, that it was God doing the creating and not merely the physical universe bringing itself into being. If we evolved from single-celled organisms, then it was God that authored and guided that process; it did not simply happen of its own accord. Whether God created the universe in six days or gradually over billions of years, the end result is the same: the universe is God's creation.
In short, I believe what I believe because of logic, not despite logic. I know atheists will still call me foolish, but I will not change what I believe simply to fit in to the world.
Monday, July 30, 2018
The Reason for Holiness
The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
- Brennan Manning
As followers of Christ, we should be living our lives in purity and holiness, not straying into the sinful ways of the world. Indeed, we are all sinners, yet we should be holding ourselves up to Godly standards. The world is a dark place, full of seductive temptations that threaten to pull us in and take us over, yet our foundation should be in the hands of our creator, so that when the world comes calling, we can stand on the foundation of Christ and not be overtaken.
Yet, why does it matter? The Bible teaches that we are all sinners and that none of us is righteous, not even one. Are we risking our salvation by living in sin? No, though one may need to question whether he or she was ever truly saved, should they decide to depart so greatly from the teachings they once clung to. Yet, once salvation is truly secured, sin can no longer separate you from the eternity to come in Heaven. Scripture does say that those who follow God’s commandments will have a richer life, and a closer walk with Him, yet if we all end up in the same Heaven, what was truly gained? For this life is only measured in years, while the next life is incalculable.
While we should certainly seek a closer, more intimate relationship with God, I believe that the most important reason to live a life of holiness has very little to do with the quality of one’s own life. Indeed, if I live according to the commandments, my life will be blessed, yet a longer, more profitable life is not the point. Here is the point, which is twofold: first, as the quote at the top of this entry says, a Christ follower living a hypocritical life of sin will only drive away those who are unbelievers. We preach holiness and purity, yet if we do not follow our own teachings, how does that look to the unbelieving world? We look like fools, saying one thing, yet doing another. Why would anyone seek the church and a relationship with God, if all they see are believers who are hypocrites?
The second part is this: a person living a Godly life, following His commandments, becomes a stronger, more able tool for the Kingdom. God will be more able and more likely to use such people to spread His message, for their lives are not weighed down by sin. The effect on the unbelieving world will be greater for those that live a Christ-centered, holy life, and I believe this to be the greatest reason for righteous living. Our lives on this Earth should not be centered around prosperity, but around our savior, Jesus Christ, and the message of salvation that He has given us. We should seek to spread that good news to the ends of the Earth, for all else will fade. There will come a day when the world has run out of chances to accept Jesus, and those who have rejected Him will be sent away into the fire. I would give my life to save the eternity of just one person, and we may be able to help others come to Christ simply by the way we live.
So do not give in to the temptations of the world, not for yourself, but for the unbelievers, so that you may be the tool that God will use to bring them back to Him. For if they look at you and do not see the light of God in your actions, they may shake their head and turn away, and be forever lost.
- Brennan Manning
As followers of Christ, we should be living our lives in purity and holiness, not straying into the sinful ways of the world. Indeed, we are all sinners, yet we should be holding ourselves up to Godly standards. The world is a dark place, full of seductive temptations that threaten to pull us in and take us over, yet our foundation should be in the hands of our creator, so that when the world comes calling, we can stand on the foundation of Christ and not be overtaken.
Yet, why does it matter? The Bible teaches that we are all sinners and that none of us is righteous, not even one. Are we risking our salvation by living in sin? No, though one may need to question whether he or she was ever truly saved, should they decide to depart so greatly from the teachings they once clung to. Yet, once salvation is truly secured, sin can no longer separate you from the eternity to come in Heaven. Scripture does say that those who follow God’s commandments will have a richer life, and a closer walk with Him, yet if we all end up in the same Heaven, what was truly gained? For this life is only measured in years, while the next life is incalculable.
While we should certainly seek a closer, more intimate relationship with God, I believe that the most important reason to live a life of holiness has very little to do with the quality of one’s own life. Indeed, if I live according to the commandments, my life will be blessed, yet a longer, more profitable life is not the point. Here is the point, which is twofold: first, as the quote at the top of this entry says, a Christ follower living a hypocritical life of sin will only drive away those who are unbelievers. We preach holiness and purity, yet if we do not follow our own teachings, how does that look to the unbelieving world? We look like fools, saying one thing, yet doing another. Why would anyone seek the church and a relationship with God, if all they see are believers who are hypocrites?
The second part is this: a person living a Godly life, following His commandments, becomes a stronger, more able tool for the Kingdom. God will be more able and more likely to use such people to spread His message, for their lives are not weighed down by sin. The effect on the unbelieving world will be greater for those that live a Christ-centered, holy life, and I believe this to be the greatest reason for righteous living. Our lives on this Earth should not be centered around prosperity, but around our savior, Jesus Christ, and the message of salvation that He has given us. We should seek to spread that good news to the ends of the Earth, for all else will fade. There will come a day when the world has run out of chances to accept Jesus, and those who have rejected Him will be sent away into the fire. I would give my life to save the eternity of just one person, and we may be able to help others come to Christ simply by the way we live.
So do not give in to the temptations of the world, not for yourself, but for the unbelievers, so that you may be the tool that God will use to bring them back to Him. For if they look at you and do not see the light of God in your actions, they may shake their head and turn away, and be forever lost.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Your Will Be Done, Unless
Your will be done, unless it makes me afraid.
Or anxious.
Or angry.
Your will be done, unless I'm uninterested.
Or busy.
Or lazy.
Your will be done, unless it makes me leave my comfort zone.
Or leave something behind.
Or leave the couch.
Your will be done, unless I don't understand.
Or believe it's possible.
Or think it wise.
Your will be done, unless I don't trust you.
Or other people.
Or myself.
Your will be done, unless it costs me something.
Or changes something.
Or ends something.
Your will be done, unless my way is better.
Or simpler.
Or easier.
Your will be done, unless I can't see the beginning.
Or the end.
Or the point.
This is often how we think.
We sometimes see God as distant and apathetic. We don't believe that He has any interest in our lives: not the big things, not the little things, not the day-to-day things. We wonder why we would pray to a God that doesn't care about us, doesn't love us, doesn't even know us. We know the world may judge us for relying on the wisdom of a being they cannot see and do not believe in, so we give in, and we take a step on the path of the world. We save our ego, and our pride, sacrificing a relationship with the one true God.
This is the way the human mind works.
We cannot understand God, and thus, He cannot be all we are taught that He is. We cannot see Him, so how can He be there? We cannot touch Him, so how can He be interested and active in our lives? We cannot hear Him, so how can we believe that He speaks to us, nudging and prompting us? The world tells us to "look out for number one." Make your own path. Do your own thing. Be your own person. Trust only yourself. How can we be a Christ follower in a world that rejects Him?
It starts with faith.
Faith that He is more than myth. More than stories. Faith that He is as real as you and as real as me, and as real as anything you can touch with your hands. Faith that when you pray, you are not merely making noise. Faith that the only true source of wisdom is the exact thing this world rejects. Faith that the wisdom of God is greater than the wisdom of man, and that we should always follow Him and His leading, no matter what worldy objections there are, and no matter what excuses our human minds can conjure against it.
And it continues with perspective.
We are the tools God uses. We must understand our place in the kingdom of God. We each have a purpose, a part to play, in that kingdom. The world needs Jesus, and knowing that should change how we look at everything. We begin to make decisions through God's eyes. We begin to put Him first. We begin to go to Him in prayer about everything.
We do not allow ourselves to be influenced by the ways of the world, for we are living to be used by God, and we do not desire God's uses for us to be diminished by our own foolishness and flaws. We see other people as God sees them: His children, greatly loved and cherished by the one creator of the universe. They are no longer simply nameless faces we walk by, but real people with one real need: they need Jesus.
Instead of being Sunday Christians, who give glory to God once a week and then continue as though He is not relevant, we allow Him into every part of our lives. We grant Him authority in our financial, occupational and relational choices, because we know that His plan encompasses every aspect of the way we live. We do not shove him away from the decisions that affect our family, because we want our family to live according to His wisdom. We choose the will of God over our own desires.
While we do not and can not understand the vastness of God's plan, to consider our own ways better and wiser is foolish. It is the wise person who seeks the will of God in all they do, following Him down any path and in any storm, knowing it to be the right path.
Your will be done, even if it makes me afraid.
Your will be done, even if I don't understand.
Your will be done, even if it costs me something.
Your will be done, even if my way is easier.
Your will be done, God, in all we do, so that you may be glorified, and that the world may be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Or anxious.
Or angry.
Your will be done, unless I'm uninterested.
Or busy.
Or lazy.
Your will be done, unless it makes me leave my comfort zone.
Or leave something behind.
Or leave the couch.
Your will be done, unless I don't understand.
Or believe it's possible.
Or think it wise.
Your will be done, unless I don't trust you.
Or other people.
Or myself.
Your will be done, unless it costs me something.
Or changes something.
Or ends something.
Your will be done, unless my way is better.
Or simpler.
Or easier.
Your will be done, unless I can't see the beginning.
Or the end.
Or the point.
This is often how we think.
We sometimes see God as distant and apathetic. We don't believe that He has any interest in our lives: not the big things, not the little things, not the day-to-day things. We wonder why we would pray to a God that doesn't care about us, doesn't love us, doesn't even know us. We know the world may judge us for relying on the wisdom of a being they cannot see and do not believe in, so we give in, and we take a step on the path of the world. We save our ego, and our pride, sacrificing a relationship with the one true God.
This is the way the human mind works.
We cannot understand God, and thus, He cannot be all we are taught that He is. We cannot see Him, so how can He be there? We cannot touch Him, so how can He be interested and active in our lives? We cannot hear Him, so how can we believe that He speaks to us, nudging and prompting us? The world tells us to "look out for number one." Make your own path. Do your own thing. Be your own person. Trust only yourself. How can we be a Christ follower in a world that rejects Him?
It starts with faith.
Faith that He is more than myth. More than stories. Faith that He is as real as you and as real as me, and as real as anything you can touch with your hands. Faith that when you pray, you are not merely making noise. Faith that the only true source of wisdom is the exact thing this world rejects. Faith that the wisdom of God is greater than the wisdom of man, and that we should always follow Him and His leading, no matter what worldy objections there are, and no matter what excuses our human minds can conjure against it.
And it continues with perspective.
We are the tools God uses. We must understand our place in the kingdom of God. We each have a purpose, a part to play, in that kingdom. The world needs Jesus, and knowing that should change how we look at everything. We begin to make decisions through God's eyes. We begin to put Him first. We begin to go to Him in prayer about everything.
We do not allow ourselves to be influenced by the ways of the world, for we are living to be used by God, and we do not desire God's uses for us to be diminished by our own foolishness and flaws. We see other people as God sees them: His children, greatly loved and cherished by the one creator of the universe. They are no longer simply nameless faces we walk by, but real people with one real need: they need Jesus.
Instead of being Sunday Christians, who give glory to God once a week and then continue as though He is not relevant, we allow Him into every part of our lives. We grant Him authority in our financial, occupational and relational choices, because we know that His plan encompasses every aspect of the way we live. We do not shove him away from the decisions that affect our family, because we want our family to live according to His wisdom. We choose the will of God over our own desires.
While we do not and can not understand the vastness of God's plan, to consider our own ways better and wiser is foolish. It is the wise person who seeks the will of God in all they do, following Him down any path and in any storm, knowing it to be the right path.
Your will be done, even if it makes me afraid.
Your will be done, even if I don't understand.
Your will be done, even if it costs me something.
Your will be done, even if my way is easier.
Your will be done, God, in all we do, so that you may be glorified, and that the world may be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Christianity is Not God's Plan
According to the labels of the world, I am a Christian, a follower of the religion known as Christianity. From an outside, unbelieving perspective, that makes sense, but it isn't what God wants for us. We should not label ourselves merely as Christians, but as Christ-followers. We should not simply be a follower of Christianity, but we should live as a part of the body of Christ. Christians are not just another subgroup of society, another label to throw around and apply to people with certain preferences.
Religion is man-made. It consists of rituals and regulations. It is something that man created in order to give a name and a structure to our beliefs. It makes sense to do such a thing, certainly, but we shouldn't live for Christianity, nor should we look at our faith as only a religion, for that diminishes our faith and minimizes God's influence in our lives. God is real and his promises are true; we must live for the truth instead of living simply to follow a religion. But how do we do that? How do we live for God instead of living for a religion?
Understand that God is real and that He loves you, just as you are. He doesn't only live at church. He doesn't only talk to those people who are living righteous lives, and here is the truth: none of us are living righteous lives, and no amount of religion is going to change that. We are all sinners, each and every one of us, and that sin is separating us from God. There is no power you hold and no good deeds that you can do that will erase that sin. It is there, stained on your heart, and God knows it. He sees it and yet, He love you anyway. It is only the power of Christ and the sacrifice that Jesus gave on the cross that will wash away our sin. A lifetime of good deeds won't do it, neither will following every commandment or fulfilling every religious ritual. No amount of effort on your part will even lighten the stain. Yet, in an instant, the stain can be gone, as though it were never there at all. It is not in our power to become sinless, but God has already done what is necessary to wash that sin away. All that we can do is say yes. Yes, God, I believe you are real, I believe you are more than stories and more than a mere religion. Yes, God, I believe your son came and died for me. Yes, God, I believe you have washed away my sins. Yes, God. Yes.
And then you will be saved.
It is grace that saves you, faith in the sacrifice of Christ. It is not baptism, for that is mere water. It is not communion, for that is merely bread and wine. There is no offering you can give and no service you can perform. All that can be done to save you has already been done by the son of God. You just need to believe.
Life is not about perfect living, for that is something none of us can accomplish, not even those who have accepted Christ as their savior. Yet I try to live my life in certain ways because I seek to live by God's standards, not because I live to fulfill some religious legality. I choose to live my life by those standards because I know I have been saved, and because I choose to show my love for God in that way. For instance, it was a long time ago that I decided to save myself for marriage, not because I did not have certain desires, but because I truly believed that it was best for me to wait, and that following God's commandments would bring me closer to Him. I did not do it because I felt it was the "Christian" thing to do, for living as a Christian isn't the point. I felt it was the Godly thing to do. And now, being married for almost twelve years, I know it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Righteous living will not save you, but being truly saved gives you the desire to live righteously, and to become closer to God. It is the relationship that matters, not the religion. Live righteously out of love, not out of obligation.
Church is a valuable part of life. We can worship God together and gain understanding of Him and His plan. We can form relationships with other believers and partake in Godly fellowship. Yet we must not live for church, for that is not God's plan. We must live for God. Salvation does not come from the church or any other Christian organization. Such institutions are often valuable assets to our faith and can do many great things in the world, but that must not be our focus. Christ is our focus; the church and other Godly entities are tools for God to use in our lives and throughout the world, but they are not something to live for. We must keep our eyes on God.
The Bible is not a mere guide, like a how-to book for computers or some other hobby or activity. The Bible is a God-breathed document that we should consider to be the greatest words in the world. God gave us His book to teach us and rebuke us, to correct us and to train us. We must not view it as simply another book, but the book that holds absolute and eternal truth.
In closing, we must not become wrapped up in the squabblings of religious people. God created us and redeemed us to work together as the body of Christ, and we must not trap ourselves in meaningless bickering about unimportant things. God is truth and Christ is our salvation. Let us come together not as followers of the same religion, but of lovers of the same great and glorious God, for it is the same blood that saved each of us. To God be all glory, from this day forward, into the eternity that we see before us.
Thank you God, for your great love, and for your sacrifice. Show us how to live for you. Show us how to love like you do. We know you are the absolute truth of life, and nothing we can do will ever repay what you have done for us. We love you, now and always. Amen.
Religion is man-made. It consists of rituals and regulations. It is something that man created in order to give a name and a structure to our beliefs. It makes sense to do such a thing, certainly, but we shouldn't live for Christianity, nor should we look at our faith as only a religion, for that diminishes our faith and minimizes God's influence in our lives. God is real and his promises are true; we must live for the truth instead of living simply to follow a religion. But how do we do that? How do we live for God instead of living for a religion?
Understand that God is real and that He loves you, just as you are. He doesn't only live at church. He doesn't only talk to those people who are living righteous lives, and here is the truth: none of us are living righteous lives, and no amount of religion is going to change that. We are all sinners, each and every one of us, and that sin is separating us from God. There is no power you hold and no good deeds that you can do that will erase that sin. It is there, stained on your heart, and God knows it. He sees it and yet, He love you anyway. It is only the power of Christ and the sacrifice that Jesus gave on the cross that will wash away our sin. A lifetime of good deeds won't do it, neither will following every commandment or fulfilling every religious ritual. No amount of effort on your part will even lighten the stain. Yet, in an instant, the stain can be gone, as though it were never there at all. It is not in our power to become sinless, but God has already done what is necessary to wash that sin away. All that we can do is say yes. Yes, God, I believe you are real, I believe you are more than stories and more than a mere religion. Yes, God, I believe your son came and died for me. Yes, God, I believe you have washed away my sins. Yes, God. Yes.
And then you will be saved.
It is grace that saves you, faith in the sacrifice of Christ. It is not baptism, for that is mere water. It is not communion, for that is merely bread and wine. There is no offering you can give and no service you can perform. All that can be done to save you has already been done by the son of God. You just need to believe.
Life is not about perfect living, for that is something none of us can accomplish, not even those who have accepted Christ as their savior. Yet I try to live my life in certain ways because I seek to live by God's standards, not because I live to fulfill some religious legality. I choose to live my life by those standards because I know I have been saved, and because I choose to show my love for God in that way. For instance, it was a long time ago that I decided to save myself for marriage, not because I did not have certain desires, but because I truly believed that it was best for me to wait, and that following God's commandments would bring me closer to Him. I did not do it because I felt it was the "Christian" thing to do, for living as a Christian isn't the point. I felt it was the Godly thing to do. And now, being married for almost twelve years, I know it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Righteous living will not save you, but being truly saved gives you the desire to live righteously, and to become closer to God. It is the relationship that matters, not the religion. Live righteously out of love, not out of obligation.
Church is a valuable part of life. We can worship God together and gain understanding of Him and His plan. We can form relationships with other believers and partake in Godly fellowship. Yet we must not live for church, for that is not God's plan. We must live for God. Salvation does not come from the church or any other Christian organization. Such institutions are often valuable assets to our faith and can do many great things in the world, but that must not be our focus. Christ is our focus; the church and other Godly entities are tools for God to use in our lives and throughout the world, but they are not something to live for. We must keep our eyes on God.
The Bible is not a mere guide, like a how-to book for computers or some other hobby or activity. The Bible is a God-breathed document that we should consider to be the greatest words in the world. God gave us His book to teach us and rebuke us, to correct us and to train us. We must not view it as simply another book, but the book that holds absolute and eternal truth.
In closing, we must not become wrapped up in the squabblings of religious people. God created us and redeemed us to work together as the body of Christ, and we must not trap ourselves in meaningless bickering about unimportant things. God is truth and Christ is our salvation. Let us come together not as followers of the same religion, but of lovers of the same great and glorious God, for it is the same blood that saved each of us. To God be all glory, from this day forward, into the eternity that we see before us.
Thank you God, for your great love, and for your sacrifice. Show us how to live for you. Show us how to love like you do. We know you are the absolute truth of life, and nothing we can do will ever repay what you have done for us. We love you, now and always. Amen.
Monday, May 14, 2018
The Path You Follow
You need to stop basing everything you do on what the world thinks.
The world is like a flower; here today and gone tomorrow. If we live our life to gain such temporary approval, what have we really gained? We should not base our decisions on such things. God calls us to holy lives. We must live with an eternal perspective with our eyes fixed on Christ. The world cannot offer what God can offer. Living for this life is living without purpose and is not really living; only through God can a life be real and fulfilled.
Being human, I know this is harder said than done, for we have limited minds, weak morals, and mortal bodies. It is hard for us to live for eternity, for we cannot comprehend eternity. We can see the pleasures of this life that are right in front of us, and they are easily attainable. Only through God’s intervention and with His strength can we truly begin to live as we are meant to live. We will still certainly stumble and sin, but that isn’t really the point anymore. We are saved by grace and live by faith, and when that happens, we no longer want to think like the world thinks and act like the world acts. We no longer seek the world’s pleasures. We seek the will of God in our lives, and we desire His guidance. It isn’t about being a “Christian” and living by a set of rules. It’s about being a follower of Christ and living by grace.
The world won’t lead you to Heaven, and it won’t bring you closer to God. The world is out there to destroy you. Do not be taken in by the acceptance of a shallow world. Instead, fall into the arms of God and be cleansed by the depths of His love. Christ died for each of us, and we must now live for Him. The world will not forgive us and redeem us; it will only seduce and diminish us.
The path you follow in this life is the path you follow in the next life.
God is calling.
The world is like a flower; here today and gone tomorrow. If we live our life to gain such temporary approval, what have we really gained? We should not base our decisions on such things. God calls us to holy lives. We must live with an eternal perspective with our eyes fixed on Christ. The world cannot offer what God can offer. Living for this life is living without purpose and is not really living; only through God can a life be real and fulfilled.
Being human, I know this is harder said than done, for we have limited minds, weak morals, and mortal bodies. It is hard for us to live for eternity, for we cannot comprehend eternity. We can see the pleasures of this life that are right in front of us, and they are easily attainable. Only through God’s intervention and with His strength can we truly begin to live as we are meant to live. We will still certainly stumble and sin, but that isn’t really the point anymore. We are saved by grace and live by faith, and when that happens, we no longer want to think like the world thinks and act like the world acts. We no longer seek the world’s pleasures. We seek the will of God in our lives, and we desire His guidance. It isn’t about being a “Christian” and living by a set of rules. It’s about being a follower of Christ and living by grace.
The world won’t lead you to Heaven, and it won’t bring you closer to God. The world is out there to destroy you. Do not be taken in by the acceptance of a shallow world. Instead, fall into the arms of God and be cleansed by the depths of His love. Christ died for each of us, and we must now live for Him. The world will not forgive us and redeem us; it will only seduce and diminish us.
The path you follow in this life is the path you follow in the next life.
God is calling.
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Hope
The world today offers us a million different things to put our hope in.
We can put our hope in our jobs and our ability to provide for our loved ones. But, as many of us know all too well, jobs don’t always last. What do you lean on when the pink slip comes?
We can put our hope in our looks, for those who have such things to begin with. But what do you lean on when age kicks in or you put on a few pounds or you are no longer seen as attractive?
We can put our hope in a good retirement and the enjoyment of our golden years. But what do you lean on when the retirement fund starts to run dry? What do lean on when your health starts to fail and you start to see the end of your life?
What do you lean on when your friends and family fail you? When your health fails you?
What do you lean on when your life is taken from you at too early an age?
What do you lean on when all hope is lost?
There is only one thing in the world that transcends all things. There is only one hope that will never fail you.
When God sent his son Jesus to Earth to die on a cross, he defeated all the trials this world could throw at you. No matter what happens, when you place your whole being in his hands, there is nothing this world can drag you through that will take away your hope. Because your hope is no longer in this world.
As the scriptures say, we should be storing up treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6: 19 - 21). When we put our hope and faith in Jesus, we no longer live for this world, but we live for the eternity to come. We live for Heaven. This world is not our home, as we are citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3: 20 - 21). The first thing we must do is accept that we are sinners in need of a savior, accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as the means of our salvation. We then need to start seeing things as God sees them - in the light of eternity, not in the limited scope of our lives on Earth. Life is but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow (James 4: 13 - 15). Why do we believe that something so limited could truly hold our hope? No, the only hope with any staying power is the hope given to us by our creator. Once we look to God as our hope and the stronghold of our lives, the trials of this life start to lose their grip on us.
Even though people suck and we all deserve to be telefragged, there is a God who loves us and forgives us, and he is the only hope we have in this life, and the life to come.
We can put our hope in our jobs and our ability to provide for our loved ones. But, as many of us know all too well, jobs don’t always last. What do you lean on when the pink slip comes?
We can put our hope in our looks, for those who have such things to begin with. But what do you lean on when age kicks in or you put on a few pounds or you are no longer seen as attractive?
We can put our hope in a good retirement and the enjoyment of our golden years. But what do you lean on when the retirement fund starts to run dry? What do lean on when your health starts to fail and you start to see the end of your life?
What do you lean on when your friends and family fail you? When your health fails you?
What do you lean on when your life is taken from you at too early an age?
What do you lean on when all hope is lost?
There is only one thing in the world that transcends all things. There is only one hope that will never fail you.
When God sent his son Jesus to Earth to die on a cross, he defeated all the trials this world could throw at you. No matter what happens, when you place your whole being in his hands, there is nothing this world can drag you through that will take away your hope. Because your hope is no longer in this world.
As the scriptures say, we should be storing up treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6: 19 - 21). When we put our hope and faith in Jesus, we no longer live for this world, but we live for the eternity to come. We live for Heaven. This world is not our home, as we are citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3: 20 - 21). The first thing we must do is accept that we are sinners in need of a savior, accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as the means of our salvation. We then need to start seeing things as God sees them - in the light of eternity, not in the limited scope of our lives on Earth. Life is but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow (James 4: 13 - 15). Why do we believe that something so limited could truly hold our hope? No, the only hope with any staying power is the hope given to us by our creator. Once we look to God as our hope and the stronghold of our lives, the trials of this life start to lose their grip on us.
Even though people suck and we all deserve to be telefragged, there is a God who loves us and forgives us, and he is the only hope we have in this life, and the life to come.
Monday, April 9, 2018
We All Deserve To Be Telefragged
Yes, we really do.
Admittedly, this is a term that some readers may not know. Or maybe most of them don’t. Either way, telefragging is a term that comes from the world of computer games. In many first person shooter games, players often have the ability to teleport themselves from one location to another. If a player does that, and another player happens to be standing in the same spot where the first player teleports to, that second player is instantly killed. This is known as being telefragged.
And it’s what we all deserve.
Yes, we really do.
The scripture tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23). There is not even a single righteous person (Romans 3: 10); we have all sinned. We all suck. It’s just the simple truth of our human condition: a perfect God created us and gave us free will, and we took that free will and told God to shove it. We live our lives according to our own desires, ignoring the holy life that God wants for us. The commandments of God were not put in place to limit our enjoyment, but to enhance our enjoyment and protect our holiness. Also, living by God’s commandments leads to a much better, happier, more fulfilling life. He designed certain parts of life a certain way, because it was the best way, and his commandments reflect his desire for us to have that fulfilling life.
For instance, sex was designed for the sacred union on marriage. Taking it out of that context not only goes against God’s design, but is more likely to lead to problems in this life. We humans pervert God’s designs and reject him with our choices. We have become corrupt with sinfulness and worldliness, taking the cheap gains of our mortal lives and trading away the eternal things of our creator.
When this happens, the gap between us and God was not created by God himself. It was us. We pushed him away. We chose to follow our own paths instead of his. We chose sin instead of eternal love, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). These are not wages given to us unfairly; these are wages we earned due to our own choices.
Every day is a gift from God. It truly is, because we don’t deserve it. God doesn’t owe us anything. We are blessed just to be alive, and we should be thankful for it. We should live our lives as though every day could be our last, because it could be. There are those out there that don’t know it yet, but today will be their last day. It could be us. Death will come for us all eventually, and we will all deserve it when it comes. The real death, however, would come afterward, for those still separated from God.
Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is a bridge to reconnect us. There is a path to life, and it starts with a simple choice.
[to be continued...]
Admittedly, this is a term that some readers may not know. Or maybe most of them don’t. Either way, telefragging is a term that comes from the world of computer games. In many first person shooter games, players often have the ability to teleport themselves from one location to another. If a player does that, and another player happens to be standing in the same spot where the first player teleports to, that second player is instantly killed. This is known as being telefragged.
And it’s what we all deserve.
Yes, we really do.
The scripture tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23). There is not even a single righteous person (Romans 3: 10); we have all sinned. We all suck. It’s just the simple truth of our human condition: a perfect God created us and gave us free will, and we took that free will and told God to shove it. We live our lives according to our own desires, ignoring the holy life that God wants for us. The commandments of God were not put in place to limit our enjoyment, but to enhance our enjoyment and protect our holiness. Also, living by God’s commandments leads to a much better, happier, more fulfilling life. He designed certain parts of life a certain way, because it was the best way, and his commandments reflect his desire for us to have that fulfilling life.
For instance, sex was designed for the sacred union on marriage. Taking it out of that context not only goes against God’s design, but is more likely to lead to problems in this life. We humans pervert God’s designs and reject him with our choices. We have become corrupt with sinfulness and worldliness, taking the cheap gains of our mortal lives and trading away the eternal things of our creator.
When this happens, the gap between us and God was not created by God himself. It was us. We pushed him away. We chose to follow our own paths instead of his. We chose sin instead of eternal love, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). These are not wages given to us unfairly; these are wages we earned due to our own choices.
Every day is a gift from God. It truly is, because we don’t deserve it. God doesn’t owe us anything. We are blessed just to be alive, and we should be thankful for it. We should live our lives as though every day could be our last, because it could be. There are those out there that don’t know it yet, but today will be their last day. It could be us. Death will come for us all eventually, and we will all deserve it when it comes. The real death, however, would come afterward, for those still separated from God.
Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is a bridge to reconnect us. There is a path to life, and it starts with a simple choice.
[to be continued...]
Monday, April 2, 2018
People Suck
Yes, we really do, and we’ve sucked for a really, really long time. I mean, just think about it. The second generation of humans recorded in the Bible included Cain, who got so bent out of shape because his brother Abel bested him at a game of Sacrificing Things to God, that he took Abel out into a pasture and beat him over the head with a club. I mean, really? Only a few years earlier, their parents, Adam and Eve, had been living happily in the Garden of Eden, a little piece of perfect paradise where nobody ever did anything wrong and everybody happily ran around naked. And then, after a little run-in with a snake (played in this scene by the prince of darkness), they’re kicked out and shamed, having brought sin into a sinless world. A few years later, one of their sons gets into the record book by being the first person to be guilty of murder. I’m sad to say that we really haven’t come very far since then.
We live in a messed up world. You probably already knew that, though. If you didn’t, just start watching the news. I started typing up this chapter eleven days after a sixty-four year man old used an arsenal of heavy weaponry to rain gunfire down on concert goers on the Las Vegas strip, killing nearly sixty people and wounding another five hundred. Meanwhile, all along that strip are advertisements for escorts and sex shows and pretty much anything somebody might want for a night of revelry. The ground is littered with cards showing pictures of naked women offering their services for the right price. The casinos are full of people gambling away their hard earned money for the hope of something more, many of them emptying their bank accounts and maxing out their credit cards for one more shot and hitting it rich.
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve been to Vegas. Twice.
The second time was for the wedding of a relative who just happened to live in Vegas. It was only for a couple days, so it barely counts. Right? I mainly remember that trip for two specific things: the beautiful Chevy Camaro we rented, which was exceptionally fun to drive around, and the buffet seafood I ate that made me sick. Anyway, that’s enough details about that unfortunate night in the bathroom.
The first trip to Vegas, however, was for a five day vacation with my wife, and it was quite a bit of fun. I quickly learned not to take anything that people on the street were trying to hand to me, as they were mostly the aforementioned naked cards. We mainly walked up and down the strip and walked in and out of casinos. We each took one dollar and quickly lost it on a slot machine, just to say we had “gambled in Vegas.” We didn’t have a drink of alcohol. We just walked around together and enjoyed the pretty buildings and stuffed our faces at buffets.
Don’t worry, this book hasn’t somehow slipped into travel planning advice. While we were walking around having a good and innocent time, Sin City was alive all around us. We live in a world of lust and immediate satisfaction, where anything and everything is permissible in the name of entertainment and the almighty dollar, even at the expense of our souls and the wellbeing of others. This is actually not meant as a targeted slight against Vegas, as it is far from the only example of such areas in the world. It just happens to be one of the brighter, more neon examples. All around us, within our own cities, there are establishments that degrade women and exploit anybody who looks like they might have money to burn or something else to offer, such as the children and adults being trafficked as sex slaves. Most of us don’t even realize the evil that is all around us, which is one of the reasons it has been allowed to survive and grow. Whether or not we know these things exist, each of us who stand by and do nothing while there is such evil in the world are enablers for that evil, choosing our own personal comfort and schedules over the wellbeing of those less fortunate. The Bible calls those who do nothing goats (Matthew 25: 31 - 46), rebuking them for never lending a helping hand to those in need, before sending them off to eternal punishment.
We all suck. It’s true. But it gets worse. For, you see, simply being sucky is not the end of it, but since we all suck, then…
[to be continued...]
We live in a messed up world. You probably already knew that, though. If you didn’t, just start watching the news. I started typing up this chapter eleven days after a sixty-four year man old used an arsenal of heavy weaponry to rain gunfire down on concert goers on the Las Vegas strip, killing nearly sixty people and wounding another five hundred. Meanwhile, all along that strip are advertisements for escorts and sex shows and pretty much anything somebody might want for a night of revelry. The ground is littered with cards showing pictures of naked women offering their services for the right price. The casinos are full of people gambling away their hard earned money for the hope of something more, many of them emptying their bank accounts and maxing out their credit cards for one more shot and hitting it rich.
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve been to Vegas. Twice.
The second time was for the wedding of a relative who just happened to live in Vegas. It was only for a couple days, so it barely counts. Right? I mainly remember that trip for two specific things: the beautiful Chevy Camaro we rented, which was exceptionally fun to drive around, and the buffet seafood I ate that made me sick. Anyway, that’s enough details about that unfortunate night in the bathroom.
The first trip to Vegas, however, was for a five day vacation with my wife, and it was quite a bit of fun. I quickly learned not to take anything that people on the street were trying to hand to me, as they were mostly the aforementioned naked cards. We mainly walked up and down the strip and walked in and out of casinos. We each took one dollar and quickly lost it on a slot machine, just to say we had “gambled in Vegas.” We didn’t have a drink of alcohol. We just walked around together and enjoyed the pretty buildings and stuffed our faces at buffets.
Don’t worry, this book hasn’t somehow slipped into travel planning advice. While we were walking around having a good and innocent time, Sin City was alive all around us. We live in a world of lust and immediate satisfaction, where anything and everything is permissible in the name of entertainment and the almighty dollar, even at the expense of our souls and the wellbeing of others. This is actually not meant as a targeted slight against Vegas, as it is far from the only example of such areas in the world. It just happens to be one of the brighter, more neon examples. All around us, within our own cities, there are establishments that degrade women and exploit anybody who looks like they might have money to burn or something else to offer, such as the children and adults being trafficked as sex slaves. Most of us don’t even realize the evil that is all around us, which is one of the reasons it has been allowed to survive and grow. Whether or not we know these things exist, each of us who stand by and do nothing while there is such evil in the world are enablers for that evil, choosing our own personal comfort and schedules over the wellbeing of those less fortunate. The Bible calls those who do nothing goats (Matthew 25: 31 - 46), rebuking them for never lending a helping hand to those in need, before sending them off to eternal punishment.
We all suck. It’s true. But it gets worse. For, you see, simply being sucky is not the end of it, but since we all suck, then…
[to be continued...]
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Sin is a Lie
We are all sinful beings. It is a truth of our existence, a truth that will continue to follow us until the end of our earthly lives. We fall to the allure of sin every day, and likely more than we even realize. Sins come and go without us noticing, such as a quick impure thought, a condescending comment, or a little white lie. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to pounce on us. Sometimes, it doesn't even need to pounce. We're so accustomed to it, that we willingly let it happen. Other times, it waits for a moment of weakness. Most of the time, especially when we reflect on our lives, we can see many of the sins we’ve committed. We know they’re sins, and we know we shouldn’t do them. And yet, we continue to sin, day after day. Even those who have given their lives to Jesus and have tried to walk with him for years still struggle with sin.
Even after being justified by Christ, having our sins forgiven and our eternities secured, we’re still sinners. We’re still broken people living broken lives in a broken world. You’d think we’d be able to see how we are, see our own sinful ways, and simply decide that we’re going to be righteous. We’re going to live sinless lives, not doing or saying anything bad. And then an hour goes by, and we realize that we’ve already messed up.
Why? Why can’t we just live perfectly? We have free will. Why can’t we decide to follow Jesus in everything, every day, every single second, doing nothing even remotely unholy?
It’s because we're all gullible.
You see, sin is a lie. It’s a lie that we all fall for, multiple times a day. Sin stands there, whispering in our ears, egging us on, sounding like a talking snake in a garden.
Just one more drink. You’ll be fine.
Nobody knows if you look at pornography. You’re smart enough to cover your own tracks. It doesn’t hurt anybody anyway.
Your spouse is out of town, and won’t know what you do when they’re gone. Nobody will get hurt.
You deserve this.
It doesn’t matter what you say to this person. They’re foolish and stupid and not worth your time anyway.
Do what you want. You’re forgiven either way.
Sin is a voice in our heads, feeding us lies, and we believe it. We might not say we do, but that’s what happens. We give into sin’s push because we think we know better than God. We think our actions won’t hurt anybody. We make decisions based on what we can get away with as opposed to what is right.
The unfortunate thing is that there’s nothing we can do to make this stop happening. We’re going to sin, every day, for the rest of our earthly lives. We repent of our sins and choose to follow God, and yet that voice is still there, and we still trip and fall. That doesn’t mean we should give up and just give in, though. It means that we must draw closer to God, lifting our lives to him in prayer every day. The scriptures say that not one of us is righteous, not even one. We are all unworthy of the love of God, and there is nothing we can do to make ourselves worthy. However, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross makes all that irrelevant. It no longer matters that we’re not worthy, because God has forgiven each and every one of our sins, even the ones we haven’t committed yet. The big ones, the small ones, the ones we don’t even know we do. God has cleansed us of our sinfulness and made us right with God, and that justification doesn’t expire. Ever.
Thank you Jesus for all you have done for us, none of which we deserve. Please be present in our lives. Be our shield and our stronghold from the allure of sin in our lives. Help us follow you and not the world. You are everything we need in this life and the next. Amen.
Even after being justified by Christ, having our sins forgiven and our eternities secured, we’re still sinners. We’re still broken people living broken lives in a broken world. You’d think we’d be able to see how we are, see our own sinful ways, and simply decide that we’re going to be righteous. We’re going to live sinless lives, not doing or saying anything bad. And then an hour goes by, and we realize that we’ve already messed up.
Why? Why can’t we just live perfectly? We have free will. Why can’t we decide to follow Jesus in everything, every day, every single second, doing nothing even remotely unholy?
It’s because we're all gullible.
You see, sin is a lie. It’s a lie that we all fall for, multiple times a day. Sin stands there, whispering in our ears, egging us on, sounding like a talking snake in a garden.
Just one more drink. You’ll be fine.
Nobody knows if you look at pornography. You’re smart enough to cover your own tracks. It doesn’t hurt anybody anyway.
Your spouse is out of town, and won’t know what you do when they’re gone. Nobody will get hurt.
You deserve this.
It doesn’t matter what you say to this person. They’re foolish and stupid and not worth your time anyway.
Do what you want. You’re forgiven either way.
Sin is a voice in our heads, feeding us lies, and we believe it. We might not say we do, but that’s what happens. We give into sin’s push because we think we know better than God. We think our actions won’t hurt anybody. We make decisions based on what we can get away with as opposed to what is right.
The unfortunate thing is that there’s nothing we can do to make this stop happening. We’re going to sin, every day, for the rest of our earthly lives. We repent of our sins and choose to follow God, and yet that voice is still there, and we still trip and fall. That doesn’t mean we should give up and just give in, though. It means that we must draw closer to God, lifting our lives to him in prayer every day. The scriptures say that not one of us is righteous, not even one. We are all unworthy of the love of God, and there is nothing we can do to make ourselves worthy. However, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross makes all that irrelevant. It no longer matters that we’re not worthy, because God has forgiven each and every one of our sins, even the ones we haven’t committed yet. The big ones, the small ones, the ones we don’t even know we do. God has cleansed us of our sinfulness and made us right with God, and that justification doesn’t expire. Ever.
Thank you Jesus for all you have done for us, none of which we deserve. Please be present in our lives. Be our shield and our stronghold from the allure of sin in our lives. Help us follow you and not the world. You are everything we need in this life and the next. Amen.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Temptation
Temptation is something that each and every one of us deals with each and every day. It's not the fact that we're being tempted that should worry us, for that is inevitable. It's how we respond to that temptation that should get our attention. There are two main things we should do if we are struggling with temptation.
The first is to get closer to God. Every person, even those who have a close walk with God, are bombarded with temptation, and sometimes they fail. It is part of the human condition: we, despite being saved and justified by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, are still flesh and bone beings that are limited and weak. We are still affected by our sinful nature. However, those who pull closer to God through prayer, reading his word, and trying to walk with him in obedience will be less likely to trip and fall at every step. One of the main goals in each of our lives should be to get to know Jesus better, day by day. As you draw nearer to God, it allows God and his spirit to have a greater influence on every aspect of your life. Reading God's word daily will imprint his truths onto your heart, allowing you to pull from memories pieces of scriptures that will help you power through moments of temptation. God is our shield and our stronghold and our strength, and the closer you are to him, the more protected you are from the evils of temptation.
The second thing is more practical. If you are struggling with temptation in a particular area, it is wise to attempt to remove or limit that temptation in your life, or at least make it less directly appealing. If you struggle with lust and pornography, put blockers on your computer or phone and get an accountability partner. If you struggle with overeating, don't go to buffets or other places where you tend to overeat. If you drink too much, stay away from bars and liquor stores and other places that may tempt you. Whatever your temptation is, remove its influence from your life. It is better to lose an eye than to be cast into damnation with two eyes, as the scriptures say. Being aware of one's one limitations - and we all have them - is one of the key steps you can take to limit sin's grasp on your life. Admit that you are weak and accept God's strength as the foundation of your life. Those who do not admit their weaknesses are more likely to fall by them. Do not feel shame at the weaknesses you have, for we all have them. Accept them, draw close to God, and do what you need to do to ensure that those weaknesses will not gain a foothold on your life.
Whether or not most of us or the world understands this, the single most important thing in life is not our job description or our bank account. It is our relationship with Jesus. It is drawing closer to him while living in a broken world. It is what we do with the gifts he has given us in this life and following his will. If we have no self-control and allow our lives to be overrun by temptation, we are hampering our own relationship with God. We will never be perfect in these bodies, but walking a life not dictated by temptation and drawing closer to God are important steps to fulfilling God's will for our lives.
The first is to get closer to God. Every person, even those who have a close walk with God, are bombarded with temptation, and sometimes they fail. It is part of the human condition: we, despite being saved and justified by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, are still flesh and bone beings that are limited and weak. We are still affected by our sinful nature. However, those who pull closer to God through prayer, reading his word, and trying to walk with him in obedience will be less likely to trip and fall at every step. One of the main goals in each of our lives should be to get to know Jesus better, day by day. As you draw nearer to God, it allows God and his spirit to have a greater influence on every aspect of your life. Reading God's word daily will imprint his truths onto your heart, allowing you to pull from memories pieces of scriptures that will help you power through moments of temptation. God is our shield and our stronghold and our strength, and the closer you are to him, the more protected you are from the evils of temptation.
The second thing is more practical. If you are struggling with temptation in a particular area, it is wise to attempt to remove or limit that temptation in your life, or at least make it less directly appealing. If you struggle with lust and pornography, put blockers on your computer or phone and get an accountability partner. If you struggle with overeating, don't go to buffets or other places where you tend to overeat. If you drink too much, stay away from bars and liquor stores and other places that may tempt you. Whatever your temptation is, remove its influence from your life. It is better to lose an eye than to be cast into damnation with two eyes, as the scriptures say. Being aware of one's one limitations - and we all have them - is one of the key steps you can take to limit sin's grasp on your life. Admit that you are weak and accept God's strength as the foundation of your life. Those who do not admit their weaknesses are more likely to fall by them. Do not feel shame at the weaknesses you have, for we all have them. Accept them, draw close to God, and do what you need to do to ensure that those weaknesses will not gain a foothold on your life.
Whether or not most of us or the world understands this, the single most important thing in life is not our job description or our bank account. It is our relationship with Jesus. It is drawing closer to him while living in a broken world. It is what we do with the gifts he has given us in this life and following his will. If we have no self-control and allow our lives to be overrun by temptation, we are hampering our own relationship with God. We will never be perfect in these bodies, but walking a life not dictated by temptation and drawing closer to God are important steps to fulfilling God's will for our lives.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Back to Basics
Some people have grand stories of the day they believed. They saw God move mountains in their life and bring them through deep, dramatic things to lead them to the place where they finally put their trust in Christ as their savior. Maybe they had been running from him or ignoring him for years, and then one day, everything changed. Such tales show the lengths that God will go to find every lost soul. I love those stories. But it isn't mine.
I was born as the fourth child of a Baptist minister, and I was at church every week. My parents raised me to pray, to read the Bible, and to trust God with my life. I don't have a period in my life that I remember ever not believing. It is simply the way it has always been. When I was seven, I was baptized by my father, publicly declaring my choice to follow Jesus. And my life has been perfect ever since.
Except, not at all. Yes, I consider myself to be very blessed, for many reasons. I was raised in an imperfect but loving home, where I was given a solid foundation on which to build my life. I made friends in junior high school that are still my friends today, and I love them and my family more than they know, and more than I could express. Nearly twelve years ago, I married a woman that I love more than the world, who has put up with me despite myself. While our employment over the past decade has been shaky, with several layoffs, we have always been able to get back on our feet and with jobs that allow us a comfortable life, one where we are able to give back to those in need. There is much in my life to be thankful for, but we all have our struggles. Life is full of ups and downs, lefts and rights, and stretches of time standing still and falling down.
This blog will be about life: the good and the bad, the moments of joy and the moments of pain. It will be about issues we go through as individuals and as groups. It will be about the one who is there who can be trusted with all of it, no matter what we're going through, no matter where we are in our walk.
Thank you Jesus, for you are my rock, my salvation, and my stronghold.
I was born as the fourth child of a Baptist minister, and I was at church every week. My parents raised me to pray, to read the Bible, and to trust God with my life. I don't have a period in my life that I remember ever not believing. It is simply the way it has always been. When I was seven, I was baptized by my father, publicly declaring my choice to follow Jesus. And my life has been perfect ever since.
Except, not at all. Yes, I consider myself to be very blessed, for many reasons. I was raised in an imperfect but loving home, where I was given a solid foundation on which to build my life. I made friends in junior high school that are still my friends today, and I love them and my family more than they know, and more than I could express. Nearly twelve years ago, I married a woman that I love more than the world, who has put up with me despite myself. While our employment over the past decade has been shaky, with several layoffs, we have always been able to get back on our feet and with jobs that allow us a comfortable life, one where we are able to give back to those in need. There is much in my life to be thankful for, but we all have our struggles. Life is full of ups and downs, lefts and rights, and stretches of time standing still and falling down.
This blog will be about life: the good and the bad, the moments of joy and the moments of pain. It will be about issues we go through as individuals and as groups. It will be about the one who is there who can be trusted with all of it, no matter what we're going through, no matter where we are in our walk.
Thank you Jesus, for you are my rock, my salvation, and my stronghold.
Monday, February 19, 2018
People Suck and Other Biblical Truths
I have been ramping up my writing over the last year or so (see my other blog for info on my fiction writing), I am hoping also to increase my non-fiction writing, which is mainly done through this blog. I am going to be doing somewhat of a reboot on Don't Feed the Hypocrite, which includes (hopefully) posting on at least a weekly basis. I will be trying to write quite a bit of new content, (I'm currently compiling a list of potential ideas), but I will also occasionally be reusing older content, either by simply reposting it or rehashing the ideas or stories. I am hoping that, having new posts over some period of time, I will be able to increase the blog's readership and get it listed in some blog directories. Some of the new content will come from what I had thought about as a book idea in the past, tentatively titled People Suck and Other Biblical Truths. Writings from that are meant to be a humorous and different take on certain things from the Bible. Several of the chapters for that were already written and will become blog posts instead, while I have a full list of potential blog posts from my notes.
Also, while the usual URL for this blog will continue to function, I've also registered and set up www.dontfeedthehypocrite.com to use going forward.
There you have it. As always, if you have any ideas or questions you'd like me to address on this blog, feel free to let me know!
Also, while the usual URL for this blog will continue to function, I've also registered and set up www.dontfeedthehypocrite.com to use going forward.
There you have it. As always, if you have any ideas or questions you'd like me to address on this blog, feel free to let me know!
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