Be a cup.

Cup
What is the purpose of a cup?
There are almost unlimited materials that a cup can be made from, any shape, or size--but they all have the same purpose.
If it sits unused in a cabinet it is a waste of material. If it is only filled and not poured it grows moldy and nasty. If it is filled and poured out it has fulfilled it's use. Yet it will need to be washed from time to time, but the purpose of a cup is to be filled up and poured out. The more liquid it moves the better. We are to be cups to carry and pour Christ's love.

Why remain comfortable in your cabinet? Why rejoice in being filled up but sit there refusing to pour. What was the purpose in filling you then? Isn't a cup of water desired most by those who are thirsty? And you would deny them that? It's worse for you to be filled and not poured than to not be filled at all, at least you are still clean then... Useless... But clean. Why agonize over being poured out? Is this not what your purpose is? Glorify God in being poured out as well, for you are fulfilling your purpose as a vessel of God's love.

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." Proverbs 11:25

I'm not done with you yet...

     Today was a long day. This week was a long week. Tomorrow will be a long day. Needless to say I'm physically and emotionally drained. The Retreat was amazing! But so much was poured into it that all the sponsors and myself a drained...
     At about 10:30 was when we started our last part of cleaning up and I said to Tyler that we should get out around 11:15ish. Well, we finish the last bit of cleaning and I go and drop some stuff off in the sanctuary. I run back up to the office to get my keys and move my car to put the equipment I borrowed in there. As I was waking out I was thinking in my head "I'm done with the day... It's been a long one. It was good but I've had enough." As I get into my car another car pulls into the parking lot. At this point it's only me and Tyler left.
     I drive over to the other door and she's out of her car in the parking lot and I thought she waved at me so I waved back.  But when I got out of my car she was walking towards us and needed help.  She asked if I spoke Spanish.  I replied "No hablo." lol.  Long story short she needed directions.  Somehow a lot of the Spanish I had been taught came back to me and I helped her find out how to her destination.
     It wasn't until Tyler and I were walking back towards my car that it hit me.  I said "I'm done with the day..."  God had another plan.  He still had work for me to do.  He needed me to minister to this woman.  The humbling part of this whole experience is that I taught a class that very morning about submission.  Who are we going to submit ourselves to as slaves?  We are slaves to the one whom we choose to obey.  Paul says we have two choices--sin or obedience (Rom 6:15-18).
     Part of being a slave is that we sometimes don't have a choice when we are told or asked to do something.  I had the option of ignoring this woman or not giving her the kindness due or helping her.  I chose to obey Christ.  I don't say this to toot my own horn.  I say this to remind myself that Jesus teaches lessons better than I ever will and he taught to me the exact same message I taught a dozen high schoolers this morning...

I have not proofread this or anything so I apologize for any grammatical mistakes.  I'm also very tired and there is the high possibility of this not even being coherent.  If so, I might fix it later. lol I just needed to get this written down while it was fresh.

Coffee Shop Devo on 2-16-12

I always forget how busy spring semester is.  I know that at the time I originally wrote this devo for Coffee Shop I had a paper to write about a book that I was only half way through--due at 8am.  I also had a Discipleship Group to prepare for, homework for a Doc Smith class and I’m sure something to prepare for New Creation tour in two weeks (super excited).  

Last week I nearly shut down because of the amount of things I had on my plate.  It is truly only by God that I got through that week.  But it was about that time that I began searching for what my topic would be for last night’s Coffee Shop devo.  After a few days of prayer and looking for inspiration it all hit me.  I had just laid down to go to sleep, put my phone on the night stand, rolled over and woosh!  A lot of thoughts just came rushing to my head and I figured I’d better write them down.  I ended up writing about two pages of notes in roughly thirty minutes and then finally fell asleep with my mind reeling.  

What is a more obvious topic to talk about when you’re stressed and have so many to-do lists they’re coming out of your ears and your room is beginning to look like a disaster?  How to find peace.  How to find stillness, quiet, rest, etc.

I have found out from Ministry as Life’s work and Models of Leadership that I am not an emotional person.  Sometimes I don’t know how to deal with my spikes in emotion, much less dealing with others lol.  So whenever I’m faced with these spikes in emotion I turn to who I think was the most emotional writer in the Bible--David.  David has an uncanny ability to express his emotions honestly and clearly. 

Thankfully, I had to memorize one of David’s Psalms for D-group last year and it frequently comes to mind when I am stressed and desire peace.  

Psalm 131 says:

“My heart is not proud O LORD,

My eyes are not haughty,

I do not concern myself with great matters; 

or things too wonderful for me.

I have stilled and quieted my soul.

Like a weaned child with it’s mother;

Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD

Both now and forevermore.”

The part that I end up repeating over and over in my head and say it almost with the exhalation of a deep breath is: “I have stilled and quieted my soul.”  This is what we want!  If you’re anything like me peace, stillness, quiet, rest is what you want in times of stress.  Yes, you may want coffee to keep you going in the busy times lol but the 30 seconds you have to sit down in a chair (even if it’s an uncomfortable one lol) are bliss.   This stillness and quiet David talks about has penetrated all the way down to his soul his very core/essence.  

What comes before that verse?  (go ahead and scroll back up and find it.)

“My eyes are not haughty, my heart is not proud O LORD, I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.”  I believe David is expressing humility in these verses.  I would also venture to say that this peace and stillness is a result of that humility.  

How do we learn humility?  

Humility stems from our perspective, namely our perspective with God.  I know that whenever I look at the stars I almost want to stop walking and just stare and marvel.  God created all of this with a breath.  Billions of stars, so far away that it is silly to measure with conventional distance.  In stead we have to measure in terms of the speed of light.  Tell me that gigantic balls of burning hydrogen light years away is not humbling.  

Two other things that makes me stop and stare are sunsets and sunrises.

God creates these things to remind us that he is not only 1) incredibly creative, 2) powerful enough to move and paint the sky just to remind us that he is a beautiful powerful God.  

Psalm 19 says:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
   where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.

We need to realize that our position with God is tiny.  We are like ants to God and have no value.  The only reason we have value is because He says so.  When you realize this it’s a humbling experience.  

Consider Philippians 4:6-7:  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Part of the peace we want comes from prayer.  Prayer changes our perspective with God.  I think it is appropriate, since we are talking about humility and prayer, to discuss prayer postures.  I want you to try praying on your knees.  We, in western culture, don’t really ever bow or submit ourselves physically to other people so this will be entirely new.  Yes, your knees will hurt after about the first ten seconds lol.  Push through that and try to pray as long as you can in this position of submission.  

I would encourage you to at some point this week find time--no, make time to spend in devotion to God.  To tell Him, and yourself, that He is still your first priority.  Pick your busiest day next week and carve out time for the Father.  Skip lunch if you have to. “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3:2)

Last week I had a day like this where I just needed to set aside time for Him and I skipped lunch.  I thought I would be hungry, grouchy, and stressed about losing time that could have been spent working on something.  But I was actually more relaxed and at ease.  

[Review]  We want relief from stress (i.e. peace, quiet, stillness, etc.).  Where do we find this?  David seems to suggest it’s from humility.  Humility comes from having the right perspective with God.  We can really understand the correct perspective on God through prayer and considering our relationship to Him.  

So how do we practice humility?

Practicing humility has to deal with your thoughts about others.  When you begin to think of others as higher/greater than yourself is when you truly begin to practice humility.  

I can hardly write this devotion without thinking of my best friend, Tyler.  I have never found such a loving and fulfilling relationship.  Not even in my imagination could I have seen this level of peace, love, comfort, accountability, and wholeness.  Why is this friendship so special?  To put it simply, selflessness and humility.  If Tyler and I were to ever argue over who would have a single portion of food we would each be arguing for the other person to take it.  

I am also reminded of my friend Emily and her catchy little way of saying things that stick in my head.  She says “Who are you?”  It is just a surface level question most of the time but really consider this question after reading the last section of this devotion...  Who are you?  In two generations no one but your grandchildren will remember who you were.  So what are you living for?  Why live for things that are going to be temporary?  Live instead for those things that are eternal and realize there are things that are bigger than you.

Your level of humility will reflect who is most important in your life.  If you love yourself more that God then you will struggle with humility.  If you are truly devoted to Christ you will begin to see things differently.

[Review] We desire peace in chaos.  David suggests peace comes from humility.  Humility is learned through your relationship with God and is practiced in your relationship with other people.  

So what does the last part of the Psalm say?

“O Israel, put your hope in the Lord

both now and forever more.”

I remember sometime last spring I was stressed or upset about something and my roommate, David, said something very casually and matter-of-factly that changed my thinking.  “Look on the bright side, on the third day... He rose.”  Nothing else matters in comparison to this hope.  Nothing else is nearly as important.  Yes, homework is important and I’m not giving you an excuse to not do it.  But when it is compared to the resurrection of Christ it is miniscule.  

John 16:33 says: “I have said these things to you, that in my you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  

It is interesting that hope in Christ will tie back to humility because you will begin to realize your own helplessness and begin to realize the security found in His salvation.  Friends, if you really want peace, you must begin to selflessly follow the Prince of Peace.  

This is for the Guys: Kingdom Work Requires Both Hands

Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 1:40am

Today, there are millions of guys struggling with sexual purity. There are thousands of dollars poured into internet filtering programs like x3Watch and K9. There are countless ministries in local churches to try and help break this addiction. That’s what it really is, an addiction. Porn and masturbation (the two unspoken words) have the same level of addiction as crack cocaine. It’s the best designed addiction by satan for the human male, I believe. The connection physically, mentally, emotionally, visually, and chemically is enormous; and rightly so, God designed them, Satan perverted them.

The studies that have been done show that the brain takes mental snap shots of things when we are sexually aroused. God designed us that way! He designed us to have sex with our wife and to take snap shots of her so that our love may grow even deeper. But when that deep passionate snapshot is fed thousands of different woman from internet pornography there are some huge psychological effects.

Consider what John Eldredge says in his famous book Wild at Heart:

“There is something mythic in the way a man is with a woman. Our sexuality offers a parable of amazing depth when it comes to being masculine and feminine. The man comes to offer his strength and the woman invites the man into herself, an act that requires courage and vulnerability and selflessness for both of them. Notice first that if the man will not rise to the occasion, nothing will happen. He must move; his strength must swell before he can enter her. But neither will the love consummate unless the woman opens herself in stunning vulnerability. When both are living as they were meant to live, the man enters his woman and offers his strength. He /spills himself there/, in her, for her; she draws him in, embraces and envelopes him. When all is over he is spent; but ah, what a sweet death it is.”

Who are you offering your strength to? Who are you giving your essence to? A woman you’ll never meet? A woman who is not your wife? Your hand? Guys this is foolish. You’re worth so much more than this.

You do not achieve sexual purity by focusing on sexual purity. Read that again... I’ll save you the trouble of making your eyes move again. YOU DO NOT ACHIEVE SEXUAL PURITY BY FOCUSING ON SEXUAL PURITY. But this is the focus of so many purity groups and crusades. Their heart is in the right place, their motives are good--but their focus is off base.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work; rather teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In order to defeat sexual immorality we must look beyond it. In order to get through the storm we must keep our heads up and our eyes on the only thing that will get us through it. It’s not about a boat any more. The only thing that will get you through sexual impurity is Jesus Christ. A man born 2000 years ago who died, rose, and ascended into heaven.

Put yourself in Peter’s shoes in Matthew 14. The disciples are on a boat, in a storm, at night. They see a figure they think is Jesus walking on the water towards them. “‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’” You’ve already done that if you’re still reading this note this far down... You’ve asked Jesus what he wants of you, you’ve asked him to help you take the first step on this journey of purity. You recognize porn, masturbation, lust, etc. is a sin.

Jesus invites Peter onto the water, which must have had waves because of the storm. Peter actually got out of the boat and began to walk on the water. Some of you are here, you’ve accepted the challenge to become pure. We know what happens next--Peter begins to sink. But when does he begin to sink? Only /after/ he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the wind and the waves. Guys, you will sink if you focus on the wind and the waves. If you keep your eyes on solving purity just for the sake of purity you will sink.

Notice what happens next though. Peter realizes his stupidity and repents, “...cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt.’” Guys of little faith, why do you lose focus? Why do you take your eyes off of Christ?

My purpose here isn’t to bash sexual purity programs. They are certainly needed so long as this is true: we must keep our focus on Christ. I think sexual purity groups and programs can have outstanding effects but only if Jesus Christ is the focus of not only the participants but the leaders and the ministry itself.

Ultimately this all boils back down to “Love God, Love Others.” Guys it’s time to be done with this impurity. God has work for us to do and we cannot use both hands for the kingdom if one is in our pants. It’s time to grow up. It’s time to get to work. It’s time to Love Jesus Christ with everything we have.

Stop It.

Originally posted on Facebook on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 1:33am

Whenever I check up on “my guys” I ask them two questions. “How did you do today? and How did you do today?” Meaning how did you do in the battle for purity? and How is your Devotion going?

Purity and Devotion--I think that the two are inextricably linked. You cannot do one well without fulfilling the other. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you mind so that you may be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

As Christians we are called to live a life by the spirit (see Romans 6&8). In order to live by the spirit we must know what God’s will is. We are only able to know what God’s will is if we do the two things described in Romans 12:2.

1. stop conforming to the world
2. transform our minds

Those two things, for me, translate into sanctification/purification and consumption by the holy spirit. For most guys the biggest hinderance for sanctification is sexual purity.

Once we defeat that purity and focus on our devotion time with the Lord then we can start to be transformed.

This is not a long complicated theological thing...

Guys, when you’re frustrated that you don’t know what God wants from you don’t get frustrated with God for not revealing his plans. Get frustrated with yourself because you can’t discipline yourself and purify yourself. Stop it. Put the habit/sin to death. That old self was nailed to the cross. Stop trying to revive it.

So don’t be surprised if I ask you “how did you do today” and expect two answers.

Darkness Cannot Exist in Light

Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 11:11pm

Lord, let me not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or (most importantly for this note) take the seat of a mocker. (Ps 1:1)

After reading the word, a few books by christian writers like Francis Chan and Donald Miller, hearing multimple sermons recently about sin and God's will, and most importantly being led by the spirit I feel compeled to remind myself and others of this fact--darkness cannot exist in light.

Some Christians feel that we are allowed to do whatever we please. We sometimes feel that as long as we go to Church and take communion, smile, do "the right thing" we are righteous. We can continue to have sex outside of marriage, smoke, drink, pander to our laziness, our stomach, and our sin. "We are saved by Christ and can just repent right?" Yes, but repentance actually requires action and a change of heart and orientation...

Consider 1 John 3:9: "No one who is born of God will contiue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."

When you choose to profess Jesus as lord, receive the grace of God through baptism, and dye to your old sins it means truly that-dying to your old sins. You are reborn as you symbolically rise from the watery grave of the baptistry; clean, new, and filled with the holy spirit. That doesn't mean that you go back to sinful paths... Why would you return to what kills you?

We can't live a life of habitual sin and continue to follow the will of the father...

The fact is you are a slave to something. 2 Peter 2:19 says that "...a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him." Would you rather be a slave to a loving God who has purchased/redeemed you from death, or would you rather be a slave to death, sin, and ultimately satan...

In reality a Christian who continues to live in habitual sin is lukewarm. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. " When you become lukewarm (and we all eventually will at one point) you must catch the fire of God again. Most often we become lukewarm because we are not focused on eternity, we are focused on the world and therefore will be bound by it. Don't focus on the temporal, focus on eternity and how you'll be spending it and you can't help but be on fire for God.

Seriously, God is Awesome

Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 1:33am

Seriously, God is awesome… I’ve dwelled on what Donald Miller wrote in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:

“And as I worked on the novel, as my character did what he wanted and ruined my story, it reminded me of life in certain ways. I mean as I sat there in my office feeling like God making my worlds, and as my characters fought to have their way, their senseless, selfish way of nonstory, I could identify with them. I fought with my ecoterrorist who wanted the boring life of self-indulgence, and yet I was also that character, fighting God and I could see God sitting at his computer, staring blankly at his screen as I asked him to write in some money and some sex and some comfort.”

Two out of the past three days I have just asked God to be the story teller in my life and for me to be the character. I found myself asking the Storyteller “do I really have to?” or “meh… that sounds good but can I do this?” When I would remind myself that I’m supposed to be being written, not trying to grab the pen, something wild, fun, and unexpected would happen. It would completely ruin the schedule of the day that I had in my head but I would still somehow get done everything that needed to get done.

The first day I had a bunch of errands to get done but I started the day by praying and asking God to be my storyteller for the day. To take control from me and make his will be done in my life for that day. I then started to organize them in my head into a concise, orderly, efficient plan… Step one was to meet with a professor then check my mail and go do a couple more things. When I got to the office no one was there. So I went to the SUB and checked my mail. I saw some of my high school students helping with an event at the pool with a bunch of elementary school kids. What I got for being nice and saying hi was eventually being drenched and chased around by about a dozen kids looking to soak me further and—a wild, fun, and unexpected story. God took the wheel, got his will done, and gave me the gift of granting mine to be done as well.

The third day I prayed a similar prayer in the morning “God, let me be submissive to your will and be my storyteller. Prepare my heart and make it like yours so I may be able to seek your will, find it, and follow it.” At the end of that day I was going to go with my roommate to return a borrowed keyboard to the campus tech guy. But when we opened the door of the apartment we quickly closed it and went to grab umbrellas and rain coats to prepare for the downpour that was sweeping through Kissimmee. It was mild on the way to the tech guy compared to the maelstrom we encountered as we began to leave. The campus was literally flooding and yet again a plan that was perfect was deemed to change. After I walked/swam back to our apartment, rather than feeling annoyed with being wet, I felt immensely relaxed and then overcome inexplicable joy. I think God finally saw that I was beginning to figure it out that he was the writer and I the character and smiled… I removed all my keys, wallet, phone, etc. and explored new rivers forming on the Campus of FCC without raincoat, shoes, inhibition, and selfish desire. I came back to the room drenched once again and with a sense of peace and an overflow of joy.

Being a character in God’s metanarative is a place of peace. But I know, by the way of Don Miller, that story also involves character change and a plot arc. The thing about an arc is that it isn’t flat—this sounds elementary but it’s crucial. There is elevation, challenge, obstacles, and change. The protagonist is the character that changes the most or most dramatically throughout the story. There is also an antagonist—the character that forces the change of the protagonist and usually places the most obstacles.

You’re probably wondering what happened on the second day. Enter the antagonist. I wanted to be my own writer that day… I had played God’s pawn for a day. It was fun, but I was not interested in relinquishing my “perfect” schedule for that day. I had a list of about four or five things to do that day and I finished them in about 20 minutes. With nothing else to do I decided to just take it easy. I rented a movie from iTunes, played some Goldeneye, and surfed on the waves of facebook. With boredom and stagnation your guard begins to drop and the antagonist sees “an opportune time” to throw an obstacle on the plot arc that I decided not to walk that day. The thing about deciding not to take part in the story is that—you really don’t have a choice; you’re in the story no matter what. When you choose not to participate you choose not to practice before the game, you choose not to put your cleats on, and you choose not to get your head in the game that you have to play no matter what. That day I completely fell over the obstacle placed on my path because I denied that I was even on the path.

You have a choice to make. It’s not a choice whether to participate in being a character in God’s story or not. It’s whether or not you acknowledge you’re on the page, the arc, the story. It’s whether or not you acknowledge that you’re a protagonist and by that very definition you are going to change and that there’s an antagonist that’s going to make you change. That antagonist is going to put obstacles on your path and force you to move, jump, or fall. This antagonist wants you to fall, wants you to deny that he even exists and that life’s pains, hurts, problems are the cause of a brutal unloving God who doesn’t care. When, in reality, they are opportunities to grow and make the story that much richer. James 1:2-4 says: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

The best part about these challenges is that you are guaranteed to be able to overcome them. Not guaranteed to overcome them, but guaranteed to be able to overcome them. First Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” You can get through whatever barrier is placed in your path. God knows you, inside and out, and knows what you can handle. Why would he ultimately make you fail by letting you be tempted beyond what you can bear? That doesn’t make sense…

In the surrounding verses Paul says “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!... he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” That’s what happened to me on day two. I thought I was standing firm. But it’s like standing firm on a beach with the waves washing the sand out from under your feet and when the tide comes in the under-toe pulls you out. The second part of that means that God also lets you take a path around the temptation if you don’t want to battle through it… How awesome and merciful is that! Seriously, God is awesome…

You’re a character in a story. Are you going to participate or are you going to deny the very existence of the story and ultimately fall?

Originally posted on Facebook on Monday, February 14, 2011 at 12:07pm

Ps 107:1

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Ps 107:10-16

Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

for they had rebelled against the words of God

and despised the counsel of the Most High.

So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom

and broke away their chains.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron.

This Psalm is filled with little short stories (anecdotes) about how people mope and complain about a bad situation and they finally turn to God and he rescues them. Then they give him thanks.

I think that this is still continuing but we fail to thank him at the end... I think there is a pandemic of spiritual apathy and amnesia. We seem to not care about God and keep forgetting to honor him first and focus on the first commandment "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." Since we take our eyes off of him crap happens. Then we finally cry out for God to intervene.

Read that passage again with this view point...

Ps 107:10-16

Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

for they had rebelled against the words of God

and despised the counsel of the Most High.

So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom

and broke away their chains.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron.

Now do this:

Ps 107:1

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Just a Rubberband

Originally posted on Facebook on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 2:49pm

Faith... It's an interesting word. How do you define it? People say we are "Saved by GRACE through FAITH." What does that mean? What is faith? Is it believing there is a God? Believing that his one and only son died on a cross for all of mankind's sins (including yours)? Does it mean we believe he defeated not only sin but death and rose again on the third day? Does it mean we believe that his holy spirit dwells within us? Or does it mean we proclaim the gospel? Does it mean we LIVE the gospel? The short answer: yes. Faith includes all of this.

Through faith we get closer to God, we truly learn what it's like to live a life with God, the way things were meant to me. Although people fall into the misconception that your actions save you. If you're a "good person" you'll be saved and live with god forever in heaven. Kinda...

Sin separates us from God. Every time we sin we get a little further away. Eventually without God at all, we cannot live, it's how he designed us. Picture this. Creation, God just created the heavens, earth, all things in it, then the culmination, the pinnacle of all creation!--Humanity. And what did he have to say about it... "It was good." This means things were perfect, everything was in order just as he intended it to be. But what happens? We screw it up... We sinned. It's like taking a perfectly good sheet of paper and tearing it in half. You can't put it back together! Try it. lol tell me how that works out for you. Tape does not fix it.

The point is, there is never ANYTHING we can do to get back to where we were before the first sin. No action will put the paper back the way it was before we tore it. So how then, do we get back to God? There must be something God does to get us back with him... This is his biggest desire! We are the pinnacle of his creation, the pride of God, his crowning jewel!

He let his son die for us... A perfect, blameless man; died for us. Took all of our sins and washed them away... That statement now has more weight to it huh? God put the paper back together...

But don't forget about the thing that caused man to fall, the thing that ruined all of creation. Ultimately it was our choice, but we were tempted by evil... Nothing has changed guys. The closer you get to God the further you get from Satan and the more he wants you to fall.

Think about it like this: Get a piece of paper out. Draw two dots on either end of the paper. Label one God the other Satan. Get a rubber band, put it around the dot that says Satan. Put one finger on the dot that is labeled Satan (inside the rubber band). Take the other finger and put it also in the rubber band (this is you). Try to pull the other finger closer to God. There is resistance isn't there? The harder you pull the more resistance from satan there is... This is exactly how it works... The cool thing about a rubber band is the longer you hold out, the longer you have your finger closer to god the weaker that rubber band gets... It eventually loses it's elasticity.

Hold out.... Keep seeking out God, keep serving him--Keep the FAITH. The rubber band of temptation gets weaker the longer you hold it.

Man Up

Originally Posted on Facebook: Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 9:22am

26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways, 27 for a prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well. 28 Like a bandit she lies in wait, and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

Proverbs 23

Men, keep your eyes with the Lord. The Prostitute is not so much a physical person anymore. It has now taken the form of the computer screen, phone screens, tv screens. You pay to have sex with a prostitute, you also pay when watching porn, but with much more than money... You pay with your life, your witness, your integrirty, your relationship with your future wife. Stop. Here and now.

22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Men, you don't realize how powerful of a force you are... God created us in HIS image. Even angels are jealous of the things we can do. Let me ask you a question; what is the one thing you can do on earth but cannot do in heaven?

You can't go out and minister to people. You can't go and talk with them about Jesus. You can't help a friend put the bottle down. You can't help a brother get his hands off the mouse and keyboard... You don't realize the power you have when you're working with Christ. Don't diminish that power by succumbing to petty temptations to watch porn. If your body is filled with light from watching good things you can't help but shine it.

Prayer

Originally posted on Facebook on Monday, September 20, 2010 at 8:34pm

When's the las time you really prayed?

I'm not talking about the mantra you say before eating, even after you've already had appetizers. (never understood why we don't consider appetizers food...)

I'm not talking about a routine prayer before going to bed.

I'm not talking about "God, please let me make this light!"

I'm talking about really talking to God... Look what David wrote

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." -Psalm 63:1

God is not only an all powerful being, creator of the universe, heavenly father, he's also your best friend. Think of your best friend... Go ahead, do it...

How often do you talk with them? Probably every day right? Usually multiple times a day right?

Why should you treat God any differently?

Some people ask: "How are you supposed to pray? Like what do you say?"

The great thing about that is God already answered that, Jesus says specifically:

9"This, then, is how you should pray:

" 'Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.[a]'

Matthew, lord's prayer

-Matthew 6:5-14

Okay, that's a lot all at once. Let's break it down a bit.

"Our Father in heaven" -Acknowledge that he is your father and creator.

"Hallowed be your name" -Praise him

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" -YOUR kingdom come, YOUR will be done. It's HIS that's important, not mine. Acknowledge that he is the King of Kings and let him take control. (I think if he created the universe, not only does he KNOW what's going on in your life, I think he knows how to solve it.)"Give us today our daily bread" -We acknowledge that everything we have is from God and we ask him to sustain us.

"Forgive us our debts" -Ask for forgiveness of your sins.

"As we also have forgiven our debtors." -You must forgive others to be forgiven. Look just a few verses after the prayer at what Christ

says. "(14)For if you forgive men when THEY sin against YOU, your heavenly Father will also forgive YOU. (15) But if you do not forgive men of THEIR sins, your Father will not forgive YOUR sins.

"Lead us not into temptation" -Guide us, make our paths follow along side you.

"But deliver us from the evil one" -Protect us from evil.

I don't believe that this was intended to become a mantra is it is in the Catholic church... I think prayer should be dynamic and different every time... You never have a set of how your conversation is going to go when you call your best friend (or any friend for that matter) do you? That seems more like when you call for service and get a machine and all you do is press numbers to talk to an operator. Is God a machine? This prayer can essentially be boiled down into four steps.

Praise

Thanks

Confess

Ask

Pray using those four steps and concentrate on the first three more than the last. It seems like all we do is ask god to fulfill our wishes and wills... We must remember our place in creation (beneath the creator).

Shine Your Light

Originally posted on Facebook on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 7:49am

"Shine your light and let the whole world see,

We're singin' for the glory of the risen King"

Sing that a couple times.

If you've heard it sung at a ciy by 700+ people, put yourself in that moment...

It's something we take so seriously at ciy and something we carry home with us. "We're gonna show the world who Jesus is." is often said. Now that school is back in session are you hiding your light? Has it dimmed? Look it's reality that the world kinda stinks... It's discouraging when no one wants to see the light, or even acknowledges there is a light. But don't stop. You are not working for the praise of people, but for the praise of God. Who cares if your laughed at for helping a homeless guy? For paying for a friend's lunch who can't afford it even when YOU are tight on money. Who cares if you are ridiculed for sitting next to the girl everyone laughs at? Who cares if you're laughed at for saying "Oh my gosh" or not cursing... You were so determined at one point in time that you were gonna live for Jesus and live to spread the Gospel...So determined to change lives around you. So determined to be a good influence. What is stopping you? Laughter? Judgement?

Take a look at Matthew 10:22 and 2 Timothy 2:22... Get real and let your light shine again. It's incredible the difference you can make by just setting an example and living to the standard Christ calls us to. You can do this.