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Friday, March 29, 2013

What is Good?

I was reading in Micah today and was convicted by a passage that asked the question, "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God?"

"Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, calves a year old?"

"Lots of stuff, my first born?"

It's easy to ask this question in many different ways. Those who struggle with ways of atoning like cutting, sacrificing their first born to pagan gods, etc. are asking this question. They are trying to atone for their sin in ways that are sins in God's eyes.

So what is the answer? "He has shown you, O man, what is good;"

"And what does the Lord require of You"

"But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God"

There it is. God is our gracious Lord. The only thing that we must leave behind is our sin and love Him as penitent sinners, in dependence on the atoning work of Christ. And I pray that I will love the Lord more, day by day, and study His law, that I may be better equipped to humbly obey Him more, do justly, and love mercy.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Dripping Faucet of the Internet

What is this dripping faucet of the internet?

Women who are treating the internet as they do their home.

Yep, that's about it. These women who at one time influenced their three lady friends and the dude who married them have been released into the wilds of the worldwide web. These women have blogs, comment on other blogs, treat their FB friends to their lives, and make me want to go to their house and cut their internet line so they can go back to driving their husband insane instead of the rest of the world.

In a sense, the internet is like a house. And these women roam around it and drive everyone around them, except for the other psychos, insane. It would be better to live in the wilderness, than with these crazy ladies.

Women who are quarrelsome, nagging, and angry are not beautiful. Even though their profile picture may be, avoid them with a ten foot pole.

Which is hard to do on the internet.

And don't let me forget guys. Guys are a little different, they tend to not be as emotional. They're just always angry. Or rude. Here's how you can differentiate a guy and a girl on the internet, if you're not sure.

"@$*(%&@($*%&@#(*&@#(*&$@#($*&" - Guy

"You are an idiot, because etc. etc. etc." - girl

"Your grammar is terrible, therefore I win" - Everybody

;-P Yay for over generalizing. XD

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Consumed by Selfishness

If I had to describe Americans with one word, I'd easily use the word SELFISH. The men and women in America are probably the most selfish and proud people in the world. Part of it is being the richest country in the world, but the majority of it, is because of their rejection of God. Ultimately, God is the father of love and sacrifice. When you reject that, you are rejecting self-sacrificing love.

Men and women struggle with selfishness and pride in different areas, but in America it's all across the board. As I perceive it, men spend all their time making a conquest of women (probably mostly in porn, because a real woman would be too much work), not committing to marriage, getting drunk, playing hours upon hours of video games, encouraging their wives/girlfriends to have abortions so they don't have to care for a child, and clicking the up channel button on the television. Women are selfish in other ways: all about me time, chic-flick time, never wanting their house to get dirty, aborting their children (i.e. 70% of down syndrome babies.), birth control, and always needing their happiness to stem from their relationships or stuff they get, etc.

Sure, some of these examples can be interchanged, but I've noticed men are more lazy in their selfishness. Women tend to still get things done, but it's all about them. In a sense, men are more nihilistic and women are more materialistic. However, both sexes are all about themselves. Sure, they manifest themselves in different ways. But the question is, in what areas are you selfish? Where in your life is it all about you? Are you going to be cranky if you don't get your cup of coffee in the morning? Speaking of which, I NEED COFFEEE!!!!!

>_<

Let me just wrap this up with a passage that convicted me this morning.

"In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." ~ 1 John 3:10-24

Let us remember that we should love our brother. Love those who you meet. Love those who hate you. And even though you love them, they will hate you. Just like Cain who murdered his brother because of the very fact that his works were evil and Abel's were righteous. No one who is righteous will ever be truly loved by the world, because in some ways I believe it opens up their eyes to who they are, but rather than wanting change, they become angry and kill their brother, just like Cain.

How about seeing our brother in need? Do we have spare funds to help him? I.e. www.littletait.com -- Here's a good opportunity. ^_^


Our lives need to be about service. It's not about a bunch of words and unbiblical encouraging, it's about showing our love in what we do, and the truth. 

Whatever our little god is, replace it with God and His commandments. And when we abide in Christ, he will abide in us. And that's amazing!


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Friendships in Christ

Our love for Christ must reach beyond ourselves and those who are beautiful in our eyes. We are all attracted to certain people, whether they are beautiful, funny, interesting, etc. but what love is, is reaching out and loving those who aren't easy for us to love. Everyone likes to interact with people who jive with them, but how about those that are hard to love? The next door neighbor lady who is always grumpy, the guy who never has a kind word to say, or how about the girl who is more often than not depressed, these are all people that may not be easy for us to become friends with, but why?

If our goals in friendship are self focused, which I have to admit I am guilty of :-(, then ultimately we will never be able to have friends who we don't jive with, or who we feel uncomfortable around. But why do you feel comfortable? Is it because your friendships have no depth? Is it because you aren't encouraging your friends towards Christ? 

When our mission in life is to encourage others to love God more, then having friendships with those who are not our "groupies" will not be a problem. When friendship is no longer purely about us, then our ability to reach out and disciple will grow. Jesus ate with all types. He ate with publicans and sinners. Our God is a God who reaches out to those who are hurting and heals them. May we follow his example in our daily lives all the more. 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Care

Caring for another means loving God more than them. Caring for your parents, siblings, church friends, is about putting Christ at the head of every one of those friendships. If your friendship doesn't depend on the other person serving you and making you perfectly happy, then friendships can go long term. Remember, all people are sinners. ALL people are sinners. They will always fail you at some point. They will always say the wrong thing, do the wrong things, and generally not keep you completely happy (which is probably a good thing, hopefully they're exhorting you towards Him). You will disagree. You will have fights. But if Christ is the anchor in your friendships, then you won't be running off and pouting in your corner all the time.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Disingenuous Christian

I read a post by a musician awhile ago, about how Christians aren't being real, specifically in the music industry. The post really spoke to me as something I've been convicted of, in my life. That feeling of being disingenuous. I don't want to be the person who is hypocritical and disingenuous. I want to be passionate about God and show it. When I struggle with sin, I don't want to sweep it under a rug. I want to confess my sins and cry out to God for more mercy and grace. I don't want to live in a fear of men. God is the only one to fear, and He doesn't take kindly to this hypocrisy. I think my fear of man, and the hypocrisy has come in alot of ways from my disregard of God's word. The words of one of our elders has been very helpful to me. He told me, "Pray for a passion for God and His Word." You can't replace something with nothing. You can't replace your passion for tv shows, video games, etc with nothing. And that's where in many ways I feel that element in my life has really been missing. I've always asked the Lord to help me put off sins, but not really cried out for more passion for Him. And I pray that God continues to give me more and more passion for Him my entire life. We must in a very genuine way put off our old man, and put on the new man. It won't be perfect, and we will fall. But the gift of repentance from God and His forgiveness is an amazing healing for those wounds. Be encouraged. :-) I pray we will all be more passionate for Him as the years go by.

"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." ~ Romans 13:11-14

Friday, March 22, 2013

Simplicity is Beautiful

In a very real sense, one of the most beautiful things about Christianity is the very beauty of simplicity. Being able to sum up the gospel into one phrase, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." That's the beauty of the gospel. When you ask an unbeliever how they determine their ethics, they'll hammer around the issue and they have no real answer. It's complicated. It's full of holes. Ask a Christian, and you get, I love God and His word, he determines my ethics. Again, simple and beautiful. Yes, there are elements of Christianity that are complex. But that's the beauty of it. Simple to explain, and yet complex. It's like design. Creating a product that is beautiful and simple but with lots of texture and intricacies. We all hate products that are complex and difficult to understand from the outset. And this is how humanist forms of thought are. They are complex and utterly miserable to listen to. They are complicated and confusing. They change every 15 years. God doesn't change. The ethics that he gave us in His word don't change. He is immovable. He keeps His word. And we can rest in Him.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Internet Wars

One day, I sat browsing the web of the world.
A great naval battle in many ways.
The two sides flags unfurled;
And the guns were ablaze.

One side was led by a demon,
Flushed with pride and wrath,
Their mouths filled with the saltiness of seamen.
They screamed like they had no other path.

One could feel the contrast.
Pride and wrath for one.
The others commanded by another at the mast.
They were lead by the Son.

Full of glory he stood before them.
Hands pierced and blood flowing from the stripes on his back.
Leading in humility and grace none worthy to touch his hem.
The other side could do nothing but throw hopeless flack.

Monday, March 18, 2013

More Love, Lord

I pray God gives me more love for Him.
At times I feel beaten down and grim.
And yet, he's called me to love others.
But I continue to just follow my druthers.

I pray that God takes away the words not spoken in love
And gives me a heart that they are a part of.
That I will give up my lusts, my selfishness, my pride,
And replace with a heart of service that in my daily life is applied.

I pray I give up my life,
Love my wife,
Disciple those that I touch,
And Love my God so very much.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Serving

I like to see people laugh. I like to see how they respond to different situations. But something I'm feeling that I need to learn more and more is how to serve them. How can I pray for them? How can I encourage them today? How can I do a better job iron sharpening iron?

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Edification When You Mean It

It's easy to waste time. Especially in conversation. I'm working on moving my speech towards edifying topics. But at the same time, it is hard to edify when you aren't living in an edifying manner. And in many cases you should just avoid being fake in this area. Being fake is hypocrisy. When I talk to someone who obviously isn't passionate about what they say I don't really appreciate talking to them. Edification needs passion. A passion for the Word. A passion for what God is doing in your life. Passion.

Time Reveals

I've asked myself where are people going? Where will they be in 20 years? Or how about me? Where will you be in 20 years? What trajectory are we on? What direction are we headed?

Time is the ultimate revealer. They reveal the fruit of ideas, labor, direction.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Give Willingly

We are all given life. We are given the ability to breath. Many of us can see, feel, taste, hear, and smell. We have nice cushy lives here in America. We can sit in front of a warm fire and toast marshmallows. We can fly around the country and even the world. We have so much. We have been given much. Are you able to give it up for Christ? Are you willing to love those who are the unlovable? Give our stuff to those who need it more than us?

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Narrowing Applications

How often do we try to legislate others over things that are Christian liberty? How often are we critical of someone who does things differently than we do? Is there anything wrong with someone wearing a skirt that's an inch shorter than yours? Is there anything wrong with someone puffing on a pipe? Is there anything wrong with a different approach to relationships? Is there anything wrong with someone who gives more hugs? Is there something wrong with someone who wears plaid on plaid? ;-P

Yes, there are certain things the Word of God legislates against. I.e. Fornication, adultery, murder, homosexuality, stealing, etc. etc. Is your little application one of those things?

If you're not careful you'll turn into Mayor Bloomberg, and start legislating how large of sugary drinks people can buy. Are we making mountains out of molehills? Let's try to make mountains out of mountains and understand what are molehills and treat them as such..

Monday, March 11, 2013

Time is Short

In some ways, I feel that life goes by ever so quickly. Weeks turn into months, months turn into years, and then eventually we pass away. I think living with a perspective that time is short, and we should use it wisely is important. We should live as if this is our last day, and at the same time that we are going to live for another hundred years.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Life is Beautiful

God has given us others. God has given us cute fuzzy puppies. God has given us beautiful mountains and oceans. Focus on the beautiful things. God is good.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Only Christian When it Fits?

I recently saw an internet meme that said, "I don't always read the Bible but when I do... I only read the parts I like. Christian-Lite Mostly Jesus Christ, without the evil stuff." First thought, exactly. It seems that too many "Christians" today buy into this load of baloney. First of all, they never read the Bible. Secondly, they do only read the parts they like. They really don't like the major prophets. They like about 2/3 of the New Testament. This is really sad. Treating Christ's work as a way to make lots of money, and please yourself is horrible. The message of the prosperity gospel is evil. Christianity is about loving God. Glorifying God. Laying down one's life. And if we do love Christ, we will love His Word and all that he has to say in it. Creating a religion that has a Jesus that is not the true Jesus is absolutely horrible. We need to be satisfied with Christ, always. When Christ says don't fornicate. We need to be satisfied. When he says, give up all you have for me, we can be satisfied because we still have Christ. When we are burned at the stake, whether it be on the internet or in real life, are we going to give up our Lord?

Read the whole Bible. The whole Word of God is given to us to satisfy us. And when we ignore parts of the Scripture, we are not going to be balanced. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It's all Scripture. Not the part that makes us feel happy in our sin. Not the part that demands us to give up all but the sin that we love more than life itself. All Scripture.


I watched this video in the middle of writing this, and I definitely appreciated Piper's words on the prosperity gospel.




Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Mentors

In an age where different generations have completely different music, movies, clothing, culture, etc, we are hurting. Each generation is in a sense wanting to cut itself out of the rock. And people keep making the same mistakes over and over. That's where I see mentorship really solving many of those problems. All people need good input in their lives. I have seen too many people, myself included, wander after the fools. Whether it be ungodly peers, television shows, games, movies, reddit, forums, music, etc, there are plenty of fools we can wander after. But young people especially need good input and wise men/women in their lives. If you're going to avoid the pitfalls of life, whether it be failing in your job, failing at staying pure, falling into drugs, etc, you're going to need good mentors in your life. You may need a business mentor, a spiritual advisor, or a combination. Timothy needed Paul in his life. Would Timothy have been where he was at such a young age without Paul's mentorship? Unlikely. 

Go find a mentor. It's not hard. You just have to be committed to being willing to learn and invest in the relationship. If you've spent most of your life being told what to do by your parents or teachers you're going to need to get a little initiative in life. You have to be the one pursuing the mentors. There are many lazy people in the world, and a mentor doesn't want to waste their time. So you need to be serious about it. Set up breakfast meetings, take notes, and act on what they say. Don't waste their time, because in so doing you will waste your time. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

What Do I Say?

Times have changed. Before the internet, much of the marketing was spent trying to appeal and change everyone. The venues to market were where everyone was. Radio and television were consumed by all, through the 4-5 channels they had.

But it's different today, in the age of the internet people are becoming more and more cliquish. Mass marketing doesn't really work. People only know how to interact with those who are like them. The term is referred to as: cyberbalkanization. We are becoming lazy, because we are allowing ourselves just to hang out with those we agree with.

Because of this, I feel that many people no longer know how to interact with those who disagree with them. Having the ability to turn off the internet browser, and ignore the other party who disagrees with ones opinion is creating people who no longer can disagree with others, in a reasonable fashion. Odd, I know. But it makes for an interesting time.

This brings to mind the question, what do we say to those who disagree with us? Should we spend time with them? Great question. Well, here's my opinion. Sure, spend some time with them. But don't allow them to run you over. I feel that Christians do this all the timeeeee. They go on the internet. They say something counter cultural. They have a troll show up. They then freak out and run away/change their opinion. 

Don't do this. Welcome to the internet. Some people are jerks. It's a fact. Share your opinion. Learn from others, who are wise souls.. Don't become one who is affected by cyberbalkanization. People will always disagree. Don't be proud with your opinion. But stick by your guns. Especially when you're just being attacked by an internet troll.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Ultimate Standard When Debating

As a Christian, my ultimate standard is the Bible. If we didn't have the Bible, we wouldn't have a source for ethics. We wouldn't have a reason to believe one thing over another. We would become like the majority of blogs on the internet. They certainly spout a lot of words, but it's mostly inept rhetoric. The one who wins is the one who can slam the other person with sarcasm and better grammar. ;-P

For instance, I find it interesting when people argue against sexual sin with warnings about STDs, financial hurt, blah, blah. Who cares. Has this form of education moved us in a good direction? Uhhh, no. Lol. Really, the only reason to avoid sexual sin, stealing, murder, rape, etc, is because God said they were wrong. Would I be against them if I didn't have an ultimate standard? Ultimately, no. Especially if they helped me. 

I've learned over time to just ignore those who spout rhetoric. Words are cheap. Everyone thinks they're right. But if they have nothing to back it up, shut it down. A serial killer feels that he's doing a good thing when he's killing and raping women. The Christian heading to church on a Sunday has some reason. A homosexual says his lifestyle is all on the up and up. The man who avoids fornication and porn has a standard. The kid in church living with his gf is feeling good. And most will be sure to let you know. But what's their justification? What makes them right? What makes the other guy wrong? We all need an ultimate standard. Personal experience is not an ultimate standard.. Or public opinion.

When it comes down to it, get down to a person's ultimate standard, as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you'll waste time. 

And also, what is your ultimate standard? The personal story you recently read? The song you're listening to at the moment? Do you use your ultimate standard when you write? Or have you bought into the lie that personal experience and witty words are the standard?

And also, be loving. Why must you win a war of words? Are you loving the homosexual that you're debating? Or are your words just clanging cymbals and sounding brass?

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Prayer for Deliverance and the Good Things in Life

One thing that's come home to me these past few months is how much we need prayer. And on top of prayer that God deliver us from the temptations of our flesh, world, and the devil, we also need to pray that God gives us hearts that desire the good things. The cry in Psalm 51 should be on our hearts. The Psalmist acknowledges his sin, then cries out that God purge him with hyssop. He cries out that he can hear joy and gladness. And in verse 10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Pray that God not only removes the burden of your sin from you, but that he gives you desires for great and beautiful things. That's been my prayer more and more in my daily life.

The cry that the Psalmist gives about being able to hear joy and gladness really spoke to me. One way you can tell when you are around Christians is they are joyful and glad. I've spent most of my life in the church. But I've spent enough time around others to know that this is so true. Being around those who love Christ are incredibly refreshing to be around. They are those who you can tell have truly been washed with hyssop. They are those who have been freed from sin by the power of Christ's blood!


I thank the Lord for His healing and immeasurable mercies. 


See you all on Monday. ^_^

Friday, March 1, 2013

Moral Anarchy

Last night I went and saw Zero Dark Thirty. I enjoyed the film. The realism in the constant swearing, and torture was a major turn off. But if we're talking purely story, sure I was intrigued. To make the summary real short. The story of how they catch USL (Usama Bin Laden).

One question I came away with is, what is good and what is evil? People seemed to get real angry about the explosion of the two Towers on 9/11. And yet these same people are okay with killing millions of babies. It's frightening to say the least. Homosexuality is now PC, and next year what will it be? Rape and murder? Sacrificing old people and two year olds to Molek?

Either God's law reigns or there will be moral anarchy. So far, moral anarchy is winning, and ruining our country, sadly.