Got Thoughts?

Once Upon A Time

2008-12-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight, my family was discussing what the most important things that happened in 2008. My answer was easily being called to ministry. This sparked my thinking and I thought that I might share my testimony with my readers.

I was saved at five after reading a brief and abridged version of The Pilgrim's Progress. My Dad was a pastor and my family was quite strong in our faith. I read that story and that was the moment it made sense. I wanted to become a part of what my Dad was doing even if I didn't understand it all. Fast-forward until I was about 10. We had moved and started serving at a different church and I was the PK there. Everything was fine. I was well-loved by the members, familiar with faith, and cool with my friends. But I was spiritually dead. I was just getting by because I was the pastor's kid. Everyone expected me to be perfect in being a good "church-person" or be just getting by. So, I did. I got comfortable. I ignored any stirring I might have had.

We moved to our current church when I was 11. I went on my first over-night youth trip at 12. It was different. I felt something that I couldn't ignore. I wanted to go down and talk with someone but I had already been saved, so what else was there? I went on another youth trip in February. I felt it again. But this time I realized there was something more. And I guess it scared me. I ignored it again because I didn't know how to feel about it. All this time since we moved, everything I heard became something pointed directly at me. Everything I heard reminded I was spiritually dead. I wanted to get close to God, but I had never done that before and the idea scared me. Then, this summer, I went to camp. If you haven't ever been to a World Changers camp, they have a very special service where they black out the windows, turn off the lights, center the stage light on the cross, and have a prayer service. All throughout the service you pray, cry, and write on big boards about sin and prayer. Most of all you have an experience with God. It was the best experience ever and I wanted to sit there forever. But this was not the night I was called. I was called two night later at a normal worship service. I now realize that the night of prayer was to give me an experience with God to prepare me for the night he would call me. That night during the invitation I started to pray. As soon as I started to pray, God spoke in my mind and said "Ministry" a couple of times. I realized what it meant and was worried about how to handle it, but I felt God's peace. So for the first time in my life, I heard God's voice and acknowledged it. I later talked to Gregg about it and realized how awesome it was. I went up to the room I was staying in and laid down on my half-deflated air mattress and talked to God, asking things like if that was really what he said, how I should to terms with it, but mainly "What now?". I looked at some ministry brochures that I had been given and found the verse Romans 10:14-15.

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

This verse convinced in me that my call was the most important thing in my life and that if anything lived in me, it should be my call. That is how I came to be who I am in Christ today. My spiritual life did not begin when I was saved or when I understood it, but when God told me to live it. And that is what I plan to do.

A Report

2008-12-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, I spoke at the youth revival I had mentioned to my readers. It went well for being completely student-led. We had 2 youth speakers. We had a guy from William Carey College come over to do music. We had a youth sing special music and another do the introductions. Everyone in our youth group was responsible for getting people to come. We had 15 to 20 people show up including at least 5 not from our youth group. My message on Acts 4 (click here to see again) was not as smooth as I would have liked. I was struck with nervousness as soon as I got up there and got lost in what notes I had. I wanted to do my message with almost no notes so I could "breath" in to it. I so realized and learned that I need more notes to succeed. I forgot vital parts of my message, but it was good experience to learn how to prepare and not get nervous in front of people. I don't know how big an impact I made on everyone there, but for me, it was a learning experience. I know I will do great next time because of it.

Just wanted to let you guys know how my big night went and I promise I will back with more spiritual truths soon.

Your Chapter Of Faith

2008-12-12T16:04:00.001-08:00

On December 19, I will be speaking at a youth revival. My topic is how to be a Christian and make that fact known. Here it is.

Acts 4:9-10
"If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well."

1. We should be prepared for hardships. Jesus said that "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

Peter and John were imprisoned for even mentioning the name of Jesus in a positive manner. Jesus says that if we are hated by the world, we are being like Jesus. James says that hardships produce faith. Peter says we should be "aliens and strangers" in this world.

2. Always give the glory to God first. In Peter and John's speech they said (paraphrased), "If you're talking about us healing this guy, well, we didn't do that. It was all God." Also, when they preached the sermon immediately after the man was healed, they said the very same thing. People will need to recognize that it is God who is capable of everything and does all good.

3. Don't give up. Peter and John were under the threat of death. They were asked to stop speaking or else torture and sufferings would ensue. Peter and John could not be silenced. "But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

They left the courtroom and went straight to the other believers. There, they stopped and prayed.

"And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness."

Pharisees couldn't stop them. Fear couldn't stop them. Exile couldn't stop them. Death couldn't stop them. Kinda like Jesus. The disciples prayed not for protection, not for the threats to be forgotten, but for the boldness to continue to preach and to share and to be Christians in the fullest sense even under these circumstances. We should not be fazed by the threats of this world because we have Jesus on our side. We have faith in something real and more powerful than anything else.

I hope the story of the early believers in the face of real danger has encouraged you to take faith like those before you. Their story is the story of the faith. Now it is your story. Write a great story.

Who, Me?

2008-11-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

Acts 3:1-10

"Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said,"I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him."

Peter and John are on an average trip to the temple on an average day to have an average prayer time. But something unaverage happens. The beggar approaches them and asks for alms. Peter looks him straight in the eye and says,"I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" The man began to walk. People got excited and surrounded them. Peter found a good opportunity to preach. The first thing he said was, "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers."

Isn't that what we should do? First, give glory to God, then focus on what happened. God should come before us in importance and in accomplishments. We did nothing, he did everything. When we do something for God, this should be our rallying cry, "Why are you looking at me as if I did something? You should be looking elsewhere, because God is wrapped all around this." That should be our motto for everything we do.

The Disciples, Part 2

2008-11-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Acts 2:1-12

"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine."

Pentecost was the Jewish religious holiday taking place 50 days after the Passover. It celebrated being "given" the Torah to the Israelite people in the desert. Since the disciples were still Jewish, they attended with their friends and family, as was their custom. (If you want to know more about the Jewish side of Pentecost, or "Shavu'ot", click here). During this convergence, the Holy Spirit came down, entered the Disciples, and they began speaking in tongues. Many people of different nationalities were attending and heard these ordinary, uneducated men speaking in their own languages. Some respected them and wondered what it meant, but others thought they were simply drunk. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, preached a great sermon.

Acts 2:22-24

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."

Peter again has power to preach, explain, and bring people to Christ because the Holy Spirit has come down. He doesn't need Jesus by his side anymore because he has another form of the Trinity with him. It's the same for us. When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior He, or the Holy Spirit since they are interchangable in Scripture, comes and lives inside of us, and we become empowered to do great things for Christ.

Acts 3:12, 16

"Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?.... And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all."

The Disciples, Part 1

2008-11-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

Acts 1:4-8

"And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight."

It had been over. Jesus had died. The Disciples had run away. Everything they worked for was gone.

Then, Jesus came back and the Disciples were restrengthened. Jesus would make everything okay. And he did. For forty days. After these days, the above conversation took place. Then Jesus left and the Disciples were helpless again. Do you see what happens? Before Jesus, these guys were just Galilee fishermen. Common people going nowhere. But Jesus came, invited them into his arms, and changed their lives. They were somebody and they could do something. Until Jesus died. They returned to nobodies going nowhere. But Jesus came back and they were on top again. When Jesus is in somebody's life, they are transformed to beyond what they ever imagined. They can do anything God enables them to do. Back to the Disciples. Jesus is gone and they are waiting for Jesus' promised help.

Tune in next time for the exciting conclusion of "The Disciples in Spiritual Anxiety"....

Love God? Do His Will.

2008-10-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

1 John 5:1-3 says:

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."

My geometry class has been teaching me to think and come to conclusions using direct and indirect deduction. Let's try this now.

If we believe in Jesus, then we are born of God.
If we love God, then we love others born of God.
If we obey God's commandments, then we love others born of God.

Life is a lot like deduction. If one part of your thinking is wrong, the whole thing is wrong. The hardest part of being a Christian is following God's will. But if we don't obey, the passage says we don't love God or others. God's responsibilities are easy, with His help. We should let him take the big stuff and just trust Him. Will you trust Him and follow His will?

Love At First Life

2008-10-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't some reincarnation theme on a biblical blog, it's a look at what love really is. I don't think it's an emotion, and idea, or a chemical reaction to make sure our genes get passed on. Love is giving up one's life for another.

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

Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are to love one another." If we are to love one another, we must love like Jesus loved. How did Jesus love? By dying on a cross for our sins so we could live instead of him! So if Jesus loved with his life, love is giving up your life for another. And not just in dying for them. Loving them as if you could take their place in death. Loving your brother's life more than your own. (Now would be a great time to throw in the golden rule, but this not a cliche blog.) So can you love everyone as your life. I know I can't, but with Jesus' love in me...I got the whole world covered.

Put On The Earplugs Of Steadfastness

2008-10-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

1 John 3:13 says this:

"Do not be surprised, brothers that the world hates you."

In John 15 Jesus says:

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you."

Jesus never said that Christianity was easy. He just said it would be worth it. During my study of 1 John 3 verse 13 stuck out. It attracted me. I realized that Jesus said much the same thing. Thus, this post. If Jesus told us not to be surprised, why do we question our faith, our prayers, our God? If James told us to "consider those blessed who remained steadfast" why do we stand up and make our case with God why we don't deserve this? I'm not saying sufferings or persecution are wanted, but they strengthen our faith. When the world hates us, that means we are doing a good job. It means we are imitating Christ and the world recognizes this. So, accept these challenges so "you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Decisions, Decisions

2008-10-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

1 John 2:15-17

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

If you notice, this passage never connects God and the world together. Of course, that's the point. John is trying to say that you must cling to one thing and one thing only. God or the world. You can't cling to both. Make a choice. When the world ends, do you want to have invested your life in something that ends with the world or do you want to stand through the sands of time?

All Sinners

2008-10-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

1 John 1:5-10 says this:

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

Most people will agree. Everyone sins. That's a basic truth and a well recognized one at that. But I don't think this passage speaks to denying sin's hold on a person's life. Have you ever known about someone else's sins and said "I wouldn't do that!" Well, that's what John is talking about. Denying any sin is denying the need for salvation in our lives and is the part where we say "God, I don't really need your Son to die to save me. I didn't sin like that." All sins are equal and we still need his Son in any case and we should accept that.

There Is More To The Quote

2008-09-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

Almost every Christian knows the verse "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" right? And "for the wages of sin is death", correct? Well these verses, Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23, respectively, have more behind them.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." Romans 3:23-25

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 (in full)

Can anyone help me here? These are brilliant verses and when I read them I almost stood up and shouted with joy. "The free gift of God is eternal life"? "[We] are justified by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"?
If that does get you pumped up about grace, what does? Thus my question. These verses are so powerful that they don't deserve to be hidden. I know people use these verses to define the human state but they could be used to define God's state too. If we don't tell people about the grace of God, then they see us as condemning doomsayers. I hope to be someone who can accept sin and grace in the same place at the same time together.

James 5:1-6

2008-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

"Come now you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you."*

Wow. This is harsh. I came across this passage during my daily bible study and thought what its implication on me were. Now, my family isn't rich, but we get along. And I have plans on what I am going to buy, but it doesn't consume me. I don't cheat for money. I don't worship money. But this passage really does make a point. I don't think that it wants you to give up your job, your stuff, or your house. I think it wants to make sure you keep money in the back of your head as something of this world, not quite as important. Like what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I think this passage wants us to be more open and generous with our money and remember that it's not "what's in your wallet" but what's in up in heaven.

*This passage ends on the fact that the just person doesn't resist sufferings, but the next paragraph continues on just people's sufferings. So for a complete view, read James 5:7-12

Gimme Your Eyes

2008-09-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

I heard this song on the radio the other day by Brandon Heath:

"Looked down from a broken sky

Traced out by the city lights

My world from a mile high

Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black tile

Hold on for the sudden stop

Breath in the familiar shock

Of confusion and chaos

Are those people going somewhere?

Why have I never cared?

Chorus:Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

Wasn't it far beyond my reach?

Give me your heart for the once forgotten

Give me your eyes so I can see

Step out on a busy street

See a girl and our eyes meet

Does her best to smile at me

To hide what's underneath

Theres a man just to her right

Black suit and a bright red tie

To ashamed to tell his wife

He's out of work

He's buying time

Are those people going somewhere?

Why have I never cared?

Chorus

I've Been there a million times

A couple of million eyes

Just moving past me by

I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well I want a second glance

So give me a second chance

To see the way you see the people all alone

Chorus (x2)"

I think that song really sums up what we are supposed to do as Christians and especially for those in ministry. It reminds me of a song by John Waller which speaks to Christians to make a difference in what we leave on this earth. It has great meaning to me and I hope has great meaning to you as well. Let's hope that God gives us His eyes for humanity so we can be more effective in His work.

See You At The Pole From A Different Perspective

2008-09-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

See You At The Pole is Wednesday. This causes a problem for me. Why would See You At The Pole cause problems? I'm homeschooled. As I told my youth minister, "I don't have a flagpole. Or a Christian Club. Now what?". Well, I've been thinking about now what and I think I know what to do. Because I do school at home, I think an important aspect would be to pray for the revival my family. That we would be able to feel God working in and around us, but the biggest conclusion I came to was to pray for people really at SYATP. Pray that students would be respected by their peers to come spend time praying and gathering around their flagpole for the revival of their schools. Later today I will be attending an associational SYATP rally. I just hope that I will be able to respond well to this event I am not directly involved in.

Opposites

2008-09-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

James 3:9-12 says,

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

James really puts a lot of imagery into this passage because of the opposites he uses. He is trying to illustrate the fact that the tongue is a powerful tool, but I see in it something different. This isn't the main point of the passage, but I think that it is a good example how opposite Christians are. We are made in God's image, but we are corrupted by sin. We are blessed by God's love, but cursed by the fall. We weren't made to be this way. We were made to be fully God-filled. But, that can't happen. So as good Christians it is our job to become less like opposites, but more like God everyday.

Not A Closet Prophet

2008-09-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, I studied 1 Samuel 3. The passage speaks on Samuel's call to ministry, and being that I had received a call in recent times, this story really struck home. My favorite verse is 3:19-20. It says.

"And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD."

See what that says? From the time Samuel was a young boy called by God to the time he was old man, everything he said was honored by God and God made sure all the people also honored and heard his word. The best part is that everyone in Israel knew that Samuel was a prophet of God. Samuel let his God, his faith, and his call shine through him and people saw it and cared. A phrase I thought of to define this is that "Samuel was not a Closet Prophet". He got out there and did it. The big question for me is...

Can I become someone who is recognized from "Dan to Beersheba" as someone called by God?

--Converse