The New Way

The Question of thinking

2009-03-26T15:24:00.003-05:00

Alright guys. Time for my recent thoughts lately. As addressed in my last post, this is not to be taken as truth if you find flaws in it. This is so that I can say what I'm thinking, and you guys can correct it if you find flaws in it.

Anyways...

Recently, I've been reflecting a lot on what I've done in my high school years. I've been thinking about the paths I've gone, the thoughts I've had, the people that have influenced me, and things like that. I got to thinking about my 9th grade Honors English class (the turning point in my life, besides accepting Christ for salvation). I don't know where I got this from, but I started to think about the beginning of that year in that class, where Coach Carruth would write a quote from a plethora of worldviews on the board at the beginning of each class and tell us to tell him the worldview behind it. We started off by trying to tell him of some moral that that person was trying to articulate to the world. Every time we did that, he always told us to stop diving and to just snorkel across the quote. He told us to tell him what it said. We would always keep guessing until he finally told us what it says. Saying that we need to stop diving and just snorkel always baffled me until I finally got what he was saying.

This is the question I came upon in my thinking: did we do this because we often hear someone telling us morals by which to live (which basically consumes 90 to 95% of all sermons we hear today) and thought that that was the way of thinking of the person's quotes time? Or were we just stupid and didn't know how to really read a quote? I don't know. I see arguments from both sides. Yes, there is more to life than living by a bunch of rules (which I find contradictory to the Gospel, since we are freed by the cross and not bound, which is the nature of rules), but I also see that our actions justify our philosophy (you know, the whole St. Francis "Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words," thing.). I might just be babbling and being stupid (which we all know is very possible), but I really think that I might be on to something. What are your thoughts?

Questions, comments, and anything else, message me.

You guys rock.

Signed,

My thoughts for two months

2009-03-12T22:13:00.004-05:00

Ok guys. It's been almost exactly two months since I last blogged. I've heard lots of constructive criticism on my blog so I'd like to address that first.

First of all, I know I come across as stating that I am absolutely right. I'm not. I look back on my last blog and read how stupid I sounded. I would like to make it known right now that my blogs are just my thoughts. Whether they are right or not is a different story. It's just what I'm thinking at the moment. I would like to apologize for how rude I was. I will not be rude to those who respect my right to think. I apologize to those who take my thoughts the wrong way. I think out loud, and, sometimes, it's completely against what I should be standing for. But, in my defense, I would rather be known for being honest in my intellectual struggles and trying to find truth rather than find it blindly, like it seems that most people do. I often hear people saying the masses are suckered by the media. I do not want to be that type of person. This requires me to get my feet dirty, think, and see what comes out the other end (The Office fans will get that one).

So, these are just my thoughts. They could very easily be wrong. But, in my pursuit of truth, would like to see where my follies are in my thinking.

So, here's what I've thought about the past two months.

These past two months, Jesus has really spoken to me that it is Him we should be following. With the election of Obama, and many Christians outraged over his policies (I do not know where I stand do to my thoughts being on getting my life with Jesus straight), I have noticed the fluctuation of Christians slandering our president. First of all, don't do it around me. I know he does some things wrong. But, he is human. He is capable of making mistakes. He is also our God-ordained leader. I don't care if he is against everything we are against. I don't care if you think he is the anti-Christ (which he isn't and only an idiot would believe that). I prefer to deal with Obama the way Jesus would. Peacefully and in love. If we really would take Jesus seriously, I think He would change the way we do many things in life. I've been reading the One Year Bible for the first time (and am so far behind. I need to get back on track. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.). I've noticed that Jesus didn't go around looking for ways to demand that there be a moral code change. I noticed that He showed them love. I might be completely wrong with this, but instead of having an outrage at their sins, he just saw them as human, forgave them, and loved them. I don't really know where I'm going with this.

To sum it up...

love people. Period.

One other thing I've been thinking about.

Why do we judge sins as if there is one worse than another? I've noticed that a lot of Christians view drinking, smoking, premarital sex, and cussing as the four worst things that a Christian can do. Don't get me wrong, those are bad things. But, I cussed one time, and people still bring it up like I"m a terrible person. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a cursing sailor. I cussed because my beast of a friend walloped me without me knowing it was gonna happen and it hurt. It was an honest mistake. But, if all sin is the same in God's eyes, why is it that we treat some as worse than others? Why do we get upset at people for being honest? I'm doing a class at church that I've been in for about 4 years, and my teacher asked us last week why we were there. Most people were like to grow closer to Christ. I decided to be honest and said to look more spiritual. (Btw, my intentions have now changed. I'm in there to learn how to be a better spiritual leader). I had all the kids look at me like I was the worst kid possible. When there are 15 American (big) high-schoolers in an extra Jesus-class, especially at a huge church (this is big too), I'm positive that more than one kid was there to look more spiritual. But where did this spiritual arrogance come from? Why do we do it? Just what I've been thinking.

Anyways, please critique my thinking. I come not saying this is fact, but as some one looking for truth. Thanks for the critiques. They are much appreciated.

You guys rock

Signed,

Rationality and the Faith rambles to legalism

2009-01-13T19:16:00.004-06:00

Hey guys. New post! Anyways...

I've gone to Bellevue for 14 out of the 17 years of my life. I love it there. But I don't agree with everything there (mostly on morality issues, such as drinking, gambling, etc., etc.). But there is one issue that I do not agree on. I that the human mind is just as great a tool for knowing about God as the Bible and prayer (which, I have seen, is a very hypocritical thing to deny, but that's beside the point).

First, the brain, with its ability to rationalize and think, was made by God. It was made to think. God WANTS for us to use it.

Two, in Romans, Paul talks about how man is without excuse because of the creation. While I understand that the Bible is infallible and stuff, if man has creation alone, he is still has the wrath of God upon his shoulders when he dies if he doesn't accept the Truth. This is implies that man can rationally come to a sense of God without the Scriptures.

Finally, from my own personal experience, my rationalizing has brought me so much closer to the Lord. I'm able to rationalize beauty, truth, and God (not fully, of course...just a smidgen). It wasn't another Bible study that brought me to the Truth. It wasn't saying a prayer that brought me closer to the Lord. I often killed myself over those. I would feel tired. But I took a sabbatical from them both. And that has made all the difference. I've learned more about God through thinking then any Bible study would ever teach me. That's why I enjoy the Creation so much. I love climbing up a mountain and looking out and seeing the qualities of God in His Creation. Anne Bradstreet comes to mind when I think of my situation. She said that no school of theology taught her more about God than the rationality of the mind and the beauty of Creation.

It's so comforting to me that I don't have to be having a "quiet time" to fully learn about God. To be honest, sometimes, I don't even read my Bible. I just go outside and sit in the gazebo with the rain falling down and sit still and listen. God normally speaks louder to me here than anywhere else.

I'm not into legalism. Actually, I speak out legalism. This often means withdrawals from leaders in the church and speaking out against them. Of course, I'm rarely listened too. But sometimes, with the burden of legalism lifted off someone's soul, I see the Truth. Truth not seen in "doing good." But the truth seen in doing good. Loving the Lord. I'm still a sinner. I'm wretched. I don't expect myself to be perfect. But I show sincere repentance and continue the fight.

Christ has made me so happy without legalism. I no longer say "do this," and "do that." All I say is, "repent." That has brought me so much happiness. While I still hold Christians to a high standard, I don't expect perfection. When someone sins, I see it no differently than if it's a lie or if they killed someone. I have fleshly desires for revenge. But in the end, I see them as a sinner and keep no record of right or wrong.

Thanks for reading. Hope this helps someone.

Questions, comments, and requests, message me.

Later.

Signed,

What I learned in Gatlinburg.

2009-01-06T19:39:00.003-06:00

Hey y'all. It's been a month exactly since I last posted. Sorry. I've been busy. My sugar booger took quite a lot of my break ;) (and FYI, she's very precious to me)

Anyways...

Here's what I learned in Gatlinburg. First off, let me let you know that I'm a big picture kind of dude. I like to get to the root of everything. If you make a philosophical or spiritual statement, I dissect it to find the deeper meaning. So here is the deeper meaning of Mike Curry's message in Gatlinburg. Life is not about what WE do. It's about what Christ does in us.

This week we discussed the beatitudes. We had one session for each beatitude. Every time, he would say something to the effect that we cannot do it on our own. We must let Christ do it in us. The way he spoke made me feel the need to get saved after every message. (Don't worry, I'm saved. It was a feeling of the need to change my life.) I seriously believe that what Mike has said will stick around for the rest of my life. All my life I've struggled to let Christ do the work in me. It's not natural man, and it's especially difficult for me. I can do most things I attempt. It took a long time for me to finally realize that I can't do it. Now I'm gonna let Christ work through me instead of working for Him on my own.

Just an extra insight, I loved the New Year's Eve service. The communion we took actually meant something. I actually felt the Spirit of God over the place. I definitely had to go ask for forgiveness from some people. It was difficult, especially from some of my close friends and my leader. It was EXTREMELY difficult. And now that I look back on it, I still need to go apologize to two people. And I will. I'm just gonna struggle with it for a while.

Anyways, questions, comments, or laments let me know, or if you were there, tell me what you learned.

Later guys.

Signed,

Engaging God's World

2008-12-06T21:17:00.002-06:00

Hey guys. Me again. Anyways...

My dad asked me to go run some errands for him at night, and I took this chance to let my mind just wander around while I'm driving and think about life in general. Explore my brain basically. This is what came to mind: engaging God's world.

How do we do that? There is more ways than just doing good deeds for others. While I fully believe that this should be done in a believers life, we can't limit ourselves to doing only this when it comes to engaging God's world. Here's what I mean.

My church has 30,000 members. It's VERY easy to become isolated in the church there and only do the things which the church offers. If it has a work day, we'll do that. We'll go on the churches mission trips. But we've got to do more than that. We have to engage ourselves in the world of the non-believer in an effort to understand them so that way we can effectively know how to witness to them and know what we're getting into before we engage with someone. For example, we have to know the philosophies of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Mormonism, etc., etc. so that way we can disprove them. We have to know what people are seeing in movies or listening to on their Ipods. Granted, we should definitely keep our minds and our hearts pure while doing this, so we must you discretion in what we put into our minds.

Here's my point. We can't just break away from the world and create a Christian sub-culture. That accomplishes nothing. Take a look at the 60's. We did that then. It's brought us a ton. We've got to engage it. Learn the philosophies. Hang out with non-Christians (making the Christian ones your closest friends, of course). ENGAGE the world. You've got to be discerning on what you do while you're engaging it, but we must engage it. Simple as that.

We must do this to impact the masses. Jesus started out with a couple, who each reached a couple, who each reached a couple, etc., etc., and look where it's gone now. "Biggest" religion in the world.

Anyways, comments, questions, or thoughts, let me know.

Later guys.

Signed,

Wow

2008-12-01T21:53:00.003-06:00

Hey guys. It's been almost two months! I'm so sorry guys. Life has just gotten so hectic lately. But anyways...

I was recently just reminiscing in my thoughts and looking back at my life and realized something that we often take for granted. It's not our actions that make us pure. It's the intentions we go into these actions that make us pure. Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, tells the Jews to not only observe the letter of the law, but the heart of the rule. (If a rule ain't there, you haven't done anything wrong.) But I was recently discussing the quality of humility with a friend of mine. We were discussing how I've been told that I'm often quiet arrogant. I'm not gonna lie. I'm arrogant and obnoxious. But, when I do practice "humility," (which I do...you just might have to look for it) it's often quiet a fake humility. I personally believe that you should just be arrogant if you're gonna practice a fake humility. You're only committing one sin and not two sins. You're only arrogant, not just lying (about being humble) and being arrogant (it's a heart issue, remember?).

But this brings me to my next item of discussion. What is humility? It's not not talking about yourself at all. It is this: it's, when you do tell others about your accomplishments, doing it because you're excited you did something. It's not to put others down. Should you always talk about your accomplishments? Heck no. Here's basically what my rambling is about. It's ok to tell others about your accomplishments. You just have to the right heart. And, it'll probably heart to celebrate others accomplishments while you're at it. That might help you a little bit. Besides, loving others includes celebrating with them and being proud of them.

On another little mini-sermon, just for fun, the church building is not sacred. It's just a building. The worship that goes on in the building is sacred. But not the actual building. We should still be good stewards with it. We should treat it with respect, since God has been gracious enough to give it to us. But overall, it's not sacred.

As always, message me with questions, comments, or criticisms. I take all. Point out the flaws in my thinking.

Go Tigers Go!

Later guys.

Signed,

Tonight...

2008-10-18T16:10:00.001-05:00

Tonight, around 10:30 or so, I'll attempt to post a video blog...if I can figure that out. Haha. But seriously, I will. Just giving it a thought and seeing how it'll work.

Thoughts on stuff...

2008-10-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. It's me again. Anyways...

I was keeping score tonight at a softball game and let my mind start to wander (as it always does when I keep score). I just started thinking about girls, which led down to a long series of random thoughts, which eventually led to this: we can be quite stupid and fickle at times. Here's what I mean.

Christians are supposed to see the world as it should be. Not how it is. That's called realism. And atheism, actually. Realism is the belief in only seeing things as they are. Christians aren't supposed to that. We are supposed to see the world as it should be. Example: I often go up to girls and tell them that they are beautiful. Now, this is how the world should be. A guy should be able to go up to a girl and tell her she looks good with no thoughts to either person that they "like" (such an overused word) that person. Just what I think...

A quote that might help drive this concept of seeing things how they should be in: "Maddest of all is to see things as they are and not as they should be." -G.K. Chesterton

Another good one by Chesterton for fun: "The mad man is not the one who has lost all reason; it is the one who has lost everything BUT his reason."

Love that one. In your face, you imagine haters (lol).

Anyways, just something to think about. You'll never get this down right. I see things as they are all the time. Less than it used to be, but I still do it at times...

As always, questions, comments, suggestions, or money for the writer, just message me.

Later.

Signed,

Arrogance

2008-09-22T19:01:00.000-05:00

Today was a day where I was sick and home from school. So this gave me a ton of time to think. So here's what I've realized today...

Over the summer, God reeled me in. He also gave me a calling. A call to reform the Church. In the Bible Belt, we get comfortable in our traditions and are opposed to change. God called me to reform the Bible Belt church. So I started to do that. I went to my youth pastor and told him what God had taught me. He said do it. Dream my dreams of reform. He also told me that I was up against a mountain. But he (really they) would be behind me 100%. So I started running.

Somewhere down the line, I lost focus. I lost my focus on Him. I stopped doing what He had told me to do for Him. I started doing it for others. I started thinking myself better than others for having a calling. I started to believe that it was me doing the work and not God doing it through me.

That doesn't work. I was listening to underOATH's song, "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape." They started singing in the song, "Hey unfaithful. Hey ungraceful. Hey unloving; I will love you." I realized something. I had lost two things. I had lost my ability to love, and I had lost my love for God. How can you do the calling of God without those two things? The basis of Christianity is all surrounded around love. I lost that.

At least our God is a God of second chances (and third and fourth and etc....). Just something I've learned over the course of today as I reflected on God's ministry through me. Hope this might help you some way.

But God did help me do one thing right. I got an accountability group started up. So that's nice. He sure is good. He keeps me up straight. If you don't have one, stop being stupid and get one. They help tremendously. What we did was set up punishments for doing something we struggle with. They really work. They have to be severe punishments though.

Just a REALLY quick word.

Anyways, as always, questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know.

Signed,

The Past Week

2008-09-14T18:33:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. It's me again. So anyways...

This past has been so stressful. Two relationships with people I absolutely love where I have no clue where they will go. Broken friends who I go to to help out of love. Chapel Praise Team. Middle School Bible Studies. School going terrible. Choreography Weekend for Singing Christmas Tree. Friends getting disgusted with me over retarded stuff. Fulfillments for Church and School. Seriously, I was even starting to doubt the existence of God. I was reading Chesterton, and he said, "The mad man is not the one who has lost all reason. He is the one who has lost everything but his reason." That was me this past week. I know He's there. But sometimes it just feels like He's really not. Or He forgot about you. Or He doesn't care anymore about where He has placed you. Don't be naive. We've all had these thoughts. But then, it just clicked.

As I go through these problems and life, God told me in a little whisper. It then became a normal voice. Then He was shouting at me at the top of His lungs. (Funny how God works, isn't it?) I was just minding my business for Chapel Praise Team, playing on a Thursday morning, just like every week. Then we came to the song, "Mighty to Save," by Hillsong. The song is a good song, but nothing I had really been moved by before. Then we got to the chorus. Most of you, if not everyone, knows it. "My Savior, He can move the mountains, My God is mighty to save, Mighty to save; Forever, author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave." While I didn't get saved (got that wrapped up a long time ago), it just hit me like a brick wall. He can move the mountains. He saved me. So why was I not turning to Him with my problems? As most of you know, things come easily to me. So this has always been hard for me. But then He told me my mission for life. So I started it. But I started it by myself. He had to hit me with school going poorly (for me, at least), two relationships in which I don't know what to do, friends who don't approve of what I do, all the busyness of my life, and one of those friendships is basically a mending of his/her own heart and the restoring of that relationship. (In a nutshell, I do something stupid, we don't really talk anymore, this person does something that they shouldn't have done, can't forgive themselves and so now, I guess the reconciliation. I hope this one goes well. This person is so important to me. They've taught me so much, without even knowing it. And they are just so amazing. They don't even know it...I think...) But it seems to me that the simplest concepts are just so hard to fully understand. I still don't fully understand the trust God part. But I'm trying to. It's definitely been a challenge. Especially since there are some things that are so important to me (perhaps a little too important...) that I just want to have control over. Ugh!

I miss the good ole' days. The ones where I'm ignorant of what's happening around me. The ones devoid of my ability to think. The ones of my little Christian life. I want that back. Life was so much easier. But I guess you really do get what you ask for. I asked to open up my eyes and show me where I can be used. He sure did do that. He gave me the ability to think. He gave me a Christian worldview. He showed me what to do.

And, to be honest, I hate it. I have absolutely no desire to do this. Of course, I really do want to. That's the Holy Spirit through me. But, in all honesty, I just wanna be a normal teenager. You know, school be easy, go to church, have a girlfriend, have parents who let me do whatever I want. I know that's probably terrible for me to have the desires of a normal teenager. But I have a calling from God to do something. So I do what it is. (and to be honest, I really do think a relationship that I never thought would ever come to life [at least, after some things I've done to this person, whomever it may be] will happen to me in the next year that will somehow change my life. I'm gonna get made fun of for saying this, but I really do believe that my spiritual gift is prophecy. So let's just see what happens...)

Anyways, please pray for me. I'm struggling with this trusting in God thing. And these two relationships. And school.

And, as always, questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know.

Signed,

thoughts on craziness and tiredness

2008-09-06T15:42:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all. Sorry it's been so long. I know you guys love these posts so much ;)

Anyways...

This past week has been an extremely crazy one for me. I've got school everyday. I've had something (or somethings) to do every day after school. Now I just want to sit back and relax. But I can't.

I don't know why. I just am having a hard time doing that. I thought sitting back and relaxing was supposed to be relaxing. Here's what I've realized.

I am tired. I need a break. For myself. No friends. No family. Just me and God. That's what I need. At Kanakuk, they call it a mountaintop experience. That's what I need (too bad there's no mountains around Memphis). So how do I get this?

I need to go off on a trail. Or just in my own backyard (I'm surrounded by cow pastures in the city. Who knew???) And I need to just open up to God. Not that he doesn't know what I'm going through or anything, but we must open up VERBALLY and BREAK DOWN. That's what I need. I think the reason for our tiredness is 1.) lack of sleep (duh) and 2.) God-ordained. I think that when we hold sins unto ourselves, we just get tired by keeping up such a strong guard. That's what I need.

But I think this is applicable to all of us. We are all tired at one time or another. What we need to do is to get alone (just as Jesus got alone for 40 days at a time) and just confess then listen to Him. Confess your sins then listen to Him. He will tell you what you need to do.

Anyways, very short, very brief, and to the point.

As always, questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know.

Signed,

This should be interesting...

2008-08-29T16:50:00.000-05:00

Alright y'all. Hey, hey, hey. What's up? Anyways...

After being told to post because it's been a week, an interesting discussion in my English class, and demands by more than one person on this, I will be writing on predestination and my views on it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not know everything. This is MY opinions over it. Feel free to express yours. But any arguing, and I threaten you over Facebook (scary...). I do not claim to know everything on this topic, or have a degree in theology. So here I go...

I believe in the middle ground. I do not believe in Calvinism (predestination) nor do I believe in Arminianism (free will). I believe in a consolidation of the two, though I lean towards the Arminianism side. Here is why I believe what I believe.

First, I do not see how you can deny either of them. They are both in the Bible. But let me clear some misinterpretations. First off, the verse in Galatians, where it says the word "predestined," is a misinterpretation. It comes from the Greek compound "pro" (before) "horizio" (horizon). What this means is like this. The earth is round. So when man looks at the horizon, he can only see a certain distance before the earth "completes" its curve and man can not see past the curve. "Pro horizio" means that God can see past the horizon. It does NOT mean that God chose where man is sent (i.e. Heaven or Hell). It simply means that God knows what is going to happen before we do. Simple as that.

Now here is how I interpret scripture. I believe that man has the free will to choose where he goes. I think that is something God does not choose for us. I also believe that God knows what we are going to choose. I don't think that God chose it for us. I think He just knows what we will choose. He is not bound by time. Past, presence, and the future all happen at the "same" time to Him. He is God. He can do that.

Another reason I don't believe in Calvinism. How can we fulfill the Great Commission (for those of you who don't know what that is, see Matthew 28:16-20; it says that we should make disciples of all nations.)? We can't with Calvinism. We can't say come to Jesus.

Now one more reason I don't lean towards Calvinism. Why should we obey the moral law if we know we are going to Heaven? I'll let you think about that for a while.

Anyways, that is what I PERSONALLY believe. Do not get hung up over this. It's really not that big a deal. We should be unified on what beliefs we do share and celebrate what we don't agree on, not let the Church get separated over it.

That's it.

As always, questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know.

Signed,

Music

2008-08-23T18:20:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. Anyways...

I was just searching through the iTunes store (as I spend a lot of time doing [lol...I'm such a loser]), and I saw the renowned rapper Lil' Wayne's new album The Carter III. Normally, I would've just skipped over it and gone to some other section of the store. But I was just wondering about something. So I clicked it.

I was listening to the 30 second preview that you get. I first clicked on "Lollipop." I'm not gonna lie. It has a catchy beat. But I then realized the potential of the song. And it's not good potential.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: watch what you put in your head. I'm all for non-Christian music. I love non-Christian music. But we must be careful and approach it with a thinking mind. We must keep our eye's (and this case, our ear's) from looking (or listening) to stuff that we know is wrong. I mean, c'mon. How holy is "Lollipop"?

The lyrics:

"N' man I ain't never seen a ass like hers

And that pussy in my mouth had me loss fo words."

Seriously? This is what we're listening to? Where have we gone?

How can we justify ourselves in front of a Holy God like that?

He wants us to be free, but we can't use our freedom to sin. Really think. Do these lyrics glorify the Lord?

That's the question that we must go with into everytime we listen to music.

I'm not perfect. Not even close. I do the same mistake. But we just gotta be careful. How can we live this whole Christian life thing with this kind of stuff?

Let's just make sure what we know we're listening to.

Not a long or detailed post. Just a quickie.

Just a thought.

As always, questions, comments, or suggestions, you know where to reach me.

Signed,

p.s. I wanna thank everyone who reads this blog. I really do it for ya'll. I hope that you guys can take what I put here and, after carefully considering it, apply it. I'm not perfect. I don't claim to be. But I hope that we can just figure this life thing out. I see great potential in our generation. We just gotta figure out who's for real and who's just playing it. I pray for all of ya'll. I hope that we can be a generation that changes the world. I say we can. But who will step up to the plate and take the challenge?

Love

2008-08-18T15:12:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. Here we go again...

Every year at Kanakuk, I always here music from someone who I've never heard of before that I really, really like. This year, it was Brett Dennen. His song that is big is "Ain't No Reason." It's really great song. I was listening to this song and the course goes, "Love will come set me free, I do believe, Love will come set me free." This just led me to thinking...

This is the basis of Christianity. Love. It's that simple. It's only through love that we are saved from our sins. It's only by love that we are free from the bondage of sin. It's only by love that we show love to others. It's only by love that we live.

Because of God's love for us and the love that is exchanged between God and us in our daily relationship with Him, we show love to others. And the more we are with God, the more we love on others. But this is everyone. Christian, atheist, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, New Age, Mormon, anybody. If they're a person, they should be loved on. It's that simple. I also fully believe that IF we really loved God, and IF we really loved others, I'm 100% convinced that the world will be changed. Remember, "Love will come set me free." Just a very, very quick word.

So here is what I'm trying to say: Love God and Love People. That's all this life is about. Loving God and Loving Others.

I just really think that we have missed this. I find cliques in the church. This isn't love. This is prejudice.

Anyways, as always, questions, comments, or suggestions, message me.

Signed,

My struggles

2008-08-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

So recently, I've been talking a ton about community. Sharing our struggles with each other, not to look down on each other, but to life one another up. So here are my struggles...

I struggle with three things really.

First, my pride. I'm not trying to brag, but I'm pretty good at most things I do. I make straight A's, am one of the fastest kids at my high school, can play the drums and the piano, and am considered a spiritual leader at my church. So it ain't to hard to see why this is such a struggle of mine.

Second, lust. My eyes use to look for any and everything that they could put their eyes on. This led me to some pretty bad places. I have my eyes under control now, but it is SUCH a struggle to keep them under control. And the images of what I used to look for are still in my brain. They come up a lot. Ugh...

Finally, my self-confidence (funny for a guy who also struggles with pride). I really do believe that an inferior view of yourself is a sin. Because of my abilities (and I'm a pretty weird guy; I think way differently than most, if not everyone who is reading this, think.), I have the tendency to get shot down and made fun of. I don't know why. It just happens. I will say that I bring some of it upon myself, by making mistakes in front of everyone. (Sometimes, getting made fun of for them hurts.)

These are what I struggle with. I definitely encourage you to share your struggles with someone. It will help you in your spiritual walk for sure. I promise.

As always, questions, comments, or suggestions, message me.

Signed,

Grace

2008-08-13T15:38:00.000-05:00

This morning, in Bible class, we were talking about legalism. We all do it. Everyone of us. My teacher then brought up how we have defeated this through grace. This reminded me of something that I think we often don't remember after we sin.

Since about 7th grade, whenever I did sinned, I literally beat myself up over it. I absolutely destroyed myself, both emotionally and mentally. On the outside, I was all goody-goody, always at church, perfect kid. But on the inside, I absolutely was destroyed. And the sad part was, I did it to myself.

In the summer of 2007, my first year at K-CO, I finally realized the fullness of grace. We don't have to beat ourselves up over our sin. We don't have to get so let down. Here is the story that drew me to this conclusion.

This girl was going to be a counselor at K-CO. She passed all the interviews and stuff in flying colors. But she didn't admit something on her application or in her interview. She struggled with having sex with her boyfriend. One day, in April I believe Andy said, she gave him a call. She had to tell him that she couldn't work that summer. She had gotten pregnant. Andy said that he wanted to condemn her. His wife was in the room and saw the look on his face. She asked him about it. He told her the story. She looked at him and said, "Give me the phone and leave the room." He did. She talks to the girl. His wife comes out later. He asked what she had told the girl. She said, "I just told her to forget it." Now, when I was hearing this, I was like, "You gotta be kidding me! This girl had sex outside of marriage, and you just say, 'Forget about it'??? How do you do that???" Then she said this, "It's the same thing as a lie. It's a sin. It's all the same. How can we be condemning others on some things, yet excuse our 'very small' sins, such as white lies?"

This struck me at the heart. I realized that I didn't have to beat myself up over this one particular sin. I didn't have to prove I was a real Christian by getting rid of this sin. I didn't have to hurt myself anymore. That struck me in the heart.

Now, this is not an excuse to not sin. It's just saying that we need to realize that sin is sin. It's covered by the grace of God. We need to ask for forgiveness and just move on. How others (or ourselves) sin should not affect the way that we look at others. It's all the same. Some sins affect us more than others, but it's all the same.

As always, questions, comments, or suggestions, drop me an email.

Signed,

Community

2008-08-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been learning and thinking a lot about community. This is very different then what we see in the church. All I see is a bunch of people saying, "Hey! How you doing?" "I'm doing fine. You?" "I'm doing fine, thank you very much."

I'm tired of this crap. I'm tired of the masks. I'm tired of "the big fake smiles and stupid lies, while deep inside your bleeding." (Simple Plan, "Welcome to My Life," off of "Still Not Getting Any...")

How should the church be? It should be a place where you shed the masks. It should be the place where you tell your struggles without fear of you getting ridiculed. I recently gave a short message at the guy's lock in at the church. (Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to happen." [or something to that extent]) I shared my deepest (and most embarrassing) sin in an effort to show others: 1.) how we should have community sharing our struggles and 2.) that this sin is wrong. I saw guys laughing! Grow up! Stop caring about what others think of you! This took me many years of thought and self-inflicted misery to come to this conclusion.

Growth happens where there is community. This is the only way (at least, that I know of) that is GUARANTEED to have growth. We keep trying to avoid it. But if we would just break down and give in to God, we would be much happier. I promise.

As always, any questions, comments, or suggestions, email me.

Signed,

Hey!

2008-08-09T19:56:00.000-05:00

Hey ya'll. Thanks for reading my new blog. Xanga was just getting gay, so I put the link to the old blog down there. But I'm gonna start posting more often, now that I have time to do this. If you have anything you would like me to discuss, let me know. Thanks for your support, guys. Hopefully, this will change the way a lot of people think and get us closer to God and get more people living for Him.

The Old Blog

2008-08-09T19:42:00.000-05:00