A Bold Faith in a Bold God

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It seems that ever day a new fiasco happens. We have shootings, a gradual decay of our rights, and sin filling every empty space in our world. It’s easy to see the darkness and to get caught up in it. But I fear the more we do that, the less we see the hands of God holding us all together. You see, no matter how dark things get, there is always light. The light of Jesus. If He is truly our hope, then we are never without light; we are never without hope.

It would be ignorant to say there isn’t darkness. There is. But to say there is no hope and no light, is far more ignorant.  Christian, the God of the universe holds us in His strong hands and He won’t be letting go. No matter what happens, good or bad, we can know that He is in control.

It is a lot easier said than done, but it must be done. To be a Christian without a true faith that God is in control is a hopelessly lonely way to live while in the arms of God.

He’s got us. He always has and always will. Let us with bold faith, knowing God is in control and nothing happens without His knowing, for we serve a bold God.

The darker things appear, the bigger the opportunity for light to shine.

Numbers

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We are in a culture that are very easily impressed with numbers. I get easily impressed with numbers. Number have become the way to judge success and influence. Numbers can be a great thing! Don’t get me wrong, because numbers mean an audience and an audience can mean an influence. The problem comes when it is all about the numbers. When your audience becomes just another number, it is time to refocus. Because it isn’t about the numbers. It’s about the people you are influencing. Whether you have a thousand followers on Twitter or 20, you have a voice. Use it and don’t worry about the numbers.

Finding success in your numbers leads to a total emptiness. If you want to be a YouTuber and you see the millions of views on others’ content and a few views on yours, you will begin to doubt your abilities and worth. Trust me. It’s the same with blogging, retweets, and Facebook/Instagram likes. If you are putting out content to get recognition through your numbers, you’re doing it wrong.

You are worth more than any number or lack thereof. If you are involved with any type of content creating, don’t worry about the numbers, just create. Pray that what you are doing glorifies your Creator and that it will make a difference.

Not being motivated by numbers is one of the hardest things for me to do. I am fascinated by numbers and desire larger numbers. But doing anything out of that motivation is an incredibly empty and shallow motivation. No one likes to be treated like a number, especially for someone else’s success.

Whether you have small numbers or big numbers, you have influence. Use it, don’t abuse it, and don’t find your worth in the numbers. Find your worth in the Creator who gave you the PEOPLE to listen and read what you have to say.

Let’s start a movement of passionate content creators that couldn’t care less about the numbers.

The Sweet Love of God

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking today about the love of God.

It’s an indescribably complex topic of thought and discussion. I can’t do it justice in the least. But I know that His love is the purest of loves. It is one that cannot be competed with.

The love of God is sweet. No one is out of His love’s boundaries. The worst of sinners is welcomed with open arms into the love of God. The best, morally good person is welcome, though he will find his goodness is but dirty rags compared to the goodness of God in His love.

The love of God is beauty at its purest. A life that has not been touched by love of God has simply not existed. Everyone, believers or not, has been touched by the love of God in more ways than even describable here.

The love of God is accepting, but those being loved by Him will not go without change. God accepts all people, but He will not accept sin in His presence. He loves us too much to see us ruled by the sin He has freed us from. God despises sin. His children are expected to pursue holiness over sin. Like all great fathers, His love comes with consequence to those who do not obey. However, He does not reign with a paddle in hand, waiting to strike. His love brings us chance after chance. Sure, we will mess up and we will be messy.

But that’s what makes God’s love so sweet.

God knew when He built the Earth that we wouldn’t get it right and we would continue to mess up.

That’s why He sent Jesus!

Jesus became human, died on a cross, and rose again to show us that He loves us! He did all that to prove His love and to free us from bondage!

If you are struggling tonight with a sin of some sort, can I ask you to tell someone? Can I ask you to give it over to God? He doesn’t want you to suffer from the bondage sin holds you with. In fact, He loves you enough to hang on with you. Give it over to Him and let Him beat it for you.

That is the sweet love of God.

A love so pure, nothing can rid us of it. A love that bears all things with us. A love that fights all things for us. A love that loves again and again, no matter how many redoes we have to go through.

The sweet love of God is truly the only “true love” that will satisfy.

Embrace the unfailing, beautiful, sweet love of God tonight.

The Journey Begins

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With a cheer, firecrackers, and Carson Daly, the new year was brought in. The anticipation of a year filled with many opportunities and growth is stronger this year than it has in the past for me. We have begun to set goals we want to accomplish, some big and some little, and today begins the journey.

The journey isn’t going to be easy, however. In fact, some days it’ll get to the point when we might just not do what ever it is we have set out to do. In a week the passion and desire will get less and less and pretty soon we will have forgotten all about the goals we made and we will continue into 2013 the same as we did last year.

And the year before that.

And the year before that.

And so on and so forth.

But, we don’t have to let defeat be the only answer. Sure, the excitement of the new year and new goals will wear off, but that shouldn’t keep us from stopping. That shouldn’t be the reason we look back on December 31, 2013 and wish 2013 had been different. Because when I look back one year from now, I want to see where i have gone, what I have done, and how God did it all through weak little me. Some of my goals aren’t even big, but I know I will benefit from getting into the habit of doing them.

So this year, the year 2013, let it be the year we accomplished our goals. Let it be the year we kept on moving even when everything in us wanted to stop. Let it be the year God used us in mighty ways because we didn’t give up and we clung on to the God who gave us purpose and helps us reach that purpose.

The Church VS Abortion

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the relationship the church has with abortion. Relationship may be the wrong word… War is a better term for the versus the church and abortion carries against each other. Before I write what has been on my mind, I want you to know that I am against abortion and in no way support it.

You may agree with me and you may not; I like that. The church has been very open about their hatred against abortion. Everyone knows how little the church can tolerate abortion. And I don’t think we should tolerate it. We should be against it. It is ungodly and it is without a doubt, against God and His creation. We protest abortion and we advocate all pro-life advocates. We cry out to God to change the country that has turned its back on Him and has gone their selfish and sinful way. But here is what I have been thinking: If they know we hate abortion, have we offered them anything else? Have we offered those thinking about having an abortion or have even had an abortion any hope? The church has been called to reflect Christ’s light. We have been commanded to love our neighbors out of our love for God. My concern is that in our hatred towards abortion, we have painted a picture of hatred towards those who are involved with abortion. We are quick to spew our hate for abortion like we spew something sour, but we should be quicker to offer help, healing, and hope in Jesus’ name to those who are involved in issues like this. I fear we haven’t done our part. It’s clear the church is against abortion, that much is sure. The church is outspoken about their hate for abortion. They are, however, too silent about the grace and hope in Christ for those who’ve had abortion.  Have we offered open arms to the girls who made a poor decision and instead of dealing with it, chose to abort the consequence? Have we been too quick to anger and not quick enough to offer hope? Christ is love and in the Gospel is found true hope and grace. In our repulsion of all things abortion, we have missed the beauty of the Gospel. The Gospel offers hope, grace, and forgiveness through God; love, yet it is missed in our message. Our cheesy posters and guilt-deploying anti-abortion tactics do not offer the Gospel for the lost. 

I am calling the church to offer open arms to those involved in abortion. To love those who support and have done what we are against goes against our nature, making it radical. We have been offered radical love by Christ and, in turn, must offer the same radical love and forgiveness to those in need of it. In case you missed it, we are all in need of it.

Let us give the girls who have had abortions a second chance. It’s what Christ has done and will continue to do. We must reflect Him. 

Clear by Twenty One Pilots

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Read the lyrics to this song. So awesome.

 

I wish that I had two faces to prove which theory works,
Yelling on the street corner or cleverly masking your words,
I take my face off at the door ’cause I don’t know who they will take me for,
I wonder if I tell them what I did last night,
Whether or not I got caught, they just might,
Wage war on you, therefore it’s true,
That I shot my general on my side of enemy lines.
I’m the son of all I’ve done,
Impostor, Been fostered, Then my new father drained my dirty blood.
I’m not trying to be lying to you,
But it takes a clever guy to do what I do,
It takes some chivalry and well placed energy,
To subliminally get yourself inside you,
Introspection is the name of this session,
Spread this infection, reflect it on the next one,
The next one, the next one, and when we’re done,
We’ll all have made something new under the sun,
I’m not done, I’m not done yet, no,
Kick me off the stage and take my microphone,
Then you’ll walk up to me and when you get close,
I’ll look you in the face and say, “Where’s your home?
Where are you going and why are you here?”
Have you asked these questions? Have you been sincere?
Want to know what I believe, it’s right here,
Dig a little deeper and it’s crystal clear.
I will tell you what I can,
But your mind will take a stand,
I sing of a greater love,
Let me know when you’ve had enough.

I’m Alive! -A Surprise Post (Part 2) (Also titled, “It Is Incredible to Be Used By God, Even When You Are Weak and Inadequate.”)

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I told you I’d be back.

Okay, so let’s begin.

So this summer, as you know, God led me in a different direction than I was originally thinking I would go. As He seems to like to do a lot, God blew my mind. If I hadn’t been at camp this summer, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity that I did.

Around the second week of camp the junior high program assistant, Kelsey, approached me with an opportunity that would quickly become the greatest opportunity that has yet been handed to me. As it was, the junior high program holds purity nights for the junior high campers on Wednesdays. The guys have a “Man Night” where the program director just rocked the worlds of almost every guy in junior high (and anybody in attendance for that matter.) He challenged them with the Word of God to be men of God. The girl side of the program held a purity panel. Earlier in the day, the girls would write down questions to be asked and answered by three men on a panel later that night.

When I was approached by Kelsey, she asked me to be on the panel in order to fill the place of one of the panel members that wouldn’t be able to make it. I, of course, said yes. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I had never been on a panel, let alone a panel answering questions about relationships, modesty, and purity. It was terrifying. That night, God blew me away. I answered the questions with awkward, prayer-filled answers, but God decided to use me anyways. Apparently Kelsey liked what I had to say and she invited me to do it the rest of the summer. Each week, the girl’s seem to be receiving the opinions with gracious and ready-to-learn hearts. But that wasn’t the best part.

 

To read more, head over to my other blog where I originally posted it! http://wp.me/p1RYsx-fO

God Loves Annoying People Too.

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It happens in every person’s life and it comes through various situations. We all know it when we see it and we despise it.

And that is the moment when we come across a person that annoys us. There is always at least one person who drives us up the wall. And that person needs love, too.

I’ve come to the realization that loving people isn’t always easy. It’s especially not easy when it’s people you can’t stand.

It’s really easy for me to love the one’s who are living in sin and the one’s who have made mistakes, because I know that Christ died for the broken. Unfortunately, it’s still hard for me to love the people that annoy me.

Here’s the thing: Those people are broken too.

Can we be honest for a second? We are ALL broken. In one way or another, we are all in serious need of some Jesus love.

Yes, even annoying people.

I’m challenging myself and anyone reading this to love on the people that are like fingernails on a chalkboard. Because they need it too.

Just like us.

Car Radio- Twenty One Pilots Lyrics

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One of my favorite bands of all time right now is Twenty One Pilots. Their mix of electronic music, piano, lyrical masterpieces, and fast raps/spoken word is a lot like heaven in my ears. If you haven’t heard them yet, I urge you to! Here is one of my favorite songs, Car Radio:

I ponder of something great
My lungs will fill and then deflate
They fill with fire
Exhale desire
I know it’s dire
My time today

I have these thoughts
So often I ought
To replace that slot
With what I once bought
‘Cause somebody stole
My car radio
And now I just sit in silence

Sometimes quiet is violent
I find it hard to hide it
My pride is no longer inside
It’s on my sleeve
My skin will scream
Reminding me of
Who I killed inside my dream
I hate this car that I’m driving
There’s no hiding for me
I’m forced to deal with what I feel
There is no distraction to mask what is real
I could pull the steering wheel

I have these thoughts
So often I ought
To replace that slot
With what I once bought
‘Cause somebody stole
My car radio
And now I just sit in silence

I ponder of something terrifying
‘Cause this time there’s no sound to hide behind
I find over the course of our human existence
One thing consists of consistence
And it’s that we’re all battling fear
Oh dear, I don’t know if we know why we’re here
Oh my,
Too deep
Please stop thinking
I liked it better when my car had sound

There are things we can do
But from the things that work there are only two
And from the two that we choose to do
Peace will win
And fear will lose
There’s faith and there’s sleep
We need to pick on please because
Faith is to be awake
And to be awake is for us to think
And for us to think is to be alive a
And I will try with every rhyme
To come across like I am dying
To let you know you need to try to think

I have these thoughts
So often I ought
To replace that slot
With what I once bought
‘Cause somebody stole
My car radio
And now I just sit in silence

I ponder of something great
My lungs will fill and then deflate
They fill with fire
Exhale desire
I know it’s dire
My time today

I have these thoughts
So often I ought
To replace that slot
With what I once bought
‘Cause somebody stole
My car radio
And now I just sit in silence

PS. I hope you enjoyed this song as much as I do. Please do not JUST listen to this song, but listen to every single one of their songs a thousand times over.