Love

Today there are many ways in which we use the word 'love.' Some use it to describe their feelings, others use it to describe food. The love of another person and the love for food...can they or are they the same love? Many at this point and even myself once would have argued that of course those are not the same use of the word love and that the love described is being misused. Again, some would argue that we have ruined the meaning of such words as love because we use it so frequently and loosely. However, I now realize and argue that the love of another person, the love of food, the love of anything are all the same love. We have not ruined the meaning, we have merely misplaced the value. Originally we were all created to love God. That perfect love was displayed in the Garden of Eden without hesitation between Adam and God. Also, for a while it was displayed between Adam and Eve and between Eve and God. This love is the love that many think of when they say they love another person. Most will not think of this love when discussing food. But, love is love no matter what. Rather than the destruction of the word 'love' we have misplaced it. Instead of saying that we love God and love people, we are blinded by our desires and decide to love food. When somebody says that they love this or that they mean it. Unfortunately, that's just it; we have replaced God with idols. Idols come in many different forms and for some it, well, it is food. Hopefully, this will make us think about how we used the word 'love' and remember that God's greatest commandments are: Love God & Love Each Other. Don't misplace the love that was created to be between you and God. Where is your love?

Evil

Throughout my time in college I have heard many reasons and arguments for why people do not and refuse to believe in God. Possibly one of the most common arguments is "How can God exist with all this evil in the world?" OK, that sounds like a valid question. However, I think a better question is, how come God hasn't let you feel the wrath from sin? Yes, there are evil things/people in this world, but aren't we all evil in some way? Haven't we all said or done something that others and even ourselves would deem to be evil? How can we complain about evil in this world, when we ourselves have contributed to that evil? The argument is that if a good God exists then then he should stop all this evil in the world, after all isn't he all-powerful? Again, I bring up another question, what is evil? Evil is anything that is against God, anything morally bad or wrong. It's murder, rape, stealing, lying, cheating, gossiping, lust, anger, and much more! However, if we want God to stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit of it? If He stops us from doing evil things, what about lying, or what about evil thoughts? Where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level? If we really want God to stop evil we have to be consistent, we cannot just pick and choose like so many want to do when it comes to Christ and the Gospel. This means that you and I would be eliminated! If we think evil stuff then we should be eliminated! But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! Have you accepted this love that has wiped away your evilness?

Truth

What is truth? As I came into the college atmosphere this seemed to be the question that was on everybody's list to answer. Many people even thought that they had figured out what truth really is. Over the past few years I have heard many takes on what truth is and how it applies to everyone's life. Many people believe that truth is just relative, it all depends on what you believe. Moreover, I have heard many say that there is no way to know for sure who God is or what's really true. However, they believe in the statement that they are making, "that there's no way to know what's really true." They're saying that their statement is true. They make a circular argument that comes back on itself and removes any credibility. Furthermore, think about this, if what's true for you is true for you and what's true for is true for me, what if my truth says yours is a lie? What then, is it still true? Truth is what it is (truth) whether you believe it or not. Your belief does not determine what truth is or is not! Truth simply is truth. So how do we know what truth is? To know this we must know what truth is not, and it is not relative. Again, if truth is relative then that statement itself can't be true. There is truth, and it comes from the one that created purpose and meaning. In order to know what is true, we must study and desire to know the one that created us and as we do that, truth will be made known to us. However, this does not mean that all things will be revealed. As scriptures tell us, there are mysteries and knowledge that belong to God and humans will never know them. Truth is what it is, no matter what you believe about it. Do you know the truth?

Passion without purpose...

...is pointless. Are you passionate about something? Have you done anything about it? Think about the things that you are most passionate about, now think about what you have done to see that passion come to life. Many Christians say that they have a passion to see other people find Christ and come to know Him and love and worship Him. I would say that that is a great passion to have and that it is one that I too share. However, what have we done about it? Honestly, most of have done nothing with that passion. We have sat back and watched and wondered why the world has not changed. We say we have all that passion and yet (myself included) have done nothing with it. I pray that the deep rooted passion that we have will begin to take form and have purpose in our lives. Simply put; passion without purpose is pointless. Does your passion have purpose?

Fire

So we've all heard the story about Moses and the burning bush, right? What's the deal with God appearing to Moses through this burning bush? Let's take a look into this story from Exodus 3. Moses is hanging out in the wilderness tending to the flock of his father-in law. You can imagine that Moses isn't exactly having the best time of his life hanging out in the wilderness with sheep that aren't even his. If we continue to read, it says that there was a bush that was burning. What got the attention of Moses was that the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Because the fire caught the eye of Moses, he was able to have an encounter with God. God sent the fire upon that bush to get Mose's attention! When we go through struggles and trials in our lives, God is sending the fire to open our eyes and get our attention. At this point one could say that God wouldn't send fire to us because that is cruel; however, let us remember that God is always with us in the fire. Maybe you continually pray that the situation you are in would change and God answers with fire. He answers with fire so that he can send the rain! When God sends the fire it burns away everything that is not of Him and when he brings the rain he washes us clean and redeems us bringing us to his feet. Furthermore, when God sends fire it is to show those around you that He is able to see you through the fire (James 1:3-4). He sends it to prove his presence in your life! Sometimes we pray that God would deliver us, maybe we should pray that he would give us what we need to get through it. What we need is grace. Grace and only grace will get us through every situation in our lives. Know that God is with you in the fire and that he will send the rain. Where's the fire in your life?

Servant...Set Free

For those that know me or have seen me in the past year, know that I have a few tattoos. For those that did not know this, I have a tattoo in Greek on both forearms and a variation of a cross on my right shoulder. Teaching in a public high school I am constantly asked what they mean and why I have them. The ones that people most often ask about the ones on my forearms, as these are the most visible. Two words in Greek, δούλος and έλευθερόω. The first means “servant/bond-servant/slave” and the second means “set free/set from the dominion of sin.” Most that ask about the meaning of these even further, usually question I would tattoo slave/servant on my arm and what is the significance of being set free. I have the pleasure of working in a public high school and when students ask, I’m allowed to answer which is awesome because through these tattoos I am able to share the Gospel of Christ and what He has done in my life with these students. I am a servant of Christ, a bond-servant, bought with the price of Jesus’ blood on a cross. Since he died and paid for me, I owe him everything! Not only did he pay the price and the debt that I owed to God because of my sin, he also set me free. He set me free from the bondage of my sin. I no longer have the burden of sinful punishment on my shoulders; he set me free from that. Not only did he set me free from this, he also set me free unto serving him. He paid the price/my debt and set me free from sin so that I would be free to serve and worship the one and only Yaweh (LORD). That is why I am his servant. He has forgiven me, when bled and died and tore the veil in the temple, he set me free. Have you been set free to serve the one true God?

Anticipate

When most people think about the Old Testament, they merely think about Noah and the flood, David and Goliath and other great stories of God's work through humans. However, these stories for storytelling aren't the reason that we have the Old Testament (OT) in our Bibles today. Have you ever thought about the people in the OT and the things that occurred during their lives? These people lived, heard, and read about the things that happened to Adam and Eve and the rest of mankind prior to the flood and after the Exodus and knew that someday God was going to redeem them and bring them back to Him through a Savior, Messiah, a Son. Throughout the OT we witness people struggling with sin and having to make an offering to God for their forgiveness because in their time, Christ had not yet come. The people in the OT waited for many years and they never got to witness the birth, life, death, or resurrection of their Savior. Even in the years between the OT and New Testament (NT) writings (400 years!!!) people were still waiting. Now waiting wasn't merely just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, NO!, they were continually worshiping God for the things that He was doing in their lives and their waiting was an anticipation to what the Savior would bring to this world. Some people missed out because they got tired of waiting on God to do what He promised to do. Others were patient enough to repent, worship, and anticipate the day that would come when their sins would be washed away. In the NT these people actually got to spend time with Jesus and witness all the great things that He is until the day He ascended into heaven. Those after the NT, including us, are now waiting for His return. Like the people in the OT, we live in a sinful and perverse world and are waiting for our Savior to come to this world (again) and redeem it for good. Also, like some in the OT, some people have grown weary and tired of waiting on God, but I urge you to trust in His promises and anticipate the day of His return. Every promise, and prophecy for that matter, that was made in the OT was revealed and proven true in the NT and this is not a mere coincidence! God remains true to His word and Jesus will return. Don't miss out on the glory that He will bring, experience it now and allow Him to perfect you until the day He calls you home or until the day He returns to this earth to make it new. Anticipate that day, yet do not be anxious. His kingdom is amongst us, don't miss it. Anticipate or miss out, it's your choice.

Got Hope?

Let me preface this by saying that the following is in no way a political statement or judgement/bashing...On my way to work a couple weeks ago I drove up on this car that had an interesting magnet on the back of it. This magnet caught my eye because all it said from where I could see it was "Got Hope?" As I got closer to the car I realized that uderneath this slogan were the names "Obama/Biden." I am troubled by the fact that people are placing their hope merely in the government. This has nothing to do with the people that are going to be in office, but the fact that people are looking to the government for their hope is troubling. While this has been somewhat of the slogan for this presidential race, even now people are beginning to find out that not everything is as it seems and that all their hope for the future is beginning to fade already. As we celebrate Christmas this year with hope for the future I would challenge all of us to remember the reason that we celebrate Christmas to begin with. We celebrate this time because of the ultimate gift that God gave us, that being his son Jesus! Not only did Jesus live and die by crucifixion (historically proven), but he rose again to bring all of us hope for our lives and for our future. The hope of people cannot be merely placed in the government. People will let us down and promises will be broken unless they are the ones that were made by the only sinless creator. Christ provides us with everlasting hope and I pray that each person would find hope in him and the promise of salvation that he and he only can provide. Even through these economic struggles, wars, and government changes may our hope be found in him and not in government officials. Got hope?

Have you ever...

Have you ever felt like you were merely stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time? Have you ever wished that you were somewhere else or how about somebody else? Surely at some point in life these thoughts have all crossed our minds. For some this could have been due to many things but for many this is usually due to rejection or failure. It is interesting to note how these things can affect us in such a great way. Why is it that simple rejection or failure drives us to the point of questioning why we are and who we are? Simply put this is because of what we call our human righteousness. We have this thought of who we are and when something comes along and questions that then we begin to wonder whether or not we are who we thought we were. Most of us go through life thinking that we can attain righteousness by being a good person or by being a certain way. The Gospel teaches us that there is nothing that we can do in order to become righteous before God except surrender and bow at the foot of the cross of Christ. We cannot attain this perfect self by our own deeds, rather it comes from God alone. When something comes along and questions these thoughts of who we thought we were we immediately turn and question God. But if we have the understanding that this life is Christ's then we remove all grounds for pride and boasting. This in turn removes anything that has to do with building ourselves up and becoming righteous. Once we come to grips with the fact that this life is not ours and that we have traded spots with Christ then we can begin to understand what David meant in Psalm 13. David understood that there was nothing he could do to become righteous before God and he knew that even though his adversaries questioned him and rejoiced when he was shaken, he would wait on the Lord. Even though people may question who we are, even though they may tempt our character, even though we may fail, even though we may be rejected; we must wait on the Lord. Don't become discouraged and demoralized and begin to question God and why you are who you are and alive in this time. Rather I challenge you to wait on the Lord for He is the one who has made the perfect plan for your life and only He can guide you through it no matter what. Be patient, His promises never fail. Are you willing to wait?

You are...

Another prayer and reflection that has been in my mind over the past few days reminding me of what my life is all about...


we bow down before You
because of who You are

and You are my Joy
You are my Love
You are my Life
You are my Peace

we bow down before You
because of who You are

and You are my Guide
You are the Way
You are the Truth
You are the ONE

we bow down before You
because of what You’ve done

Jesus you lived
Savior you died
oh, Lord you have risen
and now You live

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Predestination v. Free Will

I was asked to write an article dealing with the issue of predestination and free will. The following are my thoughts about this issue:

Predestination v. Free Will. The latter has been one of the biggest arguments and one of the reasons that churches will split. This article is written to merely present an opinion and challenge you, the reader, to take a deeper look at scripture and wrestle with it. There is evidence for both predestination and free will in scripture, therefore, neither one can simply be dismissed. There are many evidences of both of these in scripture and we must therefore wrestle with these scriptures and accept that both of these issues have scriptural credibility.
Comparing these issues is very similar to the comparison of the human and divine nature of Jesus. Both of these natures are found to be in Christ and there are evidences of both of these in scripture. The term that is used to describe the acceptance of the human and divine nature of Christ is “Hypostatic union,” which means that the two natures are united in one person. Similarly, both predestination and free will exist and have scriptural evidence.
These issues cause us so many problems mainly because we are incapable of wrapping our minds around the fact that both can exist in unison. In the book of Deuteronomy there is a discussion about the knowledge of God, and in the New Testament there is discussion about the mysteries of God that man will never know. The issue of predestination and free will is one of those things that is never going to make sense in our minds. Below is a diagram that can help to explain is. Basically, both predestination and free will go towards this line of knowledge and above that line is the knowledge of God that we will never know. Furthermore, above this line it is unknown to us what happens to these two views, do they intersect/overlap, or do the simply continue on their own? This again is something we will not know.
Both of these views fall under the title of systematic theology and should be treated as and discussed with care and with humility. The one thing about systematic theology is that it relies on a system and that scripture ‘fits’ into that and any scripture against it is explained away. I challenge anyone reading this to take the standpoint of what one might call a “Biblicist.” By this I simply mean that you would search the Bible and believe what the scriptures say about each point/issue.
Remember that in the discussion of any issue it is never good for either party to become frustrated or angry. Discussion is good but arguments can be harmful. Remain humble in everything that you do and in all that you do, do it with love.

"Just kidding..."

"Just kidding." We've all said it before. I'll even bet that many of us have said that phrase today even in the past hour or two. I know what you're asking, "what's so bad about saying that?" It seems so innocent doesn't it? We joke and just have a good time because it is fun and brings laughter and what seems like joy to others. But that's just it. It simply seems like joy. Think about the times that you have used that phrase or others like it. For me this has often been at times when others have been around and I or somebody else made a comment about another person or about a situation. It all seems like it's just fun, but have you ever thought about how that makes the other person feel? Whether or not you agree with me, you cannot ignore what the Bible says about situations like this and about our speech. "Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows and death. So is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, 'Was I not joking?'" Proverbs 26:18-19 Scripture says that the one who uses this phrase is like a madman throwing arrows and death around at people. The word that people like to throw out here is 'deceives.' That word means so much more than what we commonly think. It literally means to mislead, so yes even joking is to mislead or lie to someone. At this point it is common to think/say that it's just a joke, nothing big. The question you have to answer for yourself here is: 'what constitutes a sin in need of repentance?' Simply, to you, is a lie a sin at the same level of, say, murder? According to the scriptures this answer is resoundingly, YES, a sin is a sin and all sins are need of repentance and redemption. In our culture and in the way that we conduct our lives it is difficult to not joke or to cut down somebody but we must strive to make this cease. Could you imagine what could happen if we constantly lived our lives with love and encouragement that is portrayed in the Gospel? It would be amazing. "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word that is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give GRACE to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29 "But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." Colossians 3: 8-10 Encourage one another in conduct and in speech and sacrifice yourself so that the name of Christ may become famous. Love in the way that you know that you have been loved, in a way that gave up life to take on the impurities of all to provide salvation for all. Great things can and will happen if we conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. Will you love?

Psalm from the heart

I was fortunate to have some time to myself today and spend some time with God. During this time I simply just reflected on life and blessings and just began to pour my heart out to God. I ended up writing down the main prayer of this time and it came to be somewhat of a poem/song/psalm if you will. So here it is...

i laid down at your throne
asking You to be my own
i have fallen, yet again
O, please Lord be my gain

take it all from me
so that i can see
take it all from me
so that i can see

i am now on my knees
asking You, "forgive me"
restore me, yet again
O, please Lord be my gain

take it all from me
so that i can see
take it all from me
so that i can see

i want to be with You
every moment with you
life is Christ, death is gain
O, please Lord be my gain

take it all from me
so that i can see
take it all from
so that i can see
here i am, here i am
here i am, before you

That was simply what my heart was crying out as I thought about where I am now and where I was before. What is your heart saying?

Sin's Round

Have you ever wondered when sin starts? Maybe you've phrased that question like this: How far is too far? For a long time I was under the impression that sin began with the actual physical process of sinning, in whatever fashion that was whether be gossip, etc. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Matthew 5 discusses this issue of sin and when it truly begins. In verses 21-22 Jesus tells us, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." Furthermore in verses 27-28 Jesus explains again, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." This passage out of Matthew explains it very clearly, sin begins with your thoughts. For me that is troubling. I control what I am thinking and sometimes it is anger, hatred, gossip, lust, this list goes on and to think, those are all sins. My first objection, which I believe comes from Satan, is "wait, I only thought those things, I didn't actually say or do anything!" According to the Christ that died for my sins, the sins he suffered for began in my mind and unfortunately some I carried out through actions. It is important that we realize that sin begins with the mind and when we find ourselves thinking about sinful things that it is time to then confess and repent. The following poem was written by George Herbert and the title is Sin's Round and it portrays perfectly the beginning of and the execution of sin in our lives:

SORRY I am, my God, sorry I am,

That my offences course it in a ring.

My thoughts are working like a busy flame,

Until their cockatrice they hatch and bring:

And when they once have perfected their draughts,

My words take fire from my inflamed thoughts.

My words take fire from my inflamed thoughts,

Which spit it forth like the Sicilian hill.

They vent their wares, and pass them with their faults,

And by their breathing ventilate the ill.

But words suffice not, where are lewd intentions:

My hands do join to finish the inventions.

My hands do join to finish the inventions:

And so my sins ascend three stories high,

As Babel grew, before there were dissentions.

Let ill deeds loiter not: for they supply

New thoughts of sinning:

wherefore, to my shame,

Sorry I am, my God, sorry I am.

George Herbert

That poem portrays it perfectly, sin begins in the mind and before you know it your sin has grown threefold. My Lord sorry I am, that my sins function in this process. Once you think it, it has already been put into action and it is already sinful. Between these two passages in Matthew Jesus explains to us the importance of repentance and forgiveness. Matthew 23-24 tells us that if we are presenting an offering, wanting to grow in our relationship with God, taking communion, etc. we must "first be reconciled." If there is a personal grievance or bitterness then you have to take care of that before you come into the presence of God. It is important that we love in all facets of our lives including our thoughts, take care of that before it is too late and you are standing before God on judgment day. We are held accountable for our attitudes, our thoughts, and our actions. Are you aware of your thoughts?

"Love 'em..."

For the past year I have been very convicted about something. I have tried to seriously think about how I treat and even think about other people. Unfortunately, that is what I have been convicted about, not that I haven't treated people with love, but what do I really think about them? Have you ever heard or even said, "I love them, I don't like them/can't stand them, but I love them?" I found myself saying that a couple of times over this past year and it never really meant anything to me until I sat down and thought about what exactly I was saying (also by being in prayer and listening to God's word being preached I was able to recognize this). What I have come to realize is that to say that is to completely refute yourself. "Love 'em, don't like 'em, but I love 'em." Really? What does it mean to love? To love somebody is the greatest commandment according to Jesus, so it is nothing to take lightly. Again, 1 Corinthians says that the greatest thing is to love. So what does it mean to not like somebody, can you really love them if you don't like them? I think the answer to that question is no. Love is something so powerful that it should overcome any 'imperfections' that someone might have or even annoyances. Yes, people in my life annoy me and can get on my nerves and do things that I do not like, BUT love is something that overcomes those petty emotions and overrides my initial thoughts. 1 Corinthians 13 defines what Love is and what all Love overcomes; therefore, to say that you don't like somebody but you love them is incorrect. Everybody will do something that annoys you and that you don't like, but Love can and will overcome those feelings so embrace it, pray for patience, and learn to love as Christ Loved us! When we sin we directly disobey and even offend God, yet he looks upon the sacrifice of His SON and Loves us enough to forgive and accept us. When you experience the forgiveness, grace, mercy, and LOVE that was shown to us only then will you truly understand what it means to love. I can only love because HE first loved me. Patience will come, be in steadfast prayer, learn what love really is and surrender to it. Will you choose to Love as Christ loves?

Humility

What does it mean to be humble? Is it enough to just say that I am not proud or arrogant? Personally I think that it is not enough. Being humble means so much more than to simply state or think that you are not proud or arrogant, isn't that arrogance in and of itself? Humility is not simply just a statement, rather it is a state of being. It is knowing the truth but at the same time know that that Truth is greater than even you and your knowledge. We are working through a series in studentLIFE that is called "Jesus is Greater Than..." Through this series we are showing and teaching the students about other worldly religions and cults and showing them why Jesus is better/greater than all of these. I know what you're thinking, that is far from humility. But, we are teaching them that Jesus is greater than ourselves/them and that while yes Jesus is greater than all things, we are to deliver this message with love. 1 Corinthians says that faith and hope and love are very important, but that the greatest of these is LOVE. Through all of these teachings we are portraying that humility comes through love, and though Jesus is greater than all of these worldly religions the best thing that we can do is to LOVE each other and LOVE the world and know that Jesus is greater than we are! That is what humility is. Having a reason for the hope that we have and sharing that through love and gentleness (1 Peter 3:15) is what we are called to do. Humility can be such a tough thing especially when pride is something that we are taught to have in everything that we do. So how do even begin to have humility? I'm glad you asked. Humility is not only gained through love, but it is gained through prayer! Prayer should be the basis of everything that we do and prayer should lead us to humility. The reason this is so is because to be in prayer is to fall down on your face in complete reverence of the Almighty God and to SURRENDER to Him. To be in prayer is to say, Lord I can't do it, I need you. Prayer leads you to humility. I once heard it described in this way: the gate into heaven is a short gate and those who stand tall cannot enter, only those who are face down can enter the gate. To be in prayer is to surrender all that you are and to admit that you cannot do anything without Christ, and that my friends is humility. Pray boldly, pray consistently, pray specifically. Are you ready to pray?

Line in the sand

Since I have been working with youth there is one thing that I have begun to notice not only about youth ministry but about churches and other ministries as a whole and that is we have very low expectations of them. Simply put, we are not challenging people to rise above and make a difference. This is one thing that we noticed this past summer after talking to some of the youth ministers that came to camp. Many of them told us that they merely skimmed over scripture and didn't want to go too deep because they were afraid that the students wouldn't get it. Wow! The reason they aren't maturing already and deeply knowing the scriptures is because we have no confidence in them that they can do it. This is evident in college ministries and some churches as well. The reason Christians of all ages aren't growing and maturing in Christ is because those teaching them have set the bar so low and have left it there since the beginning not allowing them to grow further. What this causes is apathy and it causes many Christians to fall asleep.

Martin Luther described a dream he had about hell in this way: he envisioned Satan sitting on his throne and demons were coming to him and reporting back to him. The first one came to him and said, "some Christians were on this caravan through the desert and I caused some tigers to attack them and kill them." Satan said, "that does nothing for me because their souls are with Jesus." Another demon came up and said, "Satan there were some missionaries on a boat and I caused this great wind and these waves hit the ship and killed all the Christians." Satan said, "Again you don't get it, I'm after their souls!" This wise demon came to Satan and said, "For 10 years I've been trying to lull this guy to sleep, and finally he went to sleep." And with that hell began cheer and applaud because ONE person had fallen asleep.

Don't fall asleep! God is drawing a line in the sand and saying "WAKE UP!!!" It's time for us to wake up to the power and grace of God or else we are going to miss out on it all and miss out on the amazing things that God is doing in our churches and in our cities. If you fall asleep then there is no use for you. Continue to grow and do this, not by joining another Bible study, but do it by serving. Serve in your local church, become committed to it, become a member of their family, and dedicate yourself in every way. Furthermore, serve your community show them the love of Christ that they have been missing because the church has been sleeping. "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." ~Ephesians 5:14~ Wake up, don't be left behind, raise the bar and offer all that you are. Are you falling asleep?

Something Unanticipated

The summer has come to an end and the only thing that I can say it that God has truly blessed my life simply by allowing me to witness His glory and amazing grace every week of this summer. There were hundreds of first time decisions to follow Christ made by youth and even some adults this summer and to be able to watch people finally surrender and understand what it means to truly believe has been absolutely amazing! I have been able to learn from many great people including some amazing men after God's own heart, simply put this has been another amazing summer.

Now that the summer is over, that means that it is time for us to return home and to school. With that in mind, all that has occurred over the summer is not meant to be taken with you wherever you go. By this I simply mean that, for me, Caswell will only happen at Caswell. Things that I have experienced at Caswell are meant for that place only. But what will happen is that the experiences I had have taught me and have equipped me so that I can tell others of God's glory. I cannot expect that things at school will be just like camp, because they simply won't be. The reason this is entitled "Something Unanticipated" is because of a couple of reasons. First, this slogan has been taken on by our BCM and is on our t-shirts for this year. The other reason is because we as Christians need to become something that our world has not anticipated. What I mean by this is that we have become content within our clicks and our Christian groups and we do the same things every year and our world knows exactly how to react to our routine-like events. My proposition is that Christians will become so passionate for Christ that they begin to truly desire to see lives changed. Once this happens they will begin to get away from their comfortable groups and will go out into the mission field that God has given them and will do anything to see Christ impact others. It is time that we pursue Christ will all that we have and truly come to know what it means to believe (believing means that you will do anything and will give up everything), engage our campus and its many cultures by sacrificing all that we have so that Christ can become famous through our lives, and impact nations by teaching and discipling/mentoring others so that they can go out and show the love of Christ to the world. Simply put, it is time that our ministries stop doing what we are doing (it's not working) and become something that our campus doesn't anticipate! How do we do this? Sacrifice our comfort, give up our lives, and stop at nothing to make the name of Christ famous. It is time for a revolution, it is time for a change, it is time for a revival. Stop allowing what we do to be anticipated. It is time for something new, something unanticipated. Are you ready? Even better, Are you willing?

Comfort

After some observations over the past couple of weeks and even the past couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that Christians are just simply too comfortable. Yea I know, we hear that all the time, "it's time to get out of your comfort zone...etc..." but seriously it is that time. We see so many people in need of something and we know exactly what they need, yet all we have for them is pity. Instead of offering them the love of Christ, we sit there and say that we are sad and sorry for their situation. If you had some life threatening disease that was curable would you want somebody to give you the cure or simply feel sorry for your situation? People DO NOT NEED OUR PITY!!! If we claim to know Christ then we need to stop talking about how sorry we are for their situation and get off of our butts and get out of our comfort zones and make a difference. It's the same thing as if you have a problem with somebody. It is time for you to stop talking about the person or their situation and go to them directly! 1 Peter 3:15 says that we are to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have with gentleness and reverence. It is time for us to be out there in the world telling others about the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! As Romans 8:38-39 says, nothing absolutely NOTHING will separate from the love of God, and yet we sit back and watch the people around us and all we have is pity. Revivals will happen when Christians stop having pity and share the love of Christ with others! Are you still sitting back with pity?

Excuse/Justification

Something I have been thinking about lately is why people, especially myself, are always making excuses and trying to justify themselves and others. Unfortunately, so often instead of doing my quiet times and spending time in the Word or in prayer I make excuses and then find other things to do and try to justify the other things that I am doing. The other day I went to a couple of our youth's baseball game and while I was there myself and one of the mom's got to talking to another couple of families about the Summit church and all I continued to hear were excuses to why they could not go to church and how they really wanted to go to church there but that they just couldn't do but it was ok because they had baseball tournaments and they would sometimes listen to the sermons online. Trust me, I am far from perfect but when we begin to make excuses and begin to justify our actions or the actions of others then that right there is a key sign that we are in the wrong already. Think about it, when you begin to justify why you are doing something you are usually already doing something wrong! Honestly take a moment and think about a time where you were justifying the things you were doing and the actions of others. I can almost guarantee that each time you were already sinning before you tried to justify it. We have to stop making excuses and stop trying to justify ourselves and realize that we are sinners and allow for Christ to be our justification to the Father, for he substituted His life and died the death I deserve so that I can be in relationship with God. Confess your sins, trust in Christ, and spread His name throughout the ends of the earth. Are you still making excuses?