Future Focused

Pursuing Purpose

2008-08-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I have thinking about my actions and where I have been spending my time. The question that I have been continually asking myself is this, am I living a life of purpose? Do I pursue activities that are glorifying to God or am I content to live in my rut and do things just because I have always done them.

The conclusion that I came to is that if claim to be a sold out Christian who yearns to see God's name glorified, how can I not be purposeful in all my actions? My life is too short to waste time on activities that in essence have no purpose. Should not all my time be spent in areas that make God's name look glorious and majestic?!

Many people in Orange County are very busy people and it is good to be busy and not lazy, but our busy lives should be much different than non-believers busy lives. They love to play sports and study hard so that their name my be glorified and they may think of how great they are in their own eyes. But as Christians we are not our own masters and we have a different name besides our own to glorify. Therefore, we MUST focus on engaging in sports, clubs, etc that actually do glorify God's name. I pray that we will not buy into this culture and be busy for busy's sake but instead we should be busy for God's glory! This is a serious issue at hand for we must evaluate who we are truly living for!!! We must be purposeful and planned in our actions. As Christians we have to pursue purpose in our own lives so that God's name may be glorified!

So in conclusion, I think it is crucial that since we are called to glorify God in all things(1 Cor 10:31) we as Christians should ask ourselves a few questions:

Where do I spend my time?
Why do I spend my time in these areas?
Is God's name really being glorified in whatever areas I am spending time?
Am I content with how I am spending my time?

And lastly..

Am I pursuing purpose in my life and actions so that God's name may be glorified?

Majesty!

2008-08-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

This blog is titled and focused on discussing the AWESOME power of our God.

Yesterday morning our soccer team went on a hike and it was truly awe-inspiring to be surrounded by such beauty. At the peak was an amazing view as the sun was just beginning to come up(it was a really early hike) While looking out from the peak, I was overwhelmed with the majesty and divinity of our God. The thought that kept on coming to mind was that Truly creation screams out for God to be glorified! One can not look upon such beauty and ignore the glory of the Creator. And to take it even further is the thought that this earthly, majestic beauty can not even compare to the magnificence of God. Moses could not even look at God's face, but instead could only look at His back and even though his face was still glowing for days and they even had to put a veil over his face! And that was only after seeing the back of God!

I inserted this picture to give a visual image of what man and this world calls magnificent or majestic. But as majestic as those mountains may be, they pale in comparison to our Creator. May we never forget that we serve an awesome, infinite, eternal(think about that one for awhile) God! All of His creation cries out for His name to be praised, but the question is do we focus on the creation and forget Creator? May it never be! My prayer is that we will recognize how truly passionate God is about His own glory! All creation was made for the sake of His glory and I pray that we will recognize the great lengths He goes to glorify His own name. So, in turn, we must go to great lengths to make sure that we are doing all we can to glorify His name!

Who Prays for it More?!

2008-08-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the best week of summer yet, Revival 08! It was so awesome to see God's work and how He glorified His name through the justification of new Christians to the continual sanctification of current believers. All these thoughts of Revival have caused me to think about not only "Who wants it more?" but "Who prays for it more?"

If we really want and desire for Revival to come, isn't only natural that we would be praying for it ALL THE TIME? Whatever we want and desire should manifest itself in our prayer lives. We talk about what we like and want, so it only makes sense that we pray about what we like and what we want. So test yourself, if you really want a Revival to happen, do you even pray about it?

Furthermore, when we pray, what are we praying for? I am so ashamed of my prayers sometimes because it is almost as I forget who I am praying to. When we pray, we are bringing our requests before the Creator of the heavens and the earth! So, why don't we ask for AMAZING things to happen. Do we pray that one person will get saved today or that 1 million people will get saved today. God WILL glorify His own name so why don't we ask Him to do it in a magnificent way. We should expect God to work in astounding ways and we need to pray in such a manner. I fear that we have grown so content with little things happening that we no longer expect God to work in shocking manners. We should pray for another great awakening! Why pray for just one person to get saved when you could pray for EVERY person you know to become a Christian? God has dominion and power over all of the earth, so why don't we ask Him to glorify His name in a monumental fashion? We must remember who we are praying to! If we pray with the right motives, there is nothing wrong with asking God to do PHENOMENAL works among the world. He is a phenomenal God, so shouldn't we pray for His name to be glorified in phenomenal ways?

So when it comes to Revival, if it is truly a desire of our heart we should be praying for it continually. If we are not praying for Revival, well then we don't want Revival. And if we are praying for Revival, how are we praying? Do we pray that Revival will take over one high school group or that it would take over the whole world? May our hearts and prayers be set on Revival and seeing others saved, but let us not settle for only a few people getting saved for we desire God's name to be glorified through thousands and millions getting saved for His glory!

Get Serious!

2008-07-24T21:44:00.001-07:00

So i am departing from song inspired blogs and transitioning to conversation inspired blogs, which tend to be my favorite : )

I recently had two conversations which called into question how I would relive high school and what I would do differently. It took little hesitation for I instantly knew what I would have changed if I could have gone back.

When I was in High School I lived under the allusion that there was no real pressing need to get super serious about being a Christian. I was a good kid and did all the right things but never had that ADAMANT desire to grow and seek after God and Jesus in a radical manner. It grieves me that I wasted away years of my life being just a mediocre Christian! So my challenge to my readers is, are you getting serious?

PLEASE do not waste another moment in getting serious about your faith. Time is a gift we take for granted. We feel that we deserve life and we are so wrong! We deserve nothing but death and it is a gift that we are allowed to go on living given the disgusting nature of our sins and our rebellion against God. So we must understand that now is the time to get serious! Why wait? Are we putting it off because we want to have fun or have a good "high school experience" or "college experience". This is complete and utter foolishness!! If this is what we believe, then we are in love with the world and what Satan has to offer. It shows that we enjoy the vain passing pleasures of this life as opposed to the eternal joy that God offers. And furthermore, what makes of think that we will ever get serious? There will always be excuses and it never becomes easier later in life to get serious for the distractions and responsibilities pill up which is why it is so crucial that we get our priorities right now!

So, get serious! Start living radically for Jesus Christ today! Forget what your friends will think or what fun you think you might be missing out on. You are commanded and called to get serious today and if you say that you are a Christian than this is what you MUST do! Satan is very serious in how he attacks you(1 Peter 5) so shouldn't you get serious in how you respond? There is a battle going on and if you aren't living seriously for Christ then you are losing and it is a complete and utter travesty. So please, let us all realize, by the grace of God, that we must get serious and start living radically for Christ today, or we may never will.

Pain is Pleasure?

2008-07-22T18:08:00.001-07:00

To stay on the theme of blogs inspired by songs, this one is inspired by "Jesus I my Cross have Taken" This is a classic old hymn with lyrics that are nothing short of shocking!
I love the progression of this song, as it starts out with justification and moves through sanctification and ends with glorification. My favorite verse, however, is the third which reads

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure!
Come, disaster, scorn, and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure;
With Thy favor, loss is gain.

I encourage you to slowly reread those lyrics and take a moment to meditate on what they say. Like I mentioned above, these lyrics, to the world are shocking. It is complete and utter foolishness and idiocy to the world in which we live. Brethern, do not be decieved, the Christian life is to be lived in COMPLETELY different from the way in which the world lives. We are going directly up stream and there is no other way around it than that. If we truly desire to live the lives we are called and commanded to live, we must first understand that we are living exactly opposite from how the world lives. But before I digress too much I will get back on the topic to which I originally set out to discuss, the above lyrics.

These lyrics are kind that truly require deep and serious meditation. There is no much that I can write outside of asking you, my reader, a series of questions.

Do you really believe these lyrics to be true of your life?
Do you really care less about earthy riches and fame?
Do you really believe that pain and suffering for the name of Christ is pleasure?
Can you lose all that is around you, family, friends, material possessions and still sing that the Lord is good?
Do you love the Lord enough that everything else is so worthless and meaningless that it doesnt matter where you live or how you are persecuted but all that does matter is that you are serving the Lord and following His every command?

Think about it, pray about it. We're called to live radical lives, but the only question is... are we?

Heaven Bound

2008-07-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

So this blog is inspired by two songs: Joyful Noise by Flame and O For that Day (the quality isnt great on the link) by Enfield.

Both songs speak of heaven and the future that lays in store for those who are truly Christians. These songs and thoughts of heaven have been on my thoughts recently especially in light of the missions trip that I just went on with the high school group from Compass Bible Church. During the trip the students were challenged to view people as souls instead of how the world sees people. This comes from 2 Corinthians 5:16 where Paul says"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view."

As I read this verse, and most of 2 Corinthians 5, which is very future focused(name of my blog :) I began to meditate more on the eternal reward that lays in store and there are a few thoughts that came to mind, so here they are:

First of all, It made me greatly desire to be in heaven with my Lord and Savior. As 2 Corinthians 5:2 says, "Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling" I looked up the Greek word for longing and it is the same word that is used in Philippians 1:8 where Paul says that he is longing with the innermost part of his being. MacArthur noted that this word of longing is the strongest Greek word used to express compassionate desire and love. I was convicted by the fact that my longing and desire to be in heaven with my God and Father pales in comparison to Pauls. I need to yearn for heaven with the innermost part of my being and be continually praying for Christ's return so that I may be in His presence praising His name. Instead I desire things of this earth, even spiritual things, when in reality I should be desiring that God's name will be praised and glorified and that day will come with Christ's return. So I am praying that God will work in my life and keep me focused on heaven and what lays in store so that I may be resolved to live more radically for Him!

Secondly, thoughts of heaven and Christ's return also instilled fear into me. I can not speak for my readers, which is probably only my roommate and parents, but if I have a final tomorrow, all I would be doing tonight and right now would be studying as hard as I possibly can. In fact I would probably only sleep 4 to 5 hours, if that, because I would want to be prepared as I possibly can. Why is that? Because tomorrow is the day of reckoning, where I am called to see how much I have learned and what I have done with the information given me and much of my grade depends on my performance. In a similar manner, if I am supposed to live as if Christ's return will come as a thief in the night, 1 Thess 5, then why am I not more active in my Christian living. Should I not spend all my free time spreading the Gospel, shouting it from street corners hoping to save souls from the coming condemnation. And even in how I live my own life, if Christ was going to return tomorrow, would I spend so much time worrying about a career or my future or instead focus on living each moment completely for Christ? I have been challenged to live each moment as if the day of reckoning is coming tomorrow for I will be held accountable for all that Christ has given me, Mtthw 25:15-28, and I just like I want to be prepared for my final exam, all the more do I want to be prepared for the day I meet my perfect and holy God.

My third and final thought deals with the awesome majesty of God. While I could point to numerous passages that tell of the amazing indescribable splendor of our creator I will simply tell of how important for it has been for me to DAILY meditate on the attributes of God. I find that when I truly understand my position before God and I am in awe of who He is and His nature I can live more effectively and battle sin more ferociously as opposed to the days when I do not focus on who God is. I pray that God may grant everyone a greater knowledge and understanding of who He is so that we may humble ourselves before Him and be in awe of His might!

In conclusion, I am eternally thankful for the gift of salvation that has been given to me and I pray that I will yearn for the day of Christ's return along with living in a manner that reflects the imminence of His second coming. The purpose being that my heart will be more in love with God and His Son so that I may better glorify His name and proclaim His truths across the world!

RESOLVED

2008-06-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from the Resolved conference a couple of days ago and it was AMAZING! It was in blazing hott palm springs but the heat didnt keep 3400 hundred people from showing up to worship the Lord and hear the truths from His words! Though all the speakers were excellent, I personally felt that John Piper was the most convicting

Piper has a great mindset and I definetly reccommend reading some of his books(Desiring God, A Hunger for God, the Pleasures of God) It was very encouraging to first of all see the life that he leads and how the Lord has been faithful to grow him and make him a man of wisdom and maturity who handles the Word with reverence and accuracy. Furthermore; he is a man who is unabashed and unashamed about the Gospel and is adamant about the Glory of God being furthered. This is my favorite part about him and his sermons because they both point solely to the glory of God. Piper, by the grace of God, understands how all things must be lived for the glory of God and sees how things practically can be lived for the glory of God. While i could write more on this I should keep it short and save more later :)

But all in all, a very very good God glorifying conference that left me and my family encouraged and focused on glorifying God and focusing on Heaven so that we may live today in a manner the reflects Christ and thus glorifys God!

Long Time, No Blog

2008-06-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

Hey so its been a long time since a blogged so I figured I should write something to try and keep this page somewhat relevant. Anyways I have really enjoyed reading this book recently called "The Mortification of Sin" by John Owen. Honestly this book is a MUST read in my mind for all Christians. Never have I been struck with the how serious the battle against sin is and how crucial it is not only to fight sin but to kill sin!

John Owen addresses how to kill sin and what it means, and how it is carried out. I love how he emphasizes how it is done ONLY with the power of Jesus Christ. Any killing of sin outside of the power of God and Christ is only pompous self-righteousness that will never last, so in reality its not killing the sin but temporarily wounding it. Owen emphasizes that we must have a violent mindsight in putting sin to death WITHOUT MERCY. We can not ever tolerate sin for one moment for that is when sin takes its foothold in our lives and erodes away the foundation that we are attempting to build.

Here are a few quotes that I love from this book:

"If you are not daily killing sin, it is daily killing sin"
What an amazing quote! How easily we forget how ongoing our battle is, this quote made me realize that each day is an individual battle and that day i either conquered sin and or it conquered me. This has forced me to really look at each day and wake up with the mindset that I am going to seek out and murder the sin in my life!

"It is a love for Chirst and a hatred for the sin that put Him on the Cross that should drive out Christian living"
Yet again what a great quote!! This is really what so much of our Christian life comes down to. Do we love Christ? Do we love him enough to hate the things that our flesh enjoys? Do we love him enough to act upon what are commanded to do? I pray that we may all love our Lord and Savior in a way that can only be describe as fanatical. We should truly be Jesus CRAZY! Our love for Him needs to overflow into every area of life and then such a love will call us to HATE the sin in our life and seek it out and crucify that sin so that it may never come between our relationship with God ever again!

So what you do you guys think, are you ready to live RADICAL lives for Christ that daily seeks out to kill sin and preach His Gospel? We have a great calling and it requires a fervor that is not of this world so lets pray for each other and keep each other accountable in this area!

P.S. If you want to borrow the book let me know

Discipleship

2007-06-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I was going to originally write on "In-N-Out" Evangelism and about Bobby Blakey's, the high school pastor at my church, message but after an encouraging talk with a great friend and someone who is in some sense discipling me for a little bit I thought I would dedicate this blog to discipleship and how crucial it is to the life of every believer.

If you are serious about your Christian walk and your spiritual growth then you NEED to be discipled and if possible discipling someone. I have been discipled 3 times and have discipled someone one time and it is during these times of discipleship and accountability that I have found that I have been the most solid in my faith and grounded in the Truth(speaking of Truth read the Truth War by Dr. MacArthur I am almost done and it is amazing!)

Now we are all disciples of Christ but we also need to be disciples of other godly men in our lives. Like how Timothy was discipled by Paul so we too need to find godly, older spiritual examples in our lives to take us under their wings in some sense and help impart wisdom to us. I have been in proverbs lately(proverb of the day!) and it talks about gaining wisdom and how important wisdom and understanding is and through discipleship you can gain wisdom for the one discipling you has experienced the trials and temptations that you are encountering and he/she conqeured them so he/she can help you overcome them in a way that is consistent with the Bible and Christ's teachings.

Being discipled is pivotal to your spiritual growth for we all need examples to follow and help from those wiser than us. When being discipled you are able to look at the life of whoever is discipling you and see how they deal with problems you face and how they conquer them. Also, being discipled keeps you accountable which is necessary for proper spiritual growth. Furthermore, whoever disciples you can provide you with encouragement and teaching just how Paul encouraged and exhorted Timothy.

Now another crucial part is discipling others. If you are able to disciple others I would highly encourage you to do so. During my one year of discipling my friend I grew more spiritually that year than I had grown in previous years of my life. Discipling is a two-way street for though I was able to help teach and show my friend how Christians are supposed to live I was also held to a much higher standard. I was now an example to him and he would follow my life and my actions. Now longer, could I toy around with sin or wicked temptations for now my sinning no longer just affected me but it affected my friend who I was discipling. He was looking to my life as an example as to how to live his and so I had to make sure that my life was worthy of being an example so that I would not be someone who would lead him astray or say one thing and do another. It truly was a great time of spiritual growth for me and my friend. The best part about discipling someone is its not that hard to know how to do it because in reality all you really have to do is be like Christ. There is no crazy trick or 10 step method. What you are called to do is just be Christ-like and live in a manner worthy of His calling.

So in conclusion, if you are not being discipled, find someone who is a spiritual leader and an example to you and ask them to disciple you, 99% of the time they will love to do it! So do it, be discipled and if possible disciple someone and above all become more Christ-like.

Thierry Henry

2007-06-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

On a non-God/Christ related blog but still on a important subject...soccer :)

I would just like to express how bummed I am that thierry henry, the WORLD CLASS striker for Arsenal, the greatest football(soccer) club ever, decided to leave the gunners for Barca. It is truly disappointing and his attacking presence and flare will definetly be missed. I just hope that Van Persie will be able to step in and fill the role of Henry as the club's tailsman. I think that next year will be another difficult year for Arsenal but there is no doubt that the young talent is there and it might just take a year or two for all the younger players to mature and become the world class stars that they are destined to be. Cesc Fabergas, Theo Walcott and Robert Van Persie are just a year or more away from becoming world class stars and I just hope that with the genious of Arsene Wenger, if he sticks around, Arsenal can again make a run for some hardware in the future. All in all, the future is not too bleak for the club but Henry's depature has rocked a boat that is already not perfectly steady, but in the end I am a Gunner till I die and I will never support those Chelsea blues who buy victories nor those classless Manchester United players, I mean come on Ronaldo is skilled but he dives like crazy!

For the 99% percent of the people who read this blog and have no idea what i am talking about...thanks for reading and if anyone asks you what soccer team you like, say Arsenal.

Lawful but NOT Profitable

2007-06-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today I listened to an amazing sermon by John McArthur in which he discusses Christian liberty and exactly how it should be used. He uses the verse in which Paul tellls that Corinthians that

"All things are lawful for me(Paul), but not all things profitable. All things are lawful for me but I will not be mastered by anything." (1 Cor. 6:12)

This was a very convicting sermon for Dr. McArthur lays out what Christians should be doing with their lives and ultimately it comes down not to what can I do and get away with but rather what can I do that will please my Father and Savior. We should not try to get as close to sinning as possible and not sin but rather we should turn our backs and avoid anything that even comes close to sinning or wickedness. Rather, we should focus on making sure that what we do with our time is profitable and glorifying to our God in heaven.

We have way too little time on earth to focus on the things of the world and get lost in those pursuits. We should not be using our liberty out of selfishness and do things for ourself but rather think about others and have that affect what we do with our liberties. For example, when I am 21 it will be legal for me to drink but I will choose not to because I believe that it carries a negative image and could affect my witness. Also, it could hurt another Christian if that Christian has a problem with drinking for my drinking could cause me to be a stumbling block to them. This is why we need to make sure that we play it safe when it comes to using our liberties for why would we want to get as close to be burned as possible. Instead we should practice the cliche "better safe than sorry". This why we can make sure that we maintain reputations above reproach and not cause other brothers or sisters in Christ to stumble.

Also, Dr. McArthur mentioned that with as little time as we have on this earth why would we even consider wasting our time with those things of the world. Rather, we could be reading a Christian book, building God-centered relationships, praying, reading our Bibles or witnessing. When it comes down to it, all that will matter in eternity is what we do with our lives for God so we should be more concerened with using our liberties for God and for preparing our place in heaven so yet again it comes down to being 'Future Focused' :)

Blessing in Disguise

2007-06-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

When I was home for Thanksgiving break I got in a car accident. I was on my way to playing soccer with my friends and a lady ran a red light and T-boned my car(My brother and I shared the car). Thankfully I was not injured except to cuts on the inside of my wrists kinda near the area where the nails went through Christ's hands(weird huh?) Anyways, the car was totalled and so I had to share one of my parent's cars with my brother and I. We went back to school and took one car with us and one week later the same thing happened to my brother and that car was totalled so we went from 3 cars to 1 car in the matter of 2 weeks. At first i was really distraught because the other car was stick shift, which i do not know how to drive, and i was annoyed because I thought that I had no way to get around during my month long Christmas break. God had different plans.

It worked out that one of my friends, would end up giving me a lot of rides and i mean A LOT of rides. It was really generous of him but the most amazing thing was how close were drew because of always being in the car with each other. Almost every night we hung out he would give me a ride home and we would pull up in front of my house at 12:00ish but then just talked about God, Jesus and the Bible till 2:00 in the morning!!! It was so amazing and these talks are what kept me encouraged and on fire during Christmas break. We even moved into keeping each other accountable with certain friends we hang out with and witnessing. I was so thankful for these great talks we had for it made us much closer friends and also drew us both closer to Christ. Talk about iron sharpening iron!

Anyways, I went back to school and was telling my roommate about the amazing break I had and how encouraged I was by these great discussions my friend and I had. It wasn't till after I told my roommate my story that I realized I would have never had these talks with my friend if it wasn't for the two car accidents. For the first time I saw God's plan come full circle and I can say that I was truly thankful that those two car accidents occured. It made me realize that we all need to trust in God more especially during difficult times for we can not also see the end of the road or the purpose of the trial or temptation but we need to trust that God will guide us through and work things together according to His plan. This also ties in to being more 'Future Focused' and not focusing on the "here and now" but more on the end result and the "then and there"All in all, I can say that God works in mysterious ways and the two car accidents definetly served to be a 'Blessing in Disguise'

Blog Name- Future Focused

2007-06-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to dedicate this post to explaining why my blog is named the way it is. I choose the name 'Future Focused' for my blog because that is how all Christians should be focused [I also thought it sounded cool and had a nice alliteration going on :) ] As Christians we need to be focused on heaven and our future in eternity. In reality, all mankind should be future focused for each person needs to be concerned about the state of their soul. I have been working on becoming 'Future Focused' as of lately especially since I heard two monumental sermons that were extremely convicting.

I attend The Master's College and before the spring semester my school hosts a conference called Truth & Life. It is an amazing conference in which pastors from across the country are brought in to present God's powerful and living Word(Hbrs 4:12) to our student body. This conference a pastor named Dr. Art Azurdia gave a sermon titled "Fixing our eyes on the Cross". It was an amazing sermon that challenged all Christians to not focus on anything in our life but rather on focus solely on Christ. He spoke on Hebrews 12 and running the race in a manner where your gaze is set solely on the finish. He challenged us to not think about the next exam or what career we would have but rather to remain focused on Christ and His Cross. It was an amazing sermon that convicted me to keep my focus while running this race solely on Jesus and living as He did so that at the end of the race I may receive my prize and hear well done good and faithful servant(Mtthw 25:21)

The second inspirational sermon was giving by the pastor of my church, Compass Bible Church. Our pastor, Dr. Mike Fabarez, gave a sermon on building our boat not our house. The key point to the message was the we can focus on building on riches and acquiring wealth and success on earth but one day all that will pass away and a metaphorical flood will wash away all that we have stored up on earth and all that we will have left is what we have put into our proverbial boat. We will be living in this boat* for eternity and because of this we should focus on building our boat and not our building our house which will be washed away(Mtthw 6:19-21).

These two sermons have really helped me change my focus from worrying about the things of this life(Mtthw 6:25-34) to focusing more on my future and where and how I will be spending eternity. So I am resolved to be more 'Future Focused' with my actions and thoughts as I continue to run this race. I want to keep my eye on the finish lines and store up treasures in heaven so that I may run the race well and receive my prize.

*NOTE- It is not a literal boat or flood but rather these terms were used metaphorically for boat represents our place in heaven and flood represents the destruction of the earth which will contain much than a flood

Welcome

2007-06-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

This is my first time blogging and let me just tell you i am physced! I am really excited to be able to share my thoughts and excitement about how the Lord has been working in my life and the life of my friends. I hope you enjoy my blog and I would love any comments/criticism you guys can offer to help make it better!