Get Serious!

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.