It always amazes me of how God deals with each person in their own way. The destination is always the same, but the journey is very unique. And in each of us, there are all sorts of different gifts/talents/abilities. Sometimes it seems like everyone either plays guitar or piano. My mom always wanted me to learn piano… I ended up learned the drums. The other night while at an all night prayer meeting (of which I made it until about 3 am or so), we were at a location that uses some resources of a particular ministry that I don’t necessarily prefer. None the less, hopefully someone is able to still meet God in some form or fashion. There are God given gifts (Rom. 12:3-8), Jesus given gifts (Eph. 4:11) and Holy Spirit given gifts (1 Cor. 12:7-11).
Right now, the ‘church’ is undergoing a major transformation. People are just looking for more. They’re tired of meetings… they’re looking for true relationship and true fellowship. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong w/ meetings. A corporate gather has it’s time and place. But Christianity is about a relationship. A relationship between you and God, you and other believers and you and the world. Some folks won’t even SAY the name of God because they feel it’s not reverent enough for them. And that’s fine per say. It does bother me some when some people are wearing ball caps in a corporate gathering. Especially when that cap has NOTHING to do with God. But I usually let it slide, although I would prefer them take it off at the time. Just like it’s polite to take your hat off when your praying OR during the national anthem. It’s just something done out of reverence for a particular time. So in that aspect, I can understand a little why some may not feel comfortable in saying or printing the name of God or other aspects of His Divine nature.
I for one did not grow up saying Mr. or Ms. and the person’s first name. But when living in the south and parents are trying to train their kids to address me properly, they throw in the Mr. Shawn (for the record, I personally don’t like it). I grew up calling my religious leaders by their first names. Respect is a position of the heart, not just in a title. In my talking with them, my respect and given and shown. And most leaders nowadays just introduce themselves by their first names anyways. So, needless to say, it gets confusing at times. I personally don’t want those of whom I’m ministering to not looking at me because their trying to be respectful. I want to make eye contact with people and show them that they matter to me. I love it whenever people I’m friends with come up and give me a hug.
I’ve personally found over time that the more love you have for someone, respect and reverence comes automatically. But all this to say that I see a different way of the church learning to ‘fight’ a battle: in the Spirit, in a position of son ship, knowing our full authority which is as a child of God. I’m not talking about just having proper theology (which is important), but it’s out a love relationship you have with Jesus.
It’s like there is a difference between saying “I don’t want to watch that particular movie or engage in that particular behavior because of these reasons” and “I can’t watch this particular movie or participate in this particular behavior because my church doesn’t allow it.” The first one is moreso addressing that fact that YOU as someone who is in a relationship with the Lord and knowing it will hurt that relationship that you don’t want to engage in a particular behavior. The second one is rules and laws put on by someone else. I just spent a couple days at a local apologetics conference, listening to various messages about defending the Christian faith. That’s good and well, but sometimes it’s like if you can be argued into the kingdom of God, there is probably a good chance you can be argued out of it.
If you look in the Old Testament, the Israelites were given rules via Moses from God to not engage in certain activities. If you look in the New Testament, Jesus starts to make it more relational. He wants to examine the heart of the person and their motives. That’s because He wants the relationship with the person more than just a list of do’s and don’ts.
One of the most impactful things that has happened for me was to experience the presence and love of God for myself. When you experience God, there is something that happens that goes beyond comprehension. Mere seconds in the presence of Abba Father can do what listening to hours and hours of sermons will never be able to accomplish. Why is it that whenever a child is hurt, the first thing they do is run into the arms of their parents or someone they know loves them?
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Healing Is In The Blood
One of the things about Jesus and what He did for us on the Cross is the job of reconciling us to God the Father and restoring us to our rightful place and position in Christ. This morning as I joined a prayer meeting before our church service started, we were praying along the lines of abiding in the presence of God and allowing Him to fill us up. Out of the blue, I started to think about one of the quote that is found on the Statue of Liberty. It reads "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (Or this is at least one of the quotes that is there. There are a few other quotes as well.)
In any case, as I was praying into this, the Holy Spirit brought Matt. 9:12 to mind. It's where Jesus is sitting and eating w/ the sinners and tax collectors (a big no no) and He tells those inquiring about what He's doing that its not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. And that He hasn't called the righteous but sinners to repentance.
During this time, I was praying that God would save me and our church from just mere boring services and church meetings. But that we'd be a people marked by the very presence of God. When someone comes in that is messed up, they find a people that want to work w/ them to get them back on track with the Lord. For some folks, this is quick and over in no time. For others, it may take some time.
I don't know about anyone else, but I know of folks who have some messed up lives. Luckily, I personally was spared from a lot of junk, although the Lord is always working on me to refine my character (He disciplines those that He loves.) But I was thinking about the spiritual implications of the above quote and how it applies to the church. America was founded by immigrants. It was founded by those who wanted to start over. It was seen as the land of opportunity. And a lot of that stuff is still the case today. (It's a generalization, I know we have our share of problems and issues. I'm quite well aware of a lot of the junk that happens in the political sector.)
But I was asking the Lord about the implications and what He was showing me. Part of our job as the church is to be like a hospital. We bring in the wounded and we get them cleaned up. We pray with them and look out for them and love on them. My friends list on here includes some interesting characters. But I love it because I'm able to love on people as Jesus did and hopefully I'm representing at least a little bit of the life of Jesus in me.
What was really neat was that later on during the service, during a part where prophetic words are given at times, one of the speakers mentioned the exact same verse above! I was like "wow, the Lord is saying something right now about this..." I knew all of this before, but sometimes, you just need a fresh revelation of it.
In any case, as I was praying into this, the Holy Spirit brought Matt. 9:12 to mind. It's where Jesus is sitting and eating w/ the sinners and tax collectors (a big no no) and He tells those inquiring about what He's doing that its not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. And that He hasn't called the righteous but sinners to repentance.
During this time, I was praying that God would save me and our church from just mere boring services and church meetings. But that we'd be a people marked by the very presence of God. When someone comes in that is messed up, they find a people that want to work w/ them to get them back on track with the Lord. For some folks, this is quick and over in no time. For others, it may take some time.
I don't know about anyone else, but I know of folks who have some messed up lives. Luckily, I personally was spared from a lot of junk, although the Lord is always working on me to refine my character (He disciplines those that He loves.) But I was thinking about the spiritual implications of the above quote and how it applies to the church. America was founded by immigrants. It was founded by those who wanted to start over. It was seen as the land of opportunity. And a lot of that stuff is still the case today. (It's a generalization, I know we have our share of problems and issues. I'm quite well aware of a lot of the junk that happens in the political sector.)
But I was asking the Lord about the implications and what He was showing me. Part of our job as the church is to be like a hospital. We bring in the wounded and we get them cleaned up. We pray with them and look out for them and love on them. My friends list on here includes some interesting characters. But I love it because I'm able to love on people as Jesus did and hopefully I'm representing at least a little bit of the life of Jesus in me.
What was really neat was that later on during the service, during a part where prophetic words are given at times, one of the speakers mentioned the exact same verse above! I was like "wow, the Lord is saying something right now about this..." I knew all of this before, but sometimes, you just need a fresh revelation of it.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Intimacy Factor
I have been in countless church services throughout my life. I grew up in the church. Mainly, the ‘charismatic/Pentecostal’ circles. So believe me when I say I have experienced many different things. I’ve been on foreign missions trips and ministered in various churches in the region where I currently live (Charlotte, NC) and growing up (Lancaster, PA). During these services, I’ve experienced some really awesome things like prodigals coming ‘back home’, the sick healed, the lost finding Jesus. I’ve experienced a lot of interesting ‘manifestations of the Holy Spirit’. Some quite bazaar to your natural mind. All that to say that I’ve been around the proverbial block.
And can you believe that all that stuff really doesn’t satisfy? I mean, all the above is really neat and interesting and it gives you some awesome stories to tell around the dinner table or some awesome conversation pieces. But I don’t think that when I stand before God on Judgment Day, He’s going to be asking about that. I don’t think that it’s something that is of importance to God. Yeah, He’s proud of me for being a son and pursuing Him. But it’s more about a relationship between me and Him that He’s concerned about.
A number of years ago, I was asked to speak at a youth retreat. So in the time leading up to it, I was praying and asking the Lord what was on HIS heart for this event. I wanted to preach a good “revolution” message, rally the troops, that sort of thing. But during the prep time, it just wasn’t coming together. I had a few notes and some awesome compilations I thought would be neat to share. But it still wasn’t coming together. The morning of, I was sitting in a room with two of my friends who came to help minister and the speaker from the previous night, Steve Hoffman. Steve looked at me at one point in time and said “Shawn, these kids have grown up in church. They know all the right things, they know all the rules. But most of them have never had an encounter with God Himself to make a difference in their life.” Those words went like a dart right into my heart.
That morning, the Lord gave me John 15. I quickly read it and knew somewhat of where I was going. We can have all the services we want; you can do all the conferences you want. But when there is no intimacy with the Lord, I wonder at how much of a difference all that is going to make. People nowadays are crying out to be heard. They’re crying out to feel needed and wanted. They’re crying out for relationships! They’re crying out for a depth of a reality! They’re open to the supernatural and wanting to see if the church has anything to offer more than just meetings and hype and a whole lot of talk. I think that many people want to see if we as the church can put actions to our words.
Let me take a step back here really quickly. There is nothing wrong with church services and meetings and programs necessarily. But when that is replacing a true intimacy with the Lord, it gets scary. Whether you attend a small house church or a community church or a mega church, that isn’t the point here. My question to you is do you know the Lord in a deeply personal way? Do you have a life giving relationship with Him? I know that at times its hard to pray and hard to read the Bible. Sometimes you may have those times where you feel like all the prayers you pray and the Bible reading you’re doing isn’t amounting to anything. But it does make a difference. Remember, a relationship takes work. There really is no cookie cutter way for it. There are emotions and feelings involved.
A number of years ago while in Bible school, the leaders decided to shut the school down for a couple days and just have a time of prayer and fasting. I was noticing a difference in the direction of the school and it was starting to concern me just a bit. This school was known for its revolutionary mentality and it seemed like we were getting soft. And then it dawned on me: maintaining intimacy in the church truly is a revolutionary idea! As I said earlier, being in different churches I have seen a lot. All these programs that were in effect didn’t seem that productive. The church was being more influenced by the world rather than the other way around. The saints weren’t being equipped for the work of the ministry. It seemed like a lot of it was a one man show done by the pastor or leader of the church.
I remember one time, I was having ice cream with an elder in a church. I simply looked this gentleman in the eyes and asked “Can you name me one time when you had a life changing encounter with the presence of God?” He sat there for a bit and eventually just shook his head no. My heart broke for this guy. You can have all the proper theology and it’s important to know the Word of God! But is it coming out of a heart attitude that says “I NEED to do this” rather than “I WANT to do this”? Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is take a theological truth and turn it into an experiential reality.
Take this as an encouragement to develop and maintain true intimacy with the Lord. The Bible says that we’ll be known by our fruits. One of the best ways, if not the best, is to spend that time with Him. Since each person is different, it’s going to look different for each and every person. Dig into the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to cultivate that intimacy with Him.
And can you believe that all that stuff really doesn’t satisfy? I mean, all the above is really neat and interesting and it gives you some awesome stories to tell around the dinner table or some awesome conversation pieces. But I don’t think that when I stand before God on Judgment Day, He’s going to be asking about that. I don’t think that it’s something that is of importance to God. Yeah, He’s proud of me for being a son and pursuing Him. But it’s more about a relationship between me and Him that He’s concerned about.
A number of years ago, I was asked to speak at a youth retreat. So in the time leading up to it, I was praying and asking the Lord what was on HIS heart for this event. I wanted to preach a good “revolution” message, rally the troops, that sort of thing. But during the prep time, it just wasn’t coming together. I had a few notes and some awesome compilations I thought would be neat to share. But it still wasn’t coming together. The morning of, I was sitting in a room with two of my friends who came to help minister and the speaker from the previous night, Steve Hoffman. Steve looked at me at one point in time and said “Shawn, these kids have grown up in church. They know all the right things, they know all the rules. But most of them have never had an encounter with God Himself to make a difference in their life.” Those words went like a dart right into my heart.
That morning, the Lord gave me John 15. I quickly read it and knew somewhat of where I was going. We can have all the services we want; you can do all the conferences you want. But when there is no intimacy with the Lord, I wonder at how much of a difference all that is going to make. People nowadays are crying out to be heard. They’re crying out to feel needed and wanted. They’re crying out for relationships! They’re crying out for a depth of a reality! They’re open to the supernatural and wanting to see if the church has anything to offer more than just meetings and hype and a whole lot of talk. I think that many people want to see if we as the church can put actions to our words.
Let me take a step back here really quickly. There is nothing wrong with church services and meetings and programs necessarily. But when that is replacing a true intimacy with the Lord, it gets scary. Whether you attend a small house church or a community church or a mega church, that isn’t the point here. My question to you is do you know the Lord in a deeply personal way? Do you have a life giving relationship with Him? I know that at times its hard to pray and hard to read the Bible. Sometimes you may have those times where you feel like all the prayers you pray and the Bible reading you’re doing isn’t amounting to anything. But it does make a difference. Remember, a relationship takes work. There really is no cookie cutter way for it. There are emotions and feelings involved.
A number of years ago while in Bible school, the leaders decided to shut the school down for a couple days and just have a time of prayer and fasting. I was noticing a difference in the direction of the school and it was starting to concern me just a bit. This school was known for its revolutionary mentality and it seemed like we were getting soft. And then it dawned on me: maintaining intimacy in the church truly is a revolutionary idea! As I said earlier, being in different churches I have seen a lot. All these programs that were in effect didn’t seem that productive. The church was being more influenced by the world rather than the other way around. The saints weren’t being equipped for the work of the ministry. It seemed like a lot of it was a one man show done by the pastor or leader of the church.
I remember one time, I was having ice cream with an elder in a church. I simply looked this gentleman in the eyes and asked “Can you name me one time when you had a life changing encounter with the presence of God?” He sat there for a bit and eventually just shook his head no. My heart broke for this guy. You can have all the proper theology and it’s important to know the Word of God! But is it coming out of a heart attitude that says “I NEED to do this” rather than “I WANT to do this”? Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is take a theological truth and turn it into an experiential reality.
Take this as an encouragement to develop and maintain true intimacy with the Lord. The Bible says that we’ll be known by our fruits. One of the best ways, if not the best, is to spend that time with Him. Since each person is different, it’s going to look different for each and every person. Dig into the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to cultivate that intimacy with Him.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Hardest 18"
Sometimes I feel like I don't have much of a testimony. I mean, i grew up in "the church" and i never really had a rebellious phase. I asked Jesus into my heart around 4 or 5 years of age, was baptized in water around 9 and just recently re-baptized in water about a year and half ago. Then I was baptized in the Holy Spirit about 12 years of age. You would think life would just be all fine and dandy after that, right? Man, I wish that was the case...
See, whenever you decided to get serious about your relationship with the Lord, literally all hell comes against you. For some, it's like Murphy's Law kicks into full effect. Because the target that is put on your back just keeps getting larger and larger.
I started out in private school, at a smaller Mennonite school in Lancaster, PA called Lititz Area Mennonite School. My family came out of the Mennonite church was I was about 18 months old (that's according to my mom). And we started going to a local charismatic church called DOVE Christian Fellowship. So, I remember growing up in church and being charismatic, you sometimes see interesting things happening. Nothing like snake handling or things like that, but the Holy Spirit moving and people's physical bodies hitting the ground or shaking or other things like that.
I can remember one meeting, it was the first time I had ever seen anyone 'slain in the spirit' or 'fall out', whatever you want to call it. I was just like "wow, that's... interesting." I was like "shouldn't someone help the person, i think they just fell over..." My parents informed me as to what was going on. And i accepted it because I didn't know to question my folks more about it.
But I can actually remember the night I asked Jesus into my heart. I don't remember the exact date, but I can remember what we were doing. At that time in my life, it was just my older sister Shalyn, me and my younger sister Amber. My younger brother Austin wasn't around yet. But my parents would tuck us into bed and pray with us. This night, my dad just said "if you want to, while i'm praying, you can just tone me out if you want to and ask Jesus into your heart." (Nowadays, i just tone them out without their permission at times.... but that's for another note...) So, I asked Jesus into my heart, to be my Lord and Savior... I wish I would've known better what I was getting myself into. But I was young and naive.
I can also remember the day I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and shortly there after, starting to pray in tongues. We were having a special children's church and they were speaking on the baptism of the Spirit. At the end, they asked for anyone who wants to come up and receive it, to do so. So, I thought "what do I got to loose?" So, I went up, got prayed for, felt really nothing and went back to my seat. They said to just start to pray. So I did. I tried to say a few things, which mainly sounded like gibberish. But at the end, the speaker said "ok, i'm going to close everything out here with a quick prayer." At the end of the prayer, when they said "and in Jesus name, Amen." That's when everything let loose on me. I started to pray in the Holy Spirit! I at first thought it was someone around me, but I quickly realized it wasn't! Later on, I was talking to my parents and they explained to me what happened.
It wasn't until a couple years later, me and my friends started to pray for revival. Now what exactly were we praying for... I'm still trying to figure that out and that was well over 10 years ago. But then we heard about this church in Pensacola, Florida that was experiencing revival. It was called the Brownsville Revival. So, we decided to go down to the youth conference called "Branded by Fire". They weren't kidding. There was a fire of the Holy Spirit there that just charged me. I can remember the first night there, they lined us up in lines to pray for us. This little older lady comes up to me and just puts her fingers to my forehead and says "Lord, Brand him with your fire." Next thing I know, i'm laying on my back looking up at the roof of the civic center we were in. I tried to get up but the Lord wasn't through dealing w/ me. I was glued to the floor and I couldn't move. So, i just laid there for a bit longer until I could move. At which time, my right leg would start twitching sporadically. It wasn't a medical condition at all. It was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
That night, the speaker spoke about the Unsanctified Slide. I think everyone left at this point in time and he was just talking to me... or at least that's how it felt. I wish I could fully explain at that happened at the youth conferences, but that would be a novel. Let's just say that the Lord shook the hell out of me... quite literally.
All the while, I was in public school. And I was pulling full time missionary status in the school. I was there to demonstrate Jesus. And despite myself, the Lord STILL used me. All this to say that all these years the Lord has been teaching me and training me how to demonstrate His love to a hurting and dying world. I entitled this the "The Hardest 18 inches" because that is the length between your heart and your brain. I knew all the right things to say and do growing up. But until it becomes a reality in your heart, it's just head knowledge. Now, the Lord can use the head knowledge. But more than anything, He wants your heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We don't invite the Lord into our minds, but into our hearts.
A part of the calling I feel I have is to awaken a sleeping church. I can do evangelism and reach out to the lost and dying, those who don't know Jesus. But my main concentration is dealing w/ those INSIDE the Body of Christ. If i had to loosely categorize my life, I would say that my giftings lie in the prophetic pastoring and teaching. Yes, the Lord still uses in me in all sorts of aspects. He can do that. But those are the areas that I feel the strongest in.
See, whenever you decided to get serious about your relationship with the Lord, literally all hell comes against you. For some, it's like Murphy's Law kicks into full effect. Because the target that is put on your back just keeps getting larger and larger.
I started out in private school, at a smaller Mennonite school in Lancaster, PA called Lititz Area Mennonite School. My family came out of the Mennonite church was I was about 18 months old (that's according to my mom). And we started going to a local charismatic church called DOVE Christian Fellowship. So, I remember growing up in church and being charismatic, you sometimes see interesting things happening. Nothing like snake handling or things like that, but the Holy Spirit moving and people's physical bodies hitting the ground or shaking or other things like that.
I can remember one meeting, it was the first time I had ever seen anyone 'slain in the spirit' or 'fall out', whatever you want to call it. I was just like "wow, that's... interesting." I was like "shouldn't someone help the person, i think they just fell over..." My parents informed me as to what was going on. And i accepted it because I didn't know to question my folks more about it.
But I can actually remember the night I asked Jesus into my heart. I don't remember the exact date, but I can remember what we were doing. At that time in my life, it was just my older sister Shalyn, me and my younger sister Amber. My younger brother Austin wasn't around yet. But my parents would tuck us into bed and pray with us. This night, my dad just said "if you want to, while i'm praying, you can just tone me out if you want to and ask Jesus into your heart." (Nowadays, i just tone them out without their permission at times.... but that's for another note...) So, I asked Jesus into my heart, to be my Lord and Savior... I wish I would've known better what I was getting myself into. But I was young and naive.
I can also remember the day I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and shortly there after, starting to pray in tongues. We were having a special children's church and they were speaking on the baptism of the Spirit. At the end, they asked for anyone who wants to come up and receive it, to do so. So, I thought "what do I got to loose?" So, I went up, got prayed for, felt really nothing and went back to my seat. They said to just start to pray. So I did. I tried to say a few things, which mainly sounded like gibberish. But at the end, the speaker said "ok, i'm going to close everything out here with a quick prayer." At the end of the prayer, when they said "and in Jesus name, Amen." That's when everything let loose on me. I started to pray in the Holy Spirit! I at first thought it was someone around me, but I quickly realized it wasn't! Later on, I was talking to my parents and they explained to me what happened.
It wasn't until a couple years later, me and my friends started to pray for revival. Now what exactly were we praying for... I'm still trying to figure that out and that was well over 10 years ago. But then we heard about this church in Pensacola, Florida that was experiencing revival. It was called the Brownsville Revival. So, we decided to go down to the youth conference called "Branded by Fire". They weren't kidding. There was a fire of the Holy Spirit there that just charged me. I can remember the first night there, they lined us up in lines to pray for us. This little older lady comes up to me and just puts her fingers to my forehead and says "Lord, Brand him with your fire." Next thing I know, i'm laying on my back looking up at the roof of the civic center we were in. I tried to get up but the Lord wasn't through dealing w/ me. I was glued to the floor and I couldn't move. So, i just laid there for a bit longer until I could move. At which time, my right leg would start twitching sporadically. It wasn't a medical condition at all. It was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
That night, the speaker spoke about the Unsanctified Slide. I think everyone left at this point in time and he was just talking to me... or at least that's how it felt. I wish I could fully explain at that happened at the youth conferences, but that would be a novel. Let's just say that the Lord shook the hell out of me... quite literally.
All the while, I was in public school. And I was pulling full time missionary status in the school. I was there to demonstrate Jesus. And despite myself, the Lord STILL used me. All this to say that all these years the Lord has been teaching me and training me how to demonstrate His love to a hurting and dying world. I entitled this the "The Hardest 18 inches" because that is the length between your heart and your brain. I knew all the right things to say and do growing up. But until it becomes a reality in your heart, it's just head knowledge. Now, the Lord can use the head knowledge. But more than anything, He wants your heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We don't invite the Lord into our minds, but into our hearts.
A part of the calling I feel I have is to awaken a sleeping church. I can do evangelism and reach out to the lost and dying, those who don't know Jesus. But my main concentration is dealing w/ those INSIDE the Body of Christ. If i had to loosely categorize my life, I would say that my giftings lie in the prophetic pastoring and teaching. Yes, the Lord still uses in me in all sorts of aspects. He can do that. But those are the areas that I feel the strongest in.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Muslims On The Mall
We left Concord just after 5am and headed towards Washington, DC. We had a couple vehicles go up. Our goal was to simply just walk up to the Muslims attending their prayer gathering in DC and give them a dvd called "More Than Dreams". (check out www.morethandreams.org to see the dvd we were giving away). We separated into teams and we took up different areas. And I was soo proud of the whole team. Everyone did a wonderful job and just displayed the Love of Jesus soo effectively I think. Some of the teams were right on the Mall itself and others, such as mine, were positioned in areas around the mall. I was outside of Union Station in front of the fountain. That way, when the people were coming back from the Mall, they went right past me and into the train station.
My team consisted of myself, Brian Mitchell, Michael Bowman and Evan Smith. Brian got to pray with quite a few folks and we even witnessed some healings during the time. One Muslim guy that needed a cane to walk received prayer and no longer needs the cane (Praise the Lord!) We also gave him a dvd and he promised he'll watch it. There were many 'seeds' planted during this time and i'm just praying and trusting the Lord that our efforts won't be in vain. I've learned that God likes to pull surprises and do things that we never thought possible.
For different events, there are different methods of evangelism. Sometimes, there are times to get on the mike and set up speakers and do preaching like that. Other times, its the relational evangelism. Sometimes you mix them up. Ultimately, you have to ask the Lord what is the best way to do it. Take it on a case by case basis.
I know we had a lot of folks praying for us. Many who I know that they wanted to be there in person but weren't able to. Hey, when your praying for us, your still with us. And honestly, the Muslim community isn't something that is like on my heart and mind all the time. But they're people and Jesus loves them and died for them as well. So, because God wants to see them come to repentance and into right relationship with Him, I'll take time for this special event and do what I can and trust the Lord to bring in the harvest.
One kinda neat thing I witnessed while I was there was Vice President Biden's motorcade went by. We were right outside the Russell Senate Offices and all of a sudden, the cops shut down the road and we asked an officer who was coming and he paused for a second and just said "someone important". Well, about 2 minutes later, Biden's limo, under escort of course, went by. I got a slight quick glimpse of him but perhaps because I didn't vote for him, i was more interested in all the security that goes into protecting him. It did remind me of the movies with all the cops and the Secret Service... my tax dollars at work...
So, after about 14 hours of travel and a couple of hours of handing out dvd's and walking around Washington DC, we'll see what happens. I know I would love to go back up to Washington and play tourist. There is soo much history there and lots of activity.
Also, a friend of mine who was there with me had a few awesome testimonies of the Lord touching some people. I wanted to share them with you.
I prayed for a Muslim man who was really struggling to walk, he had a big brace on his right knee and was leaning heavily on a cane. As I prayed for him in the name of Jesus he said he was touched and felt better and started waving his cane around in the air and he was just carrying it after that, not using it. So Jesus touched him and brought healing to his leg, showing him the truth of who Jesus is.
Had a great witnessing encounter with a Hindu who come to find out lived only 10 minutes from me in Charlotte – talk about divine appointments, here I am 7 hours away from home and I meet someone that lives around the corner from me in Charlotte, so awesome. I gave him my information and one of the DVDs we were giving out and I am hoping to talk to him soon in Charlotte or Concord.
I prayed for another Muslim man who said his leg hurt and then had a great conversation with him about the Torah, the Psalms, New Testament and the Koran. They believe the first 3 are messages from God, but were corrupted by man, but the Koran has not been corrupted by man. I was able to get him to agree that the words of the Bible are true and accurate, but the interpretations of man of the Bible are sometimes inaccurate. Then I was able to get him to look at John 14:6, and how else could that verse be interpreted then Jesus is the only way to eternal life? He seemed to be a little lost at that point, but he really seemed to receive what I was saying and I am praying that he will come to the knowledge of the truth soon.
- Anonymous
Shawn here again... I was right close by as these events actually happened and they really encouraged me as I talked to other Muslims. It was soo awesome to see how the Lord moved while we were there. As we step out, the Lord comes through for us. He is such an awesome Savior!
My team consisted of myself, Brian Mitchell, Michael Bowman and Evan Smith. Brian got to pray with quite a few folks and we even witnessed some healings during the time. One Muslim guy that needed a cane to walk received prayer and no longer needs the cane (Praise the Lord!) We also gave him a dvd and he promised he'll watch it. There were many 'seeds' planted during this time and i'm just praying and trusting the Lord that our efforts won't be in vain. I've learned that God likes to pull surprises and do things that we never thought possible.
For different events, there are different methods of evangelism. Sometimes, there are times to get on the mike and set up speakers and do preaching like that. Other times, its the relational evangelism. Sometimes you mix them up. Ultimately, you have to ask the Lord what is the best way to do it. Take it on a case by case basis.
I know we had a lot of folks praying for us. Many who I know that they wanted to be there in person but weren't able to. Hey, when your praying for us, your still with us. And honestly, the Muslim community isn't something that is like on my heart and mind all the time. But they're people and Jesus loves them and died for them as well. So, because God wants to see them come to repentance and into right relationship with Him, I'll take time for this special event and do what I can and trust the Lord to bring in the harvest.
One kinda neat thing I witnessed while I was there was Vice President Biden's motorcade went by. We were right outside the Russell Senate Offices and all of a sudden, the cops shut down the road and we asked an officer who was coming and he paused for a second and just said "someone important". Well, about 2 minutes later, Biden's limo, under escort of course, went by. I got a slight quick glimpse of him but perhaps because I didn't vote for him, i was more interested in all the security that goes into protecting him. It did remind me of the movies with all the cops and the Secret Service... my tax dollars at work...
So, after about 14 hours of travel and a couple of hours of handing out dvd's and walking around Washington DC, we'll see what happens. I know I would love to go back up to Washington and play tourist. There is soo much history there and lots of activity.
Also, a friend of mine who was there with me had a few awesome testimonies of the Lord touching some people. I wanted to share them with you.
I prayed for a Muslim man who was really struggling to walk, he had a big brace on his right knee and was leaning heavily on a cane. As I prayed for him in the name of Jesus he said he was touched and felt better and started waving his cane around in the air and he was just carrying it after that, not using it. So Jesus touched him and brought healing to his leg, showing him the truth of who Jesus is.
Had a great witnessing encounter with a Hindu who come to find out lived only 10 minutes from me in Charlotte – talk about divine appointments, here I am 7 hours away from home and I meet someone that lives around the corner from me in Charlotte, so awesome. I gave him my information and one of the DVDs we were giving out and I am hoping to talk to him soon in Charlotte or Concord.
I prayed for another Muslim man who said his leg hurt and then had a great conversation with him about the Torah, the Psalms, New Testament and the Koran. They believe the first 3 are messages from God, but were corrupted by man, but the Koran has not been corrupted by man. I was able to get him to agree that the words of the Bible are true and accurate, but the interpretations of man of the Bible are sometimes inaccurate. Then I was able to get him to look at John 14:6, and how else could that verse be interpreted then Jesus is the only way to eternal life? He seemed to be a little lost at that point, but he really seemed to receive what I was saying and I am praying that he will come to the knowledge of the truth soon.
- Anonymous
Shawn here again... I was right close by as these events actually happened and they really encouraged me as I talked to other Muslims. It was soo awesome to see how the Lord moved while we were there. As we step out, the Lord comes through for us. He is such an awesome Savior!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The State Of The Union
I think it goes without saying that there are some changes taking place in our nation currently. And many of them are not looked upon with favor by many. Sky rocketing unemployment rates/job loss; a government that has largely lost the trust of the people they're there to serve; children having to deal with things that they shouldn't have to deal with; the family unit being torn apart... etc. You get the point.
I grew up in the public school system. In the public schools, they have a certain curriculum that isn't favorable to the gospel. Now granted, I may have grown up in a highly conservative around. I just picked up a book the other day in the store called "Brave New Schools" by Berit Kjos. I just started it, but it addresses soo many vital ideas that are being presented in school and even in society.
I graduated 3 years ago from FIRE School Of Ministry. They're mandate that they feel the Lord has put on their hearts is to be a training center for the Jesus Revolution. Check them out at www.fire-school.org. I also still attend the church there and service in various outlets. The president of the school, Dr. Brown, has authored several books, two of which I want to mention here because they made a profound effect on me and I want to present them to you, the reader. One is called "Revolution: The Call to Holy War" and the other one is called "Revolution In The Church." Now, I want to mention right away then when we say 'revolution', we are NOT talking about a violent over throw of anything. But we are talking about doing what we can do to make a change in society. Through evangelism, discipleship, prayer, bible study and other things of the like.
One of the biggest things that I personally see that needs to change is the hearts and minds of the believers and disciples of Jesus. I've grown up all my life in the church. Mainly, the non-denominational denomination/charismatic. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the biggest things that I have seen is the fact that we need to get our acts together. So often, it seems like church is treated more like a gigantic social club. Now, i'm NOT against fellowshiping with other believers and encouraging one another. But what kind of impact are we having on society? Are we known in heaven and feared in hell? (These are questions I often ask myself). Now, if you've been a friend of mine of Facebook here for any amount of time, you know that I put up all sorts of political stories. It's one thing to sit around and post things about how bad things are, but we have to take it one step further and provide viable solutions to the problems.
Now obviously, our first and most powerful solution is the Good News of Jesus Christ. It's one thing to preach it, it's another thing to live it and walk it out. Let us show the world that we mean business and show them the Love and Truth of Jesus Christ, thus making a truly lasting impact on the lives around us.
I grew up in the public school system. In the public schools, they have a certain curriculum that isn't favorable to the gospel. Now granted, I may have grown up in a highly conservative around. I just picked up a book the other day in the store called "Brave New Schools" by Berit Kjos. I just started it, but it addresses soo many vital ideas that are being presented in school and even in society.
I graduated 3 years ago from FIRE School Of Ministry. They're mandate that they feel the Lord has put on their hearts is to be a training center for the Jesus Revolution. Check them out at www.fire-school.org. I also still attend the church there and service in various outlets. The president of the school, Dr. Brown, has authored several books, two of which I want to mention here because they made a profound effect on me and I want to present them to you, the reader. One is called "Revolution: The Call to Holy War" and the other one is called "Revolution In The Church." Now, I want to mention right away then when we say 'revolution', we are NOT talking about a violent over throw of anything. But we are talking about doing what we can do to make a change in society. Through evangelism, discipleship, prayer, bible study and other things of the like.
One of the biggest things that I personally see that needs to change is the hearts and minds of the believers and disciples of Jesus. I've grown up all my life in the church. Mainly, the non-denominational denomination/charismatic. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the biggest things that I have seen is the fact that we need to get our acts together. So often, it seems like church is treated more like a gigantic social club. Now, i'm NOT against fellowshiping with other believers and encouraging one another. But what kind of impact are we having on society? Are we known in heaven and feared in hell? (These are questions I often ask myself). Now, if you've been a friend of mine of Facebook here for any amount of time, you know that I put up all sorts of political stories. It's one thing to sit around and post things about how bad things are, but we have to take it one step further and provide viable solutions to the problems.
Now obviously, our first and most powerful solution is the Good News of Jesus Christ. It's one thing to preach it, it's another thing to live it and walk it out. Let us show the world that we mean business and show them the Love and Truth of Jesus Christ, thus making a truly lasting impact on the lives around us.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Guatemala, 2009
In all my excitement of writing the last note, I forgot to say what we actually did. Our actual idea for the trip was to do a "Champions for Christ" sports camp for the kids. I got to teach a bunch of 6-9 year old kids how to play baseball and soccer.
They weren't too thrilled with baseball, but they loved soccer. I'm not sure if we actually taught them anything in that arena actually. Most of these kids grow up with a soccer ball (or futbol) around. So Monday thru Thursday we did the sports camp. We started off around 9am and went until about 1pm. It may not sound like much, but remember, this is under the Guatemalan sun. But the temperatures were about like Charlotte actually. I was just amazed at my energy levels. I was only getting about 5-6 hrs asleep a night for some reason. Usually, after 2 nights of that, I would've been really tired and cranky and no fun to be around. But there was a real grace for it. And thankfully, all the fields were provided due to an anonymous donor. One of our translators and friends, Rolando, had the hook up for that. So, whomever it was, thanks a ton. Through sports, we were able to teach the kids some valuable lessons in life.
I had to keep reminding myself that they children I was dealing with were 6-9 and not youth. So I had to be really careful when addressing wrong attitudes. I didn't want to just snap at them, but I wanted to find out what was going on with them and give them something to look forward towards. All in all, i think the camp went off pretty well.
After the camp ended on Thursday, we headed up the coast to a coffee plantation somewhere in the Guatemalan hills. The place was phenomenal! It had a great view of a nearby river and cities. We ended up taking a small bus load up. Now mind you, the road to get up to this plantation was not flat by any stretch of the imagination. The bus driver literally had to get a running start up the hill or the bus may not have made it. It wasn't nicely paved roads the whole way up. This is Guatemala after all. No, the incline up the hill was pretty steep. It was probably at least a 45% incline. So we went up to the plantation and spent the night there. We also had a small worship time and water baptismals. A number of folks on our team got baptized in water and then a number of the children did as well.
After leaving the plantation, we went back to the children's home, changed clothes and repacked for a quick overnight trip to Antiqua. That was our sightseeing time. What's a missions trip without a sightseeing time? We hit various markets there and toured the Casa de Santo Domingo.
This is a brief synopsis of my trip to Guatemala. Further details available upon request.
They weren't too thrilled with baseball, but they loved soccer. I'm not sure if we actually taught them anything in that arena actually. Most of these kids grow up with a soccer ball (or futbol) around. So Monday thru Thursday we did the sports camp. We started off around 9am and went until about 1pm. It may not sound like much, but remember, this is under the Guatemalan sun. But the temperatures were about like Charlotte actually. I was just amazed at my energy levels. I was only getting about 5-6 hrs asleep a night for some reason. Usually, after 2 nights of that, I would've been really tired and cranky and no fun to be around. But there was a real grace for it. And thankfully, all the fields were provided due to an anonymous donor. One of our translators and friends, Rolando, had the hook up for that. So, whomever it was, thanks a ton. Through sports, we were able to teach the kids some valuable lessons in life.
I had to keep reminding myself that they children I was dealing with were 6-9 and not youth. So I had to be really careful when addressing wrong attitudes. I didn't want to just snap at them, but I wanted to find out what was going on with them and give them something to look forward towards. All in all, i think the camp went off pretty well.
After the camp ended on Thursday, we headed up the coast to a coffee plantation somewhere in the Guatemalan hills. The place was phenomenal! It had a great view of a nearby river and cities. We ended up taking a small bus load up. Now mind you, the road to get up to this plantation was not flat by any stretch of the imagination. The bus driver literally had to get a running start up the hill or the bus may not have made it. It wasn't nicely paved roads the whole way up. This is Guatemala after all. No, the incline up the hill was pretty steep. It was probably at least a 45% incline. So we went up to the plantation and spent the night there. We also had a small worship time and water baptismals. A number of folks on our team got baptized in water and then a number of the children did as well.
After leaving the plantation, we went back to the children's home, changed clothes and repacked for a quick overnight trip to Antiqua. That was our sightseeing time. What's a missions trip without a sightseeing time? We hit various markets there and toured the Casa de Santo Domingo.
This is a brief synopsis of my trip to Guatemala. Further details available upon request.
Guatemala 2009, Pt. 1
I want to start this note off by thanking everyone for their support for me on this missions trip. There was a lot of planning and running around that I did for this trip. It's amazing how much type of administration/ behind the scenes type of stuff goes into planning a trip. Luckily, I'm largely wired for that so to have George, who was the leader of the trip, ask me to do a lot of that was fun for me.
We started getting together and uniting as a team the end of March of this year. We started with Friday nights and then did Friday nights and Saturday afternoon. We would have a Friday night meeting for prayer/worship and take care of admin stuff w/ the group and then do sports training Saturday afternoon. we had to go over the guidelines for baseball and soccer. My family did a lot of baseball/softball and I played soccer. I knew the rules for baseball but not much practical application of it myself. I was afraid to play catch b/c i couldn't catch a baseball very easily. But soccer was always my thing.
So in any case, we would be getting together as a team and start from square one. We even did a Biblical Foundations series which was really fun. Going over just the basics and then building on that. Starting off w/ salvation and then getting into healing and baptism of the Spirit.
It's amazing how unified the team still is! Despite the fact that half of us are from different churches in the area here, the common factor is Jesus! (What a great foundation to build on!) I would often tell the team that even after the trip, I won't be able to forget about them. Which is true to date because thanks to modern technology, we still keep in contact!
So after all the training (sports, Biblical), we set off. We flew out Sat. June 6, '09 @ 6:30 am from Charlotte. All the while, i was even getting to meet the folks who lived down in Guatemala via none other than Facebook. So when I got there, I felt like i knew a lot about them already!
I knew going into this trip that I wasn't going to be doing much preaching at all, but more of just letting Father God love on me and giving me His heart for the children I would be ministering to and just loving on them as Jesus would. I did get to give a brief message the one night to a small village, but it was a quick 10 minutes. And most of them were there to receive food that we were giving out. None the less, myself and George preached for a bit and the team did some hands on ministry. Including praying for an elderly woman and seeing her getting up and walking w/o a walker! Jesus is sooo awesome! (Take that satan... in ur eye!)
I can remember the very first night of arriving at the childrens home where we were staying, we get out of the van and in under 5 seconds, we were surrounded by little kids! I loved it! Hugs all around. These kids didn't care how much we knew, they were just there to receive love from Jesus who loved them! And I was there to freely give it away! The uncle/big brother/future father in me came out! I once heard it said that people don't care how much you know until the know how much you care! I can't tell you how refreshing it was to just hold the kids and just love on them! While we were traveling around w/ the kids, they would just come and sit on your lap and sometimes just fall asleep. It totally broke my heart to think of all the broken homes and lives that these children come from. Some of them were orphans and some of them were probably more like foster kids that had to be taken from their homes b/c of bad child hoods. Just simply saying hello to them really ministered to them. My hat goes off to the volunteers who are there much more full time than we were. I was blessed to be able to help a few of them out w/ some technical difficulties they were having w/ their computers. I figured I have the skill, use it. After all they do, its the least I could do.
And the friendships that I made while being there are priceless! All our translators and everyone who helped out... impossible to forget all of them! We started off w/ a core team and that team just kept growing! By the end of the week, our team doubled in size! Let's see, there was Quikay and Carol (the leaders of Fundaninos (sorry about the bad spelling here folks), Janet, Sonja, Sonia, Carla, Carolina, Sigrid, Ana, Diego, Marco, Rolando, Vivian and Holly. (If I forgot anyone, someone will correct me.) And those are just the folks who were there that were on the team. Some of our team weren't able to go due to financial reasons... Mallory and Michael.
We have just a few pictures of the trip. Only a little more than 3,000 I think. And check out Voyager Expeditions website @ www.voyagerexpeditions.org, we're working on getting things all together. We got a lot of video as well, which we'll be putting that on the website someday.
And thanks to all those who supported me financially and w/ prayer here in the States! As always, its my joy and privilege to represent you and Jesus out there. May you be blessed abundantly.
We started getting together and uniting as a team the end of March of this year. We started with Friday nights and then did Friday nights and Saturday afternoon. We would have a Friday night meeting for prayer/worship and take care of admin stuff w/ the group and then do sports training Saturday afternoon. we had to go over the guidelines for baseball and soccer. My family did a lot of baseball/softball and I played soccer. I knew the rules for baseball but not much practical application of it myself. I was afraid to play catch b/c i couldn't catch a baseball very easily. But soccer was always my thing.
So in any case, we would be getting together as a team and start from square one. We even did a Biblical Foundations series which was really fun. Going over just the basics and then building on that. Starting off w/ salvation and then getting into healing and baptism of the Spirit.
It's amazing how unified the team still is! Despite the fact that half of us are from different churches in the area here, the common factor is Jesus! (What a great foundation to build on!) I would often tell the team that even after the trip, I won't be able to forget about them. Which is true to date because thanks to modern technology, we still keep in contact!
So after all the training (sports, Biblical), we set off. We flew out Sat. June 6, '09 @ 6:30 am from Charlotte. All the while, i was even getting to meet the folks who lived down in Guatemala via none other than Facebook. So when I got there, I felt like i knew a lot about them already!
I knew going into this trip that I wasn't going to be doing much preaching at all, but more of just letting Father God love on me and giving me His heart for the children I would be ministering to and just loving on them as Jesus would. I did get to give a brief message the one night to a small village, but it was a quick 10 minutes. And most of them were there to receive food that we were giving out. None the less, myself and George preached for a bit and the team did some hands on ministry. Including praying for an elderly woman and seeing her getting up and walking w/o a walker! Jesus is sooo awesome! (Take that satan... in ur eye!)
I can remember the very first night of arriving at the childrens home where we were staying, we get out of the van and in under 5 seconds, we were surrounded by little kids! I loved it! Hugs all around. These kids didn't care how much we knew, they were just there to receive love from Jesus who loved them! And I was there to freely give it away! The uncle/big brother/future father in me came out! I once heard it said that people don't care how much you know until the know how much you care! I can't tell you how refreshing it was to just hold the kids and just love on them! While we were traveling around w/ the kids, they would just come and sit on your lap and sometimes just fall asleep. It totally broke my heart to think of all the broken homes and lives that these children come from. Some of them were orphans and some of them were probably more like foster kids that had to be taken from their homes b/c of bad child hoods. Just simply saying hello to them really ministered to them. My hat goes off to the volunteers who are there much more full time than we were. I was blessed to be able to help a few of them out w/ some technical difficulties they were having w/ their computers. I figured I have the skill, use it. After all they do, its the least I could do.
And the friendships that I made while being there are priceless! All our translators and everyone who helped out... impossible to forget all of them! We started off w/ a core team and that team just kept growing! By the end of the week, our team doubled in size! Let's see, there was Quikay and Carol (the leaders of Fundaninos (sorry about the bad spelling here folks), Janet, Sonja, Sonia, Carla, Carolina, Sigrid, Ana, Diego, Marco, Rolando, Vivian and Holly. (If I forgot anyone, someone will correct me.) And those are just the folks who were there that were on the team. Some of our team weren't able to go due to financial reasons... Mallory and Michael.
We have just a few pictures of the trip. Only a little more than 3,000 I think. And check out Voyager Expeditions website @ www.voyagerexpeditions.org, we're working on getting things all together. We got a lot of video as well, which we'll be putting that on the website someday.
And thanks to all those who supported me financially and w/ prayer here in the States! As always, its my joy and privilege to represent you and Jesus out there. May you be blessed abundantly.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Cross Cultural Jesus
And there are the funny emails...
There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:
1. He called everyone brother.
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair trial.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
1. He went into His Father's business.
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
1. He talked with His hands.
2. He had wine with His meals.
3. He used olive oil.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
1. He never cut His hair.
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new religion.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was American Indian:
'
1. He was at peace with others.
2. He ate a lot of fish.
3. He talked about the Great Spirit.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.
But the most compelling evidence of all - 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was work to do.
There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:
1. He called everyone brother.
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair trial.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
1. He went into His Father's business.
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
1. He talked with His hands.
2. He had wine with His meals.
3. He used olive oil.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
1. He never cut His hair.
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new religion.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was American Indian:
'
1. He was at peace with others.
2. He ate a lot of fish.
3. He talked about the Great Spirit.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.
But the most compelling evidence of all - 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was work to do.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Considerations for the future
I was just reading an article from MSN about how every year the sexual content of our society is hitting younger and younger ages. The article was entitled "Grade-school Logita: 'So Sexy So Soon'. (As a disclaimer, i do want to apologize for the picture on the very front of it. In my putting this on here, I don't want to come across as condoning that type of dress.) But reading through this, I was thinking about how would I handle these types of situations. I mean, lets face it: you can access just about anything now via the internet.
But for myself, I was thinking about how I would handle these types of situations. With my future more than likely dealing with these types of situations, what would I do? Not looking through my 'ministerial' lens and/or 'adult' lens, but coming at it from, lets say, a secular perspective. There are a lot of messed up families out there. And luckily, I grew up in a good Christian home. To this day, i feel pretty comfortable discussing these issues with my parents and family in general. Then again, I feel comfortable addressing these issues with just about anyone really, to a certain degree. I mean, I can't stick my head in the sand about this stuff. Issues like these are things I'm doing to be dealing with. And of course, I'm going to be going to scripture and pointing people to Jesus in those times.
But other than that, what do you do? I've learned that it's amazing what happens when you just listen to folks sometimes. (When you listen to them, they're more prone to listen to what you have to say and then you get to present some awesome Biblical truths.) But aside from that, i'm amazed and somewhat very shocked at the issues i've had to deal with folks in the past. I mean, what do you tell someone who is 13 and they're parents are getting a divorce?
I forget who I was listening to sometime ago, but he made mention of a situation where one of his daughters at home mentioned about how hurt she was that something happened to her. He said that at first, he was just going to quote a scripture verse to her. But then, he felt prompted to just say "honey, I hurt when you hurt." it was at this time that his daughter came over and gave him a great big hug! Instead of him just throwing out some rhetoric, he first sympathized what what she was going through. But how often do I actually listen to folks and take in what they're saying?
Just reading through this article gave me things to pray through and really get into the scriptures about and really think and ask how would Jesus have responded to this type of stuff? I mean, the things mentioned in this article simply are expressing human emotions and things that people deal with. Unfortunately, its at such a young age.
But for myself, I was thinking about how I would handle these types of situations. With my future more than likely dealing with these types of situations, what would I do? Not looking through my 'ministerial' lens and/or 'adult' lens, but coming at it from, lets say, a secular perspective. There are a lot of messed up families out there. And luckily, I grew up in a good Christian home. To this day, i feel pretty comfortable discussing these issues with my parents and family in general. Then again, I feel comfortable addressing these issues with just about anyone really, to a certain degree. I mean, I can't stick my head in the sand about this stuff. Issues like these are things I'm doing to be dealing with. And of course, I'm going to be going to scripture and pointing people to Jesus in those times.
But other than that, what do you do? I've learned that it's amazing what happens when you just listen to folks sometimes. (When you listen to them, they're more prone to listen to what you have to say and then you get to present some awesome Biblical truths.) But aside from that, i'm amazed and somewhat very shocked at the issues i've had to deal with folks in the past. I mean, what do you tell someone who is 13 and they're parents are getting a divorce?
I forget who I was listening to sometime ago, but he made mention of a situation where one of his daughters at home mentioned about how hurt she was that something happened to her. He said that at first, he was just going to quote a scripture verse to her. But then, he felt prompted to just say "honey, I hurt when you hurt." it was at this time that his daughter came over and gave him a great big hug! Instead of him just throwing out some rhetoric, he first sympathized what what she was going through. But how often do I actually listen to folks and take in what they're saying?
Just reading through this article gave me things to pray through and really get into the scriptures about and really think and ask how would Jesus have responded to this type of stuff? I mean, the things mentioned in this article simply are expressing human emotions and things that people deal with. Unfortunately, its at such a young age.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Beaten by a Stick
You may have thought that by reading the title of this entry that perhaps I had gotten flogged or something. But that isn't the case... I am writing this because of a part of a sermon I heard lately.
What is it about the preaching of the Cross or the Cross itself that is soo offensive to people? What is it about telling someone that someone was beaten and then hung on a tree (all the while being bloodied and their physical body being mutilated and bent out of shape) and taking this persons sins upon themselves and giving their life as a ransom for many, that is soo offensive and bothersome to many? Is it the fact that this person, Jesus Christ, did this as a way to reconcile the sinner to God the Father? And now this person has a way to not sin but live a holy lifestyle?
In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that "Jews demand a sign and Greeks look for wisdom, but i preach the Cross of Christ and Him crucified." Does that mean that whenever someone asked Paul for advice on something, He just said that Jesus was crucified on a Cross? Because then later on Paul is talking about spiritual gifts and He's baptizing folks in the Holy Spirit. I think (and this is just my opinion in reading the Scriptures and just kinda common sense), but i think He was moreso saying that the Cross is to be the very foundation of the gospel and everything should stem from that.
Jesus dying on the cross and taking my sins on Himself, and thus giving me a way to live a holy and sinless lifestyle is the foundation for Christianity. Repenting of your sins is the way to get in to Heaven. And then once you have Jesus are your Lord and Savior, you can start to live a lifestyle that is pleasing to the Father. Then you get to start to develop and maintain a relationship with Jesus, seeing as how He is your Lord and Savior. And you get to start doing like really cool things. Like praying for folks and seeing people get healed and set free from all sorts of oppressions and diseases. Some might say that we don't need emotional healing because Jesus died for that already. And therefore, once you receive Jesus, He takes all of that away. And some people haven't been through a lot of junk. But some have. And that's where the power of the gospel comes into play at. Through the authority that God has given us through Jesus, we get to make sick people better.
John the Immerser said that he (John) baptizes with water, but that there was one greater coming (Jesus) who would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Lately, i've been reading a book called "Surprised by the Power of the Spirit" by Jack Deere. I was just reading a chapter about spiritual abuses. Every church has them. I've noticed in some circles that they emphasize being baptized in the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues MORE than repenting of sins and getting your life right back with God. While i firmly believe in the baptism of the Spirit, that has to be handled properly.
I think that's all for now.
What is it about the preaching of the Cross or the Cross itself that is soo offensive to people? What is it about telling someone that someone was beaten and then hung on a tree (all the while being bloodied and their physical body being mutilated and bent out of shape) and taking this persons sins upon themselves and giving their life as a ransom for many, that is soo offensive and bothersome to many? Is it the fact that this person, Jesus Christ, did this as a way to reconcile the sinner to God the Father? And now this person has a way to not sin but live a holy lifestyle?
In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that "Jews demand a sign and Greeks look for wisdom, but i preach the Cross of Christ and Him crucified." Does that mean that whenever someone asked Paul for advice on something, He just said that Jesus was crucified on a Cross? Because then later on Paul is talking about spiritual gifts and He's baptizing folks in the Holy Spirit. I think (and this is just my opinion in reading the Scriptures and just kinda common sense), but i think He was moreso saying that the Cross is to be the very foundation of the gospel and everything should stem from that.
Jesus dying on the cross and taking my sins on Himself, and thus giving me a way to live a holy and sinless lifestyle is the foundation for Christianity. Repenting of your sins is the way to get in to Heaven. And then once you have Jesus are your Lord and Savior, you can start to live a lifestyle that is pleasing to the Father. Then you get to start to develop and maintain a relationship with Jesus, seeing as how He is your Lord and Savior. And you get to start doing like really cool things. Like praying for folks and seeing people get healed and set free from all sorts of oppressions and diseases. Some might say that we don't need emotional healing because Jesus died for that already. And therefore, once you receive Jesus, He takes all of that away. And some people haven't been through a lot of junk. But some have. And that's where the power of the gospel comes into play at. Through the authority that God has given us through Jesus, we get to make sick people better.
John the Immerser said that he (John) baptizes with water, but that there was one greater coming (Jesus) who would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Lately, i've been reading a book called "Surprised by the Power of the Spirit" by Jack Deere. I was just reading a chapter about spiritual abuses. Every church has them. I've noticed in some circles that they emphasize being baptized in the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues MORE than repenting of sins and getting your life right back with God. While i firmly believe in the baptism of the Spirit, that has to be handled properly.
I think that's all for now.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Petitions
I don't know about you, but i'm a subscriber to the AFA. I get emails about petitions to sign. And i'll be honest w/ you, i don't sign everyone of them. I either don't have the time or don't feel that its worth it to sign every one of them. I believe in changing the laws and making righteous decrees. I firmly believe that things like that can make a difference. But sometimes that's not always the best way to tackle the issue.
For the past few years now, our church has been taking a very active part in opposing the homosexual agenda and the abortion issue, among other things. And part of that was going to a Charlotte Pride festival (homosexual pride festival). During that time, we had some people who would stand along the sides and hold signs up and just tell folks they're going to Hell for this. which is the truth... but sometimes it needs to be handled the proper way. Who did Jesus hang w/ when He walks the planet? it wasn't the religious leaders. He loved the people into truth. He was very firm too and didn't water His message down. But He laid down His life for the people who hated His guts. He lived in love. Love is not always mushy stuff. At times, its confrontational.
I can remember watching an evangelist on tv one time. During his appeal for people to get right with Jesus, His eyes were filled with tears. Bottom line: if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your destination once you die is Hell. Eternal separation from God the Father for all eternity. I didn't write the rules. I just work at abiding by them. But more importantly, i work harder at pursuing and understanding God's heart for His people.
"If God is soo powerful, why doesn't He just stop people from doing bad things?" Because God wants you to choose Him. He gives you free will so that you can decide you want to turn to Him.
I was talking w/ someone about the difference between the Law of Moses (Ten Commandments) and the Law of Grace. Here is a big difference: Don't commit adultery (10 Commandments) But the law of grace says that if you've looked at someone with a lustful thought, you've committed the act in your heart already... suddenly, the 10 commandments has just gotten easier than the law of grace to follow.
Let's go after the hearts, and their minds will follow.
For the past few years now, our church has been taking a very active part in opposing the homosexual agenda and the abortion issue, among other things. And part of that was going to a Charlotte Pride festival (homosexual pride festival). During that time, we had some people who would stand along the sides and hold signs up and just tell folks they're going to Hell for this. which is the truth... but sometimes it needs to be handled the proper way. Who did Jesus hang w/ when He walks the planet? it wasn't the religious leaders. He loved the people into truth. He was very firm too and didn't water His message down. But He laid down His life for the people who hated His guts. He lived in love. Love is not always mushy stuff. At times, its confrontational.
I can remember watching an evangelist on tv one time. During his appeal for people to get right with Jesus, His eyes were filled with tears. Bottom line: if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your destination once you die is Hell. Eternal separation from God the Father for all eternity. I didn't write the rules. I just work at abiding by them. But more importantly, i work harder at pursuing and understanding God's heart for His people.
"If God is soo powerful, why doesn't He just stop people from doing bad things?" Because God wants you to choose Him. He gives you free will so that you can decide you want to turn to Him.
I was talking w/ someone about the difference between the Law of Moses (Ten Commandments) and the Law of Grace. Here is a big difference: Don't commit adultery (10 Commandments) But the law of grace says that if you've looked at someone with a lustful thought, you've committed the act in your heart already... suddenly, the 10 commandments has just gotten easier than the law of grace to follow.
Let's go after the hearts, and their minds will follow.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Hope deferred...
"Makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Prov. 13:12. This the verse that we going through my head and on my heart on Sunday morning. As i've shared in the past about the last few years of my life, God hasn't let this whole thing about revival/revolution go. What will it look like? Who will be 'leading it'? That sort of thing...
But have you ever been let down or, as some might say, you got punked! Meaning you've had a joke pulled on you? Sometimes that how i feel... like i'm getting punked. now for clarification and for probably the 2 people who read this, i'm not giving up on God or anything like that. I don't have a right to be offended with God. For those of you who might think you actually have a right to be offended by God, i'll be bold for a second and tell you to grow up. I'll also tell you that no matter what you've gone through, Jesus can and will touch you and heal you of the hurts from the past.
"but you don't know what happened to me! you don't know how i was abused/neglected/whatever it may be!" your right, i don't. but Jesus does and His arms are wide open to heal you. He won't let you down like you may have been let down before by another human being.
But this past Sunday, as i was at church, i saw one of my old friends who i had gone through FIRE with. And they didn't seem like themself at all. They used to be very vibrant and energetic and going after God and evangelizing and all that stuff. Now, they're sitting there just very still. And it wasn't stillness before God... but it was probably that they had been hurt.
I've been to numerous different churches around the globe. Churches are made up of people and people do things at times that hurts others. I know, i've been in this type of situation. I've been hurt by people in the past. By well meaning friends and something happens and .... oops.
Just a side note, its kinda funny w/ the difference between men and women. Men, if they're mad at someone, they probably won't hide it. They'll just take them out back and beat the tar out of the person and 5 minutes later, they've forgotten all about it. Women let these things fester. And sometimes, the do the worst possible thing about acting like they really like each other! i'm just thinking "take it out back and deal with it already!" i'll go get you some boxing gloves....
But i'm sure that if your a living breathing human being, you've been hurt by someone or something. The worst possible thing you can do is act like nothing is the matter. That's just the dumbest thing! I'm speaking from experience. I wouldn't be soo adamant about something like this unless if i knew it were the truth. A good book i recommend to deal with an issue like this (other than the Bible) is called "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere. It talks a lot about offenses being built up and hurts and how satan uses them against us.
In my history of counseling w/ people, i tell people to their face to do what they know is the right thing to do. (my thinking is is that if the person is coming to me, the worst thing i can do is just tickle their ears. nope, i confront the issue head on and just take it down.) It's not my job to tickle ears... its my job to get to the root of the problem and deal with the issue. its usually not easy nor fun... but it needs to be done.
I'm talking about this because just recently, i went through a session with one of my friends and i had some hurts from the past that needed to be dug up and dealt with. Granted, for someone like myself, i'm always my own worse critic. I like hard messages that challenge you and correct you. I like to get to the root of the matter and deal with it. Some of you don't... good luck w/ that. Just remember, gossip kills. Spiritual gossip as well... sometimes in talking w/ people, i have the stay vague about issues. The people i'm talking about don't necessarily need to know every detail. If its about me... sure, i'll share it. If its involving someone else though, details are left out.
In any case, satan will use just about anything he can to detract us from going after God. He'll use hurts that happen in church that make us decide to go to another church or avoid church altogether. If you ever find the perfect church, lemme know.
My original idea when deciding to write this was to talk about how at times, we can feel let down by things and that can lead to us dropping the sword and continuing to find in the name of the Lord. Because after the Lord dropped the verse in Proverbs, he directed me to Rom. 12:10-13. Sometimes, life is going to be a journey and its going to be rough. But its what we do with that that determines a lot. Are you going to be mad at God or mad at others? Or do you recognize a need for something more and be fervent in serving the Lord and committed a long haul?
Christianity is more than just attending meetings, its how you live your life. That may be faithful in your local church, and family (divorce is plain wrong and solves nothing) and job. But most importantly, its in loving Jesus and being faithful to him.
I realize that this turned into somewhat of a mini sermon... that wasn't necessarily my intention, but that's how it turned out. take it or leave it and test it.
peace out.
But have you ever been let down or, as some might say, you got punked! Meaning you've had a joke pulled on you? Sometimes that how i feel... like i'm getting punked. now for clarification and for probably the 2 people who read this, i'm not giving up on God or anything like that. I don't have a right to be offended with God. For those of you who might think you actually have a right to be offended by God, i'll be bold for a second and tell you to grow up. I'll also tell you that no matter what you've gone through, Jesus can and will touch you and heal you of the hurts from the past.
"but you don't know what happened to me! you don't know how i was abused/neglected/whatever it may be!" your right, i don't. but Jesus does and His arms are wide open to heal you. He won't let you down like you may have been let down before by another human being.
But this past Sunday, as i was at church, i saw one of my old friends who i had gone through FIRE with. And they didn't seem like themself at all. They used to be very vibrant and energetic and going after God and evangelizing and all that stuff. Now, they're sitting there just very still. And it wasn't stillness before God... but it was probably that they had been hurt.
I've been to numerous different churches around the globe. Churches are made up of people and people do things at times that hurts others. I know, i've been in this type of situation. I've been hurt by people in the past. By well meaning friends and something happens and .... oops.
Just a side note, its kinda funny w/ the difference between men and women. Men, if they're mad at someone, they probably won't hide it. They'll just take them out back and beat the tar out of the person and 5 minutes later, they've forgotten all about it. Women let these things fester. And sometimes, the do the worst possible thing about acting like they really like each other! i'm just thinking "take it out back and deal with it already!" i'll go get you some boxing gloves....
But i'm sure that if your a living breathing human being, you've been hurt by someone or something. The worst possible thing you can do is act like nothing is the matter. That's just the dumbest thing! I'm speaking from experience. I wouldn't be soo adamant about something like this unless if i knew it were the truth. A good book i recommend to deal with an issue like this (other than the Bible) is called "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere. It talks a lot about offenses being built up and hurts and how satan uses them against us.
In my history of counseling w/ people, i tell people to their face to do what they know is the right thing to do. (my thinking is is that if the person is coming to me, the worst thing i can do is just tickle their ears. nope, i confront the issue head on and just take it down.) It's not my job to tickle ears... its my job to get to the root of the problem and deal with the issue. its usually not easy nor fun... but it needs to be done.
I'm talking about this because just recently, i went through a session with one of my friends and i had some hurts from the past that needed to be dug up and dealt with. Granted, for someone like myself, i'm always my own worse critic. I like hard messages that challenge you and correct you. I like to get to the root of the matter and deal with it. Some of you don't... good luck w/ that. Just remember, gossip kills. Spiritual gossip as well... sometimes in talking w/ people, i have the stay vague about issues. The people i'm talking about don't necessarily need to know every detail. If its about me... sure, i'll share it. If its involving someone else though, details are left out.
In any case, satan will use just about anything he can to detract us from going after God. He'll use hurts that happen in church that make us decide to go to another church or avoid church altogether. If you ever find the perfect church, lemme know.
My original idea when deciding to write this was to talk about how at times, we can feel let down by things and that can lead to us dropping the sword and continuing to find in the name of the Lord. Because after the Lord dropped the verse in Proverbs, he directed me to Rom. 12:10-13. Sometimes, life is going to be a journey and its going to be rough. But its what we do with that that determines a lot. Are you going to be mad at God or mad at others? Or do you recognize a need for something more and be fervent in serving the Lord and committed a long haul?
Christianity is more than just attending meetings, its how you live your life. That may be faithful in your local church, and family (divorce is plain wrong and solves nothing) and job. But most importantly, its in loving Jesus and being faithful to him.
I realize that this turned into somewhat of a mini sermon... that wasn't necessarily my intention, but that's how it turned out. take it or leave it and test it.
peace out.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Bad news sells...
I don't know about you, but at times, i just can't even watch the news. Everything is just soo depressing. School shootings happening almost every other week, people being bombed out, mud slinging going on everywhere... at times, i'm just like turn it all off and just get away from life.
I think its kinda funny almost how some handle it. We want to immediately start to profile people. Which has its point, in some degree. But when are we going to realize that when you take God out of the equation, life is going to go down the tubes. Sometime ago, i got one of those mass emailings and it was a poem. It goes as follows:
MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
Mary had a little lamb,
His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day,
Twasn’t even in the rule.
It made the children laugh and play,
To have a lamb at school.
And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became;
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His Name.
Every day got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard the guns shots and tears,
What must we do to stop the crime,
That’s in our schools today?
Let’s let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray.
I think this kind of sums it up. I grew up in the public high school. Part of me wanted to try out a nearby private school, but one of my friends at church went there and he just told me not to bother. In his words, hypocrisy ran rampant. So i thought about home schooling. But i felt that God wanted me in the public arena for a purpose. So i did. And i'm glad i did. We needed the presence of God in that place. And i was one to carry it.
some of you may look at the public school system and think "its soo ungodly... i don't want my kids in there..". And of course, i'm not a parent yet and i wouldn't ever claim to try and force you to put your child in that environment. But there was grace on me to be there. I would encourage you that if your a parent reading this and you have a child in the public school, talk to them and find out what's going on. See what's on their heart. Do they want to stay in or not...
Yes, i faced a lot of rejection in there. People knew me and knew what i stood for. But i wasn't going to be afraid. Even when there was rumors that there was going to be a shooting at our school. during that time, we came together and prayed and nothing happened. At one point in time, i was very nervous... but i had to stand strong. I told one of my best friends there, "if i bite the bullet, people will come to Christ. don't back down, but preach the gospel. show people a hope in Jesus." he told me the exact same thing.
We can either walk through this world with our head hanging low and our tail between our legs... or we can hold our heads high and look to Jesus and meditate on the Cross and think of the wonders of God and go throughout our day.
I don't know about you, but i'm not backing down, despite all that's going on in the world. if anything, it gives me a greater burden to go for God and advance the Kingdom of God. I've been told that at times, i've had a convicting spirit about me. i didn't even do or say anything! i was just being me! When you live for Jesus, you will face opposition. you will offend people w/o saying anything at all. Because your standing for truth.
So do we cower in the corner when bad things happen? or do we rise up and say "not anymore... this stops now!" and get on our knees and cry out to God for mercy and grace? I'm not advocating to be arrogant and prideful, but i'm advocating that we exercise our faith in God and relationship in Jesus. and proclaim the good news of the redemptive blood of Jesus to the captives.
And we quit trying to make the Jewish people give up there land in hopes of peace talks to stop the bombings. We all know them giving up land isn't going to do anything. It's not going to make the suicide bombers stop. i just had to put that in here... lol. (what can i say, i'm pro-Israel and i'm realistic).
anyways, thanks for reading all of this.. i wasn't expecting it to get this long. but things just kept coming to mind.
I think its kinda funny almost how some handle it. We want to immediately start to profile people. Which has its point, in some degree. But when are we going to realize that when you take God out of the equation, life is going to go down the tubes. Sometime ago, i got one of those mass emailings and it was a poem. It goes as follows:
MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
Mary had a little lamb,
His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day,
Twasn’t even in the rule.
It made the children laugh and play,
To have a lamb at school.
And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became;
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His Name.
Every day got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard the guns shots and tears,
What must we do to stop the crime,
That’s in our schools today?
Let’s let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray.
I think this kind of sums it up. I grew up in the public high school. Part of me wanted to try out a nearby private school, but one of my friends at church went there and he just told me not to bother. In his words, hypocrisy ran rampant. So i thought about home schooling. But i felt that God wanted me in the public arena for a purpose. So i did. And i'm glad i did. We needed the presence of God in that place. And i was one to carry it.
some of you may look at the public school system and think "its soo ungodly... i don't want my kids in there..". And of course, i'm not a parent yet and i wouldn't ever claim to try and force you to put your child in that environment. But there was grace on me to be there. I would encourage you that if your a parent reading this and you have a child in the public school, talk to them and find out what's going on. See what's on their heart. Do they want to stay in or not...
Yes, i faced a lot of rejection in there. People knew me and knew what i stood for. But i wasn't going to be afraid. Even when there was rumors that there was going to be a shooting at our school. during that time, we came together and prayed and nothing happened. At one point in time, i was very nervous... but i had to stand strong. I told one of my best friends there, "if i bite the bullet, people will come to Christ. don't back down, but preach the gospel. show people a hope in Jesus." he told me the exact same thing.
We can either walk through this world with our head hanging low and our tail between our legs... or we can hold our heads high and look to Jesus and meditate on the Cross and think of the wonders of God and go throughout our day.
I don't know about you, but i'm not backing down, despite all that's going on in the world. if anything, it gives me a greater burden to go for God and advance the Kingdom of God. I've been told that at times, i've had a convicting spirit about me. i didn't even do or say anything! i was just being me! When you live for Jesus, you will face opposition. you will offend people w/o saying anything at all. Because your standing for truth.
So do we cower in the corner when bad things happen? or do we rise up and say "not anymore... this stops now!" and get on our knees and cry out to God for mercy and grace? I'm not advocating to be arrogant and prideful, but i'm advocating that we exercise our faith in God and relationship in Jesus. and proclaim the good news of the redemptive blood of Jesus to the captives.
And we quit trying to make the Jewish people give up there land in hopes of peace talks to stop the bombings. We all know them giving up land isn't going to do anything. It's not going to make the suicide bombers stop. i just had to put that in here... lol. (what can i say, i'm pro-Israel and i'm realistic).
anyways, thanks for reading all of this.. i wasn't expecting it to get this long. but things just kept coming to mind.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
My mission will always be missions
There is a part of my heart that cries out for other nations. I've had many cross cultural experiences. Haiti and England and Philippines and New York City... ok, so maybe the last one was a bit of my sarcastic sense of humor... or maybe not... lol. But its because these places are populated with people. And people are on my heart because they're on God's heart. Trust me, its only by the grace of God that i put up w/ some people. But i look at society and my heart just cries out to God for grace and mercy.
My first time in Haiti, my heart was officially destroyed for certain things in life. I have the hardest time forking out like $50 for jeans. so much of the stuff that we deem as 'necessary' isn't really necessary. A lot of stuff that i have, i'll admit, could probably be done w/o. but i've seen poverty to the extreme. I've seen the society that had a curse of death on it for 200 years (Haiti). I've seen what witchcraft and black magic and voodoo has on a nation. (for the record, i steer clear of Harry Potter and Pokemon and stuff like that. folks, i've seen the trading cards and i've prayed for people who have dealt w/ this stuff. it will give you devils. i say that very unapologetically.)
But in all the above, my heart goes out to people in these situations. I want to present something to them that holds weight and meat. I want to present the gospel of the Bible, not the gospel according to our American standards. but i want to present something to people that is life changing. Something that leaves them breathless.
Jesus is the only 'thing' that will satisfy. Nothing else will satisfy. you might be reading this right now, and your struggling in body. I pray that life would enter into you right now by the power of the Holy Spirit and that the Blood of Jesus would cover you and that sickness would leave you body immediately. If your struggling in mind, stop agreeing w/ the lies of the enemy. If you don't know who the world Jesus is, repent of your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior.
pray this prayer: Jesus, i believe that You are the Son of God. I believe you died for my sins, that you conquered sin and death and that on the 3rd day You arose. I repent of my sins and ask for you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I ask for grace to turn from my wicked lifestyle and turn into Your arms and be the son or daughter that You originally intended for me to be. I thank you for your forgiveness of my sins.
My heart will always burn to travel and minister. That's just who i am. it's who God wired me to be. And i love it! it's amazing the places i've been and the people i've talked w/. Trust me, serving Jesus is all that. you want adventure and challenge, turn to Jesus. you want to know TRUE LOVE, turn to Jesus.
My first time in Haiti, my heart was officially destroyed for certain things in life. I have the hardest time forking out like $50 for jeans. so much of the stuff that we deem as 'necessary' isn't really necessary. A lot of stuff that i have, i'll admit, could probably be done w/o. but i've seen poverty to the extreme. I've seen the society that had a curse of death on it for 200 years (Haiti). I've seen what witchcraft and black magic and voodoo has on a nation. (for the record, i steer clear of Harry Potter and Pokemon and stuff like that. folks, i've seen the trading cards and i've prayed for people who have dealt w/ this stuff. it will give you devils. i say that very unapologetically.)
But in all the above, my heart goes out to people in these situations. I want to present something to them that holds weight and meat. I want to present the gospel of the Bible, not the gospel according to our American standards. but i want to present something to people that is life changing. Something that leaves them breathless.
Jesus is the only 'thing' that will satisfy. Nothing else will satisfy. you might be reading this right now, and your struggling in body. I pray that life would enter into you right now by the power of the Holy Spirit and that the Blood of Jesus would cover you and that sickness would leave you body immediately. If your struggling in mind, stop agreeing w/ the lies of the enemy. If you don't know who the world Jesus is, repent of your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior.
pray this prayer: Jesus, i believe that You are the Son of God. I believe you died for my sins, that you conquered sin and death and that on the 3rd day You arose. I repent of my sins and ask for you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I ask for grace to turn from my wicked lifestyle and turn into Your arms and be the son or daughter that You originally intended for me to be. I thank you for your forgiveness of my sins.
My heart will always burn to travel and minister. That's just who i am. it's who God wired me to be. And i love it! it's amazing the places i've been and the people i've talked w/. Trust me, serving Jesus is all that. you want adventure and challenge, turn to Jesus. you want to know TRUE LOVE, turn to Jesus.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
There's Gotta Be More...
I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior or my life back when I was around 4 or 5 i think. To this date, myself or my parents don't really know the date for certain. Even my grandma, who keeps a journal, didn't write it down. But i tell people that i 'got saved' when i was 4 or 5. Got baptized in water when i was about 8 or 9 (again, i don't think we have a certain date (at least to my knowledge) and then was baptized in the Holy Spirit around 12. All that is great... really, it is.
In 2000, i went with a group of youth and adults to Pensacola, Florida to what was known as the Brownsville Revival. As far as i'm concerned, many good things have come from that. I've had people tell me to my face that they think the revival was 'of the devil' and all that wonderful stuff. Of course, they were never there. It's just their thinking and their 3rd party hearing of what happened. And them trying to judge it from a far off perspective. And no doubt that there was a lot of things that probably happened that were people just getting out of hand (welcome to life folks). I know that many of those people who were involved w/ that revival are now not living for God. I also know that a lot of folks who WERE involved are still currently living for God. FIRE is actually a result of that revival. I think that all of FIRE's leaders to date served in some capacity of that move of God. Granted, the way FIRE was started wasn't the greatest... but what satan means for bad, God knows how to turn it around. Why do you think God would entrust His church (His bride) with beings that He knows would mess it up? I dunno... thats why i'm asking that...
People would judge it by the manifestations and be like "well, thats not a God thing..." People being 'slain in the Spirit' or laughing like crazy or weeping profusely... I say 'look at their eventual fruits of their life. I can tell you from a personal perspective that i've done all three of them. And guess what, it's not about the manifestations.
I've had people who would openly criticize the revival and yet love the many ministers who served in it! I would point that out to them and they would stop dead in their tracks. It was quite funny actually...
All this to say that in 2000, the Holy Spirit deposited something in my Spirit that cries out for more of God.
In the past 7 years, i've been involved in the following:
- a church plant team to a local town down in Charlotte, NC.
- an outreach team to a local university where we saw souls won to the Lord and people healed.
- a local youth group here where i've seen the lives of teens touched and radically changed, many of whom who are currently serving the Lord whole heartedly in their lives.
- ministered to countless folks via prayer and fellowship
- traveled and preached the gospel to various other people groups
- traveled locally and nationally to minister to youth and adults a like
- helped in various capacities here in the local church
- steered clear of sex, drugs and alcohol.
I'm sure there's a lot more... but thats what i can think of right now. To date, though, my heart still cries out for more. At times, i have a hard time going to malls because my heart breaks for a generation to be touched and changed by the power and presence of God. I have the hardest time sitting still. I would love to go do some traveling even as i speak.
My life has been dedicated to the expansion of the Kingdom of God. And it's not always going to be easy. Life happens... get used to it. People will hate you. Jesus never promised us an easy life. Matter of fact, He promised that life will get difficult. Most come to Christ because they're promised a nice car or nice life... I don't know why we think we have to preach like that. All we're doing is hurting ourselves by presenting it like that.
At the same time, i understand and realize that as a Christian, I have inheritable rights as a child of God. My Daddy is the greatest King over the World. This world is mine! But that's not for my own good, but for His good. That's for the expansion of HIS Kingdom... not my own empire.
Last night, i was talking to one of my spiritual parents and I mentioned to them that when it feels like i'm not doing much of anything, things are still happening. God is setting me up for the greatest move of His Spirit yet to come. And i'm going to be privileged to be apart of it and minister in it.
But do you realize that i'm still largely unsatisfied. Matter of fact, i'm quite bored at times. I know there's more of God to be had and if only i can discipline my self to get more of Him. And then when i get more of Him, to properly steward it.
That is one thing that has really been on my heart for sometime: to learn stewardship. Godly stewardship. Learning to handle His presence in the right manner.
Lord, teach me to be a steward of Your Presence.
In 2000, i went with a group of youth and adults to Pensacola, Florida to what was known as the Brownsville Revival. As far as i'm concerned, many good things have come from that. I've had people tell me to my face that they think the revival was 'of the devil' and all that wonderful stuff. Of course, they were never there. It's just their thinking and their 3rd party hearing of what happened. And them trying to judge it from a far off perspective. And no doubt that there was a lot of things that probably happened that were people just getting out of hand (welcome to life folks). I know that many of those people who were involved w/ that revival are now not living for God. I also know that a lot of folks who WERE involved are still currently living for God. FIRE is actually a result of that revival. I think that all of FIRE's leaders to date served in some capacity of that move of God. Granted, the way FIRE was started wasn't the greatest... but what satan means for bad, God knows how to turn it around. Why do you think God would entrust His church (His bride) with beings that He knows would mess it up? I dunno... thats why i'm asking that...
People would judge it by the manifestations and be like "well, thats not a God thing..." People being 'slain in the Spirit' or laughing like crazy or weeping profusely... I say 'look at their eventual fruits of their life. I can tell you from a personal perspective that i've done all three of them. And guess what, it's not about the manifestations.
I've had people who would openly criticize the revival and yet love the many ministers who served in it! I would point that out to them and they would stop dead in their tracks. It was quite funny actually...
All this to say that in 2000, the Holy Spirit deposited something in my Spirit that cries out for more of God.
In the past 7 years, i've been involved in the following:
- a church plant team to a local town down in Charlotte, NC.
- an outreach team to a local university where we saw souls won to the Lord and people healed.
- a local youth group here where i've seen the lives of teens touched and radically changed, many of whom who are currently serving the Lord whole heartedly in their lives.
- ministered to countless folks via prayer and fellowship
- traveled and preached the gospel to various other people groups
- traveled locally and nationally to minister to youth and adults a like
- helped in various capacities here in the local church
- steered clear of sex, drugs and alcohol.
I'm sure there's a lot more... but thats what i can think of right now. To date, though, my heart still cries out for more. At times, i have a hard time going to malls because my heart breaks for a generation to be touched and changed by the power and presence of God. I have the hardest time sitting still. I would love to go do some traveling even as i speak.
My life has been dedicated to the expansion of the Kingdom of God. And it's not always going to be easy. Life happens... get used to it. People will hate you. Jesus never promised us an easy life. Matter of fact, He promised that life will get difficult. Most come to Christ because they're promised a nice car or nice life... I don't know why we think we have to preach like that. All we're doing is hurting ourselves by presenting it like that.
At the same time, i understand and realize that as a Christian, I have inheritable rights as a child of God. My Daddy is the greatest King over the World. This world is mine! But that's not for my own good, but for His good. That's for the expansion of HIS Kingdom... not my own empire.
Last night, i was talking to one of my spiritual parents and I mentioned to them that when it feels like i'm not doing much of anything, things are still happening. God is setting me up for the greatest move of His Spirit yet to come. And i'm going to be privileged to be apart of it and minister in it.
But do you realize that i'm still largely unsatisfied. Matter of fact, i'm quite bored at times. I know there's more of God to be had and if only i can discipline my self to get more of Him. And then when i get more of Him, to properly steward it.
That is one thing that has really been on my heart for sometime: to learn stewardship. Godly stewardship. Learning to handle His presence in the right manner.
Lord, teach me to be a steward of Your Presence.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
What is community?
I have now been apart of at least 3 different online connection programs in the past 4 years. First it was Xanga, then MySpace then Facebook... when will the madness end? Xanga died out sometime ago... MySpace is still kinda the 'in' thing. and Facebook is kinda like a new and upcoming thing. But for all this 'stuff', how well do we really know our fellow man. I goof off a lot w/ people on things. Getting 'trout slapped' by one of my friends (which i thought was hysterical). That's not the issue. But we've become one of these society's that seems like we're trying to solve all these issues without attacking a root cause.
I can't tell you how many people i know who have told me how isolated they feel. Despite all the technology we've got, we still feel disconnected... It's soo easy to go through the motions of life (and church) and yet still have no idea who your sitting next to.
Nowadays, my preferred method of 'ministry' is around a kitchen table or on a living room floor. Don't get me wrong... there is a time and place for gatherings and big events. They're great and wonderful and have their place. If the Lord is calling you to minister in a mega church w/ thousands... awesome! go for it!
but the other nite i was at a birthday party and we were playing Outburst. And out of nowhere, we get into the whole discussion about what does it mean to be 'in community' with people? Do we really understand what this means? Do I understand what this means? To me, it means you giving of your time, energy and talents and serving one another. This morning i took someone to the airport and then we went to get someone's car from the pound (it had gotten towed). And you know what... i prefer that over going to a church meeting for the most part. why? because i felt like i was sharing life with these folks. and i loved it! but during this discussion from Outburst, we were discussing what it means to truly love one another. I'm not just talking about how someone's doing... but getting down and dirty and when its appropriate to deal w/ the emotions of life. you know... that junk deep down.
during our discussion, we discussed the different aspects of how FIRE is now compared to 5 years ago or earlier. a healthy evaluation is a good thing. realizing the things that need to be worked on and searching your own heart to see what you personally can work on.
FIRE is a reasonably large church. probably 300-400 people or so. and we're steadily taking more and more church transfers. too bad the church itself isn't really growing much physically. to me, church growth is a sinner repenting of their sins and accepting Jesus into their life and a change of heart from sin to holiness unto God. what we get a lot is church transfers... people from one church starting to come to ours. which is fine... but i would love to see some really growth instead of transfers. for the time being though, i'll try and be a good steward of the transfers we take in.
I'm helping with prayer ministry there and just being a part of the body there and loving people.
I can't tell you how many people i know who have told me how isolated they feel. Despite all the technology we've got, we still feel disconnected... It's soo easy to go through the motions of life (and church) and yet still have no idea who your sitting next to.
Nowadays, my preferred method of 'ministry' is around a kitchen table or on a living room floor. Don't get me wrong... there is a time and place for gatherings and big events. They're great and wonderful and have their place. If the Lord is calling you to minister in a mega church w/ thousands... awesome! go for it!
but the other nite i was at a birthday party and we were playing Outburst. And out of nowhere, we get into the whole discussion about what does it mean to be 'in community' with people? Do we really understand what this means? Do I understand what this means? To me, it means you giving of your time, energy and talents and serving one another. This morning i took someone to the airport and then we went to get someone's car from the pound (it had gotten towed). And you know what... i prefer that over going to a church meeting for the most part. why? because i felt like i was sharing life with these folks. and i loved it! but during this discussion from Outburst, we were discussing what it means to truly love one another. I'm not just talking about how someone's doing... but getting down and dirty and when its appropriate to deal w/ the emotions of life. you know... that junk deep down.
during our discussion, we discussed the different aspects of how FIRE is now compared to 5 years ago or earlier. a healthy evaluation is a good thing. realizing the things that need to be worked on and searching your own heart to see what you personally can work on.
FIRE is a reasonably large church. probably 300-400 people or so. and we're steadily taking more and more church transfers. too bad the church itself isn't really growing much physically. to me, church growth is a sinner repenting of their sins and accepting Jesus into their life and a change of heart from sin to holiness unto God. what we get a lot is church transfers... people from one church starting to come to ours. which is fine... but i would love to see some really growth instead of transfers. for the time being though, i'll try and be a good steward of the transfers we take in.
I'm helping with prayer ministry there and just being a part of the body there and loving people.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Jesus, the Great Intercessor...
Comes through once again for me... as if i'm suprised.. in any case, i just moved into my new place here in Concord. Spent my first night last night here... all alone.. sometimes, solitude is nice, but sometimes i'm like "i just wanna be around people." right now i'm forced to be in solitude, which reconfirms the fact that i do NOT have the gift of life long celibate.
Anyways, i have one of those posters that says "And He Shall Be Called" and then has a list of variety of the names of Jesus on it and then at the bottom has "Jesus Christ" written on it. I put that up last night on the wall with some putty. I don't have a whole lot of stuff on my walls. They're largely bare. In any case, something woke me up real briefly last night around 3:14 i think it was. With me being the only one here, things are extremely quite other than right now i have music playing out of my ipod from the charger/speakers. you know how you sometimes just wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason...? well, that happened for me about 3:14 and my "Jesus Christ" poster was like half way off the wall.
I don't know if i should jump to conclusions here and be like "oh my word.. satan tried attacking me somehow and Jesus took the fall for me... again.." or i should be like "i gotta work hard at putting things on the wall with putty... i didn't push hard enough and it just came down." Thats the dilemna i have going on. Sometimes, we try to super-spiritualize it and some of the times its just our stupid fault. some of you may be getting a real kick out of this one b/c probably some of you do the exact same thing.
In the past i've been in situations where satan was really trying to harm me physically. And those times i know beyond the shadow of a doubt that people were praying for me. I can actually remember two separate instances where that happened to me. i was attacked physically by satan and one of the times, luckily a brother was there to pray for me. another time i just prayed it through while trying to get on with life. the second was a panic attack (and i never get those) and i was woke up abruptly at 6:10 am and my mind was all ascatter. in talking w/ a friend, he said that Eph. 6:10 states "finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" and it goes on to say about putting on the armor of God. that passage.
So in any case, i am soo eternally grateful for Jesus and His sacrifice. Sometimes when people ask me how i'm doing and i'm not doing the greatest, i just say "well, it could be worse.. i could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere.." i have some great and wonderful thoughts, don't I?
I'm grateful that we no longer have to make animal sacrifices for our sins. Aside from PETA having a field day with us on that one, i'm glad no more little lambs or goats take my sins, but Jesus takes my sins for me. not that i can keep sinning (Heb. 10:26), but that if and when i mess up, Jesus is right there. speaking of which, someone pointed out a really funny video on YouTube about Jesus and the Terminator meeting.
Hope you have enjoyed another somewhat random blog from me. Please, hold autographs til later.
Anyways, i have one of those posters that says "And He Shall Be Called" and then has a list of variety of the names of Jesus on it and then at the bottom has "Jesus Christ" written on it. I put that up last night on the wall with some putty. I don't have a whole lot of stuff on my walls. They're largely bare. In any case, something woke me up real briefly last night around 3:14 i think it was. With me being the only one here, things are extremely quite other than right now i have music playing out of my ipod from the charger/speakers. you know how you sometimes just wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason...? well, that happened for me about 3:14 and my "Jesus Christ" poster was like half way off the wall.
I don't know if i should jump to conclusions here and be like "oh my word.. satan tried attacking me somehow and Jesus took the fall for me... again.." or i should be like "i gotta work hard at putting things on the wall with putty... i didn't push hard enough and it just came down." Thats the dilemna i have going on. Sometimes, we try to super-spiritualize it and some of the times its just our stupid fault. some of you may be getting a real kick out of this one b/c probably some of you do the exact same thing.
In the past i've been in situations where satan was really trying to harm me physically. And those times i know beyond the shadow of a doubt that people were praying for me. I can actually remember two separate instances where that happened to me. i was attacked physically by satan and one of the times, luckily a brother was there to pray for me. another time i just prayed it through while trying to get on with life. the second was a panic attack (and i never get those) and i was woke up abruptly at 6:10 am and my mind was all ascatter. in talking w/ a friend, he said that Eph. 6:10 states "finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" and it goes on to say about putting on the armor of God. that passage.
So in any case, i am soo eternally grateful for Jesus and His sacrifice. Sometimes when people ask me how i'm doing and i'm not doing the greatest, i just say "well, it could be worse.. i could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere.." i have some great and wonderful thoughts, don't I?
I'm grateful that we no longer have to make animal sacrifices for our sins. Aside from PETA having a field day with us on that one, i'm glad no more little lambs or goats take my sins, but Jesus takes my sins for me. not that i can keep sinning (Heb. 10:26), but that if and when i mess up, Jesus is right there. speaking of which, someone pointed out a really funny video on YouTube about Jesus and the Terminator meeting.
Hope you have enjoyed another somewhat random blog from me. Please, hold autographs til later.
Friday, November 9, 2007
World Peace
Everyone wants world peace. I can't think of anyone in their right mind who doesn't want for world peace. Safety and security. End the whole idea of strife. However, in case you haven't noticed, in our society, its intolerant to be intolerant of those who don't think with an 'open mind'. I remember in high school, my class mates would write, "If your a closed minded individual, don't talk to me" on their binders. I thought it was hysterical.
This past week at work, i had a pocket sized Bible on my desk in my cubical. The design cover is supposed to resemble a crown of thorns. One of my supervisors noticed and made reference to it. He's like "what, are you Jewish or something?" kinda almost in like a mocking tone i thought.. i said "no, but what if i was?" he realized that he might have been taken the wrong way. so he quickly tried to back track.
In our society, its ok to make fun of Christians and Jews. That's ok. However, its not ok to make fun of anything else, such as things that go against scripture. Make fun of a Muslim on tv and you'll probably receive numerous death threats. Make fun of someone who is black, and you'll get called a racist. I would never anyone to get made fun of. Just because your insecure about something, doesn't mean you have to put someone else down to make yourself look better. That's not cool. I'm not for putting anyone down.
I want everyone to know God via a personal relationship with Jesus. He's the way, the truth and the life. That ONLY WAY, TRUTH and LIFE. I want people to willingly come to Jesus and accept His sacrifice for their sins. I don't like that the Crusades happened in the past and Jews and Muslims were killed if they didn't convert to Christianity. That's not the desire of God. To this day, its taboo to say that your a Christian in parts of the world because people have a bad and/or wrong connotation of it. They associate Christianity with the Crusades and killing people. That's just wrong.
Someone once said to me, well, if its good for you.. If its what makes YOU feel good, then its ok. How far off that statement is. It felt good for me to hit that person, so then it's ok, right? WRONG! We have a set of standards.
I don't get the whole idea of anti-semitism. It's a demonic spirit. Why don't people pick on Chinese like they do Jews? Or Australians like they do the Jews? (i'm just picking random nationalities here). No, we pick on God's people b/c they're God's people. Satan is trying to get back at his arch nemesis. I mean, governmental bodies continuously pick on this tiny nation of people relentlessly. Why don't they pick on someone else? But no, they hold whole conferences about it.
Listen, we will never have true world peace. The Cross will always be a stumbling block and cause offense. I was having a conversation with a coworker sometime ago about religion/Christianity. One of my supervisors came over and politely asked us to change topics. he said that people get all upset about it and we should just talk 'shop' there at work. I understood where he was coming from. However, we are grown adults could gently talk about it in a manner as to not cause trouble. I never once raised my voice and he simply voiced his opinions. And i patiently listened.
But i find it hysterical whenever these ideas come up. Jesus and the cross will always be one of the most controversial topics ever. Because whenever they're discussed, people start getting convicted of sin. And that's good. Because the Holy Ghost is working. he's touching hearts and changing lives.
I know this post is kind of all over the place and random... work with me here.
I whole heartedly believe in praying for the peace of Jerusalem. I also believe that we are headed for some major hard times in the future, as far as the end of the world comes into play. It will be the best of times and the worst of times. I don't know when Jesus is coming back. You may think that the church will not be in the tribulation times and your just looking for and escape hatch and for Jesus to come back. Or you may be settling in and getting ready for some bad times in that your thinking that the church will be here for what is known as the Tribulation Times, when the AntiChrist will rise in power. As for me, all i know is that i'm on the 'first boat' out. meaning that whenever Jesus comes back, i'm outta here. Until then, i'm going to live my life for Jesus and expand His Kingdom where ever i go.
Again, i know this has gotten really random. But i just wanted to share some of my thoughts on 'world peace'. The media likes to portray things in a certain light. And i like to present the truth. LOL. In anycase, thanks for reading this. It means a lot.
This past week at work, i had a pocket sized Bible on my desk in my cubical. The design cover is supposed to resemble a crown of thorns. One of my supervisors noticed and made reference to it. He's like "what, are you Jewish or something?" kinda almost in like a mocking tone i thought.. i said "no, but what if i was?" he realized that he might have been taken the wrong way. so he quickly tried to back track.
In our society, its ok to make fun of Christians and Jews. That's ok. However, its not ok to make fun of anything else, such as things that go against scripture. Make fun of a Muslim on tv and you'll probably receive numerous death threats. Make fun of someone who is black, and you'll get called a racist. I would never anyone to get made fun of. Just because your insecure about something, doesn't mean you have to put someone else down to make yourself look better. That's not cool. I'm not for putting anyone down.
I want everyone to know God via a personal relationship with Jesus. He's the way, the truth and the life. That ONLY WAY, TRUTH and LIFE. I want people to willingly come to Jesus and accept His sacrifice for their sins. I don't like that the Crusades happened in the past and Jews and Muslims were killed if they didn't convert to Christianity. That's not the desire of God. To this day, its taboo to say that your a Christian in parts of the world because people have a bad and/or wrong connotation of it. They associate Christianity with the Crusades and killing people. That's just wrong.
Someone once said to me, well, if its good for you.. If its what makes YOU feel good, then its ok. How far off that statement is. It felt good for me to hit that person, so then it's ok, right? WRONG! We have a set of standards.
I don't get the whole idea of anti-semitism. It's a demonic spirit. Why don't people pick on Chinese like they do Jews? Or Australians like they do the Jews? (i'm just picking random nationalities here). No, we pick on God's people b/c they're God's people. Satan is trying to get back at his arch nemesis. I mean, governmental bodies continuously pick on this tiny nation of people relentlessly. Why don't they pick on someone else? But no, they hold whole conferences about it.
Listen, we will never have true world peace. The Cross will always be a stumbling block and cause offense. I was having a conversation with a coworker sometime ago about religion/Christianity. One of my supervisors came over and politely asked us to change topics. he said that people get all upset about it and we should just talk 'shop' there at work. I understood where he was coming from. However, we are grown adults could gently talk about it in a manner as to not cause trouble. I never once raised my voice and he simply voiced his opinions. And i patiently listened.
But i find it hysterical whenever these ideas come up. Jesus and the cross will always be one of the most controversial topics ever. Because whenever they're discussed, people start getting convicted of sin. And that's good. Because the Holy Ghost is working. he's touching hearts and changing lives.
I know this post is kind of all over the place and random... work with me here.
I whole heartedly believe in praying for the peace of Jerusalem. I also believe that we are headed for some major hard times in the future, as far as the end of the world comes into play. It will be the best of times and the worst of times. I don't know when Jesus is coming back. You may think that the church will not be in the tribulation times and your just looking for and escape hatch and for Jesus to come back. Or you may be settling in and getting ready for some bad times in that your thinking that the church will be here for what is known as the Tribulation Times, when the AntiChrist will rise in power. As for me, all i know is that i'm on the 'first boat' out. meaning that whenever Jesus comes back, i'm outta here. Until then, i'm going to live my life for Jesus and expand His Kingdom where ever i go.
Again, i know this has gotten really random. But i just wanted to share some of my thoughts on 'world peace'. The media likes to portray things in a certain light. And i like to present the truth. LOL. In anycase, thanks for reading this. It means a lot.
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