Miracle in Me

[Insert Bad Pick-Up Lines Here]

2012-02-13T17:57:00.001-05:00

Okay, we have a fun topic this time around. Last Thursday Jon Shea gave us a message about marriage and dating, probably in light of Valentine's Day. This is a topic that I used to struggle with a lot, simply because I didn't like to play by the rules and accept biblical male and female roles for relationships, but I'm coming around. So... biblical marriage and dating... here we go.

Our culture's view of dating in the past 100 years has drastically changed. For the longest time, we embraced the idea of courtship (dating back in the 1920's was a term for prostitution) through "calling", in which a man would come to the home of a woman he was interested in and sit in the parlor with her family all around and socialize with everyone. This way, the whole family was involved in the progression of the relationship and it was more wholesome.

Automobiles changed everything. People could now not only go out alone in courtships, but there were a lot more potential partners they could choose from because more travel was possible.

In the 1960's America underwent a social phenomenon called the Sexual Revolution. There was a dramatic shift in traditional values related to sexuality, premarital sex, and contraception. It also caused many people to question gender roles related to marriage and sexuality with feminist movements and the publication of the book "The Feminine Mystique".

Today, our culture has all the views taken from the sexual revolution, but they have expanded with huge arguments over the issues related to same-sex marriages and cohabitation. A lot of young people today wonder if marriage is even worth it, now that premarital sex is so commonplace.

The question we were challenged with was: As a Christian, how are we to view marriage and dating, and how should that influence our pursuit of a relationship?

Romans 12:1-2 help us easily answer that question.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It's pretty self-explanatory.

(Genesis 2:19-25)

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ or she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis tells us that one of the biggest problems we, as human beings, face in relationships with one another is the confusion and reversals of gender roles. Because Adam didn't lead his wife as he really should have, they both fell into sin and brought the curse of that sin onto the world.

In light of that, how are we supposed to view what marriage is to look like?

Probably the most quoted and most argued verses about marriage are these ones, found in Ephesians 5:22-33.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Here, Paul is explaining two things that marriage should entail.

1.) Gender roles: He's explaining the role of the husband being the leader, provider, and protect and the role of the wife as the helper. She is to submit to him (Not in a subservient way for all the nay-sayers out there). The two are equals in the relationship, they just have different, God-ordained roles to play.

Just as Jesus is equal with the Father in the trinity, but submits to Him, so should a wife be to her husband in a marriage. Marriage is most importantly designed to directly reflect God's character.

2.) Raising children: Simple right? Well, it's not just bringing new life into the world. It's raising up the next generation for God and to God. We are meant to raise them physically and spiritually.

Dating and being married isn't just about cultivating happiness, happiness will come. It should be about two disciples trying to find out if they should walk out their Christian lives together. It should be a light-bringing union.

So here are some things to look for before you try to commit to pursuing a relationship:

You should already be following God on your own before pursuing a relationship. This one is kind of a given. If you aren't following God now, what makes you think you'll follow Him when you're with someone else? [Guys, if you're ready to play with a girls heart, you better be ready to lead her.]
Teach yourself to go with the roles that God has assigned.
Learn to resolve conflicts! For the love of God, learn this, because conflicts will happen and how you resolve them will be an example to everyone else, especially any future children, or young people in general.
Wait until the right time and submit yourselves to other people's opinions about the timing. Both people need to be absolutely sure and ready before entering into a relationship in order to spare each other a lot of hurt. Timing is everything. It isn't something to go into as lightly as the world tells you that it is. And as for other people's opinions, we are meant to live in community for a reason. Other people are to help us in decisions as monumental as choosing a mate, not necessarily to dictate who we should marry, but to give us perspective and advice. ["The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing."- Joshua Harris]

I think a big thing for us to keep in mind is to try to prevent ourselves from making an idol out of the guy or the girl that you think you want to be with. God needs to always come first. (This is also one of the hardest things to keep in mind, especially for me.) We are to serve God and find someone who is doing the same, then date them, not the other way around.

So, how about some biblical questions to consider for those people out there already in a relationship?

Are you both growing individually and living in community?
Do you have boundaries for each other's purity? [This is a HUGE characteristic that should be found in Christian relationships.] It's pretty opposite of the way the rest of the world sees dating, but then we are not supposed to be anything like the world. Purity needs to be a priority because of God's command and because it will spare you from a lot of heartache if the relationship doesn't turn into marriage.
Girls, do you trust your guy to lead you?

So yeah, Christian relationships are a lot different than worldly dating. God needs to be in the center of everything, especially marital relationships. While everything described in this post may seem ridiculously archaic, conservative , and boring by worldly standards, it's really the best approach and maintains the best success rates that I've ever seen. Call me old-fashioned, but I actually takes relationships seriously. I think more people should approach courtship/dating with a purposeful mentality that really weighs the gravity of the decisions associated with it.

Relationships are not to be taken lightly, you don't just jump into them out of loneliness or a good time. Maybe our success rates would be higher if dating was pursued for the sole purpose of marriage.

Our Great Healer

2012-02-13T01:56:00.000-05:00

Guys...I just want to share with you how awesome our God is. He really is the best and it's just so neat that he loves me! Our God is so many things...Savior, Protector, Defender, etc...and tonight, he is my Healer.

Now, before you get all freaked out...calm down, take a deep breathe...many people don't believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit or for today or they believe that God doesn't work in the ways he did in the Bible (signs, wonders, miracles, etc.). I can understand where you are coming from...honest. However, let me tell ya...the Holy Spirit and his gifts are for today and God still works in us today. I know this because I experienced it tonight. Yeah, it might sound a bit corny...but it's true. You may get to the end of this testimony and dismiss it as just a psychosomatic response or some freak thing...but take the time to consider what the Bible says and what I've experienced.

Thursday, I was in my first car accident. It was really scary to me(and no it wasn't my fault)...but thankfully there wasn't much damage and no apparent injuries. My dad told me that there was a possibility that my back might eventually start to hurt because of being all tense when it happened(typical delayed reaction). Being the slightly paranoid person that I am...I paid very close attention to what my body was telling me. I made sure not to do anything too crazy or lift anything so as not to further any dormant injury.

Now...for a bit of reference...anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm probably one of the most tense people ever...muscle-wise anyway...my back muscles are always tight and so I'm usually aware of my muscles since they tend to "talk to me" at times...but not to the point of pain usually.

Anyway...it's been a few days since the accident and haven't really felt anything out of the ordinary...no more tense than usual, no discomfort or pain. Starting to think I'm out of the woods right? Welllllllll....I get to C4 Charlotte tonight and just get totally lost in what God was doing there...but almost the very minute that the message began, my back just constricted. I've had muscle spasms before but this was something like I'd never felt...I'd never felt my back so tight, I'd never felt it hurt that bad, I'd never even felt it come on that strong. I tried to ignore it and for the most part I made it through the end of the service fine and we headed out to dinner. About halfway into a deep theological discussion during dinner, my back began to spasm...constant spasms and pain. I was miserable...and sort of freaking out...(I don't do well with pain)

A new friend named Eric, who was involved in our dinner discussion noticed the pain I was in and after dinner he came beside me and asked what was wrong with my back. I knew that whatever was going on was more than just a muscle reaction to the car accident because when he first put his hand on my back to get my attention, it felt like fire. He began to pray for me and immediately it felt like something was trying to crush my spine and all of my muscles constricted in ways that I've never felt before. I couldn't even hold my head up...I just sat there with my head down on the table. Eric and Emily continued to lay hands on my back and pray for me. I can't remember being in that much pain before with my back...and soon my back was so hot that their hands felt like ice. My back muscles were constricting like crazy and shooting pain throughout my entire body. He told me that I needed to release any bitterness and unforgiveness that I was holding onto...and as I began to do that, and as they continued to pray in Jesus name that any evil that had a hold of me would release it's grip and release my muscles...the pain began to subside. After a few more moments of prayer, my muscles continued to release and the pain just vanished. When they finished, Eric had me get up and move around and do something that would normally cause me pain....and when I twisted around, there wasn't any pain. I can still feel my muscles being all twitchy even now, but I haven't felt them this loose in....years...and even though they're still trembling, there's no pain.

Yeah, maybe it's not quite as intense as being raised from the dead...but what God did tonight through the obedience of Eric and Emily to come and pray for me and the faith we had that God could heal my back...is just as miraculous as Jesus healing the blind and crippled. The Holy Spirit works through our prayers and gives us the faith we need to accomplish the works that God has prepared for us. What happened tonight is just a huge display (at least for me) of everything that God has been speaking through M28 and C4.

Eric and Emily didn't heal me. God healed me. God used them as his vessels so that his power could be known tonight. God is our Healer...and so much more. When you are sensitive to what God wants you to do and you have the faith that God can use you...you will see amazing things happen.

To our Readers:

2012-02-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Emily and I have noticed a huge interest in our guest posts lately and after some serious thought, we both came to the same conclusion:

We want to hear from you.

We would love to hear how God is at work in your life or in your ministry. It's so encouraging to hear from others and we wanted to open it up to all of you...not just those who know us personally. We'd love to share your stories on our blog and get the word out about what God is doing not just in our city of Charlotte, but all over the world.

What we're looking for:

Testimonies of what God is doing in your life right now. Our God is a personal God and we want to hear how he has changed your life.
Stories about how God is working in your church or college ministry.
Full length posts about a message from your church or ministry(like the majority of what we write). We'd love to hear what God is speaking to you through your pastors.
Poetry, spoken word, songs...anything that was God-breathed

If you want to write to us but aren't sure where to start...consider these:

Is there one word or a phrase that God keeps speaking to you lately?

What is he using to speak that to you? A scripture? A song? A message?
How has your life changed since God revealed this to you?
How are you applying God's word to your life.

Are there any messages from your church or ministry that have really impacted you or changed your perspective on something?
Is there a song that has become a "theme song" in your life recently?

Lyrics that opened your eyes to the truth of God?
Recurring themes?
What about this song stood out to you?
Why did it stand out to you?

Personal struggle (you don't have to tell the details) but how you've seen God's hand in that situation.
Even how God has spoken to you through the things on this blog. (Not so that we are able to boast in our own ability, but that we can be excited about what God is doing.)

Don't feel like you have to fit in one of those categories, we just wanted to give you a starting place. By emailing us your story, you are giving us permission to post it on the blog(unless otherwise specified). Not all submissions will be posted. Also, I tend to be a stickler about grammar and stuff so I give things a quick read-through...if I make any suggestions for changes I will not post it until you approve it. We will try to email each one of you back...forgive us if it is not immediate! If you would like to submit to us, email us at miracleinme.submit@gmail.com. (No attachments please) We love you guys! Thank you so much for supporting us and sharing the word about what God is doing!!! We are so looking forward to hearing from you!

Love, Chelsey and Emily

Guest Post: I am the Church

2012-02-07T11:24:00.003-05:00

Yup, it's time for another guest post! I'm not a slacker, I promise...God has blessed me with friends who are just as excited about what He is doing in their lives as I am. Today's post was written by one of my best friends, Jenny Veleke. She is an incredible wife, mother, and writer. She has written for quite a few publications including Faith Writers. I love her to death and I am beyond excited that you get to hear what God has shared with her. This past weekend, while she and her family were in Georgia for her Dad's retirement from the United States Air Force ceremony, they took the opportunity to visit Passion City Church. What Jenny experienced was nothing less than God. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged by what she shares...and I hope that God speaks to you as much as he did to me.

"I grew up thinking I knew everything there was to know about what church is. I went to Sunday School and made macaroni crafts, held a heavy hymnbook, sang old songs full of words I didn’t understand, and tried to pay attention to a sermon that didn’t seem to be about anything relevant to my life. Sometimes there would be a potluck dinner with all the old ladies flaunting their best pies or a whole week of fire and brimstone sermons when the revival preacher came to town. Church was where you dressed up in your best, most uncomfortable clothes to sit still on a hard wooden pew and listen to the preacher tell you about Jesus who came and died for sins everyone in the church was pretending they had never committed. Everyone put on their best on Sunday - the best clothes, the best smile, the best appearances - then they went home, took it off and put it away until the next Sunday.

Maybe you grew up in a church just like that. Or maybe the stereotype of church turns you off and you’ve never committed to attending one. But church is more than a building full of Christians singing hymns and hearing sermons. I am the church. You are the church. I’m not just an attendee or a name on a roll. The church lives and breathes and ministers through me and through you.

In the book of Acts we get a picture of the early church, those first believers who spread the gospel and began the work of the mission. The 120 people who began the early church included Jesus’ mother and brothers, his disciples and others who were eyewitnesses to his resurrection. They had listened to Jesus teach. They were among the 5000 people who ate and were satisfied by five loaves of bread and two fish. They saw lepers healed, sight restored, mute tongues loosened and dead men rise. They were there when Jesus was crucified. They carried his body to the tomb and in three days returned to find it empty. When he appeared to them after his resurrection, they touched his hands and feet. They stood on the mountain and watched as he ascended into heaven. When the clouds closed up and the glorious light faded and Jesus was no longer standing there with them, what did they do? They didn’t go pick out a building to meet in, print some bulletins and write some worship music. The early church was vastly different from the church we are all familiar with. So how did we get from those 120 people to the millions of believers in the church today?

The early church was not an incremental church with six people professing to new faith in Christ and twenty people baptized per year. It was an explosive church. On day one, the early church went from 120 people to more than 3000. There are three distinct characteristics that separate the explosive church of early Christianity from the incremental churches of today.

First, the brand of the early church was Jesus. They didn’t need a logo or a website, t-shirts or coffee mugs to spread the word about their new church. They didn’t come up with outreach programs or community events. They simply went out and preached about Jesus. They told anyone that would listen, and many who didn’t want to hear, about this man who healed the sick and fed the hungry and fulfilled the prophecies of Scripture. It didn’t matter what the name of their group was, the only name that mattered was Jesus.

The second distinctive of the early church was that each and every one of them was an eyewitness of the resurrection of Jesus. Peter wasn’t running around saying, “Hey, I met this guy who knew somebody whose cousin said he saw a man raised from the dead who claimed to be the Son of God.” No, he preached “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses to the fact.” (Acts 2:32)

The church doesn’t hinge on the teachings of Jesus. It doesn’t hinge on the miracles he performed. It doesn’t even hinge on his sacrificial death. The church hinges on the resurrection - the finished complete work of Jesus on our behalf. Through the resurrection, he interrupts our funeral, breaks the chains of condemnation, and frees us from the slavery of sin. And we are eyewitnesses of this! We need to carry in our hearts the experience of a supernatural power that has brought us to life. We all have a past - we are broken and hurt and filled with pain. But when Jesus steps into the picture, he uses the bow of brokenness to launch the arrows of healing. He gives us our life back!

The disciples didn’t begin preaching after Jesus’ crucifixion. In fact, they did the opposite…they were full of fear and hid themselves away in a locked room. It wasn’t until his resurrection, when they saw him with their own eyes and witnessed the consummation of everything he had told them would happen, that they came alive and were anxious to preach the gospel. But Jesus told them to wait - there was one thing more that was needed, the third distinct characteristic.

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:4, 8)

Remember, these 120 people were the closest witnesses to everything Jesus said and did on this earth. They ate and slept with him, knew him better than anyone else. If anyone was qualified to go preach the good news of the gospel, it was these guys. But Jesus said even that wasn’t enough...they couldn’t do it in their own strength. First, they needed the power of the Holy Spirit and then they could be his witnesses. He didn’t say, “Hey guys, it might be a good idea if you wait around, because I’m sending you the Holy Spirit and he might be helpful to you in the mission.” No, He said, “Do not leave...but wait”.

If these men and women who were closest to Jesus weren’t qualified to preach the gospel without the power of the Holy Spirit, then I cannot assume I am able to. I need the Holy Spirit to empower me to do the work God has called me to do - it’s a non-negotiable. The church today is divided when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Some churches say they are filled with it and others only talk about it. When the Holy Spirit comes to empower you, then your life becomes a mission to be his witness. That witness is the work of the church and it comes from people like you and me, not from a well designed building or a great website. We don’t want a church that is cool. We want a church that is powerful. And that power comes from the Holy Spirit.

“For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:18-22)

Paul describes a church built on the foundation of the early church, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. He describes the church as you and me becoming a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So how do we know when the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us?

First, the Holy Spirit always brings with it the evidence of a changed life. Acts 3 tells the story of Peter and John going to the temple to pray. As they walked through the temple gate, a crippled beggar asks them for money. Peter tells him they have no money but they will give him what they do have. Then in the name of Jesus, he takes the man by the hand and brings him to his feet. The man immediately begins walking and jumping and running around the temple, praising God. The people in the temple can’t believe their eyes. They know this guy running around the temple. They’ve seen him begging by the gate his entire life. Then Peter says to them,

“Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power and godliness we had made this man walk?...You killed the author of life, but God has raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you all can see.” (Acts 3:12, 15-16)

Peter and John were eyewitnesses of the resurrection and they couldn’t stop talking about it. Even when the Sanhedrin put them in jail and questioned who gave them the power to heal, they continued to proclaim the gospel.

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is ‘the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:8-12)

The Sanhedrin were amazed at the courage of these ordinary, unschooled men. They knew they were friends of Jesus. But the thing they couldn’t ignore was the crippled beggar running around the temple. It was evidence that the Holy Spirit was at work, changing the life of this man.

“But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there, there was nothing they could say.” (Acts 4:14)

Secondly, when the Holy Spirit came to the early church, they began to live as one family - caring for one another, working together, eating together. They became aware of the needs of the other believers. This didn’t just stop at the doors of the church or the edge of town.

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked, ‘Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?...we hear them proclaiming the wonders of God in our own tongues!’” (Acts 2:4-8, 11)

Can you imagine what it must have been like? Surrounded by people from every nation, suddenly hearing the gospel preached so that each man hears it in his own language. On day one, the church became globally conscious. They didn’t need a mission conference, they just needed the Holy Spirit living in them. Jesus had told them this would happen. They were his witnesses in Jerusalem and then they went out, each to his own land, to the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria, and even further to the ends of the earth.

I’ve heard so many people say that Christianity is a western religion, an American religion that we insist on spreading to the rest of the world. The roots of Christianity began in Jerusalem, the most controversial city in the world, in the center of the Middle East. When the Holy Spirit came to those 120 people, things happened exponentially and 3000 new believers were added to their numbers on day one.

It’s not weird for me to have a mission mindset. The Holy Spirit is not reserved for an elect 4% who went to a mission conference and felt called to serve. There are millions of people who need to hear the gospel and the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you compels you to go!

Thirdly, when the Holy Spirit came to the early church, they began to boldly proclaim the gospel. Being bold has nothing to do with volume. God may call you to stand and preach loudly on the sidewalks of your campus, but it’s not likely. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you cannot help but proclaim the gospel.

Let’s go back to our story of Peter and John and the crippled beggar...the Sanhedrin didn’t know what to do about the situation. Here is this beggar who has obviously been healed and these two men insisting that the Jesus the Sanhedrin had crucified was resurrected and had given them the power to heal him. They couldn’t ignore the evidence right in front of them but they wanted to do their best to keep it from spreading.

“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:16-20)

In spite of the Sanhedrin’s best efforts to shut them down, Peter and John continued to proclaim the gospel. Many who heard them preach in the temple that day believed and were saved and added to the church, until the number of men grew to about five thousand. Talk about explosive growth! Peter and John returned to the church people and told them everything that had happened to them and they all began to pray.

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:29-31)

Notice that they didn’t ask God to get the Sanhedrin off their backs or even for protection. They asked God to do it again! They prayed for boldness. On day one, the gospel was under fire. Christianity is not meant to be a life of ease, but a badge of honor we wear that says, “I’m with Jesus. I’m never gonna be ashamed of the gospel and I will always fearlessly proclaim it.”

In December 1989, the people of Romania overthrew the communist dictatorship and formed their own democratic government. Christians in Romania who for years had suffered relentless persecution, imprisonment and executions were suddenly free to practice their faith without fear. Louie Giglio had an opportunity to meet one of the pastors who lived in Romania both before and after the revolution. He asked him this question: Was it better for the church before or after the revolution? The pastor said the answer was complicated, but offered this simple answer.

During the time of persecution, Christians in Romania woke up with only one choice to make - am I with Jesus or am I with them? The answer to that question took care of the rest of your day. People in the church prayed constantly with their families, especially before leaving the house. They prayed for protection and strength and the courage to face whatever persecution might await them when they stepped outside. Every goodbye was meaningful and tearful, knowing it could very well be your last. Christians had to make a daily decision to follow Jesus and totally depend on Him in spite of the risk.

After the revolution, the daily choice of whether or not they would follow Jesus became less urgent. It was no longer the main focus of their lives. The choice to choose Jesus was swallowed up in the many decisions of everyday life. And because of that, the church has suffered.

So what does church look like to you now? Are you content to put your time in on Sunday singing worship songs and listening to a sermon, checking the clock to see how much longer until it’s time to eat lunch with your friends and watch the football game? Is church just a once a week obligation for you? Or are you ready to be the church?

Is your identity wrapped up in M28 or C4 or another college ministry? Or is it in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus?
Has God interrupted your funeral? Are you a witness to the death of your old life? Can you see the effects of a resurrected heart?
Are you trying to be the church in your own power? Or are you tapped into the power of the Holy Spirit? Can you see changes in your life? Do you have a global mindset? Are you ready to boldly proclaim the gospel?

We don’t have to wait to find the perfect church. A great college ministry isn’t enough. It starts with you and it starts with me. We have to go out and give away what was freely given to us. We have to be the church.

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:19)

What would happen if we moved this to the top of our prayer list, that every time we open our mouths, God would give us the words to speak so that we can fearlessly proclaim the gospel. We can see explosive growth in the church if we have the desire for his fame above all else. We just have to be willing to open our mouths. Now go proclaim it."

Guest Post: Psalm for a Bleeding Heart

2012-02-05T23:43:00.000-05:00

Wow, it seems like we're doing a lot of guest posts lately...but God isn't just moving through us, he's moving through those around us and we can't and wouldn't want to keep it contained to just Emily and I! My friend Bradlee wrote a psalm a while back that has recently been on my mind...he very graciously allowed me to share it with you. Bradlee authors his own blog called Not Just a Coincidence...he is very involved in CRU as well as C4 and M28. This psalm really resonated with me...I know a lot of times, especially when life gets rough, it seems like God has turned his back to what you are going through and feeling. What God spoke through Bradlee in this psalm was just such encouragement...that even when it's a dark time in my life, my God is still the same God who throughout history has proven his faithfulness. I hope it encourages you as well.

Psalm for a Bleeding Heart

by Bradlee Speice

God, why have you abandoned me?

The wicked prosper, while I

wait for my daily bread.

The unrighteous wallow in pleasure, while I

chastise myself before you.

How long will you let your servant suffer?

The ones I hold close to me, I

can not trust to help me.

The ones I care about, regard me

as the dust on their sandals.

What is your plan for me?

Have you turned your back on me?

Will you leave me forever?

Yet my God is the God of Jacob

the man who wrestled with you.

Who would not give up,

though he was downtrodden.

Yet my God is the God of Elijah

the man who called upon you.

Who rained down fire,

though the people believed him false.

Yet my God is the God of Paul

the man who turned to you.

Who had an unclean heart,

though you can change even this.

Yet my God loves me still.

Though you turn your back on me,

you welcome me home with loving arms.

In your embrace will I delight,

though my heart may be bleeding.

In your embrace will I delight,

though the mountains crumble to the sea.

In your embrace will I delight,

though the galaxies whirl like my thoughts.

In your embrace

I find you still call me Son.

Guest Post: What Fruit?

2012-02-05T17:32:00.001-05:00

What Fruit?

by Max Rivera

What is the fruit we are bearing?

Is it God's love that we are sharing?

Do we love people when they don't love us?

Or do we reject someone when we have been cussed?

God said to, “Pray for your enemy.”

He said to, “Love everyone.”

Whether they love us,

or whether we are being shunned.

We don’t know people’s past.

We don’t know what they’ve been through.

But we can influence their future,

and God does this through you.

He does this through us;

The people that He has called.

The people He has love;

So don’t be appalled.

Don’t be appalled that He asks us to love;

Even the ones that we hate

because we were once sinners,

but now we are held by grace.

We don’t know where a non-Christian could be,

3 years down the road.

All we know,

is to show the grace God has shown.

By not having fits of anger.

By not being jealous.

But by loving others

and showing kindness.

We have no reason to hate.

We have no reason to hold a grudge;

because we are sinner too;

Just held under the grace of a judge.

We would all be in hell

if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ.

So the next time someone hurts you,

think about what God has done in your life.

Think about where you were

before God had called you

Think about your life

before you were made new.

We were all broken people

looking for a revival.

So think about the one who hurt you

before you call him your rival.

Think about his future.

Think about where he could be.

God calls us to love,

so the broken can be set free.

What is the fruit we are bearing?

Is it God’s love we are sharing?

Guest Post: Alone But Found

2012-02-05T17:29:00.001-05:00

Through a mutual friend, I was introduced to Max Rivera. Poetry and Spoken word are the areas in which he expresses his incredible talent for writing. Max has graciously agreed to let us post some of his work but you can check out all of his poems on his blog: Faith Poems

Alone But Found

by Max Rivera

Do you feel alone?
Do you feel like everything is gone?

Do you feel like your life isn’t important?

Maybe you feel like a pawn.

A piece that won’t go far.

Only moving a space at a time.

Not making any progress.

Or maybe you feel like a mime.

A voice that isn’t heard

because your words are slurred.

Or maybe you go on a diet

because your mom says you need to lose weight.

She says that you need to be skinny

so that you can go out on a date.

Maybe you think you’re ugly;

that you will never be loved.

The boys run to the pretty girls

and out of the way you are shoved.

The truth is that you are loved

by a man named Jesus Christ.

Don’t listen to the devil

about the things that he has enticed.

The false words he puts in your head

as you are going to bed.

He tells you that you are no good.

He tells you that you are not cared about,

so shove him away

because you no longer have to doubt.

The devil is your enemy,

but God is your friend.

The devil will lead you astray,

but God will be with you till the end.

The devil makes you feel alone

while God makes you feel secure.

The devil brings sickness,

but God brings the cure.

Trust in God.

He made you for a reason.

Trust in the Bible

because it does not treason.

It will not lie,

but lead you down the right path.

It will lead you out of destruction;

into a better aftermath.

So anyone who feels weak.

Anyone who doesn’t want to live.

Trust in God,

and the gifts that He will give.

A life full of Joy.

A life full of Peace.

An amazing afterlife,

where all the benefits you will reap.

The benefits of love.

An eternity with the Lord.

The benefits of joy,

that will never fall short.

YARD SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-03T18:10:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!!! Guess what!!! M28 is having a yard sale!

Saturday, February 4, 7am to 12 (aka TOMORROW), Mission28 is having a yard sale to raise money for Rekindle!

If you don't know what Rekindle is...it's our Spring Break Retrip (Retreat/Trip) down to Laguna Beach, Florida. We spend an entire week on the beach worshipping God, hearing the Word of God brought in teaching, playing crazy fun games and spending time in fellowship with one another. We offer financial aid to help students who otherwise wouldn't be able to go...however...we need help raising money for financial aid.

Anyway...when I went to drop off 12 boxes of stuff yesterday, there was already a TON of stuff there (even a sink...literally we have everything and a sink...) The whole church went through closets, attics, and garages and donated stuff...so it's a lot of really good stuff.

So...I, along with a ton of other M28ers will be there between 5 and 5:30 tomorrow morning getting ready for you guys to come and clean us out!

We definitely need y'all to come help us! So get ready and head out tomorrow morning to CrossWay Community Church (6400 Prosperity Church Road, Charlotte, NC 28269). I'll see you there!!!

Simple Faith: Pray Together

2012-02-03T18:09:00.000-05:00

Last night, God was definitely in Rowe 130. Jon spoke on prayer for just a few moments before we broke down into small groups and just began to pray. It was one of the most powerful times of prayer that I think I've ever experienced. Honestly, I loved ending the message just talking to God together...participating in the meeting made it resonate all the more in my life.

Let me ask you a question(or several)...If God did things on campus (or in your workplace or family or earth in general) based solely on whether you prayed for them or didn't pray for them...would that be a good or bad thing? If the gospel's advance in this world depended on your prayers, would it be advancing?

What would it look like to be known as a ministry, a church, a generation...of prayer warriors? People who pray all the time! God is doing amazing things! He is birthing in this generation a passion for holiness and boldness. He is growing us together and giving us a vision. But how many of these things has he done because we prayed for them? Or has he just given them to us out of his faithfulness? What could God be doing in and through us that we have yet to pray for but that we could be praying for? Is he waiting for us to pray? What effect would it have...individually and corporately...if we began to pray together? I believe that it would make a tremendous difference. We must begin to change our prayer lives and focus our attention on prayer. We need to grow together in prayer.

Acts 2:42-47 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

This passage is basically a summary of the New Testament church after the Holy Spirit came and 3000 were saved. It is a snapshot of the early church. They were a people who were marked by prayer and devotion.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings...we are taught through God's word...the literal writings of the apostles. They devoted themselves to fellowship...life on life, sharing, communion...they shared life together. They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread...usually associated with the Lord's Supper in the context of worship services. They also devoted themselves to prayer.

Prayer is not only spoken of in this passage but all through Acts. People prayed for Peter when he was in prison...leaders prayed...and God met them. Paul said that he was thankful for the prayers of the people. Paul and Luke both reference corporate prayer...praying together. Prayer was the lifeblood of the early church.

I tend to take a simplistic view on this matter...if it's in the scriptures, then we need to do it...we must start praying together as a ministry, as a church, as a community, as a fellowship of believers, as a generation! If we want to know Jesus, follow him in simple faith, grow to be like him, and be used by him for his mission...then we must pray.

Jesus prayed all the time...he was led by the Father. We need to model after him. In simple faith, pray and expect God to move. It's easy to sing truth but prayer is where the rubber meets the road...it's where we see our dependence upon him. Prayer helps us know, grow, follow, and proclaim Him. It is the lifeblood of a Christian.

So what then are we to do...the answer is simply to pray. Pray right now...stop reading this if you have to...close your eyes and meet with your Maker. Jon gave us a few things to pray for specifically. I invite you to pray along with us...both for this in our lives as well as for this in your own life.

Pray for God to move.

God does this in a few ways: he comes, makes his presence know, and makes his power known.
Ask that his presence and power will come so that we could see and know Him
Pray that he would break hearts of stone and bring people to himself.
We need his presence and power.

Pray that God changes our hearts.

Pray for a boldness and a love for people as he comes and moves.
Pray that we would be empowered and used.
Pray that he would give us his compassion and turn us from our selfishness.
Pray that he would work through us and give us a new heart for people.
Pray that we would step out in faith and preach the gospel.
Pray that we would go, do, and expect.

Isaiah 64:1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—

Imagine that for a moment...really imagine that.

Remember the Lord's Prayer? I think we all learned this at some point in life...but did you ever stop to think about what you're truly praying? Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Think about the implications of that...

Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Far more abundantly than all that we ask or think...this tells me that I can ask for the greatest thing I could imagine and God would still do greater than that. I could ask for the entire campus to know his name and he could speak his name over the city...or state...or country...or world. Ask bold things...go out in boldness and expect that he will do great things. You don't have to hold back in your prayers...expect that God is great enough to accomplish all that you ask and imagine...and more.

Right now, right where you are...gather those around you and pray together in faith. Imagine if God did all that you asked. Imagine if you prayed that God filled you with boldness and then tomorrow you go out and shared the gospel and God saved that person. The thing is...you can't just stop at praying for boldness...you have to go out in boldness. You don't expect that God will do what you ask because you don't have faith or you don't think he's listening.

God answers prayers based on Jesus in your place. Jesus perfects your prayers. God doesn't see our failures...he sees Christ's work on our behalf. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray so that we will pray the very things that God wants to do. If you believe this, then devote yourself to prayer. God will move. We don't talk to a fake God. Think about the disciples prayers for a moment...they were praying to someone who shared a meal with them only a few days before...they were praying to someone they knew. We are praying to the same Jesus...the risen, alive, King. He wants to meet us in great ways.

So pray that God will make his presence known...that we would feel his holiness and the weight of our sin. Pray for power...that he would break down walls, reveal himself, and save lives. We don't want to just read about it happening in the Bible, we want to see it and live it.
Pray that God would purify us...that he would reveal sin in our lives that hinders us from his calling on our lives. Pray that he would give us the power to change...that he would give us a love and compassion for others...that we would see that eternity is in the balance.
Pray for boldness...that we would give up our fear and stop cowering and letting Satan take over. God is on our side...why are we so afraid? Take him with you wherever you go.
Pray for God's fame on campus, in the workplace, in families, in our lives, in our generation. Pray that his name and renown would be the desire of our hearts.
Pray that he would make it all real to us...that he would do a work.

Our God is good...he is powerful...and he can do everything. Lets go to him in prayer...unite yourselves in prayer. We will see him do crazy things if we focus our hearts toward prayer.

How's your blood pressure?

2012-01-31T23:51:00.021-05:00

Wanna hear a joke about salt? Na.

“Tomorrow, you promise yourself, will be different; yet, tomorrow is too often a repetition of today.”- James T. Mccay

Even though I started off with a joke...this week I was really challenged by Tyson’s message at C4. I’m not sure how to introduce this topic, but basically it can be summed up in the question: What does the past tell you about yourself as opposed to what God tells you about yourself?

As Lot’s wife was on her way to safety and refuge, she couldn’t help but look back and thereby subject herself to the same fate of her past (in a word… destruction). She was turned into a pillar of salt! As Francis Chan would say, “Well that sucks!” Salt is described as a powdery substance that’s easily dissolved and pulverized, and Lot’s wife was turned into it all because she couldn’t let go of the past. The same holds true for us, more so in a metaphorical sense than physical, but definitely true in a psychological and spiritual sense. If we keep looking back and dwelling on the failures or traumas of our pasts, our faith will dissolve and we will be pulverized.

I know that the moment I start distancing myself from God and the support and accountability of the church...that is the moment my faith starts to dissolve. It could be because it’s so much easier to look to everything besides God, because the culture makes God a bit of a taboo subject, or because I don’t want to come off as naïve, but my faith level and dependence on God plummets the second I occupy my thoughts with other things. One thing leads to another and before I know it, I’m a functional atheist.

See, the problem about looking back at the past is that we never get the entire picture and we don’t remember exact circumstances or realities. It’s the nature of the human psyche to produce exaggerated memories about past events. Basically we don’t always think about our pasts as they really were, and if you are anything like me, mixing what we believe about our pasts and what we’re supposed to know about ourselves from God’s point of view is eternally frustrating because they almost never truly fit together.

For example, consider a victims perspective of prolonged sexual abuse. In terms of a textbook case, they might remember their past as something that was their fault, that made them dirty and unlovable, that destroyed their trust and self worth. Now take that mentality and apply the gospel to it. God says that they are not at fault (they were sinned against), they are washed clean and loved and valued so much that God’s Son died for them. See the contradiction in thinking patterns? God’s truth is something incredibly difficult to hold onto when you’re looking at your past and your mindset and emotions are so distorted and negative. Thoughts can destroy you if you let them.

The trick is to make yourself dwell on the truth of God rather than what you feel about your past, because what’s true about you is what God says about you. (And yes, I used the word “make”. Faith is an active thing; you have to work at it.)

The bible says that faith is the “assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”. I think in this context, faith is the assurance of God’s promise to us in Jeremiah 29:11 (which just happens to be my personal favorite bible verse).

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

So often, we are not looking forward. We have a tendency to base our futures on the events of our pasts. We put more stock in circumstance than God because that’s where we put most of our focus. The nerve-wracking thing is that where we’re looking has everything to do with where we’re going. So, I mean, it comes down to: What is the driving force in your life right now and what do you want it to be? Will you leave your past in the past or let it be your downfall? Would you rather be a human being or a pillar of salt? Personally I wouldn’t want the high blood pressure that would come from being a stack of salt.

Don't Look Back

2012-01-31T18:08:00.000-05:00

Sunday's message at C4 Charlotte was definitely something I needed. Too often I get wrapped up in a moment and drag it with me all over the place. I think most of us have a tendency to do this...to take time out of our lives and look back on our past...relive the good moments and painfully remember the rough times. Tyson's message was such an encouragement to me not to look back anymore.

Genesis 19:15-17, 23-29 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Sodom and Gomorrah were 2 cities that were extremely distorted and perverted. Sin was so bold in these cities that God searched for faithfulness and it was only because of Abraham's prayer that Lot and his family were saved. These cities were so corrupted that when God sent angels to rescue Lot, the men of the cities wanted to do terrible, sinful things to the angels. Lot had to take his family and get out...but even when the Lord came to rescue them, they still hesitated.
Lot and his family hesitated because they were looking at what was familiar and comfortable to them. They were about to leave what they knew and walk into unknown territory. They had to trust that God would take care of them. The very moment that they began to leave, sulfur and fire began to rain down on the town. As they were leaving, Lot's wife was tempted to look back into her old life on her way to the new life...and she ended up getting caught in the same destiny as her past.

All of us are called and designed to move forward...we are not to stay in the same place...our lives don't end at salvation. How many times have you ever used the phrase: "I'm looking forward to it."?? I know I use it all the time...what it means when you say that is that you are excited and anxiously anticipating what is to come. When you are looking at your past, you can't look forward to the future. We tend to judge our future off of the reality of our past. Your future is greater than your past and you can't allow a negative past or negative thoughts to haunt your future. Stop looking back and believe!

If you are satisfied looking at your past, your future will look the same as your past. Some of you might be thinking that your past isn't bad so looking back isn't a bad thing then. If you do that, you are throwing away God's promises for your life. Lot's wife, even with all the promise of her new future, she couldn't help but look back and because she did that, her future was taken from her. Your future will look like your past if you continue to live there. Have faith that your future will be greater than your past...God responds to your faith!

Too often we complain about our past but we keep living the same way. How can you expect to get anything different if you keep doing the same things? Change things in your life and don't look back anymore! "Well, last time I tried living for God or changing things...it didn't work out...so why should I even try again." Well...quit looking at your past...your attitude is affected by what you are looking at. If you are looking at a failure of your past, then your mindset will be failure for your future too. Your attitude is more powerful than anything...it has everything to do with where you will go from here.

The God we love doesn't judge our future by our past...he makes ALL things new. Not some things new, ALL things. The only one who can stop you from moving forward is you! Don't look at the future through the lenses of your past...God has something much greater for you.

"God can't use me, look at my past." No...Stop. If you come to him, confess your sin, repent and turn from your ways...God will make you new. He knows everything but when you come to him, he chooses to separate our sin as far as the east is from the west. He chooses to wipe your slate and your life clean with the blood of his son. Start living and believing again. Resurrect the dreams you let die because of your past. Stop looking back and allow God to work in you and through you. Remember that faith is the substance of thins hoped for and evidence of things not seen...have faith and God will move.

If you've ever been through driver's ed...I'm sure you've heard the instructor say "Where you are looking is exactly where you are going to go." This is so profound even as simple as it seems. If we focus on God and look at him...we will grow towards him in character and in our lives. Likewise, if we look at our past or other things, we will live our lives for those things and stay in the same place. Stop taking your eyes off of God. If you think about past failures and give up on the dreams that God gave you...you will keep failing and you'll never receive all he has for you. Turn your eyes back on Jesus...

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace."

I can't tell you what this hymn means to me...every time I hear it, it just reminds me how easy it is to take my focus off of Him. It's so true though, when I turn my eyes on Jesus...my past doesn't matter, this blog doesn't matter, nothing matters but him. Every time I truly turn my eyes toward him, everything else just falls away from my mind. In Him is life, truth and power. Our God lives and reigns...this world will pass away but his Word remains forever! Apply it to your life and God will do things he has never done before!

If you keep complaining and living in the past...yeah, your life could very well suck...but if you refocus, you'll be able to believe that God can and will use you no matter what your situation is. Jesus didn't conform to circumstances...and because he didn't, lives were changed. Jesus didn't have to speak to change lives...when he was around, the dead were raised, the blind saw, the deaf heard, cripples walked, and the convicted found hope. Why? Because he looked to the Father. He affected the world and didn't allow it to consume him. Today is a new day...don't bring it with you...his mercies are new every morning. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you.

Lets re-visit Genesis 19 verses 17 and 26...

And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”...But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

She became a pillar of salt...the Hebrew for salt describes a stationary power...something that is easily dissolved and pulverized. If you look back and judge your future with negative thoughts, you will be stagnate and your faith will dissolve. You have the power of life and death in your words...speak life over yourself. When you speak negativity over your future, you will have a future that looks like your past.

You might wonder why you are in the same place now as a few years ago...you're standing in the very place you started looking back. In order to look back you have to stop moving forward. I was reading in Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" the other day and this passage totally fits in with what Tyson was talking about:

"Imagine going for a run while eating a box of Twinkies. Besides being self-defeating and sideache-inducing, it would also be near impossible - you would have to stop running in order to eat the Twinkies. In the same way, you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin. When you are pursing love, running toward Christ, you do not have the opportunity to wonder, Am I doing this right? or Did I serve enough this week? When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. As long as you are running, you are safe. But running is exhausting - if, that is, we are running from sin or guilt out of fear. (Or if we haven't run in a while.) However, if we train ourselves to run toward our Refuge, toward Love, we are free - just as we are called to be. As we begin to focus more on Christ, loving Him and others becomes more natural. As long as we are pursuing Him, we are satisfied in Him. It is when we stop actively loving Him that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment."

When you stop to look back, your life will accumulate garbage. Faith comes from Jesus and knowing him...to know him you must read the Word of God. The moment you stop reading, you lose passion and zeal. When you look back, you complain and dread and stop believing that God has greater things for you. When you look back, you allow the devil to steal your faith. He wants you to destroy your own life by tempting you to look back. He wants to remind you of your failure and discourage you from moving forward.

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

When the devil tries to tempt you, remember this promise! God makes a way even in the wilderness...even in what seems like a hopeless situation. So often we give up when we don't see life getting better...but when we give up, we are forgetting the promise in Isaiah...God does make a way...even though you may not see it now, trust that he makes a way and makes all things new. He directs the paths of our lives, he holds our past, present, and future in his hands. Believe again because God can do anything! Sometimes we have to go through seasons of wilderness in order to find our destiny...look forward because God will do new things...God's plan is much higher than ours.

Tyson told us about the reason he moved here...he came to plant a new ministry (not a college ministry) but his plan was much smaller than God's. Things didn't go as Tyson planned and after 35 days of God doing things that seemed to fit in Tyson's plan, everything came to a halt. It's extremely painful to see your vision come to life and then have to watch it die. It's so easy to give up. 1 year later, Tyson was still looking back on what seemed like failure...then he was given an opportunity to start a college small group. It was the last thing he wanted to do...in that moment, it would have been easier to play the victim and look back. But Tyson had a decision...either look back or believe that God can do anything. 2 years later, Tyson was speaking to 270 college students in a ministry called C4. God's plans for Tyson's life were greater than the plans Tyson had in mind.

Sometimes doors close...only for others to open. When doors fling open for us we have to make a choice. We can either say "it didn't work the last time" or we can look to God and walk through. God is faithful to do what he said he would do.

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Your pain and your past are weights that you are carrying around with you. Cast them away and look forward. Stop trying to live in Sodom...Sodom is doomed and can never prosper. Begin a new era...let go of your weights and let them die...walk into your future. Look to Jesus - he will give you joy that will help you endure trials and hardship. Not everything will go perfectly but God will do great things if you keep looking at him. Stop looking back, come into a new place...he will wipe your past away and make you new. Lets all together keep our focus on the one who can make us new and say we will not look back. Praise God that he has given us a hope and a future that is greater than our past! Take a step of faith and turn your eyes to him...he will move in your live.

God Wants You Now

2012-01-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, I had the privilege and joy to hear one of my best friends Justin (Kjuice) Jordan speak at his Grandmother's church. I can't tell you all just how encouraging it is to see one of your peers speak to a congregation of all ages. It was so cool to see God using someone my age to do big things in this sweet church. Justin definitely left and impact on those who heard what God spoke through him on Sunday morning.

Justin's brother Cornell introduced Justin and told part of his testimony...Justin grew up in the church and like many 'church kids', he could quote scripture with the best of them on Sundays, but the rest of the week was a different story. I can totally relate to this and I know many of you can too. You might not have gotten into any serious trouble, or you could have done everything...but what you need to take away from it is that no matter what your past looks like...God will still use you.

Justin's message shared with us that you don't have to be grown to be used. No matter who you are or how old you are...God wants you right now.

1 Timothy 4:11-16 Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Paul (the same Saul/Paul that we talked about in the last post) was Timothy's mentor. Paul wrote this letter to Timothy to encourage him while Paul was away leading a church. Timothy was in Ephesus and that church was being influenced by false teachings...the elders of the church were not paying attention or giving respect to Timothy because he was young...and to make matters worse, he was shy too.

1 Timothy 4:8-10 For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

We live for the living God who died to save us.

Paul gave Timothy the authority to lead this church...but people don't like change, especially if they don't think the new person is qualified. Verse 12 uses the word 'despise'...Webster defines 'despise' as: to look down on with contempt or aversion; to regard as negligible, worthless, or distasteful; synonyms: abhor, loathe, hate; antonym: love.

Young Timothy was seeing everything he did come up against great opposition. His age kept him from being used. It doesn't have to be that way...you, as a young person, are at a special age where you can have a great impact because all you want to do is learn. Too often, as we get older, we get comfortable and don't always have the mindset to continue to grow and learn. In Paul's absence, the elders stopped listening. I tend to believe that had Paul been there, the things that were going on in that church would not have been happening. But we won't always have someone there to help us or to speak up for us. We have to learn and grow in the qualities not just of leadership but these qualities are basic to Christianity.

Speech

The way we speak has an enormous effect on our witness. We are called to love others as ourselves. If we don't love in our speech, how will we ever be effective leaders or witnesses?

Conduct

This is important. We have to live what we teach...we are called to a life of holiness. You would call someone a fake if you found out that they were one way with you and another with someone else. Don't be fake...you cannot be an effective anything if you aren't consistent with your conduct.

Love

In the midst of all the opposition around you...when you are faced with people who hate you because of your faith...don't hate back. The best thing that you can do for them is to love and pray for them. Jesus loves you and we are called to be like him...we have to love as he loves.

Romans 12:14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Once you mess up your witness, you cannot be a leader...no one will follow you. You must love constantly...even when you aren't getting love back.

Faith

2 Corinthians 5:7 - For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Faith means trusting that God is holding onto you even in the midst of the storms of life.
The minute we stop having Faith in God...that's when things start to fail. Think about when Jesus walked on the water...He called Peter to come and join him. The moment that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, he began to sink. That's what happens when we lose faith in God.

Purity

It's not just talking about sexual purity here...it's talking about holiness.
We are called to be holy and pure
Meaning that our lives should be clean, without spot...we are to flee from sin.

I think one of the problems with reaching both believers and unbelievers is the fact that as a majority, we are inconsistent. Inconsistent in our lives and our mission. We won't be able to reach people if we are only Sunday Christians. We must live by these qualities and strive to be like Jesus.

Here's the thing though...you actually have to put these qualities to the test. You can't stay in your house and study the Bible...you'll be close to perfect but what good is it if you aren't going? Get up and go teach the world...don't stay in a holy bubble...open your mouth and say something. You will fade out of people's minds if you don't speak up. Be bold about your calling.

Going back to 1 Timothy 4...check out verses 13 and 14:

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

Okay, lets start with public reading of Scripture...this doesn't always mean standing up and reading the Bible aloud. Immerse yourself in the word publicly. When you go to lunch, get your Bible out and read it while you are eating. People will notice...it wouldn't surprise me if they came up and began to talk to you about it. Growing in the word publicly will open up opportunities to spread the gospel. You have to ground yourself in the word before you can produce fruit in your life. How do you expect to get to the kingdom if you don't know anything about it? The word is also our 'weapon'.(Ephesians 6:17 - and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God) Like I said earlier, how short would a war be if one side's soldiers didn't have weapons? People will come up against us with arguments...the Bible has the answers. If you don't know the answer, don't make something up...get back to them. Root yourself in scripture...and do it in front of people.

Next thing it talks about is exhortation...basically preaching and teaching. This cannot be done silently. How much would you get out of church if the pastor just stood there or walked around the stage for an hour on Sunday morning? Um...nothing. So open your mouth because people aren't going to learn out of ignorance. Preaching is simple really...you can use songs, dances, skits, spoken word, almost anything to get God's message across...but you have to speak up. One of the biggest things you have to share is your personal testimony. We all have one...and if you don't, then you don't know Him. People might come up against the Bible with arguments, but they cannot tell you that God isn't real in your life. Your testimony might be simple an uneventful or it might show how God rescued you out of major things...but no matter what your testimony sounds like, your story is effective!

We can also minister by praying for people. Prayer is faith saying "I can't, but I know that God can." It shows that we trust God is who he said he is. No one can take away your faith. Hold tight and speak up.

Okay now gifts...I'm not talking gifts of the Holy Spirit here (although we are given those gifts too). What are you good at? Would you say that Shakespeare had the gift of writing or that Johnny Depp has the gift of acting? Well, regardless of what your gift is, it was given to you by God. Use the gift he gave you for his purposes...no matter what it is. If you don't know what your gift is - pray about it...God answers prayer. Don't forget to use your gift...you don't know how it could impact someone.

Also remember that it's not our job to convert...it's our job to get the word out. Remember WHO gave you the gift. This is not like a Christmas present that gets forgotten about a few months later...this is a lasting gift. We are molded in him, remember who you are and whose you are. We can do all things in him. Dive into the word to find out who he is...your faith will motivate you to continue pursuing him and using your gifts even when you face opposition.

Check out verses 15 and 16:

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The key here is "practice". How do you get better at ____? - You keep doing ____. This applies to all areas in life: if you keep sinning, you'll get better at it; if you keep teaching, you'll get better at it; if you keep riding your bike, you'll get better at it. As long as you are alive, you have room to grow...don't ever become stagnate. Be committed...if you take a day off, the enemy will get stronger and you will become weaker. If you aren't training, you will lose. Use him. God give, but he also takes away. I know from personal experience...when I stopped diving into the word and growing in Him...I couldn't write anymore...the minute I put my faith back in God, he restored me.

Remember what you were taught. Everything you do has an impact. Know the truth because God has a claim on your life. Persevere...don't give up...we're in this for the long haul.

Romans 1:16a For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

If you call yourself a believer, believe it by living it, by practicing it, and by growing in it. Not everyone will like you...they killed Jesus and we sure aren't better than him. Even though we face a tough crowd...be confident...God will use you to grow his kingdom. You are never too young to be used by God. Think about Joseph (Genesis 36)...God gave him a dream and a promise...but his own family didn't like it so they SOLD him!!! But God was faithful and only 5 chapters later, he was 2nd in command! God will use you even when it looks like there is no hope. Flip over to Mark 6...Jesus fed 5000 people with a little boy's snack! God will use whatever you have if you just have faith!

So...how are you used?
Well...open the Bible...believe what it says, and live it. Find someone older to be your mentor...ask them questions. Don't be afraid to seek out someone older...and if you are older, be available to mentor. Step out in faith and share the gospel...don't be afraid of opposition. Get excited about what the Bible says. Why would you want to be the only person in heaven? Think about it! Your friend's and your family's souls will burn in hell for eternity if you don't open your mouth...and these are people you claim you live! Jesus should always be on the tip of your tongue.

For parents and adults:

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Train up your children...set an example. Make them read the word because they need it. If my parents hadn't been faithful when I was a child, there is no way that I would be sitting here right now imploring you to do the same.

For young people especially(everyone really):

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”

Don't allow the enemy to lie to you! Don't let God take the sidelines in your life! You have an advantage being young. No one has more impact on a young person than another young person. You have the ability to reach more people than you do in your elder years! Take advantage of your youth. God wants you now! No matter who you are or how old you are, he wants to use you. What are you waiting for?

Simple Faith: Deployment

2012-01-31T00:09:00.000-05:00

Thursday night, God was definitely in Rowe 130 as Jon spoke what had been on his heart. The third installment of the Simple Faith series was about deployment. Many people hear that word and think of deployment as losing a loved one as they leave to serve our country. This is a different type of deployment. Being deployed in gospel labor is what we are talking about. First, we have simple faith that Jesus saved us...then we have faith to grow and be like him through the Holy Spirit. Now, because of what he did for us...it's our job to continue his work.

There are a ton of college students out there that have so much potential to do great things for God. There are so many stories of people who have made an impact on this world for God and many of those stories begin when they were in college. We have to step out in faith and pursue what God has for us.

Jon talked about his interest in the military and specifically WWII. So many gave their lives for a cause so much greater than themselves. He mentioned "Band of Brothers" and explained what it was about. The story followed those men from draft all through the war. Their lives changed at boot camp...they were marked by what they were apart of and the sacrifices they made. Their time during the war formed them as men. What would have happened if Band of Brothers was a reality show...what if those men never left boot camp? They would be a waste of soldiers, resources, and money...unproductive.

It's the same with Christians. If we come to know Jesus and are trained in basic discipleship but are never deployed - then we are never going to do anything to further the gospel. In comparison, our conversion is like the draft or boot camp and the Church is our training base. If we never use our training or the gifts we have been given, then we are wasting Christianity and that is NOT God's plan for us.

A Christian is saved from God's wrath to growth and Christ-likeness for the momentum of the mission.

So then a few questions you have to ask yourself are - Are you deployed? Have you ever been used by God for the mission? Is your view of God so small that it only contains him and you?

Acts 9:1-19a But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened.

The Saul that you are reading about now is the same man as was called Paul after his name was changed by God. 13 of the books of the Bible were written by Paul and I would argue that no man has had more influence in Christian history than Paul.

To get a little background on Saul/Paul's, read Acts 7 and 8 to understand who he was before his conversion. In those books, you'll see Saul was a Roman citizen...he was trained under the smartest teachers (probably the equivalent of a Harvard Graduate) and he hated Jesus with everything he had. He was a major part of Stephen being stoned for sharing the gospel and now he was on his way to Damascus to root out the Christians there. Saul was willing to travel 150 miles in order to rid Damascus of Christianity. Then we see that he was literally breathing threats and murder...he was completely living for himself and doing his own thing.

Then, he has an encounter with God. Jesus stopped him. Think about it...in that moment, it had to be like God's tazer gun...light came down from heaven and Saul hit the ground immediately. Jesus spoke to him and said "why are you persecuting me?" This was a revelation that changed Saul's life. His persecution of Christians also was persecuting his Lord. He was gripped by Jesus' realness...that he really is who he said he was. Paul met Jesus and his whole life did a 180 in only a moment. He couldn't help but do what Jesus told him to do.

We read for a few verses about a man named Ananias. His response to Jesus request was basically unbelief...he was flabbergasted and unsure if they were speaking about the same man. He couldn't believe that God wanted him to go to Saul and restore him after all Saul had done against God.

The thing that is important for us is that Saul was not only saved, he was used. God hand picked Saul/Paul. Everything about his personality, education, childhood, and environment was played out in such a specific way as to prepare him for the mission. After Ananias prayed for him, Paul was healed and filled with the Holy Spirit. The power by which we are deployed comes from the Holy Spirit, not from our own power...we are only instruments. It's like a water bottle...the plastic isn't important, it's the life-giving water inside that is important. Paul was then empowered for ministry.

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

We see only a few chapters later in Acts what a difference his life is from what it was in Chapters 7 and 8. His life mission was to testify Jesus. He met the ascended King Jesus and knew that before Jesus would return, all nations had to hear of him.

We are here because there are still people on this earth that do not know him. The only reason you are here is to introduce people to Jesus. Too often, we are more concerned with who we will marry, what degree we will achieve, what job we will land after school, and if we will have a family...but the only reason we have to think about those things is because those are the ways through which God means to use you to save those around you.

This is the mission that gripped Paul. His life before, meant nothing. What you do for yourself is not the point of life...it's not valuable. The whole aim in life is to finish what God called you to. To spread the gospel and train others for deployment themselves.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my dad about this blog and how excited I was to share what God's been doing in my life and in the lives of those around me and this was his response and his charge to me:

"There is a group thing called the Church but you are called to be a disciple who shares the Gospel and bring others to the understanding that you have so they can go out and share the Gospel and bring others to the understanding that they have so they can go out and share the Gospel and bring others to the understanding that they have so they....! You get the idea. Can the Holy Spirit fall in a place and transform everyone that hears...OH YA! 3,000 hit their knees at Pentecost and joined the Church and became students of the Apostles. If they had remained in that state we would not have had the opportunity to join in the fun. They were called to make disciples and went out and it all began from there. Your Blog can reach thousands all over the world and that is really cool but those thousands must come to a point where they are disciples and go out or it is just pretty words on the Internet that is not directing them to a good Bible believing church where they can be raised up."

My dad makes a great point that goes right along with what we're talking about. If your Christianity only involves reading your Bible and going to Church, then you are not deployed. Just because I write a blog that talks about God does not mean that I'm deployed. I still have to go out in my daily life and share the gospel with every breath I breathe. The reason we are here has not changed since Paul's time on Earth.

Ephesians 2:1-9 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

God wants to use you. Right now. Right where you are. He doesn't want you to be stuck in sin, he wants to raise you up.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This verse can change your life...if you don't believe this, then life will look different than if you do believe it. There will be no forward momentum in your life if you don't believe what this verse tells us. We are his workmanship...we went from death to life...God did that, not us. God allowed everything that happened in your life to happen...it's his sovereignty. God knew every effect life would have on us to make us into the person we are today. We are created in Christ Jesus, we are God's children and we are united with him because Jesus took our place on the cross. The gospel brings death to life.

Some of us have stopped at salvation. We live in a consumer culture where even religion and a relationship with God becomes a selfish thing. In reality, it's easy for 'Jesus people' to be selfish...we fall short of being used and don't go past salvation because we become concerned with ourselves. But the thing is, we were created for good works...and not just helping an elderly lady across the street or picking up your dirty socks...works that God prepared before time began so that we can walk in them. Notice the phrase "walk in them"...that's not stopping at salvation...that implies movement.

If you are a Christian...God has works for you to do even this week that he prepared for you before you were even saved. What happens is we don't try because we don't expect that God wants to or will be able to use us. We say 'I want to do_________ but am I being presumptive that God wants me to do that?' or 'I can't do ___________ on my own so God obviously can't want me to do that.' But the promise is that he has works for us to do that he has prepared for us...we are his workmanship specifically and specially made for his agenda. Our calendars are full of only what he has called us to do. All you need is a willingness to be used and an expectation to go in faith because God will use you. He formed you to be used mightily for him.

There are too many of us on the sidelines...saying that because we're struggling with something, we can't be used. No! Don't count yourself out...he saved you in order to use you! Don't worry about what the person next to you is doing or thinking...just go in faith that God can even use your struggles for his purposes. Do you believe what this verse says? He wants to use you now! You don't have to be a grown up! History is full of Christians who made a difference because they took Ephesians 2:10 seriously...they had faith.

So where do you go from here?

Take God at his word.

That sounds obvious, but our fundamental problem today is that we don't believe what the Bible says.

Go to God full of faith.
Have an expectant heart that God can and will use you.
Have an openness to hear God speak
Use your gifts in the gospel mission

You will gain training and wisdom for how and where and when to use them...it's about God, not you.

Be filled with the Spirit

Be prayed for
It's not about the bottle/vessel(you) it's about whats inside it.
Don't attempt anything without the Holy Spirit's power.

Have an unflinching resolve to do what God puts in front of you.
Finally...Work...it's as simple as that

Work...to move forward requires work. Life isn't going to be easy just because you're a Christian now. Suffering happens when you do great things for God. We will face opposition everywhere we turn...and many times, even from ourselves. Things - even good things - distract us and yell at us to live a life of ease and comfort. But we are to count it all as loss...ease and comfort are not what life is about. Like Christine Caine said, "Life isn't about arriving at death safely." Not even Saul was a match for God's power. He resides in us and empowers us to do work. Be encouraged because the Christian life was not meant to be lived alone. You'll get burnt out if you try to do it like that...we are to do work together.

So for you...right now...consider this: How has God empowered you? How can you step up? What gifts do you have that you can use for the gospel mission? What do you need to let go of?

If soldiers were to go to war without armor or guns or weapons...it would be a short war and we would lose. Pray about these things...read your Bible, get an accountability partner, and find a good church. These are the things that will help you to move forward. Don't stop at salvation...make sure that you are deployed and active in the forward momentum of God's mission and all that he has called you to. He will use you!

Distortion: Part 2

2012-01-27T02:08:00.002-05:00

The last C4 message Tyson gave was about how distorted the television programs in America have become. This time we took a look at my personal favorite form of entertainment, the music industry. He started off with a startling "coincidence". Ephesians 2 talks about Satan being the Prince of the power of the air. So, it's interesting that radio broadcasts are always said to be "on air". (just something to wonder about as we head into this).

There is a spirit behind every kind of music that we listen to. We don't even really stop to consider it. Lyrics and melodies give off specific energies depending on their genres. Music makes you feel something. That's what Tyson meant by spirits behind music. I mean, think about the common reason why people listen to or have certain musical tastes. Is it because the music is calming? Is it catchy? Can you relate to the lyrics? Personally, I've always chosen music that fits whatever mood I happen to be in because I can have something to relate to. While that's great and that's what music is designed to do, it's not always going to be what's best for my spiritual health. For example, if I'm angry and I just listen to angry music because it matches my thought process, how is that going to help me be less angry? It's really not. How does what you've been listening to today (or maybe even right now) make you feel?

Music is the original playground for the devil. Now, before you decide that statement is a little too hell-fire and brimstone for you, consider what Lucifer was made to do. When God created Lucifer, he was the most beautiful of all the angels, but he was also created to be the worship leader of Heaven. Worship leader! You know, music, choirs, trumpets, little angels playing harps on a cloud; yeah, Lucifer ran that. So, don't be confused that the venue where he would chose to influence you the most would be music.

In 1962, the number 1 song in the U.S. was "Something About Love", by Ray Charles. Today we have songs like "Have a Baby by Me", "Circus", "So What We Get High". and anything by Lady Gaga. But no, Satan has nothing to do with changing the music industry [insert nervous laughter from the audience].

Going back all the way to last march, Tyson reiterated an important thing about Acts 16:16-18.

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

Another translation says that she was possessed by a spirit of divination. In the original Greek, it's the spirit of Python. Now think about what a python does. It disguises itself and suffocates it's prey. It's a sinful nature kind of thing that is sly to the point that you don't notice it, but grips you until you don't care about God anymore. Pythons take away the breath of their prey. The spirit of python makes us give up what's inside of us, it takes away everything that we are.

To put it in a musical sense: we listen to certain songs just because it's what everyone's listening to, so we don't really pay attention. We like songs because they're catchy and we say we don't really listen to the lyrics anyway, but the truth is that we do. Songs get stuck in our heads and like Tyson said at the beginning, the music makes your heart feel something whether you admit to it or not.

This is the problem. The music that we allow ourselves to listen to gets into our heads and, eventually, into the core of who we are. That's also where sin starts, in our heads. The world is telling us that it's perfectly normal for people our age to party, sleep around, and get drunk because we're young and that's what we do. It appeals to our desire for freedom. And, as Tyson says, it's a lie from Hell.

This isn't intended to be a legalistic gospel. All I'm saying and all Tyson was saying is to be careful what you let into your life. The lyrics in music are there for a reason.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 talked about a coming generation that would hold nothing sacred.

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

The thing about the devil is that he doesn't necessarily want to destroy you. He would much rather lure you into destroying yourself and plunging yourself into the same fate that he is destined for. Anything that elevates itself over God will be shut down into a lake of fire, my prayer is that we don't go with it.

Distortion: Part 1

2012-01-27T02:08:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's been a year. 1 year ago, I was sitting in my car trying to get up the nerve to step out for the first time and try something new. It was my first visit to C4...I look back on the last year and I cannot express how grateful I am for this ministry. God reminds me week after week how great he is and how much I need him. The work he's been doing in my life is just crazy. God is so good. About 2 weeks ago, Tyson began a series called Distortion. He wanted to raise our awareness of the way the world has changed and is influencing us.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Pretty intense right? Sound sort of familiar? Maybe you are aware of this happening around you or maybe even in yourself. The enemy - Satan - cannot be anything like God. So in his attempt to disrupt God's plan, he will distort the things that are like God...he will distort the good things in this world. There is a supernatural war raging and its at its peak right now. You may or may not see or hear it but your soul is at war.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

We were fashioned after Him...but 2 Timothy 3:5 says that people have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power...meaning that many people today look like Heaven but live like Hell. That might sound blunt...but it's true. Our generation is so self-focused. They are still fashioned in God's image but they don't live the way God designed. Any generation who distorts their morals is a generation who forfeits God's plan and power.

Lets talk about the area of media for a minute. We all have our TV programs that we follow on a weekly basis...I'll be the first to admit it. But take a step back and look at media as a whole.

50 years ago...in 1962 for those of you who are bad at math...the #1 TV Show was The Beverly Hillbillies closely followed by The Dick Van Dyke Show.

In 1962, there was something called a government sensor. In 1962, TV shows were never allowed to show footage of the bedroom...and if they did, there were 2 separate beds. This sensor was in place because we, as a country, wanted to promote purity and clarity. It was designed to protect people and lift up the family unit that God created. Not even a hint.

What a change...today we have shows like the Kardashians, Millionaire Matchmaker, and the Bachelor...the enemy has infiltrated our media and has distorted what was once portrayed on screen as sacred. Now a days every show has some sort of sexual thread and vulgar language is strung through nearly every scene.

Society went from censorship to 'everything goes'. The enemy programs people(by way of society and media) to think that it's normal to have affairs and premarital sex and talk trash. Tyson made the comment that TV should be called 'hellivision' because it streams hell into your house.

Realize where we are headed as a world. Slowly but surely - we are pulling back the walls of morality and becoming a people of pleasure worshippers rather than a God fearing people. Satan programs us to think sin is okay. The distortion is louder than ever before...the devil is being bold. Revelation talks about the enemy coming after the church...and these days, you don't have to go far to hear the gospel of hell being proclaimed. Revelation also mentions that in the last days, Satan will be coming to the end of his term...and much like a candidate in an election, he will come guns blazing with all he has in order to get your vote. Think about it...if this world keeps on track the way it has been...where will we be in 50 years? Can it really get worse? How much farther will it go? We are in the last days...the closer we are, the harder the devil will fight.

Ephesians 2:2-10 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The world is dying...it'll pass away...but the good news is that the Word remains forever (John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.)

Take note in that scripture where it says 'prince of the power of the air' (aka Satan). Think about all the old movie/TV sets you've ever seen or maybe a radio station...what is the phrase they use when they are broadcasting? "On Air" Hmm...I think I just read something about that in the Bible...in all seriousness though, through radio, movies, television and other media are the frequencies that sin is transmitted to the world. The devil controls the temporal airwaves...his influence in media is HUGE! The things on the screen are not from God...the things you see on TV are NOT normal! Sin is NOT okay! Why is society so fascinated with what's on the screen? - Because there is a spirit (the devil) influencing them and sending distorted messages.

The good news...give a sigh of relief...the devils day will come to a close.

Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

When you go to battle, you have to wear the armor. You aren't in a physical battle (well, some of you might be...and thank you for serving our country) you are in a spiritual battle. I don't know if you are anything like me but when I read that I get sort of down because I'm not sure how to fight that exactly...there are days I wish I could just fight it out and land a few punches and be done with it...but that's not how it works. The way to fight is to put on the armor of God. The God we worship is more than enough...he is hope, he is light, he is the resurrection, he is the Alpha and Omega, he is everything and more. The way to fight the distorted images the world is believing and sending is to tell the world about the goodness of Jesus. Life in Him is better than living in a distorted, temporal world.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Remember in 2 Timothy when he said that people would have the appearance of godliness? That means that people have the image but not the likeness...they deny God's power in their lives. You deny God's power by allowing the distortions to take hold in your life, by embracing distortions, and by living life your own way. Stop allowing distortions to wreak havoc in your life! Get the power back! You have to go through the sword and let your old man(flesh) die. Turn from the world's version of normal and realize that power comes from the Holy Spirit...be holy and pure.

You can't change your past or fix the distortion but you can have an impact on your future and your children and grandchildren's future. You have power within you that is greater than the world...His power overcame sin, darkness, hell and the grave! Begin to put down the world...turn off the TV and the computer...you won't die, trust me, just turn it off...you'll find that you were created for so much more than images on a screen.

The real normal is a life of holiness and purity. Live a life surrendered to Christ Jesus and there you will find the spiritual power to overcome the distortion. So many churches deny the power...we worship and then go live like the world. Going to church isn't good enough. God desires revival in this city and in your own life. Embrace his spirit and power.

It's so easy to blame the filth on the devil or people in the media industry...but the truth - if we stop buying it, they'll stop making it. Maybe not right away, but if there is no demand, then there will be no supply. Take your world back...you are called to be holy. Don't allow distortions to win the battle in your life. Put the world down so that God can speak into you and through you.

Simple Faith: Be Like Jesus

2012-01-27T02:08:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday night, Jon continued the Simple Faith series with a message called 'Be like Jesus'. I really loved Thursday night because Jon communicated his heart for us as a ministry and as individuals. It was a really powerful moment that really connected with me.

2 Peter 1:3-11 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Kevin DeYoung wrote an article called 'The Hole in our Holiness'. I would highly recommend that you take the time to read it...it's not very long, the rest of this post relies heavily on the words written by DeYoung, and it would be such a benefit to you. Seriously...stop, click the link, and read that article before you continue with this post...

"God’s mission in the world is to save a people and sanctify his people. Christ died “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). We were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14)." - Kevin DeYoung

DeYoung also writes 'be careful how you walk'. Don't just be passionate about what you are saved from but also what you are saved to...Christ-likeness. Don't just play with Jesus and don't just play with the mission because it won't work. What we do, we do together as a ministry and the body of Christ. Individual failures are failures as a community. Are you really a disciple or are you just playing along? You must be like Jesus before you are used by Jesus.

If you have simple faith, trust int he gospel, and consider yourself a Christian - you must make every effort to live like Christ. The call of discipleship is a call to be like Jesus.

The Christian life begins when God calls you as a disciple. Your life is all about putting off old ways and putting on Christ-like ways. Note that Jesus called the disciples...they didn't go looking for it. It's not a decision...it's following. You come to a person that you are called to follow.

Forsake rebellion, respond in faith, accept righteousness. Don't live life on your own terms or love things that put Jesus on the cross. Grow and become more like Christ. Come out of rebellion and under God's rule. Verse 4 talks about coming out of our former life...escaping the corruption of the world. We have a new identity...to serve, obey and to be like him. The call is not just a mindset, it's a call on your life.

So the question then is: Are you a disciple?

If you have examined yourself, then you need to ask what does being a disciple look like in your life? True disciples make every effort to be like Christ. That statement directly contradicts today's cultural Christianity. True Christianity and discipleship takes work. So simply, start doing work...exhaust your resources. Christ-likeness is your #1 goal. The entire reason we love people, live in community, and evangelize isn't because those things are our goal...the reason we do those things is because Jesus did them and we want to be like him.

Now, let me clarify for a moment...we are saved by grace not by works. Nothing we can do will earn salvation. I'm talking about sanctification not justification. Justification is a one time thing that Jesus did on the cross...as my dad used to say 'just as if I never sinned' to help me remember the difference. Sanctification is the process of growing to be more like Christ. Once we are saved (by grace) we must work and strive to follow Jesus.

Now...2 Peter mentions 8 qualities that we should have.
Starting with faith...faith leads to virtue which means that we live a virtuous life, Jesus lived a perfect life and while we know we cannot attain perfection, we are to strive in that direction. Virtue leads to knowledge...we are to be students of the Bible, Jesus knew God personally...he has a relationship with him...we are to gain knowledge of God by studying. Knowledge leads to self control...we are to be constrained by God's will, living our lives only for Him. Self control leads to endurance...we are to run the race for the rest of our lives. Endurance leads to godliness...when we begin to reflect God's character and grab ahold of the fact that we are created in His image and likeness. Godliness leads to brotherly affection, which is love for others around you...and brotherly affection leads to love.

Verse 8 says that if these qualities are yours...and are increasing...then you won't be ineffective as a Christian. Make every effort to put on these qualities.

On the flip-side, if you don't have these qualities...

If you never change after you encounter God, you are blind to the reality of God. You don't know God or the truth of his word. You don't understand what is required of you. Unfortunately, these Christians are everywhere.

Examine yourself...are you so concerned with the world or yourself or the things that happen in your life that you've forgotten God?

You might ask, 'so is that Christian really saved if they don't have those qualities?' Well...stop...what I'm about to say is important. When we ask that question, we are looking for middle ground. It's easy to live that way, shirking our responsibilities...but there are only two options: you either radically follow the Lord or you don't. There is no middle ground.

Examine yourself again for a second...have you obediently listened to God's call and have you done what he commands of you? Have you felt his nearness? Are you more like Jesus now than the first time you met him?

If you answered no to any of these questions then you need to put your faith in him and begin to live the life he calls you to live. If you say 'well, I've just strayed a little'...then you need to come to Jesus in repentance and put your faith in him afresh.

Honestly deal with your sin. Examine your life. Too often, we encounter God...we stray...and then we're standing there confused (aka 'what just happened). We are to live lives of continual...note the word continual...repentance and faith. That's how you follow him day to day. The promise is the same...be diligent, if you practice these qualities then you have a place in the kingdom. Come, repent, have faith, go to work...you will see Jesus one day!

Jon shared that sometimes he thinks that maybe when he sees Jesus at the end of time, Jesus will look somewhat familiar to him. Because of the life we are called to, because of the Spirit growing us, after a full life of discipleship, we will partly resemble him. I wonder that if we can see Jesus in each other, if Jesus will be all the more familiar to us now and then.

Live a life that is passionately reflecting Jesus. Actively try to grow...ask yourself where do you need to follow God better. Meditate on 2 Peter 1:3-11. Be passionate for Jesus fame on campus, at work, and in every other aspect of your life. Holiness is not an option, it is our purpose as disciples.

Sanctity of Life

2012-01-27T02:07:00.000-05:00

Before I start writing this post, I think it's important, like Joe said Sunday, to make sure that I take this "as seriously and sober-mindedly as possible". I mean, it's a really sensitive topic and one that I've dealt with through people I know and care about and one that I'm sure a lot of you who will read this have dealt with in some way as well.

This month marks the 39th anniversary of Roe V. Wade, legalizing abortion in our nation, stating that a constitutional right to privacy exists, thereby protecting a woman's right to have an abortion. President Reagan sanctioned the third Sunday in January as "Sanctity of Human Life Sunday" so Joe Lechner took the opportunity a week and a half ago to recognize and address that subject directly. I felt that it was definitely worth putting it up here.

There are an estimated 42 million abortions worldwide every year, 13 million abortions occur every year in China (the number obviously intensified, given the state-mandated "one child only" policy. In the U.S. there are an estimated 1.3 million abortions every year. It is, in fact, the most common surgery performed on women in America. At the current rate, at least one-third of all American women have had or will have an abortion by age 45, so when talking to someone, there is a strong likelihood that you are talking to someone who has been touched by this issue.

If the pro-choice people are correct, those numbers simply reflect the freedom of basic civil rights to choose; and if the pro life position is correct, then the roughly 3,750 abortions that occur every single day in this country are human casualties, more than all of the lives lost on September 11th.

Those are staggering numbers and accusations, but what it comes down to is one question. What is abortion?

No, let's to hold off on immediately appealing to the Bible for an answer because, like it or not, if you start there in our culture, you are likely to lose listening ears. So let's start by simply appealing to conscience and common sense.

"It is the hallmark of our relativism and subjectivism. We define our own realities, moralities, and sexualities. We redefined marriage, person-hood, and God Himself. In order to match things up to our own personal liking, we even redefine the truth about abortion itself when the stark reality is that it is child killing"-John Ensor

That is the core issue surrounding abortion, isn't it? The identity of the one aborted? For years, the way advocates for abortion have really prevailed upon popular opinion is by having people truly believe that the unborn are something less than a truly human child. The relativism in our culture still has a serious breakdown over this particular point.

Randy Alcorn writes, "Many of the same people who believe unborns are human and abortion is immoral, nonetheless choose to have abortions and defend abortions as legitimate. This proves they do not believe unborns are human beings in the same sense that they believe 3-year-olds are human beings. They don't believe abortion is immoral in the same way killing a 3-year-old is immoral. No one that considers an unborn child a full-fledged person can rationally defend abortions legality, unless they also defend legalizing the killing of other human beings. After all, every argument for abortion that appeals to a mother's inconvenience, stress and financial hardship can be made just as persuasively about her 12 year old, her husband, her parents. In many cases, older children can be just as expensive and place greater demands on their mother as an unborn child, but people immediately recognize those arguments are invalid when it comes to killing older children."

And that is why the acknowledgement of the unborn as just as much of a human being as a 3-year-old is crucial in this discussion. The problem is that unborn children do not appear to be fully human by those who are used to judging humanity by appearances. Last time I checked, early fetuses don't resemble children very much. However, in a purely objective, scientific stance, an unborn child, whether at one week or ten weeks or 40 weeks, is every bit as human as any other older child or adult. Any medical textbook or journal you can find will say so.

Dr. Alfred Bongioanni, professor of obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania, has stated "I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception. I am no more prepared to say that these early stages represent an incomplete human than I would be to say that the child prior to the dramatic effects of puberty is not a human being."

Jerome Lejeune, professor of genetics at the faculty of medicine in Paris has stated, "After fertilization has taken place, a new human being has come into being. This is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. "

These aren't pro-life men appealing to Christians with religious convictions. These are professors and scientists that are appealing to the very best evidence that science gives us. By 45 days, all the internal organs that the child will have as an adults are present and working, including the heart that would have been formed and working weeks ago, pumping blood throughout it's body. Appearance does not define person-hood, neither does level of development.

A 6-year-old is stronger and more developed than a 1-year-old, but not any less of a person.

Environment, contrary to popular opinion, also does not determine person-hood. A baby outside the mother's womb is no more of a human being than one that is still inside of the womb. Does living inside a house make you less of a person than living outside a house?

The only things making us difference than the unborn are size, development, environment, and level of dependency. None of these makes a difference in levels of humanity.

You can call it terminating a pregnancy, evacuating a uterus, reproductive management, abortion, . You can call it whatever you want, but no matter how you say it, it is taking human life. It is killing our children and our conscience should really be made to feel it.

In a prominent medical journal, a pro-choice advocate tells a nurse, "Through public conditioning, the importance of language, customs, and laws, the idea of abortion can be separated from the idea of killing"! That is insane! To separate the idea of abortion from the idea of killing is to separate fantasy from reality. And, by the grace of God, scientific advances and modern technology have made it increasingly difficult to argue that the unborn are less than fully human. Religion, the Bible, and Christian conviction aside, the argument that it's not really a baby is less and less valid.

That is why the arguments have experienced an evolution, where the appeal is no longer being made to science. It's no longer asking science "is it human" because more and more science is saying "yes". Arguments have now shifted more toward philosophy. The question has now become, "Is it morally meaningful life?" This is a much more dangerous question because who decides who's life is morally meaningful and who's isn't?

If you want scary, look at the quotes from some of the leaders in academia today. Peter Singer, leader of ethics at Princeton says, " the life of the fetus is of no greater value than the life of a nonhuman animal, at a similar level of rationality, self consciousness, and awareness." In another place, applying this philosophy not only to the unborn, but to infants, "When the death of a disabled infant saves the life of another infant with better prospects of a happy life, the total amount of happiness will be greater if the disabled infant is killed. The loss of happy life for the first infant is outweighed by the gain of a happier life for the second. Therefore, if killing the disabled infant as no adverse effect on others, it would, according to the total view, be right to kill him."

Dr. Charles Hartshorne of the University of Texas echoes Peter Singers ethics when he says, "I have very little sympathy with the idea that infanticide is just another form of murder." Persons who are already functionally persons in the full sense have more important rights even than infants."

Does this guy even listen to what he's saying? This is a philosophy that relates meaningful life with it's usefulness to society! So based on this ethic, it becomes morally permissible to kill the unborn based on it's relative functional usefulness and potential happiness in society, or if it's deemed it's potential happiness might be greater if it was dead! Once morality is defined by it's relative functionality or it's potential to produce happiness, there is nothing that cannot qualify.

We have seen this exact same ethic in history. It was the same ethic that condoned slavery, that Nazis used to determine that Jews' lives were not meaningful, and it's the same ethic that adults are using to murder unborn children. Relativity is a slippery slope, because no one is safe. You are not safe. It could be deemed that your usefulness is zero if your functionality is deemed to be zero or the relative amount of happiness that you produce is zero or less than someone else (typically someone in power).

Science and philosophy will eventually reach their limitations because eventually appeals to the unchanging, authoritative truth of God, as revealed in the words of God, must finally and ultimately be made. God alone, not ethics professors, deems what is morally meaningful, no matter what anybody else says.Human beings are meaningful because we are created in the image of God.

[Psalm 139]

Human beings come into existence every day, created in the image of God, with souls that will live forever. There should be an awesome reverence that we feel for every human life from it's very beginning. And that reality ought to interpret our science, ethics, and morality; and it must be our ultimate appeal. When it's not, and we turn away from God and His word as our final standard, confusion and blindness reign in moral relativism and subjectivism. And we see it everywhere!

Although it is illegal to harm and abuse an unborn child through drug use, it is perfectly legal to kill that same child through abortion. A person who kills a pregnant woman can be charged and convicted of double homicide in some states. Consider the confusion of this double standard.

Randy Alcorn poses a situation when he writes, "When a woman is scheduled to get an abortion, but on her way to the abortion clinic, her baby is killed in utero, the baby's killer would be prosecuted for murder. But if this murder doesn't occur, an hour later, the doctor will be paid to perform a legal procedure, killing exactly the same child in a way that is probably more gruesome.Or consider this bizarre twist. If the same doctor killed the same child, not in the womb, but only an hour after he or she was born, he could be prosecuted for murder."

Moral confusion creates all kinds of moral inconsistencies. Perhaps the greatest example of this is in the attempting to make abortion primarily a woman's right issue. If you research this, you may be surprised to learn that historically the primary activists against abortion were actually women fighting for women's rights. They saw abortion as "the ultimate exploitation of women". It wasn't until much later, when a new breed of feminists emerged, notably Margaret Sanger, founder of planned parenthood, came along that they started to tie in the abortion debate with women's rights, so that abortion could ride on the coattails of legitimate women's rights issues. They link the two so that the abortion debate could progress, not of it's own merit, but purposefully on the merit of women's rights.

It wasn't until the 60's and 70's, mainly during the height of the sexual revolution that women began to embrace the pro-choice side of the abortion debate as a woman's right. Ironically, it does more to exploit women and encourage males sexual irresponsibility. It's no surprise that most of the people on the pro- life side are males between the ages of 20 and 45. I wonder why.

Not only does abortion hurt the unborn, but studies show that abortion leads to increased risk of breast and cervical cancer, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. I'm not sure that it's a coincidence that 56% of females suicides occur in China. It is the leading cause of death among rural women of China. It is the only nation in the world in which more women than men kill themselves.

The more and more this is becoming a philosophical and spiritual issue, the more and more we should become convinced of the satanic nature of this. I don't say it lightly and I mean it in all seriousness. Consider abortion from Satan's perspective for a minute.

Revelation 12:12 tells us: Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

Satan knows that his time is short. It is only a matter of time, but it is a matter of time specifically linked to scripture, the fulfillment of the great commission. When that is fulfilled, the end will come, but not until. So Satan is a huge fan of abortion, because it takes aim at the great commission by eliminating as many people as possible who might otherwise receive and spread the gospel.

"For as wicked as abortion is itself, for the enemy of our souls, it is primarily a means to a greater end. The delay of the spread of the gospel. Abortion may very well be Satan's chief weapon against world evangelism today. Knowing that Christ won an inevitable victory at the cross, Satan is driven by a single terrifying reality. The culmination of his own fatal bruising approaches. God is sovereign over time, to Him it is a trivial matter, but Satan is bound to time and obsessed with it. All that he does, all his schemes and devices are calculated to buy more of it because he knows his time is short."~John Ensor

Today there are more tools and ways to spread the gospel everywhere on the globe than ever before. But it takes people to make the great commission happen. So from Satan's perspective, every child that comes to birth may grow to be one more Christ's follower. Why would he not using the mass child killing of abortion to delay that process? He used it to target Moses in Egypt and again in Jerusalem to target Jesus.

42 million children are wiped out every year before their first breath. That's a plan rightly called satanic.

Roe V. Wade acknowledged the fetus as a living person while inside the womb. This means that, legally, unborn children fall under the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the United States constitution legally protecting them from being murdered. For Roe V. Wade to have passed, courts should have had to create a new amendment and courts were never meant to have that power. The Declaration of Independence says that all men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable right that among these is LIFE.

Roe V. Wade, and therefore abortion, is illegal and unconstitutional.

The question is: What can we do?

ONE – Read and be informed. Know the facts and know the issues so that you can speak intelligently to people about this. It’s going to require more than a handful of Bible verses in order to win people over. Suggested resource: Why Pro-Life? by Randy Alcorn

TWO -Support and be involved in the Pro-Life ministries

THIRD – Give to Pro-life ministries. Most pregnancy resource centers are non-profits and are significantly dependent on the charitable giving of others to operate and provide services. Pray and consider making it part of your yearly charitable giving to support places like pregnancy resource centers.

FOURTH – Volunteer at Pregnancy Resource Centers or other Pro-Life ministries. If you don’t know what to do, there’s a great new ministry and website called http://www.cities4life.org/ that provides opportunities and information about how you can actively be involved in helping and serving and volunteering and ministering to women considering abortions.

FIFTH – Consider being on the front lines at abortion clinics appealing to and praying for women to choose life. These places, these women, and their babies are mission fields for the gospel in dire need of courageous and compassionate missionaries. Would you consider joining the mission field on the front lines. Again, http://www.cities4life.org/ is a good place to start to get more information.

[Don't just be on the front lines for the women going into the abortion clinic. Be there for them when they come back out, regardless of their decision. They need someone more coming out than they do going in a lot of the time.]

SIXTH – Be active in the political process. Meet, write, and call your representatives. Draft, circulate, and sign petitions for pro-life ballot measures. Vote.

SEVENTH – Adoption. It’s estimated that for every child that’s adopted in this country, 30 others are aborted.

LASTLY – (though even more could be added to this list) – Pray. Ultimately, our hope is in our Sovereign God for whom nothing is too hard and with whom nothing is impossible. Here are a few categories to help you in praying for this issue:

Pray that mothers would choose life and babies would be saved
Pray that the men involved would be courageous and responsible
Pray for those in the abortion business to be awakened to the evil of abortion
Pray for the closing of abortion clinics
Pray for the survival and success of ministries and centers seeking to help women choose life.
Pray for legislation and public officials that stand for life
Pray for the end of legalized abortion in this country and around the world
Pray for more Christian missionaries on the front lines of this mission field
Pray that the Gospel would triumph in the hearts and lives of these mothers, their babies, their families, and those in the abortion business.

A Life of Revival

2012-01-26T01:49:00.000-05:00

If you remember my last post, Christine Caine was recently in town. Emily and I were able to visit Elevation Church last Sunday to hear her as she brought the word of God. It was a great message! She began by saying, "You know you are in the midst of revival when you see things you haven't seen before and you hear things you haven't heard before." This last year, I have seen God at work in ways that I've never seen before...and it made me realize that revival doesn't have to be a televised event or some huge gathering that makes history...revival came 2000 years ago. The Holy Spirit lives in us now and wherever we go, revival will flow out of you because God is in you. We are to live in a state of constant revival.

Deuteronomy 6:20-23 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

The Lord was saying this to Moses to remind the people why they were brought out of Egypt. God did many miracles to rescue us but too often we forget. God was saying this in the middle of the desert because they forgot. We have to remember that we were brought out of slavery, even when we are in the desert. There will always be obstacles in our life and there will be times when it seems we are stuck in the wilderness...but it is then that we have to remember that God rescued us.

Deuteronomy 1:8 'See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.'

Note the phrase 'go in and take possession'...more specifically 'go in'. To me, that doesn't sound like 'wait out the wilderness'. If we want to partake in the promises God has set over our lives, we can't wait around...we have to get up and go possess them. No matter how great the wilderness, you can make it look like the promise land if you grab ahold of the promises spoken over your life. If we don't go and possess, then we will never reach all that God has for us.

Joshua 5:1-5 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

Yeah...you're probably wondering where I'm going with this scripture....I know...hang with me just a minute here. Remember a few days ago when I posted Behind the Sword I talked about how in order to get back into communion with God, you had to go through the sword and everything that looked like Adam would have to be cut away? Well...this is kind of the same thing...there has to be a cutting away to come into God's promises. It doesn't just happen...someone has to pay a price. For us to be in communion with God, Jesus had to pay the price...for us to come into God's promises, we have to lay our flesh down. You will never get to the promised land on the payment of past generations or the price that someone else paid. You won't reach all that God has for you if you refuse to lay your sin down.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

In order to get to the next level that we are called to as Christians (living above the standards of the world), you have to cut away your sin and the things that weigh you down.

It could be an area of your life that you have yet to hand to God, a burden, a worry, a sin issue, or something as simple as the people you surround yourself with.

Be careful whom you allow to speak into your life. Don't allow the culture to set the trajectory of your life. Silence the voices that are not speaking truth.

Don't limit your capacity for what God can do through you. I know this sounds like a "duh" thing, but how many times have you looked at another Christian and said something like "I'll never do 'that'" or "I'll never be like 'them'"? When we say that, or even think it, we are limiting our capacity and limiting God. When God wants to expand you, he will increase you...the more he increases you, the more he pours into you. Don't limit God...don't put a limit on the promises he has spoken over your life. Revival is spelled W.O.R.K. Don't get lazy.

Your anchor could be sin. If I have a poison bottle and I switch the label to soda does it make it any less poisonous? No! Don't rip the poison label off of sin. The milder you make the label, the more potent the poison. It's sin. End of story. Don't excuse it or shove it under the rug, cut it away because it's holding you back from the promised land. God wants you to let go and to step into his promises.

Another anchor in your life could be unforgiveness.

Colossians 3:13b If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Worse than being wronged or abused is carrying your abusers with you every day. Release forgiveness into your life and God will open up your future to you.

Alright...moving on:

Joshua 5:10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.

This is important...the Passover is symbolic of Jesus...the blood of the Lamb. Before the people of Israel 'went in' to possess Jericho (before they marched around the walls) they stopped to remember Jesus. Possession is about Jesus. It's not about the lights or bricks or looks or numbers or anything that might seem important to the world...it's about Jesus. Don't settle and don't stop in the wilderness...too many Christians stop in the wilderness because it has lights and looks pretty...but stopping at salvation isn't the goal! Go in and possess! Grab ahold of Jesus, remember him!

Joshua 5:11-12 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

This is also important...after 40 years of manna coming from Heaven, it stopped. After 40 years of doing it 1 certain way, God stopped doing it that way...he didn't stop providing...he just changed direction. If God never changed how he showed up in our lives, we wouldn't need faith or prayer. The Israelites didn't need to worry about food because they believed it would always come the same way...but then God changed direction.

Churches die because they don't understand that the manna ceased. Don't harp on something God did 45 years ago through a certain song or moment and stay there trying to suck revival out of it. God is always moving! Think about it...if God moved in one church while they were singing 'Shout to the Lord'...and that church was singing 'Shout to the Lord' every Sunday for 45 years, trying to recreate how God moved...they wouldn't be shouting to the Lord, it'd be routine and they would be bored to the Lord. The U2 song 'Stuck In a Moment' says: "you've got stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it"...don't get stuck in a moment...keep pressing forward. Move on from both the bad moments in your life and the good moments in your life because you'll end up camping out and missing what God has for you.

It isn't always the world that is holding you back...sometimes it's what is inside of you. You are one person in the midst of an army of believers. God is preparing you for what he has already prepared for your future. The blood of Jesus doesn't give you amnesia...don't allow the enemy more time in your life by hanging on to your past. Don't refuse to be healed. Don't try to remain a victim.

Jesus called you out of darkness to take you into the promise land! God delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt in order to take them into the promise land...but they still had to go in and possess it! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Don't confuse deliverance and freedom...freedom requires change. Don't just pray for manna, use the gifts that God has given you to WORK. God has already provided everything you need...don't stop in the wilderness...go get it!

Joshua 6:1-2 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.

Hear the word "NONE". No one went in or came out. There are sometimes a lot of Jerichos in our life. It is at that moment when you are staring at the walls of Jericho that say there is no way in that you have to look beyond the natural into the supernatural...look beyond the wilderness into the promised land...see God's promises in the midst of your trial. Don't just stop at the wall. God has already given you what is beyond the wall. See what God sees. Move beyond the wall. Don't just settle...start marching! When you see with God's eyes you can see beyond cancer, beyond ink on paper...you can see God's healing and restoration and promise!

Joshua 6:10 But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.”

Sometimes God sets us on a path that seems unusual. God gave Joshua a battle plan that was definitely not something ordinary. Stop though...we aren't the police...we aren't the regulators of what God can and can't do...don't say impossible. In the words of Christine Caine "Thus sayeth the Lordeth: 'Shuteth Upeth'" If you can't say what God says, then don't speak. One negative word against God's plan can keep a generation from the promise land. When you think God is moving in an unusual way, don't speak against it or say it's impossible...see it as an opportunity to 'do' the unusual...and be excited that God is moving in a new way in your life. Declare and decree what God says and you will have all that he has promised over you.

Don't wait around for a huge church movement...revival begins and lives in you. Cut away the things that are holding you back, get to work, remember Jesus, don't get stuck in a moment, and speak what God speaks...revival will follow and flow out of everything you do. Live a life of revival.

Talking with God

2012-01-25T17:23:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday night at CRU was really special. The entire night was devoted to talking to God. We broke down into smaller groups of 3-6 and prayed for one another, the campus, the students, the faculty, the semester and several other things. It was wonderful to just be in the presence of believers and just sit there and talk to God together. It's such an important thing...take time today to just experience communication with God.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Guest Post: Apart From This World

2012-01-25T16:53:00.003-05:00

Hey all! Just want to introduce our new guest posters, the beautiful duo: Miss Kayla Phillips and Miss Liz Collins. Together they author a wonderful blog called Apart From This World: Wonderfully, Beautifully, Truly His...please take the time to check it out - http://apartfromthisworld.tumblr.com/. Kayla has written a wonderful post that we would like to share with you all. Guys don't skip over this! I think we are all able to relate in some way to what Kayla has written and can greatly benefit from what God is speaking through her.
Good Girl
by Kayla Phillips

I would love to be able to say that I have something super profound that I have thought of myself to write about. Honestly, all I have is ramblings about all God has shown me and told me through other people in the past month. He has shown me more about myself in the past month than I’ve ever seen before. This is going to be a long post, so if you need to peace out now, go for it, but for those of you who stick around, you’re about to see the very deepest parts of my soul that I, only very recently, have ventured down to myself.

I have been reading a book called Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman. It has turned my world up.side.down. I give all the credit for these revelations about myself to her and God. Please, go check out her book if you can relate to what I’m about to tell you. It will be the best $13 you will ever spend.

Through this book I have realized that I have a “good girl complex.” Essentially, I find my identity in how good I am. I have always strived to be the girl people can always come to for advice, the girl who is known for her listening ear, the one that can always be counted on. I have never let myself be anything but strong and put-together. The expectations I have held for myself have been nothing short of perfect. Because of that, I have worn a mask, many masks, for as long as I can remember.

A mask to cover up the hurt.

A mask to cover up the brokenness.

A mask to ward off rejection.

A mask to cover up the weakness.

A mask of perfection.

If I messed up in any way, if someone was anything less than happy with me, if there was any semblance of rejection toward me it sent me into a tailspin. However, instead of risking any vulnerability, I put on my mask of indifference and looked perfectly together on the outside while, behind my mask, the tears never stopped falling.

I know I’m not the only one that struggles with this. I know I’m not the only one that has become a master at performing. I know I’m not the only one that hangs up her mask in her closet each night and cries herself to sleep asking God, “Why? Why is my best not good enough? Why, after all that I do, do I still not feel fulfilled?” And that is the exact reason I’m writing this post. I know how it feels to feel like you have to take every single thing onto your own shoulders. I know how it feels to not even know how to trust God. Because it typically looks a little something like this…

God: Just trust me.

Kayla: I do trust you, God. I do. Now I just need to go fix it…

God: *shakes head*

Okay, well… Maybe the shaking of the head thing doesn’t happen, but the rest does! For some reason, this made sense in my head. For seventeen years this made sense in my head. For seventeen years it made sense in my head that I, Kayla Phillips, needed to make sure that my situations and circumstances got fixed… because God can’t make sure of that Himself? Yeah, feel free to laugh. On top of that, not only did I obviously not think that He could handle it Himself, but I also thought that I was the only one that could handle it. I felt that it was my responsibility.

After seventeen years of this, I was exhausted. I never felt appreciated enough, pretty enough, smart enough, funny enough, talented enough… never. I felt like I gave everything my all and still ended up short. There had to be something wrong with me. I had reached my breaking point. But, being a “good girl,” breaking down wasn’t allowed. Breaking down meant vulnerability. Breaking down meant letting the walls fall away. Breaking down meant risking rejection. Breaking down meant I was weak. Breaking down meant I was broken. Breaking down meant taking off my mask… And by doing that, it would show everyone I had spent my whole life trying to gain acceptance from and keep happy that I wasn’t really that girl I had always tried to mold myself into.

But the very thing that I was most afraid about it my life is the very thing that God says is beautiful.

“’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

And you know what, girls? I have some serious confessions.

I am vulnerable.

I have no walls anymore.

I’m accepted by my Heavenly Father and, for the first time in my life, I can truly say that’s all that matters.

I am weak.

I am broken.

Broken and in need of mending. And for once, I don’t feel like I have to do the mending. Finally, I’m able to hand the sewing kit to God and let Him fix me, let Him fix my situations.

For any of you who can relate to this, know that you are being prayed for. I know how hard it is to feel like, until you’ve finally reached perfection, you don’t deserve love. I know how hard it is to try and try to get attention through anything, everything: acts of service, talent, physical looks, telling jokes… but let me tell you something. There is One who accepted you long ago. Not because of the good works you’ve done, even though He appreciates those. Not because of your talent, even though He wants you to use the gifts He’s given you for His glory. Not because you’re beautiful, even though He made you in His image and you are the most beautiful thing in the universe to Him. Not because you’re funny, even though I am a firm believer that God is a God of laughter. His love for you doesn’t depend on those things, even though He loves those things. No. He loves you because of Jesus in you. Isn’t it a relief that we don’t have to do anything to earn His favor and acceptance? It sure did my heart some good to hear that.

From one once incredibly far gone, but now recovering “good girl” to another… Take that world-sized burden off of your back, hand it to the One that died to take it from you, and take a deep breath. You just handed God your shackles. You are free.

Voice of Truth

2012-01-25T14:02:00.003-05:00

So the other day, I was just listening to music the way I always do...I really wasn't having that great of a morning. It seemed like everything was going wrong and I was feeling sick and I just it seemed like everything I wore made me look fat...one of those days you know...and then this song came on my iTunes...and it really stood out to me. Take time, really read through the lyrics and think about who 'The Voice of Truth' is. It's not the mirror, it's not your feelings, it's not your head, it's not your friends, it's not your parents, it's not society...it's the voice of the living God who created you and knit you together speaking to you. I just listened to this song repeatedly that day and it really made me realize how loud the other voices are. Some of them are subtle but for the most part, these other voices surround us and try to overwhelm us and drown out the Voice of Truth in our lives. Those voices tell us we aren't good enough, we aren't pretty enough or responsible enough...but the Voice of Truth says that we were created for his glory and we were made in his own image and we are called to a greater purpose. So the next time you are having one of those days or just in general doubting God's goodness in creating you and your life...remember the Voice of Truth and listen to him above all else.

Voice of Truth

by Casting Crowns

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again. 'Boy, you'll never win!'

"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"

And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant

With just a Sling and a stone

Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors

Shaking in their armor

Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me

Time and time again "boy, you'll never win!

"You'll never win"

But the stone was just the right size

To put the giant on the ground

And the waves they don't seem so high

From on top of them looking down

I will soar with the wings of eagles

When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus

Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

For Future Generations

2012-01-24T20:38:00.001-05:00

This Sunday I went to my parents church, which is very different from the one I usually go to (going from a non-denominational church to a baptist church). Even though there is quite a difference in the worship and teaching styles that they use, I found that are proclaiming the same message, the same gospel. Scott Eames is the head pastor of Fairview Baptist church in Statesville, NC. He's kind of an old school baptist preacher, but I won't hold it against him.

Anyway, he gave a message on the great commission that Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Throughout the new testament, when people met Jesus they HAD to tell somebody (even when Jesus told them not to like when He raised Jairus's daughter from the dead in Mark 5:35-43)

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

The crazy thing to me is that it's clear that Jesus is still raising people from the dead every day!

Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins

As Christians, we have been raised from the dead! Why don't we tell anybody? Why are we remaining silent about the best and most miraculous thing to ever happen in our lives?

There are five good reasons why we should be telling people about the gospel.

1.) Because of what He's done for us. Hello! Taking our punishment of eternal death, so we can be raised to live for the Creator of the Universe is kind of a big deal.

2.) Because of what He means to us. If we call ourselves Christians, we should be seeing God as infinitely valuable. He means everything! Pastor Scott said evangelism should be as natural as a new parent pulling out pictures and talking about their newborn to anyone who will listen. I thought that was a great comparison.

3.) Because people need to hear it. This should be one of the most obvious reasons for evangelism. People need the gospel. It is the only thing that will save them and we need to respond to this with a sense of urgency. Do you know somebody who is facing eternity without the hope of Jesus?

4.) Because God commands it. This is another obvious point. The bible says very clearly to go and make disciples.

5.) Because of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Take a look at the beginning of the verse. We receive power from the Holy Spirit specifically for evangelistic purposes. The holy spirit should not be as easy to stifle as we seem to make it.

So we know why we should talk to people about the gospel, but now the question is "how?". I think the easiest and most powerful way to use your voice is to share your own testimony. It can be one of the most nerve-racking moments of your life, but it will also be the most personal and helpful ways to connect with somebody.

I think, also, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it's not our job to make converts. We can't save anybody. It's up to us to sow seeds of faith in people and after someone becomes a Christians, it is our responsibility to help them be disciples. We need to grow alongside of them and form relationships with them, not "move on to the next project".

The next generation is looking to us to know where to go and what to do. When I look back to who I idolized and tried to be like, I realize I looked up to the High school/college-age group, the age group I'm in now. It's a completely different perspective and I'm not sure when the roles got reversed.

I help teach a 3 year old class sometimes and it's made me super conscious of how I act and what I'm putting on display not only to 17 sets of 3 year-old eyes, but to the all the other younger kids that I know are looking up to me or wanting to be like me. What am I putting on display? Am I lifting up sin and the obscene things of the world with my life or am I lifting up Christ? I think my focus should be on God, so that maybe the next generations focus can be on God. How could we possibly remain silent about the gospel with the eyes of the next generation on us?

For Future Generations

by 4Him

The Signs Are Obvious, They Are Everywhere

All That We Hear About Is the Gloom and Despair

Too Many Would Be Prophets Saying

"It’s the End of It All"

‘cause Mother Earth Can’t Take Much More

The Hammer’s Gonna Fall

So Nature Has Its Needs, That’s a Lesson Learned

But It Appears to Me There Are Greater Concerns

‘cause We Can Save the Planet

Thinkin’ We Will Somehow Survive

But Father Time Is Calling Us

To Save Somebody’s Life

So I Won’t Bend and I Won’t Break

I Won’t Water Down My Faith

I Won’t Compromise in a World of Desperation

What Has Been I Cannot Change

But For Tomorrow and Today

I Must Be a Light For Future Generations

If We Could Find a Way to Preserve Our Faith

So Those Who Follow Us

See the Price That Was Paid

Then Maybe When They Question

What It’s Gonna Take to Survive

They’ll Find the Strength to Carry On

In What We Leave Behind

So I Won’t Bend and I Won’t Break

I Won’t Water Down My Faith

I Won’t Compromise in a World of Desperation

What Has Been I Cannot Change

But For Tomorrow and Today

I Must Be a Light For Future Generations

Lookin’ in the Eyes of the Children

Knowing That Tomorrow Is At Stake

When the Choice Is Up to Them

Will They Have the Strength to Say

We Won’t Bend and We Won’t Break

We Won’t Water Down Our Faith

We Won’t Compromise in a World of Desperation

What Has Been We Cannot Change

But For Tomorrow and Today

We Must Be a Light For Future Generations

We Won’t Bend and We Won’t Break

We Won’t Water Down Our Faith

We Won’t Compromise in a World of Desperation

What Has Been We Cannot Change

But For Tomorrow and Today

We Must Be a Light For Future Generations

No Expiration Date

2012-01-23T20:57:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, we had the privilege to hear Christine Caine speak again. She traveled to Charlotte to be a part of a Revival series that Elevation Church was doing. She started with a video that showed a young man raiding his parents pantry and fridge to make the point that his parents didn't believe in expiration dates by gathering everything that had expired. A funny introduction to a serious concept.

Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Notice the words 'past the age'. By our accounts, Sarah was too old...but God doesn't believe in expiration dates. When by our accounts, Sarah was past the age we deemed possible to conceive...God made it possible. He doesn't count anyone out and neither should we.

There are promises that have been spoken over your life. Some of them might seem impossible, incurable, terminal, bankrupt, broken, or even dead. You've pushed them off and buried them in a graveyard of promises that you think can't come true. But they are possible with God. He wants to make the impossible possible in your life. Even if it seems impossible for you, our God is not limited by our strength. He cares about the details. When was the last time you just believed God? For small and personal things as well as for big and global things...no matter what it is, how big or how little, we are able to do what God has called us to do.

He is still the God who parts the sea and tears down the walls of Jericho and makes a way when there is none. So why do we give up on the promises of God over our lives? We don't believe he is faithful...to put it bluntly. Who do you judge to be faithful? Politicians, school, friends...what about Jesus? He who promised is faithful...Jesus is faithful.

One reason we give up is because we confuse our due date with God's chosen time. Think about a pregnancy due date...if the baby comes before or after that date, we say the baby was early or late. In reality, the baby was on time...we just had an incorrect assessment of the due date.

Genesis 18:10-14 The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

God knew that she was "past age". He knew that in our minds, it would be totally impossible...but sometimes God waits until it's totally impossible so that we can't take the credit away from him. Stop. Read that again. Think about it, is anything too hard for God? No. God won't move if we are standing at the tent door like Sarah laughing with doubt, cynicism, or fear. When we do that, we are saying that we won't step out in faith, we won't step out into his promises and we don't trust God.

We have to keep in mind that it's his appointed time and not our due date. We all have 'due dates'...you know when we say something like "If____________ then__________". We are so focused on this thing happening that we cut God out of the picture entirely. If what you see is all you see then you won't see all there is to see. Basically, if we focus on one thing, then we will miss out on all that God has for us.

2 Peter 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

God doesn't see things the way we do. Remember this as well. Be faithful to trust that he is faithful. The Bible talks about 'in due season'...due season is not due date. Don't put expiration dates on God's promises.

Another reason we give up is because God doesn't do things our way. We think we are God. Maybe you don't think that word-for-word...but if you're anything like me...we sure act like it. We get mad when things go wrong(just ask me about my day yesterday). We think we are God...the 4th part of the trinity has arrived. This is wrong thinking! His ways are higher! There is a huge gap between our ways and his. We have to learn to trust him in the gap even when we don't understand what he's doing. Even in bad times, do you trust that he is still God? Even when we suffer abuse or tragedy...things that are not good...God is still good. All things(even evil things) are things that God will use for good. Bad things happen but it doesn't change God.

When things don't work out the way we planned, we tend to start trying to do things only God can do on our own.

Genesis 16:1-3 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

Sarah didn't trust that God would fulfill his promise and so she tried to take control. If you try to do it in your own strength, you will give birth to Ishmael's all your life. I, I, I gives you Ishmael. But even if you end up with Ishmael...there is still an Isaac in your life. He will still be faithful. If he said it, he will do it.

There is no promise too hard for him to fulfill, no prayer he can't answer, no bondage he can't break...there is NOTHING that my God cannot do. His glory is our good.

Simple Faith

2012-01-22T01:01:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, Jon Shea began to share his heart with Mission 28. His message really reminded me of Alex and Brett Harris' book Do Hard Things. I truly think every young person should read this book. What Jon and the Harris brothers both mention is our generation's lack of contribution. Even as 'smart' as we are now with technology and information, we are a truly 'dumb' generation. In comparison with past generations...what have we contributed to our culture? What have we offered to the world besides Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr? Anything significant? Anything that changed the world or made an impact? No...not really.

So what happened? Well, instead of the Church reaching out into the world with the gospel...the world has snuck in through subliminal messages in our media and surroundings and has slowly started to weaken Christians. The modern, cultural Church today follows some hippie-look-alike, all loving God. Christians today get get burnt out and disillusioned. The world is making more of an impact than God's word.

Acts is full of things Christians need to be reminded of on a daily basis. We should study Jesus ministry and make it our own.

One thing that really stuck out to me from Jon's message is that the disciples KNEW Jesus. Personally. They saw him walk, they saw him live, they saw him teach, they saw him die, and they saw him return. These disciples proclaimed to the world someone they KNEW. Do you know Jesus like that? I have to admit that I don't think I do. I've been in church all of my life, I've seen things in the last year that I know could only be God, I've seen him show himself to me...but do I proclaim Jesus to the world like I know him? Do you believe Jesus did what he did specifically for you? That life he lived, he lived for you. That death he died, he died for you.

The world will try to tell you that it's a crutch or a system for weak people...but it's not. It's real. Do you believe it's real? Jesus is real...what he came here to do was real. Do you believe it? All it takes is simple faith.

Behind the Sword

2012-01-22T00:49:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you all that God has done in me in the last 21 days(even longer, but specifically this month so far). God has kind of wrecked my world and I wouldn't want it any other way. Passion was amazing, even watching from home, God touched my life. But. If I was to stay focused on Passion and what happened there...then I'm not doing what God called me to do. I'm not called to stay stuck in the past at an event or a conference. Yes, Passion was amazing...but I can't try to suck the life out of it by staying there when there are other ways God wants to use me here and now. It was such a joy to be back at C4 Charlotte among friends and 'family'. God is still doing major things through C4 and it's such a joy to be able to witness and participate in God's movement on the UNCC campus. 2 weeks ago, Tyson spoke a message called 'Behind the Sword'. It was the perfect place to start the year.

Genesis 3:23-24 Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

The garden of Eden was paradise...it's a place of perfect peace, harmony, unity, and love. Adam(the man) was the centerpiece of creation. In the garden, there was only one thing greater than the paradise of the garden itself...that Adam had communion with the Architect of the Universe. That creation could walk along-side the Creator. In the garden, we had all access to the Creator. We weren't designed to live in the garden and have some abstract idea of God...we were designed to know Him...personally. We were created for so much more than the world can offer.

In the garden, there was only one rule: not to eat from the tree of life. Through the breaking of this rule, sin entered the world. When God came to walk with Adam...Adam hid himself. God asked, "Adam, where are you?" God knew where Adam was located...he didn't lose Adam. God wanted Adam to reflect on where he was spiritually. Adam was in rebellion to God's will. Then, Adam was confronted with his sin and banished from the garden. Placed at the threshold of the garden was an angel and a flaming sword to prevent return to the garden.

Take a moment and imagine this. The only thing you'd ever experienced was life knowing God. Now, you are exiled from the Holy Place and apart from God. When Adam looks back, all he sees is the sword. He no longer has access to the greatest thing. In that moment, we no longer had access to walking along-side of the Creator of the Universe. If we want communion with him again, we have to go through the sword.

There is a desperation to go back, but a fear of the sword.

Romans 7:21-23 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

There is a war inside of us. We are part Spirit and part flesh. The Spirit wants to draw close to the Creator but our flesh and sin wants to withdraw and be afraid. When we try to draw close to God, something seems to pull us back and we end up farther away than when we started.

Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God formed man out of dust and the breath of life. The dust is of the earth...it represents sin and flesh. The breath is God's breath of life and it represents the Spirit in us.

Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Sin causes separation. When we want our way and reject his will for us, we separate ourselves from him. Our flesh is pulling us away from the garden. Have you ever been in a place where you don't feel God like you used to? When we feel distant, we have let our sinful, carnal nature win and bring separation. In that moment, you have to realize that God has not left you. Your sin has separated you from him, but he is still Immanuel and is always God with us. One encounter with him and everything changes.

So, we're separated from him...I get that...but how are we restored? The answer is the cross. The Bible calls Jesus the 2nd Adam...but Jesus was born of the Spirit only. Jesus came to earth and died on a cross to restore our relationship with the Father. In other words...Jesus came to meet us where we were...outside the garden...then he ran through the sword to restore us. The Bible tells us that when he died, the veil in the Temple was torn. The Veil separated humanity from the Holy of Holies...where God's presence dwelt. By dying on the cross, Jesus reunited us with God.

Now, you have to understand this...even though Jesus took the cross for you...the sword still stands at the threshold of the garden. Before Jesus ran through the sword (died on the cross), if we had tried to go through the sword ourselves...we would have just died. The sword would have killed us. BUT. Now, when we go through the sword, the only thing that is cut away are the things that look like Adam...the things of the flesh.

Proverbs 13:12-13 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

Okay, you might not get where I'm going with this. It's simple: God cannot be in the presence of sin. God put the sword at the threshold for Adam's own good. When sin is in the presence of God, he will destroy it. God put the sword there so that Adam would not be destroyed. The beginning of getting behind the sword and into the garden is the DESIRE to put away sin. Are you tired of living in exile? Do you want fellowship with God more than you fear the sword? Only one thing should matter to us...a relationship with God.

Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The word of God has the power to divide soul and spirit. Examine yourself quickly...can you tell where your soul ends and your spirit begins? Nope. Only God's word can tell and divide our soul(carnal/fleshy/sinful nature and selfish mentality) from our spirit. The Word of God is the only thing strong enough. It won't kill you but it cuts away the things that look like Adam(sin, flesh). The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.

John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

In order to worship God, you have to cut the old man(the sin, the selfish mentality, the flesh) out. It's one prayer away. The sword - the word of the living God - is enough to make you new, holy and acceptable to the Lord. Stop living for yourself. Stop thinking that being declared righteous is enough and start living righteously. The sword stands there and says that you can't go in...I dare you to move forward and let him cut away your flesh.

When Adam looked back, he saw a sword that looked like death. But sometimes what looks like death is really life. People look at a Christian and think that it must suck to live like we do. They think that being a Christian is all rules and no fun...that they'd rather die than live like we do. But...we have life. You have to come through the sword. Let go of your pride, greed, lust, and unforgiveness that you are holding onto in your heart.

Revelation 1:10-18 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Check it out...'from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword' and 'I fell at his feet as though dead.' When you go through the sword, part of you has to die. He is the one who physically died and is now alive and well...but you have to die to yourself.

He wants to speak life into you and make you new. Are you ready to come through the sword and meet your maker? Only go through the sword if you are never going back into exile. Jesus didn't die so we could go back into exile. Lay it down and never go back.

Simple Faith: Part 2

2012-01-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

"God’s mission in the world is to save people and sanctify his people. Christ died “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). We were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14)." ~Kevin DeYoung (the hole in our holiness)
I said in my last post that the gospel is not the end of the story of Christianity, but only the first step. This time, I want to talk about what comes next, how we continue living out Christianity.

The grace of the gospel is only for the purpose of dealing with our sin to bring us closer to God's holiness, not to allow for ongoing, excused rebellion against Him. Notice that the word "holiness" is used here. God is a loving God, but also a holy (perfect) God, and His holiness cannot be separated from His love.

If you consider yourself a Christian, you should be trying to look like Jesus (who is also God) in every aspect of your life. That's kind of the whole point! When you become a Christian, your whole life then becomes all about taking off your old self and putting on the armor of Christ.

Wait, hold on! Won't that take work? Yes, yes it does. Christianity takes work. I think the religious term for it is sanctification. Exhaust your resources, put in the work to make Christianity happen.

Pursuit of godly character (virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, and love) should affect your entire life. People around you should be able to see the fruits of your labors and be able to automatically label you as a christian. Don't be so caught up in the physical, temporal world that you become blind to the spiritual.

The thing about Christianity is that there is no middle ground. You are either for or against God and righteousness.

1 Peter 1:10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.

Simple Faith: Part 1

2012-01-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday night Jon Shea gave an eye opening message that questioned all of us on which view of Christianity we follow: the Biblical view or the world's view. I think it might be the most important question we need to consider as professing Christians.

Possibly the most disturbing reality he brought up was that instead of the church going out into the world with the truth about God and the gospel, the world's ideas about what Christianity is or should be are seeping into the church. Think about the possible repercussions of that statement. We're talking about a world that is diametrically opposed to Christ, a world that hates everything to do with God and Christianity, a world that is either running as fast and as far away from God as they can possibly get or working against Him.

That's the world that is making it's way into the church in a bigger way than ever before!

Christians today, because of all the opposition and confusion with different viewpoints, seem to be starting to burn out and following along with the world's views because it's just easier. So often, we excuse what God can't. We're getting tired of arguing our side of the matter. We don't want to be seen as narrow minded and elitist, so we end up compromising and slowly following the world's diluted ideals of Christianity because we no longer know the Jesus of the bible.

Our culture is decisively self-centered and individualistic. We break down communication to facebooking, blogs, and text messages, yet are saturated with information like never before in history. The terrible thing is that not all the information we soak in on an daily basis is true, especially when it comes to the basics of God and Christianity. And, to me, the lies aren't always huge and outright. A lot of the time they are so subtle that we don't notice them until they've clouded true Christianity beyond recognition a long way down the road.

Christians are not to just follow the hippie-looking, sin accepting, un-wrathful, just-do-whatever-you-want-because-he'll-forgive-you-anyway God that the world wants to believe He is. The truth is that God cannot stand sin and He wants us to follow Him, not in a metaphorical sense, in a rule-abiding, mission focused sense.

The truth is we have been separated from God because we have all participated in a mutiny against Him through our sin and because God is just, He has to punish sin through death (which would mean eternal separation from God in Hell for us). But because God is not only just, but loving, He wanted to bring us back to Him. Remember that the punishment for sin is death? (Enter Jesus). Jesus is God incarnate who came into a sin cursed world to be the atoning sacrifice for all people who believe in Him. He was crucified as a substitute for us and then raised from the dead to bring us life and reconcile creator and creation (God and us).

The gospel, though, is not all that Christianity is. It's just the first step. True Christianity is becoming like Christ and that happens by following Jesus (and yes, all His rules too), not because He wants you to be narrow-minded or uneducated, but because He wants the best for you and His plan is in your best interest.

Philosophy and perspective is great, but what should really influence your life is truth, especially the truth about God.

Do Everything

2012-01-20T13:17:00.001-05:00

I kept hearing this song play in my head after Louie Giglio's last Passion 2012 message. It sums up everything he said about it not mattering what you did as long as you did it for God. You may or may not become a missionary or make some news-worthy impact on the world...but that 9-5 job you're working, or those children you care for...those are things that you can do to the glory of God(and you can make an impact there too). It's the day to day stuff that really matters...it's not one huge moment, it's every moment(little or big).

Do Everything

by Steven Curtis Chapman

Your picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today

Matching up socks

Sweeping up lost cheerios that got away

You put a baby on your hip

Color on your lips and head out the door

While I may not know you,

I bet I know you

Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?

Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long

As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,

Cause he made you,

To do

Every little thing that you do

To bring a smile to His face

Tell the story of grace

With every move that you make

And every little thing you do

Maybe your that guy with the suit and tie

Maybe your shirt says your name

You may be hooking up mergers

Cooking up burgers

But at the end of the day

Little stuff

Big stuff

In between stuff

God sees it all the same

While I may not know you

I bet I know you

Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?

Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long

As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,

Cause he made you

To do

Every little thing that you do

To bring a smile to His face

Tell the story of grace

With every move that you make

And every thing you do

Maybe your sitting in math class

Or maybe on a mission in the Congo

Or maybe your working at the office

Singing along with the radio

Maybe your dining at a 5-star

Or feeding orphans in the Myanmar

Anywhere and everywhere that you are

Whatever you do

It all matters

So do what you do

Don't ever forget

To do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,

Cause He made you

To do

Every little thing that you do

To bring a smile to His face

And tell the story of grace

As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,

Cause he made you

To do

Every little thing that you do

To bring a smile to His face

And tell the story of grace

With every move that you make

And every little thing you do

In every little thing you do

Passion 2012, Session 8

2012-01-20T01:14:00.000-05:00

This is probably going to be the shortest post because I have no idea what to write in order to sum up this conference, but we'll see how it goes.

Louie started off Passion 2012 with the hope that this quote would be true of this generation: "They realized they were in a place of holy mystery and God was at work. They were quietly worshipful and noisily grateful. Their statement was 'God is back!'." I think it went above and beyond that hope.

45,000 people in the Georgia Dome, around 45,000 people online, and countless others on the street, I'm sure heard the word of God preached, sung (in 6 different languages!), praised, and exalted over the course of 4 days. Over 3 million dollars was raised (by broke college kids mostly) to end and further prevent the global and local issue of human trafficking and modern day slavery. CNN was even affected and did a television broadcast of what this conference was doing about human trafficking when #howgreatisourGod trending as the number one topic on social media networks caught their attention!

The thing that really struck me is that a homeless man on the streets of Atlanta went up to some of the people during the candlelight prayer/freedom vigil and simply made the comment "You guys are saving America."

The Bible always tells us that we should be declaring the gospel boldly, but most of the time, we tend to hold back because we feel like people don't want to hear it, "I'm just one person, I can't make a difference anyway", or we think we're too young. The system of our world sets us up in a holding pattern and leaves us waiting for an appointed time, waiting for someone to come up to us and say "Okay, now is the time to do this really big thing for God." when in reality, we can do something right now. And it doesn't have to be this huge production, a lot of the time it's the little things we do that add up over time.

Not everyone has to be in a mission spotlight. We aren't all going to be feeding the hungry in Africa, rescuing sex slaves in Nepal, or planting churches in China. Meet the necessity in word and deed and glorify God in whatever you do. (You could even end up changing tires in the name of Jesus if that's what you're good at.) God isn't as concerned with "what" you do as much as "who" you're doing it for.

We are called do something to spread the gospel where we are, with what we have. (I've had to learn this the long and frustrating way because I always want to run with the first and biggest thing that comes into my head and I've heard the word "no" so many times lately that I'm forced to wait on God's timing.) But I can tell you that His timing and plans are better than mine and they accomplish more than I will ever be able to.

One trick to God's timing, I've learned is that things don't happen chronologically, they happen when our awakening happens. We have to be listening to God and what He wants accomplished before we question Him on HIS timing.

Another reason we shy away from doing something is that we feel like we are too broken, messed up, or off track to amount to anything for God. We end up saying to ourselves in the mirror, "I want to evangelize, but look at this mess!" But things also happen out of suffering.

Out of brokenness comes fearlessness. It's the bow that launches the arrows of healing. God launches healing from people who know what it's like to be healed.

A great thing for us to do is put this prayer at the top of our lists every day: "God, when I open my mouth, give me words to fearlessly proclaim Jesus." We minimize our fears of evangelism when we maximize God and the fear of living an insignificant life.

Louie Giglio also stated at the start of the Passion conference that obviously the world doesn't know this generation of 18-25 years olds. That we seems to be on a different wavelength with God. I think he's right about both statements. Well, they may not know us now, but why don't we do something to change that? Let's be so radical for God and the gospel that we force the rest of the world to take notice. Let's make a bigger and better difference in the world than people are willing to give us credit for right now.

So, what are you waiting for?

Passion 2012, Session 7

2012-01-20T01:09:00.000-05:00

On the first night of Passion 2012, Louie said two shocking things about our Christian lives. He said:
1.) Before you trusted in Christ, you were not just "unchurched", you were dead. You didn't need to be "churched", you needed to be raised from the dead.
2.)Some of you made a decision for Jesus when you were little, signed a card, walked an isle, and the enemy is still on track with you to kill and destroy you. Your funeral may still be in motion!

There are a lot of "converts" who aren't Christian, with no saving faith. So the question is: What then IS saving faith?

John Piper says that faith is "Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Jesus Christ, which frees you from the slavery of sin for the sacrifices of love." Basically saying (and this is my take here) that When we see God as He really is and what He did for us through Jesus, we will consider Him infinitely valuable and will be drawn to Him. We will want to follow Him and will have no doubts that we can trust Him in all that He is for us and with all that He has for us, and we will put God's infinite value on display for everyone else to see as well.

Faith is a gift of true sight. Now think about the word gift. Doesn't that wreck the idea of free will?
Yes, it does. Consider it wrecked.

We tend to get our ideas of free will from a guy named Paladius, from way back in the day. Paladius did not believe in the doctrine of original sin (the idea that we are all born with a sinful nature because of the curse of Adam and Eve and, therefore, are dead and blind to the goodness of God). For Paladius, freedom is like the pendulum on a metronome...one side is sin, the devil and unbelief...the other side is good, God, and faith. For Paladius, freedom is being poised right in the middle, between good and evil. Obtaining within yourself the ability to choose which way you go.

No matter how great and equal it sounds to us, this is not what the Bible says that freedom is. The Bible tells us that we were all born with original sin. We were all born hating God, loving ourselves and exalting our sins and pride. We wanted nothing to do with God or His salvation, because we didn't believe that we needed it. We were spiritually dead and needed to be raised through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

Since we were born with original sin, we were locked down on the negative, satanic side of the pendulum; and here's the thing, God doesn't raise us from the dead to be poised in the middle of that pendulum and give us the ability to make a decision whether to be godly or satanic. It wouldn't be a true awakening that way, because if we see God for who He truly is, we see Him as infinitely valuable; and if we see Him as infinitely valuable, then how could we ever choose to go back to that sin? How could we want to go back to death and hopelessness?

See, I had never taken into account the doctrine of original sin before, which basically changes the entire playing field of how we come to understand free will.

Freedom is being so in love with Christ that we do exactly what we want and it accords with His will. The more satisfied in Jesus, the more free you are.

So the question is: What would we see if we saw God in the way that He truly is? We would see His supremacy.

Supremacy of his Deity: equal with God the Father, exact imprint of his nature, infinite, boundless in all ways.
Supremacy of his eternality: makes the mind of man explode with unsearchable thought, Jesus never had a beginning...he simply always was, sheer absolute reality.
Supremacy of his knowledge: it makes all libraries look like matchboxes, and makes all the Internet information look like a Farmer's almanac, it makes quantum physics look like a first grade reader.
Supremacy of his wisdom: never been perplexed by any complication, never been counseled
Supremacy of his authority: over heaven and earth and hell...without his permission, no demon can move one inch...he changes times and season, he does all according to his will...no one can challenge him.
Supremacy of his providence: without him, nothing happens without being part of his design.
Supremacy of his word: it upholds the universe, holds together every being, atom and molecule and everything we haven't even yet dreamed of discovering.
Supremacy of his power: to walk on water, cleanse lepers, heal the lame, open the eyes of the blind, cause the deaf to hear, cause the dead to rise with a single word or a single thought.
Supremacy of his purity: he has never and will never sinned...not even a bad attitude or thought.
Supremacy of his trustworthiness: he never breaks his word...not one promise falls to the ground.
Supremacy of his justice: he will render in due time, all of our accounts settled, either on the cross or in hell.
Supremacy of his patience: to endure our dullness and hold back his final judgement on this land.
Supremacy of his sovereign, servant obedience: he kept the Father's commandments perfectly and then embraced the excruciating pain of the cross willingly.
Supremacy of his meekness: his tenderness, he won't break or bruise
Supremacy of his wrath: one day, his wrath will explode on this planet with such fierceness that people will cry out for rocks and mountains to fall on them and crush them lest they have to see the wrath of the Lamb.
Supremacy of his grace: gives life to the spiritually dead, awakens faith in hell-bound haters of God, justifies the ungodly with his own righteousness.
Supremacy of his love: he willingly dies for you and me...sinners, while we were against him.
Supremacy of his inexhaustible gladness: in the fellowship with the trinity...infinite power and gladness that has always existed. At the heart of the universe, is the gladness of the trinity...a joy so great that it had to be shared and so it explodes into existence a universe so that everything could bear witness to its creator.

The crazy thing is that if God granted you eyes to see this supremacy, you would only see the outskirts of all that He is!

The really great thing about this is that when we see God as infinitely valuable, we will see sin and temptation as the stupid, little, suicidal monster it really is and be progressively free from it. Little souls give little lusts big power. Big hearts give little lusts little power, because they look little. When you see the magnitude of your treasure, your heart swells to wrap itself around it.

So the root of you salvation (seeing God for who He is for us in Jesus) glorifies God privately and the fruit of salvation (proclaiming God and living for Him) glorifies Him publicly.

Those of us who have been freed from sin have a duty to help other people see the freedom that comes through Christ in the way that we should live our lives to glorify and magnify God.

Okay, wow, John Piper is probably the most difficult person to condense into a blog post, but there it is. Hopefully I can get my head around all of it sometime in the near future. And I don't know about you, but I'm going to try to be more conscious of what my life looks like, whether it's reflecting what I believe about God or not.

Thinking...

2012-01-17T13:48:00.000-05:00

So, Emily and I were talking about everything that God has done in the last year. Last year, you would have found 2 basically functional atheists. A functional atheist is someone who goes through the motions but doesn't have that one-on-one relationship with God. This time last year, it was almost a foreign thought to only listen to Christian music...or to be Heaven-minded. This time last year, darkness and depression ruled our lives. God is so amazing...he has brought us through so much and I look back and can't begin to explain the joy that is in my heart.

Anyway, we were in the car today driving home from a weekend of house-sitting for my cousin and just talking over everything God has done in the past year and especially what God has done through the Passion 2012 conference. Emily was saying how glad she was that Passion's cause this year was to stop Human Trafficking because it's a cause that has been on her heart for a long time.

It just struck me as we were talking about it and how we both have just been soaking up Christian music and stuff...that human trafficking isn't just limited to physical slavery. Human trafficking isn't just about sex slavery or forced labor. Satan uses media, TV, music and other subliminal things to traffic our souls into slavery to sin. We, as Christians have to take a stand not just for social injustices like human trafficking, but we have to reach out in to the funeral processions of the people around us. We all started out dead...and just like a slave, we couldn't escape from death...we were bound. But God...he took a stand, he reached out his hand and he brought us into life and freed us from the chains we were enslaved by.

Just as we were talking about this, my friend Shelley sent out several tweets that were just so right on with our discussion.

"My Public Speaking class made me cry today. So many lost souls who don't understand how urgent the gospel is and just reject it all because they don't understand why someone would have the need to talk to a complete stranger about Christ's over pouring of love. The thing about the truth is that you can reject it all you want, but it's not going to change. But why/how could you say you have all these experiences of people sharing Christ with you and you aren't even going to give it a chance? Why wouldn't you want to explore something that so many people are so passionate about? They feel the need to share with you for a reason. They are just so full of Jesus' love that they want to pour it into you and they don't want you to be a lost soul. [We] talk about not hurting someone's feelings but [we] can't always protect people, and by not sharing the truth [we] aren't protecting them...[we] might as well be helping them walk into the unholy fire."

Shelley is exactly right...there are so many lost souls out there...your next-door neighbor, the people in class with you, your co-workers, sometimes even people you go to church with. They are on the stretcher being carried out to the grave. You don't have to fight human trafficking on an international level to make a difference for God...all you have to do is reach out and pray that God would speak through you. Reach out and free them from slavery to sin...reach out and allow God to speak life into them through you. Don't be afraid...the difference between life and death could be one touch...one word...one person taking a stand. One encounter with God will change lives.

Courageous

by Casting Crowns

We were made to be courageous

We were made to lead the way

We could be the generation

That finally breaks the chains

We were made to be courageous

We were warriors on the front lines

Standing, unafraid

But now we're watchers on the sidelines

While our families slip away

Where are you, men of courage?

You were made for so much more

Let the pounding of our hearts cry

We will serve the Lord

We were made to be courageous

And we're taking back the fight

We were made to be courageous

And it starts with us tonight

The only way we'll ever stand

Is on our knees with lifted hands

Make us courageous

Lord, make us courageous

This is our resolution

Our answer to the call

We will love our wives and children

We refuse to let them fall

We will reignite the passion

That we buried deep inside

May the watchers become warriors

Let the men of God arise

We were made to be courageous

And we're taking back the fight

We were made to be courageous

And it starts with us tonight

The only way we'll ever stand

Is on our knees with lifted hands

Make us courageous

Lord, make us courageous

Seek justice

Love mercy

Walk humbly with your God

In the war of the mind

I will make my stand

In the battle of the heart

And the battle of the hand

In the war of the mind

I will make my stand

In the battle of the heart

And the battle of the hand

We were made to be courageous

And we're taking back the fight

We were made to be courageous

And it starts with us tonight

The only way we'll ever stand

Is on our knees with lifted hands

Make us courageous

Lord, make us courageous

We were made to be courageous

Lord, make us courageous

Passion 2012: Session 8 - Fearless

2012-01-16T23:41:00.176-05:00

Well, Passion 2012 has come to a close. I went into session 8 saddened because this amazing experience of worship and teaching is ending...but then I got excited for what God will do when 45,000 young people with a vision hit the streets. I can't tell you how alive I feel right now...I can't tell you how much God has done in my life in just 4 short days. I feel like God has just wrecked me...even though I've spent the majority of Passion in tears, it's been the most joyful week of my life. I will definitely miss waking up and worshipping with 45,000 other believers and sitting under amazing teachers as they bring the word of God...but something I've learned this week is that I have to be willing to be interrupted. If I'm going to make a difference, then I have to go...and be willing. I have to get out from behind my computer, go to work, go to the store...and be willing to be interrupted. I have to go and do something now. Passion has definitely helped me see that I can do something wherever I am by reaching out. One touch...one encounter with God will change lives.

Louie Giglio started the message by revisiting the Eugene Peterson quote he shared during Session 1:

"They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery. That God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful. And then noisily grateful. Calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people." The news of Jesus spread all through the country."

This is where we started...and it has really come true over the 4 days of Passion 2012. It's exactly what has come to pass.

Earlier, one of the young door holders told Louie this story:

"One of the employees from the World Congress Center came in. Supervisor of some of the custodians and she grabbed me and said, 'What is going on here?' I said, 'It's Passion, university aged young people here for the Passion Conference.' The employee said, 'No, no, no...what's going on here? I feel something in my chest that I've never felt before.' I said, 'Oh, that's the presence of God. God is here, God is back. What you feel is the presence of God here.' The lady looked at me like 'What is that?' I asked her if she knew who Jesus Christ is. The woman said, 'No.' So I told the woman who Jesus was and the woman broke down into tears and embraced the grace of God and mercy of Jesus for her life!"

When God comes...he's not limited by walls or job titles, who is in the session and who is inside of the building. He's not limited by who has a lanyard or a uniform on. When God shows up, everybody knows that God is in the house and everyone experiences an awakening from the dead.

Grab onto this line: "The news of Jesus spread all throughout the country!" It is spreading in some phenomenal ways...during one of the worship sessions, "How Great Is Our God" was the NUMBER 1 trending topic worldwide on Twitter! Passion 2012 and With Everything(Hillsong) also were on the top trends worldwide during the conference. In real time...you were talking to the world! How amazing is that? Something as simple as a tweet...God uses to broadcast his name to the world.

There was a feature Thursday morning on CNN about what Passion is doing for Freedom. Louie had everyone tweet to CNN and thank them for telling the story of slavery. As a result of these 4 days...let the one thing that trends wherever you are...be that Jesus becomes the name that spreads all through the country.

Ephesians 6:19-20 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Paul is in prison...he has chains on his hands. With a chained arm, he writes that people pray for him. He didn't ask for prayers of freedom, he asked for boldness in speech. He asked them to pray that when he opened his mouth he would receive words from God. This should be our prayer...a prayer that we move to the top of our prayer list.

The problem we are up against is that we are in a system that is setting us up for a not-yet-arrived-at destination. When we are in middle school it's about high school. When we're in high school it's about GPA and where you are going to college. When you're in college it's about your major and when you graduate and what your summer will entail. When you finally graduate it's about what you are going to do with your life. What that sets us up for, is a not-yet-realized-future-opportunity for somewhere down the road when this and this and this and this are all done...then something significant is supposed to happen. But Jesus has come on the scene and reached out into our funeral procession and wrecked our funerals to awaken us to the reality that god can do anything and everything and it starts the day we become alive in Christ...that's when our mission in life begins...not when this or that is done...now. Get out of the holding pattern the world has set for us. Get rid of the mindset of waiting for the appointed time to do something significant with your life. Jesus raised us from the dead and the day that happened is the day we start proclaiming the power and mystery of the gospel and that is the reason we are alive...so go and do that with everything you have...right now. You don't need to wait to fully participate in the purpose and plans of God...they are right now.

Is it your prayer that when you open your mouth, God would put words in your mouth, that you might fearlessly make known the mystery of what is exploding inside of your heart right now?

The first hurdle to this is a hurdle called brokenness(adversity, trial, hardship). You want to proclaim...but you are too concerned with the mess.

As the Passion crew were in the Dome setting up the lights before the conference...Louie walked into the center of the field and stood there imagining all that God was going to do. At mid-field, there was the newly painted Chick-fil-A Bowl logo. In that moment, it was just him and the logo...a logo that was created in 1964 by a man named Louie Giglio for $75...Louie's dad(henceforth known as 'dad').

Louie and his wife were living in Waco, Texas and for 10 years they had been ministering to college students. For 7 of those years, his dad had been disabled and living in Atlanta. He went from being an active and inspired designer to being completely disabled because of a brain virus. In 1995, they left Texas to move to Atlanta in order to care for his dad. In April of 1995, Louie's dad died. Not only had Louie and his wife just walked through 7 years really hard years, but they had left 10 years of ministry behind to come care for his dad...and he died. There's no dad and there is no ministry. So what happens now? Within weeks of that moment...now that God had uprooted them and placed them in a situation of total flexibility and availability...God gave them a vision. It wasn't just one campus, it's the campuses...and 15 years of Passion later...Louie stood in the middle of Georgia Dome looking at a logo. He and his dad were back together again and it was his father's death and all the sorrow and brokenness of that..that cracked open the door to everything that God is doing through Passion.

It's not a this, this, this, this and then over there...it's whenever the awakening comes and you yield into the fullness of God's purpose...it's now that God can use you. Don't let brokenness hold you back from what God has for you. Brokenness is the bow from which God launches the arrows of healing. When Christ was beaten, when he suffered and died...it's by his stripes we are healed. If your past is brokenness, pain, sorrow, disappointment, or a mess...God knows and he thinks it's good because it's from that past, God will send healing. He sends healing through people who know what it means to be healed. They are the launchers of the message of the gospel...don't let the enemy tell you that your brokenness is going to disqualify you from being a part of the news of Jesus spreading all through the country. It took a dead guy(Louie's dad) to start Passion and God could use you to start the next thing.

The 2nd hurdle is when people say, "I don't know what to do."

Bury that...right now...stick a pin in the balloon of "What is God's will for your life?"...let it die, so you don't have to keep saying "I don't know what to do." What you need to do is to move to the top of your prayer list "Pray for me so that when I open my mouth, God will give me words to boldly proclaim the gospel." Where you are right now(Starbucks, Classroom, Dorm, Cafeteria, Grocery Store, Work, Fashion, Computers...wherever) is where God's will has you. You don't have to be involved full time in a major cause...we need bankers and doctors and lawyers and artists and filmmakers...people who do what they do all for the glory of God no matter what it is...go for it but move to the top, above all else, "Give me words to fearlessly proclaim the mystery of the gospel.(In my bank, house, team, neighborhood, wherever I go, let me be fearless to proclaim.)" Don't live an insignificant life...God's will is to fearlessly proclaim the gospel wherever you are. Pursue your passion, pursue what you are good at, go do what you are wired to do...but do it all in the name of Jesus. Just go do it. Right now.

Louie told the story of Trevor Bayne. You may have heard of him before. He is the 2011 Daytona 500 Winner.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Avj1jj6dfw&feature=related) He turned 20 the day before the race. That's pretty cool...but there is something that is even more cool...when he won, all he said is, "I just want to give glory to Jesus." You might be thinking that it's nothing special...that's what they all say when they win...someone was even so bold to tweet to Trevor: "Of course you're giving glory to Jesus because you just won the Daytona 500". Later on the year, Trevor got Lyme Disease. He was knocked out of line for the final season championship series. Trevor remembered that tweet. When he was out of the season, he went back through his twitter and found that person who had tweeted to him and responded: "I just want to let you know, I have Lyme Disease and it wrecked my year...but I love Jesus." Then, Louie told us that Trevor Bayne was among the crowd at Passion 2012. He's just another college-age person like the rest of us...but he fearlessly proclaimed the name of Jesus while doing what he was good at...racing...and when he was knocked out of the race. Whatever you are good at...do it...and as you do it, pray that God would give you words. Whether it's coming out of a win or dealing with Lyme Disease...whatever it is...do it with that prayer on your heart.

So what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for the system to tell you that now is a good time? Are you waiting until all the brokenness goes away? Are you waiting until grad-school is over? Is that when it's going to happen? The mission is now! You don't have to do anything to make it happen other than walk out of your room and pray that God will speak through you. Ask for those around you to pray for you that when you open your mouth, God would give you words and that you would fearlessly proclaim the gospel. That's all.

Do you know how to get your fears to minimize? (Fear of failure, being made fun of, the unknown, your parents, insecurity, inadequacy, your past, fear of unemployment...etc) Maximize the fact that you are already chained to the unchainable Jesus...nothing else that tries to put a chain on you has any power or hold on you. They chained Paul to a Roman jail cell but missed the point entirely...he had already chained his heart to the unchainable Jesus Christ who will never be stopped...he will always triumph, and you, in mind, soul, and body, are chained to him! You have joined forces with Jesus! The only thing to be afraid of is living an insignificant life.

Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Being a prisoner on Earth does not hinder our service or our call. Out of the bow of brokenness, God flings the arrows of healing.

If you've never heard the "Fruitcake and Ice Cream" story...please, go buy it/rent it/whatever you have to do...but just watch it. 5 years ago, a girl left Passion...she left with a heart for the world and God put her in an apartment with a God-hating, Church-hating, Christian-hating, full throttle, partying senior. Over the next 14 days...from the 7th of January to the 21st...the roommate went from hating God to accepting Christ as her Savior. Do you know why? The girl who left Passion with a heart for the world...she didn't stumble over the hurdle of "my friends don't care or want or need this".

You don't know if God is turning over the heart of the person shoving hate in your face day after day. Maybe they are 14 days away from having their funeral procession interrupted. Don't be insecure and let your fears stop you from opening your mouth and letting God speak through you. Some people really don't want it, but others are so close that all they need is one person who is fearless!

You don't have to be loud to be bold. Boldness isn't about how loud you are...it's about how confident you are in the gospel. Even when you are in a situation where the other person is just sending you hate...don't be afraid to ask if you can pray for them...if they say no, then don't get up in arms about it...say okay and invite them to lunch or to go play Frisbee or something. Something that simple can provide just as powerful a witness. Love them...keep telling them how Jesus changed your life, not how bad they are.You are an ambassador...don't be afraid of non-Christians or what they think. Believe in the power of the gospel. Don't shrink down...stick around. Even when they are hard on you...of course they are hard on you, they crucified Jesus. He fearlessly hung there and proclaimed the gospel for which he was in chains.

Pray that God would insert you as the arrow and fling you with healing for the world.

In closing...I have to update you with some news. News that showed how great our God is. It's not about what we did...it's about what God has done through us.

Passion 2012 was supposed to be the end. The Georgia Dome staff told us that the building was unavailable next year. They came back to Louie and said that it will be available for Passion specifically next year. So by the grace of God, Passion will be back in 2013...at full capacity seating: over 70,000...the curtain is coming down!

...but that's not all...

Over the course of 4 days:

With the A21 Campaign, we're helping start a prevention program in the UK, educating them on how not to get stuck in slavery.
With the Tiny Hands Foundation, we're helping build 8 border stations and 8 safe homes in Nepal/India border to stop trafficking before it starts.
With IJM, we are building 23 rescue operations and funding rescue missions.
With Hagar, we are doing an after school program for 25 children who have been sex slaves, we are helping restore them and set them on a new course.
With Wellspring for Living in Atlanta, we are helping renovate 12 apartments for girls who have been trafficked, restored, and rescued.
With the Atlanta project, we gave $100,000 dollars to the Mayor to stop trafficking locally.
With Word Made Flesh we are helping purchase a building in India to restore women who have been trafficked.
With Love 146, we are helping train people to go back and restore 1260 people all over the world and provide for reconciliation for 18 rescued children.
In Haiti we are helping build a safe house for girls who have been trafficked and rescued.
With As Our Own we are helping an innovation center for girls in India who were born into brothels.
With Night Light, we're helping provide jobs for 15 women on the streets of Thailand.
With IJM we are helping fund 15 rescue operations in Mumbai.
With Not for Sale we are helping fund a vocational training program in India.
Also with Not for Sale we are helping fund a crisis center in Cape Town, South Africa.
With Restore International, we are helping fund the fight against trafficking by witch doctors, by prosecuting witch doctors in Uganda.

Can you hear freedom ringing all across the globe?

Now...about that $1,000,000 dollars...we didn't give $1 million...we gave(at the conference and online) $2,566,670! In 4 days...we gave over $2 million dollars to end slavery internationally and locally! God is so good to work through us in ways we could never even imagine.

...that's still not all...

There was a married couple who came to Passion. They were so inspired by the giving of poor college students...that they gave $500,000 dollars.

That puts the total of Passion 2012 freedom giving at $3,066,670!

I can't even put into words what is going through my head and heart right now. It's been almost 2 weeks since Passion ended and it still hasn't sunk in. God is so great! Passion 2012 was the perfect start to the year. I can't wait to see what God does on campuses around the globe and what happens for Freedom in the name of Jesus.

*I do not own these photos!*

Never Once

2012-01-16T11:58:00.001-05:00

Never Once

by Matt Redman

Standing on this mountaintop

Looking just how far we’ve come

Knowing that for every step

You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground

Seeing just how much You’ve done

Knowing every victory

Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Kneeling on this battle ground

Seeing just how much You’ve done

Knowing every victory

Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Carried by Your constant grace

Held within Your perfect peace

Never once, no, we never walk alone

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Every step we are breathing in Your grace

Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Passion 2012: Session 7 - Seeing and Savoring the Sumpremacy of Christ Above All Things

2012-01-15T02:26:00.002-05:00

Wow...going into this session, I already felt like my brain had exploded...and then John Piper stepped onto the stage. Mind. Blown. I've always looked up to Piper and enjoyed reading him and hearing quotes...but to actually sit under him and listen as he opens the Word of God is an unforgettable experience. I think the thing that strikes me most about Piper is that he is an incredibly intelligent man...but his intelligence comes from the heart. There are many scholarly men like Piper...but their knowledge is only head knowledge. When Piper teaches, you can tell that he is preaching to himself and that what he is preaching is piercing him through the heart. There seems to be a despair to his teaching because it impacts his own life. Even as impacting as it was to sit under John Piper, it was all the more impacting to hear the word of God speak through him.

When Paul looked his own funeral in the face - he made the statement that even in that...as much as ever, he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body...in life and in death. I want my Lord Jesus to be magnified in my body at my funeral.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I want God to look great and glorious even in the way I eat and drink.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We were bought with a price...therefore we must glorify God in our bodies...which belong to God. We want to use all of our bodies...all 45,000 of the bodies at Passion, and all of the ones at home...to make Christ look glorious and magnificent.

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

He wanted us to lead and leave lives that will make God look glorious.

Isaiah 43:6b-7 Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Everyone was created for his glory.

Colossians 1:16-18 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

It's clear God intends for your life to bring him glory. He means for you to do everything you do...no matter what it is, all that you feel, think and even act...to make him look great. I think it's fair to say that all human beings are created to put God's infinite value on display...that's why you and I exist. I want that to happen in your life, for all the decades that God may give you.

In that, there is only one point to understand...and there are three ways you can say it:

Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Jesus Christ frees you from the slavery of sin for sacrifices of love.
Being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus frees you from the bondage of sin for the suffering of love.
Faith in Jesus Christ frees you from the slavery of sin for the sacrifices of love.

Now, pointing out that you can say it three ways, assumes that seeing and savoring Jesus, being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus, and trusting Jesus are equivalent realities. Seeing and savoring, being satisfied, and believing are the same thing in the Bible. When you understand, you will see how the main point fulfills the purpose of you living for the glory of God. When you see and savor the supremacy of Jesus, when you are satisfied in all that God is for you in Jesus, and when you trust Jesus - you clearly in your soul are making much of Jesus and treasuring him. But, that is invisible...no one can see your soul except for God. God sees and loves when you are seeing, savoring, being satisfied, believing and trusting in him...but no one else can see it.

God did not come into the world through Jesus or create the world in order to be glorified invisibly. Therefore the main point doesn't say see, savor, be satisfied and believe in Jesus...it says that when those things happen, you will be outwardly set free from the slavery of sin...which people CAN see. Not only that, but you are set free FOR the sacrifices of love, which people can also see. So the root of your salvation glorifies God privately, and the fruit of your salvation glorifies God publicly. If that main point is true, you then fulfill your reason for existing.

Step 1 to unpack the point:
So why are seeing and savoring, being satisfied, and trusting equivalent realities? Piper quoted two startling things from Louie Giglio's session one message:

"Before you trust in Christ, you weren't unchurched, you were dead. You didn't need to be churched, you needed to be raised from the dead. "
"Some of you, made a decision for Jesus when you were little...signed a card, went to the altar...and the enemy is still on track with you to kill and destroy and your funeral is still in motion."

Many of those decisions...are not a conversion...many of those people are not born again, they aren't saved, they aren't Christians, they don't have saving faith. So the question then becomes, what is saving faith? There's no doubt that there are still people who are faithful to attend churches and conferences where truth is preached...but they are still resisting. They have yet to wave the white flag of surrender to Jesus. Hear....what is this saving faith that you are supposed to have in order to be saved? What is it? The meaning of it is just what we've been talking about...saving faith is: seeing and savoring the supremacy of Jesus, being satisfied in Jesus, and trusting in Jesus. That's what it is. There are three verses that support this meaning of saving faith:

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Notice the parallel, believing: you never thirst, coming: you never hunger...those parallel statements are meant to interpret each other. Coming is a geographical metaphor...my soul comes. There's the fountain, there's the bread, there is my satisfaction, there is my treasure, my all...I'm coming to you for that! The bread and water are both images of Jesus and a good definition of faith(based on John 6:35) is believing in Jesus is a soul coming to Jesus to be satisfied in all he is. This is not a decision...when you are satisfied, having drunk water...that satisfaction is a gift.

John 1:11-12 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Notice the commas..."Yet to all who did receive him [comma] to those who believed in his name [comma] he gave the right to become children of God." What is the second phrase doing in relation to the first phrase? It's mutually interpreting, receiving him and believing him are the same. That tells me a lot about what believing means...it means to see what it is, want it and you take it! Receive him for all he is...your treasure, your Savior, your friend, your God...it means taking and embracing all that he is and seeing that he is your need. Seeing and savoring and being satisfied are what faith is...these two verses point us to that conclusion.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Check out the word believe in this verse. It seems the only way to please God is by faith. Come toward God...and come with your heart saying "He is. He exists" and saying "You are my reward...my treasure and my life." You don't come to God to give...it's blasphemy to come to God to give...he doesn't need us at all! He's the giver...the giver gets the glory...don't rob him of his glory. Stay needy. Faith is a childlike, needy, dependant, hungry, thirsty, desperate, bankrupt response to glory.

Coming to faith in Jesus requires a resurrection from the dead. You don't by nature, see and savor him. You don't by nature have a profound satisfaction in him. You don't by nature trust him. You're dead. You have to believe you need to be raised from the dead. Seeing and savoring him, being satisfied in him...it's a gift. Blind people don't decide to see...Jesus says 'SEE'...and they see! Sick people don't decide to savor what is sickening them. Bored people don't decide to be satisfied with what is boring them. Which is why some of you aren't saved yet...you can't make yourself saved.

This is threatening to people(even Christians) because of what it seems to say about freedom. What is freedom? What about free will? I thought I could decide to be a sinner or a saint. Did Piper just ruin that for me? Yes. Conversion...faith...being birthed...being saved...it's a gift of seeing. You don't see him as beautiful...that's why you go watch TV or get on facebook. You don't have the gift of being satisfied. So then what becomes of freedom?

Saint Augustine, born 354 AD was the most influential Christian after the apostle Paul. His arch opponent was Paladius. They were opposed to each other on the issue of freedom and human bondage to sin. Paladius denied the doctrine of original sin...that is, he said: We are not so dead and blind and in bondage to corruption that we can't on our own decide to be good and to believe. Augustine said: No, we ever since Adam and Eve, are dead. That is, we are so corrupt in our hearts...so bent towards sin...so in love with ourselves and our worldly pleasures, we cannot believe. It is morally impossible for someone who is in love with the darkness to walk into the light.

What we need is a resurrection and an awakening. What is freedom for Paladius and Augustine? For Paladius, freedom is like the pendulum on a metronome...one side is sin, the devil and unbelief...the other side is good, God, and faith. For Paladius, freedom is being poised right in the middle, between good and evil. Obtaining within yourself the ability to choose which way you go. That is not what the Bible says freedom is. Well, what is freedom if it isn't being balanced in between good and evil, able of yourself to make the decision?

Since we are all dead, we are locked down in darkness...since birth, hating good, loving ourselves, exalting our pride. We need to be set free. We need the Holy Spirit to awaken us, opening your eyes to see the other side of the pendulum as supremely valuable. When you see the other side as valuable, you don't stick in the middle...God doesn't raise people from the dead to be poised(in the middle, neutral, deciding whether to be godly or satanic)...no...he raises us to be his! New birth swings us all the way to the other side, saying now..you are believing...you are God's...your eyes are now open and you see him as valuable and are now enslaved to Him and not sin.

Romans 6:17 -18 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Notice that we don't thank ourselves...we thank God. We were once slaves to sin...that's where we started. We don't start on the good side. We were set free. There are only 2 kinds of people...slaves of sin and slaves of righteousness. So what is freedom? Freedom is being so in love with Christ, that you do exactly what you want to do and it accords with his will. Freedom is seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ so intensely that you are his totally. The more satisfied you are in Jesus, the more free you are. The more you trust him, savor him, and see him, the more free you are. Freedom is NOT being suspended between good and evil.

There is a struggle. The struggle of choice: good or evil...is a necessary, temporary evil, until the day dawns when discernment and delight become one. There will be no struggle in Heaven to obey! No one in heaven will be in limbo...we will be all the way slaves of righteousness and the most free people in all of creation. We will be doing what we love to do and it will happen to be God's will.

Step 2:
The supremacy of Jesus Christ - all that God is for us. Even though seeing, savoring, being satisfied, it's all a gift in my soul...nevertheless, when my eyes open...I see something more about him. So we're going to try to cover several areas of his supremacy.

Supremacy of his Deity: equal with God the Father, exact imprint of his nature, infinite, boundless in all ways.
Supremacy of his eternality: makes the mind of man explode with unsearchable thought, Jesus never had a beginning...he simply always was, sheer absolute reality.
Supremacy of his knowledge: it makes all libraries look like matchboxes, and makes all the Internet information look like a Farmer's almanac, it makes quantum physics look like a first grade reader.
Supremacy of his wisdom: never been perplexed by any complication, never been counseled
Supremacy of his authority: over heaven and earth and hell...without his permission, no demon can move one inch...he changes times and season, he does all according to his will...no one can challenge him.
Supremacy of his providence: without him, nothing happens without being part of his design.
Supremacy of his word: it upholds the universe, holds together every being, atom and molecule and everything we haven't even yet dreamed of discovering.
Supremacy of his power: to walk on water, cleanse lepers, heal the lame, open the eyes of the blind, cause the deaf to hear, cause the dead to rise with a single word or a single thought.
Supremacy of his purity: he has never and will never sinned...not even a bad attitude or thought.
Supremacy of his trustworthiness: he never breaks his word...not one promise falls to the ground.
Supremacy of his justice: he will render in due time, all of our accounts settled, either on the cross or in hell.
Supremacy of his patience: to endure our dullness and hold back his final judgement on this land.
Supremacy of his sovereign, servant obedience: he kept the Father's commandments perfectly and then embraced the excruciating pain of the cross willingly.
Supremacy of his meekness: his tenderness, he won't break or bruise
Supremacy of his wrath: one day, his wrath will explode on this planet with such fierceness that people will cry out for rocks and mountains to fall on them and crush them lest they have to see the wrath of the Lamb.
Supremacy of his grace: gives life to the spiritually dead, awakens faith in hell-bound haters of God, justifies the ungodly with his own righteousness.
Supremacy of his love: he willingly dies for you and me...sinners, while we were against him.
Supremacy of his inexhaustible gladness: in the fellowship with the trinity...infinite power and gladness that has always existed. At the heart of the universe, is the gladness of the trinity...a joy so great that it had to be shared and so it explodes into existence a universe so that everything could bear witness to its creator.

If God would grant you eyes to see, the supremacies of Jesus, you would have only seen just the outskirts of his supremacy. He is supreme in every admirable way over every thing. There is not a square inch on planet earth where Jesus Christ does not say, "MINE!" Oh, that God would just grant us eyes to see and the ability to simply trust in him.

Step 3:
Seeing and savoring the supremacy of God, frees us from slavery and sin.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Beholding the glory of the Lord - seeing that you are are changed. All my life is devoted to just seeing...if I could just see...if I could only see with the eyes of my heart, I'll be changed. Little hearts, little souls...give little lusts big power. Big hearts, give little lusts little power because they look little when you see the magnitude of your treasure. Your soul swells to get around it and you mock temptation and sin as a powerless thrill. That's the way it works...you don't just 'say no'...it doesn't work...you have to see. Your heart has to get bigger to see that temptation as the tiny, stupid, suicidal monster that it is. If you see and savor the supremacy of Jesus Christ, you will be progressively free from the bondage of sin.

Step 4:
...and you will be free for the sacrifices of love.

The Church had been persecuted and some had been thrown into prison. The question was, Will we now risk our lives to visit our brothers and sisters in jail? This is relevant for freeing others, by being free yourself. That's the connection. What is it that frees you to take risks with your lives..embrace suffering...embrace sacrifice...for the sake of others?

Hebrews 10:34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

I want to be the kind of person who isn't afraid to be implicated as a Christian...one who says, I'm going to the prison and I'm singing his praises all the way. How did you get to be that way? - You looked to your treasure, you looked to heaven and said that's enough for me, I have it up there, so I'll go here, now. That's how sacrifices are free by being satisfied in Jesus. You aren't concerned with what you lose on earth because you have all that you need and more in Him.

Isaiah 26:8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts

Your name, your supreme name, Your renown, your supreme renown, is my desire...not a decision. It takes a miracle for a desire to be born for a supernatural thing that you can't see. Make the supremacy of God what you set your sights on, what you savor, be your satisfaction, desire and your trust.

See what I mean? Mind. Blown. There is so much truth in Piper's message that it is going to take me a long time to absorb and understand the reality of it. I truly want my desire to be the supremacy of God. To God be all the glory...in everything.

*I do not own these photos*

Passion 2012, Session 6

2012-01-14T17:08:00.000-05:00

Louie Giglio told us that "It's not just people in their 40's, 50's, and 60's that have something to say to people, that have wisdom to bring to the world. Everyone has something to say." This generation has once again been given the opportunity to end slavery. We have the potential to start a huge, modern-day abolitionist movement (the largest in history, since there are more people enslaved now than at any other time in human history).

But, as Justin Dillon said during the freedom panel at Passion 2012, "Enthusiasm does not equal accomplishment. Awareness needs action".

Justn Dillon is affiliated with slaveryfootprint.org, Christine Caine is affiliated with theA21campaign.org, Courtney Dow is affiliated with nightlightinternational.org, and Saskia Wishart is affiliated with notforsalecampaign.org. All of these people have come from and worked around the world toward the common purpose of putting and end to slavery and injustice. They are doing something now because, like Courtney said, "If we don't talk about the demand of the industry, there will be an endless supply of victims".

Christine Caine told us that what we can bring as a church that is significant and unique is using the power of prayer, even through social networking". She told a story about 11 girls who had prayed for an entire year to Allah, but the first day they decided to pray to Jesus, who they had only heard of once, there was a tweet that went out asking people to pray for rescue for girls in other nations. They were rescued from slavery through International Justice Mission three days later.

The current tragedy is that the majority of people do not get rescued. What will be their stories for the rest of their lives unless we do something to help?

News Flash!

2012-01-14T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! You've probably seen/read several posts by my good friend and roommate Emily White. If you're anything like me, you've been incredibly blessed by the honesty of her writing. So with that in mind, I've made her an official author of this blog! From now on, anything she writes will be tagged 'by Emily White' and anything I write will be tagged 'by Chelsey Miracle' so that it'll be a bit easier to find! Thank you all for being faithful readers! We appreciate and are blessed by all of our visitors!

Love,
Chelsey and Emily

Passion 2012, Session 5

2012-01-14T15:58:00.004-05:00

On my last blog post, I made the confession that reading the bible was, for me, not the most exciting or anticipated part of my day. This opinion shifted during session 5 of the Passion 2012 conference. What would have been just a small supportive role to a sermon (the bible verses) took center stage and became everything. In fact, God's word was the only thing said that hour. And it was more alive and important than I had ever allowed scripture to be to me before.

Louie Giglio was so moved by the scriptures he read that he was moved to tears. How many times have I ever let myself to put such emotional stock into the bible before?

Beth Moore read with authority and the certainty that what she was reading was absolute, unshakable, and pertinent. Do I hold that same rock solid assurance that what I base my life on is the absolute truth?

Francis Chan and John Piper spoke God's word with such joy, as if it was the most fantastic thing they ever read. They smiled the entire time. Is this the norm for me? Do I enjoy God's word more than I enjoy the latest New York Times #1 bestseller?

Lecrae Moore surprised me more than anyone I think. He read the scriptures with as much passion and urgency in his voice as he has when he raps. His words flowed in a rhythm that made the bible come alive to me. Am I ever that hype and inspired about scripture?

The verse that hit the closest to me and became my take away was:

Ephesians 4:1 "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called."

It's really such a simple quote and something that is usually just assumed or overlooked. But when I really thought about the obvious implications of this verse, it became such an important statement about how my life is supposed to be lived out right now.

I'm not supposed to wait until I'm already where I'm supposed to be, to start living like I belong there. For instance, I feel like I'm personally being called into a life of ministry in missions (overseas or domestic, I have no clue yet). I don't want to wait till I'm on a plane to Africa to start living like a missionary. The word "worthy" is important too, I think, because it tells me that it's not okay to be going out and getting into trouble with the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle and abandon God and the wisdom in His word. And it's not just the hypocrisy that it would create, but it just would not help me to grow in the right direction or achieve what God wants and expects of me.

God is calling me to great things. I don't necessarily mean big things, but great things. We are all called, whether we believe and accept it or not. Its about rising to the occasion in the best and most godly way possible, and not just passing the buck to someone you think is more qualified. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the people that He calls.

I Refuse

by Josh Wilson

Sometimes I, I just want to close my eyes
And act like everyone's alright

When I know they're not

This world needs God, but it's easier to stand and watch

I could pray a prayer and just move on

Like nothing's wrong

But I Refuse

I don't want to live like I don't care

I don't want to say another empty prayer

Oh, I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else

To do what God has called me to do myself

I could choose not to move

But I refuse

I can hear the least of these, crying out so desperately

And I know we are the hands and feet of You, oh God

So if You say move, it's time for me to follow through

And do what I was made to do

And show them who You are

I don't want to live like I don't care

I don't want to say another empty prayer

Oh, I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else

To do what God has called me to do myself

I could choose not to move

But I refuse

I refuse to stand and watch the weary and lost cry out for help

I refuse to turn my back and try and act like all is well

I refuse to stay unchanged, to wait another day to die to myself

I refuse to make one more excuse

I don't want to live like I don't care

I don't want to say another empty prayer

Oh, I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else

To do what God has called me to do myself

I could choose not to move

But I refuse

Passion 2012, Session 4

2012-01-13T10:16:00.003-05:00

Confession: Reading the bible is hardly ever something that I get particularly excited about. It might sound bad to be so blunt, but it’s the truth. But I would be willing to be that maybe I’m not the only one that can relate to that statement. I would actually prefer listening to sermons than sitting down and having a quiet time with just a bible and a notebook.

Hearing speakers is great, but it’s so good for all of us to sit and read the word of God for ourselves. We should be so consumed with scripture that we think in our daily lives about what God would say or do in every situation we face.

You need to know your bible inside and out simply because people will lie to you, the world will lie to you. People can use the bible to manipulate anything and anyone. How do you know that even your pastors aren’t lying to you if you don’t read and know God’s word for yourself?

A day is coming when people will not want to listen to sound doctrine, but instead will seek out what they want to hear.

Back in 1 Kings, chapter 22, there were 400 prophets saying the exact same thing. The problem was that they were all lying, trying to tell the king what he wanted to hear. But there was one person who was telling the truth, who was saying what God told him to. Do we know the bible well enough to have the confidence to spot out the truth-teller even amongst 400 liars?

Another thing about the bible is that a lot of it is meant to be taken literally.

Example 1: The plagues in exodus: a lot of people would question it, saying, “Is God really going to kill the first born of every household?”

Example 2: Noah’s ark: It really is about God killing (drowning) everyone on Earth. “Your parents might have painted the Noah’s ark scene in your nursery with all the cute animals, but I doubt they painted all the people drowning.”-In the words of Francis Chan, ladies and gentlemen.

We really need to be reading the bible, because that’s where the mysteries and desires of God are revealed to us. People say all the time that there’s no guidebook on life, but I mean, hello, haven’t they read the bible? It’s a pretty legit guidebook. When we sit and we read it, God is just thinking “This person has no clue how what kind of amazing things I have in store for them!” He is genuinely excited about us getting to know Him in this way.

Here’s the big question: Do you take the bible literally when it commands us to make disciples of all the nations?

Passion 2012, Session 3

2012-01-13T09:49:00.003-05:00

27 million people are trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation around the world right now. Ok, stop, read the first sentence again. Gage your response to that. “That’s horrible? It’s just a number? I didn’t even know?”
Here’s a question for all of us. What is so important in our temporal world that we can’t save these people?

It would be easy to read that sentence, file it away as an obscure fact, and move on with our days. It’s just a number, until we realize that there are real stories and real people, who are fearfully and wonderfully made, behind the statistic. And it is our responsibility as Christians to raise our voices together and bring healing and restoration to this lost and dying generation.

We can make a difference in our generation. Even though we may start out with a bunch of buts and what ifs, all we really need to focus on is how God wants to use our talents and degrees for His purpose of rescuing the lost. We have something more powerful than the unnerving statistics or restraints of our lives; we have the truth of the gospel, the truth that says God can save to the uttermost. Light works most effectively in the darkness, so we don’t have to fear the odds or the statistics or the injustice.

When divine interruptions happen, lives are changed. We are meant to be interrupted like Jesus so that we can bring healing and restoration.

In the story of the great Samaritan, the priest and the Levite both saw the beaten and dying man in need, but they past by on the other side on their way to whatever they had to do. They saw him more as an interruption than an object of their ministry. How many times in my life do I pass a need on my way to my next Christian event instead of getting involved and practicing what I’m supposed to be so avidly preaching?

With all of our great Christian movements and events, there are more slaves now than at any other time in human history! This has happened on our watch. Where was the church? We who have been rescued have a duty to rescue others. Jesus said “As you sent me, I send them.”

One of the victims of human trafficking once told her rescuer, “If what you say about your God is true, then why didn’t you come sooner?” This question has stuck with me the most throughout the entire passion conference. I’ve never been more motivated to follow the great commission in my life.

The line between us and the slaves is very fine; they could have been any of us. Imagine what could happen if 45,000 of us took a stand against human trafficking. It’s not just a cause to donate money to once or twice. We need to rise up and meet the darkness, not with timidity, but with confidence and purpose. We have to do something now. Ignorance is not an excuse and indifference is not an option.

“We often ask God to show up, we pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be his body, and to move for things that matter. God is not invisible when we come alive… We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don’t get to choose all the endings, but we’re asked to play the rescuers. We won’t solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers, bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we’re called home.”- Jaime Tworkowski

Passion 2012, Session 2

2012-01-13T09:32:00.002-05:00

Luke 8:40-55 tells the story of Jesus healing a woman with a 12 year long bleeding disorder when she fights through the crowd just to touch the hem of the garment he was wearing. It’s one of the most well known stories in the bible, but I had never really given it that much thought until the other day.

The trauma of this woman’s bleeding issue made her spiritually, socially, physically, and emotionally defiled. She would have been a complete outcast and not only was she unclean herself, but everything she touched would also become unclean. And I wonder how many times I can relate to that, how many times I thought that whatever happened in my past or whatever sins I had committed made me feel less than human. I wonder if I’m the only one when I know for a fact that I’m not alone.

It reminds me of the one scene in the one movie that never fails to make me cry out of the sheer honesty of the moment. It’s the line in Edward Scissorhands that goes, “You can’t touch anything without destroying it!” Sin has a way of ripping our souls apart and isolating us. We like to keep our sins a secret.

What tends to be true though is that our greatest need for healing is in the places that we most want hidden. We think that if people truly saw our hearts, they’d see too much, right? We are as sick as our secrets, as the saying goes. The only way to be healed is to bring everything into the light.

And that might make us feel like the woman in the story, that we are too unclean or broken for God to heal us, or even want to heal us. But, just like in the story, the woman didn’t make Jesus unclean, He made her clean. Even after healing the woman, Jesus still had enough power to raise Jairus’s daughter from the dead. God doesn’t have limited resources, and as long as you feel unclean, you’re not going to be able to let Him do what He came to do for you because you won’t draw near to Him.

The story began and ended with Jairus’s daughter and was interrupted with the bleeding woman (both stories being twelve years in the making). We live our lives sandwiched between the greater needs of the world, but that doesn’t mean that our stories are not important to God. The woman didn’t go unnoticed to Jesus, and neither will you.

Passion 2012, Session 1

2012-01-13T09:27:00.002-05:00

Why is it that the only people in America that are speaking up are the ones who are so intent on proving that God is dead? Ever notice? I mean, from turning on the television to the radio, to the signs and graffiti on the street, anybody paying attention would hear the clear message that God is gone, that Christianity is outdated and you must be a fool to believe otherwise. Why are we, as a nation, quicker to accept God’s absence than we are to actually look for Him? Why are we so quick to dismiss hope in a time when it’s needed so badly?

The world either dismisses God completely, or tries to find Him everywhere except in the churches. Why is that? The church is called to bring God’s light to the world. We should be a big neon sign pointing to salvation through the cross and yet, we’re standing idly by as that light burns out and the people become more lost than ever.

In the seventh chapter of Luke, Jesus interrupted the funeral procession of a widow’s son during a time in history when people had all but abandoned the thought of God still being with them. And it wasn’t just a chill moment, either. It was huge.

Jesus said to him, “Get up!” (Note the exclamation mark that was used).

God is more than willing to do the same thing in our lives today.

“Is there anything in your life that is leading you to your grave?” When I heard Louie ask that question, what came to my mind was the indifference that I have a tendency to feel toward God and His word. I tend to say, “Yeah, I know what God says about this, but I’m young… but I’m only going to live once… but it’s not so bad…” And I’m telling you, that is one of the fastest ways to get in trouble.

Despite the claims of people and the media, God wants (and is) speaking life over people today, just like He did at the funeral procession in Luke. He is telling this generation to “Rise up! Grace is here at just the right time.”

The story in Luke doesn’t just end with the boy rising from the dead, it goes on to tell us about how the gospel was spread and people believing and proclaiming “God is back!”

Isaiah 26:8 says that “Your name and renown are the desires of our hearts.” I think that’s what God wants in His people now. He wants a generation rising up in God’s name to get His message out to that world that He is not dead, that He is alive and moving and saving.

Louie Giglio said that what he wanted out of Passion2012 was for this generation of young believers to “Realize they are in a place of holy mystery and God is at work, that they will be quietly worshipful and noisily grateful.” What we need to do is experience God as He truly is and be unashamed to show the world that that God is still alive and working through people. The goal is real change and I believe it will happen if we don’t lose sight of God and the mission.

Don’t accept the world as it is. Change it into what is should be...what it was designed to be.

Pictures from Passion 2012

2012-01-12T12:53:00.002-05:00

*I do not own these photos*

Passion 2012: Session 6

2012-01-12T00:57:00.003-05:00

Update on the goal...at the beginning of session six, Louie Giglio invited the Lieutenant Governor and the Mayor of Atlanta onto the stage and presented them with a check for $100,000 dollars to fund the brand new SVU task force for child exploitation. The money will go to train police, send out educators to children in school, and provide restoration for the victims. How good is our God!?

The Mayor made the comment that when he walked by the Georgia Dome, he knew that there were 45,000 people in there and when there are other events at the dome there is always activities and people and rush and hurry...but today the Georgia Dome was quiet because the Spirit of God was in the building. It reminded him of Philippians 4:5b which says "The Lord is near." So even in a city where everything is going on outside...the Lord is being lifted up in the Georgia Dome. How true...and what a difference the presence of the Lord makes on a city.

Session six was really neat. Louie Giglio brought out several of his friends who are partners with the cause of ending slavery and we got to hear them talk about their ministry and their lives. I loved this because it just shows that you don't have to be 30 or 40 or 50 for your voice to be heard. Each of us right now at the age we are, whether it's 8 or 12 or 16 or 20 or 80...we all have a voice and we can use it to speak out and change the world! Right now wherever you are.

This session was a little different, so it only follows that the post will be a bit different. It was a lot like a conversation so these are just some of the conversation and stories from the message...I can't say it any better than it was already said. Louie introduced Christine Caine(from Session 3), Courtney Dow, Saskia Wishart and Justin Dillon. Each of them have done something to make a difference in this world and they all come from different walks of life. Please check out the organizations they partner with:

Justin Dillon is a musician, and filmmaker. He grew up listening to music that mattered...connecting music to movements. When he learned about human trafficking, he realized it was a movement that is to come. There has never been a movement without music. We have to sing the songs about freedom to release it as a contagion into the culture. This realization led to his film (Call+Response) and working with the state department. People remember stories, not statistics. If we are going to move this, we have to start telling our stories and advocating for the stories of others.

Courtney Dow was a music major at Auburn University. God intersected her path and turned her in a new direction. Her heart began to change in 5th grade when she came across a biography about Harriet Tubman - one of the major players of the Underground Railroad. Her heart burdened with shame that slavery had happened where Courtney came from in Atlanta. She thought that if she had lived in that time, she would have been a part of the Underground Railroad. So fwd...she moved to Thailand and worked for a while at United Nations but then realized that the body of Christ is not meant to sit in high-rise buildings, behind desks and read stories on computers about what other people are doing. Courtney decided she wanted to work on the street and began a partnership with a new organization called Night Light(2005). She got to work with women from all over who had been victims of sex trade and trafficking...including children as young as age four. She began to pray that God would do something.

Isaiah 58:6-12 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

As Courtney began to understand how trafficking worked...she started working with an organization in Atlanta that worked with individuals in the sex industry. They looked to address the issue of trafficking by prevention, intervention, restoration, and education. They work with hundreds of kids and do outreach in brothels and strip clubs, they do restorative services, counseling and mentoring, as well as follow-up and education. We have to stop it at the source.

We have to realize that there is a real correlation between pornography and this thing called human trafficking that is breaking our hearts. Christine said that anyone who watches, looks at, or pays for pornography is basically encouraging the slave industry. If they didn't...there would be no need to sell people for sex.

So how do we go to the next level? How do we go from awareness to making a difference? Justin made the statement that enthusiasm does not equal accomplishment. Just feeling that something is wrong doesn't make it better. We live in an age where awareness or information is everywhere and just because you've taken in information does not mean anything has changed. Sometimes it actually makes us dull to the world's ills and we turn off. Just like every verse needs a chorus, every piece of awareness needs action. It can't just be actions that are one step. This generation has been given a movement to end slavery...it's big now...the opportunity to make a difference will go away if we don't connect action with awareness and commitment with action. One action is not enough to change this.

Saskia dreamed of being a snowboarder and came from a party lifestyle in Vancouver. Growing up she was a 'child of wrath'...a rebellious child whose goal in life was to snowboard, cut hair, and party. Until one friend, said...you can keep living this dead end lifestyle or you can live for Jesus. A few months later when she hit rock-bottom...God lifted her out of the depths and set her free. She decided to go to YWAM in Colorado and set her on a new journey. When she returned home from that, she decided to move to South Africa because of a boy...and even though things didn't work out...God had a plan. Instead of the 3 months she had originally planned on staying, she lived there for 3 years. During that time, she volunteered with an anti-human-trafficking organization and was floored by the reality of trafficking. Saskia is 22 years old today...she moved to Cape Town, South Africa when she was 19. She got involved with 'Not For Sale' and went on to complete an investigative training academy where she learned how to identify human trafficking. At that point after completion...she did this crazy thing...she went and did what she was trained to do. She took action. At 19 years old. Up until the time she took action, there had only been 8 cases of human trafficking...over the course of 2012, she identified over 45 cases and partnered together with law enforcement to see them set free from slavery. On her 21st birthday, Saskia was asked to accompany police to check out a suspected case of human trafficking. It was a warehouse...there were girls behind bars with a padlock on the outside. In that moment, she took action and helped set 5 girls free and get them to safety.

Christine agreed and said that it is priceless, that moment, to see hope restored in rescued eyes. It's unreal and the one thing that every single one of us can do, the one piece that we bring as the church is the power of prayer. We can all be a part when we pray. She told the story about the time that there was a prompting on twitter to pray for the girls in the 'stan' nations...(Pakistan, Uzbekistan...etc)...and people began to pray. Three days later, a raid was done for the first time in the top north of Greece. 11 girls who had been trafficked from Uzbekistan were rescued. The girls told their rescuers, 'We had been praying to Allah, "Can you get us out of this hell-hole?" for one year and nothing happened. Three days ago, we remembered our Grandmother had told us about this God of Europe, and his name we think was Jesus. So we said, Jesus if you are real, then get us out of this hell-hole." That was the same day that the twitter went out, three days later, 11 girls were rescued...many of those girls have now been water baptized and saved and now know not just a physical freedom, they now know eternal freedom. That's what we bring to the table...never forget the power of prayer.

Slavery and human trafficking isn't just about the sex trade...check out slaveryfootprint.org to find out more about free trade, goods, buying, and selling. Justin expounded about that...when you hear 27 million, some are in the sex side of the industry, but many are in the labor side of the industry. The reason the labor side is important is because the church has always been about caring for the last and least of these - the people who make the products we use every day. You did not walk out of your house this morning without wearing something or using something or talking through something or eating something that has been touched by slavery. The way we consume today is a global village. Because it's so difficult to see, slavery is hidden deep within the supply chains of the items we use every day. It's hidden deep within the global infrastructure. Slaveryfootprint.org is what happens when the State Department and people who care take action to humanize the reality of 27 million slaves...to help give an understanding. It's not just random numbers or made up data. It's real. It's accurate. If you understand how you are connected to those who are exploited to support your lifestyle...you'll do something about it. If you knew that it took an average of 3.2 slaves to make your smart phone...you might think twice about buying it...or at the very least, talk to the people you are buying it from and find out if they have created that product by forced labor.

Your dollar, where you spend it and where you don't spend it, has an impact. Your vote, where you use or don't use it, has an impact. Make your voice heard and raise your voice for those who need rescuing. $27 dollars per year is spent to figure out what you want to buy. The marketplace wants to know what you want to buy. All you have to do is tell them. If you want to purchase something that was not created using forced labor...tell them. Demand it. Slaveryfootprint.org has an application that can help you tell the marketplace and the distributors what you want...and we don't want items touched by slavery. You can raise your voice and tell the world. Slaveryfootprint.org hopes to raise 27 million consumer voices all saying that they want change now and the next time they go to the store, they'll be able to tell the difference. In order to raise your voice, you have to know your story...check out slaveryfootprint.org to find out how many slaves work for you. When you know your story, it will break through into the culture. Spread the word and the world will change.

My story...I have 29 slaves working for me. That's 29 too many...and it breaks my heart to know that there is even one person enslaved to make my life comfortable.

Courtney told the story of two young girls.
They met Amani on the street when she was 18...she was pregnant by her pimp/trafficker and they began to build a relationship with her. She had to return to work immediately after she gave birth. She had her baby in April of 2010 and turned 19 in August. In September, they found a partially nude body that had been raped and beaten to death, one block from where Courtney and others do outreach...it was Amani. 19 years old with a 5 month old baby.
Another girl..from the same area. The earliest she could remember being abused was 4 years old. She was abused by her mother who was addicted to drugs, by her boyfriends, and her father who had schizophrenia. She was taken out of the home after a while and put into foster care and institutions where her abuse continued. The last grade she finished was 4th grade. She was reunited with her father just in time for him to pass away when she was 11. She was brutally raped at 11 years old. She ran away and was in prostitution by the age of 13 and trafficked to Atlanta at 14. Courtney met her when she was 22, still stuck in the cycle of exploitation and oppression with 2 little girls to take care of. Last Easter...this young woman was saved and baptized...as was the father of her children. They were married, she took her GED and passed on the first try with only a 4th grade education! Now, she is in school and she just received the highest honors in her class.

The difference is Jesus. He is the answer to this issue. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom!

Saskia mentioned a raid she had been on that didn't have a happy ending. Instead of recognizing that the girls were the victims of international human trafficking, they were arrested for having illegal documents. Injustice happens in front of our faces at times. The translator prayed with those girls and some of them started crying. It was a difficult moment...we have to realize there is a lot of terrible things about human trafficking but there is also a lot of hope surrounding it. We don't know what happened to the girls but it is the grace of God that in that moment, by being faithful, and listening to the call that God gave them and the role that God gave them, they were able to minister to those young girls. We won't all be in a position working with the police or going on raids...but we all have a role to play in the movement for freedom. Whether it is in the way we buy our products or in school or business...we have a role to play. However that looks for you...take the step of action. If we all took that step...we will see a massive change in the issue of human trafficking!

Louie said that what he got out of everything that was said today...was that for once, the church might be ahead of the game. We might be making some real progress in this area because the church is awake! We can speak into the market, the judiciary system, and the world in the name of Jesus.

Keep praying for this issue...prayers don't have to be long to be powerful. Pray out loud, pray specifically, raise your voice...be heard.

There are 27 million voices that have yet to be told. Some stories will end with rescue but most do not...unless we do something about it now. Stop listening to statistics and start changing them.

Ignorance is not an excuse, indifference is not an option.

Slavery still exists. There is hope and sorrow in it all...that's the joy and pain in it...there's rescue today and there isn't. It's not a mystery why Passion is a part of this...it's not about causes and an event...our lives are to be lived as lives of worship. Worship isn't just meant to be sung...worship is about singing songs on the way to bring relief and life to those in need.

Passion has already made a statement. At the beginning of the day...before Session 5...attendees had brought 25,420 towels and 124,800 pairs of socks to give to the homeless in Atlanta. As for the giving towards the $1 million dollar goal...at the beginning of the day, Passion had raised $780,013 for freedom. But that was this morning...the new number...as it was being written out to be announced was going up by the thousands. As of the beginning of session 6...the number that had been given was $1,002,000(and counting). This is a whole new ball-game. A new generation rising up. This is what it looks like. Be encouraged.

*I do not own these photos*

Do Something Now...Today is the day...

2012-01-11T08:42:00.001-05:00

January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Today, there are 27 million men, women, and children entrapped in modern-day slavery. Right now, this very minute, there are two people being sold and/or trafficked. They are not a statistic. They are human beings, just like you and me. Indifference is not an option. They have no voice. We do. Do something now and let freedom reign!

Passion 2012: Session 5 - Ephesians

2012-01-10T02:04:00.004-05:00

Wow. That's really all I can say about Session 5. I have never been so moved by the word of God. Session 5 just proved in my mind that God's word is so much greater than human words.

I knew that this session was going to stand far above the rest. Before it began, Louie Giglio said "You know we always stand for the musical part of worship but sit for the teaching part of worship. So I'd like to give you the freedom to stand for the message this morning." I knew at that point...before I even knew what the message was...that it was going to be a God breathed message...and that couldn't have been a more accurate thought.

Together, Lecrae Moore, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Louie Giglio, and John Piper read the entire book of Ephesians. So as you read through...read it slowly...meditate on it...and listen to what God is speaking to you.

Ephesians 1:1-14 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Pause and ask Jesus to speak his word to you.

Ephesians 1:15-23 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Pause and be still and ask Jesus to speak his word to you.

Ephesians 2:1-10 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Pause and ask God to speak to you.

Ephesians 2:11-22 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Pause. Be still and ask Jesus to speak to you.

Ephesians 3:1-21 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Pause. Be still. Ask Jesus to speak to you through his word.

Ephesians 4:1-16 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Pause. Ask Jesus to speak to you.

Ephesians 4:17-32 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Pause. Be still. Let God's word speak to you.

Ephesians 5:1-21 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Without comment or distraction, pause and be still and let God speak his word to you.

Ephesians 5:22-33 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Pause. Reflect. Hear from the Lord.

Ephesians 6:1-24 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Be quiet and ask the Lord to speak.

I have never heard a more beautiful message. Don't let the voice of darkness tell you that you are not worth what God is speaking to you right now. Hear what he is saying. Let him move in your life.

*I do not own these photos*