"Oh Death, Where is your Sting?"

It's been over 8 years now since I surrendered my life to Christ and was born again. My eternal life began; living and walking in the Spirit was now part of my life on earth. John 3 speaks of being born again in some detail.

To get to the point, since beginning life in the Spirit, I have experienced the death of four significant people in my life. I think often my poise during a funeral or a burial can be mistaken for insensitivity or lack of heart. This might be true of many Christians even. To be clear, I'm definitely not saying that Christians are not allowed to be emotional or experience mourning during the death of a loved on. The reason I'm actually writing this is to share what I experience during the time of processing physical death.

During today and yesterday I have been attending the wake, visitation, funeral, and burial of my paternal Grandmother, Aretus. This time, as much as any other, I look around and see the sting of death: hurt, pain, remorse, guilt, shame, regret. But, the fruit of the Spirit is Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Gentleness, Self-Control. What a struggle to experience the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of death. T \o any man or woman, the sting of death is evident in our world, we can allow it to control us for days, weeks, or even months. Imagine if Christ had not overcome death -- the disciples would have been dumbstruck for months or even years after having following Christ in all his ministry. Paul even offers this thought to ponder in 1 Cor 15:12-19

"Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith. In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone."

 But thankfully, Paul points us to the resurrection of Christ as you read on in v20-24

"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power."

Because Paul pointed to Christs resurrection, we too should look to our Faith in Christ to hope and know of our resurrection. This resurrection is not of the flesh, but of the Spirit as noted in verse 44, our Spirit is sown in the natural body, and raised in the spiritual body. The Spirit directs us to experience it's fruit as we walk with and around those whom are experiencing the sting of death in the midst of it. I personally think that especially Joy and Peace should be demonstrated during these times because they offer much comfort to those who mourn, including ourselves. Now understanding the theology, I come back to the four people that I've experienced the death of. 

The first was several years ago, my maternal Grandma. I am thankful that 2 years before she passed, I was given the opportunity to meet with here for Breakfast and share the Gospel with her. From that day, her heart towards me was different. She understood that I loved her in a way that wasn't of this world, but because I cared about her eternity. She told me that he hope was in Christ. The second person was a freshman college student from Winona. Although I didn't know her well, I was a spiritual leader to her because of my role as a staff member on her campus where I shared messages from the Word and coached upperclassman students who led her Bible Study. She was one who set the example of full surrender to Christ. I had nothing but Joy and Peace in her death, even though she was young, the way that God was glorified by the way she lived will echo for generations and eternity in heaven. The third person was a young man from La Crosse who was an upperclassman leader in our Cru ministry. Similar to the girl from Winona, this young man's life echoed strongly for God and he left a legacy that was shared just two days ago with 1700 people at a conference. The ripple of his legacy and devotion to Christ will undoubted lead people to glorify God for all of eternity. 

And finally the most recent, my paternal Grandma. Over the last 10 years, cognitively she has been degenerating. It's been a hard, difficult process for my family to watch. When I was young I remember snippets of her life and the joy that she had, but very little. So as I attended this funeral, I was hungry to hear about my grandma from others who knew her well and how she lived for God. And hearing is just that, exactly what happened. I was unaccustomed to Catholic funerals, having little knowledge of their traditions how they conduct funerals. Their services left little to know room of personal remembrance; however, I am thankful to have been able to talk to people during the comings and goings of the different services and at a luncheon that was provided. I heard from many people about the vitality and fervor of my grandma for people and for God and it brought hope and joy to my heart. 

People gathered at the luncheon sharing stories of my Grandmother's life

Earlier I mentioned one of the stings of death to be regret, and admittedly this is one that hit me as I never took the chance to reiterate and affirm the Gospel with my grandma until after she had been experiencing the symptoms of alzheimers. However, because of the Spirit, and my faith in God's sovereignty, I trust that He knows what He's doing.

Although death is often a harrowing time in the life of many, my prayer is that Christ is displayed as the Victor over it in our lives and in the lives of others as we love them. 

 "When this corruptible is clothed
with incorruptibility,
and this mortal is clothed
with immortality,
then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?
Now the sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ! 
Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
      - 1 Cor 15:54-58

Finally, please pray for my grandfather as he grieves. The next weeks and months will undoubtedly be hard for him. Thankfully I know that he has a relationship with God and that through dependance upon Him, my grandfather will gain and understand new purpose and meaning as he surrenders this to God.

Not Only Do Summers Fly By...

But so do missions opportunities! What an amazing summer I've had here at North Myrtle Beach, SC.  A quick 'bring you up to date' -- I've been on a summer mission project here in NMB, SC where 100 college students involved in Cru from the Upper Midwest region have traveled here to grow in their faith, to learn to share it, and to build community with fellow believers. Not only do the students get stretched in amazing ways, but so do staff members. Often we, as staff, are viewed as the mature ones here, but as many believers know, you never "arrive" at maturity until we reach eternity with Jesus in heaven! So, as the LORD continues to sanctify me in life, I continue to be stretched. It's hard, but I love it. I will certainly share more about that, but first I want to share some cool things about my guys I get to pour into this summer!

Their names are Alec, Brady, Brandon, Jared, and Ryan -- I've grown to enjoy my friendship with each one of these guys. Every single one of them is unique and full of quarks and gifts that the LORD has given them. Alec is a great musician and uses it for the LORD; he also is extremely easy going and fun to hang out with. Brady has a very friendly demeanor and it's impossible to get mad at him, where he walks, peace and joy follow. Brandon has the heart of a servant and works with passion behind the scenes to help build and edify the body for the sake of the Gospel. Jared is a very intentional relator and extremely intellectual; you can't leave a conversation with him feeling uncared for and like your life isn't interesting. Finally Ryan is a soft-spoken and passionate individual who's always seeking the LORD in every move and decision he makes, truly desiring what God wants for his life and the lives of those around him. Please be praying for them as they continue to grow through the rest of the summer!

Left to Right: Ryan, Brandon, Alec, Jared, me, Brady

Alec also keeps a blog you can read here!

Not only have I had the privilege to pour into these guys, but throughout the course of the summer I've been able to encourage, serve, and intercede for countless others that are around - students on project, and those who are living around us that are here for the summer to party to no end. God has been teaching me a lot about this all summer. Each day is full of opportunities to both bless believers and non-believers alike. Two verses have really spurred me on this summer:

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
 - Galatians 6:9-10

"Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it as I am required to speak. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person."
 - Colossians 4:2-6

Like never before, the LORD has been challenging me this summer to make the most of every opportunity that we have and to step out in faith and trust Him to move in all things as we are obedient to Him. It has been an extremely exciting experience.

The end of my time in NMB is fast approaching, I head back home at the end of the month with the other staff members. Meanwhile the students stay for another full 5 weeks and grow together apart from us. I'm excited to leave, but will miss this summer in ways like I've never missed a place. Seasons come and go, but the LORD remains the same. And in the sameness he is always faithful -- we can trust this as we take the next steps. Please be in prayer for me! When I return to the Upper Midwest, I'll be looking for housing in Mankato and in seemingly no time, colleges will be starting up and ministry will be in full-swing. This transition is quite possibly the biggest one I've ever been through and I absolutely am thrilled for the adventure God has been providing since it's begun and am looking forward to continuing to work it out and the LORD leads. Thank you for your prayers!

The Heavenly Man

Recently I finished the book "The Heavenly Man", a Biography on a man called 'Brother Yun' which was compiled, and edited by a close friend of his named Paul Hattaway.

The stories in this book were absolutely astounding to me from beginning to end. After reading this book, and accounting for the historical events, I don't think anyone could doubt God and His miracles in this age! What was specifically impacting about this book, is that the years mentioned in the book are from the early 80's through the early 2000's (My life span). So as I was reading about Yun's years in prison and the thousands of people being saved, I was remembering what I was doing in 6th grade. Or when I first became a Christian, Brother Yun started speaking globally about his testimony of God in his life in China.

One of the other bigger impacts about reading this book for me was that there are many things I think about and constantly try to debate in my head, and Biblically about whether or not I am right, such as how to combat evil, if you should combat evil, how to witness against those who mock you, how to both respect a government and still stand for what you believe. Throughout this entire book, the way Brother Yun lived his life is remarkably similar to how I would see myself wanting to endure through trials such as the ones he went through. -- While it's easy to know how I want persevere through trials, hearing a story of someone doing it, and seeing the fruit that was borne is amazingly powerful in my life. This is especially true when you see so much luke warmness throughout America and in the Church... more specifically, when I see so much luke warmness in my own life, and being convicted of it.

This book is a truly inspiring kick in the rear end away from the things of this world and towards the Kingdom. This is the best missionary biography I have read and would recommend it for anyone who desires to hear of God working in and through His people. This book addresses scripture memorization, prayer, church division, evangelism, generosity, salvation, and so much more in a non-evasive God-glorifying way. Please take the time to read it!

God Bless!

Different Lenses: Empathy by Brotherly Love

"Let brotherly love continue. Don't neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily."
- Hebrews 13:1-3

I am extremely challenged by these verses. Somewhat by verses 1 and 2, but especially by verse 3. As I consider the command of having brotherly love continue I can do nothing but agree! Who wouldn't? -- But how.. well, verses 2 and 3 (and continuing) offer a very practical and in-exhaustive list.

Hospitality -- not all people consider themselves hospitable. They don't have "the gift" of hospitality.. I have considered that before, especially in my younger years! These days I would boast in my hospitality (with an unhealthy hint of pride).. but who do I desire to show hospitality to? My friends, yes. My friends' friends, yes. A homeless man? ... possibly. What about the most repulsive and annoying person you know who needs brotherly love. What about them? This is not a challenge to say that you should start here, but let's aim for it. Luke 12:48 says, "Much will be required of everyone who has been given much, and more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more."
Have you been given a place to live? Does it have room to welcome others from time to time? Well, find someone who has the needs that you can supply! It's part of the Kingdom Economy. Hospitality leaks into many other contexts other than just places of residence, but I'll let you figure those out in your life as I continue to find them in mine!

Verse 3 "Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily."

Wow.. I live in America! How can I know, how can I feel this, how can I possibly empathize to these situations? I wake up every day in a house, I have food all sorts of food at my finger tips, and I can have coffee almost every day if I want. 80% of my furniture is comfortable; if I go outside I have clothes to keep me warm or sunscreen to protect me from the sun. I can shower each day (and night if I want to). Drinking water is readily dispensable from any location within a minute or less. My greatest discomforts are dry skin an occasional headache or sore muscle.
In relation to v3 of Hebrews 13, I consider all these things petty. But I'm not evaluating my position in life, but trying to learn how to empathize with those in seemingly impossible situations. Here is my attempt...

I've often speculated -- to the child in the 3rd world country, how horrible is it? This is the life they know, they haven't experienced my life, or another persons life. They don't have greater expectations. As I try to ask myself, what would it look like to wear the lenses that they see through, to empathize, I also have to ask myself could they empathize with me. They might not even desire the life I have (Which I think is the assumption that I think most American's assume about people from "lesser fortunate" areas.) -- My life is so easily desensitized from spiritual things. My focus is constantly drawn to things that are fleeting that were created for our pleasure and not God's Glory. Realistically, this is a partly a soapbox stemming from the Screwtape letters.

Honestly, to best empathize with a person who is imprisoned and suffering bodily, I find myself only desiring one thing for them. That same thing which we have been given hope for -- eternity in Heaven with Jesus our Savior, and God our Father. I don't desire my life for him -- America is full of snares for Christians, possibly even more so than a person who is imprisoned for their beliefs. My empathy for him is to pray for Him to desire Jesus more and to Trust in God more.

This is the best that I can come up with right now....

Please comment and share with your ideas and thoughts about hospitality and for sympathy in regards to continually showing brotherly love!

Integrity: True Gold in American Culture

"In the same way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching. Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us."
- Titus 2:6-8 (HCSB)

As a wee lad, I went through a phase when I was fascinated with minerals, rocks, agate stones, precious metals, etc... why? Who knows, I have a collegiate degree in accounting, not geology. Anyway, in those days, I had a big rock known as "Pyrite" which is also called "fools gold". The reason being is that throughout history, Pyrite has been commonly mistaken for gold to the naked eye. Ironically enough, pyrite veins are typically located adjacent to real gold... however - one is real, and one is not. How do you tell the difference? Well, without chemical testing and scientific analysis, the easiest way is to scratch the mineral with something abrasive. If it is gold, it will mark/scratch, if it is pyrite, it will not. There's a metaphor to be drawn here regarding integrity and hypocrisy.

In today's culture, Gold would be viewed as that which has integrity, it is true to it's form all the way through, whereas Pyrite would be considered the hypocrite, that which is an imposter to another thing, or visually appeasing. When we look at Christianity today in America, a majority of American's identify as Christian, but which are hypocrites...? We see in the Bible, Jesus picked apart hypocrites like crazy (Matthew 23). And Paul did as well (Romans 12:9-21). So, we know they exist.

We can bring out the metaphor of "scratching the surface" to identify integrity as referenced in the Titus verses, by "being self-controlled in everything, making yourself an example of good works, and preaching a message that is sound beyond reproach". To break that down, we must first know the Gospel and be invested in it at a heart level, walking with Jesus. We must know God and be seeking Him first each day. And we must be living lives Spirit-filled and directed by the Holy Spirit. This is where soundness comes from. This will lead us to good works, not that save us, but those which are an overflow of the love of Christ towards us and others: Agape.

Now our surface has been scratched and we have been identified. Our surface is scratched each day, by circumstances, friends, enemies, Satan: What is the outcome? The desired outcome Paul states is "that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us."

"... Having nothing bad to say about us."

I cannot fathom achieving this no matter how good I think I am personally! This is not achieved by our power... in fact, in cannot be achieved through our power. Jesus Christ set this example for us, empowered by the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-34) for good works, and calling on God the Father continuously for intercession (John 17), and dependence on scriptures (John 4:1-11) as he walked on this earth. We are not Jesus, how much more should we seek these these things?

Philemon: Debt, Forgiveness, Redemption, ...Glory

"So if you consider me a partner, accept him as you would me. And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it -- not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self. Yes, brother, may I have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ."
- Philemon 17-20

In Philemon, we have Paul in a unique situation where he is the spiritual father of both a man, Philemon, and Philemon's slave, Onesimus. Through a series of events, Onesimus escaped slavehood, made contact with Paul and became a Christian as well, and therefore a brother to both Paul and Philemon. Onesimus fears returning to Philemon even though he knew it was the right thing to do. He was afraid of his punishment -- however, we see here that Paul, out of love for his brother, not only made an appeal on Onesimus' behalf, but even credited the punishment due to Onesimus from Philemon to Paul Himself! Then, in the midst of taking the "IOU" of punishment upon himself, he reminded Philemon of the debt to which he had to Paul for leading him to salvation in Christ. There is so much going on here as you think about substitution, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, selflessness, and encouragement in the message of the Gospel. Though we do not know, we can assume that Philemon forgives Onesimus who is permitted to do ministry as a faithful servant of Christ, a brother of both Paul and Philemon, to God's glory!

I don't want to try to explain everything going on simply because of my inability to fully convey everything you might learn from reading the text yourself.

I encourage you to read Philemon today. Pay attention to these themes, and think about your own life -- where these might apply. Where debt is owed that forgiveness might be paid in it's place, and where you can make an appeal on behalf of others whose life has put them in a place that is viewed as less fortunate by the world.

Blessings!

Putting Those Things to Death

"So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand o God. Set your minds on what is above, no on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature.... "
- Colossians 3:1-5

Given today's culture, media, and even religions, it's easy to get our mind's set on the things on this earth, both figuratively and literally. Not just our minds, but our eyes, our hearts, our spirit, pulled straight off Christs heart and brought into selfishness and distractions. We get drawn directly into coveting, lying, anger, greed, jealously, lust, selfishness, sexual immorality, slander, cutting words, etc... We see it on TV, from sports, to sitcoms, to movies. We hear it in music from rock, to country, and hiphop, and we read it in the newspaper and magazines every day.
It's time to "put to death what belongs to the worldly nature..."

How do we do that? Well, it starts with "setting your minds on what is above, not what is on the earth." We do this by reading Scritpure, by praying to our Messiah who has raised us with Him and whom has hidden our life with Him for eternity. If we are setting our minds on things above, we are separating ourselves from sin, and fleeing the desires of the sinful nature. Additionally, we are humbly admitting our sin and asking forgiveness. We're being transparent, and not puffed up and prideful; we are puutting others before ourselves in order to love them as Christ did. We are seeking to walk in the Spirit! (Eph 5:18, Gal 5:20-22)

It starts each day with spending time with the LORD, asking for Him to use you and to intercede before our Father in Heaven for you, to surrender yourself as His each day. It's taking time in scripture and using it to test your mind, heart, and actions. It's spending time in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ and spending time sharing and loving those who don't believe in our God. In Colossians 4:2-6 Paul says, "Devote yourselves to prayer; say alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it as I am required to speak. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person." I couldn't say it better myself... who could!?

It was just today that I caught wind of a guy named Alex Eklund on facebook who coined the quote "I'd rather have a Proverbs 31 woman than a victoria's secret model.".. Now, to some men, this might seem like an easy thing to say, but to the majority population of males in this world, that is a very difficult thing to say. That is why I wanted to share this, it is the perfect example of setting your mind on the things above and not what is on the earth. This whole time the earth would point us in the opposite direction of Proverbs 31. Way to be Alex!

One of my favorite hymns is Before the Throne. It is powerfully integrated with scripture! As you reflect on these scriptures mentioned above, please take some time and listen to this song.

Hope: Not Uncertain, but Certain

In an intersection of sermons from church and the book of Romans which I am reading through currently in New Testament Survey, I have come across Romans 5:1-5. This is not something new to me, it's scripture that I consistently confide and depend on as a promise from God.
It reads:

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- Romans 5:1-5

This scripture is extremely powerful; particularly, verse 5 which reads "This hope will not disappoint...". I consistently find myself encouraging people, praying for people, hoping for people, expectant that their upcoming and current life circumstances will be recognized as blessing and that God will be given the glory. Often I might say, "I hope your interview goes well." or "Hope you have a great day."... these words become cliche and are received lacking a real heartfelt backing. This is nothing intentional from me, or from others who convey these phrases. The truth very well might be that deep inside I truly hope that specific event will be blessed, great, joyful, but that is not always how it comes across.

That brings me back to this scripture because it is so unique. You see... Paul makes the very powerful statement of "This hope will NOT disappoint...", why? "... because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Paul is talking here about having access to grace through Jesus Christ. He's talking about our hope for glory in Heaven with our LORD. He's talking about hoping that our life is not in vein!

One can adamantly say "I hope my life will not be lived in vein." But, Paul makes the valid point here, that the only hope that holds its own is that founded on faith through Jesus Christ. In order for a life to not be lived in Vein, we need the deposit of the Holy Spirit, that we have been declared righteous by faith. Now, we don't only have hope those aforementioned, but through Christ, we find hope in afflictions. Paul makes it clear as day that affliction happens do produce endurance, and endurance produces proven character. Why? Because our character, lived out in affliction, declares the power of hope in Jesus Christ our LORD. ...or maybe our character isn't declaring what we want it to?

There's a bit of a paradox that takes place here. Often the things that we might hope for are those which are non-afflicting. "I hope your interview goes well", "I hope you have a great day". This is rugged, because we have learned that the hope produced by faith in Christ can actually produces affliction in our life to the Glory of God. So there are two kinds of hope: Hope by faith in Christ, which Biblically defined produces proven character through affliction for the glory of God. And worldly hope, a somewhat cliche phrase that has good intention behind it but lacks the promise that comes from God, sealed by the Holy Spirit.

It's good to hope for people's benefit, but as I reflect on my 'hopings', ultimately I know that I want their benefit to be what God desires for them to produce proven character, even though it may hurt. These can be things that are what people view as happy and joyful, but it might also lead to affliction for the end result of God's glory.

So what are you hoping for and what is your hope in?

An arguement - The Day of the LORD has already come?

A couple weeks ago a friend shared with me in some amount of distress that her cousin was starting to get involved in religion. Unfortunately, this was the wrong kind of religion...
She shared that her cousin was following the "Church of God".. one of the main arguments of this church was that Jesus has already returned and we're living after the second coming right now. It also boasts of an entity known as "God the Mother". My friend shared their website with me to check it out: english.watv.org

As I talked to her, she was looking for ways to defend authentic Christian faith against false versions of Christianity. Given that one of their main arguments was regarding the time of the return of Christ, it was great that I was currently in the middle of reading 2 Thes because of chapter 2:1-12

The most specific section that defends our faith are verses 1-4:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: we ask you, brothers, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God's sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.

We can see here that Paul is assuring the Thessalonians not to get uptight about missing the second coming of Christ. There will be sure signs of it. We see that here, you can also find much about it in the end of Mark, as well as in parts of the book of Daniel. Specifically here, we can refute the Second Coming of Christ because we know that "the apostasy" comes first, and the man of lawlessness (the Anti-Christ) is revealed. This is described as a man who calls himself God though by scripture we will be able to disprove this. Unfortunately the Bible also says that many will be deceived, and because of this we should continue to know Christ better and to hide Scripture in our hearts so that we ourselves will not be deceived. There's much to be said about this, and how frightening it really is, but the purpose of this passage for this entry is to show a practical use of scripture to refute false religions here on earth that describe themselves good and even classify themselves as Christian.

Do you use scripture to analyze claims by religious groups and people?

Today I was reading an essay that was being written by a communications friend of mine and they were doing a study on Organizations and how far down the hierarchy their values and mission travels. All the way down to the farthest down end-users. As I read this paper my mind immediately moved to put it in the context of churches and religions (and like-wise, cults) -- how often do we as "believers" simpl tyake for fact those things which the higher organizational end of our systems teach us. I am not going to bash any specific religious sect or denomination here, but the matter of fact is that each of them carry traditions that are taught and accepted without proper testing of scripture. This "Church of God" mentioned above is exploiting this to the max. They use provocative media and compelling statements to lead people to false personal religion. This happens in the Bible on several occasions, but there is one group of people in the Bible that are exhorted for the fact that they took everything they heard and tested it to scripture. They are a group called the Bereans -- when Paul, Silas, and Timothy were proclaiming the Gospel in Acts 17:10-15 the Bereans "welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." This is a great model for us as we grow in our walk with Christ and continue to learn. Every religion, church, organization, while valuable, has the ability to lead us astray. An organization is only as strong and perfect as it's head. As Christians, the only organization leader which we should follow because HE IS PERFECT is Christ.
.... Read your Bible. End of Story.

What would it be like...?

"Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: "It was necessary that God's message be spoken to you [the Jews] first. But since you reject it and consider yourself unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles! For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

I have made you
a light for the Gentiles
to bring salvation
to the ends of the earth."

When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the LORD, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. So the message of the LORD spread through the whole region."
- Acts 13:46-49

At this point in time Paul had been chosen by God to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (of non-Jewish descent). Throughout his travels he was accompanied by different select individuals who would minister with Him. At this particular point, Barnabas was with him and they were being antagonized by the Jewish people because they were preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Salvation of the Gentiles to a mixed group of people.

So now I put myself in the shoes of those Gentiles on that day that Paul was preaching:

"Today Paul and Barnabas shared with me and my friends regarding the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, of the Son of God who died so that my sins could too be forgiven as they have never been before. He shared that salvation has come to my people, and other people groups like mine, whom have never known the taste of eternal life. Today, the longing of my heart, the answer to that ever-lingering question has come to fruition. Jesus Christ is KING! He has overcome death. The Scriptures of old and the teaching of God's prophets were fulfilled in Him. I am thankful that God has given Paul a commissioning to preach to those without Jewish decent. In envy I have longed for what I believed they had as a Jew, a place with God forever. But now Paul has gone even as far to say that Jesus Christ is even causing the Jews to stumble in their beliefs, that they are arguing whether salvation still comes through the law. I think the law is good, but Paul has explained that the purpose of the law was to illustrate our need for salvation, being cleansed of sins. When he shared about his vision, he said "What God has made clean, you must not call common.". He was talking about US! God has made us clean! Today I am overwhelmed by the mercy and grace of God. I cannot wait to tell others about what Paul has shared; my friends and family have to know, people I don't know have to know, they must find out...!"

Verse 48: When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the LORD, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

What God planned came to fruition. The words of scripture are still continually coming to pass today, in my life and in yours.

Whose shoes are you wearing in this story?

• Do you find yourself to be like the Gentile, who has heard the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ?
• Are you the family or friend of this Gentile, who has yet to hear exactly what Paul was sharing with these groups of people?
• Are you like Paul, who has gained salvation through Christ and have now been sent to proclaim it to others?
• Are you like the Jewish people who were antagonizing Paul and Barnabas and who are stumbling over their beliefs because there is something they have yet to understand?

Finally, which part would you like to play in this story down the road?

Hearts Ablaze, Motivation for and from the Word

Luke 24:25-27,32

Jesus said to them, "How unwise and slow are you to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken! Did the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?" Then begnning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all of Scriptures.
...So they said to each other, "Weren't our hearts ablaze within us while Jesus was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?"

Many people will tell you that the Bible is important to read day in and out, and I couldn't agree more. But as you and I both know - there are times when it is hard to pick up and read, and even to really get into. Now, one could talk much on how to study the word, but my intention isn't to go into that right now. You can learn more about that here. I simply want to make the observation from Scripture that it is meant to set our hearts ablaze for action and the Glorification of the LORD.

Basially, these two disciples were traveling after hearing that Jesus was no longer in the tomb on the third day. Upon traveling, Jesus encountered them but was disguised and posed a question regarding their thoughts on the tomb. They wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah but didn't really know how to react or feel. Still In disguise, Jesus explained "his view" on all the scriptures regarding Himself over their time walking. Once Jesus revealed to them (v31) whom He was, he disappeared from their sight.

Now, they take the time to recollect how passionate they were regarding Jesus and the scriptures as they heard and discussed.

• Daily we should share about Jesus, the scriptures, and our walks with the Lord with each other and those who don't know whether we are working, traveling, or simply at home with our friends and family. The Word of God brings life, motivation, and power through the Spirit giving us wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the things not of this world.
  

During this time they were discussing scriptures with Jesus, not knowing it was Him, their hearts were ablaze.

• Even though we are not experiencing Jesus' physical presence in our life, we know by faith that He is with us. Let us be spurred on by His presence though it's not empirically provided that He is there. You have assurance of Him through salvation by grace through faith. The Word was provided as power to those who believe.

Following their time recollecting their discussion with Jesus about the scriptures and the Glory that Jesus's sufferings brought about, they acted in faith to share with the other disciples in Jerusalem.

• With your heart ablaze from the Word, an action is provoked. Through the scriptures and personal opportunities to Glorify God, we are lead and empowered by the Spirit to act. (Eph 2:10)

This scripture was refreshing for me to read and I am thankful that through the Spirit it was revealed to me to write on this topic and remember the power of the Scripture. I am praying for those of you that read this that the Spirit will lead you to specific action and desire for the Word. As well as that you would experience the presence of the LORD though you cannot see Him.

Believing, But Not Seeing, John 20:29

The Christian life is based off of decisions by faith. "Faith is the reality of what is hoped for, and the assurance of what is not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). People refute faith based on science, but by definition faith does not fall under the law of science because it proves itself. It is absolute assurance. The LORD honors faith. "Jesus said, 'Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Those who believe without seeing are blessed'" (John 20:26). Faith can only be realized through experience that happens following the act of believing by faith. That experience only comes by believing whole-heartedly and living expectant of the Lord to fulfill his promise of faith. At first this seems a bit of a paradox. This passages identifies to camps people can be a part of:

First, the man who lives by sight, or feelings - "because you have seen Me...". Specifically, before this verse Thomas touched the wounds of Christ and because of this of this he was able to believe that Jesus was LORD. Now, thankfully for Thomas, Jesus knew that was what Thomas needed in order to believe and be saved. Many times, we need to our feelings to match our beliefs in order to make a heart-level commitment to things. However, there is a second category that is brought up.

This second category is described as "those who believe without seeing". Jesus declared that they are blessed. Why? Because through that which is not scientifically proven, they can believe and make a heart-level commitment to the promises in the Bible. After understanding this, the natural question to ask is where does faith come from, and how does this apply to us?

Well, because Jesus is not walking as a man on this earth today offering "feelings-based" proofs of his existence and lordship, we must take the second avenue to belief that was described and provided by God. So, we are meant to be "those who believe without seeing". God desires to bless us in these things. So where does faith come from? Some would say it comes from us, but Ephesians 2:8,9 states that "You are saved by grace, through faith - and this is a gift from God, not of yourselves so that no one can boast." -- HOW Humbling. We do not have the faith to give. Do you remember how Jesus knew that in order for Thomas to believe, he had to offered up his hands and his pierced side so that Thomas could see and believe? Well, in the same way - God knows that because of our doubts, our lack of faith, and the darkness around us - we cannot in our own strength believe in Him. Therefore, faith is a gift of God provided for us to believe, and not only to believe, but to be blessed according to John 20:29! Praise the LORD for faith, and that we can live by it. Living by faith does just stop here though.

As a basis for faith in our lives, God has offered up an entire Bible full of faith-filled stories that encourage us, spur us on, and allow us to Glorify Him with our actions. Believing in Jesus is just step one of your walk of faith. I would encourage you to know that the direction and empowerment (being filled) by the Holy Spirit is also an initial and extremely important faith step in your walk with Christ. We also pray by faith, expectant that God will answer those things which are according to his will. The list goes on of how we offer up a life of faith to God!

Be encouraged my friends, and live by faith, for faith pleases God and He blesses those who live by the gift of faith that He has provided for us. John finishes off these thoughts on believing by faith by saying, "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30,31).

Reflection:

• Do I live and make decision based on feelings and what I see, or faith?
• If I don't depend on feelings as much, there are still areas where I do. How can I surrender those to the LORD in order to live faith-filled, directed and empowered by the Spirit?
• Who is someone I can share this with who God wants enabled to live a life faith-filled and believing in Jesus?

Additional Resource: Faith is not a Feeling <- I highly recommend reading this too :)

When I First Experienced the Adventure of Giving

Between my sophomore year in college and my junior year in college, I was living off campus subleasing in a CRU house at the time. During that summer, one of the housemates invited a staff member named Josh over to our house for dinner and told the rest of the house mates they were welcome to come to the dinner. At that dinner, Josh talked a little bit about ministry he was doing with Campus Crusade - at the time, he was going to be heading to East Asia to do a 1 year STINT (Short Term International Mission Trip) which turned into many years (they are still there 6 years later).

After the dinner he took some time to talk to me (I knew him a little, but we had never really talked before), and he asked if I understood everything he was talking about. After that, Josh invited me to join his ministry team to help fulfill the great commission. When he asked me to join his team, he said that I could give x amount of $$/mo while he was doing ministry abroad. This was the first time I can ever remember being asked to support someone other than seeing a collection basket go around at church. This was the first time I was ever challenged to think about investing my finances in eternal things. This was the first time that I had ever even realized that God wanted me to use my money for missions just like anything else. I was taken aback when Josh asked me that question but I played it cool with a simple "Well, Hey Josh... that sounds really cool - I will pray about it."...

... Instead of praying, I abruptly went to look my checking account to see what existed (or didn't exist for that matter). At the time, I was paying for all my school and my parents were not able to help me. After thoroughly thinking about it for 5 minutes, I made the decision: I could not have what I needed to support Josh's ministry.

Before I got a chance to hear back from Josh (He said he'd call me a couple days later), I asked one of the guys I was living with if he was going to give to Josh's ministry. He replied the he would even though he wasn't making a lot -- apparently this is typical in the college world, who knew? I said the same thing, I mentioned that I wasn't making much and had to pay for school. But then, this roommate of mine explained something I had never heard before. He said "Even though you don't think you have enough money, I think that you will find when you sincerely trust God with your finances that you will not come up lacking what you need."

I pondered on this for the following hours that evening and decided that I wanted to give an amount to Josh's ministry each month. I couldn't decide though how much... if I did $10/mo, I felt like I wasn't really trusting God with my finances. $50 a month seemed ridiculously high for me as a college student and I knew I couldn't feel right doing that. I wanted to be a good "steward" of my finances... After praying about it and waking up the next morning.. I found the happy medium and decided on $35/mo. Josh called that night and I told him my decision. This was when I first discovered the adventure of giving. From that day on, I have absolutely been blessed to learn that I enjoy blessing others, as well as being hospitable. God has shown me that he knows more about my finances than I did, even as a college student who felt like he had nothing to offer... who knew? So even though my decision 2 nights before was "I could not have what I needed to support Josh's ministry". I quickly came to learn that "God had what I needed and enough more than that to use me to support Josh's ministry".

God is greater than our limited resources; He is greater than our limited philosophies and sciences; He is greater than our biggest sin.

God is greater than...

Additional Resource: How You Can Experience the Adventure of Giving or Listen Here

NTS Journal Entry #1 - Matthew Verse Reflection

"The He said to them, 'My soul is swallowed up in sorrow -- to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with Me.' Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.'
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, 'So, couldn't you stay awake with Me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won't enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.'"
- Matthew 26:40,41

As I look at these verses, I see two very specific angles that one can take:
First, from Jesus. If I truly desire to seek and model my life and my walk after Jesus, I have to be ok with the will of the Father. Jesus, as he was walking this earth, knew through that was end was near. He knew this through the Spirit and by the prophets. It is clear that this was a heavy burden for Him to carry and that He wasn't specifically excited to experience this crucifixion that was coming. However, he acknowledged that if it was the Father's will that He would comply joyfully. Am I consistently able to do that?
Second, from the disciples. Jesus was going through some rough times. He asked the disciples to stay with Him; in the context of this scripture we learn that it is so the prophecy is fulfilled of "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." So there they were, the sheep of the flock, with the shepherd. Like sheep, they became distracted, fell asleep, mentally wandered from focusing on the shepherd, etc. It is easy for us to become guilty of this as well. When we desire to sit down and focus on the will of the Father and to glorify Him, we get distracted by the daily grind, by shiny things, by tiredness,.... by sin. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." In our lack of perfectness, it is impossible for us to maintain perfect focus on the Father like Jesus did, who knew? So what does this mean...? I encourage that it would humble you, but that we would find comfort in knowing that our Shepherd, Jesus, continues to intercede on our behalf and that we have been given instruction through the Word, and power through the Spirit that we might walk in the will of the Father.
So, we find ourselves in our own times of distress, unhappiness, difficulties, turmoil... do we pray and stay awake so that we won't enter into temptation? Do we accept the perfect will of the Father?

Blog Setup Nearly Finished!

Hey,

It feels like it's been a long time coming to get this thing all set up for public viewing. I'm not usually big on pouring time and effort into the front end of things such as a blog, but I am really trusting that God will use the stories, scripture, and testimonies that are placed here to glorify Him and progress His Kingdom! That is my prayer for this blog - please pray that with me. If you have any suggestions, comment away!

God Bless!

The Blogger Bandwagon

Hey everyone!,

For some time now I've been hoping to maintain a ministry blog but have had a really hard time deciding what website, what colors, what name, etc. Well.. I finally decided on using Google's blogger just to make it simple and easily accessible. What really helped me to initiate the blog was part of a course I'm taking through my ministry training with Cru. New Testament Survey, a semester long course, has asked that I keep a journal regarding my thoughts on passages and articles that I read each week in the class. I thought I might best do that through a blog rather than on paper or with a chisel. So, voila!

Hope you can enjoy it as it actually becomes something in the long run, I hope!

Blessings,
- Dave