Today in one of my classes we discussed homosexuality. It was good because by the end we all discovered that none of us know what we think about it. I still don't know. Many of you who know me know that I love people, all of them. It is very hard for me to love some, but for me, I don't have to work at loving homosexual people. Some of them drive me nuts, not because of their homosexuality, but because of characteristics that strait people have as well. Perhaps it was the way I was raised. So naturally, I was standing in a different part of the room from the majority.
This is what I am thinking, NOT what I think. What I think is what the gospel thinks, I just don't know what it thinks about everything yet.
I believe that the Spirit changes people. I don't believe that people change people. We can do all we want, but people are who God made them to be. I am not saying that God did or didn't make homosexuals that way. I'm not one, so I don't really know how people become one, or if they even "become" one. What I am saying is that I have seen a man who was addicted to alcohol for thirty six years quit cold turkey when he accepted the Spirit into his life through Jesus Christ. I have seen the way that it changed him into a fruitful follower. I know homosexuals who are remarkably fruitful. Only good trees have good fruit. What I am saying is this: If, to be fruitful, you must be consumed,convicted, and transformed by the Spirit, then the fruitful people are consumed, have been convicted, and are being transformed by the Spirit. For this man who was an alcoholic, his vice kept him from being fruitful, and when it was defeated, he became fruitful. If a person is living a fruitful life that is dictated by the Spirit, and they are homosexual, and aren't hindered by this, I have a hard time telling them to stop it. Especially when I reflect on myself. I am fighting pride, and slowly winning because God despises it. It threatens my relationship with God on a minutely basis and even worse than this, it threatens other people's relationship with God. My vice ruins me and destroys everyone else. The homosexual's vice, if you want to call it that, is between he/she, God, and a few others. Who am I to call them wrong for something that is not as bad for the Kingdom as my own fault is? I mean, yeah, I think saw dust in their eye is disgusting and I don't in any way want to be a part of it, but what about this sexy plank in my own eye?
It seems to me that they would be changed by the Spirit if it were really that big of an issue.
I'm not saying that I'm a supporter. I'm also not saying that I'm not. I am simply saying that I want to love them as He loves me. Even in the event that homosexuality is wrong, Jesus loves them. I know that because I know that pride is wrong, and he still loves me.
I am really just exploring. Please tell me what you think. If you write something hateful or that is clearly a reiteration of what your parents told you, and that you haven't actually thought about, I'm not going to think about it either. Just a heads up. And because of my pride, I will probably judge you. Forgive me. I'm trying.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Satan
Satan is scared because he knows better than anyone that he has lost. Unfortunately he is really good at some things. One is lying. He is a liar. He will convince us that we aren't good enough and that we need things. He knows that all we need is the father, and so if he can convince us that we need anything but that, he has been successful. Many people immediately think of drugs and sex, but he uses all of the options. He uses family, the bible, church, religion, music, Hannah Montanna, and everything else.
Satan isn't a creator, he is a manipulator. God is the creator. Satan takes God's work and bends it and breaks it. When you feel like he is dominating your life and it feels like there is nothing you can do to stop him, it is true, you can't. That's why Jesus did what he did. The life of Christ and the crucifixion was way more than a stunt. It was a victory-
It was The Victory.
Satan knows it. He is well aware that he lost, and it drives him nuts.
Give it to him. : )
Don't be cocky for the sake of being cocky, but show him, by the way you live, that Jesus has given you the very thing that he has so desperately tried to take. Grab onto Jesus and watch as Satan literally runs in fear. He knows that he doesn't stand a chance against our Lord.
As soon as you realize that the battle has been won, your life will change. As soon as Christ is more what you are than you are, Satan will scream with fear. Satan will not try to mess with Jesus. If you become a part of the body of Jesus, what does that tell you about Satan's new view of you?
Please don't misread this. He is still there and will always(in this part of life) try to get to you. But the more you are consumed by God, the harder, and more risky it will be for him to poke at you.
Why do we act like he is the biggest thing in our life? He doesn't deserve that kind of credit, especially since it isn't true- Well, it isn't true in my life, I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that the God, who has chosen me to live, is WAY bigger and WAY stronger than Satan.
Satan is real.
Satan sucks.
Satan is good at things.
Satan makes my life difficult.
Satan knows that through Jesus Christ, I am more than a threat.
Are you?
Satan is vanquished. JESUS IS KING!
Let's live like it.
Amen.
Satan isn't a creator, he is a manipulator. God is the creator. Satan takes God's work and bends it and breaks it. When you feel like he is dominating your life and it feels like there is nothing you can do to stop him, it is true, you can't. That's why Jesus did what he did. The life of Christ and the crucifixion was way more than a stunt. It was a victory-
It was The Victory.
Satan knows it. He is well aware that he lost, and it drives him nuts.
Give it to him. : )
Don't be cocky for the sake of being cocky, but show him, by the way you live, that Jesus has given you the very thing that he has so desperately tried to take. Grab onto Jesus and watch as Satan literally runs in fear. He knows that he doesn't stand a chance against our Lord.
As soon as you realize that the battle has been won, your life will change. As soon as Christ is more what you are than you are, Satan will scream with fear. Satan will not try to mess with Jesus. If you become a part of the body of Jesus, what does that tell you about Satan's new view of you?
Please don't misread this. He is still there and will always(in this part of life) try to get to you. But the more you are consumed by God, the harder, and more risky it will be for him to poke at you.
Why do we act like he is the biggest thing in our life? He doesn't deserve that kind of credit, especially since it isn't true- Well, it isn't true in my life, I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that the God, who has chosen me to live, is WAY bigger and WAY stronger than Satan.
Satan is real.
Satan sucks.
Satan is good at things.
Satan makes my life difficult.
Satan knows that through Jesus Christ, I am more than a threat.
Are you?
Satan is vanquished. JESUS IS KING!
Let's live like it.
Amen.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friends.
Last night
I stayed up late
with two of my favorite people.
We talked about really sad things
and our goals that are probably not going to happen because we're
not meant for them.
It was sad,
but we did it together.
Life is like that.
Life is good
when we have each other.
It was a good night.
I'd die for them.
I stayed up late
with two of my favorite people.
We talked about really sad things
and our goals that are probably not going to happen because we're
not meant for them.
It was sad,
but we did it together.
Life is like that.
Life is good
when we have each other.
It was a good night.
I'd die for them.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wells
It is understood that water sustains life. Everything needs it. When it doesn't fall on us, or when we can't find a place in which there is so much of it that it that it has a permanent establishment, we have to dig. I don't have much experience pulling water from wells in the ground, but the concept is remarkably applicable to my life. I am constantly digging for more, I want more. There are worships in which it is very clear that I'm standing, submerged, in an ocean. There are "worships" in which I am dehydrated and standing in the sand. Water is good and I need it, so I'll usually drink what ever I can get my hands on while I'm in the desert that is this world.
Two days ago when I woke up my first thoughts were wishful. I was wishing to go back to sleep and not have to do anything, to not have to look for water. As I climbed out of bed I realized the intensity of my exhaustion and almost prayed that I could just go back to sleep. The morning continued in this way and I didn't like it. As I went into my 8 o'clock class, art, I caught the eyes of my brother Aaron. He's a junior and has been a true blessing in my life. I spend lots of time at his house and we spend lots of time building each other up. Somehow, this morning, I had forgotten about him, so when I saw him I was almost surprised. I walked over to his seat and sat next to him.
Our eyes met.
My day changed.
I don't know how to explain it.
I was rejuvenated instantly and I wanted to
hug people.
This is how it has to be! If you don't need your brothers to make it through this life, you're doing it wrong. Christ lives within each of us. Now, if we are trying to build a relationship with Christ, it only makes since that we would need to connnect with him. Our hearts, as Christ followers, are filled with the Spirit. Holy water is overflowing. It's amazing to see the way that the Spirit initiated restoration of my heart without me asking for it! Just being spiritually connected with my brother in Christ made everything better. We should be walking wells. When people look into our eyes, they should be looking into the eyes of Jesus. When you look into the eyes of Jesus, you change. You won't be the same.
Proverbs 4:23 says: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
This is true. I am so concious of my intake now. I no longer tolorate my eyes tearing apart my soul. I will no longer let my thoughts destroy my soul. I will no longer let my hate destroy everything in its path. Don't you see?! We must stay pure, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of others. For our water to be pure, we have to keep it that way. Don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to say that it is our job to make sure that we're without sin. I am simply saying that it is our job to regulate what we let into our heart.
Guard it. The Lord has filled it with his perfect water. Don't let the world use it as a toilet, for we are a well, people drink from us. Do you want your brothers and sisters drinking from a toilet? I don't. Brings a whole new perspective to the concept of my words being an over flow of my heart. Are you throwing crappy water at people, or clean? Are you drinking from clean wells, or wells with poop in em?
Two days ago when I woke up my first thoughts were wishful. I was wishing to go back to sleep and not have to do anything, to not have to look for water. As I climbed out of bed I realized the intensity of my exhaustion and almost prayed that I could just go back to sleep. The morning continued in this way and I didn't like it. As I went into my 8 o'clock class, art, I caught the eyes of my brother Aaron. He's a junior and has been a true blessing in my life. I spend lots of time at his house and we spend lots of time building each other up. Somehow, this morning, I had forgotten about him, so when I saw him I was almost surprised. I walked over to his seat and sat next to him.
Our eyes met.
My day changed.
I don't know how to explain it.
I was rejuvenated instantly and I wanted to
hug people.
This is how it has to be! If you don't need your brothers to make it through this life, you're doing it wrong. Christ lives within each of us. Now, if we are trying to build a relationship with Christ, it only makes since that we would need to connnect with him. Our hearts, as Christ followers, are filled with the Spirit. Holy water is overflowing. It's amazing to see the way that the Spirit initiated restoration of my heart without me asking for it! Just being spiritually connected with my brother in Christ made everything better. We should be walking wells. When people look into our eyes, they should be looking into the eyes of Jesus. When you look into the eyes of Jesus, you change. You won't be the same.
Proverbs 4:23 says: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
This is true. I am so concious of my intake now. I no longer tolorate my eyes tearing apart my soul. I will no longer let my thoughts destroy my soul. I will no longer let my hate destroy everything in its path. Don't you see?! We must stay pure, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of others. For our water to be pure, we have to keep it that way. Don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to say that it is our job to make sure that we're without sin. I am simply saying that it is our job to regulate what we let into our heart.
Guard it. The Lord has filled it with his perfect water. Don't let the world use it as a toilet, for we are a well, people drink from us. Do you want your brothers and sisters drinking from a toilet? I don't. Brings a whole new perspective to the concept of my words being an over flow of my heart. Are you throwing crappy water at people, or clean? Are you drinking from clean wells, or wells with poop in em?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Politics
If a "Real Christian" will vote for a particular party, what does that say about the Christians who don't live in the U.S.?
Please read this. I'm not trying to change you. And the truth is, if I were, it wouldn't matter because if what you believe is truth, nothing will shake it. Right? : ) Which reminds me of a very different topic that I lilke to ponder- What do you actually want? Truth or comfort? That's an other can of worms for an other day.
We have meshed a culture of humans with a faith of God. We are viewing something supernatural and sacred through the eyes of something disgustingly polluted. Through the eyes of something that makes people kill each other. That's not okay.
I used to argue about political issues. I don't now. Not because I am "bigger than that," or because I have lost all hope in convincing people that I'm right. It's because I don't care anymore. The closer I get to God, the less I care about my government.
The condition of my government shouldn't effect the condition of my spirituality. If it does, my faith is at a humanly level. My faith is not at a humanly level, so what does that tell you about my concern for government?
Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean to say that this stuff doesn't matter; it does. Just not to me. You older folks may say something like, "Oh but you're young and don't have kids. So you don't know what it means to need protection and stability." Or "You haven't lived long enough to know what you really think." Maybe. It's possible. I'm open to these statements having merit. But currently, I don't think so. I am talking to a God that has no boundaries. He has no limits, literally, nothing can stop him. I don't think it's spiritually healthy to base my values on and find my comfort in conditional circumstances produced by human decision. I want my values to be based on the ideas of an infinitely everlasting authority.(That last part may have been redundant, but He is good enough to get two words meaning the same thing to describe him.) If this country is taken over by an other, and the conditions of living become harsh, I won't blame God, and I honestly don't think my love for him will be shaken. If anything, based on my observation of historical events depicted in the bible, I think my faith will be strengthened.
I believe that in bad times we come closer to him because it is only then that we can truly see that the "reality" we are in isn't good enough. It never is, but most of the time, (for us americans especially), we can convince ourselves that life is good with pleasures of the flesh. What will we do when we run out of the supplies we need for our pleasures? And we will. Bad times are simply times when the supplies aren't right, or here. I am calling us to realize one thing: God doesn't require supplies. So if you're claiming to live a life with God, then you're claiming to not need any of this. None. That's madness, but I want it.
Please don't think I am asking you to agree with me. I do recognize and appreciate the people who will rise up in the government and make things better. I believe God calls for that in some. This was written so that you will know where I am called. I don't think that where I am called is better. I am just beginning to see that where I am called to is nothing like the place I see other people living in. It's a place without boundaries and without condemnation. It's a place where my love for and dependency on God makes everything else completely irrelevant. If you know me, then you know that I am clearly not living this yet. But caterpillars will one day be butterflies. Assuming the other caterpillars don't kill them first. (Martin Luther King, Jr. Uhhhh let's see... who else?...JESUS!) To name a couple. (Lucky for them, they had connections. So do I.)
I have some scripture to back all this up. But I freakin(euphemism) hate it when Rush Limbaugh uses Godly stuff to back himself up, so I won't do it. And I know, I know, I kind of did up there, but not with scripture, the word of God. It's because I can't claim that I understand God. I can only claim that I'm desperately trying to.
If you have scripture that proves the things I have said wrong, please give it to me. I have lots to back up most of this, but I'm a blind man interpreting a movie, only being able to make out the dynamics of the audio. I'm looking for deaf people who want to share their insight with me so we can figure this thing out. It's a good thing that the Holy Spirit knows sign language and verbal language.
Please read this. I'm not trying to change you. And the truth is, if I were, it wouldn't matter because if what you believe is truth, nothing will shake it. Right? : ) Which reminds me of a very different topic that I lilke to ponder- What do you actually want? Truth or comfort? That's an other can of worms for an other day.
We have meshed a culture of humans with a faith of God. We are viewing something supernatural and sacred through the eyes of something disgustingly polluted. Through the eyes of something that makes people kill each other. That's not okay.
I used to argue about political issues. I don't now. Not because I am "bigger than that," or because I have lost all hope in convincing people that I'm right. It's because I don't care anymore. The closer I get to God, the less I care about my government.
The condition of my government shouldn't effect the condition of my spirituality. If it does, my faith is at a humanly level. My faith is not at a humanly level, so what does that tell you about my concern for government?
Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean to say that this stuff doesn't matter; it does. Just not to me. You older folks may say something like, "Oh but you're young and don't have kids. So you don't know what it means to need protection and stability." Or "You haven't lived long enough to know what you really think." Maybe. It's possible. I'm open to these statements having merit. But currently, I don't think so. I am talking to a God that has no boundaries. He has no limits, literally, nothing can stop him. I don't think it's spiritually healthy to base my values on and find my comfort in conditional circumstances produced by human decision. I want my values to be based on the ideas of an infinitely everlasting authority.(That last part may have been redundant, but He is good enough to get two words meaning the same thing to describe him.) If this country is taken over by an other, and the conditions of living become harsh, I won't blame God, and I honestly don't think my love for him will be shaken. If anything, based on my observation of historical events depicted in the bible, I think my faith will be strengthened.
I believe that in bad times we come closer to him because it is only then that we can truly see that the "reality" we are in isn't good enough. It never is, but most of the time, (for us americans especially), we can convince ourselves that life is good with pleasures of the flesh. What will we do when we run out of the supplies we need for our pleasures? And we will. Bad times are simply times when the supplies aren't right, or here. I am calling us to realize one thing: God doesn't require supplies. So if you're claiming to live a life with God, then you're claiming to not need any of this. None. That's madness, but I want it.
Please don't think I am asking you to agree with me. I do recognize and appreciate the people who will rise up in the government and make things better. I believe God calls for that in some. This was written so that you will know where I am called. I don't think that where I am called is better. I am just beginning to see that where I am called to is nothing like the place I see other people living in. It's a place without boundaries and without condemnation. It's a place where my love for and dependency on God makes everything else completely irrelevant. If you know me, then you know that I am clearly not living this yet. But caterpillars will one day be butterflies. Assuming the other caterpillars don't kill them first. (Martin Luther King, Jr. Uhhhh let's see... who else?...JESUS!) To name a couple. (Lucky for them, they had connections. So do I.)
I have some scripture to back all this up. But I freakin(euphemism) hate it when Rush Limbaugh uses Godly stuff to back himself up, so I won't do it. And I know, I know, I kind of did up there, but not with scripture, the word of God. It's because I can't claim that I understand God. I can only claim that I'm desperately trying to.
If you have scripture that proves the things I have said wrong, please give it to me. I have lots to back up most of this, but I'm a blind man interpreting a movie, only being able to make out the dynamics of the audio. I'm looking for deaf people who want to share their insight with me so we can figure this thing out. It's a good thing that the Holy Spirit knows sign language and verbal language.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Awake
This morning I woke up in a new way. It usually takes me a while to "come to," often longer than it takes for my first class to start. I walk around like a zombie looking for life of some sort. Today was new, I woke up quickly with excitement. My mind was racing from the second my eyes opened. My thoughts have been moving like trains ever since.
As I slept last night, I had dreams. Some were stimulated by real outside sources, like my coffee maker. As it made coffee this morning, I began to have coffee show up in my dream. I even had a dream about a real event that happened yesterday. But the thing about dreams is this: They're not real. They can be about real things and even stimulated by real things, but they themselves are not real. Life is like this for too many of us.
We're living in a false reality that is at times based on truth but is not wholly truth.(pun intended)
What I am saying is this: Let's stop thinking of God as a drug and start thinking of him as a life. He doesn't come into us and make us feel different, He consumes us and transforms us into new things! Drugs wear off, the new creation that I am with Jesus is eternal. I believe that, I always said I did, but seriously- I BELIEVE THAT. Do you?
This is real. Nothing is impossible with my God. Nothing is impossible with my God! Why do we keep putting him in a box? He doesn't fit in boxes! if you have successfully shoved him into one, than most of him is outside of it. You may get little bits and pieces of him here and there, and that's great, but I want all of him! I want everything he has to offer me. Isn't that what he gave us?! He gave himself.
We are cups that are mostly empty and all we're doing is putting what water we have into each others cups, and that's great, but come on!
You can't find your fulfillment in a cup that isn't filled!
Let's tap into the spring of life, let's be filled with the holy water and never, ever go thirsty again. I think Jesus meant it when he said it to the Samaritan woman. Let's be with God. We sit around and pray and wait for our "calling." I have prayed things like, " God, I won't move until you tell me to. I want to follow your will for me, tell me it and I'll act. Where should I go?" He's saying this, "It's not about where your going, trust me on that one!(faith) I am telling you that it's not okay to be where you are. Move closer to me. Advance." When he spoke to Abraham he said," Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12)
He will show us!
He has promised us good things, is that not enough? We as a people need to look into his word and take it more seriously. God doesn't lie or exaggerate. I believe that if he says it, it's true. Let's use our lives to prove it. Let's start acting like saved people and stop acting like the world that is dying around us. Let's act like we have a hope. WE DO!
Live life. Live reality. There is one god who is God and who is holy. Wake up.
As I slept last night, I had dreams. Some were stimulated by real outside sources, like my coffee maker. As it made coffee this morning, I began to have coffee show up in my dream. I even had a dream about a real event that happened yesterday. But the thing about dreams is this: They're not real. They can be about real things and even stimulated by real things, but they themselves are not real. Life is like this for too many of us.
We're living in a false reality that is at times based on truth but is not wholly truth.(pun intended)
What I am saying is this: Let's stop thinking of God as a drug and start thinking of him as a life. He doesn't come into us and make us feel different, He consumes us and transforms us into new things! Drugs wear off, the new creation that I am with Jesus is eternal. I believe that, I always said I did, but seriously- I BELIEVE THAT. Do you?
This is real. Nothing is impossible with my God. Nothing is impossible with my God! Why do we keep putting him in a box? He doesn't fit in boxes! if you have successfully shoved him into one, than most of him is outside of it. You may get little bits and pieces of him here and there, and that's great, but I want all of him! I want everything he has to offer me. Isn't that what he gave us?! He gave himself.
We are cups that are mostly empty and all we're doing is putting what water we have into each others cups, and that's great, but come on!
You can't find your fulfillment in a cup that isn't filled!
Let's tap into the spring of life, let's be filled with the holy water and never, ever go thirsty again. I think Jesus meant it when he said it to the Samaritan woman. Let's be with God. We sit around and pray and wait for our "calling." I have prayed things like, " God, I won't move until you tell me to. I want to follow your will for me, tell me it and I'll act. Where should I go?" He's saying this, "It's not about where your going, trust me on that one!(faith) I am telling you that it's not okay to be where you are. Move closer to me. Advance." When he spoke to Abraham he said," Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12)
He will show us!
He has promised us good things, is that not enough? We as a people need to look into his word and take it more seriously. God doesn't lie or exaggerate. I believe that if he says it, it's true. Let's use our lives to prove it. Let's start acting like saved people and stop acting like the world that is dying around us. Let's act like we have a hope. WE DO!
Live life. Live reality. There is one god who is God and who is holy. Wake up.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Bowls
Life is more than you think.
It doesn't stop when the debt is paid.
It doesn't stop when the death is gone.
We have been made rich and are being made richer by the second.
Grace is not like pouring out a bowl and then having him come fill it back up.
Grace is like throwing the empty bowl into an ocean.
What he did is doing more than you think.
Being "saved" isn't a check mark in the box on a piece of paper. It's the first page of a long, good, book with lots of pictures.
For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him, through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received reconciliation.
Romans 5:10-11
It doesn't stop when the debt is paid.
It doesn't stop when the death is gone.
We have been made rich and are being made richer by the second.
Grace is not like pouring out a bowl and then having him come fill it back up.
Grace is like throwing the empty bowl into an ocean.
What he did is doing more than you think.
Being "saved" isn't a check mark in the box on a piece of paper. It's the first page of a long, good, book with lots of pictures.
For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him, through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received reconciliation.
Romans 5:10-11
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