People - The most important thing

This next semester, I am going to be volunteering at LifeChoices Pregnancy Center, helping out with phone lines and hopefully eventually being introduced into the counseling side of the ministry. This has been a long time in the making, and I am very excited to get involved with this ministry.

I have a great passion for people. People are the most important thing in this world, and though I tend to hide it behind an unemotional face, I really do care a lot about every person in this world. It tears me up inside when I see girls and guys in broken, damaging relationships.

"Relationship" in and of itself is an area of life that I believe can be the most beneficial to everyone, as well as the most damaging. The reason why the Garden of Eden was so wonderful was not because the fruit tasted amazing or the weather was perfect or the animals were friendly - the reason it was a perfect place was because God was in direct relationship with His creation, man and woman to the point that they empirically experienced Him. Relationship can make a life perfect, but it can also make a life corrupt. Man was given perfection, but continually lowered his standards, and is now paying for it. Abuse, rape, incest - all these things are corruptions of the original perfection that was found in the Garden.

So then, what am I to do? My desire is to reintroduce Perfection into the broken relationships of people. This society is promoting freedom over perfection; by their standards, freedom is perfection. You can choose to have sex with whoever you want, so do it! You don't need marriage; you don't need chastity; you don't need commitment. Live a full life! This is the mindset that I see when I watch modern movies, listen to modern music, and examine modern relationships. It sounds appealing to lots of people - but then they wonder why these relationships are coming up short in their production of joy. For all the love they receive and all the people they sleep with and all the freedom they try out, they can't get rid of that empty feeling inside of them. My want, then, is to provide to these empty people the experience of the fullness that comes in Christ. I want to show them the freedom that comes from being subjected to Christ.

I want to be a helping hand and an open ear to people when they come to find healing. As a Christian, I am called to be a light to the world; as a caring person, I have a huge heart for these people. My current prayer is that God will use me to impact the lives of the people I will be in contact with in order to produce healing and, ideally, new believers.

Christmas Music - An Unacceptable Timeframe?

I love the Christmas season. I love being with my family, giving gifts, cooking wonderful food, and watching movies like A Christmas Story with it's classic "triple dog dare" scene:

 Christmas is a wonderful time where people's attention is rightly turned to the blessing of Christ and more praise is given to God through this time of observance. I have no problem with an annual observance of the gift of God to the world; just as there was a celebration of the "Passing Over" in ancient times, I think it is right for there to be a celebration of the "Coming Down" of Jesus to the world.

There is one thing, however, that I simply can't understand. I listen to "Christmas Music" all year round, partaking in my Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby and other artists who cover Christmas songs as a part of my typical listening music. Certainly, I listen to my Holiday music a little more when the Christmas season comes around, but throughout the year, I enjoy listening to it.

So my beef, then, is with the people who consider listening to Christmas music "out of season" a completely distasteful action. To them, apparently, it has to be "at least past Thanksgiving and not past New Year's Day"  in order to legally listen to Christmas music. When I tell them I listen to Christmas music all year round, I am met with disgusted faces and even condescending looks. Now, I couldn't care less about what they think of my music-listening habits, but my question to them is this: "Why am I, a believer in Christ, being met with disapproval by fellow Christians on the subject of my taste in music?" Is Christmas music heretical when not played in the Christmas setting? Was it originally agreed upon that this music should only be played at Christmas time? Really - what are you basing your claim off of? The claim that Christmas music should be limited to the Christmas season falls apart when it is removed from the context of social life. We think Christmas music should be limited to the Christmas season solely because society believes it. 

Why is it "distasteful" for people like me to celebrate the birth of Christ into the world every day instead of every December? I refuse to schedule my worship of Christ to an annual level - why is that unacceptable to some people? Contemporary music that celebrates Christ's resurrection is alright at all times, but music that sounds Christmas-y and celebrates His birth must be played in the Winter season. What? Show me biblical proof for that claim, and I will obey it.  

I realize that Christmas music isn't the only way to celebrate Jesus, and I'm not saying that every Christian does not every day appreciate Christ's birth into our lives (I myself often do not celebrate this gift, and even act contrary, betraying God's grace). I'm not even saying that listening to Christmas music only at Christmas is a bad thing. All I am saying is that the efforts to appreciate Christ by people who are of a like mind to me, and who listen to Christmas music year-round, should not be being met by opposition by fellow Christians; so then, my issue is not with the music, but with the heart of the people who disapprove of my listening habits.

Honestly, it's just music; why are we making such a big deal out of it? My listening schedule doesn't really affect my theology or the solidity of my faith; neither does yours, so why have we made it such an issue? I should not be having to get these thoughts of my chest - so what if I listen to Christmas music all year round? So what if you don't? I'm a Christian, and hopefully you are as well, so what is the big deal with this? 

What's the Gameplan Now?

All right, enough! I spent my maximum of 5 minutes reading political statuses on Facebook.


1. Complaining won't help
2. God is still here


So Obama may win this election. What are we going to do now?

Are we going to give up?
Are we going to sit down and pout?

I hope not...

Could we try praying, instead of complaining? I know a ton of you hate Obama(care), but could we try praying for wisdom for him instead of praying for hindrance? How much will this country benefit if all we do is pray that Obama will be stopped in what he is trying to do? Why don't we pray that God will begin to work in his life, and through that adjust his philosophy? Why don't we stop praying negative and start praying positive?

So our candidate didn't win. This too shall pass - this is a country, it is not eternal. Focus on what matters infinitely. People matter infinitely.

We do what we can with what we are given. If we are given a conservative president, we pray for him; if we are given a liberal president, we pray for him. It is that simple. I care for this country, and I care even more for its people, but this country will fall eventually. Whether when Christ returns or when the economy collapses and we are invaded, it will fall.

BUT, God remains in control. All we can do is trust Him and communicate with Him. Bigger powers than us are on the move here, but we have a direct connection to the biggest Power. Why don't we try inviting Him in to our troubles? Not to get what we want, but to get what He wants.

I understand people's concern about politics, and I myself got out and voted today because I care about our country, but as a Christian, I align myself not under a democracy, but under a theocracy, where God is placed in control of my life, and assumed and trusted to be in control of everything else as well.

Above all, my prayer is that His will be done.

Prayer

There are two very wrong ways in which we approach the subject of prayer. We either see it as an obligation, something that real Christians do on a daily basis, or we see it as a shopping list, where we ask God for our desires, assuming that a truly loving God would give his children the true desires of their hearts. A new car, an Iphone 5, a pretty girlfriend, a handsome boyfriend; we ask these things of God saying, "Here God, this is what I want. I know you're busy, and I know it's little, but give it to me, please."

The problem with our misconception is that it effectively places us at the center of our prayer, using God as a means-of-accomplishment for the things that we desire.

But here's the thing: God is going to do what God wants to do; you don't really have much of a chance of changing God's mind, especially if what you are praying for will not serve His calling to you. Prayer is not a convincing of God to do or not do something. Prayer is simply an agreement with God's will; "Your Kingdom come, your will be done." It is an invitation to God to work his "magic" in your life. God will do what God wants to do, but God will not do some things if you don't ask him. God is the ultimate gentleman, not in the sense that He will not intentionally do some major things in your life, but rather, that he will withhold Himself from some events if you do not send Him an invitation. I believe that God is sovereign enough to be able to limit His own power over you; I believe that if you leave God out of a decision or a situation, He will allow you to do so.

Prayer is our way of speaking to God; like any relationship, "communication is key." Do not expect your relationship with God to deepen and become rich if you are not in communication with Him.

You want God to move in your life in powerful ways? Invite Him.

You want God's will to be done? Agree with it. Let Him know.

You want God in you? Ask for Him.

There are five pillars to effective prayer. All five are necessary to see the most powerful results from your petition to God.

(This was taken from a workshop n the subject of prayer that I took from Simon Mbevi at the "Pray, Reach, Challenge" conference at Southeast Christian Church.

If you truly want to see God's will done, you cannot simply walk in and ask or even agree with Him. God calls His followers to a holy and pure life before they can taste the full richness of his kindness. You must adjust your everyday life before you can see results from your prayer life. We all are called to radical living so we can see radical change.

In the end, God's will be done. I pray so that perhaps I might be part of that will.

Girls... Guys...

I try my best to treat all girls with the same amount of care, regardless of whether or not I'm "interested" in them. Of course, though, I do take more steps to learn more about the girls that I like and do my best to get more involved in their life; at the same time, I also invite them to be more involved with mine as well. I've never dated anyone, but I do know the thinking behind a good and healthy relationship. I'm speaking mostly to girls here, but guys, if you're reading this, learn from it, and become the healthy, godly man that you were meant to be. Do that and have patience, and you'll find the perfect girl for you.

If you're a girl looking for a guy that is healthy and good for you, I would look for a guy that:
   
      1. Shows care to all girls, not just you
      2. Shows care to his family
      3. Doesn't "need" you
      4. Has physical, emotional, and spiritual boundaries
      5. Knows who he is and where he stands

In regard to number 1 and 2: You can basically judge how healthy a guy is by the way that he treats other people. If we have an interest in you, and we're not healthy, we will show you the best side of us, while unleashing our bad lifestyle whenever you're not with us. Girls, if your best friend comes to you and tells you she saw something unhealthy in your guy, don't believe her right away, but don't disbelieve her right away either. Look into it; there's a decent chance that she may be right. If a guy doesn't treat his friends or his parents or his brothers and sisters with respect, you can't count on him treating you with respect; once you enter into a relationship with him, you become just like them to him - a part of the broken, unhealthy family.

Oh, and an extremely important thing: DO NOT (I repeat) NOT, missionary date. Unhealthy relationships have much more power to pull you down than you do to pull him up. If he's not healthy, help him out, but don't date him.

In regard to number 3: There's one thing that I would warn any girl about; one sign of an unhealthy relationship is one where all the guy wants to do is spend time with you, and all you want to do is spend time with the guy. Fancy people call this "codependency", and it's extremely unhealthy. I've seen this happen and had it happen, and the relationship will fall apart, or at the very least be unhealthy in the end - every time, no exceptions. If you care about yourself, run from any guy who wants you to take part in a "highschool marriage" with him, where you are basically living like a married couple, spending all your time together, just without the physical benefits that come with marriage... *cough cough*

Anyway... yeah, run from a codependant guy. As my psychology professor says, "the longer a couple spends vertical, the more likely they are to end up horizontal." We guys are masters of convincing, and you girls are just the sweetest things. Have the courage to get out of a relationship if a guy is showing signs of codependancy. Because really, if you have the guts to say "no" to a bad relationship, you are so much more attractive to all of us healthy guys. I want a girl who would step out of an unhealthy relationship with me - it hold me accountable.

So, ultimately, here's what I would tell a girl who is wondering if a guy is interested in her:

Act like yourself.

We can tell when you're pretending to be someone you're not, and at least for me, that is a huge negative to any relationship. I want to see a girl for who she is, not for who I want her to be. Fancy people also call this "duplicity," where you are living one life, but have a "secret" life that you hide. This is also a killer, and I don't want it and won't have it in any girl that I would pursue. Act  like yourself, and if our personalities don't mesh, so be it; there are more guys for you, there are more girls for me. It's not the end of the world if we break up from a relationship that we've never been in.

I want to date a healthy girl, while also being a healthy man for her. I want a girl who has an interest in me, but would choose not to date me if she saw something unhealthy for her in me. I want her to be independant of me, able to stand on her own two feet, while at the same time, I want to synthesize our lives together in order to produce something fantastic.

Be yourself.

And just maybe, we can be ourselves together.

Desperation/Communication

I just finished attending the conference that just took place at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY; the title of this conference was Pray, Reach, Challenge, and it was based off of the new vision statement of Southeast. They have realized that they need to become not a church that prays, but a praying church.

They brought in Simon Mbevi from Nairobi, Kenya to speak on the subject of prayer and what it means; what it is. He effectively rocked all of our worlds both with his stories and his faith. Simon has literally changed countries with his prayer life - he has healed people, prayed up rain in a famine, and sat with presidents and popes simply to talk about his faith. He leads prayer meetings at 4:30 in the morning and (though he would certainly not tell you) fasts for months at a time for the sake of changing issues in the world today.

We are tempted to say, "Well, Simon is certainly a godly man, but I cannot achieve as much of a deep, spiritual, and intimate relationship to God as he has..." However, something that Simon said tonight removed that idea from my head.

He told us that we wonder why God doesn't do amazing things through us, and why our prayer lives are not where we would like them to be. He told us that the reason for all of this is that we have a lack of faith in God's power, and a lack of desperation for his presence. We must become desperate for God. So desperate that we will sell what we need to sell, do what we need to do in order to achieve his will. So desperate that we will sacrifice anything and everything in order to draw closer to him and prove our agreement with his will.

We in American culture have become far too self-dependant, to the point that we are comfortable with our request-by-request prayer life, and our S.O.S. communication with God, where we really only get into contact with him when we really need help. We will try all other options before we go to prayer; but Simon asked, why is it that prayer is our last resort? Why would we go to a doctor before we ask the Lord of the Universe for his healing? Why would we continue our lives as usual as we pray to God for a change? Why would we continue to depend on ourselves as we pray to depend on God?

Prayer, in itself, is an expression of humility; it is a forcing of yourself out of yourself. By praying for God's will to be done, whatever it may be, is a lessening of yourself and a glorification of God. Prayer is pride's biggest enemy, because it forces you to be God-reliant instead of self-reliant.

Think about it for a second - God, the biggest, greatest, and most high God in all of creation, can be reached simply on the turning of a word toward him. Does this not blow your mind? It is easier to reach God than it is to reach your best friend on the phone! The God who created the world wants to be in contact with you, and all you have to do is put aside a few minutes of time each day to talk with him, and through this, he will change your life, and the world through you.

We must make ourselves completely desperate for God's acting in our lives. So desperate, in fact, that we would place enough faith in him to begin acting on his response before we see it.

We stay in our house for one more week, though we cannot see the money showing up; we pray our friend would be healed, instead of preparing for when they are not. You want God to prove his care for you? Prove your care for him! Prove that you trust him enough to put yourself at risk for his sake.

How long will it take for us to become desperate? How long will we drive ourselves down before we reach for a hand? How long will we toe the line, say the prayer, and run in the wrong direction? Our prayer life must be aligned with our earthly life; what we pray for must affect how we live. Otherwise, in the same way that our faith without works is dead, our prayers will be found dead, having no foundation with no support if we do not place our full faith and trust in God's ability to answer our prayer.

"Our father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

Smallest are Greatest

I'm on vacation with my family right now in Breckenridge, Colorado. I love going on this vacation every year not because I get a week off of school, or even that I get to rest in general, although those things are great aspects of taking this trip. The main reason that I so love Colorado is that I can walk outside and I can view God's landscape:

Such as at Lake Dylan,

Or looking out from my condo's patio,

These awing landscapes make one thing clear to me:

As great as I make myself, as much money as I get or whatever title I achieve in my future job, I will remain a speck compared to the rest of creation.

Seriously, I have a hard time accepting that people in the world can get so wrapped up in the concerns of their lives and their problems, and everything having to do with them, when they are but a raindrop in a downpour. It doesn't matter how fancy our electronics get or how many gigabytes we can store on one hard drive; it has no importance how fast our cars go or how far we can see into space; in the end, we are still so small compared to the work of God's hands.

"For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field" Psalm 103:14

"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" James 4:14

He who makes the sun rise and the earth spin; made heat and cold; light and dark; gravity and friction; He who left His mark on our bodies with Laminin, who limits our lives with genomes; who created genes and molecules and blood; He who created time and logic and thought and emotions... That this person, this Immovable Mover, would love me... that instills in me a God-given feeling of belonging.

Nothing else in this world can make me feel like I belong to someone like my relationship to God. The closest we can get is the intimate relationship between husband and wife, which in and of itself is a fogged mirror of the relationship that God offers.

Who else can unlock my heart as God does? Who else can look into my heart of hearts and understand what is going on? Who else speaks in the whispers of the winds and shows Himself in the sunrise? What other person would create a universe so expanse, and place a man, made in His image, on a single planet and use that man to work out His plan?

This, then, is the reason that I so love the outdoors and being alone in nature. When I sit in the quiet and view God's workmanship, I hear through the silence God's calling to me to come and belong. I find strength in silence not because I strengthen myself, but because I hear God's voice through silence and through the vision of His amazing craft.

So, the reason why I love going to Colorado or going out into the woods or sitting by a creek or taking a long walk is because each time I do, I come back with a renewed feeling that I belong to God.

When I am trampled by this world, I withdraw to a quiet place just as Jesus did; often times, I don't even pray, I simply quiet my voice, my mind, and my heart, so that I can listen to God.

Through these times, I am being transformed into a firmer reflection of Christ, which is all I desire for this life.

"Be Unto Your Name" by Gary Sadler and Lynn DeShazo:

We are a moment, You are forever 
Lord of the Ages, God before time 
We are a vapor, You are eternal 
Love everlasting, reigning on high 

Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty 
Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain 
Highest praises, honor and glory 
Be unto Your name, be unto Your name 

We are the broken, You are the healer 
Jesus, Redeemer, mighty to save 
You are the love song we'll sing forever 
Bowing before You, blessing Your name