So I've been reading a lot of OT for my deVo time as of late, but about a week ago I decided to mix it up a bit so I read a gospel (fyi, fell in love with the gospel of Luke) and then felt compelled to read Corinthians.
For those of you who haven't spent a FATTY amount of time with me, I don't have the greatest memory. Hanna, the hottest chick on the planet, always reminds me that she loves telling stories to me... I ask why and she replies something along the line, "Because you never remember them and I get to tell you the same story over and over again."
Anyways, I've read through the entire NT and majority of the OT yet I love to re-read the same books because I have a bad memory. I started reading through Corinthians and while I was reading in chapter 14 (when I read through Corinthians, I always read 12-14 as one chap), a HUGE thought came to mind...
"GOD LOVES COMMUNITY SO MUCH!!!!"
It may seem like Paul opened up a can on the church of Corinth telling them to repent, directing their ways, setting these high standards yet encouraging them, but there's a reason... story time!
I used to be a leader for Gig Harbor Young Life for almost six years. Young Life has a rad structure for reaching the lost youth, but the thing that got to me most was the leaders. I'd say 60% of the leaders were students. I do support student leaders, but what I don't support is student leaders given so much freedom with their...sheep when that leader isn't being discipled nor even being held accountable. After a good chunk of time goes by, that leader flakes out (even ditches their faith) and says this statement that I've heard over and over again.... Christianity requires so much and I'm not down for that.
Now here's my point... God loves community so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. Okay... good. Jesus dies, appoints apostles like Paul, and ascends in to heaven. Paul, through the promised Holy Spirit, plants churches and writes letters to those churches encouraging, yet setting high standards.
Yes, high standards may be discouraging at times, but imagine if the standards were set at a comfortable level. The church would've/would be in sin like crazy! And these high standards are NOT written in the bible to discourage us or condemn us.... God loves His people SO MUCH He sent His only son to die for our sins and calls us to a higher standard than the world.... why you ask? So that we can be a bunch of studs and studdettes ready to rock the world and function at a high standard in and as the body of Christ. People forget that we are now the body of Christ! And as the body of Christ, we must learn how to function at a higher, more holy level than the world not to boast about ourselves or condemn...so that we can be lights to world to draw them to the cross.
DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH GOD LOVES COMMUNITY WITHIN THE BODY? I now understand why love is greatest "law" to practice. God wants the best for each one of us because He loves us SO FREAKIN much.... and Jesus loves us so much that he died for us.... and Paul loved the church of Corinth so much that he laid out a higher standard so that Corinth would function as followers of Jesus, not as "Christians"...and that's where we come in. Let's get freakin serious about our faith and read our bibles and fellowship in community that will grow us... for the bible says "bad company corrupts good character"... AND after dying to ourselves and living in Christ daily, we can then function as the church that God desires so that we can love the world and win some lost souls, ya know!!!!!
I love you guys so much! The end of our time here on earth will happen in the blink of an eye and no one really knows when Jesus will come again, but who cares about knowing when he will return... we're living right now so let's LIVE in and through CHRIST.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
the enemy is an idiot!!
There's something about the enemy that just makes me laugh. To me, he's an O'Doyle- one of the big kids who likes to pick on those who are weaker than him. As most of you know, I'm getting married in like ten days or something crazy like that. The past month, I've been getting mad attacks from the enemy. Attacks like me getting sick, being impatient with Hanna for no good reason, lustful temptations, or whatever.
I used to struggle hard core with lust, but I'm a free man. I can confidently say to you that in Christ there is freedom and it's by his power we can be set free. So if you're struggling with that, confess, make the decision to fully change, believe, and live in that freedom. It's that simple. Don't over do freedom, just live it. That's a good one! I'm going to keep it.
"Don't over do freedom, just live it."
Anyways, it was a couple weekends ago and I was working the closing shift on Saturday night. FYI, I work Valet at the nearby Casino. Saturday nights are always filled with lonely girls who are masters at getting their acceptance by the wrong crowd.
By the time I got home around 3:10am, I was super tired and was ready to go to bed. That's when lustful temptations started to press on me. I was so tired and when I'm exhausted like I was, I get a bit... emotional, but I think of it more as passionate, if you know what I mean. So, at the top of my lungs, I yelled out at the enemy to stop the temptations in the name of our Savior, but that didn't stop him. So I decided to just sleep it away. Within seconds after turning off the lights in my room, I hear from the Holy Spirit... Romans 12:6. At that moment, I felt in my heart that God has placed ammunition in my heart to defeat the enemy's attacks. I thanked God for speaking in my life and decided to close my eyes and rest. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to read that verse when I woke up. A couple minutes passed and again, I heard from the Holy Spirit, but this time I heard, Romans 6:12. I swear he was confused at first :)
This time was different when God spoke to me. This time He commanded that I'd turn my lamp on and read Romans 6:12. I thought to myself, it's time to listen or I'm never going to sleep. I turned my lamp on, grabbed my bible next to my bed, and flipped open to Romans 6:12. Now keep in mind that this verse isn't one I've intentionally memorized and it's been over a year since I've even read that verse.
I searched for that verse with my chink eyes and read...
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? The enemy was trying to spread tares in the perfectly good harvest the Holy Spirit has grown in my heart. I then laughed in the enemy's face because I thought I was the idiot for not reading that verse, but really, he's the big idiot around here.
Can you see it now? Starring on the Big Loser...... Lucy, the enemy! Okay... I'm done now. :)
I love you all and would love to read/hear victory stories that you've experienced! It's so exciting to hear stories of the Lord winning and our enemy getting his can.
I used to struggle hard core with lust, but I'm a free man. I can confidently say to you that in Christ there is freedom and it's by his power we can be set free. So if you're struggling with that, confess, make the decision to fully change, believe, and live in that freedom. It's that simple. Don't over do freedom, just live it. That's a good one! I'm going to keep it.
"Don't over do freedom, just live it."
Anyways, it was a couple weekends ago and I was working the closing shift on Saturday night. FYI, I work Valet at the nearby Casino. Saturday nights are always filled with lonely girls who are masters at getting their acceptance by the wrong crowd.
By the time I got home around 3:10am, I was super tired and was ready to go to bed. That's when lustful temptations started to press on me. I was so tired and when I'm exhausted like I was, I get a bit... emotional, but I think of it more as passionate, if you know what I mean. So, at the top of my lungs, I yelled out at the enemy to stop the temptations in the name of our Savior, but that didn't stop him. So I decided to just sleep it away. Within seconds after turning off the lights in my room, I hear from the Holy Spirit... Romans 12:6. At that moment, I felt in my heart that God has placed ammunition in my heart to defeat the enemy's attacks. I thanked God for speaking in my life and decided to close my eyes and rest. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to read that verse when I woke up. A couple minutes passed and again, I heard from the Holy Spirit, but this time I heard, Romans 6:12. I swear he was confused at first :)
This time was different when God spoke to me. This time He commanded that I'd turn my lamp on and read Romans 6:12. I thought to myself, it's time to listen or I'm never going to sleep. I turned my lamp on, grabbed my bible next to my bed, and flipped open to Romans 6:12. Now keep in mind that this verse isn't one I've intentionally memorized and it's been over a year since I've even read that verse.
I searched for that verse with my chink eyes and read...
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? The enemy was trying to spread tares in the perfectly good harvest the Holy Spirit has grown in my heart. I then laughed in the enemy's face because I thought I was the idiot for not reading that verse, but really, he's the big idiot around here.
Can you see it now? Starring on the Big Loser...... Lucy, the enemy! Okay... I'm done now. :)
I love you all and would love to read/hear victory stories that you've experienced! It's so exciting to hear stories of the Lord winning and our enemy getting his can.
Friday, July 3, 2009
MY GLORIOUS REFLECTION
I love my new identity. From when I was birthed from my mother's "garage" to this very day, I have had two identities; my dead self to my current life-filled self.
I hear all the time from people statements like...
"I wish I didn't have to be this way anymore..."
"I want to be more like that person..."
Whatever it is, there is a deep, deep heart cry within people that wishes to be different. And that difference Paul understood... that difference, Jesus strongly understood. He not only understood it, he created the difference.
From when I was an infant until I was nineteen years old, I was dead. I didn't go to church as a child (much) and I really never heard the gospel throughout those days. My early teenage years was filled with disobedience and a sexually immoral lifestyle. Later I came to know of Christ and accepted him in to my life, but lived a carnal lifestyle (accepted Jesus as my Savior, but lived in the shadows of my past sin).
The Spirit created in me my new identity, which I have been living in for nearly four years. I was in Romania and was sick of struggling with sexually-immoral sin. I was sitting on a bench outside the church that I helped build, surrounded by the aroma and singing of Romanian farm life, and the everyday Romanian dialect that echoed for hundreds of feet, which consisted of children's voices and lost parents fighting about who knows what.
From that day forward, I was freed from my past sin. God partnered with the Holy Spirit to empower me to break free! Just as Paul writes in chapter three of Corinthians... "For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom." The beauty of this verse is the context. Paul, in his extravagent wisdom, uses the illustration of the old convent (the law) and new covenant (santification from Jesus)....
"He has made us competent as ministers of a new convenant- not of the letter (aka. the law) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
AHHH!!! Life is calling me so I'm going to end with this...
Life is hard. There is no promise that life will be easy when following Jesus. In fact, I believe there is more of a promise that life will be harder when following Jesus. But with the empowerment of the Spirit, life on earth becomes easier, more rewarding, and full of love. For Paul finishes chapter three of 2 Cor with...
"And we, who with unveiled faces ALL REFLECT the LORD'S GLORY, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (v.18)
As we follow Jesus, endure hardships with the glory of the Lord, we ALL reflect His glory to the world. We all have access to a new identity and that identity is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit's Glory.
I hear all the time from people statements like...
"I wish I didn't have to be this way anymore..."
"I want to be more like that person..."
Whatever it is, there is a deep, deep heart cry within people that wishes to be different. And that difference Paul understood... that difference, Jesus strongly understood. He not only understood it, he created the difference.
From when I was an infant until I was nineteen years old, I was dead. I didn't go to church as a child (much) and I really never heard the gospel throughout those days. My early teenage years was filled with disobedience and a sexually immoral lifestyle. Later I came to know of Christ and accepted him in to my life, but lived a carnal lifestyle (accepted Jesus as my Savior, but lived in the shadows of my past sin).
The Spirit created in me my new identity, which I have been living in for nearly four years. I was in Romania and was sick of struggling with sexually-immoral sin. I was sitting on a bench outside the church that I helped build, surrounded by the aroma and singing of Romanian farm life, and the everyday Romanian dialect that echoed for hundreds of feet, which consisted of children's voices and lost parents fighting about who knows what.
From that day forward, I was freed from my past sin. God partnered with the Holy Spirit to empower me to break free! Just as Paul writes in chapter three of Corinthians... "For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom." The beauty of this verse is the context. Paul, in his extravagent wisdom, uses the illustration of the old convent (the law) and new covenant (santification from Jesus)....
"He has made us competent as ministers of a new convenant- not of the letter (aka. the law) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
AHHH!!! Life is calling me so I'm going to end with this...
Life is hard. There is no promise that life will be easy when following Jesus. In fact, I believe there is more of a promise that life will be harder when following Jesus. But with the empowerment of the Spirit, life on earth becomes easier, more rewarding, and full of love. For Paul finishes chapter three of 2 Cor with...
"And we, who with unveiled faces ALL REFLECT the LORD'S GLORY, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (v.18)
As we follow Jesus, endure hardships with the glory of the Lord, we ALL reflect His glory to the world. We all have access to a new identity and that identity is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit's Glory.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
I WANT TO BE DONE HIBERNATING!!
It's getting crazy super gorgeous up in Western WA as of late. I'm so thankful for this rad sunshine and heat, but it brings out some sort of lack of fulfillment. I would say that most people are like bears. :) Bears go in to hibernation for a season of time and then, they go back in the world doing crazy bear stuff. I think that people in WA similarly "hibernate" during the Winter time, but when Summer approaches, everyone starts getting stoked about life and desires to be in community... ya know, just chillin' with friends at the beach or in the back yard cooking up some BBQ.
I am someone who has been a part of a community for my entire life and it's been really, sort of easy for me to connect to people. But since I've moved, I feel that I have been taken hostage from a community. Father God has created each of us to long for community, and I'm positive He's created me that way... just ten times more intense then others.
I've recently started Youth Pastoring in a church that is filled with two groups, the toddlers and oldies. Besides the two main age-groups, there are maybe one handful of kids that are of "youth group" age, and Hanna and I complete the Young Adults.
I love the church family I've been a part of lately, but I have never had such a difficult time connecting to people. I believe this is the case because the cultural personalities of my church family, whom have been influenced by this city, have created a "speed bump" in my ability to connect. I've been told dozens of times by dozens of people that I have a gift of relating to all sorts of people and I praise the Lord for the people that have helped me realize that gift. But the Lord has truly placed me in a city that I do not know how to reach the lost or even connect to His people.
I think of the Apostle Paul and the amount of time he spent evangelizing in different cities. I'm sure that some cities just fell in love with Christ instantly, while others took forever to grasp the concept of relationship with Christ. But to go beyond each city understanding and believing in Christ, Paul had to first learn how to be culturally sensitive to those cities with the gospel message. I believe that God has placed me here in North Kitsap to endure trials and hardships so that I can grow in the knowledge and power of the Lord.
The coffee shop is closing now so I'll close with...
Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for each of us."
As I said before and I truly believe with my entire heart, the Holy Spirit is fully active and aware that without His power and the death of Christ, we, "cloud of witnesses," wouldn't be able to be unite in spirit and mind.
We are drawn in to and made for community... to be surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses!" And although I feel like a bear who's prematurely woken from hibernation, I have to find a way out of the hindersom quicksand and continue to run, and run, and keep running the race that God has placed me in.
I love you all. The Lord is good and wants us to run with perservance the race we each have been placed in, whether that's working in a cubicle 40 hrs a week, or going to school and volunteering as a youth leader at a church.... God loves us so much and He wants to hear our heart's cry because He will never put us in a situation that we can't handle. AND He wants to be our Savior over and over and over and over and over again so that we, His cloud of witnesses, will continually rest in Him and sing out at the top of our lungs...
"Hallelujah!"
I am someone who has been a part of a community for my entire life and it's been really, sort of easy for me to connect to people. But since I've moved, I feel that I have been taken hostage from a community. Father God has created each of us to long for community, and I'm positive He's created me that way... just ten times more intense then others.
I've recently started Youth Pastoring in a church that is filled with two groups, the toddlers and oldies. Besides the two main age-groups, there are maybe one handful of kids that are of "youth group" age, and Hanna and I complete the Young Adults.
I love the church family I've been a part of lately, but I have never had such a difficult time connecting to people. I believe this is the case because the cultural personalities of my church family, whom have been influenced by this city, have created a "speed bump" in my ability to connect. I've been told dozens of times by dozens of people that I have a gift of relating to all sorts of people and I praise the Lord for the people that have helped me realize that gift. But the Lord has truly placed me in a city that I do not know how to reach the lost or even connect to His people.
I think of the Apostle Paul and the amount of time he spent evangelizing in different cities. I'm sure that some cities just fell in love with Christ instantly, while others took forever to grasp the concept of relationship with Christ. But to go beyond each city understanding and believing in Christ, Paul had to first learn how to be culturally sensitive to those cities with the gospel message. I believe that God has placed me here in North Kitsap to endure trials and hardships so that I can grow in the knowledge and power of the Lord.
The coffee shop is closing now so I'll close with...
Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for each of us."
As I said before and I truly believe with my entire heart, the Holy Spirit is fully active and aware that without His power and the death of Christ, we, "cloud of witnesses," wouldn't be able to be unite in spirit and mind.
We are drawn in to and made for community... to be surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses!" And although I feel like a bear who's prematurely woken from hibernation, I have to find a way out of the hindersom quicksand and continue to run, and run, and keep running the race that God has placed me in.
I love you all. The Lord is good and wants us to run with perservance the race we each have been placed in, whether that's working in a cubicle 40 hrs a week, or going to school and volunteering as a youth leader at a church.... God loves us so much and He wants to hear our heart's cry because He will never put us in a situation that we can't handle. AND He wants to be our Savior over and over and over and over and over again so that we, His cloud of witnesses, will continually rest in Him and sing out at the top of our lungs...
"Hallelujah!"
Friday, May 8, 2009
GOD & MARRIAGE
So Hanna and I watched Fireproof. Probably some of the worst acting I've seen since the 80's. Of course there were some amazing actors in the 80's, but most of the movies, especially comedic movies, seemed to focus on one liners or the big messsage. The first fifteen-twenty minutes of Fireproof seemed especially horrible for some reason.
I think the movies released in the 80's were given so much grace when watched, while the exact opposite happens these days. Even though I have no idea if there is any validity in that statement, I just assume there was because some people were truly pleased with the movies from the 80's. And that is why I believe there was much more grace for the movies back then.
I think that people had to have a mentality of grace because they would end up being extremely (and wrongly, in my opinion) critical. Now-a-days with the many critics, if a movie is horrible in the first fifteen minutes, they'll turn it off or walk out. That criticalness is similar to the music industry.
From about the ages of seventeen to twenty, I was set on pursuing to be a well-known artist. I released two CD's by the time I was twenty, averaged two shows every weekend for over a year, and attended workshops that only striving, hopeful local artists attended.
At the last workshop that I attended in Seattle, there was a statement that completely caught me off guard. A top recruiting agent from Columbia Records said something along the lines, "Ninety-five percent of songs with an intro of strictly music (w/o vocals) that lasts over twenty seconds, we throw out." I was caught off guard because I don't think that I recorded one song that the lyrics started before thirty seconds! HA.
It's obvious that Record companies are extremely critical. Similar to todays movie watchers, they also "throw out" a movie if the acting/story line/filming/CG/etc. is not up to par in the first twenty minutes.
With a graceful attitude, I think that we can be tolerable of any movie. Hanna and I got through the first twenty minutes and I am so thankful for that because Fireproof is actually a beautiful movie. It hit home for me.
Personal synopsis: A couple that are semi-newlyweds (not really) are in an unhealthy marriage driven by selfish motives/actions, rather than selfless motives/actions. They find themselves on the verge of divorce when the husband's father challenges him to the "Love Dare" for fourty days. After the husband accepts and faithfully carries out the Love Dare, he meets God, finds conviction, and desperately fights for his marriage. Watch the movie for the rest.
The Love Dare is freaking beautiful! It helped the main character find, devote his life to, and passionately love God. God has created with me with a tender, sensitive, and humble heart where I find myself tearing/sometimes sobbing at movies that are done well. As I watched this movie portray God changing the hearts of this couple and witnessing the power of God in their lives, it made me LIGHTLY sob. HA! It was serioulsly beautiful and I think they did a great job of showing the power of the gospel in a culturally relevant way.
In conclusion, what hit for me was the script at the end of the movie. It resonated so much with my own heart and desire for my future marriage. And future marriage is coming in THREE MONTHS!!!
Thanks for reading. I usually don't like reading or writing critiques, but I do love God and marriage and that just happens to be what Fireproof is all about.
I love you all.
I think the movies released in the 80's were given so much grace when watched, while the exact opposite happens these days. Even though I have no idea if there is any validity in that statement, I just assume there was because some people were truly pleased with the movies from the 80's. And that is why I believe there was much more grace for the movies back then.
I think that people had to have a mentality of grace because they would end up being extremely (and wrongly, in my opinion) critical. Now-a-days with the many critics, if a movie is horrible in the first fifteen minutes, they'll turn it off or walk out. That criticalness is similar to the music industry.
From about the ages of seventeen to twenty, I was set on pursuing to be a well-known artist. I released two CD's by the time I was twenty, averaged two shows every weekend for over a year, and attended workshops that only striving, hopeful local artists attended.
At the last workshop that I attended in Seattle, there was a statement that completely caught me off guard. A top recruiting agent from Columbia Records said something along the lines, "Ninety-five percent of songs with an intro of strictly music (w/o vocals) that lasts over twenty seconds, we throw out." I was caught off guard because I don't think that I recorded one song that the lyrics started before thirty seconds! HA.
It's obvious that Record companies are extremely critical. Similar to todays movie watchers, they also "throw out" a movie if the acting/story line/filming/CG/etc. is not up to par in the first twenty minutes.
With a graceful attitude, I think that we can be tolerable of any movie. Hanna and I got through the first twenty minutes and I am so thankful for that because Fireproof is actually a beautiful movie. It hit home for me.
Personal synopsis: A couple that are semi-newlyweds (not really) are in an unhealthy marriage driven by selfish motives/actions, rather than selfless motives/actions. They find themselves on the verge of divorce when the husband's father challenges him to the "Love Dare" for fourty days. After the husband accepts and faithfully carries out the Love Dare, he meets God, finds conviction, and desperately fights for his marriage. Watch the movie for the rest.
The Love Dare is freaking beautiful! It helped the main character find, devote his life to, and passionately love God. God has created with me with a tender, sensitive, and humble heart where I find myself tearing/sometimes sobbing at movies that are done well. As I watched this movie portray God changing the hearts of this couple and witnessing the power of God in their lives, it made me LIGHTLY sob. HA! It was serioulsly beautiful and I think they did a great job of showing the power of the gospel in a culturally relevant way.
In conclusion, what hit for me was the script at the end of the movie. It resonated so much with my own heart and desire for my future marriage. And future marriage is coming in THREE MONTHS!!!
Thanks for reading. I usually don't like reading or writing critiques, but I do love God and marriage and that just happens to be what Fireproof is all about.
I love you all.
(4) Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
(5) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, "Never I will leave you, never I will forsake you."
-- Hebrews 13
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