The Trinity

Ok so usually I post what I have recently learned but in this case I am doing something different. I am trying to wrap my mind around the trinity and it is just so freaking confusing to me. I already watched the sermon by driscoll and it helped a bit but I still feel like I am in way over my head on this subject. If anybody has any ideas on passages I can read that may clear this up a bit more I would appreciate it.

2 months

I can't believe it has been two months since I wrote anything. Sorry to anybody who actually takes the time to read this. First I got caught up in projects, then exams, then winter break, and most recently winter weekend. Going into this past weekend I was very unsure about alot of things.

For a few weeks prior to this weekend I felt like my relationship with Christ and my walk was dead as a doornail. I felt so far away from God and whatever it was He had planned for me. I fell back into the content ways I struggled so long to get out of. The very thing I wrote about on this blog months prior became my enemy again. Laziness, contentment, and excuses littered my life and I struggled in my walk because of it. For those thinking I am just looking for sympathy here I assure you that is not the case and there is in fact a happy ending to this story.

A week ago I decided to start preparing for wyldlife weekend. This was extremely difficult when I felt sooo far from God. I became very anxious as to how I was expected to share Christ with kids if I was struggling myself. At times I contemplated whether or not I should continue leading or just hang up the towel. Thankfully God got to me before I did anything to rash. The very thing I was going to talk about with the guys who were already Christians is the thing I was struggling with myself.

A relationship with Christ is not just accepting that Christ came to earth and died for our sins but it is also about pushing deeper into a loving relationship with Him. The bible isn't going to open itself and read it's words aloud to you. YOU have to take the initiative to get in there and read the word and spend time with the Lord. We need to be steadfast in our longing to know God and we need to put an effort into praying continually and spending time with the Lord. God gives us the tools to get to know Him better but if we neglect to use things like the Bible then we are rejecting one of the greatest gifts God has given us on this earth.

2 verses that I have been focuzin on alot lately:

1Thessalonians 5:16-18- Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1John 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

One is the loneliest number...

Wow. That's all I can say. God keeps His promises.

Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Whether you believe in strength in numbers or whatever one thing is clear. We are not meant to tackle Christianity and life on this earth alone. God purposefully puts people into our lives for us to have meaningful relationships with, Godly relationships. Not just relationships that don't go below the surface but deep down spiritual based relationships.

Man time is something that was started after going to Cayo Costa last year for spring break. Only a couple of us have been showing up this year and for the past few weeks we haven't met because we were all so busy. Last night we met for the first time in prolly a month and it was amazing. People often say you don't know what you got till it's gone, that was so very true in this case.

God just opens up our eyes so much more when we sit down with fellow Christians and talk about our ups and our downs. Yes, the downs too. I have realized that in good fellowship you can't bring only half of yourself to the table because more than likely the half your not bringing with you is a half full of sin that you are ashamed of. I'm the same way but I am fighting through it. Trust me when I say that confessing your sins to others does many things for your spiritual growth.

When you share your struggles with others it helps for a stronger bond between the group making the environment even more loving and more comfortable for everyone involved. This can only lead to more great fellowship down the road. The second thing is does it makes others aware of what your going through. More than likely your not the only one going through a particular problem. This then allows you to talk to other Christians about how overcome whatever it is your struggling with.

For the sake of keeping this short (cuz I have had a couple extremely long ones) I will just end with saying please please please get into some sort of fellowship. Read the Word together, share your struggles and your accomplishments, and pray together.

Quick thought

This one will be short I promise.

I got into a debate with someone tonight and I figured I would share just in case someone else out there is wondering this. The question was "The Jewish God is the same as the Christian God. So do Jews go to heaven too?"

My blunt answer to this would be no. This is how I have come to this conclusion.

In John 14 Jesus is answering a bunch of questions the disciples have about where Jesus is going and how to find the way to the Lord. John 14:6 reads: Jesus anwered,"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus lays it out on the table pretty simple if you ask me. The only way to the father is through Christ and without Christ we are still separated from the Lord.

Therefore, since those of Jewish faith do not believe that Christ was God in the flesh they aew not able to experience God through Christ.

(I hope this all made sense cuz I'm really tired and it may just sound like rubbish)

This might make people mad but...

When I was a brand new Christian I heard a sermon by Francis Chan but I really didn't think to much about it until recently. In the sermon Chan addresses the deceases and those who we love that now reside in heaven.

When Lauren and Miranda died a year and a half ago (wow i didn't realize it had been that long already) everyone kept saying things like "they are in heaven right now looking over us." At the time this made me happy at the time but I no longer think thats the case. (This is the part that might make people mad) I do not think that people in heaven are looking over us. We would be selfish to think they are, in my opinion.

In Revelation 1 John describes what happens upon him seeing the Son of God. In the first part of Revelation 1:17 John says "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead". Fell at His feet as though dead. John, who had seen and traveled with Jesus as He performed miracles, was in awe of the full glory of the Lord. John then goes on to describe the scene of heaven when God beckons him there.

" 11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. "

Angels in the THOUSANDS praise the Lord on high.

If this is whats going on in heaven are we really cocky enough to say that we are better than that? Are we more interesting than the Lord? I would have to lean on the side of no for this one. I think it's safe to say that our loved ones in heaven have better things to focus their eyes on than the crappy and broken world that they have left behind for the perfect creation that is heaven.

In the words of Jillian Potter

Love is not complacency

I promise I'll keep this one short cuz the last one was quite lengthy.

I feel that I, and prolly anybody who reads this, let God down in this respect. We love God. There is no denying that. But if we love him why do persist on staying stagnant in our relationships with Him.

I realize that we are all guilty, I include myself in this, of putting other things before God. I myself am a college student who leads ministry and works. On top of that I have homework and need time to spend with my friends and family. My excuse for not finding time to spend with God somedays is that I am just to busy with other things. Matthew 6:25-33 talks about worrying about these things.

Do Not Worry

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Why worry about earthly things? This passage is still incredibly prevalent today almost 2000 years after befing written. Why worry about what you wear? Does God care what you wear. If I had to guess I would say I highly doubt it. If this is the case why do we waste time on something so trivial and meaningless? Not only clothes but many things in our lives are just earthyl possessions that do nothing but deter us from delving deeper into our relationship with Christ. Christ should be the center of our lives and by prioritizing other things above Him is not putting Him first in your life is it?

Again, I am incredibly guilty of this myself. On a daily basis I put my own selfish wants and needs over my relationship with Christ. I am getting better at it but I still struggle alot. My question to you is why waste time checking facebook countless times? Why waste time playing video games hours a day? Why waste time searching for new music on iTunes? What is all this doing for you in your relationship with Christ? At the most all this stuff is doing is stopping you from spending meaningful time with the Lord.

Instead of spending these hours doing meaningless things why not put them to use? You have all this time to spend on doing anything you want. Why not spend it with the Lord? Are video games, music, and facebook to important to put on hold to spend some good quality time in the Word? Im not saying spend all your freetime in the Word, God wants you to to rest and have fun. Instead i'm just asking you to think about whats inportant in life and instead of wasting time everyday why not spend sometime with god and see what He is trying to teach you that day.

So it's kinda late...

but that shall not deter me from talking about Jesus.

First I shall fill you in on my life for the past two weeks then we will get to the reason I write this thing. Um where to begin... well last week it was Colerains homecoming and I got to hang out with the guys at the game. It was cool, I had the opportunity to talk to Austin and Joey a little bit about what they thought of God and I found out something interesting. They both respect God and love God but both of them are not sure how to push into a relationship with Him on a deeper level. So thats my goal with these three guys (Austin, Colin, and Joey). They all already know the Lord so I'm going to show them how to grow in the Lord and how to live our the word.

Um what else? My mom went to the doctor this week. She found out she has two spots that may be cancerous. I am now becoming aware just how little I know about cancer. She went to the hospital to see whats up and they don't know anything yet.

After two months of looking I finally got a job offer at Walmart stocking third shift. I will be making good money and may able to finally not have to stress over car payments and that kind of stuff constantly. That will be nice. The interview is monday, I hope it goes good.

So as far as the first two things go (the boys and my mom) if you could keep them in your prayers that would be awesome. As for the job thing... if you want to pray for that you can. I won't stop you.


Ok now for the good stuff. For nonchristians or followers of Christ, what I am about to write is what I feel started me off on the track towards becoming a follower of Christ. For christians I feel that what I am about to write is a very simple part of our faith but it is something that I often take for granted and unfortunately don't think about and thank God for as much as I should. This simple but great idea is Gods unconditional love for us.

Romans 3:23 Its a classic Young Life verse that usually surfaces during the sin/cross talk. It states "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We are all sinners. Everybody. Period. Sin comes in all different shapes and forms but sin is sin and it is something that unfortunately controls most of our lives. Whether it be lust, greed, or even complacency we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. What do we deserve for this? If you ask me we all deserve eternal damnation. Whats the other great Young Life line? The first part of Romans 6:23 "for the wages of sin is death". Death. Not just physical death, something that everybody will inevidably got through, but death in the sense of eternity spent away form our Father who loves us. Daily we turn away from Him or we don't include Him in the things we do. Whether that be ministry, spending time with friends, or sitting alone in your room. God created us to love Him and to have an open loving relationship with Him. Why do we feel that it is to much of a burden to spend time with Him on a daily basis. I am not just pointing a finger and saying that everybody else is at fault while I am in the clear. I sin and turn away from the Lord just as much as everyone else, christian or nonchristian.

Romans 6:23 in its entirety reads "for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". Another verse that goes good with this is one that anybody who went to sunday school as a kid knows and thats John 3:16 which reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." God loves us so much that He humbled Himself enough to send His son here to this very earth to live amongst us, teach amongst us, and eventually die for us. Us, sinners, we are the reason God send His son here to die on the cross. He wanted that relationship with us. He didn't want us to be closed off. Christians often think that in our lives we choose God but didn't God really choose us by sending Jesus here? God could just be chillen up in heaven right now by Himself but He is a merciful God and allows us to know Him and love Him in a way that we can't love anything else.

God doesn't care that your a sinner. He doesn't care if you are rich, poor, ugly, fat, have acne, are a gold medalist, a fashion model, or event he president. When God looks at you He doesn't see those things, He sees someone that He loves unconditionally and will do anything for. Some people think that because they are poor and don't live the best life that God doesnt love them. This could not be further from the truth.

To those who believe that the Lord doesn't love them because of the choices they have made or continue to make in their lives I would like to point out the story of the adultress in the temple.

John 8

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

In this passage Christ encounters a woman who is clearly a sinner in the eyes of those around her yet Jesus does not condemn her at all. Instead He tells her to go and leave her life of sin. He does not scorn her, He does not say a single negative thing to this women. This is because of His unconditional love for all of us. Even in His final hours on the cross Jesus prayed for forgiveness of those who were crucifying Him. If He can forgive all these people for turning against Him do you really still believe that He doesn't forgive you for the things you have done in your life?

And to those who still doubt I say just look at Christs disciples, the guys hwo followed Him around and became His closer friends here on earth. The disciples included a bunch of fishermen, a zealot, and someone who down the road would turn Him in to be crucified. The fishermen weren't the rich people of the land. They went out and worked long and hard for their money but yet the Lord reached out to them and loved them. He didn't care if they were poor or not, He just cared that they were His children and that He loved them unconditionally. Then there is Simon the zealot. For those of you who don't know what a zealot is it's someone who is zealous in their God and will rebel against those who disagree with them. This could often lead to the zealots killing others. But Jesus did not care what Simon had done. He just cared that He was His unconditionally loved son. See a pattern yet? Then finally there is Judas. The traitor. Jesuss' life on this earth was always destined to end on the cross and He knew it. He knew that Judas would eb the one to betray Him. But yet He picked Judas to follow Him and learn about the Lord. Why? Because Judas was His son and He loved him unconditionally. Jesus loved even those who were a direct threat to His life and He loved them unconditionally and never showed contempt towards any of them. You and I are the same way. No matter how we have lived our lives thusfar God still loves us more than we can even start to imagine.

Romans 5:8
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."