Walking with Jesus :-)

I am kind of excited for life at the moment. i wasn’t for a few months, it was pretty...

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 22:54:19 -0400

I am kind of excited for life at the moment.
    i wasn’t for a few months, it was pretty depressing, but God lifts us up when we place our hope in him once again, and really ask him to satisfy us
    I am starting to walk after him again fully, its a process, especially when we have so many issues in life and so many uncertainties or whatever, but I think its when we say, Jesus, I need you, I want to stop doing what I am doing, and start following you, that the times of loneliness go away.
    I’m saying this as someone that is perpetually single, I really desire to be in a relationship, and I want that comfort of having someone to talk to all the time with, but the truth is I need that kind of relationship with God in order to ever even come close to being able to be that for my wife one day

5 Months of Trial

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:15:05 -0400

Trials of this life are the best thing in the world. They prepare us for the real trials that lay ahead. I know within the next so many years that I will be in a very hostile environment, out of the comforts of America, possibly even in a Muslim country. I bet I will feel more at home there than here interestingly enough because I’ll love it so much that people LIKE to talk about God. I will truly be in my element once I leave America, I think God made me this way, that I am really not meant for Southern California where God is the last thing in our conversations a lot of times. It is here that I feel like a sojourner and an alien in the land. And this is awesome because Abraham was an alien in the land as well, but God told him of his true home, it wasn’t in the city, it wasn’t where everyone else was making setting up shop and planning for the long haul, it was in the Promised Land that God promised to him.

My journey in this life is going to take me to many places in the world, to many people that desperately need Jesus, to the ends of the Earth probably. It is cool because the final two quarters of school I will be learning all about Islam, the Qu’ran, the pilgrimage that Muslims are required to take in a lifetime, and Islam in America. I am praying and hope that I make Muslims friends in the next two quarters and really start to understand their religion and culture more. I heard the saying I.S.L.A.M. before… I SINCERELY LOVE ALL MUSLIMS. This is my prayer request that God would put Muslims on my heart and let me meet Muslim friends in the next year. God please break my heart for the two billion Muslims in the world who desperately need to know you, please give me a desire to learn the languages of the people, and please put in me a love for Muslims that you have for these people.

I am so excited for missions this summer, I really hope that I get to go to North Africa/Tunisia and be part of a new mission team that just was formed this month! God is really amazing, he has everything in his hands, and he knows the plans he has for me. The thing is that I have started to realize that all things really do work together for those who he loves, he wants the best for us, he isn’t going to give us the less than the best.

Contentment, humility, faithfulness, willingness and patience.

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:40:43 -0500

Contentment, humility, faithfulness, willingness, and patience.

Through this valley of struggling with wanting a relationship leading to marriage before God desired it. I have found that these five characteristics are the things that God wants me to work on. They aren’t anything new and I’ve seen the Lord grow me in faithfulness and willingness quite a bit over the last five years. I find myself still though not content always, and impatient quite often especially when it comes to relationships.

I even know the verses that the New Testament talks about these verses because they are things that I have memorized and really sought out exposition of the Bible for the true meaning of these passages such as for the contentment passage found in Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹²I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

During this time of having all my power stripped away from me for the last month. I think I am learning even more of what Paul was talking about because I had plenty over the last 3 months. God would fill me up with the power of his Holy Spirit and allow me to lead in ways I could never understand and have power in my prayer life, worship life, and in leadership, and seeing disciples have their lives transformed by being influenced by me sharing my life and the Word and praying with them. I saw brothers become more like Christ in a short period of time and it was the most amazing thing ever to kind of feel proud about that your spiritual children are becoming mature. Now though, I can pray in private, but in terms of service and discipleship… I feel that I can do very little during this time and have few opportunities to do anything meaningful. I am in a time of need, and have been brought low for sure. I believe I must learn this secret that Paul is talking about during this time because I believed he cried out to the Lord during the valleys of his life. He chose to rejoice anyways even despite his darkest times of his life. I couldn’t do it honestly for a week, but yesterday, I chose to do it regardless. I could not change my feelings, or even thoughts, and still haven’t been able to, but I could choose to have my soul rejoice in the Lord and be thankful that God saved me and has had infinite patience with me which is I guess in a way teaching me patience. Since he has dealt with me kindly, gently, and not too harshly to the point of unbearable suffering.

The one thing that marks this valley that is different than all the other valleys has been that I have not run away from God, maybe sometimes in actions, but not in Spirit. I have read my Bible every day, and prayed to him every single day seeking earnestly for him to help me and change, and also I have rejoiced in my sufferings for I know that one day they will be used to encourage another brother or sister struggling with the very common things that I am going through. Jesus is my Lord and my King, I trust in him to teach me and shape me through this difficult time, and at the proper time to lead me out of this valley and into a new climb to another peak of increased maturity and wisdom and knowledge of Him!

Empowerment

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:38:31 -0500

Sometime this afternoon after I finished finals, I went into the room to have quiet time. I was reading a fictional book about spiritual warfare for entertainment purposes. I then listened to my roommate singing in the shower praise songs and songs that have never been sung before on Earth. He sang his own songs to the Lord. In the midst of enjoying and eavesdropping just a little. I heard the Lord speak to me a word, Empower. My roommate came to me a year ago, with me and Chris Wong sometimes being pushed to our limit dealing with my brother that was singing today. He was unrefined, he was stubborn and prideful, and he was sometimes super depressing to be around. However, I took up the lead and knew that God wanted me to invest my life into him because I met him the very first day I stepped in class at UCR with this T-Shirt saying, Jesus Christ. I realized what had happened, by our investing our lives into this brother and our always praying for him, we took part in empowering him to become the servant he is today. The transformation in his life has been like night and day. It isn’t that he is without sin by any means, but this guy is a super servant-like brother now.

Two and a half months ago, at the beginning of this quarter, I felt God give me supernatural power and strength to live the Christian life out in a way that was much more personal. My prayer life became intense and every single day, the Word spoke to me every day, and I have not stopped I don’t think for a day from reading the Word even during times when struggling with sin, I will still pray and read the word. What happened that day? I think today I got my answer. There are three baptism’s in the Bible. One is when we get baptized into the body of Christ during salvation when we profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. One is the baptism by water where we publicly profess God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and publicly proclaim to the world that we will follow Christ and leave our old lives behind. The third one though I find never talked about, especially in America. This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I do believe that the fruit of the Holy Spirit becomes evident in believers and we become more like him as we pursue him after we get saved, sanctification. But there is definitely a supernatural event also found in the New Testament that is different then the previous two baptisms. This is when we get filled with power and supernatural gifts that are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. Our senses become heightened, we grow in compassion for the lost, our prayer and worship becomes powerful and changed, and then I believe God begins to work miracles in our lives and in the people that we pray for. I am not saying that miracles do not happen without this in people’s lives, but I truly believe that they become much more frequent, and our intimacy with God reaches a much higher level of dependence.

Since that day two and a half months ago, my prayer requests have changed. Every day is the same prayer, Teach me, Lead Me, Guide Me, Mold Me, Shape Me. Your Will be done. My prayers do not end there, but I definitely did not pray every single day that God’s will be done in my life for the first 5 years of my Christian life. I remember specifically a day right before summer break from school that I met up with my roommate and explained to him that the Holy Spirit was a person, it was He that gave us power from above, He that worked miracles in our lives, and that God wanted Chris to receive this empowerment as well. Whatever happened over the summer I can only give credit to Jesus because by Fall he was a completely different man. I do not know if my brother was baptized by the Holy Spirit or whatever, but I do know that his life has power in it now. His witness and sensitivity to the things of God has increased dramatically. Regardless, I testify that it was the Holy Spirit that transformed my life from super passionate guy about Jesus to super passion guy about Jesus empowered with the Holy Spirit and able to serve him in capabilities far greater than before. I truly believe that this is what God wants to do in every believer in my church. He wants to baptize us with the Holy Spirit so then we can be powerful witnesses to the world for Christ and at the same time empower others.

Everything is garbage in comparison to Knowing Christ.

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:05:31 -0500

⁷But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

This is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible because of its stark comparison of knowing Christ to everything else in life. The Greek word Skubalon which is translated as rubbish or garbage. Perhaps even more strong of a description can be found in the following meanings of the word: any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, dregs, of things worthless and detestable. A modern way of saying this is everything is like dog poop compared to knowing Jesus. Paul’s desire to know Christ in verse 10 and the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings is something to admire and pursue after. I have found that even though sometimes I chase after other of these things that are rubbish, I have become much quicker to desire and know Christ the longer that I have walked after Christ after experiencing the quick but temporary joys of being thrilled at things found on this Earth. This morning, although this last week has been a time of learning from one of these times, I have been quick to repent of my short-sightedness and turn back to desiring nothing but Him. It is pretty amazing that you can grow leaps and bounds through simply repenting and humbling yourself once again to become a servant and slave of Christ once again. Our finiteness and fickle-mindedness as God’s people in contrast to the infinite wisdom and power, and steadfast love of the mind and heart of Christ available to us if we will just trust in the Lord and ask to be filled by his Holy Spirit daily through communing with him and feeding on his daily bread, his word, his presence, and his guidance.

On a side note, I totally love the direction that our church is going and the fact that as a whole, the need of discipleship was so wholly addressed by our entire congregation in unity of mind. It is so cool because this is something that I’ve been praying for the whole church for awhile while quietly doing it. Even though I have no real authority in the church or that much influence, it is cool to know that God puts on our hearts visions for his kingdom so far in advance before they come to fruit in your local church. I love A-Life to death, and approve whole-heartily of all the proposals that were passed yesterday.

Where there is no Belief, There is no Relief

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 02:12:00 -0500

So I attended my friend church tonight for their Friday night Bible Study. We studied Isaiah 7 and 8 which is about the unbelief of King Ahaz and ultimately the unbelief of the Jewish nation as a whole when God’s prophet Isaiah asked the current King Ahaz to trust in the Lord and not in the alliances he was trying to make with other nations in his own strength and power. Isaiah told King Ahaz to pray for anything and basically God would do it for him. He was given a blank check by God, and his response was a very religious and pious answer, “I can’t ask God of anything of that sorts, it would be wrong.” After this response that demonstrated King Ahaz’s lack of faith and unbelief, Isaiah as if talking past King Ahaz, then prophesied and prays to the whole house of David that a virgin would bear a child and call him Immanuel, God with us.

Now we as Christians know that this is a prophecy regarding Jesus and his virgin birth because God says that this divine son will inherit the land that King Ahaz is going to lose even though he isn’t born yet, and that he will of course set up a government and a kingdom that will never end in Isaiah 9. The pastor then addressed the issues of why Jewish rabbis of today do not believe in the translation that Jewish rabbis had of the word “alma” or virgin and instead translate it young woman of childbearing age today. 2200 years ago, Jewish rabbis translated the Book of Isaiah from Hebrew into Greek, and used a Greek word that always means virgin when it is used. Why the change? Because of unbelief and the hardness of their hearts. Just as the Pharisees denied Christ 2000 years ago and declared that he cast out demons in the name of Satan, which doesn’t make any logical sense at all, so the Jewish people of today also deny Christ. Jewish rabbis deny Christ because he didn’t establish the Kingdom as was promised in Isaiah, but in God’s eyes, he didn’t establish it yet because of the unbelief of the Jewish people. He will establish at his second coming, but for now in his great wisdom, he has decided to make his Son a stumbling block to the Jews, but yet life and honey to the Gentiles that will believe in his name.

The pastor summed up the history of Israel and why God didn’t establish the Kingdom that was promised to David when Jesus came to Earth and died for our sins in the phrase “If there is no belief, then there will be no relief.” Unbelief is why God passed over the Jewish people and gave the nations the chance to be redeemed and be saved through Jesus Christ. We as the church often live our lives in unbelief as well, and so this isn’t just a Jewish thing, us Christians that live in America no longer believe in a God that does miracles either or one that will offer us a blank check if we ask of it. Even my friend shared at home group and apologized to God because of his unbelief I think primarily because I asked for God to heal my friend’s mom of cancer when perhaps he couldn’t. I must say that I too once doubted in the healing power of God, but I must say that I do not any more. This isn’t to say that I don’t struggle with my doubts still, but I must say that God has increased my faith greatly in the last two months from one that doubted that God can heal a sick person to one that fully believes that God has the power to do what he says he can do, and the Bible says he can create life out of nothing, and so certainly he can heal someone of cancer.

Let us become a people that believes God can truly do what he says he can do. If he can forgive and save sinners from a spiritual death that separated them from Him for all eternity, certainly he can also heal every disease, every broken relationship, and provide for anything that we need or ask for through the great and powerful working of the Holy Spirit. Christ dwells in us, let us believe that He who rests in us lies all the strength, healing power, and resources that we need to live victorious lives in Him every single day and conquer every sin that weighs us down.

One Family

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:47:00 -0500

Some recent events have made me reminisce about how God has brought my family together to work together in unity to help my dad get nursed back to help. I remember to this day carrying a super heavy hospital bed with my mom and brother for what seemed like forever to my dad’s 4th or 5th nursing home/assistant care living facility. Or how during my cousin’s 50th birthday party how me and my brother sat in the middle of the table and were able to split the conversations around the dinner table in half, generating a lot of conversations with estranged family members. Or how my dad called me up on two different occasions telling me good bye and that he wasn’t going to be here tomorrow and that he was about to pass away. I was with my mom during that night with her supporting her as she sobbed. The truth is that even in the most dire of circumstances, God can use for his glory and demonstrate his great love for us by deepening our bonds and realizing how weak we really are alone. Families were never meant to be splintered. separated, and individualized, but rather be the basic unit of life with which all other life will follow.

At morning prayer on Tuesday, my pastor prayed pretty much for all the married couples at church and all of those considering or are dating to have their relationship built upon the rock, the Word of God, Jesus, and prayer. He also has prayed constantly throughout his time ministering as a pastor that there would not be any divorce within our church. In turn after being around all these years, I too have internalized these same values and pray for the same exact things. This morning, I prayed for my two roommates families almost exclusively and my roommates do the same for each other as well. This partnership of husband and wife is a great mystery that is compared to Christ’s relationship with the church as Paul states in Ephesians 5:31-32, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. This is a great mystery that is lost in our day and age. those Christians that have experienced and have been revealed by God the truth of these two statements will be powerful witnesses in our generation that is characterized by single parent households and divorced households.

The Joy and the Sorrow

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:00:21 -0400

The Joy and the Sorrow.

I went to bed last night feeling the most secure I have ever felt in Christ. I let my roommate know about it too, and he responded with I wish I could know what that feels like because all I feel is sorrow. He told me that the one thing he prayed for was Solomon’s prayer, that he would be given wisdom. With great wisdom comes great sorrow.

I woke up this morning with many praise songs on my heart and that security still rests in my heart as I type this, but today as I walked through Stater Brothers, another feeling or thought went through my head because I was so happy and overjoyed because my security is found in the Lord. I looked around the store, straight faces, no joy, no happiness, probably not many people can have the luxury of having the life where you have everything, you do not have to worry about anything literally, and experience the security of the Lord. I felt a need to mask my feelings because I knew that no one would be able to understand, and I didn’t get the feeling that today was one of those days where I would brighten someone’s days by smiling at them or expressing to them what God would had done in my life. My security in the Lord is just as strong as last night, but the feelings of sorrow, knowing that these people do not know the Lord, have never experienced his incredible love for us, and that they might not ever. I then listened to an old school song Above All and found myself weeping for the world.

Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders
The world has ever known
Above all wealth
And treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure
What You’re worth

Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Woke up this morning with the song Shine by Matt Redman on my heart :) Lord we have seen the rising...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:05:56 -0400

Woke up this morning with the song Shine by Matt Redman on my heart :)

Lord we have seen the rising sun, awakening the early dawn,
And we´re rising up to give you praise.
Lord we have seen the stars and moon, see how they shine,
They shine for you,
And You´re calling us to do the same.
So we rise up with a song, and we rise up with a cry
And we´re giving you our lives.

We will shine like stars in the universe,
Holding out Your truth in the darkest place.
We´ll be living for Your glory,
Jesus we´ll be living for Your glory.
We will burn so bright with Your praise O God,
And declare Your light to this broken world.
We´ll be living for Your glory,
Jesus we´ll be living for Your glory.

Like the sun so radiantly
Sending light for all to see,
Let your holy church arise
Exploding into life,
Like a supernova´s light,
Set your holy church on fire;
We will shine.

Best Day of My Life

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:03:30 -0400

MORNING PRAYER WITH ROOMMATES

DO DEVOTIONS!! Psalm 24/25

SING PRAISE SONGS AND PRAY FOR EVERYONE and EVERYTHING

Meet up with Fellow Canadian Missionary and Catch up

DO BIBLE STUDY AND HELP HOME GROUP MEMBER COME UP WITH IDEAS FOR WORD TIME TOMORROW

FOR FIRST TIME IN LIFE - BEING ABLE TO BE BOLD AND FEEL LIKE MY ENTIRE LIFE IS TRANSFORMED WITH A NEW FOUND FREEDOM

BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT!

GO TO HOME GROUP AND EXPERIENCE GOD REALLY MOVING WITHIN THE GROUP

EVERYONE HUNGERING FOR GOD’s WORD, PRAYER, AND ACCCOUNTABILITY

I’ve always felt that my strength or life as a Christian seemed to coincide with the unity of my church. Since my church is united, I feel as if I’m surrounded by a million witnesses and people praying for me, and have so many teammates to work with to do God’s work! Interesting because it was God who put that dream in my heart four years ago that we would be a transparent church without walls and that we would truly be one people. It is the coolest thing in the world to see the dreams God gives us come true.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Ah, the simplicity of Psalm 23, yet the power behind...

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 03:04:00 -0400

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Ah, the simplicity of Psalm 23, yet the power behind the truth of it if indeed this attitude is found within a follower of Christ. A disciple of Christ who demands that his attitude be of one that does not want what he wants, but wants what God wants him to have. A man who is fully content in whatever the creator of the universe and sustainer of life provides for him. This is what I long for. The NIV version words it a little differently, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” How different life is now from even a year ago. A year ago, I was so needy in so many different things that I didn’t trust in the Lord with. I wanted so many things, some of which God honored, but many that were merely fleshly desires and wants. Today, I am at a good place, I want more of what God wants much more than a year ago. One idea that God put in my mind for an attitude for this year to be a person that cares about what the Father in Heaven cares about. I want to care about what Jesus cares about, and if that is my attitude, I shall not want, and I will lack nothing. Or as Matthew says it, “But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Again, another attitude, a seeker kind of attitude, a seeker of Jesus Christ, wherever he is, whatever he is doing, that is what we are commanded to seek first. What is his righteousness anyways? I am not sure, but I am sure that it has to do with being completely satisfied with Christ. It has something to do with the beginning of the Book of Genesis when Adam and Eve walked with God, talked with God, fellowshipped with God without any fear of condemnation, guilt, or shame. It has something to do with not fearing people, or God, but rather embracing them, and enjoying them.

I am really blessed to be able to have these things shown to me and to be able to share and teach and be used by God as a example of these kinds of things. It really is amazing that five years ago that I was a disciple of video games that discipled other gamers but now I am a disciple of Christ who gets to disciple others!! SO COOL! SO AWESOME! Praise the Lord! ^_^ So Happy!

O.N.E. Spirit Returns!

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 03:11:00 -0400

Yesterday we had around 35 people stuffed into my one bedroom apartment praising the Lord and joining together in unity with one mind, purpose, and goal. People from different walks of life, colleges, and different fellowships. You knew God was moving in the place because everyone around at all even the non-Christians like my landlord who lives next door obviously have been blessed and greatly open to having discussions about Jesus. I suppose there have been many frat parties in the apartment complex, but probably never a night of true fellowship such as last night there. It is pretty cool seeing your prayer request come true. My friend and co-leader Konlly asked if I had any prayer requests earlier in the day. I told him my only prayer request was that home group would be awesome and that it would be the momentum starter that we needed to really start doing God’s work. There was so much energy in the room. How sweet it is when brother’s and sisters come together in unity. Sweet fellowship with one another and sweet fellowship with God.

It is pretty amazing because although I put in so many hours this week and last week really reaching out to people and inviting them to come to HG, and making new friends, and really being intentional with my relationships all over campus. I was just one person, that was playing his part that God gave me as a facilitator and person that networked with other fellow believers. Everyone else whether I asked them or not also played their role as well. The inter-fellowship groups on campus praying Wednesday morning and having a vision that Christians would unite together. It is Jesus that made the night so powerful yesterday because things did not go according to plan. We had a spontaneous worship leader who wasn’t even suppose to lead, step up and lead. Two amazing speakers, Ruth and Joe who work together like a team and have this totally interesting dynamic together when speaking. A pastor coming out on a late Thursday night and staying two hours past his bedtime talking to my roommate about spiritual truths. And then 14 or 15 of the people after home group went on a late night Donut run :)

It is my prayer request that God now leads, guides, and shows us what are the next steps to do with this amazing group of brother’s sisters. I really want to seek after what is God’s heart for us, and what plans he has in store. It was my prayer quest a long time ago that our house would be a house of prayer, worship, and fellowship. But it is also my prayer request that we would raise up many leaders and create many more home groups in the Riverside area that are built upon guiding principles that make a successful home group such as it is the servant, not the service that really matters or honesty and transparency with God, fellow believers, and non-believers. We are a family of believers in a community serving one another all to the glory of God. We will be a people that give our money, our time, and our lives to serve the Lord. We would not leave any souls behind because we didn’t get it our best effort to win them over to Christ. We will be a people that build our lives upon the Word of God and close communion with God through prayer and worship. And lastly, we would be a people with an eternal perspective so that we will keep discipling people and keep multiplying home groups until Jesus returns.

Asleep In The Light Do you see, do you seeAll the people sinking downDon’t you care,...

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 01:18:32 -0400

Asleep In The Light

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don’t you care, don’t you care
Are you gonna let them drown

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job’s done

“Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord”
You know it’s all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds
And He cares for your needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in,
Oh, can’t you see it’s such a sin?

Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away
As you smile and say,
“God bless you, be at peace”
And all heaven just weeps
Cause Jesus came to your door
You’ve left him out on the streets

Open up open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay

God’s calling and you’re the one
But like Jonah you run
He’s told you to speak
But you keep holding it in,
Oh can’t you see it’s such a sin?

The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can’t fight
Cause it’s asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you’ve been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can’t even get out of bed

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead
Come on, get out of your bed

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job’s done
You close your eyes
And pretend the job’s done

Don’t close your eyes
Don’t pretend the jobs done
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love,
Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, my love.

You Can Coach

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:52:00 -0400

Reading the book by Joel Comiskey and Ben Wong called You Can Coach. It is about how ordinary Christians can coach other Christians and impact the lives of others, so that in turn, the person being coached can then coach others. This isn’t a new idea by the way, it is simply a forgotten one. This is discipleship which is patterned after Paul and Timothy’s relationship in the Bible and many other mentor, mentee relationship in the Bible. Specifically, 2 Timothy 2:1-2, which says, “Paul says, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” The book specifically talks about pastors coaching other pastors and forming a network where pastors can share about their struggles with one another and build each other up so that each of their churches can then grow to be healthy because if the leadership has good relationships and the pastors aren’t lonely but are cared for, then often, their churches become healthy as well. He continues to stress the point that ordinary pastors, ordinary Christians, are called to be the one’s that carry out God’s work.

In the latest chapter I read, it stated that many pastors operate from a Top-Down hierarchy, so that in the end, they are a one man show. They exemplify the phrase, “It’s lonely at the top.” Instead of relating with their leaders that are trained up, they often show up on Sunday or operate mostly from an office or their own home. There is no friendship involved in the entire process. Friendship is the key to being a successful pastor or even a successful Christian. John 15:15 gives us a key insight from Jesus own words of what discipleship should look like. ”I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus called his disciples Friends, and he was openly transparent about everything that God the Father had shown him in his ministry, his life, and in his walk with the Him. This is the model we need to follow as Christians.

Morning Prayer

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:36:08 -0400

Next Wednesday, I hope will be the beginning of Wednesday morning prayer out here in Riverside. At least a hour every Wednesday. Time to learn discipline!! Keep me accountable, ask me about it, yell at me if we didn’t do it. Let us know your prayer requests!

Our first night moving in, my roommate before we went to sleep asked us to pray together. Then I suggested we pray on our knees. Now, hopefully we do this every week! It is awesome. Ever try praying with your brothers on your knees and seeking after God together? It is awesome.

Morning prayer was modeled by my Pastor Randy when I first started coming to church and I was always off and on in going after the first year. I feel now is the time though when I have matured enough to pray every single day of course, but in particular to set apart a specific time to pray! Randy is awesome, it is because of him and Andy Lee meeting up faithfully every single week that I now have the same vision and desire!

Walled Off From Life.

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 04:11:00 -0400

Have to share tomorrow at our mission reunion night. It is funny because we do not have anything new to share but an old commandment of old, obey Jesus’ commands. His top two commands of course are Love God With Everything, And Love your Neighbor with everything. If I wrote the message version of the Bible, I would define love your neighbor… as LOVE everyone around you with everything. I feel Love your Neighbor as yourself is hard for us to process in America because that we in a way twist the meaning because we don’t even know how to love ourselves. We know self-centered living, but we do not know how to love ourselves. Loving ourselves requires us to take a deep examination of our lives in light of Jesus and allowing him to make us like him. Loving ourselves means throwing ourselves at our savior’s feet. The only one that leads us to do this is the Holy Spirit I believe. Only he can convict men’s hearts and change minds. The following two stories are examples of a people DESPERATE for the Holy Spirit.

In the following example, I will share with a story about a guy that was studying the scriptures, taking notes of the scripture, and diligently reading it, but nevertheless; it still took no root. His heart and mind is still completely not transformed, he can’t even understand the Scriptures much less Jesus other than that he knows it is good for him. As my friend told me the other day, he was at a coffee shop and sat down next to a guy reading the Bible and he offered him a muffin, desiring to get to know the guy, and to have a discussion about the Bible which the guy was reading I might add. The guy reading the Bible diligently did not know how to even respond to a discussion or how to apply the Bible to his life at all. Instead of embracing a conversation with a Brother who only wanted to talk about the Scriptures and what Jesus had done for humanity which would bear much fruit, the guy was completely unable to even respond through any form of active listening. It was like there is a enormous wall up inside the guys heart. This guy really needed to receive the Holy Spirit because it is He only that can teach this man the true meaning of Scriptures. My friend was there as a messenger from God to explain the Scriptures to him. After the conversation fizzled, the next day, my friend saw the same guy and sat next to him again. Nothing changed…

Hearing this story really breaks my heart because it is my God-Dream of my life that we would be a community of believers free from the bondages of this present world and be free in every single way from it, and free to live as if the Kingdom of God was here right this very moment. Many years ago I wrote of a vision of a church without walls. That hasn’t been fulfilled yet, but I know it is God that placed that in my heart because the Kingdom of God is wherever Jesus is, and Jesus is within the hearts of those set free by the blood of Jesus, and those that are truly free express this in their absolute obedience to God’s commands. They love people with everything, and the fruit is evident.

In another coffee shop story, a relatively pretty girl chose to sit down next to a guy at a coffee shop. The guy noticed that she had pictures on her computer of an South African mountain range. In an attempt to strike up a conversation, he asked her about it, and she shared that she had been a missionary there and her friends went there as well. My friend, also a missionary this summer, attempted to bridge the gap by sharing he also had missionary friends in South Africa and that he also went on missions this summer. The girl was absolutely uncomfortable after this sharing. She didn’t even know how to respond or how to continue the conversation past this point. She awkwardly looked around and He got the hint that she just didn’t want to talk any further. In went the ear plugs, tuned out again, a great chance of souls connecting on Jesus and great sharing and encouragement down the drain.

The question is why? What is going on? Neither one of these two people that my friend met was really busy doing anything like having a final the next day. It seems hearts are so hardened now that nothing can penetrate it, our walls are so deep and incredible. My friend, although greatly discouraged, will pray and try again the next day. My friend understands obedience, he is offering himself to people in the community even though he is being hurt in the process, and it is pretty darn painful to be received in such manner when these are the people that should be his brothers and sisters. This is the life of a person following truly after God’s heart and God is putting my friend through the fire. If he keeps diligently seeking after the lost sheep of the Lord, he will reap a harvest, in the mean time, his character is being developed for the greater works that God will do through him. I pray for this brother, he is one of the most encouraging brothers in my life.

Things That Hold You Back

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:07:00 -0400

On Monday morning, I woke up from a dream. to my dog barking. In the dream I imagined this girl I used to like a lot forgiving me and that things were finally okay between us. It was an odd dream to be honest because I have liked a few other girls since then and gotten over them, and I didn’t even know that this was such a big deal but apparently it was. I never knew why I struggled from the months of July and August so much every single year. Then it dawned on me just now that it was this time at the Summer Conference and the aftermath of the month that followed that always seemed to have the same repeating cycle going on.

I understood what God was trying to share with me oddly enough almost instantly. And so I made plans to go to where he was telling me that I needed to go. Tonight, I believe that part of my past has been dealt with. I think I have been forgiven and have forgiven. I suppose this is a great personal example of the Bible Study we did tonight, 1 Corinthians 10, when Paul wrote about the Israelite history of always turning back to idols and then God stranding them in the wilderness where they would die. Those guys served as examples for us today that although we may idolize the same things they did, but the difference is that today we have Christ within us, living his life through us. We aren’t left to die in the wilderness with our idols anymore, instead in the wilderness; God’s spirit goes and seeks us and then delivers us from its affect in its entirety. We no longer have to go through the same cycles of habitual sins where we worship idols rather than God. This can be summed up in the phrase, it is no longer I who live but Christ that lives in me. Israelites back in the day fed on the spiritual rock and were sustained by God, but they did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and so therefore; they could never live and overcome completely their sinful nature. Now though is a different age, I truly believe we can walk as Christ did all the time, we can truly aim and live out the life that God planned for us before time. He can deal with our sin now, and we can understand and eventually in God’s timing overcome all sin and crush Satan in this lifetime because Christ has already done so on the cross when he died for our sins and rose again. This is the transformation that has happened and is happening in the lives of those that love him.

Reading the Bible and Praying Every Day

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:10:41 -0400

I once told a friend that I believed that we were the type of people that could read our Bibles and pray to the Lord every single day. Today, I was reading an article that stated the same thing, reminding me of it.

“ Continue to read your Bible and pray. Some people, meaning well, say there is no point in reading the Bible or praying when your heart isn’t in it. This is dead wrong. We can’t give up just because we are dull. We must continue to meet with God, knowing that any relationship is built by consistency over time, not just by occasional fireworks.

Embracing Who God Made You To Be

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 04:01:00 -0400

Throughout my journey in life, I always wanted to be someone else. I wanted to be someone other than a guy that gamed all day and night, I wanted to be that guy with the pretty girlfriend as a junior in high school. I wanted to be the guy that dated the boba shop girl when I was a freshmen in college. I wanted to be a guy with many friends, I didn’t want to be the loser with nothing going for him in life. Anything but that.

Throughout my journey in life, I never once embraced the idea that I was made just as God wanted me to be made, I was a loser, just like God intended for me to be, I was the guy without many social skills, and I was a gamer. It wasn’t until the last month or so that I started to embrace my past, present, and future in light of my recent embracing of me being redeemed in Christ. I have found such freedom in this new understanding and insight that I believe the Holy Spirit has led me to have. My entire perspective about life, God, and people has changed. I’m beginning to understand the purposes of God for my life. I’m beginning to understand more about my strengths and weaknesses. I’m beginning to understand that I have unique friendships with many people that have been made possible because of my past and what I have gone through. I’m beginning to cherish people of all sorts of backgrounds regardless or not if I know them very well or if they want to know me at this very moment. Now that I have started appreciating who God made me to be, I’ve begun to be able to love and appreciate others because I am no longer trying to be someone else.

I wish I could write out in words what this is like, how freeing it is to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God. For once, I don’t have to try to run my life, I can just walk and follow wherever the Spirit leads me. He led me through the desert to the deepest oasis I have every encountered in my life at this very moment. It is truly the sweetest thing. My heart is overflowing with joy and thankfulness and peace.

From this day forth in my life, I will embrace who God made me to be.

Friendships with the Opposite Sex

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 19:50:00 -0400

Lately, I’ve been hearing quite a few people talk about their weaknesses or lack of knowledge and experience with social relationships with the opposite sex. Many of our own weaknesses that we struggle with deal with the opposite sex. Knowing this context, I’ve been hearing stories of God providing both guys and girls with close relationships with the opposite sex. These relationships aren’t necessarily leading to marriage or anything fantastical like but for a greater purpose, a shaping of minds and hearts about what healthy friendships with the opposite sex looks like in real life

As one friend put it recently, “God just wants to build a community of men and women that grow together in Christ-like love for one another. I’m sick of being trying to live in this world created by mankind rules where only 50 percent of the body of Christ can know each other as friends. And even in that 50 percent, the relationships between the guys is surface level and appalling. I’m sick of our cultures stupid rules and regulations that don’t really exist in reality so that girls have one thing on their mind, “this guy wants to date me or this guy likes me.” I am sorry but God needs to provide you with guy friends that talk some sense into you because you aren’t all that special, you aren’t even that attractive.”

God’s answer to this dilemma is not very difficult because he doesn’t make things complicated. We make things difficult with our silly rules and regulations regarding relationships. The flesh wants rules and regulations regarding relationships. God’s commandment however are light and easy. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. God knows what many of us need, we need relationships with others in which we can learn how to serve one another humbly in love. It is interesting because this is exactly the value and character of what God states in husband and wives in the Bible. It sure is difficult trying to live up to the standards we set for relationships, it is like trying to obey the 10 Commandments and obeying each and every single one down to the dot, it is legalism, it is individualism, it is the same exact problem that the Galatians dealt with 2000 years ago in a different context today 2000 years later, but the same root of the problem. Let us follow what Paul said when he wrote, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:24-25)