I was reading Erwin McManus’ book Soul Cravings last night when I came across a statement which I thought warranted some thought and reminded me of a conversation I had earlier with my friend kami. Erwin’s statement was this
We let movies live for us.
I thought this was a very interesting statement and a worthy critiqe of our culture, we love to go to movies and see stories about people wholive lives packed with comedy and adventure and friendships that last a lifetime and sometimes end up as more than just friendships. What we fail to realize is that while movies are often scripted with perfect comedic timing or impossible feats of strength often what we are seeking is true relationships and adrenalin rushes. We can find these if we would just start actually living instead of being engrossed in a world of false faces, and less than genuine conversations, we need to (if you will allow me to use the analogy “Step out of the Matrix” and start living life truly engaged with real people not someones Default Photo on Myspace or nickname you tagged them as in your phone, we need to start truly engaging in Face to Face Relationships. Until we do this I think we will continue to find that as humans we suffer physically and emotionally through our lack of relationships, with people and who are we to think that if we are not maintaining true relationships with people that we could maintain a healthy relationship with God.
I was visiting my grandparents in Morgantown, WV recently and while I was there I visited a friends church where I had been a few times before, but that’s rather irrelevant so on with the story, and on this Sunday the pastor whose name is Shane talked about how people always say they don’t want to come to church because they “don’t want another set of rules to follow” and how this is really an inaccurate statement. He went on to explain how as one becomes a mature Christian who truly loves God and is seeking him, and his will, that person actually has less rules than someone who is not a mature Christian.
Shane was able to back this up using
Matthew 22:35-40 (English Standard Version)
Source – www.biblegateway.com
35(A) And one of them,(B) a lawyer, asked him a question(C) to test him. 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, (D) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And(E) a second is like it:(F) You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40(G) On these two commandments depend(H) all the Law and the Prophets.”
I think the key here is the last verse (V.40) where it says
40(G) On these two commandments depend(H) all the Law and the Prophets.”
We find through this passage that as we seek God and his will in our lives our wants and desires begin to line up with God’s wants and desires and passions. Thus as we become more mature Christians the less rules we have simply because we do not need them, for instance Shane used the example of he and his wife who have been married for several years, he was telling us that they do not have a rule that says they will not sleep with anyone else or flirt, or so on, simply because they love each other enough that they do not need rules to tell them that they should not do these things they just aren’t options because of the love they have for each other. This is a perfect example of the way it should be between us and God, we should love God so much that we don’t need rules to tell what to do and what not to do. That how a mature Christian finds themselves in a place where they have only one rule “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength.” Everything else follows.
In closing I feel obligated to say a few things just in case you misunderstood me.
1.This does not mean we can run around doing whatever we want
2.you should not love God because I tell you to, you should love Him because you do or because He is worthy of it
As many of you know I traveled to Ghana Africa in September well this post is not about that, it is however about my friend John Poole. John found out 3 weeks ago that he had the opportunity to go to Australia with an organization popularly known as Y.W.A.M. (Youth With A Mission) for 3 months after which he will spend 3 months somewhere else in the world(we just really don’t know where) at the time he had been planning to finish his last semester learning HVAC at a local trade school, after prayer John decided that it was God’s will for him to go on this trip, thus started a mad whirlwind of preparations during which we have seen God allowed John to get his passport in 2 days, has helped John get all the paperwork filled out and submitted, and many other miracles. which brings us to now. John is currently planning to leave on Wed. or Thurs. hes still needs much of the money to pay for his trip, (John is planning to continue to receive donations and support after he leaves. John still needs to get health insurance that will cover the places he will be traveling to, and he also threw his back out on Saturday when he had a flat tire. John is an example of God using a regular person to serve others and also set am example for the rest of us, am example of how we should live by faith demonstrating itself through acts.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? James 2:13-15
Ahhh yes we are called to live dangerous lives, now unfortunately I cannot say I always live dangerously for God, I can say that we are called to seek God and live dangerously for Him.
In closing I want to challenge you to live dangerously for God and I also want to ask you to pray for John Poole as he prepares to leave and then as he travels around the world.
Other posts you may like
In Ghana Parts 1-4
Its What I Missed ( Delusions Of God)
Hallelujah, Amen
Zadock
P.S Here is A video Made by Stephen Stonestreet documenting Johns flat tire trouble
I was logging into wordpress today when I noticed the “Hawt Post” something I rarely pay attention to but this one caught my eye it was titled “How To Stump Anti-Abortionists With One Question”. I figured it would be pretty interesting so I checked it out. and this is what I found.
Did you know you can stump anti-abortionists with one simple question?
Just ask them this:
If abortion was illegal, what should be done with the women who have illegal abortions?
Now watch their faces as the cognitive dissonance sets in. They believe abortion to be murder. Murder deserves severe punishment. Thus, women who have illegal abortions should receive severe punishment — like life in prison or the death penalty. That’s the logical conclusion.
But they can’t accept this conclusion. They know it’s absurd and unfair — which means they know abortion is not really murder.
Here’s a must-watch video of anti-abortion protesters being asked this question:
It’s amazing they’ve never thought about the question before — they’ve been involved in the anti-abortion movement for years. What’s the point of spending all that time trying to make abortion illegal if you’re not even sure there should be any punishment for breaking the law?
Here’s the best exchange:
Q: Abortion should be illegal, did you say?
A: Yes, it should be illegal because it’s killing a human person.
Q: And what should happen to women who have illegal abortions?
A: … Just pray for them. I don’t think they should have to spend time in jail or anything.
Q: So if it’s illegal, you think there should be no punishment under the law?
A: No, I don’t think they should be punished, because the life has been taken. The crime has been done.
Q: [But isn't] that’s true with murder, too? Isn’t there a punishment for murder?
A: Yes, there’s a punishment for murder because that’s taking a life.
Q: So why shouldn’t there be a punishment for a woman who has an illegal abortion?
A: Oh… as the other [person] said, it’s kind of between her and God. She will get her punishment in the end.
Q: So why should it be illegal?
A: Because it’s the taking of a life.”
This post was found on “http://unreasonablefaith.com/”.
This is a very interesting post and for me brought to light a very interesting question to which I quickly found the answer. On UnreasonableFaith.com the author posed the question “If Abortion is Illegal what should the punishment be for women who have illegal abortions?” this question is actually a good question to ask except for one thing, it places the blame for the abortion on the wrong person. The question leads us to believe that the woman who has an abortion is the only person guilty here, however if we know much about abortions we realize that the procedure is performed by a doctor. To answer the question simply as it is stated in the above post the answer is that the women who have abortions receive their punishment through the physical and emotional pain that is caused by the procedure, below are several quotes from girls who have had abortions.
•I didn’t receive any formal counseling at the clinic. They simply described the suction abortion procedure and said it would only take a few minutes. Those few minutes scarred me for the rest of my life. If only someone had been there to give me the facts about the child inside of me. If only someone had been there to point out alternatives that would help me and accept the responsibility instead of escaping it at the expense of my baby’s life. I could have been spared the haunting grief and guilt. -Sandra D. Walton, Silver Spring, MD
•When I was 16, I was shuffled through an assembly line abortion. I was number 13 of 17 who went through the morning session at one abortion clinic. …I’m not sure the tears will ever stop. …If I had known then that it would be difficult to sleep at night and that every time I saw a child about the same age as the one I got rid of, my insides would flinch, or that I would feel I had to have another child to “justify” my actions as a teenager, I hope…I would have made another decision. -Teresa Wibbelsman Fangman, Congressional Record, Feb. 19, 1987
And here is a description of “Post Abortion Syndrome”
“Post-Abortion Syndrome displays the hallmark of repressed mourning, guilt, pain, and impacted grief. However, once recognized and defined, PAS can be healed and a woman’s grief and suffering can be worked through and relief from her pain secured.” – Dr. Vincent Rue, Ph.D.
Symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome may include: denial, anger, guilt, depression, child abuse, inability to forgive self and others, recurring nightmares, eating disorders, drug and alcohol dependencies, and suicidal tendencies.
http://www.wvforlife.org/
If these things do not sound like punishment enough I don’t know what could be. When we realize this we are forced to ask the question “Who did this to these girls”. So we find that the people who should be punished for Abortions are the “Doctors” who perform these disgusting procedures, and for people who kill children the minimum punishment should be life in prison.
Today we witnessed a historical moment as Barrack Obama was sworn is as the 44th president of the United States of America, he is also the first African American, and the 14th Scotch Irish President (there are a few others but hey) . I don’t care whether you voted for him or did not vote for him, whether you like him or don’t like him, I know I was unable to vote and if I had it would have been for John McCain, and I am personally not a fan of his present political opinions. None of this matters though aince as we all know he was elected and has been sworn in as the new president of the U.S.A..
What we must realize is that like him or not Barrack Obama was set in power by God, and to fulfill God’s purposes. I also know that I have heard several prophecies about his presidency, all of which have pointed to a change of heart and mind. They go something like this, “God is going to draw Barrack Obama close to him and he will become a powerful force for God in this nation and the world.” I can only hope that these things come to pass. In the meantime we all need to support our new President as just that, the new President.
We need to support him with prayer, for his health, wisdom, safety, and that of his family, anthing less would not only be a bad witness it would be just plain unchristian. So in closting I would like to say that God is great and sovereighn and he will remain so through good times and bad and whatever the next 4 years hold as with any president God will always be there listening to the prayers of his people and while we may not always like the answer He gives us, He will always answer.
In Addition A fond Farewell to Former President George W. Bush, Thank you for your service over the last 8 years.
HEy everyone I was reading my first issue of Collide Magazine today and found an artical about this website called I Am Second.com I checked it out and thought you might enjoy watching some of their videos. They have videos featuring Jason Castro, Brian Welch, Steven Baldwin, and many others, enjoy.
Hey everyone This is a guest post written by my friend Stephen Stonestreet on his Blog A Renewed Revolution Of Hope ( http://stephenstonestreet.wordpress.com/page/4/ ), I hope you enjoy this and are challenged by what he has to say.
Zadock
For a while now, I have been searching the scriptures, trying to find out what true love is, the love that the Father will accept, and this is what I found…
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
John 14:15
I also believe this ties right in with this:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love you neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:27
First, simply love God with all yourself (heart, soul, mind, and strength), and second, love your neighbor as yourself.
This answers this:
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
love is something you practice.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9
Therefore, if you do not have love (obey God’s commandments), practice love before you do anything in life. In other words, get rid of your obsessions and addictions, and practice loving God, to prove your love to Him, before you do anything else.
In September I was blessed to be able to travel to Ghana, Africa for 2 weeks on a mission trip (to read more about this see posts “In Ghana” 1-5) after this I spent a week traveling through Europe (Amsterdam, Paris, London) with my grandfather. We spent about 2 days in each city just enough to catch the highlights. But the subject of this blog is not my traveling exploits but rather a specific instance which occurred while riding the Subway, er, Underground(sorry to any Londoners who may read this) in London.
It was our last day before flying home and having spent the last several walking all over Amsterdam, Paris from the Gare Du Nord (Train Station North) to the Louvre, to the Arc De Triumph and back before walking all over London and then to the near outskirts of Westminster to see Abbey Road, we were quite tired. so we decided to take the Underground back to our hotel. As we were boarding an attractive young lady also boarded the train and since there were no more seats we were all forced to stand, she had her back to me but I was enough taller than her that I could see that she had a book which she seemed to be reading rather intently. After some time I finally realized the she was reading “The God Delusion”, when I first saw this I was sadend but I soon found myself inspired by the realization that I had been given an opportunity to talk to someone who had read the book before and had come back to read it again.
I had just finished reading “Chasing Daylight” by Erwin McManus, in which he talks about how we are all given “Divine Moments” and how we are to seize them, so that we can create a change for the better. I instantly recognized this as my “divine moment”; I knew I was to engage this girl in a simple discussion about the book and what her thoughts and feeling were on it, and what Dr Dawkins had to say. I now have the unpleasant duty of informing you that in the same moment that certainty came I was gripped by a fear so great that it could only have come from the powers of darkness seeking to keep me from engaging this girl in conversation.
I stood there for close to a half an hour trying to decide what I would do, in the end our stop came before I was able to overcome my fear, I will never forget the feeling I had as I stepped off of that train and she stayed, as I did I knew that I had just missed an incredible opportunity to see God do something amazing, I had just missed my “divine moment”. I can only say that I went back to the hotel that night in a very sad place knowing I had let, not only God but also myself, down. I also live with the knowledge that I gave in to the power of darkness and allowed myself to be taken captive by fear and thus committed a sin of omission.
Can you imagine how great a victory for God that would have been had I listened to God and overcome my fear of …, it would have been an amazing moment, and that girl would have at least been closer to heaven than she was when we met. In closing I challenge you to be on the lookout for “divine moments” where you can serve God and make life just a little bit better for humanity, and draw people closer to their creator.
Well to make things simple I have been thinking alot about God and His creation, as I have been doing so many things have been impressed on me but few have been as apparent as how big God is. I do not know if you have ever given the topic any thought but GOD IS BIG! Think about this for a moment, our God not only created the Earth but holds the Universe in his hands! In David Crowder’s song Neverending there is a very interesting line where he says
” You are now
With us here
We are found
In You”
so we find that in addition to being A big god He is also within us but not only that, we are “found in (Him)”. I must sya that to think the creator of the universe and King of Kings not only lives inside me but also surrounds me and all creation is a thought too large to truly comprehend. Let us close with this statement, God is BIG, if he either lives in you of is seeking for you to allow him to enter your life and allow him to give you life to the fullest, why not let him in, I promise it is FUN!
I was recently attending a bible study for teens where we were doing an exercise in which we were supposed to “Be still” for thirty seconds. During this exercise I decided to read my Bible and as I often do I ask God to just Show me something and to guide my fingers to allow my eyes to find what he would have me read. As I thumbed through the pages I felt something special was about to happen and prepared to be surprised. When the pages finally settled and my eyes came to rest on the page it was on Isaiah 58 verse 1 which in the English Standard Version says,
“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet;…”
Now I don’t know about you but when I am in a time set aside to be silent and I ask God to show me something the last thing I expect to be shown is a verse telling mew to “Cry aloud” and “raise (my) voice like a trumpet” so I naturally had a hard time containing myself and to be honest I have since come to believe that I should have shouted right then and there, but that’s a lesson learned. When it came time and I was ready to share my experience with the group I did and through the chorus of great laughter I was barely heard and had to repeat it several times which made me very happy.
Not only do I believe this is proof of God’s sense of humor, as only He could have caused this to happen and also have great meaning pertaining to my personal life, which leads me to a whole different side of the story. There is a man at my church who is named John; he is in his seventies and not in the best health, however for as long as I have known him he has been a very enthusiastic worshipper. John is so enthusiastic in his worship that he regularly will start ‘crying aloud and lifting up his voice like a trumpet’ in praise to God, this often includes him quoting scripture and inspires others to do the same. For a very long time I have been saddened by this because it was challenging me to be more enthusiastic in my own worship, however I have been unwilling. Now I see that I have no choice but to be enthusiastic in my worship and “raise my voice like a trumpet” this excites me because I am now able to connect with Godon a whole different level.
In conclusion I want to challenge you to be willing to listen to the spirit, and to be open to “Raise your voice like a trumpet” in worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Elyon! Or it is possible that you are not called to worship in this way, if that is the case I challenge you to find how it is you are supposed to be enthusiastic in your worship, whether it be dance or anything jus follow the spirit and Praise God!
Amen, Hallelujah,
Zadock
WELCOME
This operates as the arching site for all posts of what beacame Le Crier in march 09. Before that it was called RevolutionarYouth, but now serves only as archives for posts before march 09.
