Heaven is for Real

This last Monday, my mother, grandmother, and myself all went to see the movie Heaven is for Real. I had read the book, and I remembered it rather well. Originally I just thought it would be a good time to spend with my mom, and grandma. I had no idea what kind of reaction I would get from the movie. Here's some backstory for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about:

Basically the movie is based on a true story in which this mother, and father have to rush their youngest child to the emergency room. They find out that he has appendicitis. His body is filling up with fluids that shouldn't be in certain parts of his body, and he is close to death. Each of the Burpos take it differently. The mother phones friends to ask them to pray for her son, and her husband (who is a pastor) takes some time by himself to yell at God, and let out his frustrations. That right there has a lesson in it, but it is not the focus of my writing today. Let's just leave it at the idea that both responses are perfectly natural. After these natural responses, something supernatural happens. The boy is cured, and healed. Not only is he healed, but he starts to talk about his trip to heaven, and how he saw Jesus. He also mentions seeing a lot of family members that he has never met before this trip. In fact, there are many that he met that were alive long before he was. Only one of these people had a really strong effect on me. That was his sister. Colton Burpo, who is the boy that went to heaven without dying, has two sisters. One of them is alive, and well. The other was a child that his mother miscarried. The Burpos had not named her, so she had no name in heaven.

My mother knows the stories better than I do, but she had told me how she had had six miscarriages before I was finally born. I am an only child, but I am also the youngest of seven siblings, but I was the only one who got to have a taste of life on this earth, while my siblings got to be in heaven much sooner than I. I asked my mom if she had named any of my siblings. I got two names.

Sarah, and Jill.

Oddly enough, these names haunted me in a very strange way for the whole week. A lot of emotions became wrapped up in those names. Love. Hope. Mourning. I felt love for my siblings, and especially my two sisters Jill, and Sarah. I also felt hope that I will meet them someday in heaven, and get to spend time with my older siblings. The last one is the strangest to me because I mourned for them. I felt sad that they did not get to spend time here. I also felt a little guilt that I had never bothered to ask my mother the names of my siblings before, and that in a way I had dehumanized them. I truly hope they forgive me for that someday. I have had many conversations with my best friend about these things, and she has been a great comfort to me with it. It is my hope that I will meet them someday.

A Man's Job

"Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our own good, in order that we may share in his holiness." - Hebrews 12:9-10

In explanation of the picture, I feel like it relates, and I love Star Wars. My real issue is with the above verse. I get it that I may not be the intended audience, or something, but I have an issue.

As much as it pains me to say, the writer of Hebrews is wrong. "How is he wrong?" you may ask. He is not wrong about how we should submit to God more than our earthly father. He is not wrong in that God disciplines us for our own good. We should, and He does. I have no contention with that.

My issue is with the first sentence. "Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it." For those of you who know me, this sentence is not true for me. I never had a physical, human father that disciplined me. My mother did, and I love her for it. I love that my mom took on the hard job of raising me on her own. I love my mom more than I can say. I love what my mom did, and I would even say she did a good job of raising me.

But, for all the good she did, she could never take the place of that hole that was in my life. My dad was missing, and it was noticeable. It is a man's job to be a father.

As I look back, I see instances where God was there in some way, even though I did not see it at the time. I thank God that He saw it fit to adopt us as His sons and daughters. I take that to heart. That is one truth that has affected me in one of the most profound ways.

I had an earthly father, who did not want me. Did not want anything to do with me in my life, even to discipline me. Even to lead me, and teach me how to be a man. I learned that much later in life, from people who stepped in to do the teaching. It was not their job to do that. They chose to do that. My relationship with God was also a big part of that process too.

God chose to be our Father. God chose me. God chose you. He wants to teach, lead, and love you. Not because He has to, but because He wants to.

There is a generation of children that is growing up without a father. I am one of that generation. One person affected by the choices of one man, not to be a man.

I could sit here, and bash my father all I want, but that won't change a thing. I admit, I've learned a lot that I would not have learned as easily if he had been there. I learned how God is my Father. Without failings. Without fault. I learned how important a father is in a child's life. I learned how I want to be as a father. I learned that even as a father, I want to point my children in the direction of the One who made them. We should not assume that we should keep doing wrong, because there will be some good out of the wrong. As Paul says:

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

I know that "abandoning your child" is not a typically listed sin, but I believe it a sin all the same. I feel as if my earthly father has sinned against me. He has committed an act that has affected me negatively. Most sins are of the same nature. Yes, I have forgiven him for it, and whether he ever finds that out or not is yet to be seen.

I do not write this, to complain about my circumstance. I think my circumstances have turned out alright. I think I am on a good path. No, my purpose for writing this is something much bigger than myself. I know I am not the only one out there.

I know some great fathers. I'm sure that you know who you are. If you know that you're a great father, keep it up! I love knowing there are great fathers out there.

I would just ask that we try to lower the rates of children that grow up without a father that at least tries. My father did not really try. I know that I will try if I am given the privilege of being a parent someday. I hope I am given that privilege.

If you've made it this far in this post; thank you for reading. Maybe keep this in your prayers. This is an issue that will not fix itself, and it will not be fixed over night.

Jesus Anointed: Lent Challenge

"Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." Luke 7:41-43

Jesus tells this story in light of a sinful woman anointing him. She brought a jar of perfume, cried on His feet and used her own hair to clean his feet. She was also kissing His feet and pouring perfume on them.

She is anointing Him. Anointing is something that happens to kings to declare their kingship. She just does it out of love.

In this particular account, Jesus is at a Pharisees house when this happens. The Pharisee invited Him over for a meal and this woman shows up and does this stuff. The Pharisee is rather surprised that Jesus doesn't make her go away. In response to his thoughts, Jesus tells the story above and elaborates as such.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - as her great love has show. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "You r sins are forgiven." Luke 7 44-48

Jesus is looking at their actions and their lives here. Jesus knows that Simon has sin in his life but it is not as much as the woman's. Jesus is not looking at the type of sin, instead He sees how forgiven they feel. Simon is relieved whereas the woman is overjoyed. Jesus is saying that sin all weighs the same but some people feel more forgiven. Look back at the first thing I wrote.

"One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both."

That is a very practical picture of what Jesus did on the cross. I did not have the ability or the equity to pay back my debts, just as whoever is reading this does not or did not. Jesus forgave all of our debt Himself. He stepped in on our behalf and paid what we could not pay. He wiped the slate clean. Have peace with that. In fact, to close, I will show you what Jesus said to this woman. I think she got it already but He points it out again to her. I just loved Jesus' compassion for this woman and in all reality, all of us who love Him.

Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:50

Lent Challenge: Times of Doubt

It is day three of the Lent Challenge and I had to do some meditating to see something that God wanted me to see. Let me elaborate a little bit on my thoughts. We read Matthew 13-18 today and here is what I got from it.

I have been a Christian for about three years now. I had a traumatic experience in my life that lead me right into the arms of Jesus. As soon as I found Jesus (or rather He found me,) I took a hold of the message and began being equipped to do the work for the Good News. I was and am all too willing to take up my cross daily in order to follow Him, the One who gave me true and lasting life.

After having been in the church a while, I have noticed some peaks and some valleys in my walk with Christ. Sometimes I am all too willing to go off and do the things that I know He has planned for me. There are times though, that I am not really willing to do much more than get through the day. I am very sad to say that sometimes I have doubted. Not doubt that made me fall away per say, but doubt enough to make me wonder, "What are You doing? Where are You? Who are You?"

It is during these times that my faith grows stronger because God always shows up in the most miraculous ways. For every moment of weakness I had, He showed strength. For every question of, "Where are You?" He said, "Here I Am my son."

I have to say that my Dad is awesome but not out of habit or obligation. Because He is. He always will be. I take comfort with these thoughts in what I read today actually.

We all know the story so I won't repeat it in length here. Jesus makes the disciples go ahead of Him in a boat while He was dismissing a crowd. The disciples go to the other side of the lake in the boat and their thoughts aren't recorded. Jesus decides to show off His authority yet again by walking on water! Not only that but He compels Peter to do the same and guess what? He does!

Then He falls into the water... Gets soaked and most likely was a little embarrassed. I know I would be. Jesus has a question for him though. "You of little faith," He said, "why did you doubt?"

They both climb back into the boat and the winds calm down. Then the people that were in the boat witnessing all of this start to worship Jesus. They say," Truly you are the Son of God."

Keep in mind that these were all disciples of Jesus in the boat.

Beginning in Matthew 16:13,  Jesus begins to ask the disciples what people say about the Son of Man. They answer and Jesus asks who they say He is.

I imagine a pause here before Peter says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

I don't know if there was a pause or if Peter was just fast at answering. I could see the possibility of a little bit of doubt showing through here. There are many examples of when the disciples doubted Jesus in one way or another. I am not alone in my doubts. Though I have never lived in the physical presence of Jesus, I have valleys just like the ones who did.

God is good. All the time. Even in my doubts. Even in my storms.

Lent Challenge: Do we need anymore signs?

Jesus is a very powerful man. He has control of illness, life, events and so much more.

I am going through a challenge for Lent where I am going to read the whole New Testament over the time that Lent is going on. This is day two and I found something interesting in my reading. It had me asking a question.

Do we really need any more signs?

In Matthew chapters 8-12, Matthew is establishing Jesus' ministry as one of healing and preaching. There are many things seen in these chapters. Jesus heals many people of sicknesses, raises a girl from the dead, calms a storm, restores men possessed by demons, calls Matthew and so much more. It's insane how much Jesus does in these five chapters. I want to look at one instance in chapter 8 though. This is about the faith of a Centurion solider.

Jesus is entering a town called Capernaum for the first time and as soon as He is there, He is stopped by a centurion. Centurions are quite impressive fellows in my opinion. They're strong, smart, and they have cool armor. If you've never seen one, go look up some pictures of them.

For all that though, this centurion comes to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant. This guy was most likely had compassion for his servant because he says: "my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly." He went to Jesus so he could end his servants suffering. This is only one thing to notice about this interaction though.

Jesus said to him, "Shall I come and heal him?"
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

This guy had faith in Jesus' authority. He knew Jesus had power and he knew that Jesus had authority to make things happen. Jesus has not even performed many miracles at this point and none in Capernaum, as He was entering it for the first time. It's never said this guy believes in Jesus, but it can be inferred that he might. It turns out Jesus is just as amazed by this guy's faith.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Jesus is saying here that this centurion has greater faith than many in Israel, which is comprised of the Jews, who are God's chosen people. When He says, "many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," He is saying that many gentiles will come and take the places of the Jews that would have been there if not for their faith. In chapter 10, Jesus tells His disciples not to go to any towns of the gentiles when they're sent out. He is telling them this so that the Jews will hear of Him first. Jesus was to preach to God's people and then the apostles spoke to the gentiles (by the way I'm grateful that the gentiles got talked to.)  Even though He never sent his apostles to gentiles during His time on earth, they still got sent there later, which fulfills what He said after talking to the centurion. Remember that the centurion had faith so early on.

In chapter 12, which is at the end of the reading for today, some Pharisees are asking a sign from Jesus. At this point, there have been many signs, many healings and many things that would make me want to follow Jesus. The Pharisees; however, still are not convinced. After many signs, they ask for one more and Jesus seems to get a little upset.

Two different requests and two different responses. One out of faith and one out of doubt. One met with joy and the other met with what appears to be frustration.

I for one, don't want to ask Jesus to keep proving Himself when He's already done it, over and over again. I would much rather have faith in what He can do and is doing.

Personally, I would much rather be like the centurion, rather than like a Pharisee that keeps asking for signs.

I would definitely suggest joining in on this, for it has already done me some good.

The One Where Aaron Tries to Use a Car Reference

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

I am pretty confident that most people who have been in the church for any length of time have heard this verse. If it wasn't heard, then it was most likely read. Romans is a fairly well traveled piece of scripture. I myself have been reading Romans and I have been in many studies where we went through Romans. I have had this verse on my mind a lot lately. I've been pulling it apart when I can in order to do this blog post actually.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world," Paul writes. Granted, he did not take the time to bold or underline the "Do not," but I took the liberty of that for him. I feel like this is a step that a lot of us miss in our walk with Christ. I know I have, at times, started to conform. Merriam -Webster has quite a few definitions for the word, conform. Here are a few:

Conform: To be similar to or the same as something.
To obey or agree with something.
To do what other people do or to behave in a way that is accepted by most people

When used as an intransitive verb: To be similar or identical to
To be obedient or compliant.
To act in accordance with prevailing standards or customs.

Chances are that you as a reader know all of these definitions anyway. I found it interesting that this word was used because as far as I can see, there are a lot of meanings to it. Paul is issuing this as a warning to the church in Rome. He is telling them not to conform to the customs of the people around them.

Makes me wonder how well they did with that.

I think I could make a compelling case to say that most Christians, myself included, do conform to the patterns of this world a bit. I feel like, at times, we can fit right in with society. Our tendency to not love those around us can be just as prevalent as society's tendency to do the same. Selfishness can come up in us as well. I know it comes up with me sometimes. Some days, my dependence on my Maker can be as much as a nonbelievers dependence on theirs. Praying for my enemies? Yeah right, my schedule is too full.

It is during these times in my life that I need to stop and pray or something. I am a work in progress though, much like my brothers and sisters are. God is not done with me yet and works in me to this day. In fact, Paul brings it up in the second half of that sentence.

Did you notice what he said to do instead of conforming to the patterns of this world?

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

I love that idea. My mind is being renewed even as I type this. I just love that because, in all honesty, my mind can get so full of the junk that is in this society. Media is full of it. Magazine covers, book covers, movies and so much more. It is everywhere. Here's the deal though. I have found that at times I have tried to get back what was renewed. Sometimes not even consciously.

For those of you who know me, you've most likely seen my car. For those of you who have not seen my car, the dent is pictured below.

This dent is the result of an accident I had with my car. It's not really as bad as it could have been but it is bad enough that people notice it. This is how people have started to notice that it is indeed me in my car.

I hope to get it fixed someday but I'm not sure when that will happen. Imagine, if I got it fixed. In this case, that would mean putting a new fender on my car. Let's say that I get it fixed and within a week of getting it fixed, I go back to the guy who fixed it, requesting that he puts my old fender back on my car.

First of all, that makes no sense right? Why on earth would I do that? It's insane. No one wants a broken fender on their car.

Second of all, the guy has most likely gotten rid of it in that week, so I am out of luck.

I feel like that is a good illustration of what we do when we want those parts back. Those parts of us that we had before. Stop asking for a broken fender. Start living with a renewed mind and renewed self. The self that Jesus died for. He died to bring His kingdom to earth and we are a part of His kingdom on earth. But even the court jester can't truly be a part of that kingdom when they're asking for the old parts of their mind back. The reason I say that is because of the third part of this verse, which is the most important one.

"Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I would say that this is almost self explanatory. Through the renewing of the mind, Christians are able to test if something is God's will. That is because through the renewing, Godly thoughts become prevalent. Through Godly thoughts and thoughts of things above, we can "test and approve God's will."

I know this is a lot to think over but don't let it bog you down. I am saying this as a person that has been there and sometimes continues to be there too. My challenge is to myself as well.

Stop asking for the broken fender.

Make a Difference - Live Like Jesus

One thing that is on my mind a lot and actually is the title of this whole blog, is how to live like Jesus.

You see, throughout my new life, my time as a Christian, that is one thing that has became extremely evident to me. In fact, the word Christian means in a proverbial sense, "all that is noble, good and Christ-like." I would say that the last one is the one I would associate the word with. "Christ-like" to me is a tall order. I bet you can sympathize with me. I am only human. I am not Him. Jesus is God and I am merely His creation. Those are the things that some of us think when we think of being Christ-like. You see though, none of that matters. From the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, it is seen that are meant to be like our Creator.

Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:26-27

There has been many times that I have read over that verse robotically. I have read over it, without seeing the significance. Today though, I say this. If God wanted to create us in His image, sacred, holy and amazing image, then why would we be anything less than like Christ. We say all the time that Jesus was God among us. The scriptures even say it, like the gospel of John says, "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him." - John 1:9 This is stated again like this, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14.

Full of grace and truth huh? Grace is what God gave us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The act dying for the sins of the world, so that we could be renewed and given new life, in Him. Grace is a gift that someone doesn't deserve. I do not have everything figured out. I fail. Guess what? The same grace is available to me when I fail. The same grace is available to me even though I don't have everything figured out.

Truth is exactly that. Truth. The truth about God, the truth about salvation for everyone. Jesus was full of that. Grace and truth.

There is quite a few things that are sought after in our culture today. Money. Power. Respect. Some people would give anything for those things. Honestly, I think that we use them as a filler for what we really want. I've had moments where I have been full of grace and truth. Those moments came from the Spirit of God working through me. The crazy thing is, those moments that I felt that were some of the best moments of my life. The moments I felt most alive are when I was full of the Spirit and full of grace and truth. I would say that most people who want money, power or respect really want the Spirit and want to be Christ-like.

Personally, my biggest thing was love. A father's love. Something I never ever had. I wanted a dad to love me. Let me say this, my Dad loves me, very much. He's your Father too and He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you. Despite all of the things we've done. He died for us. Kids like to emulate their dad. I want to emulate mine.

Have a great rest of the week.

The Real Problem

Think of any place you were at today. Any place will do. Remember the faces you may have seen there. Granted, you don't know the life of the person if they are a complete stranger. Here's the reality of the situation. Even here in America, there are people who don't know who Jesus is and what He means for them.

This is a continuation of my last blog post. I went through a lot of things. This is another thing that I think we are all guilty of as a part of the church. As a people, we would much rather ignore the fact of hell. There are two eternities. One is heaven, where we will sing praises of the King forever and things will happen that I can't even comprehend. The point is this, we will be with God forever. The God who created us and shaped us to be with Him forever.

The other eternity is hell. It's not nearly as nice of a place though. For one, it means being separated from God forever. Then there is the eternal torment part too... Can't forget that. Honestly, as I write this I am shaking. I don't like the idea of hell... It scares me. In all reality though, hell is the reason why Christians can't go through life complacently. It is the reason why we cannot sit back and wait until we go to heaven. There are lives at stake here. If people don't accept Him as their Savior then they will go hell and face something that is worse then death.

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved - and that by God." Philippians 1:27-28

There are two things that I want to bring up in this passage. This is not the first time that opposition is ever mentioned in the New Testament. Jesus himself gets into an altercation with some Pharisees, which really isn't anything new. Jesus and the Pharisees had words many times during His lifetime. The Pharisees were saying that Jesus drove out demons by the power of Beelzebub, who is the devil. Jesus goes into a long winded answer to this but I think one thing in this passage could pertain to the passage above.

"Whoever is not with is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Matthew 12:30

This sentence is very clear. It's fairly easy to see that there are two ways to go about life, without Jesus or with Him. Against is a synonym of oppose. They mean basically the same thing. So therefore, the believers that Paul was talking to were with Christ whereas there were some people who opposed them. These people were against Him or not with Him.

Later in the Philippians letter, Paul talks about how there are two different ways for believers and nonbelievers to go.

"For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body." Philippians 3:18-21

This passage clearly shows a divergence. Jesus spoke a lot when He was on earth of a place where "weeping and gnashing of teeth," occurred. It is so clear that hell exists. Jesus, God in the flesh, Creator among the created, spoke about it with purpose. He wanted us to know that it was there, that it is a threat. I do this too sometimes. I will ignore the fact that hell exists sometimes. Honestly, an existence without hell is very appealing. I don't make the rules though. God does. There is one way and that is through Jesus. He is "the Way the Truth and the Life." Jesus talks about two roads, one that is narrow and hard to travel. The other is wide and easy to travel. The first leads to heaven and an eternity with the One who created everything. The second leads to hell and to travel it, simply ignore Jesus. Do not travel this road. If you believe in Christ, do not let other people go down the wide road that leads to hell.

Let it be known, that I am not trying to scare anyone with this post. I am simply trying to remind everyone that may have forgotten. There are lives at stake during this life. There are people who need Jesus. Erasing hell in our minds won't help those people. Acknowledging the reality of it and continuing on with the fight to win people for His kingdom will help them though.

Recent Thoughts

Hey everyone. Just have been having a lot of thoughts that I want to share with you all. Before I can share them though I must tell you a lot things that have an influence on these thoughts. I have been reading through Isaiah and I've seen a lot of really cool things God can do and things He did do. There are so many instances where God does something that could only be done by Him. I have read of how angry God got at Israel and yet for whatever reason He decides to keep loving them. He wants to keep showing them how much He loves them. He also talks over and over again about Jesus. Like this:

Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. (Isaiah 7:13-16 NIV)

This evidently points to my Savior. I'm just stuck sitting here like "This is the God I serve and I am no where near worthy to care His name." Yet He has called me and saved me. Just as He's saved us all. Which is why Jesus came in the first place. Jesus came to mind in another passage that didn't even mention Him. Remember how Jesus said He could summon legions of angels if He needed them? Yeah check this out:

“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,” declares the Lord. “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! (Isaiah 37:33-36 NIV)

That was ONE angel. I don't want to imagine a legion and what they could... It's impressive that Jesus commands such creatures that can do that sort of damage. Anyway, I feel like Jesus didn't come just to save us. He came to set up a church that would last through the time that He would be gone. This church that we are a part of is only here because of the work of thirteen men and what their actions meant for the world. I say thirteen because I'm including the eleven of the original twelve, Matthias and later on Paul. These men started spreading the word of Jesus. They started to carry out one of Jesus' last commands, which was:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

They used all of their lives and poured out all of themselves in order to try to get the message to all nations. We have to continue getting it to all nation of course but let's face it they took care of a lot of the hard stuff. They got it across oceans. Here we are now with so many resources and so much potential. The church today has so much potential. Especially in the United States. There's a ton of room to improve.
The biggest problem we've done is to make it individualized. The church was never about individuals. Look at this next passage I'm going to post. It's perhaps one of the passages that's bothered me the most in my walk.

 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NIV)

There's no mention of how one person did any of that. Sure it has to start on that level but they did everything together. In Jesus' example of prayer, He never uses the word, I. Instead He uses words that deal with multiple people. I honestly feel like we need to get back to how the first church did things. They're devotion was about more then just one or two days a week. It was everyday. That would change so many things here and all over the world. I want to be devoted to the teachings of a God, devoted to fellowship with fellow believers, to breaking of bread and prayer. There's a lot of things that need to change in order for that to happen though. I will be going through some things that I feel need to change in the American churches.

Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you for reading, Send me any feedback or anything I should think about.

For Dog Lovers

Okay, so I haven't posted on here in forever. I just sort of had a random thought that's been bouncing around in my head for a long time. This post should be relatable to those of you who love dogs. You possibly even own a dog. If you don't then... Shame on you. I'm kidding of course but I must admit that I don't get how you can not love a dog.

I recently had to put down my friend of about 13 years or so who was named Buddy. His health started to go and almost everyday he got worse. We continued trying to care for him for about a week and a half or until we realized the truth: he wasn't getting better. My mom and I had been going through that week and a half beside ourselves with grief for our pet. He had become a part of our family to the point where honestly it hurt for a while to even think of letting him go. We had him put down because it was kinder then letting him suffer and after a while we decided to get another dog. We got a seven month old cocker spaniel terrier who was also called Buddy. He's everything you can expect from a puppy. Through getting to know him and spending time with him I discovered a parallel in our relationship with God.

I think dogs see us in the same way that we see God in a lot of ways. They depend on us for everything they need. They see us as above them. They get sad when we scold them or they get themselves in trouble. We love them even when they mess up. We provide for them even when we might be mad at them.

God does all those things and more for us. After all I've never died for my dog. Not saying I wouldn't but then who would provide for him and clean up his messes?

Here's the deal. God died for you. He provides for you and loves you in your darkest times. He didn't just die but He came back so He can help clean up your messes. Trust Him.

Blog for Classes of 2012 and of 2013

Before you all read this and get confused this isn't a blog that is like all my other ones. This blog is dedicated to the classes of 2012 and 2013. I will be addressing both of these classes individually shortly. Before that though I will reflect on the end of the year.


With the end of this year coming up there are a lot of thoughts going through my head. I must say I am super excited for the year to end. The end of this year means a lot of things for me. Summer is the one obvious one, me being News Editor next year, the possibility of getting a job and being a senior. Ultimately, the main thing I'm excited about is my graduation. It's really quite astounding how fast the time as flown for us all. 12 years of schooling, just done and over with. I must admit I can't complain because I would really really like to get out of high school and get on to college. It'll be amazing going to Bible college and growing in my faith. Anyway I'm going to get on to addressing the classes.

Class of 2012,
Seniors and in some cases friends. I must say I will never forget you. You've all been a part of that class that has always been one step above us. We've always had to look up at you because we were always below. Honestly, I don't know how it'll feel to be the top class on campus. I mean sure we experienced it in eighth grade but this is way different. This is the top of the top. This is the end. For a year we'll be the seniors of Scottsbluff High and it'll be weird. I guess we'll see if humans really were made with an ability to adapt to change I suppose. It'll be interesting. As for your future, good luck with it. Follow your dreams no matter how humble or how extravagant they may be. Just remember, for those of you who don't share my faith, that if you're content with what you have you will always search and search. Really for those of you who don't share my faith I must encourage you to talk to me about it within the short amount of time you have left to do so. For those of you who do share my faith, remember who you follow... Remember every single day to follow Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith because really He's the only One to follow that won't lead you astray. All other things we set up as idols to worship can't fill us up and leave us satisfied and content. Remember that guys. Pray earnestly and God bless.

Class of 2013
My class, my friends, and unfortunately in some cases people I don't know. First off to any of you reading I would like to apologize to anyone I have wronged over the years. I don't know what the circumstances or the situation was back then but I do know that if you remember it then it bothers you. For that, I am truly sorry.

Next off I want to leave a charge to my class. I know that we know a lot of people in our class. I know we all do. Some of us may not be that close though. I want to challenge that we all get closer and continue on to make our senior year the best year we've ever had. Get to know more of our class and make it through strong. We can change this community if we do it right guys. Which is something I know we can do. We all have different talents, different interests and different ways we were made unique. We can come together to accomplish great things though. That is all I have for you now guys. God bless and I will be trying to pray over this next year. I ask that a lot of my classmates who share my faith would do the same.

Spring Thing thoughts and comments (Finally!)

As I write this I am sort of exploring the new layout to this site. I haven't been on to post anything for a while. As the title suggests, I am finally posting some stuff on Spring Thing 2012. It's been like two weeks since it happened so I am very glad I took notes. I am also quite impressed with the quality of notes I took!

Anyways time to get down to the main point of this whole post. Spring Thing had quite the message. The whole thing was on changing the direction of the church to the same direction that Jesus is moving. Mike (my youth pastor) also brought some interesting aspects to this idea. He talked about a "Crash" of rhinos. Rhinos can move at 30 mph and can only see 30 feet in any given direction. They are also a two ton animal. In other words... I don't think I would want to be in front of a rhino. Not many things can stop a rhino and I know for a fact that I am not one of those things. Rhinos (being a two ton animal and being able to move at 30mph) gain a lot of momentum... fast. If we are to get momentum in Jesus' direction we must know two things as the church. Jesus' love and humilty are game changers for the church.

This is an example of Jesus' humilty. 

So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example – you should do just as I have done for you. I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:12-16 NET) As a church are we willing to wash each other's feet? Are we willing to take on the job of the lowest person in the household and in the process humble ourselves? I don't just ask this question to you as my readers, I also ask it to myself in a way. When reading about what Jesus did in scripture I often find myself convicted by it. Because He is God in the flesh and He did things I find myself struggling to do sometimes. Let's move on to Jesus' love.

“I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34, 35 NET) I know that's only two verses but in all reality it is HUGE. "Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." That verse right there hits me the hardest. This is why. Jesus loved us enough to come down to this earth and die for us. Just to save us from the coming wrath of His Father. Which in all reality should have been ours. Jesus didn't just die either. He was beaten and tortured within an inch of His life, forced to drag a cross to Calvary, nailed to that cross, seperated from His Father through our sin and finally died on that cross as payment for us.

The church needs to follow His example and live for God. If we accomplish anything worth doing it will only be thorugh being the church Jesus called us to be. This isn't all I have to say about this my friends. You will definitely see more in the future. For now though think this over.

A look at what is coming up

Just to let those of you who read my blog know what is going on soon. I'm definitely planning on writing a blog on what I'm experiencing this weekend. I'm currently at Spring Thing and I'm seeing so much in a new light. I would be writing now but there are two things holding me back.

-I'm on my iPad right now and I don't have my keyboard with me so I can't type very well. (I'm surprised I'm saying as much as I am.

- I'm very short on time at the moment.

So I shall get a new blog up soon. See you guys. :)

Random thoughts

In all honesty guys I only sort of have a point to this post. It is mostly to collect my thoughts in one place. And partly a place to relieve some of my boredom. I'm just now getting home from helping with newspaper. Finally ahead of the game for once and it's kind of nice.

Anyway to the sort of point I have. I am having to place a lot of trust in God right now. I am in desperate need of a job. It's not even like I need for personal things... I need it to pay for insurance on my new car. I just recently got my license and my car... I like driving. I'm assuming you get my dilema at this point. If any of you who reads this would pray for that then I would really appreciate that.

On another note TNT has started doing something way different. We try to do the accountability but on top of that we're doing more lessons. We're growing closer together from what I can see.

I really miss someone... Like really bad. So yeah. That was really random but oh well. I will spare you all of the specifics. Anyways thats all I really have tonight. Thanks for listening (Or I guess reading) my little brain drain. Have a good week!

Being a blessing

Okay guys for one I would like to say I sort of find what has been going on in my life slightly ironic. I have been involved with a lot of cancer patients lately. First I shaved my head for one boy suffering of cancer at our school. And now another member of my own family is suffering from the dreaded cancer. I find this ironic because a long time ago my aunt died from cancer. She was actually one connection I have to one of my best Christian friends nowadays. He had spoke at her funeral after her death.

Anyway back to the idea of being a blessing. My mom got very involved in a benefit for this member of my family (my cousin by marriage.) She has always been involved with her church all her life. This is the same church we had the benefit in. Chili was served and there was an auction. All the funds made at the benefit went to doctor's bills. Which if you've seen a doctor's bill lately they are expensive. This was all very appreciated but what I also saw was a large group of people which were drawn together to help. Some of which were a part of my family who don't even go to church or claim Jesus. A lot of which do go to church and do claim Jesus as their Savior. Personally I find this all to be a big blessing to me.

Or so I thought...

That was a blessing sure but the real blessing came earlier today. My mom and I went over to this cousin of mines house to visit for a bit tonight. (Notice how I say a bit.) We ended up staying there for somewhere about three hours catching up with them. Through this catching up they all found out that I was planning on going into ministry in the future. They were very encouraging. In all reality it is the most fun I've had with family for a long time. It was awesome. I went with the intention of being Jesus to a part of my family and being a blessing to them. They ended up being a huge blessing to me.

Here's a verse to think on for the week.

“Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds others up. Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person. (1 Corinthians 10:23, 24 NET)

God bless and have a good week!

Valentine's Day

Today is Febuaray 14th. This is a day that a lot of people were looking forward to... And a lot of people dreaded it. Love it or hate it Valentine's day comes around no matter what.

I will admit that there are plenty of people that just see it as another day and there are others that love the idea of lavishing their loved ones with gifts of all kinds. But there is one other group. This group is the group of people that is simply sad that they are not with someone that loves them on THE day that people show love.

Before I get too into this let me make something clear... I am not posting this to bash on these people. In all honesty my friends I used to be one of those people. I used to dread Valentine's day coming around and when it was here I would do nothing but sit around and do nothing. I would absolutely hate that it was there.

Here's some advice from one believer to another... Don't fret about not having earthly love. It just gets in the way. If you have it then thats fine. If you don't then I would ask that you focus on God's love. Here's scripture's definition of love which is up to God's standards. This is how God loves us.

Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NET)

God's love never fails. He never gave up on us. He didn't even spare His own Son from the fate that we should have suffered. Just think on that tonight as the day ends.

God bless and goodnight.

Thoughts while driving

My grandma and I decided to go look at cars today in Mitchell because I will (hopefully) be getting my license soon. We had an enjoyable time. This also gave me a very nice chance to drive a bit before my test. She drove there we looked at cars and I drove us back.

We drove around for a solid like 30 minutes. We talked about a bunch of random things which include having a will (I'm in business law so I decided it'd be fun to ask) and the upcoming driving test I will be required to take.

On the way home from our drive we got stuck in traffic. I was stuck on one side of the street while a slew of cars went by on the other side. We sat there for a good ten minutes waiting for the traffic to cease.

I found myself becoming slightly frusterated with the situation. There was all this traffic on one side of me and a bunch of traffic behind me (there would've been more but a lot of them passed me). In the middle of all this mess and frusteration I found myself thinking... Does God ever get frusterated with us?

Think about this. One moment in your life where you were stuck doing something that God most likely didn't like. My thoughts on the matter are this... He most likely did get slightly frusterated with us when we were caught in that. On the other hand He loves us enough to forgive and just keep on showing us love. No matter what we do. God is there. In the silence. In the darkness. In the light. Our Father is present.

Never forget that. God bless and have a good week.

Reflections on Run to You (I Need You)

I got home today from school and put all my school supplies away for the weekend. (I mean after all who does homework over the week?) Anyways I picked up my iPad and decided to listen to most of my worship cds to get me pumped to finish my Youth Alive lesson later. And well I've been here for hours just listening and having some inspiration for how I want to be. Here's the lyrics I'm sort of reflecting on right now.

"I need you. I can't get enough of you. I come alive when I'm in your pressence. Oh, God of my salvation."

This almost sounds like a Psalm! But with music and no huge prophetic words. The song itself is talking about needing God and always running to Him who gave us this great salvation and this great strength. By the way the song is by Kari Jobe for anyone who may wish to look it up. (I would recommend it!)

It's a faith like that and a love like that that keeps us going in the Christian life. Knowing that there is always our God that we can run to and who will ALWAYS love us. Science tries to explain away God but yet the facts for God outweight the "evidence" for scientific reasons for our existence. The fact alone that believers know He's present should be enough. He's always there to comfort us and love us. Like a father would. Anyway have a good weekend my friends.

God Bless.

Winter White Wash: My Experience

My youth group just got back on Sunday from a weekend of sking, snowboarding, swimming and ice skating. Sounds fun right?

It wasnt' all fun and games with some of the closest friends I have thought. We learned a very important lesson about hungering for God. One thing I'll never forget about Winter White Wash is that it was the first youth rally I ever went to. I had a weird reminder of the topic last year too though.

I have recently been trying to get more music on my iPad 2 (Mostly because I only had one album and was getting "reminded" of that fact a lot). I got this keyboard which I now use and a good sum of iTunes money when I got back from the trip. I bought two new apps and three albums. (Which by the way brings me up to four albums! Yes!!!)

Anyway one of the albums I got was Kari Jobe's "Where I Find You." Kari Jobe has always been one of my favorite worship artists but there was a song that struck a chord with me. There's a song called "We Are" and it talks about how we are the light of the world which is referenced from Jesus.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16 NET)

Which is what we learned about last year at Winter White Wash! Like exactly. It's crazy how much this song reminds me of that trip last year. Its great to have the reminder! God is good!

The Importance of Prayer

I've found recently that there is a huge change in my walk with Jesus just from prayer alone. I have been keeping a prayer journal since I went with my church youth group to CIY last year. One of the speakers had a talk on prayer. I realized as I prayed more and more it became easier. It eventually becomes like talking to your closest friend but talking to God is way more then that...

God has recently become the person I run to during my day. Its really refreshing knowing that no matter what is going on in my life God will listen. No matter what state I'm in. I could run to my Heavenly Father in tears or elated about some accomplishment and the response is the same. I get this over whelming feeling of God saying "My son I am here with you. Through it all." This is quite amazing for a kid who never had an earthly father to run to.

Remember you can always run to Him for comfort or anything.