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.