Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

In February of this year(2008), the Spirit of God began a movement in my heart that was unparalleled to any work he had done on me previously. I began to have a deeper thirst to know God and to follow him wherever he should take me. He surrounded me by godly friends and a lot of encouragement like no other! I also became a leader for a high school church group and God continued to pour out his Spirit upon my life, constantly changing for the better. I had a Bible study to go to at least once a day. 

This all changed in August 2008 when I felt God calling me to go to an un-acredited Bible college. I had heard from quite a few people who had gone to this particular Bible college how spiritually dry and legalistic the place was. I was not excited, but God had given me visions of how he was wanting to revive the college, and I definitely wanted to be a part of that! I wanted to be a part of God's work. God had brought some awesome guys into my life who had the same kinds of vision for the Bible college, which excited me. So a couple of months went by and nothing much was happening. My friends and I went to a church in Carpenteria to attend their ministry conference. The Spirit spoke to us and told us to trust him and be faithful in the small things that he had put in front of us. Despite the lack of passion in the worship, both corporate worship and everyday life worship, we needed to keep pressing forward trusting in Jesus to do a good work. Jesus is good no matter where you go; just because the circumstances change does not mean the way we interact with Jesus changes. 

Every Sunday night is community worship at college, and we were excited because there is something about worshipping with a lot of people with guitars and drums (it's Biblical!). The Holy Spirit began to move and for about an hour, the Spirit was giving words of wisdom and encouragement to all 300-400 of us. People were yelling out whatever the Spirit was putting on their hearts, and everybody was encouraged. One thing the Spirit was putting on my heart was blessing the Lord despite the circumstances around us: whether in good times or bad times. We were all stoked because we weren't expecting the movement of the Spirit to happen the day we got back!

After community worship, a lot of us go to get food and hang out for a little bit. Most of my friends were already eating so I was rushing to get to In-N-Out. I pulled out of the Bible college and began driving. I did not realize that I was going 62mph in a 45mph zone. I also did not realize that there was a cop right behind me. I made a right turn and he flashed his lights behind me. Keeping it short, I got a ticket for speeding and I guess my license was expired. Lamo. I was stressed and freaking out because I literally physically can not pay for a ticket right now, nor will I be able to afford my insurance when it goes up. As I was driving to In-N-Out, I was talking with Jesus and he was telling me that even though I was stupid and messed up, he was going to take care of it. The words that the Spirit was giving me were for me! Despite my circumstances, still will I bless the name of the Lord!

As I was laying in bed, I began reading Matthew 14:25-27, which says, "And in the fourth watch of the night he [Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, 'It is a ghost!' and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.'" This ticket looks like a ghost and I honestly do not know what I am going to do, but Jesus was telling me "This is me, not a ghost." He is going to use this self-inflicted burden to sanctify me and make me more like him. I need not worry, because Jesus holds the universe and has his eyes on those who love him. 

In conclusion, the Lord taught me a huge lesson: blessed be the Name of the Lord in ALL circumstances! I got a speeding ticket! And blessed be the Name of the Lord!

religious idiots and legalistic hypocrites

Before the regeneration of my heart by the Spirit of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I was a religious idiot and a legalistic hypocrite. Besides pride, the biggest struggles in my heart, though it might seem alright on the outside, deal with being judgmental and legalistic. It's a work in progress, but my heart has been open for the conviction of these issues in my heart. Luckily, God's grace has been helping me to see things more clearly concerning how much I need His grace! I should probably explain what I mean by all of this. Many Christians will profess to understand that they are saved by grace and not by works, but at the same time they are judging people for not living up to what they think the Bible says and they think that they need to live a perfect life. The first thing we must understand is that the Bible is the highest authority among Christians. If one says they are being led by the Spirit, we test it by the Scriptures. The Bible is absolute authority. Scripture contains timeless truths, but the methods of applying them are timely. In other words, we need to apply the absolute truth held within the Bible to the times we live in. What many people try to do is interpret the Bible to say what they want it to say, which causes legalism to arise. They begin to add rules and act like every Christian needs to live up to their rules. For example, the Bible does not say we cannot drink alcohol. We must obey the laws of the land and obey the drinking age, and getting drunk is a sin. Jesus was not a republican and he was not a democrat. Jesus never said that we cannot smoke tobacco products and He never said that, when married, we can only have sex for reproduction or on certain days of the week. These are rules that sinful men have placed on the consciences of many people. The beauty of the new covenant we have through Christ is the freedom we have through his perfect life and his sacrificial death. On the other end, Paul talks about women not braiding their hair and wearing gold or pearls or costly attire etc. In our culture, we obviously do not abide by these rules. There is a truth in these commands, but they must be applied to where we are today. Getting drunk is getting drunk no matter what era you live in. The point Paul is making concerning women, specifically women in the ministry, is that they need to be modest in their dress. So we take the truths in the Bible and apply them to us today. The point of this all is that I have been saved from the prideful and depressing life of religion and legalism. God wants no person to think more highly of himself than he ought to. We all are idiots. I suck, you suck, but Jesus is good! And He has saved us from the life of perfection by living it Himself! So put down your stupid ideas of what a Christian should look like and look to Jesus! Live by the absolute authority in the Bible and live by your conscience! Stop trying to force your conscience on other people! God has freed them where you are obviously not freed yet, so let them alone. I will live in the freedom of Jesus Christ and I will live my life for Him and Him alone. In finishing, Thrice is one of the best bands to ever have existed (I think). They have a song called the weight of glory and the lyrics are amazing, so I want to post them here:

A ring of Pharisees and one of them was me

We love the letter but not the Spirit

An infidelity, a woman on her knees

She begged for mercy, we couldn't hear it

The teacher looked from us, his finger in the dust

We felt the chill and it shook us to our bones

The he raised his head and this is what he said,

"The one who has not sin should throw a stone"

I waked away in silence

and threw myself upon the ground

These words they burned inside me

Take up your cross before your crown

Go and judge not, lest ye be judged with the girl and come down

Take up your cross before your crown

INTO LIFE

How could I ever turn back into my old ways? I dare not go back to death. You have called me out of death and you have called me into life. How could I ever go back? How can anyone who has tasted our precious Lord's goodness and grace ever fall back into their old ways? I've tasted your goodness, and I have seen your power throughout the universe and most amazingly in my own changed life. You've given me a new heart that wants to follow you, which without, I would still be caught dead in my sins. You are beautiful! I have seen! I bow down to you, my God, knowing your character, knowing your loving kindness. Oh Lord! I will never fall back! Tis' like a salesman who learns a new technique which is flawless and perfect: will he go back and use his old sales tools even though his new ones work with much more conviction? Most assuredly he will not! Will a mountain climber climb back down the cliff even though he sees the very tip of the mountain? I should hope not! Like so,nor shall I ever go back to my old ways. Oh Lord! I will never turn back! 

whose to blame?

There is so much sickness and so much evil that makes its home in this world. Children are dying all over the world due to starvation, cancer, aids, tumors, etc. etc. One young child whom I had heard about has a very rare hereditary brain tumor disease and is about to die. His sister has the same disease, though hers is dormant for the time being. We are talking here about kids who haven't had the chance to make serious choices, kids who haven't had the chance to willingly surrender their lives to Jesus, kids who will never have the pleasure of many things God has declared as good in this world. Why does God make these innocent children endure such hardship? He doesn't. You might be mad at Jesus, you might think He is some cruel and unjust Being, but you are simply looking at things through the eyes of Satan. Just as Satan deceived Eve into eating the fruit of The Tree of Knowledge, so are you being deceived by this same devil. Sin entered into this world by the choices of our fathers, and this sin that has forever corrupted human beings and all of creation with it is being practiced by every human every day. So why are innocent children being tormented? Because of sin. And how would we know sin if it weren't for the Law? We know our sin when our lives are placed alongside the Law. "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Though we die by the Law, we are resurrected by the blood of Jesus. He lived the life WE ALL cannot live. He died the death WE ALL should have died. And now, He is living in a perfect body, as ALL those who call upon His name and truly believe in Him will someday live as well. Terrible things happen to good and bad people. Good things happen to good and bad people. But someday, the goodness of the God-man, Jesus Christ, will resurrect us into perfection. So away with your foolish thinking! That God is some child with a magnifying glass killing ants to appease Himself! He is not to be so viewed. Sin is OUR self inflicted curse, Jesus is OUR undeserved salvation.  

the movement

the movement begins with the rebirth of my mind, the redirecting of my desires. glory is to god almighty and jesus christ alone, who, through his holy spirit, enables me to live a holy life.