Here begins the first in a series of Christmas related blogs! (I'm back by the way after a long hiatus!)
I LOVE Christmas! Everything about it is a celebration as we get ready for Jesus' entrance into humanity. And you know what I love? Christmas songs. I love Christmas music!
The thing I've noticed this year though, is that a lot of the songs that I hear on the radio are sad songs! Take for example the one I heard as I was coming back to school this past weekend. It was a song saying how sad the children would be this Christmas because Daddy was shot in the war. Another one was saying how this Christmas all we'll have is heat because Mama lost her job in the recession. This is too sad to make up!
And it's not just newer songs that have sad lyrics. "I'll be home for Christmas", "Christmas Shoes", and "Blue Christmas" all give sobering tones to a celebration that should be just that: a celebration! Try singing "Jingle Bells" after singing about little Johnny's dog that won't be getting the operation he needs for Christmas. While I might just have made that up, I wouldn't doubt there is a song about that too!
This Christmas, don't let songs take away from the greatness that happened on that Christmas day. Like a new king's coronation is accompanied by wide spread celebration and praises, so too should our King's entrance be marked not with sadness, but with joy and jubilation!
****
Now this is a Christmas song!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Cause I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane
In about 40 minutes I will be heading up to Charlotte to begin my journey to Bolivia!
There are so many thoughts going through my mind as I sit here waiting on my couch. Of course there are the practical questions like, "Do I have all my paperwork?" "What do I need to do once I get to the airport?" and "What's going to happen once we get down there?" I don't get worried or nervous about anything really, but these are the sorts of questions about the unknown that I just want to know!
Then there is the journey that I took to get to this point. I heard about this trip back in 2009, I think, and knew that this was going to be the mission trip for me. We are going down to teach the local religious and lay leaders about God. Fun stuff that's right up my alley. The thing is though I had no idea how I was going to pay for everything. But I prayed that God would provide and sent off my sponsorship letters. After a few months of praying for sponsors, I went and checked my account a week before all the money was due (as I had every other week the past summer) and I still had $800 left to raise.
I laid there in bed that night thinking "God, I have no idea where I am going to get that money from. But I trust you." God brought the story of Gideon to my mind. How Gideon had raised this massive army to fight the Mideonites but through a series of trials, God whittled the army down to 300 men. 300 men against a MASSIVE army. In the end, that 300 men, along with God, defeated that huge army (Judges 7).
I believe God brought down that army with only 300 men so that all nations could see that it was God who delivered Gideon that day. There was no way that Gideon could receive the glory from that situation because it was practically impossible from his perspective.
The day after I learned that I had $800 left to raise, a lady at my school told me of a letter she sent to her home church asking for support for me. She felt like God was pressing on her heart to do that when she woke up that morning. By the end of the week, I had $0 left to raise. God provided. God received the glory for doing something in my life that there was no way I could do by myself.
That's the attitude I am going into this week with. There is no way that anything good happens as a result of what I do. Because of my sin and brokenness, it will be only God who receives the glory for anything that happens this week. I am not good, but He who lives in me is.
Scripture to think about:
James 5:16
Philippians 1-2
For His renown.
There are so many thoughts going through my mind as I sit here waiting on my couch. Of course there are the practical questions like, "Do I have all my paperwork?" "What do I need to do once I get to the airport?" and "What's going to happen once we get down there?" I don't get worried or nervous about anything really, but these are the sorts of questions about the unknown that I just want to know!
Then there is the journey that I took to get to this point. I heard about this trip back in 2009, I think, and knew that this was going to be the mission trip for me. We are going down to teach the local religious and lay leaders about God. Fun stuff that's right up my alley. The thing is though I had no idea how I was going to pay for everything. But I prayed that God would provide and sent off my sponsorship letters. After a few months of praying for sponsors, I went and checked my account a week before all the money was due (as I had every other week the past summer) and I still had $800 left to raise.
I laid there in bed that night thinking "God, I have no idea where I am going to get that money from. But I trust you." God brought the story of Gideon to my mind. How Gideon had raised this massive army to fight the Mideonites but through a series of trials, God whittled the army down to 300 men. 300 men against a MASSIVE army. In the end, that 300 men, along with God, defeated that huge army (Judges 7).
I believe God brought down that army with only 300 men so that all nations could see that it was God who delivered Gideon that day. There was no way that Gideon could receive the glory from that situation because it was practically impossible from his perspective.
The day after I learned that I had $800 left to raise, a lady at my school told me of a letter she sent to her home church asking for support for me. She felt like God was pressing on her heart to do that when she woke up that morning. By the end of the week, I had $0 left to raise. God provided. God received the glory for doing something in my life that there was no way I could do by myself.
That's the attitude I am going into this week with. There is no way that anything good happens as a result of what I do. Because of my sin and brokenness, it will be only God who receives the glory for anything that happens this week. I am not good, but He who lives in me is.
Scripture to think about:
James 5:16
Philippians 1-2
For His renown.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Rain Makes Corn
9 Ways to Sin With Alcohol ***Plus a Side Note***
From Midtown Fellowship
1. Get Drunk - Ephesians 5:18
2. Drink underage - Romans 13:1-2
3. Cause someone else to struggle - Romans14:15,21
4. Drink out of rebellion - 1 Corinthians 6:12
5. Abstain out of self-righteousness - Isaiah 55:6
6. Violate your conscience - Romans 14:22-23
7. Push your conscience on others - Romans 14:1-3
8. Be mastered by addiction - 1 Corinthians 6:12
9. Drink without acknowledging God - 1 Corinthians 10:31
Side note: Met a homeless man tonight named M***. I saw him at church just dancing and worshiping God. It was a huge inspiration to me and I thought I should tell him that I was inspired by him. I didn't know he was homeless at the time I saw him dancing, and it was only after going up and meeting him that he told me that he was homeless. Got him some food and just learned some more about him. He's desperate for a job but loves Jesus. I could tell then that our meeting was because God was pushing hard on my heart. He's going to be sleeping on the streets tonight because there is no place for him to go, and before our meeting he couldn't remember the last time he ate.
What's wrong with this picture? A fellow brother in Christ doesn't have a place to sleep tonight, and the only food he has for the foreseeable future is two bags of potato chips from Subway.
Do something Church.
For His renown
From Midtown Fellowship
1. Get Drunk - Ephesians 5:18
2. Drink underage - Romans 13:1-2
3. Cause someone else to struggle - Romans14:15,21
4. Drink out of rebellion - 1 Corinthians 6:12
5. Abstain out of self-righteousness - Isaiah 55:6
6. Violate your conscience - Romans 14:22-23
7. Push your conscience on others - Romans 14:1-3
8. Be mastered by addiction - 1 Corinthians 6:12
9. Drink without acknowledging God - 1 Corinthians 10:31
Side note: Met a homeless man tonight named M***. I saw him at church just dancing and worshiping God. It was a huge inspiration to me and I thought I should tell him that I was inspired by him. I didn't know he was homeless at the time I saw him dancing, and it was only after going up and meeting him that he told me that he was homeless. Got him some food and just learned some more about him. He's desperate for a job but loves Jesus. I could tell then that our meeting was because God was pushing hard on my heart. He's going to be sleeping on the streets tonight because there is no place for him to go, and before our meeting he couldn't remember the last time he ate.
What's wrong with this picture? A fellow brother in Christ doesn't have a place to sleep tonight, and the only food he has for the foreseeable future is two bags of potato chips from Subway.
Do something Church.
For His renown
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Cake Is A Lie!
I have a HUGE weakness. Cookies. Not just any cookies but Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Cafe here at school. And you can't just eat one cookie. No. You have to eat at least two to be balanced. But even still, everyone knows that cookies can only be eaten in groups of three! Right? In the past month I have probably eaten over 100 of these delicious Delilahs. After seeing the scale though, I told myself I would cut back. No more cookies.
Then today the cafe started making Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches! And you can't just eat one of them! So, of course I ate three of them, which equates to six (6) regular cookies plus icing! If these cookies were sin, I would be busting hell wide open right now.
There is a point to this. These cookies have a lot to tell us about who we are. You see, if they were sin I don't know if I could keep myself from eating them. Knowing that eating the cookies is wrong would not be enough to stop me from eating them. They are just that good in my mind. So what's the deal here? The point is, knowing something is wrong is not always enough to keep us from doing it. Why? Because we are messed up on the inside. We are bad. Just like yesterday's post that said there is no good in us, that is shown in our lives. Like me not being able to resist the cookies, man by himself cannot resist sin. It's just how we function.
But that's not all. In much the same way that my weight on the scale tonight is going to change my attitude toward cookies, Jesus changes our attitude toward sin. When He works in our lives, we are changed from the inside out. No longer do we have to be controlled by our lack of control; instead, we can be changed to hate what we once loved and love what we once ignored.
Kind of the reason why I'm going to be running several miles tonight. And you can bet I'll feel every one of those delicious Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches. Not so good anymore, are they?
For His renown.
Then today the cafe started making Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches! And you can't just eat one of them! So, of course I ate three of them, which equates to six (6) regular cookies plus icing! If these cookies were sin, I would be busting hell wide open right now.
There is a point to this. These cookies have a lot to tell us about who we are. You see, if they were sin I don't know if I could keep myself from eating them. Knowing that eating the cookies is wrong would not be enough to stop me from eating them. They are just that good in my mind. So what's the deal here? The point is, knowing something is wrong is not always enough to keep us from doing it. Why? Because we are messed up on the inside. We are bad. Just like yesterday's post that said there is no good in us, that is shown in our lives. Like me not being able to resist the cookies, man by himself cannot resist sin. It's just how we function.
But that's not all. In much the same way that my weight on the scale tonight is going to change my attitude toward cookies, Jesus changes our attitude toward sin. When He works in our lives, we are changed from the inside out. No longer do we have to be controlled by our lack of control; instead, we can be changed to hate what we once loved and love what we once ignored.
Kind of the reason why I'm going to be running several miles tonight. And you can bet I'll feel every one of those delicious Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches. Not so good anymore, are they?
For His renown.
Friday, September 24, 2010
No Good In Me...
Every few months God decides to show me something new in faith, life, relationships, whatever, and right now He's got me in the book of Philippians.
As Christians our ACTIONS must be based in love and our ATTITUDE must be based around Christ's glory.
How many of us can say that this is what defines our lives? I certainly can't. My actions are many times selfish and my attitude is the same way.(Philippians 2:21)
But that's not what God wants.
For Christians, that six word sentence should mean more to you than any other commentary on mankind.
Let LOVE for others and HOPE in His Name drive you to action.
For His renown.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Roaring Like a Lion...
So I'm starting this blog thing. Let me know what you think.
One of the most important aspects of any Christian is transparency and authenticity. Seriously. If a person knows you're being real with them, then at the very least it makes it easier to live in grace and grow with other believers. (James 5:16)
First things first. Get real with those around you and don't hide behind masks of pride, envy, or any other type of sin. That's what I hope to do at least through this blog. Be real with you and share my heart.
For His renown.
One of the most important aspects of any Christian is transparency and authenticity. Seriously. If a person knows you're being real with them, then at the very least it makes it easier to live in grace and grow with other believers. (James 5:16)
First things first. Get real with those around you and don't hide behind masks of pride, envy, or any other type of sin. That's what I hope to do at least through this blog. Be real with you and share my heart.
For His renown.
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