The sky above, the field below.

Theology and you

I love theology. I love debating it, studying it, and as my girlfriend can attest, i love to discuss it. I believe that theology is incredibly important to our walks with Jesus as it causes us to look deeper into doctrine, and “grey” areas often found within the church community. I love theology.

We as a people do not have a “perfect theology”. Some have more of a grasp of various theological views, as well as more of a general understanding into theology than others, yes. There is such thing as incorrect theology, yes. But there is by no means a “perfect theology” unless you are Jesus. 

Jesus in and of himself, alone, is perfect theology. 

('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyXK08BIeAg&feature=share',)

Confessions to my Lord

Father,
You alone are God, and you alone orchestrated the very moment when i gave my life to you. You have seen me through my struggles, my failures and my victories. My God, how patient you are with me. My assurance comes from scripture that says NOTHING can undo what you have done. NOTHING can pluck me from your hand, but savior, why is it that i feel as far as can be from you with no return? Is this how Peter felt when he denied you? But my God, you called him by name, you have called ME by name to tell me that I am yours, and yours alone. Where i succeed, there are twice as many failures, but you are a God that loves, and tends to his people. You tend to your flock, and break us when necessary to show us where we never should go again. There IS joy in seasons like these, because I am reminded that I am like that of a child, defiantly doing what he was told not to do, only to be corrected, and in that correction, lessons are learned. Refinement sprouts. Father take this season of my life, and mold me to where i emerge from it even more fruitful than before.
I often think to myself, “please don’t give up on me” but deep down I know that my assurance isn’t rested in m actions. This is what makes grace so sweet. I want to run to you. Far away from everything. Far away from my struggles and temptations, and just lay at your feet. There is hope, but none apart from you.

Refine me, and make me more like you. Remove my feelings of condemnation, and restore my hunger for you, and for your purpose for me. I am not finished, and the race is not over. You love me, you have called me by name and claimed me as your own. I hope in you, and i rest in you, and you alone.

In the strong name of Jesus I pray,
Amen 

Good Friday

Who has believed our message?
To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the LORD laid on him
the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. (Isaiah 53:1-12 NLT)

Sex and you

I have had sex. I have masturbated, i have looked at pornography. I have done things that i am absolutely ashamed of. But at the end of the day, that is the man i used to be. I used to be someone who craved physical affection, and often looked at the opposite sex in a very lustful way. This life has carried itself over into my current relationship with the woman I love more than anyone on this earth.

Sex, in biblical context is something that God created to be enjoyed between a man, and a woman within the covenant of marriage. 2 people, coming together worshiping God with their bodies, displaying their affection for one another by 2 people, becoming one in heart, and body. This is a beautiful thing. In Song of Songs, God actually talks to the bride and groom, telling them to enjoy one another. God created this to be an act of worship.

The “sex sells” mentality, and the perverse view of our culture has taken sex, and turned it into something it isn’t. Marketable, and meaningless. Instead of giving legitimate council, we are teaching “safe sex” rather than waiting for the one who you are going to spend your life with. It’s about feeling that you’re “ready”, instead of waiting for the one that is going to stick by you, and not leave you when the pregnancy test comes back positive. The “hit it and quit it” idea has penetrated our youth, and turned sex from something to be enjoyed with the person you are married to, to the person who is willing to give it up that particular night. This was me. I was this person.

Jesus has so much more in store for you than empty, meaningless physical encounters with the guy or girl from the show, or the party. I was a boy who used the “sweet guy” card and said all the right things so that i could get into her pants. Women were an object for me, not something i treasured. I made a toy out of the beautiful creation of the almighty. I destroyed lives, and gave away something i should be giving my wife on our wedding night. The hardest part of all of this for me was looking into my girlfriend’s eyes, and confessing all of my encounters, and telling her that i wouldn’t be pure on our wedding night. But it was something that i had to do. I had to hear the hesitation in her voice as she answered, but through it all, she replied with love, and incredible grace. BELIEVING that God is a God who forgives people, and makes them whole again.

Sex turned me into the man i never wanted to be. In hindsight, i wish that i had waited for marriage. But the beauty is, God is such a loving, and merciful God, and forgave me. God forgives. God has changed me, and giving me a good, Godly relationship with the most beautiful girl in the world. It is at an incredible price that i have been cleansed and made new. Maybe some of you reading have lived a life similar to my own, and you are wondering if the things i said were true. GOD CHANGES PEOPLE. God is in the business of taking ordinary, broken people like me and changing them. Then sending them off to do extraordinary things. 
Isaiah 43:25 “for i have forgiven your sins for my own sake, and i will never think of them again.” God forgets the sins of those who confess it. He isn’t this dude that hangs something you did over your head. That is outside the character of God. Repent, live a life of victory.

I will close with a note to the sexes.

Guys: Grow up. Let’s grow up, and be men. Lets be men who love, and provide for the weaker vessel. (Women) Cultivate her! Nurture her! Love her! She is not your sex toy. you do NOT take her on a date and expect some explicit act at the end of the evening. SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF THE LIVING GOD! Treat her with the respect, and admiration she deserves. Keep your hands out of her pants, and eyes looking into hers, and let’s be men who believe in the gospel so much, that we may one day love our girls the way Christ loves the church. We have a standard to live up to that disagrees with the crap the world tells us to live.

Girls: you are valuable. you are beautiful. You are a portrait of the grace of God. You are not a sexual object, rather someone who is beautiful in the eyes of your creator. Don’t give yourself up to the first boy with the smooth words and nice hair. Love Jesus in such a way, that they must love him to love you. make that boy fight for you, and don’t give yourself away. you’re worth so much more than you know.

Father,
I pray that we become a generation who believes in change, and in conviction. Convict us where we need to be convicted, and lead us to a place of repentance. Whether that be of each other, or to you Lord just take us to that place. Sex isnt gross, or a business plan. It is something created by you, for us to enjoy for the one you made for us. Give those of us who are struggling with patience, patience and grace. Forgive us, please oh God of where we have fallen. Your grace, love and mercy is so abundant. Thank you for loving me, and changing me.

Amen

Arrogance and Jesus

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said “without Christ, there is discord between God and man, and between man and man. Christ became the mediator and made peace with God, and among men. Without Christ, we should not know God. We should not call upon him, or come to him. But without Christ, we should not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our own ego.”

I want to talk about us as people. How arrogant, and often times egotistical we are. Let me ask you this. Have you ever walked in the grocery store, for whatever reason and saw a lower class family? They’re not wearing the nicest clothes, and maybe their hair is messy. Have you ever felt the thought cross your mind that they are free-loaders who probably are on welfare? That they aren’t worth anyone’s time, or yours? Or maybe you’re walking in the hallways of your school, and the kid that is always picked on walks by, and maybe gives you a light smile, and you turn your head because you don’t want the other people in your school to see you interacting with this person. Whatever the instance may be, we are all guilty of this to some degree. What does the bible say about this? What does it say about our interactions, and attitudes with other people?

Philippians 2:3-5 ”Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t look out for only your interests, but take interest in others too. you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

The bible says that Jesus humbled himself to the place of a servant. Jesus was constantly serving people. From tax collectors, prostitutes and even lepers. Jesus has incredible compassion for people, even those who opposed him most. Hebrews 2 talks about how Jesus humbled himself to a place lower than the angels (human level) and served. This is how we are called to be. There is no place for arrogance, bigotry, or ego in the kingdom. Jesus calls us to be a people who place others before ourselves. This isn’t isn’t circumstantial. The circumstance that others find themselves in should NOT dictate how we treat them. Our love for people is not based on what clothing brand they wear, whether they have tattoos or not, what sex they are, sexual orientation, or social/monetary status. We love because God first loved us! 

Our faith doesn’t give us the right to hold ourselves over other people. Yes, we have Jesus, but if we are constantly judging others, and placing ourselves above others, we are failing in a couple of different ways.
1. we are NOT having the attitude that Christ had.
2. we are boasting in ourselves and NOT in what Jesus has done.
We have to be a people that believe in humility. Those condescending Facebook/twitter posts. What are they for? In Ephesians 2, where Paul is talking about how the Jews and Gentiles were 2 separate people groups, and by the death of Jesus, they were made into 1 people. Ego separated them. Jesus came, and died so that we may die to ourselves. This included our egos.

1 John 4:20-21 “If someone says I LOVE GOD, but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we can’t see? And he has given us this command: those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.” 

This is/should be a kick in the face for us. So often i see believers taking stabs at other believers. Or believers taking stabs at non believers. HOW CAN WE NOT LOVE PEOPLE WHO WE CAN SEE, AND TURN AROUND AND LOVE A GOD WE CAN SEE? Wanna know what happens when we accept Jesus? By his grace, and experiencing his love fully, his love is perfected in us, and brought into full expression in us. Meaning, we should love people so passionately, that they see the very existence of God in us. Period. Drug addict? Love them. Homosexual? Love them. Sinner? Love. Them. LOVE PEOPLE. People’s past, present, future, clothing, financial status, social status, amount of twitter followers, their weight or height, WHATEVER. THESE THINGS IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FOR EFFECT OUR LOVE FOR THEM. If our affection for people is blocked by these things, we need to come to a place of repentance because this is not the character of Christ. Love in such a way that you appear different than everyone, because you are. Genuinely love people, and invest in them, and watch more people be receptive to the gospel. Love people in such a way, that they don’t feel like a project. Pray against arrogance, and our egos so that we may show the world a different type a love. Pray that through Christ, we learn what it is to love.

Father,
I pray for this generation. That we would be a people so captivated by you, that it will show in the very way we interact with others. Forgive us for where we fall short every single day. Let us be a people who live a life of repentance, rather it being just something we request in a prayer. Help us to see others the way you see us. Let us be broken for those around us who don’t know you, or, even those who go through this life feeling unloved, and unwanted. Jesus, you know what abandonment is. You know what it is to be mocked, spat on, and humiliated, yet you love us. You are captivated by us, and let us be captivated by those around us. Father i pray that chains of bondage to our egos will be shattered in the name of Jesus. Let us be a people of revolution, and a people who love because you first loved us.

Amen.

Do’s and don’ts

I feel that as a gospel believing, God fearing people, the truth of the gospel has become a bit distorted. Not completely, but i fear that there are some misconceptions that are being spread and unfortunately, being taught in the churches that are damaging, and misleading. I want to talk about these, show what the scriptures say in addressing these, and how to change the way we live and how that reflects the true message of the gospel.

preface: i post this with the utmost conviction, and with a loving heart that prays that we become a people of conviction, and in that conviction, we allow for a season of refinement. i pray for grace with those who read, and from those who read.

In talking with a ton of people (believers and non) a popular thought that seems to always surface is that we are saved by works. Or in some church cases, you are able to lose your salvation. Which one of these things is a Theological issue, the other is a misconception of the flesh, and scripture. What does the bible say?

Galations 2:19-21 “For when i tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So i died to the law-I stopped trying to meet all it’s requirements-so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”

This passage of scripture is loaded with so much truth, and for some, a lot of rebuke. To start off, I want to be very blunt with you. The gospel is offensive, and sometimes we have to be blunt in teaching the gospel. Your works, your morality, your social or monetary status or anything like that will NEVER grant you salvation. The only way to gain salvation is by experiencing the saving grace of Jesus. In the old testament, the way to earn merit with God, was by living by the law of the time. (Law of Moses, ect). Sacrificing things, obeying Sabbath laws, things of that nature. 10 commandments sort of deal. Due to God’s perfectly orchestrated plan, Jesus came, died on the cross to be the final atonement for our sins, thus by confessing our sins, and accepting him as our savior, we are giving right standing with God. That is the gospel in a nutshell. But if you look at that, salvation is given by everything we could not do. We couldn’t live by the law. If we were to break one, and uphold the rest, we were still condemned by it. This is why Paul says above that when he tried to live by the law, it also condemned him. It is absolutely impossible to not sin. We could never uphold 100% of the requirements of the law, which is why in Matthew 5, Jesus says “I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” You didn’t steal that soda from the store, but lusted over the girl down the road? Law broken. You put no other God’s before the one, true God but broke Sabbath? Law broken. It is impossible for a sinful people to live under the requirement of a perfect law.

It doesn’t matter how much money you donate, how many Sundays/Wednesdays/Church events you attend, how many hours you spend reading the bible, how many worship songs you know, how many elderly people you help across the road or how many hours you volunteer, apart from Jesus, in the great scheme of eternity, those things are absolutely worthless in regards to your stance with the creator. Harsh? God says in Isaiah that he is spelling out his words, and revealing them to us over and over again, time after time, and line after line. His thumbprint is all around us. God is constantly revealing himself to people. In America, many of us have been exposed to the gospel of Jesus. It is impossible to hear the gospel, and be neutral to it. Either you are for God, or against him. Either you love him, or you hate him. Morality or works does not impress God.

We are saved for works, but not by works. This is correct doctrine, and correct Theology. Salvation has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with Jesus.