Christianity: Come and Die

How about that for the new slogan of Christianity! "Welcome to our church, where we encourage you to come and die."

Now you may be ready to close down this page and go off onto other areas of social network, but stick with me for a little longer. Everyone knows that one famous verse in John chapter 3. You know, the 16th verse? Do me a favor and recite it to yourself real quick and think about its meaning. Christ so loves us, and He died for us so that we can have eternal life. One of my favorite verses, don't get me wrong. So much encouragement and promise are locked into those 26 words (depending on the version).

But one thing I do notice is that people usually tend to ignore the companion verses that are found in other areas of the gospel. Such as Luke 9:23 "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Yes, that verse is targeted to you just as much as John 3:16 is. But maybe there is a reason that Luke 9:23 doesn't seem to make it to the encouraging Bible verse page or the social networking sites. My guess? It makes us too uncomfortable.

We are creatures of comfort, we try and make anything and everything more comfortable to ourselves. We like to lay around the house, we like to eat as much ice cream as we can stomach, and we like to stay inside our protective shell as much as possible. Christianity is so much fun when all it entails is church pot-lucks and youth group events. But when the whole suffering part gets involved, most "Christians" tend to wither out and move to the back burner. "Well, it was fun when it was easy, but this whole suffering thing just isn't worth it to me. I worked hard for that money, I want a (insert whatever ridiculous unnecessary device here)."

It is easy to follow (or at least think you are following) Jesus when life is easy, when it requires nothing of you. But when it is just so simple, a reconsideration of your commitment to Jesus may be in order. Life as a Christian begins at death. Jesus doesn't say: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must make their money and keep 90% of it and then halfway tithe, and they must be certain that they have everything they want before giving to the poor, oh and while you're at it, make sure to tailor God into a comfortable, non-threatening God, that fits your needs and doesn't challenge you."

Instead, He tells us to die. Yeah, things just got serious. Not only to die, but to carry a cross and suffer. Now I am not telling you that if you aren't suffering that you aren't a Christian, but I am saying that sometimes we are lulled into a mindset of "me me me", and the Christian mindset of "What can I do for Jesus, my Neighbors and my Enemies" is thrown right out the window.

I am challenging you to take the spotlight off of yourself. To stop asking what God can do for you, and start asking God what you can do for Him. Take up your cross, and follow Him to Calvary. We know that to be Jesus' disciples, His servants, are going to be with Him wherever He goes, die to themselves (John 12:26). This may seem like an unfair exchange, but following Christ is worth our own death, and so much more. His love, His promises, and His strength resonate within those who surrender it all to Him. Look into your following of Christ, are you following Him to the door, or are you going all the way to Golgotha?

Father, 

I thank you for every one of the people who read these words. It is my prayer that you would be with them as they join to the body of Christ. That everything in their lives would reflect Your Son. That they would genuinely follow you, for the joy of suffering, for the joy of following the Lord, and for the joy of Life with You. And that this following would lead them to change the world, wherever they are. I pray for our growth in Your Word, and growth in genuine faith, faith that moves the mountains. Keep us from evil, rid us of all temptation, and save us from ourselves.

Amen

Here is my new blog, I realized that I am only a teen for a little while, so I will start posting to this address more regularly! Being a Follower

Falling Down

I know that everyone deals with it: that one little sin that trips you up every time. Just thinking about it makes your heart pound, your breathing becomes shorter and quicker, and the thought of someone else finding out: unbearable. Just remembering your sin makes your soul tremble, and guilt wells up until you can hardly bear it anymore. You realize that giving this sin up is necessary; and you commit to standing your ground, to overcome, to rid yourself of a particular trait that you consider wrong or embarrassing. 

But before you know it you are back on your knees, praying for forgiveness. 

The same feeling of guilt overcomes you and you feel like God will never love you again. But sure enough, He does. The sin just seems so sweet, so forbidden that any taste of it makes you want more. There is a reason that sin is this way, why it seems so great, because to our flesh it is. I'm sure that fruit that Adam and Eve ate was incredibly delicious and that they wanted more, but it was the worst thing that they could have done. Through this forbidden sin the entirety of creation was screwed up. And what is to say that sin today does not have the same effect?

It seems that too often we are falling down to sin, allowing it to have its fun with us and then leave us to deal with the consequences. It’s like we are convinced that we will never be able to do anything about this bully, until we stumble across this verse:

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us.” Romans 8:37 NIV

A conqueror is not someone who gives in to sin, a conqueror is not someone who gives in to the enemy, a conqueror is one who overcomes, who beats the odds! If only I could be one of those, then I would have this sin (and all others) beat. Here’s a little secret: you are one. You are a conqueror! In fact you are more than a conqueror through Christ!

But that is the defining characteristic of a conqueror: being in Christ. By no means can we succeed on our own, at some point we will fall again, for "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. But that is not the end of the story, a Savior has come for us. He has given us His righteousness so that we can have this incomparable power that only God can provide!

Sin is afraid. The enemy is afraid. You as a child of God, through Christ and Christ alone, are more than a conqueror through Christ who loved (and loves) you. Who do you need to fear? What can mere man do to you? You are the body of Christ, and sin will run. We need only to put all our trust in God, and God will show His power in us. 

Trust Him in all Circumstances

We all have those days; the days that make us feel alone, the days that make us wonder why, the days that make us feel like the sky is falling down on top of us. These days make us feel like we are separated, solitary in our struggles, like we have no help. Some of us are facing family deaths, divorce, health complications, and other problems that seem to wreck our lives. We get so caught up in searching for security in the world that we forget God’s promises. We forget that God promises to “walk through the fire with us, so that we are not burned” (Isaiah 43:2). The vastness of God’s love gives us the freedom to trust Him with our lives and know that He will work in our favor. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”


When life is hard, one of the most difficult things to do is to let go of the wheel. We as humans always want to feel like we have things under control, even to the smallest degree. But when life seems to have hit rock bottom, its the last thing that we should do. We have trouble understanding why things in this life don’t always go our way, especially when we want to experience “control”. In Isaiah 55, God declares this, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God’s ways are so incomprehensible and profound that we will never truly be able to grasp the “why” in this life. However, we can trust that God’s plan is the right plan, even if, from our earthly perspective, it seems wrong. 

Stories of perseverance are found throughout the Bible. Job, being a prime example, suffered through physical pain, the loss of his whole family, personal doubt, and the loss of all of his possessions. Other characters include David, Moses and Jesus. We can refer back to the Garden of Gethsemane and the events that followed. As the disciples were waiting in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for God to remove the cup (the world’s sin) from Him, Jesus prayed that not His will, but God’s will, would be done. Roman soldiers approached and Judas appeared, ultimately betraying Jesus. Out of the chaos of the soldiers arresting Jesus, the disciples ran away, terrified. They were terrified for their own lives, that the possibility that the prophecies had fallen short, that their King would ultimately die. Jesus was quickly taken through trials both between Pontius Pilate and Herod Agrippa, the king of Israel. He was sentenced to 39 lashes, 39 lashes because they believed that 40 would kill a man on the spot. He was taken to Golgotha to be crucified, the death sentence. He was nailed to the cross, He was spit on by sinners, He bore God’s wrath so that we could be saved. He submitted to God, He wanted what God wanted. He gave up control in the darkest part of His human life. Yet, God used this tragic death for the greatest event in history. Jesus rose from the dead, and now we are promised the same resurrection as His children.

Jesus never lost faith in God, He never acted for His own desires, but carried out God’s plan. This is just another way we need to follow Jesus’ example. The strife we face in this life sometimes seems so monumental that we struggle overcoming it. This includes the big and small problems: stress, homework, family deaths, and all other issues with which we come into contact. We are promised in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Notice that it doesn't say that it will be easy, but by putting our trust in the ever-loving, all-forgiving, omnipotent God, the struggle will be worth it; the sometimes uncomfortable road of trust in an unknown leads us right into His arms. And those arms, the same ones that were nailed to the cross, are forever outstretched to us so that we can be brought into a relationship with God. Trust in God during all trials. He is there. He is walking with you. He wants you to trust Him.

(My friend Morgan and I wrote this, thanks Morgan!)

Trust!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways," 

declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Think about this. These verses are straight from Isaiah 55 (verses 8-9 to be exact). God's ways are higher than our ways, they are unsearchable, and we will never know to what extent God had them planned out. I find this slightly unnerving and comforting at the same time. Unnerving in the sense that I will never comprehend who my God is, and comforting in the sense that this is the way it should be. 

I know that I am guilty of wanting exact information the moment that I need it. I think many Americans and others who have the luxury of internet can relate to that. It is so easy to know things now. "What's the forecast? What's the score? What exactly is fried Alaska?" The limits of our knowledge seems endless, and better yet it can fit into our pocket. 

But, as I have experienced, Google knowledge eventually runs dry. We do not have and will never have all of the answers, especially to our most important answers--at least not in the form we expect it to be. God's word, as typical of a church answer this is, holds all our answers. Sure, it is not a forum to ask God questions and expect a simple answer. But the comfort that is found in those passages, and ultimately through the entire Bible, has gotten me through the toughest times in my life. More comfort, peace, and assurance have come to me through the Bible than any amount of Google answers have and will ever bring. 

So I will gladly "cast (my) anxieties on Him, because He cares for (me)" 1 Peter 5:7 (I replaced you for me.) I know that His ways are something I will never understand, and we can all take comfort in that. 

Comfort?

This week has been nothing short of interesting. From Sunday to Saturday the whole week has been full of surprises. At school, assignments got the best of me, chapel services were shocking, and friends were troubled. One of my friends, in fact, had serious spine surgery. So this week has taken me by surprise and I am not sure how to handle these events. I accidentally misused some routine medicine that ended up blistering my lips, and that has definitely put me into a state of discomfort.

I have realized how fragile life can be. Small changes can really screw things up, and mind you that I am talking about little things. Things that 10 years from now I won't remember. It makes me think about how, too often, I am completely comfortable in my life. I am rarely uncomfortable, that's why when I am it seems like such a big deal.

But Christ felt such discomfort many times in His life. Sometimes I forget about verses such as "Jesus wept." He was absolutely positively 100% God, but He was also 100% man. He was hungry, He was tired, He was beaten, He was killed. If I totaled up all the discomfort and pain in my life it could never compare to the life Jesus lived for us. But I know that the future will hold more discomfort, until i am so joyfully united with Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1:5 says;

"For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,

 so also our comfort abounds through Christ."

We are told in this verse that sufferings are and will be abundant. In our lives a Christians (who take up our crosses daily) we will be part of Christ's sufferings more often than not. But we can be assured through the sufferings, we will also receive comfort beyond comparison in God's arms. Because as abundant as sufferings are, so much more are the boundless graces and comfort of God.

So as I look back over this week, I know that these "sufferings" give me a greater sense of peace in God. And that is absolutely true the more I focus on God instead of myself. Challenge yourself to pray to God about your problems more than you tell your friends about them. Focus on God, how He is our strength and our shelter; how God will fight for you, you only need to be still. (Exodus 14:14); how He will never allow you to be overtaken, the fire of this world will never set you ablaze (Isaiah 43:2). We can be sure of the strength and love of our God.

Weekly Challenge: Find some way to make yourself uncomfortable in your life. Go volunteer after work/school/whatever. Skip a meal and use that money to buy one for the homeless, do something to advance God's Kingdom. Have a great week!

Together

This week my Bible study started back up at school. I host a Bible study during lunch at my school, and we just read and talk about the Bible. This year is already starting out better than previous years, as I was well prepared to lead the group in a meaningful message and a whole bunch of new people showed up. The point of this post is to talk about what we talked about on Wednesday during the study.

The text I focused on was 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, that is a considerable chunk of scripture, there are a lot of ideas flowing through there. One could spend weeks just looking at them all in depth. From our short time together, I could tell that these verses really drove the show: (verses 18-20)

"But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body."

I encourage you to look at the whole section of Scripture, it really has a power in it, a lot of action can be initiated off of those words. But the overlaying theme of the passage is the unity of the body of Christ, which is something that I think is lacking in His body today. Just look at how many denominations we have today: Lutheran, Methodist, Unitarian, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Non-denominational, Bible, Charismatic, Baptist, the list just goes on and on. Is that not dividing up the body of Christ? I can assure you it is, especially when the denominations start to argue with each other. 

That is exactly what we looked at, the division of the Christians is sickening. We need to unite! What can we do apart from Christ? Are we to divide even Christ's attributes between us? NO! We need to take Jesus at His word, and through His word we need to become the church (bride) of Christ that at one time healed thousands, that could gain 5,000 members in one day! 

What is going to unite us then? The answer is quite simple: love. Love each other. Love our neighbors as ourselves. Does that sound familiar Christians? Lets really think about what loving others means. If you take it in the context of these verses, love others the way you love your own body. Love the body of Christ the same way you love yourself. If you were cold, would you not get a jacket to be warm? If you were thirsty, would you not get something to drink? I encourage you to do the same for those in and out of the body of Christ, so that they (unbelievers) may be brought near. 

So as this week rolls on, study your Bible for an hour or more (This is my serious challenge for you). Let His word work in your heart. Then, on Sunday, go to church with a grateful attitude, they are your family by the way!