Jesus: My anti drug?

 

I was talking to a kid who wanted to become a christian, but I really didn’t think he was getting it.

I asked him: “What does it mean to be a christian?”
He gave the typical answer that Jesus becomes the savior of your life and you do what the bible says.
Close….

“Why do people become Christians?”
“Umm… well Uh,” he fumbled… “Like if someone is a drug addict or something, and they cant stop. They can become a christian.”

Insert palm of hand to forehead.

Needless to say, neither of us were ready for me to lead him in the sinners prayer. And as comical as it is… how many people fall into the sentimental Christianity.

It seems to be a growing christian trend in the church to share stories of Gods deliverance and happy feel good quotes like “Dont tell God how big the storm is.. tell the storm how big your God is.” And we all sit in church with an appeased mood and clap like were in a golf tournament. “That was nice” we say as we leave the service. Golf tournaments are boring and unpleasently pastel.

Dont get me wrong, its encouraging to hear how God has worked in other peoples lives. But how God has worked in another mans life is not a promise that he will work in ours.
And  the “God loves the Hell out of you” kind of quotes are cute and quirky- but its not alive and active like scripture. The word of God is powerful. There is no substitute.

We are suppose to be an aroma pleasing to God in the sight of man.
We are suppose to be the salt of the earth… Not the sentimental sugar.

Sugar may smell nice to man, but its not the pleasing aroma required of us before God.

Im afraid that our testimonies and christian phrases are beginning to take the place of the word of God. When the world looks at us… what are they going to see?

What are your thoughts??

Awesome Video- Worth watching.

 

Youtube Comment:
“god is amazing! this video changed my life.
ive never felt more connected to god then before this video.”

My response:
Yeah, its a pretty good video… I liked it. But pick up the Bible, it’ll blow your mind.

What do you think of this video?

When the night whispers

Simple profundities I cannot express

My mind is filled with nothing less

Than the longing for love I cannot find

And this empty promise of the divine.

I stand alone and stare ahead

Whisper secrets into the dead

Cold deep and bleeding heart,

Waiting for this life to start.

Oh the plans to be fulfilled

Of childish dreams and human will.

Oh the passions unadulterated lie

Beyond futures curtain in futures time.

I’m on a bridge and water flows

Skewing my reflection down below

Who am I now? Who will I be

On this endless road to eternity?

The past is waiting-looks like home,

So much more comfort than the unknown

The future beckons with promises untrue

The gray sky gives a hint of blue

 

There is hope. My God is faithful.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

There was a time I thought that I

Was so in love that I would die

That the thoughts I recycled in my head,

Would crush me while I lie in bed,

The emotions welling in my chest

Would catch in my throat and end my breath.

The mirages that my mind would create

Would ensnare me to my silenced fate

Oh this love how could it be?

That drew my mind to the sea

That drew my feet to pace at night

And drew my breath and held it tight.

If it were me that he would find

We’d have enough love for a life time

Still if my love were torn in two

It would be enough to last all our life’s through.

But what he did find was not my hand,

Nor all of my dreams that I had built in the sand

And I felt this love slowly wash away

As my bleeding heart began to break

A swarm of new emotions infested my soul

And I was finally able to let go

Because when my love had broken free

I escaped my deathly captivity.

Loves a battle, it’s been said before

And I once was a prisoner of war

But that ship has sailed and I’ve returned

And empty shell of what I’ve learned

These battle scars play a part

Of what I carry in my heart.

Oh there was a time that I,

Thought I was so in love that I would die.

 

Today, Im Broken.

What a mine of daily comfort
  

  “Looking unto Jesus.” Hebrews 12:2

  If we would look rightly to Jesus we must look daily to His
life of intercession in heaven, as our principal provision of strength
and help.

We surely feel that we need Almighty help every
day we live. Even when started in the narrow
way of life, with pardon, grace, and a new heart we soon find that,
left to ourselves, we would never get safely to our heavenly home.
Every returning morning brings with it so much to be done and born
and suffered that we are often tempted to despair. So weak
and treacherous are our hearts, so busy the devil, so
persecuting and ensnaring the world; and such poor, weak
creatures are we that we need Almighty help!
What are we to do? Where are we to look?

The great Scriptural remedy for all who feel such helplessness as I
have faintly described, is to look upward to Christ in heaven, and to
keep steadily before our eyes, His intercession at the right hand of
God. We must learn to look UPWARD, away from ourselves and our
weakness and upward to Christ in heaven. We must try to realize daily
that Jesus not only died for us and rose again, but that He also lives
as our Advocate and Intercessor in heaven for us.

This, surely, was the mind of Paul, when he said, “He is able also to
save to the uttermost, those who come unto God by Him seeing He ever
lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25).

Now I venture boldly to express a doubt whether modern Christians “look
to Jesus” in this point of view and make as much as they ought of His
life of intercession. It is too often a dropped link in our present-day
Christianity. We are apt to think only of the atoning DEATH and the
precious blood, and to forget the LIFE and priestly office of our great
Redeemer! It ought not to be so. We miss much by this forgetfulness of
the whole truth as it is in Jesus.

What a mine of daily comfort there
is in the thought that we have an Advocate with the Father, who never
slumbers or sleeps, whose eye is always upon us, who is continually
pleading our cause and obtaining fresh supplies of grace for us, who
watches over us in every company and place; and never forgets us,
though we, in going to and fro, and doing our daily business, cannot
always think of Him.

We have a great High Priest in heaven, who can be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities, and who bids us pour out our hearts before
Him, and come to Him for grace to help in time of need
-Charles Spurgeon

Opera-Uh oh!

I am banging my head against the wall at some of the things that are being said in this video.

I just have so much to say in response to this that im speachless! Goodness Gracious!

God is not Jealous of you… He’s jealous for  you because your invinted other to give glory to!
C’mon Opera!

What do you think?

Spiritual Turmoil.

<sigh> I’m exhausted.

I have just spent the last few hours witnessing to a Muslim girl. She is standing at the door of salvation and there’s a holy warfare is going on in her mind.
And as I sit with her and watch her angst as she sorts truths and thought and teachings… I cant help but have my own battle of flesh.

I want to win her for Christ so badly. What a victory it would be to see her reach a state of peace.
But I cant do it… it is only the Holy spirit that works through me. And it is so hard to sit, to watch, to pray, when I so badly want to pull her over to a side of understanding.

Its like trying to help a blind person find a light switch.
God knows I want to do save her so badly, I’m willing to give up my earthly life for her eternal. Its my greatest passion to witness to the gospel. If she would receive the words of Christ and let them breath life into her.

I have nothing profound to say.
I have no conclusion.
I just pray that Gods will be done and that my will is likewise.

-Kay

30 Minute Worship?! Fast food for the Christian Soul.

There is a church that is called “30 Minute Worship” and it does just that
What is your opinion on this??? Because quite honestly.. I don’t know what to make of this.

Yes, we live in a microwaveable world- we want it now, we need it now, and we go. And don’t get me wrong, I step into the quick paced lifestyle myself. I have no problem with a 30 minute workout program and fast food for the 30 minute lunch break. Heck! If my head ache medicine doesn’t work in less than 30 minutes I’m ready to sue!
But 30 minute worship?
What ever happend to praying without ceasing? What about remembering the sabbath and keeping it holy?
The bible says that we must offer our first fruits to God, and in order to give the firsts fruits of our time we have to give at least 12 hours on Sunday.
 So 30 minutes? Can God be minimized to 30 minutes of praise? Or is this some spirtual check list to ward off guilt. You tell me.

Here’s the mission statement:

Sundays @ 9am offers you a brand new way to go to church…30 Minute Worship.  This innovative service is for anybody who is tired of the way traditional church has been done, has limited time, or has to work Sundays. The high energy, focused package will creatively engage you to personally connect with God. 

Are “you tired of the way of traditional church has been done”?  Is committing half of your day on Sunday to much to ask?  
“Personally connect with God…” in 30 minutes? This is just not possible, at least not for me… Maybe there mistaking the Holy spirit with the “high energy” they have.
I wonder if its possible to serve at this church. Or is that too traditional? Or are the members to busy?

Please comment, I would love to know your opinion.

I may be blowing this out of proportion. And I’m sure the heart behind the ministry is full of good intention.

But I just feel that this is belittling the importance of worship and depriving its members of a vital part of spiritual growth within Christianity.

Wives encourage your Husbands.

I’m a firm believer in recognizing and fulfilling the roles that God has established in our lives. Yet when time rolls by and relationships become more and more routine, Its hard to look at your daily tasks as a God given responsibility to fulfill your role as a man, woman, mother, son, ect.

The 30-day Challenge was designed for Women to realize they’re role as a wife to encourage there husbands, giving them tools and ideas to spend thirty days strengthening there husband spiritually and emotional.
This is a vital part of our social family unit, and a vital part of our world. Its about time that we as women step up to the plate that God has prepared for us and cheer our relationships to victory.
I LOVE IT!
For more information go to: The 30-day Challenge. I pray that each wife that reads this will take this challenge.

Unfortunately for this challenge, I am not a wife. But I do someday want to be an encouraging wife and I want to support my husband. For that reason I am going to take the The 30-day Challenge, but instead of my husband, I’m going to encourage my Dad. Of course I cant say “I’m so glad you picked me out of all  the other women!” but I can build him up in love.

So if I can do it- you can do it!!

The 30-day Challenge < click it now!

-kay

Day one:
I’ve had alot of views on this post, so i thought I would tell you how day one went. It went good.
Day one asks to say something positive to your husband and about your husband.
But with me and my dad, I usually complement him alot (its just kinda who I am).
So I went and left him a note on his desk at work so he would actually pay attention to it.
Heres something nice I can say about him:
Growing up, he always took me on Daddy-Daughter Dates. I remember this one like it was yesterday. enjoy (at my own expense):

 I am very blessed.

Who do you say that He is? (comments wanted)

Hey Everyone.

I want your imput on this.
Who is Jesus Christ to you?

Its both a simple and hard question to answer. But its crucial.

John 14:6
“… ”I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also…”

This verse makes it clear that in order to know the father, you must know the son. The son is the only way to get to the father.  If Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation, we must clearly know who he is.

Matthew 16:15-16

 ”Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Mormons believe that Jesus was a man who became god. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet. Countless others believe that he was only a good man.

Here is the question again:
Who do you say that he is?

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Jesus. Possibly the worst “man” who ever lived.

I love Austin. My friends and I took a road trip down there this weekend for my birthday. It was wonderful. I love the sense of family and community they have, and the emphasis on social involvement. I also loved that in the morning I was able to jog down to Starbucks. God is good! 
      Austin is a potpourri of miscellaneous ideas, beliefs and convictions, and the closer you come to the capital, the more these beliefs stimulate activists. The church of scientology was conducting a free IQ test (yes free… I was also shocked) and handing out pamphlets. An array of political slogans decorated t-shirts and car windows, ranging from “Obama 08″ and “Vote Hilary- Because Women Should Be On Top!” to “Down With The Government!-Save our children from Iraq.” I didn’t see much on the conservative beliefs other than “Conserve Water” and “Go green!” On the back steps of the capital building there was a group of angry teenage girls rallying to a  handful of people, “We’re Queer and We’re here!” as they went on to tell there sad stories of ill treatment. I was very tempted to reply “I’m Straight and it’s Great!”… but yea for self control and the fear of being beaten.
       Being nurtured in the buckle of the Bible belt, this was a thrilling experience for me. It always is because God has given me a heart for the lost and the very confused. So when we stopped for lunch in a small restaurant, I was neither disappointed nor surprised to find that the fryer of my meal was stoned and the cashier was gay. God bless Texas. As I ordered a grilled chicken pita (very delicious) and some gift cards for the homeless people on the streets, I was able to strike up a conversation with the cashier leading to the my first witnessing pin point phrase:
“What do you believe?”
The cashier’s eyes grew wide with disbelief and he jumped over the counter hurling accusations that I was forcing my religion on him- false. That didn’t happen. In fact he was quite a large man and I don’t think he would be able to roll over the counter, much less jump. He gave the typical response- he was more than happy to share is ideas on religion and theology and about how everyone should find the best way for them.
I think I would have been more pleased if he had jumped over the counter. If what they say is true and there is a first time for everything-I’m going to keep talking about Jesus until it happens.

But this leads me to say- if you are a Christian who is afraid to share your beliefs, your missing out on some very interesting conversations.  All you have to do is ask someone what they believe and reason truth- it’s not your job to save them so there is no pressure. But you can open the door for God to use you and submit yourself to being a fisher of men. Just don’t stand on benches screaming “Turn or Burn you evil doers!” or harass people in the malls. You will save a lot of people… from having a pleasant day.

So anyway- The cashier asked me if I had read the Divinci Code. I haven’t, but I was able to draw out on my receipt how the table for Passover was set up Jewish culture and how it contradicted the artistic license that Davinci took in his depiction of the last supper. We talked for a moment on that which lead me to my second key question.
“Who do you think Jesus was?”
“He was a great man,” the cashier explained that it was because he led people to lead good lives.
“I have to disagree.” I began. “If your right, and Jesus was a man… he was possibly the worst man who ever lived.”
<Dramatic pause for a eye widening and thought sinking.>
“If Jesus Christ was a man, he was a lying, deceiving manipulator whose false influence still lives on today. He taught that he was the son of God, he taught that the road to salvation was narrow and that he was the only way to heaven. “I am the way the truth and the light no one comes to the father except through me.”

 
You could tell that this was a hard thought for him. He didn’t want to believe that Christ was God, he wanted to believe that he was a good man…

but there is no possible way that Jesus was a good man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In fact,” I went on I would even say that Christ was worse than Hitler.” This statement peaked interest. Hitler= a hot topic.

You see, Hitler and Jesus are the two most famous historical figures that ever lived. Yet no one seems to be able to make a connection between who they see as love-and-peace, sandal wearing hippie and this evil man of destruction. But they were both wonderful and powerful speakers. Only one spoke life into people, while the other one spoke death.

Me and Mr. Cashier talked about Hitler for a while, and I drew up this connection:
People followed Hitler because they believed that they could deliver them from a depression 3 times greater than the Great Depression of America, and they believed that he would raise up a great army… and he did. They blindly followed him and caused many people to die innocent deaths.
People followed Christ because they believed that he would deliver them from the control of the Roman empire, they believed that he would raise up a great army… but He didn’t. He died on the Cross as a failure to his expectations. But those who realized his true purpose were willing to die innocent deaths to defend it.
In the Laws of History, people follows masters and conquers. But Jesus Christ was an broke all the rules He was a servent and humble. But what He alone did was greater and more powerful than an army of men that number the stars in the sky, he sacrificed his life, overcame death, so others could live.

Jesus couldn’t be a man, because no one would follow him because in the realm of humanity, he was a failure. Jesus has to God, because he did what no man could ever do: gave up himself in death for an everlasting Victory.
Are you under the blood? 

If anything the cashier was more intrigued and more confused about this Jesus who broke the laws of humanity. About that time my pita was ready to be devoured, and he thanked me for my history lesson.
I thanked him for listening and said my last Key phrase.

“I pray that you search for the truth and that you find the truth.”
“Ive already found what works for me”
“I didnt say “what works” I said “truth.”"

The pita was delicious… but they put way to much olive oil.

I probably shouldn’t do this… This post is much to long for people to take the time to read. But if there are some one out there who has taken the time…
What do you think? (About anything written) 
Could Jesus be just a man? Why/Why not?
Give me a history reference if you’d like.
How do you witness to people in a world of relativism that’s absent of absolute truth?

My stats are huge but my comments are small. Little help here.

-Kay