Facebook is Modern Worship

In our world of technology and advancements, social interaction is at the tip of our fingers.  With just the click of a button, we can have hundreds and thousands of friends and followers from all over the world.  50 years ago this kind of online socializing couldn't even be imagined.  Places like Facebook and Twitter have made the impossible, possible.

There's only one problem.  Online, we can "appear" to be whoever we want.  We can claim to have hundreds of friends who "like" us.  In reality, do they really even know us.  We choose just the right picture to make us look like just the right person.  We update everyone with pictures, statuses, and quotes as if we were a famous celebrity.  Our lives could be falling apart at home but online we are cool, calm, and collect.  We put an image out there of something we are not.

Paul found the Christians in Galatia in the same state.  They were trying to appear holy and righteous according to their good works.  He was disappointed because this was not the freedom they were called to.  This was not  the gospel he preached.  They were wasting their time trying to prove themselves to be something they could never be: perfect.

He exclaims to them again that the Christian life is all about loving, savoring, and worshiping Jesus.  He wants them to accept who they are and what Christ has done on their behalf regardless of their sinful nature.  In that, there is true freedom to do the things God truly desires (v. 14-15: love one another).

Today we are in the same predicament.  We are constantly trying to upgrade ourselves in order to make us appear better than we really are.  This attempt at showing off ourselves is idolatry at best.  We are worshiping ourselves.  It's like a rotting log in the woods.  On the topside, it can be very beautiful in a natural wilderness kind-of-way.  But, if you roll the log over, it is rotten, there are bugs and slime, and you may even find a predator you're not expecting.  Jesus Christ has the ability to make your weaknesses your greatest features but he bids you to come and die in order that you may find true life.  Only He can take the emptiness that is inside of you and make it good.  Only when you trust Him, can you truly reflect outwardly what is happening inwardly.

Is your life beautiful on the outside but empty inside?  Is your worship and love for Jesus only as true as your friends and status on Facebook?  Is your love for Christ only skin deep? This is not how it was meant to be.  Claim the freedom, life, and love He offers by trusting that only He can give you something worth more than Facebook, Twitter, your image, and even the world.

Transformers Reflection (The Lawless Decepticon)

Ever since the false prediction of the end of the world by Harold Camping, I can't get my mind off of the end of everything as we know it and the 2nd coming of Christ.  Even tonight as I was reading 2nd Thessalonians, the man of lawlessness was described (2nd Thess. 2:1-12) right after a segment about the second coming and judgment of Christ.  This just kept fueling my thoughts and it took all of my will power a to stay focused long enough to finish the book.

But after I finished, my thoughts kept getting caught up on these two verses and thought: 2nd Thessalonians 2:11-12

My illustration of this verse: The man of lawlessness is like a Decepticon (Description of a Decepticon).  He is meant to deceive.  I have no doubt that backed by the power of Satan he will be the most powerful delusion ever.  So much so that the deceived will believe he is truth when really he is the direct opposite of the truth.  He will win the hearts of many.  He will know how to woo people.  Like in the old Transformers cartoon show and recently made movies (where they were cool looking vehicles that transformed into bots) the man of lawlessness will one day be revealed and many will realize they did not know, love and have faith in the Truth (Jesus Christ) and so were deceived.  They will realize they believed in Megatron, not Optimus Prime.  The illustration is ridiculous but the principle is sobering!

I cannot predict the future or the end.  I have no idea what this man of lawlessness looks like.  I do know however, that apart from Christ I am nothing.  I have nothing else to cling to.  He paid the ransom for my sins and now in faith I am made clean before God.  In that truth I look forward to His return!

The guilt of guiltiness

So I have been silent on here.  That's okay no one really reads this stuff anyways.  I'm just working on my writing skills.  The good news is that as I have been silent, I have been reading and getting in lots of ministry training.

The book that I am currently in, Death in the City by Francis Schaeffer deals a lot with the deadness of humanity because of sin.  The one point that he has really emphasized over the last few chapters is mankind being guilty since the fall of Adam.  This one point has really made me re-think a lot of my thoughts about my sin and guilt feelings.

Here's what I have concluded:

Sin is more than a guilty feeling.  It is included in that definitely but it is so much more than that.  To some degree, God will judge people based upon their works.  This is not what will save them, only the death and resurrection of Christ can do that.  This is just the way God is going to judge the non-Christian.  He is going to judge the man without the Bible by the philosophy they hold.  What the man without the Bible will come to terms with is that any philosophy that stands against the truth of God and his holiness discredits man as creation.  Also, man having the truth written on his heart, will have to break any untruthful parts to his philosophy/ worldview, discrediting it completely.  Basically God will show the man without the Bible his fault.  He is guilty of sin.

The Christian's judgment of works is to an even higher standard.  This is because the Christian believes God's truth as true and the bible as the instruction manual to life.  Those are the truths by which God will judge man, His own holiness and perfection.  Any unrighteousness in the Christian's life will be brought to light and judgment will be made.  Fortunately for the Christian, this is not the end of the road.  Christ is the mediator.  His blood covers all the Christians wrongs so that even when he does go against God, God still shows him grace.

Keeping those two thoughts in my mind I settled on this.  Sin is more than just a guilty feeling.  It's much deeper than that.  It is the grieving of God's heart because you stand against Him and His holiness.  Guilty feelings are only man made but the truth of the matter is that sin is disgusting before God.  He has to turn His face away.  It cuts down to the purpose of being created.  We were created to glorify God in His righteousness, and enjoy Him forever.  When we sin, we stand against our created order.  Being guilty before God is much more than a feeling.

I share this just because it really has been changing my mindset on my sinfulness before God.  I am very thankful for the work of Christ on the cross for my life.  His death and resurrection have saved me from the wages of sin and death.  If God were to mark my transgressions, I couldn't stand.  Only by grace am I accepted as His son.

...END...

Reading: Death in the City- Francis Schaeffer
Listening to: We Shall Overcome- The O.C. Supertones

I'm still a Novice

Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to preach again at Westfield Advent Christian Church.  It was the first time I have ever tried to use a Biblical Narrative to preach from.  I will admit that I find myself getting more comfortable with the idea of getting up in front of people and preaching the Word of God but, I still have a lot of things to learn and a lot of things that scare me.  One area that still does scare me is that I am completely capable of error and could wrongly interpret a passage and then preach from that wrong interpretation but, God has been very good to send me people who can guide me in the process of learning how to understand, interpret and apply Scripture.  Also, I still am struggling to find my voice in all of this.  I don't just want to read a passage and exhort the people.  I want to be an effective communicator of the truth about this world we live in.  I want to connect with people who are sitting in the pews.  I want them to understand that I, just like they are, am in need of a Savior.  I want to be able to bring about solid applications for them so that their lives can be changed by the Truth.  I'm not so sure I am there yet.

The only solution to my fears and inexperience is to have more opportunities to speak.  I am finding that the more I do it, the more I enjoy it too.  Recently, I have spent time thinking about how God has created me to be His vehicle for spreading the gospel.  He has hardwired me to like doing certain things.  I think this is one of them.  When people ask me how I knew I wanted to get into ministry for a profession, I find it hard to answer.  Here's how I knew.  I came to a point where all I desired was to be a servant of the Lord and nothing else.  I couldn't see myself being an IT guy or an engineer.  I couldn't see myself going to a secular college and studying to be a music major or a scientist.  Since I have accepted the grace of God, my heart has been tuned into ministry.  I find my joy in work through serving Christ.  I don't want to do anything else.  Christ is my life.  I want to teach, preach, train, learn, grow, and plant the gospel everywhere I go.  It really feels natural.  How intentional was God in creating me in this way?  I think very!

The more involved I get into ministry the more I find this to be causing mixed feelings in my heart...receiving money for doing ministry.  Like yesterday, I got a check for preaching.  It felt so weird to accept.  I was only doing something I enjoy doing.  I wasn't really thinking about the check.  God knows my financial situation and will take care of me this I know but getting paid for doing ministry gave me an interesting feeling.  I don't think I felt sinful.  This is what I am going to do.  This will be my profession.  This will be my life.  I don't do it for the check but, the money helps to support my studying, ministry opportunities, and life.  I don't think I feel wrong about that.  It's just interesting to finally be at a point of getting paid for ministry.  God is very good to me!

Listening to:
Hello Operator- The White Stripes
Apple Blossom- The White Stripes

Reading:
The Disciplines of a Godly Man- Kent Hughes