To preface this: I am not angry at all about this. I guess it's just a point of frustration knowing that most people I come into contact with find it uncomfortable to label themselves as a Christian.
Religion |riˈlijən| (Noun)
The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods.
ORIGIN Middle English (originally in the sense [life under monastic vows] ): from Old French, or from Latin religio(n-) ‘obligation, bond, reverence,’ perhaps based on Latin religare ‘to bind.’
Religion. n. relij'on. [L. religio, from religo, to bind anew
1. Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties. It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion.
2. Religion, as distinct from theology, is godliness or real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men, in obedience to divine command, or from love to God and his law. James 1.
3. Religion, as distinct from virtue, or morality, consists in the performance of the duties we owe directly to God, from a principle of obedience to his will. Hence we often speak of religion and virtue, as different branches of one system, or the duties of the first and second tables of the law.Let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.
4. Any system of faith and worship. In this sense, religion comprehends the belief and worship of pagans and Mohammedans, as well as of christians; any religion consisting in the belief of a superior power or powers governing the world, and in the worship of such power or powers. Thus we speak of the religion of the Turks, of the Hindus, of the Indians, &c. as well as of the christian religion. We speak of false religion, as well as of true religion.
Christian or Christ Follower?
Most of my friend, and myself included, have at one point been asked the question: are you a Christian? Most of my friends, and I included, have most likely answered with some overly long, drawn out explanation that we love Jesus Christ and His teachings.
We avoid, at all cost, the use of the phrase Christian when we come into contact with people. Even if it's something as simple as a submitting a “religious view” on our Facebook.
We make statements like “it's not a religion, it's a relationship”.
Has the trend of not associating ourselves with anything popular already planted itself into our spiritual lives as well?
I'm not a hipster. I'm just not conforming to social standards.
I'm not a Christian. I'm in a relationship, not a religion.
The fact of the matter is, however, that following Christ involves a lot of what both my MacBooks' dictionary states as religion, and Noah Webster states as religion. It is following a set of ideals esteemed as holy.
It is acting in the likeness of God.It involves praying. Praying is the practice of maintaining intimacy with the
LORD. It is an act. It is something you do. People make the argument that following Christ isn't something you do, it's something you are.
I'd argue that it is both.
We cannot just sit by and deny that we're part of a religion when we've been going through ceremonial rituals of baptism, communion, and worship with the LORD.
Those are all very religious things.
I'm not saying that I understand all of this quite yet. But, I do understand that it's starting to become popular to not accept the label of Christian, and instead, make up our own label as to not offend anyone or to make ourselves as unique as possible.
The thing is, I'm guilty of it too.
For so long I've been running from the term Christian and it has gotten me no where. I thought of religion as being legalistic and unspiritual. Truth is, sometimes there are people who make Christianity look legalistic and unspiritual.
I think we've begun to equate religion with legalism. But just because I/we have a skewed vision of what religion is, it doesn't change the definition of religion, and it doesn't change the definition of what a Christian is.
A Christian is a person who follows the teachings of Christ, believes God is the LORD of lords, and who desires to seek out Gods heart (among other things).
I guess what I'm getting at is this: religion merely means that you subscribe to a set of ideals and that you act in accordance with those ideals: you walk the walk and talk the talk.
A Christian is a person who follows and believes the ideals of Christ, who was sent by His Father, God and Creator of the Universe, to the earth to pay the penalty for our sins, and are guided by the Holy Spirit, who also led Christ.
I guess by that overly-simple definition, I am a Christian.
Christianity is a religion. This shouldn't be debated. And if we're tired of the label of Christianity being associated with hippocrit, we should start changing ourselves, so people no longer view us as being just that: liars
There's a lot of room for fine tuning in this argument, but, I just thought I should point out that following Christ does involve doing a lot of religious things and we should own up to and be proud of our faith. Not run away from it and call it something different.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
You'll Never Know
(What if we came to God as we were, and not putting on a show? Who are we kidding, certainly not God. He knows our heart. He knows where we are. Why do we insult Him by putting on a self-righteous show for the Creator? He isn't fooled.
What if we humbled ourselves and asked Him for help?
That's where this came from.
Enjoy)
Don't you wish you could know whats going on
inside of me?
All my prideful thoughts mapped out in imagery-
on display for you to see.
Oh my god, how I've longed to share
my heart with yours.
To show you what its like to live in my chest-
And know.
That I've been trying to reach you
for longer than you could imagine.
That I've been dying to tell you every thought I've ever had.
but never said.
What if I spoke the words I truly meant-
Would you listen to me then?
What if I spoke the words my heart screams-
Would you understand?
That maybe if I thought less of myself,
I'd think less about myself.
and maybe I'd be able to comprehend
A life of selflessness.
Then you'd see me care and empathize,
with others whom the world despise.
You'd see that all I ever really wanted,
was to be wanted.
Look, I see you trying to understand
what makes me tick.
Observing every movement I make
and all the actions I take.
The truth of it is you'll never know
what goes on inside my head,
Until you take a look at where God
and my heart have been.
Just know.
That I've been trying to reach you
for longer than you could imagine.
And I've been dying to tell you every thought I've ever had.
but never said.
And if I had spoke the words I truly meant,
You'd have listened to me then.
And if I had spoke the words that made my heart scream,
You'd understand.
What if we humbled ourselves and asked Him for help?
That's where this came from.
Enjoy)
Don't you wish you could know whats going on
inside of me?
All my prideful thoughts mapped out in imagery-
on display for you to see.
Oh my god, how I've longed to share
my heart with yours.
To show you what its like to live in my chest-
And know.
That I've been trying to reach you
for longer than you could imagine.
That I've been dying to tell you every thought I've ever had.
but never said.
What if I spoke the words I truly meant-
Would you listen to me then?
What if I spoke the words my heart screams-
Would you understand?
That maybe if I thought less of myself,
I'd think less about myself.
and maybe I'd be able to comprehend
A life of selflessness.
Then you'd see me care and empathize,
with others whom the world despise.
You'd see that all I ever really wanted,
was to be wanted.
Look, I see you trying to understand
what makes me tick.
Observing every movement I make
and all the actions I take.
The truth of it is you'll never know
what goes on inside my head,
Until you take a look at where God
and my heart have been.
Just know.
That I've been trying to reach you
for longer than you could imagine.
And I've been dying to tell you every thought I've ever had.
but never said.
And if I had spoke the words I truly meant,
You'd have listened to me then.
And if I had spoke the words that made my heart scream,
You'd understand.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
There's Something Bigger
Dear Beloved: This day has been so hard.
I hated my life so much today.
I was so angry.
Please know this comes out of the deepest place I think I have in my heart.
I hope this is something that speaks to you.
Something that moves you.
How He loves us, even when we don't want him to.
Gosh.
I love you all so much. Enjoy.
-Josh
There's something bigger going on.
More than just you and I.
More than just the here and now.
More to living than being alive.
I've had enough of my anger.
I've had enough of my pain.
I've had enough of my selfishness.
I've had enough of my shame.
It's not about me anymore.
I'm giving up my breath.
It's about loving my Savior.
It's about being submissive 'till death.
I don't want to care anymore about the desires of my flesh.
I don't want to feel this heaviness deep inside my chest.
You never promised me that I wouldn't fall.
You promised me you'd comfort me through it all.
I need your blood inside my body.
I need you to stand me up on my feet.
Pick me up with you hole-y hands.
So both our eyes can meet.
I know it must be hard to love me when there's anger in my eyes.
I know it must be hard to look past the holes in your sons side.
Just know I've always loved you- even when I'm angry.
Know I've always loved you; You're the one who saved me.
I hated my life so much today.
I was so angry.
Please know this comes out of the deepest place I think I have in my heart.
I hope this is something that speaks to you.
Something that moves you.
How He loves us, even when we don't want him to.
Gosh.
I love you all so much. Enjoy.
-Josh
There's something bigger going on.
More than just you and I.
More than just the here and now.
More to living than being alive.
I've had enough of my anger.
I've had enough of my pain.
I've had enough of my selfishness.
I've had enough of my shame.
It's not about me anymore.
I'm giving up my breath.
It's about loving my Savior.
It's about being submissive 'till death.
I don't want to care anymore about the desires of my flesh.
I don't want to feel this heaviness deep inside my chest.
You never promised me that I wouldn't fall.
You promised me you'd comfort me through it all.
I need your blood inside my body.
I need you to stand me up on my feet.
Pick me up with you hole-y hands.
So both our eyes can meet.
I know it must be hard to love me when there's anger in my eyes.
I know it must be hard to look past the holes in your sons side.
Just know I've always loved you- even when I'm angry.
Know I've always loved you; You're the one who saved me.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
new fellowship
to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death philippians 3:10
wait.
hold up right there. it's a good chance if you are reading this you are a struggling believer like me. i want to be awfully transparent right now. because i just went through the whole new testament and a word struck my chords this morning. suffering.
so let's get started.
i want to know Jesus. i mean it's probably why i still go to church. i help out with the youth. try to read my bible. try to pray. try to do these things we are told to do because that's how we know Him right? but deep down within these things that are necessary for the growth of a believer really knowing Him isn't just partaking of doing this. knowing Christ is suffering.
are you with me. i mean. i dropped my dreams of marrying a girl. my dreams of my college experience at biola. and with reckless faith i signed my name on a governement contract to sign up with the united states air force. with no prior speaking from the Lord or of a real sense of reason. and here i am writing you. because with you. i want to know this man who sent me out on this adventure. and i have come up with a few ideas. or more like things he has set on my heart.
really, i have come to the more understanding. i am learning a new side of Jesus. because i listened to a message from francis chan. and he went through every single new testament book. and it talked about suffering. and i am with him on that. how many of you get let down often. come on i know i do. how many of you want to be married right now. okay. hmm. how many of you want to suffer. wait why are there crickets now. because we don't want to suffer we want to dodge it. but in all honesty. if paul is saying it that i want to fellowship in his sufferings. fellowship means to me a hearty meal with a good friend and maybe a beer or just sitting on the sidewalk and talking about life or just someone who you knows truly where you are in life and can agree and look forward to what is next.
but if looking forward to what is next. is being able to take the cross. i mean do you think when you take communion when you do. do you remember like he says to remember. i mean geez. we rip that bread apart to have our portion. that ripping or tearing is supposed to be Christ's body. for goodness sakes. i feel like i have been ripped a few times. but communion was done in fellowship. now let us dip our broken bodies in none other but the cup of what. His blood. the blood that was spilled. and that my friend is what we are partaking in. our brokenness. His blood. which allows us to resurrect. but when do we get to that point we are okay with this.
honest with you right now. i am unsure. and uncertain for me. this is a new thought. because i am confident. i love being loved. i hated being hated. but how are things so often said in the word that we won't be loved on behalf of Him. so are we too comfortable. too cliche.
am i too zealous right now. maybe a bit controversial.
figured.
i mean we were the brands of Jesus.
so who are we kidding when life sucks how do we respond.
i think its because we don't suffer because we dodge it.
i think also that a new type of fellowship is about to begin in my life.
for me to live is Christ, to die is gain phillipians 1:21
what am i to gain if don't die.
i hope you are challenged as i am. i know this is all pretty sparatic. and heavy. if you are reading this. thank you. it means a lot to me and joshua. i love you.
stephen
wait.
hold up right there. it's a good chance if you are reading this you are a struggling believer like me. i want to be awfully transparent right now. because i just went through the whole new testament and a word struck my chords this morning. suffering.
so let's get started.
i want to know Jesus. i mean it's probably why i still go to church. i help out with the youth. try to read my bible. try to pray. try to do these things we are told to do because that's how we know Him right? but deep down within these things that are necessary for the growth of a believer really knowing Him isn't just partaking of doing this. knowing Christ is suffering.
are you with me. i mean. i dropped my dreams of marrying a girl. my dreams of my college experience at biola. and with reckless faith i signed my name on a governement contract to sign up with the united states air force. with no prior speaking from the Lord or of a real sense of reason. and here i am writing you. because with you. i want to know this man who sent me out on this adventure. and i have come up with a few ideas. or more like things he has set on my heart.
really, i have come to the more understanding. i am learning a new side of Jesus. because i listened to a message from francis chan. and he went through every single new testament book. and it talked about suffering. and i am with him on that. how many of you get let down often. come on i know i do. how many of you want to be married right now. okay. hmm. how many of you want to suffer. wait why are there crickets now. because we don't want to suffer we want to dodge it. but in all honesty. if paul is saying it that i want to fellowship in his sufferings. fellowship means to me a hearty meal with a good friend and maybe a beer or just sitting on the sidewalk and talking about life or just someone who you knows truly where you are in life and can agree and look forward to what is next.
but if looking forward to what is next. is being able to take the cross. i mean do you think when you take communion when you do. do you remember like he says to remember. i mean geez. we rip that bread apart to have our portion. that ripping or tearing is supposed to be Christ's body. for goodness sakes. i feel like i have been ripped a few times. but communion was done in fellowship. now let us dip our broken bodies in none other but the cup of what. His blood. the blood that was spilled. and that my friend is what we are partaking in. our brokenness. His blood. which allows us to resurrect. but when do we get to that point we are okay with this.
honest with you right now. i am unsure. and uncertain for me. this is a new thought. because i am confident. i love being loved. i hated being hated. but how are things so often said in the word that we won't be loved on behalf of Him. so are we too comfortable. too cliche.
am i too zealous right now. maybe a bit controversial.
figured.
i mean we were the brands of Jesus.
so who are we kidding when life sucks how do we respond.
i think its because we don't suffer because we dodge it.
i think also that a new type of fellowship is about to begin in my life.
for me to live is Christ, to die is gain phillipians 1:21
what am i to gain if don't die.
i hope you are challenged as i am. i know this is all pretty sparatic. and heavy. if you are reading this. thank you. it means a lot to me and joshua. i love you.
stephen
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
I am wheat.
Luke 22:31-32; "31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
I was talking with my good friend, Stephen, today.
We talked about how beat up we were.
It feels like our hearts were trampled on by "one too many buffalo" as he put it.
I remembered this verse from Luke, chapter 22.
Satan demanded to sift Peter like wheat.
The process for sifting wheat was this: throw the wheat against the cement and beat the hell out of it with a flail.
During times, it feels like my heart is being sifted- like wheat.
Its hurt by myself: my failures.
Its hurt by others: their actions and words.
Its hurt because of what I've done: breaking other peoples hearts- breaking my Gods heart.
Every failure I've made.
Every rude comment given to me.
Every despicable act of aggression against me.
Every time I've hurt someone else has been a blow to my heart from the flail.
Often times this heart begins to be too much.
It hurts too often.
I've cried more times than I care to remember.
I've felt the burning fire of anger towards situations that I would normally find acceptable or tolerable.
I've felt the anguish of a loss of a friends fire for God because of lukewarmness.
I've been kicked in the stomach emotionally and balled my eyes out for the body of Christ.
I've never felt the depths of emotion as much as I have while being in this relationship with God.
I've asked prayed Jesus' prayer from the garden on more than one occasion.
Its so hard to deal with this kind of heart: the kind of heart that's made of paper and bleeds like a anemic.
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Through it all, however, I have always prayed to have Gods heart. I realize, now, that He's taken me very literally. My heart is so softened by this process of threshing. I'm beginning to feel what God feels.
I am beginning to love what He loves. I'm beginning to understand.
I understand that by this softening, my heart is growing stronger.
I'm being refined.
Refinement is never comfortable.
Never.
After Jesus finished that prayer to his Father, it says: "an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground".
He strengthens us when we ask Him.
But why does He strengthen us?
To help us pray more fervently.
I love Batman.
In the movie, Bruce Wayne's father asks Bruce a question: why do we fall?
He answers: so we can learn to pick ourselves back up.
I think I'm starting to hear God ask me a similar question: when you are weak, why should you pray for strength?
It is so you can learn to pray more fervently.
Satan demanded to sift us like wheat- but Jesus prayed for me.
His offer was better.
His offer wins.
His offer strengthens me.
I know this heart is problematic at times.
I know my heart gets lonely.
I know my heart gets pounded.
I know my heart is a mess.
But I know my heart reflects a lot of what Gods heart does.
If being pounded into the dust is part of being built up, then I think its worth it.
I just want to see His face.
I was talking with my good friend, Stephen, today.
We talked about how beat up we were.
It feels like our hearts were trampled on by "one too many buffalo" as he put it.
I remembered this verse from Luke, chapter 22.
Satan demanded to sift Peter like wheat.
The process for sifting wheat was this: throw the wheat against the cement and beat the hell out of it with a flail.
During times, it feels like my heart is being sifted- like wheat.
Its hurt by myself: my failures.
Its hurt by others: their actions and words.
Its hurt because of what I've done: breaking other peoples hearts- breaking my Gods heart.
Every failure I've made.
Every rude comment given to me.
Every despicable act of aggression against me.
Every time I've hurt someone else has been a blow to my heart from the flail.
Often times this heart begins to be too much.
It hurts too often.
I've cried more times than I care to remember.
I've felt the burning fire of anger towards situations that I would normally find acceptable or tolerable.
I've felt the anguish of a loss of a friends fire for God because of lukewarmness.
I've been kicked in the stomach emotionally and balled my eyes out for the body of Christ.
I've never felt the depths of emotion as much as I have while being in this relationship with God.
I've asked prayed Jesus' prayer from the garden on more than one occasion.
Its so hard to deal with this kind of heart: the kind of heart that's made of paper and bleeds like a anemic.
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Through it all, however, I have always prayed to have Gods heart. I realize, now, that He's taken me very literally. My heart is so softened by this process of threshing. I'm beginning to feel what God feels.
I am beginning to love what He loves. I'm beginning to understand.
I understand that by this softening, my heart is growing stronger.
I'm being refined.
Refinement is never comfortable.
Never.
After Jesus finished that prayer to his Father, it says: "an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground".
He strengthens us when we ask Him.
But why does He strengthen us?
To help us pray more fervently.
I love Batman.
In the movie, Bruce Wayne's father asks Bruce a question: why do we fall?
He answers: so we can learn to pick ourselves back up.
I think I'm starting to hear God ask me a similar question: when you are weak, why should you pray for strength?
It is so you can learn to pray more fervently.
Satan demanded to sift us like wheat- but Jesus prayed for me.
His offer was better.
His offer wins.
His offer strengthens me.
I know this heart is problematic at times.
I know my heart gets lonely.
I know my heart gets pounded.
I know my heart is a mess.
But I know my heart reflects a lot of what Gods heart does.
If being pounded into the dust is part of being built up, then I think its worth it.
I just want to see His face.
Monday, July 5, 2010
it is not good
i called my dad up today. and with gritting my teeth. and almost in tears i uttered words i hate saying because it makes me feel weak. "i'm lonely." i told him of the dream i had the night before of a girl looking at me and saying "i have been waiting for you." i seriously couldn't finish the dream. i was pissed. parts of me wants to sock a hole in the wall. scream somewhere where maybe God could hear my prayers for these last four years. because something is missing and i think i am doing everything right. i have a job. i am in the military. i dress good. i love jesus. i respect women. i ...whatever. this isn't supposed to be selfish. i am getting to a point where i know all men can agree on this singleness. ever since we were little we dreamed. dreamed of adventure and big things. and as life plays out. we get let down. we get hurt. and we get left. but this is where my dad with his wisdom told me. think about Christ.
Christ had to come into this world just like how adam was created and realized "it is not good for man to be alone." can you imagine after hammering out the whole world and everything he made was "good" but not for man to be alone. adam is a type of Christ and if that is so. then realize. i bet Christ is feeling the same longing for his bride as well. just like how adam named every single picking animal and when he was done. there was none suited for him. and Christ laid him down. and as he slept. the pain was put to death and a rib removed for his bride to become. like Christ he had to go through literal death and ressurection and then back into the heavenlies to be with God and wait all over again. is that just like a little pain. oh man. how much he must love us to sacrifice that. so that is where we need to be. realizing. that it is okay that i am lonely. because Christ has been waiting for his bride. and he is preparing her for his coming. and he's coming soon. until then. i will agree. that Lord i am lonely with you. i am glad i have you. so let us continue on because it is not good. but you are. and i know full well that i can rest in this.
i love you,
stephen
Christ had to come into this world just like how adam was created and realized "it is not good for man to be alone." can you imagine after hammering out the whole world and everything he made was "good" but not for man to be alone. adam is a type of Christ and if that is so. then realize. i bet Christ is feeling the same longing for his bride as well. just like how adam named every single picking animal and when he was done. there was none suited for him. and Christ laid him down. and as he slept. the pain was put to death and a rib removed for his bride to become. like Christ he had to go through literal death and ressurection and then back into the heavenlies to be with God and wait all over again. is that just like a little pain. oh man. how much he must love us to sacrifice that. so that is where we need to be. realizing. that it is okay that i am lonely. because Christ has been waiting for his bride. and he is preparing her for his coming. and he's coming soon. until then. i will agree. that Lord i am lonely with you. i am glad i have you. so let us continue on because it is not good. but you are. and i know full well that i can rest in this.
i love you,
stephen
Friday, July 2, 2010
Grace. Love. Friends. V Necks.G
Earlier this week I was spending time with my friends.
(I think its important to note, before I ramble, that I love them dearly).
We talked about grace and what it meant to us.
We discussed songs about grace- how beautiful it is and how amazing it feels when it is extended to us.
We prayed and laughed and were captivated by the awe of it all.
We were all agreed, at the end of it all, that Grace is a free gift, we don't deserve it, but, its extended to us- there is nothing we can do to earn it.
When I was younger I used to think of grace as this big cover up.
Grace was white out.
Because of it, sin was no longer visible; therefore, it wasn't there anymore.
Grace was an everlasting game of "peek-a-boo".
I definitely know grace to be part of something larger now.
It doesn't just give the illusion of purity, it cleanses us, making us the embodiment of purity.
It is a bath.
It is a shower.
It is a pressure washer.
It is a hurricane.
Not only does grace wash our sin away, it empowers us to live lives holy and pleasing to the Lord.
It fills us with a strength.
Grace isn't weak.
It is power.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness".
Grace.
Power.
Ravi Zacharias stated that purity isn't just the absence of something, it is the presence of another.
Purity isn't only the absence of sin, its the presence of the Lords grace in our lives.
"For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift from God. Not a result of works so no one can boast".
My friends and I were discussing grace, we talked about how, at times, we find ourselves working ourselves to death to try to earn grace.
By no means was this a conscious effort on our parts- it was just something we observed in retrospect.
We justify working 70 work weeks, going to two bible studies, mentoring people, and getting little no sleep, all for the sake of not "feeling lazy".
We somehow think that by exhausting and overextending ourselves that we are bringing God glory.
We get this sick idea that neglecting our basic needs for adequate food and rest we are making God happy.
A parent doesn't delight in the suffering of their child, nor does a parent like it when a child feels they have to repay every act of kindness as if they are indebted to them.
It can turn into a giant, "who can give more" competition. All the parent wanted to do in the first place was to bless their child because they love them.
God loved us so much, that He sent His son to die for us so He could dwell in us and LOVE us.
When we work for grace, we're putting a price on Christs crucifixion, and cheapening the cross.
I found something equally disgusting in my own life.
I found that, at times, I feel entitled to Gods grace.
I justify not working hard at all.
I justify being lazy.
I justify failure by saying: "God will forgive me"; "God is good".
I wanted to vomit when I realized that my heart of hearts thinks this way.
How sick of me to think that I don't have to work out my salvation with "fear and trembling".
By not working, I cheapen the cross as well.
I take the cross for granted.
I don't value it as something to be treated with reverence.
I treat His grace as common.
I think I deserve His grace.
I deserve the grave.
But He still died for me.
He Loves me.
Both of these issues- entitlement, and enslavement, are sinful.
They are prideful.
One says: I can earn it.
One says: He owes it to me.
A lot of the Christian walk, I'm finding, is a balance between two extremes: foolishness, and cowardice.
Foolishness is taking the cross for granted because we think its owed to us.
Cowardice is avoiding it by thinking we don't deserve it.
I think Paul puts it beautifully.
"I die daily".
Christ says it as well.
"Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me".
It is just that.
Die to yourself.
Live as Christ.
The yoke is not too much to bear.
It is not easy though.
It is shared.
It isn't about us anymore.
We failed.
The wages of sin is death.
But.
The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Accept it.
Work out our salvation with fear and trembling while walking with the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
Please, don't forget though. He gave us grace because He loved us so.
I think of "Where the Wild Things Are".
In the movie, regardless of what you thought of it, one of the monsters hugs Max with Love and says "I'll eat you up I love you so".
I think that's beautiful.
I just feel the warmth of those words.
Its just me, I'm sure.
But,
God gave us grace because He loved us so.
"I'll forgive you of your sins because I love you".
"I died for you, I love you so".
That's just beautiful to me.
Don't think I have it figured out, please.
I just thought you should know whats on my heart.
I don't know an awful lot at all.
But I do write a lot.
I also wear tons of V necks.
But you probably already knew that.
"Philipians 3:12-14: 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus".
Hope you're encouraged.
I love you tons.
-Josh
(I think its important to note, before I ramble, that I love them dearly).
We talked about grace and what it meant to us.
We discussed songs about grace- how beautiful it is and how amazing it feels when it is extended to us.
We prayed and laughed and were captivated by the awe of it all.
We were all agreed, at the end of it all, that Grace is a free gift, we don't deserve it, but, its extended to us- there is nothing we can do to earn it.
When I was younger I used to think of grace as this big cover up.
Grace was white out.
Because of it, sin was no longer visible; therefore, it wasn't there anymore.
Grace was an everlasting game of "peek-a-boo".
I definitely know grace to be part of something larger now.
It doesn't just give the illusion of purity, it cleanses us, making us the embodiment of purity.
It is a bath.
It is a shower.
It is a pressure washer.
It is a hurricane.
Not only does grace wash our sin away, it empowers us to live lives holy and pleasing to the Lord.
It fills us with a strength.
Grace isn't weak.
It is power.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness".
Grace.
Power.
Ravi Zacharias stated that purity isn't just the absence of something, it is the presence of another.
Purity isn't only the absence of sin, its the presence of the Lords grace in our lives.
"For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift from God. Not a result of works so no one can boast".
My friends and I were discussing grace, we talked about how, at times, we find ourselves working ourselves to death to try to earn grace.
By no means was this a conscious effort on our parts- it was just something we observed in retrospect.
We justify working 70 work weeks, going to two bible studies, mentoring people, and getting little no sleep, all for the sake of not "feeling lazy".
We somehow think that by exhausting and overextending ourselves that we are bringing God glory.
We get this sick idea that neglecting our basic needs for adequate food and rest we are making God happy.
A parent doesn't delight in the suffering of their child, nor does a parent like it when a child feels they have to repay every act of kindness as if they are indebted to them.
It can turn into a giant, "who can give more" competition. All the parent wanted to do in the first place was to bless their child because they love them.
God loved us so much, that He sent His son to die for us so He could dwell in us and LOVE us.
When we work for grace, we're putting a price on Christs crucifixion, and cheapening the cross.
I found something equally disgusting in my own life.
I found that, at times, I feel entitled to Gods grace.
I justify not working hard at all.
I justify being lazy.
I justify failure by saying: "God will forgive me"; "God is good".
I wanted to vomit when I realized that my heart of hearts thinks this way.
How sick of me to think that I don't have to work out my salvation with "fear and trembling".
By not working, I cheapen the cross as well.
I take the cross for granted.
I don't value it as something to be treated with reverence.
I treat His grace as common.
I think I deserve His grace.
I deserve the grave.
But He still died for me.
He Loves me.
Both of these issues- entitlement, and enslavement, are sinful.
They are prideful.
One says: I can earn it.
One says: He owes it to me.
A lot of the Christian walk, I'm finding, is a balance between two extremes: foolishness, and cowardice.
Foolishness is taking the cross for granted because we think its owed to us.
Cowardice is avoiding it by thinking we don't deserve it.
I think Paul puts it beautifully.
"I die daily".
Christ says it as well.
"Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me".
It is just that.
Die to yourself.
Live as Christ.
The yoke is not too much to bear.
It is not easy though.
It is shared.
It isn't about us anymore.
We failed.
The wages of sin is death.
But.
The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Accept it.
Work out our salvation with fear and trembling while walking with the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
Please, don't forget though. He gave us grace because He loved us so.
I think of "Where the Wild Things Are".
In the movie, regardless of what you thought of it, one of the monsters hugs Max with Love and says "I'll eat you up I love you so".
I think that's beautiful.
I just feel the warmth of those words.
Its just me, I'm sure.
But,
God gave us grace because He loved us so.
"I'll forgive you of your sins because I love you".
"I died for you, I love you so".
That's just beautiful to me.
Don't think I have it figured out, please.
I just thought you should know whats on my heart.
I don't know an awful lot at all.
But I do write a lot.
I also wear tons of V necks.
But you probably already knew that.
"Philipians 3:12-14: 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus".
Hope you're encouraged.
I love you tons.
-Josh
Sunday, June 20, 2010
With Everything
What good is a hero to a person who doesn’t need to be saved?
If we choose to reject our savior, why do we need to worship?
What is our purpose in life? Is it not to worship our savior and creator: the One who loves us so?
I remember when I decided to follow Jesus’ ways; to be in a relationship with Him.
I remember He spoke to me; He said: Josh, I’ve created you for bigger things- great things. Amazing works. What are you doing?
Those are the words of a loving Father to His son.
I broke down.
I said “use me; I’ll move where You move. I want to love what You love and hate what You hate”.
It says as Samuel grew with the Lord, the Lord never let Samuels words fall to the ground.
Samuel dwelled in constant intimacy with the Love of his life.
How many times have I failed?
How many words have I let hit the floor?
How many times have I taken the Love of the Lord for granted?
I used to dwell in despair for days at a time when I stumbled. I’d fall on my face and weep for breaking the heart of my God. Then I remembered His grace.
You see, His grace washed our sin away a long time ago.
That’s why Jesus came.
He lived to die.
He didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people live.
He didn’t come to set an impossible bar for us to strive for; He came to make sure we could obtain intimacy with the One who loves us so.
“He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood”.
“Because a sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free”.
“I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us”.
I remember I struggled with worship for a while.
I used to think that I didn’t get a whole lot out of it.
I realize now that when I had that egocentric mindset, God didn’t get a whole lot out of my worship.
What good is worship if we don’t know what we’re doing?
Why do we need to worship someone we don’t really think we need in the first place?
I’m sorry God, that I was so arrogant and selfish.
Forgive me.
I know now that the worship I do, isn’t because I want to get something out of it.
Worship is necessary because I’m so thankful for what You’ve done in my life.
Sometimes I think we make worship about us.
I think when we do that we let our words fall to the floor.
We need a savior.
We have one.
When we realize what He’s done for us, that’s when worshiping in spirit and truth happens.
We realize where we could have been, where we could have ended up: eternal separation from Love.
We are thankful for our Hero.
We praise the One who paid our debt and raised our lives up from the dead.
He is worthy of our praise.
With everything we will shout for Your glory.
With everything we will shout forth Your praise.
We have reason to worship, brothers and sisters.
We have reason to worship, Always.
I hope you’re encouraged.
I love you all.
-Josh
If we choose to reject our savior, why do we need to worship?
What is our purpose in life? Is it not to worship our savior and creator: the One who loves us so?
I remember when I decided to follow Jesus’ ways; to be in a relationship with Him.
I remember He spoke to me; He said: Josh, I’ve created you for bigger things- great things. Amazing works. What are you doing?
Those are the words of a loving Father to His son.
I broke down.
I said “use me; I’ll move where You move. I want to love what You love and hate what You hate”.
It says as Samuel grew with the Lord, the Lord never let Samuels words fall to the ground.
Samuel dwelled in constant intimacy with the Love of his life.
How many times have I failed?
How many words have I let hit the floor?
How many times have I taken the Love of the Lord for granted?
I used to dwell in despair for days at a time when I stumbled. I’d fall on my face and weep for breaking the heart of my God. Then I remembered His grace.
You see, His grace washed our sin away a long time ago.
That’s why Jesus came.
He lived to die.
He didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people live.
He didn’t come to set an impossible bar for us to strive for; He came to make sure we could obtain intimacy with the One who loves us so.
“He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood”.
“Because a sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free”.
“I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us”.
I remember I struggled with worship for a while.
I used to think that I didn’t get a whole lot out of it.
I realize now that when I had that egocentric mindset, God didn’t get a whole lot out of my worship.
What good is worship if we don’t know what we’re doing?
Why do we need to worship someone we don’t really think we need in the first place?
I’m sorry God, that I was so arrogant and selfish.
Forgive me.
I know now that the worship I do, isn’t because I want to get something out of it.
Worship is necessary because I’m so thankful for what You’ve done in my life.
Sometimes I think we make worship about us.
I think when we do that we let our words fall to the floor.
We need a savior.
We have one.
When we realize what He’s done for us, that’s when worshiping in spirit and truth happens.
We realize where we could have been, where we could have ended up: eternal separation from Love.
We are thankful for our Hero.
We praise the One who paid our debt and raised our lives up from the dead.
He is worthy of our praise.
With everything we will shout for Your glory.
With everything we will shout forth Your praise.
We have reason to worship, brothers and sisters.
We have reason to worship, Always.
I hope you’re encouraged.
I love you all.
-Josh
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
a word (isaiah 6:1-8)
Isaiah 6
Holy, Holy, Holy!
1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
His bright glory fills the whole earth.
The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,
"Doom! It's Doomsday!
I'm as good as dead!
Every word I've ever spoken is tainted—
blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I've looked God in the face!
The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!"
Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said,
"Look. This coal has touched your lips.
Gone your guilt,
your sins wiped out."
And then I heard the voice of the Master:
"Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?"
I spoke up,
"I'll go.
Send me!"
i read these verses this morning and my heart was pricked. isaiah is the place where i know the lord will speak to me. where he was so gracious to speak in 2006 and it has been really four years since i have returned to this place. dear place. and i desire nothing more than an honest word. not just the jolly rancher verses. or bubblegum prayers. but to really anticipate the word. and get into it. and get excited like a puppy to run up to my Master and greet him with happiness.
so get this. i love it. have you ever had a word or vision or something just rock your world in life and slam you in the face and you will remember. and by remembering you tell other people about it. you can't help but share. this is what it is for isaiah. this amazing sight of the cheribum the seraphs. these angels are crying out HOLY HOLY HOLY and they do this for eternity. that's their job. and the whole place begins to shake. and smoke comes out. really. ideally. this is true worship. and a house full of worship shakes the foundations. and if you know Jesus. that is where we stand on. it should shake our whole being. down to the core. who are you built of. maybe even a deeper question. who have you allowed in your house.
don't you see isaiah's response. when things go crazy. he freaks. i am doomed. i am screwed. life is crazy. um. i am just like the other people. don't kill me. i can just see him going nuts. because isn't that how we act when things don't make sense. but how sweet is our Father. he sends one of his angels. and brings him a coal and touches him on the lips. how sweet. how affectionate is that. sweetly telling us. shut up. just shush. and when we can quiet down. we can realize. our guilt is gone. our sin. our shame. everything is purged. thrown out the window. thank you for that blessed Jesus.
and after that. He calls to us. the Master. because we long for that. for anyone to acknowledge us. but how much greater is the God of the universe calling out "whom shall I send, who will go for Us? and will you...will you speak up.
"here i am Lord, send me."
no matter where you are. it's gonna be a risk. an adventure. it's not joke. sometimes you might have to put aside dreams. i did it. i wanted to be a youth pastor. i am now in the air force. not my idea. his. but i want it all. i want to be the one. saying send me Lord. where do you want me.
i hope this encourages you. i love you.
-stephenjoseph
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Shipwrecked
I've been thinking about my life.
Again.
I was thinking about who I was last year.
I didn't recognize myself.
I remembered I met a Savior: all over again.
I fell in love again.
He changed me.
He fixed the shipwreck of my life.
With Grace.
I hope this blesses you.
This is the journey of my life as of the last few years.
Day and Night.
Love you.
-Josh
Shipwrecked
pictures run fast like the rush of a tide
cascading against the rocks in the cave of my mind
the sounds of my memories are screeching loud
they're fluttering about: they're bats that are spooked
in the shipwreck of my life
I'll watch my failures go down with the boat
I'll cling to my Captain who wont let me astray
I'm floating away in an ocean of grace
my tongue is an old flag full of disgrace
flapping about in vacant space
of a big rotten mouth: dirty and black
damn it to hell: I hope it never comes back
I'd made shipwreck of my life
But, I'll watch my failures wash away and go down with the boat
I'll cling tight to my captain who wont lead me astray
I'm being carried away in an ocean of grace
I met my Savior out on the docks one day
He hobbled over to me with pegs in his legs
said: "son I know you're lost, I can show you the way"
I grabbed His weathered, scarred, hands and never looked back
on the shipwreck of my life
I'll watch my failures go down with the boat
I'll cling to my Captain who wont let me astray
I'm floating away in an ocean of grace
oh what tender mercy and grace
that sunk my boat to the depths of the sea
I'll thank my Captain for staying by my side
and teaching me to float
Again.
I was thinking about who I was last year.
I didn't recognize myself.
I remembered I met a Savior: all over again.
I fell in love again.
He changed me.
He fixed the shipwreck of my life.
With Grace.
I hope this blesses you.
This is the journey of my life as of the last few years.
Day and Night.
Love you.
-Josh
Shipwrecked
pictures run fast like the rush of a tide
cascading against the rocks in the cave of my mind
the sounds of my memories are screeching loud
they're fluttering about: they're bats that are spooked
in the shipwreck of my life
I'll watch my failures go down with the boat
I'll cling to my Captain who wont let me astray
I'm floating away in an ocean of grace
my tongue is an old flag full of disgrace
flapping about in vacant space
of a big rotten mouth: dirty and black
damn it to hell: I hope it never comes back
I'd made shipwreck of my life
But, I'll watch my failures wash away and go down with the boat
I'll cling tight to my captain who wont lead me astray
I'm being carried away in an ocean of grace
I met my Savior out on the docks one day
He hobbled over to me with pegs in his legs
said: "son I know you're lost, I can show you the way"
I grabbed His weathered, scarred, hands and never looked back
on the shipwreck of my life
I'll watch my failures go down with the boat
I'll cling to my Captain who wont let me astray
I'm floating away in an ocean of grace
oh what tender mercy and grace
that sunk my boat to the depths of the sea
I'll thank my Captain for staying by my side
and teaching me to float
Monday, May 17, 2010
Love and Intelligence
In ethics I've been learning about the Aristotelian approach to virtuous traits. By this approach, we see that virtue is a balance between two opposites: too little, and too much.
For example: Courage.
An excessive amount of courage would be foolishness; this would involve one person standing up against 1,000 men. This is too much.
An insufficient amount of courage would be cowardice; this would involve one person hiding behind a truck in an attempt to hide from something that is not threatening.
Courage is the balance: the median.
This is different than other schools of thought. Others may think that Virtue is more like a light switch: something you can turn on, or off. You have virtue, or you don't.
I don't subscribe to that belief, because, I believe Aristotelian views on virtue make more sense.
That being said, I've had a lot of questions about what it means to live as Christ: to walk in "Son-ship".
The first question that I wanted to bring up is this: what is the balance between Love and Intelligence.
I never really thought that these two traits were connected until I started thinking about traits as a deficiency or a surplus in virtuous actions.
I was thinking about Love, when the word "hippie" cruised through my head.
Why was the hippie movement so beneficial?
Because people were being loved. People’s feelings were being addressed. People were being heard. We were no longer just flesh and bones but we were, rather, thoughts and feelings and emotions. All of these things became real.
This was good.
Why was the hippie movement so ineffective in areas?
Because it lacked intelligent moves.
There were no organized moves. There was no accountability. There was not logic. It was "thinking with your feelings and hearing with your eyes". There was no thought put into how to take care of people, and meet their needs in reality. It was just "ideas". Emotion. There was no direction. We thought we knew what love was, outside of God. Love was cheapened because it no longer involved God. (not always the case).
I was thinking about Intelligence when the word "scientist" came into my head.
Why was the information age so beneficial?
Because we were unlocking secrets. We were discovering things around us. We were growing, expanding, and finding new ways to accomplish tasks. People were being helped by medicine. People were flourishing in the flowing waters of raw knowledge and success. People were prospering.
Why was the information age so ineffective in areas?
Because it lacked love.
We didn't care enough about people. People became pawns in sciences experiments. People became means to our end: money, sex, prosperity. Our physical and intellectual well-beings became far more important than our spirituality. God became spiritual comfort food for those who weren't prospering and benefiting from science. God was trying to be figured out. God was put into equations. (not always the case).
The problem with the "love" movement was that it lacked intelligence; the problem with intelligence is that it lacks love.
Is there a median between "love" and "intelligence"?
Ephesians 4:11-16 says that-
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
The important thing I see here is that God has had a plan: a strategy, for changing the world. This is something every move of man has tried to do since man has been created (Babel, Rome, Revolution, Hippies, Intelligence, etc). He didn't call it anything like that, though. Jesus called it "The Church", or "The Body of Christ".
Fivefold ministry. People preaching and others teaching; some would be evangelizing and others would be speaking truth as prophets into other people’s lives and giving direction; still, others would be planting places where the "body" could meet.
That would change the world.
The other thing I see is that all of this is done, with both "truth" and "love". They don't go on without each other.
This is the problem with myself, often times. I can focus on loving someone and neglect truth and intelligence. Or, at times, I can ignore love and just be cold and hide behind my wall of big words, theology, philosophy and science. Both are not healthy.
It goes on to say in Ephesians 4:17-24 that we should be renewed in our thinking by the way of Christ to take out the futility of ourselves. Our minds. We should act and be as Christ is.
We should be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
That is the balance.
The balance between Love and Intelligence is this- Christ: being and speaking the truth, (intelligence), with love.
I'm not claiming this as perfect logic, I just know that I've been being disciplined by The Lord, and I've been out behind the woodshed lately. I've been being disciplined for falling out of line and not acting as Christ has been acting. I just also know that I've been being humbled, and my Father likes that. Because when I am humble, He can dwell in me, and I in Him. He gets to share His thoughts with me and I really know/feel that this is something He's wanted me to know. I hope this gets to you somehow.
If it feels like I'm attacking you, I swear to you, I'm not.
But message me if you have questions.
I love you all very much.
-Josh
For example: Courage.
An excessive amount of courage would be foolishness; this would involve one person standing up against 1,000 men. This is too much.
An insufficient amount of courage would be cowardice; this would involve one person hiding behind a truck in an attempt to hide from something that is not threatening.
Courage is the balance: the median.
This is different than other schools of thought. Others may think that Virtue is more like a light switch: something you can turn on, or off. You have virtue, or you don't.
I don't subscribe to that belief, because, I believe Aristotelian views on virtue make more sense.
That being said, I've had a lot of questions about what it means to live as Christ: to walk in "Son-ship".
The first question that I wanted to bring up is this: what is the balance between Love and Intelligence.
I never really thought that these two traits were connected until I started thinking about traits as a deficiency or a surplus in virtuous actions.
I was thinking about Love, when the word "hippie" cruised through my head.
Why was the hippie movement so beneficial?
Because people were being loved. People’s feelings were being addressed. People were being heard. We were no longer just flesh and bones but we were, rather, thoughts and feelings and emotions. All of these things became real.
This was good.
Why was the hippie movement so ineffective in areas?
Because it lacked intelligent moves.
There were no organized moves. There was no accountability. There was not logic. It was "thinking with your feelings and hearing with your eyes". There was no thought put into how to take care of people, and meet their needs in reality. It was just "ideas". Emotion. There was no direction. We thought we knew what love was, outside of God. Love was cheapened because it no longer involved God. (not always the case).
I was thinking about Intelligence when the word "scientist" came into my head.
Why was the information age so beneficial?
Because we were unlocking secrets. We were discovering things around us. We were growing, expanding, and finding new ways to accomplish tasks. People were being helped by medicine. People were flourishing in the flowing waters of raw knowledge and success. People were prospering.
Why was the information age so ineffective in areas?
Because it lacked love.
We didn't care enough about people. People became pawns in sciences experiments. People became means to our end: money, sex, prosperity. Our physical and intellectual well-beings became far more important than our spirituality. God became spiritual comfort food for those who weren't prospering and benefiting from science. God was trying to be figured out. God was put into equations. (not always the case).
The problem with the "love" movement was that it lacked intelligence; the problem with intelligence is that it lacks love.
Is there a median between "love" and "intelligence"?
Ephesians 4:11-16 says that-
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
The important thing I see here is that God has had a plan: a strategy, for changing the world. This is something every move of man has tried to do since man has been created (Babel, Rome, Revolution, Hippies, Intelligence, etc). He didn't call it anything like that, though. Jesus called it "The Church", or "The Body of Christ".
Fivefold ministry. People preaching and others teaching; some would be evangelizing and others would be speaking truth as prophets into other people’s lives and giving direction; still, others would be planting places where the "body" could meet.
That would change the world.
The other thing I see is that all of this is done, with both "truth" and "love". They don't go on without each other.
This is the problem with myself, often times. I can focus on loving someone and neglect truth and intelligence. Or, at times, I can ignore love and just be cold and hide behind my wall of big words, theology, philosophy and science. Both are not healthy.
It goes on to say in Ephesians 4:17-24 that we should be renewed in our thinking by the way of Christ to take out the futility of ourselves. Our minds. We should act and be as Christ is.
We should be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
That is the balance.
The balance between Love and Intelligence is this- Christ: being and speaking the truth, (intelligence), with love.
I'm not claiming this as perfect logic, I just know that I've been being disciplined by The Lord, and I've been out behind the woodshed lately. I've been being disciplined for falling out of line and not acting as Christ has been acting. I just also know that I've been being humbled, and my Father likes that. Because when I am humble, He can dwell in me, and I in Him. He gets to share His thoughts with me and I really know/feel that this is something He's wanted me to know. I hope this gets to you somehow.
If it feels like I'm attacking you, I swear to you, I'm not.
But message me if you have questions.
I love you all very much.
-Josh
Monday, April 19, 2010
Rain Down
What would it be like if Gods glory fell on us like a storm: raining down and flooding the dry dust of our hearts with holy fire? What would that look like?
I think it would look like romantic Love.
Lately, Gods been guiding me through lessons in Love.
What is Love?
Love is God.
God is Love.
He's helping me get to know Him more and more.
One thing He's been showing me is that Love is commitment, not emotion.
Emotion comes from it, but it is not the definition of Love. Emotion is temporary, Love is eternal. That is not to say that emotion is bad; of course it is not. Often times, our relationships with God have been started out of a very emotion state; He stoops down from heaven and woos us up to Himself. He wins our hearts with romance.
But, eventually, like most successful relationships, the Love grows: matures. Love doesn't become "how can You make me happy"; Love becomes "how can I make you happy". Love doesn't become "I'll stay committed to You when You make me feel the same way I felt when I met You"; Love becomes "I'll stay with You even when I don't feel like it, because I'm committed".
John 15:13 says that "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends".
God stayed committed to His people, whom He loved. Not to the point of laying down His own life. No. That would be too easy. He stayed committed to us to the point of laying down the life of His only son, Jesus Christ. Christs blood rained down to the ground, full of life and redemption. His blood pours over our bodies, fills our veins, and covers us; it makes us acceptable in Gods eyes. He sees Christs blood in us and takes us in as sons. Adopted. We are His children, and He is our Father.
We were Isaak, about to be sacrificed, and Jesus was our perfect lamb, slain in our place, who's blood is the payment for our ransom of sin. God provided the perfect lamb.
That is Love.
Love is when the person we care about becomes more important than ourselves.
That is Love.
Love is when we can look a person in the eyes, and they can stare back into ours, and see the reflection of God in our eyes. Then, with every thing we have say, I, Christ in me, Love you, and would gladly lay down my life for you. They wouldn't just see that a person, a mortal human would lay down their life. They would see God saying that too them. Not only that, but they would see Jesus saying that.
Hell.
Jesus already did that.
I hear people say "I love you", now, and I don't think they realize what they're saying. We do this so often. We really might as well say "I emotion you", or "I care about you as long as you make me feel this way".
What if God had done that.
God would have ditched us in the deserts of the Middle East.
God would have left us after His son was crucified.
No, God didn't just emotion us, God Loved us. God committed Himself to us.
It says so many numerous times that we will be His, and He will be ours.
It does not say "I will Love you, my people, if you worship me".
No.
It is a promise.
It is absolute.
God deals with the eternal, and temporary things flow from it.
For all good and perfect things come from Him.
Including Love; after all, He is Love. Love is eternal.
I'll end with the last thing I heard from God before He continued to test me.
He said "just because you don't feel Me, does not mean that I am not there. Just because you don't feel My Love, doesn't nullify my Love. Feelings don't affect my Love and commitment, just like your sin doesn't affect My goodness. I Love you, Joshua".
I hope this encourages you to ask God to rain down His glory, to flood the dust of our lives with Holy fire so that we can Love as God Loved us. To be perfect as He, our Father, is perfect.
I Love you,
-Josh
I think it would look like romantic Love.
Lately, Gods been guiding me through lessons in Love.
What is Love?
Love is God.
God is Love.
He's helping me get to know Him more and more.
One thing He's been showing me is that Love is commitment, not emotion.
Emotion comes from it, but it is not the definition of Love. Emotion is temporary, Love is eternal. That is not to say that emotion is bad; of course it is not. Often times, our relationships with God have been started out of a very emotion state; He stoops down from heaven and woos us up to Himself. He wins our hearts with romance.
But, eventually, like most successful relationships, the Love grows: matures. Love doesn't become "how can You make me happy"; Love becomes "how can I make you happy". Love doesn't become "I'll stay committed to You when You make me feel the same way I felt when I met You"; Love becomes "I'll stay with You even when I don't feel like it, because I'm committed".
John 15:13 says that "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends".
God stayed committed to His people, whom He loved. Not to the point of laying down His own life. No. That would be too easy. He stayed committed to us to the point of laying down the life of His only son, Jesus Christ. Christs blood rained down to the ground, full of life and redemption. His blood pours over our bodies, fills our veins, and covers us; it makes us acceptable in Gods eyes. He sees Christs blood in us and takes us in as sons. Adopted. We are His children, and He is our Father.
We were Isaak, about to be sacrificed, and Jesus was our perfect lamb, slain in our place, who's blood is the payment for our ransom of sin. God provided the perfect lamb.
That is Love.
Love is when the person we care about becomes more important than ourselves.
That is Love.
Love is when we can look a person in the eyes, and they can stare back into ours, and see the reflection of God in our eyes. Then, with every thing we have say, I, Christ in me, Love you, and would gladly lay down my life for you. They wouldn't just see that a person, a mortal human would lay down their life. They would see God saying that too them. Not only that, but they would see Jesus saying that.
Hell.
Jesus already did that.
I hear people say "I love you", now, and I don't think they realize what they're saying. We do this so often. We really might as well say "I emotion you", or "I care about you as long as you make me feel this way".
What if God had done that.
God would have ditched us in the deserts of the Middle East.
God would have left us after His son was crucified.
No, God didn't just emotion us, God Loved us. God committed Himself to us.
It says so many numerous times that we will be His, and He will be ours.
It does not say "I will Love you, my people, if you worship me".
No.
It is a promise.
It is absolute.
God deals with the eternal, and temporary things flow from it.
For all good and perfect things come from Him.
Including Love; after all, He is Love. Love is eternal.
I'll end with the last thing I heard from God before He continued to test me.
He said "just because you don't feel Me, does not mean that I am not there. Just because you don't feel My Love, doesn't nullify my Love. Feelings don't affect my Love and commitment, just like your sin doesn't affect My goodness. I Love you, Joshua".
I hope this encourages you to ask God to rain down His glory, to flood the dust of our lives with Holy fire so that we can Love as God Loved us. To be perfect as He, our Father, is perfect.
I Love you,
-Josh
inspired to live inspired to die
does the testimony of the men living today strive you for some change in your life. make you want to get off your own butt and open the door to find sunshine on cloudy days. and make an opportunity a dream. or is it the walk in a cemetery reading the graves or opening an old book make you starve for such daring feats. i feel like both have each of its merit.
truthfully, when i read of dead men. i get chills. i am reading about jim elliot a second time in a book called "the shadow of the almighty" it is about his life and testimony. jim elliot wasn't your normal kid, God called him early to a life of reckless hope and abandoning the safe christian life. jim took other brothers and their wives down to a jungle to speak the gospel to a cannibalistic tribe and learn their ways and eventually bring them jesus. jim ended up dying along with the other men. leaving the women and children and what you thought was a lost cause. (read his story to know more)
but we have another dead man we can all look too who left a cross and a tomb to save all mankind. Jesus the son of man. the son of God.
this is where it conflicts me. how often do the christians note. i am so thankful that Jesus died for my sins. but we forget that after he left us living. he sent his Spirit to live in us.
where does that leave us. where does that leave me.
tonight is another night. where i am desperate to know the man in the letters that were left by dead men. to inspire me to live. they knew something that started after he left them. something must be done.
read matthew 16:24.
does that inspire you to live. or inspire you to die.
i love you,
stephenjoseph
truthfully, when i read of dead men. i get chills. i am reading about jim elliot a second time in a book called "the shadow of the almighty" it is about his life and testimony. jim elliot wasn't your normal kid, God called him early to a life of reckless hope and abandoning the safe christian life. jim took other brothers and their wives down to a jungle to speak the gospel to a cannibalistic tribe and learn their ways and eventually bring them jesus. jim ended up dying along with the other men. leaving the women and children and what you thought was a lost cause. (read his story to know more)
but we have another dead man we can all look too who left a cross and a tomb to save all mankind. Jesus the son of man. the son of God.
this is where it conflicts me. how often do the christians note. i am so thankful that Jesus died for my sins. but we forget that after he left us living. he sent his Spirit to live in us.
where does that leave us. where does that leave me.
tonight is another night. where i am desperate to know the man in the letters that were left by dead men. to inspire me to live. they knew something that started after he left them. something must be done.
read matthew 16:24.
does that inspire you to live. or inspire you to die.
i love you,
stephenjoseph
Easy Button
Have you ever looked at a situation and experienced an overwhelming sense of hopelessness?
I found myself recently looking at problems in the body of Christ: contradictions, gossip and complacency; and I found myself overwhelmed.
Everything is messed up, and there is no "easy button".
There is not one thing to fix all of the "ish" in our lives.
G.K Chesterton wrote to the letter of the editor in response the question: what is wrong with the world?
His response was: I am.
We are the problem. We are whats wrong with the body of Christ.
There are a lot of people in the body of Christ.
Where do we start?
With ourselves.
I use the analogy of the mess a hurricane leaves after a storm, often. It comes through, ripping apart lives with destructive winds of change and leaves a huge mess, only to make us clean up after it.
There is a huge mess in the church, people have been wrecked, and things need to be cleaned up.
How do you clean up after a hurricane?
One thing at a time?
The same goes with any other problem: you fix it one thing at a time.
The problem in the church cannot be solved with better worship services, better evangelism, better scenery, better graphic design teams, better plans.
The problem starts with us, and must be fixed in us first, then the person in front of us, then we move along, loving Jesus, one person at a time.
I didn't understand this until I remembered what it was like being a life guard this summer.
We used to have to swim test people as they swam across a lake. 200 people would be tested at a time. Now, if they had all jumped in the water, and started to swim at the same time, what would have happened if 4 people couldn't swim? They'd be killed by the masses because we couldn't focus our attention on them.
But.
We filed them in a line, and focused on every person: one at a time. The multitude wasn't as big of a deal when we focused on the individuals.
Suddenly, it didn't become this giant problem, it was just us looking after our flock, one sheep at a time.
The same goes with every other problem.
You cannot save the multitude if you can't first save the person in front of you.
Just a little food for thought.
I'm not thinking too clearly; I'm on a 3 day fast and don't have a whole lot of thinking abilities right now.
Pray for me, I hope this encourages someone.
Love,
-Josh
I found myself recently looking at problems in the body of Christ: contradictions, gossip and complacency; and I found myself overwhelmed.
Everything is messed up, and there is no "easy button".
There is not one thing to fix all of the "ish" in our lives.
G.K Chesterton wrote to the letter of the editor in response the question: what is wrong with the world?
His response was: I am.
We are the problem. We are whats wrong with the body of Christ.
There are a lot of people in the body of Christ.
Where do we start?
With ourselves.
I use the analogy of the mess a hurricane leaves after a storm, often. It comes through, ripping apart lives with destructive winds of change and leaves a huge mess, only to make us clean up after it.
There is a huge mess in the church, people have been wrecked, and things need to be cleaned up.
How do you clean up after a hurricane?
One thing at a time?
The same goes with any other problem: you fix it one thing at a time.
The problem in the church cannot be solved with better worship services, better evangelism, better scenery, better graphic design teams, better plans.
The problem starts with us, and must be fixed in us first, then the person in front of us, then we move along, loving Jesus, one person at a time.
I didn't understand this until I remembered what it was like being a life guard this summer.
We used to have to swim test people as they swam across a lake. 200 people would be tested at a time. Now, if they had all jumped in the water, and started to swim at the same time, what would have happened if 4 people couldn't swim? They'd be killed by the masses because we couldn't focus our attention on them.
But.
We filed them in a line, and focused on every person: one at a time. The multitude wasn't as big of a deal when we focused on the individuals.
Suddenly, it didn't become this giant problem, it was just us looking after our flock, one sheep at a time.
The same goes with every other problem.
You cannot save the multitude if you can't first save the person in front of you.
Just a little food for thought.
I'm not thinking too clearly; I'm on a 3 day fast and don't have a whole lot of thinking abilities right now.
Pray for me, I hope this encourages someone.
Love,
-Josh
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Capital "L"
My name is Isaiah Joshua Islas; that isn't too important, but, I figured you should know, since I'm writing to you. You don't know me yet, but I just introduced myself to you. Hi. Nice to meet you.
Fun fact:
Isaiah is from the Hebrew, and it means: Yahweh, or Jehovah, is salvation.
Joshua is from the Hebrew for Yeshuah, and it means literally the same: God is salvation.
Islas is just Spanish for islands; exciting right?
I like my name. I feel special when I think that my parents, and God Himself chose my name and prayed about me before I ever came to be. I think its cool that my name repeats itself. It makes me feel like there needs to be emphasis on the fact that Jesus is the way to the Father. That Jesus saves.
Now that we've gotten that terribly awkward introduction out of the way, I can FINALLY tell you something I, and Jesus, has been waiting to tell you all day:
I Love you.
Notice how I capitalized "Love". I meant to do that.
This week I remembered that God is Love, therefore, His name should be capitalized.
Funny, I always knew God was Love. I knew that.
But I forgot.
Somehow I forgot that.
Somehow we forget that.
I think we are Christians with amnesia. We are Israel, crossing the parted Red Sea of our sins, getting to the other side, and instantly forgetting what we were delivered from. We are saved from ourselves, our fallen nature, our sin, and somehow, somewhere, we convinced ourselves that we're still slaves to sin. To Egypt. Thats a lie. We were saved from that.
Why?
Because God. Is. Love.
His Love saved us.
God is love. We can't be forgetting that.
Love is what saved us from sin.
The Love of God was the original romance.
We were a damsel in distress, He was our hero.
Its the best story ever told, because, we all know, Love is the only thing worth talking about. Really.
I mean, God creates humans out of His own image, out of Love. Out of Love, He makes a promise with the world to not flood it, no matter how jacked we are. Out of Love He delivered us out of the hands of our oppressors. Out of Love He made us wander in the dessert to help us realize our dependence on Him. Out of Love He sent us the law to give us intimacy with Him. Out of Love He sent His son to fulfill the law and to die for us, to have even GREATER intimacy with Him. Out of Love, He gave us the fullness of His son, and gave us the title of Sons and Daughters of God to inherit His kingdom. Out of Love, He is coming back for us.
All out of Love.
How amazing is that-
That is Love.
That is beautiful.
Thinking that the Creator of the universe, thought of me, knew what was going to happen since before time began, knew I would sin, knew I would kill His son, and still chose to create me, because He thought I was worth it.
Well, that makes me blush.
Oh, how I Love Him.
Oh, how I Love you.
I hope you're encouraged.
I look forward to writing to you soon, and often.
I, Christ in me, Love, with the fullness of Gods heart dwelling in me, you, brothers and sisters.
Have a blessed day.
-J
Fun fact:
Isaiah is from the Hebrew, and it means: Yahweh, or Jehovah, is salvation.
Joshua is from the Hebrew for Yeshuah, and it means literally the same: God is salvation.
Islas is just Spanish for islands; exciting right?
I like my name. I feel special when I think that my parents, and God Himself chose my name and prayed about me before I ever came to be. I think its cool that my name repeats itself. It makes me feel like there needs to be emphasis on the fact that Jesus is the way to the Father. That Jesus saves.
Now that we've gotten that terribly awkward introduction out of the way, I can FINALLY tell you something I, and Jesus, has been waiting to tell you all day:
I Love you.
Notice how I capitalized "Love". I meant to do that.
This week I remembered that God is Love, therefore, His name should be capitalized.
Funny, I always knew God was Love. I knew that.
But I forgot.
Somehow I forgot that.
Somehow we forget that.
I think we are Christians with amnesia. We are Israel, crossing the parted Red Sea of our sins, getting to the other side, and instantly forgetting what we were delivered from. We are saved from ourselves, our fallen nature, our sin, and somehow, somewhere, we convinced ourselves that we're still slaves to sin. To Egypt. Thats a lie. We were saved from that.
Why?
Because God. Is. Love.
His Love saved us.
God is love. We can't be forgetting that.
Love is what saved us from sin.
The Love of God was the original romance.
We were a damsel in distress, He was our hero.
Its the best story ever told, because, we all know, Love is the only thing worth talking about. Really.
I mean, God creates humans out of His own image, out of Love. Out of Love, He makes a promise with the world to not flood it, no matter how jacked we are. Out of Love He delivered us out of the hands of our oppressors. Out of Love He made us wander in the dessert to help us realize our dependence on Him. Out of Love He sent us the law to give us intimacy with Him. Out of Love He sent His son to fulfill the law and to die for us, to have even GREATER intimacy with Him. Out of Love, He gave us the fullness of His son, and gave us the title of Sons and Daughters of God to inherit His kingdom. Out of Love, He is coming back for us.
All out of Love.
How amazing is that-
That is Love.
That is beautiful.
Thinking that the Creator of the universe, thought of me, knew what was going to happen since before time began, knew I would sin, knew I would kill His son, and still chose to create me, because He thought I was worth it.
Well, that makes me blush.
Oh, how I Love Him.
Oh, how I Love you.
I hope you're encouraged.
I look forward to writing to you soon, and often.
I, Christ in me, Love, with the fullness of Gods heart dwelling in me, you, brothers and sisters.
Have a blessed day.
-J
life is Him blessing and us forgetting
if i am here to tell you i have it all together. i would be a liar. i don't consider myself one. ideally i think i am loyal even to the point of blood. and that makes me an outlaw. too many times in this jaded broken world we are told who we are and who we should be. and i suck in the "consumerism" mentality and try to be who i am not. and i hate that. tonight. i almost cried again and was shaking because this is what i remembered. "if you then being evil know how to bring good gifts to your children how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" luke 11:13. oh i feel like that. evil. because i struggle. i struggle. i struggle. but this is another reason to wave a white flag. and surrender. as quoted tonight from one of my dear friends. "life is Him blessing and us forgetting." damn. again. do you have those things you have been asking for. those dreams. your ultimate desire. your little prayers. the shotgun ones. or the sniper shots. but each one is a breath and and exhale for our Father to hear us. your not alone in this. remember his precious blood because "...young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." 1 john 2:14b. justified. just. if. i. never. sinned. i cant collect anymore thoughts tonight before i fall on my face again in thankfulness.
to those of you who read:
i suck at introductions and i usually rub my right arm which is a sure sign i’m nervous i give my name away like it’s a free t-shirt at a concert. and guarenteed though you will see my heart somewhere in the conversation because Jesus is my life. it’s beginning to be the only thing i know. it’s harder now when i tell people about my life and say i’m part of the military. air force actually. but that doesn’t hold me back from being totally true. because my skin is like paper. i deal with victory and defeat like the sun has it’s turn just like night wants to share. i’m humbled that i am used by my Heavenly Father and sometimes i am the most forgetful christian. but in the end i will always believe. i hope you return to this page often.
-.sj
to those of you who read:
i suck at introductions and i usually rub my right arm which is a sure sign i’m nervous i give my name away like it’s a free t-shirt at a concert. and guarenteed though you will see my heart somewhere in the conversation because Jesus is my life. it’s beginning to be the only thing i know. it’s harder now when i tell people about my life and say i’m part of the military. air force actually. but that doesn’t hold me back from being totally true. because my skin is like paper. i deal with victory and defeat like the sun has it’s turn just like night wants to share. i’m humbled that i am used by my Heavenly Father and sometimes i am the most forgetful christian. but in the end i will always believe. i hope you return to this page often.
-.sj
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