critical thinking...

i know it's been a minute since i posted my last blog here on OWT. but it has been a crazy two months in the pursuit of God's plan for my life...

lately, i've been given the great opportunity to learn, read and hear several people speak God's Word. it has been amazing to learn so much. but one thing that i have noticed in my walk with Christ is this; the older i get and the more mature i become in my walk, the more i dive into the meanings of biblical passages.

for instance, i am now involved in co-leading a small group at our church for 11th and 12th graders...as a result, i need to be up on Bible stories. we are exploring the beatitudes, and this week i get to talk about the 2nd. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)

when i read this, my first question was, "who am i supposed to mourn for?" i mean, after all, we mourn at funerals, therefore, we should mourn for somebody. but as i researched and studied, i found out that we are to mourn for our sins! God asks us to lament, to anguish over our sins. the result of mourning? going to our Heavenly Father and asking for a clean heart.

the second question i had was, "how will we be comforted?" and again after research and understanding, comfort comes in the form of God's grace. but this can only come after we mourn our since, repent of them, and ask Him to renew us!

so here's what it all leads up to...if we critically look at what we read, we can begin to understand just what God is trying to teach us. because He knows that i would have interpreted this passage as, "if i cry for a deceased relative, i will be given a big hug."

Hearing from God!

So lately I have been struggling a lot with life in general. Mostly just because there is so much going on in our life right now and it is requiring a lot of Faith and a lot of Waiting. I know in my heart that God will always provide, and realize that his provision is not always what we wish it to be but that he knows what is best for us. In this process I have realized I am a bit of a control/planning freak and that I am not as patient as I once thought I was. I have been praying for God to make things happen and continued to freak out until recently I have realized that God is trying to teach me patience through this time in our life and that he has all day to wait for me to be patient and give my issues up to Him. Having had a rough few months my sister and I decided to take a road trip to Prescott for a day and just hang out and look at antiques. On the way there I was talking with her about y revelation that God is teaching me patience and now that I realize this what I was planning to do to try and learn and get through his lesson. I had mentioned to her that I was also frustrated as I have only heard from God once in my life that I can recall and what he told me was amazing but that I get frustrated as I don't understand why I can't hear him. Today she sent me this email.

"Today I heard something that I wanted to share with you. It was about why sometimes we don't hear God's voice while we are going through trials. The saying said "The teacher doesn't speak while the test is given". This reminded her of when she was in high school. God says He will never leave you or forsake you. Even though you cannot hear Him it doesn't mean He is not there in the room with you. That "I" not God determine when the test is over. How do I do this? By praising Him in Joy, Singing His praises, Thanking Him, praying without ceasing and casting out worry and fear!

I have been trying my hardest to do this these last few days and today a break through, Today I finally one piece of the many puzzles I have to put together over the next few months, I received an answer.

Praise God! and I will continue to work in this area of my life to make myself stronger in the areas of Faith and Patience!

I will praise you in the storm!

A Poem to Ponder

M. Louise Haskins:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than [a] light and safer than a known way.”

I just thought it was a good reminder.

miracle...not miracle whip.

miracles...what are they? and do we see them in our days? we read about them in the Bible. we read about Jesus making blind people see or raising the dead. but do we see them in today's world?

according to my Bible ("the official duct tape Bible" new century version), a miracle is defined as a "'wonderful thing': a great event which can be done only by God's help. miracles are special signs to show God's power." Jesus wasn't the only person who performed miracles; He entrusted His disciples to perform miracles as well...

my wife and i were discussing miracles last night and whether or not they still happen. we see videos of demons being exorcised, we've heard stories from other believers of seeing demons exorcised. but in our own lives, we haven't seen miracles in the capacity like we read in the Bible. my brother-in-law and i were discussing miracles recently as well. we discussed the possibility that perhaps they happen more than we know because miracles don't make the news; evil, death and destruction does.

what if miracles made headlines more than not? would that change our faith? would that lead people to believe that God is here to save our souls? would we be a nation or a world of believers? rather than a nation/world of non-believers. if you've ever had a child you know the miracle of life. and if you've ever had a relative or friend die, you know the miracle of eternal life. sure we all attribute to near miss accidents as miracles. or seeing somebody on the verge of death and make a full recovery as a miracle. but what about healing miracles? what about casting out demons?

as a person who recently experienced a miracle, i can honestly say they still exist. i won't go into details, but i too, believed that miracles happen to others...people who have more faith than myself. but as a child of God, i am no different than anybody else. i'm no less nor no more prone to experiencing miracles than anybody else. God created us all equal. and therefore, He can do whatever He wants to whomever He wants...without showing preferential treatment.

be aware of the miracles around you, be it nature, our children, our families or our friends. you never know when a miracle so powerful from God hits you.

arrogance vs. passion

so today, i was engaged in a conversation with multiple people about Jesus and pastors; specifically joel osteen. i've heard quite a bit about joel lately and some opposing viewpoints about his way of preaching and teaching. so i became curious. i even showed 3 videos on my facebook that explored joel's "people focused" messages versus paul washer's "God focused" messages. being a fan of pastors like mark driscoll, paul washer and john piper (who's style is very different than joel's) i began to wonder why is that 7 million people are drawn to joel's sermons every week (this would include his television audience). i made a statement/asked a question why do people watch this man when it appears that he is only preaching what is known as the "prosperity bible"...that God is good; we are good people; and that God will bless us with prosperity and enriched lives if we only follow Him.

needless to say this sparked some heated debate. as it should and as i had hoped. see, i come from a perspective of always evaluating my faith. my biggest fear is blindly following a pastor because they teach what "i want to hear" rather than exploring pastors who may tell me what "i need to hear"...

now, i'm not using this blog to say that joel is wrong or right...or any other pastor for that matter. but what did come to my attention is my attitude. and so i thought, "there is a fine line between passion and arrogance." i'm on fire for God; i believe there is an urgency in the world to spread God's Word to as many people as possible, because we do not know when Jesus will come again.

by definition, arrogance is stated as such:
"offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride"

likewise, passion is defined as such;
"any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate; a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything"

so in my search and in my observation, some of my comments may have come off as arrogant...whereas, i saw them as passionate. as a child of God, the last thing i want to do is mislead or disrespect people. similarly, i expect this out of the pastors, who are called by God, to reach people. i fear that people worship pastors and think God is the gravy on top of the mashed potatoes. that they go to church to hear a man speak and miss the message.

i'm not sure all of this makes sense...and i'm definitely not trying to create any more division in the church than there already is. i don't think any one person or pastor has it right. but as my brother-in-law stated, the only shepard who had it right was Jesus. ultimately, i cannot judge, for that is His job. i can only ask and continue on this journey, persuing God's Word as He has intended it. i will fall, i will meet people who are more versed in the Bible than i. i will meet people less versed than i. but it is not for me to judge...and therefore, "there is a fine line between passion and arrogance."

a Christian atheist?

so recently, i've had a stream of thoughts running through my mind about atheists. i've been watching a lot of videos on youtube from pastors like john piper, paul washer, mark driscoll and the likes. most times, there are comments from non-believers who state that God doesn't exist or that He doesn't care about them or they question how christians could believe in something that they don't see. i've also been thinking about the phrase "hope and pray"; a phrase we use so freely in our society...used by believers and non-believers alike.

where am i going with this?

to make the statements that these non-believers are making leads me to see that they are admitting that God does exist. by saying, God doesn't exist, you're first admitting that there is a God...otherwise, wouldn't they say that there is no "supreme being" that exists? i mean, afterall, atheism is the belief that there is no existence of a supreme being. so to use the word, God, means that somebody recognizes God does exist. i know this sounds confusing...but think about it...to admit God, is to admit there is God.

this continues on to the phrase "hope and pray". we use it in reference to our families, our sports teams, our favorite nascar driver, etc. but if we think about it, who are the non-believers hoping in? who are they praying to? to say that a non-believer "hopes and prays" is to admit that there is God.

i suppose the biggest hang up for non-believers (besides some legalism in the church) is that they don't "see" God. but after reading hebrews 11 this morning, the Bible clearly makes a point.

hebrews 11:1-2 reads like this:
"Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it. Faith is the reason we remember great people who lived in the past."

this chapter in hebrews, goes on to list numerous people in the Bible who walked by faith alone! moses, noah, gideon, samuel, sarah and abraham, isaac, and on and on...in a world where we put so much "faith" in what we see, perhaps we should explore true faith in what we don't see!

i would challenge any non-believer to examine why God has permeated our society so incredibly much...why they use phrases like "hope and pray" ...why they admit to God, but don't believe in Him. and if the best answer a non-believer can come up with is, "well, it's just a saying." then perhaps, a re-examination of their belief system is in order.

harsh? perhaps. but even God gets angry sometimes (do i need to remind you of the flood?)...

DWYL

so lately, i've been noticing a recurring theme in my life...DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE. this thought has invaded every aspect of my daily existence. it ranges from the music i listen to, where much of the message is about taking advantage of every day to follow God, do His will and to spread His Word. the screen saver on my phone reads, "don't waste your life...God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display His supreme excellence..." i recently attended a concert with lecrae, flame, tedashii, trip lee and sho baraka (all christian hip hoppers); the tour name was "DWYL"; and acronym for don't waste your life. it has permeated my reading of the Bible. it has invaded my thoughts...

this morning i read the book of titus (it's a short one), but the message is abundantly clear. titus 2 talks about following the true teaching of God...to not waste your life by being angry, drinking too much wine, indulging in the flesh, etc. john 15:16 talks about going out and producing fruit in our Father's name. luke 12:15-21 (also in the song "don't waste your life" by lecrae) talks about saving up for things in this world to rest easy, when the reality is that our soul may be required from us tonight!

even one of my favorite pastors, john piper, wrote a sermon called "don't waste your life"...a song from tedashii called "make war" features a clip from john piper. piper states that he hears christians "murmuring about their imperfections" instead of making war on the sin in our lives. what this means is that rather than wallowing in what we don't have, be thankful for what we do have and rise up against satan. rise up against sin. rise up against this world and know that we will have a much better life if we follow Christ.

it has been truly inspiring to realize that God is pounding this theme into me, day after day, week after week, month after month for the past several months. it's time to get up off our couches, to stop clicking the mouse, to stop watching tv and shift to reading His Word, spreading His Gospel, doing His will, fight against the evil that has taken over our culture...because, tonight, your soul may be required of you and how will you answer to your life in God's presence?