Why is sin still sweet?

“Til sin is bitter, Christ will not be sweet!”

I heard this the other day from Miles, a friend of mine, who read this in a book he was reading.  I am not sure who wrote this, but it sounds like something of C. S. Lewis work.  Since then I have spent countless hours thinking about the sweetness of Christ and the sin that keeps me from knowing and understanding his true ‘taste’.  I am not sure about you, but sin has not become fully bitter to me, therefore I don’t know the full sweetness of Christ! Praying for all of use to grasp the bitterness of sin, so that the sweetness of Christ can overwhelm our lives!

Would You Die For Anyone?

So two Christmas seasons ago I had the privilege to go to India and be apart of kids lives like Rohit (above).  As I was reading some text that Paul wrote in 2 Timothy this week I wondered if I could endure everything as he spoke of.

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”  2 Timothy 2:10

I started thinking about the context in which Paul wrote this and was reminded that he wrote it while he was in jail on trial for execution because of his undenying love for Christ.  I want this, it is easy for me to say, but would I do it when push comes to shove?  Well I know one thing that it would take me no time to lay down my life for Rohit, but will I do it for Sam that I see everyday at the Y or Drew Patel, one of the boys trying out for the high school baseball team, or even better yet, would I do it for the man I am going to meet tomorrow that took the Lord’s name in vain right in front of me?  It may be easy to say I would die for Rohit, but will I be ready to die for Sam, Drew, and the boy who has little to no remorse for using the Lord’s name improperly.  I want to have this same lack of concern for my life when I see girls that have never seen the love of Christ and are walking around comparing themselves with the next supermodel that has been brushed up.  I merely want to be what Christ was for me and if that means death, then to die is GAIN!

Prayer: Lord, teach us that it is about you ultimately manifesting your love in the lives of others thru the outpour of concern and love on our parts!  Help us realize that you didn’t send your son to die for us, so that we could walk around with concern for our own lives.  You came to save the sick, not the healthy, so help us to identify with you who they are and that we would give our life for them to encounter the unsurpassing LOVE that you offer in life for eternity through death on a cross.  Break us from selfishness!  Teach us to love you so much, that it would look like we didn’t care for ourselves.  Thanks for your love today, Amen!

Women + Clothing – Jewelry = Godly

“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” 1 Timothy 2:9-10

I was going through 1 Timothy with LaCross and stumbled upon this verse that makes a lot of sense to me, how about anyone else?  How beautiful is modesty? It is apparently underrated in todays society, however this is one of the hottest things ever for a Christian guy! You want to know why?  Because, it keeps him from stumbling into lust, which could literally destroy or seperate his relationship with the Savior! Girls, I know you hear guys complain about this all the time… right…NOT, because most guys don’t want tell you to put clothes on, but I am begging you to do just that.  I am sick of walking around and literally having to gauge my eyes out or permanently shut them so that each girl that is in plain site does not cause me to lust and guess what….I AM A NORMAL GUY!  I know this is a sensitive subject for the girls because you want to feel beautiful, but since when did dressing more provocative than the girl next to you just to get attention become the standard.  I say set you standard based on what God would say to you through Paul and put clothes on and not become infactuated with your jewelry so you may save yourself from PRIDE and guys from LUST!  Thanks and have an awesome day….and oh by the way…if you are a girl and reading this you are BEAUTIFUL the way God made you and if you are a guy and you are reading this then you are a STUD just the way God made you!

Stop Going On Sinning: Grace Already Abounds

So, this has been one of the most frustrating subjects of late as I look around.  I am not trying to be judgemental, but it is hard to tell the difference between a real believer and the fake ones, because the fake ones are really good about believing in sin, but very bad about doing anything about it.  I don’t want you to think by me writing this that I am perfect or even in the same league as that, but I do know one thing, that as I look around it is hard to find someone who wants to hate sin, but not the sinner.  I have got my own struggles, that I like to remind you that I hate, but what is it going to take for us to step up and be the men and women God called us to be?

Recently, I have discussed this very issue with people and no one, not even the guys I look to for biblical guidance, seem to understand the sin we so easily entangle ourselves in!  Most of them say that the person is just not living for the Lord and where I see that this would be a logical conclusion I want more.  I came up with two crucial things I see in those who are truly living the word of God and the ones who are just playing it and they are:

1. Hatred of Sin – How bad do you hate it? Do you hate it bad enough to stay in it, because we are all in it?  Have you gotten sick enough of the problems it caused in your life yet?  Do you not despise it because it is the only thing that gives you relief from your past where someone hurt you?  Another words, do you turn to it because you think you need it?

– Well the people I see who are living it and not faking it HATE sin above all else and they will go to extreme measures to stay and keep it as far away as earthly possible.

2. Love of Christ – Do you truly love him with all your heart, soul, and mind? Would you die for His name sake?  Do you praise Him in the good and the bad?  Do you turn to Him for advice on life or do you turn to Oprah or Dr. Phil? Do you tell him you love Him and then back it up with your word and deeds?  Is He all you obsess over and will or is He your #1?

– People I see who are living it and not faking it LOVE Him above all else and they will do everything in their power to keep him as close as humanly possible, even if it cost them everything!

So has faith been costly for you lately? It doesn’t say in scripture that we can keep some worldly pleasures and still be considered His disciple, it says we must abandon ALL!

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Romans 6:1-2

Being Called Nice Is Lame

Okay, so this post is definitely going off on a tangent and it will probably seem like I am rambling, which I probably am, but I want to help some people out when I post this (feminine type).  PLEASE STOP CALLING CHRISTIAN GUYS NICE!!!!  That is the lamest adjective and reference you could ever receive as a christian guy who is battling daily like a soldier on the front lines of a battle field to remain pure and holy before God and to seek Him as David did to be called nice instead of a cool phrase like “a man after God’s own heart”! I am truly sick and tired of hearing that about me and I know from speaking with other guys who are believers of the masculine type that it sucks.

Let me explain this the best I can to the females who might one day or ever read this post.  It is almost as bad as a guy refering to you as cute when that is the last thing you would want to hear from him.  Just as you want to be called beautiful, we want to be called God-seeking, adventurous, warrior, studs that would die for His names sake and yours too.  See we have lowered our expectations for men when the world says they should be nice guys.  Forget that…we are called to daily put on that full armor and charge hell with all we got, even at the risk of losing everything for HIM!

So, STOP WITH THE NICE GUY REFERENCE!!!!!

Awesome Quote: How I feel right now!

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your Will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the Shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. — Thomas Merton

God’s Power: Believe in it!

If you are questioning the sufficiency of God’s power to resolve your problems and pressures, your suffering and stress, your crisis and change, His answer is the same. The infinite power of the Living Logos of God is adequate for any need you or I will ever have. We may intellectually grasp the truth that God’s power is adequate, but we can never know that by experience if we stay in our comfort zone. If all you ever attempt is what you know you can do yourself, if all your needs seem to be met through someone or something other than God, if you never have any difficulties that are greater than you can bear, how will you know the awesome greatness and personal availability of his infinite power? It’s when the Red Sea is before you, the mountains are on one side of you and the desert is on the other side, and you feel the Egyptian army closing in from behind that you experience His power to open up an escape route. He has the power to do the supernatural, the unthinkable, and the impossible.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Prayer: Lord teach us to live this way! To put our significance, faith, trust, and life in your hands and realize that through this your power will be displayed and you will receive glory rather than ourselves. Please helps us grasp the reality of your power in our own lives, that we would live totally surrendered to you! One Love, Amen!

Give it All – Daniel Harper

This song has simply crushed me….

We will give it all to you

Even through the rise and fall

We will give it all to you, my God

I will give it all to you

Cause even when I weak you’re strong

I will give it all to you, my God.

Jesus, Savior, King of Nations

You have come to save.

We will praise you, now and forever

We were born to praise.

You have come to save

You have come to change

The world through us

But change us first!

Christ In The Small Things!

I was speaking to a friend recently (Kristine Webb…for you Kristine! Haha) and we got into a great conversation about walking with the Lord and being Christ in everything.  I really started thinking about this a lot after our conversation and I think that is what christians or believers don’t do well <– not being judgemental and speaking for myself first.  I find it very easy as I am sure you do in being Christ during the big moments, but missing the mark when it comes to living for him in the small things.  Then I started thinking about when people have said that they had seen Christ in me and it was when I least expected it.  I think that is because I was focused at those points in my life, the small moments, on him.  Non-believers want to see you walk the walk all the time and I really feel like that makes the biggest impact and thats where we as christians fall short and are then called hypocritical.  Well if you don’t want to be hypocritical be Christ when you least want to, in the small things.  This came to my mind and it is just and encouragement for this very post:

In ALL things be CHRIST to ALL people!  For it is then people see the Savior you speak of and others say they believe in, but don’t live for! BE REAL all the time and God will use you to change lives for eternity! LIVE IT OUT EVERYDAY AND IN EVERY MOMENT, EASY OR HARD!!

Prayer:  Lord, help us all to live for you every moment of the day! Helps us to be a light into all nations and walk the walk of living for you daily in every moment and everything.  God we want to be more like you, so break us of ourselves and mend us to be more like you! One Love, Amen!

Face The Fire Without Fear

(I am not perfect and I don’t claim to be and I am the worst at this!) The other day I was speaking to a friend and she made me think of an attitude that is unlike any other that I have ever had and that is the lack of fear of being BURNT!  I know this is not a fearlessness I was born with, but something that was given to me by God.  I actually think I said it without thinking before I spoke, which I seem to do often.  However it meant a lot to me when I said it, because I felt like God was saying really Evan, I mean really, would you really charge Hell with a water pistol even if I didn’t rescue you and because of you only a few were rescued?  This is something I have been thinking a lot about lately after reading the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel.  The parts of scripture that stood out:

“But if you do not worship it (Nebuchadnezzar’s Image of Gold), you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace.  Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Daniel 3:15b

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O King.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Daniel 3:17-18

“”The King’s commands was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.” Daniel 3:22-23

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O King.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Daniel 3:24-25

“They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” Daniel 3:28

Are you willing to say that?  Am I willing to say that? Are we willing to trust God even if he does not come through for us?  I think these are questions that need to be asked! We so often think we are suppose to die peacefully in our sleep at a ripe old age, but I think from reading scripture and reading stories of missionaries that we are suppose to charge hell with a water pistol to save and rescue the lost and if we make it then Glory to God and if we get burnt and die, then Glory to God!  See life is not walking through the land of paradise and this is not a vacation for God’s disciples, this is the day the Lord has made for us to get off our butts and put on the full armor in Ephesians and battle for the lives of the unsaved around us!  I know, I know you are saying that this is easier said than done and I totally agree.  However, with that armor we are equipped with everything needed to make it happen.  So are you going to do it?  Are you going to live completely surrendered to him?  Are you ready? Put on the armor and lets go seek Glory for HIS name sake even if it is are way to pass!

Prayer: God change us into warriors that are you have prepared for battle today.  Help us to seek you so much that when the fire comes we don’t even need a water pistol, we just need you! I pray that we would be will to set-up a rescue shop a yard from Hell as C.T. Studd would say and that we would live our lives on rescue missions for your names sake.  After all, that is the least we can do for you giving it all!