Christian Identity.

     In the light of recent happenings with famed Christian metal vocalist of As I Lay Dying, Tim Lambesis, I wish to speak on the importance of identifying ourselves in Christ.
     As people, and especially to us in this younger generation, it is becoming increasingly easy to let ourselves become wrapped up in the latest big artist. As this happens, we begin to identify with this person as a form of our own identity. We read about their daily lives, not noticing that while doing so we begin emulating it. We constantly look to others as a models for what our lives should look like, not realizing that we shouldn't be basing our lives off of anything from this world.
     I am close with some people who are confessed "metal heads," who were legitimately let down (not to say they were reliant upon him for identity) upon reading about Tim Lambesis fall into what we here will call "major sin." The confessed Christian had been a beacon of light for many young Christians who wished to be apart of the metal scene yet keep their faith. He showed many thousands, no-doubt, of young Christian "metal heads" that it was indeed possible to have a strong faith in Jesus Christ yet participate in the metal scene. Needless to say, with his fall came much disappointment.
     In this dark time though I would like to offer some consolation. There is a much bigger person to keep our hope in. A person who will never fall to the sins of our broken world, a person who knows you personally and loves you deeper than the oceans. As followers of God we ought to keep our identity in Him. He is our perfect example of life and will never reject you, even when you reject Him. Our Lord sent His only son to live a perfect life and die upon the cross so that we could have eternal life with our Father. This is not given permission to sin, but a consolation that in sin we are forgiven.    
     Why keep your person in a sinful, Earthly being when God gave us the ever perfect example of life? Why be disappointed in the fall when you can be exuberant in the return? You can be disappointed, however, remember that people are sinful regardless of their status or faith. Love the sinner, not the sin.
     I know that my prayers go out to Tim as he faces his fate and that he realizes the error of his ways. I don't condone what has been done, but I pray that as Lambesis walks in the coming years that he comes back to his former faith and repents of his sinful actions.

An Old Message.

     Hey guys, I know it's been awhile since I've written anything, and I'm deeply sorry to those who follow avidly. I've been fairly busy at school this semester and have had little time to sit down and write. Today I would like to talk about a message I'm sure I've mentioned before, however, it is one that is nevertheless important to remember: we must think outside of the box.
     As Christians, we often find ourselves content in daily ritual. Wake up, go to school/work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat. On weekends we "mix it up" by attending church. Is this good though? Yes, getting plugged into a church is very good. By plugging into a church we are able to build ourselves up as Christians by feeding into a family of Christ, essentially extending our family in God. We build relationships under Gods roof and allow ourselves Gods grace through people. This being said, should we allow ourselves to sit idly in ritualistic living?
     Should we allow ourselves to become content in our daily lives? I think not. Don't get me wrong, I love the norm as much as the next guy, but are we called to be content? In the gospel, Jesus gives us a commission, a great commission to go out into the world and make disciples in his name; does that sound like a command to stay within the box? Jesus prevailed in obliterating the norms in which his twelve disciples lived by simply asking them to follow. Everything they thought possible was turned upside-down by Jesus as he taught them the message of God.
     We are called to emulate Jesus through our actions, I am here to say that I don't think this should be restricted to extending mercy to others. I'm not telling you to stop extending grace as Jesus did, only to think farther outside of the box. God does not work within our realm of understanding, so why should we continue to think within a box that attempts to limit our God? Be imaginative. Be spontaneous in the Lord. Follow God wherever He may take you, even if you don't think you ought to go to said place. As I previously said, God does not work within our understanding, so how can we continue to believe that we are more right than He? How can we possibly know the outcome when we can't even understand the creator?
     Men and women, boys and girls, I tell you now as Jesus told his disciples over two thousand years ago, go into the world and make disciples. Go into the world and follow God, follow His word, for only then will you feel pure, uninterrupted joy. Be creative, imagine the unimaginable, FOLLOW GOD ANYWHERE! GO!

Santa, Fairytales, and Faith.

     The older I get the more complicated life seems to get. I bet you experience this too, these moments of build up when you have so many things going on that we are fooled into thinking that even our faith is complicated. This happens especially when you go to church or attend a bible school. You're told time and time again about the complex natures of God, and as you grow older and--hopefully--wiser, you begin to delve deeper into the scriptures, looking closer at things.
     Owe to the fact that we all tend to live at least partially complicated lives of our own we will try and complicate things by ourselves. We will, if you haven't already, experience that moment where you blow something so far out of proportion that it becomes far more complicated that it needs to be. I don't know why we do this, but you have to admit that's it's very ridiculous. We are often caught red-handed, complaining about our seemingly difficult lives, though we complicate them ourselves.
     Now, as we grow older and get spoon-fed these tales of evolution and aliens, we get this mindset where we think we ought to see proof that something exists before we believe it. This becomes a problem when we come to faith in our savior. We can't see God physically, and unless we receive a divine message from Him of some sort, we most likely will not see Him while on Earth. However, faith isn't something we have by sight. John 20:29 says, "...'because you have seen me, you believe; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" Jesus teaches us here that we ought to simply believe in Him without having first seen Him.
     Do you remember what it was like to be a child? That childhood simplicity is truly a gift from God. The feeling of joy you felt as your parents told you about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. The mystery of the those nursery rhymes. The awe of finding out about Jesus in sunday school. Children take things as they are because they don't know any better, but it's something beautiful. We ought to think simpler in times of faith. You see, faith isn't complicated, God is, but faith is not complicated in the slightest. God loves each and every one of us and wants us to love Him back. He will show Himself to us when we believe.
     With belief comes beauty. When you let go and simply believe you see things you wouldn't before. The trick is to not complicate Gods creation. The beauty of a bee flying over a patch of flowers, the ocean breeze ruffling your hair, even the simple act of walking onto the porch in the morning. The world is full of too much complication on its own, Jesus offers us simplicity. Take His hand and He will calm the stormy seas with naught but three little words: "I love you."

The Human Trihead...or not.

     Earlier tonight, a couple friends and I were having a discussion on bodily lust and an idea, a simple thought occurred to me. As you know, we as Gods creation were made in His glorious image. However, the question we fail to ask ourselves is: how far does God stretch His image to create us?
     I suggest that even we are made in multiple parts. Just as we think of God in His trihead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), I wonder if we are made the same. We are made of flesh, a body that has its own desires and wishes. Our bodies crave for nourishment, they crave for contact, they desire of their own accord without, out of our control. However, we are not defined by what our body wants. We are made with a consciousness, a spirit made to love and be loved by our creator. When we die, our fleshly body stays here on Earth, but our souls make the journey to Heaven to be greeted by Jesus.
     It is my developing belief that we may in fact be made in two parts, our bodies and our soul. Our soul connects to Jesus and allows us to control our actions. Our soul and consciousness are the tether we harness to our bodies so we don't end up as sex-crazed savages, living only by bodily whim. Our God given souls make us different from one another, they tell us that there is more that just the savage desires we are plagued with.
     It is only yet an idea, not based in scripture quite yet, but I shall be looking far more intently into the subject. Feel free to tell me what you think and comment any ideas or anything! Thanks!