Oh happiness!

It's hard to have a bad day when you're listening to this song.




Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us
And the whole human race

Friend or foe
Stranger or kin
All who come
Begin again

Hard or frail
Rich or poor
All in need
Need fear no more

Such a thing to give away

All regrets
Let go, forget
There's something that
Mends all of it

Such a thing to give away

Sound the church bells
Let them ring
Let them ring
For everything can be redeemed
We can be redeemed
Oh, all of us

Junk

I know I've talked about this before, but something just happened that made me sort of angry.  I was perusing the twitter follower list of someone I greatly admire to see if he was following anyone I found useful or interesting.  I stumbled upon the profile page of someone I used to know.  I didn't know this person very personally, but he was on staff at a church I attended before the one I attend now.  He still belongs to our denomination and now he has his own church.  The very last tweet he wrote was talking about Glee.  It's clear that he was watching and/or does watch the show.  Now I'm not actually judging... I LOVE that show.  But I also recently gave it up because I was getting convicted each time I watched it.  The show is very sexual, and if that weren't bad enough, it's advocates teen sexuality as well as adultery and homosexuality.  I guess what I'm wondering is how a pastor, preacher, leader of many can watch and basically publicly endorse such a thing?  I know that this show (as well as a few others) so greatly shocks and offends me sometimes that I can't with good conscience watch it at home alone by myself, let alone tell others all about it or discuss it in a way that makes it seem as though I recommend that someone else watches it.  Yes, the show is funny and has great covers of many wonderful songs as well as lovable characters and, sometimes, a good message.  But the show is also rife with bad examples, and both questionable and objectionable behavior by both teens, adults, teachers and authority figures alike.  As leaders, aren't we called to a higher standard?  Aren't we called to be examples?  (I know you hear this next term a lot here...)  Aren't we called to walk worthy of the calling with which we've been called?  I'm definitely not saying that I'm perfect.  And I'm not even judging the person that sparked this thought/rant.  But it's making me think, for sure.  Aside from that fact that I'm trying to do everything I can to be a good example to those around me (regardless of whether they're watching or not), I think it's really important to keep ourselves as pure as possible. Romans 12:1 NKJV says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

My conclusion: I want God to use me.  I want to guard my heart and my mind and my eyes and ears to be sure that I only let things in that glorify Him.  I don't want to just go along living like everyone else.  Because then how can people tell the difference between me and the world?

Apologies

I have to offer my apologies to my new readers. (There are 7 of you!)  I started this blog with the best of intentions and nothing has changed... However, immediately after starting, I began to feel dry.  You know what I mean.  We've all been there.  And I don't think I have to explain to you how feeling dry (and sometimes empty) can result in not posting.  I began to doubt whether I should be doing this.  I wondered if I heard from Him wrong.  Then I realized where (or who) this might be coming from.  So I took some time to pray and I feel like I've gotten confirmation that I need to continue this little project.  So, I want to set up a goal for myself.  My new goal is to post at least one full, relevant post each week.  There will be other little thoughts and short posts, but I want to post at least one full length post a week.

Finally, I'd like to end with a plea.  I know you're reading.  Can you please say hi?  Even if you want to use an alias or post anonymously, leave me a comment saying hello.  It's much easier to write when I feel like I have an audience.  :)

Signs of the Times

It is becoming increasingly obvious to me that we are in what some like to call "the end times."  What that means to me is that the Lord is coming back sooner rather than later.  It makes me feel an even greater sense of urgency to live my life for Him and be sure that I'm in the center of His will, fulfilling the plan He has for me.  How does it make you feel?

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:3-14

Need I say more?

Day and Night

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 

Joshua 1:8 NKJV

Photo by Timothy Long.

April Recommendations

Having recently given up most secular music, I know how hard it can be to find a Christian replacement for the music you've come to love.  I also know how hard it can be to find good Christian fiction and relevant Christian news sources.  Basically, good Christian media is hard to find.  So I thought I'd do a recommendations post each month.  And this is the first one!  Here are the things I listened to a lot in April. (Please share your own awesome Christian media finds in the comments section.)

Music:
Jimmy Needham.  He has three albums out and they're all amazing.  His style is very like Jamie Cullum and Jason Mraz mixed.  I would love his music even if it weren't Christian.  But he gives an added bonus of great lyrics.  I especially love listening to his music because, if I listen to the lyrics, I feel like I'm listening to a sermon.  But in a really good way.  He really speaks the word.  Give him a try. 
http://www.myspace.com/jimmyneedham

Fiction:
Terri Blackstock.  I've read four or five of her books now, including the Restoration Series.  She's really good.  Clean (obviously), but not boring.  The Restoration Series offers a bit of natural disaster, which always makes for good drama.  She has a way of making you remember the things that are important in life.
http://www.terriblackstock.com/

Media:
Christianity Today is a really great resource.  They offer news stories online as well as a number of Christian print magazines that you can subscribe to.  Check them out.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/



As always, with any sort of media, please exercise discernment.  Just because someone or something claims to be Christian doesn't mean that they are.  And even if they are, they may have differing or errant viewpoints.  My goal is to share the safe things I've found, but at the same time, I make mistakes.  So please be led by the Spirit and exercise discretion when exploring new media.

What "Walking Worthy" means. To me, at least.

Let me preface this post with this; I am not a perfect example of walking worthy.  I wouldn't call myself any kind of example, really.  I just started thinking this way recently.  "Walking Worthy" is something I was introduced to maybe 8 months ago by a message I heard in church.  I'll do my best to explain it.  In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul said: 

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

It cut me to the heart, and I knew in that moment that Ephesians 4:1-6 would always be one of my life verses. (Sidenote: I've always wanted to say "This is [one of] my life verse[s]." but until recently, I didn't feel like I really had any.  I guess it took fully surrendering to God and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to me through His Word to finally get a couple.)  My basic understanding from the message I heard is that we were each called.  But we'll never fulfill our calling unless we walk worthy of it.  And in order to walk worthy of our calling, we must first receive knowledge from God as to what that calling is, what His will for our life is.  Paul says in Colossians 1:9-12:

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Unless you know what you're called to or called to be, it's virtually impossible for you to walk worthy of that calling.  But once you've received that knowledge from God... Knowledge of His will for your life, you will be able to walk worthy of that calling.  The calling is irrevocable and the gifts are already in us.  God has a plan and purpose for each of us individually.  I'm sure you're all familiar with Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

But walking worthy is not just for someone who is still seeking to fulfill his calling.  Walking worthy is also for someone who has already begun to do the work God has planned for him.  Paul walked worthy, and people received the message differently.  How effective you are in your calling depends on your walk.  Paul didn't get complacent in his faith or with his station.  He walked worthy of his calling and we have evidence of that in his letters.  1 Thessalonians 2:10-13 says:

You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

Christianity has become just a bunch of "good" people.  This makes it hard for the world to tell us apart from any other religion.  We are supposed to be like the apostles were in Acts.  We should be turning the world upside down.  Jesus Himself told us how we were to be once he left, in John 14:12-14:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

We're not just supposed to be like Jesus, we're supposed to do greater works than He did.  Think back over all of the miracles He did.  All of the healings, feeding the multitude, raising Lazarus from the dead.  We're supposed to be known for the miracles which follow us.  The people of this world are literally dying for us to show them that there's something else.  They can be happy and saved and live abundant lives.  They can be fulfilled and they can fulfill a calling that God Himself set out for them.

I leave you with this: Are you walking worthy of the calling with which you were called?  Do you know God's will for your life?  Are you turning the world around you upside down?  Are you making an impact?

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. - 2 Timothy 1:6

Purging

Lately, it feels like I'm finding myself in a new mode.  I used to be the kind of person who couldn't miss my "shows" every week (on MY time, with a dvr... I wasn't actually a slave to the schedule) and who was very obsessed with music.  Recently, I feel like the Lord is showing me, more and more that I just don't need that stuff.  First, he prompted me to get rid of most of my secular music.  I kept the jazz but that's about it.  Everything else in my collection and on my mp3 player is Christian and uplifting. There are also a number of television shows lately that have actually offended me enough that I don't plan on watching them ever again.  House is one of them.  Monday night, I sat down to watch House with two of my girlfriends.  The entire episode was about a couple with an "open" marriage.  If that wasn't offensive enough, one of the doctors on the team coaxed his wife into telling him he could see someone else.  But then, at the very last minute, she had second thoughts.  He went home with his wife that night but cheated on her anyway within a couple of days.  There is absolutely no way I will watch this show ever again.  While I was watching, I kept thinking, why am I filling myself up with this?  It's not that I'm worried that I'm going to start wanting to emulate these things in my life... But why watch something so negative that disgusts me so much, and would completely offend God?  I should be filling myself up with the Word and sermons and praise music.  If I fill my heart up with junk, how can I expect to hear from the Lord?

I don't claim that this is a revelation or that no one else has ever experienced it... I just don't know how I never caught this truth before.  It seems so obvious.

To Begin...

It seems appropriate that I would begin this blog with a prayer. So here goes:

Father, I come to You today and I ask You to bless my efforts here. You know me and know that my heart is that this would be a place where I can share what I'm learning in my daily walk with You, at Bible college and at church. I ask that You would bless each person that comes here to read it. Give them an intense hunger and thirst for more of you. I pray that each fellow believer that comes here would do so with the sole intention of seeking You. And I pray that each unbeliever that comes here would be cut to the heart by the truth of Your Word.  Amen.


Secondly, it would seem that I should explain the purpose of this blog and tell you a little about myself. This blog is currently and most likely always will remain anonymous. Who I am is not important. But my journey (like that of each and every believer) is important. This blog will be a place for me to examine and expound upon the things I'm learning in my daily reading, at church and at Bible college. It is not meant to be purely instructional. Mostly, I'll be regurgitating what it is I've learned, hoping to learn something more in the review process and perhaps someday, seeking the opinion and supplemental experience of others. On that note, please feel free to comment and share. I will immediately delete any comments containing profanity or inappropriate subject matter. I will also delete comments that are here to bash or belittle my beliefs. I welcome intelligent, civil debate but not angry, insulting commentors who are not here for legitimate conversation, but simply to hurl insults.

I feel that the body of Christ is going through a time of stretching. It has been my recent experience that willing, submitted members of the body are undergoing an excelerated growth process. As our days here grow noticeably short, I've been experiencing - and I know this is the case in the lives of many committed Christians - an increasingly urgent need to be as close as possible to God and as filled as possible with the Holy Spirit.  It is my sincere hope that my writings here will inspire you to get fired up about the calling we've each been given and about the plan God has for each of our lives.  I pray that by reading this, you will be inspired to study for yourself and really get into the Word.

Let me also give you a brief explanation of what I believe: (I will keep an updated list here.)

• I believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins
• I believe that Jesus Christ also rose again on the third day

For now, let's let that be the basis of my writings. I'm still figuring out the rest.

If anyone is already reading this (or discovering this post somewhere down the line), please be sure to comment and say hello. Tell me a bit about yourself.

God bless.

What I Believe

Let me also give you a brief explanation of what I believe:

• I believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins
• I believe that Jesus Christ also rose again on the third day

This list will be updated frequently. Check back.

Contact

To contact, email walkingworthy416@gmail.com