Bring The Rain

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise you with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Could circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in you

This is the first verse of one of Mercy Me's deepest songs, Bring the Rain. It speaks of who we are in Christ, and why the only thing that matters in this life is that we praise Him through any circumstance. I have to say, I haven't done my part in this. I get so impatient and upset when things don't go my way. I even get to the point where I'm so convinced that something is God's will, that when things fall apart I stress out and give up. I don't want to be that way anymore. I want Him to transform my heart in such a way that I can not only praise Him for the blessings I've received, but also worship Him for who He is. In Exodus 3:14 God tells Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." (NKJV) Does anyone truly understand the gravity of this declaration? What kind of response would you have to someone if they told you their name was I AM? It is not a statement that we can say and make any sense of it, but God can. He is the Alpha and Omega. He created everything. There are infinite ways to describe our Creator, but it ultimately comes down to I AM. One of the most important things we can do as Christians is just take time to be still and just know that He is God. You can consider all the problems of this life all you want, but ultimately, the only thing we need to think about is God. Just take a moment. Don't even pray. Just rest a while in the awesome truth that God is God. He is our "exceedingly great reward." There is no better use of our time than this. For more on the subject of rain, check out Michael's latest blog. It will change your perspective, to say the least!

For The Single Guys

What I'm addressing here is loneliness, and the fear of being single forever. I've suffered from these feelings. I've despaired at times, because I didn't have God's Word written in my heart. There are so many verses in the Bible about waiting on God's timing. For example, Isaiah 30:18 says, "Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him." What this says is that He wants to bless us in so many ways, but we must wait on His timing. Nothing that He does not bring us is worth our time. This is the point where many young men say, "But, how long do I have to wait? What if He doesn't bring me anyone? Will I be alone forever?" I've asked all of these questions. First, there is no way of knowing how long you must wait. Some of us wait a long time, some of us don't. Just trust in Him that it will happen and don't give up. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." If we wait for His timing He will bless us for it. The third verse I want to share is Psalm 37:4 which states, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Guys, you will know if the Father has called you to live a single life like Paul. There will be no question in your heart. You will be so consumed with Him that an earthly relationship would never be on your mind. For the rest of us, God knows what our desires are. If we truly pursue Him first and foremost, He will bless us and give us what we desire. My brother taught a message on this verse alone before proposing to his wife one Sunday morning. If we grow to a point in our relationship with Christ that we are totally content in our relationship with Him, we will reap treasures. We must get to the point where we are happy with just Him, and that we are fine with being single until He brings us the right person. Just wait for it guys, and don't give any of yourselves away before His timing. We cannot imagine the experience we will have when God brings us our one and only, and we can give all of ourselves to them as well as God.

Worship

What does this word truly entail? Are we to just stand there and sing during the first part of a church service? Do we lift our hands in submission during the songs? Must we stand? What does it mean to truly worship? None of these and all of these. Worshiping the Father is not about whether we raise our hands and closer our eyes or not. It is about the heart. When we sing our songs of praise, do we really mean what we say? Have we lived in a way that glorifies Him throughout the week, or is this it, 30 minutes or less on Sunday morning? As Mark Hall of Casting Crowns asks, "Can you sign God's name to the end of each day?" I know I can't. Worship is more than just a song, or an act. It is about living for Christ and glorifying Him with our every thought and breath. Worship is the way we live. Last night at Breakaway Jeff Johnson sang his very deep song, Ruin Me. I raised my hands, closed my eyes, and truly spoke to Christ. But, did I mean every word I said? This song asks God to "ruin my life, the plans I have made. Ruin desires for my own selfish gain. Destroy the idols that have taken Your place 'til it's You alone I live for." Can we really ask God to ruin us? That's a scary thought. We creatures love our own plans. That is why we have anger problems and impatience. We want things to go our way, and hate it when they don't. So, can we truly ask God to just come in and take over to the complete extent that He ruins all our plans and destroys everything in our lives that didn't come from Him? I tell you what. In a previous blog I wrote about the transition I prayed God will make in me over this coming summer. I want to be radical and dangerous in His name. I want to be so sold out to Him that I can just let go of everything and get out of His way in my life. Only then will I be able to truly worship my Wonderful Maker!

A Man Fell In A Hole

Wow. In case you guys don't know...they make a "--tube" for everything. I've found GodTube.com to be amazing. I just saw a video that everyone needs to see. It is called A Man Fell in a Hole. I'm not going to say too much about it. Just make sure you watch every detail until the video is completely finished. Then, write to me what you thought about it. After I get a few responses I'll tell you what struck me. I'm including my email address in my profile so that you can respond if you don't have a Google account. I pray God impacts you through this video, as He did me.

Goals

Hey guys. I had an interesting conversation with a very special friend of mine last night. We love to talk about God and his holiness. I know from experience that his mercies truly are new everyday. We got to talking about the summer. I asked her what her goal was for her relationship with Christ this summer. Though I will not share it, her answer was great. It struck me, though, that I had asked her that question. I hadn't taken the time to consider what my goals were. I know this summer is going to be great. God has called me to several ministries, and I can feel Him pulling at the strings of my heart already. I thought for a minute when she returned the question. What is my goal for my relationship with Christ? Well, to begin, I want to be able to look back at the end of the summer to the man I am today and not even recognize who that person was. I'm not saying I'm a bad guy. I was born in sin, and redeemed by Jesus' precious blood spilled on the cross. What I mean is, I want to be "soaring with Christ!", as my friend put it. I want to be at a place in my walk with the Father that consistency is no longer a problem. I will not think twice about getting up a little early to start my day off in His Word. Guys, that is the way you grow closer to Him. I've struggled recently with the issue of relationships. I long for the beauty to rescue and look forward to a future with a Godly woman. I get to learn new ways, everyday, to show her that she is pursued and loved. I'm the hopeless romantic because God made me that way. How well, though, can we pursue our earthly partners if we have not learned how to pursue Christ? Is it not meaningless without such a foundation. As Ben Stuart of Breakaway Ministries said in his message last night, God wants to be our cornerstone. Though he used it in a different reference, I thought about relationships in that moment and how God needs to be the cornerstone in that aspect of our lives as much or more than any other. For Him to be our cornerstone, we must have a strong relationship with Him. I am growing steadily in Him, and it's been amazing the past few months. But, I'm not in the least bit complacent. I know I'm nowhere near where I need to be with Him. I need to truly see how He is pursuing me and learn to return that. It is my heart's cry. I want to be so transformed in Him that I don't recognize who I am today. I need to be more consistent, compassionate, loving, patient, and I need a pure heart that yearns to share my Great Love with everyone I come in contact with. (For more on that, listen to Tears of the Saints by Leeland!) There's more to this story, more details which I have not the time to convey. But, this is the core of the message: What is your goal in your relationship with Christ in a month, two months, the summer? Goals need to be set in everything we do in life. Our relationship with Christ is definitely no exception. Think about it!

Jake's Blog!!!

Hey you guys!!! If you haven't checked out my friends' blogs listed on the right I really recommend it. Especially Jake's latest blog from today. I think it's something we all need to hear and think about! If you've got a minute to spare...don't hesitate!

Kosovo's Independence

Hey guys, this one might seem a bit unusual. I had to write a blog for my english class over a current event. I chose the independence of Kosovo. The reason I'm posting it here is because it has some religious factors. I'll explain more at the end.

On Sunday, February 17, the former Serbian province of Kosovo declared its independence. The US and other democracies immediately declared support for the new Albanian-led government. Russia and some European Union countries have denounced the act. This may mean that the ultimate outcome of this situation could affect not only Kosovo and Serbia, but US and Russian foreign relations as well.

In the wake of Kosovo’s declaration of independence there has been continuous activity and conversation on the subject. I have read many articles and blog posts, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the best solution would be for the Albanians to partition Kosovo and let the Serbs retain their religious sites. Also, I believe that US involvement in this crisis is wrong. I believe in supporting democracies, and I believe in supporting Christians. However, I believe that our support for Kosovo is wrong at the moment.

I cannot say anything against any declaration of support after the feud has calmed and a settlement has been arranged. But, for now, I believe the United States should stay out of it and let the Albanians duke it out with the Serbs. I don’t see any economic loss or gain to the US by staying out of the debate. Either we have a new democratic ally, or we have a friendly nation of Christians that we can relate to. I mean, our country is “one nation, under God” isn’t it? I also don’t see any military action imminent on the side of the Albanians. Keep in mind, this is all my conjecture based on what I have read. I am not personally involved in the matter.

I agree with one blogger, Benny, who says that the Serbs have no more rightful claim to the region of Kosovo than anyone else. They were cruel war-mongers in their past, whatever their claims are today. I see the rash mindset of so many in the destruction and violent protests in Belgrade.

Part of me does question this from the standpoint of a fellow Christian. But, I cannot help but see a parallel between the Serbs in Kosovo and the Israelites whom God left to their enemies after generations of them became more and more corrupt to the point that they no longer followed Him.

I believe this whole ordeal has been building up for a long time. It was inevitable, as one blogger said. It’s all a result of the feud between the Albanians and Serbs in that region, which was halted only by the intervention of NATO.

As for the involvement of the US, I have to side with many who say that it is a bit hypocritical of us. We really have no business in it. Just as one blogger states, I believe the United States should look at this from another perspective. As with almost every situation in life, we should place ourselves in someone else’s shoes and have empathy. It is not that hard to imagine this scenario in the US. The unnamed blogger uses Alaska as one of his examples, the other deals with the influx of Mexican immigrants in the southern regions of the United States. Though I don’t agree with him that this is the secret goal of these immigrants, it is not hard to imagine it that way. Imagine that the Mexicans are Albanians and we are Serbs. Now imagine that the Mexicans infiltrated to the point that they were the majority (which will happen in the near future in states like Texas), and a civil war breaks out between them and the rest of the Americans. The UN comes in and bombs the US to stop the fight, basically hands the reigns over to the Mexicans, and establishes a police force to maintain “peace” while the Mexicans gain power and set up their government. Again I must state, I do not believe this will happen in the US. I have my own issues with US immigration. I do not, however, feel any animosity toward Mexicans. I don’t know what their living arrangements were in Mexico, and we do claim that the US is the greatest country in the world. I love my Mexican aunts and uncles who have married into my family.

All that said, I do believe this is a nearly perfect illustration of what has happened in Kosovo. So, just as I would expect Russia and other world powers to either support us or stay out of our business in such an event, I believe it is wrong for us to so readily support the declaration of independence of Kosovo.

The key point I found in this was the reference I used to Israel. After years of power and insurmountable blessings from God, Israel lost its focus again. They became so corrupt that God finally left them to their enemies. They became slaves again. Though the Serbs in Kosovo have not been enslaved, there are some similarities. Just look at the wars and everything that have existed between the Serbs and other nations. As one of the bloggers I referenced stated, they have "worshiped war criminals." They claim the US and our allies are supporting an action that is trying to destroy the Christian Orthodoxy that the Serbs follow. Their reactions to US involvement is much like an extremist Christian group standing outside of an abortion clinic throwing things and insulting the young women who try to walk through the doors. Instead of loving people like Christ, we lash out against those who are different or don't act as we would have them act. The Serbs are lashing out because they are losing some land. It's not about their religious sites and buildings. If they truly desire to retain their lands and not be pestered by other nations and cultures, they should try living like real Christians. Maybe then God would save them and restore their power as He did for the Israelites so many times.