Do you know who you're praying to?

Have you heard of sermon jams? What happens is sermons are taken apart and reassembled with the best lines from the sermon to somewhat compact it. It's then put to music. Well I did that. I used the Francis Chan sermon from challenge '08 and then created the music for the background.

This is a good reminder that we need to remember who we are praying to. It's the God of the universe, and He cares enough about us to listen to us. Remembering who He is is essential in how we approach Him.

Living Foolishly

Paradoxes. The Bible is full of them. A paradox is something thatis self-contradicting, and doesn't make logical sense (that is the dan dominguez defination anyway). Probably the one most commonly found in the Bible is "the last shall be first" (or vice versa). Thinking about that doesn't really make sense. The person who is last is last, and the person who is first is first. At least according to the world.

Anyway, that specific example isn't what I want to talk about, more just the general idea. The idea of living a nonsensical life. As this semester has gone on, I've continually gone back to God, asking Him what He desires me to do both now and after graduation. I got general ideas of what He wants or desires, but I would then filter them through what made sense and what I was willing to do. I thought I was willing to do quite a lot.

I know God has called me to be a pastor, so I am continually seeking Him as to what sized church? Where do I start? Where to go? What role do I take? What is a Biblical pastor? And many other questions.

Enough rambling, the point is I didn't care for the idea of starting with nothing. Maybe a small house church with a handful of attenders. This couldn't support me let alone a possible family. I don't want to be working two jobs, or not know how to make it from one day to the next. Especially if it was an area I didn't know. I wouldn't have money, friends, or anything. I thought it just wasn't possible, therefore that couldn't be what God wanted. I mean, I know that God can do anything, but we still have to be realistic right? Nope.

God doesn't expect us to understand everything. He expects obedience, and surrender. He expects FAITH. What is faith anyway? "...faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). (Thanks Scott for having us memorize that years ago, I haven't forgotten it.)

People don't understand this, and why should they? It doesn't make sense. Especially those who aren't part of the Church. But, even those who are part of the Church don't like this idea. Or maybe they have plenty of arguements that give them an escape from truly living by faith. Yeah, it may be 'wise' to live safely, with money in the bank, a good retirement fund, a stable job, a safe community, etc. But is that what God asks for?

Let's look at what is asked of God in Proverbs 30:7-9:

⁷Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to mebefore I die:
⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that isneedful for me,
⁹lest I befull and deny you
and say,"Who is the LORD?"
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

The NLT says, "Give me just enough to satisfy my needs" at the end of verse 8. How many of us would be willing to pray for that? I'm not saying that having money is wrong. Please don't hear that, the Church needs people with money.

Today I read in Matthew about when Jesus was delivering the sermon on the mount, and He said:

²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

This really spoke to me. "Why do you have so little faith?" I realized it doesn't matter what God calls me to do. It doesn't have to make sense. It can be complete foolishness in the eyes of the world, but I need to do it. I wanna be like Noah. I want to build an ark when there is no water. I want to do things that don't make sense to serve my Master. I still would rather find a church that pays well, where i can support a family, and those type of things. The point is more than that, I desire to follow God's leading.

So if that means He leads me to a point of not knowing how I am going to make it from one day to the next, then I will do it.

Mom, don't worry, I don't know if this is actually what He wants yet. I just know He needed to get me to the point of willingness and obedience.

Sorry this is so long, I hadn't posted in a while and had a lot on my mind.

[Bold and italics added.]

Persecution...?

I think that if asked, many of us would consider to have suffered persecution at one time or another, but what would we consider persecution?....Social awkwardness?....Getting made fun of?....Getting talked about behind your back?...The cold shoulder?  

Although these examples may be considered persecution, they are nothing compared to what some others face; and, what causes this persecution?  Wearing a Christian T-shirt?  Sharing your faith?  Not conforming?  

If you had to choose between death and denying Christ, what would you choose?  Some of us may not find it too difficult to say death, but have you really thought about it?  It's not such an easy answer when a gun is pointed to your head.  Would it not honestly be tempting to save your life and repent for it later?  

Watch this video.

This is something that's real.  (Please pray for her, tomorrow the court decides whether or not she has to go back to her parents.)

Do you take your faith seriously enough to die for it?  Or is you're faith something you're willing to live out until the price gets too high?  What's the point in which you turn back?

What's sad is that many of us say we would be willing to die for our faith, but we are afraid to evangelize because we don't want to be seen as weird, pushy, or become an outcast.  We would rather avoid the social awkwardness than do what the creator of the universe has commanded us to do!  

So tell me this, if social awkwardness is too high a price to pay, what makes you think you'd give your life?

Heavenly Father,

I come before you thankful for You're love.  I ask that I would live a life that demonstrates faith, that I would never deny you, no matter what the price.  I ask that you would fill me with You're spirit, so that I can better do You're work.  You are an amazing, perfect, loving God, who deserves more than all the praise, honor, and glory we can give.  I present to You my life as a living sacrifice, please do with me as you please.

I pray this in Jesus name,

Amen

Getting Started....blogging and school

For those of you who are visiting my blog for the first time, you're in good company, because it's my first time as well.  I'm trying this out, and we'll see how it goes. 

Anyway, this is the second week of school and it's going fantastic.  God is showing me some amazing things, and I am continuing to be refined.  My favorite class is pastoral theology with Dr. Koessler.  It's amazing!  He continually challenges my thinking.  He reminds us that we often start with pragmatics instead of theology when defining the role of a pastor.  What does the Bible inform us about  being a pastor?  What is the proper balance between preparing theologically and practically?  How should a pastor be trained?

Today is Tuesday so we had president's chapel.  Dr. Nyquist started a series on Hebrews 11.  I was eagerly awaiting for today with high expectations since he announced his series last week, and I was not disappointed.  I'm not really going to go into what he talked about, but here are some of my thoughts:

In what way are you practically living by faith?  Why is living by faith so hard?  If it is impossible to please God without faith, how often are we doing things in vain?  Is there anything you are doing in your life right now that takes faith?

Dr Nyquist said:

"God's looking for FAITH, not EXCUSES.

God's looking for FAITH, not ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

He's looking for what pleases Him, not what promotes us."