A Message That Sends

This past Friday was a good day for me. I ended up going to Roanoke with some folks from the dorm to make a Krispy Kreme run and go see the new Tyler Perry movie, Madea Goes to Jail. I wrestled most of the day with whether I was going to go or not. In the end, I'm glad I went.

The doughnuts were heavenly so I was happy as far as Krispy Kreme went. Now comes the movie. The reason I wrestled with whether to go or not was because I knew the movie wasn't going to be cheap. Basically, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a movie that I didn't really care about seeing. Oh for the summer times when I could go see every movie because they were only 5 dollars. Count your blessings 757 crew.

However, I digress. We eventually made it to the movie. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. And there were definitely a couple of moments from the movie that I learned something. The first one of these lessons is that my roommate is basically a male version of Madea. In my book that itself would deserve a note, but thats not really why I'm writing.

God used the movie to paint a picture of evangelism for me. He used the picture of this woman Christian minister who was ministering to the prostitutes and druggies on the street. She would walk around the streets where she knew where these people would be, hand out condoms and clean needles, and let them know if they needed some help to give her a call.

Now I'm not here to debate wether or not its okay for a Christian to give out this type of stuff. That's not the point in all of this. The point is she was reaching people. This reminds me of a guy I heard talking in ministry convocation a couple of weeks ago. This guy really understood the mission. And he talked numerous times about how we need to "do everything short of sin" to reach the lost. Much like what Paul said we need to "become everything to everyone in order to win a few to Christ". 

I think this type of idea is lost in the Christian church. It seems like we are invited the lost to clean themselves up and come to church to hear the gospel. I don't think that looks like Christ at all. If anything we need to dirty ourselves up a bit and get out there and try to live a life that looks more like Christ every day.

For my Liberty U peeps, this is why I'm trying to move off campus. I don't see how living on campus, being involved in campus activities, and eating most of my meals on campus allows me to reach the lost. Yes, there are lost people on campus. There are also a lot more Christians that need to be reminded of the gospel. So until I do move off campus I realize that God has put me here for a reason.

That's all that I'm really talking about. Understand that God has put you where He has put you for a reason, and that reason is to advance the gospel. If you are not sharing the gospel wherever you are, then you my friend are not living the Christian life. Once you come to taste the joy of salvation day after day you cannot turn back to the old man. Christ's gospel is not a gospel of spiritual gluttony, but it is a gospel that sends. If you are a Christian and you are still alive, you have been sent. The places that you walk everyday make up your mission field. Now go!

Secondhand: God Is After Our Joy

It's been a while since I've last written. I've been really busy with school. I don't really have anything to say right now, but I thought it would be cool to share this post that my friend wrote a while back. Enjoy!

God Is After Our Joy

                By James McLean

I have to be reminded of this constantly because every minute of the day I am caught up in lesser joys. I am convinced that the worst thing is not necessarily placing value on bad things but placing too much value on good things to where they take the place of the Best thing. I hope that makes sense somehow. Recently I have been challenged by the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, before you read any further, read it here.

I have recently been changed because the giftings and abilities God has given me are finally lining up with the opportunities that he provides. The hard part now is staying focused on using it to build God’s Kingdom and realizing that every part of life is caught up in that.

I recently listened to a Matt Chandler message (as i often do) on this passage, I would strongly urge you to do the same as I think it is very encouraging. These are the moments that challenged me:

“As natural abilities begin to grow and become visible to the world around us opportunities come, opportunities intrinsically belong to God, they are given based off natural ability. The more natural ability you have the more opportunity you have. They were given to us not for our own use and our own gain but for the gain of the Kingdom. This text is about what you do with the opportunities that come your way based off the gifting that Christ gifted you with.

This is talking about how we see the world. How do we see the world? Do we really see that this is light and momentary and that there is a future glory coming? Do we see our money as not being ours but rather as money for the Kingdom to fund the Kingdom and to do good eternally? Do we see our opportunities, our free time, our Saturdays as a way to build the Kingdom?

What do you really value? What do you really treasure? What are you really after? Don’t tell me Jesus, don’t give me the church answer. Look into your heart, look into your wallet, and look into how you use your time. They’ll betray you or they’ll convince you. In the end God is after your joy, he is not honored in begrudging submission. The only way to have that kind of joy is to walk in freedom. The only way to walk in that kind of freedom is to live life with an open hand.”

I don’t know much else to say after that. This causes me to examine myself and then seek God and ask for help. I hope it does that for you too.

I love you squirrel face

Look I've been really busy. So I haven't been able to write. But this video is a must see. Please enjoy yourself.

Here's to #10

In honor of the newly-back-together Blink 182. Here it goes. Let's hope the new record is just as good as the past nine.

Testing the Water

This is the first note that I have begun writing without really thinking about it first. Let's see how it goes. 

What was the last thing that you've done that you regretted? I have a theory. I believe that most of the lessons we learn in life are learned in failure and not victory. One does not learn that an oven is hot by just looking at it and not touching it. One learns by burning his or her hand on the oven itself. 

What does this really mean though? Should we submit ourselves to everything without discretion? I don't believe so. I think there are many things that we don't have to experience in order to learn that we should avoid it. Take illegal drugs for example. We don't have to be aversely affected by drugs to learn that they're harmful. We should be able to see the negative effects of it on others. Still, we learn from the negative effects of it on others. Not from others breaking their addiction with crack. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't be afraid to test the waters, either theologically or literally. If we are reading God's Word as we ought to be we will know the things that are black and white and we will be able to work through the grey areas. Just remember we have been set free from the law not to turn back to sin, but to accomplish good works for His name. 

Disguising Mistakes With Goodbyes

So I seem to be in a old school music period of life right now. Here's another good one. This was my jam like five years ago. Also the costumes are classic. 

Greg's Story

His names was Greg. He was in need and I got to help him. Who would have thunk it? Here's the story.

This past evening me and a few friends were chilling in a local coffee shop. After we had been there about 45 minutes or so we came across Greg. I don't really remember how it started, but it did. Turns out Greg was originally from Waynesborough and through a series of situations he has come to live in Lynchburg. 

Why does all of this matter? Because Greg was in need. Yes, he did need money to buy a sandwich or something, but he also was in need in another way. He needed love. We gave Greg a few dollars, but the numerous conversations that ensued were more important than money. Turns out Greg is a Christian. Well at least that what he said. Who's to judge. 

So, we invited Greg to join us in a little devotional of sorts. We read the beatitudes. We talked about finding joy in Christ instead of storing up treasures on the earth. Honestly, I don't really think we made a huge impact on Greg. If any impact was made it wasn't anything we had done it was the Holy Spirit using us. 

To be frank, I think all of this did more for me than it did for Greg. This was an opportunity to get outside of my selfish lifestyle and live for someone else. You see, life lived to its fullest isn't found in chasing happiness for ourselves. The fullest life can only be obtained when we live for people other than us. 

As Jesus Himself said, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth... Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." 

New (Old?) Medicines

Just throwing it back old school a bit. If you know then you know. If you don't then you don't.