New Year, New Beginnings

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. -Genesis 1:28-30

This time of year is often associated with new beginnings. I saw it said on one post that since New Year's Day falls on a Monday, this year is the ultimate fresh start: new year, new week, yada yada. 

I personally love the new year because I tend to be a list-making, goal-setting, type-A sort of person. This time of year is made for someone like me: I can make all kinds of lists and goals and organizational charts, and it's culturally acceptable to do so (instead of simply just nerdy)! 

Here's the thing, though: I am not always super hot at following through on all my plans. I tend to start well, and then stumble and bumble along my way until December 31 rolls around, and then I start again.

This is not dissimilar to how Adam and Eve handled God's plans for them at the ultimate beginning, back at the beginning of creation. God laid out for them some very simple commands and guidelines, and Adam and Eve did well with them...until they didn't.

That's how sin entered the world. It's how everything got all topsy-turvy, and following God's commands has been a tricky enterprise ever since. We are by nature inclined to disobey and rebel against His good plans for us, and that's why all of us needed Jesus to save us from our rebellion through His death and resurrection.

That's the good news, though: through Christ, there is grace for us! Adam and Eve may have fallen short of following God's commands, but that doesn't mean that they were cut off from following God after their first failure. They were not out of opportunities for obedience.

God graciously gave Adam and Eve further chances to fill the Earth and subdue it, and they did. There is evidence in Genesis 4 that Adam raised his two sons to be a shepherd and a farmer, thus subduing the earth and everything in it (both plants and animals!). Further, Eve gave birth to these two boys, and several other children, thus doing her part to be fruitful and fill the Earth.

Adam and Eve may have failed to follow the Lord perfectly when the serpent tempted, but they did not fail forever. God had enough grace to give them further opportunities to obey, and He has enough grace for you and I as we start the new year. We will set our goals and resolutions, and we will likely fall short of them. I will probably not go to the gym as much as I should, and I will probably not make my quiet time every day, but you know what: God has grace for me. 

We do not become perfect overnight upon our salvation; rather, we become more like Christ through daily dying to self, repenting when we stumble, and leaning on the God of grace to give us strength to grow closer to Him. 

So don't quit on your resolution to take care of your body this year when you miss a day or two at the gym. Don't give up on starting a Bible reading or prayer habit. Don't surrender to laziness when you miss church one Sunday. Instead, remember the grace of God and continue on. That's what the daily Christian life is about: continually striving toward holiness while clinging to His grace when we inevitably fall short. That is the God-glorifying life, and that's how we need to spend our 2018. 

Do You Want to Get Well?

"When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to get well?'" -John 5:6, HCSB

I was reading John 5 this morning, and I came across this verse in my reading. It comes from a story about a man who was sick. This sick man was living in an area around a pool that moved every now and then when an angel made the water stir. This stirring of the water announced that the angel had been there, and the first person into the pool after the angel would be healed of their ailment.

Not surprisingly, this pool was constantly surrounded by sick people. I mean, think about it: if a pond could cure what ails ya, wouldn't this pond be constantly surrounded by people?

This man was one of those people. Yet, he was so sick that he couldn't get up and go to the pool when the angel came. Thus, for 30+ years, he remained sick. That's when Jesus walked up and asked him the question that I quoted at the top of the post: "do you want to get well?"

This got me to thinking: does Jesus ask everyone this? Everyone in the world is a sinner, and we are all sick with sin. We walk about in the world, sinning, and Jesus asks "do you want to get well?"

If you do not know Christ, you can get well. Your sin can be removed. Your addictions, your sins, your bad habits; they can all be removed by Christ. Put your faith in Christ, and accept the gift of grace!

And you, Christian, don't think you're out of the woods. How many Christians are battling with sins? How many Christians are hiding a porn addiction? How many Christians are gossips? How many Christians walk around arrogant, lying, hating, cheating and lusting after the world?

If you are a Christian, you should know that Christ has called you to a different life. Put away the life of the flesh and let the grace of God work in your heart. You may feel trapped in a cycle of sin, but He can heal you of that. The question is: do you want to get well, or are you content to lay around, sick in sin and worldly desires?

The Defeat of the Impossible

"For nothing is impossible with God." -Luke 1:37, HCSB

How many times have you heard that verse, right? It is a favorite verse of the underdog and athlete, the troubled and addicted.

 "There's nothing God can't help us achieve, and there is nothing that can stop us with Him at our side."

This is very true, but there is a definite asterisk next to this truth: nothing is impossible with God when He decides to do so. The passage that this verse comes from is the same passage in which the angel Gabriel is telling Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God. She is obviously flabbergasted and confused by this news, and so she asks (very humbly) how this could happen, considering that she was a virgin.

The angel proceeds to tell her of how her relative Elizabeth was currently preggo at an old age, and that "nothing is impossible with God." God is all powerful, but this verse is not meant purely to inspire us on fourth-and-goal with time expiring. It is showing that nothing will stop God on His mission. Nothing will prevent God from ruling the world, and nothing can stand in His way.

Old age? Nope.

Virgin? Not an issue.

Your past addictions? Nothing He can't overcome.

Your physical condition? Not a handicap in the working of God.

God can use whomever and whatever He so chooses to accomplish His plans. He's running the ship, and nothing can slow Him down.

You may wonder in this moment: "what role do I play in this? If God is in charge, and He is looking to accomplish His goals and plans, what do I do?" You do exactly what Mary did.

"'I am the Lord's slave,' said Mary. 'May it be done according to your word.'" -Luke 1:38, HCSB

We humbly accept God's power and lordship, and do as He says. We are His slaves, and He is our Good Master. He will accomplish great things through us, so long as we are humbly looking to accomplish His great things.

Perhaps God's purpose in your defeat of the impossible is to win a football game and give Him glory for it. Perhaps His purpose in your defeat of the impossible is to overcome your physical limitations to show the love of Christ to others. Perhaps His purpose in your defeat of the impossible is to share your story of addiction and redemption in order to help someone else see the love and freedom of life with Christ.

You never know what impossible task God may want to overcome through you, but He already did one. Your salvation through the blood and resurrection is a miracle in and of itself; who's to say He doesn't have something else for you? Humble yourself, and look to accomplish His plans with His power and might.

A Word to Young Ladies...From the Christ-Following Guys Out Here

This post is written to all of those young Christian ladies out there, from the point of view of a young Christian man. Hopefully, some of the young ladies that are following God out there will see this and be helped to see where the heart of many Christian dudes my age (college-aged) is. I don't tend to write more personal posts like this one, but it's really on my heart today, so enjoy. It's about to get real up in here.

Dear Ladies,

There is a massive problem on our college campuses (and in the world as a whole): the idea of a biblical man is becoming a rarer and rarer goal for guys our age (I'm sure I just got an "amen" from some of you). Dudes are simply not willing to man up and be the spiritual leader anymore. In fact, being a spiritual man isn't all that popular, in general.

However, there isn't only bad news. The God-fearing man is not extinct, and in many ways, is making a comeback. Many college-aged guys are striving to follow God in a more real and serious manner these days. While the total number of us may be few, there is a population of young men that are trying to follow after God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.

Yes, we stumble. We fail. We don't always have it together. We may even fall in front of you. Yet, we exist. While many of us are growing in Christ, we are also not meant to be alone. This is where you come in.

This same group of men is looking for you. Ok, not you specifically. That would be creepy. We are looking, however, for a woman that is truly running after her Lord and Savior. We are searching for a girl who has sold out and given all that her heart can give to Christ and her walk with Him. We are in pursuit of a woman that sounds like the words of Solomon in Proverbs:

"Charm is deceptive and beauty

is fleeting,

but a woman who fears the Lord

will be praised."

-Proverbs 31:30, HCSB

You see, a nice appearance is great. This is not a letter suggesting that you swap the gym for the couch. No, I'm instead encouraging you to go deeper and deeper in your walk with God. Fear the Lord. Love Him. Be passionate about His mission, reflect His heart and walk in His grace.

All of this is to say: ladies, your Christian walk is important to us, as well. Not every guy is into yoga pants and low-cut shirts; some guys are into a woman with a bible in her hand and prayers on her lips. If you want to truly attract a God-fearing man, reflect the words of Proverbs 31 instead of Cosmo.

Don't be afraid to be that kind of woman. Encourage us to be the men of God that we should be. If both men and women in the Church would encourage the other sex to follow the Lord with all their heart, and help each other do so, there could be a lot of happy young men and women, all serving the Lord with all they have.

My prayer is that my generation would grab hold of this. I pray that young men would step up and take their walk seriously, becoming the spiritual leaders they are made to be. I pray that young women would put aside the opinions of the world and run headlong after their Savior, becoming the God-fearing woman of Proverbs 31. I pray that men and women of the Church would come together and serve our King in His mission, and I pray that y'all are praying for this, as well.

Ladies, stay steadfast. The biblically-based man is out there. I promise.

Sincerely,
A young man in search of the Proverbs 31 woman

The Largest Genocide in World History...And You Are Doing Nothing About It

This coming Sunday is known as "The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday" in churches across the United States. This year marks 40 years since Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that gave women "the right" to have an abortion. Since then, 55,871,353 fetuses have been aborted.

Or, if this will make it more real to you, 55,871,353 children have been aborted. 55,871,353 future living, breathing people have been exterminated, and the number is climbing day-by-day.

Let these numbers soak in:

Amount killed in genocides

Nazi Holocaust: 6 million Jews, 11 million total
Killing Fields of Cambodia: between 1 and 3 million, believed to be closest to 2.2 million
Rwandan genocide (1994): at least 800,000, as many as 1 million
Darfur genocide: 178,258–461,520
Trail of Tears/American genocide of Native Americans: approx. 4,000

Perhaps using genocides (mass killings of a people) doesn't allow the magnitude of this to register. Let me show you some other numbers.

Amount killed in wars

World War II: 50-73 million
World War I: 15-60 million (high estimate includes deaths due to Spanish Flu, which killed between 20-50 million people; thus, World War I alone probably killed much closer to the lower end)
Vietnam War: 1-3 million
American Civil War: 400,000-800,000 thousand

According to these numbers, only World War II (the deadliest war in history) and the combination of World War I/Spanish Flu can top the deaths in the United States due to abortions since 1973. No genocide, not even that of Nazi design, comes close. Bear in mind, WWII and WWI were worldwide wars, and I only include numbers for abortions in the United States since Roe v Wade. I have no idea how much higher the total number of abortions worldwide (even since 1973, not even before) could possibly be.

And yet, this mass killing of humans is happening in the United States under the guise of women's rights. Just as Hitler believed that it was his right to rid the world of the unwanted Jews and homosexuals (among others), millions of Americans believe that it is a woman's right to rid the world of her unwanted child.

You can try to spin this however you want. Go ahead, tell me how a fetus isn't a human being. Go ahead, tell me I don't understand. Go ahead, tell me that no one should tell a woman what to do with her body. You will not convince me, and I will only be more convinced of the depravity and evil in this world.

You cannot tell me that I do not understand. My brother was supposed to die at birth, or even before, due to a defect in his placenta. Even if he survived, he would have severe problems for life. The doctors advised that my parents abort him; they didn't. He is now my best friend and is perfectly normal. He attends college and plans to be a police officer. Yet, medical officials believed the best option was to abort this person.

You cannot tell me that a woman has the right to do with her body, and that no one else can say anything. Tell that to the person on the other end of a suicide hotline, talking a woman down from taking those pills. Tell that to the counselor, who desperately wants the teen to quit cutting herself. People only get mad about telling a woman (or man, honestly) what to do with her body when it is inconvenient. People are only upset when the part of a woman's body that is being damaged can be killed and thrown away, having never been heard or seen outside of a protruding belly.

You cannot tell me that a fetus is not a baby. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13-14). The Spirit filled John the Baptist within Elizabeth's womb in Luke 1; as my friend Austin Little pointed out, God fills people with his Spirit. Why fill nothing more than a pre-human, non-spiritual creature/piece of flesh/thing with His glorious Self? It would be ridiculous and clearly points to God's belief that a fetus is a human being.

This has gone on long enough, and will continue as long as Christians sit quietly. We are watching one of the biggest, if not the biggest, killing of human beings unfold right before our eyes. The American genocide of unborn children has been happening for 40 years; will we allow it to continue for another 40?

*Only select genocides and wars were included; I used the largest I could find, as well as some well-known others. I, to the best of my knowledge, have included the highest killing genocide and war. Comment if you know of a worse example, and I'll be glad to add it.
-Stats taken from http://www.numberofabortions.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll. Feel free to stat-check me. I doubt that you'll find numbers large enough to dwarf the American genocide of the unborn to an insignificant number, but you're welcome to try-

You And Your Slavery

"For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land." -Ezekiel 36:24, HCSB

In this verse, God is speaking to the Israelites, telling them that He will bring them back to their homeland. But why aren't they there already?

Israel, for the uninitiated, was a hot mess during biblical times. They were a constant roller coaster of spirituality: some years they were on fire for God, and other years they were worshipping idols and hosting child sacrifices.

Due to their foolishness of turning away from worshipping God, they got taken captive by the Babylonian empire and were enslaved in a foreign land. Idiots, right? Don't speak too soon.

We're very much the same. We are often foolish. Just think with me: how often do you have a reason that you don't worship and chase after God?

"I'd read my Bible more, but I'm really busy..."

"I'd pray more, but I don't really know how..."

"I'd go to church on Sunday mornings, but I had this thing on Saturday night..."

You may not have had one of those exact excuses, but I promise you've had at least something similar at some point in your walk with God. Probably in the past few days, honestly. We all have.

These foolish excuses do two things: they pretend that our relationship with God doesn't need priority over everything else (and He is worth infinitely more than anything else in our lives, I promise), and it lowers our defense against evil.

You see, God is our Shield. He says that all over the book of Psalms. When we stop pursing Him and put other things over that pursuit, then we lower our Shield in the middle of battle. Lowering a shield in battle is NOT a good idea.

The forces of darkness are always looking for one of His followers to lower their shield and become vulnerable for an attack. They will strike, and without a tried and true relationship with God, we will fall. We'll become enslaved to a sin, incapable of freeing ourselves.

Israel couldn't save themselves from captivity, and neither can we. Both groups of people need God. Fortunately, Ezekiel 36 continues.

"I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances." -Ezekiel 36:25-27, HCSB

Beautiful. Not even beautiful; this is beyond words. We foolishly turn from God, which leads to our enslavement to darkness. And yet, God is a God of freedom. Not just literal freedom of the flesh, but freedom of the heart. He wants His people to be saved and to have new hearts. He wants His people to be clean. He wants to give us His Spirit to free us to follow Him, and to kick sin to the curb.

Is this the year that you allow God to give you a new heart? Maybe you still have a heart of stone, and are turned away from Him. Maybe you're already a Christian, and just need to be reminded that our God has saved you from sin, so quit re-enslaving yourself. Regardless of your situation, run to Him. Run to our God and turn from foolish ways of ignoring Him. Make 2013 a year where you are dedicated to following Him.

We were dead, and now we are alive. We were enslaved and foolish, but now we are free. Remember that. Embrace that. Live your life based off of that.

-Inspired by Louie Giglio's talk "Main Session 1-Passion 2013"

Excellence in Christianity

A few months back, the Christian rapper/poet Propaganda released a new album under the title "Excellent." The title track discusses what it is like to do things with excellence, based largely on Colossians 3:23, which says:

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.." -Colossians 3:23, HCSB

OK, so... how does this play out practically? Lemme tell ya. Hang tight.

1. Work hard. This passage says to do everything "enthusiastically," like we're doing it all for Jesus. That means your homework, your work, your lawn mowing, your everything... is done for God's glory. Not easy, huh? I mean, if you're giving your all in all of this stuff, how can you keep from being exhausted? I don't know, but I know what will help.

2. Rely on His strength, not yours. If we rely on ourselves, we will burn out and be exhausted. Habakkuk 3:19 discusses how the Sovereign Lord is our strength. Christian, the Spirit of God lives in you! The Lord over all, the God that runs this show, is in you! He will give you the strength to do His work. If He wants you to accomplish something, He will give you the ability to do so. He's sovereign over all; do you think he can't handle giving you the strength to do His will?

3. Rest. There's a reason that the Sabbath day existed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). God's example in Genesis 1 of a day of rest is intentional; He didn't need to rest, but He was showing us that we do. I know this is hard, and I don't even do this. If you are reading this in the United States, in particular, then you know how our culture is. We are constantly on the go, and the idea of going all out for God sounds like just amping up our already psychotic business. We hardly have the energy to do our jobs halfway, much less with a Colossians 3:23 level of excellence. Yet, we must find a way to rest. I was recently told to get a hobby, in order to avoid burning out. We must all find some sort of Sabbath day, and rest. If we don't we'll fall over under the work.

4. Realize that you will fail. Hey, guess what? Even if you follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above, you will not  work at a Col. 3:23 level at all times. We are in a broken world, and we will stumble. That's a fact, Jack. I was recently encouraged with this word: "we will fail." I know, right? Not very encouraging on the surface, yet I'd like you to ponder on this. In Philippians 3:13, the apostle Paul mentions that he was not fully mature in Christ. This seems obvious. Of course he wasn't. He's mortal, Bryan. Yet, think: this man was in prison for sharing his faith. He was leading guards and prisoners alike to faith in Christ. Does this seem like an immature believer? Of course not! Yet even this man admitted that, at times, he failed and didn't live up to his calling. He didn't meet the level of Colossians 3:23 at all times, either. Paul understood that, and we must to. We must not be afraid to fail. We must do what we can to follow Christ, and then rely on His strength to pick ourselves up off of the ground when we fail.

I know this is hard. I struggle with this as much as (or more than!) you. Trust me. But we're in this together, gang. Let's push forward and live a life of excellence. Our reputation as believers must stand out, and living according to this passage in Colossians is a great way to do so. Let's do it. Be excellent, and understand when you aren't.