Tug-of-war!!!!!

I freakin love tug-of-wars!!! It reminds me of this tradition that the elementary school I attended does every year. The tradition is all the fifth grade classes come together at the end of the year for a class battle, and one of the events is tug-of-war. I remember the best battle were the ones that would go back and forth...one class would be close to the "pit" and then they'd pull their opponent to the pit. Such a rad game and I bet the teachers were stoked watching the battles.

Tug-of-war is a super fun game, but when "tug-of-wars" take its toll on your faith... not so fun at all. God has created me to be a person of heart. I tend to do nearly all things from the source of my heart. The bad thing about being all heart is that being all mind is like a really distant.....cousin. You know...those cousins who you wonder if they're really related at all?

"Love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love thy neighbor as thy self."

For some reason, heart and mind are the two strongest qualities that people "are." I am a man of heart. I do use my mind and logically try to approach many things, but when it comes down to being in the moment of quick decisions, my heart leads. My wife, Hanna, is a woman of mind. She is a passionate woman and is a big lover, but I believe that is a life or spiritual threatening moment was to happen and she had to make the next step quickly, her mind would lead her.

Jesus' gives this great command and because of his mysterious, trinitarian nature, he lays down something that is so familiar, yet foreign. Most of the people I hang with are minds. I guess I purposely surround myself with minds because I secretly am desperate for a better balance with my love towards God. I'd like to think it's been helping, but who knows.

I just look at this way... if I wanted to be a professional tennis player, I'm not going to go out and hire a karate master. And I also see it this way...we should stray from spiritual tug-of-wars as a church or a believer, and run towards being a balanced church/believer. And if we look to the body of Christ, we can learn and grow a healthy balance as we work daily on loving the Lord our God will all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Strong and Powerful...me?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea of being strong and victorious as a follower of Christ. I guess the reason why I've been soaking in this idea is because I've had my fair share of flesh-vs-spirit battles in the past (and to this day) like seeking freedom from certain bondages, praying for a different mindset, and such things like that. There are a couple truths that I've been exposed to that has...humbled me.

One truth is that across the world, since the beginning of man, various forms of pride have existed. From Cain killing his blood brother over an offering to Joey & Hanna being stubborn and not wanting humble themselves to understand their lovers heart during an argument (I love you Princess!). Pride is so confusing, it has birthed so many different forms from the depth of its heart. And I believe, just like a disease, it has infested or linked itself to other forms like misconception.

I grew up in the faith misconceived about this power that we possess as Christians.

Unfortunately, the new thing among churches in America is to be seeker sensitive...seeker sensitive: presenting the gospel that will not offend the congregation, or give them the meal that they want, but "hold the onions". And something that is hard to avoid with this mission is that there is no separation between the world and the church. I'm not saying that congregations can't be righteous or whatever...but going in to the world and preaching the gospel requires that we present the name of Jesus with power, authority, and through the righteousness that comes through Jesus.

My point is this...with this mentality of being seeker-sensitive or as the church, staying level with the world, the idea of being powerful and victorious has been infested. We have this misconception swayed by the world that we can be powerful and victorious. Like from the line of one of Hillsong United's songs...

"The same power that conquered the grave lives in me"

To be honest, after I sing this song, I feel like a conquerer. But the main truth that I've been learning is this from the great Apostle Paul....

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Cor. 12:9, 10


The same power that conquered the grave lives in me... PRAISE JESUS for that truth because the power that Jesus had while on earth does live within God's children! BUT that power that is in us isn't our power...it's His and His alone.

So...I'm starting to rid myself from the sad misconception that exists within the church. I realized that I am not strong. That I am not powerful. But I will boast about my weaknesses and live in Christ's stength and victory!!!!

A THOUGHT ABOUT THE CHURCH

So I've been reading a lot of OT for my deVo time as of late, but about a week ago I decided to mix it up a bit so I read a gospel (fyi, fell in love with the gospel of Luke) and then felt compelled to read Corinthians.

For those of you who haven't spent a FATTY amount of time with me, I don't have the greatest memory. Hanna, the hottest chick on the planet, always reminds me that she loves telling stories to me... I ask why and she replies something along the line, "Because you never remember them and I get to tell you the same story over and over again."

Anyways, I've read through the entire NT and majority of the OT yet I love to re-read the same books because I have a bad memory. I started reading through Corinthians and while I was reading in chapter 14 (when I read through Corinthians, I always read 12-14 as one chap), a HUGE thought came to mind...

"GOD LOVES COMMUNITY SO MUCH!!!!"

It may seem like Paul opened up a can on the church of Corinth telling them to repent, directing their ways, setting these high standards yet encouraging them, but there's a reason... story time!

I used to be a leader for Gig Harbor Young Life for almost six years. Young Life has a rad structure for reaching the lost youth, but the thing that got to me most was the leaders. I'd say 60% of the leaders were students. I do support student leaders, but what I don't support is student leaders given so much freedom with their...sheep when that leader isn't being discipled nor even being held accountable. After a good chunk of time goes by, that leader flakes out (even ditches their faith) and says this statement that I've heard over and over again.... Christianity requires so much and I'm not down for that.

Now here's my point... God loves community so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. Okay... good. Jesus dies, appoints apostles like Paul, and ascends in to heaven. Paul, through the promised Holy Spirit, plants churches and writes letters to those churches encouraging, yet setting high standards.

Yes, high standards may be discouraging at times, but imagine if the standards were set at a comfortable level. The church would've/would be in sin like crazy! And these high standards are NOT written in the bible to discourage us or condemn us.... God loves His people SO MUCH He sent His only son to die for our sins and calls us to a higher standard than the world.... why you ask? So that we can be a bunch of studs and studdettes ready to rock the world and function at a high standard in and as the body of Christ. People forget that we are now the body of Christ! And as the body of Christ, we must learn how to function at a higher, more holy level than the world not to boast about ourselves or condemn...so that we can be lights to world to draw them to the cross.

DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH GOD LOVES COMMUNITY WITHIN THE BODY? I now understand why love is greatest "law" to practice. God wants the best for each one of us because He loves us SO FREAKIN much.... and Jesus loves us so much that he died for us.... and Paul loved the church of Corinth so much that he laid out a higher standard so that Corinth would function as followers of Jesus, not as "Christians"...and that's where we come in. Let's get freakin serious about our faith and read our bibles and fellowship in community that will grow us... for the bible says "bad company corrupts good character"... AND after dying to ourselves and living in Christ daily, we can then function as the church that God desires so that we can love the world and win some lost souls, ya know!!!!!

I love you guys so much! The end of our time here on earth will happen in the blink of an eye and no one really knows when Jesus will come again, but who cares about knowing when he will return... we're living right now so let's LIVE in and through CHRIST.

the enemy is an idiot!!

There's something about the enemy that just makes me laugh. To me, he's an O'Doyle- one of the big kids who likes to pick on those who are weaker than him. As most of you know, I'm getting married in like ten days or something crazy like that. The past month, I've been getting mad attacks from the enemy. Attacks like me getting sick, being impatient with Hanna for no good reason, lustful temptations, or whatever.

I used to struggle hard core with lust, but I'm a free man. I can confidently say to you that in Christ there is freedom and it's by his power we can be set free. So if you're struggling with that, confess, make the decision to fully change, believe, and live in that freedom. It's that simple. Don't over do freedom, just live it. That's a good one! I'm going to keep it.

"Don't over do freedom, just live it."

Anyways, it was a couple weekends ago and I was working the closing shift on Saturday night. FYI, I work Valet at the nearby Casino. Saturday nights are always filled with lonely girls who are masters at getting their acceptance by the wrong crowd.

By the time I got home around 3:10am, I was super tired and was ready to go to bed. That's when lustful temptations started to press on me. I was so tired and when I'm exhausted like I was, I get a bit... emotional, but I think of it more as passionate, if you know what I mean. So, at the top of my lungs, I yelled out at the enemy to stop the temptations in the name of our Savior, but that didn't stop him. So I decided to just sleep it away. Within seconds after turning off the lights in my room, I hear from the Holy Spirit... Romans 12:6. At that moment, I felt in my heart that God has placed ammunition in my heart to defeat the enemy's attacks. I thanked God for speaking in my life and decided to close my eyes and rest. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to read that verse when I woke up. A couple minutes passed and again, I heard from the Holy Spirit, but this time I heard, Romans 6:12. I swear he was confused at first :)

This time was different when God spoke to me. This time He commanded that I'd turn my lamp on and read Romans 6:12. I thought to myself, it's time to listen or I'm never going to sleep. I turned my lamp on, grabbed my bible next to my bed, and flipped open to Romans 6:12. Now keep in mind that this verse isn't one I've intentionally memorized and it's been over a year since I've even read that verse.

I searched for that verse with my chink eyes and read...

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? The enemy was trying to spread tares in the perfectly good harvest the Holy Spirit has grown in my heart. I then laughed in the enemy's face because I thought I was the idiot for not reading that verse, but really, he's the big idiot around here.

Can you see it now? Starring on the Big Loser...... Lucy, the enemy! Okay... I'm done now. :)

I love you all and would love to read/hear victory stories that you've experienced! It's so exciting to hear stories of the Lord winning and our enemy getting his can.

MY GLORIOUS REFLECTION

I love my new identity. From when I was birthed from my mother's "garage" to this very day, I have had two identities; my dead self to my current life-filled self.

I hear all the time from people statements like...

"I wish I didn't have to be this way anymore..."

"I want to be more like that person..."

Whatever it is, there is a deep, deep heart cry within people that wishes to be different. And that difference Paul understood... that difference, Jesus strongly understood. He not only understood it, he created the difference.

From when I was an infant until I was nineteen years old, I was dead. I didn't go to church as a child (much) and I really never heard the gospel throughout those days. My early teenage years was filled with disobedience and a sexually immoral lifestyle. Later I came to know of Christ and accepted him in to my life, but lived a carnal lifestyle (accepted Jesus as my Savior, but lived in the shadows of my past sin).

The Spirit created in me my new identity, which I have been living in for nearly four years. I was in Romania and was sick of struggling with sexually-immoral sin. I was sitting on a bench outside the church that I helped build, surrounded by the aroma and singing of Romanian farm life, and the everyday Romanian dialect that echoed for hundreds of feet, which consisted of children's voices and lost parents fighting about who knows what.

From that day forward, I was freed from my past sin. God partnered with the Holy Spirit to empower me to break free! Just as Paul writes in chapter three of Corinthians... "For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom." The beauty of this verse is the context. Paul, in his extravagent wisdom, uses the illustration of the old convent (the law) and new covenant (santification from Jesus)....

"He has made us competent as ministers of a new convenant- not of the letter (aka. the law) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

AHHH!!! Life is calling me so I'm going to end with this...

Life is hard. There is no promise that life will be easy when following Jesus. In fact, I believe there is more of a promise that life will be harder when following Jesus. But with the empowerment of the Spirit, life on earth becomes easier, more rewarding, and full of love. For Paul finishes chapter three of 2 Cor with...

"And we, who with unveiled faces ALL REFLECT the LORD'S GLORY, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (v.18)

As we follow Jesus, endure hardships with the glory of the Lord, we ALL reflect His glory to the world. We all have access to a new identity and that identity is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit's Glory.