Determined to Think

Wonder of Worship

2009-07-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

"Man is by nature a religious entity. He finds objects or persons to worship and will ultimately reflect that object. It is for this reason that authentic worship is pivotal for the Christian's life. True worship pulls together my conscience, heart, mind, imagination, and will. When these coalesce in unified expression, life finds its meaning."
[Ravi Zacharias]

It is contended by the leading Christian evangelist and apologist above that worship is absolutely crucial to finding meaning in life. And why wouldn't it be when, as Dr. David Jeremiah puts it, it is the "essential task that connects my temporal life with my eternal one"? Our eternal lives - the lives we are given by our infinite creator after we pass on here - will be spent in worship. Blissful, perfect, absolute worship. Directed to and for a God whose holiness we cannot even fathom. And maybe, when we realize His holiness is beyond our capacity to understand - maybe then, we'll realize how worthy He is of our worship.

"The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD;
A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him?"
[Psalms 89:5-7]

We see passages of scripture meant to grab our hearts and make us wonder at the splendor of the Lord. In the three verses above alone, we see how marvelous He really should be to us. How often do we overlook it? How many times have we read Psalms that highlight His true awesomeness and hardly give it a second thought?
In just the passage above, we find Him to be:

Wondrous. [amazing, inspiring awe, to be marvelled]

Faithful. [steadfast in affection or allegiance]

Holy. [associated with a divine power]

Incomparable. [so much better than another as to be beyond comparison; matchless or unsurpassed; not able to be compared]

Beyond mighty. [having or showing more than great strength or force or intensity]

Greatly feared. [to be profoundly respected]

Awesome above all. [inspiring awe or admiration or wonder]

The thing is, even when we think about it, even when we dwell on it, even when we try hard - we cannot fathom how worthy our Holy Father is of worship. Not alone. Not, ironically enough, without Him.
We can define words like awesome and holy and mighty and we're only putting limits on the depth of His significance. It's almost as if our sincerest worship can only be put into words if it's put into questions expressing our incompetency to understand His holiness. Lyrics of a song from Addison Road ask:

If You touched my face, would I know You?
Looked into my eyes, could I behold You?

What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood but the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life its name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
On earth and heaven above - what do I know of this love?
What do I know of Holy?

What do we know? As cursed, finite, sinful human beings - we really know nothing. If we knew, we'd be staggered. We'd be left breathless - every single time we actually gave thought as to Who it is we pray to and rely on. The same song goes on to say:

Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be. The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees.

That's a taste of how it would be. We would get just a peek at Who God really is and we'd hit our knees so fast we'd hurt them. I believe the key element to engaging in consistent, constant, sincere worship is the knowledge of just Who He is, every bit as much as what He's done for us. R.C. Sproul said, "If our knowledge of God is superficial, our worship will be superficial." So fortunately for us, He has already promised us that if we continually seek Him, He will make Himself known to us. We can know Who He is. We can come to grips with His awesomeness. We can realize how worthy He is. We can long to worship Him. It can transform us.

There will still be things we can never know on this planet about the Lord of hosts. Things that do not come to reveal themselves even if we do find ourselves with an understanding of His grander. But G.K. Chesterton points out that, "When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity. We exult in its very invisibility." (He also goes on to say, "Thus, for instance, when a man is in love with a woman he takes special pleasure in the fact that a woman is unreasonable." But that is quite beside the point.) We can learn to exult in even the things of God that we cannot comprehend or envision, and perhaps, even more so than the things that we can, for incomprehensible virtue and unknown extents of perfection are part of what makes the very essence of God. And very much what confirms for us time and again that we are not worthy of Him, but He - our lives and our worship.

While the very essence of worship is selfless, humble and generous, there are personal benefits. When we learn to worship with our whole heart and mind, in spirit and in truth, we find meaning. Meaning that goes beyond even tomorrow. Meaning that carries us as we unceasingly praise and serve and idolize a God so holy we cannot even compare Him to anything else that brings us pleasure.

See what the following men of God have to say.

"If you do not know how to worship Him in spirit and in truth... even God will disappoint you." - Ravi Zacharias

"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven." -A.W. Tozer

"Your heart's desire, even if you haven't realized it, is to live every moment in the wonder of worship." - David Jeremiah

"God's training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint." - Oswald Chambers

"A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness." - Oswald Chambers

"Worship is the highest elevation of the spirit, and yet the lowliest prostration of the soul." - Charles H. Spurgeon

"We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God." - A.W. Tozer

As far as how to worship?
Oswald Chambers put it this way. "Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship."
Think of what that can be applied to! Try - everything?
Oh yes. Everything.

Something that should consume everything we do and everything we know is something that we ought to seriously pray for the strength and endurance to apply to our lives whole-heartedly. For Him. Where could greater meaning for the Christian be found?

"There's only one thing that's given me the strength to know not to be greedy for the things of this world, and not to be proud even in a moment's glory. It is when worship has bound every ability and anchored it in sacredness and it is the greatest expression of your life and mine... ...The most precious time of every day to me - is that early morning hours, when the Word is open, when the hymn book is open, when - strains go through the heart to think of His grander, when truth enters the mind. If there is one message I want you to take to heart (this week), it is this one. Make worship the greatest pursuit - of your life." [Ravi Zacharias]

Let His People Pray

2008-11-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

One of my all time favorite quotes from apologist and evangelist, Ravi Zacharias, tells a person that if they are a praying Christian, their faith in Christ will carry them. If they are not a praying Christian, they will have to carry that faith. And it becomes exhausting to carry the infinite.
I believe, particularly after the results of the election last night, that our nation is ignorant about the trouble it is in, and blind to the dangers of the wickedness around it. I cannot illustrate that point thoroughly enough in any fathomable way. But I do hope and pray that we as beleivers in this country do not fall into the trap of believing we are exempt from these dangers as long as we are doing nothing about the wrong-doing initiating them. We must stand strong. We must not back down. And we must pray.

Never Leave Your Partner Behind.

2008-09-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

FIREPROOF REVIEW ***spoilers beware***

Dad and I went to see FIREPROOF tonight. I see now how people could be saved in the theater. The gospel message was laid out incredibly well, with a toss of the 'Way of the Master' approach.
Caleb Holt is a respected captain of the fire department that longs for one of a few things.
Respect in his own home. His wife is, for SOME reason, embittered against him. He's addicted to impurities of the Internet and saving up to buy a boat when other things at home could use fixing, according to Katherine. He certainly doesn't care a jot that she's visiting her parents every week, trying to come up with the money to get her stroke-victim mother a new wheel chair and hospital bed.
A blowout early in the movie prompts a try at divorce.
And Caleb is so ready for a divorce.
Until his father comes to visit and urges him to give something a try. A challenge.
The Love Dare.
Forty days. That's all it takes. "Just try it."
So Caleb, just for his father, tries it.
He bites back unkind remarks, pours his wife her coffee, buys her flowers. And what does he get?
Rejection.
She knows what he's doing anyway. He's "buttering (her) up for a divorce." That way he can get more than his fair share of what's divided after the divorce is final. Katherine's so not buying into that.
Besides. She's got a man at the hospital she works at treating her better than Caleb has in years.
She tells her husband flat out - she doesn't love him any more.
Caleb's more than ready to give up. More than once. Every time, his dad encourages him to stick with it. To try. His son isn't a quitter and he's only doing enough to get by. He's not all the way through with the dare yet anyway.
If he'd just put his heart into it...
But he can't!
How can he keep on loving someone, over and over and over, when they're only slapping him in the face?
He asks his father that very thing.
And his father, leaning against a wooden cross in the middle of the park they're walking through, says, "That's a good question."
Caleb doesn't want to see it. He's a good person! But not by God's high standards. And He's spit in God's face so many times. Rejected Christ over and over again.
And yet Christ loves him.
And if he can't accept that... if he can't take that love... how can he give it to his wife?
He does take that love. There with his father, he accepts the love and forgiveness Christ offers.
And then goes home. Not to tell his wife. But to try harder.
She's still not buying it.
He continues trying.
She begins to notice, but she's so confused. What's with his change all of a sudden?
He never cared before!
Even after he tells her what's changed him, after he gets down on his knees next to her bed and apologizes, she's still not sure. She needs time. Time to think.
He gives her all she needs.
When she finds out the money he'd been saving for a boat is gone - because it was spent by him to purchase her mother the equipment she needed, she doesn't need any more time.
She cries. She dresses up. She goes down to that fire station.
And she tells him she forgives him. And she loves him.
And they kiss. (And an interesting note here is that this is the only kissing scene, and the woman Kirk Cameron is kissing is his actual wife! She subbed in for that clip wearing the same clothes the actress that played his wife wore. This can be attributed to Cameron's own commitment to never kiss a woman other than his bride. Even on stage.)

Music pieces were used well in the film, I thought. Some of Third Day could be heard in the beginning as Caleb worked out in a couple scenes.
Casting Crowns' "Slow Fade," was played during a mix of scenes where Katherine is growing closer to the doctor at the hospital and Caleb is ready to quit altogether.
And Warren Barfield finishes off the movie with "Love is Not a Fight."

In one scene after Caleb's salvation, he's looking at boats on the Internet and an ad pops up, taunting him with a taste of pornography. He's in turmoil, caught between the temptation to click and lust, and do the right thing.
He ends up taking his computer outside and smashing it into pieces. When his wife gets home, she finds a vase of roses at his computer desk with a card. The card reads simply, "I love you more."
That's not what cuts it though, and I appreciate that in this film, there was no magic bubble gum moment that fixed everything before they actually got roughed up in the rocks. It was a long, drawn out, ugly, horrible fight first. Dead ends and set backs along the way to the point that one wondered if there would be a happy ending at all. But God is so much bigger than that.

There were fighting scenes. There were rescue scenes. There were funny scenes. There were touching scenes.
It made me laugh and cry and think.

My dad liked it too.

The Dying Art of Thinking

2008-09-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

The following is an article by one of my heroes of the faith, Ravi Zacharias. Anything in bold is emphasized by me and probably something I found important, especially interesting, or somehow sadly amusing. Please take a moment to read.
And think.

The 17th-century French philosopher Rene Descartes (pronounced Day-Kart) is best known for his dictum, "I think, therefore, I am." A cynic may well quip that Descartes actually put des cart before des horse, because all he could have legitimately deduced was, "I think, therefore, thinking exists." I do not intend to defend or counter Cartesian philosophy; I only wish to underscore that thinking has much to do with life and certainty.
One of the tragic casualties of our age has been that of the contemplative life—a life that thinks, thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks God's thoughts after Him.

A person sitting at his desk and staring out of the window would never be assumed to be working. No! Thinking is not equated with work. Yet, had Newton under his tree, or Archimedes in his bathtub bought into that prejudice, some natural laws would still be up in the air, or buried under an immovable rock. Pascal's Pensees, a work that has inspired millions, would have never been penned.

The Bible places supreme value in the thought life. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," Solomon wrote. Jesus asserted that sin's gravity lay in the idea itself, not just the act. Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind of Christ, and to the same people he wrote, "Whatever is true . . . pure . . . if there be any virtue . . . think on these things."

The follower of Christ must demonstrate to the world what it is not just to think, but to think justly. But how does one manage this in a culture where progress is determined by pace and defined by quantity?

What is even more destructive is that the greatest demand comes from neither speed nor quantity, but rather from the assumption that silence is inimical to life.

The radio in the car, Muzak in the elevator, and the symphony entertaining the "on hold" callers add up as impediments to personal reflection. In effect, the mind is denied the privilege of living with itself even briefly, and is crowded with outside impulses to cope with aloneness.

Aldous Huxley's indictment, "Most of one's life . . . is one prolonged effort to prevent thinking", seems frightfully true. The price paid for this scenario has been devastating. T. S. Eliot observed:

"Where is the life we have lost in the living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information ?

The cycles of heaven in twenty centuries

bring us farther from God and nearer to dust."

Is there a remedy? May I make some suggestions for personal and corporate benefit?

Study God's Word

Nothing ranks higher for mental discipline than a planned and systematic study of God's Word, from whence life's parameters and values are planted in the mind. Paul, who loved his books and parchments, affirmed the priority of Scripture: "Do not go beyond what is written." Psalm 119 promises that God's statutes keep us from being double-minded.

Read Great Books

The English-speaking world is endowed with a wealth of books. But much contemporary literature comes perilously close to a promiscuous religion with an appeal for the "feel better" syndrome, rather than the impetus to "go deeper."

Read authors who stretch you and introduce you to other writings as well. Great writers stimulate your capacity to think beyond their ideas, spawning fresh insights and extensions of your own. Good reading is indispensable to impartation of truth. An expenditure of words without the income of ideas leads to conceptual bankruptcy.

Challenge the Mind

The church as a whole, and the pulpit in particular, must challenge the mind of this generation, else we betray our trust. The average young person today actually surrenders the intellect to the world, presuming Christianity to be bereft of it. Many a pulpit has succumbed to the lie that anything intellectual cannot be spiritual or exciting.

Thankfully there are exceptions. When living in England, our family attended a church pastored by Roy Clements, one of the finest preachers in the western world. Every Sunday at two morning services he preached a one-hour sermon to a packed auditorium.

Cambridge, being rife with skepticism, demanded a meticulous defense of each sermon text from the assaults of liberalism. An introduction of a technical nature would take up to 15 minutes of his time before he entered into the heart of his message.

I mention this to say one thing. When we were leaving Cambridge, Nathan, who was nine years old, declared the preaching of Roy Clements to be one of his fondest memories. Even as a little boy he had learned that when the mind is rightly approached, it filters down to the heart. The matter I share here has far-reaching implications. We do a disservice to our youth by not crediting them with the capacity to think. We cannot leave this uncorrected.

This is our first issue of Just Thinking. It is our hope that this newsletter will challenge your mind and stir your heart. After all, it is not that I think, therefore, I am, but rather, the Great I Am has asked us to think, and therefore, we must. And we must serve Him with all our minds.

How true is it that so many of us are feeling coerced into the refusal to think? To contemplate? To meditate, to question, to wonder. In a world that pushes that truth is relative and everything but intolerance must be tolerated, I must agree - thinking is a dying art.
Dare to think anyway. Think. Think a lot. Think hard.
Think for God.

Treating Bibles Like Cell Phones

2008-09-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

How should we treat our Bibles? Upon discovering I forgot to bring my bag in last night, I ran out to my car to pull my Bible out of my backpack. It was in the large front pouch under a Left Behind book I'd stuffed in there yesterday before class started. Apparently, I'd laid my bag down wrong and then pulled out the Bible somewhat mangled, a good portion of the pages bent in and stiffened that way.
It's a special Bible to me, one I bought with the money from my dad for my eighteenth birthday last year. I bring it with me most places. It's in my backpack when I'm at school, my overnight bag when I travel anywhere, my car when I go babysitting. It's almost become like a security thing. Like my license when I'm driving. I intend to get a case for it, now that I've discovered the easy damage that can be done to it (as if I've never before). Leather-bounds are not indestructible by any means.
At any rate, carrying it back up the stairs to my room, I asked myself aloud, "How should we treat our Bibles?"
Some people literally worship them. Others have one they haven't seen in months or years collecting dust in a closet somewhere.
It's the word of God. It's His letter to us. It's one of our strongest and most reliable ways of hearing what God has to tell and share with us. We know that. What else is it?

Holy.
Innerant.

How should we treat something holy and innerant?

A google search 'what is the Bible?' brings up...

"Bible refers to respective collections of religious writings of Judaism and of Christianity."

"The Bible is the account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation."

"The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by about 40 authors, in three different languages, on three different continents, over approximately 1600 years."

"This amazing book, the Bible, is the source of truth, the standard for meaningful life, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the key to true freedom and liberty, and true food for man's soul."

I tend to like the last one.

And just to see what came up, I googled how to treat a Bible and found it interesting how many links popped up saying something along the lines of treating it like you treat your cell phone! There's something to think about.
I rolled my eyes at first, but ponder it a moment! How many people carry their cell phone absolutely everywhere, use it during a vast array of their personal dispositions and absolutely insist they could not live without it? If I looked at my Bible like a good number of my friends look at their cell phone... well. I might get into a car accident.
But that aside - I'd have a whole new approach to the way I studied and dug into the very word of the one that gave me the air I'm breathing as I type.
Bible study wouldn't really be the traditional definition of study. It would be natural. It would be a constant.
It wouldn't be laborously scheduled or tedious.
It would keep me going.

It would change my life.

FIREPROOF

2008-09-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Kirk Cameron. Remember him from Growing Pains... that series from way back? What was it, a Disney series?
I know him better now from his association with Way of the Master ministries.
But now, he's in a new movie coming out.
From the makers of Face the Giants...
See Fireproof.
Opening in theaters this Friday. September 26th.

McCain Chooses Palin. Palin Chooses Life!

2008-08-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

I received an email today from the Wisconsin Right to Life, adequately summing up one of the reasons I'm happy with McCain's selection for a running mate.

The state's leading right-to-life organization today is praising Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

"We are elated that Sen. McCain has chosen Governor Sarah Palin," said Susan Armacost, Legislative/PAC Director for Wisconsin Right to Life. "She is a dynamic and extremely popular governor. But it is in her private life that Governor Palin has shown extraordinary strength of character."

Governor Palin is an ardent right-to-lifer. Proof positive of that came with the recent birth of her fifth child. Palin learned the child she was carrying had Down syndrome. Unphased, Palin didn't even remotely consider abortion which is the fate of over 90% of children diagnosed in utero with this condition.
McCain himself has been very positive about his right-to-life convictions. People will remember well the Saddleback Church interviews where both candidates were asked when does a child receive human rights. Obama gave an incredibly shocking response -- he said it was "above his pay grade." McCain didn't hesitate, responding "at the moment of conception."

In a radio address this past Saturday, McCain said: "If I am President, advancing the cause of life will not be above my pay grade." McCain also took Obama to task for his infanticide votes as an Illinois state senator.

"We are thrilled to have a complete team that right-to-lifers can wholeheartedly support," said Armacost.

Please keep both presidential candidates as well as their running mates - and the unborn lives around the nation - in prayer as we near the upcoming elections.

Trade: Your Dreams for His.

2008-08-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

God doesn't need you.

He wants you.

For Christ

2008-08-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

"If the Christian faith cannot be defended, then why even bother proclaiming it?"
-Ravi Zacharias

And if we are not willing to boldly and publicly claim and defend our faith, then why even bother proclaiming it in the privacy of our homes and hearts?
Are we so scared, so intimidated by the world that we cannot see their truest need?
If there's a life, any life at all out there, that I feel a tugging for, hear a voice from the Lord over, telling me to reach out to them. To witness. To speak out in the name of Christ. If I don't do it, if I simply leave that life alone, am I not guilty of murder? If I walk into a public setting and all eyes are on me, waiting to hear about me, waiting for me to introduce myself, what do I say? What should I say? How much is too much right off the bat to share about one's faith without watering it down?? Why does it have to be so horridly complicated?
It doesn't.
If we'd just be willing to let the lion out of the cage, it will take care of itself. If we'd just be willing to share what we know from the word, or sew the seed - God's got the rest under control. We won't be penalized for forgetting that perfect line of scripture during the moment of sharing. We won't be rewarded anything greater for stressing before hand. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and a sincere giver. And he wants us to be bold. Cheerful, sincere, bold sharers of the Word of God should not be all too hard to find. I don't want them to be impossible to find, certainly not in the places I go. Many times, if I am not one of them in the places I visit, they will be nonexistent.
Sometimes, I might be the only one.
But that's okay. Christ was the only one willing to give His perfect life up - for me.
Despite the pain and humiliation He suffered for it.
It's yet another redundant point that really should sink more deeply than it does.
No more hiding, shying away or backing down.
Stand up and speak up.

Unfinished Poetry & Passion Prayed For

2008-06-15T22:01:00.001-07:00

Driven to tears by the need to catch flame.
The longing for passion. Nothing weak, nothing tame.
All of Your love, Your heart, Your fire.
I want You to be my only desire.
No one else do I need to impress.
Completely You Lord and no one less.
Needing Your strength to regain that zeal.
Hating that feeling that I cannot feel.
What does it take to be submerged once again?
To regrasp that feeling I'll endure till the end?

Someone, somewhere, right now - is struggling. A battle for their very eternal soul is taking place. A battle that will ultimately lead that soul to never ending torment or everlasting bliss.
Why then, would I rather do other things than fall to my knees at my bedside and intervene in heavy prayer for that soul?
Why am I so like Paul in doing those things which I hate doing and refusing to do that which I know I ought to?
Why is there a war in me as great as the battle I feel so very little over?
Christ doesn't call us to be like Him when it's convenient, pleasant, or otherwise rewarding. He calls us to be like Him at all times. When that means turning off the video games, shutting the novels we're so heavily into, turning our eyes from the T.V. or computer screen, we ought to be more than willing to.
There's more to life than the immediate high, fast fun or human pleasures.
There's more to life than life. There's eternity. Souls that will last for all eternity.
When we're not doing anything and everything we can to jump into the battle directly, by direct witnessing and working to win souls, we ought to be on our knees for those that are when we feel compelled to be.
No matter how we feel. No matter what we'd rather be doing.
There's one fire that will last a life time and beyond.
And it certainly doesn't come from anything we're doing for quick and easy entertainment.

Seeing Mark Schultz - recommended.

2008-06-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Seeing Mark Schultz was amazing. The man is amazing. I remember hearing "He's My Son" about - five years ago. Falling in love with it once I understood it. Then falling in love with him. His music. His voice. His songs. His stories. His stories through his songs. And then what I could catch of him OFF the stage and away from the mike - through interviews and youtube vids of his bike ride across America.
I'd never imagined I'd actually see him perform. I'm not a concert-attending girl.
But two months ago when I learned he was going to be in town - I knew I was going. Well, I knew I was going to do everything in my power to - and Lord willing - I was going.
And then Saturday night when I saw him, I was not disappointed.
Funny. Friendly. Talented. I about cried.
It's a long story about how I ended up having to run to the stage to catch him for his first song, but I didn't get a bad deal, really. Close up. Standing there. Singing and clapping along to every song.
Now I'm only depressed it's ended. I didn't want it to end.
But I thank the Lord for what I did get.

I AM.
HE WILL CARRY ME.
I BELIEVE IN YOU. (GOD OF LIFE)
LETTERS FROM WAR.
I HAVE BEEN THERE.
RUNNIN JUST TO CATCH MYSELF
WALKING HER HOME
BROKEN AND BEAUTIFUL
BACK IN HIS ARMS AGAIN
BRAND NEW ONE ABOUT BABY - UNKNOWN TITLE
OPEN THE EYES TO MY HEART LORD
2 PRAISE SONGS - OLD SONG (COUNTRY)

There was also a somewhat local band there that both my good friend and I enjoyed listening to and meeting. We believe they deserve support and prayer for God's blessings.
Young, talented, godly men with a passion for music and the Lord - check out Lightswitch.

Back to Collosians 3:23

2008-05-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

"And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all for the glory of God, rather than for men."
When a resolve has been planted in our hearts to do what is right, we must never mistake that fruit for something we conjured up completely on our own. Any true goodness in us comes from the innate knowledge that there is a God, and that there is a right and a wrong.
For us as believers, we know that any true goodness in us comes more specifically from the God of the Bible and the desire to please Him.
But how often do you suppose we let our encouragement and boldness come from sources outside of the Lord Himself?
How often do we let ourselves become incredibley inspired by people, rather than Jesus Christ?
There's no doubt that God can and does use His children to light the world up and lead by example. No doubt that He can use people to really make a difference in the lives of others.
But when we start to do what we do because Ravi Zacharias or any other God-blessed Christian leader says it's a good thing to do, and for not much more of a reason, we have fallen into the trap of pleasing men, instead of doing all that we do for the glory of God.
I've come to a place in the recent months where I see a vastly growing number of young people lit up and on fire for our Lord and Saviour. However, whether in my typical cynical nature or not, I often see these young people carrying the flames that were lit by an appointed human leader, rather than the Christ they claim to be on fire for.
It's as though they do all that they do, have become who they have become, because it is popular with someone whom they have looked at as an example.
While not quite brushing God off altogether, they have seemed to replace Him in the Lord department.
They relabel themselves. Come up with new names to fit new, unique groups that, while many times doing a remarkable job of staying focused on Christ, often place the credit for all that they do on the fact that they are part of this new nation-sweeper, rather than the fact that they are part of the body of Christ.
Christians.
Has the term Christian become used so flippantly and casually that we as true followers of Christ are afraid to use it? Afraid that people will mistake us for all other, not-so-zealous professing "Christians"? (or for other reasons)
Sometimes, I'm afraid it has.
But it's the name God, the Lord, and His Son Jesus Christ gave to us that seek to please and eminate Him.
Let's take it back and show the world what passionate, real Christians can do, given the grace and strength that Christ Himself provides.

And whatever you do... [even if it's writing]

2008-04-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Addicted. Obsessed. Passionate.
Three words of many that could very easily be put in the same sentence with the words "Val" and "writing".
I've noticed it takes a physical toll as well - when one is so very wrapped up in a story and the plight of their characters that they become a part of it. Feeling every blow and mountain top experience right along with the people they've created and found to come to life.
It makes me wonder how many others there are out there like me.
Writers that have nothing published and don't know if they ever will - and yet they write. All the time. For fun. For enjoyment. For deeper reasons.
With stories and characters they've come to think of as family or good friends. As crazy as it may sound to others.

There are nights when I stay up until the sun shows through the windows because I've been typing up a scene or writing in my bed and lost track of time.
The way the story and the characters have the ability to take their writer to another place is - surreal, as corny as it may sound.

I believe with all my heart that God has planted this desire and love for writing inside of me. And that as long as I used it for His glory, incredible things can most definitely come from it.

-Collosians 3:17

Six months. Two to five things???

2008-04-22T13:31:00.001-07:00

I was going to post the lyrics to a song. I'm having trouble believing that the lyrics to Chris Sligh's "Empty Me" are nowhere to be found when googled. But that's okay.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing
My heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you

We were asked that almost-redundant question during psychology today.
If you were given six months to live, what are two to five things you would do?
And off the top of my head, I wrote that I'd take my little sister to the park. That I'd scrapbook with my mother and go fishing with my brother and my dad. That I'd write to everyone I know. That I'd find a missions trip or so to be a part of. That I'd stand to fight for something I believe in.
What's sad - and probably also a redundant point - is that these are things I think to do when faced with a limited time to ever do anything on this planet again.
And what's bigger? What's bigger than loving and adoring and spending time with your family?
God's bigger. His Kingdom is bigger. But family is part of that.
So the right question really isn't, "What are a number of things you would do?" It's... how would you live?
And the most-likely correct answer would be... like I should live. Like I should live, every day - regardless of whether I've got a lot of time left or not.

What IF His people prayed?

2008-04-18T11:15:00.001-07:00

Typically, I'm not into heavier music or rock of any sort, but from my point of view, Casting Crowns has a way of taking the edge out of rock and making it more passionate than partyish. I'm somewhat tired of seeing all of the Youtube comments on this song turn into some debate or Oprah-bashing brigade and would just rather see people get the point of the song.

What if the armies of the Lord
Picked up and dusted off their swords
Vowed to set the captive free
And not let satan have one more
What if the Church, for heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate
Took a stand upon God's promise
And stormed hell's rusty gates

Chorus I:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face, yeah
And turn from their old ways

And what would happen if we prayed
For those raised up to lead the way
Then maybe kids in school could pray
And unborn children see light of day
What if the life that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth
What if the family turned to Jesus
Stopped asking Oprah what to do

Chorus II:
He said that He would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear, yeah
If only we would pray

Bridge:
If My people call by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray
If My people call by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray...

That bridge - 2 Corinthians 7:14 - "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

And with the culture war raging on, unborn babies being slaughtered, churches crumbling, homosexuality being embraced, and God's Word being disowned and destroyed, it's terrifying to think of where this country will be if the people that claim to be followers of Christ quit turning to Christ.
We can fight what's wrong with our words and petitions and protests all we want - but we won't have the Lord on our side to heal this nation until we start fighting on our knees. With prayer.

Closing question : Do you suppose it's more the fault of God's compromising or even lazy children, as opposed to the open athiests and unbelievers, that this country is where it's at?

What do you think of God's will?

2008-04-17T13:12:00.001-07:00

I was thinking out loud and rambling in the car this morning about the general "subject" (for lack of a better word) of God's will.
If someone asked you the broad question, "What do you think of God's will?" and any answer was acceptable, what would your initial answer/reaction be?
I started somewhere with my thoughts and eventually led myself into thinking about how it seems like Christians look at God's will, conciously or not, as the sort of plan for their life. That divine blue print that will eventually come into play. "God's will for (my) life" typically is thought of as something that's yet to be seen. Something that we'll probably only be able to look back on in the distant future.
We talk about God's will for our life a lot. We pray that He'll show it to us.
But how many times a year do we wake up in the morning and wonder what God's will is for us - for today? Specifically? How many times do we pray in the morning, "Lord, show me your will for me today."
Maybe it's just me. But I don't do that. It's typically more something like, "God, if You could use me somehow today, that would be great. Just show me how."
And never really get to asking Him to show me His day's plan for me. And I think they're two different things.
But that leads me down a whole nother trail.
What is God's will? Not specifically. Is there a specific will of God? Or is it all relative and general?
As in... Is anything we do that is not against Him or His Word in His will? So long as we're doing it for Him, to further His Kingdom?
This would create multipe options, scenarios and oppurtunities and take away the strain of finding that one right blue print for our lives set by God.

I could go on. I'm afraid I already may have created a certain illusion as to just what I believe on this topic when perhaps if I wrote about the same thing tomorrow, anyone that read it would get a very different impression.
Maybe that's what happens when I'm sleep-deprived, slightly overwhelmed with school work and need food in my system.
I'm going to go home and eat.

Autosavers! =)

2008-04-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm slightly confused. But I think it's really cool that Blogger has a draft autosaver... I always found that handy with gmail.