Failure

I just become really annoyed sometimes, at myself. Why did the God of the Universe, all-powerful, all-knowing, allow me to have a sin complex. It is something that almost eats at the skin on my bones. I try to strip it off, but it is useless for it seems to jump back onto me. Out of all the things in my life to have to worry about, SIN. I can't stand it anymore. I get up every morning ready to do mighty works for God. I go to bed at night at the brink of tears, wondering where this failure really started. Is it in my head, addiction, or just plain human nature on my part. I only pray that one day, God completely strips me of this burdensome package I carry. I have in the past entertained thoughts of entire sanctification as a Wesleyan minister in training, but every time I thought it was close, I only find that it seems so far away. Every time I have come within eyesight of a perfect day, I find some way to fail, and that's when I cannot seem to make it through my day. What an annoying little pest. Like a termite or a cockroach, hidden inside the walls of our lives. When you see one little bit of the many, you know the number of them is much larger and hidden deep within. Lord, helps us all with this horrible sickness.

Believing and Obeying

Sometimes, I wonder when we drew a line between believing and obeying as Christians. Yes, they are two distinct actions. However, God's passion is for is to always allow the two to work as one. We have come to an era when you can either believe or obey in order to be saved. That is the most extreme fallacy in our culture today. The Bible is very repetitive on the issue of believing and obey. The two are always to be together. On one hand, to believe and not obey is to lie to God. We perform a lip service, to claim to be what we are not. This two-faced bologna is straight from hell itself. On the other hand, to obey and not believe is almost lying to ourselves if not doing just that. It is the true meaning of hypocrisy in the bible. Hypocrit was used for the Pharisees. The Greek word originally used to label the Grecian actors in the past. This is a danger for ourselves and frustrates God. It is a danger for us, for we are only fooling ourselves into believing we are heaven bound. Jesus became frustrated with the pharisees on this issue. They tried to obey the Law, but without truely trusting God. Doing this only brings human interpretation and self-imposed righteousness. This can only deny us grace, for it is not we who supply grace to ourselves, but God to us. America is obviously resting on human interpretations. The Kingdom of Heaven is once again under attack, and who would have thought that once again, it was from the inside, with ideas that have been haunting us for almost two-thousand years.

Unity, not strife

I often wonder where the modern church is heading these days. I can only speak for the congregations I have seen. I can also speak for my college, since it is a privately run, christian oriented organization. As I walk the campus sometimes, I wonder if we live up to what we are meant to live up to. We seek too often to find individuality, but is individuality the reason for existence. The truth cannot be denied, no one has survived a complete and joyful man being separated from the rest of the world. We are better served by staying together. If you look at the struggles of people who attempted to exist alone and be revolutionary in their efforts, they appear as fools when compared to the united who actually revolutionized events in history. Christians can bring about a revolution in the thoughts of men. Our love is crucial, especially of each other. We will be judged by our love. Disunity is the tool of Satan and his kingdom. When believers are separated, Satan and his demons are pleased. As we bicker and argue about who is right or who is wrong, we lose focus on Christ and the salvation of man. What are we then? Certainly not the loving believers that the Lord has called us to be, and in that, WE CONDEMN OURSELVES AND THE REST OF THE CHURCH. Let us then love. Let us settle the differences. Let us truely seek who is right through studying scripture. If there is anything that we still disagree on, then let us wait on the Spirit to instruct us in the matter. There will always be the King who unites us. Let us be united in scriptures, and not be separated by our biased interpretations. Read to be changed; don't change what you read.

Precious Life

Is life so special? Should we seek to live and not have to fear the death which waits for us around an unknown corner? It seems as if we wait for the day we die and plan around it. Life is made up of so much more. Death is merely an ending of a life meant to be fulfilled. I have recently had a friend loose a brother who was my age, twenty years old. Life can be so short. Life is unpredictable. When I die, I want to say two things. One is that I lived so that no one could even slightly doubt my love and faith, the second and most important is that I lived so that God could not even question that I loved Him and had faith in him. Oh how I wish I could go back and change things that I have done. My life has been filled with regrets. I want to live, to give, to love, and dance like I could never do it again.
So many now are questioning the way we handle life. One thing must drive us in the decisions about life, and that is to realize that life has purpose. We should see God's will being fulfilled through every life.
My prayers go out to the Schrum family who lost a son on this lamentable day. This young, according to what I have heard, was close to my age. I mourn this loss within the church. May you all grow stronger in the Lord through this. Keep the faith.