Can I Really Gain Victory Over Sin?

If you struggle with the same sins over and over again, it is tempting to believe that you will never see victory this side of Heaven. Even many modern Christian voices (in the form of Christian books, Christian music, and Christian messages) tell us that being enslaved to sin is part of a normal Christian existence.

Of course, if we try to overcome the power of sin in our own strength and determination, we will fail every time. Only one power is strong enough to defeat sin- the power of God. The secret to gaining victory over sin is to allow Jesus Christ to overtake our being and to yield to His supernatural, enabling power within us.

Grace, as defined in the New Testament, is not merely the "hug" or acceptance of God. Grace is the enabling power of God to accomplish on our behalf what we are incapable of accomplishing on our own. There are about one hundred verses in the Bible that define grace in this way. Here are just a few that encourage me:

"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." -Romans 1:15

"By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds." -1 Corinthians 3:10

"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." -2 Corinthians 12:9

"We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." -2 Thessalonians 1:12

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." -1 Peter 5:10

Kick out the lie that you are a helpless victim who will always be enslaved to sin. You are called to live a life victorious over sin, a life that showcases the light the light of God- not through your own strength but through the strength of Christ within you, as it says in Colossians 1:27:
"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Ian Thomas, a Christian author in the twentieth century, expresses it beautifully:
"It is not a matter of doing our best for Him, but of Christ being His best in us. All that He is in all that we are. We can never have more...and need never enjoy less." (Indwelling of Christ, page 88.)

-C

Today I Cry

Today I cry.

For a mommy who took her last breath

empty armed.

No babies to hold.

Did she feel the pain?

Or did she remain numb

in her drug induced

euphoria?

My heart aches,

my eyes flood tears.

MY arms hold her flesh and blood.

I pray over,

And with,

And for,

that LITTLE ONE who does not know.

I, mommy, hold her.

She is part of me.

And I ache.

And she is my drug euphoria.

---for my Bre'---

I see beauty.

My family and I received news yesterday that my little sister's birth mother died from a drug overdose on Sunday. It has shaken us all. We knew that Bre's birth mother was a drug addict, but we all hoped and prayed she would wake up one day, and desire to hold her baby in her arms and come to accept the Lord as her Saviour. My mom wrote the poem above this morning. She is talented, and her words express all of our emotions better than I ever could.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." -Isaiah 26:3

-C

What Do You Think...

... of this statement concerning a man's role in dating/courting? -C

"It is the man's job to win the heart of the father and the daughter’s will follow."

-C

Superficial Communications

I wrote this last year as my final essay. There are some typo's, like with any writing, but I think that the message is solid. I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comment section.

Turn off your iPod, do not read that email, forego the Google search, do not enter another social event into your Palm, and ignore that text you just received. Right now is the time to stop all communications and reflect on the consequences of technology toward you and your generation. C.S Lewis’s book The Screwtape Letters captures the harsh reality of distractions:

My Dear Wormwood, I note with grave displeasure that your patient has become a Christian. Do not indulge in the hope that you will escape in the unusual penalties. Indeed, in your better moments, I trust you would hardly wish to do so. In the meantime, we must make the best of the situation. You can make your patient waste his time not only in conversation with those whom he likes, but also in conversation with those whom he cares about, on subjects that bore him. You can make him do nothing for long periods of time. All the healthy and outgoing activities, that we want him to avoid, can be inhibited and nothing given in return so that he might say, as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, “I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought, nor what I liked.”

Over the past 20 years, people have morphed technology from a useful tool that organized and simplified our lives into an addicting and crippling necessity that we cannot survive without. To be addicted is to be enslaved to a habit or practice to such an extent that it causes a severe withdrawal when removed. Relationships are critical in a person’s life but superficial relationships are detrimental. Network communications prohibits teenagers from building three critical relationships: genuine friends, family bonding and intimacy with Jesus Christ.

Network communications prohibit teenagers from building genuine friendships. Within internet relationships, social capital refers to the quantity and quality of internet relationships between people. An increase in social capital means an increase in popularity. Most teenagers believe that technology is the best way to establish and maintain those friendships. For many teens, checking MySpace or Facebook is the first and last thing they do each day. Technology venues, such as Facebook and Twitter, have provided a way to ‘network’ popularity. Companies such as Disney, Time Warner, AOL and Viacom claim to "study America’s children like laboratory rats, in order to sell them billions of dollars in merchandise by tempting them, degrading them and corrupting them…[Teens] want to be cool. They are impressionable and they have the cash. They are corporate America’s $150 billion dream." (Harris) This explains why, in the "next 60 seconds, over four million text messages will be sent; 233,000 tweets on Twitter; one million emails in route nationally and 200 million people logging into Facebook globally." (Verizon)

Welcome to the Generation of the Millennia’s, those born after the year 1980. “They are plugged-in, switched on, charged up and constantly connected to a network of digital devices and multimedia, bringing the ‘world’ to their fingertips in a way no other generation has experienced.” (Harris) According to a study conducted by Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited, “the average 13-24 years old spends a cumulative 50 hours per week talking on the phone, listening to the radio, surfing the internet and watching television.” This study does not count watching movies or communicating with friends over the internet or texting. Studies continue to show that media and technology dominate our lives. Teenagers believe that they cannot live without it.

Technology has its benefits but we must remember its limitations. “Heavy use of the internet can actually isolate younger socially connected people.” (Staples) Brent Staples, a New York Times editorial writer, stated that internet communication and text messaging can retard the personal growth that comes from learning how to interact with others in the real world. By constantly communicating through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, texting and email teenagers sacrifice “social encounters that have historically prepared young people for the move into adulthood.” (Staples) By losing the real-world experiences, they are disabling themselves to leave adolescence behind and ultimately making it difficult for them to grow into mature adults. Social scientists have labeled a new category of age: Kidult.

"In the past people moved from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood, but today there is a new, intermediate phase along the way. The years from 18 to 25 and even beyond have become a distinct and separate life stage, a strange, transitional never-ever land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, putting off the adult responsibility. These “kidults” still live with their parents and hop around from job-to-job and relationship-to-relationship. They lack direction, commitment, financial independence, and personal responsibility. They are boomerang kids, adult teenagers, and they are much more than a generational hiccup or a temporary fad." (Grossman) Teenagers certainly have accomplished one part of social capital. They have extensive friend lists, but they lack quality friendships.

Network communications prohibits teenagers from family bonding. Checking email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and text messages have turned out to be more isolating than watching television. Researchers have found that the “time spent in direct contact with family drops as much as half for every hour a teenager uses the internet [this includes text messaging] to communicate.” (Staples)

Teens allow internet communications to replace face-to-face interactions with their families. A recent study from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University has shown that heavy internet communications can have strong effects on the home. ‘Well-connected’ teenagers have actually “lost friends, experienced symptoms of loneliness and depression and feel empty and emotionally frustrated.” Professor Robert Kraut, from Carnegie Mellon, commented “such people allowed low-quality relationships developed in a virtual reality to replace higher-quality relationships in the real world” like those found in one’s family.

Due to internet communications and text messaging, teenagers have succeeded in shielding their social lives from adult scrutiny. Teenagers have developed their own “language”, a dictionary of codes or abbreviations used in texting. These codes allow teens to secretly warn one another when the ‘enemy’ abounds: CD9 meaning code nine parent around; P911 meaning alert- parents coming; PIR means parent in room and lastly PSOS means parents standing over shoulder. Parents, perceived as the enemy, are virtually clueless to these meanings. Respect and reverence for parental authority has been lost in cyberspace only to be replaced by internet savvy youth, equipped with the skills to outflank adults on the web. Ironically, however, teenage America’s obsession with their cell phones, especially with popular text messaging, could be damaging their IQ’s. A recent study conducted by Kings College London shows the average reduction of 10 IQ points due to interruptions by incoming e-mails and text messages, though temporary, is more than double the four point loss caused from smoking marijuana. Doziness, lethargy and an increasing inability to focus reached “startlingly levels.”

Network communications prohibits teenagers from building intimacy with Jesus Christ. Teenagers multitask. A study performed by Kaiser Family Foundation discovered that an average teenager packs 44-hours of activity into a 24-hour day. A recent Harrison Group study reports that teens spend more than 72 hours per week using electronic media, including the Internet, cell phones, television, music and video games. Teenagers have the ability to interact with more than one medium at a time, causing many experts to argue that the number of actual hours spent on media consumption is much higher.

Of course, multitasking can often be useful and is a truly unique ability that God has given to man; however, Christians must remember their calling. In 1 Corinthians, Paul commands Christians “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” In 1 Thessalonians Paul says that we are to “pray without ceasing.” Modern teenagers spend over 10 hours a day communicating through various electronic media in their substitute world of cyberspace. Teenagers are so preoccupied with constantly communicating in their virtual world that they do not have time remaining in a day to truly communicate with God. The constant communication Christian teens should engage in is with Jesus Christ. As David wrote in Psalm:“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation…My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long…At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.”

Modern day media can be useful devices for spreading the ‘good news’ of the gospel. great men-of-God use the internet. John Piper ‘tweets’ to the glory of God. Piper writes:

Now what about Twitter? I find Twitter to be a kind of taunt: “Okay, truth-lover, see what you can do with 140 characters! You say your mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things! Well, this is one of those ‘all things.’ Can you magnify Christ with this thimble-full of letters?” To which I respond:

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky

Puts camels through a needle’s eye.

And if his wisdom see it mete,

He will put worlds inside a tweet.

So I am not inclined to tweet that at 10AM the cat pulled the curtains down. But it might remind me that the Lion of Judah will roll up the heavens like a garment, and blow out the sun like a candle, because he just turned the light on. That tweet might distract someone from pornography and make them look up.

Teens could have a radical impact on the world if they converted the 72 hours per week on the various media to sharing the impact that God has on their daily lives; telling the world that He is real and active and returning for His people.

Teenagers’ addiction to the superficial world of cyberspace reflects a desperate need to increase their social capital by constantly being connected. Think about it: this generation of teenagers is the “first to have high-speed (wireless) Internet access. They are the first generation to widely use cell phones. They have learned to 'juggle the myriad doodads' of text messaging, search engines, PDA’s, blogs (including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter), Wi-Fi and cell phones (that try to do all the above).” (Harris) Most significantly, they have been promised bigger and better; they have been told that they ‘have not seen anything yet.’ Some people argue that teens learn responsibility by multitasking. Numerous studies show divided attention decreases productivity. One job well done is better than several jobs poorly done. Teenagers say that keeping connected increases popularity and makes them look “cool”. This argument appeals to emotion rather than evidence. One true friend is greater than hundreds of superficial friends. C.S. Lewis summarizes the effects of Christian’s distractions from the Lord in his book Screwtape Letters:

You will say that these are very small sins: Doubtless, like all other young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are, provided their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light into the nothing.

There is a tremendous need for teenagers to take a step back and reassess their generation’s necessity for technology and constant communication. Time is wasting. Network communications prohibits teenagers from building genuine friendship, family bonding, and an intimacy with Jesus Christ.

-C

Bibliography

Grossman, Lev. “Grow Up? Not So Fast” Times Magazine http://tinyurl.com/5vuea3, January 16, 2005. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Merchants of Cool: Teens, Culture, and MTV” http://tinyurl.com/ya2b6tn, March 31, 2006. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Busy Signals: Cell-ing Our Souls to Death” http://tinyurl.com/yavwepy, June 28, 2006. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Busy Signals: Our Wired Generation” http://tinyurl.com/y9buwgf, March 21, 2006. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “True Love Meets Multitasking” http://tinyurl.com/yau8u5u, August 3, 2006. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Multitasking: Mental Obesity” http://tinyurl.com/yby4zpm, July 26, 2006. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Multitasking: Brining it All Together” http://tinyurl.com/yd6uxhf. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Laptops Vs. Learning” http://tinyurl.com/yb2pr4c, August 26, 2007. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “The Myth of Adolescence Part 1” http://tinyurl.com/yahpaf4, August 19, 2005. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “The Myth of Adolescence Part 2” http://tinyurl.com/ye8w3ox, August 21, 2005. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “My iPod is My Best Friend” http://tinyurl.com/ycxqq6b, Septemeber 3, 2005. (Accessed April, 2009)

Harris, Alex and Brett. “Kidults Part Two: Peter Pans That Shave” http://tinyurl.com/ydqzagu, September 8, 2005. (Accessed April, 2009)

Piper, John. “Why and How I Am Tweeting” Desiring God Blog. http://tinyurl.com/o2cauu, June 3, 2009. (Accessed October, 2009)

Pleshette, Ann and Laura Lacy. “Cracking the Teen Texting Code” http://tinyurl.com/ybgf2s9,
June 12, 2007. (Accessed April, 2009)

Staples, Brent. “What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace” New York Times, May 29, 2004. (Accessed April, 2009)

“Text Messaging Abbreviations.” http://tinyurl.com/5o61. (Accessed April, 2009)

Too High?

I had a very extensive list of "expectations" for my Mr. Wonderful.

My list included:

- A strong Christian
- Not complacent with his spiritual life
- Hardworking/diligent
- Considerate of others
- Sense of humor
- Unique
- Sensible
- Somewhat romantic
- Respects my space
- Close to his family (and mine)
- Sporty (in shape)
- Well Respected
- Charismatic
- Willing to make himself look like a dork
- Trust worthy
- Respectful of authority
- Calls when he says he will
- Will not betray me
- Can make me laugh when I am stressed out
- Is a mentor to younger men
- Selfless
- Able to listen
- Prompt (on time)
- Has a passion for youth and desires to help them grow closer to Christ
- Optimistic
- Not a push over
- Down to earth
- Good with directions
- Consistent
- Can handle puke
- Attractive
- Charming

Quite a list, huh? I recently ditched my 'list of desires' for my Mr. Wonderful and replaced it with this one simple sentence: "I desire for my husband to be a godly young man, always striving to pursue true, mature, manliness." Eventually, my Mr. Wonderful will acquire my previous desires, if he is always striving to pursue true, mature, manliness- which is rooted in a constant relationship with Christ.

My previous list was setting unachievable expectations on my Mr. Wonderful; I was setting him up for failure. I was leaving no room for improvement. With this new "expectation," or desire, both my Mr. Wonderful and I can both grow in Christ.

You might be asking- “Wait, I thought we were supposed to have high expectations?”

Absolutely! I am not saying that I have lower expectations for him- actually, I would say that my expectations have become more difficult to achieve because they require constant growth, not complacency. With my previous list, I was encouraging complacency. I expected my Mr. Wonderful to get to a spot where he successfully demonstrated all the desires on my list, and then stop growing. This is wrong. I still have high expectations. I just don't have a "do's and don'ts list."

Let me try to explain it in a different way:

I am not a patient person. Patience does not come to me naturally; I have to work really hard at it. Although, I am striving to be a godly women and patience is an attribute that a mature godly woman will acquire (for some, over time spent developing a constant relationship with Christ, for others is comes natural.) I would hate for a guy, that I could potentially marry, not to "consider" me as marriage material because I was not patient right here and right now. Patience is something that I will gain over time, as long as I am striving for godliness. So, I guess you could say that my list was becoming a distraction. I was expecting for my Mr. Wonderful to have an unrealistic amount of attributes the day we got married. What I failed to realize, until recently, is the fact that he is still man; he will not have all of these attributes right away. They take time to develop while he is striving to be a a mature man. Just like some characteristics will take time to develop in me (ex, patience.)

-C

Are You Valuable?

This was taken from Nancy Leigh Demoss and Dannah Gresh's book entitled Lies Young Women Believe: And the Truth That Sets Them Free.
___________________________________________________________

Lie: I have to preform to be loved and accepted.

A whopping 95% of girls admit that they are always or sometimes plagued by thie lie.

Are you sure that is how everone sees you? It might feel like everyone, including God and your parents, is judging you based on your perfmormance. But is that really true? Let's begin to expose this lie by first looking at God's view of you.

Your value is not determined by what you do, but by how God views you. God chose you before the world was created. "He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be homely and blameless in his sight."(Ephesians 1:4) He knit you together in your mother's womb and declared that you have been "wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). He loved you before you could love Him. "This is how God showed his love amoung us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9) And, if you belong to Him, nothing can seperate you from His love. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39) Your value isnt determined by what you do. It is determined by the simple fact that you are.

The notion that you can do something to have value or to earn God's love is heretical. At the root of this lie is a mind-set that is based on works rather than grace. "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." (Romans 11:6) Responding to God's love, which He expressed profoundly in the death of His precious Son, is all that is required for you to experience His favor. Rather than trying to do something for Him (works-based), you need to recieve what He has done for you (grace-based)! You can not get this free gift through works, because then you could boast that you earned it. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
(Ephesians 2:8-9) Christ died so that you can experience God's love and acceptance as a gift of grace.

Your good works are to glorify God, not yourself. Whether you are a swimmer, a ball player, a straight-A students, or the leader of your youth group, every effort you put forth should be for God's glory, not your own. "So whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31) If you are feeling pressure for things that you do to make you valuable, you are doing them for the wrong reasons. God does want you to do good things, but only as an offering back to Him for His great gift to us. (See James 2:12-18)

Getting straigh-A's or being a champion ball player isn't bad in and of itself. But it can become a measure of your worth or value. When I hit a "home-run," I feel affirmed and secure; when I do "so-so," I easily become discouraged and vulnerable to self-doubt. I have to consiously counter those feelings with the Truth that I am fully accepted in Christ and that my worth to Him (and others) has nothing to do with my preformances. Otherwise, I tend to drive myself endlessly and to always be looking for "positive feedback" on "how I am doing."

This kind of thinking is prideful, performance-based Christianity. Actually, it is diametrically opposed to true Christianity, which from start to finish is based on humble faith in Christ's performances and the underserved, unmeritited grace of God!
___________________________________________________________

Here are some questions for you to think about:

- In what areas do you feel pressure to prefrom in order to win the favor of God or others?

- Take the answers from the first question to fill in the blanks:

• Why do you _________?
• Who do you give glory to when you ________?
• What if you fail at _______, are you still worth God's love?
• If you could no longer _______ how would you feel?

- Why is it difficult to accept that God's love for you is not based on what you can accplish or on your ability to do good?

I hope that you found this helpful, I did.

-C

To Love or Not To Love...Some Clarification

I want to apologize to anyone who I might have offended with my previous post "To Love or Not to Love." When I wrote that post, I was frusterated with things I had been hearing amoung people my age, and the media concerning the word 'love.' I expressed my feelings without evaluating them. I should have turned to God's Word to see what He had to say about love. Afterall, God created love, right? Therefore, it must be beautiful (if it is properly communicated.) Earlier this week I looked at what God had to say about 'love.' I looked at two different types of love, some of the information is nothing new while other pieces were thought provoking:

Jesus commanded that we first and foremost love the Lord:

"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One
of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is
the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.' " Matthew 22:34-37

WARNING! I am going to ramble here, but what I have to say is still interesting (it just doesn't have much to do with love.) I give you permission to skip the next couple of paragraphs (in blue) if you are compelled to do so.

Last week I translated the verse above from latin to english. This verse in latin is the following:

"Ille respondens dixit, 'Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto carde tuo, et ex toto anima tua, et ex amnibus viribus tuis, et ex amni mente, tua et proximum twum sicut te ipsuni.' "

Translated to english it reads:

"He answering said, 'you shall love the Lord you God out of your whole heart, and out of your whole soul, and out of your whole strength, and out of your whole mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' "

I experienced my first "benefit" from studying latin while translating this verse. The word used in the passage for "mind" also translates to thoughts and intentions. Thus, we are commanded to love the Lord "with all your mind, thoughts, and intentions." How powerful!

OK- enough of my ramblings! Back to the main focus of this post...

Jesus commanded us to "love" in these verses. The greek word for love used here is agapao. Agapao means to love in a social or moral sense. I encourage you to look up the definition for moral. It made me feel overwhelmed, and ashamed; as much as I love the Lord, it is not the the full extent to how I am instructed to love Him. You can see the defintion here . I thought about including the definition, but my dad always says, "If you look it up, you own it." I desire for you to own this definition.

Furthermore, Christians are commanded to love their spouse.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church
and gave himself up for her." Ephesians 5:25

"Each of you must also love his wife as he loves himself." Ephesians 5:33

"They can train the youngest women to love their
husbands." Titus 4:2

Here is where I found it to get interesting...

In the first two versus, directed to the husbands, the word agapao is used again. Husbands are to love their wives in a social or moral sense, just as they are to love the Lord. In the last verse, directed to the wives, the greek word used is philandros. Philandros means to love your husband tenderly. So, in a marriage there should be a moral love and a tender love. Amazing.

Lastly, I would like to clarify that I will (prayerfully) love my husband the way God intended. I hope this straightens some things out, I truly did not intend to offend anyone.

-C

To Love or Not to Love

I have come to a recent realization that I will never love my husband…

I know, that sounds appalling, but please bear with me!

The term “love” is being used so frivolously these days:
“I absolutely love that movie!”
“Don’t you just love pizza?”
“I love this song.”
“I love my boyfriend (or girlfriend)... even though we have only been dating for a week.”

The literal definition for the term “love” means to have affectionate feelings for something. Affection means to have a fond attachment, devotion, emotion, sentiment or feeling for. From what I have observed, people these days do not use love in this context. Instead, the term “love” defines as evolvinginto a likeness for something.

Young men and women are pushed to “love” their spouses as they “love” the pizza they just enjoyed for dinner. There is nothing special about that kind of affection. This is why I have come to the realization that I will never truly “love” my husband- I will cherish my husband. The term cherish is defined as holding or treating dearly, or to care for or cling too fondly. Synonyms for the term cherish include: strengthen, affection, nurse, nourish, friendship, devotion, and caring.

The word cherish is incredibly powerful and full of passion. I desire to cherish a young man one day- I do not desire to love him.

-C

Deep Feelings for God

Read this quote by C.J. Mahaney earlier this week and it really impacted me:

"If you want to feel deeply, you need to think deeply"

If I want to have a deep, overwhelming, passionate feeling for God then I need to study, think, and ponder deeply on Him and His Word.

-C

Merry Christmas

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” - Dr. Seuss

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel [meaning God with us]” -Matthew 1:23

There was only one Christmas in all of eternity, the rest have been anniversaries of our Saviors’ Birth.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

-C

Santa Clause or Jesus Christ?

Last year, stores and schools could not say "Merry Christmas," rather, they were instructed to say "Happy Holidays." This year, stores and schools are permitted to say "Merry Christmas" so long as they push the lies of Santa Clause onto their customers and students.

My little sister started Kindergarten last fall. She has not experienced much worldly influences in her life up until this point. The public schools (or 'government schools') are pushing Santa Clause so much, they are confusing thousands of young children. Secular people, and Christian's alike, are replacing Jesus Christ for Santa Clause; a jolly fat man who knows whether children have been naughty or nice, can be everywhere at one time (on Christmas Eve), eats way to many cookies, and brings joy to the world through his 'good works.'

Christians are doing a wrong to their children by lying about Santa Clause's existence. Plain and simple. Parents buying into the secular worldview's trap are taking the Christ out of Christmas!

How can we truly celebrate Christmas if we take Christ's birth out of it?

The answer is quite simple: We can not. It is not feasible for a true Christian to feed the lies of Santa Clause to their children while they attempt to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth. Without Christ, there is no Christmas!

Here is a really good article that further explains my rambled thoughts:

Wintertime Worship: Santa Claus or Jesus Christ?
by Roger Patterson, AiG [Answers in Genesis]–U.S. December 15, 200

As I drive through my neighborhood in December, I am confronted with giants dancing on my neighbors’ lawns. A 6-foot-tall Scooby-Doo sways in the breeze donning a red knit cap. An inflatable carousel that wouldn’t fit in my living room spins a snowman, a reindeer, and an elf in an endless circuit. Santa can be seen in plastic light-up form, inflated fabric, plywood silhouette, and various other renditions—including catching a bass on a large fishing pole. Oh! Look! That yard has a manger scene surrounded by reindeer and candy canes and soldiers and snowmen and . . . you get the point.

If you brought someone from Russia to my neighborhood, what would they infer from the inflated and illuminated army? I sincerely doubt that it would convey the message of the Creator entering His creation to redeem it from the curse of sin. The manger scenes might raise a question, and the lit cross with the message “A Savior Is Born” would surely draw the visitor’s attention (that’s my yard). But these are certainly lost among the troop formations. So, is this season about celebrating dancing snowmen and blinking lights or a Savior and the hope He brings?

Sadly, our culture has shifted its focus to the dazzling lights and away from a dazzling Savior. Commercialism has swallowed whatever Christmas used to be before it was this. Battles are fought over the very name of the holiday, and Santa Claus is embraced more freely than the infant Jesus.¹ Santa is an icon in modern culture, and his image is used to sell everything from soda to sports cars. How is a Christian to view Santa in light of the true meaning of Christmas?

Santa’s Origins

As with many things in our culture, Santa has his beginnings in a Christian past. As the legends have it, the concept of Santa is rooted in the real Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, dating to the fourth century. Nicholas inherited a large amount of money and used much of his fortune to help the poor. Nicholas gave freely to meet the needs of people around him, fulfilling the commands of Christ to aid the poor.

After his death, the Catholic Church recognized him as a saint—hence the common American usage of St. Nick as a substitute for Santa. The red clothing is likely founded in the red robes worn by bishops. The white beard and other trappings (e.g., reindeer, sleighs, elves, etc.) are likely adopted from various cultural influences being mingled together over the centuries. If you study the celebration of Santa (a.k.a., St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, and Sinterklauss) around the world, the similarities are obvious, as shoes are substituted for stockings and the North Pole for the mountains of Lapland.

Santa Abuse

The mythical Santa is clearly founded in a man who honored Christ with his life and his possessions. Nicholas gave freely of his riches to benefit those who were less fortunate than himself. This is clearly a fundamental Christian principle, as we see care for the poor proclaimed throughout Scripture (e.g., James 2:1–17).

Is that the same idea we see in the Santa celebrated today? The popular song extols children to stop shouting, pouting, and crying in order to earn Santa’s favor and his gifts. This is clearly not the attitude that we see in the biblically motivated actions of the original St. Nick—and a far cry from a biblical attitude of raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

I have personally overheard mothers using gifts from Santa to manipulate their children into behaving in a way that pleases the parent at the time. Such manipulation is entirely unbiblical. As Christians, we should discipline our children for sinful behavior because it is an offense against God, not because it is inconvenient or embarrassing for us. Using gifts from a mythical figure can only serve to promote a form of moralism that is alien to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If our actions are done to earn rewards for ourselves, are we not acting selfishly? This is not an attitude we should seek to instill in our children.

Our motivation for being obedient to God’s commands should be out of an attitude of gratitude for the grace He has shown us. The gospel speaks of God’s work in forgiving us of our sins—not because of the righteous acts which we have done, but because of what Christ did on the Cross for us (Titus 3:4–7). Nothing that we can do can make us righteous before God or make us deserving of His good gifts.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8–10)

Does the promotion of Santa lead to an exaltation of Christ? Since the two bring competing messages, I would suggest the answer is no. As Christ continues to be marginalized by society, our goal should be to magnify Him in our homes that our children would be impressed with His kindness to us shown on the Cross. This is the message the original St. Nicholas would have communicated.

Mommy, Is There Really a Santa?

A Christian parent must thoughtfully consider that Scripture is full of commands against deceiving others (e.g., Exodus 20:16; Psalm 101:7; Ephesians 4:25; 1 Peter 2:1–3). Persistently proclaiming the existence of a man in a sleigh with flying reindeer as fact can only lead to deceit. Please understand that I am not saying there is no place for imagination, but the level of emphasis on Santa appears to cross the line. The active teaching of Santa as a real person who performs real miracles to reward children for acting a certain way, in full knowledge that he is a myth, can only be described as deceit.

Any parent who teaches their children much of what is popular about Santa knows that they will eventually learn that it was all a lie. Lying is a sin and cannot be justified on biblical grounds. Have we bowed to cultural pressures to have our children conform to the ways of the world, or do we celebrate Santa so that Christ can be exalted? Rather than dealing with the root of sin against God, who is the definition of “good,” the “goodness” promoted by Santa finds its roots in the humanistic philosophy of behavior modification.

As children grow, they will undoubtedly begin to hear others speaking of the mythical nature of Santa. They will ask and will expect an answer from the parents they have trusted. Since some may not wish to totally skirt the issue of Santa Clause (and it is difficult to do anyway), consider how it is possible to allow children to learn about the real St. Nicholas—and maybe even share in some of the fun of make-believe—while remaining honest with your children.

Glory Robber?

If Santa has taken the glory from Christ in your family’s celebration of Christmas, maybe it is time to seriously consider changing the emphasis. I understand that these are matters of conscience in many ways and that sincere followers of Christ will come to different conclusions. What I would ask is that you examine your decisions in light of what Scripture teaches. If our conscience convicts us of sin in our hearts, we can bring that to God in repentance and know that He will freely forgive us because of what Christ has done.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10)

Rather than offering a platform to chastise those with views contrary to this article, I hope you will think and pray about how to bring Christ the worship He is due during this season when we recognize His incarnation. Let us all make the Word of God the authority in our decisions about celebrating this, and every, holiday—giving God the glory He alone deserves.

Hope that you enjoyed this article as much as I did!

-C

P.S. Here is a direct link to the article above:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/12/15/wintertime-worship-santa-jesus

Joseph's Role

Here is an thought: Had Joseph done what he wanted to do initially, quietly divorce Mary, we all would have gone to hell. We often forget how crucial Joseph's role was to the Christmas story. If Joseph divorced Mary, as he intended, the baby Jesus would have been murdered by King Herod's men. Though Joseph did not know it, he played a tremendous part in our salvation. Here is a good article I found explaining Joseph's role:

Abba, Joseph!

by Russell D. Moore

Jesus' earthly father is introduced to us against the backdrop of King Herod's murderous tantrum. The Gospel tells us that Herod learns from some travelling stargazers that the foreseen birth of the royal son of David is here; the end of the ages has touched down in Bethlehem of Judea. Herod outsources scholars to pore over ancient scrolls, not in order to submit to them in faith, but to see how to circumvent the new king. Herod is troubled — and all Jerusalem with him — and this trouble enacts itself in murderous rage. What Herod does not know, however, is that as he fumes before his consultants and commands that all the male children be executed, he is actually playing a role that has already been played. Herod is a new Pharaoh. When Pharaoh saw the people of Israel being fruitful and multiplying — experiencing exactly what God promised, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring" (Gen 22:17) — he sees it as a curse. Why? Because Pharaoh sees himself as god and the expansion of the people of God is a threat to his own kingship. This expansion threatens Pharaoh's plans, and he murders infants to stop it. Herod does the same thing. Herod comes face to face with Jesus, and his response is murder. The presence of Jesus brings about the kind of rage among those who are threatened by Jesus' kingship. Herod and Pharaoh rage against Jesus in particular, but babies in general. Throughout the whole panorama of Scripture, when it is the Christ versus the self, babies are always caught in the crossfire. The Egyptian Nile heaves with infant corpses, as do the garbage heaps of Judea. Moses warns against the giving of infants to Molech (Lev 18:21). The Prophets speak against those who come against the people with babies in their wombs (Hos 13:16). History is riddled with the corpses of babies, again and again and again. As Herod rages against the babies, he is not the central actor in this drama. Years later, Jesus will show his disciple John a picture of a woman giving birth to "a male child, one who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron" (Rev 12:5). Crouching before the woman's birth canal is a dragon — the Serpent of old — who seeks to "devour" the baby (Rev 12:4). Ever since, Jesus shows us, the dragon is furiously making war on the woman and her offspring (Rev 12:17). The ancient beast wants that baby. Isn't this obvious, not only in Scripture and in the tradition of the church, but in the history of the world around us? Isn't there a persistent hostility towards life, and particularly towards children? This is not accidental. In the warfare of the Nativity narrative, the Bible gives us an unlikely demon-wrestler: a day-laborer from the hick town of Galilee of Nazareth. Joseph doesn't see the full scope of the cosmic import of what's happening: One rarely does. He simply does what he's told. He stands against the dark rage against life. He cares for his child. This is not incidental. It is part of a strategy from before recorded history began. It's about God's purposes in Christ. The last presidential election uncovered just how flimsily some American evangelicals and Catholics hold to our advocacy for the life of infants. I left the room, nauseous, when I heard a major evangelical biblical scholar telling an audience that abortion is "not a transcendent issue," the same day he announced he was endorsing the candidacy of an abortion-rights supporter for President of the United States. The same week I was told of several evangelical churches sponsoring a forum on Christian political ethics, assuring their hearers that they weren't "single issue evangelicals," that political decisions could be made apart from whether the candidate is "pro-life" or "pro-choice." These evangelicals — and their Roman Catholic colleagues — tell us we ought to be willing to support and vote for candidates who will support legalized abortion because we resonate with them on other issues. "After all, abortion has been going on so long, and it still hasn't been stopped." Some believe it evangelistic to speak to people while silencing or blunting a witness about the life of children so that they can reach them with the gospel and bring them in line with all these other issues later. We've heard this before, in the late 1960s and early 1970s from a pastor with (then) cool hair in a powder-blue leisure suit. Just replace the word "abortion" with the word "divorce." And how did that work out? The stakes here are quite high, and the stakes are not, at root, political. The sword given to the state in Romans 13 is to be wielded, to be sure, but wielded against "evildoers." What are we doing when we vote to wield that sword, as many did in the last election, through the taxpayer-funded assault on the innocent? The Walk of Faith Images a Father's Care Joseph is the first human face to which our Lord would have said, "Abba." In the Nativity narrative, God shows us in Joseph what it means to image the Fatherhood of God. Through divine revelation, Joseph is called to provide for and protect Mary and the child, by taking them for a while into Egypt, away from Herod's sword. Once again, Joseph steps into a story that has played out before. Matthew says that as Joseph's flight to Egypt it is to fulfill the ancient word, "Out of Egypt I have called my son" (Matt 2:15; Hos 11:1). Some have noted with puzzlement that the text referenced from Hosea is not about a future event at all, but about something lost past. It speaks of Israel being brought to Egypt and then being delivered from there during the Exodus. And that's exactly right. This, too, is precisely Matthew's point. Israel's deliverance out of Egypt is a copy in advance of what God is doing with Jesus Christ. Israel is in danger of starving to death. And God provides for Israel by putting them in a sojourn for a time in Egypt where they can be fed and provided for. God puts one of their brothers in a position where he is able to look out for his people, saying that he will care for them and their little ones (Gen 47:23-24). And this man's name is Joseph. Hundreds of years later God uses another Joseph to take this child into Egypt until the threat of the sword is over. God then compares Joseph's protection to his own fatherly protection and deliverance of Israel. Yes, we must insist that a just government recognize the personhood of unborn children, but that is not enough. We must insist that just economic systems not crush abandoned mothers beneath it, but that's not enough. The protection and provision Joseph images is personal and familial. This is the kind of fatherhood our Father God displays — a fighting Fatherhood. This Fatherhood rips open seas, drowns armies, and feeds children. When Joseph becomes the father of Jesus, he does so in a counter-cultural act that, again, is easy for us to miss. Joseph must have seemed insane, and must have wondered if he were. When his betrothed comes to him and say, "I am pregnant," Joseph's response is not, "Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." He is humiliated publicly and privately. But he obeys, and believes the incredible. Had Joseph done what he wanted to do initially, quietly divorce this woman, everything could have been different for him. He could have lived to an old age as a father of his village, revered by everyone. He might have wondered every now and then what happened to the woman he put away. He might have mourned the fact that her baby was executed by Herod's marauders. He would have lived a good life, died a good death — and he would have gone to hell. We all would have, without the salvation of the world in Christ, a salvation story in which Joseph plays a critical part. Instead, Joseph probably ended his life with his neighbors saying, "Joseph, he's the one who got into trouble with that young woman way back when. What a shame." But instead of seeking praise at his funeral, Joseph does something unusual: He protects the orphans and the widows; he sees the task of fatherhood as more important than the self. This is about human parenting, to be sure. Scripture speaks repeatedly to the ways in which human fathers picture — or distort — the image of the Father in the eyes of their children. But this walk of faith is not only for those who are parents. For there must be evident too in all the people of God a demonstration of the same thing that Joseph is asked to do — to walk in the kind of faith that protects and provides, that nourishes and cherishes. The Walk of Faith Heralds a Kingdom's Dawn Matthew tells us that the slaughter of the innocents fulfills what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, "a voice was heard in Ramah" (Matt 2:18; Jer 31:15). Ramah was the exit station for the people of Israel as they were being taken out into captivity in Babylon. This imagery text calls forward the sound of the wails of women who have lost their children. But this is not a word of despair. Even the quoted prophecy from Jeremiah comes from a passage that says, "There is hope for your future," for "the time is coming ... when I will make a new covenant ... not like the covenant I made with your forefathers" (Jer 31:17,31-32). Even in the midst of all this tragedy and murderous rage, in the midst of all these corpses, there is a light that is coming out of Galilee. Joseph returns home, and God directs him toward Nazareth so that it will be fulfilled that he, Jesus, will be a Nazarene (Matt 2:23). Out of Galilee, a light breaks forth for the nations. The moaning and anguish present in Ramah is comforted in Nazareth. And life is better than death precisely because we worship a man who is an ex-corpse, a former fetus, who is now standing as the ruler of the entire universe. And he's not dead anymore. What we must have is a church in which the gospel we give is the kind of gospel that leads people out of death and despair and toward the kind of life that is found in confessing a name — a name that was first spoken with human lips by a day-laborer in Nazareth, "Jesus is Lord." If we follow this kind of pure and undefiled religion, it doesn't mean we will be shrill. It doesn't mean we will be culture-warriors. It doesn't mean we'll be belligerent. It will mean that we will have churches that are so strikingly different, that maybe in 10 or 15 years the most odd and counter-cultural thing a lost person may hear in your church is not, "Amen," but is instead the sounds of babies crying in the nursery. And hearing the oddness of that sound, when they look around at the place in which all of the Lord Jesus' brothers and sisters are welcomed, protected, and loved, the place in which the lies of a murderous and appetite-driven dragon are denied, the stranger in our midst might say, "What is the sound of all these cries?" And maybe we'll be able to say with our forefather Joseph, "That's the sound of life. That's the sound of love. That's the sound of the gospel."

Copyright 2009 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. A previous version of this article appeared in the March 2009 issue of Touchstone magazine. This article was published on Boundless.org on December 18, 2009.

Challenging Conformity

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Luke 1: 26-38

It often seems like most images of teenagers going against culture, against conformity, an against the way the world thinks should be run, seem to be negative. We keep seeing news stories of teenage killers, about violent rebels, about hackers who send out viruses. I think that is why I like the Christmas story so much: a teenage girl accepts a challenge to go against the grain, despite the risks, and do something powerful ad positive.

Think about it, this young woman (we do not know how old she is, somewhere between fourteen and eighteen seems likely though) is engaged, but not married, and she is from a poor rural family. She picks up the challenge this angel messanger from God tosses her and accepts the pregnancy. She will give birth to a son who will eventually turn the status quo of the "way things are done" on its head.

So looking at modern day Christmas, we celebrate Mary's courage and willingness to be apart of change.

-C

Sigh of Relief

*aaahhhhhhh*

Finals are over.
ACT is complete.
Month off school.

*sigh of relief*

I just want to share with you this quote from Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. This was my fourth time reading Passion and Purity. If you have not read it- put it at the top of your reading list. Every time I read P&P I gain more knowledge. Elliot is an amazing author. She is one of my heroes.

The following quote is what struck me the most this time through:

"We need to learn to live by the supernatural. Ordinary fare will not fill the emptiness in our hearts...How else will we learn to eat it, if we are never hungry? How educate our tastes for heavenly things if we are surfeited with earthly?...My heart was saying, "Lord, take away this longing, or give me that for which I long.' The Lord was answering, 'I must teach you to long for something better.'...God knew that giving me Jim when I wanted him would not provide the far more important training I needed for things to come. It was in learning to eat that Living Bread, sufficient always for one day at a time, that I was taught and disciplined and prepared for later things." (p. 112-113)

How often I look to so many other things than God for satisfaction and fulfillment. Elisabeth struggled with it, like any of us do, but she knew He is all we need and He will bring things to pass in our lives when He chooses.

-C

Musings On My Life

Have you ever felt like your heart was literally torn out of your chest and you dont know how to get it back? And you dont know how to stop the pain?

Until, finally, you offer your pain to the Lord and He takes the severe aching away. Things finally start to get better.

My life is like that right now. I am still recovering but God took away my severe pain, and I finally got my heart back.

-C

A Collection of Prayers...

...on becoming a Proverbs 31 woman, a wife of noble character.

Nov 18th, 2009

Isaiah 54:5-6
"For your maker is your husband. The Lord Almighty is His name- the Holy one of Israel is your redeemer; He is called the God of all the Earth. The Lord will call you back, as if you were a wife deserted in spirit- only to be rejected," says God.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for choosing me to be your bride. To be a noble means to be dignified and gracious. Please help me become a wife of noble character. Help me to bring glory and honor to You in all that I do.
Your undeserving Bride,
-C

November 19th, 2009

Henri Nouwen said: "Discipline is the human effort to create space in which God can be generous and give us what we need."

Dear Lord,
I hereby commit myself to give you all the days of my life. I believe that you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you. I have my heart set on seeking you, and you alone. I believe, by faith, that one of rewards you will grant me is wisdom and the ability to conduct the affairs of my day with great efficiency so that my time alone with you will in no way diminish my effectiveness, but will in fact increase it.
The Proverbs 31 husband could have full confidence in his wife because she had full confidence in You. Confidence in a relationship come from investing time in that relationship. Help me to have full confidence in you. I place so many things before you, Lord. I delude myself into thinking that I am too busy or that I can skip time with you and still keep "on track." Oh, how wrong I am! Even the devine Son of Go took time to pray to You. Help me to do the same.
-C

November 20th, 2009

Psalm 119:9-11, 15-16
"How can a young woman keep her way pure?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you...
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word."

Dear Heavenly Father,
If I am serious about becoming a capable, dignified, virtuous woman of noble character, then I need to do more than casually read Your word. I need to meditate on it so that it seeps deep into every fiber of my being. Teach me the art of meditation. Too often I looked at my time with you as another box to check on the never ending 'to-do' list. But You are the ultimate teacher! Help me learn from you!
Lord, it is not easy to stay pure in this dark world, You and I both know that. I live in a world where modesty is a foreign idea and staying pure in looked down upon. Please, give me the strength to endure it. Help me to protect myself and my brothers. Even if it is the path less taken, please give me the strength to take it.
-C

November 23rd, 2009

Philippians 4:4-7
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Dear Lord,
There is nothing noble or dignified about a complaining women. The best gift that I can give myself and others around me is an optimistic attitude. There is truly good in everything and everyone, if I choose to see it. I need to be "transformed by the renewal of [my] mind." (Romans 12:1) My mind is a primary battlefield of Satan's attacks. I need to renew my mind with a postive attitude in ALL that I do. From now on, I choose to focus on the positive, especially the truth of Your Word; therefore my life is filled with positive outcomes.
Help me to rejoice in all things! Let me find joy and peace in you and you alone,
-C