We Are Different From the Church For A Reason

When Jesus Christ commissioned the 12 Apostles to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations He sent out 12 very different human beings. They were the same in faith and in Christ but they behaved differently and they were different in character. We are exactly the same way. This is no accident, if God had wanted us all to be alike He would hav done so but He did not. A prominent reason I believe to be true is that not all people come to Christ through just one person. If everyone behaved as Catholics behave or everyone behaved as the Baptist there would be many unreached individuals. We need the Starbucks Christians, and the Baptists, Catholics, and Protestants. For all have different methods. We need the guy with the music blarring in the parking lot with Jesus loves you bumper stickers and a Bible, we need the quiet reserved and devout Christian sitting in the corner, we need the loud Christian on the street corner screeming "repent". We need the goths, the neerds, the saints, and the sinners. You see we need all of these because everyone needs someone to relate to. And this is why most of us go to Church, because we need to feel a sense of belonging. We need Christian outcasts for the non Christian ones. So I beg you do not become the Church you are attending. Stay true to yourself because you never really know how God could use that for his kingdom.

What Do We Need to Be Heaven Bound

Many of us consider the Church an important part of Christian faith and it is. However, many times you will find Church goers leave their faith at the Church. In other words they will go to Church and think they're done. They think Church saves us but it doesn't. Church is simply an institution built by man to instruct those who wish to better their faith. It serves the purpose of a single building where those of the relatively same faith come together to worship God and recieve a lesson on maybe one way we could better our faith walk. But to think that a building can save us is absurd. Following Christ is a 24/7 job. It requires faith both in and out of the Church and it dictates some action on our part. James 2:17 says "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (NIV 2011). Now I beg you do not think that this means that good works will grant you passage to Heaven because if you believe that you are sadly mistaken. Paul actually tells us what is required to gain access to Heaven. Romans 10:9 says "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NIV 2011). So what exactly does this mean? This means that you must confess with both words and actions that Jesus is God. That he is the one true God Almighty the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. You must not be ashamed that this is what you believe. This also goes back to the 'Great Comission'. This is where Christ instructs first his followers and then us to spread the Gospel to all nations and proclaim Christ to everyone. The second part of Romans 10:9 says that you must believe in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead. This means not only truely believing that fact but in essence believing that God has the power to do such things. It also means believing that Christ died for our sins and then ultimitely defeated death securing a spot in heaven for all believers. So these are things are what it takes to secure a spot in Heaven. Not simply going to Church but living an active faith. And make sure you never mistake motion for action.   

Resident Alien

I want to share one of my many great epiphanys... I was reading "The Barbarian Way" when the author, Erwin McManus, tells his daughter that he is a resident alien and not of this Earth. She was quite troubled to learn this fact but McManus went on to explain that it meant that he was born here but he truely belongs to God in Heaven. At this point in time I was asking God why I never seemed to fit in and why I didn't really have any good friends at school. It is at this time I realized that it's simply because I am an Alien. I don't fit in because I'm not meant to fit in. I'm different from all of them because I have realized my faith and I dove into it. I'm completely different from those around me and it took McManus' book to show me this. So now whenever I feel alone or like a don't fit in with others I pull out my resisdent alien card and remember that I don't fit in because I'm different. Because I am from a place not of this Earth.

The Real Me

If you've taken the time to read this I assume you might want to know a bit about me. Well let me tell you. I do have a job working at Kroger and while it makes a good bit of cash it really takes a toll on me dealing with people day in and day out. However, I do manage to keep a smile on my face and a genuine kindness towards others through out the entire day. I do absolutely adore the musical stylings of a band called Parachute (you should really check them out btw). My girlfriend is quite wonderful. She does have her quirks and I happen to love every single one of them. I myself have two different me's so to speak. There is the quirky weird fun happy-go-lucky side of me. This is probably the side you will see most often and come to know me for. The other side is the serious side. You will see this side of me either when I'm in a new environment or when it comes to getting down to business. You might like me upon meeting me but I assure you that you will love me upon knowing me. I am very insecure about alot of things including my appearance. As I have said before I struggle with rejection and I don't take it lightly. I am a hopeless romantic and I LOVE chick flicks. My favorite is either A Walk to Remember or The Notebook. I play Guitar, Piano, I sing, and I own a violin and am waiting untill I get the time to learn it. I am self taught in my musical abilities and I think that is how everyone should do it so that they can develop their own style. I am a total perfectionist and I hate it. I do love to cook though I rarely seem to find the will or the time to truely cook. I love my sister. In fact without her I think I would go mad in my own house. I also struggle with procrastination. I am one of those people who hates to start something but when I actually do start something I won't stop untill the task is completed. And finally I love my God. I do struggle with reading my Bible and praying (especially lately). I just can't seem to remember to do those things. I also cannot seem to find a whole lot of drive for those things anymore and I really dont know why. However I assure you that Im working on it

How I became a "Starbucks Christian"

Well, as I sit at my computer pondering upon the many words of wisdom I could produce for your viewing pleasure I return time and time again to my Christain walk so how about we start there. I was born Catholic. Now I'm going to pause the story at this point for just a brief moment. Now for the Catholics who may be viewing my blog I urge you to bear with me and read the entire post before judging. Okay, so as I was saying I was born Catholic. This may have been the most damaging fact to my Christian walk (I once again urge the Catholics to bear with me). Now it has been my experience that the Catholic faith is dull and does nothing to challenge a Christian to really grow. I should know better than most because I wittness time and time again attending a Catholic High School young teenagers leaving the Church completely some of them never to return again. I have also wittnessed at times a damaging faith. I've seen it many a time where the Catholic church will turn away many potential believers due to their unwillingness to be understanding to the faiths and personal beliefs of other people. It is for this reason I was never challenged and constantly felt I was wrong in my time as a Catholic. However I changed faiths around 12 years old, and this is an interesting little story. Me and my family had just recieved in the mail a note inviting us to join Lifespring Christian Church for the sunday service. My mother thinking nothing of it tossed it in the trash. Not a month later we recieved yet another note in the mail inviting us to join Lifespring Christian Church for Sunday service. This may not sound too strange untill you learn that not a single person on our street, save our family of course, recieved even one note from Lifespring Christian Church. We were sold. We could not turn a blind eye to such a clear display of God's providence. So we went and it was just what we needed it was a free friendly environment where we were accepted with open arms. The music was contemporary the speakers were relateable and funny and the atmosphere was intense compared to what we were used to. It is in this Church where I met my greatest friends and mentors. I am also hoping to start leading worship to help me prepare for my intended position as a worship leader (whether or not this is God's will remains to be seen). So all in all this was the ideal church for us and just what we needed
This is not where my faith walk ends. In fact we haven't reached the best part... the part where my faith becomes real and serious. The month was July the year, 2010. The location Lee University in TN. The event CIY or Christ in Youth. More specificly the night session. The Aaron Pelsue band plays How He Loves (which I highly recommend listening to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08). I bear no shame in admiting that at this particular point in time my eyes were soaked with tears and I was on my knees. I could feel God's presence for the first time in my life in a room filled with teenagers my age most of them crying with arms raised also moved by the sheer raw power of God's presence. It was as if I could see myself as God saw me and I looked... for the very first time. Pure. I then proceeded to realize my big problem in life which was rejection I was afraid of rejection because it was the one constant throughout my life in was uncool all the way up through sophmore year of high school. This is of course all untill I came to realize that the only person I should worry about impressing is my Lord and Saviour (I decide to use the British spelling of the word today) Jesus Christ. I was in this moment my faith became real. That encounter with God drastically changed me and I could definitely see the results. I noticed a lack of attention to the oppinions of others. I also noticed an increase in my Bible reading and prayer time. I became hungry for the word and hungry for more knowledge of God. This is How I eventually became a "Starbucks Christian".