Thank you

I haven't blogged for a few days now because I have been spending almost everyday with my friends. I just want to say thank you to all the people I have come to know over the last couple years who have helped turn my life around. Tomorrow I leave for Arizona so this is also a goodbye for now, I will be praying for you guys continually and I ask you do the same for me. This new chapter in life is not something I wanted to do but God is all knowing and all powerful so I know that he has me going there for a reason. He is not worried about what will happen to me in Arizona and neither am I. So thank you all again my friends, life is not over and I am sure we will meet again.

Suffering

In society today we are told to live life with as much comfort and luxury as we can accumulate. This is a trap easy to fall in because it appeals to many areas of our sinful nature. I would say most if not all sin is rooted in the sin of idolatry which is putting more time, effort, and money into something other than God. If we make a luxurious lifestyle our idol we will spend our days in an endless cycle of buying the latest and greatest of whatever society tells us we want at that time. Luxury is ever changing what is good one day is bad the next and new things are constantly pumped into the mix. God is a constant and never changes and he provided us with one narrow way to him that never changes. It is not just this day and age that is bustling with idols, nothing is new under the sun temptation has been with man since the beginning. As Christians we are called to place our value in the things of God not of man (Matthew 19:16-30) our life is not meant to be easy; we must put forth effort now in our lives and live the best life later. You cannot live your best life now and later...

Fellowship / Helloship

Fellowship is an essential piece in christian living we are not meant to live isolated alone on Mt. Me&Jesus for the rest of this life cut off from the world. a lot of us fall into a trap of helloship thinking we are fine but not realizing what we are doing wrong. So what are fellowship and helloship well these are the two definitions I have to offer.
Helloship - A gathering of people to share an experience together.
EX. Bowling, watching a movie, eating dinner.
Fellowship - A group of people coming together to share a uniquely christian experience.
EX. Any time God is the focus of your gathering.

Helloship is not wrong it is great to spend time with friends and have fun, but it is NOT a replacement for fellowship. Some of the best ways to experience fellowship are the simplest; attend church regularly, join  a small group, just ask someone about Christ. It doesn't take much but God loves to work in us through our fellowship with one another and that is why it is so important.

Father's Day

When I blogged yesterday I did not realize that it was Father's day so here is my one day late Father's day post. This holiday is to honor fathers God appoints fathers to be leaders of their households, they guide their family physically and spiritually in life. They have lots of responsibility to take care of their home and family; This can put a lot of stress on a man as so many things are riding on his shoulders and so everyday we should show our fathers support and this holiday should serve as a reminder to do so. God calls children blessings to a home and family and being a father is a big role because God trusts them with his blessings. Being a father is an honorable thing and for doing this we thank all the dads out their supporting their families.

Salvation

This is a strong term with a specific meaning. Salvation is the result of Christ's act on the cross which he did not have to do but chose to anyway. Salvation is the grace and mercy of Christ washing over our sin so that we can stand before God with a clean slate, not because of what we have done but because of Christ has done. Salvation is a free gift we just have to surrender our own selfish sinful desires/natures and accept Christ as our Lord and savior. This is the first step, once you have surrendered your life to Christ that's done the game is not to surrender more and more. At this point is where effort comes in Christ gives us many commandments that we are to follow we are to strive to be as much like him as possible. We are still sinners and we mess up a lot but being a christian means we have to get back up and make every effort to obey Christ. Salvation does not mean a life of ease if this your train of thought you probably haven't really come to Christ accepting him also means to place yourself in servitude under him and he has many things for us to do, and while they may seem strange or unpleasant God has the very best in store for his sheep because like all good shepherds he loves his flock and has great plans for it. 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is not just a holiday where people eat tons of food in the U.S. It is also a mindset. This type of mindset is characterized with a thankful heart and is very important in prayer. We should not pray only for things we want to happen or for rescue but along side that we need to pray thankfully for what God has provided us with. We should be thankful for the people we know, the things we have, and most of all the fact we get to know him and that Christ died for our sins. Scripture tells us what we deserve, so anything we experience or have is by grace because it is better than what we deserve. Take time each day and just remember to be thankful.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:4
~ Philippians 1:3-4
~ Colossians 1:3
~ Psalms 95:2
~ Psalms 50:14-15
~ 2 Corinthians 1:11
~1 Timothy 2:1-2

Flare Prayer

This is a term I have heard a lot lately while discussing prayer so I am going over it today. Flare prayer is a style of praying that majorly fails in one area frequency. If you are someone who does this then you only pray to God with an SOS at the very worst of times, when life throws its hardest at you, you respond with and emergency call for God to save you. when times are good however you leave God in the backseat and try to live life by your own strength let me point out right here your strength is not enough, never will it be enough. we are called to pray without ceasing to honor and glorify God throughout the day every day year round, not just when we are ill or injured. Praying during the hard times is not a bad thing we are supposed to, but there is so much more than the hard times that we still need to pray over. If you are just a flare prayer right I encourage you to practice praying throughout the day, when you get up in the morning, over your meals, before you go to bed, while you brush your teeth... Anytime God comes to mind remember to pray.

Prayer

In my opinion prayer is one of the most important things we as Christians overlook/under use & under appreciate.Praying is a way we can cry out to God; a direct communication to him better than email, text message, or phone call.  A lot of people will only use prayer in times of darkness when life gets rough they pray for God to come apply a holy band-aid of sorts and make it better; but when it come around to the good times they seem to forget him. Then there are people who praise him for the good times but are angry with him during the bad. Then there are those who simply don't pray. When I was younger before Christ was truly a part of my life I used to think of prayer as something you were supposed to do before dinner and if you were a super christian before bed as well. Prayer should be done throughout the day through thick and then praising God all the time and asking him for help when you are weak. Prayer is a very big and important topic so I am going to split up everything I have to say over the next couple days. Here is some scripture that really helps with where prayer's importance is held.
-1 Thessalonians 5:17
-1 Corinthians 14:15
-Romans 10:13
-James 5:16
These are just a few I found helpful feel free to list more in the comments.

Leading

Leading especially for guys, is not something you choose to do. Whether you like or not someone somewhere in your life looks up to you or follows you around and watches you, they see what you do and they mimic your behavior because they trust you. You do have a choice when it comes to leading you can do something about it and become a good leader, you can set the most Christ like example possible and point to him along the way; or you can do nothing you can ignore your role as a leader and live your own lifestyle and as a result cause those who look up to you to suffer. One way of defining what leaders do that I really like is that leaders set the direction, pace, and tone. So where are we going, how fast do we get there, and how do we feel about it. Using this definition you can check how well you are leading others by asking yourself these questions where am I going; The answer should be where Christ calls me. How fast do we get there; The answer should be anything that isn't slothful or procrastinating. How do I feel about it; The answer should be a positive mind set excited to fulfill God's plans for your life. If you live leading that way people will see your example and mimic it. Everyone is a leader to some degree, the question is are you doing a good job?

Your will be done

The phrase "Your will be done" is not an easy one to understand at first, and often is even harder to use in prayer. I like to end all my prayers that I ask things of God with this, that his will be done. God does not panic or become confused, he has always known since before time began what will happen to us. Matthew 6:25-34 talks about how God knows all of our needs and that we shouldn't be anxious about them, we must first seek the kingdom of God and they will be provided. I encourage you to pray to God for contentment and peace of mind about worldly things for God has the very best path in store for his flock.

Youth Camp

I have just recently gotten back from youth camp with GFC. For those of you who have ever gone you know that I have been sleeping a lot since then. But on a more serious note I have been to camp twice now and both times have deeply impacted my life. The first year I went I had the Gospel hit me in the face like a brick and sink in, and it was camp that year that lead me to Christ. This year I spent as much if not more of my time around my leaders as I did my peers trying to learn as much as I could, and I found out how much all these leaders care and how much they know and love Jesus. This year was amazing in the way it changed the very way I think and I am thankful for the opportunities God has provided me to grow close with my church family.