The Good and the Bad...Little Habits

Just some random thoughgts going through my head today.... :)

We all got those little habits in our life. In fact they are so little that sometimes we don't even recognize them or think they are a big deal. But like most things in life...the little things become a big thing.

If they are good habits, then we have nothing to worry about. But if they are bad habits we need to be on our guard and continually fight them, or else these seemingly harmless things become a big problem and will take over our lives and consume us.

When we form these habits we often don't realize what they will become...it may start out as a harmless lie, or a careless decision....but it leads us deeper and deeper into it's trap, unnoticed by our blinded eyes. Before we know it, they consume us and even define us.

The bad habits don't take work, our carnal flesh leads us into them easily. It's the good habits that take work to form. So how do we overcome the bad habits? By developing and working on good habits. It may start out small, and seem pointless. In the end though the good habits grow and they eventually consume us, pushing out the bad ones. You fight and destroy those bad little things in your life, by nourishing and developing the good little things!

God's Love - Kenny Anderson

The four dimensions of God's love:

• Breadth: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world..." It's a love wide enough to cover the whole earth!
• Length: 1 Cor. 13:8 "Love never ends..." It's a love long enough that it never ends!
• Height: Heb 12:22-23 "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God..." A love which is high enough to reach us from earth and bring us into the heavens.
• Depth: Phil. 2:8 "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. " A love which is deep enough to take Christ form His throne, to the very depths, to reach the lowest of the lowest sinners.

These four dimensions describe an infinite and incomprehensible love!

A.W. Tozer- "Because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning; because He is eternal, His love can have no end; because He is infinite, it has no limit; because He is holy, it is the quintessence of all spotless purity; because He is immense, His love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea..."

Being Strong in Him

Growing up, I have learned many lessons, had hard times, been through struggles, and fallen into sin. There have been many times when I have fallen into temptations and sin, and I find myself stuck. So I would get myself out of trouble, only to fall and do it all over again. I can’t even count how many times I went through this cycle in my life. I always wondered what was wrong with me, why can’t I just stop whatever I was doing. I always tried so hard, I was a strong Christian girl and yet I kept doing the same thing over and over again.

The problem was that I would try and get out on my own. I was being very independent and self-assured. I thought I could be the strong one and stop. I would do it on my own. I would try and stop the cycle because I was strong enough. But I would go about it all wrong.

One time, awhile ago, when I had really screwed up, and I was lying in my bed, trying to figure out how I could make it right, it hit me! I was trying to fix things by myself, instead of going to Christ. I had never cried out to God, asking for His strength to help me, I had always relied on my own power.

This is all too often a belief in our culture as well, and it has deeply taken root in the Church. We have so many self-help programs, books, and motivational speakers. So many leaders in our culture continually push us to believe in the strength of ourselves. They teach stuff about becoming a better you. They try to build our self-esteem, so that we can find our own power to help us. Instead of going to the Higher power, we look within our fallen, depraved self’s. On occasion one does quit their ugly cycle of alcoholism, drugs, or whatever it is they are enslaved to. But they still have the tendency to fall right back into it, because they are only relying on their own strength to help them. Then they may get back out of it because someone, some preacher, or TV talk show host, told them they can do it if they only find the power within themselves. Instead of everything being Christ-centered, it has become a man-centered gospel of help and forgiveness.

Instead of seeking our own strength to help us, we need to cry out to the Lord, ask Him for His strength and guidance to get us through the tough times. Acting like we can do it ourselves only digs us deeper into sin. “The Lord is the strength of His people...” (Ps. 28:8) “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart.” (Ps. 73:26) “I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (IS. 41:10)

When we come to God, with a humble and contrite heart, He promises to be our strength, to send His Helper and fill us. “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Ps. 51:17) “This is the one to whom I (God) will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit.” (Is. 66:2) Recognizing our sin and incapability to turn from it on our own is the first step to turning around. Depending on God’s strength and the presence of the Holy Spirit is what will turn us around fully and put us on the path of sanctification.

Even after I realized all this, I still had a hard time turning around. As fallen man, we will still continually fall, all the way up to judgment day. We all still make mistakes, and wrong choices. But we know that when we do fall, there is One who forgives and picks us back up again. Our own strength isn’t enough, knowing this is important. He gives us the strength and help that we need, knowing this is even more important!

Paul in Prison Pt. 2

Throughout Philippians, Paul gives us many reasons why and how we can endure trials and tribulations. Paul wishes to encourage the new Church not just by words but by example as well. While sitting in his cell, chained to the wall he says “even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial alter of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should rejoice with me.” (Phil. 2:17-18). Paul rejoices in his present situation, no matter the agony, the pain, and the unjustness of it all, he is content to endure it for the sake of his follower’s faith, for the sake of the gospel, so as to be an example.

Not only is he enduring it with the contentment and joy that comes only from Christ. But he also considers it an honor. He takes honor and pride in being in prison.In Phil. 1:29-30 he says "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have." Paul is most likely rotting away in a cell with the festering wounds of a whip still unattended upon his back, and yet he considers at an honor that he is sharing in the sufferings of Christ, suffering for the One who gave His life. It is our joy, our pleasure, and honor to suffer for Him who saved us from eternal hell.

Christ was the perfect and only Son of God, greatly cherished and loved. In contrast man was rebellious, ungrateful, and separated from God. We are alienated from the perfect judge of the world, and there is nothing we can do to reconcile ourselves to Him. Yet this perfect Judge gave His most beloved Son in our stead! Jesus Christ had to degrade Himself and take on flesh. He came to earth only to suffer unjustly at the hands of those whom He came to save. He took on all our sins, nailed then to the cross, and endured the wrath of His heavenly Father for our transgressions. Jesus Christ reconciled us back to God, payed our debt, and offers us eternal life with Him and the Father.

It is because of all of this, that Paul rejoices to be able to suffer, but a little, for his Savior. Christ payed the biggest debt we could ever owe, and we have no way of paying Him back. Sharing in His suffering is way of saying our thanks, of showing our gratitude for what Christ and the Father did for us. This is why Paul considers it an honor, and calls all of us to take joy in our suffering. The Savior gave His life, we can but live and suffer for Him!

We as the elect, chosen, and saved, should rejoice in the opportunity to suffer for the sake of Christ. No one promises it will be easy, or without pain and tears, but we are promised to be given the strength of Christ, to make us content in whatever our situation is. We should be honored to suffer for the One who gave His life for us!

Paul in Prison

Many a times the disciples of Christ and the great writers of the New Testament faced whippings, stones, chains, and prison on countless occasions, all for the advancement of the gospel. While in prison in Rome, Paul writes a letter to the believers in Philippi, which is recorded in Philippians.

I have always loved many of the key verses in Philippians, but as I read through the whole book and understood the context, it opened up a whole new meaning for many of those verses. I was able to understand the situation and attitude from which Paul was writing.

In Phil. 1:12-15, Paul writes "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me (being imprisoned) has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the Word, without fear..."

Here is a man who has been thrown in prison unjustly, and the prisons back then mostly consisted of being underground with no light, and no way of letting out the horrid smells...you shared your bed of straw with who knows how many other earthly creatures, and yet this is the situational in which he finds himself and he rejoices. Paul sees something positive about it.
He is glad because the advancement of the gospel is taking place. He is content to be there, because Christ is being shard.

Even further on in my reading, Paul confirms this when he says "I am hard pressed between the two (living or dying). My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.." (Phil. 1:23) Paul would love to be united with His Savior, but instead of choosing deliverance, he would rather endure so as to share Christ with the lost and to direct the new found sheep.

Just before saying this, Paul states, "Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If am to live in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell." (Phil. 1:20b-22). I have always loved this passage, but knowing it came from a man who is content in prison, gives it a whole new perspective. Paul is showing us that living for Christ can mean many hardships and trails, but it is worth it, as long as you get to share Christ with others. But once we pass from this life there is but more gain and treasure...we have a living hope.

This all also relates to Paul's earlier statement in Phil. 1:6-"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Paul is encouraging his brethren, while he is in prison! Paul knows that God has given us the treasure of a living hope, the promise of being resurrected and conformed into the perfect image of His Son.

Paul displays someone who is perfectly content in whatever situation he finds himself. But how can he? How can Paul be content and rejoicing in his present situation, sitting in a dingy, dark and smelly cell? He tells us later on in his letter...

Phil. 4:13 says "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Many times we take this passage out of context, interpreting it to mean that we can do anything with Jesus on our side...we can win any battle, or achieve a financial goal, or any goal that we have set for ourselves. But if we look at the context of the passage, it's meaning is that we can be content in whatever situation we are, because of Christ.

Going back two verses it says "For I have learned in whatever situation to be content...I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Paul is content in his cell, because Christ has given him the strength to be so.

It matters not what our situation is, as long as our eyes are fixed on Christ and our strength comes from Him, we can be perfectly content! It was when Peter looked at the waves around him that they started to consume him. But when our eyes are fixed on Christ, the waves are oblivious to us, it's not that they are gone, we just don't notice them because Christ is our all in all, and we are eventually able to conquer the waves because of Christ!

Paul is writing this to all of us while he is in prison. He is content because of Christ's strength. He is rejoicing because the gospel is being shared. No matter our situation, Christ gives us the strength to be content!

More to come....

How Should We Live...

What does it mean to live like a christian? What does it mean to be set apart? So many people today bear the title "christian" but their life style says other wise. Christians, instead of standing out, try desperately to just fit in. Instead of being a city on a hill, we join the common crowd.

This past week there has been a song that is constantly playing in the house, ( I won't say who keeps playing it:)), but we all sort of like. The beat is very catchy and fun, so we sing along. But today instead of just dancing and singing to it I actually listened to the words and they set me thinking on this subject. Here is the chorus:

"Don't let your lights go down.
Don't let your fire burn out.
Somewhere somebody needs a reason to believe.
Don't be afraid to stand out...
That's how the lost get found."
-Britt Nicole

Christians today, especially the young group, have been pressured into thinking that we need to fit in. In order for us to be able to reach out, we need to be like them. I'm not saying that this is bad, God calls His people out of darkness through so many ways, what I'm trying to say, is that our life style needs to be different from the lost. We can't be afraid to be different. We can't be scared of standing out, because that's how the lost get found.

Scripture calls us the salt of the earth, the city on a hill, the light on a candle stick. As the elect chosen of God, we need to stand out, we need to be the light of a dark world, we need to show the world that we have been chosen and set apart unto holiness.

Matt. 5:16- "...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

We don't win the world over by being like them, but rather by standing apart from them. Why would they want to come to Christianity if it looks no different than the life they already live?

The world can't see Christ in us if we're just like them. They can only see Christ if we're like Him, and He was a man who stood out and left His mark on this earth. Yes, He did mix with the commoners, but He did not try to fit in with them, by dressing like them, acting like them, doing the same things they did, He ministered to them, out of love, by being different from them.

How should we live? We can't be afraid to stand out, because that's how the lost get found.

Being Pruned

Today, during my Bible reading time, I came across John 15:2 and it really kind of stuck out at me.

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He take away; every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

At first I just passed over it, but then when I read it again I started thinking about pruning. What exactly is pruning? Well I thought back to my Uncle Hugh, and how he would come and cut back all our rose bushes saying he was pruning them, so that when Spring came they would bloom even better than they had in the past. After that, I was thinking about the plant that was being pruned and what was going through their minds. I mean, image if you were a full grown bush, you had just reached your pinnacle and all was good. You were fully grown and had just reached a nice size, and then comes along this gardener and he hacks away all your branches, everything that you had just spent all your time to grow!

Sounds pretty depressing, but that's was God does to His elect, for a reason. When we face trials and tribulations, what God is really doing is He's pruning us. He cuts us back, gets rid of everything that we had stored up and makes us start over.

But there's a reason to all this pruning. The verse goes on to say "that it may bear more fruit". God prunes us so that we can learn from our experience and grow back twice as strong and productive. So that we can become better fruit bearers for Christ, and be better witnesses for the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 1:6-8 says- "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

We go through trials, only to be strengthened. We go through hard times only to find that our faith is stronger. We're pruned because we're loved!

So as children of God, expect to be pruned, but also expected to bear more fruit, and to be strengthened by Christ.

Don't complain when God's got the scissors...He's pruning you, so that when the next season arrives (or the next trial), you'll be ready!

Life in Death

How strong is your faith? Do you truly have faith in all the attributes of God? I was challenged with these questions on the last day of our Medford tournament. When the news arrived that Jodi had lost her baby, I was crushed. I knew how much the Kruses wanted that child. They had nearly given up on the hope of ever having another baby, but God had blessed them and she became pregnant. But then God took that child away, three weeks before it was about the enter the world.

I was angry. Why had God done this to them? What was His plan? Could I even believe that this was His plan? I was deeply challenged, and mad. Then when I got into my round, and saw that I had to talk on the grace of God, it came to me, as like a voice in my head. God said "can you trust in Me, even when your emotions tell you not too?" God wanted to see how much I believed in His grace. Yeah, sure, I was able to study it and talk about it, but did I truly trust in it? Could I talk about even when I was being challenged in it?

It was then that I realized that God's grace was clearly seen in it all. God had given them this child. He had allowed them to build a relationship with this child for eight months. All of this was God's grace towards the Kruse family. While I talked about it in my round, there was this voice in my head that kept saying "praise Me for the child, it was by My grace that they spent eight months with it in the womb, praise Me."

God took this little child, this child that no one had yet seen, and built all of our faiths up through it. God wanted to see how much we really believed what we were saying. Right then and there I finally came to realize the full meaning of His grace, sovereignty and holiness, like I never had before.

Now we all thank God for what He did through this little child. Our tournament took on a different aspect based on the work God did through this child. Jodi's prayer had always been that her children would further the kingdom of God, and even this child, that would never live to see this world, changed the lives of so many people. We became a closer body of Christ. We had each other to cry with, and to pray for, and I thank God for that!

Even in the death of this beloved child, we saw a new aspect of life!



As I was writing this post this song came up-

Blessed be Your Name

Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out I'll
turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say


Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

VERSE 2:
Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me
When the world's "all as it should be"
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name


You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

What Have You Suffered?

We do not know who it was who had this dream, quoted in the Presbyterian Survey. But the unknown dreamer could be any one of us, could it not?

I saw in a dream that I was in the Celestial City—though when and how I got there I could not tell. I was one of a great multitude which no man could number, from all countries and peoples and times and ages. Somehow I found that the saint who stood next to me had been in Heaven more than 1,860 years.

“Who are you?” I said to him.

“I,” said he, “was a Roman Christian; I lived in the days of the Apostle Paul, I was one of those who died in Nero’s persecutions. I was covered with pitch and fastened to a stake and set on fire to light up Nero’s gardens.”

“How awful!” I exclaimed.

“No,” he said, “I was glad to do something for Jesus. He died on the cross for me.”

The man on the other side then spoke: “I have been in Heaven only a few hundred years. I came from an island in the South Seas—Erromanga. John Williams, a missionary, came and told me about Jesus, and I too learned to love Him. My fellow-countrymen killed the missionary, and they caught and bound me. I was beaten until I fainted and they thought I was dead, but I revived. Then next day they knocked me on the head, cooked and ate me.”

“How terrible!” I said.

“No,” he answered, “I was glad to die as a Christian. You see the missionaries had told me that Jesus was scourged and crowned with thorns for me.”

Then they both turned to me and said, “What did you suffer for Him? Or did you sell what you had for the money which sent men like John Williams to tell the heathen about Jesus?”

And I was speechless. And while they both were looking at me with sorrowful eyes, I awoke, and it was a dream! But I lay on my soft bed awake for hours, thinking of the money I had wasted on my own pleasures; or my extra clothing, and costly car, and many luxuries; and I realized that I did not know what the words of Jesus meant: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

Now, with the New Year, make your life more productive for Christ!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Last Sunday, Dad (Pastor Kenny Anderson) gave a sermon on "The 7 "S's" We Should be Thankful For"...I just thought I would post them so that you too can be thankful for the wonderful blessings God has given us, as 2 Cor. 9:15 says- "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"

1. Salvation- What more is there to be thankful for, than the redeeming work of Christ. Without His coming, His death and His resurrection, without the Father choosing to save His elect and sending His Son to take on His wrath and justice, we would all be condemned to pay the penalty for our sins. But instead there has been provided a path of forgiveness, a way unto salvation. Be thankful, all of you, the elect, for the salvation provided to us by the blood of our Lord and Savior. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." Rom.5:6 "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 15:57. Thank God for saving you, in spite of you!


2. The Sovereignty of God- So many people say that they believe in the sovereignty of God, but do they trust in it? And are they thankful for it? 1 Peter 5:6-7 says "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." We need to be emounsly grateful for the fact that we serve a sovereign, all just, and loving God! "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7. We as believers should believe in the comforting confidence of God's sovereignty, so that we may be at peace in the Lord.


3. Spankings- We get to thank God for the sufferings that He gives us, and they will only be appreciated when we understand the sovereignty of God. Prov. 13: 24 shows us that love is displayed in discipline, for it reads "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him." When you are being disciplined, when things are hard and life isn't easy (the pilgrims sure didn't have it easy), it all goes to show that you are a son or daughter of God, and that you are loved by God. 1 Peter 4:12-13- "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." We are to expect hard times, to not be surprised when we are challenged, and when those times come, we should rejoice that we got to share in the sufferings of Christ! Be thankful for the hard times, for the spankings!


4. Scripture- The Word of God is living and powerful, over the blood of many martyrs, we can now read it in our own language. It is a gift for which we should be thankful. David showed His delight for the Word of God in Ps. 119, where he calls is sweeter than honey, a delight, a light, and a path unto righteousness. God has given us His Word, so that we may know His plan for our lives, so that we may know His laws and precepts, so that we may walk in the path of light and not stumble in the darkness. Through the Word of God, we can read about the salvation provided unto us through Jesus Christ. It is a precious jewel, for which we need to show our gratefulness!


5. Sanctuary- Not only has God given us salvation, shown His love through spankings, and given us His Word, but He has also given us His Church, His body of people. Ps.35:18- "I will thank you in the great congregation;in the mighty throng I will praise you." 1 Peter 2:2-6 "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." We as a body are the Church,we are members. one of another, and we should be thankful for one another, we should be thankful for our cooperate worship!


6. The Supper- As we come to the Thanksgiving table, we should remember the ultimate meal- the King's Table! God has provided His Son as the bread and wine, He has invited us to enter His heavenly home and to sit at His table! Matt. 26:26-28 "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Just as Christ gave thanks, so we should be thankful for the invitation to eat at His Table, the ultimate Thanksgiving meal!


7. The Spirit- after Christ ascended to sit once again at the right hand of God, He did not leave us unequipped, but He gave us His Spirit, so that we may proclaim the gospel and conquer the world with His truths! "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

These are just a few of the great blessings that God has graciously bestowed upon us. Remeber the Lord and His works, not just on Thanksgiving, but throughtout the whole of your life!
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess. 5:16-18

What Single Girls/Woman Can Learn From "Fireproof"

A couple weeks ago, we were blessed to go see the latest movie produced by Christians. Fireproof, was a movie based on saving your marriage. Caleb (Kirk Cameron) is a firefighter who (as the movie puts is) is a hero to everyone except his own wife. When they finally decided to get a divorce, his father steps in and challenges Caleb to put it off for forty-days in order to go through the "Love Dare", a journal that calls one to do certain acts of kindness towards the other spouse. When it seems that all is failing, Caleb is brought to Christ, in order to understand the true meaning of love.
In the end Caleb eventually wins back the heart of his wife, and they continue to strive to make their marriage fireproof!

Though the movie was more geared towards married couples, I, as a single girl, still gained a great lesson from it. Throughout the movie, we are introduced to a co-worker of Caleb's wife, Dr. Gavin , who sets out to win the heart of Caleb's wife. She in turn responds positively, and we are left with the picture of her giving her heart away to man who is not her husband.

As single girls, we need to guarded our hearts and not let them be easily stolen. The picture that was portrayed by Caleb's wife giving her heart away is a perfect picture of what it looks like when we give our hearts away to someone whom we do not plan to marry, or when we are not even ready for marriage. When we give our hearts away, it is almost like adultery in God's eyes for He has already picked out our future spouse, and when we give away our hearts to someone He has not chosen, then there is nothing left to give to the man that we do marry. We as single girls, need to learn to guard our hearts, so that when we do meet the man we are going to marry we can then fully give him our whole hearts. If we go through life falling in love with the next cute boy, by the time we meet our true prince charming, we will have noting left to give to him.

This is such an important lesson that most girls these days do not understand. They think that we have to "try out" different guys through the dating system. That we have to find our own prince charming. We must remember that God has a man picked out just for you and me, all we have to do is wait till He brings him into our lives, and prepare for that special moment when we can give our hearts to the man that God has chosen, in His good time!

"Blessed are the Uncool" pt.2

Chapter 2- Rebellion on Stage

Without an audience there simply is no cool. If you take aways it’s audience cool disappears into thin air because cool is both a mood and an attitude-- though in a slightly different sense from everyday language.

• Mood- "the social environment in which perception, emotions and thoughts may occur." It is basically via a mood that we relate to our surroundings.
  
• Attitude- If cool requires a receptive audience, the main piece of performance is attitude- 'a projection of mastery over the entire environment. Cool glories in the spotlight saying, "I'm better than you. I am an individual, you are just a clone."

One of the primary vehicles cool performance is rebellion. Cool rebels can't build a new society because their commitment to the cause is surpassed by their commitment to rebellion. The "revolution" of cool rebellion is an individual affair.

Not all rebellion is wrong, and not all individual rebelling is about being cool. There is a kind of rebellion practiced by the prophets. Prophets are messengers from God, messengers who are against wrong doing in a government or society. Prophets are almost always universally rejected. The most famous case of a prophet’s loneliness is Elijah's complaint to God in 1 Kings 19.

But there is a big difference between the lonely rebellion of a prophet and the rebellion for rebellions sake of the hipster. Prophets stand alone against evil, at first, but their greatest hope is for everyone else to soon join them. Cool rebels, on the other hand, don’t want to be joined by the world; that will just make them want to find another way to stand out and apart from others.

Loneliness is a very serious matter for God. God expects us all to live in community. Human nature is communal, because we are made in the image of God, and God is love. Christianity is a radically relational and historical faith. Cool lives in the here and now, but the beloved community is focused on a moment in space and time, the moment of Immanuel, God-with-us. We can survive the loss of our cool because our faith is rooted in the compassion of the God, who is Immanuel. The loneliness of cool rebellion is met by the Church in the gift of reconciliation.

"Blessed are the Uncool"
-Paul Grant

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Want to hear some great sermons.
Sermons on the Ten Commandments, motherhood and fatherhood, marriage and dating?
All of these and lots more, you can learn about. These sermons give helpful insights and biblical principles on all the topics of the Bible, and they are all by my awesome dad- Pastor Kenny Anderson.
The website is - christcovenantsermons.com

God Bless!

The Spirit of Cool

Admit it, you want to be cool. We all do, me especially. Recently I have been reading this book called "Blessed are the Uncool" by Paul Grant, "Living Authentically in a World of Show". There is so many good things I want to share with you about this book about cool, but I'll just tell about the first half of the first chapter.

We all try to be cool, in what we wear, how we act and what we do. Cool is not innocent, though. It can alienate us from community, family and God. We're so attuned to cool we can hardly imagine life without it. But what we need to understand is that cool doesn't reside in objects or people; it is a tool that can be wielded, but more than often it wields us. This book, he says, is an attempt to image life without cool: it is a search for a better way, an uncool we can live with; an uncool that will free us up to live healthy, authentic and God-fearing lives.

Paul Grant defines cool as -"cool is the private performance of rebellion for rebellions sake."

• Cool is private- it is individualistic from beginning to end. Membership to it is less about faithful friendship and more about excluding outsiders.
• Cool is performance- cool exists to show off to an uncool crowd. It doesn't care about the past or future, only the present, since performance is always immediate.
• Cool is rebellion- cool communicates categorical disrespect for authority. Cool accepts no limits, no ethics, instead it insists on individual authority.
• Cools rebellion for it's own sake- normal rebellion ends when the conflict is resolved. Not so with cool: cool shows universal contempt for authority, extending across all space and time. Cool is never done being cool.

Grant ends the chapter with saying that Christians are far richer than the empty bravado behind cool because our story is a great story: a God dies to give us life in abundance. And once we begin to live uncool, our story will get even sweeter!

To Glorify God?

Of late, I have been thinking about what it means to glorify God. My life's goal has always been to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. When anyone asks me what I live for, or what is speech club, and other things I do, all about I say- "To glorify God".
It has become my life's goal without ever really being there. What I mean is- "am I doing all that I do for the glory of God?" I say it, but do I really do it. What does it mean to glorify God in all that I do?

Psamls 86:12- "I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever." Glorify God forever...just think about it. How can we glorify Him? Do we glorify Him?

"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." Rom. 16:5-7.
As a church we are to welcome each-other as Christ did us so that we may glorify God. Unbelievers see God through us, we as a Church, as believers in Christ, are to show God and glorify Him to the unbeliever.

Ways we may do this is in our dress. How we look outwardly.
"For do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Cor. 6:20.
In the morning, when you get ready for the day, do you look at what you are wearing and ask yourself "does this outfit glorify God, or me?" Does how we look show the world that we are Christians? Do our clothes show that we are set apart, a distinct, chosen people of God? Do they reflect Christ through us? All these questions are what we need to be asking ourselves. We may say we want to glorify God, but do we look it?

Another way is in our speech-
"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:9-11.
Does our speech, and the way we talk, show that we confess Christ as our Lord to the glory of the Father?

Prov. 4:24 says- "Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you." And Prov 19 says- "Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech."
This is not just talking about speech club and how we talk in front of the judges, but rather how we talk on the street, with our friends. Do our words come from self-exaltation or for the glory of God? Does what we say show that we are Christians, and wish to profess Christ as Lord? Do we watch what comes out of our mouths?

The tongue is a powerful thing as James describes. It can either build up or tear down. James 3:9 - "With it (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God." Do you profess the Lord with your tongue, yet not glorify His name when you talk to man? We need to think before we speak.

Let me close with this last verse, 1 Cor. 10:31- "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
Whatever we do, it is to be for God and His glory.
We cannot just say that we will do all to the glory of God, we must practice it on a daily basis. Saying it isn't going to get us anymore, we have to do it!

Should Christians be friends with non-Christians?

One of the greatest dilemmas for a Christian is the matter of non-Christian friends. Should they continue in a bond or back away? How does this apply with “in the world, but not of it”? How can we evangelize to the unregenerate? All these are questions that many struggle with and I hope to present before you a balance.

First let me lay the foundation for why we shouldn’t have non-Christian friends. 2 Tim. 3 gives description of the ungodly and of them Paul says to “avoid such people… For among them are those who creep into households”. Why? Proverbs says the “companion of fools will be destroyed”. Friendships cause us to be vulnerable, to follow and be influenced by the companion there of. As Christians we cannot serve two masters at once. We have to give Christ are all in all, and being influenced by the ungodly will cause us to stumble.

But how, many ask, are we too evangelize to the non-Christian if we are not to become acquainted with them? Many people today think that in order to get through to such kind we must first learn to relate and become associated with them. Many in the church have fallen into this idea of becoming friendly and ministering through that. But by doing this we are bringing ourselves down to the unregenerate state, and this is exactly what Paul and Solomon are warning against. We are bringing ourselves down to their level not following in the path of Christ, which leads to glorification. We have to be like a city on a hill, a light in the darkness. We need to be different and show the non-Christian that the Christian life-style is different from theirs. We can’t do this by bringing ourselves down to their level in order to relate to them.

So where is the balance? How are we to minister and evangelize if we shouldn’t become close friends? The balance is found in the Word of God, love and compassion. To who we show compassion is different than to whom we become friends. When we look at the non-Christian we should have compassion for them and minister to them without forming some great bond, as Jesus did when He looked out upon the crowds, He looked and had compassion. By living a different life we become a light in the darkness and that city upon a hill. Friendships should be formed with care and should affect others with love. We should correct what is wrong with compassion and love, without bring ourselves down to their level and developing any serious friendships. We needn’t become friends in order to evangelize, that will be becoming unequally yoked. Rather we should minister out of love and compassion, as Christ did for His lost sheep.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Over six hundred years ago, God raised up a man named Patrick, to take the gospel of Christ to the people of Ireland. Seldom in church history has any missionary been blessed with a more fruitful ministry. The preaching of Patrick was used by God to transform many of the Irish people from idol worshiping pagans into servants of the one true God of Scripture. May his story encourage twenty-first century Christians to be faithful to the Great Commission of Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."

Taken from the book- Saint Patrick by Michael McHugh

Life and Law

On September 11^th, 2001 over 3500 lives were destroyed when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. This was a great calamity and we mourned for our loss. Yet the very next day, and every single day afterwards, 4000 innocent babies were tortured and murdered legally in America and by America, and we did nothing. 4000 babies every day - 28,000 every week - 112,000 every month and 1,460,000 every year. This makes a total of 4 million dead babies since the Supreme Court handed down their infamous decision in Roe v. Wade making abortion on demand a legal reality, and yet America still remains proud of her country and ignores the blood on her hands.

Why is America not repentant of her sin? Why have we not turned from our wicked ways and bowed before God? Why is the pro-life movement not making enough progress? Doug Wilson said- “The pro-life movement has been often driven by the sorrow of sentimentalism rather than a zeal for biblical righteousness…” This is our problem and I wish to address it, and then show you what needs to be done to change it.

The battle cry for the pro-life movement has always been the sanctity of life. We base our opposition to abortion upon the fact that all life is sacred. Our testimony against the evil has been mixed. Christians have wanted to think biblically about opposing abortion, but we have been using secular and humanist absolutes. Humanist absolutes like: “all life is sacred period”. For example, if we were consistent with the non-qualified sanctity of human life theory we would have to be against capital punishment. Instead of getting to the heart of the matter we have just stuck to the surface. We have been going about this whole “pro-life” thing with the wrong foundation.

Then how, you ask, are we to stop abortion if we don’t tell people they are killing something that is sacred? What is the right answer to abortion? This leads me to my second point, what we need to do to stop it all.

We all know that man is made in the image of God, and that image is a shield against all lawless bloodshed. The real issue, is not the sanctity of life, it is the sanctity of God's law and the consequential dignity of human life. Doug Wilson explains it like this, “…while having great dignity, human life is not sacred. When we speak as though it is, we leave the distinct impression that the foundation of our humanity is the source of our law, and thus the source of our protest. This is how much of our pro-life involvement has become humanistic instead of biblical. Human life has become a god instead of a gift, an idol instead of a valuable creature.”

Sanctity of life is not to be our foundation. The reason why we ought to oppose abortion is because taking an innocent human life violates the moral law of God. The law gets to the root of everything not just the surface. There’s more to life, then just life. We have to get to the bottom of all evil, and that is the violation of God’s law. We have removed and broken God’s laws, and our country will only repent once it has been broken and shown the true fault of her sin. “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” Gal. 3:24. The law of God leads us to Christ and in order to bring our country back to Him, we must first bring back His laws!

Our country already holds life as sacred, as we saw when 9/11 hit. What we don’t seem to recognize is that taking a baby’s life is against God’s moral Law. We have a duty to raise the standard of God’s Law so that our nation will see the true nature of abortion. We pro-lifers need to stop focusing only on the sanctity of life and rediscover the sanctity of God’s law; this is the first step in turning our country back to God.

Thank You

The 1st Commandment

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Ex.20:3
Man is made to worship…the question is what do we worship? God put this commandment first because all others stand or fall under it.

There are many idols in this world and yet there is but one true living God.
“Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” 1Cor. 8:4-6
Do you worship a god, or the one and only God?
The biggest idol ever worshiped, and it’s worshiped by all, is the idol of "I" (noticed how “idol” begins with “I”). All other idols are an expression of self.

1 John 2:15-17 –“For all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” This is the trinity of the god “self”, which are categorized in the following.
The three “P” gods-

• Pleasure – “the desires of the flesh”. James 1:13-15 tells us that we are not tempted by others, or God, but by our own lusts. We become addicted to sin, we are controlled by it. We worship it, it’s our god, our life, our everything, it’s us.
• Position- “pride of life”. Today everything is about self-esteem, and becoming someone. Just watch any show on the Disney channel, and you will learn all about loving yourself. Later that accumulates into having a great career, being a big hot shot…all we want is position! Eve, when she ate the forbidden fruit, wanted to be equal, the serpent knew that he could win her using that argument, she wanted position. But the first step towards salvation is to be humble, to realize who you are compared to God. James 4:1-6 says that “God opposes the proud”. Position is indeed a god.
• Possession- “lust of the eyes”. Our world is covered in materialism; we all fall into this trap. Then this trap will lead us to covenanting, we’ll want what we don’t own. Matt. 6:24 shows us that we cannot serve God and money. But people today will worship their business, so that they can make more to buy more. If getting is your god, then you will never get enough.

We need to remember what Paul said in Phil.1:21- “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” We all need to stop worshiping our idol of self and make Christ our life, our all in all.

-Kenny Anderson
(my notes from his sermon)

10 Commandments pt.1

The Preamble-

“And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Ex. 20:1-2
God said this right before He started naming the Ten Commandments. This was the preamble (introduction) to the laws of God.

Many people think that laws are given to enslave us, to hold us down. Laws are nothing but tyrannical decrees, especially God’s. I mean look at how many there are, how can we ever obey so many? They only burden us. This is the mindset of so many people.

Well these commandments are not tyrannical laws, which we should be afraid of. They were given out of grace. They are not separate from grace, but rather a work of grace from God. In this verse God contrast His laws with slavery. He freed Israel from slavery so that they may receive these laws and worship Him alone. Israel was taken out of Egypt, not because they were obeying them, but rather so that they could receive them. We know when grace is reigning in ones life when righteousness is (Rom.5), and God's Law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.

The laws of God and His grace are not separate. We need to regain the lost love for the laws of God.

-Kenny Anderson...notes from sermon