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emeraldj
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Name: David
Country: United States
State: Indiana
Metro: Indianapolis
Birthday: 9/17/1967
Gender: Male
Interests: Creative writing, photography, most kinds of music - especially contemporary Christian, studying the Bible, poetry, reading, watching good movies, hanging out with family and friends, graphic and website design
Expertise: My background is in journalism and graphic design, especially using PhotoShop, QuarkXPress, Illustrator and Adobe GoLive, though I am still learning new things about each of them. I have in the past designed newsletters, simple websites and other marketing materials.
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/17/2004
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| As followers of Christ we are not called to judge, but share God's truth in love. This is sometimes difficult when others are screaming for tolerance while at the same time discriminating against or persecuting you for your beliefs. So what is tolerance, really? My feeling is that in order to be a light to others, we have to show Christ's love to them. We don't have to agree with their beliefs, we don't have to join them in their activities. We just agree to disagree. After all, if you are hateful and judgmental you just push people away.
The Lord does not condone sin. He does not compromise with it or say it is OK if you sin a little bit. He does, however, give you and I the freedom to make those choices. So even if we know something is sin, we should not be pointing fingers and condemning people to hell. All we can do is share what God's Word has to say, and let people make their own decisions. If the Holy Spirit is at work in their life, they will realize the sin and seek to turn from it. If not, they will continue trying to justify their sin and some day answer to God for it.
It is hard not to judge or speak up when you are faced with people who want to force their views on you and everyone around them, but refuse to acknowledge that you have a right to your beliefs as well. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Buddhist, atheist or somewhere else in the faith community. We are not asked to save anyone, to forgive their sins. We are asked to love everyone. We may not like what they say or do, but we still have to love them enough to be concerned for their soul. It may be a matter of continual prayer rather than openly pointing out scripture to them repeatedly. Chances are they know the truth, they just have to decide whether to believe the world's version of it - or God's.
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| 1 Corinthians 15:17-19
And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in
your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable. These verses are a reminder to us
that there is more beyond this life. It can be an eternity filled with
joy and peace or with torment - our choice. Sadly. some people can't
see past the wretchedness in this world and realize there is something
better beyond the grave. They try to be a good person but fail to
realize there are other forces at work beyond just self. And frankly,
there are also people who just don't care because they don't want to
give up the "good life" for what they feel is a myth. We live in
a world where the economy is crumbling, nations are at war, criminals
are becoming more bold. We see poverty on the rise, growing numbers of
orphans, children in need of foster care or (better yet) permanent
homes. We see people picking and choosing which parts of God's Word
they want to live by and mixing it with the "best" of other religions.
We see people who live for pleasing only themselves, no matter who else
it hurts. We see many children who are abandoned yet they still have
two parents in their home. We see many young people searching for love,
for identity and finding none. Worst of all, we see people who
profess to be Christians living like the devil, passing by those in
need of hope. Judging those who are different or are sexually confused.
Condemning those who don't conform to their standards. Forgetting that
it is what is within the heart that is important - not whether or not
you have a tattoo, the latest fashions or hairstyles. As true
Christians we should be reaching out to those who are confused, unsure,
feeling unloved. We should be getting in the trenches and helping
people understand there is a God who loves them. Helping them see that
we too make mistakes, have sin but also a way out. An intercessor. We
need to give them hope so they don't dance on the brink of suicide -
tempted to end it all thinking this is their escape. Far too
many young people, and elderly, are using suicide as a means of
escaping the misery they feel in this life - not realizing that this
isn't the expressway to heaven but to hell because they have failed to
trust God. No, it isn't easy. Many of us may have been on that brink a
time or two ourselves. For that very reason, we need to be real and
open so we can help bring them away from that abyss. Encourage them. Be
a friend. Introduce them to the greatest friend who ever walked this
earth and who has promised to return for those who put their trust in
him.
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| As a responsible adult, a youth leader and minister it is very disheartening to listen to some of today's youth and realize how their innocence has been stolen from them by the entertainment industry. Not just the entertainment industry, I guess, but by society in general.
What is deemed acceptable has changed so much over the past several decades that it is no wonder we see such an increase in sex crimes, in violent behavior and criminal activity. I suppose these things were always true, but now that more and more people are taking pleasure in sin and calling it something else I guess we are more aware of just how bad it has gotten.
Many of the youth report having been touched inappropriately by their peers. Some have been approached by strangers. They are not safe in their own neighborhoods, not even in their own homes. Look at how many have been molested by friends of the family, mom's latest boyfriend, etc.
And if sex and violence weren't bad enough, society is teaching our young people that money is everything. If you don't have money, if you don't have namebrand fashions and the latest electronic devices - you are a loser. No wonder there are so many angry young people. They can't fit into the mold Hollywood and society has established.
In order to keep up, young people turn to stealing, selling drugs, anything to make money fast. Then they risk growing up to be hardened criminals.
Is this what we want for our young people? Can we not see the detrimental effects today's music, movies, TV shows and printed publications are having on children?
Look at some of the people our children see as role models. Does it bother you that they want to (at the age of 10 or 11, for example) dress like Madonna or someone else twice their age? Shouldn't it disturb us a little bit that we have knock-off junior pop stars dressing to show off "their goodies" so they can attract the attention of some boy?
And Christian parents are, in a lot of cases, part of the problem. They aren't monitoring what their children are listening to or watching. Or worse, they are sitting there and watching it with them. Essentially, this tells Hollywood, "We approve. Keep making more garbage to feed my children."
And some seemingly innocent children's shows do nothing more than promote disrespect for parents and authority figures. They depict children running the household, doing whatever they want and rebelling against mom or dad.
I am sorry, but there is nothing cute about 10 or 11 year olds that talk about sex or how they have been touched by someone inappropriately. Even worse, there is nothing cute about a 9 year old boy talking about how "hot" it is to see two girls kiss. It is disturbing that our laws are not more strictly enforced and some are even going backwards in the interest of "being fair" to the sex offender, for example, who has served his time. You don't want to be treated like a pervert or criminal, you should have thought of that BEFORE you did your dirty deed.
It is way past time to start protecting our children from rampant lust and promiscuity promoted in all forms of media. It is time to kick the liberals out of office, get rid of activist judges who are helping further the cause of immorality and the "if it feels good do it" mentality. It is time to take a tougher stance on justice and crime. Rehabilitation is obviously not working. If we need more jails, build them. If we have to exercise the death penalty to make a statement - fire up the chair or get the needles ready. The sad thing, however, is that these things are no longer a deterrent. Criminal deviancy has gotten to the point where nothing keeps someone from trying to take what he or she wants - no matter who gets hurt in the process.
America is under attack by a sinful minority and by people who profess to be Christian but won't stand up for their faith. God has unleashed examples of His wrath but people have tossed notions of this aside by blaming Mother Nature. By calling Christians extremists and judgmental for our beliefs that some of the natural disasters have been brought on by rampant sin in our world.
Will we ever restore the innocence of our youth? Probably not. But we can at least work to curb some of the attacks.
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| Why is it that we are so eager to be happy and believe that material possessions or even relationships can do it for us? We get stuff, but then someone we know gets something better, so we want the same thing. It is an endless cycle of obsession - fueled by greed and selfishness, maybe? We alway have to have the latest and greatest, we have to keep up with our friends. We can never be content with what the Lord has provided. Oops, I forgot there are many people who want nothing to do with God because then they might have to admit He is in control - not them. And I know that is hard.
Seeing how people treat each other - especially people who profess to be Christian - is disheartening, too. I have witnessed "Christians" who don't see anything wrong with tearing others down, making fun of others, gossiping about others, judging others. Where is the love of Christ in all those things?
I came to the conclusion Sunday when I was attempting to teach a Sunday School class on anger and the Biblical way to deal with it, that we struggle with anger because we are not happy with our lives. Often it is because we feel like "If I just had (insert possession or amount of money here) then I would be happy." Would I? Or would I want more? The reason we treat others poorly is because we have low opinions about ourselves or worse, think of ourselves more highly than we should - we need humbling. And sooner or later God will accommodate that need for humbling. He will knock us off our pedestal.
Something else I learned about anger - more often than not it is either rebellious because we don't want to do something; hypocritical because we are angry about the very same thing we are guilty of doing or harsh - showing no mercy or forgiveness to someone who hurt us. What kind of Christian love is that? If we can't forgive others, God will not forgive us.
Happiness and blessings are gifts from God. He wants to bless us. But we let self get in the way while we selfishly pursue money and material possessions. He wants a relationship with us. But we let our friendships and family commitments get in the way. He wants to be first in our lives. If He was, we might find more happiness. Until then, we will pursue something that will be just out of our reach.
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| As we move into yet another year, let's forget about making
resolutions that will be broken before the month of January is over.
Let's put the past in the past, learning from our mistakes but not
holding onto grudges. Why don't we strive instead to become better
equipped to help others, better equipped to draw closer to God? How
about we determine that 2008 can be a year of transformation. A new
year with new opportunities to make a difference in our community, in
our families, in our friendships, in our schools and workplaces. Best
of all, let's show the community that there is hope for the future. Not
just our little corner of the world, but all the far reaching corners
where missionaries are at work, where there is need for food, clean
water, the gospel to be preached and understood. David, and potentially other psalm writers (along with the prophets), wrote often of their hope in God. Psalm 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Psalm 33:18 - Behold, the eye of the LORD [is] upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy... Jeremiah 17:7- Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. Joel
3:16 - The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD
[will be] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of
Israel. Without the hope promised through the salvation of
Jesus Christ, we would be completely miserable. Does our relationship
with Jesus Christ mean our lives will not hold any sadness or that it
will be problem free? No. We will have trials and tribulations. What is
different is that we have changed our eternal destination. But it
requires obedience to the Lord. It means putting Jesus in charge of our
lives and casting aside our own selfish desires and seeking God’s will
for our lives. In fact, Jesus told his disciples - If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (This
is recorded in Matthew 16:24). This means there will be times when we
have to make sacrifices of our time and even potentially material
possessions in order to help someone. It will require us to think and
act differently. Where do we start? By allowing the Holy Spirit
to begin transforming our lives. By letting go of the world and our
sinful ways. By putting God and others first, ahead of our own desires.
Not that we should neglect ourselves, but we should see our love for
God and others as more important than living by the world's mantra - "Me first." The great commandments are recorded in Matthew 22:37-40. Many of us know these verses well -
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the
law and the prophets. This is often the hard part of following
Christ. We don't want to surrender everything to God. We don't want to
love that person who doesn't love us first. Worst of all, we don't want
to forgive that person who has hurt us. Guess what? When we fail to forgive others, we are hurting ourselves. In Matthew 6:14-15 we learn that - For
if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses. Will it be easy to forgive?
Not always. We want to hold on to the memory, maybe even hold it over
someone. Remember when you did this to me? What happens? Sooner or
later you let bitterness and anger control your life. Is that the fruit
of the Spirit displayed in our lives? Absolutely not. We read in Galatians
5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law. These are completely at odds with
the works of the flesh - jealousy, hatred and all manner of immorality.
Our relationship with Jesus Christ can free us from such sinfulness if
we are willing to let go and allow God to work in us through the Holy
Spirit. Will we be perfect? No, because we still have a sinful nature.
But, if we are truly walking in the Spirit we will find ourselves
hating those things God hates, the sin, and should find ourselves
transforming to be more like Christ. As we are transformed we will find
ourselves more aware of the sin, desiring to perfect our relationship
with God - we may find ourselves struggling more with the temptation
rather than easily giving into the sin as we did before our new life in
Christ. You will find yourself wanting to be more like what is recorded in Romans 12:2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. God's will becomes more important than your own selfish desires.
But what if we stumble? And we will. The great news is that we have an
advocate, someone speaking on our behalf - our Savior Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:9 reminds us - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And here is a word you may not hear often outside of your church -
repentance. Many shudder at the thought. They want to keep one foot in
worldly pleasures while planting the other in the heavenly realm. We
are warned of this in many verses. We can't serve two masters.
God expects us to change. He doesn't expect us to change ourselves, in
fact without His help it would be almost impossible. It would
definitely be impossible to change ourselves to meet His high
standards. This is why He sacrificed His Only Son for us. The perfect
sacrifice. Our ticket to heaven. Not our works. Not our money. The work
of Christ paid our sin debt. So what is repentance? It is a change of
heart, a change of mind even. We learned of this earlier when we spoke
of God's will instead of our own. Repentance involves becoming new.
Putting aside our old man, if you will. Putting on Christ. 2
Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Let's
take a look at becoming new. In addition to the fruit of the Spirit
mentioned earlier, we must also be willing to grow. We study the word
of God so we can become closer to God, find out the promises He has for
us, His expectations of us. We arm ourselves with His Word so we can be
ready for those times when the devil attacks us - generally through our
mind. When those whispers of doubt come, when those clouds of confusion
appear we can use our knowledge of scripture to recognize the lies of
the devil. We can also join together with others of faith and work
collectively to defeat Satan and his minions. There is strength in
numbers. We have a greater chance of defeating the devil if we try not
to go it alone all the time. He wants to keep us from church and from
associating with other Christian brothers and sisters because he knows
we can grow spiritually stronger as we study together. He also wants to keep us from doing something that we easily neglect anyway, if we are honest. Putting our faith into action.In James
2:18 - Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me
thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. And in James 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
We have to remember that we are the disciples, the followers of Christ
today. Just as he came to serve, or minister to others, we cannot sit
back and expect everyone to serve us. Each of us has natural gifts and
abilities we can use to glorify God through service to others. Our life
can be an open Bible, a living example of Christ at work today. It's in
the way we treat others, the things we say and do. God's goal
is for us to develop our own personal relationship with Him -
worshipping and loving Him. Beyond that, His goal is for us to love
others enough to meet their physical and spiritual needs. In closing,
let's turn to a familiar scripture where Jesus tells of the separation
of the sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:34-40. The remainder of the chapter addresses those who did not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. Jesus
always met the physical needs - healing, feeding - before he addressed
the spiritual needs. So we should see that it is important to do both. As
we enter 2008 let's not make New Year's resolutions we can and will
often easily break. Let's make a commitment to serving God by serving
others. Let's make 2008 an opportunity to renew or strengthen our
relationship with God by dedicating time to studying His word, to
prayer, to service and worship, fellowship with others. Let's focus on
becoming people who display the fruit of the Spirit, who show the love
of Christ. And finally, let's realize that the new church I spoke of in
the title of the blog is not a new building but rather the people
who come to the building. The new church is people on fire for
God, with the Holy Spirit driving them to reach out to the lost and
dying world - our friends and neighbors, even our enemies. Consumed
with the desire to grow, to equip others and to glorify God. Starting
now, let's ask the Lord to remove any sin, any impurity, any obstacles
that keep us from better serving Him. Let's commit to worshipping God
in every aspect of our lives, a life beyond just a Sunday only
commitment. | | |
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