Huge arms....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrocmnkNJvg

Thank God for having huge arms.....

Going to The Bridge..........

Recently I have been thinking about Jesus. I just think about how much I want to hang out with Him, and just relax and have a conversation, face to face. You see the thing is, I want to ask Him what He thinks about the christian faith today, what we have made of it. If we are doing good, or not so good. I mean what would Jesus say?

Well the first thing that I think Jesus would say is nobody is perfect. I think that sometimes we try to put on this front like we have no problems because we know Jesus. We will tell people that it is hard to follow Him, but we don't show the problems. We try to hide them because for some reason we can't mess up, we can't fail. I think that we need to show how we are not perfect to give a little perspective too people who think that following Jesus is too hard for them.

The second thing that I think He would say is that a lot of us have missed the point. We have missed the point of His whole message. Some of us are to busy arguing with people about whether or not God is real, or wheter or not the Bible is real. I have a friend that goes to The Ohio State University(go bucks!).. but he told me that there is a kid there that is going to become a pastor, but every time he talks about God he wants to try to make it an argument. What is the point in arguing? Jesus did not come to make us argue about why He came.... He came to show us how to live, and how to love. Jesus' whole message was to love, and to love well. That is how people are supposed to come to know Him. By our love. Not by going up to them and asking them if they want to get saved?! When Jesus healed someone did He go up to them and ask them if they would except Him before He would heal them? No! Jesus healed them to show them His love. And by that healing love, they believed.....

The next thing that I think He would say is that we need to start helping people. We always say that we are going to do this or that, but we never seem to find the time to do it. We are all guilty of it.

I am sure that we all know the story of Soddom and Gomarah. The city was destroyed because of the things that they were doing, or perhaps the things that they weren't doing. Most people think that it was all because they were having huge orgies and homosexuality occured frequently. But if you read the story, the bigger reason that God destroyed it was because they were overfed, and spoiled.. they also did nothing to help the poor and hungry. They knocked on the gates of the city but nobody helped them. They stopped caring about other people, and only caring for themselves..... A thing that most americans do.

The last thing that I think Jesus would tell me is that He loves us all, and to show people that love no matter what. He would tell me to keep going, even when I feel like giving up. He would tell me that He cared about me. And last, He would tell me that He will always be with me no matter what I do. Then we would laugh and joke some more until it was time for me to go to The Bridge...

Thank God for Grace......

Sobre again...........

So what's wrong with us? Why can't we just help each other and take it easy? Life would be so much easier. The human condition is a brutal flaw from the fall. The human condition is survival of the fittest, one for himself, think about number one all of the time. This is going nowhere for us. I mean look how far it has taken us. We just become worse people day by day. What if we believed in giving grace, or maybe even a little bit of love, just a little? How much would that help us out? What if we loved that hooker that I wrote about last blog? Maybe she wouldn't be a hooker. What if we helped people who are starving instead of spending all of our money on killing people. There is a reason why everyone hates the United States.. It is because we are overfed, arrogant, and stupid. We don't help anyone, not even our own. We are like a drug addict, we always want more of what we don't need.

But it's so hard to turn the cheek. It's so hard to think of the other way out. We have to protect our pride. We can't look weak.

This all changed with Jesus. Jesus turned the cheek, before it was hit, before there was a mark on it. Jesus is our detox, He is our rehab. It takes a very long time to sobre up, but it will happen. And they will know we are christians by our love, not critisism, but pure and true love.

Try to sobre up, and love well..................................

We're all hookers..................

Recently I was reading in John. I came to the story of the prostitute that Jesus saves from getting stoned. (with rocks, not weed) Let me set the story for you..........

So I assume Jesus is just chillin' with His disciples when all of a sudden a crowd of people come up to Him or He approaches them, I am not really sure. They have this woman who they say is an adulterer, which simply means that she is a hooker. Next the almighty pharisees step up and tell Jesus what she has done, and ask what they need to do. Now the old law said that she was to be stoned, so they were testing Jesus because, well because they hated Him. They wanted Him dead. Haha which I have to bring up the Golden Compass. Now I don't really know if God gets killed in the last book or not, but how stupid is it to protest this movie/book? My youth pastor made an excellent point the other day, are we seriously afraid that someone is going to kill God? I mean honestly? The Bible talks about killing God, so should we protest or boycott it?

Anyways they are testing Jesus because they hate Him. Of course Jesus knows what the law says about this, He knows it well. But instead of saying kill her He says, "whoever is without sin, cast the first stone." I imagine at this point the crowd became still, including the pharisees. Eventually everyone leaves because everyone there except Jesus had sinned. I bet this pissed the pharisees off so much, I wish that I could have been there. Anyways...

This story is so cool because I can say that Jesus loves hookers! And one of the most beautiful things about this story is that Jesus doesnt cast a stone either. Jesus isn't out to get us! I think sometimes we think it and we don't know that we are thinking it. Like when we don't get something we want, or when we screw up. He wants us to have another chance. He hands it to us. You will always have another chance. Even if you are a hooker, drug addict, alchoholic, addicted to porn, or whatever you are going through........... And in our own way, everyone of us are hookers.

So, accept the fact that we are hookers, but Jesus will not cast that stone, He will love us until we change. So love everyone no matter what they do or who they are......

And thank God for loving hookers......

Jesus is my type........

So, when you think of Jesus, what comes to mind? A good looking, clean guy with long flowing hair and a nice beard? I mean that is what he looks like in all of the pictures. And even in the film "The Passion of the Christ," He has long hair and a beard. Oh yeah, i forgot, and He is a white American.

I was recently thinking of Jesus, but I was trying not to think of Him like the one we think of most of the time. I was thinking of a Jewish man, probably normal size with shorter hair and maybe a small beard. I also imagine that He might have not been the cleanest guy ever.

Once I caught myself thinking of this type of Jesus, a different time then I was just talking about, and I didn't like Him. I didn't want to think of Him like this. I wanted a nice clean, good looking Jesus. Instead, I had this not so good looking stinkier Jesus. I didn't want the Man that saved me to be "normal." It bothered me. I know it is stupid that that bothered me, but just think of Jesus, how He really was. He isn't a dashing long haired, good looking American. Now maybe Jesus was good looking, but He definitely wasn't American, and I doubt if He had long hair, maybe He did, but I still doubt it. Also, back in this time, they didn't have showers like we do. They also probably didn't wash their clothes very much. And Jesus more than likely only had one thing that He wore, and it wasn't white with a blue sash around his neck. And when you think about it, this makes the whole thing even more beautiful.

You see, I have a problem with this pretty on the outside type of Jesus. The reason that I have a problem with this is because, Jesus didn't care about that. Why would He? It makes us think that we have to pretty ourselves up for Him, that we have to prove something. Yeah, we do have to prove something, that we are real. We need to prove that we are human. If you were someone in need, and someone else came to help you and that person was wearing a suit, what would you think? I know that I would feel weird. I mean this guy is dressed better than I am, he is probably very proper in his talking, and I mean do I care? I am in need, of course I don't care! Take for example guys reading this. Do you get more flustered and nervous when a gorgeous girl is around, or when a normal girl is around, a real down to earth girl. Definitely a good, down to earth girl who you can actually relate to and talk to is easier to be around than a fake girl who is putting on an act. Same thing for girls and an amazing looking guy, or a good down to earth guy that you can relate too. Common, there is a reason why Jesus was normal. It was easier to approach Him. And, God doesn't care about your appearence, he just wants you as you are. Who cares if you wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to church? If you have to dress up for God, then what kind of a God is that? I don't want a God that I have to dress up for. I hate dressing up anyways! I know that there are churches out there that if I walked in with the clothes that I normally wear to church, they would condemn me to hell.

Now it isn't wrong to wear a suit to church. I am just trying to explain my reasoning at why the real Jesus is more beautiful than the fake, than the paintings of Jesus that are on our wall at the house. Because it gives us a chance with Him. He is real, He is like us, well except for the fact that He is God and perfect, but you get my point. We can relate to Him. That is so beautiful, because the God of the universe is real! He is relevant!

So, thank Jesus for being normal............

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever...............................

So the other day I was walking down the hallway beside one of my friends, at school of course. And it was the usual school hallway. Couples making out, freshman blocking the hall because they have to tell their friends about the sweet lab that they did in biology. There was a couple, and they were making out. It was pretty hardcore for school, his hand on her tush, and they were, well just trust me when I say they must have forgot that people were walking by them.

So my friend turns to me and says, "trash." Now this friend is a christian, and he is a really nice guy. But that just hit me like a ton of bricks, because what does that make him? What does that make us? As a matter of fact I said, "then what does that make you?"

I mean who do we think we are?How are we any different than the couple making out in the hall? I hear this crap all of the time. For some reason, we christians think that we are better than other people because we go to church. I hate that! Who cares if I go to church? Why is it a big deal? Doesn't God care more about me loving people who aren't loved, and helping people who are suffering? And can't church take place anywhere? Where we meet is just a building! Having church is going out and loving on people, and helping people. All church is becoming is the community social hour. People are coming to this building and they are being fake, they are hiding what they are struggling with.

Don't get me wrong, we CAN have church in these buildings that we meet in. We need to get back to what it is all about. Now I am not saying that we need to go and tell everyone our problems. But we should have some relationships with people that we can tell these things to. But we need to make these relationships. God wants us to have these. We need these to survive. It is so hard to get closer to Jesus if you do not have good Godly relationships.

And last but not least, GO!!! Go and help people. Lift up people who are suffering, and in pain. We need to show them the Love that changed us. A high ends, being drunk ends, fleshly pleasures come to an end. The Love of God will never, ever, ever end...........

Thank God for loving you.....

Surely we can change....

So here we are, again. In the blog, in the heat of the moment. Ok, maybe I just put that on here because I thought it sounded cool. But anyways,

So in my youth group we are going to start doing some community service projects, which I am very excited about. Lately I have just been wanting to love on people, get to know them, make relationships with them. After all, that's what its all about.

The other night I was hanging out with my youth pastor and a couple of my buddies that used to be in youth group and we were talking about these projects, and how cool they are going to be. Then someone said this revolutionary idea that in it's simplicity it still blew my mind. I mean I knew about this problem already, but I never really thought about it. This person said that outreach to christians now is going to church. Which means that we as christians think that going to church is a ministry, is a form of outreach. Wow, how ignorant is that. I mean, like I said, I knew that going to church wasn't an outreach, and I have been thinking that christians aren't reaching out enough, but this just struck me.

Before Jesus goes to heaven after he is beats death, He tells the disciples to go and preach the gospel to the far ends of the earth. Not to just stay in our holy huddles and talk about how God blessed us by opening up a parking spot at wal-mart, frankly I don't think God cares about that kind of stuff. But He does care about people, and about relationships. He does care about us sharing His love, and He does care about Life. We need to change.

If we don't go, then who will. If we don't love then who will. I hope that you can see that the world is out there. Reality is out there. And please don't go and think that you are better than the people that you are going for. If you think that, then please DON'T go. But if you are real, and you know that life is happening, please go.

As it says in Crowder's song, "the problem it seems, is with you and me. Not the Love who came to repair everything." Please help the problem, and know that surely we can change.

Thank God for loving you.

A horrible seperation

So here we are. Here we are, for some reason I wanted to type some blogs. Oh, how fun. That is how boring this little hick town is. Ok, enough venting.

So sin. We all do it, no one is without sin. Of course as christians we try not to sin. But we do, we will always sin for the rest of our time here on earth. Sorry, there is nothing we can do about it, it will just happen. You see this all strarted in a place called the garden of eden. Now this was no ordinary garden people. This was probably the sweetest place ever created. An absolute paradise, and a place without sin. There was no sin. The only thing that this place knew, was God. The only thing that the people knew, was God. Now there were only two people staying here, and they were as we all know Adam and Eve. And to top it all off, they were naked, and they felt no shame about it. They had it made. They were cool with God, and God was cool with them. The only condition was they couldn't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Pretty easy it seems, they had all of these other trees with any kind of fruit that there was, and is, and they couldn't eat from one tree. But of course we all know that they did eat from the tree that they were not supposed to eat from, and there we have it, the fall of man. A seperation from God.

I have been reading a book by Donald Miller called "Searching For God Knows What." In this book he gives a lot of detail to the reader so that they can understand what the fall felt like for man and for God. I didn't really understand or care until I caught myself committing sin today, and I know that I felt that seperation. So Adam and Eve sinned, which sucks for all of us. After they eat the fruit from the bad tree, they here God walking in the garden so they hide. God calls to Adam and Adam anwsers Him, and of course God knows that they sinned. But as Donald Miller puts it, think of the seperation that Adam and Eve felt, and that God felt. God and man were cool, they were Father and son, best friends. But God is perfect, He doesn't sin. So there has to be a seperation. God cannot be one with sin, He cannot be a part of it. So immediatley when they ate the fruit, they felt disconnected. They knew that they were naked.

Now as I said earlier I felt that seperation. I felt like God and I were not cool anymore. I knew that He still loved me, but that we weren't together. I felt alone. I felt this in my soul. It really sucked. I think this was the first time that this happened to me. I know what Adam and Eve felt like when they sinned. They knew that they were not cool with God anymore. They couldn't feel His warmth.

But God loves us enough to give us more than one chance. He knows that we will all sin, and that is why Jesus bled for us. Forgiveness and salvation when you think about it, are the most beautiful things that God will ever give us. It gives us a clean slate with God. It makes us one with God. Not equal too, but one with Him. It makes our souls feel the love that we need to live. God will always love us, no matter what we do.

So, know that God is real, and that His love will never die out or get old. His love will always be fresh and delivering. Thank God for loving you.