The Power of Christmas

As the Christmas season winds down every year, it always strikes me how much it changes, well, everything, for about a month out of the year. I know I’m not alone in saying it is simply a magical time of the year. Great music, great food, and everyone just seems to be a bit nicer for the most part. Now I could ramble on about the wonders of the Christmas season for some time, but considering the initial cause of this always amazes and excites me.

Of course “the reason for the season” is and always has been the birth of Jesus. It’s the world’s biggest birthday party basically. But think about it. Jesus was born 2000 years ago, and that one event, a baby being born in a stable in Bethlehem, still puts the world in a practical standstill in some senses for a month out of every year. Two millenia later and that one thing still makes bigger waves than anything else in the world ever can or ever will. Nothing can even come close.

The name of Christ always carries power. His birth, God coming to Earth, is easily the most important and powerful event EVER, so of course it does make sense that the Christmas season is so powerful. Even some atheists will say Christ’s name very frequently. Nothing can stop it. If you think about how big Christ’s impact on everyone during this season, both those who have a relationship with him and those who don’t, it’s mind-blowing really.

Just something I was thinking about.

A Year Of Change

So I turn 18 tomorrow. Weird. It’s kind of funny. I guess in the legal sense it is probably the biggest birthday in anyone’s life, but I think I have changed more as a person in this past year than any other year of my life. It’s coincidental, really, but still fitting. If you want to know what I’m talking about then go read my past like… 20 posts haha. It was just a thought I randomly had.

No Hesitancy

I was just thinking a few minutes ago, if God somehow indicated to me that he wanted me to drop out of school and move to the middle of nowhere in Africa to carry out his will, would it bother me? Would the thought scare me? Would I hesitate?

Surprisingly, that felt like a perfectly comfortable thought. I suppose it’s because it would be God’s idea. His will. We should be comfortable with anything of his doing. More importantly, we should not hesitate to go through with what he wants us to do.

It’s so fulfilling when I do something that was just all God. Especially when I don’t know I’m doing it at the time. Actually, I think that’s how he works almost all of the time. I’ll look back at something and go, “Wow, that was totally God.” Obviously with major things like mission trips we know (to an extent) that it’s God, but when it comes to the small things (which really make the difference), I don’t think we always realize it.

Sorry, that post was kind of all over the place, but I felt an urge to just get SOMETHING down. I guess the main thing I wanted to get out there is that, in my experience, when God is urging me to do something, it always works out better to jump in head first without hesitating. Almost everything God sends us to do is risky, but it’s God; he has a plan that will get you through it.

Not New, Just Different

As churches become more and more modern, a lot of debate has come up about them getting too concerned with art and media and flashy lights and such. Personally, I think that for some people it is just their most expressive and direct way to worship God. Maybe not for some people, but whatever. I’m not here to debate that at the moment.

I just want to submit my observation that this is nothing new… at all. The church has been one of the foremost outlets for art for centuries. Look at the incredible architectural feats that are cathedrals in Europe. Look at all of the beautiful stained glass windows in churches everywhere. Art is very much a form of worship, it’s just that the art itself is changing. Instead of stained glass we have videos. Instead of record-setting organs we have record setting speaker set ups and musical montages. Nothing new at all, just different.

Flooding

Old news for most, I know, but the whole Atlanta area was absolutely slammed with rain last night. As a result, more flooding has occurred in the area than I’ve ever seen. Now of course you can go to any of the local news sites and see all of the flood coverage you could ever want, but I just want to remind everyone to say a special prayer for all of the families affected by this crazy event.

Don’t call God a liar

This was one of my youth pastor’s points tonight, and I was kind of thinking about it last night when he posted the scripture his message was based on. Here’s the part I’m talking about. 1 John 1:8-10:

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

This is a topic that, as far as I can tell, gets overlooked in Christianity a lot, yet it is so key. None of us are good. People like to believe they are basically created good. Easily corruptible, sure, but with a pure core. That simply isn’t the case. God is the only good person there is. Next to him, we aren’t even close.

The astounding fact in this, though, is that when we think otherwise, which even strong Christians can find themselves doing occasionally (I know I do), it is equivalent to directly calling God a liar. Stop and think about that for a second. Yeah, it’s a pretty big deal. And that’s why it’s so important to realize that we’re all sinners at the core, and we need Jesus to fill our lives and cover that sin up.

Hold Fast. Resist The Drift.

Wow, I’m holding up to that posting more frequently thing really well aren’t I? It’s directly related to my point here though, so good example? It just hit me hard how important it is to follow God and resist drifting away from him.

Satan’s biggest weapon is not turning up blatantly against God, but simply making us slowly drift away from him. It’s so subtle we don’t even notice it for a while, if ever. This past week I realized I may have drifted oh so slightly for some strange reason. I obviously wasn’t keeping up with this like I planned to, and I just didn’t feel as close to Jesus as I normally do. I wasn’t super excited about the Point Wednesday like I usually am. All small things. It wasn’t as if I just suddenly got mad at God or anything, I just wasn’t living my life for him as fervently as I normally do. Had I let it continue, I may have started skipping church for stupid stuff and who knows what else.

Thankfully, I did catch myself, I prayed that God pulled me back in and fight of Satan’s nasty grip. He really answered that prayer this weekend, and I’ve pretty much locked back on to him. I already feel the difference again, even though I’ve felt sick most of the day. Life is so much more fulfilling when lived for Jesus. As I’ve said before that, though I’ve always been a “Christian,” I didn’t know what it really meant to follow Christ until a year or so ago. That little time that I drifted gave a little aftertaste of that time before I understood that. School seemed stressful again all of a sudden, and I got frustrated with things much more easily. It wasn’t fun.

In a weird sort of way, I guess it was nice to see that and be reminded of what I have with Jesus, but frankly I hope I don’t need reminding again, and I hope all of you can realize how important it is to keep yourselves from drifting away from him, even in the slightest, because the snowball effect most definitely applies here.

The Everlasting Commandments

A few weeks ago I decided to start a “guided tour of the Bible” that my Bible has in it. A lot of my posts will probably spawn from the reading, I do with that, actually, but tonight’s chapter happened to be Exodus 20. The Ten Commandments. Wow, what a topic to do my first post of this type on. It is obviously one of utmost importance to cover though. God gave these commandments thousands of years ago, yet they stand strong today as the main guiding principles for Christians (and many non-believers, really). That in itself is a testament to the power of God if you ask me.

In any case, I know a lot of people like to argue that God’s commandments from the times so long before Christ are irrelevant in today’s world, that things have changed, but let’s be honest, that’s just plain stupid. Not a single one of those commandments is any less relevant today than it was 3,000 years ago. Frankly I think it’s kind of silly to argue against them, especially considering that directly breaks at least one or two of them (honor thy father and mother, if nothing else, considering God IS my Father).

I think the most important thing to remember, however, and it’s connected to that last point, is that we still very much need to strive to follow these commandments. I have heard people say they feel like they shouldn’t need to follow them any more because Jesus died to cover up our sins right? Sure, he will cover up our sins, but part of following Him is striving to be as Christ-like as we can. It is an ultimately unattainable goal, of course, but I still try to live as closely to how He would have me live every day. Part of this agenda is inherently abiding by the ten commandments. They are and always will be the ultimate set of rules.

Woo! Shiny and New!

So obviously I wasn’t kidding about the new look and name. I’m not dead set on this layout, but this is probably what it will be. I will, however, probably change the header bar picture at some point. But there ya go.

As for the name. I decided to go with something pretty simple. I guess it’s a little basic and cliché, but one of the greatest joys in my life is discovering the amazing gifts God has given us out of His grace. We often get down and think about the troubles of life, but we have to remember what amazing things God has in store for us. We may suffer at times, but on the whole, a life lived for God is an absolutely amazing one, and the treasure waiting for us at the end of the road is beyond imagination. That, and we live in a beautiful world full of amazing things. You all know, of course, that I’m something of an adventurer; I love exploring and finding God’s masterpieces of nature. So, there you have it.

More Changes Ahead

So this will be a short post since it’s late and, frankly, I have school tomorrow, but I just want to announce that I will, once again, be sort of revitalizing ye olde blog, but with a whole new angle. It will be a place for my thoughts on life and how we can all live it for God. I also hope it can be a place where the lost may find some clarity and learn of God’s amazing love for them. Essentially I’d like for it to be something like Carlos Whittaker’s Ragamuffin Soul on a more local, community based level.

I probably will change the page design again and just give the blog a whole new look. This isn’t to say I won’t post some of the random things and thoughts I always have, but there will be a whole lot more God-centered posts headed your way. I’m pretty excited about it, actually! I may eve *gasp* change the name, but I’m not sure yet, and I have no idea to what. Anyway, I look forward to where this may take me and some of the discussions it may provoke.

Your brother in Christ, Justin.