Why I Celebrate Christmas

     Some Christian friends of mine refuse to celebrate Christmas for two reasons: because even atheists celebrate it, and because we are meant to remember Christ all year. They have a couple of valid points. But just as you can't really have life without God, you can't really have Christmas without Christ. Though some deny the purpose, in reality it remains unaltered. And though we remember Jesus every day, sometimes we need a bit of reminding as to why. We humans forget all too easily how great a gift was given us. Glory to God in the highest. Hope you all had a blessed Christmas ♥

Yours Again

I run, back to the things

That drain me of life, then

I break down; break Your heart.

Why am I such a fool?

What's Inside Me

The demons come

To haunt me once again.

I had thought them conquered,

But they live to torment me still.

Doubt, Selfishness, & God

     God.  Yahweh.  Jehovah.  Christ.  His name strikes awe into the hearts of those who know Him; the salvation He has granted us is what we trust in for eternity; His teachings are what we strive to follow every day of our lives.  And yet we doubt Him.  If you're anything like Jesus' first disciples, you might protest at that.  

Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”  And so said all the disciples.

 Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. (Matthew 26:35, 56b)

Burdened

Wearied and burdened,

Heavy laden am I.

This load upon me seems

More than I can bear.

Alive?

I once walked as dead:

Moving, breathing, lifeless;

Believing I had life;

Only in darkness existing.

There Is Hope

Father, we live in a broken world

With a billion broken hearts.

All of us are slowly dying,

And none go untouched by pain.

A Letter To You

Note: this blog entry is written from God's perspective, and I wrote it, but I am not God.  It is simply what I believe He has been speaking to my heart lately, and some of what He would say to all of us.  

This Little Light Of Mine (Part 2)

        I recently wrote about how Christians are light, as Jesus describes us in Matthew 5.  Light makes things visible, God is invisible spirit, and once one puts their faith in Him they are given a portion of His Spirit.  Thus, God becomes visible to all Christians in spirit, if not with physical eyes, and as we are transformed by that Spirit we become light ourselves.  

So simple.  So awesome.

        What I'd like to talk about now is how that light looks in the 'real world,' it's purposes, and why we have it in the first place.

This Little Light Of Mine (Part 1)

        In my opinion, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hadn't heard of the song This Little Light Of Mine. It's a plain and simple classic in the world of Christianity, and it's fame has spread throughout the secular world by way of anyone who ever attended Sunday school.

Reality

You are so real to me;

Your love is tangible.

You are incredible, O God.

Godly Sorrow

        A common misconception in the world today is that Christians are typically happy, smiling people, sometimes to the point of foolishness.  As any true Christian knows, we are not.  We are people with our own shares of struggles, trials, and toils in the world, and yet we can smile through them because we are filled with a joy that is not of this world.  We also, if acting as Christ intended, live out the words of Galations 6:2.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  Also, if we are living life in Christ, we can expect persecution. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)  In short, true Christians are not strangers to suffering.

        My question is, though we are familiar with sorrow, is it a godly sorrow?

Spikenard, Alphabetizing, & Other Reasonable Services

    All or most of you who will read this know that I am a born again, Bible-believing Christian.  As such, I believe that there are 3 main goals for me in this life, and for all other Believers, which are:

1. Follow Christ, getting to know Him and become more like Him.  Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

2. Evangelize, witnessing and preaching the gospel.  And He [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

3. Edify the body of Christ through things such as teaching, and/or exhortation, preaching, rebuking, and encouraging.  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12)

All of these have something in common: they involve doing, and more than that, they involve serving.

The Peace We Have (And Don't Have) In Jesus

    Growing up in the church, I heard a lot about peace: peace like a river, peace on earth, peace that passes understanding, etc.  So as I was reading and studying the gospel of Matthew, a certain verse struck me funny.  

[Jesus said,] "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  (Matthew 10:34)

My Doubting Heart

O God, I know that You're there.

That's why I am praying this prayer.

Every day, I see the sun rise.

Every day, You keep me alive.

I know these things could never be

Unless it was You giving life to me.

An Absence Of Hate, And A Presence Of Love

    Anyone who's ever been in a church setting for very long has heard the phrase "Love your neighbor."  And that's because loving your neighbor is a really, really big deal. Jesus called it the second most important commandment ever.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”   (Mark 12:31)

Comfort Vs. Condemnation

    It has become apparent to me that, through many years, two elements of Christianity have become the forefront of what we believe: comfort and condemnation.  They are probably equally important, and they both apply to life consistently.  The tragic happening that I have observed is that, in the church, these two seem to have gone their separate ways.

Voices

There are voices

In my head,

Making me forget

The things I'd said.

Making me forget

How I love you.