Have you noticed how much cell phones have changed over the years? I grew up in a time where cell phones were just coming into the picture and I was one of the first ones to have one in high school. I don’t know how I managed to hide it during class given the fact that it was like a gigantic walkie-talkie. It was a brick. It had a green backlight and only had analog (if you don’t know what that is then you’re probably in high school right now). Nowadays, phones have internet capabilities, television, music, chat, text messaging, personal data, schedules. They are smaller, lighter, faster, better. And there is a new model coming out almost every month! They all have different plans, different features and come from different manufacturers. But they all share the same purpose: to make and receive calls.
We are just like cell phones. We all come from different cultures and manufacturers (our parents) and we have strengths and weaknesses and features that make us unique. We have our own personalities and looks and characteristics that make us who we are. But despite all of these differences, we are all wired the same way. We all share the same purpose: to worship God.
We all have different definitions of what worship is but I’ll give you just mine because, well, this is my blog: To be a spiritual thespian performing a life-long play before a sellout audience and God is sitting in every seat!
We are all worshipers. We all have altars. Don’t’ believe me? Do you put your life on hold on Thursdays at 8pm for Grey’s Anatomy? Can you not start your day without a trip to Starbucks? Do you know more about the lives of Hollywood stars than the Bible?
You worship what you value most. And because we all worship and because we all have altars in our lives, then we need to evaluate what we are worshipping. Why? Because our worship determines our actions and our actions become the driving force in our lives! It’s what fuels us. And when I say “us,” I’m not just talking about Christians. I’m talking about everyone! We all do it. Everyone has a throne.
What is yours?
We spend our time and money and energy on idols that don’t really give anything back to us in return. But with God, we give Him our worship and He celebrates us in return.
Colossians 1:16 says “All things were made by God; and all things were made for God.”
We were created by Him for Him. So the question isn’t what is sitting on the throne of your heart; but who?
-NW
Friday, December 21, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
9.23.07 "God Going #2"
Many people don’t know this about me but I have preached at a funeral before. When I was a senior in high school, my mom’s sister committed suicide just after New Year’s in 2001. My mom asked me to speak at the funeral. I was honored that my mom would ask me to do such a thing. But once the reality of it started to sit in, I was starting to wonder why I agreed. Just a little history lesson on my family: I don’t come from a strong religious or Christian family. In fact, my mom’s side of the family often mocked God when they had the chance. So here I was, an 18-year old senior getting ready to preach at my aunt’s funeral. As I prepared, I found myself struggling to find what words to say. Being a suicide, I thought I’d just speak on faith. As I preached, it started raining. I was still an amateur preacher then and it showed, as I said in the middle of my message, “You see, Aunt Karen is up there laughing at us right now as God is peeing on us.” You guessed it: everyone laughed. I felt like Daniel in the lion’s den. I’m sure you have your first-time-horror stories and they were just as bleak.
Saul had his. He was king over Israel and was going to battle with the Philistines. The Philistines destroyed Saul’s army, killing his sons in the process. As Saul looked on, he saw no positive outcome in sight and decided that it would be best for him to kill himself rather than letting the Philistines torture and mock him. He figured they’d kill him anyway so why endure all of that? I’m sure that’s how my aunt felt.
In this life, we face trials and struggles and circumstances that just weigh us down and from our human perspective, it’s hard for us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you’re a teenager, it could be in your school during that one class that you just can’t seem to ace. Or maybe you’re an adult and you’ve stumbled across this blog and your job isn’t going so well or money is tight.
Jesus says, “Come to me all those who are heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.” Have you given Him your burdens yet?
How did the funeral end? Well, not only did I teach faith, I learned it. I went in inexperienced and afraid. But I spoke God’s Word and not only did the funeral go well (aside from God’s urine), but I was able to lead six of my family members to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior.
I learned something that day: Faith is something God gives us as we wait on Him to return from the bathroom.
-NW
Saul had his. He was king over Israel and was going to battle with the Philistines. The Philistines destroyed Saul’s army, killing his sons in the process. As Saul looked on, he saw no positive outcome in sight and decided that it would be best for him to kill himself rather than letting the Philistines torture and mock him. He figured they’d kill him anyway so why endure all of that? I’m sure that’s how my aunt felt.
In this life, we face trials and struggles and circumstances that just weigh us down and from our human perspective, it’s hard for us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you’re a teenager, it could be in your school during that one class that you just can’t seem to ace. Or maybe you’re an adult and you’ve stumbled across this blog and your job isn’t going so well or money is tight.
Jesus says, “Come to me all those who are heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.” Have you given Him your burdens yet?
How did the funeral end? Well, not only did I teach faith, I learned it. I went in inexperienced and afraid. But I spoke God’s Word and not only did the funeral go well (aside from God’s urine), but I was able to lead six of my family members to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior.
I learned something that day: Faith is something God gives us as we wait on Him to return from the bathroom.
-NW
9.19.07 "Handicapped"
There was a kid in my class who was mentally handicapped and I was too immature to accept that. I had a pack of skittles during study hall and with all of my friends around, I asked the kid, whose name was Dustin, to pick a color as I showed a green and a purple in my hand. Thinking I was offering him one, he picked green. I then proceeded to quickly pick up the green skittle and toss into my mouth and selfishly enjoyed the deliciousness that is always in a green skittle. Then I heard my name screamed from across the room. The teacher saw the whole thing. As my friends all laughed at me, I was quickly kicked out and about three minutes later, was sitting right outside the principal’s office. Welcome to my world.
Handicapped people, whether physical or mental, are almost always picked on. In my case, I wasn’t trying to pick on Dustin but it was perceived that I was. Back in biblical times, crippled people were treated as scum or bums on the street. Society looked at them with no value and decided that they make no economical or social contributions to society (it’s amazing how much doesn’t change over the years).
In 2 Samuel, we meet Mephibosheth (Mephibo-who?), Mephibosheth, a crippled man. But he wasn’t just any crippled man, he was Jonathan’s son. But more importantly, he was Saul’s grandson. David was king of Israel during this time and he wanted to know if there were any descendants of Jonathan left. This was because he made a promise to Jonathan to take care of his family if he died. David’s officials found Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth feared for his life when he found out the king wanted to see him. He feared him because he was crippled and had absolutely no business being in the king’s presence. He also feared him because he was Saul’s grandson and he thought David was going to kill him because of it (back then, you were to kill off your enemy’s entire lineage). But instead, Mephibosheth found out that David wanted to give him his grandfather’s pension—the estate, servants and riches. But most importantly, he got a ticket to David’s unlimited dinner buffet every night.
That’s how God treats us. We’re all crippled because of our sins (Romans 3:23), and because of that, we deserve death (Romans 6:23). But God, like David did with Mephibosheth, loved us because of a promise He made with Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8). Jesus Christ died for our sins so that one day, we can eat at God’s dinner buffet every night in heaven (John 3:16). All you have to do as a crippled is confess with your mouth that you are spiritually crippled and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died you’re your sins and you will be saved.
Jesus, I’m crippled. And I can’t walk on my own. I have sinned against You and that keeps me from knowing You and I’m sorry. I believe You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to die in my place and He’s the only way to get to You. I ask that You that save me from death and I invite You, Jesus, into my heart to be my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.
-NW
Handicapped people, whether physical or mental, are almost always picked on. In my case, I wasn’t trying to pick on Dustin but it was perceived that I was. Back in biblical times, crippled people were treated as scum or bums on the street. Society looked at them with no value and decided that they make no economical or social contributions to society (it’s amazing how much doesn’t change over the years).
In 2 Samuel, we meet Mephibosheth (Mephibo-who?), Mephibosheth, a crippled man. But he wasn’t just any crippled man, he was Jonathan’s son. But more importantly, he was Saul’s grandson. David was king of Israel during this time and he wanted to know if there were any descendants of Jonathan left. This was because he made a promise to Jonathan to take care of his family if he died. David’s officials found Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth feared for his life when he found out the king wanted to see him. He feared him because he was crippled and had absolutely no business being in the king’s presence. He also feared him because he was Saul’s grandson and he thought David was going to kill him because of it (back then, you were to kill off your enemy’s entire lineage). But instead, Mephibosheth found out that David wanted to give him his grandfather’s pension—the estate, servants and riches. But most importantly, he got a ticket to David’s unlimited dinner buffet every night.
That’s how God treats us. We’re all crippled because of our sins (Romans 3:23), and because of that, we deserve death (Romans 6:23). But God, like David did with Mephibosheth, loved us because of a promise He made with Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8). Jesus Christ died for our sins so that one day, we can eat at God’s dinner buffet every night in heaven (John 3:16). All you have to do as a crippled is confess with your mouth that you are spiritually crippled and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died you’re your sins and you will be saved.
Jesus, I’m crippled. And I can’t walk on my own. I have sinned against You and that keeps me from knowing You and I’m sorry. I believe You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to die in my place and He’s the only way to get to You. I ask that You that save me from death and I invite You, Jesus, into my heart to be my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.
-NW
Friday, November 23, 2007
8.29.07 "Circle Yes or No"
High school is basically four years of nothing but socializing. You grow more and more independent of your parents and you try to branch out and develop relationships outside of your family to prove it. As you do this, you develop friendships that last a lifetime and you start to get those “butterflies” for that special guy or girl until they are asked to “circle ‘yes’ or ‘no.’” Then you find out what they really feel and how they were only looking for that “one thing” and they stab you in the back and make you look stupid in front of all of your friends and go after Brock, the quarterback instead!
Oh, sorry. I thought I was writing in my diary for a second.
Relationships are all we have sometimes. Life gets tough and it’s easy to feel completely helpless. It’s those relationships that get us through those times. David had that kind of relationship. You see, when David was running from King Saul, he had an awesome friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Their friendship was based on three things that allowed the relationship to work so well: sacrifice, loyalty and encouragement.
It was based on sacrifice because Jonathan was the “rich kid” who had everything but he also gave everything to David out of love, admiration and respect. He shared his clothes, his weapons, and eventually, his right to the throne.
It was based on loyalty because Jonathan had his own “circle ‘yes’ or ‘no’” moment: choose his dad or choose his best friend, David. Once he found out his father’s intentions on killing David, he sided with David and helped him escape Saul’s pursuit.
It was based on encouragement because David got tired of running and couldn’t figure out why Saul wanted to kill him. Jonathan stepped in and reminded David that the Lord was with him.
Good friends are hard to come by and in this life; we never stop making new ones. As those new friendships are created, base them on these three principles and watch how much easier life becomes.
Proverbs 17:17 states this: “A friend loves at all times…”
Looking for the ultimate friendship? Jesus came from heaven to earth to die for your sins because He loves you. He wants to have a relationship with you. All you have to do is circle “yes” or “no.”
-NW
Oh, sorry. I thought I was writing in my diary for a second.
Relationships are all we have sometimes. Life gets tough and it’s easy to feel completely helpless. It’s those relationships that get us through those times. David had that kind of relationship. You see, when David was running from King Saul, he had an awesome friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Their friendship was based on three things that allowed the relationship to work so well: sacrifice, loyalty and encouragement.
It was based on sacrifice because Jonathan was the “rich kid” who had everything but he also gave everything to David out of love, admiration and respect. He shared his clothes, his weapons, and eventually, his right to the throne.
It was based on loyalty because Jonathan had his own “circle ‘yes’ or ‘no’” moment: choose his dad or choose his best friend, David. Once he found out his father’s intentions on killing David, he sided with David and helped him escape Saul’s pursuit.
It was based on encouragement because David got tired of running and couldn’t figure out why Saul wanted to kill him. Jonathan stepped in and reminded David that the Lord was with him.
Good friends are hard to come by and in this life; we never stop making new ones. As those new friendships are created, base them on these three principles and watch how much easier life becomes.
Proverbs 17:17 states this: “A friend loves at all times…”
Looking for the ultimate friendship? Jesus came from heaven to earth to die for your sins because He loves you. He wants to have a relationship with you. All you have to do is circle “yes” or “no.”
-NW
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
8.22.07 "Rise From Grace"
Picture this: You do something that no one else could or wanted to do. Upon doing it, you land a white collar job which leads to endless fame and fortune among everyone in your entire country. Then the person that helps you get there turns on you and wants to kill you which leads to you running for your life and virtually disappearing off the face of the earth. To make things worse, you have the chance to kill that person two different times aren’t able to because you have a conscience.
Welcome to David’s life.
David killed Goliath and was put in charge of Israel’s army by King Saul. He was praised by Saul, loved by his people and arguably had the best life in the entire Old Testament. Just look at 1 Samuel 18:14, “In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.”
Saul grew jealous of David because he didn’t have what David had. But the real issue was that Saul didn’t seek God like David did. Saul tried to kill David but failed four different times. David escaped and fled from city to city to hide from the king. Eventually, David had two chances to kill King Saul but didn’t because David loved and respected the king since he was the Lord’s anointed. David didn’t necessarily serve Saul the king, but served God, the King. He knew God would deliver him.
Fast forward to 2007.
Our culture screams for us to seek out selfish pleasures and outdo your neighbor in success and do it for the sole sake of instant gratification. But I challenge you to take another approach—David’s approach.
1. Pursue God (Matthew 6:33)
2. Avoid jealousy (Proverbs 14:30, or do a case study on King Saul)
3. Wait for God’s timing (Habakkuk 2:3)
Do these and surely it will be said of you, “In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him.”
-NW
Welcome to David’s life.
David killed Goliath and was put in charge of Israel’s army by King Saul. He was praised by Saul, loved by his people and arguably had the best life in the entire Old Testament. Just look at 1 Samuel 18:14, “In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.”
Saul grew jealous of David because he didn’t have what David had. But the real issue was that Saul didn’t seek God like David did. Saul tried to kill David but failed four different times. David escaped and fled from city to city to hide from the king. Eventually, David had two chances to kill King Saul but didn’t because David loved and respected the king since he was the Lord’s anointed. David didn’t necessarily serve Saul the king, but served God, the King. He knew God would deliver him.
Fast forward to 2007.
Our culture screams for us to seek out selfish pleasures and outdo your neighbor in success and do it for the sole sake of instant gratification. But I challenge you to take another approach—David’s approach.
1. Pursue God (Matthew 6:33)
2. Avoid jealousy (Proverbs 14:30, or do a case study on King Saul)
3. Wait for God’s timing (Habakkuk 2:3)
Do these and surely it will be said of you, “In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him.”
-NW
8.17.07 "Stupid Cat"
I used to have a cat and his name was Peter. He always meowed and shed his long hair all over the place, which caused me to have to grab a lint brush in the morning before leaving for work. I’d find hairballs on the carpet for me when I got home from work or he’d scratch at my furniture. One time, he even made his way back behind the television where he managed to unplug my cable. This led to making my DVR unable to record my precious 24 episode (to this day, I swear he did it on purpose). Soon came the day when I gave Peter the boot. I had enough.
If you’re a Christian today, you can relate with this situation. At one point, you had enough of Satan and sin and how the combination of the two continually messed with your life. And you gave sin the boot when you asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and personal Savior. Unlike Peter, sin is able to find it’s way back into our lives and our hearts. But it doesn’t belong there anymore. The truth is, once your give your life to Christ, there’s no room for sin because God is big enough to occupy all of the space in your heart. However, we continue to let sin through the door.
Why? Because Satan is a jealous ex-boyfriend. We used to date him through sin but we broke up with him because we met a new Man. One who was able to provide for us and give us the love and attention we craved. Like so many other jealous ex-boyfriends, Satan wants to win us back. And he’ll do anything he can, even attack our new Man, to do it. He’ll lie and cheat, he’ll scheme and connive to turn our friends against us—anything that will make us leave our Man and go back with him.
Sure, that’s a silly way to picture it but it’s very true. Satan and our old sinful ways are “best buds.” And it’s a lot easier for us to hang out with them than it is to stay faithful to our new Man. That’s just how it is because that’s who we are: sinners. Or are we?
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” When you give up sin and take in Christ, you no longer live—you don’t exist. You don’t exist because Christ has taken over you.
So Christian, when you wake up every morning, be sure to “kick the cat out of the house,” and ask God to help you stand strong against your sinful nature—because that’s just Satan trying to get a date.
-NW
Dear Master, Savior of my out-of-control life, you desire and deserve all of me, so take my heart, Lord, take it. Let my old way of life by crucified with you and I will live by faith, responding to your love for me. Comforted by your peaceful stability, I fall in love with you all over again. Amen.
If you’re a Christian today, you can relate with this situation. At one point, you had enough of Satan and sin and how the combination of the two continually messed with your life. And you gave sin the boot when you asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and personal Savior. Unlike Peter, sin is able to find it’s way back into our lives and our hearts. But it doesn’t belong there anymore. The truth is, once your give your life to Christ, there’s no room for sin because God is big enough to occupy all of the space in your heart. However, we continue to let sin through the door.
Why? Because Satan is a jealous ex-boyfriend. We used to date him through sin but we broke up with him because we met a new Man. One who was able to provide for us and give us the love and attention we craved. Like so many other jealous ex-boyfriends, Satan wants to win us back. And he’ll do anything he can, even attack our new Man, to do it. He’ll lie and cheat, he’ll scheme and connive to turn our friends against us—anything that will make us leave our Man and go back with him.
Sure, that’s a silly way to picture it but it’s very true. Satan and our old sinful ways are “best buds.” And it’s a lot easier for us to hang out with them than it is to stay faithful to our new Man. That’s just how it is because that’s who we are: sinners. Or are we?
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” When you give up sin and take in Christ, you no longer live—you don’t exist. You don’t exist because Christ has taken over you.
So Christian, when you wake up every morning, be sure to “kick the cat out of the house,” and ask God to help you stand strong against your sinful nature—because that’s just Satan trying to get a date.
-NW
Dear Master, Savior of my out-of-control life, you desire and deserve all of me, so take my heart, Lord, take it. Let my old way of life by crucified with you and I will live by faith, responding to your love for me. Comforted by your peaceful stability, I fall in love with you all over again. Amen.
8.10.07 "Freedom!"
Ask any random person to quote one line from the movie Braveheart, they would most likely yell “Freeeeeeeedommmmm!!!!!!!!!!” or they may whip out some blue face paint and inspire you with “They’ll never take our freedom!” As awesome as that movie is and how it bathes you in goose bumps, this is how our Christian walk should be. We have freedom in Christ. He sets us free! He frees us from the penalty of sin—death (John 3:16) and frees us from our everyday worries and burdens (Matthew 11:28).
But it’s amazing at how many Christians (including myself) often forget or never realize this truth. We get bogged down by sin, doubt, worry, fear and despair and we buy into Satan’s lies that that is how it’s supposed to be and there is no way out! When we do that, we spiritually chain ourselves to our sin, guilt and shame and swallow the key. We then struggle through the rest of our day or week as the weight of those chains get heavier and heavier with each step.
This is not what God has intended. God wants a relationship with us—a real, forgiving, confident relationship that is based on love, grace, mercy and hope. But don’t take my word for it, sometimes I’m more chained up than anyone. Check out Romans 5 (man, I love Romans!)
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:1-8 (NIV), emphasis mine.
Christian, if you’re chained up by your pride or guilt or sin, let the love and forgiveness of God unlock those chains and free you from Satan’s lies and shout a cry of “Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedoooooommmmmmmm!!!!!” Because that’s what you are! Free!
If you’re trapped and imprisoned by sin and shame, and you’ve never experienced the love of Jesus and asked for forgiveness from God, take a moment right now and ask God for help. Not only will He forgive you; He’ll free you—forever and ever.
-NW
But it’s amazing at how many Christians (including myself) often forget or never realize this truth. We get bogged down by sin, doubt, worry, fear and despair and we buy into Satan’s lies that that is how it’s supposed to be and there is no way out! When we do that, we spiritually chain ourselves to our sin, guilt and shame and swallow the key. We then struggle through the rest of our day or week as the weight of those chains get heavier and heavier with each step.
This is not what God has intended. God wants a relationship with us—a real, forgiving, confident relationship that is based on love, grace, mercy and hope. But don’t take my word for it, sometimes I’m more chained up than anyone. Check out Romans 5 (man, I love Romans!)
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:1-8 (NIV), emphasis mine.
Christian, if you’re chained up by your pride or guilt or sin, let the love and forgiveness of God unlock those chains and free you from Satan’s lies and shout a cry of “Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedoooooommmmmmmm!!!!!” Because that’s what you are! Free!
If you’re trapped and imprisoned by sin and shame, and you’ve never experienced the love of Jesus and asked for forgiveness from God, take a moment right now and ask God for help. Not only will He forgive you; He’ll free you—forever and ever.
-NW
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
7.21.07 "Far Sight"
Have you ever seen the movie, Men In Black? If you haven’t, go out and rent it, it’s pretty good. Anywho, I love the end of the movie. It starts off with two people standing at a street corner in downtown New York City and it zooms out to where you see the whole city, then the state, region, country, continent and world. But then it keeps going! It zooms out further so you can see the planet, then the other various planets, followed by the galaxy and finally, we see the galaxy become a single marble mixed with other “galaxy” marbles and two weird alien creatures are playing a game of marbles with them.
I imagine that’s a pretty good picture of how God views His creation. I’m not saying God is a weird alien creature nor is He ignoring us while He is concentrating on an intense game of marbles. But to God, life is far bigger than me. It’s bigger than any of us. Look at Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 where Solomon illustrates this with awesome pictures to show us just how big God and His creation is. We are mere specks in His eyes.
Yet we always tend to look at life like it’s centered on us.
It’s easy to look at life through a first person perspective because that’s how we were created. Of course we see other people all around us and they have their own view on things because they are the ones living it, but there is no way to view things from their perspective.
So as we strive to become more like Christ, we should make every effort to view things as God views them. And when we do that, we are able to meet our full potential that God originally intended us for.
Not only is God big enough to look at things through His perspective, but He’s also able to look at things through ours as well. So as we struggle and endure all of life’s ups and downs, know that God is not only big enough to handle it, but He also knows exactly what you’re going through because He sees it as you see it.
The difference?
He can see a little bit further than you.
-NW
I imagine that’s a pretty good picture of how God views His creation. I’m not saying God is a weird alien creature nor is He ignoring us while He is concentrating on an intense game of marbles. But to God, life is far bigger than me. It’s bigger than any of us. Look at Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 where Solomon illustrates this with awesome pictures to show us just how big God and His creation is. We are mere specks in His eyes.
Yet we always tend to look at life like it’s centered on us.
It’s easy to look at life through a first person perspective because that’s how we were created. Of course we see other people all around us and they have their own view on things because they are the ones living it, but there is no way to view things from their perspective.
So as we strive to become more like Christ, we should make every effort to view things as God views them. And when we do that, we are able to meet our full potential that God originally intended us for.
Not only is God big enough to look at things through His perspective, but He’s also able to look at things through ours as well. So as we struggle and endure all of life’s ups and downs, know that God is not only big enough to handle it, but He also knows exactly what you’re going through because He sees it as you see it.
The difference?
He can see a little bit further than you.
-NW
7.13.07 "Choices"
Party. Dictionary.com defines it “to enjoy oneself thoroughly and without restraint.”
Society teaches today’s teenager to “live now, regret later.” Today’s teenager has no consequences because there are no rules, and there are no rules because there is no authority. There’s no authority because it’s all been left up to the individual to decide what’s best for them. It’s all about having the ability to choose. The thing is, today’s teenager hasn’t been taught to make the right choice.
Everywhere you go today, you have choices (If you don’t agree, just walk into any neighborhood Starbucks). My job, is to teach young people to make the right choice—especially when attending social gatherings where peer pressure and temptation reign supreme. But before teenagers can make the right choice, they need to know about authority. In order to know about authority, they need to know there are rules and consequences.
The Bible specializes in these subjects. Jesus is our authority as He claims this in Matthew 28:18. His tag team partner, the Holy Spirit, is our “rule book” as it helps us live a life that shows others that Jesus is our authority.
Check out Galatians 5:19-23: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity…jealousy, selfish ambition, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Well I guess that whole bit about enjoying yourself thoroughly and no restraints doesn’t pan out after all. By making Christ your authority and treating God’s word as your rule book, you can know how to make the right choice.
-NW
Society teaches today’s teenager to “live now, regret later.” Today’s teenager has no consequences because there are no rules, and there are no rules because there is no authority. There’s no authority because it’s all been left up to the individual to decide what’s best for them. It’s all about having the ability to choose. The thing is, today’s teenager hasn’t been taught to make the right choice.
Everywhere you go today, you have choices (If you don’t agree, just walk into any neighborhood Starbucks). My job, is to teach young people to make the right choice—especially when attending social gatherings where peer pressure and temptation reign supreme. But before teenagers can make the right choice, they need to know about authority. In order to know about authority, they need to know there are rules and consequences.
The Bible specializes in these subjects. Jesus is our authority as He claims this in Matthew 28:18. His tag team partner, the Holy Spirit, is our “rule book” as it helps us live a life that shows others that Jesus is our authority.
Check out Galatians 5:19-23: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity…jealousy, selfish ambition, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Well I guess that whole bit about enjoying yourself thoroughly and no restraints doesn’t pan out after all. By making Christ your authority and treating God’s word as your rule book, you can know how to make the right choice.
-NW
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