I just want to share some of the experiences here in which people have gotten offended or angry from me trying to witness to them for one reason or another! Hey! It happens, but rejoice and reflect because we are representing Christ and his word says "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" 1 Peter 4:14. However, this is not a verse to cover yourself with if you are not speaking the truth in love or if you're being a meddler! But people will misunderstand those who preach the gospel at times. So my hope is that whoever reads this is encouraged when the not so nice witnessing experiences come by and to share your faith in general!
Earlier in the summer I was with a sister in Christ, Lauren and we were able to give a spiritual interest questionaire to an atheist(I won't put his name). This guy was kind of proud and didn't believe in God and the validity of the bible. So I reasoned with why God exists with an order, art, design, and creation argument. I don't know if he was convinced or not, but we talked alittle more about it, then I decided to address his conscience rather than his intellect. I asked him if he considered himself to be a good person and he said "Yes". So I proceeded to walk him through the God's moral Law. He failed the test just like everyone else, and said that if God existed he would let him into heaven. I reiterated that he was guilty and that he would have alot to think about if this is true. Then he quoted a bible verse to me! "Judge not lest ye be judged" he said! I told him that this wasn't my judgement but God's andI asked him what he think would happen to him if it was true. He then, got agitated and said that I was forcing my beliefs on him, but I was asking him "what if it was true?" He then said that the bible is not reliable, and asked me where Cain from the book of Genesis got his wife. This caught me off guard, although I knew the answer. It wasn't good enough for him, and he laughed at me, ehheh.... Afterwards, he had to go back to work, and I urged him to think about these things more.
During another instance, I approached some FSU students who were tabling for a study abroad program. I struck up a conversation with a girl who had a cross around her neck. This caught my eye... I eventually turned the conversation to spiritual things by asking her if she would go to heaven if she died. She had no idea, and she pointed to a guy to her right and told me to ask him that question then she left to talk on her phone. So I proceed to talk with the guy behind the table about spiritual things. He had a churched background, but was an agnostic. I talked with him about the existence of God, but he didn't really believe in a heaven or hell. Since he was churched, I asked him if he knew the Ten Commandments, and he looked at me with this "Well, DUH!" expression, lol! So I asked him to name them. I don't think he named them all, but he named most of them. I then asked him if he kept them and I think he said that he didn't keep them all, but some of them. So I asked him, "Have you ever told a lie?" ,Yes he said, then I asked "What does that make you?". His face then went flat and he answered "a liar", then I asked him, "Have you ever stolen something?" he answered "yes, but I'm not a thief". I tried to reason with him on what a thief was, but I moved on. Afterwards, I asked him, "Have you ever used God's name in vain?" he answered "yes", then I said, "that's called blasphemy". Then that set him off! He replied, "NOW YOU'RE PREACHING TO ME! I WAS NICE ENOUGH TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT SPIRITUAL THINGS AND USE MY TIME. I SEE THE TRACTS IN YOUR HAND! YOU HAVE AN AGENDA DON'T YOU? I HAVE LIED AND STOLEN AND USED GOD'S NAME IN VAIN AND EVERYTIME I DO IT I FEEL GUILTY! Then I said, "I came over here to tell you something important because if you died tonight, you be punished for your sins, and not only you, but many other people here!" I then told him about the cross of Jesus Christ!!!! "You feel guilty because God gave you a conscience." He then replied, "You must care alot about people to go about trying to save their souls. You're very kind". He then took a tract and said that he wanted to talk again sometime. This was very encouraging, but his conviction caused him to get angry which will happen when you testify against peoples works..
I have another one, but I don't feel like typing it because it is late! But may you read this and be encouraged!
Grace and Peace! Until next time!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Witnessing encounters on FSU's campus
Today between 1 and 4 I got to go out sharing the gospel with my fellow intern and brother in Christ, David. We shared the gospel with 11 people today on campus, which has been really amazing! God has been giving us great boldness to approach groups of people and tell them of the saving power of Jesus Christ. David and I were able to approach a group of 4 people sitting at a table, and we gave them a spiritual interest questionaire. None of them were actually sure if they were going to heaven or not, but they said that they had God in their hearts. They were doubtful because of their lifestyle. One of the people left, then I began to reexplain the gospel to them and at this time, my heart began to feel heavy as I was reitering that Christ paid our full debt, and by believing we are justified by his blood. One of the people that was listening began to clap, and I started to explain that we can know 100% that we are going to have eternal life, and that we are new creatures in Christ. The person began to clap again and they thanked David and I for our time and we thanked them for theirs.
Next David and I were able to approach 4 more people who were having a conversation on a sidewalk on campus. We gave them the questionaire, and they were not sure if they were going to heaven or not, and thought that if they could get there then it would be by their good deeds. I walked them through the ten commandments and they admitted that they were guilty before God and were not going to heaven. So we then shared the gospel with them and 3 of them listened very intently, while one of them walked off to talk on his phone. When I look back I think I should have challenged them with a decision for Christ, but I gave them some gospel booklets then they headed off to class.
Afterwards, David and I approached 4 more people and gave them the survey. They then were interested in knowing how they could have eternal life. David then walked all 4 of them through the ten commandments, and it was interesting to see their reactions when they saw how they measured up against God's Law. It's interesting because it shows us what we really are in truth! David then shared with them the saving power of Christ, and all of them listened very intently as well, even though two of them said they were Christians. I then explained to them the power that the Holy Spirit has to sanctify us.The most skeptical guy of the group seemed to be affected the most, and had the most questions, but that day everyone left knowing that they had alot to think about. God really blessed that day of gospel preaching. We pray that all of those seeds that were planted and watered would bear a crop of salvation!
Grace and peace!
Next David and I were able to approach 4 more people who were having a conversation on a sidewalk on campus. We gave them the questionaire, and they were not sure if they were going to heaven or not, and thought that if they could get there then it would be by their good deeds. I walked them through the ten commandments and they admitted that they were guilty before God and were not going to heaven. So we then shared the gospel with them and 3 of them listened very intently, while one of them walked off to talk on his phone. When I look back I think I should have challenged them with a decision for Christ, but I gave them some gospel booklets then they headed off to class.
Afterwards, David and I approached 4 more people and gave them the survey. They then were interested in knowing how they could have eternal life. David then walked all 4 of them through the ten commandments, and it was interesting to see their reactions when they saw how they measured up against God's Law. It's interesting because it shows us what we really are in truth! David then shared with them the saving power of Christ, and all of them listened very intently as well, even though two of them said they were Christians. I then explained to them the power that the Holy Spirit has to sanctify us.The most skeptical guy of the group seemed to be affected the most, and had the most questions, but that day everyone left knowing that they had alot to think about. God really blessed that day of gospel preaching. We pray that all of those seeds that were planted and watered would bear a crop of salvation!
Grace and peace!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Update
It's been a while since I have posted, the time is 4:20 pm and it is the 4th of July, haha. I'm here at the FSUbmerge program which is a church planting and leadership training program! I've been support raising for the program and I am now at 87% of my support! God has amazingly come through with the support. I had no idea how He would do it, but He has!
God has been teaching us alot here at FSU in the program! He has been personally testing me tremendously as a leader, and it has been very challenging! I used to pray regularly that God would grow me as a leader and He has answered them lol! There have been alot of growing pains through this but God is faithful and will come through. God has also been growing my diligence in evangelism which has been amazing. There are so many more details that I could include in this post, but I will maybe save them for a later time. Until next time!
God has been teaching us alot here at FSU in the program! He has been personally testing me tremendously as a leader, and it has been very challenging! I used to pray regularly that God would grow me as a leader and He has answered them lol! There have been alot of growing pains through this but God is faithful and will come through. God has also been growing my diligence in evangelism which has been amazing. There are so many more details that I could include in this post, but I will maybe save them for a later time. Until next time!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Trial, Renewal, and Personal Reflection.
The time is 5:23 pm and this is the first blog entry of this month. I have not posted here in a while, but now I feel compelled to post.
For the past few weeks, I believe that this has been a period of trials, and my heart for God has been tested. The trials have come in the form of busyness, and I have also been trying to learn more about myself and who I am in Christ. None of this may make sense because this is coming straight from my brain and my heart.
Lately, so many things have come up such as, tests, ministry, school work, support raising, and conference preparation. I have been swamped with obligations, and it feels as though my heart for God has been tested. It is so easy to forget what God has put on your heart or what He wants you to do when daily chores come up. And for the past few weeks, the flame in my heart for God and the gospel has been put under strain it seems. But yesterday, it felt as though my heart was renewed for the work he has set out before me. Yesterday morning during quiet time, I prayed to God and asked him to damn my fears, my complacency, my pride, my uncaring attitude, my reputation, and to give me the boldness to live for Him. I then got dressed and left the dorm with the mind set of serving God, mainly through witnessing to anyone that I could because that's what God has put on my heart!!!!!!!!! My heart was filled with compassion and I could not help but feel a overwhelming love for those around me! I got the opportunity to share the gospel with someone from my economics class, and later that day I tried to share with a guy on the bus, but he rejected me. Afterwards, joy just flooded me as I continued to look around on the bus for someone that I could talk to. I felt totally renewed!
I've also been doing alot of reflecting and asking myself... who am I????? I've been looking at who I am in Christ, examining my own personality closely, and even comparing it to what it was in high school. Lately, I have been exposed to more leadership responsibilities and that has caused me to look at my personality and who I am in Christ with respect to leadership.... hehe does that make sense? I have concluded that I'm definitely not gifted or skilled as a leader ehhhh..... I always make mistakes! But I believe that God is trying to grow me as one and is using mistakes to teach me how to be a leader, and this process is not easy because it is exposing personal pride, and I am very critical of myself! And I usually come down alittle hard on myself when I know that I could have done something better (Bad sentence structure I know..). So, with regards to examining my personality, I have found that I'm on the introverted side and usually in large groups I'm not very vocal . I'm always reminded of this in large group settings such as home group or hang out times. I have always been like this since I can remember, but what's cool is that I feel like God wants to use me to say alot to others and encourage them. I also feel this supernatural burden to spread the gospel verbally, although, I'm not a trained, eloquent, or constant speaker. I want to shout from the roof tops!
I have more to say, but until next time..
By the way, the reason that I write this blog is because I have alot of thoughts that I usually don't share very much, so I type what's inside of me.
For the past few weeks, I believe that this has been a period of trials, and my heart for God has been tested. The trials have come in the form of busyness, and I have also been trying to learn more about myself and who I am in Christ. None of this may make sense because this is coming straight from my brain and my heart.
Lately, so many things have come up such as, tests, ministry, school work, support raising, and conference preparation. I have been swamped with obligations, and it feels as though my heart for God has been tested. It is so easy to forget what God has put on your heart or what He wants you to do when daily chores come up. And for the past few weeks, the flame in my heart for God and the gospel has been put under strain it seems. But yesterday, it felt as though my heart was renewed for the work he has set out before me. Yesterday morning during quiet time, I prayed to God and asked him to damn my fears, my complacency, my pride, my uncaring attitude, my reputation, and to give me the boldness to live for Him. I then got dressed and left the dorm with the mind set of serving God, mainly through witnessing to anyone that I could because that's what God has put on my heart!!!!!!!!! My heart was filled with compassion and I could not help but feel a overwhelming love for those around me! I got the opportunity to share the gospel with someone from my economics class, and later that day I tried to share with a guy on the bus, but he rejected me. Afterwards, joy just flooded me as I continued to look around on the bus for someone that I could talk to. I felt totally renewed!
I've also been doing alot of reflecting and asking myself... who am I????? I've been looking at who I am in Christ, examining my own personality closely, and even comparing it to what it was in high school. Lately, I have been exposed to more leadership responsibilities and that has caused me to look at my personality and who I am in Christ with respect to leadership.... hehe does that make sense? I have concluded that I'm definitely not gifted or skilled as a leader ehhhh..... I always make mistakes! But I believe that God is trying to grow me as one and is using mistakes to teach me how to be a leader, and this process is not easy because it is exposing personal pride, and I am very critical of myself! And I usually come down alittle hard on myself when I know that I could have done something better (Bad sentence structure I know..). So, with regards to examining my personality, I have found that I'm on the introverted side and usually in large groups I'm not very vocal . I'm always reminded of this in large group settings such as home group or hang out times. I have always been like this since I can remember, but what's cool is that I feel like God wants to use me to say alot to others and encourage them. I also feel this supernatural burden to spread the gospel verbally, although, I'm not a trained, eloquent, or constant speaker. I want to shout from the roof tops!
I have more to say, but until next time..
By the way, the reason that I write this blog is because I have alot of thoughts that I usually don't share very much, so I type what's inside of me.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The Fire Inside and Outreach thoughts.
The time is 3:10 p.m.
I woke up this morning at about 8:00 am and had a quiet time. Afterwards, I went to church. For the past few days, I've been looking inside and pondering about the fire inside of my heart for God and the gospel. It's there, it's burning, and it's real! But it's hard to channel it into something that is practical and hands on. Not sure how I can put this but, it seems that all around this campus there are people who are gospel resistant I guess.... those who have been exposed to the good news before and maybe many many times, and there are even believers who don't seem to care so much for one reason or another. Of course, there are those who don't quite know, but what about those who do know and are extremely harden to the gospel? This can be a challenge, even if you are gung ho about the spread of the good news. I know that I'm not the only one who has been wrestling with this situation, but I think we can shed some light on how to actually spread the gospel with some fruit I guess... eh. It seems that in other places in the east such as India and China, you hear about multitudes of people coming to Christ within a short period of time, but here in America, the number of born again believers is hardly growing at all! Now right now I am not sure where I'm going with this because my mind is now an open platter, so bear with me, heheheheheeheh. This is a complex yet simple subject! Why do our outreach efforts here seem so ineffective? Here's where it can get very cloudy, but here is what I think.
We have strayed away from the biblical way of outreach. Today, we don't see God's hand in our witnessing attempts as much as should I believe. As I mentioned before, multitudes of people in the east have been coming to Christ for the past 50 years or so....millions!!!!!! There have been tons and tons of miracles also, which has been a powerful witness of the truth of the gospel in Asia. But here, we don't see tons of people coming to the Lord and we don't see very many miracles. Now I could go on and on with thoughts, but I'm going to make this short. I believe we must rely on God when it comes to spreading the gospel, not social events, not our own intellect, and not even our own personalities or kindness!! Look at the books of Acts, the gospel spread like wildfire because when people spoke, God confirmed his truth with His power and presence. There weren't apologetical arguments like we have today because the Lords hand was on there efforts. We must cry out to God and plead with Him to change the hearts of men whether we know them or not! I believe that we have made the mistake of taking the matters into our own hands when it comes to outreach, and as a result we have not seen very many lives transformed by the gospel. I think that we need to go back to the pattern of Acts even it does seem like it won't fit into this culture! God will fight for us if we let Him, step out on faith!!!!!!!!
If you want to really getting a glimpse of how God is moving in Asia check out the newsletter archive on www.asiaharvest.org.
I woke up this morning at about 8:00 am and had a quiet time. Afterwards, I went to church. For the past few days, I've been looking inside and pondering about the fire inside of my heart for God and the gospel. It's there, it's burning, and it's real! But it's hard to channel it into something that is practical and hands on. Not sure how I can put this but, it seems that all around this campus there are people who are gospel resistant I guess.... those who have been exposed to the good news before and maybe many many times, and there are even believers who don't seem to care so much for one reason or another. Of course, there are those who don't quite know, but what about those who do know and are extremely harden to the gospel? This can be a challenge, even if you are gung ho about the spread of the good news. I know that I'm not the only one who has been wrestling with this situation, but I think we can shed some light on how to actually spread the gospel with some fruit I guess... eh. It seems that in other places in the east such as India and China, you hear about multitudes of people coming to Christ within a short period of time, but here in America, the number of born again believers is hardly growing at all! Now right now I am not sure where I'm going with this because my mind is now an open platter, so bear with me, heheheheheeheh. This is a complex yet simple subject! Why do our outreach efforts here seem so ineffective? Here's where it can get very cloudy, but here is what I think.
We have strayed away from the biblical way of outreach. Today, we don't see God's hand in our witnessing attempts as much as should I believe. As I mentioned before, multitudes of people in the east have been coming to Christ for the past 50 years or so....millions!!!!!! There have been tons and tons of miracles also, which has been a powerful witness of the truth of the gospel in Asia. But here, we don't see tons of people coming to the Lord and we don't see very many miracles. Now I could go on and on with thoughts, but I'm going to make this short. I believe we must rely on God when it comes to spreading the gospel, not social events, not our own intellect, and not even our own personalities or kindness!! Look at the books of Acts, the gospel spread like wildfire because when people spoke, God confirmed his truth with His power and presence. There weren't apologetical arguments like we have today because the Lords hand was on there efforts. We must cry out to God and plead with Him to change the hearts of men whether we know them or not! I believe that we have made the mistake of taking the matters into our own hands when it comes to outreach, and as a result we have not seen very many lives transformed by the gospel. I think that we need to go back to the pattern of Acts even it does seem like it won't fit into this culture! God will fight for us if we let Him, step out on faith!!!!!!!!
If you want to really getting a glimpse of how God is moving in Asia check out the newsletter archive on www.asiaharvest.org.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
It continues..
It's been a while since I have posted here.... But today is my 20th birthday, lol. I feel like I'm getting old haha! Does this mean that I have to actually act older since I'm no longer a teenager?
Catching up.... I have recently changed my major, and I am no longer on the microbiology track! I am now on the religion track and so far it is pretty interesting!!! I've been warned about my future however by my family to really make sure that I want to do this because of job opportunites, but this decision was a leap of faith and I trust that God will use this some how. I came to this decision by examining my heart and what God has put on it. It is on my heart to serve God full time when I graduate college, and I was experiencing a growing discontentment with my previous major, so now I am doing religion.
The fire to spread the gospel still burns within my heart and it has played a role in my decision to change my major. This summer I am going to be involved in a church plant, and I am very excited.
This is all that I have for now, more soon to come.....
Catching up.... I have recently changed my major, and I am no longer on the microbiology track! I am now on the religion track and so far it is pretty interesting!!! I've been warned about my future however by my family to really make sure that I want to do this because of job opportunites, but this decision was a leap of faith and I trust that God will use this some how. I came to this decision by examining my heart and what God has put on it. It is on my heart to serve God full time when I graduate college, and I was experiencing a growing discontentment with my previous major, so now I am doing religion.
The fire to spread the gospel still burns within my heart and it has played a role in my decision to change my major. This summer I am going to be involved in a church plant, and I am very excited.
This is all that I have for now, more soon to come.....
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Done but not at rest.......
It has been a while since I have actually posted on my blog... hehehe. Hehe, and a certain someone predicted that I wouldn't be consistent with this blog.... (*Stares at screen with sinister look*) I'll show him.............
For the past few weeks things have been busy, and I have had alot on my mind, but I have been taking breaks during every chance that I get, and now I am done with exams lol. So I'll give the run down of what's been happening.
I've had a hand full of finals to study for and a couple of papers to write. I also have decided to apply for an internship with GCM, and that application was sent in yesterday. Since things have been busy, it seems that my passion for God has been stressed alittle bit, but with the testing, that leaves room for growth in faith. In the midst of my busy time, deep down inside I realized how much I want to give my life completely to God and how much of a passion I have for the gospel. In fact, I want to see a revival right here at the University of Florida.... I want to see many many people some to Christ here, so much that it flips this place upside down. This is on my heart, and I'm pressed with the question of "how does this get done?" "What do we need to be doing?" Even though I am finished with exams and have the opportunity to rest, the spirit within me is not at rest because of my thoughts on a revival. This is all that I will say about this subject for now...
This is the end of today's entry. This is just alittle bit of what I was thinking, but there is more that I will put up on a later date.
For the past few weeks things have been busy, and I have had alot on my mind, but I have been taking breaks during every chance that I get, and now I am done with exams lol. So I'll give the run down of what's been happening.
I've had a hand full of finals to study for and a couple of papers to write. I also have decided to apply for an internship with GCM, and that application was sent in yesterday. Since things have been busy, it seems that my passion for God has been stressed alittle bit, but with the testing, that leaves room for growth in faith. In the midst of my busy time, deep down inside I realized how much I want to give my life completely to God and how much of a passion I have for the gospel. In fact, I want to see a revival right here at the University of Florida.... I want to see many many people some to Christ here, so much that it flips this place upside down. This is on my heart, and I'm pressed with the question of "how does this get done?" "What do we need to be doing?" Even though I am finished with exams and have the opportunity to rest, the spirit within me is not at rest because of my thoughts on a revival. This is all that I will say about this subject for now...
This is the end of today's entry. This is just alittle bit of what I was thinking, but there is more that I will put up on a later date.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Boldness in Prayer/ Warning Godless men
11/28/05
The organization of this blog may be off, hehehe...
It is now 9:47 am, and I think it's alittle early to be typing this now, but with thoughts from this morning I just couldn't wait. I woke up early this morning and had a quiet time, and had some interesting thoughts about Godless men and Prayer! (By the way, the two subjects aren't linked in anyway.)
I started off reading Daniel Chapter 9 this morning and Daniel's prayer really popped out at me! I was intrigued by the way he prayed to God. Daniel completely humbled himself before God with fasting, sackcloth attire, and ashes. Daniel began to praise God for what He had done in the past, and also admitted his faults and the faults of his Countrymen! In addition to his humility, Daniel came boldly before God with requests on behalf of Israel! But what really got me was the fact that Daniel wasn't just plainly asking God for forgiveness of his countrymen...no... he was demanding it! He came before the creator of the universe demanding blessings!!! How cool is that? He was extremely humble in the process of it too, and God granted his request! When I think about this there seems to be a wave of irony associated with this! How can a mere man come before God with total confidence and demand blessings?! Lol. This is found specifically in Daniel 9:15-19. Prayer in this Fashion is also done by the believers in Acts 4:28-30, by the Lord Jesus Himself in John 17. There are more examples all over scripture, but those were some of the ones that came to mind immediately. Approach God's throne with boldness believing that he will answer! If God doesn't give us what we request, he may be telling us no, or wait, but I trust that it will make sense to the saint why God will not answer a prayer.
Afterwards I read some of the book of Jude, and again something caught my attention....Godless men!!! Jude 8-16 Talks about Unrighteous/Godless men and the judgement that will eventually come to them! I will make this short. Everyday we are surrounded by unrighteous Godless people, alot of us are close friends with them. Now the point I want to make is that we should warn these people of God's judgement... Yes! We should warn them, and this reminds me of Ezekiel 33:7-9. Following this warning, we should follow up with the truth of the gospel. Many people have been told that they are a sinner and that they are going to hell, and they have been greatly offended by this. I've run into individuals who were bitter towards Christians because someone has told them that. This is because the truth was not fully spoken and was not spoken in love! In reality the unbeliever may have been told that he or she is going to hell out of malice and cruelty or just plain coldness. We must speak the truth in love! While it is true that if someone is not trusting Christ they are headed for hell, but WE MUST TELL PEOPLE WHY!!! We must give them the whole truth, and the truth is that we are all transgressors of God's law. God does not overlook sin but instead, he must provide punishment for those sins. For the wages of sin is death. By no means will God let those who are not forgiven of their sins into heaven, and there are two places where one can only go after judgement! We must warn people of this and speak the truth in love followed by the gospel! Now by typing this, I am reminded of what I talked about with an acquaintance during my ride back down to Gainesville. Here is the Gist of the story......
I was in the car with a friend and his friend. I'll call him D. I opened up a spiritual conversation with D and he told me that he was an agnostic/athiest, then he told me that someone told him that he needed to repent or he was going to hell......ok....But then he proceeded to proclaim his goodness. He told me that he was no Hitler, he only stole once, he was honest MOST of the time, and that he stayed away from extreme stuff. Now what's wrong with this picture? Someone warned him of God's wrath, but he did not indicate that he knew why God would send someone to hell!!!!! D is like a blind man headed toward a cliff!!!!! He thinks he will be ok if there is a God when he is judged, but in reality he is not forgiven for his sin, and only through Jesus can he be forgiven!!! We must warn these people of God's wrath, but we must also tell them WHY they are headed for God's wrath following this with the gospel. We must speak the truth with love!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We must not abstain from telling our friends and family this vital truth followed with the gospel!
Now I want to mention one more thing.
When speaking the truth of the gospel to people there will be persecution. Jesus said so himself...... No servant is greater than his master, and if they persecuted Him they will persecute you too. You can look back at history and in scripture, and you will see all kinds of persecution. People have been ridiculed, boiled, beheaded, hit, kicked, spat on, crucified, and stoned. But these are the marks of Christ, and we will not be exempt from the cup that our Lord Himself drank from. Besides if you are rejected for the name of Christ, you are blessed. (1 Peter 3:14 ; 1 Peter 4:14, 16).
I know this was alittle extreme, but this is what was on my mind today and for the past few days.
More to come......soon
The organization of this blog may be off, hehehe...
It is now 9:47 am, and I think it's alittle early to be typing this now, but with thoughts from this morning I just couldn't wait. I woke up early this morning and had a quiet time, and had some interesting thoughts about Godless men and Prayer! (By the way, the two subjects aren't linked in anyway.)
I started off reading Daniel Chapter 9 this morning and Daniel's prayer really popped out at me! I was intrigued by the way he prayed to God. Daniel completely humbled himself before God with fasting, sackcloth attire, and ashes. Daniel began to praise God for what He had done in the past, and also admitted his faults and the faults of his Countrymen! In addition to his humility, Daniel came boldly before God with requests on behalf of Israel! But what really got me was the fact that Daniel wasn't just plainly asking God for forgiveness of his countrymen...no... he was demanding it! He came before the creator of the universe demanding blessings!!! How cool is that? He was extremely humble in the process of it too, and God granted his request! When I think about this there seems to be a wave of irony associated with this! How can a mere man come before God with total confidence and demand blessings?! Lol. This is found specifically in Daniel 9:15-19. Prayer in this Fashion is also done by the believers in Acts 4:28-30, by the Lord Jesus Himself in John 17. There are more examples all over scripture, but those were some of the ones that came to mind immediately. Approach God's throne with boldness believing that he will answer! If God doesn't give us what we request, he may be telling us no, or wait, but I trust that it will make sense to the saint why God will not answer a prayer.
Afterwards I read some of the book of Jude, and again something caught my attention....Godless men!!! Jude 8-16 Talks about Unrighteous/Godless men and the judgement that will eventually come to them! I will make this short. Everyday we are surrounded by unrighteous Godless people, alot of us are close friends with them. Now the point I want to make is that we should warn these people of God's judgement... Yes! We should warn them, and this reminds me of Ezekiel 33:7-9. Following this warning, we should follow up with the truth of the gospel. Many people have been told that they are a sinner and that they are going to hell, and they have been greatly offended by this. I've run into individuals who were bitter towards Christians because someone has told them that. This is because the truth was not fully spoken and was not spoken in love! In reality the unbeliever may have been told that he or she is going to hell out of malice and cruelty or just plain coldness. We must speak the truth in love! While it is true that if someone is not trusting Christ they are headed for hell, but WE MUST TELL PEOPLE WHY!!! We must give them the whole truth, and the truth is that we are all transgressors of God's law. God does not overlook sin but instead, he must provide punishment for those sins. For the wages of sin is death. By no means will God let those who are not forgiven of their sins into heaven, and there are two places where one can only go after judgement! We must warn people of this and speak the truth in love followed by the gospel! Now by typing this, I am reminded of what I talked about with an acquaintance during my ride back down to Gainesville. Here is the Gist of the story......
I was in the car with a friend and his friend. I'll call him D. I opened up a spiritual conversation with D and he told me that he was an agnostic/athiest, then he told me that someone told him that he needed to repent or he was going to hell......ok....But then he proceeded to proclaim his goodness. He told me that he was no Hitler, he only stole once, he was honest MOST of the time, and that he stayed away from extreme stuff. Now what's wrong with this picture? Someone warned him of God's wrath, but he did not indicate that he knew why God would send someone to hell!!!!! D is like a blind man headed toward a cliff!!!!! He thinks he will be ok if there is a God when he is judged, but in reality he is not forgiven for his sin, and only through Jesus can he be forgiven!!! We must warn these people of God's wrath, but we must also tell them WHY they are headed for God's wrath following this with the gospel. We must speak the truth with love!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We must not abstain from telling our friends and family this vital truth followed with the gospel!
Now I want to mention one more thing.
When speaking the truth of the gospel to people there will be persecution. Jesus said so himself...... No servant is greater than his master, and if they persecuted Him they will persecute you too. You can look back at history and in scripture, and you will see all kinds of persecution. People have been ridiculed, boiled, beheaded, hit, kicked, spat on, crucified, and stoned. But these are the marks of Christ, and we will not be exempt from the cup that our Lord Himself drank from. Besides if you are rejected for the name of Christ, you are blessed. (1 Peter 3:14 ; 1 Peter 4:14, 16).
I know this was alittle extreme, but this is what was on my mind today and for the past few days.
More to come......soon
Sunday, November 27, 2005
What is really inside?
11/27/05
This is a collection of my thoughts, it may not even make sense!Hmm... many things have been running through my mind for the past few months. I can't get into all of them right now, but I would like to through a few of them out there.
I woke up alittle later than usual this morning at 10 am, went to church (GCL). The information from the teaching was wonderful... I always wondered why the gospel of Thomas was rejected hehehee. It sounded like the gospel was mixed with a bit of Eastern philosophy........... is God everything? Is the creator also the creation? Nope! I just thought that was interesting to point out.
I feel like I'm standing at a cross road right now on where God wants me to be in the future. There are a handful of options and I know what my heart wants right now. It would be easy to just follow it and make a decision right?! I wish it were, but it's not....... let me explain what some of the deal is yo. Here is some Background.When I first came to UF during the Summer of 2004, I already had it set in my mind what I was going to major in. I wanted to be a microbiologist. This decision came with no guidance from God seeing as though I was not a Christian at the time, but it seemed like the right choice according to my interests. Now lets fast forward about year and a half. Its fall of 2005, my heart has changed because of the outpouring of God upon me, I no longer look at the world the way I used to, including people for that matter. But let me cut to the point! My heart for God and this lost world is BIG! My thoughts, aspirations, goals, dreams, ambitions, desires, and whatever else stem from what God has put on my heart. I want to direct my future according to what God wants, but at the time I am not 100% sure on which way I should go. I believe the rumblings of my heart provide a good clue though *Smiles*. The big question is... should I enter full time ministry or should I pursue the career as a microbiologist?
At this point I see science as nothing more than a kind of hobby. My interest in it has taken kind of a plummet, but my heart for God has grown exponentially lol. Hey, check out Matthew chapter 10! I could totally picture myself doing what Jesus sent the Disciples out to do yo!!!!!!!!!!! Every time I read that I get a wave of excitement, heheheheheheheheeheh! I want to do what would honor God the most though!!! I want to lay down my life!!!!! Judging from where my heart is, I want to serve God full time. My heart aches when I think about the decay that is all over the world...........I have many more interesting thoughts and what not, but I will come with more later! Until next time!
This is a collection of my thoughts, it may not even make sense!Hmm... many things have been running through my mind for the past few months. I can't get into all of them right now, but I would like to through a few of them out there.
I woke up alittle later than usual this morning at 10 am, went to church (GCL). The information from the teaching was wonderful... I always wondered why the gospel of Thomas was rejected hehehee. It sounded like the gospel was mixed with a bit of Eastern philosophy........... is God everything? Is the creator also the creation? Nope! I just thought that was interesting to point out.
I feel like I'm standing at a cross road right now on where God wants me to be in the future. There are a handful of options and I know what my heart wants right now. It would be easy to just follow it and make a decision right?! I wish it were, but it's not....... let me explain what some of the deal is yo. Here is some Background.When I first came to UF during the Summer of 2004, I already had it set in my mind what I was going to major in. I wanted to be a microbiologist. This decision came with no guidance from God seeing as though I was not a Christian at the time, but it seemed like the right choice according to my interests. Now lets fast forward about year and a half. Its fall of 2005, my heart has changed because of the outpouring of God upon me, I no longer look at the world the way I used to, including people for that matter. But let me cut to the point! My heart for God and this lost world is BIG! My thoughts, aspirations, goals, dreams, ambitions, desires, and whatever else stem from what God has put on my heart. I want to direct my future according to what God wants, but at the time I am not 100% sure on which way I should go. I believe the rumblings of my heart provide a good clue though *Smiles*. The big question is... should I enter full time ministry or should I pursue the career as a microbiologist?
At this point I see science as nothing more than a kind of hobby. My interest in it has taken kind of a plummet, but my heart for God has grown exponentially lol. Hey, check out Matthew chapter 10! I could totally picture myself doing what Jesus sent the Disciples out to do yo!!!!!!!!!!! Every time I read that I get a wave of excitement, heheheheheheheheeheh! I want to do what would honor God the most though!!! I want to lay down my life!!!!! Judging from where my heart is, I want to serve God full time. My heart aches when I think about the decay that is all over the world...........I have many more interesting thoughts and what not, but I will come with more later! Until next time!
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