Hell. Gospel. Redeemed.

Sometimes Christianity seems boring, no? I hope so. Or else thats just me. It seems like the more Church services I go to, the more numb I get to hearing "the Gospel message," and then the alter call and then of course you have to raise your hands. But you can't look around at everyone who's raised their hand! Because, gracious, it would be a bummer to know who just walked over from death into life. 

That has always intrigued me. This idea of, "Bow your head, close your eyes, repeat after me. And now, with no one looking around.. if you prayed that prayer (and meant it!) raise your hand!"

You all know exactly what I'm talking about!

What gets me most is how it seems to be so common to find the preacher that says, "With no one looking around..."

Because I would argue, if the true, living, conquering Gospel about God Himself leaving His throne, becoming man, being nailed to a Cross as a sinful man yet sinless, raising from the dead three days later all to redeem us from the very pit of hell.. if that Gospel was just preached and received why can't we look at who just made the very step out of hell and into the blood of Christ?

I feel as though the Church is becoming far to numb to the Gospel. I know for me, if I depended on a preacher to remind me of the Gospel that has redeemed my life.. I wouldn't understand the Gospel at all.

Why is this? 

So often Churches today don't preach the Gospel.
Yes, I said it. Hear me out.

Many Churches preach the forgiveness of sins when we take the step of faith in Christ, which is true.

Many Churches preach how we are now considered "holy and blameless" (Eph. 1), which is true.

Many Churches preach heaven, which is true.

What're they missing?
They're missing the Good News itself!

They preach forgiveness without preaching on our filthy, awful, evil desiring flesh first.
They preach our holiness without first describing the holiness of God in-spite of our sinfulness.
They preach heaven without first preaching hell.

Did you get that?
Churches are so quick to preaching heaven but never feel the Spirits calling to preach hell.

It is impossible to have a life changing encounter with the living Christ without the real understanding of our eternity without Christ. Aka. Hell.

See, if we never realize how desperate we are for a Savior.. we will never really understand the kindness of the Cross.


We are all worthy of hell. (When was the last time you heard that preached from the pulpit?)
We are all damned for an eternity apart from God.

That's what hell is. Hell is the eternal absence of anything God.
Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17).
That means that everything that brings comfort, joy, pleasure, peace is from God. That would then make hell, the absence of anything we can think of that's good, right, comforting, joyous  happy and peaceful. (Matt Chandler- "Explicit Gospel")

If that doesn't sound bad enough, Revelation 14:11 says, "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever."

If that's the most gruesome picture in the world, I don't know what is.

That's hell. That's what we all deserve. You all know the verse, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23)

That excludes no one.

Now, here's my turnaround:

Christ has come. Whether you believe it, feel it, know it, like it, or don't care:
 Jesus came. He died. He rose and He's coming back.

Clearly, we have nothing to offer the Lord. As we just talked about, we're terrible apart from the Cross.
BUT that's supernatural proof of how much the Lord loved us.

"God made [us] alive together with him, having forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with it's legal demands. This He set aside nailing it to the Cross."

Col. 2:13,14

He nailed it to the Cross. 

You see, without first preaching the severity of hell.. the image of all our shame and debt being nailed to the Cross can never make sense.
Without first understanding our damnation for hell prior to faith in Christ, we would never appreciate the security of an eternity with the Lord.

Matt Chandler in Explicit Gospel said, "The correct response to the severity of God, then, is not to dismiss, deny, or denigrate it but rather repent of our self-regard and throw ourselves back into his glorious self-regard and wondering . . . [t]he horror of hell is an echo of the infinite worth of Gods glory."

Understanding the severity of hell is not to make us feel even more worthless, it's to allow us to get a better image of the powerfully sovereign glory of God. Because with an eternity apart from God is that real, an eternity with God does not seem so far fetched. When we believe the true Gospel by faith in Christs death and resurrection redeeming every past, present and future sin, we are now new creations in Christ. The old is past and the new has come. We are no longer damned for hell but are considered sanctified and holy. (2 Cor. 5:17) 


For it is by grace (Eph. 2:8). 
That is the Good News!

I'd challenge you to reflect on your own view of who Christ is to you. Steven Furtick said once that the first thing you think about when you hear the name of Jesus is the most important thing about you.

Because if you've never been told the realities of hell and our state without the grace of the Cross.. i'd argue that you may not know the Christ that redeems our life. The nice sounding Gospel is preached often; but the reality is, the Gospel is a beautiful mess. And even further, the mess is key in the beauty. Don't allow yourself to believe the beauty without first understanding the mess.

Begin to view the Cross for what it really is, not what it's often made out to be.

And then when you grasp it, don't keep it inside. It's life and death.

And next time your asked to not look around, pray that every soul with a hand raised understands the true Gospel and is not swayed to believing the prosperity Gospel. And then, clap. Or yell. Or both. Because if they heard the unclean, bloody version of the nailing of Christ, they have walked from the pit of hell to a never ending life in Christ. And that, is the Good News.

But who am I?
I'm just Nerissa who is in need of a Savior as much as you and who gratefully, has had my blindness turned to sight.
But you don't have to ask me.. Ask the Lord. He'll show you.

"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time for the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of GOd, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Romans 6:20-23

Living Hope :: imperishable

I don’t know about you all but for me, this season is either one of joy or sorrow. Like, the Christmas Season is either the best time of the year… or the most dreaded for several different reasons.

Perhaps you’ve been away from the pain of home, and now you’re back.

Maybe you having a missing piece in your family, and holidays can never be the same.

Maybe Christmas is disappointing because you didn’t get ‘the right gift’.
And now, with the tragedy in Connecticut, there are even more families that are going to have to begin a new Christmas tradition different from any other. 

In fact, did you know that the suicide rate across America peaks during the Holidays?

At any rate, there are tons of different reasons as to why this time of year seems to be most difficult.

However, there’s a difference in being discouraged and feeling hopeless. You know?

I can be bummed we lost a soccer game or I can feel like there is never going to be a win.
I can be disappointed in my family or I can give up on ever loving them.
I can feel distant from Jesus or I can decide that Jesus has never and will never care.

Do you see the difference?
So often in such a dark and hurting world, it’s becomes too easy to turn discouragement into hopelessness. And rightly so, because the culture we live in basically does it for us!

Our culture tells us to simply look after ourselves. Period.
Everyone else is out to get us, everyone who’s hurt us can never be forgiven and tragedies like that in Newtown is proof there is no God.

Especially in the Church, we mistake a season in the 'desert' as times to give up on all things relating to Christianity.

We’re so quick to turn discouragement into hopelessness.

I’m so easily reminded of the journey of the Israelites. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai for 40 days, the Israelites gave up all hope of him returning! In fact in Exodus 32 it says, 

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods.’”

This is exactly what we do today.

We go through a short season (a day, week, month or even year) without feeling encouraged by God, so we turn away. Just that fast. (Let me say this, going through a season in the desert in regards to your walk with Christ WILL HAPPEN. It does not mean you have lost your salvation or love Jesus any less.)

We get hopeless in Gods sovereignty.

But, we who claim the Name of Christ have a living hope that can never come to an end.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you.”

1 Peter 1:3,4

It’s by nothing we can do or by no “god” we attempt on replacing the true God with.

Simply by the Mercy of God do we have any hope.
Not only so, but we have a hope that can never end.

Paul didn’t say, “…(unless your discouraged) can never perish.”

No, we have an imperishable hope no matter the season of life.

What does this have to do with us today?
In the midst of this season, which seams to come with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, it’s easy for us to turn away from the Cross rather than toward it. Agreed? More often then not, you find the hurting ones look towards something other than the very One who can give them hope for hope.

Hear this, it’s only by the Cross do we have an unending, never failing, destructible, imperishable hope for eternity.

Even through discouraging seasons, there’s still hope.
And friends, feeling discouraged will only turn into being encouraged by Gods mercy at the Cross.

We have hope.

Make this season one about finally understanding the never fading hope made possible at the Cross.

Be encouraged by the living Gospel that has power and is able to break through every dark place.

“In this you greatly rejoice, through now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”  (vs. 6)

Death in the World; Life in Christ

I feel like the Church as a whole [including myself and my generation and my school, whom I love] are lacking when it comes to the recognition of our life as sinners in desperate need of a savior, daily. 

We live in a culture that says the exact opposite. The world all around us says to live independent; do whatever you have to do to be the happiest you can be. 

But here's the deal, we are sinners in absolute dier need of a Savior.
Thankfully, because of grace that we do not and will never deserve.. we are saved and loved and cherished and hoped for and washed clean and made new and alive.

We have been made DEAD to our world [sin] and ALIVE by the blood poured on the Cross (Rom. 6).

Maybe we realize all of that. That we need the Gospel message today just as much as we needed yesterday and as much as we will need tomorrow. 

But, are you dead to your sin?

Paul tells us in Romans 6: "Our old self was crucified with him...we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin" (vs .6&7)

Not only did Christ die for the sole purpose of offering us a life, He died so that we might actually LIVE. 

It's so easy as Christians to justify our struggles and our worldly desires. Because not only do we live in a world that says its okay to do whatever pleases you, we live in the midst of a Church that justifies by saying Jesus loves you no matter what. So it's okay!

Now, here me out. We do serve a Jesus that absolutely loves us no matter what. Nothing, including no sin on the planet, can separate us from that love (Rom. 8:38&39). We are always going to struggle with the desires of the world, always. We are sinners and we are in desperate need of a Savior  daily because of that. So, in no way am I saying that once we know Christ, we are made perfect.. by any means.


I'm saying, if you really know Jesus, then our humanity should desire the Spirit so much so that we are willing to do whatever needed to be absolutely freed from and apart from the sinful flesh.


Romans 6 goes on to say in verse 12: "...[D]o not let sin regin in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires...rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life" (vs. 12&13).

We are all slaves to something- "whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads righteousness?" (vs.16). 

There is no middle ground when it comes to this area of our Christian lives. You either are slave to the world or a slave to the Cross. And "those controlled by sinful nature cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8). 

Why? Because this is our evangelism method. The freedom we experience in Christ is a condition of the heart which then turns into the language we speak (Matt. 12:34).

When there is absolute freedom from our sins, there is a light that shines out from our lives saying that Jesus is stronger than death, because I was once dead and am now ALIVE. 

So, my question, what is it that you have yet to turn over to Christ? 

The freedom has been offered: how are you going to respond?

Christ came and died for this very purpose: to give you life in the middle of a dead world. 

Let's start to live in light of the truth and become dead to sin and alive in Christ. 

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you rads leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."

 Romans 6:22.

"To live for Christ, you first must die to all the rivals in your life." -Justin Kintzel

want more? ask me. 

God's Sufficiency: Actions Vs. Words

It's so easy for the Christian to say with their mouth that God is enough for them.
In fact, I bet if you asked everyone you know who claims to be a follower of Christ if God's enough for them, they would say, "Yes!"


But heres the deal: You can say Gods enough for you, but is He really?

The knowledge of God's sufficiency is one thing, but acting upon it is a completely different idea. You don't realize if God is or isn't enough for you until your in a spot of desperation and wondering. You don't fully grasp if Gods is or isn't enough for you until in the eyes of the world, you have nothing. It's not until that point your actions become evident of your true beliefs.


God is enough. He says that His grace is very much sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9). But when it comes down to it: will you act on that truth or will you run with temporary lies from the devil?


People often say, "I know God's sufficient, but I don't know if I really believe it. How do I know?"

Here's the answer to that question. Here is how you live a life that proves Gods sufficiency:


Be willing. Period.


We are never going to be a perfect people. Paul tells us that we all sin and we all will always fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 6:23). But here's the thing: if you are willing to completely deny yourself to the world and follow after Christ, you will be satisfied. God will be sufficient for you.


We can never experience God's true fulfillment and purpose when we are living one foot in and one foot out. That's living a lukewarm life which is as good as living no life at all. God doesn't know the lukewarm people. The Bible says that during the day of judgement, God will look at the lukewarm people and literally spit them out saying "I don't know you." (Rev. 3:16)


It starts with willingness. It's being willing to turn from that one sin we are constantly getting caught up in. We all struggle and we all will always struggle. But the person who says that God is sufficient for their lives and then actually lives like it, is the person who looks at their sin in disgust; the person who realizes their struggles and are willing to turn from them.

The person, like a lot of us, who says that God is sufficient but would turn to the world and not the Cross in a time of desperation, is the person who looks at their sin and isn't willing to turn away because it causes temporary pleasures that they enjoy.


See the difference?


We can all talk the talk, but very few are willing to walk the walk.



Imagine this for a second: what if Jesus lived like a lot of us? What if he spoke things but never acted upon them? That would be Jesus coming and saying He is the Christ; He is the Messiah and He's going to redeem the world. But then when they went to arrest Him, He backed out. He preached His whole life that God was sufficient, but not enough to act on it. Could you imagine?


But He didn't.
He came and preached the truth of Gods sufficiency and then acted upon it. He looked towards the world and said with a whole heart that He was not apart of it; that His father was in Heaven. He went to the stake to crucified because He lived a life so dependent of God's sufficiency.

What if we started living like that?
What if we became people who daily denied themselves to the world and took up their cross? (Luke 14:27)
What if we became a generation that not only said God was sufficient but lived it?



We can fake it to anyone and everyone that God is sufficient for our lives. But until we are willing to die to the world in every last area, we will never feel satisfied by Christ. And not feeling satisfied will then cause us to not only live in the world, but be apart of the world.




Live differently. Live boldly.
Deny yourself.

God is sufficient. 








Have questions? Ask me. Please. There's an urgency. 

Be Still and Know

Sometimes I think that word "desert" in our Christian lives becomes intimidating. Like, the thought of not being on that Spiritual high where you get the bubbly feeling every time you here the name, "Jesus" is un-Christian-like. It shouldn't happen. We should always be on top of the world!




Here's the deal: that's not reality.

Reality is:
We are imperfect people created by a perfect God. 
We are a finite people constantly trying to comprehend an infinite God. 
We are physical beings trying to be "one" with a celestial God. 


The problem isn't being in the desert; it's how you respond to the heat. 
In other words: not being on a spiritual high is not a problem; it's what you do with those feelings. 




During the great Exodus into the promised land in the Old Testament, there was a period of time Moses was on top of Mount Sinai with the glory of God. Literally, with Gods glory. While he was in the presence of the Lord, all the people told Aaron (Moses's partner) to "come, and make them gods."

Why?

They were impatient. They didn't want to wait on the Lord, so they took matters into their own hands.

That is so often the problem we have as Christians today. We are constantly are being told that we are strong enough people to do things on our own. So when we aren't getting an answer from God during the time we choose, then we stop listening and start acting on our own strength and will. And that is dangerous. 

Psalm 37:7 says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways and when they carry our their wicked schemes." It goes on to say in "...a little while the wicked will be no more."


Times of being impatient and in a Spiritual struggle will come.
We are promised "...trials of many kinds." (James 1:2)

When they come, however, will you still seek after the Lord?

God is who He was yesterday and He will be the same tomorrow.
He is consistant.
He never leaves.
Never turns an ear.
And never regrets the Cross.

Christ died for us. He died so that during the times of solitude there is still a way to the Lord.

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I wil fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." 

Psalm 23:4

Be joyful in seeking the Lord in the valley.

It's not a matter of avoiding the desert times.
It's about your faithfulness in waiting patiently upon the Lord, for HE alone is good.

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 

Psalm 46:10

Willingness For A Cost

Sometimes I take a step back and look at the world and all the people and I'm astonished.
I'm absolutely taken aback by the destruction in people's lives.

I mean, there is more pain than I can even understand.
People with addictions they have been battling with for years upon year.
People who feel unworthy and lonely enough to contemplate taking their own life.
People who are mourning the loss of their child, parent or friend.

It's too much.
I can't help but wonder why.

It wasn't until a short time ago this answer became clear as day to me.

It goes like this: 
Only 8% of the American population claim to never or mostly never go to Church. Eight percent.
There is also 44% of American's who say that they are regular Church attenders, they qualify as our Churched people of America.

What's astounding to me about those statistics is the fact that it is constantly moving in the wrong direction. The 8% of people who never attend Church is growing rapidly. The faster this group of people grow, the more hurt and destructive behavior that is going to spiral out of control eventually leading to an eternity apart from Christ; that is simply a fact of people who don't live by the Grace of Christ: their lives are the opposite of graceful. Yet, more and more people get sucked into that sort of lifestyle.

Why is that? 
In the Church today, all 44%, there is an unwillingness. There's a huge lack of people willing to make a difference in the world. Far to often in the Churches is the sense of feeling comfortable. Families get cozy being in the front row every Sunday and putting a twenty dollar bill into the offering plate. They would call themselves Christinas, possibly even give themselves the title of a 'follower of Christ.' As far as they're concerned, life is good and God is good.

That is so incredibly dangerous. 
Because if you were to ask that family to provide for the poor and care for the needy, they would come up with an excuse that would keep them safe inside their Christian bubble life.

That is most Christians today.
No one is willing and no one see's the deep urgency for true Love to be spread throughout all the earth.

Jesus says in Matthew that "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

Are you willing to give it all for the sake of the harvest?
The cost of being a disciple is high. There is no promise for a comfortable life that will lead to the fulfilling American dream with a great retirement plan. There is no promise for happiness by the worlds standards.

But there is promise for fulfillment in Christ.
There is a promise that costed the actual life of Jesus that says we can be His if we are willing.


There is so much pain in this world that gets ignored because the Church is too busy focusing inward.
Step outside into the real world.
Having the eyes of Christ has the ability to change the momentum of the world.

The Spirit lives in us.
The same power that conquered the grave lives in us!
We have the ability to turn eyes and hearts to the only One with a worthwhile promise!




Christ is bigger and that can't be taken lightly; eternity is at stake.
Be willing to make that message known.

"Salvation is found in no one else, fo there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Batter My Heart

I'm writing a paper on a poem from John Donne and I couldn't help but stop and be taken aback by the desperation in the words.
It's so heavy, but so real.

This is the life of a Christian.
This is emptying yourself for the sake of Christ.

It's a great poem.
Let it sink in.


     Batter my heart, three-personed God, for You

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you

As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;

That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend

Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

I, like an usurp'd town to another due,

Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;

Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,

But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain,

But am betroth'd unto your enemy;

Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,

Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Amen. 

It's never too much.

Coming into this week, I literally didn't think I would make it.

I figured I'd give it a day or two before I would give up and just barely make it through.
However, I learned a lot this week. 



Here I am; I survived.
After virtually no sleep and a plethora of assignments and tests that would more or less define my grade, I'm still here.


And let me tell you, not only did I survive.. but I thrived. 
Why? 


Because this week I learned about the power of prayer.
I learned, first hand, that a God who created the whole universe and know the number of sand on the seashore still cares deeply about little old me.
Though, in the grand scheme of things, my desire to pass all my assignments may seem really little.. in the eyes of Christ, they are His first priority. 


I learned that if you bring Jesus, His Word, along side of you.. there is no other choice but to thrive. 


It's ironic to me how during times like this, we completely push Christ away and say we have no time. 
We push Him to the side so we can get a few more hours of studying in.

Who do you think gave you the ability for retention anyways?

We should be craving His word!
Times like this is when Christ is ready to be active in your life.
He's ready to show you His power and faithfulness, we just choose to not have time for it.

Luke 12 says, "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

We are worth more than many sparrows. 
How could we not believe He would flip our lives upside down in a week like this?


He is Christ. 
He lived and died for times like this. 

He is our strength. 
Don't be discouraged, we can accomplish everything through the power of the Cross. 

Incomprehensible.

It's so very easy to get caught up in this fake-spiritual-persona about yourself.
To subconsciously think that we are doing pretty good in our spirituality.
Give ourselves pats on the back when we give wisdom to someone.
Be proud of ourselves for spending more time in the Word this week than your best friend.

You get the picture, it's too easy to loose sight of the purpose for the Cross. 




That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard! 


For me, today was the day.
Today I realized how unbelievably wretched I am. How wretched we all really are.
How very little I know in regards to life itself.
How my time in the Word is pointless if I put myself on the same pedestal as Christ.

I mean, come on, He's Christ!


I was reading through Romans 7 and Paul could not have put my heart in more accurate words:

"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin. What a wretched man I am!"

What I want to do, I don't do.
All I am is a filthy sinner.

But Praise God this chapter continues. Praise God we are more.

"Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God- through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

No matter how horrible of people we are, there's a redeemer.
There's a Healer.
A Perfecter.
A robe of Righteousness.
A Savior.

Because, and only because, of the blood of Christ, there is no condemnation for those in Jesus. 

There is no condemnation! 


What a savior to be tortured after living a miraculous, perfect life just for us?
He thought about you on the cross.
He thought about me.

We are no longer dead to sin. We are alive in Christ.

We are free!






Is that an incredible God or what?!





Romans 8, the light at the end of every tunnel.

Obsession.

Thomas Road's Middle School and High School's Ministries went on their winter retreat this past weekend, and fortunately I got to join in as a leader for the greatest group of girls. It really was an incredible weekend, all around. 

The focus was on Obsession. We as a culture are so obsessed with everything. We are obsessive over Facebook, phones, sleep, food, a show, etc. When in reality, where our obsession lies is so far from where it needs to be. 
This whole idea was really convicting to me.

I am obsessed over things that are worthless. I spend my time with things that are of absolutely no value. 

On Friday night of camp the speaker was simply setting us up for the rest of the weekend. He was getting us to marvel at the cross and the beauty of Christ. He led us to Philippians 2. This is a fairly popular passage of scripture that most people have heard before. But, with my obsessions in mind, it literally rocked my whole world. 

I was trying to unpack in during the weekend; but of course, with a bunch of middle schoolers running wild it was rather difficult. :)

This past week, however, I've been really meditating on it. I've had time to really absorb the absolutely beauty in it. 

"Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God 

something to be used to his own advantage; 

rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, 

being made in human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death —

even death on a cross! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name 

that is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father." 

That is where obsession needs to lie. 

Every last knee will bow and tongue confess that Christ is the Lord. 

When Jesus came to earth, He had the power and the authority to make every last knee bow and tongue confess.. but thankfully, He is a Jesus of extraordinary grace. However, when He returns again? Every knee will bow. We are running out of time to tell people. This is where the urgency in the Gospel lies: we do not have time to be silent about this.

He is returning again.
And every last mortal human in heaven, on the earth or spending an eternity in hell will confess Christ is the Lord.
He will have justice. 

That's not something we can afford to take lightly. 

This is obsession.
He is the only one worthy of our obsession because, as He so very clearly displayed for us, He is completely obsessed with us. 

Who in the world are we to accept His obsession, yet can't even bring ourselves to return it at the least?

Be obsessed with this Jesus. 

Because you will confess, by the power of Jesus, that HE is the Lord. 

I'm obsessed.
Thomas Road, is obsessed.

Are you? 

Real Talk: Worship

Lately, I've been consumed with the idea of genuine worship and I've been battling with what that really looks like today. Probably because, now more than ever, I really miss having the chance to be leading. I loved leading worship more than anything, I still do. It's a passion, it's my joy, but it's not my calling.

And that's what my struggle has been.

I probably couldn't pick anything I would enjoy more than leading people in worship every week for the rest of my life. Seriously. So, how do I handle knowing that isn't what I'm going to spend my days doing?

This past week I have been trying to fight it a little bit, I think. I have been going out by myself and leading myself in worship how I know is best for me. There was a point yesterday, as I was sitting outside and dwelling on the gift of God, I literally had this thought run through my head,

 "I really wish there were more people around right now, and then I can finally lead some people." 

You may not see anything wrong with that sentence, but I was immediately convicted of it for a couple reasons:

1.) That isn't what worship has ever been about for me. It has never been about 'letting the people hear me.' Do I love that? Yes, but because I get a high out of that responsibility. I loved having that chance to be apart of not only my own worship experience, but others as well. For this one thought, those weren't my motives. I just wanted the bodies present, as if numbers were more 'spiritual.'
2.) Leading in worship through music isn't my direction right now, but how in the world is that going to stop me from leading by example in every other aspect of worship? The fact that for a split second I felt worship was strictly with your voice and guitar blows my mind. It's almost embarrassing. It's just as much my duty to be a leader with my everyday life.


It really hit me yesterday. For the last couple weeks I have been yearning to be on the stage again for this chance. But that's not what I'm going to do. That's not where God's leading my life right now, and I am 110% okay with it. 140%. To be quite honest, I'm pretty stoked about it. If I'm not leading in that matter, what else is God going to keep doing through me? That is so exciting! 

I love worship. I love being a passionate worshipper. However, it isn't about simply singing to songs or praising God after you pass a test.

Worship is a life style, it's a decision and it's renewed daily. 

We are called to ultimately live a life of genuine worship of our Creator. Why do you think the Angels only repeat, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty"? (Revelation 4:8). Because if you really try to understand the God we all claim to serve and the God we all claim to believe in, there is nothing left to do but be in a speechless kind of reverence of the God of the Universe.

He is Holy.
He is Holy. 
He is Holy. 

Worship is incredible. And now that I'm not forcing myself to be a worship leader through music, it's more time for me to appreciate the beauty in worshipping throughout all things and in all things.


Don't miss out on the thing that will fire you up the most.
Go and worship Christ.
Make it a choice, make it a passion, make it your life.


He
Is 
Holy. 

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." 

Revelation 4: 11

The best kind of love.

Have you ever seen what real love looks like?
I don't mean what the movies make it out to be; but actually, first hand, viewing true love.

When I think of what two people in love look like I get this image: there's a couple maybe drinking coffee together and the man is carrying on a conversation; going on and on about even the craziest things. But do you ever look at the woman's reaction in this scene? She is perfectly in tune to what is being said. It can be something she may have heard hundreds of times, but because this guy has his attention directed toward her she feels so drawn. Often times she doesn't really want to interject in this conversation because she finds herself more content listening to the love of her life speak. This can go on for hours. Talking and humbling listening. That is what I picture when I think of the epitome of true love here on earth. 


Switching gears for one second:
With that same picture in mind, have you ever thought about how similar that image is in regards to what our prayer life should look like ?

We were created to have that love scene with God. Literally, God of everything.
But we miss it. 

Why has the American Church put such a crazy twist on prayer?
The worlds literal definition of prayer is this:

Pray-er (noun): A religious service, esp. a regular one, at which people gather in order to pray together.

(I didn't make that up. That's seriously the best we could do.)

I feel like we often times miss the original, God ordained purpose of prayer. 
Because of the blood of Christ, we are allowed to be in the actual presence of God.



GOD. 


The creator of all things. 
Of you and me. 
The sustainer. 
The provider. 
The healer. 
The destructor.
God. 


Prayer is our way to communicate with the very God who spoke this earth into motion. 
So often when we pray we talk and talk and talk and talk until we feel we have 'spent enough time communicating with God.' 


How in the world is that love?! 
That is the farthest thing. That is from hearts of humans doomed. 

That is what America has made prayer. Superficial talking at God.
I think about how different the scene up there would be if the girl never once allowed the man to prove how much he was in love with her. It breaks my heart. 

This is the God of all things. 
We have true love. 
True love was nailed to a cross. That is truest of all love. 


So why don't we act like it? 
Stop speaking for a second. Shutup. And let God sweep you off of your feet.
You will only be hungry for more. 


Jesus is madly in love with us. 
We need to stop being hardened to that and take seriously the sovereignty of our God. 










Love came. Love died. Love is here. 

#Passion2012

The Passion 2012 conference is happening for the next couple days at the Georgia Dome. The Passion Conference, if you don’t already know, is built around thousands upon thousands of College students coming together for one ultimate purpose: to ignite a Passion within ourselves to spread the insane love of Jesus.

This conference is such an incredible blessing to the world. Literally.

THOUSANDS of lives are transformed, renewed and set aflame for Christ. 

Some of my best friends from the best church at this conference tonight all the way across the country; but as I’m here, I’ve been burdened. I’ve been ignited.

I couldn’t help but ask myself: why don’t I see this intense of a passion throughout the whole year?

The Passion Conference takes place once a year as a needed refill and spiritual reload.

But where is the literal Passion the rest of the year?

I feel as though this generation, our generation, has been set to a much higher standard spiritually. People expect more from us now more then they ever have. Why? Because there are SO many different ways to be distracted from your spiritual life in today’s world; making a stand for Christ is putting the rest of the world to shame.

My question: why are we, as a whole, afraid to take the challenge?

Every year thousands of students gather together gaining the passion of Christ only to give as much of it away as they can.

There are people, like you and me, who spend hours upon hours pleading with God for a revolution for today.

Hundreds of teenagers give themselves until they have nothing left.

But I wonder about the rest. Where is the rest of this generation?

It should be considered such an honor to be called to such and incredible task: bringing Jesus to the world.

We have been called and equipped to spread the name of Jesus to all nations. Need proof?

“Go, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19.

It’s such a simple yet daunting task.

This generation needs to take that seriously. 

We have the power to allow Christ to cause the greatest worldly revival through us.

We need to wake up.

We need to be prepared.

We need to wear the armor.

WE NEED TO BE DOERS not just hearers.

It’s up to us. It’s up to this generation to bring Passion to the lost and broken world.

There are thousands of students who are squished together in the Georgia Dome tonight:

Waking up.

Preparing themselves.

Putting on the armor.

Becoming a DOER.

Join us. Join me. Join the Georgia Dome in becoming Passionate for Christ. We need to overflow.

Join us in the greatest revival for Christ.

Think big.

Dream bigger.
Pray biggest.
Let God do the unthinkable.

It.

Is.

Our.

Time.

GO.

“…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Matthew 28:20.