I just want to love Jesus, drink coffee, and farm.

Thought.

Knowledge is the avenue in which one places faith to accomplish what they are intended to. Knowledge, once married to an active faith, produces in us not only the desire but the empowerment to fulfill what the Bible commands us to do in all arenas. Both in the signs and wonders aspect, as well as(and more importantly) the simplicity of an intentional, loving, humble servant. A lack of knowledge implies that one is simply unaware of what is available to them as heirs of God in Christ Jesus. 

Thought.

One can not come to know Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords without submitting to His authority, just as one can not have a genuine, intimate relationship with Him without knowing His power and His willingness to use it.

It’s

5:17 A.M. and I am up right now. Actually, I’ve been up for 17 minutes. I love sleep more than work. Why did I take this shift again?

I will

catch muskie this summer. Top of my list, you dang fish. 

Is religion the root?

I see a new movement in the underground Christian scene that we will just call “religion free.” Now, I do understand that the legalism that has seeped it’s way into the typical American church today is false. That legalism tends to have the same pharisaic mindset that condemned many people under false authority, which were all rebuked severely. My question is, is religion the root of this legalism?

1 Timothy 6:3-6 says “If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, he is conceited, understanding nothing, but having a sick interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slanders, evil suspicions, and constant disagreement among men whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness(referring to religion as a means of financial gain) is a way to material gain. But godliness with contentment is a great gain.”

When looking into this, I found that the greek word for contentment(autarkeia; A perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed.) and the greek word for sufficient(arketos; Enough, suffice, sufficient.) share the same root word, which is arkeo; to be possessed of unfailing strength, to be strong, to suffice, to be enough.

Thus, confidence in the Lord’s sufficiency and provision over one should lead to one being content. Notice that contentment is not simply being okay with or tolerant of the current situation, but has a foundation of joy built on the Lord regardless of the external situation or consequences.

The problem is that we as humans have a problem with simply being truly content, and we have just as big of a problem with admitting our lack of contentment because of our pride. Isn’t that just great. We, especially men, are born into a world with the mindset to build and cultivate what we have built. That mindset was given to us by our Creator in His image, though we tend to allow the false mindsets in and lead us through wrong focus to build and cultivate worldly things, which goes against the very reason we were created. Through this wrongly focused mind, the selfishness of the flesh of the saints works against our Creator to build and cultivate what we see fit in what we now call the church. We build up on the earthly church and forget that whatever movement is man made will fail, even if we see it as a movement for God’s Kingdom. If the Lord did not initiate the move,  be obedient. Be still and know that He is God. If he did initiate it, then be obedient and move where He calls. Through building up on what we’ll call the false church, our slavery to the law through flesh has found it’s way into the church. The legalism we see, the judgment we see, the condemnation we see, is a consequence of our own wrong focus and disobedience. It is not religions fault. It is our own.

Do I think religion is the problem? No. Do I think legalism is unbelievably stupid and unbiblical? Heck yes. Then why is it in the American church today? Because we have such a hard time being confident in the Lord’s provision and sufficiency. Confidence in those leads to true contentment. Great gain is found when true contentment works alongside godliness. Great gain for God’s Kingdom, in every aspect, will be seen and achieved when the saints walk in the godliness, righteousness and holiness given to them through Christ alongside the contentment regardless of external situations. I long to see the power of contentment and godliness break through the legalism and false churches today. I long to see the Holy Spirit invade those who have quenched it for so long. I long to see true love in the church regardless of minor theological or doctrincal differences.

Be humbled. Be content. Walk in what the Lord has called you to and bought you for. Be obedient to the tugging of the Holy Spirit on your heart. Seek Him passionately, intimately, confidently and willingly.

Stop hating the church, and start being what eye has not yet seen and ear has not yet heard. Stop judging the church, for it is the bride of Christ. Stop hating religion and walk in true religion, which is a true, intimate relationship with Christ. 

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in your weakness.”“

Thoughts on Easter.

What a beautiful day it truly is, to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. 

However.

I am absolutely sick of people using Easter as an excuse to celebrate the victory that Jesus displayed and imparted to us through the death, burial, and resurrection one day a year as opposed to celebrating, walking in and portraying the very same thing daily in their lives. Jesus did not get crucified so you could have the comfort of attending a Sunday morning church service once a year, or even more. Jesus did not hang from a piece of wood so you could reap the benefits of salvation with no real change in your life. The Word made flesh was not ridiculed, tortured, mocked, and beaten within an inch of His blameless life so you could maintain your current position in the world without coming into His likeness. Jesus died to make you more like Him. 

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14 that “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” He is saying that if Christ had not risen from the dead, then it is all useless. Faith, preaching, outreach, ministry, evangelism, professing the gospel of Jesus Christ would all be useless. Now Paul says this not to give you a false sense of justification for sin, or complacency. He does not say this in order to put questions in one’s mind of the validity of Jesus rising from the dead. He wrote this because Jesus did rise from the grave, and with Jesus being alive, our lives as the bride of Christ, son of God, and friend of God are built around the fact that Jesus is alive. What that means is that we, as Christians, actually have to DO what the Bible TELLS US TO DO. Ridiculous, right!? Actually LOVE people? Pick up your Bible more than once a week, and actually READ IT instead of using it as a fashion accessory for when you go to church!? Pray?! By yourself as well as with and for other people?! Walk in sanctification through the renewing of your mind?! 

Yes. That is exactly what it means, and more. I’ll trust you read your Bible to find out what the rest is.

I love the fact that so many people who proclaim Christianity attended a great service this morning, enjoyed fellowship with one another and are joyous in the celebration of the fact that death could not hold Jesus down. But I refuse to sit back quietly while some use this one day as an excuse to never celebrate the life of Jesus any other day of their lives. Christianity is not a self help program, it is not an occasional thing that you do, it is not a temporary fix in your life due to a terrible position or any other thing. Christianity is coming into a genuine, intimate, passionate, consistent, persistent, and progressive relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ. It is stepping into complete fulfillment in the One who created you in His image, and learning to walk as He intended us to walk all along. It is stepping into a love so powerful and tangible that the world around you has no choice but to bow it’s head in admiration and adoration of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is not a Sunday morning church service, words on a page, a sermon you listen to, a college program, or the ever-popular facade of Christian service to make up for the fact that you don’t have a real relationship with Jesus. 

I want to make this clear; this rant of mine is not directed towards atheists, agnostics, or people of any other religion. While that is being said, I apologize to anyone reading this who isn’t Christian on behalf of every person who has professed Christianity to you but acted terribly towards you. That is not Jesus. And I am sorry that we have all given you a false image of who He is. This message is directed towards the people who are right now, in this very moment, in the same position that I was at a few years ago before I heard the beckoning of the Holy Spirit to come into a romace far beyond my understanding. The people who believe that they have a relationship with Christ because they prayed a prayer when they were 6 and a half at a vacation Bible school which apparently means that they are saved, but who bear no fruit in their lives(see Revelation 3:15-16, Matthew 7:22-23, James 2:17-26). I hope you understand that I am not condemning you, but am trying to give you the biblical perspective that you have yet to come into what God has called you, and desires you, to step into. I pray that the Spirit of God would rest over you all and give you insight, revelation, wisdom and guidance into the validity of your position with Him right now. I pray that this rant would not come across as condemning to those who may feel judged, but that you would understand my heart breaking for each person who believes themselves to be saved but have no understanding of what that means. I pray that the Holy Spirit would compel each and every one of you to step deeper into the heart of God, regardless of your position now. That those who are walking already would walk in abundance, and those who aren’t would take the first incredible step in a realtionship with Jesus. Amen. 

Grace, peace and joy over you all.