How many items do you have within a foot of you? Three feet? Ten feet? I’m not talking about “a chair,” I mean each and every little thing. How many screws are in the chair? Wheels? How many pages in each book near you? Components in the computer you are at? You are surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of objects within a ten-foot diameter, in all likelihood. Now how about a mile? That’s 5280 feet. That includes bricks in a house, bolts in a car, blades of grass. Surely there is no way you could ever count all of it, especially since that number is constantly changing. Just within one mile are more things than you could ever count, ever keep track of, or ever care about.

Now, what about 12,406 miles? That is how wide the radius around you would have to be to encompass the entire earth. If you cannot keep track of or care for the things within one mile of you, how could you – or even ten thousand of you – ever keep track of and look after all the things on this earth? You can’t. But what if you were responsible for the care of all these things?

Somewhere in China, someone is about to step on a blade of grass. Let’s say you are responsible for the safety of this blade of grass, as well as the dozens of blades surrounding it that are also about to be squashed and carelessly destroyed. What do you do? You still sit at your computer, reading this article, while dozens of blades of grass are about to be killed. You do not care about this blade of grass. It is minuscule. Even if you actually were responsible for the safety of all the plants in the earth, you would still sit there, doing nothing to save this piece of grass because it would be incredibly inconvenient and costly for you to fly all the way to China to find and save that piece of grass, even more so when you are also responsible for all the other blades of grass about to be stepped on in other places around the world. You have a child at home that you have to take care of. You can’t just pack up and fly to China. That would be ridiculous, the epitome of stupidity.

You are the blade of grass. God killed his son to save you.

Now, what do you owe Him in return?

Fear. Night is coming. Darkness shall soon be upon the land. Predators wander these dangerous mountains, lying in wait for any moving thing that is foolish enough to venture out after dark. The light is fading behind the trees. We must reach safety before nightfall! Fear strikes our hearts as we look back and see the sun’s final efforts to stay up result in merely a few rays striking out away from the horizon as if light itself is heaving one final breath. We know that each day, the sun loses its battle to stay in the sky, defeated by the smaller, yet infinitely more numerous stars that overpower it each evening and force it back into hiding. We know it has lost – the sky is red with the blood of the sun. Soon night will come and all who fail to hide in fear will be mere bones before the sun finds the strength to rise once more above the horizon.

According to modern scientific theory, we humans are the result of millions and billions of years of evolution. One proof of that is in how we often revert to our animal-like primal instincts when faced with a situation that our evolutionary ancestors struggled against for generations. According to this theory, our race was once the prey of many powerful beasts. This explains our fear of animals such as snakes or lions, which millions of years ago devoured our ancestors as if they were so many mice. To our supposed ancestors, however, a sunset was a sure sign of impending doom. Sunset meant night. Night meant darkness. Darkness meant predators. Predators means us becoming toothpicks.

But is that the case? Do we see a sunset and become stricken with an underlying primal fear, scared about what the darkness might bring? Does a red sky, moments from the sun’s disappearance over the horizon, bring panic and rabid paranoia to our thoughts? No. To us, a sunset is the pure essence of beauty. Everything else we see has its beauty compared to a slow setting of the sun behind distant mountains. Everything that brings us complete satisfaction yet is only temporary is compared to those few precious minutes before utter darkness where the sky turns red as the sun disappears over the horizon. Even if we fear the darkness, we still revel in the beauty of a setting sun, wondering how something so majestic, so awe-inspiring, came into existence.

Surely it was not random chance. Surely it was not so mundane and ultimately futile an explanation as evolution! Surely, this amazing picture can only have been painted by an even more majestic Designer! If we were descended from mere apes, we should tremble in fear at such a scene – but no! We revel. We hold it up as the standard of all that is beautiful and inspiring. We hold it in such high regard that we equate that purest of emotions – love – with the simple beauty of a setting sun. This is not chance. This is not evolution. This is the work of an almighty God! This is the work of a God that loves us and all He has created, or we would feel nothing but fear at the sight of the setting sun. Surely, when we stand and look across the horizon at this majestic scene, we can do no other than rejoice in the power and love and majesty of our Creator.

The Mighty One, God the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion,the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
(Psalm 50:1-2)

-1st John 1:5-10 (ESV)

If you were presenting the Gospel to an unbeliever in the supermarket, and they asked for a good place to start in the Bible, where they could learn about what it means to be a Christian, what passage would you give them? To most of us, the first passage that comes to mind is John 3:16.  However, that verse is only half of the picture, and I have known of too many people who’s lives (and ultimately, eternal future) were ruined because they thought that John 3:16 was the whole message of the Gospel.  It is not enough to know that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,”  ”even the demons believe that – and tremble!” (Ja 2:19).  We must do more than believe in the fact that God exists and sent His son, we must allow that truth to work an amazing change in us.  We must walk in the light, as He is in the light.  ”The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” only if we “have fellowship with him” and “confess our sins.”  Only then will He be “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I think that too often, we lose sight of this.  The redemptive power of Christ is never present without the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.  Works alone cannot save us, but our works are a neccessary outward manifestation of an inward reality.  We are not truly transformed if it does not strongly impact every single thing we do.  If we think that we are saved, we need to look at our lives and see if there is any evidence that that is the case.  We need to think: is there any difference between how we go about our daily life and how an unbeliever goes about theirs?  Do we think the same way? Work the same way? Walk the same way? Eat? Drink? “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31) Too many people think that “being saved” means saying a prayer, reading their Bible regularly and going to church.  But while those who are saved do all those things, that is not what salvation is about.  We are born into sin.  We are depraved.  All we do is motivated by ultimately selfish desires.  We are damned to spend eternity burning in Hell.  But God saved us.  He didn’t just inspire us to go to church once a week.  He changed who we ARE.

I honestly don’t know how to express this.  There is simply no way to convey through words how big of a transformation has taken place.  We are not the same person.  We are a different soul that has expelled the previous owner of our body.  Every single thing we do now revolves around glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.  Our chains are gone, we have been set FREE!  Mere font on a screen cannot describe this.  It cannot express the overwhelming love we have for God and for each other that permeates our lives, our souls and everything we do in every day. In fact, my efforts to describe it are so futile, I am going to close this post and let you simply ponder on the fact that God created us, He loves us, He sent His only Son to die a horrible death for us, and we owe Him every second of every minute of every day of our lives.

Due to copyright, all posts in my Teenage Marriage series have been removed from this blog.  They have been combined, proofed and edited into a small book, “Courtship,” which you can buy for $10 from Amazon through the link in the sidebar.  Use discount code “77MQ8X35″ to get $2 off of the list price at checkout (for my blog readers)

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set an example for the

believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

1^st Timothy 4:12

This verse confuses me sometimes. Paul is writing to Timothy, who is a pastor at a church with a congregation that is, for the most part, significantly older than him. He was struggling with preaching to an older audience because he did not think it his place to do so, and Paul wrote that verse to give him encouragement. What I find confusing about this verse is that Paul tells Timothy to not only live in purity and faith, but also to set an example to the other(older) believers. Aren’t the older church members supposed to be the ones setting an example to the younger generation, and not the other way around? However, I think I have finally come to somewhat of an understanding with this verse, and what I have gained from it has greatly impacted my life.

Too often us young, energetic Christians get so caught up with the learning that we lose focus on the practicing. We take in the intellectual knowledge of what to do and how to do it, but we never let it completely permeate us and change us from the inside out. Folks, what the old bald guy at church talks about for 45 minutes once a week isn’t just useful to know, it is life-altering! It can change the way you think, the way you act, and the way you interact with others, if you will just make sure to let it out of your brain and go hang out with your heart every once in a while. It can change you from an essentially useless fountain of religious knowledge into a passionate, worshipful, loving child of God.

We aren’t to just learn from our elders, we are to take that knowledge and set an example for the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. We are to go out into the world and be the salt and light for Jesus Christ, Lord Almighty! We are to stand on the hills, on the rooftops and shout his name to the world! We must talk, act, love, believe and stand firm for Christ. Every word we speak is heard by the Holy Creator and is given to us for the sole purpose of glorifying Him. Every step we take, every friend we make must be dedicated to Him and to Him alone (soli Deo gloria). 1st Corinthians 10:31 – For whatever we eat or drink, or whatever we do, do it all to the glory of God.

Let this change you. Let it impact everything you do. Go to your crappy job with a smile on your face and in your heart, singing praises to God. Treat everyone, sinner and believer, with the Love that God has bestowed upon you to give to others in His name. Let it change the way you form relationships with people, let it bring propriety, honesty, love, and self-control into your relationships with others. Young men and women, let the Word of God give you a heart that hunts down and destroys even the slightest hint of impurity or impropriety in your relationships with each other. It will cause you to treat one another with respect, admiration, courtesy and love.

The Love of God isn’t just informative. It is transformative. Let the Holy Spirit into your heart and give Him free reign over your emotions. Don’t just live the “right” way. Set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.

My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace!

1s Corinthians 10:31

This verse has really been speaking to me over the past few days.  Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.  Whatever?  All?  I think this one verse has really changed my whole perspective on life.  Too often I find myself unconsciously divideing my life into two categories: things that are big enough that God cares about, and little things that God really doesn’t care about.  The first category usually consists of things like grades, performance at work, church attendance, etc.  I put all those “other” things, like the music I listen to, websites I visit, things I do with my spare time, etc, into that second category as if it is some kind of “grey area.”  But then I had that verse pop into my head (coincidence? I think not).  I do not do it all to the glory of God.  I just tend to make sure that the things I do that are glorifying to God outweigh those things that I really don’t pay any attention to.  I’ll think that since I attend church and Bible study regularly, I can afford to not pay attention to the music I listen to or whether or not I read my Bible every day.  But that is a completely wrong mindset.  There is nothing we can do to earn Heaven, and we do not need to act like it.  The reason we are to obey God is because He not only created us, He sent his only Son to die on the cross for our sins.  We owe him absolutely everything we have.  We owe him our time, our music, our food, our money, our all.  We owe him not just our Sunday mornings, but every minute of every day of our entire lives.  We don’t get to stop paying attention to our spiritual health at 10pm at night just because we gave him a full Sunday morning’s worth of our time.  The life of the Christian isn’t one of balances and concern about self, it is about no-compromise service and love towards our Creator and Savior.  I pray God will change my daily life to reflect the eternal change He has effected in my heart and soul.

“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. “

Matthew 22:37

1: First Job (Cartpusher at Wal-Mart)

2: Driver’s License

3: 85th percentile on the SAT (trying again in Aug for 90th percentile)

4: Full beard

5: Glasses

(This image highlights most of them)

So yeah, exciting times in my life right now that leave almost no time for recreational writing or study. I’m supposed to be in KY right now at the Together For The Gospel conference, but I decided that it would be an unwise decision budget and stress-wise, so I decided not to go, but I am now on a 4-day vacation because I still have the days I asked off for because of the conference.

On another note, WordPress has come out with some outstanding blog themes lately, a few of which really caught my eye, so I’ve been considering switching.  Which of the following do you like best?

Unsleepable

Journalist 1.3

Journalist 1.9

Motion

Monochrome

INove

Please leave a comment with your opinion.

Also, after quite a long hiatus, I should be posting Part 5 over the weekend. Question, though: do you prefer entire Parts/Chapters at a time or small sections of them?