I am not going to be a Cultural Christian

a few weeks ago we had this speaker at CFNI and he was AWESOME he talked about being a cultural Christian, and I would not really say that I am a cultural Christian, but I felt like God wanted me to pray for the people that I know that are, the people that say they are "christian" and they love God, but they do not want anything to do with Him when He is not giving them stuff, they are the "Christians" that you see in the crowd that you would not even know they loved God because of their actions. Matthew 7:21-23 says not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven, many will say to Me that in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? and then I will declare to them, "I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" that to me hit me strong I have a whole lot of friends that are like, I love God, I will praise God forever but they do not live it, they will live it, they will prophesy once or twice, but in the end they do not really stand on the word of God. Most "Cultural Christians" are the ones who hate the church, they hate the way that the church is, but they Love God, well let me shoot straight with you just a minute the bible says in Revelation 3:16 So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. God doesn't like the people that like to say one thing and do another. Being a Christian is a lifestyle thing, you cant be a Christian and a follower of Christ if all you are going to do is the exact same thing that you would do if you were not a Christian…you cannot be a Follower of Christ if being a Christian to you is wearing a WWJD bracelet on your wrist and owning a Jesus sticker! That is not how it works; being a Christian is a lifestyle. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

Living a life for Christ is not the easiest thing that you can do, read VOM, people across the world die every single day for the name of Jesus, but they are ok with it because they know that in God they have eternal life. See the thing about America is that we are not willing to do that, Americans have everything handed to them on a silver platter, they are given the freedoms to worship and pick who is in authority over us, I am not dissing on Americans but im just saying that it is easy for them…but with all of these freedoms that we have we tend to forget and fight for God, because we don't have to, its already available to us. I'm so sick of hearing stories about all of these people in different countries that are martyrs for the name of Christ, but the staple of Christianity in America tends to be Cassie Berrnall don't get me wrong that girl is amazing and she did an amazing thing for God, but about 3 years after it happened, people tend to forget that it happened, and unless some kind of miraculous sign comes from the sky telling them to worship they will not, because they don't want to take the time to lead people to Christ, they don't want to talk about Christ when they can be talking about the next best movie, they don't want to pray before they eat because they are hungry now, they don't want to praise God in worship because well it isn't convenient for them, or they are not "feeling it" Why does our worship to God have to be based on a feeling or an urge, why does someone else have to initiate worship? Now I will be honest, before CFNI I was the same way, sometimes worship would be amazing, sometimes I would not like it so much, but I have decided to that I will fight through the convince I will fight through the feeling of I don't want to, and I have realized that when I do that God has met me where I am at every single time. Does that mean that I get a word from God every time I pray, no it doesn't, but it means that I trust God to give me an answer when it is right for Him, and no matter the circumstance of where I am, I will hold faith in my God. Now I will be honest, I am not perfect and sometimes I fail and sometimes I break the rules and sometimes all I want to do is fit in…when I went through Hell with friends and teachers my freshman year, I didn't want anything to do with God, I just wanted to fit in, I just wanted a friend, I just wanted someone to tell me I was cool, someone to love me. What I didn't realize is that I have a God that loves me more than anyone else could love me.

Galatians 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith Christ JesusàJohn 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. For all of us that have received Christ we are sons of God, that means that when you called Jesus to be into your life you are now His son. Ok so is you are His son you are not to be conformed of this world right? Well lets just say that you are conformed of this world, that does not mean that you are not a son of God that means that you are away from Him you are out from under His covering, you are not living under His rules you are not living under His word. I think of my mother, when I moved away my mom had a freak out session as many of you know, she did not do well with the thought of me leaving with the thought of me being out of her home, out of her covering. I was still her child, but I was not under her protection. She would cry and pray and try to trust God, and it took some time and she has gotten better, but it is still like every time she is close to me, every time she is near me she will cry again and hold me and tell me how much she misses me, and then I have to leave again. I believe that God is like that, when we come under Him and we live under His light, His covering, then we decide to be conformed of the world, and that is not to say that most of the time it is not based with good intentions, we may have started the journey with a plan to win souls, but you know you hear time after time it is easier to be pulled down than to be pulled up. Just because you have been pulled down that does not mean that you are not God's child or anything that just means that you may be thinking that you are following Him but you are not following Him the way that he wants you to. Are you reading your bible every day? Are you seeking Him? When you are hurt do you take refuge in Him? Where are you standing with God? You may still be His Child, you have not changed your name, but you have walked out from under His covering. I believe that when we do that God is like my mother, every day when He thinks of you he cries, and believes for you to return back to Him, and then you may come you may go to church and have a good night and spend some amazing time in worship to Him and He is so excited, but then it is like the next day you walk back into the world again and forget about it. You may get hurt, and you don't run to Him, that breaks His heart, because He longs to be with you, He longs for that relationship with you.

One thing that I think about every single day to keep myself on track is the song you won't relent by misty Edwards. The song says You won't relent until you have it all, my heart is yours. The thing that I love about this song is I think about the prodigal son and about how the father watched for him everyday ready for Him to come back, God is not going to give up on us, for He loves us. My favorite version of that song is Jesus Cultures version because in that version they mix the song doves eyes also by Misty Edwards with it, and that part of the song says, I dont want to talk about you like youre not in the room I wanna look right at you I wanna sing right to you, that makes me extremely happy because when I hear that I think about after I give it all over to him after I set him as a seal on my heart and I give him my heart, I give him my all, then I remind myself that he is always here and I don't want to do anything without Him near me. so there it is, I want to let you guys know that no matter what God is not going to give up on you or let you down, he loves you and he has great plans for you and your life, so don't walk away from Him in any way do not leave his side, but instead chase after him like never before love him like you never have before and give him your all, don't be a cultural Christian, be all for Him!

"beautiful" in His eyes

Whitney has this pillow and it is white and ruffled and all semester she has been anal about this white pillow. She’s been really weird about it, you must understand Whitney is a little OCD she loves to do laundry because she loves clean things, cleaning calms her; her towels must be perfectly folded, color coordinated and stacked according to size on here shelf. Her , in a disorganization is even organized perfectly so it “looks” like shes a little less OCD than she is. But the thing that I love the most about Whitney is her white pillow, this white pillow is what she calls “beautiful” the rest of us are like yeah, it’s pretty, its cute, but to Whitney it is beautiful, it is cherished.

I was talking to Whitney about her OCDness in a picking but understanding way. and she said something that shifted my thinking about her stuff. She told me she cherished everything she owns because everything she owns is with her, it is all she has. Whitney explained to me that she lived in her dads apartment, but then when she moved to CFNI her dad sold the apartment. Whitney’s home is now CFNI, a place where she has no privacy she has to live with people and share, so when that happened everything that was “hers” became sacred, it became very important to her no matter how cheap or expensive, it was hers.

In Matthew 26:7-13 the story of the alabaster jar is told. This one thing to that woman was “beautiful” it was cherished, it was here one possession that was worth something. I imagine this woman was like Whitney with this jar, she probably shined it and made sure it was perfectly placed every single day, because it was “beautiful”. She heard Jesus was coming and she took her possession and broke it over Him anointing Him with oil. She took her wealth, her future, her everything and handed it over to Him. When Whitney left home she left everything, she lost a home to chase after Him, she gave up everything to have Him. Her path following Jesus hasn’t been really easy, but God is holding her up, God has her in His hands, no matter what, that story in the bible continues when she is being looked down on by the disciples because she “wasted” her money, she threw her future away, and Jesus pretty much told them to shut up because she was doing a good thing for Him and her faith would always be remembered.

Matthew 19:29 and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for MY name’s sake shall receive a hundredfold & inherit eternal life. Sometimes we will have things that we take care of we cherish we see as “beautiful” but we give it all away to run after Him, But God knows He knows, and sees our trials He knows and He will bless it for us God also understands what thing we may endure, but He will never give up on us, for it says in Isaiah 42:3 a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. That means that no matter how hard and weak you may be God hasn’t and He never will give up because you are His possession, you are like that pillow, you are “beautiful” to Him and He loves you. so don’t let things get you down don’t let the world crash down on you instead trust Him and remember you are “beautiful” and precious to Him.

But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

-Isaiah 90:31