The Hard Questions.

There are certain questions that most churches don't always address; the questions that are controversial or risque. These questions are sometimes avoided due to their nature but they need to be addressed at some point. As Christians we sometimes forget that our faith and relationship with God still needs to look at the topics that we struggle with. Topics like the hard side of our faith, an honest look at our creation, and sex in the eyes of God. All of us have talked about these things at one point in time or another but have we really dug down to the core of them and been honest with ourselves?...

FAITH:
Jesus tells us in Mark 9:43-47: :

"43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.[a] 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[b] 47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,"

When He says these things they are meant in a figurative sense. If they were meant literally, we would all be blind and missing limbs. They are given as a metaphor that we should all avoid sin to this extent. Despite the fact that this verse says we should just remove and avoid these situations in our lives, I believe that God puts challenges in our lives to overcome, NOT to run from. If we are faced with a test in school that is hard, we must complete it to the best of our ability rather than avoid it, so how are our tests from God any different? If God were to put these tests in front of us and we were to run from and avoid every one of these situations what would that prove? Where would we be in Gods eyes if we skipped class every time where we were faced with challenges?

Science:
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God and commits suicide."

I was reading a website that gave some interesting insight on the topics of science in relation to our religion. I wanted to take some quotes from the site (including the one above). The author of this work said: "I think that science is a noble endeavor. We honor the Creator when we study His creation." Meaning that our study of our world is an honor to Gods work. God created our world and everything we know so why wouldn't we want to study it? I also believe that many people take this too far and start making assumptions about what we study. God never wanted us to make assumptions from His creation. For example: Just because He created all living creatures both large and small, and gave us the ability to adapt/evolve to our situations does NOT mean that we evolved from single cell organisms. Yes God did give us the ability to assess our situation, make necessary changes, and continue on in the best manner, but that does not mean that we evolved from primates (or any other creature for that matter). Albert Einstein said, “Science without religion is lame, and conversely religion without science is blind.” This is SO true. As a major of science I can see where there are just to many things in our world that are beyond our understanding. It is not our place to understand everything about our world. If it was, we would already know how to predict the future, solve energy and food crisis, and could travel to heaven and back whenever we wanted. God is the ONLY one that is to know these answers. If we were given these answers it would be the same thing as cheating on His tests.

Sex:
I am going to quote the same site from earlier as I don't think I could word it better myself:

"Let’s give credit where credit is due. Sex was God’s idea. Sex is a gift from God. Are there parameters? Absolutely! It is a gift from God to be enjoyed by a husband and a wife in the context of marriage, and in that context it is a gift, a beautiful thing, a good thing and we ought to celebrate it. God never gets any credit for that. Why? Because the enemy has corrupted it, and it is because the misuses and abuses in our culture are ruining people’s lives. But the truth is, it is a good thing, it is a God thing."

This quote is really self explanatory; be happy that God gave us these gifts to enjoy, however be sure to enjoy them at the APPROPRIATE times! Just like any gift we are bestowed with, the same rules apply; enjoy them only at the appropriate times, in moderation, and treat them with respect. Do NOT abuse our gifts from God! Do NOT take advantage of them! If we are serious about being responsible Christians we need to also be responsible adults and act as such. Being a Christian means showing our dedication through our actions, not just our words. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder. Try your best to set the example rather than follow someone else's.

Teaching at The Crossing.

This happened a few weeks back at church and I told a friend about it, they thought I should post it into my blog:

I was teaching the childrens class at The Crossing today (I teach the 5 year olds), when we went to take them to the group class where all the children meet, this little girl jumped in my lap as soon as I sat down. She looked up at me and said "Will you hold me?, I don't feel good." I thought it was cute and I replied "yes of course I will hold you." As the kids watched the skit I was not sure if she was paying attention (she seemed very tired and her eyelids kept fluttering). The skit told about how Christ put love in the heart of the Samaritan to help a Jewish man that was injured after a robbery. As the skit finished I gathered up the kids and held the girls hand as I walked her back to her class. She looked up at me and said "those other people were not nice (referring to the people who didn't help the injured man) but I liked the Samaritan, he helped the man because Jesus told him too." When she said that, I really felt God working not only in her life, but through her to me. When I see Gods works it is a neat feeling. It is really unlike anything else in this world.

Long Time Caller, First Time Listener

I came home yesterday stressed out from the day just wanting to relax and talk to someone. I decided to spend my evening with God. Learning to spend time with Him is new in my life, in the past I have always tried to reach out and talk to humans. I am starting to see where God is always there to listen no matter what. Despite that we can communicate with God easier than anyone else in the world, it is still hard to wrap your mind around speaking with Him. Once I realized that He was there listening, I decided to think of Him as a person that was always by my side, that I could communicate with through telepathy. It sounds silly, like a kid with an imaginary friend, but its true. God is right there with us every second of every day of our lives. Mathew 10:30 says: "For the very hairs on your head are numbered." If God is keeping track of each hair on your head, don't you think He hears you talking to Him?

Last night I wanted to really make sure God was hearing what I had to say to Him. I was thinking about all the ways I could communicate with God when the idea came to me to send Him a text message, again silly but I did it anyway. I got out my phone and entered 000-000-0000, (by the way thats His phone number if you didnt know ;), careful who you go giving that out to). I entered what I wanted to say to Him, and sent it.

Click to enlarge


As absurd as the whole idea was, it helped me come to terms with how easy He is to talk to. I was not trying to "humanize" God or disrespect Him, it was more to help my brain see that I could just talk to Him through thought. While there are many ways to speak with God, you must back up your words to Him with your actions for Him. Asking God for forgiveness then going and doing that sin again is not right. God wants us to ask for forgiveness, learn from our mistakes, then move forward with that knowledge. Talking to God isn't just asking for forgiveness or for things in our lives. We should thank God, pray for others, and just ask Him everyday questions that we have in life. He is there for every thing we might have no matter how large or small.

P.S. Thank you God for answering my prayers :)

Back to Trust.

I wanted to return to the topic of trusting in God as I have some new understanding on the topic. Over the past few months I have noticed a reoccurring theme in my life where God feels most present in my life in the mornings for the most part. As the day progresses and evening falls, I feel Gods strength leaving me. I suspect this is my mind growing tired as the day goes on, or possibly the devil trying to grab ahold of me, or a combination of the two. In the evenings is when I doubt, fear, and worry the most. I see where this is not the right thing to do. A friend told me: "Doubt and fear are from the devil; hope, faith, and peace are from God." This makes sense to me. I have learned that instead of trying to reach out to others when we go through a time of crisis, it serves us well to reach out to God. Using His help we are able to overcome these problems on our own. Learning to hold Gods strength in my life is trusting in Him. Whenever I am going through a rough time and go to reach out to someone, I stop myself and say "wait, is this something I can deal with on my own." God is helping to give me strength to do this.

There is a Veritas Bible study coming up this week that I am looking forward to. the topic is doubt. I may have to come back and add to this later but I'll share it for now.

In Tune With God

On the drive back home this past Sunday night I was listening to a radio station that I found in Kansas City called K-Love, a Christian radio station. As I was driving down the highway, the station started to fade out slowly and in its place a hard rock station of some sort. The stations kept fading back and forth as I traveled, for some reason it popped into my mind that it was symbolism for the fight between good and evil. I know it is just a radio station, but the Christian music would fade to horrible heavy metal and back again. I don't think I could have found a better metaphor. I took this with a grain of salt as I continued to drive until I came upon a billboard that said: "XXX Nude Girls". A rather offensive billboard, evil and sin is represented by it. I started to see more of them as the drive went on, then a billboard for a church, then one for the Humane Society. A reoccurring theme was presented of good and evil bombarding me as I went on my way. Aside from the blatant instances of good vs. evil in our lives, there are so many subtle ones that we unintentionally filter out everyday. Violence, cursing, lust, greed, envy; all these things are forms of sin. Our minds learn to block these things out around us. Does this mean we are turning a blind eye to sin, or just accepting that we don't have the power to change everything around us? What does God think of this 'filtering' process we do?

Psalm 27:13 says:
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!

I think this tells us that we should focus on Gods works in this world, not take them for granted. As far as the bad things surrounding us; I have talked to other people on this topic and have heard consistently that the only thing we can truly change is ourselves. Just because we are in this world does not mean that we are of this world or have the power to change all the things around us. We may filter out those bad things because we cant change them, but we can change ourselves and not contribute to those things. God does not expect us to fix everything, that is his job, however he does not want us to create more things to fix. Do not contribute to sin or Gods laundry list of things that need to be "fixed". Instead learn to set an example of Him through our actions, hopefully this will rub off on others along the way.

"East of Eden"

The larger topic I have been working on still isn't quite ready so I thought I would jot down my thoughts on tonights Veritas bible study topic. The topic was disappointment in our lives. Genesis 2:8-17 talks about the garden of Eden and sets up for Genesis 3:23-24, where God kicks man out of the garden of Eden for eating the forbidden fruit. Now that we as people are forced to live in this world rather than a utopia, we are continually disappointed and discontent. The overall focus of the bible study was to try to learn to accept things the way they were, learn to look forward to God bringing back our utopia rather than trying to create it ourselves, and not having false hopes for this world.

The leader of Veritas mentioned that we were continually trying to make things better, to recreate our Eden. This made me think that rather than trying to recreate our own utopia, we should allow God to work through us to try to create someone else's utopia. If we try to help others who may not be as fortunate as us, they may feel that it makes all the difference in the world. While only God can create true utopia, it should not stop us from trying to use His strengths in what we do. No matter what disappointments we have in this life, how hurt we are, or what losses we must endure through, God will help us through it. We must not forget to serve God in the present despite our condition.

Reaching Out.

In trying to seek Christian fellowship and have found a few blogs I enjoy. The first is by a friend I went to school with for a number of years; Tim Smith. From what I know Tim has always been a Christian, I just didn't know he had a blog about it until now. The blog is a combination of both lessons to learn and the Christian fellowship in Tims life. Here is his blog entitled: Love, Laugh, Learn, Live. After reading through his page I see where he has made Christianity an all encompassing part of his life. I admire this trait and am trying to work on it in my life. I especially like the clip he posted about comedian Lewis C. K. adding perspective to life, I just wish I would have found it first...you only beat me by a day Tim :)

The other blog I have found is from Steve Furtick; the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. The blog is based around the Christian fellowship that is his church rather than the lessons to be learned from God. There is a particular post that I like called Stop the Slide. The post talks about addressing and fixing the problems in our life before they become too large. I have always known these concepts but its nice to hear it worded differently.

God Through Art

Recently I have notice the pastors using media to support sermons. Dave Cover's sermon this past Sunday at The Crossing talked about films and art that portrayed God. There have been many film clips shown the past few weeks. I have taken some for this post, you can click on some of these to watch the clip.

The Shawshank Redemption scene shows the main character, Andy, playing music over the intercom while locked in the wardens office. The beautiful music makes the inmates feel free for a fleeting moment, despite being locked away. This is a metaphor of how we are free from sin when we live in Christ. However unlike like the beautiful music in that scene, Jesus allows us not only to feel free, but actually be free.

The Passion of The Christ scene here (from 1:15-1:35 minutes in) shows the portrayal of satan lurking through the crowd as Jesus is being beaten. Towards the end of that section satan holds up a disfigured baby like creature that looks toward Jesus and smiles. The baby represents sin in our lives, its disfigured and ugly just as sin is in the eyes of God. Jesus died for us so we could be forgiven of sin. He endured unspeakable pain so we could be saved, so we could enter Gods kingdom. He alone was able to give us this gift. It is ours to accept.

A clip from Saving Private Ryan was shown but I couldn't find a clip online. The segment shown was the aftermath of the beach scene where the water was stained red with blood and bodies littered the ground. The blood, bodies, and death in the air represents the sin of man.

There was a documentary from last years True False Film Festival called From The Earth To The Moon. In the previous examples I was just trying to reiterate the message that was given at The Crossing, however this clip really stood out to me. It was a documentary put together to speak to the astronauts that had left earth and come back; the only people to step back and look at earth from afar. Various men gave their thoughts, feelings, and depictions of what their journey was like. As scientists the astronauts tried to explain everything that occurred to them. Many people that grow up with science as a heavy influence in their lives struggle to accept the idea of God with so many things pointing towards evolution. I expected to hear these kinds of things from the people who spoke, but I heard the exact opposite. There are over 2.5 million parts in a space shuttle, it has to be able to travel 25 times the speed of sound, withstand temperatures of 3002 degrees Fahrenheit, travel to the moon 238855 miles one way and then back again. After achieving such great feats, all the astronauts said that they felt a higher power acting. There are so many small details that go into a space launch, that many of the people involved started to see that we were meant to do great things, not by accident or evolution, but by God. We were given these gifts by God. These people of science acknowledged a higher being guiding us.

At one point in my life I believed in evolution of man because as a engineer its hard to ignore scientific facts. As an engineering student I was always taught to question things and look at every possible aspect of a situation. Looking back I can see where there are too many gaps to fill in for evolution to work, at some point its just our minds trying to connect the dots. We have accomplished so many great feats that it cannot be an accident. The bible says God created us in His image; if we can do these great things, imagine what things God is capable of. Evolution may have some valid points but none of them have been proven.

The content of clip itself was not what stood out to me, it just made me think about why I believe in Christianity. It made me realize something; its not the fact that these theory's are not proven that make me believe in Christianity. I did not say to myself "oh well, evolution doesn't explain how mankind came to be, so I'll believe in God instead." It was not the absence of these theory's, but rather the presence of God in my life that made me believe in Him. I cannot see God however I do see His works, feel His presence, and can listen to what He is telling me to do. God is our father and He intended us to carry out these great acts.

Look forward to Gods gifts

This week I decided to take on two larger topics for my blog so I haven't posted in a few days as I have been working on them.

I was thinking of my past recently; about my memories and friends who have since gone. I have reflected on both good and bad memories in my life. I have been feeling guilty about the mistakes I have made and the people I had hurt within this time. I felt so guilty about certain things that it was consuming me. A friend gave me some advice on the subject that helped me. He had told me that if God has forgiven you, and the people involved have forgiven you then you should put it behind you. I realize now that the hardest one to forgive is sometimes ourselves. He quoted Romans 8:1-2

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. "

I see where this is correct, but I still beat myself up over things. I wrestle with this lesson the most right now. With so much change in my life that it's hard not to look at my past. However I also realize if people are constantly thinking about their past, they cannot perform God's works or help others. This means taking what we have and moving forward. I know God wants me, as an individual, to repent from my sins and mistakes then progress in life.

I never truly knew the extent of God's care for me until recently, so I'm undergoing many changes. I have learned from listening to other, more experienced Christians and through scripture that God wants us to live a healthy, productive lifestyle. Knowing the things I know now, I can work on becoming the person I was always meant to be. I have learned from my past, now its time for action. Serving Him, spreading the gospel, and putting my all into life are the things that I am meant to do. My past self would have thought this was too much to handle, but now that I am calling on God's help I feel I can accomplish anything. This knowledge is one of His many gifts to me, but right now its my favorite.

Patience is a virtue

I always thought of myself as a patient person, very slow to get mad or bothered. I do however have stronger feelings and am impatient when it comes to those I care about because I expect more of them. Occasionally I do get impatient with some things, people who are slow drivers in the left lane, long lines,ect. Recently God has been helping to guide my life and show me what I need to do. I want to be proactive and try to fix my predicaments but I am learning to accept Gods time line for my life rather than my own. I can see where he provides for us in His own way and that doesn't mean giving us everything we want right when we want it. I have been seeing where sometimes no matter much we think we know, we just need to place our confidence in God and let Him tell us what is right. Again I see that total trust in God is key here. I have always had trust issues, but I'm working on them with God as I know he will always take care of me. Here are a few examples of patience as talked about in the bible.

Psalms: 37:7-9 says:

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land

Lamentations 3:25-26

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

It is literally telling us to be patient for the Lord and His salvation. God is a very giving God in His own time and will give when He sees fit. Patience is easy to exercise when we see everything going our way but it gets much more difficult when things are not working out the way we want. It is not a skill one develops overnight, it takes time to learn total patience. Patience is a learned act that we get better at as life continues. When we are young, little thought is given our future and we don't have to wait for long about the things we think about. As we get older, our ambitions, plans, and goals get larger and we must learn to wait longer to get to them. Without waiting, things would not be special, If everyone got everything they wanted when they wanted all sense of accomplishment would be lost. By having patience we are showing God that we trust him to deal with the issues at hand. It shows Him we are following His plan for us, not the other way around.

The Importance of Christian Fellowship.

I struggle with this topic--it's an area that I am working on, so I decided to write about it as it will remind me of what I need to do. I think there are three aspects of Christianity that are very difficult to perform on your own: learning, living, and serving. Learning Christianity on your own is much like trying to teach yourself calculus. You may learn some aspects of it but you're not going to see the whole picture and it will take longer to understand. Proverbs 27:17 says: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Beginners need a good teacher to get them started the right way, and people that are more familiar with Christianity need peers to discuss their thoughts with. Church on Sunday is like going to class, but you need to do your homework to understand better. I have found from experience that independent study only goes so far; you need to see other viewpoints about scripture to understand it the way it was meant. Church attendance and group bible study are important to fill in those gaps.

When I say living is an important aspect of Christianity, I mean living within a Christian community. Mathew 18:18-20 : "When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." By surrounding yourself with fellow Christians you inadvertently weed out a lot of negative influence in your life. Showing your faith and dedication to God as a Christian means living a certain lifestyle. Being a member of any religion brings you under the scrutiny of others which means that it is important to show your faith through your life and actions. Be a Christian; live as a Christian (this goes back to the post: Life in God). A fellow Christian will uplift you in your walk of faith, discourage you from sin, and hold you accountable for your actions. Knowing that another person is invested in your life is a great motivator to follow the right paths.

Acts 2:44-47 brings us to the third aspect of serving, it says this:

"All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

When envisioning this in a modern-day society, it is hard to get a mental picture. Church gatherings, bible study, and service groups are all forms of Christian fellowship. Individually we can serve God, however in groups we can accomplish more. An article I was reading here said this: "You might say that God’s plan must be compared not to a solo but to a symphony." I can see where this is quite true; as humans it is our job to serve and praise God as a community. God intended us to serve Him by spreading His word and building on His kingdom that is Christianity. This is in no way possible on your own; a team is required.

"Gods Gonna Cut You Down"

The lyrics of Johnny Cash's song, Gods Gonna Cut You Down, go like this:

GODS GONNA CUT YOU DOWN - JOHNNY CASH

This song really hit home for me. "As sure as God made black and white, what's down in the dark will be brought to the light." I know all too well that the when we sin it will come back to you. God will punish you. It is the way things are meant to be. Sin, be punished. Don't sin, be blessed. I have gotten much better in recent years, however I do sin, and I accept full responsibility. The punishment received from God hurts not just mentally, but also physically. The weight of carrying that punishment feels unbearable sometimes, but we have no other option but to endure through it. We must walk through the dark bearing this weight to get back to the light. Someone once said, "God's business is setting things right." This is 100% true in my opinion. He is the only one who can fix our lives, but we must be proactive in this process. He will not fix our problems if we just sit around; He is not here to do things for us, but rather us for Him. In serving Him, He will help us and guide our actions to fix our own lives after sin.

Life in God.

Today the message from The Crossing today was my favorite one to date. Dave Cover talked from the book of Romans about how to live in God. Before Christ died for us we were "bound" to sin. Once He died on the cross for our sins, we were free to live a life in God. I think this means God has forgiven and will continue to forgive us for our sins, but it's a choice we have to make. We either live our lives in sin, or we ask for His forgiveness and live a life in God. Like a fork in the road you must take one or the other, not stray in between . To follow one path we must give up the other. To live in God means you must live in His image. To live in God you have to give up sin completely. While no one is perfect, it is important to try. Dave told us that sin was about more than just doing bad things; it encompasses self-righteousness, self-entitlement, and not trusting in God. Die in sin to live in Christ. If you don't trust in God you are not letting go of sin. My dad has never been one for giving much advice but recently he said to me: "Worry is a punishment we inflict upon ourselves for not trusting in God." This really hit home for me as it was the last thing I expected my dad to say to me. I would like to think that deep down, my dad trusts God but he never talks about it or shows it. It confuses me and makes me think he wants to walk the gray area in between the paths. Living in God is not about reading the bible or going to church, it is shown through your actions. While reading the bible and going to church are very important, they mean nothing if you don't live in God. It all boils down to the fact that you must let go of your old ways and place your trust in Him before you are able to live in Him.

Listening To and Obeying Gods Word

There are many aspects of my life I have been having trouble with lately, particularly the challenges of the ones I love. Multiple members of my family are going through rough times right now and am trying to remain supportive of them while dealing with my own challenges. Following Gods path for me has been the key. I have been praying to God about those paths and if the choices I make are right. God always provides an answer for my questions in various ways. The most common way I hear Gods answer is through feeling. It helps me personally to ask very specific questions with a yes or no answer and wait for His word. Despite the fact that God always answers my prayers, His answers are not always what I want to hear. Just because you place your life in Gods hands does not mean He is going to give you what you want. Gods gifts to us are holy gifts, not business arrangements! We must listen to Gods answers no matter how much we want something to work out a certain way. If you place your life in His hands he will take care of you on HIS time line and ways, not yours. It is difficult at times but I have learned to listen to him and place my trust in God. So with that I am off to follow His path.

A Lost Soul

I was talking to a friend tonight about what was going on in his life with his wife, daughter, and things in general. I asked how they met and he told me that he dated his wife for 4 years before they had a daughter. They loved each other and got married for a short amount of time before their feelings for each other turned. I asked why they did not feel the same for each other and was informed that they came from very different backgrounds. She was raised with a strong sense of family in a religious home where as he was raised in a broken home. His parents did not get along, the family life he was exposed to was an unhealthy one. My friend said that while he wants to be a better, more responsible man and repair things for his family so it didn't turn out like his childhood, he did not know how. I had mentioned if he had truly given religion a serious effort to help him in his relationship with God and his reply was yes and that was why he felt he could not be a religious man. As a child of 10 his two best friends were murdered. He started going to church and was accepted by the community but years later found out that the pastor had sodomized children. When these events came to light in the public eye, the congregation forgave the pastor and tried to cover it up stating that God forgives us for our sins. At this point he gave up his religion and told me that he believed there are unforgivable sins that no one should get away with. I told him that the experiences he had in life were not the shortcomings of God but rather the choices of men. I said that he should not give up his faith in God because of these peoples poor choices. He seemed disinterested and became distant from our conversation later saying that he prayed about these things but felt no answer from God. I could see where he felt alone in life without a reason to live except for his daughter. I tried again to explain to him the role God plays in our lives; how He works through us and to not give up on his walk but he would not have it. Mathew 18:14-16 compares us to lost sheep: "Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers. If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him work it out between the two of you." I felt utterly useless in trying to help him find his faith again and it was one of the worst feelings I have ever had. I wish I knew what to say or how to help him but I do not. I suppose I learned from talking to him that some people are just too hurt to repair their faith and all I can do is pray for him and talk to him again, in hopes that he can resolve his own issues with accepting God in his life.

God Is Caring For YOU !

I woke this morning thinking that Sunday was too long to write my next post. I had the topic of God caring for us on my mind so I started looking through scripture and searching using Bible Gateway. Bible Gateway is a site that allows you to search scripture by verse, topic, or keyword. The verse that got me thinking was in Deuteronomy 11:12 "It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end." This does not mean God is caring for your house or your land, the verse is not literally talking about land its talking about us. Despite this many forget God or reject Him in their life. Although we try, humans in general cannot love or care like He can. Gods love for us is truly unconditional; even the worst sins cannot affect Gods love for us if we ask for forgiveness. (This goes back to Gods grace, His ability to forgive us, and the fact that we shouldn't take advantage of it.) Too many believe that if God does not fulfill their wants and desires He does not care for them. This is not the case at all. God cares for you on his terms not yours. You might ask "Why would He do that? Why would God not listen to what I want?" It is because the way we think we should be cared for is a skewed view of what is right for us. Much like children asking for candy from their parents, we are children in the eyes of God. God will provide for you what you need, that may vary depending on what is going on in your life. If life is going great, your doing good, your happy; we tend to forget about God. If life is bad we question God and say why is He not caring for me, why is God not making my life great. The answer to that is it is not His job. God is not there to make our lives perfect but He will care for us as needed. Think of a time when you were in trouble or things seemed to be falling apart in your life and ask yourself: "did God not care for you or provide for you to help you through it?". Every time I feel like I have hit rock bottom or run into a challenge God has cared for me and got me through it. He will lead you through your time of need if you just ask. Talk to Him and He listens, and watch closely for His answers.

"Chapter 2: An old friend"

Tonight I found myself talking to a very old friend who was always the "tough guy" in school; he was the one who didn't show much emotion and was always that kid you expected to body check you or knock the wind out of you for fun. Recently I spoke with him and found out that he is recovering from a drinking problem and getting his life back on track. I asked him what made him want to alter his lifestyle and he replied that a someone inspired him to change his ways and introduced him to God. I didn't know what to expect--at first I thought he was half-way joking or that this was an impostor of the hard-nosed guy I once knew. I went on to talk to him at length and gave him some advice, as I was once in his shoes. We had a long, refrehing conversation about religion, faith, and God. I realized that the tables had turned, that "tough guy" was now asking me for advice and guidance. I think I was of some help to him in his life, but at the same time I learned some things about myself. I learned that even those who are struggling with their own issues can still help others in their walk to find Him.

"Spiritual Amnesia"

The message at The Crossing today was centered around the book of Romans. Our pastor, Keith Simon, told us a story about a man who was one day stricken with a case of amnesia on his way home. He didn't know who he was or where he was. Somehow he ended up in another state and adopted a new identity; he worked and lived there for 15 years while his wife thought he was dead. One day he fell and hit his head, suddenly he remembered who he was, and went home after all those years and rejoined his wife. The moral of the story is that some people fall into a rut where they get sidetracked from their faith in God. Pastor Simon described this phenomenon as "Spiritual Amnesia," where one forgets the ways of Christ due to the things happening in their life or some traumatizing experience. It is true that God has a plan for all of us, but if we suffer from "Spiritual Amnesia" we deviate from His plans. It's funny how God works through the ones around us. I didn't know I had Spiritual Amnesia until it was made apparent to me by events in my life and God's word.

We also talked about God's grace on us and his ability to forgive us. In Jude 4 it says: "For certain men whose condemnation was written about[a] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." Just because God is very forgiving doesn't mean that we should justify our sins by saying "oh its ok because God will forgive me". One should never take advantage of God's forgiveness or try to justify sin even though we all struggle.