What lies behind your skin? What is that dirty little secret, sin? What is your kryptonite? What, if revealed, would bring you to your knees, ashamed?
If you looked at yourself, what would you find? A soul behind redemption? A life not worth saving?
That's not the truth.
Jesus died, saved the day, was tortured, was buried and ROSE again for our pathetic skins and all that lies below. So if you ever think, that no love can save you, realize that Jesus already showed His love. And God finds us worth of dying for, He sees as pearls, as purifed gold, as Jesus. We have a worth. Even if it means finishing last to the world's eyes, we are beautiful in God's. We have a priceless value that was paid. So, any sin, any mask, any skin you hide behind can be ripped away. Show us the real. No one is perfect, everyone has battle scars. Be proud to show yours and say that Jesus died for this. He died for all our skins.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
world on fire
Jesus is just waiting to save the day. To hear our anthems raising up to Him. To set this world on fire.
If we want the next generation to witness a world on fire, we have to start now! We have to surrender our lives, our sins, our accomplishments, our time, our money, all of us. If we wish to see salvation spread and see a world set afire for God. We are the ones, we are the now, and not even Satan can stand against us. It is true that there is strength in numbers. And when strong Christian, when we all desire one thing, salvation, then it will happen.
WE have to UNITED if we hope to see love, salvation and grace rain down. The Word of God says that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective. That isn't just talking about the Christians of Acts, but us, here and now. When we purify ourselves for God and confess our sins, our prayers can heal the sick, the blind, the lost. It can change the world. Our prayers, when righteous and united, can set this world on fire.
If we want the next generation to witness a world on fire, we have to start now! We have to surrender our lives, our sins, our accomplishments, our time, our money, all of us. If we wish to see salvation spread and see a world set afire for God. We are the ones, we are the now, and not even Satan can stand against us. It is true that there is strength in numbers. And when strong Christian, when we all desire one thing, salvation, then it will happen.
WE have to UNITED if we hope to see love, salvation and grace rain down. The Word of God says that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective. That isn't just talking about the Christians of Acts, but us, here and now. When we purify ourselves for God and confess our sins, our prayers can heal the sick, the blind, the lost. It can change the world. Our prayers, when righteous and united, can set this world on fire.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
testimony
I want you to know me. I don’t want you to know me as a stranger. I’m not alright. This, is my story.
I’ve grown up in a Christian family, that helped make the choice to follow Jesus a familiar one. By time I accepted him, I knew Him, He wasn’t a stranger. I accepted my King when I was about six or maybe five. Young, younger than you guys are now. But that doesn’t mean I was perfect. I still preferred to sleep in church than listen to a man preach for an hour or so. I liked sleep.
It wasn’t until we moved to Red Deer, that God started to develop in me and I saw places to run to learn more about Him. I went to Bethany Baptist Youth for a long time, and there, God changed. I saw an active Creator. I journeyed to a youth event called EQUIP. There I learned more about my youth pastors, worship, and a Jesus I had never knew. I saw youth filled with the Creator, dying to reach out to the world. I went there a second year after. But before the second, I went to Seattle.
I went to Seattle on a mission trip with Bethany and Crossroads. I opened my eyes to a world I never knew. I saw the homeless, in need for a Shelter. I saw the lost, in need of a Rescuer. I saw walks of life, in need for a Path. This world was bigger and in more need than I realized. But still, that wasn’t where God would send me. He would send me closer to home. My school.
God used the Holy Spirit, and guided me to my school. In December of 2006 I let it out. I started something that would last months to come. Project Re:Introduction, is a God-inspired series of sermons. I really felt during those moments, that God was there. That the Holy Spirit had led me to that very time. It all seemed right. But there was still what was happening under the skin of me. My own struggle with sin.
Over the years, I formed my skin to show a good, strong Christian. I showed everyone what I wanted them to see. Nothing more, I didn’t show them my ugliness. My disgust, my revolting sinful underbelly. I describe it like this cause this is how sin is. And this is how I see it.
My struggle started about 3-4 years back. My whole view of faith, sin and the skin of a Christian were destroyed. I started to die, slowing, due to a struggle with gay pornography. It consumed me, shook my faith, everything. To this day I struggle. This is what lies below my skin. This sin has caused me to fear discovery. Discovery of my sin to a judging world, a judging family, hating friends. It made me worry to the point of isolation sometimes, I didn’t want people to know the true me.
This is how I can stand and say, that the Lord is good. Cause, even when I sin, He loves me deeply. He loves me beautifully. And this is true of all the sin. All that fall short of the glory of God. So I can stand, and saw that everything is beautiful, even when I sin, I know my God loves me.
I’ve grown up in a Christian family, that helped make the choice to follow Jesus a familiar one. By time I accepted him, I knew Him, He wasn’t a stranger. I accepted my King when I was about six or maybe five. Young, younger than you guys are now. But that doesn’t mean I was perfect. I still preferred to sleep in church than listen to a man preach for an hour or so. I liked sleep.
It wasn’t until we moved to Red Deer, that God started to develop in me and I saw places to run to learn more about Him. I went to Bethany Baptist Youth for a long time, and there, God changed. I saw an active Creator. I journeyed to a youth event called EQUIP. There I learned more about my youth pastors, worship, and a Jesus I had never knew. I saw youth filled with the Creator, dying to reach out to the world. I went there a second year after. But before the second, I went to Seattle.
I went to Seattle on a mission trip with Bethany and Crossroads. I opened my eyes to a world I never knew. I saw the homeless, in need for a Shelter. I saw the lost, in need of a Rescuer. I saw walks of life, in need for a Path. This world was bigger and in more need than I realized. But still, that wasn’t where God would send me. He would send me closer to home. My school.
God used the Holy Spirit, and guided me to my school. In December of 2006 I let it out. I started something that would last months to come. Project Re:Introduction, is a God-inspired series of sermons. I really felt during those moments, that God was there. That the Holy Spirit had led me to that very time. It all seemed right. But there was still what was happening under the skin of me. My own struggle with sin.
Over the years, I formed my skin to show a good, strong Christian. I showed everyone what I wanted them to see. Nothing more, I didn’t show them my ugliness. My disgust, my revolting sinful underbelly. I describe it like this cause this is how sin is. And this is how I see it.
My struggle started about 3-4 years back. My whole view of faith, sin and the skin of a Christian were destroyed. I started to die, slowing, due to a struggle with gay pornography. It consumed me, shook my faith, everything. To this day I struggle. This is what lies below my skin. This sin has caused me to fear discovery. Discovery of my sin to a judging world, a judging family, hating friends. It made me worry to the point of isolation sometimes, I didn’t want people to know the true me.
This is how I can stand and say, that the Lord is good. Cause, even when I sin, He loves me deeply. He loves me beautifully. And this is true of all the sin. All that fall short of the glory of God. So I can stand, and saw that everything is beautiful, even when I sin, I know my God loves me.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
waking up
Too many years past, the alarm clock rang, for all to believe, to come to One, come to One and give up their sins. Then the unthinkable happened.
We fell asleep.
We have hit the snooze button on our faith. We decided that, "Aww, maybe next week, maybe next Sunday", maybe's. The start of compromised. The start of destruction.
As soon as we stop living an absolute faith, we let Satan attack us. We have to stand, wide awake, and believe firmly. Believe with unwavering, unrelenting passion to see a world on fire. We must say, "My future is decided, I'll live for Him!"
Satan can't stop, when we believe, he is weak. When we worship with our hearts, not just our mouths, Satan falls to his knees. When we wake from our slumber, and believe, Satan WILL run.
God is calling out, in prayer, in the bible, in chruch, at your youth group, everywhere. He is ready, ready to move us, to use us in unbelievable ways. If, if we would just awake up.
We fell asleep.
We have hit the snooze button on our faith. We decided that, "Aww, maybe next week, maybe next Sunday", maybe's. The start of compromised. The start of destruction.
As soon as we stop living an absolute faith, we let Satan attack us. We have to stand, wide awake, and believe firmly. Believe with unwavering, unrelenting passion to see a world on fire. We must say, "My future is decided, I'll live for Him!"
Satan can't stop, when we believe, he is weak. When we worship with our hearts, not just our mouths, Satan falls to his knees. When we wake from our slumber, and believe, Satan WILL run.
God is calling out, in prayer, in the bible, in chruch, at your youth group, everywhere. He is ready, ready to move us, to use us in unbelievable ways. If, if we would just awake up.
bring the pain
Christians now, tend to be a little less than the Davids, Pauls, and Johns of days past. We shy away from any part of standing out that may lead to humiliation, embarrassment, or dare I say it, pride in our faith. Who ever imagined Christians wanting to live a life, fearless, for Christ. That's just crazy.
Everyday, in every possible way, Christians seek to shine His light in foreign countries everywhere. They sit in prison cells, telling their inmates about Christ and His death on the cross. And they, the ones who accept the pain of belief, are the ones who see the Spirit move. We must stand and shout! "Satan, I will stand for God forever and ever, so bring the pain!"
We must bring the fight. We must stand and say we believe! If it's true and we know, then we should stand unashamed of our God. Christians have someone worth dying for, a message worth the cost of death, and we need to share it. We need to tell the world, no matter who cares or what they think. All we should focus on should be the uncompromised love of Christ on the cross. We should be willing to bear the pain of belief, if He was willing to bear the pain of sin.
Everyday, in every possible way, Christians seek to shine His light in foreign countries everywhere. They sit in prison cells, telling their inmates about Christ and His death on the cross. And they, the ones who accept the pain of belief, are the ones who see the Spirit move. We must stand and shout! "Satan, I will stand for God forever and ever, so bring the pain!"
We must bring the fight. We must stand and say we believe! If it's true and we know, then we should stand unashamed of our God. Christians have someone worth dying for, a message worth the cost of death, and we need to share it. We need to tell the world, no matter who cares or what they think. All we should focus on should be the uncompromised love of Christ on the cross. We should be willing to bear the pain of belief, if He was willing to bear the pain of sin.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
searching for a saviour
The world is hungry for rescue. Whether it be a kitten in a tree to a person suffering from a heart attack, it wants to be saved. It makes movies about the Christ, and off-shots of the story, i.e. the Matrix trilogy. It all fits. The world is searching for a saviour. We are meant to introduce them to that saviour.
We have a saviour, our Christ, who died for all our sins and the world's, a big price. We are meant to show ALL to Him. Even thoses we can't stand, who bugs us to our last nerve, they all need to her the message from the King. He already paid the price of treason.
Why do we hold back then? We hold it all in, shelter it in our chruches, our little circles of friends, our schools, why hide it?! No excuse can make up for the billions walking in darkness all around us. We are playing a big game of hide and seek with this world and their souls. But how will they know where to look if no one tells them?
We have a saviour, our Christ, who died for all our sins and the world's, a big price. We are meant to show ALL to Him. Even thoses we can't stand, who bugs us to our last nerve, they all need to her the message from the King. He already paid the price of treason.
Why do we hold back then? We hold it all in, shelter it in our chruches, our little circles of friends, our schools, why hide it?! No excuse can make up for the billions walking in darkness all around us. We are playing a big game of hide and seek with this world and their souls. But how will they know where to look if no one tells them?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
living in smallville
The popular show, Smallville, about the young Clark Kent is filled to the brim with the bizarre and supernatural. Weekly, strange, sometimes miraculous things happen. Well, did you know you can live there?
The Holy Spirit acts, sometimes in bizarre ways, performing miracles and accomplishing the supernatural. But unlike the might Clark Kent, it has no weakness. No green meteor rock will stop the Holy Spirit, it always moves. Daily, always.
But we have a weakness. And that weakness is what can destroy our chance of seeing the Holy Spirit do amazing things. Our weakness: SIN. We sin, we cheat, we lie, we downright suck sometimes. But Christ, on the cross, died for OUR sins, and gave us the chance to live. Christ become our personal Superman and took our kryptonite covered lives as it were, and died to cleanse us. How awesome is that!
And now, with a saved life, and taking a walk in the light, we can see the Spirit move in supernatural ways. We can live in Smallville.
The Holy Spirit acts, sometimes in bizarre ways, performing miracles and accomplishing the supernatural. But unlike the might Clark Kent, it has no weakness. No green meteor rock will stop the Holy Spirit, it always moves. Daily, always.
But we have a weakness. And that weakness is what can destroy our chance of seeing the Holy Spirit do amazing things. Our weakness: SIN. We sin, we cheat, we lie, we downright suck sometimes. But Christ, on the cross, died for OUR sins, and gave us the chance to live. Christ become our personal Superman and took our kryptonite covered lives as it were, and died to cleanse us. How awesome is that!
And now, with a saved life, and taking a walk in the light, we can see the Spirit move in supernatural ways. We can live in Smallville.
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