Who is God?

Upon reading a section of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Deuteronomy 32:18-27 I realized that contemporary Christian circles speak so much of the love of God and not enough of his anger. It is so easy to believe and grasp just the trait of God's Love, the same one we have cheapened into Christian slogans. Isn't the image of the gentle God that we have painted in our minds flawed?

I am terribly afraid that the contemporary emerging church worships a different God than I do. At times the only resemblance our faiths have is the strange coincidence that our God’s have the same name.

Many paint an image of an all gentle and all forgiving God in their minds, one that loves them unconditionally no matter what they do. They therefore live an existential life claiming to practice “Christian Liberties”. By focusing on one single aspect of the person of God, they seem to create their God entirely.
Although we will never fully grasp God in his entirety, he left us 66 books that he has miraculously preserved over the last six-thousand years. They point directly to him and his character. It’s a heinous sin for anyone to pick and choose what to believe out of it.

The God I believe in is not this watered down version many sell to the world.
“There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with… a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.”
—Mark Driscoll, Relevant Magazine

He is the terrible God of Anger, Love, Mercy, Faithfulness, and compassion. Although God treats modern believers differently his attribute of Anger is as strong today as it always has been. You can’t get far into the Old Testament before you run into His wrath. It is clearly displayed in Deuteronomy 32:18-27. If you are unfamiliar with the passage read it and tell me God doesn’t get angry at his people.
This is the point I do not understand. People get so passionate during worship yet many don’t understand him in any capacity whatsoever. The fact that he is an angry and jealous God makes his mercy that much more apparent.
I would literally not have a God to worship if he hadn’t saved me from anything. It is easy to separate God from our condition, but God’s mercy is him saving us from himself. His righteous anger sends unbelievers to hell.
How is it possible to lose sight of this fact?

The Point
“What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?” -Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

There was much more I had to say, however I’m hoping my point is clear. God is more than just the God of Love. Let us not find ourselves comfortable in his mercy. Although everything about God is everlasting, at times I believe we have earthly chastisement coming our way for how flippantly we claim the name of our savior. It is naïve to think that God will not spill his wrath out upon us believers. Although we are guaranteed salvation and mercy, we are not guaranteed wealth, earthly justice, or even life. Nor does he ever promise to not punish us. We approach worship without a care, get some emotional high because we love the songs, then go about our day without a consideration towards our savior.

As believers we need to realize and embrace the God of the bible. The good, the bad, the ugly. Many are uncomfortable with the idea of God’s wrath, however I am more uncomfortable of being comfortable. If I am not feeling guilty I am afraid. I never want God to cease to pursue me. John Piper shared similar sentiments in a sermon in the early 80s. In summarization he stated that if he was fearful of the day that he would open the bible and not grow or learn.

Let us approach worship with the realization of the truth that we have an opportunity to worship the same God that loves us unconditionally but also the same one who has created and destroyed. The very same God that is merciful but also could end our miserable existence if he so desired.

Re: Idolatry in Relationships

I think a huge reason why we have so many non-serious and shallow relationships in the world today are because of people being discontent. First and foremost it’s obvious that they are discontent with being single, but also being discontent with God. Although on the surface we wouldn’t necessarily call them needy, I think a large part of their relationship failure is due to them coming into their relationships with the need to be loved or the need to be needed. It is being in love with love not necessarily the person. Basically, loving the fuzzy feelings and not the individual. I’m pretty sure that fuzzy feelings don’t last for 50 years.

[ A bunny trail and Digging a hole:: I think denial helps with this error of thinking. Any man who has spent ANY time with a woman, will know they can be irrational. HA! Settle down I said ‘CAN BE’. But seriously. It’s not always going to be smooth sailing… Maybe people just need to face facts and see that?]

I think if people are truly needy and they enter relationships because of it; they set their relationships up as being adulterous to God from the start. If people are looking for others to worship them in a relationship they are making idols of themselves. Kind of sounds like a freaky cult to me… but apparently it happens all the time. Even if someone truly believes in their heart that they will give 100% into the relationship- if they are expecting to get anything in return then doesn’t that defeat the point and perhaps even make it idolatry? I think a lot of divorces are caused by people wanting to be worshiped and then having their expectations not lived up to.

- - Random:: On top of all this, I find it Ironic that many of the people that I have heard express that they really want to have a girlfriend, don’t serve others now. I really don’t think you would start being a servant the second you get married.

A.W. Tozer

I just wanted to share a quote I liked that was in the book I'm reading for my discipleship group.


“O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee: I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”

~A.W. Tozer

Guilt

I don’t mean this in any way to judge, a lot of this is Self-Reflection…
And Bear with me- it was Early in the morning.
And. PLEASE, leave comments. Even if you disagree and want to kill me.

Oh, And Sorry For The Length.

I Attended the Heartsong Live concert. It was amazing. Not only did the group perform well, the crowd participation in worshipping their Creator was spectacular. There have only been a few times in my life that I have heard worship like that. At the end it was equated to a small taste of What Heaven Will be Like.
Song After song went by. Hearts Opening to God.
Then we Sang this Song. Take a minute or two to contemplate the lyrics.
________________________________
“Hillsong United - None But Jesus
In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

There is no one else for me
None but JesusCrucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore”
____________________________________

For The most part everyone else seemed to really be ‘moved’ by the lyrics. Loud unashamed Worship of Our King. I don’t know about you But it caused me to feel extremely guilty (rather than sharing the apparent other emotions of my fellow worshipers). HOW DARE I Sing these Lyrics? I love the song- don’t get me wrong. But does anyone- ANYONE – actually put All their Delight in the Lord!? Do they have all their Hope, All their Strength Forevermore in Christ? I know I am beating a Dead Horse Here- but hear me out.

To ME this song is not encouraging at the surface. It reminds me of my fallibility. How my promise to Love the Lord for the rest of my life is a worthless claim. I repent from a sin and either continue walking and fall into the same hole again- Right after I PROMISED to never fall into that hole again- OR- I find a deeper and darker hole to jump into. Jump into , not fall. Sadly I (and I believe many of you) Choose Sin more often than choose Christ. (That sentence by itself is a gross understatement)

Therefore. I stand Trembling at the Feet of Christ Claiming
“All my delight is in You LordAll of my hope, all of my strengthAll my delight is in You Lord Forevermore”.

How many tonight made this Claim of eternal loyalty have already broken it- or will break it with haste? How many people were ‘moved’ tonight, felt Closer to God, or had an emotional experience that can’t stay awake during Chapel, sermons, their Bible classes and whose Spiritual life is decaying? God Is Good. He takes us Back Even After we Fail. Even though “Each new day again [I have to] choose”. He forgives. His mercy truly is Everlasting- the mere fact that we are not struck down when we approach him in our pride proves his love.
What I am trying to say is this:

I like this song not only because of how it sounds but it reminds me that I need Christ because I truly cannot be honest with him and sing it. That sounds a little weird but It reminds me of his mercy in taking us back even after we tarnish and destroy his name. Although I never think it’s wrong to re-commit oneself to God- we need to be careful that we don’t fall into a life of licentiousness (a life where we sin so that Grace abounds). Where we are content to love God when we sing- and yet screw him over for during rest of our week. Where we are Apathetic to God- But experience him occasionally when the mood is just right. THAT is NOT Christianity. He Demands, our Heart. Our Soul. And Our Mind. a Relationship based on mere emotion is not relationship at all.

A Brief and Final Thought
I also remembered Job 1:6-12 tonight. This is the passage where Satan goes before God’s Presence and doubts Job’s Loyalty. Let us be like Job in our lives- but especially while formally worshipping. Let us not be the people that Satan mocks God for. I can just hear Satan now… “Look how easily Your People sin while worshipping you! Oh High God! All My Delight is in You Lord! Do you see how easily I have- In MY Glory- Caused them to think they worship you! The Pride, apathy, and disinterest a have planted in their lives make them believe they love you- See. I will win. Your Son’s Death won’t matter. They will serve me.”

How to Kill A Church

Apathy:
lack of interest or concern; indifference.

How do I capture my frustrations on paper, with this preposterously simple language?

God has become the great American myth. Our American Freedoms are destroying Christianity. It isn’t hard or significant to claim you follow Christ. It hasn’t been for years. People that are willing to sit still and discuss God seriously are few and far between. Those that decide to stand against the flow of society and imitate Christ are seen as religious Zealots rather than heroes of faith.

I know how it goes. When you see man who is on fire for God and is sold out for him you think- ‘he should be a pastor’. WHY is a pastor considered any different than an average Christian? Aren’t we all commanded to follow Christ and to do so with an intensity that will keep the world from conforming us?

People have stopped even faking they love Christ. God is this Myth in the back of their mind. The Crutch they lean on when life is hard. When things are good- when he blesses them the most- is when they turn away and claim to not need him. If their salvation be Real, it’s small mediocre and honestly worthless. If your faith is not active and working through your life, what worth is it!? Not by works we are saved- Yes. However, if you are ignoring basic commands like ‘Go and further the kingdom’, or you don’t even strive to please God at all; How do you have faith in your salvation at all? Why do you think you are saved if no fruit is produced! Do you have no shame or Doubt!? Why Claim to belong to Christ at all and yet decidedly stand on the corner of Christianity and whore yourself out to Society!?

Ok. A little Harsh. Perhaps the apathetic are saved; however have lost sight of what Christ has done for them? Doesn’t everyone have evidence of what God has done to their lives? I’m not saying that God has the #1 place in my life like he should. Not by A long shot but Like I said in my last post, God has been reminding me a lot recently of his mercy. How far he has taken me, but also showing me how far I need to go.




It's really Ok if you don't pursue Christ, he Doesn't really care. <--sarcasm

Thank You

This is a Summary of an exercise that was assigned for my Spiritual Formations class I'd Like to Share...

The Assignment is to draw on a graph your spiritual "lifeline". With 10 ups and downs logged. Why are these points significant to you? What made you think of them?

Take a few moments to really ponder the lowest point in your life.


Think now about where God has brought you to today.

1. Who are you Today?

2. What is your public image?

3. Who Are you REALLY when people aren't watching?


I don't know how you respond to looking back on your life, but I am brought to my knees by where God has brought me. I lay crippled with the thought of what he has done. Not that I'm amazing now, but I alone know how low and wallowing in my sin I was before he came a long. He alone has transformed my life. He Alone Could.

I no longer have to hide who I am. My Shame can be replaced with absolute gratefulness and love.

Thank You, God.

First Post Of the New Year!

This is a long Post, but I hope its Worth Your time to read it.

: An “Unreasonable conceit of superiority” or an “Overweening opinion of one’s own qualities.”

- Oxford English Dictionary

“Shall I, Lord Jesus, dare speak to you, I who am but dust and ashes? Truly, if I think myself any better than ashes and dust, You stand against me, and my own sins also bear witness against me. That I cannot Deny. But if I despise myself and set myself at naught and think myself but ashes and dust, as I am, than your grace will be close to me and the light of true understanding will enter into my heart, so that all presumption and pride in me will be drowned in the valley of meekness, through perfect knowledge of my wretchedness.”

- Thomas á Kempis, From "Imitation of Christ"

I am reading Steering Through Chaos by Os Guinness for my Spiritual Formation’s class. It is very convicting. If the whole book is like the first chapter- I would Highly suggest finding a copy and reading it. The First chapter is on Pride. I have never really thought of pride as the root or mother of most other sins. Furthermore, I hadn’t realized how much of an issue it was in my own life.

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Here is a condensed version of my thoughts on the first chapter.

The World's View of Pride is Completely different than the bible's. This Worldly thinking has forced its way into the church, poisoning this already sick and dying institution. The World mixes and skews the lines between self-achievement, Self-Respect,and Pride. Think HAPPY thoughts about yourself!

The biblical view is different. Nebuchadnezzar was struck down in his pride- even though he may have earned his position. He Created a majestic Kingdom. Ruler of Mesopotamia. Standing on the Top of his palace Viewing the glory of what HE had created. As You'll remember, God struck him down to the level of a beast for a period of time for his blasphemous thinking. How dare we as Human Beings consider that we can possibly earn anything without God’s direct involvement!? God gave Nebuchadnezzar his title and position, and just as quickly God Took it away. God is Not one to be trifled with. How can we Dare to stand against God, claiming he is our savior and believe in our hearts that we become the people that we are on our own?

It is all too easy for me to notice that others are prideful; however it is ridiculously hard to know when oneself is being Prideful. According to C.S. Lewis, the easiest way to tell if you are prideful is to notice how much it bothers you when others are prideful or mistreat you. The very fact that you think you’re so important that others should treat you well shows you are prideful. Although that may seem extreme at first, Think about it. By thinking You are deserving of being elevated by other people is what? PRIDE!? I honestly didn't think myself a Prideful person until I read this chapter. Do you know how TICKED off I get when others are being prideful or mistreat me? Yea, you say thats normal... Huh. Sin is pretty Normal last time I checked. I Additionally realized Selfishness, lust, and anger are all caused by pride. They all come from A high view of oneself and a low one of others.

I would stretch the concept in the book and ad my own thought by stating that by being prideful we are ignoring Christ’s actions on the Cross. He humbled himself from being the creator of the universe to die and save us. By being prideful we show that we believe that our sacrifices and hardships are on the same level and scale as Christ’s sacrifice. Our slight “mistreatment” is usually an epic display of others disrespecting us. We aren’t being lifted on a pedestal by the rest of the Human Race; may it never be!

There was a small selection from the 15^th century writer, Thomas á Kempis that was amazing. An excerpt from his writing was the quote at the beginning of this post. I believe it's view on Pride and humility is 100% correct. By knowing and living in the realization of our wretchedness perhaps we can lose our pride. We could acquire true understanding by opening ourselves up to God with what the world would consider extreme humility.

This Chapter was very good in helping me explore and realize my own Pride. Even though it may not seem like it to me all the time, I’ve realized that pride is the driving force to the majority of the sin in my life. If the rest of the chapters are this good, this Semester is going to be amazing.

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I'm going to post my thoughts on each Chapter As I get to them, so something like one chapter a Week.

Back Pedaling...

Christians Need to be Strong Enough in their Faith that no matter their environment they can keep their eyes on Christ. It shouldn’t matter if a Believer is surrounded by the world or apostasy. They Should be Strong enough in Christ to not be Affected- Or Conformed. SHOULD, Being The Key Word. Ive Been Realizing this A lot this Last Semester. The Fact That the Rest of The world isn’t like Cedarville and that I need to soak up as much of it as I can. Its Frustrating to see that Im not what I Can and SHOULD be.

I have All The Time In The World right now Over Break and yet I find it so Hard to spend Time with God- Or Do anything Useful at all. It’s Not that I’m in a Bad Environment- Its Frustrating though to see that I’m Still Not far a long in my walk as I could be. Not as Far as I thought. My gaze needs to be stuck on Christ, not only when it is Easy- but Also when it is Hard.

Im Realizing that The depressing Truth is that I have a Long Race to run- A Race thats Going To take a lifetime. One That Will Never be Finished while I'm on this earth. A race that Will Be Plagued by My Fraility.

One That I cannot Finish Or Even Run without Christ.

At First I was Frustrated. The Fact That I cannot Run This Race. The Fact That I FAIL on my own.

On my own.

The Gospel Preached in many Churches today is that We can do everything ourselves. God is dumbed down. He is only a Benevolent father figure that always gives you what you want.

Unfortunately those Churches in my opinion are worshiping themselves And Not my God.
My God Saved Me Through Grace. By Faith. He Demands My Loyalty. Yet, he is an extraordinary Father who is helping in this Race because yet again I can't do it on my own.





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Sorry For this Blog Being Terribly Random. It's 2am.

Trusting....

As a few of you know, Ive had a love obsession with motorcycles for several years now. I finally bought my first bike in October, Thinking that FINALLY! Finally my dream has been Realized.

But. At this point it looks like God has had a different Plan. I'm Having trouble getting my liscence- the timing isnt working out. I had my ride test cancelled this last sunday; then rescheduled for after I get back to school. So, I'll have the Plates for the bike but no liscence. So my Only Real option is to sell the bike.

You Can Be Praying For The Brown Family:

• I'm going into the doctors office tomorrow to get a Endoscopy- Basically A camera they stick down into your stomach. They're Checking to See if I have an Ulcer or other stomach condition.
  
• On the 2nd of January My Dad goes in for a fairly serious back surgery. There has been a broken peice of his backbone resting on a nerve Since october.

More Random Thoughts....

A Quick Thought:

Does my knowledge of God Drive me to him with a grateful and humble heart or am I Sinning by Haveing a Solid Grasp Doctrine and Yet missing it somewhere? Am I dissapointing Him? Am I Apathetic and spiritually Anorexic?


For Instance. A month or two ago a Chinese minister visited Cedarville. Although, I doubt he has the knowledge of the bible that many American Believers have; He is Completely sold out For Christ.

It Seems like the more we explain God, the less many people Appreciate him. Why is it that I'm not as on fire as those with a Rudimentary understanding of God and the Gospel!?