Avoiding Mediocrity

Isaiah 54:17  - "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD."

This is one of my new favorite verses. And it's surprising to me that I first heard it not directly from reading Isaiah, but through a song by DMX. The reason I like it so much (besides the incredible amount of truth behind it) is that it really sounds like a manly verse. Let's face it...guys love weapons. When you put the Christian walk in the form of a warzone, it's exciting. So this verse really speaks well to me, which is awesome when I look at the truth behind it and how it relates to this thought I've struggled with recently.

Ever since graduating, I vowed that being in middle-of-nowhere Halifax, I wouldn't lose my focus on God and would intentionally work on increasing the strength of that focus. Well, I succeeded for awhile. Through God's grace, I've sought Him in a whole new way and it feels like my life has truly been flying. And He's rewarded me with an amazing girlfriend. And I knew that my life has been going extremely well for me, so I knew I had to be on my guard and couldn't let it down for a second...otherwise Satan would be sure to take the opportunity. Well, needless to say...I wouldn't be writing this note if I had kept my guard up.

Well...demons from the past die hard, that's for sure. And I found that it even manifests itself in different ways. And it's like I said, if I had kept my guard up then I wouldn't be writing this note. But for the past week, I let my guard down. I started becoming...mediocre. And that honestly scared me, because I know what happens when I become mediocre. I fall into old sins that consume me and often seem impossible to beat.

When mediocre, I fall into tendencies that I don't even realize. As I've mentioned in past notes, I've fought a very long battle with pornography. And for a long time, I've said "hey I've finally beaten it!" And that's true...I've stayed away from that cesspool for a respectable amount of time. But like I've also said, it manifests itself in different ways if I let my guard down. Ways such as...letting my thoughts go to places they shouldn't.

But again through God's grace, He brings me through. I noticed myself becoming mediocre and my thoughts were beginning to stray. I won't go into personal details, but immoral and sexual thoughts started entering my mind. And I got terrified. I started asking myself things like, "How am I supposed to be in a relationship with these thoughts in my mind? Am I strong enough to conquer them, or am I going to end up in the same places I always did?" And this was all because I just let my guard down for a second, and Satan took full advantage. But when you're feeling mediocre for God, the last thing you really want to do is pray...so I made sure that was the first thing I did. And He gave me an answer through a close brother of mine. It was an article that simply reminded me of how I'm supposed to act when in a relationship, and how she is supposed to be looked upon. Praise God for that...He brought me back out of mediocrity.

Well...I didn't want to get entirely too personal, but this thought of mediocrity has been with me for the past week and I felt led to write a note about it. But this is what happens, and in my opinion, being mediocre is worse than being in outright sin. Let me say that again. Being mediocre is worse than being in outright sin. Think about it in the terms of our world, not just from a Christian worldview but from other worldviews as well. People that don't really "have a religion" aren't really threats to anything. They just go about their happy-go-lucky way and just primarily live for themselves. Satan doesn't really care about those people...they're not a threat to him. But now think about...oh let's say, 95% of the people that go to church? They're even less threatening to Satan. Yeah, they may be "Christian", but how is that really viewed within our own culture AND from other worldviews? Honestly, that's one thing to respect about people who hold to the Muslim faith or just other faiths in general...THEY ACTUALLY LIVE IT. And we say that we're Christians and we're right because the Bible tells us so. Are other people in this world really supposed to respect us? The only way that people might actually respect Christians is not just "oh ya know, letting God shine through us", but actually letting God SHINE through us!!! Matthew 5:14-15 says "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Mediocrity tries to cover this up. Here's my favorite verse: Proverbs 15:9 "The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but He loves those who pursue righteousness." My favorite word in this verse is "pursue". It doesn't mean that you only do righteous things some of the time, it means that you passionately seek righteousness 100% of the time. Mediocrity is not a part of this at all. And what was that thing that Jesus said about being spit out if you're lukewarm? Oh yeah, that's right.

I know what I am when mediocre. I don't want to be that, and anyone that reads this shouldn't want to be either. I want to be an honorable man of God who will always pursue His Will for me. For God's sake first. Then for my lady's. Then for everyone else in the world. Then for me. And I know Satan will attack me much like he wants to right now...but I just have to keep my guard up. Mediocrity is a vicious devil, my friends. It isn't just a ho-hum life...it's fully embracing Satan's will for your life. But we have a God who lets us rise above that and truly sets us on fire. How awesome!!!! Don't ever forget it. We're all knights for God on the same battlefield. Now let's live.

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

Praying to God's Power

Kind of an awkward title, but it sums up what I wanted to write about. This past weekend, I went to the beach in New Jersey with Bill, Barbara, and Charlene. Monday night at around 11 or so, we went out to the beach just to watch the waves and enjoy the outdoors. I was kind of surprised at the power I started to feel when we got there. People know me for being a funny guy, but I'm very meditative and reflective as well...so I decided to take a walk by myself down the beach. It was there that I was able to see God very clearly, even through the night sky.

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting on my back porch at home. I'm listening to Christian worship music, it's 76 degrees and sunny, and there's a slight breeze blowing. It's pretty perfect weather, and very easy to see that this is God's day. It's times like this that we're able to see God's beauty. But it's also times like this that we can forget how holy, powerful, and sovereign God really is. I saw that Monday night by the ocean. I'll paint that scene in sharp contast to the scene I'm sitting in right now: I was by myself, standing face to face with waves much taller than me. It was completely dark, but there was still the awesome sight of heat lightning in the distance. Even though it was completely dark, every sense for me was active. I didn't just see God's power through the ocean waves...I could hear it, feel it, and almost even taste it and smell it. It was truly awesome. At first I was just standing in awe at what I was feeling around me, but I couldn't help but take a knee out of sheer reverence. I started singing Agnus Dei, and I could definitely feel God's power around me.

When I was out there, Revelation 1:15 came to my mind "...and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters." When I talked to Bill, he reminded me of a verse in Psalms which I just looked up...29:3 "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters." And I could definitely relate to that. I could hear God saying "Here I am. I have command over the ocean and the lightning. Bow to me and feel my power." And I did...I bowed and I prayed. I prayed to a God that not only shows us His beautiful creation, but shows us His powerful and even scary creation.

We thank God every day for giving us Jesus, God the Father in human form to whom we can relate. Through Jesus, God showed us what it's like to love and serve. But I feel like we often forget who God the Father really is. We forget Jesus' teaching of prayer, and possibly the most important aspect of it. When Jesus taught us to pray, He said "Our Father who art in Heaven, HALLOWED be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." Emphasis added on "hallowed". We always remember and preach that God is a personal God and we can all have a relationship with Him. That's true, and it's wonderful that we have that. But we forget that God is also a highly untouchable and infinitely powerful God. When I was praying by the ocean, I could've walked forward about 100 yards to what would've been my death. What would've been my death is something over which God has full dominion. It's a fact we can't afford to forget when we pray. 

"Great, so I've been praying incorrectly? How then do I pray?" I don't want to say that the way I pray is better than other ways or that I recognize something that other people don't, but I just want to give an example of how I tend to pray and things I say when I do. I try to follow 1 Thessalonians 5:17 as closely as I can, "pray continually". If I'm in the car or on my own (like I am now), I'll just start praying...sometimes I don't even know what I want to pray about. But I never really need anything specific to pray about, I just talk to Him. That's what God wants..."The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" - Exodus 33:11. I find that I never need to have something specific to come to God with, but I just come to God. But if I do have something on my heart, I get alone and get on my knees. I am on my knees every morning when I wake up, and every night before I go to bed. It helps me to bring focus to a holy God who deserves my full attention. I also tend to speak out loud so I don't get distracted. When I pray silently, I find that it is extremely easy to start letting my thoughts drift away from prayer. Same thing if I'm praying when I'm laying down in bed...I may even fall asleep without finishing my prayer. I'm not saying that one way or another is wrong, but I think praying out loud on your knees is a much superior way of praying. 

The reason I wrote this and the reason that God laid this on my heart is a reminder for myself and for anyone reading this. God doesn't want us to forget who it is we serve. We serve a loving, gracious, and personal God. But perhaps more importantly than that, we serve a holy, sovereign, powerful, and untouchable God. Even Moses, one of the holiest men in the Bible, was only permitted to see God's "back", otherwise he would have died. God isn't just some powerful guy that gives us things if we ask for them. He's an eternal being that breathed life into us and could take it away in a flash if it was His will. The powerful ocean waves are just the smallest of God's power. I'm very thankful that I serve a God that saved me from an eternity in Hell through His son Jesus, because He loved us so much. But I'm incredibly excited and awestruck that I'm ALLOWED to serve a God who is truly all-powerful. Don't forget who we serve and how we serve. We serve the God of the heavens and earth, and we serve this God on our knees.

A Callout

Lord, here I am again
Don't know where this is gonna go
But I'm speaking from my heart
Because that's all I know.

I come confused and broken
I don't know your plan
So I'm on my knees once more
Because that's all I can.

Intercede, Holy Spirit
For the words I cannot find
Satan attacks my heart
And plays tricks on my mind.

But You've given me Your Word
And promised it won't fail
But I've refused it and tried things on my own
To no avail.

Father, teach me to fight Your battle
Teach me to run Your race
Teach me to see Your children
And run at my own pace.

Still, Lord, I know the rules
You'll shown me what to do
But fear and temptation hold me back
And here, chaos will ensue.

Father, Satan has struck me
And it hurts me so
He makes me remember pains
I've felt so long ago

Your Word says he is a roaring lion
Ready to devour me
I let him have a foothold
And now I send a plea

And you sent an answer
In the form of the flesh
He died on the cross
So that I am made fresh.

Now Lord, the time has come
Help me stand bold
Send me the Ephesian armor
And clothe me in gold

No longer can he trick me
No longer will he last
No longer will I hurt others
For his influence dies fast

You give me words to speak
And advice to give
But how ironic that you've shown me:
It's my own advice I needed to live

Let me be your humble warrior
Let me be William Wallace
No, call me to something more
For this soldier's name is Chris

Put me in my place
Even if it's on the frontline
For with my own power I'm nothing
But through You alone I shine

But what's the battle I'm in?
Surely not a war scene
But no, the battle is in my heart
In places unseen

And God, you reign on high
And still take out some time
To send words to my heart
And pump out this little rhyme

Thank you for my friends
Thank you for my brothers
Thank you for Your promises
And many many others

It's through those You speak
So for You I'll wait
And keep running right along
Along the path that's straight

But I trust in You always
You have the bigger plan
And now and forever I can truly say
God, You're the Man!

All of this to say, my heart has been attacked by Satan recently. I let him get to me and began to stray from the true path. But my friends have been invaluable to be and have been there for me when I've most needed them. It's funny how I've been the one "leading" the Bible studies with my brothers in Christ, but tonight I was the one that was humbled. God has truly put me in my place. God is in charge of my entire life, so I really don't have a choice. I must follow Him wholeheartedly and let nothing get in the way of that. Isaiah says that no weapon that's formed against me will prosper. And this is true as long as my heart is not sitting idle, but is passionately pursuing God's path. So, the battle wages on. There's just a difference between today and yesterday. Yesterday, I was losing. Today, I'm winning. And I'm proud to say that I worship a God that heroically steps between me and the evil one and keeps me where I should be...if I just let Him.

Through the hard times...

My current status: "the time has come to show myself who I really am." As with anyone who's ever posted a cryptic status such as that, there's a reason behind it.

My favorite times are when God speaks through things that no one would ever expect, such as the song "The Enemy" by a band who goes by the name "Godsmack". Yeah...one time God spoke to me through Not Afraid by Eminem. I spoke to my guys about that...and it's something that they have told me is most memorable to them. So, with this song that I heard today, the first verse was what spoke to me the most. Pardon the curse, but here's how the first verse goes: Hey, Oh Mister backstabbin' son of a bitch...you're livin' in a world that'll soon be dyin'...and I know everybody knows you try to be like me...but even at your best as a man you couldn't equal half of me."

That last line, but even at your best as a man you couldn't equal half of me, is what made me really think. It's so true...when we have God on our side, Satan is nothing. He can try, but he really can't touch us. It's an encouraging thought, and a prevalent one as we go through easy times. But what about when we go through difficult times? What about when we drop our guard and let Satan get a foothold? What then? Sometimes it's easy to forget this.

Last night, I was innocently tossing my baseball in the air. I was just joking around and faking Zac that I was going to throw it at him. On one of my fake throws, the ball slipped out of my hand and hit my laptop screen, shattering it on the inside. Even though I was calm on the outside, there was a fire burning inside of me. How could I be so stupid? Can't I just rewind about 5 seconds and do that part of my life over? It was frustrating, and I couldn't rest. It's especially frustrating when I don't have much money to my name, not enough to invest another $100 into my 4-year old laptop. I crawled into bed, not wanting to pray or talk to anyone at all. But I knew that that was the most important time to pray. It went something like this..."God...I don't know why this happened. I don't understand why something so valuable had to get damaged, and I don't know why I have to go to my parents every time I need a few bucks. God...help me see things more clearly."

I stayed up for about an extra hour last night just thinking. Life has been extremely good for me lately. I only have 10 credits, and 4-day weekends every weekend. I've been leading a Bible study, attending a different one, pushing my body to new physical plateaus, and everything has been great lately. The only downside in this was that I wasn't really earning any money. Not a big deal at the time, but I knew since I was peaking in many different areas in my life Satan would start coming after me and try to bring me down. Well, it almost worked. This laptop incident could have truly broken me if I had lost my temper. But God had trained me, and I rose to the occasion. 

Despite the fact that I felt like I had temporarily warded off Satan, I was still in thought. I knew I needed to start saving up money, and I needed jobs to do that. I work for my advisor and for a different department on campus, but so far I haven't done much work due to my own laziness and lack of motivation. This is where my status comes in, where I dare myself to show myself who I really am. I can talk all I want for God's Kingdom, and I've been doing that a lot lately. But if I'm not willing to really work for God and to earn an income for myself, what am I? Not a whole lot. Too often I've treated life and the pursuit of God like a race rather than a journey. So last night and today I took a step back from things and looked at everything around me. And there's a thought that God keeps beating over my head, and it's "sell your Wii". What good does it really do me? No amount of playing Super Smash Bros can really glorify God in the long run, so it's something I'm going to do.

And now it's time to show myself, show everyone, and prove to God what I really am. I don't want to be just a talker, and I don't want to be a sluggard. God is leading me and Satan is behind me. Again, it's easy to say this when times are calm and everything is going great. But I'm faced with adversity right now, and God is going to help me overcome it because I'm trusting Him every step of the way. The journey continues...I have no one to race. I'm now prepared to put on the armor of God and walk the warrior's path that He has set before me. This is the honorable way...and this is how to get through the hard times. Trusting in Him always.

How to properly hate myself

"Did he really just say that? He hates himself??? Oh Chris no..."

Fret not, dear friends. If you've read my notes before, you know I'm at least a little bit controversial. And please don't worry...I don't ACTUALLY hate myself, but just read on and you'll understand.

So this thought just popped into my head as I'm sitting in my computer chair on a cold January night. I've been trying to do some work to prepare for class tomorrow, but I can't escape this thought that's in my head right now. For lack of a better term, yeah, it's a little bit of hating myself.

Here's why...I have work to do (don't we all?). But sometimes I have an incredibly hard time doing it, especially when relating to my web design work. I can't understand why, but I just lack motivation and it frustrates me. Web design is truly a fascinating thing...to be able to put something together that not only looks aesthetically pleasing but also functions as a high-end application is actually pretty awesome. It can get tedious and frustrating for the programmer though, especially when he/she (or me) isn't held fully accountable. 

I was expected to have a website basically redesigned for the end of this month. It's January 24th. Guess who's barely started on it. Yep. So naturally I experience some form of frustration, and it's one that I can't understand. Since I'm not held fully accountable, I put it off and do other things that I would prefer to do, like lounge around and play video games or sleep or even go to the gym. But it's something that I know needs to be done. I know that the people I do this for will experience a great form of gratitude, which will please me greatly. So WHY don't I just do it?!?!?!? This is definitely something I hate about myself and wish would go away.

Ironically, I've experienced just the opposite. All work and no play makes Chris into the devil of spring semester 2010. I've suffered this imbalance for a long time...sometimes I would be all about play, but other times I'll be all about work. Sometimes it can be beneficial, but for me it fluctuates for about a few months at a time so that it's actually a hindrance to me. And I simply can't stand it. I keep wondering what the heck I have to do to correct myself. And then when I work that much harder to correct myself...I find myself being corrected TOO much, and so begins the cycle of desperately searching for the happy medium.

And I end up here again. Now I'm at the part where I play far too much and do work far too less. I had fantastic plans for this J-term. I was going to discipline myself to studying PHP every night so I could be a more efficient web programmer. I was going to work out every day so I could be in top physical shape. I was going to accomplish many things. Allow me to summarize what has happened this J-term. I have an easy class with barely any homework from 8-12 in the morning. I don't know any more PHP at the end of the month than I did at the beginning of the month. Two days into working out, I sprained my ankle. The only thing I've really gotten better at is Madden. Yay.

Sometimes I wish God hadn't blessed me with certain things. I get passionate about things and the passion dies in about a week. I set out to take on the world...after a nap. Or two. Or five. Or a quick beatdown of the Cowboys. Between that, and video games. I guarantee anyone that they will not beat me in a Pokemon battle, because I've spent a good part of my life developing every imaginable strategy in that cursed game. I don't understand why God allows me to be good at Madden and Pokemon...I really wish He hadn't.

So....what am I saying? Well...I talked about properly hating myself. I hate how I fluctuate from all work to all play. I hate how good I am at useless video games. I hate how I get passionate about things and let the passion die. But this is why I and everyone needs God. God can do it all...as much as we don't want Him to. Now what do I mean by that? Consider the scenario...I want to be more disciplined in my work. I want to be able to resist incessant playing of video games. So I pray about it. "God, grant me discipline to do my work, and give me willpower to be able to resist playing video games." I feel as though some people, including myself, pray something like this without knowing what they're asking. What am I really expecting when I pray this? Do I expect to get a gift-wrapped bottle of discipline? Yeah, drink this and you'll be disciplined and you'll be able to perform superhuman acts that you previously couldn't! Hopefully you smiled at that...I got a little kick out of it. :) But no, here's God's response: "Ok, you asked me for discipline and willpower. So here's what I'm going to give you. For you, a deadline for a new project that's due at the end of the month. Also, I want to let you know that your Wii is in the living room waiting to be played. Now resist it, sit down, and do work." THAT'S what God gives us. He doesn't give us a magic potion, He gives us a situation where we must be tested. James 1 (my favorite Bible chapter) relates to this well. Verses 3-4: "...because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." God's there to help us all the way, but you had better believe that He's going to test us to make it stronger.

Would I prefer that I just received the magic potion? Well sure...that's easier. But that's not what we're called to be. We're called to be active pursuers of God, and that means we have to work for it. We can't sit back on our lazy behinds and expect things to come to us (entire book of Proverbs, anyone? It kinda talks about laziness and sluggards). We serve God...He doesn't serve us. I think that's truly what we have to remember. Come off of your high horses. Put on your rags, because you are a servant. God wears the kingly robes, not us. BUT! Remember that God instituted the Sabbath. He wants us to serve Him wholeheartedly...while remembering to take a day off. So we can work AND play...and be a full-fledged servant of God. How awesome. So remember the happy medium...I know I'm still searching for it. The bottom line of this whole thing is this. The fluctuation I experience, I believe, is part of my old self. I want to hate my old self and completely put on the new self. I don't believe the word "hate" is used in the Bible, but it's definitely a Biblical principle. By hating my old self, I believe I can truly strive for something better. So I'm going to end with a prayer. I would encourage you to pray this also. But remember...be careful what you pray for, because you WILL get it.

God, I hate the old self. Give my courage and strength to completely put on the new self that You have given me. I know what that means. It means that I will be tested with things related to my ugly past. Laziness, bad temper, pornography, and a slew of other things. But through Your grace alone I can resist it all. Be with me in my journey. Amen.

Reflections and challenges on this Eve

I have no idea where this is about to take me...but here goes.

Due to personal ties on Facebook that would offend some people, I unfortunately can't share details of some things that have been on my mind. But recently I've been exploring the concept of "manhood". It's something that I greatly desire to achieve, even though I don't fully know what it is or what it takes to achieve it. All I know is that it takes more than what I've been willing to put in.

I've begun to read through a book called The Disciplined Life. I've never fully read through it, but it's something that needs to be done. Yesterday, the chapter I read was entitled "Discipline the Mark of Maturity." This intrigued me...I always considered myself mature even though I act goofy or silly. I know I act goofy so that I can make other people laugh. It brings me joy to see other people smile and I enjoy bringing a smile to them. But even though I may act what seems to be "immature", I always thought behind the scenes that, yeah, I have my mind about me. Yeah, I'm mature...I got everything under control. Hm...yeah.

In this chapter, there were subtitles where the author outlined specific aspects of maturity: appetite, emotions, moods, speech, priorities, and adjustment to authority. I read through the short 13 pages easily...at the same time, difficult. I was so intrigued at learning that I couldn't put it down, all the while I was disheartened. By the end of the chapter I came to a very sharp and painful realization...I didn't meet any one of these aspects of maturity. That's a frightening realization at age 22. At 18, you're legally considered an adult, ready to meet adult responsibilities. I was a senior in high school then...on top of the world, feeling like I had everything all together. I'm now a senior in college, and I can safely say that I'm terrified of what's coming, especially with this new view of maturity and how it relates to myself. I can safely say that I struggle with every single area of maturity. Every. Single. Area

Appetite. At first we thing of one thing: food. Even this I struggle in. Up until I was about 16, I was an extremely picky eater. Now I eat almost anything put in front of me, and that's a problem. I eat almost anything in front of me...when it's meat. I'm definitely a meatatarian...and let me tell you, from my point of view it takes a disciplined meatatarian to power down a salad. I know it's necessary, but I just don't do it. It's legitimately a challenge for me to eat a salad, and that's sad. But appetite extends far beyond just food, but into the realm of sexual desires. This....is my big one. I've struggled with this for as long as I can remember and continue to do so, capitalizing at being addicted to pornography for about 6 years. It's still a battle...one I don't want to fight and one I grow extremely weary of fighting. The disciplined man, however, doesn't face this. Instead of sitting at the computer screen, the disciplined man is on his knees saying "By God's grace, I refuse to do this anymore." Because of that, I haven't fallen in this regard in a few months. Still, I've plenty to learn and grow.

Emotions. Hey, I'm an emotional guy...it is what it is. I definitely wear my emotions on my sleeve, and that can be either good or bad. It's good because I have passion about things and I show it...but it can be bad when my emotions spiral out of control, and no one knows what to think of me. God wants us to be warm towards others...that's an emotion. But when that warmness becomes just giddy impulsiveness as The Disciplined Life says, it becomes adolescent in nature and not mature. On the flip side, an absence of warmness, which I exhibit much more than a God-fearing Christian should, can lead to many destructive things. Again...I need work.

Moods. Ohhhh here we go. Emotions tie into this, but extend far beyond. Moods need to be kept on a tight leash in all situations...that's where strength truly lies. I'm sure many people can attest to the way that I've been acting lately...moody. I feel like no one knows what mood I'm going to be in from one day to the next, or even from one hour to another. Example: today. I was in a relatively good mood as I spent the day with family. Then as the day went on, I became more neutral...then as the last of my family left, I became silent and depressive. That continued until after the Christmas Eve service due to a lot of things I was thinking about...and then I came back and started watching A Christmas Story, and was happy again. This is not the mark of a disciplined and mature man, and I know it. I hear from different people about how I act (mainly family), and I never like what they have to say. The first thought that comes into my mind is, "you know what, screw off. It's my life and I'll live it the way I want to." It would be so easy for me to say that, and it's something I'm very tempted to say time and time again. Some people would be proud of themselves to saying what's on their mind, like I envision people are of me. But unfortunately for me, the Bible says "A fool uttereth all on his mind." By the Bible's definition, I've been a fool as opposed to the disciplined man I need to be. The disciplined man keeps a consistent face, with only a small wavering in moods. Not the kind of unpredictable behavior that I'm used to exhibiting. The disciplined man is not moody, that's pretty much the bottom line. I owe a lot of people an apology...I don't know to who all, but I know some specifically. Particularly my family that reads my facebook statuses. I don't know how, but I've offended you with things that I've said over facebook through my statuses. To that, I apologize, and vow that I'm going to work rigorously on keeping my moods on a short leash, and show strength in my face to all I encounter.

Speech. Again, relating to many other things such as emotions and moods. People think mostly of swearing, which is something I mostly have under control. Sometimes I try to justify saying "damn" or "hell", but there's still no excuse for it. My friend once said this to me, and I took it to heart, "Swearing is only for people who have nothing better to say." But I even want to take it a step further than that: "Swearing is only for people who don't possess the intellectual capacity to say something more intelligent." Think about it...who swears? People who get angry, yes. But also people who just look stupid when doing it. When I hear someone dropping the F bomb in every other word, my first thought is wow...what an idiot. I say my original quote not to tear down any individual, but to pose a challenge. Keep speech clean of that junk...no one needs it. I can say all of this in confidence because I've been there, and am still there to a degree. I know I need work. But besides swearing, here's another thought. I probably can't count how many times I've said "That's what she said" this semester. In my opinion, I might as well be swearing. All I'm doing by saying that is causing my brothers and sisters around me to think pervertedly, in the same manner that I probably am. And that's wrong. By keeping my speech clean of that, I can also keep my thoughts and others thoughts clean as well. No one likes a dirty mouth. Not anyone that's deserving of YOUR companionship, anyway.

Those were the main ones I wanted to cover. Priorities and authority are left, but thinking about it can lead you to disciplined answers. But as I said before...I put myself on this scale of 6 points of maturity, and I failed every one. What an eye opener that was. And here I am, writing another facebook note and wondering where to go next. Maturity seems to have eluded me recently, and what a time to think about all of this but on Christmas Eve, where I have the perfect example of the most mature, disciplined, and manliest man in history: Jesus Christ. It seems that even though Jesus was born around this time and receiving most of the presents, I received a present from Him. That present is an outline. An outline of true discipline, and the answer to my "manhood" problem. For the Christian man, whether single or otherwise, I need to have control over my physical appetite and sexual desires. I need to guard my emotions and keep my moods from wavering so drastically. I need to guard my speech and keep a reign on my tongue. No one said that discipline is easy...in fact it's just the opposite. But I want more in life than just my own self-gratification. I want to be pleasing to others, and I want to be pleasing to God. I want to be a respectable figure amongst my friends and family. I want to be a true pillar of strength for those that need me to be. For that, I must work harder than I ever have. I must deny myself daily, carry my cross with my head held high, and walk the path that Jesus walked before me. If you have faith in God and believe that Jesus sacrificed himself that we might have eternal life, we get a free pass to Heaven. But God doesn't want just that for us. God wants the true warriors for His Kingdom...ones that have dedicated their lives to working on earth for His cause. God wants the battle-scarred soldier to enter into Heaven, not softies floating up on clouds. Imagine the joy of getting to Heaven after living a life of intense discipline on earth. Imagine seeing God on the Day of Judgment...and then imagine Him smile at what you've accomplished. "WELL done, my good and faithful servant!" Now imagine you just accepted the Jesus Present, and have your golden ticket to Heaven. Imagine seeing God on the Day of Judgment. Instead of smiling this time, He says, "Well, because you believed in Me, you get to go to Heaven...but you didn't live your life for Me after accepting the gift of salvation. Shame on you." Of course, I could be wrong in some of this, but hopefully you get the idea. I know what I want to hear when I get to Heaven. In order for me to hear God say well done, I know what I need to be. The appetite...the emotions...the moods...the speech...ALL need to be God-honoring and then some. God has given me gifts of encouragement, strength, and speaking to others in this way. I refuse to waste those gifts anymore. As Pillar says, stand beside or step aside, I'm on the front line. Now watch me fly. The time is now.

Merry Christmas to everyone...remember your Savior this day :)

Differences

Again, thanks to all who read. Just gettin' my thoughts out there :)

So this summer, I've really gotten to catch up on my game show watching. Welcome to jobless and unmotivated. But the other day when going through my typical lineup on the game show network, I noticed something...a difference. At 6:30, a show called Baggage came on. It's basically the dating game with a twist. You have 1 bachelor(ette) and 3 suitors, if you will. The twist is that with each "round" the 3 suitors reveal a secret about themselves such as "I have 15 dogs" or "I refuse to have sex before marriage" (which I find an absolute tragedy that a principle so Biblically-grounded is considered baggage in this day and age. Awful.). And based on how much "baggage" they think they can handle, the person will pick someone to go out on a date with them. That's the gist of it. Sometimes I don't even know why I watch it...but I get giggles from it on occasion.

Then at 7:00, Deal or no Deal comes on. Hopefully enough of us have seen it to know how it works. Basically, you can win money. But I'm fairly certain that the interviewing process is pretty rigorous because they typically don't have ordinary people on the show. There's always some kind of gimmick with the contestant. One of the contestants really loved the color lime green, so they turned all the lights in the room to lime green and the models' dresses were lime green. But Deal or no Deal really goes out of their way for contestants they feel are really deserving. One person had 3 goals...I forget what the first 2 were, but the last one was to fly his parents over from the Philippines because he hasn't seen them in 3 years and they hadn't met his fiancee yet. So...NBC flies them over and surprises him. Great moment.

But even more than that, some of these contestants really want to do good deeds with their money. Some people aspire to give a portion to the church or a charity. Some play for the money not for themselves but for their parents or children or siblings. Christians or not, they have noble causes and deserved to be applauded for what they aspire to do.

I found it interesting that these two shows came on one right after the other, and it brings me to the point of this note. What a difference between these two shows. First you have the ENTIRELY self-seeking show Baggage, at the end of which you end up with a girl or guy that you may not even like due to all of the dark secrets they have, and they might not even like you for your own dirty laundry. So by the end of the whole process, most of the contestants are probably left back at the same spot they were in. Then you have Deal or no Deal, arguably the most philanthropic game show out there. They go out of their way entirely to welcome in the contestant and try to encourage them as much as possible. Granted, they have the NBC financing to go along with it, but they still do it. And almost all of the contestants are respectable people with respectable goals and aspirations. By the end of the show, the contestant would hopefully walk away with a large sum of money. Of course some would go out and buy themselves a new car right off the bat...that's inevitable. But many others on that show give a large portion to other people and continue with their lives right where they left off, feeling a little more fulfilled.

I could give more examples, but the point's been made. What about us? There are two ends of this spectrum with only a little wiggle room in between. One end has the prideful man seeking to build his own empire here on earth, seeking a beautiful queen to accompany him on his throne as he rules all he surveys. The other end has the humble man who give of himself without flaunting it, all the while storing up his treasures in Heaven where they belong. I'll ask a question here...when does God ask us to be concerned with ourselves? He only warns us of ONE thing that we need to concern ourselves with, and that is fleeing from Satan. When we do that, all other things are taken care of. Wisdom comes in fleeing from Satan daily and running towards God and His provisions. Does God ask us to be concerned with finances? Jesus told his disciples to preach the message "Freely you have received, freely give" in Matthew 10:8. Does God ask us to be concerned about the future? Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." In fact, read the last part of Matthew 6 if you feel so lead. Basically Jesus says not to even worry about food. Wow. We need food to live...and Jesus says not to worry about it. It's because when we worry about this, we're wasting our energy on trying to gratify ourselves. And yes, in the America we live in, food is more of a gratification than a need. Especially for the college kids like me who have meal plans and at least 4 different eateries ON campus. We don't need to worry about food, so why do we do it? God's commands are clear. We waste so much energy on pleasing ourselves that we forget that someone is hurting 5 feet away from us. We forget that most of our "needs" are often "wants", and there are plenty of others around us who have legitimate needs. 

I know I need to evaluate myself. I've done a lot of talking but it's test time. Putting aside the context of the shows and rather the principles (seeing as how I have a loving girlfriend), am I more likely to end up on Baggage or on Deal or no Deal? I like to say that I enjoy helping others, and I do. But I don't do it NEARLY as often as I need to. Especially over the summer, I spend a majority if not all of my day pleasing myself. Playing video games, just lounging around, making myself a sandwich whenever I hear the faintest rumbling in my stomach. I may have grilled for my parents once or twice this summer, but I almost always grilled because I know I'd get good food out of it. With the lifestyle I've been living, I'd say I'm a perfect fit for Baggage. Unfortunate, because God's calling me over to change some lives on Deal or no Deal. That's where I need to be.

Father God, forgive me for my selfishness. There is so much You bless me with daily that I take for granted and use for self-gratification. Give me wisdom to act according to Your commands. Give me the courage and boldness required to live the lifestyle You would have me live. Let me use the talents and blessings You've given me as something that would benefit others. Amen.

Your turn.