Don't worry, be happy!

“This storm will slow and when it hits it will be no more than a category 1 hurricane, but probably just a tropical storm.”  This is what the news was telling the people in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Boca Raton area about Hurricane Wilma as it was traveling across the peninsula toward them.  The area was hit with 110 mph winds by the right or ‘dirty’ side of the hurricane and is said to be the most powerful hurricane to hit Ft. Lauderdale in 50 years.  When I ponder this I think to myself that this is a lot like our world and many churches as they preach the Word of God.  “Don’t worry about the dangers of sin or bringing any change in your life, but God wants to save ‘everyone’ and that is the purpose of Jesus Christ.  Let us welcome everyone with open arms and never speak a message that may offend or confront them in their sin!”  It troubles me because we are not preaching the truth, but only half truths.  What must be has been done for us in Jesus Christ and that is the main truth that in our faith in Jesus Christ we are redeemed, but the question is this ‘Do you truly believe?’  Do you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord in your life?  When you believe this profound changes occur in your life it is inevitable.  It may not be all at once, but things will be different.  The message of love needs to be given, but within the Gospel the Law is always present.  Why would we need Christ unless we were sinful and falling short of the glory of God?  That is the Law within the Gospel.  We are saved in Jesus Christ, but our hearts must belong to Him and not to the other idols we build up!  So may the Lord strengthen all in their faith and may they turn to Christ for all salvation!

Lord light a fire

A generation full of fire for the Lord is something that I dream of!  We are living in an age constantly confronted with the question of truth.  The most common secular response is, “Truth is relative.”  We live in a time full of two extremes in the Christian world, either we have the “in your face” Christians screaming out and damning everyone that may have a differing view to Hell or you have the Christian that goes to church, but in their day to day life they don’t really show much in the matter of faith.  I know that this is largely a generalization, but I don’t believe that it is that far fetched.  I remember living in Oklahoma.  Living in the Tulsa area which is home to Oral Roberts University and the Oral Roberts Ministry beginnings and Rhema Bible School and Kenneth Haggin Ministries so when I moved there and wasn’t Christian I was confronted by that everyday.  What I found was a witness that continually condemning and a “haves” and “have nots” theology – I have been saved, you have not!  This is not the servant mindedness to which Christ calls us to.  The greatest witness that I had was given to me in the love of my future wife and her mother.  We are not called by God to point our fingers, but to use our fingers in the service of others!  To give the Truth and show that it is not relative, but living it in our lives and showing the difference of Christ over and above all others because no other faith has such a Gospel of hope!  All other faiths are contingent upon what you do to please God, but Christianity is a faith of what has been done for us by God because of the love that He holds for us, a love that burns so deep that He gave His one and only Son and entered into creation, imagine the creator becoming one with His creation.  What an awesome miracle!  We need to reflect that in our lives with a sense of happiness, love, and courtesy.  We live in a society that centers on self, but as Christians we are to center ourselves on Jesus and in that we find our focus is placed on helping the other to the glory of Jesus.  Lord light a fire in our hearts!

Lord, I am Yours

Lord set the world on fire in a passionate love for you.  Let those hungry souls come to you knowing that they will be fed!  The church is being bombarded with great difficulties.  We are being sidetracked by issues that continually distract us from focusing on you.  Lord strengthen us in our service to you that we may spread your glorious name around the world – Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, our Redeemer.  Your love is so great that it spreads across all of us even though we are flawed and filled with sin!  We need to prayer and fill this world with prayer that all the corners of the earth can do nothing less than cry out to you Lord.  Let the cries of your name fill the voids within all hearts.  For those that are looking for something greater, let them find you, in the midst of their emptiness let them see you.  The conversation continues on within your saints.  You are the savior, the great I AM that was spoken of in scripture.  You are the Alpha and the Omega, you transcend all knowing!

When it comes to the things of this world nothing else matters, but you!  The world is so hungry and we see suffering and destruction in all corners of your creation.  Children suffer and are forgotten by those that you left to care for them.  The selfish desires of our world are the ultimate sign of the great sickness of sin that encompasses our world.  Renew us Lord in our spirits and our minds that we no longer look to our own selfish desires, but desire to fulfill your will!  Save us all Lord from ourselves.  Help me to be an instrument of your will in the world, use me Lord as you see fit.  I know that I am imperfect and flawed, but I also know that you love me and that in you I may be perfected.  Lord, Yahweh, my savior Jesus Christ, fill me with your spirit.  Utilize me and this prayer I will continue to lift up to you, use me Lord!  Use me Lord!  Use me Lord!  You are Holy!  You are Holy!

I will not stop until I hear the great AMEN ring from your lips and I look forward to the day that I may hear the words, “Well done!” flow from your lips!

Refocus

I’m in a thought and feeling that I should return to the intent that I had when I started this blog to discuss my own theological journey in faith.  The reality is that all these rants and feelings of political issues just anger me and distract me from the true reality that is the greatness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I guess that is just the major issue within the world today is we are so easily sidetracked; the Devil is a tricky one.  Thinking on this it is no wonder that those that are outside of Christ look at Christians and think that it’s just another crazy religion.   We become sidetracked on issues and lose focus on the one true thing.  We lose sight of the one thing that should be driving us and that is Jesus Christ!

I have three other blogs that I am involved with – my devotional blog, the discussion with my atheist acquaintance the 502 which has been fun thusfar, and another that is more geared for the church I am serving at currently – ucbones icanarmy blog.  I have been distracted in my true intent of Northern Born Southerner.  The reality is that I have been on a protracted journey in Christ.  I have lived fully in the brokenness that is outside of Christ and did not want anything to do with this Jesus Christ.  I’ve lived in the reality of a broken home, associated with the dregs the spat upon and looked down upon and loved them for their honest loyalty to friends.

I recall when I was 18 and 19 a friend of mine in Grand Forks.  She was called ‘little Sis’, but she was not little, but she was like everyone’s sister in the group that I hung with.  I loved her because she was real and she was real loyal.  She was my friend and I was hers.  She didn’t like herself all that much and thought of herself as a bitch and even tattooed that on her hand.  Now she was tough and I would admit she wasn’t someone that any would want to be on her wrong side, but to me she was a wonderful young woman.  I remember the last time I saw her we wept together because her cousin had just been killed in a wreck or something.  Honestly it’s been over ten years since I thought of her, but recently she’s been on my mind.  I don’t know that I will ever be able to find her now; I don’t even know her real name because that wasn’t important at the time for me.  I only pray that God is working in her heart and she knows Jesus Christ in her life.  As I look at my journey my heart is lead to look at those that are the unwanted in most segments of society and truly show them that the have value to me, but most importantly to Jesus Christ.  It’s sad to think that many of the friends that I once associated with may no longer be with us.  The fragility of life, hmm…

Sojourners Magazine - Liberal Bias

I receive regular emails from Sojourners and even considered getting a subscription to try and gain perspective of what some others may be saying in the evangelical Christian faith.  You see I’m a member and studying to become a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and though conservative to many at seminary in the whole spectrum of things I see myself as quite a moderate.  I am not a fundamentalist, although I don’t thing that fundamentalists are all that bad, I just don’t agree with everything that they believe.  I guess, for the most part, I find that my theology is pretty Lutheran, but I am first and foremost a Christian.

Well, what prompted me is the article in the most recent emailing by David Batstone entitled “Frist, Rove, DeLay: Who's looking the other way?”  The article is so politically laced to show the true agenda of this group is to be another political voice that aligns itself with the liberal left and is not truly unbiased as it would appear when it compares a man in the midst of an adulterous affair with men such as Frist, Rove, and Delay who could arguably be victims of a witch hunt by the same people who lauded an agenda of “Anybody But Bush” instead of trying to raise up a viable candidate.  Our country is so divided with one side vehemently against anything conservative that when they speak of conservative ideals they make it equivalent to evil.  It saddens me how our country is so divided.  I get angry at some of the things pushed by the left also and am guilty of making broad judgments, but I have never and will never call someone evil for espousing an opinion I don’t agree with and most certainly don’t believe in a policy of “Anyone, but So and So”.

I still recall the last presidential election being given the bird by anti-Bush people because I was supporting President Bush.  I still support our president.  I didn’t agree with President Clinton, but still held respect for the office in which he held.  Jim Wallis and the Sojourners Magazine continues to prove to me how completely unaware they are of their bias.

UND FIGHTING SIOUX

To heck with the NCAA and there idiotic sense of being politically correct!  The big issue with team names that are Native American is nonsense.  I am a UND FIGHTING SIOUX fan and I don’t care!  I’m proud of it.  The logo was drawn by a Sioux and the proceeds from the products go to support the Indian (Native American) Programs on the campus.  UND has one of the largest Native American Studies programs in the US.  Do these people not understand that this is partially why they do?  UND doesn’t do like the Florida State Seminoles do and have a student representing Osceola ride out on a horse and throw a spear in the field, in fact at every event a special message is given to show respect for the Sioux tribes.  If schools like UND lose the Sioux name the school would suffer greater than just the name, they would lose a beautiful facility built by Ralph Engelstad that he gave access to as long as the Sioux name was kept otherwise all rights of use are lost (he knew what was going on and didn’t want some whining white liberal panty waste to decide to change the name out of fear).  So, all I say is if this gets pushed further I would say bye-bye to all the specially funded Native American studies programs and then we should go after changing every name of every school that has some connotation of any people…i.e. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Syracuse Orangemen, and the like.  That is my rant…whew…I feel better.