I like my chai tea lattés hot...

so you know that verse in Revelation that's like: "'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! so, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth'"?

i don't get it. i mean, i know what it's saying--like, don't be wishy-washy or only worship God when it's most convenient; basically, if you're going for it, go all in and drop everything you have to follow Christ--but how is that supposed to look? like how am i supposed to go from "lukewarm" to "hot"? how are you supposed to get to the point where it's obvious that you're on fire for God? i know the "Christian-ese" answers to this stuff...but i'm looking for something deeper.

on the other hand, it's getting easier to abstain from secular media the longer that we fast. it's awesome. like, genuinely cool.

a lot of the extra time i've had has been spent trying to apply what i'm learning to my life. like there's this book called "do hard things"...it is literally one of my favorite books. it talks about how society has some super low expectations of teens today. like, we always hear those generalized comments about how "this generation is going down the tube" or whatever. but if we're trusting God to work in us & that He will guide us when we're doing hard things for the glory of God, we shatter those expectations. like, we can seriously have a revival for Christ. do you know how cool that would be? even in small things--like i tried out for sports-a-rama yesterday at school (WAY out of my comfort zone) and made it. i was praying that whooole time (even if it may seem like no big deal to someone else). when you're doing hard things, you realize that you need to depend on God--for reals, you honestly can't do it on your own. it was cool to live that out.

i'm praying for you all!

anyways. ...excuse my ramblings... haha. there's been a lot on my mind.

p.s.: thanks a lot, ALLIE, for getting me hooked on gungor. sheesh! they're sooo good!

Rock and Worship Roadshow

I have been listening to 103.9 a lot lately, and I realized I know the words to almost every song, and I catch myself singing these songs during school and things instead of the songs from the other stations.

By listsening to this radio station a lot, I heard an ad for the Rock and Worship Roadshow hence the title) and realized this would be really fun to go to. It is a group of about 5 Christian bands getting together at Power Balance Pavillion, and for only $10, you get to have a night of music. I thought this might be kind of fun to go to, and that I should spread the word. If anybody wants to go, we could all carpool or something.

Are you a human or a zombie?

Media Fast is just as hard for adults as it is for high schoolers. I have successfully navigated away from TV and secular music, but have not been incredibly successful at seeking God during this time of fasting (unless sleeping a lot counts... which it doesn't). It's not just about cracking open our bibles or thanking God every time we see a flower or something, but seeking God is a matter of the heart. I read an interesting blog yesterday (for those of you ready to pounce, it was a Christian blog). The author was discussing Christian music versus secular music. He said, "It’s the soul of music, whether that soul is good or evil is not the point, simply that it is the soul. So when you remove the soul from music and transplant the body parts (chord changes, instrumentation, dress, lights, and everything but the soul…) and parade it around with some more “positive” lyrics posing as Christian music, then what you have is a musical zombie." I think this zombie metaphor translates far beyond music. I don't want to be a zombie. I want to be a human (as sinful and screwed up as I am) -- a human that is seeking after God. When I read the bible this week I am going to do more than just decode the words on the page, I am going to compare those words to those written on my heart. When I am thankful for God's creation I am going to tell him why and when I sing songs to Him and for Him, I am going to sing from the heart. Or at least I will try to "press on towards the goal." Phil. 3:12-14

Do What You Will... or Don't

The world is constantly trying to pull you and I away from what we say we believe. It's not the world's fault... it's mankind and sin... but it is pulling none-the-less. So what can we do? We need to get back on track. The media is massively influential in convincing us whether certain things are true or not true. Issues that we don't think are a big deal any more... philosophies that steer us away from who God is... creativity is skewed to nothing more than robot-like behavior... all of these are extremely dangerous if not addressed. One part of us will say, "I can do what I want to do"... and that's true. But do we really believe that? John Lennon, quoting a man (a man that is said to be the most evil man to have ever lived) that he and the Beatles idolized said, The whole Beatle idea was to do what you want, right?  To take your own responsibility, do what you want and try not to harm other people, right?  DO WHAT THOU WILST, as long as it doesn't hurt somebody. . ." That sounds good... but that's the opposite of what the Bible teaches. In fact, that phrase "Do what you will" was distributed through the media in an effort to destroy Christianity and the American family in the early 1900's. And yet, still today, we are drawn away by a simple, "innocent" phrase by someone, and then we are suckered into turning that into a belief.


Do you really believe that? If you do, than you don't believe in the Bible and you put more faith in the Beatles than in Jesus. Ask around... do people you know listen to the Beatles or read their Bible more? It's my belief that what the Bible says is undeniably more important than "who is the walrus?" 


So it takes courage to say, "I am stepping away from 'not-Gospel-focused' media and putting my attention on 'Gospel-focused' media." This week, share on this blog what you are doing instead of 'not-Gospel-focused' media.

day five!

day five already! honestly, its not that hard right now, i got a lot of time to catch up on homework. but i miss wcar and tdwp -__- haha but im lovin david crowders new album!

Courage

Pastor Craig was talking today about courage and that the next generation of Christians... Those who are teenagers now and soon to be teenagers are going to need courage. The world is going to try to get you to veer away from the Gospel. Satan is going to try to move the young Christian slowly away from what the Gospel is...

This month... you are showing courage. You are stepping away from those things that are intending to slowly move you away from the Gospel. You are avoiding things that, while they may not be "sinful", they are not Gospel-focused... they are not Godly.

I am so proud to be associated with a group of teenagers who are displaying courage! Stay strong. Pray often. Gospel-focused.


Pastor Matt

The month has come!

here we go, another month away from secular media! I hope God works in all of our lives in great ways, and we can focus on what's really important. Good luck everyone