Life comes at us fast. We all gotta be faster.

Not one thing will stand between me and my God

I refuse it.

I have lied to him, cheated him, forsaken him, forgotten him, and fallen so far of where he held me.

No longer. I am done bringing shame.

God is my rock and his word is my sword and my faith is my shield.

I will defend him, no matter the cost, and when I feel broken, I will run to him and nothing else.

No person, no image, and no desire will overcome it. Not anymore.

NOT ANYMORE! I’m tired of fighting for myself. I’m tired of fighting myself.

I’ve always known what I’ve had to do and no longer am I going to neglect that.

This is my statement. This is my pledge. I’ve broken one too many, and should I feel the temptation to break it I pray God throw me to the ground to have me remember.

I am a soldier of his. I will fight like it.

I’ll come home with the knowledge that he can smile upon me for defending the faith and being there for my fellow soldiers through and through.

To anybody who knew me, knows me, or will come to know me:

This is my pledge. Hold me to it.

God Bless Our Troops

I’m part of an online PC-based Christian gaming community called ISI (Iron Sharpens Iron).

I was browsing around our forums and somebody posted this story.  It is such an amazing representation of the way God can guide us in our lives if we only rely on him.  I figured you guys would enjoy it. (:

Speedy shutting up.

I thought I’d pass along a church friend’s account of his job search…

My friend worked for a pharmaceutical that had major cutbacks, his position being one of the cutbacks. This happened a few months back. He has been looking for work but not in a huge hurry to find a new job because of his severance package and the need to get work done around the house that had been put off for years.

Anyway recently he ended up having two job interviews… one with another pharmaceutical company that was just starting up and another with a local university. He interviewed both and talked with his wife, prayed together on which job would be right, etc. In his prayers he asked the Lord for a honorable job, one “he could be proud of doing for the rest of his career and that he would be proud to stand in front of the Lord and say he was part of”. After much prayer he and his wife decided the pharmaceutical company was the job. He had experience to help him in that work where he had no experience with the position he would be taking with the university. Matter of fact he was surprised he had made it through the interview process thus far.

Decision in hand he decided it was best that he would go to the university and talk to the man who would be hiring him. He told him he appreciated the offer but decided he would be accepting the offer from the pharmaceutical company. The man from the university said “this is an honorable job. It’s something you would be proud to stand before the Lord and say that you did.” My friend dropped his jaw and asked “what did you just say?”. He repeated it. My friend asked if he could have a couple of days before making his decision. He went out and called his wife and said, “I have to take this job”. She questioned him but after she heard what happened, she agreed. He is convinced that the Lord will help him be successful in this job. His boss is a Christian and my friend is loving what he’s doing.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

I don’t think many people understand this… I don’t really  understand it myself, probably because it just seems so against me… its against a lot of humanity actually.

As Christians… what are we supposed to be?  Confident? Kind? Honest? Helpful?  All that jazz?  Well yeah… but I mean… here’s the mind bending thing…

Is what we’re actually supposed to be…..

Helpless…

Just sit and think a minute… We’re supposed to be ‘Helpless.’

Where am I getting this?

We are God’s children correct?  We should be like his children… he our father.  A child is helpless.  A child should fully rely on its parent for guidance and survival.  Without that guidance… a child would surely die…

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:2-3

This just occured to me out of the blue a few days ago…

It’s mind bending to me, because… I mean… all the Christian metal I listen too and all… I mean it calls for a sense of spiritual warfare and all that… and THAT MAKES SENSE… but I mean… its kind of like an afterthought… if that makes any sense to you all…

Because above and beyond all we need to be HELPLESS

Fully reliant on God… for everything.  A baby can’t do anything on its own.  Think about it.  Have you ever seen a really young child?  It relies on the parents for EVERYTHING!  It cannot survive without being helpless and guided by its parents.  It is no different with God… We must be helpless so he can guide us… otherwise… we will die… spiritually and physically.

It’s really an overwhelming thought.

Yes we can be strong and confident and defend our faith and all those things those spiritual warriors do… but it is impossible to do that without God’s presence… without his guidance… without the empowering of the Holy Spirit through God. 

We must be helpless.  We must be his children… otherwise… we will never see the glory of Heaven.

Is this idolatry?

What about this?

Is this idolatry?

Even this?

Honest question.  Is it? O_O

I feel that sometimes (and I’m guilty of this as well) that we place a greater importance over the band than we do our own faith.  I can sit there and pound my head to all the Christian metal I can… I can literally go all day… but then… it’s getting to a point now where it’s just music.  Do I actually act on my faith like I should? Do I get into my God and his word?

No.

I have no problem getting into the band.  Checking for new albums, downloading new songs, and seeing where they’re playing next. 
But then… I rarely find myself checking out my God and where he is in my life and the lives of others…

So is this idolatry? Or just poor focus?

Sleeping Giant — Dead Men Walking

In the face of suffering and pain, The Lord, our justice is one.
As Hell postures itself like it still reigns, the peace of heaven will come.
I am a child of God. I see all these things – I’m broken.
The Lord, our justice is one.
I bow my head to the king in submission as his words are spoken.
The peace of heaven reigns. Salvation is our banner!

Some of you need to hear this for the first time,
and so this is from our hearts…
The Kingdom of God is for the burnouts, the broken, and the broke,
the drug addicts, the divorced, the HIV positive,
the herpes-ridden, the hopeless,
for the outcasts that have been created by the church,
and for the outcasts of our society that have been created by us.

The Kingdom of God is for the brain damaged, the incurably ill, for the barren,
for the pregnant too many times, and the pregnant at the wrong time.
This is for the over-employed, the underemployed,
the unemployable, and the unemployed.
This is for the swindled, the shoved aside, the left aside,
the replaced, the incompetent, and the stupid.
This is for the emotionally starved and the emotionally dead.

The Kingdom of God is for the bigoted, the murderers, the child molesters,
the brutals, the drug lords, the terrorists, the perverted, the raging alcoholics,
over consumers, the incredibly ugly, the dumb, the ignorant, the starving,
the filled, and the filthy rich.

The Kingdom of God is for everyone and the Kingdom of God is for me.

Life In Your Way — Induction