Submission Sucks

This is going to be one of those blog posts in which I am extremely honest... again. You've been warned.

I want to follow God whole heartedly. I want to spread His fame all over the world. I want people to know what God has for them and what Jesus did for them. I want for there to be a well-spring of life flowing from within my heart and flooding my life so that others may see the Lord I serve.

I want all of these things, but still I don't trust in God all the way. I mean, I do trust Him. And I do live for Him more than a lot of people in this world. But thats not what He asks of me. I have to give all of myself in order to truly love and trust Him. James chapter 4 says that "if I draw close to God, He will draw close to me." I know this to be true. When I read the word and pray/talk to Him, He does amazing things. And when I don't do these things my life suffers.

See, right now, I put up a pretty large front. I appear to be happy to most people. But on the inside I am a total wreck. I can go from "happy" to angry/sad/down/shut down mode in a matter of seconds over the dumbest things. It has began to effect a friendship and has gone farther than it should. Sometimes, I just write it off as something that happens from time to time. But its become so frequent that I often fear that it is depression.

But here is the thing. I know what the problem is. I don't try to draw closer to God a lot of the time. I don't feast on the flesh of Jesus, nor do I ask the Father for wisdom, knowledge, or even an appetite for the word. all of these things I should do yet I do not. Isn't that silly? Foolish? ABSURD?!

I think it is.

So if you are reading this and have any sort of advice (other than read the word and pray) please share...

 

Something is wrong when christians are more passionate about politics than living out the gospel

This is a post a friend of mine did on his blog.

I’m ready for this election to be over. I’m ready for the stupid email forwards to stop. I’m ready for these low budget, mud-slinging tv ads to stop. These local politicians look more like used car salesmen with these cheesy ads. I’m ready for people to stop saying you have to vote for McCain…if you are a christian. I’m ready for people to stop voting straight republican because they are simply a Christian. Im ready for people to stop saying you can’t be a Christian & vote Democratic. The last time I checked…the democratic philosophies line up more to the Gospels…than the Republican philosophies (we will save that topic for another day) I’m ready for Christians to stop waving the banner of pro-life…all the while waving the banner of pro-war. That mindset seems to contradict itself to me. It doesn’t make sense to me. You can’t be against killing babies, and supportive of killing terrorists. I guess we skipped over the whole love your neighbor & enemy as yourself command. ‘I can’t kill babies, but man I’m right there with Toby Keith on this war on terror…that Osama Bin Laden has got to pay for what he did to us’.
Im ready for Christians, who base their vote simply on the issue of abortion, to step up and actually help these moms who have these babies. I’m ready for pro-lifers to start being pro-adoption. If you want abortion stopped…then you need to step up & make yourselves available to adopt these children. If you are too old to adopt…then help out families who are adopting. I’m ready for people, especially Christians, to stop putting their hope & trust in a guy running for president. One man alone can’t change the situation we are in. It will take a group effort. It will take the Church actually doing what it is called to do.
It’s sad to see Christians have more passion & fervor about politics than they do about living out the Gospel on a daily basis. When did we start putting our hope & trust in the Republican or Democratic party? When did we start putting our trust in the stock market & our 401k? It seems like we have gotten so far away from what it really means to be a Christian.
When are we going to start being the change that we want? When will the American Christian realize that the answer is not the Republican or Democratic party. The answer lies within each & everyone of us. The answer & course of history & the state of which this world is in…depends on believers like you & I living out the Gospel on a daily basis. Change will not come as a result of who you vote for to be the next president. Change will only come when we decide to live a life of sacrifice & love. Change will only come when we decide, as Christians, to live out the story of the redeeming love of Christ.