I have struggled with Predestination/Election vs. Free Will my entire life. I agree with those people who wonder how a God who loves us could create someone He knows will go to Hell and be apart from Him for all eternity. However, the more I study Scripture, the more I see the Truth. Mainly from Romans 8 and 9. I memorized Romans 8 back in April, and Romans 8:29-30 says, "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified." Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:33 "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies." Malachi 1:2-3 says that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. God hates? What? God is love right? It's not fair to Esau! God is evil. He is a tyrant. Given this, we feel justified in our unbelief. Well let me take you back to the beginning of the story.
Before Man was created, God created the angels to worship Him. And worship Him they did. They sang His praises, and couldn't even stand in His presence. The greatest angel, Lucifer, thought he deserved as much praise as God. After all, he was the #1 angel so why shouldn't the other angels show some love? Lucifer felt justified, so God banished him from His presence forever. Poor Lucifer, right? He got a bad rap. Other angels felt the same way, and they were banished too. They forgot one thing: HE IS GOD! How can the creation be anywhere near the Creator? God then created Man (the timeline is fuzzy as to whether Lucifer rebelled before Man was created, but Lucifer was banished to Earth, so I guess it was concurrent. I'd like to think Lucifer was jealous that God loved Man more than the angels.) God created Man in Eden. He gave Man everything he needed, including Woman, and called it good. Man had everything he needed. God gave Man one rule "don't eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". Seriously, Man had everything he needed, so avoiding one tree shouldn't have been a problem right? Well enter Lucifer (aka Satan). Satan comes up to Woman and questions God's command. "Did God really say that?". Eventually Woman eats the fruit and Man joins right in with her. *BOOM* Man has joined Lucifer in his rebellion. That act declared war on God. God is sovereign and has to punish disobedience. We seem to forget that we declared war on God. We took His provision and threw it in His face. We declared war, and we blame Him?! But you say, "I wasn't there, I didn't eat the fruit!" Well Romans 5:14 says, "Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, *even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam*, who was a type of the one who was to come." In Adam, all die. That is the Truth. Because of Adam's screw-up, we are to blame. Adam was Man's representative. Sorry folks, you lose before you start.
But then in steps Jesus! God became Man to be Man's representative again. By Jesus' sacrifice and pure obedience to God the Father, we can be redeemed. "For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the One Man's obedience the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19). Romans 5:12-21 talks about Death in Adam and Life in Christ. Matthew 4:17 says, "From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'" So, Jesus preached repentance. Repentance from what? What did I do? I was a good kid. I don't drink, smoke or chew...or date girls who do. I go to church. I don't oppose God. I'm a moral, upright citizen. Sorry, Stu, you lose though. Man rebelled and is at war with God. That is the Truth. If I choose not to accept that Truth, then guess what, I am rebelling! I must REPENT! I must do an about face, 180. I need to lay down my arms in an unconditional surrender. God is God. I know God, I know the Truth, yet I choose to not believe it. If I am not for God, I am against Him, there is no gray area. There are absolutes. If you want to sound smart and say "There are no absolutes", then you're really showing that you're a fool because you believe that statement is absolutely true. If that statement is not true, then there are absolutes! God is God, I am not, that is Truth. I have rebelled against a God who loves me. I need to repent and surrender! Every single day I must repent. The Christian life is one of repentance, according to Martin Luther.
The great thing is, once we repent, once we surrender, then we are adopted into His family. God takes us back! We become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ! (Romans 8:17). We need to stop fighting the Kingdom in order to be admitted into the Kingdom. Remember, we were in the Garden, but we rebelled and God had to kick us out of the Garden. He provided a way for us to get back in though. Poor Lucifer, there is no way for him to get back in. He is pissed off. He hates us because we have the opportunity to go back. He is Hell-bent (literally) on taking as many people down with him as he can before the end. He wants us to feel justified. He wants us to harden our hearts. He wants to paint God as the enemy so that we can die and be apart from Him just like Lucifer has to be. But do not be deceived, dear reader. He is a liar. God is Truth. God loves you, and it's not too late for you to repent and re-join the Kingdom. Or, you can continue to harden your heart and fight the losing battle. You may feel justified, but in the end what does it get you?
I admit, if I say I am Elect then I sound like an arrogant ass. I, too, have struggled with the concept. But I read in Romans 9 that me questioning God is like the lump of clay questioning the potter. God is the Potter. I am clay. My opinion means nothing. If He wants to make me into a vase so that He can take a sledgehammer to me, then I have no choice. I rebelled against Him, so I deserve His wrath. But, He took His wrath on Himself at the Cross so that I wouldn't have to. Now my contention is not "Why am I condemned?" it is "Why would a holy God forgive me?". That realization is where my life ends, and Christ begins. Christianity is a relationship with God. It begins at repentance, which comes from humility. I had to let go of my pride. My prayer for you, dear reader, is that you daily relinquish your pride and allow God to be who He is. He promises salvation and reconciliation, but only after repentance. And, I've already stated in a previous post that He promises good to us who are reconciled to Him. He will either use your pride to bring about your destruction for His glory, like He did w/ Pharaoh in Exodus, or He will use your humility to reconcile you to Himself to use you for His glory. Either way, Soli Deo Gloria.
Many men far smarter or wiser than I am have debated this topic, so I do not claim to be any authority. I'm just writing out what I've discovered, and what I have grown to believe. The issue isn't Election, it's a "Yes/No" choice. You have the ability to say "Yes", but in saying "Yes" to God, you say "No" to yourself. It does literally cost you your life because you are no longer living for yourself, but for Him. I can only tell you what I know, and I know that I love God and I follow Him, and for some reason He blesses me. I don't deserve Him. But that's the point. Salvation comes from His mercy, not from anything we have done (Ephesians 2:8-9).
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Memorial Day
Hello, dear readers. I had thought I'd taken a week off or so from posting, but I see it's only been 4 days. Oh well.
I wanted to address Memorial Day. I can't put into words how grateful I am for all those men and women who have sacrificed, and are sacrificing, for our country. My brother-in-law is an Airman, my granddad was an MP in WW2, I have the privilege of knowing a NAVY Ensign, an ARMY Sergeant, and a Marine Lieutenant along with many other servicemen.
I've been raised to honor military personnel as heroes, and I do. I also get teary-eyed when I see commercials and movies about war and veterans, etc. My favorite war movie is possibly We Were Soldiers. I tear up every time I see the montage where the wives get the letters from Vietnam that their husbands have died...I can't even imagine. I don't want to try. I am not qualified to comment on war. As long as US Troops are in the field, I will support them.
I look forward to more blog posts as the days come, but in order to post, I must delve into Scripture so that the Holy Spirit can teach me. I feel the loss when I don't read. I love God, and I need to commune with Him.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
I wanted to address Memorial Day. I can't put into words how grateful I am for all those men and women who have sacrificed, and are sacrificing, for our country. My brother-in-law is an Airman, my granddad was an MP in WW2, I have the privilege of knowing a NAVY Ensign, an ARMY Sergeant, and a Marine Lieutenant along with many other servicemen.
I've been raised to honor military personnel as heroes, and I do. I also get teary-eyed when I see commercials and movies about war and veterans, etc. My favorite war movie is possibly We Were Soldiers. I tear up every time I see the montage where the wives get the letters from Vietnam that their husbands have died...I can't even imagine. I don't want to try. I am not qualified to comment on war. As long as US Troops are in the field, I will support them.
I look forward to more blog posts as the days come, but in order to post, I must delve into Scripture so that the Holy Spirit can teach me. I feel the loss when I don't read. I love God, and I need to commune with Him.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Explanation
Bender, it wasn't directed at you LoL. It was just a statement of part of the reason I believe what I believe. Still, you made some good points in your comment and I want to offer my explanation.
Bender said: "Hmm... I feel like I should respond to this since I think this was directed at me. As I said, I am not as familiar on this topic; I'm more comfortable dealing with the idea of theology philosphically within the context of the stories I know. So for the moment, let me just say this:
-Quoting religious texts is only going to get you so far. As I said, accounts from that far back can be quite sketchy at times. Everything must be taken with a grain of salt. Furthermore it is an edited text, and also one filtered by translation. Also, it's not even entirely consistent with itself. Naturally, the more unusual claims require more independent scruntiny.
-You seem to be assuming that honesty equals truth. They could simply be earnest but wrong. This is by no means a rarity in humanity.
-The problem with having people tell people who then tell people and so on, is that the message invariably gets jumbled along the way.
None of these are particularly gotchas, just things to keep in mind. It's not as simple as you've laid out. I would like to explore this further, but there's an awful lot to take in to appropriately comment on this global issue. I like to stick with what I know, so until then, I'll stay [relatively] quiet on those details."
Stuart answers:
"I'm more comfortable dealing with the idea of theology philosophically within the context of the stories I know." That's what I'm doing LoL. How do you 'know' those stories? What stories? Who told you? Were you there? I am truly asking. I'm not trying to throw questions back at you. Don't just say 'well the Bible isn't true' and move on...that's not keeping an open mind. Even I have to consider daily whether or not even I believe that the Bible is true, and the more I read it the more I see that it has to be. It all fits. If you look at the "My Purpose" post, I list verses starting in the Old Testament and going through to the New Testament and they all have the same message. That's just one small part of it. A big part of it is that I memorized Romans 8 (39 verses) and since most verses have other verses listed as references, I started writing those down as well. Starting in Romans 8:2, I have listed the verses 8:2 references, then all the verses those verses reference, and so on...from one verse I am at 15 pages of bullet pointed verses, and I am nowhere close to being done. That verse has roots in the Old Testament that go deep as well. I am blown away by it all. I hope that one day I can finish it and have a hard copy to show for it, but it's very time-consuming LoL. Remember, I'm not even at 8:3 yet and I'm going for 8:39. I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God. Seriously, if God isn't big enough to organize His own book then He's not big enough to save me. If you have any particular contradictions that stick out to you, please tell me and I'll look into them. So far I have seen that the Bible fits together perfectly, and the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. My faith is based on what the Bible says, so I will continue to use my 'religious text' to back up everything I believe.
Truth is objective. We can honestly believe a falsehood. I have faith that Jesus told the truth when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)
The great thing about God is that the message is consistent even though He used people to actually write the Bible by putting pen to paper. The message of the Bible is the same now as it was thousands of years ago. Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again. The Old Testament reveals the need for a Savior, and predicts the Savior, and the New Testament tells about the Savior and how He applies to our lives. This message has not been jumbled. And even if the words did get jumbled, the sacrifices of the apostles afterward in the name of Christ is enough to get me thinking. Here were 12 guys who thought that since Jesus was the Messiah, He would defeat the Romans and set up God's kingdom on earth through a show of power. James and John even asked Jesus to sit at His right hand and His left hand when He came into His glory. They argued over who would be Jesus' right hand man. All they cared about was 'suckling at the power teat' so to speak. Even His closest friends missed the point, and when He allowed Himself to be crucified the disciples ran and hid in a locked upper room for fear that they would be killed too just for having known Jesus. Then something happened (Jesus' resurrection and appearance to them in that locked upper room) that made them unify and preach His resurrection to the world...and it ultimately led to their deaths. I cannot ignore that change.
I am afraid that it is that simple. God created us, He loves us, He wants us to show our love for Him through obedience, we disobeyed, He had to punish us, we couldn't save ourselves, He stepped out of Heaven to save us Himself, and we have the choice to follow in that. It is a simple yes or no, I'm afraid. We are the ones who try to complicate it by putting a price tag on it.
Bender, thank you for commenting. Please keep doing so! Don't be afraid to give me specifics. I will humbly answer the best way I can. I will keep using the Bible as my reference though, because it lays out what I believe, so if you're not willing to meet me there then I doubt this discussion will go anywhere :) I don't mean that you have to accept the Bible as truth, just don't discount it right off the bat.
And, readers, you all have permission to comment or question me, not just Bender LoL. My e-mail is: stuartlkingsley@gmail.com
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Bender said: "Hmm... I feel like I should respond to this since I think this was directed at me. As I said, I am not as familiar on this topic; I'm more comfortable dealing with the idea of theology philosphically within the context of the stories I know. So for the moment, let me just say this:
-Quoting religious texts is only going to get you so far. As I said, accounts from that far back can be quite sketchy at times. Everything must be taken with a grain of salt. Furthermore it is an edited text, and also one filtered by translation. Also, it's not even entirely consistent with itself. Naturally, the more unusual claims require more independent scruntiny.
-You seem to be assuming that honesty equals truth. They could simply be earnest but wrong. This is by no means a rarity in humanity.
-The problem with having people tell people who then tell people and so on, is that the message invariably gets jumbled along the way.
None of these are particularly gotchas, just things to keep in mind. It's not as simple as you've laid out. I would like to explore this further, but there's an awful lot to take in to appropriately comment on this global issue. I like to stick with what I know, so until then, I'll stay [relatively] quiet on those details."
Stuart answers:
"I'm more comfortable dealing with the idea of theology philosophically within the context of the stories I know." That's what I'm doing LoL. How do you 'know' those stories? What stories? Who told you? Were you there? I am truly asking. I'm not trying to throw questions back at you. Don't just say 'well the Bible isn't true' and move on...that's not keeping an open mind. Even I have to consider daily whether or not even I believe that the Bible is true, and the more I read it the more I see that it has to be. It all fits. If you look at the "My Purpose" post, I list verses starting in the Old Testament and going through to the New Testament and they all have the same message. That's just one small part of it. A big part of it is that I memorized Romans 8 (39 verses) and since most verses have other verses listed as references, I started writing those down as well. Starting in Romans 8:2, I have listed the verses 8:2 references, then all the verses those verses reference, and so on...from one verse I am at 15 pages of bullet pointed verses, and I am nowhere close to being done. That verse has roots in the Old Testament that go deep as well. I am blown away by it all. I hope that one day I can finish it and have a hard copy to show for it, but it's very time-consuming LoL. Remember, I'm not even at 8:3 yet and I'm going for 8:39. I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God. Seriously, if God isn't big enough to organize His own book then He's not big enough to save me. If you have any particular contradictions that stick out to you, please tell me and I'll look into them. So far I have seen that the Bible fits together perfectly, and the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. My faith is based on what the Bible says, so I will continue to use my 'religious text' to back up everything I believe.
Truth is objective. We can honestly believe a falsehood. I have faith that Jesus told the truth when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)
The great thing about God is that the message is consistent even though He used people to actually write the Bible by putting pen to paper. The message of the Bible is the same now as it was thousands of years ago. Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again. The Old Testament reveals the need for a Savior, and predicts the Savior, and the New Testament tells about the Savior and how He applies to our lives. This message has not been jumbled. And even if the words did get jumbled, the sacrifices of the apostles afterward in the name of Christ is enough to get me thinking. Here were 12 guys who thought that since Jesus was the Messiah, He would defeat the Romans and set up God's kingdom on earth through a show of power. James and John even asked Jesus to sit at His right hand and His left hand when He came into His glory. They argued over who would be Jesus' right hand man. All they cared about was 'suckling at the power teat' so to speak. Even His closest friends missed the point, and when He allowed Himself to be crucified the disciples ran and hid in a locked upper room for fear that they would be killed too just for having known Jesus. Then something happened (Jesus' resurrection and appearance to them in that locked upper room) that made them unify and preach His resurrection to the world...and it ultimately led to their deaths. I cannot ignore that change.
I am afraid that it is that simple. God created us, He loves us, He wants us to show our love for Him through obedience, we disobeyed, He had to punish us, we couldn't save ourselves, He stepped out of Heaven to save us Himself, and we have the choice to follow in that. It is a simple yes or no, I'm afraid. We are the ones who try to complicate it by putting a price tag on it.
Bender, thank you for commenting. Please keep doing so! Don't be afraid to give me specifics. I will humbly answer the best way I can. I will keep using the Bible as my reference though, because it lays out what I believe, so if you're not willing to meet me there then I doubt this discussion will go anywhere :) I don't mean that you have to accept the Bible as truth, just don't discount it right off the bat.
And, readers, you all have permission to comment or question me, not just Bender LoL. My e-mail is: stuartlkingsley@gmail.com
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Jesus Is Alive
He is RISEN!
R: Recorded Accounts -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc.
I: Identifiable Change -- Simon Peter denied knowing Christ 3 times leading up to His crucifixion. Somehow, Peter ended up being crucified upside down because he wouldn't renounce Christ...and he didn't feel worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was. Saul hunted and killed Christians, but he had an encounter with Jesus and became Paul, one of the heroes of our faith. Out of 12 apostles, one killed himself, one was boiled alive (John) but didn't die so he was exiled and wrote Revelation. The other 10 were martyred. If it were a lie, someone would have been like "I'm lying, please don't kill me!"
S: Sunday Worship -- Shift from the Sabbath (Saturday) to the first day of the week (Sunday) worship.
E: Eye-Witnesses -- People saw Him after the fact. Thomas touched His scars. Over 500 people were reported to have seen Him afterward. The two men on the road to Emmaus saw Him, but didn't know it was Him at first. They told someone, who told someone, who told someone...who told me :)
N: No Body -- Produce a body, Christianity dies. Nobody even tried to fake it! Nobody disputes that the tomb was empty.
Have I seen Jesus? No. Have I heard His voice to where I can say "that sounds like Jesus"? No. Do I believe He is risen? Absolutely YES.
Jesus was God incarnate. He didn't come to earth for a crown. He came for a cross. Don't get it twisted...He is coming back, and this time He is coming to conquer. Whose side are you on?
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
R: Recorded Accounts -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc.
I: Identifiable Change -- Simon Peter denied knowing Christ 3 times leading up to His crucifixion. Somehow, Peter ended up being crucified upside down because he wouldn't renounce Christ...and he didn't feel worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was. Saul hunted and killed Christians, but he had an encounter with Jesus and became Paul, one of the heroes of our faith. Out of 12 apostles, one killed himself, one was boiled alive (John) but didn't die so he was exiled and wrote Revelation. The other 10 were martyred. If it were a lie, someone would have been like "I'm lying, please don't kill me!"
S: Sunday Worship -- Shift from the Sabbath (Saturday) to the first day of the week (Sunday) worship.
E: Eye-Witnesses -- People saw Him after the fact. Thomas touched His scars. Over 500 people were reported to have seen Him afterward. The two men on the road to Emmaus saw Him, but didn't know it was Him at first. They told someone, who told someone, who told someone...who told me :)
N: No Body -- Produce a body, Christianity dies. Nobody even tried to fake it! Nobody disputes that the tomb was empty.
Have I seen Jesus? No. Have I heard His voice to where I can say "that sounds like Jesus"? No. Do I believe He is risen? Absolutely YES.
Jesus was God incarnate. He didn't come to earth for a crown. He came for a cross. Don't get it twisted...He is coming back, and this time He is coming to conquer. Whose side are you on?
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
I Have a Purpose
This is what God tells me through His Word:
"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows this very well." -- Psalm 139:13-14
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." -- Jeremiah 1:5
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." -- Jeremiah 29:11
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." -- Ephesians 2:10
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at he day of Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 1:6
I am not a mistake. God knew what He was doing before He created me. He created me knowing full well my sins would crucify Him. He has a plan for my life, and each day He reveals more of it. He plans good things for me, even when things seem dark. In the Old Testament and New, He remains the same. His love endures forever.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows this very well." -- Psalm 139:13-14
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." -- Jeremiah 1:5
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." -- Jeremiah 29:11
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." -- Ephesians 2:10
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at he day of Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 1:6
I am not a mistake. God knew what He was doing before He created me. He created me knowing full well my sins would crucify Him. He has a plan for my life, and each day He reveals more of it. He plans good things for me, even when things seem dark. In the Old Testament and New, He remains the same. His love endures forever.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Question #1
Question #1 from Bender:
"The first question I'd like to pose concerns your 'My Story' post. You say, 'I accepted Christ when I was 3 years old,' which seems like a very odd claim to me. What exactly do you mean? How exactly is a 3 year old supposed to actively participate in something as heavy as religion? I mean, I was a pretty smart kid, but I was terrified of GRASS at that age. (Or so I'm told; I don't actually remember anything from that period.)"
Great question, Bender. Honestly, that's when I realized that Jesus was God's Son and that He loved me, and that I wanted to go to Heaven when I died. I had no real concept of sin or any clue why I needed a Savior, it was just the next step for me since I grew up with Christian parents, church, and a Christian school. There are some Christian scholars who would argue that I wasn't 'saved', or whatever, but I knew that I was going to Heaven when I died. I knew that sin was bad and obedience was good, so I did my best to honor my parents and do what God said. Jesus Himself didn't discount the children, but rather said "let them come". He also said that faith like a child is required to enter His kingdom because children believe whole-heartedly.
As I grew, even though I became more aware of my sin, I got into a legalistic mind set. "Well, I'm not as bad as that person, so I'm okay." I was a darn good guy! I was well-liked, etc. I did my parents proud. And, I assumed God loved me because I did all those things. But after my failure in 2008 I realized just how corrupt I really was. Sin became a reality. My sin still wasn't "that bad", but it was bad enough to wreck my livelihood at the time. God was basically telling me "Hey, you're Mine, time to grow up! I love you, so let's start building!" And I clung to Him. It wasn't until after those 2 camps in 2009 that I actually felt saved. Everything clicked for me. Sin, the need for a Savior, everything. I started following Him and only Him. I stopped trying to make my life better on my own. Jesus said "He who finds his life will lose it, but he who loses His life for my sake will find it." (see "Cost" post).
So, to sum up, whether I was technically 'in' or not at age 3 (I believe I was) I was fighting for His Kingdom since age 3. I had some wayward times, but He was ever faithful to keep me out of too much trouble. It is hard for a 3-yr old to participate in 'religion', but Christianity is a personal relationship w/ Jesus Christ, and He wants us just how we are. He meets us where we are and grows us from there. It is quite amazing.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
"The first question I'd like to pose concerns your 'My Story' post. You say, 'I accepted Christ when I was 3 years old,' which seems like a very odd claim to me. What exactly do you mean? How exactly is a 3 year old supposed to actively participate in something as heavy as religion? I mean, I was a pretty smart kid, but I was terrified of GRASS at that age. (Or so I'm told; I don't actually remember anything from that period.)"
Great question, Bender. Honestly, that's when I realized that Jesus was God's Son and that He loved me, and that I wanted to go to Heaven when I died. I had no real concept of sin or any clue why I needed a Savior, it was just the next step for me since I grew up with Christian parents, church, and a Christian school. There are some Christian scholars who would argue that I wasn't 'saved', or whatever, but I knew that I was going to Heaven when I died. I knew that sin was bad and obedience was good, so I did my best to honor my parents and do what God said. Jesus Himself didn't discount the children, but rather said "let them come". He also said that faith like a child is required to enter His kingdom because children believe whole-heartedly.
As I grew, even though I became more aware of my sin, I got into a legalistic mind set. "Well, I'm not as bad as that person, so I'm okay." I was a darn good guy! I was well-liked, etc. I did my parents proud. And, I assumed God loved me because I did all those things. But after my failure in 2008 I realized just how corrupt I really was. Sin became a reality. My sin still wasn't "that bad", but it was bad enough to wreck my livelihood at the time. God was basically telling me "Hey, you're Mine, time to grow up! I love you, so let's start building!" And I clung to Him. It wasn't until after those 2 camps in 2009 that I actually felt saved. Everything clicked for me. Sin, the need for a Savior, everything. I started following Him and only Him. I stopped trying to make my life better on my own. Jesus said "He who finds his life will lose it, but he who loses His life for my sake will find it." (see "Cost" post).
So, to sum up, whether I was technically 'in' or not at age 3 (I believe I was) I was fighting for His Kingdom since age 3. I had some wayward times, but He was ever faithful to keep me out of too much trouble. It is hard for a 3-yr old to participate in 'religion', but Christianity is a personal relationship w/ Jesus Christ, and He wants us just how we are. He meets us where we are and grows us from there. It is quite amazing.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Monday, May 23, 2011
Bender
Okay, so the light font on dark background apparently wasn't working. So, we'll try this for the time being.
Okay, dear readers, I've been offered a "challenge" of sorts. Remember how I said this whole "Sticks and Stones" idea began at GHP 2003? Well, so did my friendship with Derek "Bender" Kolacinski. He and I are pretty much as opposite as opposites come, but we're still friends. He had the idea to bounce questions off of each other and answer each other in our blogs. I am not entirely sure how it will work, so I'll let him start it off. The link to his blog is in the Comments section of my "Fight Club" post.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
Okay, dear readers, I've been offered a "challenge" of sorts. Remember how I said this whole "Sticks and Stones" idea began at GHP 2003? Well, so did my friendship with Derek "Bender" Kolacinski. He and I are pretty much as opposite as opposites come, but we're still friends. He had the idea to bounce questions off of each other and answer each other in our blogs. I am not entirely sure how it will work, so I'll let him start it off. The link to his blog is in the Comments section of my "Fight Club" post.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
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