random thoughts..

its wierd how people say that they are so thankful for God and what he has done in thier lives and that they are so glad to be saved..and yet..they live life rarely praying..barley reading the bible.. and almost never meditating on the thought of the Almighty Creator deciding to have so much grace and love for these imperfect people that he would send his only son to be sentenced to death for them. i mean..talk about the definition of a hippocrite. now im not saying that im the perfect Christian and i read the bible all the time..i pray without ceasing..and i am always meditating on God..and i never sin. that would be a lie. what im trying to say is..how can people who have been saved ONLY by the grace of God not have a desire to dig deeper into God?

i understand that people are busy. i am one of them. so what. that doesnt change who God is. God will never give you so much work that you dont have any time to meditate with him and just talk to him. he loves us too much for that.

another thought just popped in my head..how do we expect to be used by God if we are simply using him?

you see..what ive come to realize in my walk with God is that Christianity has become a fashion statement. people have the "jesus is my homeboy" trucker hat with the matching shirt but yet..majority of the time..jesus doesnt even know them. people see that "hey everyone seems to be into the 'god thing'..i think i will to just to fit in".

that recently has been bugging me so much. we want God to do these great things with us and our talents..yet..we dont do anything about it. we spend so much time making sure the outside looks good that we dont have time for the inside. wow.

i see it like this..i play guitar. but i know this. there are probly 34,895,713,457 better guitarisits than me in my city alone. and im ok with that. im ok with the fact that any given day an amazing guitar player can come to my church and melt the faces on the entire congregation until the walls melt because he is so good. i know this can happen. and as a muscian..yea that does motivate me to get better. but. the only thing that truly inspires me to play and grow in my gifts is God. afterall..he did give me the skills i have. and you see..growing in my guitar skills is not what is going to make me a better guitarist/musican. its growing in God.

im not trying to get better at guitar to showcase my talent..i do it to grorify God.

i always tell God before i play to empty my body of myslef and fill it with him and his beautiful sweet presence. that is what is gonig to change lives..

God changes lives..not people.

what we do as Christians for people is..

seek God wholeheartedly and constantly mediate on his word and presence..

then god will fill our body and take over..

then lives will be changed..

dont get too lazy for God..

like our parents always said..if u sit too close to the tv u will be blind..

think about that spiritually...

when we watch tv we are usually being lazy and being entertained by a secular program..

if we do that too much..

we wont even be able to see God anymore becuase we have been so lazy and infested with the world..

live for God....

what to do...

so you love God. you follow his will will joy. so what do u do when you dont feel like following God anymore? what happens when ur just bored of being a follower of Christ. many people walk away from God whenever they encounter thier first real problem as a Christian beacuse they think God turned his back on them. they are foolish. not that i am anybody to judge them. but thats what the Bible says. i once heard "if you're a Christian and you're bored..you're not completly sold out for Jesus". i love this quote. cuz its true. if u think u have done everything u have done for God..you're lying to yourself and making excuses to be lazy. the Bible despises the lazy.
whenever we get bored of being a christian..we need to take ourselves out of our comfort zone and go do something completly crazy for God. whatever he puts in ur heart..and he will put tsomething in ur heart.
are you bored?
for some reason..the Bible nevers seems to give the impression that the disciples were bored..
and if we are called to be disciples of God..we dont have a reason to be bored..
go do something for God..
go ..
now..
i guarantee you wont be bored anymore..

just something to think about..

have you ever thought : "man..i dont have that much to be thankful for"..
honestly..
think about it..
i know i have..but then i thought about it..
i have alot to be thankful for..
i have everlasting life..thank you jesus..i have woke up every day for the past almost 20 years..it wasnt an alarm clock that woke me up..it was god..thank you god..i have a family..thank you god..i have friends..thank you jesus..i have a church..thank you god..i have clean water and fresh food..thank you god..i have a choice to spend eternity with the Almighty god..wow..now think about that!

ok check it out....there is a being in heaven who, with a simple word, created the very earth you live on..think about that! he said let there be land and it formed..let there be water..bam h20..he said..now water..seperate yourself from land..and what do ya know...it did...dont forget that all he is doing is speaking and moving a finger..can you do that? i didnt think so...but you know...now this out..he created human beings with dirt and spit...and a rib for the ladies..wow..then you know what else he did..he saw that his creation was disobeying his word so he loved them so much that he didnt want them to go to hell so he came down in the form of a man..jesus christ..to die so that we could have a chance to be with him!!!!

think about it.....YOU CAN BE WITH GOD!! how crazy is that?!?! i mean..just imagine just waking up every morning and seeing god right in front of you..man!!

i dont know what my point is...so just take in what is written and literally think about it...

oh yea..i forgot to say...god is also inside of us.....literally.....

Religon??

i just had a sorta of odd conversation with a few of my family mambers. my mom, aunt, uncle (catholics) grandpa (prodestant) my dad (whatever he wants ology). i dont know really how or why we began talking about religon but we did. things were said about opposing views and i could feel the tension. it was mostly my aunt and dad. i even threw in a word or two..which i dont know why i said anything. after this conversation i thought about. as christians..we need to stop looking for what we believe and what is convientient for us..but rather..just simply follow jesus...after all...CHRISTian..?? i think we as christians need to just chill out on leading people to believe in religon..but just believe in god and his only son jesus. its funny becuase my aunts religion and my grandpas religion all believe in god and jesus..but they seem to have different ways to recieve and live for jesus.

what im trying to say is stop shoving religon down people's throat and just lead them to jesus. thats all jesus did. he told them who he was..who his father was..and just believe it. when people seek more into jesus and the word if his father..they will see what is of god and what is not.

after all..we are supposed to be like jesus...

oh the glory of it all...

well easter is arriving. it will be here this sunday. its funny becasue if you ask many people what they think about easter they will say something that has to do with easter eggs, an easter bunny or hunting for easter eggs. its funny because i dont know how a rabbit or eggs were brought into the real meaning of easter. actually..its not that funny. its not funny when we take the day our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead and acended into heaven and reduce it down to mere egg coloring and rabbits. but thats just me.

so ive been listening to this song i heard at the Passion conference i went to about a month ago called glory of it all by the david crowder band. the song really impacted me when i first heard it. i love that song. u should listen to it. anyways..
the song talks about.....well here are the lyrics:

At the start
he was there, he was there
In the end,he’ll be there,
he’ll be there
And After all
our hands have wrought
He forgives

Oh the Glory of it all is
he came here
For the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
for the glory of it all

All is lost
find him there,
find him there
After night
Dawn is there,
Dawn is there
After all falls apart
he repairs, he repairs

Oh the Glory of it all is
he came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
oh he is here
for redemption from the fall
that we may live
for the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all
the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all

After night
comes the light
dawn is here
dawn is here
it’s a new day
it’s a new day
everything will change
things will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same

Oh, The glory of it all is
you came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
Oh you are here
with redemption for us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
for the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all

pretty amazing i think. it goes down into the depths of what and who God is. but the part i want to take out it the part that says:

and after all our hands have wrought..he forgives

wow. think about that. this is what i want you to do. think about all the horrible crazy bad things you have done in your life. now think bout this. HE FORGIVES. after everything you have done in your life..Jesus simply forgives you. the bible says that God forgets your past. but you know something. the devil doesnt. he will bring up your past in a heartbeat..just as long as it gets you away from God. dont get me wrong..its not bad to look back on your past. but when you start to meditate on it and it clouds your mind and you cant think about moving foward anymore becasue its pushing you down deeper and deeper into a hole you cant dig out of...thats when you need to just call on God. becuase after everything you have done..He forgives. we serve a merciful father. wow. dont take that for granted. dont play with God. dont go do what you feel like doing knowing that God will forgive you afterward. it doesnt work like that. thats like serving two masters..your sin and your Savior. the bible says God is a jealous God and not to serve two masters. so you know what DONT DO IT. in the bible Paul the apostle was like the godfather of killing christians. he persecuted them and killed them all day long. and when God wanted to use him..he felt totally unworthy. man..i would too. you went around killing people becasue they loved God and then God says you know what..i want you for my kingdom. woah man. talk about grace. you know what..God used him.

and after all our hands have wrought..He forgives.

do u feel like you have failed god and are unworthy to serve him anymore?
do you feel like you have done too much for god to forgive you?
guess what..He forgives
make this easter be about the real reason
get right with God
forget the past
forget the pain
forget the screw ups

and after all our hands have wrought..He forgives.

real talk...

ok..i get it..its hard to be a christian. im not perfect. my friends arent perfect. my pastors arent perfect. but God is. honestly..i havent been thinkin about god all that much these past few days..maybe weeks..idk. but you know..that doesnt change who god is. the bible says that god will always be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. what does that say? whenever we dont "feel" god or his presence..it is us not him. he will always be the same wonderful, awesome, amazing, merciful, graceful god. it is us. sometimes we blame god for not being able to feel him. we say "man god where are you?" ..i bet he is saying "right here my child." you know why its hard to feel god? because we have a sin issue in our life. oh man did i just say that?!! christians sin?!?!?! thats right..we sin..alot. its funny becasue some chritians say "oh no i dont sin"...we thats sin right there...pride. when we sin..we should never be too proud to admit and confess it. we think..but what will he think about me after i tell him that i did this or that? shut up! the bible says if we hide our sin it was be brought to light. it will also embarrass us. so you can either do it the hard way or the easy way. either way..god is still god.

im reminded of a story..this guy and this girl were dating and the guy had the old trucks with only one row of seats. not 50 like nowaday. lol. anyways. they were young and in love. it was fresh and real. when they would ride in this truck the girl would sit right next to her boyfriend instead of sitting in the passanger seat. they eventully married and as time went on..they slowly seperated. until one day the wife was reminded of thier good ol' days of snuggling all close when they would ride together. she asked her husband "what happened..why dont we do that anymore?" the husband responded.."i havent gone anywhere." OUCH!! wow..

its funny becasue that is just like god..us christians get bored with our walk with god and we seperate ourselves from him. we sin a little here and there because "it wont hurt anybody"..we read our bible once a week..we pray only when we need something..man..that sucks..no wonder we cant feel god. dont live in the grey with god. dont play with the creator of the universe..if you play with fire you will get burned.

always pray and read your bible..even if you dont feel like it.
always attend church..even if you dont feel like it.
because that fact alone
you know.."we dont feel like it"
should be enough proof we are slipping from god
i tell you this
if you are bored with god
you are not doing something right.
get out your comfort zone.
love people.
love more people.
becasue god will always be god.
whether we change or not.

are you cooked?

have you ever seen somebody who just prasies God like crazy then stops praising then prasies again then stops again. its weird seeing that. becuase..we are always supposed to praise god. our purpose in life is to be a living sacrifice of worship. so why do we stop praising? i think its simple. its easy to praise god during the times when life is good and feels like he is standing right next to you. you have a visual proof o what he is doing in your life. and others see the proof too. but what about when times are hard and rough and nothing goes your way? what about when you are given the test by God?
i once heard a pastor say this metaphor and it completly changed my life...really. so here it goes. when someone is cooking in the oven..there is a timer. right?.. ok. well its understood that when that timer goes off..the food is ready..well it should be. BUT YET..even when that timer is off..and its looks ready and good and golden brown on the outside..it is still given a final to see if its ready on the inside. you know when you still a fork in the chicken or the chocolate cake. yea..thats a test. and you know where it checks..the inside..where it matters! wow.. did you get it? check it out..even if you look like on the outside you serve God and you seem as though on the inside you love God..God is still going to test you to see if you truly are his servant. wow. crazy right?! and you know what..maybe your timer is still on..your life is going great! Everything is great! well guess what..sry to burst your bubble..but when that timer is beeping..GOD IS GOING TO GIVE YOU A FINAL TEST.
so...are you cooked on the inside? or do you just look like you are done from the outside? do you really love God in the good times and the bad times? or do you just praise his name when all is good? you might look cooked on the outside..(go to church, have your big bible, lift your hands)..but you cant just look it..you gotta live it!
so..again i ask... are you cooked?

oh yeah..

happy birthday steven. may all your wishes come true. god bless you.

the lost...what should i do?

the craziest thing just came to me. i wasnt sure what i was going to write today. but i think i just recieved a word. today is saturday february 23, 2008. this day may not be big for you or for me..but it is big for one person i know. his name is steven. and today is his birthday. i love this kid. he knows it. he has been my childhood friend since we were in elementary school. we lived down the street from each other for like 10 years. we were really close. time passed. my family moved the neighborhood. news friends. different grades. we sorta lost each other. things would happen every now and then that would reunite us. but from my new perspective..i took that time for granted. this kid went through many things. his life..his friends and most of all...his family. i wont go into details. but this kid went through hell. he was in jail. he was on the streets. i knew it. i didnt do much about it. he chose his path. he knew what he was doing. our church has set a vision this year..for each member to lead one person to Jesus Christ. i didnt know who i was going to bring. i once had a conviction for another childhood friend..but it soon faded. my mother recently told me of how she talked to steven and to make a long story short..he wants help. my heart broke. i am currently searching for him. i dont know how to find him. but God will bring us together..i know it. i love steven too much for him to go to hell. and so does God.

so why do i say this?

this is what i want you to do. a boy once told me to do this on a mission trip 3 years ago and i never understood it or its power until recently. Pray for a PASSION FOR SOULS. I DARE YOU!! as christians we become so burnt out with trying to feed ourselves and worrying about what the church is doing that we completly lose the reason for being a christian..to make disciples of all the nations. pray this prayer and mean it with your heart. i wont tell you what happened to me when i pray this prayer becuase i dont want my experiences to interfere with yours. i want your experience to be fresh. you will see. i pray you will. this my brother will feed your spirit more than any sermon will. a passion for souls. dont be selfish. be like Jesus. i dare you. i challenge you.

my great aunt kelly...

so today i got a chance to drive my aunt kelly to texas city to cash her check. my aunt was just recently saved probably about a few months ago. she has had a hard life with her family and just in general. she has been through more than i can imagine. she is a single mom with 2 daughters of about 20 years and another whom is married. to make a long story short..she has been through hell and back. so as i were driving her today..the whole time she was proclaiming how awesome and amazing God is. everything she said had reference to Him. it was amazing. i was getting goosebumps just listening to her. i couldnt even speak. i just agreed. she was telling me of all the things he has done in her life and what he is still doing now. it so amazing..really. i still amazes me now just writing about it. wow. it makes me feel like i just became a christian and she is encouraging and helping me. ive been been "saved" for about 4 years now....and she a few months. i understand that when you first recieve Christ you have a crazy fresh passion for Him..but wow!! she was telling me how God was speaking to her, how he is lifting her family up...her faith is soo incredible. wow. she told me that since she retired all she does is read her bible and pray. wow. i could literally feel her passion just from her words. wow. i dont even know what else to say..there is so much.

so why do i say this?

as christians we become selfish. we become selfish with our blessings, talents, time and even our faith. we know the bible tells us to go and make disicples of all the nations..but are you really doing that? God is gonna hold you accountable for that you know...think about it. this woman has gone from a poor, stressed out, single mom to a blessed and faithful servant of the great Jesus Christ. she was telling me how she prays for her girls (which i know is wierd) and shares God with them and thier friends!! in fact..thier friends come to her now for mentoring! wow. God is amazing. she sees purpose in life...do you? she has literally been through hell and still thanks God for it..do you? some of us have grown up in a christian home and we complain that we didnt get the type of food we wanted for dinner. this lady wasnt sire where her next meal was coming for her and her family...yet she keeps all her faith in God. and it shows.

so i challenge you..share your story..share your faith..share Jesus. have faith when all falls apart. DONT COMPLAIN. love God..thank him..know he will pull you through..because he will...if you have faith!

the last thing she told me was that her dad used to tell her "boy He sure makes you sweat..but He always pulls you through!" how true is that..

Passion Conference..need i say more?

this past weekend i was forunate enough to attend the Passion Conference held in Dallas, Tx. i was invited by my cousin (Chevy seektruthnow.blogspot.com ) who said it is an amazing event. so i went. honestly, i went with high hopes. i thought God would deal with me in a way that i never thought possible. i wanted that. i was excited. not just because Chris Tomlin and David Crowder were leading worship or Louie Giglio and Frances Chan were speaking..but because i really thought God was break me to my core. i went. i worshipped. i listened. i sought after God wholeheartedly. (my grandpa just walked in my room..he is freakin amazing!) so yea. i did all i felt i was supposed to do to "feel the presence of God." and i did. the confrence ended. i didnt feel any different. just more knowledable of The Word. dont get me wrong i desire that..but i just didnt feel closer to God. has that ever happend to you? i got back home to Galveston around 4 am sunday morning. i had to be at church at 9 am to practice for the 10.30am service. i went to sleep a little disappionted that night. i didnt sleep much. its funny because the next morning i woke up..thank god..and i felt a little different. i wasnt sure what is was..tired? sleepy? hungry? i didnt know. i went to church. i wasnt even tired. i felt fueled and refreshed! i had this crazy ball of energy inside me...and it God inside of me. i could just feel it stirring up the whole time i practiced. i had a passion for jesus like never before. people could see it from the outside because they told me. thats jesus. people were ministered through the praise and worship. thats jesus. it was jesus working. how amazing is God.

so why did i say this?

as christians..many times we try to seek God until we get that mushy gushy feeling inside us and we feel like crying. because that is when God is present!!!!! (sarcastic) .. we forget to just be still and know that God is gonna be got whether you "feel" him or not. we as christians have put limits on God! just becuase we didnt get goosebumps or shed a tear we werent "touched by God." maybe God changes you that way sometimes...but God is pretty huge...i think he has other ways of changing our lives..healing our wounds..mending our souls. but thats just me.

so i challenge you..dont put limits on God. He can speak and move through anything he desires..all you have to do is listen...oh yeah..and dont put limits on the Creator of the universe.

and so it begins...

this is my first blog...ever. i dont know what to say or how to say it. so i dont think i will. at least not today. i feel like im talking to myself. i guess i am until somebody reads this. im eating a pop tart preparing to play guitar at youth service. yuppy (not sarcastic). just to let you know..this blog is gonna be about what goes on in my head during certain times of my life. its not a journal. its the truth. i hope this blog changes your life and your way of thinking forever.

ps...i love jesus christ

i hope you still wanna read...