Jake Porter is a tool.

I wrote that title for Jake.

First, so that I can call him a tool. That parts for me.

Second, because little did he know God used him in my life….once again.

Jake, no longer then 40 minutes ago, gave me crap for not updating my blog. One that was to be used to fill people in on my life, the journey I’m taking and the lessons God is teaching me. A journey I’ve kept to myself the last few weeks and a blog on wordpress with no new words.

Irony? I wouldn’t know I never really grasped the idea of irony.

So, how is Jake badgering me over not updating my blog being used by God?

Well, it’s a lesson in consistency. I created this blog in hopes of teaching others as I have been taught, enlightening others as I am enlightened and learning from others as they learn. To do that, however, i must be consistent with this blog. I have to daily log on, and express my thoughts and read through it and communicate through it and with others about it. I may miss a day and that isn’t horrible but without consistency this blog is, for lack of a better word, dead.

Reminds me of my faith, on most days to be honest.

It’s easy to walk around and smile and feel good about being “saved” but what does that mean. Am i doing what I was called to do and am I being consistent? In all honesty, no. That hurts for me to type but it’s the truth. I don’t read daily, though I try, but I miss days. I forget to honor God for what I have, but I should. I don’t talk to him daily and see him as apart of my day. Is this a sin? No. It says nothing about not praying or reading being a sin. It’s a spiritual discipline to help us in our relationship with Christ and missing it isn’t sin. It is a very easy way to fall into sin though. “If god is for us, who can stand against us.” YEAH! Oh, wait, I’m standing down the street away from God and trying to do this on my own. So we must practice consistency and remember why we are here in the first place.

Jesus’ last address to his apostles was to “go forth and make disciples of all nations”.

I feel good about telling someone, “Yeah, I’m on leadership at a college group.” Neat, Adolph Hitler never missed a weekend of church during WWII. I’m a real saint.

In Acts 4, Peter and John are brought forth before the council and they are charged to not speak of the name of Jesus or teach at all about him. Their response is a beautiful definition of what it means to be truly saved. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” To them, there is no other option. If you really have a relationship with God and love him you simply have to tell others about him and can’t help but speak of his love.

So often we see Jesus as this amazing prophet and teacher who came to earth, taught amazing lessons and loved everyone. Even to a non-christian he’s a model example of how to live. The problem is so often we miss the other identity of Christ’s life and ministry. That he is King. We must not forget that.We must remember that he is king over everything. The phone we text on. The TV and movies we watch. The drinks we share. The relationships we partake in. We cannot choose to let Christ into only some of our life, he must be apart of all of it and we must realize it’s not really our choice to whether we want him to be apart of it or not.

Are you consistent? Is your answer always the same? Is your reason as to how you act the same one always? Do others know, oh that’s cause of Christ in his life?

I know it’s hard and I understand, trust me, I have sin that I am constantly picking back up. I feel tomorrow I’m going to write about that, so I’ll explain that in more detail then, but know that we have it oh so good. The apostles, like so many believers around the world faced death, and like so many around the world they met it. Martyred for their lord and savior and the one apostle who wasn’t martyred, the one whom Jesus loved, his life mirrored what he preached. Early church records show that in his old age John was brought before the people to speak of Jesus and his love until he died late in his life.

“for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Be consistent. Be involved with Christ. Be an imitator of Christ.

You are the image of the invisible. Act like it.

New post in 3 months. Stay tuned.

Radical.

I wake up in an apartment, lying on a decently comfortable bed and turn off the alarm on my iPhone.  I sit up, turn on my TV and turn to either a news channel or Sportscenter. I walk to my bathroom and use my toilet and then turn on the shower to a temperature I deem most fitting to my liking at that time.

After, I brush my teeth and apply all other bathroom necessities.

Next, comes putting on the clothes best suited to represent me that day. Most likely a pair of skinny jeans or basketball shorts with an in-style T-shirt and finished with a pair of Vans. Vans, and Vans only.

I walk to my brand new 2010 car and drive to a school where I attend and receive an education that is grossly overpriced. I walk from class to class checking facebook to see how my other friends are, and what they are struggling with or happy with in life. I get food I may not finish and in result most likely throw out.

Last, depending on the day, I go to work at a popular college bar where I make sure bands, who play on thousands of dollars and instruments, are happy as they entertain students, who pay thousands of dollars on booze. When it’s all over I return to my apartment and fall asleep on my comfy bed once again.

On sundays I attend a church college group, where we have free dinner provided every night by the church, we sing songs and hear from Andy and have for a small sliver of my week some great, relaxing, loving community.

My life has provided me with no set of true worried. Sure, I received a speeding ticket today for driving 52 in a 40 at which I was surprisingly okay with. When two of your family members are police officers, it’s oddly hard to get mad at a police officers for doing their jobs. Would you get mad at a macdonald’s employee for getting your Big Mac and fries. Geez, can you believe that? That jerk did his job!

This is my life summed up. I am provided with everything I need to succeed and be comfortable and have all of my needs met.

Thankfully I have been blessed with people telling me to read a book. A book called Radical. Oh, this must be that book that’ll change my life, it will present some new take on an old idea and everyone will be on a tangent about how amazing it is until the next book comes along that peaks the interest of the christian church.

Then…

I read, and there is nothing new, there is nothing revolutionary. There is truth, and that truth leads to conviction. We as Americans have absolutely no needs or struggles. We don’t hide for hours and hours at a time to simply speak of God. We aren’t martyred and have our head removed from our body because we simply own a bible. Saddest thing is we will do everything in our power to victimize ourselves in an effort to make others, and most importantly, ourselves believe that we also struggle.

I mean, people at work, they make fun of me for being a christian.

Is your head still on your shoulders?

Well, yeah.

Then shut up.

I want to be radical. I want to be able to ask this question posed by John Piper with no hesitation and I hope through this you can too.

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? “

Love.